Hong Kong: New FSD boats boost rescue ability Two new speedboats commissioned by the Fire Services Department in November last year can cut travel time between the departments diving base on Stonecutters Island to Victoria Harbour. The new jet foil boats can make the trip in as quick as five minutes, while the older speedboats take at least 10 minutes. The older speedboats use propellers, while the new ones have an internal jet foil system which improves the boats mobility and ability to turn in circles and navigate narrow surroundings, Principal Fireman (Marine Unit) Kong Ming-yee said. Mr Kong added the jet foil system is safer than conventional propellers allowing the new boats to get closer to those needing assistance without having to switch off their engines. Each of the new boats features an automatic fire monitor, which can be operated by one person, and an advanced display system that shows ship information generated by the Automatic Identification System, radar data and charts at the same time. Mr Kong said: There are hundreds of boats in parking areas, many incidents happen in those areas. Callers can only describe the colour of the boats, but we can identify the ships easily with the Automatic Identification System. Superior service Many rescue missions take place in turbulent waves and high winds. To counter this, the new boat uses a system that releases an anchor electronically to maintain its position. To be ready for unpredictable situations, officers are tethered to the craft via a safety rope to prevent them from falling into the sea. The Surface Supplied Diving Equipment (SSDE) system, which supplies oxygen to divers through a tube, has also been installed. It lets divers carry out penetration diving and underwater cutting. The SSDE was previously only equipped in large boats, but now the speedboats are also installed with such a system, Senior Station Officer (Diving Unit) Hung Shing-yau said. Divers who are not using the system can submerge in the 15-metre-deep Victoria Harbour for about 45 minutes before they reach the no-decompression limit. Those using the system can dive for about 90 minutes before they reach this limit. The department hopes the new technologically advanced speedboats will enable officers to provide an even better service to the public. This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. In addition to the fact that limousine travel is very glamorous, it is also the most comfortable trip you can... The final price tag for two new almost-new VC-25B executive transport aircraft for the Air Force is now pegged at $5.3 billion. Defense One is reporting the Pentagon has asked for $4.68 billion for the conversion of two mothballed Boeing 747-8i airliners in its 2020 budget request and full implementation of the program will add the other $600 million or so to create the aircraft, which are used to fly the president and are designated Air Force One when hes onboard. The total VC-25B acquisition cost is $5.3B and encompasses all costs associated with fielding the system, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek is quoted as stating in an email to Defense One. The final program cost is about $1.4 billion higher than the $3.9 billion that had been touted by the administration. After intervention from President Donald Trump over the cost of the program, the Air Force bought two white-tailed airframes from Boeing that had been orphaned in desert storage by the bankruptcy of Russian airline TransAero. Its believed stripping the seats and some of the civilian systems from the planes, which have been stored in the open for more than two years, will add to the cost. The sticker price for the two Russian airframes is $390 million each but the Air Force has never released what it actually paid for them. The first of the stored aircraft took off from Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville last week heading to the Kelly Field Annex in Texas where modification work will begin in 2020. Included in the $600 million of program implementation costs is a new hangar for the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. Theres nothing wrong with the existing hangar except its a few feet too small to hold the longer and wider 747-8i. The new hangar is expected to cost $86 million. Despite the ballooning cost (about the same as a new Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier according to thedrive.com), the new airplanes will lack the endurance of the existing VC-25Bs because they will not be able to refuel in flight. By using inflight refueling, along with large refrigerators for food and provisions for other necessities, the existing aircraft were designed to stay in the air for days at a time in times of crisis. It is not excluded that the Ukrainians from Crimea will not be able to vote Oleg Slobodyan, the Spokesperson of Ukraines Border Guard Service Ukrinform The number of the citizens, who cross the administrative border with occupied Crimea, has decreased in comparison with last week. Moreover, the Russian border guards stop citizens and ask the purpose of their visit to the mainland as Ukraine's Interior Ministry reported citing Oleg Slobodyan, the Spokesperson of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. We got the information that the border guards of the state-occupant stop the Ukrainians, who aim to the mainland and ask the purpose of their visit. We do not have information whether they returned someone, who said that the purpose is voting but we can suppose that they do not allow to vote, Slobodyan said. He emphasized that all detachment work as usual; the guard of the border is enhanced. Totally, 7,000 of the personnel work today. 1,300 people stay in the reserve. The maritime forces guard the maritime boundaries. A few boat and ship groups guard the sea coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. The personnel, who serve at Snake Island also can vote. Considering the tendencies of the crossing of the border or the demarcation line, there is a significant increase of people, who cross the border, administrative border or the demarcation line. In the Joint Forces Operation zone we observe the decrease of the passenger traffic by 1,5-2 times in comparison with the last week, he noted. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. There are 39 candidates in the ballots and over 35.6 million voters. Over 315,000 of the voters changed the place of the registration for voting. As we reported, the voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections you can watch here. The Russian journalists shoot the Ukrainian elections from behind the fence of the embassy polling station at Ukraine's Embassy in Minsk, Belarus Radio Liberty The representatives of the Russian media were not allowed to enter the polling station at the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk, Belarus. They shot the election process only from behind the fence of the embassy, as Radio Liberty reported. Particularly, the correspondents of TASS, RIA-News agencies, REN-TV, and NTV Channels shot only outside and interviewed the citizens of Ukraine. The representatives of the Belarusian, Ukrainian, and international media can freely visit the station. 12,000 Ukrainian voters are registered at the territory of Belarus and they can vote at Ukraines Embassy in Minsk and Consulate General in Brest. Oksana Brublevska, the Chairman of the Election Commission, which works in Minsk, said that 241 voters participated in the elections as of 12 p.m. As we reported the voters' turnout in the presidential elections in Ukraine was 44,5% as of 3 p.m. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. There are 39 candidates in the ballots and over 35.6 million voters. Over 315,000 of the voters changed the place of the registration for voting. As we reported, the voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections you can watch here. The Ministry of the Interior has noted that the number of reported violations is a record for all the years of voting Open source The Ministry of the Interior declares that violations at the presidential elections are not systemic and will not affect the results of the voting. This is reported by the adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mykhailo Apostol, reports Ukrainian News. "There are violations, but they are not systematic and cannot be considered as such that may affect the election results," he said. At the same time, the Interior Ministry noted that gross violations were not reported. The police opened 5 criminal cases on the fact of violation of the secrecy of the vote, namely, the public demonstration of the ballot by the voter. According to Mykhailo Apostol, the number of reported violations is a record for all the years of voting, but, in his opinion, is associated with an increase in citizens' confidence in the police. At 8 p.m. Kyiv time polling stations in Ukraine were closed. Voting has lasted for 12 hours. Polling stations were opened at 8 am Kyiv time. There are 29,888 polling stations in all regions of Ukraine, occupied Crimea, and separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Presidential candidates have made their choice. 2,344 international observers have been officially approved to come to Ukraine to follow the course of the presidential election. 112 Ukraine TV channel is broadcasting the voting process from the entire territory of Ukraine. We also have a live stream form the Central Election Committee for quick updates of committees meetings and online vote counting. The data will come faster and more accurate than that on the website of the Central Election Committee. . 20- , 1 . . 60- . , 100- 19- ... Were you worried? Ye of little faith. Jurgen Klopp left his summer midfield acquisitions on the bench, leading to plenty of pre-match consternation. James Milner started in midfield along with Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum, leaving all of us to wonder what on earth was wrong with Naby Keita, Fabinho and Shaqiri. Going off of the assumption that Jurgen Klopp isnt trying to throw the league away like we did the domestic cups, one would have to guess that the goal was to press Spurs aggressively from the opening whistle. In a match like this its always fun to watch what players have an extra gear and against Spurs, Trent Alexander-Arnold who looked to understand the importance of the moment. A great recovery tackle in the 5th minute bailed out Matip for roaming too high. He nearly volleyed a ball home in the 18th, just missing the bottom left corner, and in the 34th the young fullback nearly scored from a corner. But, it was the opposite fullback who created our opener. Robertson floated a perfect ball to Bobby Firmino, who had a helluva first half, himself. The Brazilian made a great run and headed perfectly, taking a crouching tiger stance mid-air and firing past Lloris. Liverpool dominated play from there for a solid 20 minute stretch. Mane had some close calls, firing just wide on similar opportunities from the top of the D in the 19th and 36th minute. In the second half Robertson had to bail us out at the other end, getting in the way of an Eriksen shot after a scramble, ruining a massive chance for them. Spurs dominated the action throughout the second half. Who would have thought that Gini, Milner and Henderson through age, overuse and injuries, would fade down the stretch? Jurgen, as always, waited on his substitutions while Pochettino radioed down to the Tottenham bench as Spurs staff comically passed the phone around to each-other. Whatever Poch said must have worked, because Spurs were in almost immediately off of a diagonal ball to Lucas Moura. Finally, Jurgen Klopp sensed the seriousness of the moment, mercifully bringing Fabinho and Origi on for Henderson and Milner. Liverpool didnt turn the tables on Spurs exactly from there on, but the changes made a significant difference. Fabinho gave The Reds much more control in midfield, though Mo Salah was taking some desperate chances to get us back in front. With dozens of negative tweets in draft and the minutes running out, Liverpool were firing cross after cross into the box, and faith was fading, when one final try fell to Mo. The Egyptian headed sharply enough directly at Lloris that he couldnt catch it cleanly and a glorious deflection spurssed off of Alderweirelds leg for an own goal. 2-1 Liverpool. A turnaround so miraculous you expect Brexit to be solved by sundown. Is it written in the stars, Reds? We sure do make it difficult, but with six matches left, why the hell not? Up The Jammy Reds! Waiting Tables A Lansing doublecross left most waiters earning just $3.52 an hour. Here's how they make it work. by Sally Mitani From the March, 2019 issue What do you do if you need a job around here and you don't have or can't find a use for a college degree? Baristas and Lyft drivers may represent the zeitgeist, but more people actually make a living the old-fashioned way: waiting tables. After studying the Ann Arbor Observer City Guide and talking to folks in the business, I'd guess there are close to 1,000 full-time waiters here. Last year, Michigan passed legislation requiring tipped employees be paid a base wage of $9.25/hour and receive paid sick time. But what looked like an uncharacteristically progressive move for the state's conservative Republican legislature was in fact a political double-cross. By passing the bills, lawmakers prevented two similar proposals, collectively known as One Fair Wage, from appearing on the November ballot. As soon as the election was over, they rescinded almost everything the bills provided. Some local waiters I talked to watched the legal double-dealing closely. Others barely noticed--they were otherwise preoccupied, or, suspecting some such knavery, never got their hopes up. One lucky soul remains nearly incredulous that his workplace already provides more than the laws offered. But all had tales about what it takes to make a living waiting tables in our famously pricey city. --- All but one of the people I talked to are paid just $3.52 per hour. Tips are presumed to bring that up to Michigan's $9.25/hour minimum. Sheila Graziano, a familiar face in high-end restaurants for more than forty years, says that's how it's worked for her. Graziano is nearing the end of a long career--"another 318 days," she says in February, till she reaches her full retirement age for Social Security. "Waitress" is the job title that works best for her, but "waiter" is fine, too. After working everywhere from Leo Ping's, a Chinese dive on Liberty, to Tecumseh's Evans Street Station, she's now at Mikette. Graziano followed the One Fair Wage fight closely, but isn't surprised that others didn't. ...continued below... At lower-end places, she says, "restructuring the wage system would throw many into arrears," and people working at diners would rather have a low-paying job than no job.From her own precarious no-benefits job, she has fashioned a stable, happy life. It helps, she says, that she "always had a good family saying 'can I help you out?'"--and a forty-year marriage. She and Angelo Graziano, a truck driver, own a home in Chelsea and have two grown children.She's always loved waiting tables, and says flexible hours are part of the appeal. When the kids were little, she says, "I'd work one shift, and Angelo would work the other." When she needed to, she could get a few days off, or "pick up a few extra shifts, like when I needed a camp fund for the kids." As an empty nester, she has more time to dance--she teaches, choreographs, and performs Appalachian clogging and Canadian step dancing.When she started, waiters left work each night with a wad of cash. No more. At Mikette, "I'll go for weeks without having a cash sale." Her tips come to her in her paycheck, compiled from credit card records and time cards. She says Ann Arborites tip an average of about 20 percent. She keeps 14 percent, and Mikette shares the rest with the runners, bussers, and bartenders.Asked how she herself tips when she dines out, she says the most extraordinary thing--one later echoed by several other waiters I talked to: "If I have substandard service, I usually tip a little more. That person needs a boost. Maybe they have a bad knee and couldn't get to the doctor."---"We have to make it quick because the father of my baby has to work." says Kristy Knight (no relation to the Knight restaurant family), as she hurriedly counts money at the end of her shift at Classic Cup Cafe. "Ask me anything," she adds. "I'm an open book."Her daughter, Kylie Claire, was born in October. She and Kylie's father, Keith Alder live together, but she's adamantly resisting marriage: "He's trying to convince me, but to me, it's a piece of paper. I've seen too many divorces."Knight's income is low enough that she qualifies for Medicaid--it footed the entire bill for the pregnancy and birth. She accepted the benefit gratefully but thinks it unfair that people earning only slightly more pay dearly for health coverage.Boyishly slim and never without eye make-up ("you get better tips when you look presentable"), Knight, thirty-one, says she's "not from anywhere; I bounced around." Most of the bouncing was in Michigan with her mom and sister, but some was on her own. She left home and school at age sixteen--"I have a GED"--and has always worked in restaurants, though this is her first waitressing job."I was a line cook at Denny's. I didn't think I'd be good at waitressing because it's hard for me to put a smile on when people are being rude ... When I used to be a cook, waitresses would complain. But it's the easiest job I've ever had. I feel I'm hosting them in my own house."She came to Ann Arbor a few years ago "to be with a guy I met on the Internet," which didn't work out. She was a customer at Classic Cup until the manager offered her a job. She met Alder there, too--his small company services the restaurant's heating and cooling systems.Like diner waitresses everywhere, Knight makes liberal use of "hon," "love," and other endearments. With cranky customers, "I go one of two ways": relentless cheerfulness or sassing them back. Also, "some people just like to be left alone, and I can tell who they are."If there's a personality trait that defines a good waiter, it's intuition. Every waiter interviewed mentioned an ability to sense and match the moods and needs of customers.Knight works about forty hours a week, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Though prices are low, the tips tend to average over 20 percent. "Well, when the check is only a few bucks ..."Asked if she's a natural early riser Knight says yes, then "no, actually, but that's where the tips are here." Anyway, with a four-month old baby, her own biorhythms are kind of irrelevant.Some of her customers still pay cash, but "I always report all my tips," she says crisply and firmly. In her income bracket, "you get it back," some at the end of the year in a tax refund, and the rest eventually in Social Security.---Terance Gordon works at Ann Arbor's only no-tipping restaurant, Miss Kim. He already enjoys all the benefits One Fair Wage would have provided, plus much more.Common in Europe, including employee compensation in the price of the meal is still experimental here. At Miss Kim, waiters make a straight wage of about $13 an hour. While this is less than the tip-enhanced total they might make elsewhere, Gordon and another Miss Kim waiter I talked to say it is more than offset by a generous benefits package as well as the unquantifiable dignity andthe policy confers.Miss Kim's commitment to the experiment isn't ironclad: what began as a strict no-tip policy has recently evolved into an "optional cash tip" policy. But "there is still no line on the credit card slip for a tip," Gordon points out, "and the most I've ever taken home in one night is forty dollars."We meet at the Sweetwaters in the Westgate library: "I'll be the black guy in dreads," he texts. Normally, he would have been working, but with the January temperature far below zero, Miss Kim was closed, so Gordon had taken a few of his coworkers to the Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Canton, his favorite place to blow off steam. When he can't get to Sky Zone, he does parkour around Ann Arbor.When Gordon was growing up, his mother had a tough time making ends meet. He and his siblings had lived in nearly half a dozen cities by the time they arrived in Ypsi for his senior year of high school. After graduation, he tried unsuccessfully to continue his education, but ended up as "a pizza delivery guy for way longer than I liked."Connecting with Miss Kim when it opened a few years ago was like finding a stairway to heaven. "When I saw the ad that said thirteen dollars an hour, I said, 'Wow, that's insane! I'm used to, like, seven dollars.'" He laughs: "Believe it or not, I had never heard of Zingerman's." Because Miss Kim is a Zingerman's business, employees get intensive, paid training in customer service; a benefits package; and even $30 toward the price of a pair of non-slip shoes.He says his job is now split between waiting tables and managing, and he has "two associate's and one bachelor's degree from University of Zingerman's," as it calls its roster of classes in finance, food, and service. He teaches a UZ class himself--"Courageous Conversations"--and he's working on a WCC degree in human resources.The fine-food world was entirely new to him. In the pizza business, "everything was 'Do you want flavored crust?' and I knew nothing about wine." Now he guides customers through an exotic menu of pricy and inventive Korean cuisine. A nondrinker, he created most of the restaurant's creative "mocktails."He has built up 115 hours of vacation time that he can't bring himself to use. "The way I've lived, the idea of taking time off is kind of scary. I've scheduled time off and not gone. I've even thought of taking time off to work another job." And he vouches for the four free psychotherapy sessions that came with his benefits package. "They're quality therapists," he remarks. "And I know therapists."---Suzanne Cohen was "kind of" following the One Fair Wage machinations. "I was just going to wait and see," she says. "You can't sit there biting your nails," especially in a world where political sleight of hand often obscures the real consequences of legislation--"this was a perfect example," she says wryly.I had never met Cohen when I limped into Espresso Royale to interview her, but she guessed it was me from the laptop peeking out of my bag. I explained I had slipped on an icy sidewalk the night before. "OhLet's find you a comfy chair!" she said, already scanning the room. Her reflexes are finely tuned to caring for people, both in her home life and in her job waiting tables at Casey's Tavern.Cohen has worked at Casey's for thirty-two years, since it opened. Now sixty-ish, she lives in the home she grew up in. As if to illustrate her penchant for food and care, her phone rings: "Hi Dad, what's happenin'? Well, there's that chicken and potato dish in the fridge for lunch ... Roasted root vegetables, steamed bok choy ... got it? Okay, babe, excellent." A little easy chitchat about upcoming errands and doctor appointments follows.Cohen's family moved to Ann Arbor when she was in seventh grade--her father, a clinical psychologist, helped found the progressive and now defunct Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation and Related Disabilities. She moved back home several years ago to nurse her mother through dementia, and stayed on to help her father after her mother died. She remains very close to her three siblings--they fly in and stay with their dad whenever Cohen needs a vacation.Despite a life focused on cooking and nurturing, "kids, marriage, that's not my thing," she says. The New Jersey neighborhood where she spent the first half of her childhood reflected her parents' Jewish and Italian backgrounds, "where people got married in their teens." She knew she didn't want that for herself. She met her partner of fourteen years, a musician, on a semiannual camping trip/gourmet bacchanal she and friends used to hold up north: "pooping in the woods, but eating prosciutto-wrapped shrimp with ginger-lime chutney." They have separate places but spend most of their free time together.Asked if she sees any commonality in people who choose restaurant work, she thinks a minute. "We're all middle children?" (Graziano, a middle child, had never made the connection before, but was delighted by it. Gordon is also a middle child.)She works the dinner shift at Casey's five nights a week and says she loves the gig more than ever. "You always have days when you want to kvetch, but I have customers who have been with us since the beginning, three generations of families--births, engagements, couples who met here on their first date. I know it sounds like a commercial, but it's true. The food is good. And hearty. The mac and cheese is to die for."---"I'm embarrassed to admit I was only peripherally aware of" the One Fair Wage campaign, says Terry McClymonds. "It was not a particularly hot topic either among the staff or clientele" at the Aut Bar. Embarrassed because, he emphasizes "I am for all measures that would provide an economic safety net for people in our wonderful, albeit unreliable, business."If the word "waiter" seems resistant to becoming a gender-neutral descriptor for the profession, it's because it calls to mind a tuxedoed man in a white tablecloth restaurant, setting down a plate of escargots with a flourish. Which exactly describes McClymonds. In 1982, he "served the first meal at Escoffier--escargots andThe restaurant's tuxedoed waiters spoke in the third person ("what would Madame like?") and passed out menus written entirely in French. (He says he used the third-person only for people who wanted it--he had a folksier approach for other customers.)He left Escoffier in 1997 and began tending the Aut Bar the same year. It has only six stools, but he's also the service bartender for its twelve tables, and many more outside in the summer. Now seventy-one, he works about three shifts a week, and "hand-curates" the Thursday trivia quiz.Chatting amiably with the owner of Argus Farm Stop about his homemade harissa, and wearing a Yale sweatshirt, McClymonds looks like Wallace Shawn. He had suggested meeting at Argus because he lives nearby and was having car trouble.Nothing in this picture seems out of place: that a septuagenarian waiter would still be working three nights a week has the ring of hard economic reality. It is equally unsurprising that he has car trouble, lives on the Old West Side, and is an impassioned foodie. Even his Yale education (class of George W. Bush) isn't an eyebrow-raiser: the restaurant industry and Ann Arbor are both magnets for overeducated oddballs. But when he reveals that his nearby place is in Liberty Lofts, where condos trade in the high six figures, some explanation seems needed.McClymonds grew up in Pittsburgh, "the first person in the family who went to college. Mom was a nurse, dad worked for the gas company."I was very smart--there's no other way to put it," he says apologetically, and he went to Yale on a National Merit Scholarship. Drafted after graduation in 1968, he served as a linguist in the Army, went to bartending school on the GI bill, and headed to Ann Arbor.He ended up at Liberty Lofts several years ago after his father died. "He had a surprising amount of money," which McClymonds was advised to invest in real estate. He could live comfortably without working but believes "it's important to stay active," hence the several nights a week at Aut Bar.McClymonds concurs that most Ann Arborites tip about twenty percent. "Everyone has their stories of thousand-dollar nights, though who knows if most of them are true?" he says.Then he tells a true story of his own. "The day the Supreme Court ruled on marriage equality, I made about a thousand dollars," he says. "It was a Friday, nice weather--things like that you remember." [Originally published in March, 2019.] Our struggle is to bring social, political, and economic justice to our nation. This is an effort of the Chicano/Mexican American Digital History Project. https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/ This included 204 deaths due to election-related violence, hundreds of injuries and the large-scale destruction of property. The ANU observation team documented and witnessed election-related violence in all but three of the 69 electorates in which it undertook detailed observations. Observers and citizens reported curtailing their movements throughout the campaign, polling and post-polling periods due to the violence and insecurity which punctuated the elections from start to finish. CAIRNS - According to the ANU report, violence by candidates and their gangs, and police and Defence Force elements (both institutions comprehensively corrupted by Peoples National Congress) reached unprecedented levels during the 2017 election. Journalist Mark Davis continues his summary of the main issues arising in the lengthy Australian National University report on the 2017 Papua New Guinea national election. Mark documents election violence including an undisclosed level of murder and looting that has extended to this day You can link to it in full here Election violence seized Kundiawa in Chimbu Province. A dispute over who won the governorship continues in the courts but not in Kundiawa where it is considered a danger to public safety There were reports by media and independent witnesses of deaths, injury and other forms of violence in the remaining 42 electorates. Some independent observers put the death toll as high as 234, and even then believe their estimates are conservative. Four police were shot and killed in Southern Highlands Province in a post-election flare-up. More than 10,500 security personnel took part in the election. Despite that, ANU observer teams in all four regions who had witnessed prior elections reported that 2017 was the most violent they had seen, and citizens surveyed tended to agree, with two-thirds saying 2017 was worse than 2012. Police and Defence Force brutality or the use of excessive force was common. The report states: In Hela, Eastern Highlands and National Capital District observers witnessed security personnel driving their vehicles at speed into crowds in order to disperse those who had gathered, and in several locations security personnel were observed firing either warning shots or shots directly into gathered crowds. Civilian deaths resulted in Southern Highlands, Hela, Enga and Gulf provinces." ANU observers directly witnessed violent altercations leading to serious injury, death or major property damage: The level of insecurity experienced by observers in 2017 was unprecedented. Several observers were threatened in relation to their work and a number, as in 2012, were assaulted. Individual observers in Hela, Western Highlands, Enga and NCD were assaulted by security personnel whilst carrying out their duties. "An observer in Southern Highlands narrowly escaped being shot when police fired upon the crowd outside of Mendi police station. His brother who was with him at the time was not so lucky, being shot in the leg. "Observers in places as diverse as Tari, Mendi, Kundiawa, Popondetta, Kavieng and Rabaul, were caught up in election violence, while observers in Rabaul and Mt Hagen had to be relocated for their own safety. In addition, two very experienced observers in Mt Hagen withdrew from the observation prior to polling due to fear for their personal safety. The report also provides evidence of police and security forces engaging in election-rigging: During a break in counting in Mt Hagen, a soldier alleged that some security personnel were working to ensure the governments re-election. He made the following unverified comment to observers: This election was planned from start to finish by the PNC. Millions has been pumped into specific people in power to ensure PNC candidates and those in alliance with PNC win. "'The PNGDF Commander and the Electoral Commissioner are both involved and because of this my commanding officer ordered us to deliver 16 extra ballot boxes with papers to a particular place in the Western Highlands. You will see all of the candidates who win in Western Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands they all have connections with senior PNGDF officers. The PNGDF plays a major role in determining who wins and they have the power to make a candidate win or lose. Both the police and Defence Force commanders are close to prime minister Peter ONeill and are ardent supporters of his People's National Congress. Defence Force commander Gilbert Toropo is a relative of ONeills. Threats and intimidation, where observed, were considered more brazen than in past elections, the report states: ....in Central Bougainville a high-profile candidate and ex-combatant directly threatened to reignite the Bougainville conflict if the constituents of his electorate did not vote for him. In Hagen Open, settlers and migrant workers from neighbouring provinces were again threatened with eviction if they did not surrender their votes to the local candidates and in Hela Province, candidates reported having to pay off warlords in order to campaign in particular areas. Some went further and engaged the services of these warlords to control voting on polling day. In the Eastern Highlands and Chimbu, candidates also engaged the services of youth, strongmen and even criminals to provide muscle for their campaigns. According to observers, one candidate in Obura-Wonenara Open was reputed to have bailed out convicted criminals to support his campaign, while in Gumine Open voters were threatened and terrorised by youth squads referred to locally as the 30-man squads. One man interviewed post polling had this to say: [One candidate] spent millions on his campaign buying votes. Individual sub-clans were given amounts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. He also engaged several 30-man squads to control voters. These youth squads were armed with high powered weapons and terrorised voters. The people had no freedom to cast their votes. They were powerless and cast their votes in fear. Similar accounts were recorded in Kundiawa-Gembol Open. Observers there likewise witnessed large amounts of cash (K50,000 K60,000 - $A15,000-20,000 ) distributed at the ward level to key leaders. The amount given to any particular individual, they said, was dependent on the level of influence that person has on his or her community. They also noted the critical role played by youth. Youth are the powerhouse driving this election, one Kundiawa-Gembogl observer reported. They are involved in so many ways: providing security, voter intimidation, as drivers and handyman, as pimps, as messengers between candidates and as scrutineers. Outside of the Highlands there were also reports of criminal elements seeking to influence the conduct of the elections. Late in the campaign period a group of seven heavily armed men in camouflage gear were detained near Kimbe. Media reports indicate that police confiscated a large quantity of 9mm factory-made rounds, a Glock semi-automatic 9mm pistol, a homemade 12-gauge shotgun, three shotgun cartridges, a box of unspecified ammunition, and a magazine containing as further 17 9mm rounds. Shops, houses and government offices put to the torch in Wabag's election violence. There were also many killings "West New Britain Provincial Police commander, Jim Namora, said the seven were believed to be part of a wider network of known criminals and convicted felons sponsored by candidates to be members of a quasi-military group orchestrated for the 2017 polling. PNC youths carrying high-powered semi-automatic firearms were involved in shoot-outs with security forces, and in some electorates, the notorious police mobile squads were used to harass and intimidate Opposition candidates and their election teams. Home invasions and bashings at gunpoint were not unusual. The deaths and violence continued long after the election, and recent incidents in Enga and Milne Bay provinces have been attributed to fallout from the rigged national poll. Mark Davis worked as a media adviser to Sir Mekere Morauta, former prime minister and Member for Moresby North-West in the national parliament While those other observers noted irregularities, mostly with the electoral roll, they failed to expose the widespread abuse, violence, intimidation and rigging that voters experienced. The ANU report and the report of TI PNG stand out in stark contrast to the remarks made by some foreign governments and in other observer reports of the 2017 election, he said. He was reacting to shocking revelations in independent election reports published by the Australian National University and Transparency International. Sir Mekere accused them of whitewashing the rigging and corruption associated with it. NOOSA Former Papua New Guinea prime minister, S ir Mekere Morauta, has strongly criticised foreign governments and organisations, singling out Australia, for their assessments of the 2017 PNG national election. Sir Mekere Morauta - "The 2017 election was designed to be chaotic; it was designed to be rigged; it was designed to produce a particular result It is true that the scope of other observer missions was not as wide as the ANU team, and their resources were more limited, but the variance in the findings is striking, he said. Sir Mekere particularly mentioned huge failings in the polls in National Capital District, Southern Highlands, Hela, Enga, Western Highlands and Jiwaka, although local observers in Chimbu also reported significant malfeasance in the way polling was conducted and considerable violence in Kundiawa town. The former prime minister commended the work of the hundreds of Papua New Guineans, academics and researchers who contributed to the ANU report. The report was based on evidence that was either not noticed or was deliberately ignored by other teams apart from Transparency International, he said. I trust that the other observer missions will now study the ANU and TI reports carefully and compare their own reports with them. I also trust that foreign governments study the reports and take stock of their opinions articulated at the time of the election, blindly praising Peter ONeill and the Electoral Commission for the conduct and the result of the election. Sir Mekere particularly singled out for criticism the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. I dont know who DFAT talks to or where their intelligence comes from, he said. They are out of step with the thinking and experience of the vast majority of Papua New Guineans. How on earth could the Australian foreign minister [at the time, Julie Bishop] have congratulated PNG on a successful election? At the time the remark was widely considered a joke, a bad joke, but it is a serious insult to the people of PNG. Most Papua New Guineans expect Australia not to tolerate corruption, not to endorse electoral fraud and rigging, and to condemn violence. We were amazed and very disappointed that the Australian government not only seemed to condone what had happened but continued to praise Peter ONeill publicly. Australias long history of technical and financial support to the Electoral Commission also needs to be questioned, Sir Mekere said. Australia gave assistance to the 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 elections. It does not seem to have resulted in an efficient, capable organisation or in free and fair elections. Sir Mekere said the 2017 election was by far the worst his country had experienced in terms of abuse, rigging and violence. He said Australian advisers working in the Electoral Commission apparently turned a blind eye to malpractices concerning the storage and distribution of ballot papers, while the assistance to the electoral roll update clearly did not result in any material improvement. The 2017 election was designed to be chaotic; it was designed to be rigged; it was designed to produce a particular result, he said. Those responsible for the chaos were Peter ONeill, Isaac Lupari and the Chief Electoral Commissioner. They do not deserve praise for their actions. The ANU report should be a wake-up call for Australia to start thinking more constructively about its engagement with Papua New Guinea. Candidates across the country (in all four regions) were observed to have spent significant amounts of money securing support and offering material incentives to voters. Money played a huge part in the 2017 elections, and there is no doubt that money politics, which continues to be most pervasive in the Highlands, was more significant than ever before. CAIRNS - Money politics, the use of criminal elements and the engagement of security forces are a feature of elections in the Papua New Guinea Highlands, and have slowly spread into all other regions, most recently into the PNG Islands and Milne Bay. In this final article based on the Australian National Universitys report on the 2017 Papua New Guinea election, journalist Mark Davis concludes with the observer groups finding that there has been a fundamental shift in the relationship between the PNG people and their politicians and its not for the better. You can link to the full ANU report here Peter O'Neill casts his vote at the 2017 national election that was riven by crime figures, intimidation by strongmen, money politics and outright corruption Though widespread, money politics was of a different order than in earlier elections, being focused on key officials and those with the ability to influence. It was mediated by strongmen in some communities, and well-respected leaders in others. There was also a significant flow of resources from voters to candidates, providing an ideal situation for strongmen and other community leaders to consolidate their political influence at the local and parliamentary level. The flow of resources from communities to candidates as mediated by local strongmen signals a fundamental shift in the relationship between constituents and their political representatives. Problems with the electoral roll were a feature of voter discontent. In 2017, all 35 observer teams noted serious defects with it, and the report finds that many citizens were not provided genuine opportunity to register on a non-discriminatory basis, nor were they provided reasonable opportunity to inspect the electoral roll prior to or during the election. We also find that the poor state of the 2017 electoral roll created such angst, disaffection and disenfranchisement that it influenced almost every other aspect of the election. In contrast to previous elections, responsibility for preparing the roll was devolved to provinces, and a Decentralised Enrolment System (DES) was introduced. In many provinces preparation was delayed due to funding shortfalls and, when it did occur, it served to exacerbate the problems identified in past elections rather than obviate them. The pattern of simultaneous under-enrolment and over-enrolment noted in many locations across the country in 2007 and 2012 was again evident in 2017. Overall, very few of the 7,510 citizens surveyed pre- and post-polling had confidence in the electoral roll, with confidence dropping to just 10% in 2017. In many electorates there were disputes about which version of the roll was being used, and there were discrepancies between the rolls being used and voter details being given by the newly introduced online Roll-LookUp app. Based on the access provided to ANU researchers, it seems that widespread, and in many cases, systematic, hijacking of the roll update process occurred. It also seems that the poor state of the 2017 electoral roll created such angst, disaffection and disenfranchisement that it influenced almost every other aspect of the election. These sentiments are also reflected in the Transparency International PNG election report, and friends and family of independent observers identified numerous irregularities including ghost names and missing voters in their own electorates. Economist Paul Flanagan demonstrated in a statistical analysis that there appeared to be systematic manipulation of the electoral roll in the fortnight preceding polling and that this manipulation favoured Peter ONeills Peoples National Congress. The ANU report says the electoral roll used in Hela Province on polling day was dated 15 June 2017. It provided the basis on which ballot papers were distributed at the ward level. Typically wards received an allocation of papers equivalent to the number of electors enrolled plus five additional ballot papers. But the 15 June 2017 electoral roll simultaneously exhibited gross under-enrolment and over-enrolment at ward level, which seemingly benefited key PNC-endorsed candidates. In one electorate observers collectively identified over 1,500 eligible citizens whose names were missing from the roll. Their detailed checks on the rolls for two of the 64 wards also revealed 300 entries for people who were either unknown, deceased, living elsewhere, underage or duplicate entries. Assuming similar numbers of ineligible entries in each of the other wards then there may be as many as 10,000 excess enrolments in that one electorate. Overall, the nomination period proved more eventful than in either 2007 or 2012, the ANU says. In several locations observers reported that individual candidates experienced difficulty nominating. The most notable example of this was in Ialibu-Pangia Open, where rival candidates and observers alike reported that candidates seeking to challenge the PM Peter ONeill experienced considerable difficulty nominating. While the PM successfully nominated at Pangia Station without incident, other candidates took to social media reporting that the district electoral office was inexplicably closed and/or unattended when they sought to nominate. High profile challenger Stanley Liria eventually managed to track down the returning officer and nominate just prior to the close of nominations. He posted photos and video of his nomination rally and convoy on Facebook to demonstrate that he was a legitimate candidate. Other candidates in other seats reported similar difficulties, and some even found that they were not on the electoral roll and that their nominations had not been processed. Detailed observations were made at 945 of the 10,825 polling station nationwide and, in every electorate in which observations were made, procedural anomalies and serious irregularities were noted. Serious irregularities, including personation, underage voting, multiple voting and proxy voting, have seemingly become commonplace across much of the country and served to undermine the integrity of the vote, the report says. In the Highlands, observers did not see individual voting of a kind associated with democratic elections. Two-thirds (65%) of all citizens surveyed post polling considered the 2017 elections worse than the 2007 and 2012 elections, and fewer than half (46%) reported being able to freely exercise their vote. Long delays in the lead-up to polling day resulted in Sunday voting in some electorates, including that of ONeill, which is in contravention of the constitutional laws covering elections. ONeill has a standing instruction to the Electoral Commission to declare his Ialibu-Pangia seat first, providing as it does a strong fillip to PNCs campaign in the multitude of seats where polling has not started or is continuing. Mr Liria filed a supreme court reference seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of Sunday polling but later withdrew his application in the national interest stating that his participation in the court proceedings and the court proceedings themselves could be contributing to the ongoing unrest in and about Southern Highlands. Other electorates where Sunday voting took place included Kandrian-Gloucester Open, Menyamya Open and Central Bougainville Open. The votes cast on Sunday in Kandrian-Gloucester Open were declared informal by Provincial Returning Officer Emily Kelton, and were removed from the count. The report states that vote counting was worse than in prior elections, with fewer checks and balances witnessed. Numerous ballot boxes were destroyed, tampered with or hijacked, and many were set aside or excluded from counting. As a consequence, 13 seats were declared with fewer than 80% of all boxes counted, including three provincial seats which were declared with less than 30% of all boxes counted. Examples are given in the report of ballot boxes containing excess ballot papers, or too few ballot papers. In Chimbu Province, 11,500 excess ballot papers were destroyed. Immediately before the campaign, serious questions were raised about the Electoral Commissions decision to have the ballot papers printed in Indonesia, a task usually done domestically. Rumours abounded of additional papers, and they appear to have been confirmed by key officials, security personnel and independent witnesses. Polling and counting were significantly delayed across the nation, by up to several days in some places because of a range of administrative failures, interference by candidates, security personnel and dissatisfied voters. In other places, counting appeared to have been deliberately delayed or manipulated to disadvantage Opposition MPs. For example, the report states, counting in Madang Open and Moresby North West Open proceeded extremely slowly, being prolonged by demands from trailing PNC incumbents that full recounts be undertaken. Moresby North West Open also delivered one of the scandalous highlights of the election, namely the absurd Airways Hotel room declaration of third placed candidate Joseph Tonde. Madang and Moresby North-West are Opposition strongholds held by Bryan Kramer and Sir Mekere Morauta respectively. The report covers many other areas of concern and provides more detailed examples of irregularities and outright corruption. It validates the conclusions drawn by many in 2017 that led to calls for a commission of inquiry and for ONeills election to be invalidated. Mark Davis worked as a media adviser to Sir Mekere Morauta, former prime minister and Member for Moresby North-West in the national parliament Iron ore spot markets rose strongly across the board on Friday. Uncertainty over supply disruptions in Brazil and Australia, along with firmer steel prices, likely explain the size of the gains recorded during the session. China's official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs both improved in March compared to the levels reported in February. The Caixin-IHS Markit China manufacturing PMI report for March will be released on Monday. Iron ore prices rallied on Friday, supported by renewed uncertainty over Brazilian and Australian supply. According to metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fines jumped 2.5% to $86.81 a tonne, logging its largest gain in two weeks. The gains in higher grades were even larger with 65% fines soaring 3% to $99.30 a tonne, leaving it just below the multi-year highs struck in early February. Lower grades also rallied with 58% fines adding 1.6% to $72.14 a tonne. Image: BI The across the board gains coincided with renewed uncertainty over the outlook for Brazilian and Australian iron ore supply, two of the largest seaborne exporters globally. On Thursday, Brazilian miner Vale lowered its iron ore sales forecasts to a range of 307 to 322 million tonnes this year, down from an earlier estimate of 382 million tonnes. "The price implications from Vales guidance and commentary are significant," said Vivek Dhar, Mining and Energy Commodities Analyst at the Commonwealth Bank. "Given the physical nature of iron ore markets, the impending physical tightness to face iron ore markets strengthens our conviction that iron ore prices will rise above to over $90 a tonne in the short term." Daniel Hynes, Senior Commodities Strategist at ANZ Bank, is another who expects iron ore prices will remain supported in the period ahead. "We see a sizable disruption lingering over the market for the near future," he said, referring to supply disruptions in Brazil. "Supply-side responses are likely, but will be far short of what is required to meet the needs of the market in 2019. As a result, iron ore exports will fail to meet expected demand by around 3540 million tonnes in 2019. Story continues "This should keep prices well supported in 2019." Along with uncertainty over the outlook for Brazilian supply, news of operational disruptions at facilities owned by Rio Tinto in Western Australia was another factor that helped to propel prices higher during the session. On Friday, the miner issued force majeure notices to some iron ore customers due to damage from tropical cyclone Veronica, which hit Western Australia earlier this week, according to Reuters. Rio said that it was "currently assessing the impact of the damage sustained at the Cape Lambert A port facility and is working with its customers to minimise any disruption in supplies". A force majeure is invoked when a miner cannot perform an obligation under a contract due to circumstances outside of its control. Like spot markets, the news helped to spark a rally in Chinese iron ore futures on Friday. In Dalian, the most actively traded May 2019 contract jumped to as high as 638.5 yuan before closing the session at 631.5 yuan. That was well above the 613.5 yuan level it finished on Thursday evening. Stronger steel prices also helped to support iron ore futures at the margin with rebar and hot-rolled coil finishing trade at 3,758 and 3,741 yuan respectively, up from 3,695 and 3,673 yuan on Thursday evening. As seen in the scoreboard below, those moves were largely sustained in overnight trade on Friday. SHFE Hot Rolled Coil 3,732 , 0.67% SHFE Rebar 3,754 , 0.72% DCE Iron Ore 632.50 , 1.85% DCE Coking Coal 1,229.00 , -0.08% DCE Coke 1,980.00 , 0.23% Trade in Chinese commodity futures will resume at midday AEDT on Monday. In news that will likely bolster sentiment across the steel and bulk commodity complex further, activity levels across China's manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors improved in March, driven in part by booming construction activity. The government's manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs rose to 50.5 and 54.8 respectively in March, up from 49.2 and 54.3 in February. A reading above 50 indicates that activity levels improved from a month earlier. The distance away from 50 reveals how fast the improvement occurred. The separate Caixin-IHS Markit China manufacturing PMI report for March will be released today. In the past, markets have tended to pay more attention to this report than the official government release. It will arrive at 12.45pm AEDT. The favourite for Harry and Meghans chosen name is Diana. photo: Getty Images Punters have predicted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will call their baby Diana after Harrys late mother, following a flurry of bets on the newborn being a girl. Betfair spokesperson Katie Baylis told Yahoo Style UK: Diana has been the big favourite since Meghan announced she was expecting and weve slashed the odds on the name to 3/1 in the last few days. Grace comes in as a second, while Arthur, James and Edward are predicted if the baby is a boy. Meghan and Harry are due to welcome the newest addition to the royal family any day now, and rumours are flying thick and fast around every detail. So whats in a name? Diana would be a tribute to Harrys mother who tragically died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. Its also one of Princess Charlottes middle names. Its suspected a baby girl would be named after the Dukes late mother Diana. Photo: Getty Images Grace Kelly is the name of the former American actress, who became Princess of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Like Meghan, she retired from acting to take up royal duties. Victoria and Alice are also favourites if the couple have a girl. The Queen is a great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Princess Alice was her second daughter. The Duke of Edinburghs mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg. If the royal baby is a boy, Arthur, James and Edward all have royal connotations. Prince William and his son Louis both have Arthur as one of their middle names. Photo: Getty Images Arthur is the name of the legendary, mythical king, derived from 5th century folklore. Prince William and his son Prince Louis also have Arthur as one of their middle names and Kates sister Pippa Middleton gave the name to her firstborn. King James has been the name of many monarchs throughout history, while Edward was the name of the Queens uncle and is also that of her youngest son. Edward may recall a time when a divorcee was unable to be queen. Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII. Photo: Getty Images Harry and Meghan may be less likely to choose Edward though, as he abdicated from the throne in 1936 so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Meghan is also an American divorcee so the choice of name may be a little on the nose for the parents-to-be, who have already weathered their fair share of controversy. Story continues Got a story tip? Send it to lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. A day after Nicaragua's government pledged to restore the right to protest, at least four people were hurt and 10 detained during a demonstration calling for the release of prisoners, the opposition said. One of the wounded was linked to the government, said Silvia Gutierrez, of the UNAB opposition umbrella group, who provided the toll and the number of detainees. The clash on Saturday came a day after President Daniel Ortega's government and the opposition reached an agreement to restore protest and press freedom rights while disarming paramilitaries, following a year-long political upheaval that left hundreds dead. The injuries on Saturday occurred at a commercial center in downtown Managua, where more than 150 people had gathered ahead of a march. Hundreds of armed riot police guarding the area forced the protesters to retreat, with struggles in which three people were detained. Seven other people were held in the capital and the western city of Leon, UNAB said. "It is outrageous that again today in Nicaragua, police and violent civilians are attacking, detaining and injuring civilians who are demonstrating peacefully," the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Baez, said on Twitter. In Managua, a man inside the commercial center also shot at protesters, wounding three, the opposition said. Police accused the protesters of disturbing public order, and in a later statement said seven were detained but later released. The private Channel 10 Television reported that police assaulted two of its journalists who were covering the protest. "The Ortega regime's police violated the agreement" signed on Friday, said the opposition alliance which participated in talks with the government, whose delegation is led by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada. Those actions endangered the negotiation process "and the search for peaceful solutions," the opposition group said. The central American country has been in crisis since April last year when a protest initially against a now-scrapped pension reform transformed into calls for Ortega's ouster. Protesters accused him and his wife of establishing a dictatorship characterized by nepotism and brutal repression of the opposition and independent media. Unrest left more than 300 people dead, 2,000 wounded, and sent 52,000 into exile, human rights groups say. The Friday agreement was the first since stop-and-start talks between the government and the opposition began on February 27. Under the deal, the government is also to respect freedom of expression. Daily newspapers critical of the regime have been deprived of essential supplies by the authorities since September. After a suspension, peace talks resumed on March 21 following an agreement by the government to release all opposition detainees within 90 days. Nicaraguan police struggle with demonstrators in Managua, a day after the government pledged to restore the right to protest A demonstrator who was injured by an alleged paramilitary who opened fire during a protest against president Daniel Ortega's government in Managua,on March 30, 2019 From smog breaks to pollution bonuses, Asia's businesses are promising increasingly inventive perks in a desperate bid to lure executives to a region where toxic air engulfs major cities for much of the year. Health concerns are putting off those initially attracted by Asia's growing economic opportunities, experts warn, so firms are struggling to recruit -- and retain -- people with the expertise they need. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, some 92 percent of people in the Asia-Pacific region are exposed to levels of air pollution that pose a significant risk to health. This means that on top of large salaries, businesses are having to offer extra incentives. These include paying for smog breaks every few months, or allowing non-traditional working arrangements so people can commute from less polluted areas, says Lee Quane, Asia director for consultancy ECA International. At "a location with a higher level of pollution, you're likely to see us recommend allowances of anywhere between 10 to 20 percent of the person's base salary," he says. This estimate, derived from a rating system his firm uses to help companies decide appropriate financial compensation for relocation, would also incorporate factors such as crime rates and access to services, he adds. Other provisions employees could expect for moving to a highly polluted area include better insulated apartments, air purifiers for home and office, breathing masks, and regular medical check-ups. "If you look at the cost associated with even those smaller things... you?re probably looking at a minimum cost, on an annual basis, of maybe US$5,000 to $10,000 a year," Quane said, with location allowances an additional expense. - Lower calibre employees - In 2014, Panasonic confirmed that it offered a "pollution premium" for those working for the company in China, while media reports revealed Coca Cola was offering an environmental hardship allowance of around 15 percent for employees moving there. China has since taken measures to improve its air quality, but Beijing -- along with other key urban centres in South Asia including New Delhi -- routinely exceeds World Health Organisation safe limits for air pollution. As a result, these places are seeing a "reduction in calibre" of employees, Quane warns, arguing that firms are forced to opt for people who are less qualified. Patrick Behar-Courtois, who ran an organisational behaviour consulting firm in Shanghai for more than a decade, agrees. He says "generous financial offers" were not enough to offset the pollution concerns of the highly skilled people he wanted to recruit. "I basically had to revise my hiring policies and look for people locally, so obviously it means that I got profiles that were less experienced and I had to spend more time training them," he says. Executives with families are often unwilling to put their children's health at risk however attractive the job offer. World Health Organisation experts have repeatedly warned the very young are particularly vulnerable to air pollution and could face a lifetime of illness because of it. Eddy Tiftik built his career in China and held a senior position at one of the world's largest real-estate developers, but felt he had to leave for his family's wellbeing. His then-five-year-old son was constantly unwell with asthma because of Beijing's very high levels of pollution. "He literally would spend three weeks out of a month going back and forth from the hospital," Tiftik tells AFP. - Children at risk - India has one of the world's fastest growing economies, making it an appealing career option, but it is also home to seven of the most polluted cities, according to a recent report by Greenpeace and IQ Air Visual. "All senior executives want to have India experience on their CVs. There is however, a fear of pollution related health issues," says Atul Vohra, managing partner of Transearch, a global recruitment firm. Such concerns are not just an issue for expats, he says, adding that Indians are also turning down work in areas of the country with severe smog. For many the rewards are simply not worth the risks. Behar-Courtois recently left Shanghai, which has seen its air quality deteriorate in the past few years, after his wife developed thyroid issues he believes are linked to the smog. "In the last three to five years, I've seen a lot of people, especially with kids, who basically chose to put an end to their career here and move," he reveals. He now works as a professor in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, where the air is cleaner. Tiftik says his son's symptoms abruptly stopped after the family moved to Bangkok, which has air quality problems of its own, but are fall less severe than Beijing. He would consider leaving the continent altogether if pollution worsens, he says, even though his Mandarin skills give him an edge in the Asian market. He adds: "Although my career is very important, my family?s health is more important." Firms are struggling to recruit - and retain - people with the expertise they need in highly polluted Asian cities like Beijing India has one of the world's fastest growing economies, but it is also home to seven of the most polluted cities A smoggy day in Beijing. Executives with families are often unwilling to put their children's health at risk for a job. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he began a visit to Israel on Sunday and announced a new Jerusalem trade office, but his pledge to move the embassy was on hold. Netanyahu has been hoping Bolsonaro would follow through on his controversial promise to move the embassy to the disputed city, giving the Israeli premier a boost just ahead of April 9 elections. The two leaders instead spoke of opening a Brazilian trade, technology and innovation office there and Netanyahu expressed hope a bigger announcement was not far off. "I'm going to tell you a secret: I hope that this is a first step toward the opening, when the time comes, of a Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said as they gave pre-dinner statements to journalists. Bolsonaro will walk a diplomatic tightrope during the three-day visit as he seeks to shore up ties with Netanyahu while avoiding angering key Arab trade partners. Months after promising to move the embassy -- a step already taken by US President Donald Trump -- Bolsonaro has yet to announce a timetable. Speaking to reporters Thursday, he suggested he was in no hurry to make a decision. "Trump took nine months to decide, to give his final word, so that the embassy was transferred," Bolsonaro said. Moving the embassy would please Bolsonaro's evangelical Christian support base, but would also risk provoking commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat. The Palestinian leadership froze contacts with the White House after Trump's move. - Western Wall visit - Bolsonaro is expected to visit Jerusalem's Western Wall alongside Netanyahu on Monday -- a controversial move in itself. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall with an Israeli premier. The site, one of the holiest in Judaism, is in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in a move never recognised by the international community. It could be taken as tacit approval of Israel's sovereignty over the site. On Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu and Bolsonaro met at the premier's Jerusalem office and the two countries signed six agreements on areas including defence cooperation, public safety and technology. Earlier in the day at an airport welcoming ceremony, Netanyahu said "we are making history together," adding that they had "opened a new era in relations between our two countries". Bolsonaro spoke of his Christian faith and why the trip was moving for him for that reason, noting a previous pilgrimage to the Jordan River, as well as improving ties. "My government is firmly resolved to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and Israel," he said. "Cooperation in the areas of security and defence is also of great interest to Brazil." Netanyahu became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Brazil when he travelled there for Bolsonaro's January 1 inauguration. In their discussions then, the two right-wingers talked up their budding "brotherhood" which they said would boost military, economic, technological and agricultural cooperation. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz in Israel's elections, whilst also facing indictment on corruption allegations. Pompeo's visit this month and Netanyahu's trip to the United States to meet Trump last week -- cut short due to a flare-up in the Gaza Strip -- were widely seen as boosting his campaign. He has sought to present himself as Israel's essential statesman, and Bolsonaro's visit may include similar rhetoric. Both Netanyahu and Bolsonaro have good relations with Trump. During the Brazilian leader's visit to Washington this month, the US president heaped praise on Bolsonaro, announcing a special relationship that he said could even see the Latin American country join NATO. For years Bolsonaro was little more than a marginal congressman, but his Trump-like campaign in 2018, promising to combat corruption and end politics as usual, propelled him to a surprise victory. burs-mjs/del Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (R) was greeted on arrival in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu President Jair Bolsonaro said "my government is firmly resolved to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and Israel" Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky topped the first round of Ukraine's presidential election Sunday, exit polls showed, setting him up for a run-off with the incumbent after voters expressed frustration over corruption and a stalling economy. When he announced his long-shot candidacy at the start of the year, Zelensky's political experience had been limited to playing the president in a TV show. But he tapped into fatigue with the political class to overtake President Petro Poroshenko and knock ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko out of the race. "This is just a first step towards a great victory," the 41-year-old in high spirits told supporters at his campaign headquarters minutes after the exit polls were released. "We're not relaxing." If the actor wins the second round in April, as opinion polls suggest, he will take the reins of one of the poorest countries in Europe -- a nation of 45 million people fighting Russian-backed separatists in its industrial east. At a voting station earlier in the day he had promised a Ukraine "without corruption, without bribes". The entertainer was projected to garner around 30 percent of the vote, handily beating Poroshenko on about 18 percent, according to combined figures from three pollsters. Towards midnight local time just over one percent of the vote had been counted and fuller official results were not expected until at least morning. Poroshenko said the projected results were a "harsh lesson" for him personally and for authorities as a whole. He said he felt "no euphoria" in reaching the second round and said the results should provide an impetus to "work on our mistakes". Ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was herself a favourite to win when she launched her campaign at the start of the year, was knocked out with around 14 percent, the figures showed. But Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence as a charismatic face of the 2004 Orange Revolution, claimed the exit polls were "dishonest". Taking her third tilt at the presidency, the 58-year-old insisted she had come in second place and told supporters to wait for final results. Zelensky has yet to spell out what he would do in power and one of his campaign slogans was: "No promises. No apologies." Despite concerns about his vague platform, supporters insist only a brand new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics. Some accuse Zelensky of acting as a front for the interests of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owns the channel that broadcasts the entertainer's shows, but he denies any political links. The actor has eschewed rallies and interviews in favour of playing gigs with his comedy troupe up to the final days of campaigning. His political comedy "Servant of the People" returned for its third series this week. - Deadly conflict - Poroshenko -- a chocolate magnate who was one of the country's richest men when he took office -- came to power in 2014 after a revolution forced his pro-Russian predecessor out of office. The popular uprising was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The 53-year-old leader said he would shut down the fighting, tackle graft and align the country with the West. But five years on, the conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives and counting, while many feel Poroshenko has failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. The campaign saw allegations of corruption and fraud from all sides. A record 39 candidates were on the ballot paper -- which was more than 80 cm long -- but none apart from the frontrunners reached double figures, according to the exit polls. The head of the central election commission said the vote took place without "systemic violations" though the interior ministry earlier said it had received more than 1,700 reports of voter irregularities. Turnout was 63 percent, up around 4 percent on the previous presidential election, according to provisional figures from the election commission. Zelensky and Poroshenko will face off for the presidency on April 21. If Zelensky wins the second round in April, as opinion polls suggest, he will take the reins of one of the poorest countries in Europe When Zelensky announced his long-shot candidacy at the start of the year, his political experience had been limited to playing the president in a TV show Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said exit polls putting him second in the first-round vote was a "harsh lesson" A missing teenage Sydney girl has been found safe and well after missing for days after she failed to turn up at school on Friday, police have confirmed. Authorities had been searching for Gabrielle Lopes Cardozo, aged 15, had been was last seen at Artarmon Railway Station, on the North Shore, at 8.20pm on Thursday. Police and family held serious concerns for the schoolgirls welfare, as they said her disappearance was out of character. Gabrielle, also known as Gabi, is described as being of South American appearance, about 175cm tall, with light brown hair. Sydney North Shore teen Gabrielle Lopes Cardozo, aged 15, has been found after she was reported missing on Friday. Source: NSW Police Force Early Monday morning officers from North Shore Police Area Command pleaded for public assistance to help find her. She was later located safe and well in Artarmon, about 12.45pm, they confirmed. Police thanked the community and the media for their assistance. 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. From a multi-billion-dollar education startup to wired-up mannequins, technology is helping to revolutionise the way Indian schoolchildren are learning -- provided their parents can afford it. A host of online platforms are taking advantage of a surge in smartphone ownership to engage millions of youngsters with interactive games and animated video lessons. India's education system suffers from a lack of investment, and the apps aid students who want extra tuition away from overcrowded classrooms and crumbling schools. Major foreign investors are ploughing funds into India's growing "edtech" industry as they seek to capitalise on the world's largest school-age population who face fierce competition for university places. "I have been using Byju's since last year and my performance has really improved. I understand mathematical concepts much better now," says 16-year-old Akshat Mugad referring to a Facebook-backed, Indian education app. Byju's has become one of the world's largest online learning sites since it was founded in Bangalore in 2011 and is currently embarking on an ambitious overseas expansion. It is just one of dozens of startups betting that kids are eager to learn differently from rote memorisation techniques that are used across much of Asia. Edtech platforms are also taking off in other Asian countries, notably China and Taiwan. "We wanted to make education fun," said Manish Dhooper, the founder of New Delhi-based Planet Spark, which uses "gamified" teaching methods. - Interactive - Garima Dhir enrolled her six-year-old boy into a Planet Spark programme to study maths and English because she wanted him to get used to using technology at a young age. "With interactive classes, my son is picking concepts without any stress and enjoying the process without fear of failure," she told AFP. Robomate, Toppr, Simplilearn, Meritnation and Edureka are others in the market. India has an estimated 270 million children aged between five and 17. Its online education sector is projected to be worth $2 billion to Asia's third-largest economy by 2021, according to research published by accounting group KPMG two years ago. With revenues heading for $200 million, Byju's says it has around 32 million users in India using its e-tutorials that feature animations, live classes and educational games to match India's school curriculum. It has raised more than $1 billion in funding since the beginning of last year, including from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, valuing the firm at around $5.4 billion. "We want to be the largest education company in the world," founder Byju Raveendran, 39, whose stake in Byju's is now thought to be worth almost $2 billion, told AFP. - 'Ask Alexa' - Analysts say technology has the power to transform education in India but note that at the moment it is largely the domain of middle-class families. A year-long subscription to Byju's can cost upwards of $150 for example, a small fortune for the majority of Indians. At a state-run school in Mumbai teacher Pooja Prashant Sankhe is using technology in a rather different way to change how her pupils engage with lessons. The 45-year-old hides an Amazon Echo device in a shop window mannequin. When AFP visited children aged 11 approached and asked questions such as, "Alexa, how many states are there in India?". They also did sums and then asked Alexa for the answer to find out if they had done them correctly. The device plays the Indian national anthem at the start of the school day and healing music during meditation sessions. Indian media have carried reports of a teacher doing the same thing in another school in rural Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital. "The kids get really excited when they ask her questions," said Sankhe, 45. "Pupils are coming to school more regularly now because of Alexa," she added. Byju's has become one of the world's largest online learning sites since it was founded in Bangalore in 2011 Use in school of an Amazon Echo device hidden in a mannequin is improving attendance rates, a teacher told AFP Byju's office in Bangalore. A year's subscription to the learning site can cost upwards of $150, a small fortune for most Indians Outside the French Mediterranean port of Marseille, at Fos-sur-Mer, one of the largest industrial and port zones in Europe has been spewing a noxious cocktail of fumes for years. And few residents think EU pledges to clean up the continent will make a difference anytime soon. Environmental concerns are expected to be a major issue in the European Parliament elections in May, when analysts say green parties could score better than they do in national contests. Yet anti-pollution activists say that despite EU claims of having the toughest standards in the world, its actions are far too feeble against places like Fos-sur-Mer, home to dozens of oil refineries, chemical factories and steel companies. "I'm fed up with the European Union -- what are they waiting for to raise awareness about this?" said Daniel Moutet, who has spearheaded the campaign to force Fos-sur-Mer to clean up its act. Rates of cancer and chronic diseases are higher in this area than the average in France -- last year Moutet was diagnosed with diabetes, which he believes could be linked to the dire air quality. In March 2018 the regional health agency (ARS) acknowledged that the health of residents of the area had been hit by the pollution levels. A year earlier an independent study concluded that women questioned in the area had cancer levels three times higher than the national average. - 12 years of warnings - According to Moutet, mercury, benzene, sulphur and nitrogen oxides are all part of that toxic cocktail along this stretch of the French Mediterranean coastline. Last May, the European Commission took France and five other countries to the European Court of Justice for failing to apply long-sought steps to improve air quality. In France's case the move came after 12 years of warnings over fine particles as well as nitrogen dioxide levels which in some cities were more than double EU limits. Some residents have learned to live with the fumes belching from the Fos-sur-Mer chimneys. "The white ones are just steam," said Martine Monnier, 65, enjoying the spring sun on a beach just a stone's throw from the site. "But there are also red ones and yellow ones, those are more dangerous. We know how to recognise them." - 'Cocktail effect' - According to France's public health agency, fine particle pollution alone is the cause of 48,000 premature deaths in the country each year. To ensure the EU's pollution limits are met, countries are supposed to impose -- and enforce -- strict emission limits for industrial sites like Fos-sur-Mer. Some progress has been made: A study released in March showed a marked decline in atmospheric concentrations of mercury since the 1970s in response to tougher rules. And the Esso refinery, for example, which produces seven million tonnes of petroleum products a year, says it has cut its sulphur emissions in half over the past 10 years, while reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by two-thirds. "There are lots of spot checks" by state inspectors, the site's director, Stefaan Van Severen, told AFP. "We've gotten our environmental footprint under control." Such claims fail to persuade the EU's critics in Fos-sur-Mer and nearby Marseille, where there is also shipping traffic and a heavy reliance on cars because of limited public transportation options. A recent report by Greenpeace and the Respire ("Breathe") advocacy groups found that a quarter of Marseille's schools and daycare centres are in areas where NO2 levels exceed EU thresholds. - EU has 'very little power' - Rene Raimondi, who was the Socialist mayor of Fos-sur-Mer for 14 years before stepping down last year says he is "a little disappointed" that the EU has "very little power" when it comes to the environment. "France has been convicted several times by Europe over fine particles, but afterwards nothing ever happens," he said. A case in point is the steel giant ArcelorMittal, which was targeted in late 2018 for excessive runoffs of benzene, a known carcinogen, at Fos-sur-Mer. Critics say the fine of just 15,000 euros ($16,850) was unlikely to have any meaningful impact on the operations of a company with an annual turnover in the billions. ArcelorMittal Europe CEO Aditya Mittal says the group is cleaning up its act at Fos-sur-Mer. "We are obviously making additional investment and we plan to solve all these problems by the end of April this year," he said. The European Commission's representative in Marseille, Alain Dumort, said Brussels will fulfil its role as the guardian of Europe's air quality. He pointed to the Commission's warning to Paris in January to enact several EU directives into French law, a first step toward legally binding infringement proceedings. The EU is also financing a seven-million-euro research project aimed at capturing the industrial gases emitted at Fos-sur-Mer and using them in the production of insulation products and plastic films. But the eventual results of the four-year project might not be enough to convince Fos-sur-Mer residents of the EU's effectiveness, less than two months from the European Parliament elections. Near the French city of Marseille, Fos-sur-Mer is home to dozens of oil refineries, chemical factories and steel companies The southern French city of Marseille seen through a haze of smog ArcelorMittal Europe CEO Aditya Mittal (right) says the group is cleaning up its act at Fos-sur-Mer In the United States, David Hogg is a leading campaigner for gun control, while in Europe, Greta Thunberg fights to defend the climate. They may only be teenagers, but both have drawn worldwide followings for their clear messages and fierce commitment -- symbols of a generation of surprising militancy. Hogg, who is 18, is a leader of the March for Our Lives movement, launched by students from his high school in Parkland, Florida, where a heavily armed gunman massacred 17 people on February 14, 2018. The movement, pushing for stricter gun control legislation, has mobilized hundreds of thousands of young Americans. Thunberg, a pig-tailed Swedish student who looks younger even than her 16 years, has become the European face of the fight against global warming, inspiring huge crowds of young protesters to take to the streets, including in Germany, which had not seen such massive turnouts since the heady days of reunification. Thunberg has come far from the days when she mounted a brave but lonely protest standing on the steps of the Swedish parliament. She is now mentioned as a possible Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2019. Were she to win that lofty award, Thunberg would be the youngest laureate ever, younger even than Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who at 17 won the 2014 Nobel for her fight -- even after being shot by a Taliban gunman -- for education rights for girls and women. - Raising their voices - Some members of this new generation are even more precocious. Consider American schoolgirl Alice Paul Tapper, who was only 10 in 2017 when she started her "Raise Your Hand" campaign to encourage girls not to let themselves be intimidated. The movement caught fire on social media, boosted by help from her Girl Scout troop and also by the celebrity of her father, CNN newsman Jake Tapper. Her new book "Raise Your Hand," published this week, briefly ranked 12th on Amazon's list of "hot new releases." According to several experts, these examples illustrate a rise in youthful involvement not seen in years -- akin, some say, to the activism seen during the US civil rights protests of the 1960s. If youth has always been synonymous with protests, the trend seemed to have gone latent for years. "We went through a generation or almost two when we were not seeing a lot of activism," said Elizabeth Matto, a Rutgers University specialist in youthful political participation. "The teenagers we are calling Generation Z now," she said, are showing a "real inclination to engage in expressing their political voice." "They are starting to recognize what a force they are to be reckoned with... a generation that wants to make things better and who does not really see their age as a barrier." As proof she cited the involvement of Americans aged 18 to 29 in last November's US congressional election: some 31 percent of them voted, the highest rate in 25 years, according to Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). More educated than older Americans, and having grown up with -- and become completely fluent in -- the ways of social media, this generation knows how to organize and draw attention, said Sam Abrams, a political science professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. These young militants can quickly assemble videos that are "almost movie-quality stuff," said Abrams, who is 39. "This generation knows how to do that and convey these stories really effectively." Without social media, says Hogg -- who has 950,000 Twitter followers -- the Parkland students could still have organized their protests "but not nearly to the scale that we did." - No guarantees of change - But even if social media make it far easier to attract attention or draw followers, they offer no guarantee that this young generation can effect real change, Abrams emphasized. "The big question always is: can they sustain a movement?" "Social change," he added, "it is slow, it takes years." With college students coming and going -- and graduating -- Abrams says he has seen many student movements burst onto the scene, and then lose steam and fade away. Nineteen-year-old Zanagee Artis, who last year co-founded the Zero Hour coalition for climate and environmental justice, admits that after months of intensive activism, he shed most of his leadership responsibilities after starting his studies in political science and the environment at Brown University. "Older youths like me," he told AFP, "we are going to be more busy and will have less time" for activism. "But I don't have any doubt that Zero Hour will be able to continue," he said. "With the rise of social media, we are able to connect with a lot more youths than before." David Hogg said that after taking a "gap year" to travel across the country, he is ready to ease off on the gas as he heads to Harvard University. "I'll be less involved, but we'll be just as effective," he said. "There are many other people involved, and we have a movement that's growing stronger every day." Hogg said he is quite aware that change on a subject as sensitive as US gun control could take years. "It might take a while," he said. "It might take kids running for Congress who are not old enough yet." Thousands of protesters took part in a gun-control demonstration in Washington on March 24, 2018 organized by students from Parkland, Florida Swedish protester Greta Thunberg (C), has inspired a huge movement among youth around the world David Hogg (C), a leader of youthful anti-gun protests in the US, is seen at a March 26, 2018 demonstration in Massachusetts Israel reopened its crossings with the Gaza Strip on Sunday after having kept them closed for nearly a week following a rare long-distance rocket strike from the Palestinian enclave, an official said. The Erez crossing for people and the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods reopened Sunday morning, a spokeswoman for COGAT, the defence ministry unit that oversees the crossings, told AFP. They were closed on Monday after the rocket fire that wounded seven Israelis and led to Israeli retaliatory strikes. The reopening comes after tens of thousands of Palestinians protested along the Gaza border with Israel on Saturday, to mark the one-year anniversary since demonstrations and clashes erupted there. Four Palestinians were killed on Saturday during protests and clashes, but unrest was limited and fears of mass bloodshed were averted after Egyptian-led negotiations. Five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel overnight, leading Israeli tanks to fire on Hamas military posts. No casualties were reported from either the rockets or tank fire. Hamas officials say an understanding was reached that would see Israel ease its crippling blockade of Gaza in exchange for the protests remaining calm. Israel, which has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008, has not commented on the claims of an agreement. Israel goes to the polls in a keenly contested general election on April 9 in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a stiff challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz. He is widely seen as wanting to avoid a major escalation before the polls, but has faced accusations from political opponents of being soft on Hamas. The Erez crossing for people (pictured) and the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods reopened Sunday morning, an official told AFP Opener Usman Khawaja missed a deserved hundred by two runs as Australia punished Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international in Dubai on Sunday. Khawaja was all set for his third hundred this month but fell for 98 which lifted Australia to an imposing 327-7 in 50 overs after they were sent into bat on a flat Dubai stadium pitch. Glenn Maxwell celebrated his 100th one-day international with a thumping 33-ball 70, Shaun Marsh scored 68-ball 61 and skipper Aaron Finch made 69-ball 53 to lead a run spree against a hapless Pakistan bowling attack. It was Maxwell's ten fours and three sixes that helped Australia to 107 runs in the last ten overs. He was finally bowled by paceman Junaid Khan who finished with three wickets for 73. Khawaja, who hit ten boundaries in his 111-ball innings, set the platform with a solid 134-run opening stand with Finch for pair's second hundred run stand in the series, which Australia lead 4-0. Finch was finally bowled by pacer Usman Shinwari, finishing with 451 runs in the series, only 27 short of George Bailey's record in a bilateral series he made against India in 2013. Khawaja, who made his first two ODI career hundreds in India earlier this month, was all set for his third but fell to a miscued drive off Shinwari, who finished with 4-49. Khawaja added 80 for the second wicket with Marsh who hit five fours and a six in his 68-ball knock. Pakistan were once again with skipper Shoaib Malik, who was rested after failing to fully recover from a rib injury which also forced him to miss the last game on Friday. Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas came in for Mohammad Hasnain while Australia replaced Nathan Coulter-Nile with Jason Behrendorff. Usman Khawaja contributed 98 as Australia hit 327 against Pakistan Seventy years after it was formed to counter the Soviet Union, Russia has returned to the top of the agenda for NATO. But the alliance faces another, more unlikely problem -- criticism from the US president. The 29-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization is celebrating its 70th anniversary with talks among foreign ministers Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, where, in a Cold War redux, the resurgent power of Russia will be the chief item. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the ministers will work "to make sure that NATO is around for the next 70 years" and take aim at Russia over its 2014 takeover of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Pompeo told a congressional hearing he was hopeful "we will be able to announce another series of actions that we will jointly take together to push back against what Russia is doing there in Crimea." But if countering Russia is a familiar role for NATO, its new internal dynamics are not, with President Donald Trump repeatedly suggesting that the allies are freeloaders. The businessman-turned-president, who berated allies at a NATO summit last year at the group's Brussels headquarters, is pressing member states to meet the alliance's goal set in 2014 of spending two percent of GDP on defense. Trump has even derisively asked whether it is worth defending small NATO states such as Montenegro. Pompeo said he will discuss spending and again pointed to Germany, which plans for defense spending well below two percent and declining by 2023. "When I talk to my counterparts, they will begin by saying, 'America needs to do X and Y because Russia poses a threat,'" Pompeo told a forum of the conservative National Review magazine. "Then you ask them 'Well, that's awesome. Tell me what you're prepared to do.' And they say, 'It's tough. Our voters just really don't like to spend money on defense," Pompeo said to laughter. - Lower-key anniversary - NATO leaders will hold an annual summit in December in London, but the 70th anniversary celebrations are notably low-key. It marks a stark contrast with the 50th anniversary in 1999, which rattled Russia and sealed off Washington streets in a way that locals still talk about. Heads of state visited Bill Clinton's White House, new members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were inducted, and leaders plotted the next moves in NATO's bombing campaign in Serbia. This year foreign ministers will be speaking at The Anthem, a hip new music venue booked for the occasion. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet Trump Tuesday and deliver an address to Congress the following day. Derek Chollet, who managed US defense policy on NATO under former president Barack Obama, said he expected NATO members to present a "good news story" on the value of the alliance without the drama of a high-stakes summit. "But the concern is Trump. There is a sort of tangerine cloud hanging over all of this," said Chollet, executive vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "They are concerned that the founding member of the alliance has become the most unpredictable, and perhaps most unreliable." - Should NATO have outlived Cold War - While the populist right has stepped up attacks on NATO, the alliance has long been a bane for the left, which plans to be out in force to protest the anniversary. Peace groups plan marches around Washington and a counter-conference on alternatives to NATO. "NATO should have been retired rather than reprogrammed for domination in the 21st century," said Joseph Gerson, disarmament coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee, the Quakers' peace advocacy organization. He said that, even if one does not empathize with President Vladimir Putin, it should have been expected that Russia would be "snapping back" in response to NATO's expansion. "Just think how concerned the US is with a couple of Russian planes going to Venezuela," he said. "We also want people to understand that NATO has become a global alliance in ways that have very little to do with the defense of Europe," he said. Indeed, Trump recently proposed bringing Brazil into the alliance as he welcomed the country's new hard-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. And NATO has been engaged in 17 years in the war in Afghanistan -- a mission unlikely to have been envisioned by NATO's first secretary general, Hastings Ismay, who famously said the alliance was designed to "keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down." Chollet said that recent years have shown that Russia remains the core threat for NATO, although he said the alliance could also increasingly discuss the challenges from a fast-growing China. "You ask yourself -- how many partners do Russia and China have that are willing to work with them and defend them in the spirit of all for one, one for all?" he said. "Despite its problems, NATO is a unique asset that has never really existed before in history and which the United States is lucky to have," he said. US President Donald Trump, here in July 2018 at NATO's Brussels headquarters, has questioned the value of the alliance NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets in Tblisi with Georgian soldiers who were injured during a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan Leftist activists rally outside the White House ahead of summit marking NATO's 70th anniversary Protesters are angry at NATO interventions beyond Europe such as Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan Korean Air said on Sunday it has stopped serving peanuts as snacks to customers in response to a recent incident when two teenage brothers were unable to board a flight because of a peanut allergy. The brothers parents said in media reports earlier this month that their sons were removed from a flight because the South Korean airline was unwilling to accommodate a serious peanut allergy. The brothers were traveling from Atlanta to the Philippines but were stranded in Seoul after Korean Air did not agree to a request to stop serving peanuts around the teens because the older brother has a severe peanut allergy, media outlets including USA Today and Good Morning America reported. A Korean Air Lines has banned peanuts on board its planes. Source: AAP Korean Air has had an assorted history with nuts in recent years, with its image tarnished by the infamous nut rage scandal of 2014. Chief executive Cho Yang-hos eldest daughter, Heather Cho, made headlines when she lost her temper over the way she was served nuts in first class and ordered the Korean Air plane to return to its gate at a New York airport. A prominent Asian airline has banned peanuts on board its planes. Source: AAP The carriers shareholders removed Cho Yang-ho from its board in a landmark vote on Wednesday over scandals stemming from the nut rage case. He became the first founding family member of any South Korean corporate giant to be forced off a board. Korean Air will remove food that contains peanuts from in-flight meals in several weeks, the company said in a statement. The decision to stop peanut products and peanut ingredients is the minimum safety measure for peanut-allergy passengers, it said. 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. Several thousand protesters chanting "dictatorship never again" took to the streets of Brazils biggest cities Sunday on the 55th anniversary of the coup that established more than two decades of military rule. Some 2,000 people rallied in Rio de Janeiro's central Cinelandia plaza, while in Sao Paulo a few hundred converged on popular Ibirapuera Park to demonstrate against the 1964-1985 dictatorship. The protests were sparked by the order recently issued by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for defense forces to "appropriately" commemorate the overthrow of President Joao Goulart. Nearly 1,000 noisy protesters in Brasilia chanted slogans against Bolsonaro, an ex-army captain and unabashed admirer of the countrys former dictators, shouting "Bolsonaro out." "It's not a date that should be commemorated," retired teacher Maria Fatima, who is 65, told AFP at the Rio demonstration. "It is a day of mourning, of violence, of cruelty." The demonstrations came a day after an appeals court judge overturned another judges decision to bar commemorations sought by Bolsonaro. Appellate judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso accepted the government's argument that Brazilian democracy was strong enough to support "a pluralism of ideas." "I see no violation of human rights, particularly as similar demonstrations took place in the barracks in preceding years with no negative consequences," she wrote. Bolsonaro, who is on a three-day visit to Israel, is the country's first president since democracy was restored in 1985 to publicly exalt the military regime, though he argues its rise to power was not a "coup." In the past, the tough-talking Bolsonaro has referred to the dictatorship as a "glorious" time in Brazilian history. He was quoted in 2008 as saying that "the error of the dictatorship was that it tortured but did not kill." Since taking office, Bolsonaro has had fond words for military dictators in 1970s and 1980s Latin America, such as Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay and Chile's Augusto Pinochet. At least 434 people were killed or disappeared in Brazil during the 21-year dictatorship, far fewer than the 30,000 deaths in Argentina and 3,200 or more in Chile during their respective periods of right-wing military rule. But unlike its South American neighbors, Brazil has not prosecuted military officials for regime-era crimes, leaving the events of that dark period unresolved. Bolsonaro, who ran for the presidency as a political outsider determined to dismantle a culture of corruption, has seen his approval rating plunge amid scandals and missteps since his January 1 inauguration. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (C), seen here being embraced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is in Israel on a visit while at home protesters marched against his government The bodies of two Japanese teenagers have been found in Lake McKenzie on Queenslands Fraser Island after being reported missing from a school tour. Questions are now being asked about how the boys, both aged 16, drowned at the popular tourist destination, described as a calm lake in the middle of an island by the local mayor. The pair were discovered in the water at 8.20am on Saturday after they were reported missing about 5pm on Friday. The Japanese teens went missing from a school group on Friday afternoon. Source: 7 News This is a tragic event, there is not doubt about that, Inspector Tony Clowes told reporters on Saturday. He warned there was always a risk when entering waterways, and said he did not know if the boys could swim. Know your abilities, be aware that if you are entering water there is some inherent risk entering waterways in this country, he said. Its unimaginable how somebody could drown there Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour told the ABC the deaths had shocked the community. Lake McKenzie is the postcard-perfect image of Fraser Island its where all the tourists go, Mr Seymour said. Its really unimaginable how somebody, let alone two people, could drown there. Its a calm lake in the middle of an island whatever has happened is highly unusual. Police found the bodies of the teens on Fraser Island on Saturday morning. Source: 7 News The owners of Kingfisher Bay Resort, where the boys had been staying, issued a statement offering their condolences. Our thoughts and deep condolences go out to their family and friends and the group they were travelling with, SeaLink CEO Jeff Ellison said. We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. Questions are being asked about how the teens drowned at Lake McKenzie. Source: 7 News Police will prepare a report for the Coroner and are currently in contact with the Japanese consulate. Inspector Clowes said the details surrounding how the children were supervised would be investigated. It was understood the teens had not been left behind at the lake and their group reported them missing from an area nearby. The boys were not with their families on the tour, he said. 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. Residents in a community north of Brisbane are disgusted by the deaths of thousands of fish in their local lake. Those living near a Beachmere lake first noticed birds swooping before they realised thousands of fish were dead. They moved to the lakeside town for the views, but for days now the view and smell has been of dead, rotting fish. Residents in a community north of Brisbane are disgusted by the deaths of thousands of fish. Source: 7 News About 30 species, big and small, have died in the lake, including mangrove Jack, bream, flathead, herring, and mullet. Now locals are demanding answers from Moreton Bay Council. Its been very sad to see the fish coming up and gulping for their lives. There were lots of them that didnt make it, resident Tracey Warr told 7News. Locals living near a Beachmere lake first noticed birds swooping before they realised thousands of fish were dead. Source: 7 News Council workers have been using boats, buckets and barrows to scoop up the decaying fish. Residents have attempted to save those still barely alive, while experts have even tried to resuscitate some. [Weve been] running them to the beach trying to save a few. We were wasting our time, resident Danny Warr said. The lake is supposed to be tidal. Locals have engaged an independent marine biologist to investigate and have been told an algae bloom may be to blame. About 30 species of fish, big and small, had died in the lake including mangrove Jack, bream, flathead, herring, and mullet. Source: 7 News I think its a lack of understanding of the hydraulics of this system, a lack of maintenance, resident Tom Ross said. Thousands of fish died in the same lake almost a decade ago, but experts say the cause isnt the same. Council says water sampling is being undertaken to identify a cause of death and aerators are ensuring a good supply of oxygen in the water, but locals fear its too late. Source: 7 News In a statement, council said water sampling is being undertaken to identify a cause of death and aerators are ensuring a good supply of oxygen in the water, but locals fear its too late. Theyre still floating to the surface. A lot havent even risen yet, Mr Warr said. It follows a serious health warning issued for beach-goers at Rockingham, South Australia, after more than 1,000 dead fish washed ashore. Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo7s daily newsletter. Sign up here. A trickle of water flows out of a lush green valley in Rwanda, the two villages on either side of the life-giving spring living peacefully with each other for years. Then the horrors of the 1994 genocide changed all that. Those on one side of the valley in the village of Giheta turned on their neighbours across the way in the village of Ruseke. Gangs of machete-wielding men hacked their neighbours to death following the outbreak of inter-ethnic violence, a genocide in which over 800,000 mainly Tutsi people were killed between April to July 1994, according to the UN. Today, that water source brings the people back together. But 25 years ago, the tranquil valley, its rich farmland lined with banana, mango and avocado trees about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Rwanda's capital Kigali, became a killing field. Whipped up by extremist propaganda, the people of Giheta -- from the ethnic Hutu majority -- attacked their longtime neighbours in Ruseke from the Tutsi minority. Some 70 people were massacred. "It was a big shock for us," said Daphrosa Mukarubayiza, 57, whose husband and son were killed. "These were people who we used to socialise and drink together with. We shared everything." Elders in the communities spoke of how people would gather to chat as they waited for their water containers to fill, exchanging gossip and news, a peaceful place that brought everyone together. After the genocide, both villages still relied on the water, but took it in turn to avoid having to meet, if at all possible. - Fear and distrust - Jean-Claude Mutarindwa, 42, was a youth from the village of Giheta when the genocide took place. Unlike his brothers, he did not pick up a machete to kill and that helped him lay the foundation for reconciliation. "I told myself that since I was part of the village, I had a duty to participate in this act of love, asking them what we could do for them to forgive us," Mutarindwa said. "The task was complicated." In 2005, the two villages relived the trauma of the killings when trials took place in the community-run courts called "Gacaca". That same year, the first concrete gestures of rapprochement also took place. Mutarindwa convinced his neighbours in Giheta to cross over to Ruseke and help them farm their fields. "To ask for forgiveness was not easy at all: the first time we crossed to ask for forgiveness, we were about 100 people," Mutarindwa. "Amongst us, people were afraid." But when they came back home safely, the next time nearly 200 came. On the third trip, the whole village of Giheta came to help. The two sides held a deeply emotional reconciliation -- and a big party -- in the centre of Ruseke. For those in Ruseke, it seemed the right time to let go. "I felt ready to forgive," Mukarubayiza said, who knew Mutarindwa since they had met at the same church. "In a gesture of humanity, I told Jean-Claude to ask his people to come to ask forgiveness." After the ceremony of reconciliation, the children of each village led the way. Soon they were making friends across the shared waters of the spring. Life resumed its natural course. Still, not everyone shares this optimism. Josepha Mukaruzima, 70, from the village of Ruseke argues that those who asked for forgiveness were not those guilty of the crimes. Grudgingly she has accepted the situation, but feels true reconciliation requires more. "It is far from being enough," she said. "It misses many things, it is superficial." Twenty-five years ago, this tranquil valley about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Rwanda's capital Kigali, became a killing field Some 70 people were massacred in the valley during the inter-ethnic violence in which 800,000 mainly Tutsi people were killed in 1994 Villagers in the valley are now relearning to share all they have, including the water from the spring Jean-Claude Mutarindwa, 42, a Hutu who did not take part in the genocide helped lay the foundation for reconciliation with his Tutsi neighbours Jean-Claude Mutarindwa, (R) with Daphrosa Mukarubayize, 57, a Tutsi (L) whose husband and son were killed, said she felt ready to forgive and build reconciliation An armoured police vehicle stands outside a polling station in Mariupol, the easternmost Ukrainian city still under Kiev's control, as officers patrol the streets. Just a few miles to the east is the frontline in a separatist conflict with Russia-backed rebels that has cost some 13,000 lives since it broke out in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Crimea. President Petro Poroshenko came to power the same year after a popular uprising forced out his pro-Russian predecessor. On Sunday Ukrainians decide whether to hand Poroshenko another five-year term or take a chance on his rivals -- ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko or untested comedian Volodymyr Zelensky. "Ukrainian authorities do nothing but lie and steal," said a 40-year-old metalworker in Mariupol who gave his name only as Oleg. He told AFP he had voted for "the breath of fresh air" Zelensky -- whose only political experience is playing the role of president in a television series. Elsewhere in Mariupol, a large green tent had been erected where soldiers on active duty were being bussed in to vote. The security services told AFP that armed special forces were patrolling many towns and cities across Ukraine. Zelensky is favourite to win the first round of voting, after which he would meet either Tymoshenko or Poroshenko in a run-off next month. - 'Others had their chance' - In Lviv, a nationalist bastion in western Ukraine, some voters said they were tired of the country's leadership. "The others had their chance, but they didn't do anything," said 52-year-old Roman. "I went for Zelensky, perhaps he'll manage it." Olga, a 40-year-old housewife, said she no longer trusted Poroshenko as he had not been able to fulfil promises made during his previous campaign. At the polling station on the outskirts of Lviv, several voters crossed themselves in front of an Orthodox icon on the wall as they entered. On the campaign trail, Poroshenko has made much of his success in overseeing the creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, free from the 300-year-old influence of the Moscow Patriarchate. "Army. Language. Faith," read many of his campaign posters. Inside the station, as elsewhere in Ukraine, several election monitors were wearing traditional embroidered linen shirts. The patriotic garb has become more popular since the pro-Western uprising of 2014. In the capital Kiev, Olena Selizovska, a 75-year-old pensioner, told AFP she was voting so that her "children and grandchildren can live better, so there is no more war". She said she was backing Poroshenko. "He came to power in a difficult situation, of course not everything has worked out for him. Volodymyr, 79, retired, said he would vote "for Yulia" -- comparing Tymoshenko to female leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. "A woman might be able to end the war," said Eduard, also a pensioner. Armed special forces patrolled many towns and cities across Ukraine for the vote Ukrainian servicemen cast their ballots at a polling station near the frontline with pro-Russian separatists Three hearings have been scheduled to collect feedback on a proposal to grant New York farmworkers a day off of rest, overtime pay and other labor rights. State Sens. Jen Metzger and Jessica Ramos will hear testimony on the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act at forums in central New York, the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. If you go. WHAT: New York State Senate hearing on Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 25 WHERE: SUNY Morrisville, 9 Skyline Dr., Morrisville INFO: If you wish to attend or testify, register by emailing bumpus@nysenate.gov or call (315) 478-8745. Metzger, D-Rosendale, chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. Ramos, D-Queens, is the sponsor of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act and chairs the Senate Labor Committee. The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act would provide agricultural laborers with rights available to workers in other industries, including collective bargaining and the ability to unionize. It would set an eight-hour workday for farmworkers and require farms to pay overtime if workers exceed an eight-hour workday or a 40-hour weekly schedule. Farmworkers would also receive at least one day off each week, according to the bill. Ramos told The Citizen in February that she believes it's important for the state to "recognize the dignity of work." Farmworkers, she added, are among the most overworked and underpaid workers in the state. "In New York, there is a Jim Crow-era law still on our books that denies human beings mostly black and Latino taxpaying New Yorkers parity with nearly every other worker in the state," Ramos said in a statement Friday. While she strongly supports the bill, Ramos wanted to hear from farmers and others with interest in the measure before it's considered in the Senate. Last week, several of her Republican colleagues called for hearings on the farm labor bill. Critics of the measure fear that farms, especially smaller operations, would close due to the new labor requirements. The New York Farm Bureau cited an analysis conducted by Farm Credit East that found labor costs would increase by nearly $300 million if farms are required to pay overtime. David Fisher, president of the New York Farm Bureau, expressed appreciation for the lawmakers' willingness to hold hearings on the legislation. In a statement, Fisher explained that there is some agreement on the bill. One provision the farm bureau endorses is allowing a day of rest for employees. But the overtime pay mandate, he said, "would be a difficult financial burden to bear." GOP lawmakers want public hearings on NY farmworker labor rights bill Several upstate New York Republican legislators are calling for public forums to discuss the "Farms compete in a marketplace and can't just pass along price increases to recoup their losses, especially in this difficult farm economy," Fisher said. "The farm labor legislation as written will force farms out of business, hurting the very workers the legislation is looking to assist." Workers argue that the measure is necessary because of conditions at some farms and poor treatment. Crispin Hernandez, an organizer with the Workers' Center of Central New York and a former dairy farm employee, told The Citizen in February that workers have experienced a lack of overtime pay, wage theft, retaliatory practices and unjust firings. "If one we were finally treated as equals under the law, then we would not be fired so easily," Hernandez said through an interpreter. The bill has stalled in the state Senate over the past several years, but that could change this year. In addition to Ramos, the sponsor of the legislation, there are 31 cosponsors. There is enough support among senators to pass the bill in the chamber. When Republicans controlled the state Senate, the measure didn't move out of committee. Ramos, as chair of the Senate Labor Committee, is confident it will finally receive approval now that she leads the panel. The first of the three hearings will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at SUNY Morrisville, 9 Skyline Dr., Morrisville. The second hearing is planned for 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, at the Suffolk County Legislature, William J. Lindsay County Complex, William H. Rogers Building, 725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Smithtown. The series of hearings will conclude at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at SUNY Sullivan, 112 College Road, Loch Sheldrake. The hearings are free and open to the public. "It's very important that we hear from farmers and farmworkers as we weigh this legislation and make sure that we are addressing the concerns and needs of all of those who will be affected," Metzger said. 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 New York counties will receive assistance from the state to implement early voting this year. The 2019-20 state budget approved by the state Legislature early Monday includes nearly $25 million to help cover the costs of early voting. In January, New York joined 38 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing early voting before Election Day. The budget allocates $14.7 million to help counties purchase software election commissioners have said is necessary for the implementation of early voting. This includes electronic poll books, which are digital voter registration records. The funding could be used to purchase other equipment or software, such as on-demand ballot printers and cybersecurity protections. There is an additional $10 million in the budget to reimburse local boards of elections for costs associated with the implementation of early voting. Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY and co-founder of Let NY Vote, said the funding will help New York administer "efficient and accessible elections." "This budget is a major victory for all New Yorkers who spent countless hours texting, calling, protesting and tweeting to let New York vote!" Lerner added. Early voting was part of an election reform package passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January. The state established a nine-day early voting period that will conclude on the Sunday before a primary or general election day. The new law will require counties to have at least one early voting polling location for every 50,000 registered voters. While that's a minimum standard, counties have the option of offering more polling sites. "Early voting is going to be transformative for the system," Cuomo said before he signed the bill in January. Supporters hailed the adoption of early voting, but there were questions raised about how it would be funded. Cuomo's budget proposal didn't include any funding for early voting or other election reforms. The Cuomo administration's position was that early voting would be funded through the expansion of the internet sales tax to third-party sales on marketplaces and the consolidation of the federal and state primary elections. The election reforms included merging the federal and state primary elections. The federal and state primary date will now be the fourth Tuesday in June. But any savings from the primary consolidation won't be realized until next year. That led advocates and election commissioners to push for funding in this year's budget. Some estimates suggested that it would cost at least $25 million to implement early voting. The state Assembly's one-house budget resolution included $27 million alone for the purchase of electronic poll books and on-demand ballot printers and $7 million for other early voting-related costs. The state Senate's budget had $10 million for early voting expenses. Last week, the Let NY Vote coalition reiterated its stance that there should be funding in the state budget to help counties institute early voting. The coalition, which consists of good government groups that supported the election reform package, urged Cuomo to "put his money where his mouth is." The questions about funding for early voting continued during debates over the budget bills. State Sen. Bob Antonacci introduced an amendment that would establish a fund administered by the state comptroller and taxation and finance commissioner to support early voting across the state. Revenue from the state's Abandoned Property Fund would help finance the voting reforms. Antonacci's amendment was blocked by state Senate Democrats Sunday. He said his measure would've provided mandate relief to counties. "Rather than hearing the outcry from local governments to cut taxes, mandates and regulations which would ultimately curb taxes for New York state residents, the Senate Democrats seem more concerned with checking off something on their 'to-do' list without the adequate state resources for implementation," Antonacci argued. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Billions of robocalls are vexing Americans and it's not slowing down. Many of the unsolicited calls are from scammers pretending to be tax collectors, charities, or salespeople. Short of throwing your phone in the garbage, there's no way to avoid them altogether. But wireless providers and smartphone developers offer tools to filter out at least some unwanted calls. Not all robocalls are fake or illegal: Pharmacies and utility companies, for example, use the technique to reach customers. You can ban telemarketers by registering with the federal "Do Not Call" list but that won't stop fake telemarketers or scammers, many of whom have ways to get around spam filters. You can report unsolicited calls to authorities. Apps and spam filters are far from perfect, and telecom companies are hopeful new call tracing technology will improve their efforts. Smartphones Verizon's Call Filter app is free to download on iPhones and Android devices. The company announced Thursday the app will offer some free features including auto-blocking calls from known fraudsters, showing warning banners for suspicious calls, and a spam reporting tool. For $2.99 a month per line, the Call Filter app can use a phonebook feature to look up the names of unknown callers, and it can show a "risk meter" for spam calls. AT&T's Call Protect has similar free features and add-ons with a $3.99 per month subscription. (iOS and Android) T-Mobile phones come loaded with Scam ID, which warns customers about suspicious phone numbers. It's also free to activate Scam Block, which automatically rejects calls from those numbers. An additional app called Name ID offers premium caller identification for $4 per line monthly. (iOS and Android) Sprint's Premium Caller ID, which comes pre-installed, looks up unknown numbers and filters and blocks robocalls for $2.99 per line. Google's Pixel phones also give you the option to have your voice assistant answer suspicious calls for you. The phone can transcribe the conversation and lets you decide whether to answer. Home phone features There's not much to be done for pre-1990s landlines, according to experts. But options do exist for most modern digital phone systems, which are offered by internet service providers. Home phone customers with Comcast's Xfinity, Verizon Fios, AT&T U-Verse and others can sign up for a free service called Nomorobo. It's a cloud-based platform that automatically screens for suspected robocallers and telemarketers. Nomorobo was one of two winners in a 2013 competition, put on by the US government, to develop anti-spam technology. The company has also rolled out a smartphone app that says it can automatically block scammers, telemarketers and spam texts. The company says the iOS app can also block incoming calls from fake numbers that look very similar to your own, thwarting a technique "neighbor spoofing," a common tactic among pesky robocallers. Subscriptions cost $1.99 per month. (iOS and Android) Improving filters The telecom industry is putting high hopes on a new tool called STIR/SHAKEN to improve the accuracy of spam filters. It's designed to identify and trace calls that use the "spoofing" technique, which allows spammers to mask their identities and make it look like they're calling from somewhere else even your own phone number. STIR/SHAKEN is the result of a major corporate collaboration. Companies will work together to verify calls across the industry, so that a person using an AT&T wireless phone, for example, can be verified when they call a Comcast landline. AT&T, Comcast and Verizon this month announced the first successful tests of the system. A long list of providers have pledged to implement the technology by the end of the year. (AT&T owns CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia.) It won't solve everything. Spam filters and regulators will still rely on consumer complaints to hash out which calls are coming from legitimate sources and which come from bad actors. But it will go a long way toward gathering information on spoofed calls, which have long frustrated anti-robocall efforts, according to Jim McEachern, a senior technology consultant at telecom industry association ATIS. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation. Bird Training Sessions in Manzanita, Cannon Beach Get You Close to Oregon Coast Wildlife Published 03/30/2019 at 7:53 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Manzanita, Oregon) For those who enjoy bird watching, the north Oregon coast has a bundle of new and fun ways to become engaged with the feathery friends of the region. A series of training sessions held in the Manzanita and Cannon Beach areas gets you in the thick of it, helping to protect birds and their habitats. No experience necessary, just a love of the coastal bird populations. Opportunities range from helping monitor western Snowy Plovers on beaches, Black Oystercatchers on our rocky shoreline, seabird nesting colonies off of Cape Falcon and Cannon Beach, and monitoring roosting Brown Pelicans off a number of sites on the North Coast. These efforts are not only fun but are providing vital information to help inform conservation and protection of Oregons coastline, habitats, and birds. The Snowy Plover Patrol project targets an endangered species that has been in decline for several decades due to loss of habitat and disturbances from development, recreation, and other human pressures. In Oregon, the population hit a low of about 50 individuals in the early 1990s. Subsequently this species was listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act in 1993. Due to targeted recovery efforts in Oregon, mostly focused on the south and central coast, the bird has bounced back to a few hundred individuals although still a small, vulnerable population. "Community scientists have played a big role on the coast in recent years in helping us inform management efforts and conservation of vulnerable bird species and their habitats, said Joe Liebezeit, Staff Scientist & Avian Conservation Manager with Audubon Society of Portland. The Black Oystercatcher monitoring project is helping obtain an Oregon-wide population estimate for this bird of conservation concern that is totally dependent on rocky shoreline habitats for nesting and foraging. The oystercatcher survey data is also being contributed to a new ecological inventory that will be used to inform Oregons new effort to update its management plan for rocky shoreline sites. Oregon is home to over 1 million colonial nesting seabirds. The states system of marine reserves and protected areas offer the opportunity to see how seabirds are faring both adjacent to and outside of these underwater protected areas. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife is doing important baseline scientific research, looking a fish and marine invertebrates in Cape Falcon Marine Reserve among other things, said Nadia Gardner of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. However, without local volunteers there wouldnt be research on our seabirds. We are so thankful to those who give their time to help collect this important data both inside and outside of Oregons Marine Reserves. For details on dates and location for these trainings and opportunities, see the listings below: What: Snowy Plover Patrol Training When: Saturday, April 13, 2019 from 10 am to 2 pm. Where: Cannon Beach City Hall (163 E Gower Ave, Cannon Beach, OR) Details: Portland Audubon is partnering with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to monitor for endangered western Snowy Plovers at five sites on the North Coast (from Clatsop Spit in Astoria to Sitka Sedge beach near Pacific City) starting in April and continuing through mid-July. Surveys twice a month (2-4 hours), can be physically demanding. Please RSVP by emailing asopcoastalbirds@gmail.com What: Snowy Plover Patrol Training When: Saturday, April 20, 2019 from 10 am to 2 pm. Where: Nehalem Bay State Park Meeting Hall (34600 Gary St, Nehalem, OR) Details: Portland Audubon is partnering with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to monitor for endangered western Snowy Plovers at five sites on the North Coast (from Clatsop Spit in Astoria to Sitka Sedge beach near Pacific City) starting in April and continuing through mid-July. Surveys twice a month (2-4 hours), can be physically demanding. Please RSVP by emailing asopcoastalbirds@gmail.com What: Black Oystercatcher Monitoring Training When: Saturday, April 20, 2019 from 10 am to 12 pm Where: Cannon Beach City Hall (163 E Gower Ave, Cannon Beach, OR) Details: If you would like to learn more about this amazing bird and are interested in helping with Audubon Portland's community science effort to monitor oystercatchers on the coast, consider attending this training. The training will cover Black Oystercatcher life history, conservation challenges they face, and instructions on how to participate in our abundance and nest monitoring program. Light refreshments will be served. Brought to you by partnership of The Haystack Rock Awareness Program, Audubon Society of Portland and Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. For details, email jliebezeit@audubonportland.org What: Pacific Brown Pelican Survey When: Saturday, May 18, 5 pm to 7 pm Where: Falcon Cove Details: Join us in counting pelicans at our local rocky island pelican roosting sites in the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve just off the community of Falcon Cove between Manzanita and Cannon Beach, Oregon. Easy access. No experience necessary. Protocol: http://ca.audubon.org/brownpelicansurvey. For details, email jliebezeit@audubonportland.org What: Seabird Monitoring Training When: Saturday, June 8, 10 am to 12 pm Where: Cannon Beach City Hall (163 E Gower Ave, Cannon Beach, OR) Details: Do you like seabirds and care about their welfare? Join a volunteer opportunity to monitor seabird nests at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and at Oregon's iconic Haystack Rock. Portland Audubon and partners Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Haystack Rock Awareness Program are monitoring seabird nesting colonies adjacent to the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in order to better understand how seabirds may respond to the new protections. For details, email jliebezeit@audubonportland.org. Lodging in Cannon Beach - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Sneaker Wave Warning for Southern Oregon Coast Sunday, Monday Published 03/30/2019 at 5:53 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Medford, Oregon) The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Medford, Oregon released a beach hazards statement for the southern Oregon coast, saying there is a higher risk of sneaker waves from Sunday afternoon through Monday evening. This warning is for the southern Oregon coast only (not the northern half), covering Florence down to the California border, including the towns of Bandon, Coos Bay, Winchester Bay, Brookings, etc. The northern half including towns like Cannon Beach, Newport, Lincoln City, Yachats, etc will be seeing lower-than-average wave height. A Beach Hazards Statement is issued when threats such as rip currents, longshore currents, sneaker waves and other hazards create life-threatening conditions in the surf zone, the NWS said. Caution should be used when in or near the water. Never turn your back on the ocean. The NWS said sudden and unusually high wave runs can take beachgoers by surprise, resulting in possible injury or drowning. Shock and hypothermia can occur quickly in the cold Pacific waters, the NWS said. Logs and other debris can be lifted and floated by these waves, crushing or entrapping unsuspecting victims underneath. The warnings come just a week after a Hillsboro woman was injured at Manzanita by a log rolling on her. She was sitting on the log, facing the ocean, when a sneaker wave came up suddenly and lifted the log, even pinning her underwater for a brief period. Do not sit on logs that are near the ocean, and keep an eye on the tides to make sure no sneaker waves have been reaching the spot where youre choosing to sit. You can often tell if there are wet outlines of breakers in the sand. More on Oregon Coast Beach Safety. Oregon Coast Lodgings on the northern coast - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Click image to expand: Above. Click image to expand: Above. Sen. Bernie Sanders recently called climate change "an existential threat" and blamed it for last weekend's deadly Alabama tornadoes. Gov. Roy Cooper testified before Congress that climate change was to blame for making hurricanes more destructive. Al Gore called climate change No. 1 on the "definitive ranking of the most serious emergencies we're facing" and said it was responsible for migrant caravans.Or consider the rhetoric of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Bigger hurricanes, existential threat, and the end of the world in a dozen years if we don't, like, act. They say these things to urge Americans to cut our emissions. As if America is what's holding back the world from enjoying a cooler, more temperate Shangri-La, with kitten-mild hurricanes purring against our shorelines and none of your polar vortexes to panic Weather Channel personalities.When it comes to cutting emissions, however, the United States is the Lebron James to the rest of the world's Cavaliers. Meanwhile, these Cavaliers are too busy sulking about Paris and scoring baskets for the wrong side.Here are some facts gleaned from the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018 report: Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. are down 15.7 percent since 2007 and are still falling Carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, down 12.7 percent since 2007, have been rising since 2014 Carbon dioxide emissions are rising in 14 out of 19 larger European Union nations, including "ideal" climate nations Germany, Spain, France, and the NetherlandsOh, and here's the main point: The U.S. leads the world in cutting carbon dioxide emissionsIn 2017, the U.S. reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 42 million tons, the biggest reduction among the nations. It was the third year in a row the U.S. had the largest decline in emissions in the world, and the ninth time this century.Unfortunately, the U.S.'s reduction was completely negated by the EU's increase. Meanwhile, China, India, and others continued to belch out, negating several more years' worth of future U.S. reductions.Here are some more facts: U.S. emissions are at their lowest level since 1992 Per-capita U.S. emissions haven't been this low since 1950If you're encountering these facts for the first time, you're probably wondering why. Why don't we hear this everywhere? Isn't this exactly what the media, politicians, celebrities, activists, academics, and your neighbor have been wanting for years?This is great news. Why is it such a big secret? And why should Americans skulk about like climate villains when we are the heroes in this story?Here's why: It wasn't government that succeeded in cutting emissions. It wasn't forced energy and material austerity. It wasn't fixed by taking away people's choices, cars, airplanes, burgers, steaks, ability to have children, and anything else that makes people happy.Instead, solutions arose in the free market. And that staggers their entire worldview.Some of it is from technological change driving ever more efficient use of resources. Some is because of consumer preference for more efficient and less "carbon-intensive" goods and services. Another reason is an expanding service sector relative to manufacturing.But by far the biggest factor is cheap, plentiful natural gas becoming price-competitive to coal. Except when prevented by government policy, energy companies still seek the least-cost generation source, but it has to be reliable (dispatchable). Unlike solar and wind, natural gas is every bit as efficient as coal and just as dispatchable. It offers a clean-burning, one-for-one replacement of coal generation.Cheap, plentiful natural gas didn't just happen. It came from the restless entrepreneurial spirit seeking how to unlock known stores of natural gas and oil trapped in shale rock. When this old problem was finally solved in the mid-2000s by combining horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, it changed everything.Here's something else to consider - how natural gas compares with other energy sources in terms of federal subsidies and share of electricity generation: Solar received by far the most in federal subsidies while producing the least: $2,231 million in subsidies, 1.2% of the nation's electricity. Wind took in $1,266 million in subsidies, producing 5.4% of the nation's electricity. Coal: $1,262 million in subsidies, 29.6% of the nation's electricity. Nuclear: $365 million in subsidies, 19.6% of the nation's electricity. Natural gas: minus $773 million in subsidies, 35% (largest share) of the nation's electricity. That minus means natural gas paid far more in tax expenditures to the government ($940 million tax liability) than it received in subsidies from the government ($167 million).So now the top source of electricity in this nation is a net taxpayer, not a gobbler of subsidies? That's even more good news.P.S. Want still more good news? Look at how emissions have fallen in North Carolina this whole century: President Trumps tug of war with China continues. Last week the latest round of talks between China and the U.S. kicked off. The United States is trying address the trade balance between China and the United States in a bilateral fashion. It seems that there isnt really a bilateral supply chain, as much as the President wants it to be. Just before this latest round of Sino-American negotiations kicked off, French President Emanuel Macron and Chinas President Xi Jinping announced a thirty billion Euro dealclose to thirty-five billion U.S. dollarsfor Airbus aircraft. Of the 300 aircraft included by China in the deal, 290 are the single aisle A320 configuration. The A320 happens to be the aircraft that competes directly with Boeings grounded 737 Max 8 configuration. It seems that there isnt really a bilateral supply chain, as much as the President wants it to be. In a not-so-subtle challenge to U.S. interests, Politico quotes President Xi saying, "a united and prosperous Europe corresponds to our vision of a multipolar world." American businesses with supply chains and logistics threads extending into China need to pay attention. President Trumps game of checkers with China has morphed into a game of chess with the world. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Zimbabweans from Matabeleland with SA Citizenship/Residence are the worst apologists to Afrophobia. They mistakenly think their proximity to Nguni Heritage is protection to incidiary hatred of black Africans. #NoToAfrophobia Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) March 30, 2019 Zimbabweans of Ndebele origin who have attained South African citizenship or permanent residence status are supportive of xenophobic attacks against African residing in that country, Trevor Ncube who is Presi9dnet Emmerson Mnangagwa's advisor has alleged.Ncube posted the statement after revealing that he was told by a South African taxi driver that there are rampant xenophobic attacks happening in Johannesburg."Zimbabweans from Matabeleland with SA Citizenship/Residence are the worst apologists to Afrophobia," Ncube said. "They mistakenly think their proximity to Nguni Heritage is protection to incendiary hatred of black Africans."Social media users accused Ncube of being too comfortable by being close to President Mnangagwa and hence attacking his tribesman.Ncube's statement comes after South African media reported that there is a fresh wave of xenophobia in the country which has left about 3 foreigners dead while hundreds are displaced.On Friday President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa called for peace among South Africans pleading them to refrain from attacking foreigners.The most affected provinces are Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal. News / National by Staff reporter South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, under pressure to withdraw campaign trail comments partly blamed on recent xenophobic attacks on foreigners in Durban, said he condemned the violence "in the strongest terms".The leader of the non-profit African Diaspora Union (AfriDu), Chidiebere Ogbu, cast the blame for the latest eruption of violence on Ramaphosa's remarks at the ANC manifesto launch in January."His foot soldiers misunderstood him and started harassing innocent traders," said Ogbu.In the speech, Ramaphosa had vowed to crack down on businesses operating illegally in townships and rural areas."We are going to bring this to an end and those who are operating illegally, wherever they come from must now know," Ramaphosa told supporters.Speaking at an African National Congress fundraising dinner held at the Coastlands Hotel in Durban on Friday night, Ramaphosa said the attacks on foreigners, which started on Sunday and continued into Tuesday this week, were "wrong".Ramaphosa makes an abrupt turnRamaphosa making threatsAfrica Solidarity Network secretary-general Daniel Dunia condemned the attack."Many who spoke to me said they were acting on the instruction of President Cyril Ramaphosa who they say called for a clampdown on foreign-owned businesses and those without correct documentation," he said. News / National by Staff reporter A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl from Binga District woke up with her skin peeling off and scalded, a condition reminiscent of someone burnt by fire, but could not feel the pain, neither was there any fire outbreak at her home.So severe are Precious Moyo's burns that her mother Ms Martha Munenge, is living a life of watching her daughter being "roasted" as her condition has started to deteriorate.Sunday News caught up with Ms Munenge in Njube in Bulawayo where she narrated the sorry story which has befallen her daughter."About two weeks ago, we went to bed as usual, when we woke up, Precious looked like she had been burnt. However, she was not feeling any pain despite her skin peeling off. She was looking like someone who had been rescued from the fire but there was no fire. She was also not feeling any pain which really baffled us," said Ms Munenge.However, after a week, Ms Munenge said her daughter's condition started getting worse."She started feeling itchy and even crying for hours. Her entire body is affected at the moment. She has lost her hair and is having difficulties when attempting to eat," said Ms Munenge holding back her tears while cuddling her daughter.What is worrying her is that attempts to seek professional help have yielded nothing.She said Precious was once admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital where doctors could not establish the cause of the disease."They took samples of the blood and other things for examinations but so far there is no proper identification of the disease. We are waiting for the final results and hoping for better news this time around," said Ms Munenge.The stress she is facing is not only about the mysterious sickness, but lack of funding to ensure her daughter gets proper medical attention.She said she needs $6 000 to meet expenses such as scans, blood transfusion and other medications she has been advised to look for by the doctors."I am poor and can't afford some of the medication that doctors said we must buy in cash and sometimes in foreign currency. Medication is also very expensive, and is being sold in forex as well. Those willing to assist me can call on 0783418020. That is also my EcoCash number," she said. News / National by Staff reporter THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has said yesterday's Ward 28 (Cowdray Park) by-election in Bulawayo went well although it was characterised by lower voter turnout.The by-election was marred by voter apathy throughout the day but generally peaceful with no incidents recorded, officials said.Ward elections officer Mrs Sithembiso Khupe said voting at most polling stations went well without any incidents recorded."Most of our polling stations opened at 7am as per the requirement but we had very few people coming in to cast their vote. There was serious voter apathy which is disappointing to say the least," she said.She said Cowdray Park has more than 23 000 registered voters and 36 polling stations but by 1pm only 2 524 people had cast their votes. Mrs Khupe said some people were turned away for failing to produce correct identity documentation."We had cases where voters came with wrong IDs, others wanted to cast their vote at the wrong polling stations while others were coming from different wards to vote. However, we also had those who actually came from a different province intending to vote but they were not eligible," she said.Mrs Khupe said despite voter education by Zec and civil society, the turnout was disappointing. In an interview Zanu-PF candidate Kidwell Mujuru said he was impressed by the voting process despite the low voter turnout."Everything has been smooth and peaceful," he said.The ward 28 became vacant following the death of MDC-Alliance councillor Hapson Ncube in December 2018.Mujuru was battling with 17 other candidates from many political parties who included former councillor for the area, Mr Collect Ndlovu of MDC-Alliance. Counting of votes continued into the night. News / National by Staff reporter OWNED by Spares Mania and trading as Family Amusement Park, Lunar Park is in Bulawayo for the Easter, Independence holidays and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.Having started in the 1970s, Lunar Park is still a favourite of many, from children to adults. It is mostly popular during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair period where the owners station the machines close to ZITF grounds for the convenience of those who would have visited the annual trade fair event.The joyride, the train, the jets, the shells, the boats and the big wheel are all original machines that have been enjoyed since the Lunar Park started."Everything is still original since the time when the Lunar Park started, except that we sometimes service the electrical motors. We, of course, want to improve our services and we have engaged others in the industry. Recently we were in South Africa meeting with people from the Association of Lunar Parks so that we try and modernise a bit," said Mr Witness Chiota who is one of the directors of Family Amusement Park.The Lunar Park is the only mobile lunar park in Zimbabwe and every month the operators move to a new place, but they have committed to providing their services to Bulawayo for the month of April.Mr Chiota also said that they had discount prices for those who will be attending the Trade Fair and they were also in the process of acquiring new parts for most of the machines to improve their safety standards."We are very excited to notify our customers that we will be in Bulawayo for the whole month of April in preparation for the Trade Fair, they can visit us even before the Trade Fair as we will be moving close to the Trade Fair grounds soon. We are also in the process of procuring new parts for our machines as we try to maximise safety for the customers," said Mr Chiota.He added: "We try to stay as original as possible so as to avoid disasters, most of the machines are operated manually and we have aides for every machine to ensure that people are safe at all times. Modernisation is a very good thing but sometimes it can lead to disasters as the machines will be operated by someone who will be far away and cannot see what will be happening on the ground."He also said that as part of their efforts to maintain high safety standards they always train their staff in safety related issues. News / National by Staff reporter CHURCHES must comply with the laws of the land and must not be exempted from paying taxes for their commercial ventures.This was said by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches general secretary Reverend Dr Kennedy Mtata."Compliance to national regulations is not negotiable even for the church. Everyone must comply with the laws of the land," he said.Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) issued a directive that compelled all churches that were involved in business ventures to pay Value Added Tax as they were recording profits.Tithes, donations, offerings were however, exempted from taxation. The churches were also required to remit Pay As You Earn'' for their employees' salaries.Zimra notes that every person who becomes an employer is required by law to register for PAYE within 14 days of becoming an employer."Once a church becomes an employer and it pays any type of remuneration, for instance, a salary, wage allowance - among others - to its employees, the church will be required to deduct the correct employees' tax or PAYE every month, in accordance with the tax tables, and remit to Zimra by the 10th day of the following month,".Churches and other religious organisations that omitted or failed to declare any amounts of income on returns submitted were encouraged to make voluntary disclosure.The ZCC general secretary emphasised that they were ensuring that the church plays its part on the rules set by the Government."Our view is that the laws of the land are clear in terms of taxation of earnings and the church should do the right thing and pay tax for earnings from their commercial ventures which are non-core," he said.PHD Ministries was the first to be investigated by the State and the matter has spilled to the courts. PHD is facing charges of contravening the Value Added Tax Act.Alternatively, the church's representative is accused of breaching the Income Tax Act, failure to keep proper records, declare records and failure to uphold the Employees Act.It is the State's case that PHD raises revenue from selling church regalia, anointing oil and holy water.The State also alleges the church operates a guest house at Yadah Hotel in Waterfalls Harare. News / National by Staff reporter Government is mulling disbanding two Constitutional commissions - the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) - and subsume their core functions under the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) as part of a drive to eliminate the duplication of roles.It is envisaged that the refreshed ZHRC will have "special interest commissioners" that will focus specifically on the roles that were exercised by both ZGC and the NPRC.The proposed reforms are being considered by the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce that was recently set up to work on an omnibus Constitutional Amendment Bill that will deepen civil liberties and individual rights, including entrenching political, electoral and economic reforms.Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told our Harare Bureau that it was difficult to distinguish between gender issues and human rights."Strictly speaking, a gender commission is a human rights commission, so you cannot have a gender commission which is separate from a human rights commission," said Minister Ziyambi."An economy like ours cannot afford or sustain two commissions that do basically the same things."Our thinking is that we have two commissions chewing into the fiscus but doing one and the same thing. We would rather have one commission which has those commissioners, and probably within the secretariat, you have a department that deals with gender issues."Section 232 of the Constitution provides for the establishment of five independent commissions, which also include the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).Authorities, however, believe that gender and conflict resolution issues are intrinsically human rights issues.Minister Ziyambi said: "If you look anywhere in the world, there is nothing called a gender commission, but there are human rights commissions."The work that they do is more or less the same, they even attend the same international human rights conferences, but they do so separately . . ."So what it means is the human rights commission in its present structure is being prohibited from dealing with gender equality issues because that function is the responsibility of the gender commission, which does not make sense."So whenever a human rights violation in relation to gender takes place, we are likely to see a fight between the two commissions in terms of who will investigate."We are not being efficient if we do that; I do not think the whole thing was well thought out."Minister Ziyambi said that Section 243, which outlines the functions of the ZHRC, and Section 246, which specify the mandate of the ZGC, have uncanny resemblances, with only the phrase human rights alternating with the word gender.NPRC, he added, "is a creature of political compromise" made during the constitution-making process that preceded the 2013 referendum.However, the present Constitution - which was adopted on May 22 2013 - has a sunset clause that provides for the automatic dissolution of the NPRC after 10 years of the adoption of the Constitution (2023)."Even if you look at the NPRC, it is a creature of political compromise because some people during the constitution-making exercise thought they needed to deal with a specific issue of the Matabeleland disturbances."But to be honest, a commission that deals with early warning signs, conflict resolution and reconciliation the world over is the human rights commission," he said.He, however, said there was need for robust debate on the proposed amendments.ZGC chair Ms Margret Mukahanana-Sangarwe said merging the two commissions was not in the best interest of women empowerment.She said: "We do very different things; the Gender Commission deals with issues of gender, and the issues of gender equality are a very big issue in Zimbabwe and everywhere in the world."There is a lot to do about gender equality that is not covered by human rights, so to speak, so I would be surprised if they intend on doing that."NPRC chair Justice Sello Nare could not be reached by the time of going to print. News / National by Staff reporter RESPECTED MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora says the main opposition party's revered late founding leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is probably turning in his grave because of the toxic politics obtaining in the party that he had lived and sacrificed so much for.Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Daily News on Sunday last week, Mwonzora also said were Tsvangirai still around, he would be "terribly disappointed" by the petty agendas, the ill-discipline and the chaos that was consuming the party ahead of its elective congress in May.This comes as there are growing reports of turmoil, thuggery, intimidation and manipulation of party structures within the country's main opposition, as MDC bigwigs jostle for positions ahead of the fast approaching key internal elections.The party will hold its eagerly-anticipated congress from May 24 to 26, where a new party leadership will be chosen - including the substantive successor to Tsvangirai - who died on Valentine's Day last year after losing his brave battle against cancer of the colon.The party's charismatic interim leader, Nelson Chamisa, who narrowly lost to President Emmerson Mnangagwa in last year's historic elections, is likely to face competition from Elias Mudzuri and Mwonzora at the congress.Mwonzora said there was no doubt that if Tsvangirai was still alive, he would not countenance the present state of the MDC, where narrow agendas were marring the run-up to the congress."I know Tsvangirai hated the vitriol which some party members direct at each other."He won't be too pleased to learn, even where he is, that there are party members who are using hate language against other party members. Tsvangirai wanted a united, democratic party that always looks to and pays attention to its glorious founding values," Mwonzora said.He said preparations for the MDC's congress, which he said had initially taken off "to a good start", were now being marred by allegations of violence and "other barbaric acts" by some party members."The preparations for congress were going on well. However, we have now received reports of violence, intimidation and discrimination on the basis of people who supported me in 2014.We have had to deal with congress-related suspensions and expulsions at lower structures. If all these things are true, then it is wrong, unfair, anachronistic to the party and therefore totally unacceptable. I hope the organising, elections and chairpersons' departments bring the reports on these issues to our next Standing Committee meeting," Mwonzora added of the current restructuring exercise which has caused serious divisions in the party.Last week, disgruntled party members claimed that some senior MDC officials were imposing dodgy structures in the party along factional lines, to further their personal interests. They said this had created serious problems, to the extent that MDC organising secretary Amos Chibaya was "agonising" over which lists to accept from party structures, because of the chaos currently consuming the restructuring exercise."There is big trouble in the making because he (Chibaya) has to determine which lists to accept based on who was involved in the process."Parallel structures have been created in areas such as Dzivaresekwa, Kuwadzana, Zengeza East and Zengeza West."The main danger is that those whose lists will be rejected will be crying foul, and thus, there could be chaos at congress because these people will still come claiming to be the bona fide structures and cause chaos and fights," a worried national executive member told our sister publication, the Daily News a fortnight ago.Another insider confirmed to the newspaper that the restructuring of the party, particularly at the level of branches and wards, had seen supporters of Chamisa, Mudzuri and Mwonzora coming up with different lists of what they were all claiming to be bona fide members.Claims were also increasingly being made that Chamisa, Mudzuri and Mwonzora were separately seeking to influence the outcome of the restructuring exercise since elected officials would form the electoral college at the coming congress."This is what is causing the chaos in several provinces such as Mashonaland East, Chitungwiza, Harare and Masvingo, where there is serious infighting."The divisions are also emanating from claims that there are attempts to push out some members who are allegedly not loyal to Chamisa. Because of all this, disgruntled members are now also threatening to derail the restructuring exercise in protest," the insider said.Mwonzora told the Daily News on Sunday that it was his wish to see the country's largest opposition party by far re-admitting disgruntled members such as former MDC deputy leader Thokozani Khupe - who quit the party in a huff last year ahead of the July 30 national elections."The MDC family must come together without conditions. Thokozani Khupe was ... Tsvangirai's longest-serving deputy, who possesses an internal party memory that we cannot just ignore."In terms of the transgressions of all the people who split from the main MDC at one time or the other, one cannot argue that Thokozani transgressed more than the others. I think all the MDC members must come back and prosecute the struggle together as Tsvangirai had fought to achieve in his life," Mwonzora said.The MDC was hit by power struggles shortly after the death of Tsvangirai, when Chamisa assumed the reins of the party ahead of his rivals - albeit, under controversial circumstances.The 41-year-old was accused of having allegedly used his then assumed closeness to Tsvangirai's widow, Elizabeth, to torpedo the ambitions of the likes of Mudzuri and Khupe.A titanic leadership battle subsequently ensued in the party, which eventually led to Khupe forming a breakaway faction - which went on to perform dismally in last year's elections.Chamisa ultimately prevailed over his party competitors after a consultative meeting of the MDC, which was held at its Harare headquarters - and which was attended by 639 delegates from 210 party districts - endorsed him as Tsvangirai's interim successor and the party's presidential candidate in the 2018 polls. News / National by Methusi Ncube Prices of most basic commodities have gone up by up to 200 percent over the weekend in Zimbabwe.Retailers have argued that the price remain the same in United States Dollar terms but have increased in Bond Dollar terms as the local currency continues to plummet.Butter which had all but disappeared from shelves in the last two weeks resurfaced with the biggest increase in price. A tub of 500g of margarine, which used to cost about $7 Bond is now pegged at $22,50 Bond by most retailers.Cooking oil, which cost about $ 7 Bond in most supermarkets on Friday, now costs up to $14 Bond depending on where one is buying.2kgs of sugar, which was about $ 4 Bond on Friday is now being sold for up to $6 bond by leading supermarkets.A consumer in Bulawayo told Bulawayo24.com that the increases were a reflection that the government has abandoned the people."Imagine, in November last year, sugar 2kg used to cost $2 Bond now it has almost trebled. If you were getting paid about $500 Bond a month in November last year, you need to be getting about $3 000 monthly to maintain the same lifestyle. Our leaders do not care as they keep promising us things will improve when they hire expensive luxury planes to globetrot every day," said Miss Nomagugu Ncube.Mr Aaron Moyo of Harare said Zimbabweans have become slaves in their own country as they work only for food."You get paid, you try to buy enough food until the next pay day so there is no saving or investing. How different is that from slavery?," he asked.Salaries have remained stagnant since 2017. Opinion / Columnist Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi Chairman of the ICT Divison of Zimbabwe Institution Engineers (ZIE), Member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe (ECZ), Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and a Member of Institute of Directors (IOD) Zimbabwe has a mobile penetration rate of 102.7 percent (according to PORTAZ January 2018) meaning over 100 percent of the Zimbabwean population has access to the internet, which is the biggest source of information. There is now a need for every sector of our government to have a web presence. The flagship ministry of our government the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services that does not have a basic website or an online presence, this is where the problem starts.So where is the source of this nations information if our information ministry does not have the basics in place? Majority of government websites are not updated with most having information that dates back to the Mugabe era. Our provinces and districts do not have any web presence of any form yet we produce 40,000 information and communication technology (ICT) graduates every year with most of them being self-employed. Ninety Six percent of our local authorities do not have a website or social media presence and their ICT systems are over 25 years old.It should be government policy that each ministry and local authority should have a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or a Chief Information Officer (CIO) whose role is to manage the ministry's or local authority's ICT services. It should be the duty of the Minister and the Permanent Secretary to have a basic website, emails and working ICT services for their ministry. Failure to achieve this one should be dismissed. This should filter down to provinces and districts and creating the much-needed employment for our ICT graduates.Zimbabwe's information and communication technology (ICT) private sector has been the most thriving sector and will continue to do so for the next 20 years leaving behind the government sector which continues to lag behind by close to 25 years. There is now a need to have the transfer of skills from the private sector to government in order for this country to bridge this massive skills gap.Zimbabwe's ICT sector has grown at a rapid rate compared to world standards and has become a specialized area of economic interest. Unlike all other sectors of the Zimbabwean economy, the ICT industry has remained remarkably resilient in the face of the macro-economic instability. At this time when our economy growth is slow and continuous volatility in Zimbabwe our government should be looking for policies that will stimulate growth and create entrepreneurships among the ICT sector that will feedback in the government sector from the private sector. Considering that our government and parastatals are 25 years behind when it comes to ICT, there is now a need for Zimbabwe's government to have a development agenda that turn towards inclusive growth, creating an environment where there is participatory decision-making that brings together the government and the private sector in finding ICT viable solutions to some of these basic challenges being faced by Zimbabwe's government. Passengers on a Cancun, Mexico-bound flight from Toronto were left stranded for several hours on Saturday after their aircraft made an emergency landing in New Orleans due to a mechanical issue. Sunwing Flight 511 left Pearson International Airport just after 10 a.m. on Saturday but had to land at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans at 1:32 p.m., Marcelo Gomez, who was a passenger on the flight, told CBC News. Sunwing confirmed the flight was diverted because of a mechanical issue with the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, which had 222 customers on board. In a statement to CBC News, the airline said passengers have since landed at their destination on another flight that took off last night after the hours-long detour. The plane had an engine problem and had to land in New Orleans. Local authorities could not host our group at the airport so we had to wait for four hours onboard," Gomez said. But the Toronto resident said being stuck on board the grounded aircraft was only the beginning of their ordeal. "According to regulations, airplanes cannot have passengers on board for more than four hours, so around 4:40 [p.m.], we left the plane and local authorities put us in a closed room that looked like a big hallway or tunnel," Gomez explained. He said they ended up spending another three hours in that area. The Sunwing crew onboard were "excellent, very nice, patient [and] empathetic," and even ordered pizza for everyone, Gomez said, but the real problem started after they exited the disabled aircraft. "[There was] zero communication with customers and [the] call centre had no information to provide," Gomez said. "It's critical for companies in cases like this one to communicate often with their customers; otherwise it looks terrible on them and creates a lot of frustration such as the one I've seen this afternoon everywhere around me." In a statement to CBC News, Sunwing said the company said they did not have any staff on the ground to support communications because they do not regularly operate out of the New Orleans airport. Story continues "Because of the unplanned nature of the landing, the airport was very busy and it took us many hours to find a secured area for our customers to deplane to," Sunwing added. Supplied by Marcelo Gomez/Twitter The plane that suffered mechanical trouble was recently leased by Sunwing from Eastern Airlines, according to publicly available aircraft registration data. It was leased to cover the loss of four Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft that were grounded by Transport Canada on March 13 in wake of the Ethiopian Airlines disaster. Gomez told CBC News that passengers were advised Saturday night that another plane had been sent from Miami to take passengers to Cancun. "We are very apologetic for this unfortunate start to their vacation and have compensated accordingly," Sunwing said. A composite image shows protestors against U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Photos from Getty Images) With Canada due for an election in 2019 and the U.S. due for one in 2020, voters in both countries will soon have to decide who to cast their ballots for. But for the present, a lot of the dialogue around both countries governments seems centred less on who to elect as leader and more on how to prosecute the ones in office now. On Feb. 27, testimonies in Canada and the U.S. by former Canadian Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen challenged the credibility of both countries leaders. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been accused of political interference in the justice system based on allegations he pressured Wilson-Raybould to drop criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin, a prominent lobbyist, and then demoted her when she refused. President Trump was suspected, among other things, of colluding with Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and of obstructing the FBIs investigation into that alleged collusion. While special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into those matters did not provide evidence of collusion, the question of whether Trump committed obstruction of justice might still be on the table. In both countries, vocal minorities are calling for the leaders to be removed from office. Thousands of Canadians have signed online petitions demanding Governor General Julie Payette impeach Trudeau. In the U.S., voters are urging the House of Representatives to do the same. So how is this done in Canada compared to the United States? And in which country is a leader more likely to leave office by some process other than defeat in a general election? The mechanisms of removal John McAndrews, a researcher of Canadian and U.S. politics at the University of Toronto, says one of the key differences between how leaders can be removed in Canada compared to the U.S. is that here, there are non-judicial ways of doing it. In America, impeachment is a matter of criminal law. We should think about impeachment as being akin to being charged with a crime, McAndrews says. The lower house, the House of Representatives, impeaches a president by charging him or her with a high crime like treason of bribery. Story continues Then action shifts to the Senate, and its the Senate that convenes itself kind of like a court. A trial proceeds and here the decision rule is not simple majority, its two-thirds majority. If two thirds of Senators vote to convict the president of his or her crimes, the president is, theoretically, forced from office. In Canada, the official process for removing a government because in Canadas parliamentary system, voters elect a government, not a prime minister involves a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. The House of Commons can dump a government for any number of reasonsbecause they dont like the policies the government is pursuing, McAndrews says. So in theory, the Canadian Constitution permits the House of Commons to withdraw its confidence in the government, and then the government is gone, whether theres evidence of a crime or anything like that. If the vote passes, which usually relies on the government in power having a minority of the seats in the House, the governor general will either call an election, or appoint another party to lead the government. However, anyone familiar with the Harper government knows there is a tactic governments can use to delay and avoid a non-confidence vote in the first place: prorogation. In 2009, facing a likely non-confidence motion by the Liberal and NDP parties, the federal Conservatives under Stephen Harper received permission from then Governor General Michaelle Jean to end parliament, delaying the non-confidence vote. By the time parliament reconvened several months later, the threat of a non-confidence motion had dissipated. Its a tactic Trudeaus government could choose to adopt in the face of more high-profile resignations like that of Wilson-Raybould, explains Christian Leuprecht, a Royal Military College professor. If the Liberals thought that they might have sufficient defections within their ranks, that they might be in a minority position and possibly lose a vote of no confidence, they may well opt to prorogue parliament, Leuprecht says. Both Leuprecht and McAndrews agree, though, that the current government is likely safe from the threat of a non-confidence vote. In the case of a majority government here in Canada, nobody expects Andrew Scheer to be able to bring down the government, McAndrews says. It would have to come from within the governing caucus. The threat of mutiny Beyond the official mechanism of a non-confidence motion, which doesnt always result in a change of government anyway, there is another way a prime minister can be pressured to step down. It comes from within his or her own party. As a leader you have to maintain the confidence of caucus, Leuprecht says, citing cases where prime ministers like Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chretien and Brian Mulroney resigned while in office due to pressure within their party. These are all three leaders that, in light of poll numbers of the day, decided the party was better off without them than with them, he says. In Chretiens case, he adds, the prime minister was likely facing a mutiny from a faction of his caucus that was loyal to Paul Martin. In the case of a majority government here in Canada, nobody expects Andrew Scheer to be able to bring down the government, McAndrews says. It would have to come from within the governing caucus. John McAndrews, Canadian and U.S. politics researcher, University of Toronto Jean Chretien essentially withdrew as prime minister, Leuprecht says. But for all intents and purposes he was effectively removed by caucus. There also exists a law that allows parties to give their MPs the power to essentially vote to remove a party leader from the head position, even if that person is the prime minister. Michael Chongs Reform Act passed in the upper house in June 2015, but with the provision that each party can choose at the beginning of a new parliament whether it wants to adopt the law. Under this law, Leuprecht says, a party leader could theoretically walk in in the morning as Prime Minister and by lunch time you could be sitting as a back bench member of parliament. The Liberal Party has not adopted Michael Chongs Reform Act, however. Removal is rare, but less so in Canada Whether by accusations of a crime, a loss of confidence or the threat of mutiny, each method of officially or unofficially removing a leader takes time, and each depends on many moving parts. In the U.S., impeachment simply means the president is accused, but not convicted, of committing a high crime. No president has been convicted of a crime and legally forced out of office through the impeachment process. Instead, the process of impeachment has tended to have one of two effects. First, it may backfire on the opposition if they appear to overstep their authority, as was the case with President Bill Clinton and the House Republicans in 1998. Clintons approval rating actually rose after the House of Representatives charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice, while voters accused the Republican party of committing an abuse of power. Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on Dec. 19, 1998. But how does that scandal compare with the one unfolding now? A lot of voters looked at that and said You overstepped and the Republicans lost some support in that case, McAndrews says. Further, Clinton was never convicted of the crimes of which he was accused by the Republicans. Another possible outcome is that, as was the case with President Richard Nixon, the threat of being convicted of a crime is so great that resigning, and therefore avoiding impeachment and the ensuing trial, becomes the best option. Nixon was never actually indicted, Leuprecht says. The premise is there is so much evidence against you that if you go away, we will not indict you. So you can pick what fate you want to live. Therefore, while several presidents have been impeached, and one has resigned, none have been officially removed office by the impeachment process. Trudeau is more at risk than Trump, expert says Canada, in contrast with Americas one presidential resignation, has seen a handful of prime ministers resign while in office. Prime Ministers Arthur Meighen, John Diefenbaker, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper were all at the losing end of either a loss of supply or a vote of non-confidence at some point during their leadership. Some, like Harper, weathered the challenges, while others either resigned as a result of a non-confidence vote, or were pressured to step down by their caucus. Prime Minister MacKenzie King resigned in 1926 before the opposition had a chance to put forward a non-confidence motion. It is easier for leaders in Canada to be removed, whether that be by vote of no confidence or election, Leuprecht says. But also by they themselves making the decision to remove themselves for the good of the party and the electoral chances of the party. Leuprecht says if there is a time when Trudeau should be especially sensitive to the the polls and the temperature of his party, it is now. Less than a year out from an election, and facing challenges to his credibility, Trudeau is under heavy scrutiny right now. The timing couldnt be worse for the prime minister or any prime minister, Leuprecht says. Because its just enough time for members of the party to start getting nervous depending on what theyre hearing from their constituents about getting re-elected. When Donald Trump leaves office, it could be because he lost an election, because he reached his presidential term limit or because he resigned under the pressure of impeachment. If Canadian political history proves anything, it is that Justin Trudeaus fate in office is equally unclear and possibly less secure. And if theres something else history has proven, it is that if disgruntled Canadians are going to topple the government, it wont be because they added their names to a petition. It was a short letter from Elections Canada but for Gillian Frank, getting it felt like "an old wound had finally started to heal." "I was overjoyed," said Frank, a Canadian living in the United States who received the letter earlier this month confirming his right to cast a ballot in the upcoming federal election. For seven years, Frank and other Canadians living abroad fought for the right to vote in general elections and national referendums. In December 2018, the Trudeau government passed Bill 76 just a month before the Supreme Court of Canada shot down the 1993 law that prohibited Canadians who had lived outside Canada for more than five years from voting in Canadian elections, calling it a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Frank and fellow ex-pat Jamie Duong filed that charter challenge after being denied ballots in 2011. Bill 76 restored voting rights to all Canadians living abroad; the Supreme Court ruling prevents future governments from restoring the ban. Number of international voters could triple Since January, Elections Canada has been mailing out letters to Canadians abroad reminding them that they're back on the international electors list. "It felt like a moment of closure, a moment of real victory," Frank said. Elections Canada expects to see a surge in the number of mail-in or 'special' ballots. It estimates the number of Canadians voting from abroad could almost triple from 11,000 voters in 2015 to 30,000 in 2019. To cope with the demand, Elections Canada issued a tender in March for a new system to automate the way ballots are distributed. "We are reducing the number of processes carried out by hand related to special ballots," Elections Canada spokesperson Natasha Gauthier said in an email. "In automating these processes, we will reduce the number of staff required to handle the volume of ballots we receive. "These optimizations will not include automated counting of ballots all ballots will still be marked and counted by hand." Story continues 'We're all Canadian citizens' Duong said Canadians should not fret about the prospect of votes by Canadians living in the U.S. or Hong Kong swinging individual ridings. If it happens, it happens, he said. "You can say that about any group. What if votes of people 65 and over change the outcome? What if votes [from voters aged] 18 to 25 change the outcome?" Duoug said. "We're all Canadian citizens. We all have a right to vote. So, yes our votes should matter. And they should possibly change the outcome of the elections." Former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley argues we'll never know for sure whether the re-appearance of ex-pat voting in 2019 had any real effect on the outcome, since voting is secret. And while "it just takes one vote to swing a riding," he said, the ex-pat vote likely isn't going to have that kind of influence because Canadians abroad have to jump through a lot of hoops before casting ballots. International voters, he said, have to register themselves on the international voter list, find which ridings they belong to, figure out who's running, fill out their ballots correctly and then mail them in on time. They also have to pay the international postage themselves. "These are all difficulties we do not have to overcome when we're voting from Canada," Kingsley said. How to vote if you're a Canadian living abroad? Register to be on the international list of electors When an election is called, voters on that list will be mailed a special ballot kit. Voters must fill in the name of the person they're voting for in their electoral district. The voter must mail back the ballot and ensure Elections Canada in Gatineau, Que., receives it before 6 p.m. EST on polling day. For more information about voting in elections if you're a Canadian who lives internationally; click here. Students in Quebec's Lower North Shore region are learning that they share much more with their neighbours in Newfoundland and Labrador than a provincial border. A trio of Newfoundland musicians has been travelling to different communities along the coast over the past week for a series of songwriting workshops, stopping along the way to perform for residents, young and old. Grade Eight student Brooklyn Robertson said she was surprised to hear just how much she could relate to the musicians. "How we live close to the water, how we live off the land, the isolation," Robertson explained between two workshop sessions at Mecatina School, in La Tabatiere, Que. The town of around 500 people is located 175 kilometres east of the Labrador border and around 1,200 kilometres from the provincial capital. The geography explains, in part, why this region and this town, where four out of five people consider English as their first language, may have much more in common with the neighbouring province than they thought. "Nobody realizes that the cultures are so similar. I mean a lot of people don't even know that this part of Quebec is not a part of Newfoundland," said Kelly Anderson, a teacher at Mecatina School who put the whole project together. Education 'not just academic' During a trip to Newfoundland, Anderson met Fergus O'Byrne, a musician who had given similar workshops locally. Anderson said her own love of music compelled her to start writing letters to ask for her school board's support to bring O'Byrne and two of his fellow musicians on a two-week tour of the region's small communities. ''Education is not just academic," said Anderson. Submitted by Kelly Anderson Jim Payne and Mike Sixonate joined O'Byrne for this year's second edition of the project, hopping on planes between Bonne-Esperance, La Tabatiere and Blanc-Sablon, where they will be setting up next week, before returning home on Thursday. Story continues Fourteen-year-old Robertson said the instruments the musicians brought along reminded her of her own family gatherings, sitting around a crowded room, listening to her grandfather play music. "There are people from all over neighbours gather in one house and play all kinds of instruments," she said of a traditional Christmas dinner. Musician Jim Payne said that shared passion for music is illustrated in one of the instruments he plays, a four-button accordion, that he has only ever seen in two places outside of his native Newfoundland: on Louisiana's Acadian music scene, and on the Lower North Shore. The accordion was popular because it could belt out loud tunes without amplification an asset for remote regions, Payne said, where power outages were not uncommon. Payne, who followed in the footsteps of his own family, said the accordion also catered to Irish music's instrumental dance tempo. "The 6/8 rhythm is practically built into the instrument." Nurturing local talent Payne toured with fellow artists on the Lower North Shore in the past, and had fond memories of performing in town halls, school basements and people's homes. "If someone in any of those communities didn't hear us, it was because they didn't want to, because we didn't really stop playing at all," Payne joked. Those trips gave Payne a clearer idea of "just how strong the family links were" between both provinces, with residents detailing how their ancestors crossed the straight of Belle-Isle from Newfoundland to settle on the Lower North Shore, bringing their instruments with them. Submitted by Kelly Anderson Inviting the entire town to see this week's performances was an important part of the project for Anderson. "It's a wonderful thing because a lot of our seniors have grown up listening to all this music." So did Grade Seven student Caitlin Collier, whose grandfather taught himself how to play the guitar and the accordion. The 12-year-old was pleased to hear Payne and the others using the same kind of slang she's accustomed to. Submitted by Kelly Anderson She was also happy to see how other communities face the same harsh weather and isolation as people on the Lower North Shore. "It's nice to know people are living in the same conditions as us." Grateful for the hours her teacher put in to get the project off the ground, Collier said she hopes it will entice people in her town who may have put away their instruments to dig them out. "There are a lot of people here who have talent, and they would like to play, but there are not too many people who teach it." The song Collier wrote during the workshop with her peers will travel back to Newfoundland, where Payne, Sixonate and O'Byrne will make a studio recording. Collier shared a few lines before heading back to class, explaining the song is a kind of "running joke" about the transport delays people put up with on the Lower North Shore, something Newfoundlanders can likely relate to. "I've been waiting all day, to get on the plane..." Maine's highest court has ruled against a Nova Scotia company, deciding that seaweed harvesters in that state do not have the right to harvest rockweed from the shoreline without the landowner's permission. In a 30-page decision released Thursday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a previous court decision that rockweed growing in the intertidal zone is private property. In 2015, a group of homeowners in Maine took Dartmouth-based Acadian Seaplants Limited to court after the company harvested seaweed on their properties without their consent. Gordon Smith, the lawyer for the homeowners, said his clients are overjoyed with the decision. "My clients are conservationists. They're very happy that the court's holding is going to protect this resource that forms the base of the food web," he said in an interview on Friday. Acadian Seaplants Acadian Seaplants president Jean-Paul Deveau said he's disappointed with the decision, which the company's lawyers are reviewing to determine whether to file another appeal. Deveau said he will be meeting with the state government in the next few weeks to understand how the decision will impact his company's operations in the state. The rockweed harvesting season doesn't start until summer. Deveau said the company already operates in other jurisdictions, such as Scotland, where landowner permission is required. "That is not something that is new to us," he said. Lawyers for Acadian Seaplants have previously said the decision could have "immense" consequences. "An entire marine industry and the maritime jobs that depend on it rest on the outcome," the lawyers submitted in a brief in 2017. Shaina Luck/CBC Deveau said Friday he is worried about the potential economic impact of the decision. "Certainly that is of concern to me, to the people that I know who operate in and build our livelihoods in Maine," he said. "And certainly we have an obligation to work very hard on their behalf to find a path forward to continue to be able to provide that kind of economic activity." Story continues He said he didn't know offhand how many people his company employs in Maine. The company argued harvesting seaweed is a form of fishing and therefore a public right, going so far as to argue that rockweed is more akin to shellfish than plants. The court rejected that argument, saying even a "sympathetically generous and broad interpretation cannot transform the harvesting of a marine plant into fishing." Rockweed is a lucrative industry, estimated to be worth about $20 million after processing in Maine alone. Acadian Seaplants harvests the seaweed for use in nutritional supplements, skin care products, pet food and livestock feed and fertilizer. The decision is unlikely to affect the company's operations in the Maritimes, where Acadian Seaplants holds many harvesting licences. In Canada, property owners lay claim to everything up to the high water mark. Anything below that belongs to the Crown. MORE TOP STORIES By Abhishek Takle MANAMA, March 29 (Reuters) - Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto believes Formula One will reach an agreement on wide-ranging changes from 2021, even if a few sticking points remain to be ironed out. Formula One's governing body, commercial rights holders Liberty Media, teams and other stakeholders are discussing how the sport will be run once existing agreements expire at the end of 2020. "I think that we are collaborating well with both the (governing) FIA and F1," Binotto, who replaced Maurizio Arrivabene as team principal in January, told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday. U.S.-based Liberty Media, who took over in 2017, want to introduce a fairer system of revenue distribution and implement a cost-cap as part of their aim to create a more level playing field and better racing. Together with the governing FIA, they presented a global package of changes to teams in London on Tuesday, fleshing out an initial proposal put to them a year ago. It also includes new sporting, technical and power unit rules. "There are still points where there is some distance compared to the position on what we believe should be the right Ferrari position," said Binotto. "But we are still discussing and I think it will be good for F1 to find the right agreement. Im pretty sure we will do it." Ferrari are a key player in negotiations surrounding the sports future. They are Formula Ones oldest and most successful team and enjoy special privileges and financial benefits as a result of their historic status. Reluctant to give up their privileges, they have in the past threatened to quit over any watering down of their benefits. Under Binotto and Louis Camilleri, who took over as chief executive after the death of Sergio Marchionne last year, the Maranello-based squad have taken a more collaborative approach. Asked how big the sticking points were and how quickly they could be resolved, Binotto replied: "I think for us it will be more important to make sure that we've got the right agreement and we should not be caught by time. Story continues "I am positive on the level of discussion and collaboration weve got so thats why (I think) we will find the right balance." Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who in the past has expressed reservations about the implementation of a cost cap, also struck a positive note. "It was a productive meeting," he said. "We got a lot of information that we need to digest now and then come back with feedback." (Editing by Alan Baldwin/Toby Davis) It's March: the time of year when Secondary 5 students across Quebec are getting their CEGEP acceptance letters and making more concrete plans about their future. "I want to go into law," says 16-year-old Spyro Markopoulos, who just found out he's been admitted into commerce at Vanier College. Markopoulos is poised to graduate from the English Montreal School Board's Royal West Academy an alternative public high school with enriched programs in math, science and languages. Royal West has a limited enrolment, cherry-picking the most promising Grade 6 students after an arduous process of entrance exams and interviews. Students like Markopoulos have a better chance of getting into university than Quebec students who attend regular public high schools, a recent study shows. Only 15 per cent of regular public high school students in the province go on to university, according to a study by Universite de Montreal researcher Pierre Canisius Kamanzi, recently published in the journal Social Inclusion. Kamanzi found that by comparison, 51 per cent of students who attend public high schools with enriched programs, such as Royal West Academy, and a full 60 per cent of those who are enrolled in private high schools go on to undergraduate studies. Kamanzi concludes that enriched public schools and private schools nurture a culture of success and self-esteem, which in turn motivates students to aim high, scholastically. "Perseverance can only happen when there is a culture of favouring success inside institutions," he said. The gap widens Unlike other provinces, the Quebec government has heavily subsidized private schools, most of them with Catholic roots, since it wrested control of education from the Catholic Church during the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. That means a much higher percentage of students in Quebec attend private schools than anywhere else in the country. Because of those subsidies, Quebec private schools also have much lower tuition fees than private schools elsewhere in Canada capped at $4,593 a year. Public schools also charge fees for enriched programs such as the International Baccalaureate, although at $200 or $250, they're a tiny fraction of private school tuition fees. Story continues Partly because of the cost, students in private schools tend to come from better socioeconomic situations, Kamanzi says a situation that lends itself to increasing social inequality. In 2016, Quebec's Conseil superieur de l'education published a report that raked Quebec's school system over the coals for the gap between the haves and the have-nots a gap it says is widening year after year. It blamed the selective nature of private schools, with their admissions tests, and the lack of adequate resources in the public system for the students who stay in regular programs. CBC The Conseil concluded that Quebec has the most unequal school system in Canada. That's especially the case in Montreal, home to the vast majority of new immigrants people who often have the least means to opt for a private education. The Conseil warned Quebec could face dire social consequences for that growing inequality between private schools and the public system. Skimming off the best and brightest Stephane Vigneault, the founder of an organization that aims to protect the future of Quebec's public schools, didn't find results of Kamanzi's study surprising. "There's this separation of kids in different schools according to their parents' income or their school grades," he said. The system affects the province's grades, graduation rates and access to higher education further down the line. "It's truly problematic." The solution is two-fold, said Vigneault: stop subsidizing private schools, and end selection-based programs. He says more and more enriched programs have been introduced into public high schools a trend that began in the 1990s in order to compete with subsidized private schools that skim off the best and brightest each year. Education Ministry officials "didn't envision at the time that they were actually aggravating the problem," by encouraging the development of enriched programs, he said. "They were accentuating school segregation." Students who perform well academically will succeed whether they are bunched together or placed in programs with other types of students, he insists. On the other hand, he says, placing different types of students together creates a model for success for those who perform less well. CBC Think of social cohesion, researcher says For Kamanzi, nourishing academic ambition is the most important prerequisite to scholastic success. Right now, that's only occurring in private and enriched public schools, he says. Ensuring public high schools have a diverse student population would not only lead to improved rates of academic success, but would create a more egalitarian society, he said. "For social cohesion, to live together, a given sector has to have people from all parts of society so not only sons of doctors become doctors, or sons of lawyers become lawyers," Kamanzi said. He says not everyone needs a university degree for society for be cohesive. "What is problematic is when they're the same families, the same people [in the same institutions]," Kamanzi said. Markopoulos treasures his experience at Royal West, and he says he wouldn't trade it for a private-school education. "[In] public schools, you're exposed to more diversity," Markopoulos says. "It really helps you build your character." A piece of the Northwest Territories' history is being restored to its former glory. After sitting in a dry dock in Hay River for four decades, the Radium Franklin tugboat has been pulled free and will be getting a little TLC before it's put on display by the Hay River Museum Society. "She has some bruises and scratches, absolutely," said Brian Pratt, a director with the territorial Department of Infrastructure, which is funding the project along with the education department. "They're resilient boats, you know it still has some life left in it." Built in 1951, the Radium Franklin towed barges on the Great Bear River and was one of four tugboats on a supply chain carrying goods to, and ore from, Port Radium. The site on the shore of Great Bear Lake near Deline, was mined for radium, uranium and silver at different times between 1932 and 1982. "It's a rich history that we have for the barge and tug business," explained Pratt. "I don't think most people realize how critical that was to the North and to the growth of the North that was a lifeline for a lot of these communities up the river and then our communities in the salt water as well." When the mine at Port Radium shut down, there was an attempt to use the Radium Franklin as a yarding vessel in Norman Wells, Pratt said. But it was too light and was replaced by the Radium Miner when it was retired around 1979. It's expected that the Radium Franklin will be put on display, along with covered barge 412 and archival photos and documents, in Hay River by this fall. Submitted by the Northwest Territories Department of Infrastructure "It'll be kind of nice when they have it all set up that you'll be able to see these vessels as they were in their glory days," Pratt said. 'What about the people?' Danny Gaudet, who negotiated Deline's self-government agreement, says "it's time that people started recognizing" there was an operating uranium mine in the Northwest Territories. But he said he would also like to see recognition for the people that worked there. Story continues "It's nice to bring these boats back and recognize what the boats [have] done but what about the people?" Many Dene from Deline were hired to carry and transport uranium from the Port Radium mine without any protective gear. The community became known as the "Village of Widows" after 14 Dene men associated with Port Radium died of cancer in the late 1980s. NWT Archives/W. Bruce Hunter fonds/N-1981-002: 0033 Relatives of the former workers have long believed their deaths were the result of uranium exposure. A government report did not confirm the connection, but Gaudet says the community is still recovering from the impacts of the mine and he would like to see an acknowledgment from the Canadian government for putting people at risk. "Generations later, we're trying to do everything we can to try to retain the culture, language, our heritage," he said. "Every day we see Canada apologizing to other groups for things that it's done but Canada still doesn't seem to recognize the fact that we participated in mining and transporting the ore that they used and sold to the Americans." Some uranium from the Port Radium mine was sent to New Mexico for use in the Manhattan Project, a top-secret research project between 1939 and 1946 that produced the first nuclear weapons during the second world war. In 2007, the federal government announced it would be paying almost $7 million for a second cleanup of the mine. While it was closed to the standards of the time in 1982, uranium and silver tailings were left behind along with broken-down fences and open mine shafts. In 2016, an environmental study determined the new remediation methods were working as planned. The 4th One Day in Melbourne for missions communications personnel this year will be held again at Craigieburn Salvation Army on Saturday 10 August. Those first three years witnessed the speakers highlighting specific aspects of mission communication and last year, for example, we heard Ben Campbells presentation of international mission communication and Ashley Saunders on a middle size Australian based missions communications. With all that behind One Day in Melbourne - the three new people to take on 2019 One Day in Melbourne are Peter Brookshaw, David Goodwin and John Lemmon. All three have been part of One Day in Melbourne since its inception, all three have been speakers and all three have been part of the planning and understand the philosophy. The two plenary speakers in the morning sessions are focusing on mission communication how artistic endeavours are front and centre and the second is on mentoring. Back to the Future The 2016 One Day in Sydney (same format as One Day in Melbourne) combined with the annual young writers conference and for 2019 the new leadership of One Day in Melbourne has warmed to this and on Saturday 10 August will combine with the 2019 young writer conference. The plan is a proven one, the two morning seminars will be combined with One Day in Melbourne and the annual Young Writer Conference. The afternoon 2 hour session the two groups have their individual space One Day in Melbourne in the seminar hall, the PSI Young Writers in the other areas of the massive facility. At 4.00pm are the exciting annual awards for the young writers which the One Day in Melbourne delegates may attend or head home. 2019 One Day in Melbourne program Open 9.00-9.20am Welcome 9.45am and short devotional 10.00am 1st plenary 11.00am morning tea 11.30am 2nd plenary and small groups 12.30pm lunch 1.30pm - 2 hours Two groups in separate areas One Day in Melbourne and Young Writers 3.30pm - Afternoon tea 4.00pm - Annual young writer awards The two plenary speakers in the morning sessions are focusing on mission communication how artistic endeavours are front and centre and the second is on mentoring. To register, even at this early stage, Email the Craigieburn Salvation Army peter.brookshaw@aus.salvationarmy.org Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand. Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html Community is an, if not the central, idea of churcha group of believers coming together with one another to celebrate God. Another way that most people describe it is fellowship. Whilst my family lived overseas, the community around us were an integral apart of our work and growth. Our team became like a family and other NGO workers became our church family. On a weekly basis we would rotate from house to house for a service. Someone would bring a guitar for worship, people would take turns preaching, and after the service there was usually a potluck of some description. It was in some ways unorthodox in that we were all from different parts of the world and denominations, we didnt have a set church building, and there was an ever-present concern of security. Nevertheless, it became home. The comfort of community With the constant moving back and forth between countries and moving around for conferences, the knowledge that we would be going back to our little church community in Herat was a comfort. It was where I made some of my first friends, lost my first tooth and truly was aware of Gods presence. One of my favourite parts of the year was during Easter, we would go into the mountains for a picnic and service; it was in those moments that Afghanistan felt truly like home and that was because of the people around us. Saying goodbye in early 2009 was the hardest thing my family and I have ever had to do, almost harder for parents than the decision to move there in the first part. My dad has often reminisced about my reaction to moving and I remember it quite vividly. Here is an excerpt from his Last Communication letter written to our supporters: How are you feeling Hope? With moving and everything? I said a week ago. Oh...I feel angry, sad, excited... she replied. What a crazy period it has been as we embark on a journey away from our home. What? you may say. Home? Isn't that where you're hoping to go back to? No... how can I explain? Just not the same It was true, I felt angry and sad to leave my friends, my school, our team, our homemade family, but I was also excited to make new friends, to see my American and Australian family, to go to a new school, but I wasnt excited about Church. Church in Afghanistan, while having a similar structure to most western churches, had community whereas America and particularly Australia, didnt. When we finally moved to Australia my relationship with God and church fractured. It wasnt the same. What I had in Afghanistan was closeness and friendship, whereas in Australia I was one of the only girls my age in the Church and I was frustrated still by our move away from familiarity. I was a shy and timid American girl with a funny accent who was scared to step out of my comfort zone. I felt like an alien; I didnt understand pop culture references, I didnt listen to the same music and people didnt always understand me and my experience, which is was fair enough. Needless to say, I grew. I learned to adjust, and I made friends at school but never truly repaired my relationship with church. I disliked going and when it came time to go to youth group, I was terrified. The feeling of disconnect I eventually formed friendships with a few girls from church but there was still a disconnect. Partly was because my parents stopped going to my church and have only just recently decided to go to a Vineyard church in our local area, so I didnt have my immediate family around me. The other reason was while during some of the toughest years of my life in high school, youth group became a safe place for meauthentic community and the sense of family I had experienced in Herat wasnt there. Maybe, it was because I wasnt involved enough, or I didnt put myself out there. Despite having gone since I was nine, been a leader in kids church since I was 13 and gone to youth group throughout high school, I felt exactly same, the new kid. The process of adjustment Something Ive been learning through the continual process of adjustment is that community and fellowship in Christ doesnt have to consist of a room full of 300 people with a speaker on a stage and a fancy band with stage lights and a smoke machine. While there is by no means anything wrong with that, if you find God in that and have people around you supporting you in your journey, of course by all means keep doing what youre doing and more power to you for being reached in that way. For me, however, I have learned I dont connect in that way, I dont mind going to churches like that, but sensationalized Christianity doesnt sit well with me. I look back to Matthew 18:20 (NIV): For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there I am with them. We need churches and we need to sew into churches, but when those of us in the pews feel unwelcome, there needs to be a shift in priority, one towards community. This of course isnt true of all churches, but there seems to be a minute focus on bringing in new people. Focus on new people This is an amazing endeavor but once we get them through the door, what happens? Are we going to say hi once and go back to our established groups or are we going to form relationships with them, get to know them and start to grow their relationship with God? We can tell people about Gods love all we want, but unless we make an active effort to walk out his love, it becomes an empty promise. Perhaps these sentiments come only from someone with an outlandish experience, but I hope they are considered. I am searching for my community and I hope that one day I will find it and that you find yours as well. Hope Pratt is an American Australian starting my first year at University. My family and I lived in Afghanistan for 6 years before moving to Australia. I am currently living in Sydney, which has been my longest home yet. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. It's another hot day in Port Elizabeth. And the people of Missionvale are feeling it.Not dissimilar to other poverty stricken communities in South Africa, homes here are crammed, dirty and totally devoid of the creature comforts so many of us take for granted. They rely on water from communal taps.One thing that strikes you when you drive into this town, is the mounds of rubbish piled up outside people's homes - rubbish which is going nowhere.The shacks are made of scrap wood, tin and cardboard. The further we drive into the town the worse it gets, the rundown shacks tightly packed as far as the eye can see.Children have to contend with the skyrocketing growth of Tuberculosis and the continual invasion of HIV.But amid the heartbreak stands a beacon of hope and resilience.A lady, no taller than five foot, 74 years of age, with a beautifully comforting Irish accent.There's no doubt Sister Ethel Normoyle is a fighter.A trained nurse, she's seen things none of us will in a lifetime. She's been arrested. She's lobbied. She's rescued.But crucially, she's created.In 1988, Sister Ethel went door to door with nothing more than her rucksack. She had a dream to help educate the most marginalised children.She gathered a small group. They met under a tree and she started counting marbles with them and reading stories.The numbers grew.'Then the mothers would come. We had a few hand-sewing machines donated. So, while they waited for their children, they would sit on the ground - I'd bring paper, and they'd learn to sew in a straight line,' Sister Ethel said.She needed to do more. She knew that. But how?'The challenges were many. This person is sick... that person is sick. I was diagnosing them. The resources were so limited.'And so began the campaign for funding. Missionvale needed bricks. A safe place for children to learn. A place for the sick to receive treatment.In 1992, the Missionvale Care Centre became a reality, built with funds provided by glass company Shatterprufe.In exchange for land, Sister Ethel would give the council a clinic.Twenty seven years later, the centre continues to offer what Sister Ethel describes as her three pillars: education, nutrition and medical care.'They (children) make me smile. We have a lot of success stories. But I can't say I get any gratification from it. I love all people. I don't discriminate between the poor and the rich. I think the greatest gift you can give anybody is to believe in them.'Sister Ethel is also an unlikely and unwilling civil rights activist.She was 26 when she was sent from Ireland to South Africa to conduct missionary work; she thought it was a death sentence.It was 1972, the height of apartheid and she was a white woman thrown right into the lion's den.It was madness.She was placed in Pretoria where she decided to educate black youths by holding night classes. She was harassed, beaten and spat on by police.But she never gave up.She was due to return home to Ireland some 15 years later when she stumbled across Missionvale, a town of 120,000 people, where the rate of HIV is a staggering 70 per cent.People here literally have nothing.She couldn't leave.'I don't think anybody can live comfortably when you know a certain area is struggling for life. They are hungry. Kids are hungry. There's little job opportunities.'She went cap in hand for help, fronting up to a local wealthy businessman on Valentine's Day 'because I have a lot of faith about what can be achieved on that day'.Who knew a nun's favourite day would be Valentine's Day?Like most people she meets, she won that businessman over and remains friends with him to this day.But the Centre's need for funding is never ending.'When I approach wealthy people, they're afraid of tomorrow... will I have enough? Why are they scared, when people here have nothing?'We notice quotes painted all over the walls of the centre. One from Nelson Mandela reads: 'There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.'And, another: 'If you lose hope you lose everything.'Yes, Sister Ethel wants those here to be uplifted by the quotes, but this crafty nun also sees it as a way of ensuring the children are constantly reading and speaking English, even in the playground.As we tour the schoolgrounds, we hear signing from one classroom. Inside, a sea of smiling faces greets us. The teacher tells us about how she wants nothing more than to teach children who will become citizens to make positive contributions in the community.In all, 268 students are accommodated. In the afternoon, the school becomes an adult education and training centre. In short, the teachings exist to help those unable to complete their schooling as children, obtain their qualifications and become more employable.The health unit is small. But importantly, it's clean, and boasts equipment and medication many South African communities have no access to. An eye clinic provides people the chance to get fitted with glasses.Sister Ethel tells us the people of Missionvale are among the sickest of the sick.A pharmacy is now stocked to help address the spread of infection and disease. There's also an on-site doctor and a nurse.There's also a clothing warehouse which stores clothing. On shelves, garments are broken into age group and gender. Many of these arrive from Australia.And then, in a small building, a group of beautiful ladies toil away at sewing machines. There's no air-conditioning, just a small fan. And it's hot work. The ladies of the crafters unit make curtains, placemats, hand bags and aprons. The items are sold, with the profits donated back to Missionvale.From nothing, Sister Ethel has built something extraordinary.But despite all she's achieved in her time in Africa, which includes visits from Mother Theresa and the Queen, this 74-year-old nun is in despair about the political state of South Africa.'I feel sad. I feel sad because I fought hard against apartheid. Everything... Mandela's dream, has been turned upside down. We are in a dreadful state. Nobody is getting a fair chance. The level of corruption in this country... no wonder we are as poor as we are now,' she says.At 74, it is unclear how long Sr Ethel has left in Missionvale. 'I'm in it for the long haul... but I have to be real.'She has a dedicated team of workers including Linda van Oudheusden, who came for a visit and never left, plus an army of local and international volunteers including Australian Ann Beck.But it's a bottomless pit to fill.Coming from a lucky country, like Australia, where we often complain and are unhappy with what we don't have, one thing that strikes you when you walk into Missionvale Centre, is just how happy these children are.It doesn't fit. They should be sad, angry even, but they are none of those things.It's left to this plucky trail blazing nun to sum it all up.'I would appeal to the people of Australia: be grateful for what you have... and share it.'For more informationclick here He has been cited by Rush Limbaugh, quoted in the New York Times, featured at Real Clear Politics and Lucianne.com and interviewed on radio, TV and in social media. For many years he served as a Lecturer in Corporate Communication at Penn State University. A former President of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA) he has lectured at Rowan University, Temple University, The College of New Jersey and Arcadia University. He has conducted workshops on public relations for thousands of participants throughout the nation and has taught countless others the art of public speaking. He has also advised numerous lawyers, judges, public officials and political candidates. Cirucci is a prolific writer and his op-ed pieces have appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post and other publications. A native of Camden NJ, Cirucci is a former President of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Cirucci served as Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association for nearly 30 years. He served as Chair of Penn State University's Professional Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication major at Penn State Abington and on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Judicial Selection Commission. He received his MA degree from Rowan University and his BA from Villanova University. He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Rowan's public relations program and was inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame. He received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. The Award is the Section's highest honor. He has also been honored by numerous other local, state and national groups. Cirucci's passions include politics, the popular culture, books and authors, art, communication, music, theatre, movies, dining and travel. In his hometown of Camden, Cirucci taught fifth grade at the Ulysses Wiggins Elementary School named for the founder of the Camden NAACP. He later served as editor of a local weekly newspaper, as Assistant to the Township Manager of Cherry Hill Township and as Associate Director of Communications at the New Jersey State Bar Association. He's Dan Cirucci, the founder and editor-in chief of the Dan Cirucci Blog, Matt Rooney's sidekick on Save Jersey's weekly videocast and one of the most widely honored public relations professionals in his field. He's also been a public relations consultant to numerous organizations and individuals and hosted The Advocates on RVN-TV. Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging think tanker, aspiring novelist, hanger on of academia, parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, Speedboat, proudly banned from Twitter so officially more dangerous than the Taliban, eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me. But I dont want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you cant help that," said the Cat: "were all mad here. Im mad. Youre mad." "How do you know Im mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldnt have come here. Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland With freedom comes responsibility. Eleanor Roosevelt Yesterday, Tim Malloy of the Quinnipiac poll wrote that hungry for a candidate to take on Trump, "Democrats and Democratic leaners put the three B's, Biden, Bernie and Beto, at the top in a race where age, race and gender take a back seat to electability and shared views... 53% of American voters say they definitely will not vote for Trump in the 2020 general election if he is the Republican candidate." Another 30% say they definitely will vote for Trump and 13% say they will consider voting for Trump. Only 21% of independent voters say they are definitely voting for Trump. If that doesn't change between now and November of 2020, not only will Trump lose in a landslide, he'll lose all the swing states, including Ohio, Iowa and Florida,-- as well as North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Arizona and possibly even Georgia. How sweet would that be! And, of course, there's no reason to believe Trump's polling numbers will remain the same. It's far more likely, judging from his life-long patterns of behavior, that his numbers will continue to sink-- at least among independents and even the few Republican women who can still stomach him. A little more sinking and Texas is gone as well. In yesterday's Washington Post, James Hohmann noted Trump's reversal on the Special Olympics. He made a mess and he wants credit for cleaning it up. It's a pattern that is distinctly Trumpian. The asshole "declared that he had decided to save the Special Olympics as he left the White House to fly to Michigan for a rally to support his reelection campaign. Then, in Grand Rapids last night, Trump announced that hes going to make sure the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is fully funded. Trumps budget earlier this month proposed slashing that program, which funds the cleanup of the Great Lakes, by 90 percent-- from $300 million to $30 million... During his first year in office, Trump called for eliminating the program entirely. Last year and this year, he asked Congress to cut it by 90 percent. But Republicans and Democrats on the Hill teamed up to fully fund it over White House objections... This is part of a pattern. Remember when Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and then attacked Democrats for not protecting the 'dreamers' from deportations that he put them at risk for?" After the tremendous uproar Wednesday about his decision to reduce the federal contributions to the Special Olympics to ZERO, Trump sensed he was in trouble and as he was leaving for Michigan, he told reporters triumphantly, heroically that "The Special Olympics will be funded. I just told my people, 'I want to fund the special Olympics'. I heard about it this morning [and] I have overridden my people. Were funding the Special Olympics." So there you go-- he kicked Betsy DeVos in the teeth. Not that it mattered; there's no way that little gem-- one among hundreds, would have ever gotten through Congress-- the same way the defunding of the Great Lakes clean up wouldn't have. But now he can-- and will-- claim to be the hero. About 30% of Americans are literally too stupid to comprehend the little Times Square trick he just pulled on them. And if that 30% of 2-digit IQ Trump supporters can't understand that, how are they supposed to understand the p.r. stunt he pulled in regard to the still unreleased Mueller Report. Based on a press release from the fake president's fake attorney general, the New York Times and the Washington Post spread the bullshit about Trump been exonerated and how the Mueller Report discovered nothing. They should both be sitting in the corner with dunce caps. Mother Jones essay, No one pulled the wool over David Corn's eyes and hisessay, Heres the Real Trump-Russia Hoax begins the long arduous task of setting the record straight. Short version: "Its Trump defenders and lefty Russiagate skeptics claiming there is no scandal." He wrote that "Two fundamental facts were established long before Mueller completed his investigation. First, the Russians attacked an American election in order to sow chaos, hurt Hillary Clinton, and help Donald Trump. Second, Trump and his top advisers during the campaign repeatedly denied this attack was underway, echoing and amplifying Moscow disinformation (the false claim that Russia was not attacking). Whether or not the Trumpers were directly in cahoots with the Russian government, they ran interference for Vladimir Putins assault on the United States, and they even did so after the intelligence community had briefed Trump on Russias culpability. So to determine if the Barr triumphalists are acting in good faith, you need only ask them a simple question: do you accept these basic facts and acknowledge the profound seriousness of each one?" As you probably know, Ro Khanna (D-CA) was one of the scores of Democrats in Congress who won a seat in an incumbent-safe blue district by primarying an incumbent. More recently we saw Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) do the same thing. All three have been among the most consequential new members in Congress and each is a living testament to the importance of primaries, particularly in districts where one party vastly outnumbers the other so that primaries are the only source of accountability. The Democratic establishment reacted with another piece of their incumbent protection scheme, this time threatening to put any operative and consultants out of business if they do any work for Democratic primary challengers. Outrageous? That's the heart and soul of the DCCC, particularly now under the command of Rahm Emanuel protegee Cheri Bustos, a grotesquely corrupt and reactionary Blue Dog/New Dem. Over the weekend, in response to her new policy, Ro Khanna did something no sitting Democrat-- to my knowledge-- has ever done before-- NOT EVER! He directly went after the chair of the DCCC. He wrote two letters that were sent out by DFA and then Our Revolution, slamming Bustos by name, an unprecedented and courageous move that is sure to cost him dearly. "I'm asking for your help to stop a horrible DCCC decision," he wrote in the DFA letter. "The DCCC has announced a new policy to penalize vendors and consultants who work with primary challengers. It amounts to a blacklist that significantly weakens the Democratic Party and it's a slap in the face to voters who are sick of the status quo." Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Mark Pocan, and I met with the DCCC Chair Rep. Cheri Bustos earlier this week to express our outrage and get the decision overturned, but it's clear she needs to hear directly from the grassroots. The DCCC is paying close attention to the reaction on social media. Will you send a message on Twitter to DCCC Chair Rep. Cheri Bustos calling on her to end this new anti-democratic practice? ...The truth is that Beto O'Rourke, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley or I may not have made it to Congress if the DCCC had these rules in place in previous cycles. We all won competitive primaries helping to create the most progressive and diverse Democratic caucus in history. This new DCCC policy would have a chilling effect on new ideas and make it harder to elect new leaders. It would also put us out of step with voters who are tired of D.C. politicians holding on to power at any cost. The DCCC needs to hear from you! Will you send them a message today? Thank you for taking action. You have my word that I'll keep working with progressives in Congress to overturn the DCCC decision and prioritize voters and the grassroots. never have done this without the explicit approval of Nancy Pelosi (who is also facing a 2020 primary-- this one from Shahid Buttar). Khanna's throwing down the gauntlet is nothing short of breathtaking. No Democrat has ever done anything like this before, at least not in living memory. After the establishment's Crowley debacle last cycle-- and with Pelosi's top lieutenant, Steny Hoyer, facing a primary from progressive activist Mckayla Wilkes -- halting primaries became a top priority for the corrupt, careerist establishment of the party. Bustos would never,have done this without the explicit approval of Nancy Pelosi (who is also facing a 2020 primary-- this one from Shahid Buttar). Khanna's throwing down the gauntlet is nothing short of breathtaking. No Democrat has ever done anything like this before, at least not in living memory. Saturday he fired off his second salvo: "The DCCC is trying to keep people like me out of Congress." There is a dangerous new policy designed to keep progressives out of Congress. The worst part? It's coming from within the Democratic Party. Cheri Bustos, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's chair for the 2020 election, just enacted a policy to blacklist anyone who works with candidates like me who will challenge an incumbent Democratic to win a seat in Congress. This new plan will strongarm progressive primary challengers out of running for office. Tell DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos that this anti-democratic policy sends the wrong message to voters across the country. It's designed to protect the Washington establishment and runs contrary to everything the Democratic Party should be fighting for representing working people. If the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had its way, I wouldn't be in Congress today. Neither would members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Talib, Ilhan Omar or any other Democrat who had the guts to take on the party establishment and fight for the working people of their district. If we're being honest, this is the kind of policy protecting the Washington establishment that plays directly into Trump's hands-- which is why we need you to speak up and strongly reject it. Voters are sick of the status quo, and this slap in the face to grassroots candidates needs to be met by all of us raising our voices and demanding the DCCC reverse this tone-deaf policy. The good news is that we have a strong Congressional Progressive Caucus that is fighting to open up the Democratic Party, but change isn't going to happen if it's just us working from the inside. The DCCC needs to hear your voice too. Sign the petition telling Cheri Bustos to stop protecting the Washington establishment and let grassroots candidates fight for working people without the fear of backlash . Anything less is a betrayal of our democratic values. We cannot allow these divisive tactics when we need to be building a unified progressive movement that can bring the political revolution our country so desperately needs. Thank you for taking action. I'd like to add one further request. Blue America has a page devoted to supporting progressive primary challengers to Blue Dogs, New Dems and other corrupt conservatives. We'll be adding some new candidates very soon but we have a couple of great ones already. Please consider contributing what you can to their campaigns, which are under attack from Cheri Bustos and the DCCC. You can do so by clicking on the ActBlue thermometer on the right. Any amount helps, although I like to recommend $20.20. Private airline Bamboo Airways will buy 26 new narrow-body Airbus aircraft as it expands operations. The value of the deal is $6.3 billion, based on list price, chairman Trinh Van Quyet told Bloomberg. With the previous order of 24 aircraft of the same model last year, the airline has ordered 50 in total. Quyet said that the first of the A321Neo planes will be delivered in 2022. Bamboo Airways had previously said that it was considering purchasing 25 narrow-body Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded internationally after two deadly crashes within a space of five months. Last month, Bamboo Airways had inked a deal with Boeing for 10 wide-body 787-9 Dreamliners worth almost $3 billion. Starting this year, the airline operates 17 domestic flight routes. It plans to start international flights next month, with Japan, Singapore and South Korea mentioned as possible destinations. It also plans to fly to Europe in June and directly to the U.S. by the end of this year or early next year. Bamboo Airways is one of five airlines operating in Vietnam. The others are state-owned Vietnam Airlines, budget airline Vietjet, low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO). Local airlines served almost 50 million passengers last year, up 10 percent from 2017. The courts decision to hand all shares in Trung Nguyen to the husband in its high-profile owners divorce case has annoyed many lawyers. Le Hoang Diep Thao, the wife, has been ordered to sell all her shares in the company to Dang Le Nguyen Vu, and the legal fraternity is saying this was beyond the courts jurisdiction in what was only a divorce case. The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Court ruled last week that the stocks and cash in Trung Nguyen Coffee Group shared by Vu and Thao would be split 60:40 in the formers favor. All their lands and buildings would be split equally. But since the division of the companys shares would cause difficulties in managing it, Vu would acquire all of Thaos shares for cash and she would no longer be a shareholder. The court explained the decision by saying Vu had contributed more than Thao to establishing and developing the company. Courts can only split properties based on their value if they cannot be divided properly, Nguyen Huu The Trach, a lawyer from the HCMC Bar Association, said, pointing out that brand ownership, for example, falls under this category. On the other hand, shares can easily be divided based on the Civil Law and the Law on Enterprises, he said. "The courts verdict ... forcing Thao to receive cash ... instead of shares is not in line with the laws." "After splitting the shares, the court should have let Vu and Thao as shareholders to settle the matter themselves in accordance with the Law on Enterprises and their companys own rules." Another lawyer, Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang, also thought the courts ruling was beyond its ambit in a divorce case. Disputes regarding marriage and families do not involve the rights to run companies or the rights of shareholders, she said. The courts ruling had taken away Thaos rights as a shareholder, she added. The couple never reached any agreement. Vu had wanted to acquire all the shares of Trung Nguyen Group by paying her their value, but Thao had rejected the offer. "As such, the courts ruling [to give all of Thaos shares to Vu] is unlawful," Trang said. The couple married in 1998 and fell out in 2013, and Thao filed for divorce two years later. The value of the couples combined stake in the Trung Nguyen Group, a leading coffee chain, is estimated at over VND5.7 trillion ($245.14 million). It had revenues of VND3.95 trillion ($170.5 million) and pretax profits of VND681 billion ($29.4 million) in 2017. It has 200,000 coffee stores around the country. Viglacera recorded net revenues of nearly VND9 trillion ($388 million) in 2018. Photo acquired by VnExpress Over $68 million worth of construction materials producer Viglaceras shares auctioned by the Ministry of Construction has been bought by three private entities. On Friday, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) auctioned 80.58 million VGC shares of Viglacera Corporation owned by the Ministry of Construction. Three institutional investors bought 69 million VGC shares, accounting for 86 percent of the total shares offered. The identity of the buyers was not revealed. All three investors bought the VGC shares at VND23,000 ($0.99) per share, the ministrys starting price, significantly higher than the trading price of VND20,500 ($0.88) at the time of the sale. The ministry received VND1.59 trillion ($68.41 million) from the transaction for its 15.4 percent stake in the company. It still holds nearly 173 million shares of VGC, equivalent to 38.6 percent of Viglacera. The auction was held according to a government roadmap requiring the ministry to divest its capital from Viglacera by the end of 2019. So the remaining shares are likely to be sold in a second auction. In 2018, the ministry had auctioned VGC shares for a starting price of VND26,100 ($1.13), but it was unsuccessful. At the end of 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue had asked the ministry to withdraw all capital from 10 state-owned enterprises before 2019, including Viglacera and major construction firms like HUD, Song Da and VICEM. Viglacera Corporation is a construction materials company of Vietnam, manufacturing and selling ceramic floor tiles, stone floor tiles, wall tiles, cotto tiles, bricks, float glass, and plumbing fixtures such as sinks and toilets. It also invests in real estate, and owns large areas of land in industrial parks and other urban areas. In 2018, Viglacera recorded net revenues of nearly VND9 trillion ($388 million), and after-tax profits of VND667 billion ($29.19 million). The management of Go-Viet's day-to-day work will be handled by the company's remaining leaders. Photo by VnExpress Go-Viet has confirmed that its general director and deputy general director have quit their positions. General director Nguyen Vu Duc and deputy general director Nguyen Bao Linh have resigned from their positions, the Vietnamese ride-sharing firm announced Friday. The two would continue to work as advisors for Go-Viet and its Indonesian counterpart Go-Jek from Vietnam, while the management of Go-Viet's day-to-day work will be handled by the company's remaining leaders, it said. Phung Tuan Duc, Go-Viet's managing director, said the company would continue working closely with Duc and Linh to help develop the platform. According to Deal Street Asia, the news of Duc and another of Go-Viet's senior directors resigning was already announced internally earlier this week. The news site also claimed the two had demanded large sums of money in compensation upon resigning, but the company did not comment on this. Nguyen Vu Duc graduated from Harvard University, the U.S., with a master's degree in business administration and worked for nearly a decade at a major bank in Vietnam. In 2014, he helped deploy ride-hailing firm Uber's services in Vietnam and went on to launch a fintech firm in 2015-2018. Duc eventually returned to the ride-sharing market as co-founder and CEO of Go-Viet, which began operations last August. At press meetings, he has said that Go-Viet was a Vietnamese startup with funding and technology support from Go-Jek. Duc and Linh's resignations have come at a time when Go-Viet has been stagnating in all its services - ride-sharing, food delivery and package delivery. Since the start of this month, the company has cut its drivers' revenue to 20 percent, prompting many drivers to consider switching to another ride-sharing service. Meanwhile, its main competitor Grab has been expanding its food delivery service and its cashless payment service GrabPay by Moca, which now has new features allowing users to pay electricity, water and phone bills. The Be Group, the latest ride-sharing market entrant in Vietnam, has announced it has recruited over 15,000 drivers in just three months and is planning to expand its presence to 22 provinces and municipalities this year. US firm begins construction of $170 mln aerospace parts factory in Vietnam The work was inaugurated Friday morning. Photo by: DINCO Construction Technology JSC The U.S.s Universal Alloy Corporation began construction of its $170 million Sunshine aerospace components factory in Da Nang Friday. The plant would come up on a 1.67 hectare site in the Hi-Tech Park in two phases by 2026, Da Nang's Investment Promotion Agency said. The factory will produce 4,000 of the five million parts used in commercial aircraft when it opens in 2020, and export them to North America and the EU. Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC) Vietnam plans to initially supply fuselage components for Boeing 787, 777 and 737 aircraft and engine parts to Rolls Royce. It targets exports of $25 million by 2021, $85 million a year later and $180 million from 2026 onwards. UAC plans to recruit 1,200 highly skilled mechanical, electrical and automation workers and another 2,000 to develop supporting industrial production chains. The company is a leading global manufacturer of aircraft components, usually producing them under long-term supply contracts with Boeing and Airbus. It also supplies components to Embraer, Bombardier and their associated supply chains. Vietnams first ever airplane parts factory was set up by South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group last December. Hanwha Aero Engines, situated in Hanois Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, began making aircraft engine components for export last January. Every year in March farmers in the central province of Thanh Hoa set out to harvest ant eggs, a popular food. People living in mountainous areas in the west of the province start to harvest the eggs from tree branches. The eggs are usually large at that time. Truong Van Tinh of Ngoc Lac District has been doing this for more than a decade. He carries a bamboo ladder and a sharp knife and looks for ant nests on trees. "To get a large quantity of eggs, we need to choose [to harvest on] a sunny day, since it will be easier to climb up without making much noise," he said. Ants usually build their nest on the highest branch of a tree, which makes it hard to reach them by ladder. Thus the harvesters need to shimmy up the trees without ladders. The harvesters need to be careful when bringing the nests down to avoid being bitten. The ants in the area are usually yellow or black, and their eggs are very large and delicious. There are thousands of cells with eggs in a nest. People use knives to cut up the nests on large rattan trays, allowing ants to escape. After dismantling the nest, people also use tree branches to chase the remaining ants away from the trays. The ants quickly leave the nests and climb up trees. "At that time the ants with will crawl everywhere and sometimes bite us, especially the three-part ants," Dinh Thi Dieu, a regular harvester, said. "When you are bitten, you need to stay calm and find a way to get rid of the ant, because jumping up and down will attract more ants." The trays with ant eggs are sieved to get rid of dried leaves and other stuff. It usually takes around three hours to get the eggs from one nest. They eggs are then made into various dishes such as fried ant eggs with lemon grass, porridge with eggs, stir-fried eggs. They are also used as fillings in cakes and eaten with steamed sticky rice. A kilogram of eggs fetch VND200,000 ($8.5). Masks, wet towels, and swimming pools are among ways in which Saigonese are protecting themselves from the burning sun. A man carrying many egg cartons on her motorbike leaves no inch of his body uncovered. Saigon and other localities in southern Vietnam have been suffering from a heat wave recently, with temperatures reaching 36-37 degrees Celsius daily. It has also been reported that ultraviolet levels (UVs) in Saigon are consistently at 10-12 levels, posing high risks of sunburn. A woman wears a helmet with a full visor apart from a mask and sunglasses on Vo Thi Sau Street, District 3. Mother and child wear full-body clothing in a scooter near the Dan Chu Roundabout. Two women buy clothes on Dien Bien Phu Street to protect themselves from the sun. An overcoat costs between VND30,000-70,000 ($1.3-3). "It's been really hot lately so many customers are buying dresses and coats to protect themselves from the sun. Normally I would only sell a piece or two, but I have been able to sell dozens of pieces a day of late," said an unnamed vendor. Ly Thi Nam, 79, wraps a wet towel around her head. "I came to Saigon to visit my child in Go Vap, but I didnt know it would be this hot, so I settled for a wet towel to protect myself," she said. A female student from the HCMC University of Technology covers her head with a denim jacket. A patient, her relatives and a medical staff from the HCMC Oncology Hospital cross a road at noon. Lam Van On, a window cleaner wears a mask and two hats on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street. "It's been really sunny lately so we have to wear masks and full-body protective suits to prevent heat shock," he said. Children cool themselves down in a pool at the the Dam Sen Water Park in District 11. The water park is crowded these days, receiving 2000 customers daily and this goes up to 5,000 - 6,000 people during the weekends. A man has his head and body covered even in the pool at the water park. A man rests beneath the Thanh Da Bridge in Binh Thanh District, getting some respite from the heat. Lebanese President Michel Aoun, gestures upon his arrival at Tunis-Carthage International Airport to attend the Arab Summit, in Tunis, Tunisia March 30, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Hussein Malla Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday to oppose a U.S. decision to recognize Israels annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967. Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Irans influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute. They face a new challenge after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli, less than four months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Arab officials said the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas also occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday Arab ministers had expressed support for a proposal to declare that the U.S. move violated the U.N. charter against acquiring land by force. They also agreed to back Syrias right to regain Golan and Lebanons right to the Shebaa farms, a small strip of land next to the Golan claimed by Beirut, he tweeted. Summit spokesman Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry said Arab leaders would repeat an Arab call for peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab lands and would reject any initiative not in line with U.N. resolutions. Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced U.S. peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law that Palestinians have refused to discuss. Trumps aides have said his moves have drawn a less severe reaction privately from Arab states than experts had predicted. While opposition to Israel and its actions can unite the 22-member Arab League, Arab states remain divided over a range of other issues, including pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011 and over Irans Middle East influence. Ibrahim al-Assaf, foreign minister of Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that Shiite Muslim rival Iran remained the biggest threat to the region. The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar attend the same gathering since 2017 when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and cozying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies. The leaders of Sudan and Algeria are not expected to attend, with both nations roiled by anti-government protests. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerias ailing, 82-year-old president who has ruled for 20 years, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in power for three decades and wanted by international prosecutors for alleged war crimes in his countrys Darfur region, are both facing calls to step down. Syria has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of the civil war. The League has said there was still no consensus to allow Syrias reinstatement. U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at his Mara-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. March 29, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Joshua Roberts The U.S. cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States. Trump also threatened to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Trump said there was a "very good likelihood" he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. Frequent crossers of the border, including workers and students, worried about the disruption to their lives the presidents threatened shutdown could cause. At a rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto ORourke denounced Trumps immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." A State Department spokesman said in a statement it was carrying out Trumps directive by ending aid programs to the three Central American nations, known as the Northern Triangle. The department said it would "engage Congress in the process," an apparent acknowledgement that it will need lawmakers approval to end funding that a Congressional aide estimated would total about $700 million. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trumps order a "reckless announcement" and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday that the United States was paying the three countries "tremendous amounts of money," but received nothing in return. Mario Garcia, a 45-year-old bricklayer in El Salvador, said he was setting off for the United States regardless of the presidents threat to close the frontier. "There is no work here and we want to improve (our lives), to get ahead for our families, for our children. I dont give a damn (what Trump says), Im determined," Garcia said. Garcia was one of a group of at least 90 people who left the capital San Salvador over the weekend on buses heading north, in what locals said was the tenth so-called caravan to depart for the United States since October. The government of El Salvador has said it has tried to stem the flow of migrants. The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the U.S. policies "contradictory" but stressed that its relationship with the United States was "solid, close and positive." Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the frontier during his two years in office but has not followed through. This time, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other U.S. officials say border patrol officers have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase asylum seekers, many of them children and families who arrive in groups, fleeing violence and economic hardship in the Northern Triangle. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Nielsen warned Congress on Thursday that the government faces a "system-wide meltdown" as it tries to care for more than 1,200 unaccompanied children and 6,600 migrant families in its custody. Trump has so far been unable to convince Congress to tighten asylum laws or fund his border wall. He has declared a national emergency to justify redirecting money earmarked for the military to pay for the wall. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. Its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country is a good neighbor and does not act on the basis of threats. It was not clear how shutting down ports of entry would deter asylum seekers because they are legally able to request help as soon as they set foot on U.S. soil. But a border shutdown would disrupt tourism and U.S.-Mexico trade that totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A shutdown could lead to factory closures on both sides of the border, industry officials say, because the automobiles and medical sectors especially have woven international supply chains into their business models. Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan has expressed his gratitude to all 57 OSCE participating States for their support for the Mission, following a consensus decision yesterday to extend the SMM's Mandate for another year. "The Mission will continue implementing its Mandate and contributing to reducing tension, and fostering peace and security in Ukraine," the press service of the OSCE SMM quoted Ambassador Apakan as saying. As reported, on March 29, the OSCE Permanent Council decided to extend the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) by another year. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajcak, called for continued support for the international monitors and national staff on the ground. The chairperson-in-office recalled that the SMM was mandated to establish and report facts in response to specific incidents and to report incidents, including those concerning alleged violations of fundamental OSCE principles and commitments, throughout Ukraine. More than 260 police officers provide security at polling stations on the disengagement line in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Interior Ministry of Ukraine reported on Facebook. There are two district election commissions (in villages of Zaitseve and Maryinka) and 130 polling stations, including 25 special polling stations for military personnel in the front-line districts of Donetsk region, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said. There are 27 polling stations in Popasniansky district, 27 - in Stanychno-Luhansky and 13 - in Novoaidarsky district on the disengagement line on the territory of Luhansk region. Maximum police forces are deployed at polling stations for round-the-clock security and public safety on Election Day. They serve as part of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO). Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak has said that the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border is still difficult, Russia has a desire to seize all of Ukraine, but the Armed Forces are ready to defend the state. "The situation remains difficult. The grouping of troops, which is located on the border with Ukraine, is dangerous for Ukraine. Some 28 battalions of tactical groups, a huge group in the Azov Sea region, the forces and means increased during the occupation of Crimea in certain areas tenfold, are dangerous," the head of the Ministry of Defense said in an interview with the Pryamiy TV channel on Saturday, answering a question about the situation on the border with Russia and the intentions of the Russian troops. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are monitoring the situation, intelligence is working, and "we are getting the information." "We are always ready to fulfill our constitutional duty and protect our state," Poltorak stressed. Answering the question about the possibility of a full-scale war with Russia, Poltorak expressed conviction that Russia still has a desire to seize Ukraine. "The only thing is that the tactics is changing, the forms of the implementation of aggression are changing. We are being tested at the front. It does not work on the front - they try it inside the country. Unfortunately, the threats of open aggression are still relevant, they exist and, unfortunately, they are extremely possible today," said the minister. U.S. Ambassador hopes all eligible Ukrainians take advantage of right to vote, shape their nation's future U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch on Sunday morning expressed hope that all citizens of Ukraine who have the right to vote in the presidential elections of the country would use this opportunity to determine the future of their country. "Today is a momentous day for democracy as Ukrainian citizens head to the polls. I hope all eligible Ukrainians take advantage of this important opportunity to shape their nation's future," the Embassy's press service quoted Yovanovitch as saying on Twitter on Sunday morning. The first round of the next presidential elections is taking place in Ukraine on Sunday, March 31. Voting will end at 20:00. A record number of 39 candidates, for the first time ever in the history of Ukraine, has been included in the ballot paper. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has come to vote at a polling station in the Ivan Bohun Kyiv Military Lyceum right after its opening at 8:00. "Ukraine's future development depends on the election. Regardless of who is elected president, it is very important that our country should continue its policy towards European integration. I do and will continue doing everything that depends on me to make Ukraine embody European democratic values, become a strong and successful country of the European community," he told journalists after having cast his ballot. Klitschko also talked to foreign observers at the polling station and noted that it is very important that the elections be held without violations and manipulations, the press service of the mayor of Kyiv reported. "The key task is to ensure that the choice of every Ukrainian is protected," he said. Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Elena have cast their ballots in Sunday's presidential election at a polling station on the premises of Kyiv's sea and river transport college. "I think that a new life is starting in our country today. A new life, a normal life without corruption and bribes is beginning," Zelensky told reporters. Zelensky also said that he and his team believe that he will win. When asked who, in his opinion, could be his rival in a second-round run-off, Zelensky said: "It may be just me. Let the Ukrainians decide." The first round of Ukraine's presidential election is taking place on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 8:00 p.m. A record-large number of candidates - 39 - are running in this presidential election. The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has said it will add audio recordings and other materials from an investigative report aired by the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe (RFE/RL) Schemes: Corruption in Details (Schemes) program to its criminal case involving crimes by officials from a number of regional energy companies. "The audio files and other materials presented in the investigative report of Schemes about corruption in the energy sector will be added to the criminal case NABU is investigating. We are talking here about the case involving wrongdoing by a number of officials from regional energy producing companies (oblenergo) that led to more than UAH 1.2 billion in losses to the state: illegal deals involving electricity," NABU said on Facebook on Saturday. NABU said two of the persons featured in the report of journalists are the chairman of PrJSC Energomerezha and acting general director of the public joint-stock company Zaporizhia regional energy supply company are already considered suspects. The former was found in Germany and the process for his extradition to Ukraine is underway. As reported, journalists from Schemes on March 28 claimed that ex-Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Batkivschyna party, Dmytro Kriuchkov, organized the withdrawal scheme in 2015 through the Energomerezha company he headed from state energy supplying companies (oblenergo) in the interests, in particular, of businessmen Ihor and Hryhoriy Surkis, as well as Ihor Kononenko, a parliament deputy from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko (BPP). On July 14, 2018, Kriuchkov was arrested in Germany, suspected of embezzling funds of Zaporizhia regional energy supply company. Soon he was released on bail at EUR 100,000, but then he agreed to the extradition procedure and was again imprisoned. NABU, meanwhile, said it was preparing a package of documents necessary for the extradition of a suspect to Ukraine. On March 29, 2019, Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency that Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) had sent a request to Germany for the extradition of Kriuchkov. The man who tried to set fire to the voting booth at one of the polling stations in Borzna, Chernihiv region, was detained and taken to the police station, Ukraine's Interior Ministry has said. "The citizen who tried to set fire to the booth was detained and taken to the Borzna police station of the Bakhmach department of Chernihiv region's National Police. He is being questioned about his motives for committing the offense. The voting process continues," the Interior Ministry said on Facebook on Sunday. As reported, police said a man in Borzna, Chernihiv region, at 10:50 on Sunday threw flammable liquid in a polling station and ignited it. The fire was immediately extinguished and no one was hurt. Voting was not interrupted. Poroshenko votes in presidential election, reaffirms need for Ukraine to return to family of European countries Ukrainian presidential candidate and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko cast his ballot in the country's presidential election in Kyiv on Sunday. "I am confident that the election will be well organized and the freedom of the citizens' choice will be guaranteed. It is an absolutely necessary condition for our movement forward, for Ukraine's return to the family of the European peoples. Let's keep moving forward - to our membership in the European Union and NATO, to continue of our crucial reforms," Poroshenko told reporters after casting his ballot. Poroshenko voted at a polling station on the premises of the Central House of Officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, located near the Verkhovna Rada headquarters in Kyiv, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy earlier cast his ballot at the same polling station. Poroshenko came to the polling station in the company of his wife and children. Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 8:00 p.m. A record-large number of candidates 39 are running in this presidential election. Almost 300 reports of polling violations received by 12:00 on Sunday, 3 cases opened Interior Ministry By 12.00 on Sunday, March 31, 2019, police had opened three criminal cases connected with violations on the day of voting in the first round of presidential elections, the Interior Ministry has said. "The situation as of 12.00 284 complaints and information [about violations] have been received, three criminal cases have been opened," the communications department of the ministry said. The Interior Ministry's consultant Ivan Varchenko said during a briefing in Kyiv that most reported violations are connected with misunderstandings of voters about voting legislation or deliberate violations violating the secrecy of the ballot and violating the prohibition of taking photos or videos. In this context, Varchenko called on Ukrainians not to violate the law. Varchenko also said the ministry admits the possibility of protest actions, because at the end of the voting there will be those who are not satisfied with the result. "We appeal to them to obey the law," the adviser said. . National Police Spokesman Yaroslav Trakalo said open criminal proceedings concern falsification of electoral documents (Kherson region), violation of voting secrets (Dnipropetrovsk region) and hooliganism (Chernihiv region). In Ukraine, on Sunday, March 31, the first round of the next presidential elections takes place. Voting will end at 20:00. A record number of 39 candidates are running in this presidential election. Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh has been kept in a penal colony in the town of Torzhok, Tver region (the Russian Federation), the Crimean human rights group reported with reference to lawyer Taras Omelchenko. Balukh will continue to serve his prison term there under an unlawful sentence of a Crimean "court". Earlier, Russian journalist and activist Viktoria Ivleva wrote on Facebook that Balukh is in the solitary confinement in the Tver detention facility. As reported, Balukh was transferred to Tver in late February Ukrainian political activist Balukh, who placed the Ukrainian flag over his house in the occupied Crimea and refused to take it down on the local authorities' demads, was detained in December 2016. Crimea's Rozdolne district court originally sentenced him to three years and seven months of imprisonment in a low-security penal colony and to a fine of 10,000 Russian rubles. Balukh's defense team said then the case was fabricated, and his verdict would be appealed in courts of higher instances. Then the Russia-controlled Rozdolne district court changed his sentence to five years in prison in a combination of two criminal cases. The Crimean farmer was accused of illegal possession of weapons and explosives (Part 1 of Article 222 and Part 1 of Article 222.1) and Part 2 of Article 321 (disorganization of the activities of institutions providing isolation from society) of Russia's Criminal Code. On October 3, 2018, the so-called Supreme Court of Crimea commuted Balukh's sentence by one month. In October 2018, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova said after the decision of the so-called Supreme Court to commute Balukh's sentence he would be able to apply for parole. However, on January 25, 2019, the Russia-controlled Kerch city court refused to release Balukh on parole. Voting in the first round of Ukraine's presidential election has closed at the polling station in Australia (Canberra). Some 125 Ukrainians of 1,737 in voter lists, cast ballots, Ukraine's Central Election Committee (CEC) said. "The first to finish voting at the next presidential elections were Ukrainian citizens at a foreign polling station No. 900001, which is located on the territory of the Ukrainian Embassy in Australia (Canberra). Here, voting began at Kyiv time at 23:00 on March 30 and ended at 12:00 March 31," the CEC said on Sunday. According to the CEC, 1,737 people were included in the voter list at this polling station. "Election ballots for voting were received by 125 voters, or 7.2% of those included in the list of voters," the CEC said. . Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 20:00. A record number of 39 candidates are running in this presidential election. Police have opened eight criminal proceedings connected to voting violations in Ukraine's presidential election, Interior Ministry Communications Department chief Artem Shevchenko has said. "Currently, there are eight criminal proceedings All polling stations are working as of 14:00," he said in Kyiv, adding that, as of 14:00, police have registered 522 complaints and reports of voting violations. Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 20:00. A record number - 39 candidates - are running in this presidential election. As of Sunday noon, all polling stations at the presidential elections in Ukraine are operating, Deputy Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Oleh Konopolsky has said. However, during a briefing at the CEC Konopolsky reported that one of the district commissions asked the CEC to confirm legitimacy of the voting held at one of its polling stations, as they have an incorrect seal. The CEC is currently holding a meeting to consider this request. Konopolsky also said that the polling station in Izmail, Odesa region, which could not open for more than five hours since the start of voting, already received printed bulletins and is working. Police have qualified the actions of presidential candidate and Radical Party leader Oleh Liashko, who demonstrated his ballot after voting, as a "violation of the secrecy of the vote." Ukrainian prosecutors will determine whether or not to pursue the case, Interior Ministry Communication's Department chief Artem Shevchenko has said. During a briefing on Sunday in Kyiv, Shevchenko said police court react to the infraction. "Certainly, it could be qualified, entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations, and then transferred under the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO). Shevchenko said the infraction could be fall under Article 159 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (violation of the secrecy of the vote). "If there is a re-qualification in relation to a person, then the investigation of persons with such status is exclusively the prerogative of the Prosecutor Generals Office. But the police will collect the primary information and, of course, qualify it," he said. Liashko earlier in the day, in the presence of cameras and voters, displayed his ballot after he voted. Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 20:00. A record-large number of candidates 39 - are running in this presidential election Police in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk region, are checking eight reports that bombs have been placed at polling stations in the city. No explosive objects have been found in the citys metro, National Police Spokesman Yaroslav Trakalo has said. "Checks of the city's metro stations did not turn up any explosive devices. Criminal proceedings have been opened under Part 1 of Article 295 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (making false statements about the threat to the safety of citizens)," he said on Sunday. Trakalo said the message that an explosive device had been laid at one of the metro stations in the city was reported to the police at 12:30. Explosives, dog handlers and the investigators team worked at the site. "During the survey of the station and the territory adjacent to the station, no explosive objects were identified," he said. Measures are being taken to establish the identity of the person who left a false message. Trakalo said law enforcement officers are also checking eight reports of alleged bombs at polling stations. Dog handlers and bomb experts are working at the sites. Turnout in Dnipropetrovsk region during the first round of voting in the presidential election as of 15:00 on Sunday exceeds 47%. Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) has said that as of 16:30 on Sunday no systemic violations during voting in the presidential elections has been established. "No systemic violations during voting have been established. There are isolated instances, but they are classic for any voting process in any election campaign," CEC Secretary Natalia Bernatska told journalists at around 16:30 on Sunday. She said there have been isolated instances of photographing ballot papers and transporting people to voting stations, "but in general the elections are being held in the standard way." Bernatska predicted originals of voting tallies will start arriving at the CEC around lunchtime on Monday, April 1. She said the CEC by law has 10 days to determine the results of the election. "But we hope it will take us less time this year," she added. Ukraine is holding the first round of its presidential election on Sunday. The polling stations will close at 20:00. A record-large number of candidates 39 - are running in this presidential election. The headquarters of Ukrainian presidential candidate, Batkivschyna Party Leader Yulia Tymoshenko, has said that on the day of the presidential elections in Ukraine they registered facts of bribing voters, illegal campaigning and issuing ballots, which already contained some marks. According to the party's website, in most polling stations in Lviv region there are no informational posters about candidates. Tthere was also a case of one voter handing their ballot to another one. In one of the districts they recorded a large number of checklists, which have not been put into the ballot boxes (which also is a violation), and at the polling station of a military unit in the village of Starychi, Yavoriv district, there is a shortage of ballot papers. In Kyiv region, facts of bribing voters by representatives of the candidate for the post of the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, were recorded in Boyarka. In Vyshgorod an attempt was made to issue ballots using the carousel voting method, the Batkivschyna Party's website reported. In addition, according to eyewitness accounts, in Boyarka and Irpin, balloons and information flyers containing the call to vote for Poroshenko are distributed on behalf of the former mayor of Irpin, Volodymyr Karplyuk. In Zakarpattia, in the village of Volovets, at polling stations No. 210141, observers from Batkivschyna found protocols on counting of ballots, which were already signed by members of the commission without a seal. In Kryvy Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, observers from Batkivschyna recorded violations of the established procedure and rules for conducting elections an attempt to receive another ballot by a voter. In addition, police was obstructing pollsters conducting an exit poll there. Batkivshchyna also said a drunk observer from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc party was removed from the polling station in Saksahansky district. The Rivne branch of the Volia political party on its Facebook page "Political Party Volia Rivne" has posted statement calling for voters to cast ballots for Verkhovna Rada deputy and Volia Party member Yuriy Dervyanko, the Civil Network OPORA has said. "I call on all members of the Volia Party! I ask you all today to go to polling stations and vote for Yuriy Derevyanko," OPORA said on Facebook, citing the post. According to OPORA, a number of representatives of the executive branch of Rivne region has made posts to Facebook with signs of "hidden campaigning" in favor of one or another presidential candidate. On the Facebook page of the head of the Rivne Regional State Administration Oleksiy Muliarenko there is a post about voting and supporting "continuing the course of our state to the European Union and NATO," while in the Facebook profile of there appears the "Think" (Dumay) meme from the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko's campaign. The Rivne District State Administration head Volodymyr Pylypchuk also posted on a Facebook using a slogan from Poroshenko's campaign. In addition, profile photos of the head of the Zarechnensky District State Administration Anatoliy Smagliuk and Kostopil District State Administration head Oleksandr Sereda also use the same Think (Dumay) profile images from Poroshenko's campaign. OPORA says this is contrary to the rules on election campaigning (Part 3 of Article 57 and Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Article 64 of Ukraine's law "On the election of the president of Ukraine." One of largest polling stations of Ukraine abroad is in Prague, about 21,200 voters registered there media About 21,200 voters will be able to vote in the presidential elections of Ukraine in Prague (the Czech Republic), Pryamiy TV Channel has said, with reference to a Radio Svoboda journalist. According to the channel, a huge number of Ukrainians want to vote in Prague, and the queue stretched for almost 300 meters. Almost 21,200 voters are registered here - this is one of the largest polling stations of Ukraine abroad. About 5,000 voters are registered at the polling station in Brno. Some 110,000 Ukrainians live and work in the Czech Republic the largest national community in the country. Zelensky and Poroshenko go to second round of presidential elections in Ukraine TSN exit poll ordered by 1+1 Showman Volodymyr Zelensky and incumbent head of state Petro Poroshenko go to the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine, gaining 30.1% and 18.5% of votes respectively in the first round of elections, according to an exit poll conducted by TSN on the order of 1+1 TV Channel. According to the exit poll, leader of the Batkivschyna party Yulia Tymoshenko has 14% of the vote, candidate from the Opposition Platform-For Life party Yuri Boiko was supported by 9.1% of the voters, while leader of the Civil Position party Anatoliy Hrytsenko gains 7.6%. Candidate to the post of the President of Ukraine from the Batkivschyna Party Yulia Tymoshenko has said that she is not negotiating with candidate Volodymyr Zelensky on their uniting in the second round of the presidential election. "We expect that after announcing the real outcome of the elections, collecting the original protocols, we will fight with Volodymyr Zelensky in the second round. Therefore, we do not conduct any negotiations until the completion of vote counting," Tymoshenko said at a press conference in her headquarters after the closure of polling stations. Tymoshenko calls on voters not to see exit polls as last resort Candidate to the post of the President of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko has called on voters and her team not to recognize the exit poll data, saying that they are the tool for manipulations. "I call not to see the exit polls [as last resort] All these paid exit polls were aimed at disorganizing our team during the election process," she said on ICTV channel on Sunday. Tymoshenko also called on her supporters to protect election commissions from provocations during the night. "I think that we have enough observers to protect the outcome of the election," she said. Zelensky about support in second round: We negotiate with no one Candidate to the post of the President of Ukraine, showman Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is not holding any talks with other political forces about his support in the second round of the presidential election. "We are not negotiating with anyone. We have nothing to say to old power," he said on 1+1 TV channel late on Sunday. Asked if he can confirm information that allegedly leader of the Batkivschyna Party Yulia Tymoshenko is ready to support him in the second round and they after parliamentary election their two political forces would create coalition in the parliament, Zelensky said that there are no negotiations with Tymoshenko and her team. "If her voters support us, thank them very much," he added. Zelensky once again said that there were no proposals from the political forces, and at the moment no negotiations are being held. Candidate to the post of the President of Ukraine, leader of the Hromadianska Pozytsia (Civil Position) Party Anatoliy Hrytsenko has said that his political force will participate in the parliamentary election. "We will take part in the parliamentary campaign. The format has not yet been determined. We will decide on it in the near future... I know for sure that those who are on the same platform will participate in one coalition in parliament. We will see what format it will be," he said at a briefing in his headquarters in Kyiv on Sunday. He also said that the Civil Position is in favor of strengthening the parliamentary component in Ukraine. Boiko confident he reaches second round of election thanks to voters who refused to take part in exit polls, starts preparations for Rada election Candidate to the post of the President of Ukraine from the Opposition Platform For Life Yuriy Boiko has said that he plans to reach the second round of the presidential election thanks to voters who refused to take part in the exit polls. He is also confident in the better outcome for his political force during the parliamentary election. "We are confident that during the counting of votes we will have additional reserves. Approximately 20% of people refused to answer in favor of whom they had cast their votes, and we believe that our votes are there," Boiko said at a briefing at his headquarters in Kyiv on Sunday. He called this election campaign "the dirtiest in the history of Ukraine." At the same time, Boiko said that he was pleased with the elections, "because we have shown that the government, despite pressure and bribery attempts, is doomed." Boiko added that now his task is to "protect his voters" from attempts of rigging in the regions. In addition, he said that his party will get better outcome during the future parliamentary elections, given the level of support during the presidential elections. "We begin preparations at once after the end of the presidential campaign," Boiko said. Poroshenko: not Galkin or Petrosyan but Putin will represent Russia at talks President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, appealing to young voters who want changes in the country, called them to unite, noting that his task was to win the trust of young people. "I want to address the younger generation today, those who are less than 30 now. You see changes in the country, but you want the changes to be closer and faster. I fully share your desire," Poroshenko said in a statement. According to him, to achieve qualitative changes, it is necessary to unite and not to waste time. "I fully understand the motives of your discontent. I heard you and I ask you to hear me too. Everything that we have been doing for five years, by and large, is for the future of Ukraine, for the future generation," Poroshenko said. He stressed that it is young people who decide who will be the commander-in-chief, who will negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western partners. "And not Maxim Galkin or Yevgeny Petrosyan will represent Russia [at the talks]. So that you know, just in case, Putin will represent Russia," the president added. "My task is to win your confidence," Poroshenko said. Volodymyr Zelensky, the candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, the showman, has said he was ready for debate with incumbent president Petro Poroshenko. "I am ready. I am an open person, I am ready for any interview. I have very little time in my life," Zelensky said at a briefing at the headquarters in Kyiv, asked whether he is ready for debate with Poroshenko. Earlier on Sunday Poroshenko expressed opinion that before the second round of the presidential elections there must be a pre-election debate of candidates. Zelensky at possible meeting with Putin would ask him about compensation for hostilities in Donbas, annexation of Crimea Candidate for the presidency of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that at a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin he would ask him about compensation for hostilities in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea. "If I meet with Mr. Putin, I will tell him: well, finally, you have returned our territories. How much more are you willing to compensate money for taking our territories and helping people who participated in the escalation [of the situation] in Crimea and Donbas on the entire their terrible, disgusting way?" Zelensky said at a briefing at the headquarters on Sunday. The six-seat airplane with, tentatively, two Russian citizens on board, that crashed in Germany earlier on Sunday, is completely burnt out; the identification of remains is expected this week, the police service of the German Federal State of Hessen said in a statement. "The airplane burned completely after it hit the ground. According to investigation data collected by now, the airplane was en route from France to [Frankfurt] Egelsbach [Airport]. Apart from the pilot, there were another two individuals on board the airplane that supposedly had six seats. According to first indications, those were Russian nationals. Final identification of bodies will be conducted next week," the press office of the police service said in a statement. Egelsbach is a community in Hessen. The jet crashed while approaching Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport (EDFE). The press service of Russia's S7 Airlines said earlier that the company's co-owner Natalia Filyova was killed in the crash. Prominent hardline cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi has claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not made "even one single mistake during the past three decades as the leader of the Islamic Republic." Mesbah Yazdi said "It is strange that someone leads a nation for 30 years and faces the most complicated social problems and still does not make a mistake while other world leaders have committed numerous mistakes." Such an exaggeration is a characteristic of Mesbah Yazdi as the only cleric who tried to kiss Khamenei's feet in public. Mesbah Yazdi also said that "thanks to Khamenei's presence, Iranians are blessed in a way many cannot understand", according to an ISNA report on March 30. Mesbah Yazdi made the comments while Iran under Khamenei ranks as one of the last countries in many areas in the list of world nations. For instance, Iran ranks 164 among 180 nations in terms of media freedom according to Reporters without Frontiers. Khamenei, as a leader with absolute powers who can hire and fire most civilian and military officials, intervenes in the country's domestic policies and foreign affairs without being accountable to anyone. Well known figures from various political factions, including ultraconservative former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reform-minded former regime insider Abolfazl Qadiani have criticized Khamenei for encouraging corruption and for not being accountable. Meanwhile, his regime faces major economic crises due to his inability to resolve the country's foreign relations deadlock. At the same time, Iran under Khamenei is overwhelmed by widespread and systematic financial corruption. RecentlyGholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabaadi, MP for Rasht, has said that the anti-corruption campaign should start from Khamenei's own household. Mesbah Yazdi failed to win enough votes to become re-elected to the Assembly of Experts. His unpopularity is partly because of his open opposition to human rights, which he has said "is against the spirit of Islam." Irans Meteorological Organization (IMRO) has issued a nationwide alert expecting heavy rains in the next three days and the governor of the oil-rich Khuzestan province has declared an emergency situation over more floods. IMRO has announced that heavy rains from March 31 to April 2 will inundate western, central and northern Iran. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazl told the nation on Saturday that as the new storm front moves in the government has put all provinces on alert, but the situation of oil-rich Khuzestan in southwest, Lorestan in west-central and Golestan in the north are critical. All three provinces have already suffered heavy flooding. Many areas in Golestan are still under water as authorities seem to have failed to open natural routes for the water to reach the Caspian Sea. Rahmani Fazl also said that 24 provinces experienced floods in the last ten days and the police announced that 28 major roads are still closed due to flooding. The most critical situation seems to be in Khuzestan where two major dams are near full capacity and three days of more rains can push water over the dams. The Dez Dam is a significant structure, built by American companies in the 1960s, with a height of 352 meters or 1,164 feet. Fourteen villages have been evacuated from the vicinity of the dams and 36 more will be evacuated on March 31, as the maximum quantity of water is released from the dams, flooding existing rivers. A crisis committee made of government officials, parliamentarians and military commanders met on March 30. The governors of Golestan and Khuzestan gave updates to the committee about the emergency situation in their provinces. Evacuations are also underway in other provinces. The governor of Lorestan announced that 18,000 residents of Dorood and 10,000 people from villages near a dam will be evacuated. More floods are also threatening other towns and cities in the province, which are already in emergency situation. Emergency situation being announced by a loudspeaker on a truck in Dorood. The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps visited Golestan and ordered more demolition of a railroad, which has been built along a corridor adjacent to the Caspian Sea, blocking the natural route for fold waters. President Hassan Rouhani had earlier mocked the effort of the military to blow up sections of the railroad to relieve lingering flood waters in urban areas. The revolutionary guards were involved in the construction of the railroad, apparently with no planning for flood situations. Waters have not subsided in Golestan province, as this video tweeted by a citizen journalist is said to be from March 30. In Ilam in western Iran, floods exposed mines and unexploded mortar shells from the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and experts are now trying to de-mine the affected areas. So far, 42-45 people have lost their lives in the floods, although some say the number can be higher than official figures. Some local officials are already blaming the extent of the destruction partly on intervention in nature. They say that natural flood paths have been blocked over the years with wrong road and building construction. The governmet's official news outlet IRNA says that investigations have started. On social; media some also blame the destruction of forests as a reason for the force of flash floods hitting villages and towns. Yashar Soltani, a journalist tweeted that according to a report by Irans Inspector General, 70 percent of forests in Golestan province are controlled by influential companies and organizations. This alludes to commercial ventures often set up by the military, religious foundations or individuals linked with these powerful circles. Based on the report, religious foundations control 48,000 hectares of forests while the military controls another 20,000.Government agencies would not be able to enforce rules and regulations over such powerful entities, which try to maximize profits. 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 Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 Trend: The statement made by the Defense Minister of Armenia D.Tonoyan at the meeting with the Armenian community in New-York on new war for new territories instead of peace for territories formula is another admission by the high-ranking Armenian official of agressive policy of this country, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, Trend reported. "The statement of the Armenian Defense Minister made immediately after the meeting of the Armenian Prime Minister with the President of Azerbaijan in Vienna and joint statement adopted as a result of the meeting underlining the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process for a peaceful solution of the conflict is provocative in nature and opposes the efforts of the international community through the OSCE MG Co-Chairs. We bring to the attention of the Armenian side that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan are among the most powerful armies in the world and are able to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in a short time on the basis of the relevant provisions of international law for self-defense," said the statement. The statement reads that unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan does not make territorial claims against other states and does not have a goal to occupy any territories. Azerbaijan demands, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces of Armenia from the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, said the ministry. "All efforts of Azerbaijan supported by the international community are aimed at achieving this goal. Otherwise, Azerbaijan is ready to liberate its territories from the Armenian occupation by any other means, guided by the relevant norms and principles of international law, as well as the UN Charter, and Armenia is well aware of this. In conclusion, we would like to hear the comment of the top leadership of Armenia in the context of the statement of the defense minister: did the minister make this statement with the consent of the leadership of Armenia or was it ministerial improvisation aimed at casting doubt on the essence of the negotiations and the joint statement adopted on the results?" said the statement. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 By Leman Zeynalova - Trend: The European Union (EU) has issued a statement on the Vienna meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 29, Trend reports citing the European External Action Service (EEAS). The recommitment by the leaders to strengthening the ceasefire and to promoting an environment conducive to peace, as well as their stated readiness to take further steps toward result-oriented negotiations, is encouraging, reads the statement. The European Union looks forward to the implementation of the Vienna agreement to develop measures in the humanitarian field, as well as of the agreement on measures to prepare the populations for peace, reached by the Foreign Ministers in Paris on 16 January 2019 and stands ready to support these efforts. The European Union reiterates its full support to the mediation efforts and proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including through the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, as well as through civil society confidence-building measures across the conflict divide, said the statement. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met on March 29 in Vienna for the first time under the auspices of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America). The meeting was also attended by Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in the meeting. The statement issued on the results of the meeting reads that the two leaders underlined the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking further concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Recalling their conversation in Dushanbe, the leaders recommitted to strengthening the ceasefire and improving the mechanism for direct communication. They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian field, said the statement. 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 31 Trend: On March 31, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in connection with the municipal elections held in Turkey, Trend reports citing the press service of the head of state. The head of state extended congratulations on the confident victory of the Justice and Development Party, founded and headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Turkish municipal elections. The head of state described this win as manifestation of the Turkish people`s support for Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his policy. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the phone call and sincere congratulations. During the phone conversation, the heads of state expressed their confidence that the friendly and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey will always develop and strengthen in accordance with the will of the two peoples. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 By Sara Israfilbayova Trend: The WCO Information Technology / Technology & Innovation Conference & Exhibition will be held in Baku from June 12-14, 2019, and is expected to attract around 1,000 participants from customs, the private sector, international organizations, academics and other key players, Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, said in an interview with Azernews, Trend reports. Azerbaijan has also supported a number of WCO events aimed at fostering international cooperation and the exchange of best practices - two important aspects of our Organization, he added. The provision of capacity building through the WCO regional structures is another important WCO feature, Mikuriya said. From that perspective also, Azerbaijan is seen as an active Member in the Europe region. Three key WCO regional bodies are located in Baku, namely the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), the WCO Regional Training Centre (RTC) and the WCO Regional Dog Training Centre (RDTC), he added. The World Customs Organization (WCO), established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council, is an independent intergovernmental body that acts as a global centre of Customs expertise and the voice of the international Customs community. The WCO develops and maintains a range of instruments, standards and tools covering core Customs subjects including, among others, commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, compliance and enforcement, trade facilitation and capacity building among others. From 17 founding Members in 1952, the WCO today represents more than 180 Member Customs Administrations across the globe, divided into six geographical regions. The State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan became a Member in June 1992, and belongs to the WCO Europe region. The SCC is a very active WCO Member and contributes to WCO meetings and ongoing initiatives, ambitioning to have a leadership role in the region. Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The drilling of two wells at Azerbaijans Karabakh oil field will start in end-2019, Norways Equinor company told Trend. Azerbaijans Caspian Drilling Company Ltd. (CDC) and Norwegian Equinor Azerbaijan Karabakh BV (Equinor) have recently signed a contract for the drilling services at Karabakh field of Azerbaijan. In accordance with the contract, CDC shall drill for Equinor two wells on the Karabakh oilfield, where Equinor serves as project Operator for Karabakh field development with participation of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR. Equinor and SOCAR each holds 50 percent stake in the project. First well drilling shall commence upon completion of the reactivation of Dada Gorgud semisubmersible drilling rig, reactivation will take place on CDC marine base and will be conducted under the management of CDC experts. "The rig is now being prepared for operations and we plan to start drilling when that work has concluded. Tentatively this will be towards the end of 2019, but that could change," said Equinor. The company said that the work on plans for the drilling operations is still underway. "As a principle we don't communicate resource estimates ahead of drilling. Together with SOCAR we are now maturing the plans for exploration and appraisal operations in Karabagh and Ashrafi, Dan Ulduzu, Aypara. We cannot comment on any further details about the work programme at his point, but we will carry out both seismic acquisition and site surveys," said Equinor. The Karabakh oil and gas field, discovered in 2000, is located 130 kilometers to the east of Baku. The sea depth in the field varies in the range of 250-450 meters. The initial oil reserves of the field are estimated at 100 million tons. --- Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 By Elnur Baghishov Trend: An incident occurred in Dezful county of Irans southern Khuzestan province, killing nine people and injuring two people, Chief of Police of Dezful county, Colonel Hussein Eydi said, Trend reports. He said that as a result of a family dispute, a husband fired on his wife's family members by using Kalashnikov rifle. Eydi added that nine people were killed and two people were injured in the incident. The armed person is also among the injured, he said. Oil rises on optimism Omicron impact will be limited on fuel demand Riding a wave of public fury over corruption, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova won Slovakias presidential election on Saturday, bucking a trend that has seen populist, anti-European Union politicians make gains across the continent, Trend reports citing Reuters. Corruption and change in political style were the main themes ahead of the run-off vote, which took place a year after journalist Jan Kuciak, who investigated high-profile fraud cases, and his fiancee were murdered at their home. Caputova, a pro-EU political novice who will be the euro zone countrys first female president, had 58.3 percent of the votes after results from 98.1 percent of voting districts were counted, ahead of European commissioner Maros Sefcovic who took 41.7 percent. Sefcovic, a respected diplomat who is also pro-EU, is backed by the ruling party Smer, the largest grouping in parliament that has dominated Slovak politics since 2006. Caputova, who was the front runner having won the first round more than 20 percentage points ahead of Sefcovic, campaigned to end what she calls the capture of the state by people pulling strings from behind, a message that opinion polls show resonates with younger, educated voters. The 45-year old member of a liberal non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party which she pledged to leave if elected has been endorsed by opposition parties and a junior party in the ruling coalition that represents the ethnic Hungarian minority, as well as outgoing President Andrej Kiska. Caputova started her acceptance speech by thanking voters in Slovak, as well as in the Hungarian, Czech, Roma and Ruthenian languages, turning to all main minority groups. I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary, she told a crowd of supporters. This started in the local election last year, was confirmed in the presidential election, and I believe the European (parliamentary election in May) will confirm it as well. Slovakias president wields little day-to-day power but appoints prime ministers and can veto appointments of senior prosecutors and judges. Five people have been charged with the murders of Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, including businessman Marian Kocner, who was investigated by Kuciak, and who has become a symbol of perceived impunity after more than a decade of rule by Smer. Kocner denies any wrongdoing. The killings ignited the biggest protests in Slovakias post-communist history and forced the resignation of Smer leader Robert Fico as prime minister last year. Caputova had waged a 14-year fight with a company Kocner represented that wanted to build an illegal landfill in her home town. She eventually won the case, earning her the nickname Slovakias Erin Brockovich, after the American environmentalist portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 film. Caputovas victory complicates Ficos plan to leave politics by becoming head of the Constitutional Court - a position vetted by the president. It may give a boost to opposition parties looking to replace Smer, still the most popular party, in next years general election. But political analysts have said a socially liberal president will also mobilize Smer and anti-system voters, a fight already foreshadowed by Fico this week when he called liberals people without values. Ficos Smer is a social democrat party but has also taken socially conservative positions. A row with the president could make Fico push the country closer to eurosceptic and socially conservative leaders in neighboring Hungary and Poland. There was an indication of that this week when Smer teamed up with the center-right Slovak National party, the far-right Peoples Party-Our Slovakia and the populist We Are Family movement to halt ratification of a European treaty designed to combat violence against women. Ukrainians will cast their ballots in a presidential election on Sunday in which a comedian with no political experience and who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series is tipped to win the first round< Trend reports citing Reuters. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, who is appealing to voters fed up with entrenched corruption, has consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. At stake is the leadership of a country on the front line of the Wests standoff with Russia after the 2014 Maidan street protests ejected Poroshenkos Kremlin-friendly predecessor and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Investors are watching to see if the next president will push reforms required to keep the country in an International Monetary Fund bailout program that has supported Ukraine through war, sharp recession and a currency plunge. No candidate is expected to receive more than half the votes, meaning the election would go to a run-off on April 21. Out of a crowded field of 39 candidates, none of the likely winners wants to move Ukraine back into Russias orbit. Poroshenko has fought to integrate the country with the European Union and NATO, while strengthening the military which is fighting Kremlin-backed separatists in the east of the country. Pushing the use of the Ukrainian language and instrumental in establishing a new independent Orthodox church, the 53-year-old confectionary magnate casts himself as the man to prevent Ukraine again becoming a Russian vassal state. But reforms crucial to keep foreign aid flowing have been patchy. Conflict in the eastern Donbass region has killed 13,000 people in five years and rumbles on despite Poroshenkos promise to end it within weeks. Frustration over low living standards and pervasive corruption has left the door open for Zelenskiy. Just 9 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their national government, the lowest of any electorate in the world, a Gallup poll published in March showed. Zelenskiy has tapped into the anti-establishment mood, though his inexperience makes Western officials and foreign investors wary and skeptics question his fitness to be a wartime commander-in-chief. Inviting comparisons with U.S. President Donald Trump and Italys Five-Star movement, his campaign has relied heavily on social media and comedy gigs of jokes, sketches and song-and-dance routines that poke fun at his political rivals. He embodies the perceived need for new faces in politics and could sway the young, pro-reform electorate to his side, said Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Agnese Ortolani. Zelenskiys campaign has blurred the line between reality and the TV series in which he plays a scrupulously honest history teacher who accidentally becomes president. In series three, which began airing in March, his character is flung into prison and the country falls under the control of oligarchs, populists and ultranationalists, and eventually gets broken up into 28 states. Thinly-disguised characters resembling Poroshenko and Tymoshenko come to power. The election has been marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying, meaning one or more of the candidates could contest the result. Ultranationalists acting as election observers have also caused concern about the prospect of violence. Accused of cheating by Tymoshenko, Poroshenko attended a public prayer on the banks of the Dnieper river in Kiev on Saturday to pray for the elections to be free and fair and, in his words, for the wisdom of the people who tomorrow will determine the future of Ukraine. Israel said on Sunday that Brazil had opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began a visit to the country, Trend reported citing Reuters. Obrigado for opening a diplomatic office in Jerusalem! acting Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a Twitter post that included a photograph of himself shaking hands with Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araujo. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Militancy and counter-militancy have left 26 fighters dead including 13 militants in Kandahar and Zabul provinces since Saturday morning, officials said, Trend reported referring to Xinhua. At least five militants and three police constable were confirmed dead as clash erupted between government forces and the Taliban fighters in Band-e-Timor area of Miwand district in Kandahar province early Saturday and lasted for a while, provincial police chief Tawdin Khan has confirmed. Several trenches of the militants have also been destroyed, the official asserted. Similarly, the government stormed Taliban hideouts in Darazab area of Khakriz district, Kandahar province in the wee hours of Saturday, killing eight militants and injuring nine others, Tawdin Khan said. The official also confirmed the death of a police personnel in the firefight. In the meantime, the militants in a deadly insider attack on a checkpoint in Jald area of Shahr-e-Safa district in the neighboring Zabul province early Saturday killed nine police personnel on the spot, a member of provincial council, Ata Jan Haqbayan, has confirmed. Taliban militants who have intensified activities against government interests in the war-battered country, in a statement sent to media outlets confirmed the attack against police in Shahr-e-Safa district and claimed that eight security personnel were killed and those who conducted the deadly offensive had joined the Taliban fighters. Two security members and an Islamic State (IS) militant were killed Saturday in two incidents in central and western Iraq, security sources said, Trend reported citing Xinhua. In Iraq's central province of Salahudin, IS militants attacked a joint patrol for federal police and paramilitary tribal fighters in Yathrib area, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, leaving a police officer and a tribal fighter killed and a policeman wounded, Col. Mohammed al-Bazi, from Salahudin's provincial police, told Xinhua. Reinforcement troops arrived at the scene and launched a search campaign to track the attackers, al-Bazi said. In Iraq's western province of Anbar, an army brigade, backed by police commando regiment, carried out an operation against a group of IS militants in al-Hareijiah area, in northeast of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, which is located some 110 km west of Baghdad, Col. Malik Obeid, leader of the commando regiment, told Xinhua. A fierce clash erupted between the two sides, killing an IS militant and capturing another after wounding him, Obeid said. In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after the security forces and the Hashd Shaabi units, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group. However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerrilla attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians. The Philippines and the United States will begin on Monday their biggest annual joint military exercise known as Balikatan, or Shoulder-to-Shoulder, Trend reported citing Xinhua. Exercise spokesman for the Philippines Lt. Cmdr. Liez Vidallon has said there are around 7,500 participating troops, consisting of some 4,000 Philippine troops and 3,500 U.S. troops, in this year's Balikatan drills. The number of Philippine troops is 1,000 lower compared to last year's edition. On the other hand, the number of participating U.S., forces is 500 more than the previous Balikatan. Like in the past Balikatan exercise, Vidallon said the aim of this year's activities is to strengthen interoperability between the two allied forces. "This is to test our existing (capabilities) and learn from that," she said, referring to the series of activities that will be conducted for two weeks in several locations in the Philippine main Luzon Island. Meanwhile, Russian media said among those killed by the crash was the head of the country's S7 air carrier. The German Bild newspaper reports that two of the three killed were Russians, Trend reports citing Sputnik. The plane that crashed in Germany belonged to the Globus air company, which is a part of S7 Airliner, a source in the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) told Sputnik. A source close to Vladislav Filev, the head of S7 Airlines claimed to be killed in the crash by Russian media refuted the reports about his death. According to the German newspaper Bild, a light six-seat plane crashed in a field and burst into flames near Egelsbach, a town in the state of Hesse. S7 Airlines confirmed that the company's co-owner Natalia Fileva died as a result of the crash. Earlier, a source told Sputnik that the incident claimed the lives of Natalia Fileva and her father. Natalia Fileva, the wife of S7 CEO Vladislav Filev, was flying to Germany for medical treatment, the source specified. "On March 31, 2019, during the landing of a private Epic-LT plane at Egelsbach Airport (Frankfurt am Main), at the age of 55, S7 Airlines shareholder Natalia Fileva was killed. The circumstances of the tragedy are not yet known," the S7 press service said. At the same time, the airliner announced that the international commission will investigate the crash with the participation of the Russian aviation authorities. Previously the German police reported that a plane crashed in Germany, killing at least three people, two of whom are Russians. However, a source told Sputnik that all those people, who died in the incident, including a pilot, were Russian nationals. At least 25 people were killed and 400 others injured when a storm devastated villages in two districts of Nepal on Sunday evening, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli confirmed, Trend reports citing Xinhua. Oli tweeted that parts of Bara and Parsa districts were struck by high-speed wind and lightning. "I am deeply saddened to learn this tragedy. I pay tribute to those killed in the incident and express deep condolences to the bereaved families," the prime minister said. He said the government has mobilized security personnel to carry out rescue operations in the storm-hit areas. Officials said the storm started striking the villages at around 7:45 p.m. local time and lasted for one hour. Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Prem Kumar Rai told Xinhua that 23 people were found dead in Bara district and two in Parsa district. "At least 400 injured people have been hospitalized. The death toll is expected to rise," Rai said, adding that the government has launched rescue and relief operations. Media reported that hundreds of houses, public and private vehicles have been destroyed due to the devastating storm. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 By Rauf Guliyev - Trend: Municipal elections in Turkey were held in a democratic atmosphere, the people expressed their will, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement to the press in Istanbul, Trend reports. Erdogan wished the results of these elections to bring success to the country. President Erdogan noted that he was going to Ankara and giving a "balcony talk" there. There I will comment on the election results, Erdogan added. The head of the republic noted that according to preliminary results, the tandem of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) and the Party of the Nationalist Movement (MHP) is leading. Erdogan said, that the preliminary results show, the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) headed by him "won and lost in various parts of the country, which is an indicator of democracy." The municipal elections were held in Turkey today. Thirteen political parties took part in the municipal elections. These include the Felicity Party (SP), the Independent Turkey Party (Bagmsz Turkiye Partisi), the Communist Party of Turkey (Turkiye Komunist Partisi), the Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi), the Great Unity Party (Buyuk Birlik Partisi), Free Cause Party (Hur Dava Partisi), Republican Peoples Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalknma Partisi), Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti), Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetci Hareket Partisi), Iyi Party (IYI Parti), Peoples Democratic Party (Halklarn Demokratik Partisi) and Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti). Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nominated the candidacy of ex-Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci for the post of the head of the Izmir municipality, as well as the candidacy of Binali Yildirim for the post of the head of the Istanbul municipality. Municipal elections are held every 5 years in Turkey. Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke held a major rally in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, a city thrust to the center of Americas immigration debate by President Donald Trump and the U.S government this week, Trend reports citing Reuters. ORourke, a former congressman from El Paso, kicked off a series of three rallies in Texas in his bid to become the Democratic nominee a day after Republican Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico as soon as next week. Speaking in El Paso, a few hundred yards from the border with Mexico, ORourke decried the Trump administrations immigration policies and the presidents call for a border wall. Well find security not through walls, he declared to cheers from several hundred supporters as he officially launched his presidential campaign. Before switching to Spanish to finish his speech, ORourke denounced what he called Trumps policies of fear and division and accused the president of seeking to keep us apart and to make us afraid of one another. Lets remember, every single one of us are fellow human beings and deserve to be treated like fellow human beings, he said. ORourkes rally in El Paso was long-planned, but the city became central to Americas immigration debate this week. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan told reporters in El Paso on Wednesday the southern border system was at breaking point because of the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border each day. Trump, who is still determined to build a barrier along parts of the southern border, said on Friday: Theres a very good likelihood that Ill be closing the border next week, and that will be just fine with me. Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office. His latest threat had workers and students who frequently cross the border worried about the potential disruption to their lives. Trump and ORourke held dueling rallies in February in El Paso, which is already divided from Mexico by steel fencing. Trump wants it reinforced and hundreds of miles of additional fencing built along the border. ORourke opposes any new border structures and opposition to Trumps border wall and immigration policies has been a centerpiece of his campaign. We are safe not despite the fact we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers - we are safe because we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers, ORourke said in El Paso on Saturday. ORourke, who announced his White House campaign on March 14, shot to national prominence last year in an unexpectedly close race against incumbent Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. His Texas rallies will be watched via livestream at more than 1,000 locations across America, according to his campaign. More than a dozen contenders are fighting to become the Democratic Partys candidate to take on Trump in 2020. The ORourke campaign sent multiple requests to potential supporters for campaign donations before his rallies in El Paso, Houston and Austin on Saturday, a common practice among presidential hopefuls. The messages stressed the importance of donating before Sunday, the deadline for first quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. ORourke, 46, smashed fundraising records as a Senate candidate and raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his presidential campaign, the largest first-day haul of any announced candidate this year. However, he has struggled to see a strong campaign work ethic translate into a significant boost in early polling. ORourke trails former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by double digits, according to early polls among Democratic voters. Analysts warn that polls this early, before the first nominating votes are cast in Iowa in February 2020, are unreliable. Biden has yet to join the race, although he is expected to announce his presidential candidacy soon. The US Marine Corps said Sunday that two pilots died in a helicopter crash near Yuma, Arizona, Trend reports citing Sputnik. According to the Marine Corps Air Station, the crash occurred at about 8:45 p.m. (local time) Saturday. The pilots of the AH-1Z Viper were reportedly conducting a routine training mission. The US military has launched the investigation into the incident. The names of those killed have not been released pending the notification of their families, according to the US Marine Corps. The Bell AH-1Z is a twin-engine combat helicopter reportedly designed to meet the expeditionary requirements of the US Marine Corps. The AH-1Z can be equipped with two Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, 16 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, and 76 rockets, among other ordnance. The AH-1Z Viper is a relatively fast twin-engine attack helicopter based on the AH-1W SuperCobra developed for the United States Marine Corps as part of the H-1 upgrade program. KYODO NEWS - Mar 30, 2019 - 19:00 | World A group of Japanese nationals suspected of scamming millions of dollars from people in their homeland from a base in Thailand will be charged with working illegally in the kingdom, according to the immigration police. At a press conference late Friday in Pattaya, southeast of the capital Bangkok, Maj. Gen. Surachet Surachet Hakpal, head of the Immigration Bureau, announced the arrest of the 15 men, aged between 22 and 54. They were taken into custody earlier in the day during a raid on a rented luxury house in the seaside town, he said, adding that the police seized 52 internet protocol phones, 19 notebook computers, routers and other equipment as well as a list of victims and bank accounts. The gang targeted people in Japan, particularly those retired and living alone, and in just two months duped around 500 victims out of a total of between 400 million and 500 million baht ($12.6 million and $15.8 million), he said. Attached to a wall of the house was a sheet of paper listing directives for the scammers to follow, such as "Don't be negative!" "Keep calm!" and "Never fail to earn!" There was also another sheet of paper on which a number labeled as "current sales" was written, and another number considered to be the target amount. The scammers would allegedly call their victims from the house to falsely claim that their phone use exceeded a limit and that they would need to pay an excess charge to continue using their phones. The police said the landlord alerted authorities after becoming suspicious about the large number of phones in the house. According to police sources, it is the first time for such a scam victimizing people in Japan to be uncovered in Thailand. As the men entered Thailand on temporary tourist visas, they will be charged with working without legal permission and fined before being sent back to Japan, Surachet said. The men are currently being detained at the Bangkok immigration office, with no timeframe given for the proceedings against them. All of the men deny the allegations against them. According to the police, the gang used Thailand as a base because Japanese nationals can enter the country without a visa and the country offers easy, high-speed internet access. The critically acclaimed actor Rajkummar is honoured to win 'Performer of the Year' award at the Filmfare Middle East Awards 2019 ceremony held in Oman. In a statement Rajkumar Rao said, "It's a great honour to receive this award. I also feel gratified in a way to know that my films not only entertain audiences in India but globally. He further added, "I've had very distinguished films in 2018 and this win certifies that the audiences are also open to experimentation and watching something new and interesting. 'Paharganj is not based on any persons living in or visiting the locality' says Makers on RWA's protests The story of Stree is based on the Indian urban legend Nale Ba, about a spirit who knocks on people's doors at night. Stree stars Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor. Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, and Abhishek Banerjee appear in supporting roles. The film is directed by Amar Kaushik, written by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. and produced by Dinesh Vijan and Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. under the banner of Maddock Films in association with D2RFilms. Later purchased by Reliance Jio Studios. talking about Omerta, the film explores the 1994 kidnappings of Westerners in India for which Omar was arrested and served time in prison and the plotting of murder of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Salman Khan promises to help out Choreographer Saroj Khan after no new offer from Bollywood The Stree actor is looking forward to this year's anticipated films, including Mental Hai Kya, Turram Khan, Imli and Made In China. 12 women rescued from New Delhi, India Twelve Nepali women being trafficked to various Gulf countries have been rescued from New Delhi in India. MANGALURU: A software engineer from Kundapur in Udupi was stabbed to death and his wife injured after they were attacked by a Guinean near the German city of Munich on Friday. Prashant Basarur, 49, died of multiple stab wounds while his wife Smita, 43, is critical. Preliminary reports reveal that the couple was reportedly attacked by a 33-year-old man from Guinea, who lived in the same apartment complex as the Basarurs. There was an argument between them and when it spiraled out of control, the man attacked and stabbed the couple. Prashant was stabbed multiple times in the body and head. The reason behind the argument is not yet known. also read: Hyderabad: Dead body of a couples found on the railway track "Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family," Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. The external affairs minister said she has asked Indian mission in Munich to take care of the couple's two children. The family of Smita in Udupi district's Siddapur is in a state of utter shock. Her brother Sujay had contacted the cops seeking confirmation on the incident. "Sujay is likely to fly to Germany," said an officer. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that the couple had been stabbed by an "immigrant" near Munich. The accused was a neighbor of the couple. also read: Minor raped and murder case, prime accused arrested Bijnor: On Sunday, the Bhartiya Janta Party president Amit Shah mocked Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, saying he has "fled" to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years. also read: Sushma Swaraj explained why she added the prefix 'Chowkidar' Amit Shah was speaking at his first election rally in western UP, where voting will be held on April 11. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, The saffron party had won all eight Lok Sabha seats in the region. "Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him," the BJP president said. Mr. Shah also said, "The Congress had given a clean chit to Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in Samjhauta Express bomb blast case, sent Swami Aseemanand and other innocent persons to jail and had put a tag of terrorism on Hindus." Making the announcement Sunday, senior Congress leader A.K. Antony said, I am happy to announce that Rahul Gandhi has given consent and he will contest from Wayanad parliamentary constituency, Kerala. In Amethi, Rahul Gandhi will contest against Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Smriti Irani put up a spirited fight against him, bringing down his victory margin from well over 3 lakh in 2009 to a little over 1 lakh votes. also read: Will ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad: CPM's Prakash Karat WASHINGTON: The security chief for amazons ceo Jeff Bezos says the saudi government had access to bezoss phone and gained private information from it. A longtime security consultant, Gavin de Becker said he had concluded his investigation into the publication in January of leaked text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former television anchor who the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper said Bezos was dating. Venezuelans rally to protest chronic power outages de Becker wrote on The Daily Beast website, "Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information. He said that while the brother of Bezos's mistress was paid by the National Enquirer scandal sheet for the release of the information, his role may have been a red herring, and the plot went far beyond one man seeking to cash in. The US cut off all exports from Iran and allow three-month exemptions to Iraq In February, Bezos accused the National Enquirers owner of trying to blackmail him with the threat of publishing intimate photos he allegedly sent to Sanchez unless he said in public that the tabloids reporting on him was not politically motivated. CARACAS: A large number of Venezuelan opposition sympathizers protested on Saturday against therecurring blackouts that crippled much of the country this month and have aggravated the OPEC nation`s economic and social crisis. According to the report, the electricity has slowly been restored following a blackout on Monday that left most of Venezuela`s 24 states without power. That followed a massive week-long national outage on March 7. President Nicolas Maduro has said the situation was caused by "terrorist attacks" on the Guri hydroelectric dam that powers much of the country. Critics including opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela`s legitimate head of state, blame the electricity problems on corruption and mismanagement. The US cut off all exports from Iran and allow three-month exemptions to Iraq In a rally in the Caracas suburb of Los Teques on Saturday, Guaido said, "We all know who is responsible for the blackout Maduro. He further said, "We must accelerate the process to remove this corrupt and thieving regime." Maduro has said Guaido is seeking to lead a coup against him, with the help of Washington. Britain complained after China failed figures on North Korean labourers US has levied crippling sanctions against Maduro`s government in efforts to push him from power, but he has hung on in large part thanks to continued loyalty by top military commanders 300 quake-victims under huts in Dolakha Three hundred displaced survivors of the 2015 earthquake are still living under huts at Bosimpa in Bhimsehwor Municipality-1, Dolakha. With the unfurling of present-day digital elevations, affiliate marketing has become a vital tool for businesses. Alas! Most of the businesses dont know how to effectively deal with their affiliate marketing requirements. 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In the future, Attrait aims to find & help the sellers or people who have passion & potential to create ground-breaking paradigms in digital marketing space. Northern Irish sheep farmers have said the creation of a new tariff regime at the border with the Republic of Ireland would 'crush' the sector. The possibility remains of Irish products entering Northern Ireland tariff free, but products moving in the other direction facing tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The government said it recognises that Northern Ireland's farmers will have concerns about the impact its approach will have on farm businesses' competitiveness. It said: These are the only steps the UK government can unilaterally take to deliver on our absolute commitment to avoid a hard border in the event of no deal. However, the government added that there would be no controls on goods moving from RoI to Northern Ireland. But the Northern Irish sheep sector has sounded alarm at the prospect of allowing imported sheepmeat from the RoI continued access to Northern Ireland tariff free, while applying tariffs to sheepmeat going in the other direction. 'Fragile situation' The National Sheep Association (NSA) said the situation is 'fragile' for sheep farmers in Northern Ireland. NSA's Northern Ireland Regional Development Officer, Edward Adamson said: Our industry is reliant on policy makers in Westminster and in Belfast working hard to ensure protections for us are in place. We are already facing issues with shortages of labour in the abattoirs thanks to Brexit, and with many abattoirs being in the South and the movement of some 400,000 lambs a year going that way, we are likely to find sheep farmers in Northern Ireland will have no choice but to pay the tariffs when there is nowhere else to send the sheep. He added: This would crush our industry and force many farmers out of business, an outcome which would be totally unacceptable. The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) said the governments import tariff plans for a no-deal Brexit would 'devastate' Northern Irelands farming industry. UFU president, Ivor Ferguson, said the plans are 'further proof' that a no-deal would have 'catastrophic consequences' for Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the tariff plan for Northern Ireland amounts to 'supreme irony' as it would be treated differently to the rest of Britain. All producers of Limousin-bred cattle are set to benefit from a UK-first development that sees the incorporation of international data within the latest genetic evaluation. The new information comes from a huge data set of over 2.3 million animals with performance records and 2.6 million animals with full pedigrees. Eleven countries contribute to it Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland as well as the United Kingdom sharing their records for 200 day (weaning) weight, since this is commonly measured across each country. Additionally, calving ease and birth weight records are shared by the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ireland and the UK. The British Limousin Cattle Society, in association with SRUC Egenes, has announced the development. The work is the culmination of several years input by a UK-wide group of geneticists called Interbeef. Supported in its early stages with funding from the society, Interbeef produces across-country EBVs (Estimated Breeding Values) for Limousin which are now integrated with the societys own UK EBVs. The work is a significant development for Limousin EBVs in the UK, boosting their accuracy and robustness to new levels, bringing benefit to pedigree breeders, commercial producers and all involved in the supply chain. The benefits manifest themselves in the value the data brings to the Limousin EBVs that are produced. For example, the addition of the international data has increased the number of animals with performance records in the UK evaluation by around 14%. An increase in volume of records widens the pool of recorded animals from which selection decisions can be made, accelerating the rate of genetic progress that breeders and commercial producers can make. And with the increase in volume of records comes improvement in the accuracy of the resulting EBVs. The EBVs directly influenced by the new data are: Birthweight, 200 Day Growth, 200 Day Milk Weight, Calving Ease and Maternal Calving Ease. For animals directly impacted by the new data, the average increase in their accuracy is 18% across them all, but with some individuals increasing by as much as 88% for specific traits. This will result in even more robust EBVs to the benefit of all producers, pedigree and commercial. The international evaluation also provides direct comparisons between animals in more than one country which is valuable for breeders contemplating exportation and/or importation of animals. Greater knowledge on performance will result in better breeding decisions and faster rates of genetic gain, the society says. Iain Kerr, Chief Executive of the British Limousin Cattle Society said: The incorporation of this level of international data into an evaluation is a welcome first for UK beef breeds and represents a significant opportunity to make increased margins from Limousin genetics. It comes close on the heels of incorporating new abattoir data last year that brought over 273,000 new commercial records to the Limousin evaluation representing more than 10,000 Limousin sires as well as the introduction of the now-familiar genomic breeding values (GEBVs) in 2016 and 2017. All these areas of work have concentrated on trapping large volumes of independent industry data to produce breeding values that are reliable, market-focused and will support all buyers of Limousin genetics well. One-hundred and fifty people from across the United Kingdom have been awarded a 2019 Churchill Fellowship, including a farming expert from the University of Cumbria. Upland farming expert Dr Lois Mansfield has secured a prestigious Churchill Fellowship to explore what lessons Britain can learn from the Far East. Churchill Fellowships are awarded to people who are recognised as being uniquely qualified by their real-life experience to head overseas to learn about issues affecting the UK. Dr Mansfield, the director of Ambleside campus of the University of Cumbria, will spend four weeks in Japan. In July she will learn more about Japans approach to rural development. Carrying out a research project of their choosing, Fellows are instructed to travel to learn, return to inspire and bring important insights home, sharing findings with policymakers, communities and others. Dr Mansfield said: I will be investigating rural development in some of the remotest areas of Japan. The country is very similar to the UK; they are an industrial country, and situated with a coast close to where they are dominated by another economy, not unlike our forthcoming change in European status. She plans to meet with agriculture and environment ministers, and academics. Accompanied by a translator, she then will visit remote farming communities for most of her trip. The project will allow her to discover more about the grassroot initiatives that are shaping Japans rural development and building its resilience. Kyoto, Japans ancient capital, is to be Dr Mansfields second stop on her four-week trip before she visits farmers in the Yoshino-Kumano national park in the south west. Its very similar to the Lake District, said Dr Mansfield. The national park Ill be visiting has mountainous uplands, marginalised hill farmers and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site so Ill be looking to draw parallels and see how they have approached issues in the Eastern culture. It is exciting to be able to go and learn more about schemes and methods they have introduced that may not have permeated into the western world. Dr Mansfield intends to host a series of lectures and produce a toolkit about how to value social and cultural capital on her return to the UK. Churchill Fellowships are awarded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT), which was established when Sir Winston died in 1965. Over 5,000 Fellowships have been awarded to date. Dr Mansfields Fellowship is part of the WCMTs partnership with the Princes Countryside Fund. Broken bay in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia. Being a world traveler doesnt require deep pockets. There are exotic destinations around the world to be had on the cheap. A recent GOBankingRates study identified seven destinations around the globe where you can spend less than $60 per day, exclusive of your airfare. Click to See the Full List: 20 Hot Destinations You Can Visit on Less Than $100 a Day Bali, Indonesia Pura Ulun Danu Bratan at sunrise, famous temple on the lake, Bedugul, Bali, Indonesia. Daily cost: $23.37 It doesnt get cheaper or more exotic than Bali. The Island of the Gods topped a recent GOBankingRates list of hot destinations to visit on less than $100 a day. Basking on one of the sparkling beaches beside azure waters or exploring the islands many temples make Bali one of best vacation spots for relaxing and sightseeing. Getting around averages 25 cents for a one-way ticket when you choose the least expensive local transportation. When you need to eat, you can grab a bite at an inexpensive restaurant for an average of $2.14 per meal and enjoy Indonesian cuisine such as satay seasoned meat on a stick or rice bowls with meat and veggies known as Nasi Ayam and Nasi Campur. Head out for a special dinner of Babi Guling spit-roasted pig. If youre not a pork eater, try a whole duck or chicken stuffed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and buried with hot coals to simmer for 6 or 7 hours. The succulent dish is called Bebek or Ayam Betutu. Average three-course meals at mid-range restaurants will cost you just $8.90 on average, the second least expensive dining option in the GOBankingRates study list. Also See: 9 Cheap Island Getaways Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Daily cost: $25.21 Formerly known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, serves up multicultural influence ranging from French colonial architecture to a bustling Chinatown known as Cholon. Its also one of the best vacation spots for less than $60 per day. Grab an inexpensive meal for an average of $2.17 in this city that came in second on the list of GBR cheap travel destinations. The best bet for the money is the Cho Ben Thanh Market where youll find local eateries, street food and oodles of textiles, handicrafts and other souvenirs. The market takes place in one of the oldest surviving structures in the city. Story continues GOBankingRates data showed that you can stay in the city for an average of $13.33 per night. December through April is the dry season and the most popular for travel to the city. However, timing a visit in September or October to coincide with the Full Moon Festival introduces you to a world filled with festive dancing, colorful lanterns and tasty ornate mooncakes. shanghai skyline and modern city skyscrapers at night,in china. Daily cost: $50.41 Live like a king in Chinas biggest city when you journey to Shanghai. Stroll along the Bund, a waterfront promenade skirting the west bank of the Huangpu River. Monikered The Museum of International Architecture, the Bunds centuries-old collage of 26 western architectural styles provide plenty of photo ops. Stick around to watch the sunset from Waibaidu Bridge as it glows with golden tones. Although its a renowned financial capital, you wont have to break the bank to take a vacation in Shanghai. The GBR study determined an average cost of $26.67, but you can find clean, modern rooms in the bustling city for under $20. You can eat a meal in a nice restaurant for under $20, too. GBR determined the average sit-down restaurant would run $16.37 per person. The menu isnt limited to Asian cuisine by any means. Many restaurants serve up international fare with cuisine ranging from Mexican to Italian to vegetarian and more. Buenos Aires Daily cost: $52.11 Take a warm winter getaway to the capital of Argentina when you travel during the months of January and February to enjoy the South American summer and 80-degree temperatures. Conversely, leave the U.S. during the summer to escape the heat and enjoy mild, 60- to 70-degree weather. Stay in a hotel looking out over the Plaza del Mayo, home to graceful 19th-century buildings which include the presidential palace. GBRs study priced the average hotel room in the city at $32.33. Youll find some of the cheapest rates during mid-January as low as $10 around the plaza when locals go away on vacation to escape the hot weather. The average flight to Buenos Aires costs $1,024 from JFK airport, according to GBRs data, but you can save a little more by avoiding peak travel times such as during festivals and holidays. Save on domestic flights in Argentina by booking with a carrier like Flybondi that includes taxes in their fare and flies into smaller, less-expensive airports. Fly away to Iguazu Falls for just $61, all taxes included with the airline. Johannesburg Johannesburg cityscape, taken at sunset, showing Hillbrow residential centre with the prominent Ponte flats and the communications tower. Daily cost: $52.67 There are plenty of historic treasures to be found in Johannesburg, South Africa. Once home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, tourists can spend time delving into the history of the Apartheid and segregation in the city. But theres even more to do: Boat calm waters at Herman Eckstein Park or get your thrills at the Gold Reef City theme park. Its easy to get around town with local transport that costs an average of $1.74 for a one-way ticket. Or grab a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket for R180- thats just $12.80 in USD to see all the sights with no traffic worries. When you get hungry, hop off and grab a quick meal at an inexpensive restaurant for under $10 per person. Should you need more time to rest your feet, dip into a sit-down restaurant and enjoy three courses of South African fare infused with French, Dutch, Indian and Malaysian influences for an average cost of $17.80. Cancun Tropical beach resort in Cancun, Mexico on a beautiful spring break day. Daily cost: $54.53 The party never stops in sunny Cancun, Mexico, a well-known spring break getaway. In fact, the period just after spring break and before summer is the best time to travel to save money on a flight. Although the average flight from JFK is $346 according to our study, you could pay as little as $108 by booking your trip during April or May. Hotels average $32.67 citywide, according to the GBR results. However, if you want to step out of your hotel and wiggle your toes in the sand, you could pay more than $100 for a room. Book through Hotels.com and you can pick up a beachside room for as little as $40 during the off-season. Keep costs down to under $60 by picking up some street food or a meal at an inexpensive restaurant for an average of $5.22. Or opt for a hotel further from the beach and take local transport for $0.57 each way. Dont Miss: 15 Cheap, Adrenaline-Filled Trips for Adventurous People Prague Prague-Czech-Republic Daily cost: $59.53 Check out the Czech Republics capital for just under $60 a day, excluding airfare. A hotel in the city runs just $31.33 on average making it one of the best cheap vacation spots. Known as the City of 100 Spires, Prague rolls out colorful and historic baroque buildings, ancient churches, an expansive palace and a clock dating back to medieval times. Explore the many places to travel and sights to see: Local transport runs an average of $1.06 for a one-way ticket. You wont miss out on good food when you plan a cheap trip to Prague. Pick up street food or traditional open-faced sandwiches at a local farmers market or a meal at an inexpensive restaurant for an average price of $6.29. Make sure to try sugar-and-spice coated chimney cakes for dessert known as trdelnik, these stands are common throughout the city. Keep reading to see surprisingly safe and affordable cities to visit around the world. More on Travel We make money easy. Get weekly email updates, including expert advice to help you Live Richer. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Amazing Destinations That Cost Less Than $60 a Day ALGIERS, March 31 (Reuters) - Leading Algerian businessman Ali Haddad, who was part of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's inner circle, has been arrested at the Tunisian border, a close associate said on Sunday, as pressure mounted on the long-standing leader to resign. During weeks of protests demanding an end to his 20-year rule, Bouteflika has been abandoned by several close allies but there have been no reports of any prominent supporters being detained before Haddad. Demonstrators in the North African country, an oil and gas producer, want a new generation of leaders to replace a ruling elite comprised of veterans of the independence war against France, ruling party officials, oligarchs, army officers and union leaders. "Yes, Haddad has been arrested," his associate told Reuters on condition of anonymity, without elaborating. Several Algerian television stations broadcast news on the detention of Haddad, a media magnate who helped to fund Bouteflikas election campaigns over the years. On Saturday, army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, renewed a call for the Constitutional Council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit to rule, a move provided for under article 102 of the charter. Bouteflika's announcement that he would not seek a fifth term but that he would not quit immediately has failed to assuage protesters, who want an overhaul of the North African country's entire political system. The protests have been largely peaceful but have put pressure on the army to act. ( Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) In this article: American Airlines flight 2163 from Boston to New Yorks LaGuardia Airport returned to Boston Sunday morning after a bird strike. The airplane landed safely at 10:19 AM Eastern time. An American Airlines flight safely landed in Boston after hitting a flock of geese on Sunday morning. American Airlines flight 2163 took off from Boston Logan International Airport at 10:08 am eastern time, heading for LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The flight had 99 passengers and a crew of four. The plane returned to Boston after encountering a bird strike, according to a statement from the airline. The flight landed safely at 10:19 AM and taxied to the gate, American Airlines said. https://twitter.com/dmscott/status/1112371024451063808 Passengers boarded a replacement aircraft, which took off at 11:52 a.m. ET, said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein. The airline's maintenance team in Boston will evaluate the Embraer E190 aircraft. More From CNBC A police vehicle escorting ex-prime minister Chand hits scooter and then flees A video clip of a speeding Armed Police Force vehicle hitting a scooter surfaced on social media on Saturday, prompting the Twitterati to call for action against the driver and find which VIP the vehicle was tailing as part of a security arrangement. By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulators have given European Union banks, insurers and asset managers more time to decide whether to continue serving British customers if there is a no-deal Brexit. Britain introduced a "temporary permissions regime" or TPR for EU financial firms to notify UK regulators if they want to continue serving UK customers after March 29 if the United Kingdom left the bloc with no divorce settlement. Once notified, the firms would have up to three years to apply for a new UK licence. If they don't notify regulators, they would have to close their business in Britain. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Friday it has extended the deadline for notifications to April 11, the day before Britain has agreed with Brussels to leave the EU if there is no exit deal. The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)has introduced a similar extension. The FCA also published the final version of its no-deal Brexit contingency plans for financial markets, just hours before parliament is due to vote at 1430 GMT on Friday for the third time on whether to accept the divorce settlement Britain negotiated with Brussels. "The documents published today are the final stages in our preparations in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an implementation period," said Nausicaa Delfas, head of international at the FCA. "They ensure that firms have certainty of the financial regime they will be operating within, and so can plan accordingly to meet the needs of their customers." The FCA said it would publish information about technical standards under EU legislation on capital requirements, banking resolution and financial conglomerates once the PRA has published similar information. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) "When you get a situation like Monster where a stock keeps getting mauled by the bears, but a couple of heroic analysts remain bullish, that's not a fight you want to be involved in," CNBC's Jim Cramer says. "If the bulls at Credit Suisse turn out to be correct, well they'll look like geniuses. But there are very real worries here, which is why I am hesitant to stick my neck out on this one," the "Mad Money" host says. "I cannot stress this enough: we're at the start of an IPO season that looks on track to bring a trillion dollars' worth of companies public," he says. CNBC's Jim Cramer reminded investors not to step into a battleground stock, a situation where passionate bears are in a standoff with passionate bulls and there's no where to go. "When you get a situation like Monster where a stock keeps getting mauled by the bears, but a couple of heroic analysts remain bullish, that's not a fight you want to be involved in," the "Mad Money" host said. "Believe me, there are lots of easier ways to make money." Shares of Monster Beverage MNST have run more than 10 percent this year. That trails the S&P 500's 13-plus percent gain, and the stock is nearly 5 percent under its price a year ago. Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley on Thursday offered dueling perspectives on the energy drink maker with the former putting faith in the company and the latter cutting numbers, Cramer noted. "If the bulls at Credit Suisse turn out to be correct, well they'll look like geniuses," he said. "But there are very real worries here, which is why I am hesitant to stick my neck out on this one, especially with Monster selling at 24-times next year's earnings estimates, much higher than the average stock. Not exactly a value play." Cramer's full insight here Stock prep Lyft's LYFT $87 opening price is a "win for the system," even though it may have been a loss for investors that were overeager, Cramer Story continues "I cannot stress this enough: we're at the start of an IPO season that looks on track to bring a trillion dollars' worth of companies public," the host said. "These deals will be the big story going forward." Next week, Cramer is anticipating retail data on Monday and March employment results on Friday. Earnings results from Walgreens WBA , Constellation Brands STZ , and others will come in between those days. See Cramer's game plan here Takin' one for the time Tim Sloan's decision to step down as chief of Wells Fargo WFC hinged in part on a looming congressional committee meeting on banks next month, Cramer said. The top brass of the big banks will be in Washington, D.C., on April 10 for the House Committee on Financial Services hearing on banks. The committee, headed by Rep. Maxine Waters, would surely focus on Sloan, Cramer said. "No matter what he said or did, the fact that he served as an executive at Wells Fargo under John Stumpf, now disgraced, meant that as far as Congress is concerned he's guilty until proven guilty," the "Mad Money" host said. Stumpf was chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo when the embattled bank was fined $190 million after being accused of opening fraudulent accounts without their customers' consent. Sloan, who served more than three decades at the firm in total, succeeded him as CEO in October 2016. Get Cramer's full thoughts about Sloan's resignation here A new gig Hello Alfred is a start-up company looking to "redesign" how people live in cities and open up more time on their schedule, co-founder and CEO Marcel Capone told Cramer. She sat alongside co-founder and COO Jessica Beck. "We'll do that through a combination of technology. So we have a mobile app, and human help," Capone said. "So we have Alfred home managers who are W2 employees of ours that actually come and help you with all of those things that you don't want to do every week." Catch the full interview here Cramer's homework Cramer dug back to "Mad Money" caller questions from November to share his research and findings on the stocks of enterprise safety provider Everbridge EVBG and office supply retail chain Office Depot ODP . The host admit that Everbridge is one that got away. The stock is up 50 percent since late November, he said. Office Depot, on the other hand, is more complicated. Click here for more Cramer's lightning round: Dell Technologies could be a 'double buy' In Cramer's lightning round, he ran through his reactions to callers' stock questions: Dell Technologies Inc. DELL : "I think so. I thought [CEO] Michael [Dell] told a good tale. I put that in the bullpen for the club. I think that that is one terrific stock, and if it goes down after any of [the action] raising money for IPOs, well you know what, I'm gonna give it a double buy." AT&T Inc. T : "I think AT&T is fine. I like it's 6.5 percent yield. I think it can go up over time, but it's no Verizon VZ . Verizon is a better-run company." HealthEquity Inc. HQY : "I don't know, I'm not there. I'd rather see you in Paychex PAYX . I think Paychex does a great job." Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com More From CNBC Investing.com - Oil traders will focus on the outlook for global crude supplies in the week ahead amid signals that OPEC-led production cuts have helped tighten an oversupplied market. OPEC, which together with some non-affiliated producers like Russia, known as 'OPEC+', agreed late last year to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to remove a glut and prop up prices. U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, both oil exporters, have also contributed to a tighter market. Meanwhile, fresh data on U.S. commercial crude inventories and production activity will also capture the market's attention this week. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly rose by nearly 2.8 million barrels. Offering a hint on future production activity, U.S. energy firms reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a sixth week in a row, cutting eight rigs to the lowest count in nearly a year. Market players will also be watching for any important developments on the U.S.-China trade front this week. Chinese Vice Premier Lui He will travel to Washington to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for further talks aimed at ending their months-long trade war. The U.S. and China are the worlds two largest oil consuming nations. Hopes that the two sides would hammer out an agreement resolving their protracted trade war helped to ease worries about energy demand. Oil futures posted strong gains on Friday, capping their biggest quarterly rise in a decade. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 84 cents, or about 1.4%, to settle at $60.14 a barrel by close of trade. It went as high as $60.73 earlier, the most since Nov. 12. For the week, the U.S. benchmark ended up roughly 1.9%. It rallied 32.4% over the first three months of 2019, its strongest quarterly advance since the second quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, International Brent crude oil futures ended Friday's session up 48 cents, or 0.7%, at $67.58 a barrel. Brent saw a roughly 27% quarterly rise, also its strongest since 2009. Story continues Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of the main events likely to affect the oil market. Tuesday, April 2 The American Petroleum Institute (API) is to publish its weekly update on U.S. oil supplies. Wednesday, April 3 The EIA will release its weekly report on oil stockpiles. Friday, April 5 Baker Hughes will release weekly data on the U.S. oil rig count. -- Reuters contributed to this report Related Articles U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Rose Unexpectedly by 7.24M Barrels Last Week: EIA Some Texas drillers can't give away natgas with prices at negative all-time lows Gold Prices Inch Up After Weak U.S. ADP Payrolls Data (Photo: Shutterstock) Updated on Monday, April 1, at 11:15 a.m. EST Lawmakers in New York approved a set of sweeping reforms to the states criminal justice system over the weekend, including an end to cash bail for most criminal charges, new deadlines on criminal discovery and stronger court oversight to ensure the right to a speedy trial. Bail reform, which was a major sticking point among lawmakers in recent weeks, will leave the option of cash bail in place for most violent felony offenses, Class A felonies and a list of other charges outlined in the bill. Approximately 90 percent of people charged but not convicted of a crime will be released without bail under the legislation, which was included in the state budget passed by lawmakers overnight Sunday into Monday morning. "Ninety percent of the people who are charged will remain out of jail. You want to talk about a life-changing measure ... these are people who would've been sent to Rikers in New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Sunday. We did not handle the violent felonies ... and that's something we're going to continue to work on. Among the felony charges that will still be eligible for cash bail, if not immediate remand, are sex offenses, money laundering in support of terrorism, using a child in a sexual performance and a handful of other charges. Any of those offenses will also be eligible for pretrial incarceration. The legislation largely leaves discretion up to the judge overseeing the criminal proceeding as to whether bail should be set, the defendant should be released or if the individual should be held in jail before trial. Judges will be allowed to consider the defendant's record of criminal convictions, the actual charges facing that person, their history of flight risk, their activities and history and other factors. Judges also will have to consider, when choosing whether to set bail for a defendant, the principal's ability to post bail without posing undue hardship, as well as his or her ability to obtain a secured, unsecured or partially secured bond. That section appears to address concerns from Democrats who have argued that bail sets an undue hardship on low-income defendants while allowing wealthier individuals to remain out of jail before trial. A defendants so-called dangerousness, or threat to public safety, will not be allowed to be considered by judges, which is the same as the current law. Many Democrats in both the Senate and Assembly were opposed to including the factor as a way to end cash bail altogether. Judges can, instead of setting bail for a defendant, release them under non-monetary conditions, such as electronic monitoring or the supervision of a pretrial services agency. But the legislation includes standards under which a defendant could be electronically monitored. Only those charged with a felony, misdemeanor domestic violence, a handful of other offenses or convicted of a violent felony offense within a five-year period will be eligible for electronic monitoring. Electronic monitoring of the defendant will be allowed for two months but could be renewed. Defendants will have the option to make an application with the court at any point to ask for their release or have bail set after a judge has previously ordered that they be incarcerated before their trial. Those defendants will have access to counsel when making that application. Judges also could impose tighter restrictions on a defendant, if prosecutors can show clear and convincing evidence that the individual violated any conditions set as part of their release. Police officers now also will be limited to issuing appearance tickets, rather than making an arrest, for most low-level crimes. Those tickets will be required when an individual is accused of any charge other than a Class A, B,C, or D felony or has allegedly violated a few other charges listed in the legislation, like rape in the third degree, a Class E felony. Officers will have the option of making an arrest if certain conditions are met, like if the person has an outstanding warrant or if the alleged crime is between members of the same family or household. After an appearance ticket is issued, the local criminal court will be responsible for issuing reminders, according to the bill. Story continues Criminal Discovery Reform Changes to the states laws on criminal discovery will require prosecutors and the defense to exchange the first phase of material to be used at trial within 15 days of a persons arraignment. The legislation closely resembles a bill sponsored this year by state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, and Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn. That sort of deadline currently doesnt exist in state law. Defense attorneys and criminal justice advocates have claimed thats led to situations where defendants arent told what will be used against them at trial until days before their court date. State law will now mandate that prosecutors make that material available to the defense within 15 days after their arraignment. If prosecutors cant make that deadline, either because its too much to exchange within that time or they dont have the actual material in their possession, theyll have an additional 30 days after the initial deadline to get that material to the defense, according to the legislation. They also can ask the court to withhold certain information they claim to be nondiscoverable, but that will be up to the judge. Discoverable information that defendants will be allowed to access include all written and recorded statements; grand jury transcripts; the names and contact information of witnesses and others who offered evidence; the names and work affiliation of all law enforcement personnel with evidence or information against the defendant; expert opinion; tapes and electronic recordings; any visual reproductions, such as photos; and several other types of material. The defense will have to exchange their own discoverable material to be used at trial within 30 days of receiving a certificate of compliance from the prosecution. Either side will be allowed to move the court for a protective order that could deny, restrict or set conditions on discoverable material, including the information of witnesses either side intends to call at trial. That could allow only the defendants attorney to have access to certain information that couldn't be shared with their client by law. Defendants also will be allowed to review whatever evidence prosecutors have against them before they decide to plead guilty to a crime, according to the announcement. Thats a significant change, since the majority of criminal cases are resolved through a plea deal between prosecutors and defendants. Speedy Trial Changes The changes to the states laws on the right to a speedy trial are intended to offer more oversight into a prosecutors so-called readiness to go to trial. Current law requires that misdemeanors and felonies be disposed in three and six months, respectively, but those deadlines are often evaded through procedural moves or other hurdles. If those deadlines are passed, a defendant can move to have the charges against them dropped based on timeliness. One complaint from defense attorneys has to do with a procedural move where prosecutors have, on occasion, told the court theyre ready to go to trial but then would say they werent ready to go to trial at the next appearance. That stops the clock on the number of days considered to have passed since the defendants arraignment. The new changes will require the court to inquire whether a prosecutor is actually ready to go to trial when they say they are. If the court finds the prosecution actually is not ready to go to trial, the statement of readiness will not be accepted. Thats intended to prevent prosecutors from procedurally delaying a defendants trial. Lawmakers are expected to approve the changes as part of the state budget later Sunday evening. Voting will likely stretch into early Monday morning and possibly later. Prosecutors, Defenders Weigh In The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York has been opposed to this years proposals for criminal justice reform, and that didnt change with Sundays deal. Albany County District Attorney David Soares, the current president of DAASNY, said in a statement that lawmakers ignored the views of prosecutors, who have warned against the changes. "Our hope was that our lawmakers would heed some of the suggestions by prosecutors concerning the procedure involved in the bills related to bail, discovery and speedy trial. Instead they have set up unrealistic, unworkable requirements that ultimately will fail the very people and communities they were intended to benefit, Soares said. We once again got the same three people in a room and a race to a press conference to announce a budget." Defense attorneys lauded the deal after advocating for the changes for years,but said theyll continue to advocate for more reform at the state level, including a complete end to cash bail in New York. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the criminal defense practice at the Legal Aid Society, hailed the decision to leave dangerousness out of the legislation, a choice advocates had pushed for in recent weeks. Finally after decades of fighting tirelessly for the dignity of New Yorkers, the state has taken a historic stride toward a fairer criminal legal system by reforming our bail, speedy trial and discovery bills, Luongo said. However, we are holding the legislatures to their promise to end cash bail for all offenses in New York State. We will not rest until the presumption of innocence is truly provided to everyone. The reforms have been a top priority this year for lawmakers, who have been negotiating them since January. Cuomo included his own proposals for the changes in his executive budget in January, but those were altered through discussions with lawmakers. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, lauded the reforms in a statement with the announcement. Since I became speaker in 2015, it has been my personal mission to correct the tilted scales of justice for New Yorkers, and this year's budget agreement makes a giant leap toward realizing these goals: reforming our bail system, ensuring the right to a speedy trial, and making critical changes to New York's discovery process, Heastie said. READ MORE: Lawmakers Look to Curb Civil Asset Forfeiture in NY Budget Proposal Cuomo, Lawmakers Set to Reduce Misdemeanor Sentence to Prevent Deportation This engineer lived in an RV in Tesla's parking lot now he's on a quest to build electric planes Impossible Aerospace founder and CEO Spencer Gore hopes to make self-flying electric planes that would make jet fuel and the pollution from burning it obsolete. But he's starting small by building battery-powered electric drones. The company's flagship product, dubbed the US-1, can fly for about two hours on a single charge, about as long as a helicopter can fly on a full tank. Gore describes the small unmanned aerial vehicle half-jokingly as "a battery with propellers attached." More than half of the mass of the US-1 is made of battery cells and the entire structure serves as one big battery pack. Impossible Aerospace shares DNA, and a clean energy mission, with Tesla. Before he caught the start-up bug, Gore worked as an intern at two Elon Musk-led companies, SpaceX and Tesla. He was offered an internship at the electric vehicle maker in 2014, and and later became a full-time battery engineer there. He accepted the internship even though he was still working on an engineering degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Rather than dropping out of college like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, Gore decided to lead a double life. He convinced his professors he would be able to mail in his assignments, and travel back and forth between Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto, California and their campus for exams. To save money and eliminate commute time, Gore even lived in an RV in the parking lot at Tesla for six months while finishing up his degree. He has no regrets. "Honestly that was that was one of the happiest times of my life," he recalls. "If you think about the two things that stress people out in Silicon Valley the most it's commuting and paying rent. If you if you don't have to do those two things, life is pretty good." Gore says he learned some important lessons about shipping new products and keeping teams focused through major challenges during his tenure at Tesla. In the years that he worked there, Tesla was perfecting the design and manufacturing processes for battery modules that power its Model S, Model X and Model 3 electric cars. Story continues Both Tesla and Impossible Aerospace created their vehicles thinking about battery needs first. Other companies tend to start by designing their vehicles first, and battery later. That can lead to cars or aircraft that aren't as efficient and don't perform as well, Gore said. Replacing helicopters for some first responders Drones have become a valuable tool during emergencies, because they can be launched within minutes to give first responders situational awareness, fight fires from above or help search and rescue operations. They're even beginning to replace helicopters in some cases. Impossible Aerospace research found that there are around 18,000 municipal police departments across the US, and around 32,000 fire departments, but only sixty municipalities have access to a helicopter. That's partly because a police-grade helicopter can cost millions of dollars. "A drone can provide about half of the utility of a helicopter at less than 1 percent of the price," Gore says. "It can even be more useful than a helicopter, because a drone can fly lower and get in closer to evaluate dangerous situations." The start-up is flying its US-1 drones on behalf of first responders in Santa Clara County, near its headquarters, to demonstrate the drones' potential and teach officers how to fly them. Because Impossible offers free help to police and fire departments near its office, Gore and employees at his company sometimes answer calls to bring a drone out to a fire or crime scene in the middle of the night. Impossible Aerospace has raised more than $11 million from venture investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Airbus Ventures and Eclipse Ventures, where ex-Tesla executive Greg Reichow is a Partner. While Reichow sits on the board at Impossible Aerospace today, the two hadn't worked together directly at Tesla. Several other companies are working on electric and hybrid-electric planes, including Pipistrel, Joby Aviation, Eviation, XTI Aircraft and others. Gore said he'd be happy to see them all succeed, though he favors a pure-electric approach: "These drones are direct predecessors to the aircraft that I think we'll be flying on in the future. The real question is is not when will we have electric airplanes, but when we have electric airplanes that fly far enough to start replacing conventionally fueled air transport. We're not going to stop until until it's possible to travel anywhere in the world emissions free. It has to be done." More From CNBC Amid governments unilateral moves, calls grow for adherence to constitutionalism When a meeting of the Constitution Council on January 20 decided to recommend names for the five constitutional bodies, the leader of the main opposition was not present in the meeting. A number of government entities are thought to still be investigating Facebook's data policies, which could amount to hefty fines. Facebook's business has continued to grow over the past year as it was repeatedly faced with privacy scandals. But as government agencies continue to probe the business, it could still be hit hard by a growing number of potential fines. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg backed stronger government regulation of the Internet on Saturday, but it may be too little too late for a company that remains mired in controversy and subject to investigations around the world. It's been over a year since the public learned that a U.K.-based political consulting firm called Cambridge Analytica exploited Facebook FB 's business model to influence the U.S. presidential election in 2016. Since then, the company has faced growing scrutiny from its users and even employees as more privacy scandals unraveled throughout 2018. Though Facebook's top executives were hauled in to face critical congressional leaders, its users and investors don't seem to care. The company, which has a market value over $475 billion, posted a strong Q4 2018 earnings report in January. Facebook also met analysts' expectations for daily and monthly active users, which clocked in at 1.52 billion and 2.32 billion, respectively. Despite all the scandals, its stock price is up more than 4 percent over the past year, trading at $166.69 as of Friday's close. If users don't care, regulators might. Facebook still faces a number of investigations and charges from various agencies in the U.S. and abroad, which combined, have the potential to levy significant fines. There are several agencies thought to be still investigating or charging Facebook over its data practices, although several agencies declined to confirm the status of their investigations. A Facebook spokesperson did not provide comment for this article and declined to confirm which government entities are still probing its business. The company has previously said it is cooperating with government agencies at home and abroad. Story continues Here are some of the government arms that are thought to be scrutinizing Facebook as of late March: Federal Trade Commission The FTC's investigation of Facebook, which the agency confirmed last March, reportedly centers on whether Facebook violated a 2011 agreement with the agency that required Facebook to receive explicit permission from users before it shared their personal data. Facebook could face a "record-setting fine" from the FTC, The Washington Post reported in January. The fine would be expected to top the $22.5 million penalty the agency imposed on Google GOOGL in 2012 for allegedly violating its agreement to improve privacy practices, according to the Post. Facebook has discussed a multi-billion-dollar settlement with the FTC, The New York Times reported in February. An FTC spokesperson declined to confirm the status of the investigation or provide comment. SEC, FBI and Northern District of California The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation both began probing Facebook last year following the Cambridge Analytica reports, Facebook confirmed in July after the Post reported their involvement. The agencies are reportedly looking into what executives knew about Cambridge Analytica's access to user data, when they knew it and whether they reported it to shareholders in a timely fashion. Prosecutors from the Northern District of California were also working with the SEC and FBI to investigate the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to the Times , which it reported earlier this month is still active. Spokespeople from the SEC, the FBI and the Northern District of California's U.S. attorney's office declined to comment or confirm the investigation. Justice Department and Eastern District of New York Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York have been conducting a criminal investigation of Facebook, The New York Times reported earlier this month. A grand jury in New York subpoenaed records from at least two well-known companies that make smartphones and other devices, according to the Times. The companies reportedly had both partnered with Facebook to access personal information from hundreds of millions of Facebook users. The Times reported in June that Facebook gave broad access to its users' data to at least 60 companies with which it had data-sharing agreements. A spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York's U.S. attorney's office could not confirm or deny any investigation. The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD filed a civil complaint against Facebook on Thursday, charging the company with "discrimination" in its advertising practices for housing. The agency is seeking damages for anyone harmed by Facebook's targeted advertising policies. The company has since changed its advertising system to no longer allow employers and landlords to limit their targeted audience by race, ethnicity or gender. It settled a lawsuit with the ACLU last week over the practice. A senior HUD official told CNBC it expects that millions of users may have been affected by the allegedly discriminatory policies based on the scale of Facebook's platform. A Facebook spokesperson told CNBC Thursday that it was surprised by HUD's decision to file the complaint but said it will "continue working with civil rights experts on these issues." Irish Data Protection Commission The European Union's data protection watchdog group has launched multiple investigations into Facebook's privacy practices. Ireland's Data Protection Commission released its annual report in February disclosing 15 ongoing investigations of major tech firms as of the end of 2018. Of those investigations, 10 were focused on the data usage by Facebook and two products it owns, Instagram and WhatsApp. The investigations largely centered around whether Facebook or its subsidiaries violated the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation , which came into force last May and is generally stricter than U.S. data privacy law. In a statement, the Irish DPC confirmed it "currently has 10 statutory investigations open in relation to Facebook and its subsidiaries (Whatsapp and Instagram), a number of which are at an advanced stage in terms of a draft inquiry report being finalised for submission to the parties for their submissions on the inquiry findings. These investigations were commenced both in response to complaints the Irish DPC is competent to handle as the lead supervisory authority of the companies concerned, and at the DPC's own volition having identified matters which warranted further investigation." Belgian Data Protection Authority Facebook was scheduled to appear in front of an appeals court in Brussels for a two-day hearing this week to challenge a 2018 court order, which said it must stop tracking users and non-users without consent, according to the BBC . In a press release published Tuesday prior to the hearing, the DPA said that it stands by the court's initial ruling and believes "that Facebook should be ordered to respect Belgian and European privacy rules when it processes personal data through its cookies, social plug-ins and pixels." If Facebook fails to comply with the court order, it could face a daily fine of 250,000 euros, which would be the equivalent of more than $280,000, according to Bloomberg . German Federal Cartel Office Facebook has appealed a February ruling from Germany's Federal Cartel Office that called into question Facebook's business model and said it "overstepped" the boundaries of GDPR, especially in light of what it called "Facebook's dominant position" in the market. "There is no effective consent to the users' information being collected if their consent is a prerequisite for using the Facebook.com service in the first place," the case summary stated. The FCO gave Facebook 12 months to change its data and cookie policies to comply with the ruling. A spokesperson from the FCO did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Watch: HUD charges Facebook with housing discrimination More From CNBC DUBAI, March 31 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf were mixed on Sunday with Abu Dhabi experiencing losses after some shares traded ex-dividend last week, while the Saudi market was lifted by the banking sector. The Saudi index added 0.4 percent, with Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation up 1.7 percent and registering the highest trading volume on Sunday. In a research note, Dubai-based Arqaam Capital said it expects credit growth to strengthen in Saudi Arabia this year, a positive for the banking sector. Banks such as National Commercial Bank, the merged entity combining Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank , and Banque Saudi Fransi are seen "as best positioned to benefit from the new corporate growth opportunities in the second half of the year, while Al Rajhi should remain ahead in consumer lending," Arqaam said. Abu Dhabi's index shed 0.5 percent with heavyweight First Abu Dhabi Bank falling 0.4 percent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) losing 1.6 percent. Last week, blue-chip Aldar Properties led the drop, shedding 5.7 percent as it traded ex-dividend. The stock was little changed on Sunday. Dana Gas added 1.1 percent after announcing it had received $19 million from Egypt. The Dubai index added 0.1 percent, lifted by heavyweight Emaar Properties, which gained 2.1 percent and was the most heavily traded stock on Sunday. In Qatar, the index fell 0.4 percent as Masraf Al Rayan gave up 1.8 percent, Qatar International Islamic Bank lost 2.9 percent, and Barwa Real Estate fell 1.8 percent. Commercial Bank gained 2.3 percent. SAUDI ARABIA The index rose 0.4 pct to 8,819 points ABU DHABI The index lost 0.5 pct to 5,075 points DUBAI The index rose 0.1 pct to 2,635 points QATAR The index lost 0.4 pct at 10,107 points EGYPT The index rose 0.5 pct to 14,744 points KUWAIT The index rose 0.5 pct to 5,987 points OMAN The index fell 0.6 pct to 3,984 points BAHRAIN The index was flat at 1,413 points (Reporting by Davide Barbuscia and Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Susan Fenton) A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended December 31, so lets proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC). Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world's largest hedge funds of late. OMC was in 18 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of December. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with OMC positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that OMC isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds. In todays marketplace there are tons of metrics stock market investors employ to evaluate publicly traded companies. Two of the most under-the-radar metrics are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here). Richard Pzena - Pzena Investment Management We're going to take a peek at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC). What does the smart money think about Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC)? At Q4's end, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -5% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards OMC over the last 14 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves. OMC_mar2019 Among these funds, Pzena Investment Management held the most valuable stake in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), which was worth $504.1 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Ariel Investments which amassed $67.9 million worth of shares. Moreover, Two Sigma Advisors, GLG Partners, and International Value Advisers were also bullish on Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock. Story continues Seeing as Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) has witnessed declining sentiment from the smart money, it's easy to see that there is a sect of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management cut the biggest position of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, worth close to $21.9 million in call options. Israel Englander's fund, Millennium Management, also dumped its call options, about $19.2 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds by the end of the third quarter. Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC). We will take a look at KKR & Co Inc. (NYSE:KKR), American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK), Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY), and CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL). This group of stocks' market caps are similar to OMC's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KKR,29,2029628,-2 AWK,28,546210,8 WY,37,568037,2 CTL,31,1252514,7 Average,31.25,1099097,3.75 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 31.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1099 million. That figure was $765 million in OMC's case. Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) is the least popular one with only 28 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) is even less popular than AWK. Our calculations showed that top 15 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 19.7% through March 15th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 6.6 percentage points. Unfortunately OMC wasn't in this group. Hedge funds that bet on OMC were disappointed as the stock returned 4% and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks, you should check out the top 15 hedge fund stocks as 13 of these outperformed the market. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content Bezos had tasked his security chief Gavin de Becker with investigating how National Enquirer publisher AMI obtained intimate texts and photos that the Amazon CEO sent to his mistress, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. De Becker said his investigation had concluded "with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone and gained private information." De Becker said the results of his investigation have been turned over to federal officials. Saudi Arabia accessed Jeff Bezos' phone and obtained private data belonging to the Amazon CEO, security specialist Gavin de Becker said in an article posted on The Daily Beast Saturday , laying out the findings of his investigation. Bezos had tasked de Becker, his security chief, with investigating how the National Enquirer had obtained and published intimate texts that the Amazon CEO had sent to his mistress, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. In a shocking post in February , Bezos alleged that National Enquirer publisher AMI blackmailed him by threatening to publish intimate photos if he did not publicly state that the tabloid's coverage of him was not politically motivated. AMI has maintained that it acted lawfully in its reporting on Bezos. De Becker said his investigation had concluded "with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone and gained private information." Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post, which has run critical coverage of the Trump administration and the Saudi government. In October, Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, sparking international outrage against Riyadh. "Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi's murder," de Becker said. De Becker went on to say that it is unclear if AMI was aware of the details, but pointed to what he called a close relationship between AMI chairman David Pecker and the Saudi government. The Saudis have previously denied having anything to do with the National Enquirer's coverage of Bezos. Story continues "This is something between the two parties, we have nothing to do with it," Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, told CBS' "Face the Nation" in February. The Saudi embassy could not be immediately reached for comment. De Becker said his investigation quickly identified Michael Sanchez, the estranged brother of Lauren Sanchez, as a paid source of the National Enquirer. AMI has said Michael Sanchez was the single source for the story. But de Becker suggested that "the initial information came from other channelsanother source or method." A spokesperson for AMI, in a statement to CNBC, maintained that Michael Sanchez was the single source for The National Enquirer story: "There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever," the company said. Here's the full statement from AMI: Despite the false and unsubstantiated claims of Mr. de Becker, American Media has, and continues to, refute the unsubstantiated claims that the materials for our report were acquired with the help of anyone other than the single source who first brought them to us. The fact of the matter is, it was Michael Sanchez who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation. His continued efforts to discuss and falsely represent our reporting, and his role in it, has waived any source confidentiality. There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever. De Becker said the findings of his investigation have been turned over to federal officials. Read the full article in The Daily Beast More From CNBC Asian Development Bank reaffirms Nepal commitment Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed its commitment to continue its support to Nepal in fulfilling the countrys aspirations for high economic growth. * Pound drops half a pct, then recovers * Implied volatility gauges remain elevated * Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote http://tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9Hv (Adds analyst quote, updates with latest prices) By Tommy Wilkes and Saikat Chatterjee LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - The pound lurched lower on Friday after lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time, putting the British currency on track for its biggest monthly loss in five. With May losing again - albeit by a smaller magnitude than the previous two votes - sterling is set to remain under pressure on fears the United Kingdom will crash out of the European Union without a deal on April 12. Traders say the uncertainty about what happens next is hurting the currency. "The focus now shifts to the alternatives that parliament will decide on next week and everything from revoking Article 50 to having a second referendum vote is on the table which will weigh on the pound," said Nikolay Markov, a senior economist at Pictet Asset Management based in London. The pound fell as much as half a percent to the day's low of $1.2977, briefly piercing a key market level of the 200-day moving average at $1.2979. It later stabilised near $1.3024, down 0.2 percent on the day, as traders bought back into the currency. Against the euro the pound was 0.1 percent lower at 86.19 pence by 1620 GMT. Moves in the pound were not as dramatic on Friday as with May's previous parliamentary defeats - traders say investors have scaled back their trading of the pound because it has become so difficult to predict amid the constant and sometimes arcane political developments. SLOW DEATH OF BREXIT? Salman Ahmed, global investment strategist at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, said that although uncertainty persisted, the market was right to price out the risk of a no-deal exit from the EU. Sterling had fallen to below $1.25 last year on fears Britain would crash out of its biggest trading partner. Story continues "If the deadline is extended longer we will re-engage with sterling because that will be the start of the slow death of Brexit," Ahmed said. After a special sitting of parliament, lawmakers voted 344-286 against May's 585-page EU Withdrawal Agreement, agreed after two years of tortuous negotiations with the bloc. The defeat now means that Britain now has until April 12 to convince the 27 capitals of the EU that it has an alternative path out of the impasse, or see itself cast out of the bloc from that date with no deal on post-Brexit ties with its largest trading ally. On a monthly basis, the pound has fallen 1.9 percent, putting it on track for its worst monthly performance since October 2018. Volatility indicators for the pound across the curve, a gauge of expected swings in the British currency in the coming months, fell across the board on Friday as traders took profits before the weekend. One-month volatility gauges fell as much as 1 vol to 12.8 vol but still remained elevated by recent historical levels. The lack of trading activity has reduced liquidity in the market, exacerbating swings in the currency. British stocks weakened after May's deal was defeated, giving up some of their earlier gains. Core euro zone bond yields also fell after the vote as investors sought safety in government bonds. (Reporting by Tommy Wilkes and Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Jon Boyle) STOCKHOLM, March 27 (Reuters) - Sweden's Economic Crime Authority is carrying out a search at Swedbank's head office in relation to an ongoing investigation into whether the bank breached insider trading regulations, the authority said on Wednesday. Swedbank, which is separately being probed by authorities over allegations that it was involved in money laundering in the Baltics, could not immediately be reached for a comment. Sweden's Economic Crime Authority in February launched an investigation into Swedbank over allegations the lender informed some investors of a news report linking the bank to a Baltic money-laundering scandal before the information was made public. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Stockholm; editing by Niklas Pollard) (Updates with Bouteflika possibly resigning this week) By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS, March 31 (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika might resign this week, the private Ennahar and El Bilad TV channels said on Sunday, after mass protests and pressure from the army demanding he end his 20-year rule. The reports come after the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, renewed a call on Saturday for the Constitutional Council to declare the ailing 82-year-old Bouteflika unfit to rule. Seeking to defuse the demonstrations, Bouteflika said on March 11 he was dropping plans for a fifth term. But he stopped short of stepping down immediately, to wait for a national conference on political change. That further enraged protesters, prompting Salah to step in by proposing last week to ask the constitutional council to see whether he is still fit for office. Bouteflika, who has rarely been in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, might announce his resignation on Tuesday, Ennahar TV said, citing political sources. El Bilad TV, quoting unnamed sources, said he would quit this week. State media did not report similar reports, and there was no immediate comment from the presidency. Ennahar said Bouteflika was preparing his resignation in accordance with article 102 of the constitution, which allows him to quit or face the verdict of the constitutional council whether he is still fit for office. Late on Sunday, hundreds took to the streets in the capital, Algiers, to demand Bouteflika go, according to residents and pictures posted on social media. The reports came hours after Bouteflika named a caretaker Cabinet. Political sources said that might be a signal that Bouteflika could resign, as a caretaker president cannot name Cabinets. Incumbent Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui will head the administration, state news agency APS said, listing 27 ministers. Central bank Governor Mohamed Loukal was named as finance minister, while the former head of the state power and gas utility Mohamed Arkab will be energy minister, APS said. Sabri Boukadoum, a former envoy to the United Nations, becomes foreign minister and replaces Ramtane Lamamra, who spent less than a month in the role. Story continues Salah kept his position as deputy defence minister in the reshuffle, according to state media. Bouteflika kept his title as defence minister. Bouteflika also named the communications minister, Hassane Rabhi, as government spokesman, a rarely filled post in what critics say has been a secretive administration. CHANGE? Demonstrators have rejected military intervention in civilian matters and want to dismantle the entire ruling elite, which includes veterans from the war of independence against France, army officers, the ruling party and business tycoons. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Algiers for more than a month, complaining of corruption, nepotism and economic mismanagement they say has tarnished Bouteflika's rule. But two opposition leaders have supported the army initiative. "The merit of this approach is that it responds to a pressing popular demand," Ali Benflis, a former head of the ruling FLN party, said in a party statement. "We are facing a political, constitutional and institutional crisis." Abderazak Makri, head of an Islamist party, said he was against anything that threatened the stability and unity of the country or undermined the military. Several close allies, including some members of the ruling FLN and union leaders, have abandoned Bouteflika. The secretary-general of the United Nations said on Sunday he welcomed efforts towards a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria. Addressing an Arab League summit in Tunis, Antonio Guterres said any steps should be made in a way "that addresses the concerns of the Algerian people in a timely way". (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed; additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Writing by Michael Georgy and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Edmund Blair, Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney) The Level B Road at Jensen's Marsh during T.I.v13 " Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories... Everything hinges on that first sentence for novelist Peter Heller. Then Heller unfurls his story, focused more on the poetic language for which hes praised than on the plots ins and outs, which come to him from the ether. Thats the great thing about fiction, said the Denver resident. Stuff just flutters down on your laptop. Thats how he wrote his much-acclaimed 2012 post-apocalyptic novel, The Dog Stars, and thats how hes written his most recent outdoors thriller, The River. The New York Times called it a modern day survival tale and named it one of a dozen new books to watch for in March. They had been smelling smoke for two days, reads the first line of his prologue. Thats what I wrote first the beginning, Heller said. I came up with the poetry. Im interested in the music of language. The story rides the back of the language. Its the reverse of what other people do. They are Jack and Wynn, best buddies in college who decide to canoe the Maskwa River in Northern Canada, a trip based on Heller and his wifes fourth date running the Winisk River in northern Ontario. What the men envision as a low-key adventure and escape from modern distractions turns into a fight for their lives as they wade into a domestic disturbance and a forest fire rages before them. (A) poetic and unnerving wilderness thriller. Full of rushing life and profound consequences. Every move Jack and Wynn make along the river has the chance to kill them or those theyre trying to save, and the result is a novel that sweeps you away, each page filled with wonder and awe for a natural world we can quantify with science but can rarely predict with emotion, critic Tod Goldberg wrote in USA Today. As Heller fleshed out his main characters, they became more familiar to him. Then he realized he was Jack, and Wynn was his longtime friend, the artist Jay Mead, whom Heller met at freshman orientation in college, where they talked books, the environment and expeditions into the wild. I try to not think about it. I follow the voice, said Heller. I train myself to immerse the readers as quickly as possible. I use a lot of sense detail. You always hear, Show, dont tell. But in some ways, if you let the reader smell the country and feel the warmth of the sun and hear the splash of the stick bobbing in the current, those details help a reader get fully immersed. They dont want to be anywhere else. His fictional characters arent identical to their real-life counterparts. Heller isnt a ranch kid, nor is he as tough as Jack. But there are glaring similarities, such as Wynns habit of creating ephemeral art out of sticks and feathers he collects as they camp beside the river. Or Jacks keen spidey senses, which play a vital role in the novel. Heller was 17 and at a party in New Hampshire when he noticed a despondent-looking man whom everyone treated cautiously. Heller struck up a conversation with the geochemist, who made his living on the river, only to learn that his wife had died two months earlier on their canoe trip down a remote river. One morning she went over a berm to go to the bathroom and never came back, the man told him. I said, Bear attack? He said there were no tracks. He said he searched for three days. I walked away and knew he was lying. My antennae was up. I thought that SOB killed his wife, or something happened and he covered it up. The story marinated in his subconscious for four decades before Heller was writing it into his new book. Thats an aspect of fiction writing he likes best: Life experiences accidentally on purpose get woven into his work. I came up as a kayaker and love running rivers Id never run, he said. Narrative can be like a river. You follow it around a corner, and you never know whats going to be there. Before you know it, the story comes into something Id been really concerned about for a long time. Before Heller embarked on novel writing, he was an award-winning adventure writer and contributing editor at Outside, Mens Journal and National Geographic Adventure. Hes also written nonfiction, including The Whale Warriors and Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibets Tsangpo River. Fiction was always his first love, but nonfiction paid the bills. He still accepts travel writing assignments, mostly from Travel + Leisure magazine, but his hearts in the novels. Once you start making it up, you cant go back, he said. I enjoyed what I was doing before. Taking expeditions all over the world these stories were beyond my wildest dreams. Id been wanting to write fiction since I was 11, so its such a thrill to do what youve wanted to do since you were a kid. Contact the writer: 636-0270 Unless youre a Republican, theres an urge to pull for the home team in next years presidential election. The Democratic field is packed like beans in chili, but Colorado has two in the mix, former Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. Its way too early to get your hopes up. Both men both adult transplants to our state, like many of us dont fit the mold of those who become national party nominees. And to get there, Hickenlooper and Bennet might have to become candidates Coloradans dont recognize anymore. Theyre both deal-makers prone to getting along with Republicans, which would make it pretty hard to survive a Democratic primary these days. To have any chance at winning a national race, Hickenlooper will have to swing far to the left of anything Colorado voters would recognize, Michael Fields, a Republican political operative and executive director of the conservative advocacy group Colorado Rising Action, said on the day the former governor held a Denver rally to kick off his White House run. And the more national Democrats learn about his record, the less theyll be inclined to vote for him. Hes trying to thread a very small needle. Democrats seem to be far left of both Hickenlooper and Bennet. Hickenlooper was viewed by those on the left flank of his party in Colorado as a bit too chummy with oil and gas, an allegation that would be replayed ad nauseam if his campaign gets traction. Polling doesnt yet show either Coloradan making a dent in the race. Bennet was a member of Gang of 8, the bipartisan group of senators who forged a comprehensive agreement on immigration reform in 2013. The Republican majority in the House bottled it up, and six years later the bitter fight goes on. Elections are a function of moment, momentum and mood. Donald Trump proved that in 2016. After the first term of Trump, Democrats are in a mood to counterpunch hard on many issues with energy and immigration at the top of the list. Blessed are the peacemakers, but theyre not likely to collect momentum from their partys current mood. There are some very angry people who have watched the events of the last 10 years and watched Donald Trump and their attitude is hell no, David Axelrod, an adviser to President Obama, said in an Associated Press article this month. And their voices are very loud. Nic Garcia of The Denver Post wrote a couple of weeks ago about how no one should underestimate Hickenlooper. He noted, correctly, that people discounted the LoDo brewpub operator when he ran for Denver mayor in 2003. I worked for the Post then and helped cover that race. I watched the citys native son Don Mares get up on the back of a flatbed trailer and sing a perfect rendition of Paul Simons Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard at a sunset rally in Sloans Lake Park before the mayoral runoff. Handsome and polished, Mares energized the crowd when he spoke. I thought there was no way awkward and humble Hick could beat such a natural talent. A week or so later, he collected 64 percent of the vote to win his first public office. That was Hicks shining moment, as he kind of fell into the governors seat when the Republicans bench of candidates fell apart in 2010. The GOP nominee, Dan Maes, got just 11.1 percent of the vote that year. In 2003, Hickenloopers witty ads, quirky personality and LoDo street cred made him the trendy choice, the Beto ORourke of the campaign season. This season has its own Beto, if not on top of the ticket then certainly a good choice for running mate. Ultimately, thats where Hickenlooper and Bennet might land. Their raised profiles in the presidential race will help. Hickenlooper was said to be a prime choice to be Hillary Clintons running mate three years ago. Then she picked Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Depending on who the Democratic nominee turns out to be, Hickenlooper might be the moderate, capitalist No. 2 that a leftist candidate might need to win that November. Thats assuming Hickenlooper doesnt muddy up his moderate past in angling for the presidency. Hickenlooper also could wind up a Cabinet secretary, likely of the Interior, or, maybe, Commerce; workforce development is a high priority on Hicks national agenda. Bennet has been making the rounds for president himself, though he hasnt yet made it official. Ultimately, however, I expect him to drop out, support the partys best-chance candidate, then put himself in line to be secretary of Education. After four years of that, I would expect him to lead an Eastern university. Thats familiar. His late father, Douglas J. Bennet Jr., served the Clinton and Carter administrations before becoming president of Wesleyan University in Connecticut. What Im saying is, I wouldnt start thinking about sites for a presidential library in City Park just yet. Wouldnt it be something to have a Coloradan in the White House, though? Like the outrage over who kneels for the national anthem, our president might take offense to those who dont get a peaceful, faraway look in their eyes when they hear the opening chords of Rocky Mountain High. Foreign investors can expect handsome returns in Nepal Nepali private sector, as well as heads of multinationals working in Nepal, urged prospective foreign investors assembled at the Investment Summit to invest in Nepal, saying that investments made here guarantee handsome returns. 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 Score a pair of holes-in-one for the 100th Missile Defense Brigade in Colorado Springs, which hit an intercontinental ballistic missile target with a pair of interceptors last week in the fullest test of its system to date. The 100th Brigade, a Colorado National Guard outfit with subordinate units in California and Alaska, controls the nations fleet of ground-based interceptors designed to swat down incoming nuclear-tipped missiles at the edge of space. The Monday test was the first time they had fired a salvo of two interceptors at a target, possibly showing off a capability to take out multiple warheads from a single ICBM. Air Force Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, who heads the Missile Defense Agency, called the test a critical milestone that proves the U.S. can defend itself from a strike by nations such as North Korea and Iran. The system worked exactly as it was designed to do, and the results of this test provide evidence of the practicable use of the salvo doctrine within missile defense, Greaves said in a statement. The missile shield was put in operation during the Bush administration and has faced piles of criticism that the interceptors were unreliable. Leaders with the 100th Brigade admit targeting an enemy missile isnt easy, comparing it to hitting a bullet with a bullet. Earlier tests had used a single interceptor against a single target. This time, a pair of interceptors were fired one after the other in a method called shoot, shoot, look. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat, Greaves said. The test success was vital for the brigade, which controls the missiles from Schriever Air Force Base, amid a push for $1.2 billion from Congress next year to expand the number of interceptors deployed in Alaska and to build communications infrastructure to support them. The 100th is in the process of adding 20 interceptor missiles and their silos to Fort Greely, Alaska, bringing the total there to 64. The test last week used a simulated ICBM launched from a Pacific atoll that was shot down by interceptors fired from silos at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. But Colorado played the biggest role in the launch. In addition to the crews from the 100th, the test involved troops from the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base and the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base. Missile defense is a growth industry these days. The Trump administration issued a missile defense review paper in January that envisions a missile shield reminiscent of the Reagan-era Star Wars plan. The Brookings Institute think tank said the report could aim the U.S. toward space-based missile defense. It appears that the Trump administration is inclined to begin research and development of a space-based interceptor capability, Brookings said. That would be a big deal in Colorado Springs, which is, at least for now, home to the reinvented U.S. Space Command and the bulk of the militarys satellite troops. Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx A man who police said was speeding died early Sunday when he lost control while driving west on North Carefree Circle, went off the road and crashed. The man, whose name has not been released, was dead when firefighters found him in the vehicle just after midnight in the 5000 block of Carefree in northeast Colorado Springs. The driver was the only one in the vehicle. "The vehicle appears to have been traveling ... on Carefree at a high rate of speed. He lost control, continued westbound; he did at least one rotation and ended up through a fence into a small shed," police spokesman Lt. Howard Black told Gazette news partner KKTV. The death is the 10th traffic-related fatality this year in the city. Click here for more traffic updates on The Gazette's interactive map. More traffic news: The El Paso County assessor will host a series of forums in April to help the public understand how this years round of property reappraisals will affect them. On May 1, the Assessors Office will mail updated tax value notices to the countys more than 300,000 property owners, said Assessor Steve Schleiker. The notices will include a property owners current taxes and an estimate of what their taxes will be based on the new value of the property, Schleiker said. If property owners do not agree with the valuations, they have until June 3 to appeal, he said. Reappraisals, last done in 2017, are completed every other year. On average, the value of single-family homes has increased 20 percent to 25 percent between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018, Schleiker said. A record number of sales nearly 43,000, most of which were single-family homes was recorded in the county during that time period, he said. The forums, which begin this week, are intended to help people better understand why and how properties are assessed during the reappraisal process and educate property owners about the market and trends, he said. The forums, each scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., will be held on the following dates at the following locations: - Tuesday at Ruth Holley Library, 685 N. Murray Blvd. - Thursday at Tap Traders, 3104 N. Nevada Ave. - April 10 at the Briargate YMCA, 4025 Family Place - April 16 at the Westside Community Center, 1628 W. Bijou St. - April 18 at the Sand Creek Library, 1821 S. Academy Blvd. This week we want to get the word out to all business owners and employees in our area about a tricky scam. A business owner reached out to our Call for Action team after one of her workers received a suspicious call. You may have watched this story on KKTV 11 News. It was the same exact phone number as our corporate headquarters, said Katharine Gehauf, the owner of Ritas Italian Ice and Frozen Custard in Colorado Springs. The caller ID came up as Ritas corporate number and name, so the employee answered the call. When he answered it, the person on the other line said, This is Ritas corporate calling, we had a report about an issue with the money coming into the store, said Gehauf. The caller convinced the employee that corporate needed his help. He unfortunately believed them and they asked him to count the money that was in the store and thankfully we dont keep very much money in the store so thats really good, said Gehauf. The worker counted the money, but then the caller had a strange request. Then after a little while they started asking him to get a money card with the money and as soon as they brought up the money card thing, he realized, Oh this isnt real anymore, said Gehauf. Thankfully he was smart enough to know that you dont ever take the money outside the store and you obviously dont go buy gift cards and money cards and those types of things. Gehauf trains her employees to watch for scams like the IRS scam, utilities scam, and now she plans to teach them about this corporate scam. I dont fault the employee at all. I think hes a smart kid and he did the right thing, said Gehauf. Its upsetting but I would encourage the scammers themselves to use that energy to do something good. Keep in mind, scammers can spoof their number to make it look like they are calling from anywhere, including your business. Make sure to talk with your employees or supervisors about how to spot a scam call. Speaking of fraudulent calls, I got three scam calls in a matter of hours from someone claiming to work for Social Security. I didnt answer my phone since I didnt recognize the numbers. Each time they left a voicemail saying my Social Security number has been suspended thats not how that works. I shared a warning on KKTVs Facebook page and heard from a lot of viewers who got the same voicemail recently, so make sure to keep your guard up. Dont give out any personal information or your Social Security number. Before I go, I want to give you a heads up about a popular document shredding event thats returning to Colorado Springs soon. LETTER RIP will take place Saturday, April 27. You must register ahead of time. You can call 719-520-7878 or head to www.kktv.com and click on Find It for all the information. Jared Polis can be the governor who maintains Colorado's top economy. To do so, he only need veto the job-killing Senate bill 181. If he signs it, he will own the devastating consequences. In this 1927 photograph, an automobile moves in one direction while a horse-drawn carriage travels the other direction on tree-lined Cascade Avenue. Cascade had not yet been paved. In Case You Missed It: Here are the top five stories from Sunday's paper Take a quick look at some of the important news you may have missed from todays paper. The Hanoi talks ended in deadlock. Both sides represented by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showed their anger by refusing to shake hands. The media labeled the talks a failure. But Ive been involved in a number of negotiations in my life, and I see this as a normal part of the process. At some point, all parties will take positions designed to test the other sides hunger for a deal, and prudent negotiators know that showing hunger can be devastating. So, ending the negotiation, particularly with a show of anger, is routine. At the same time, mutual rejection can be genuine, and now each side is trying to figure out how serious the other is. Establishing that you are prepared to walk away from the table is important but sometimes the deal falls apart as a result. Where Things Stand War with North Korea is not a good option for the U.S. Theres the danger of artillery fire close to Seoul, the uncertainty of the location of North Koreas nuclear weapons, and the U.S. aversion to the idea of getting bogged down in another war this century. North Korea, on the other hand, knows that one thing that would trigger a U.S. pre-emptive nuclear strike would be to develop weapons that can reach the U.S., and it wants to avoid such a strike at all costs. So, this failed negotiation leaves a reality in which war is not likely, giving both sides room for obstinacy. The other major players in the region must now calculate their courses. For China and Russia, theres little downside to the United States attention being diverted to North Korea. The more the U.S. feels under pressure to attend to other issues, the less it can focus on China and Russia. But its not clear whether the Hanoi outcome helps or hurts these two. On the one hand, the U.S. and North Korea are furious at each other. On the other hand, if this results in a frozen conflict, the U.S. can spare attention for others. The logic is that China and Russia will push North Korea to more overt moves to draw Washingtons focus. But North Korea has created room to maneuver for itself, and a cold distance from the United States serves it well. For the U.S., the years since 9/11 have forcibly displayed the limits of its military power. The U.S. is very good at destroying enemy armies, but it is very bad at occupying enemy countries where the citizens morale has not been crushed (think Germany or Japan during World War II). In Iraq, for example, the U.S. expected Iraqis to welcome the Americans. Some did, some were indifferent and some resisted. The resistance was prepared to absorb substantial casualties; this was their country, and they had nowhere else to go. The U.S., quite reasonably, was not prepared for high casualties, as Iraq was not a fundamental, long-term, American interest. The local forces understood the social and physical terrain, while the U.S. had limited familiarity. The initial attacks were successful. The occupation was a mess. Thus, out of necessity, the U.S. has adopted a strategy that draws down its forces and that is extremely cautious about engagements where it cannot crush civilian morale through World War II-style bombing and blockade. Even if confident in its ability to break a conventional or nuclear force, the U.S. has no appetite for occupation. The strategy since World War II, built on the assumption that U.S. conventional forces can defeat any foe and pacify the country, is being abandoned. And in the case of the Hanoi talks, the U.S. is following a new strategy of diplomatic deadlock without recourse to the insertion of force. We understand therefore the North Korean, Chinese, Russian and U.S. positions. (South Korea, of course, wants a stable balance on the Korean Peninsula.) The country whose strategy is uncertain is Japan. Japans Next Move The major question that has emerged from the Hanoi talks is what Japan will do now. Japan is the worlds third-largest economy. It has a stable and homogeneous population, a substantial military force and an enormous capacity to increase that force. The U.S. has decided to accept that North Korea is a nuclear state, so long as none of its nuclear weapons can reach the U.S. mainland. This completely destabilizes Japans strategy. Under that strategy, first imposed by the U.S. and happily embraced by Japan, the U.S. guarantees Japanese national security. The U.S., in exchange, has been able to use Japan as a base from which to project force across the Korean Peninsula, threaten China and block Russias Vladivostok fleet from accessing the Pacific Ocean. Japan, unencumbered by defense expenditures and any responsibility in American wars, could focus on the monumental task of its dramatic post-World War II recovery. Most important, the U.S. nuclear umbrella has guaranteed that any nation that might attack Japan with nuclear weapons would face retaliation from the United States. In reality, the United States willingness to launch a massive nuclear exchange if China or Russia hit a Japanese city was always uncertain. But since it was uncertain to potential aggressors too, it served its purpose, which was more psychological than military. The Hanoi talks subtly shift that guarantee. The new U.S. position is that it cannot accept a North Korean nuclear program that threatens the United States. Implicit in that position is that it can tolerate one that threatens Japan. The U.S. nuclear umbrella is notionally still there, but the United States reluctance to engage raises the question of whether North Korea will be deterred. So, the U.S. nuclear deterrent still guards Japan but can the guardian be trusted? Japan lives in a rough neighborhood. The Russians hold islands to which the Japanese lay claim , and while its not a real threat now, the Russian future is always unknown. China is challenging Japans control of islands in the East China Sea and is threatening to potentially take control of the Western Pacific, which is currently in the hands of the United States. China has a long memory of Japanese occupation and atrocities committed during the Sino-Japanese War. The Korean Peninsula, too, has a long memory of Japanese occupation, exploitation and abuse. So apart from the current geopolitical reality, Japan lives in a region that resents it for historical reasons. In this context, the Japanese continue to struggle internally over defense policy . Japans current policy is to build a substantial force while minimizing its capabilities, saying it is only for national defense purposes. The alternative is for the worlds third-largest economy to normalize its international status by abandoning the constitutional prohibition on military force (already ignored for the most part) and create an armed force congruent with its economic might and strategic interests. The Japanese public is on the whole comfortable with its postwar strategy. But with the rise of China, North Korean nuclear weapons and a potentially aggressive Russia, it cannot remain so for long. As the U.S. puts pressure on its allies to carry their own burdens, the Japanese strategy is becoming increasingly untenable. It cannot undergo a serious shift until the public does, and that means there will be an internal political crisis over the matter. But public opinion is already shifting, and the Japanese will face their reality. Behind all this is an inevitable shift in U.S. foreign policy, visible in its stance on North Korea and elsewhere and rooted in the failure of U.S. warfare since World War II. The Korean War was a costly tie. Vietnam ended with Hanois flag flying over Saigon. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan failed to establish viable, pro-U.S. regimes. The only 20th century wars in which the U.S. fared well were those in which U.S. allies bore a massive part of the burden. These wars only ended well when there was no U.S. occupation or when the ruthless execution of the war shattered the morale of the enemy and permitted the U.S. to reshape the societies. And very few wars will be like that. That U.S. strategy had to shift was obvious to me a decade ago when I wrote The Next Decade. The shift has arrived, and that means nations, enemies and allies are repositioning themselves. In Asia, the Chinese and Russians will mostly hold their positions. North Korea will exploit the shift to the extent it can. But it is Japan that will have to undergo the most radical change. Haifa is on the "front line" in any action in the north but this blog looks at life in the shadow of danger to all of Israel Leprosy is caused by a tiny rod-shaped microbe called Mycobacterium leprae. Scientists aren't exactly sure how it is transmitted, but they think it probably spreads when an infected person breathes out or sneezes and releases moist droplets carrying the microbe, or else when a cut in his or her skin is touched by someone [source: NIH]. It may take as long as 20 years for symptoms to appear. But once they do, leprosy attacks the peripheral nerves, skin, upper respiratory tract, eyes and mucus membranes of the nose. A person with leprosy may lose sensation in his or her skin, and experience muscle weakness. Those problems, in turn, can cause the patient to suffer traumatic injuries and eventually lose the use of the hands and feet. Sometimes a patient injures himself and doesn't even know it, as he has no feeling in his hand or foot. As a result, gangrene might set in and amputation of the limb might follow [source: NIH]. Advertisement Leprosy is spread by prolonged close contact with an infected person, but it isn't that contagious. The bacterium can't live outside a host body for very long. And even if a person is exposed to it, chances are that he or she won't become infected, since about 95 percent of humans are naturally immune to it. And today, it can be successfully treated with common antibiotic drugs [source: HRSA]. But throughout most of history, people only saw a horrible, disfiguring disease that no one knew how to prevent or remedy. Scientists believe that the disease originated in Africa, and may have spread to the Middle East about 3000 B.C.E. [source: Robbins et al.]. It's mentioned in the Old Testament book of Leviticus (chapter 13), which instructs the Hebrews to isolate anyone with a suspicious sore and watch to see whether it spread. If so, a priest would pronounce the person unclean and order that "his dwelling should be outside the camp" [source: New King James Version]. That pattern of shunning leprosy patients continued for many centuries. In medieval Europe, they were forced to wear special clothes and to ring bells to warn others when they passed by [source: NIH]. They had to live in "leper-houses" or hospitals such as one on the outskirts of London that was founded by Queen Matilda in 1118, though they were still allowed to enter the city to beg for alms. Some of these leprosaria were quite well run, with acres of farmland and generous endowments by wealthy landowners [source: Rawcliffe]. But of course, there was no cure. Leprosy by Another Name Not everyone pronounced a "leper" in the past really had leprosy. Skin diseases were rampant in the centuries before antibiotics. The Hebrew word, saraath, which is translated in the 1611 King James version of the Bible as "leprosy," actually covers a wide variety of skin diseases. And in the Middle Ages, some of the descriptions we read of people inflicted with leprosy more accurately describe those with eczema or cirrhosis [source: Rawcliffe]. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Is Nepals progressive queer rights movement bracing for a setback? When Bhumika Shrestha travelled overseas holding a passport with her gender marked as O for other for the first time in October 2015, she made international headlines as the face of Nepals third gender movement. Yesterday was National Vietnam War Veterans Day. I served in Vietnam from August 1969 to August 1970. This story (an actual one, with photos from my scrapbook), it's meant to honor those who have served and still serve our nation. For the helicopter pilots, the rules were simple. If Americans were in trouble, the pilots would come to their aid no matter what. Fire Support Base Ripcord, one of a string of firebases along the eastern perimeter of the A Shau Valley, came under heavy enemy fire in the early summer of 1970, while American troops were using the base as a jumping-off point for operations in the valley. Their mission was to block NVA divisions positioned to move on the coastal city of Hue. Ripcord had been carved out near the top of a 2,800-foot-high mountain. First used by the U.S. Marines in 1967 and 1968, the firebase had again been operated by the 101st Airborne Division in 1969 and closed when monsoons prevented its resupply. It was reopened once more in April 1970. On April 1, B Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry (2/506), 101st Airborne Division was inserted in the firebase. Soon after the infantrymen arrived, the level of NVA activity increased around the Khe Sahn plain and the A Shau Valley. The intensity of the fighting in the area around Ripcord soon overshadowed ongoing enemy harassment of nearby ARVN Firebases O'Reilly and Barnett. Ripcord came under sustained recoilless rifle fire for the first time on July 2. The fire was coming from Hill 10000, the first high ground to Ripcord's west. That evening, Ripcord also came under attack by 120mm mortars-the first known enemy us of 120s south of the DMZ. The presence of the 120mm mortars-powerful weapons that could be sighted and walked across targets with devastating effect-indicated a major logistic success by the NVA. Clearly, trucks or tracked vehicles had been used to transport those very heavy mortars, base plates, and ammunition into position. On July 10, eight artillery attacks on Ripcord killed two and wounded 17. Between July 11 and 16, ground action below Ripcord would claim another 10 Americans killed and 52 wounded. Only 12 North Vietnamese could be confirmed killed in their heavily fortified positions, and artillery attacks on Ripcord continued. On July 18, a Boeing-Vertol CH-47 Chinook helicopter carrying a sling load of 105mm howitzer ammunition toward Ripcord was shot down in flames by 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine-gun fire, which was followed up with mortar fire. The flaming wreckage of the chopper crashed into the ammunition storage area, where it touched off a series of explosions. Six 105mm howitzers from B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery (2/319), were destroyed as thousands of shells exploded in the fire. Two recoilless rifles and counter mortar radar were lost. Colonel Benjamin Harrison, who on June 23 had assumed command of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne, was flying over the camp when the chopper crashed. He later recalled that it looked as if the entire mountaintop were erupting. That was the second loss of a 2/319 artillery battery in the same region. Two months before, on May 13, 1969, C Battery, 2/319, had been overrun at Firebase Airborne while the 60-man battery was providing fire support for the fighting on Dong Ap Bia-better known to American troops as Hamburger Hill. NVA sappers killed 22 of the American artillerymen. With the destruction of the Chinook and Ripcord's 105mm howitzer battery on July 18, the tactical situation and defensive capabilities of the firebase were greatly diminished. On July 20, Captain Chuck Hawkins, commander of A Company, 2/506, which had reinforced the original B Company defenders at the firebase, reported that a tap had been made on a land line between an NVA division headquarters and an artillery regiment on the valley floor below Ripcord. The Americans had learned that surrounding the firebase were four NVA regiments with up to 12, 000 men. Their immediate objective was the destruction of Ripcord. On hearing that new and disturbing intelligence, Maj. Gen. Sidney Berry, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, took action. Early on the morning of July 21, Berry called Colonel Harrison and told him, "We're closing Ripcord." The firebase was already scheduled to be closed in October for the monsoon season, and rather than risk heavy losses, Berry decided to withdraw the troops, then pound the enemy with artillery and tactical air power after the firebase was evacuated. At first light on July 23, 14 Chinooks-each large enough to carry more than 30 men per trip-headed toward Ripcord to begin lifting out the B Company 2/506 troops. Everything went smoothly until 7:40 a.m., when anti-aircraft fire again knocked out a Chinook. the chopper crashed in flames on the firebase's large lower landing pad, preventing the other Chinooks from lifting out the rest of the men, artillery and heavy equipment. The infantrymen would have to be evacuated by Bell UH-1 Hueys, which could carry only six men at a time. All available Hueys in the 101st Airborne were detailed to head for the beleaguered firebase. They would dart in and out one at a time, dodging continuous anti-aircraft and artillery fire. While events on top of the mountain were taking a drastic turn for the worse, D Company, 2/506, was also using Hueys to assault the valley floor, in an effort to reinforce A Company. Once reinforced, the American infantrymen began beating back their NVA attackers. The plan was to extract the infantrymen in the valley once the firebase above them had been evacuated, while gunships and jets kept the enemy at bay. The Hueys were refueled and assembled for one of the largest hot extractions of U.S. forces in South Vietnam. Sixty Hueys from the companies of the 158th Aviation Battalion and the "Redskins" from Camp Evans and 60 Hueys from the 101st Aviation Battalion and the "Hawks" at Camp Eagle - both groups flying Bell AH-1G Cobra gunships-plus the 4/77 "Griffins" in rocket-equipped gunships, joined the lift birds and the other Cobras from Camp Eagle in the mission to subdue the NVA around Ripcord. Aboard one of the Hueys was Captain Randy House, a platoon leader from C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, who was serving as leader of the extraction flight-call sign Phoenix-that day. Approaching the area, he could clearly see that it was time to get on with the mission, but as yet his flight had had no contact with the command-and-control ship flying high above. It turned out that the NVA and some of their Communist Chinese advisers had managed to deny the Americans use of the radio frequencies. Alternate frequencies one, two and three were jammed with voices or continually interrupted via keyed mikes. After boring holes in the sky for 20 minutes, Captain House left his flight to fly over Ripcord. House instinctively knew that a costly screw-up was in the making unless something could be done quickly to help the embattled infantrymen. House observed that the firebase's upper landing pad, located near it 155mm howitzers, was taking much less mortar fire than the lower pad, which was under continuous shelling-and, at any rate, was partially blocked by the burning Chinook wreckage. House made contact with a pathfinder (a combat controller) at Ripcord and told him he was ready to continue the extraction. House ordered the 101st Airborne Division's Hueys to approach the firebase along a riverbed, turn above a waterfall on the mountain and continue to Ripcord. Others from the 158th and 101st Aviation battalions would follow. House directed the choppers to the available landing areas. As the extraction continued, the pathfinders instructed some birds to land on different pads, but the NVA were clearly listening in on their communications. If a Huey was directed to a particular pad, mortars were fired on that landing area. Undaunted, the pathfinders working the extraction from Ripcord developed their own strategy to foil the enemy's efforts. When they heard the mortar shells fires, the pathfinders would divert each Huey to another pad at the last second. Five soldiers would scramble aboard and the Hueys would lift off, just before the next round of mortars arrived. One by one, the Hueys touched down. Some of the landing pads were big enough for only one Huey to land at a time, pick up five or six passengers and depart-all under .51-caliber (12.7mm) anti-aircraft fire, joined by fire from hundreds of AK-47s. One of the upper pads was not targeted as often, receiving only intermittent 88mm mortar and 75mm recoilless rifle fire. As the evacuation continued, Warrant Officer Ken Mayberry was serving as an aircraft commander, with Warrant Officer David Rayburn as his co-pilot. There were small groups of men scattered on the mountain-top, and the continuing barrage of 82mm and 120mm mortar and recoilless rifle fire left blackish-gray clouds of fragmentation everywhere on the firebase. As Mayberry and Rayburn's chopper approached the landing zone, Rayburn was dismayed by the ferocity of the mortar fire. Both pilots were experienced combat veterans and had taken hits on multiple occasions. The scene reminded Mayberry of one equally hot extraction he had participated in the south of Ripcord, at LZ Kelley, where he had flown through a wall of tracers and was rocked by an air burst that nearly nosed him into a mountain. Of 20 Hueys in that earlier operation, only four aircraft had remained flyable after the extraction. Mayberry and Rayburn grimly continued their approach. Mayberry counted nine mortar shells exploding around the landing pad he was headed for. He also saw six GIs standing in the open, waiting for him. Someone radioed him, "Go around!" but Mayberry replied, "We're going in." Rayburn looked over at Mayberry and said, "Ken, are you sure you want to do this?" Mayberry kept looking straight ahead, watching the LZ they were approaching. Finally, he said, "We're their only way out, and if we don't get them...." Both knew that they were all that stood between the troops on the ground and the NVA surrounding them. Their unwillingness to give up on what was clearly a very dangerous rescue mission was typical of the resolve demonstrated by many warrant officers who flew Army helicopters in Vietnam. It was an unspoken, solemn vow. The Phoenix crews would do their best, no matter what. As they made their final approach, the fire got heavier. Mayberry slammed the Huey down amid exploding mortars while six heavily laden soldiers rushed for the helicopter. A mortar round hit in front of the soldiers, a second round just behind them. The infantrymen were thrown to the ground, all of them badly wounded. Mayberry shouted to his crew chief, Spc. 5 John Ackerman, and door gunner Spc. 4 Wayne Wasilk, "Get them!" The two young Minnesotans rushed 20 yards through the mortar fire, helped four of the wounded infantrymen up and carried them to the helicopter. Fire continued to fall all around them. It seemed to Rayburn that he could the AK-47 rounds and mortar fragments peppering the Huey as if the helicopter's skin were his own. Mayberry looked over his right shoulder, through the cargo door to his right rear. Mortar rounds were being walked up the mountainside as he watched. He held his breath, waiting for the next hit. The crew chief and door gunner struggled to get the injured men into the cargo bay. The crew chief shouted, "Go! Go!" and Mayberry lifted off in clouds of fragmentation. Moments later, a second chopper, piloted by Warrant Officer Dave Wolfe, came in and picked up another group of six soldiers-again under heavy fire. At the time, Wolfe thought that his bird had suffered amazingly minor damage during the pickup. There had been no wounds to his crew or the passengers. Flying behind Mayberry's Huey, Wolfe called Mayberry on the aviation net (VHF) in a state of amazement and disbelief. Wolfe disregarded all normal radio procedures which typically involved using call signs and waiting for replies), announcing to Mayberry: "Ken, you're smoking. I don't see flames, but there is smoke everywhere. You're losing fuel. There are pieces falling off everywhere. I think you better put that thing down now." Both Hueys were still 10 miles west of Camp Evans, over the Annamite mountain range. Mayberry came on the radio and responded, "I've got a little vibration. I might be losing some instruments. All my packs are badly wounded, so I'm going direct to Charlie Med pad (the 187th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital); we'll check it out there." Specialist 5 Larry Frazier, Wolfe's crew chief, watched Mayberry's limping Huey, amazed that it was still flying and relieved that his bird was not in the same condition. Mayberry and Rayburn carefully piloted their bird back to base. On the ground, the counted more than 40 holes from enemy fire. Their close shave did not stop them for long, however. As soon as they could get a replacement aircraft, they continued to extract troops from "hover holes" below the mountaintop. "It's CS," another pilot calmly remarked-tear gas. Another asked, "Are we using CS?" "No," responded the first pilot. "They are." Not only would the Huey pilots fly through walls of .51 caliber anti-aircraft tracers to land amid exploding clouds of tear gas, which might temporarily blind them. While he was sitting on the ground at Ripcord, Ghostrider one-six called over the radio, "Mortar fire hitting all areas of pad, 5 to 10 meters of pad, all the way down the hill!" Another Ghostrider, also touching down at Ripcord, called, "Go in top pad, one more hit just right beside me!" A pathfinder at Ripcord asked, "Did a slic (UH-1D) just get shot down?" Comanchero one-one, from A Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, replied, "No, a mortar hit him sitting on the ground." Ghostrider Chalk-Seven broke in with: "Taking small arms fire 100 meters out. They're leading it onto the pad." Ghostrider Lead called, "Abort, Chalk-Seven!" Chalk-Seven responded: "No, I've aborted three times already, I'll just continue in!" Ghostrider Lead said: "I'll leave it up to you. Go in if you can!" Another pilot called out, "POL (the fuel dump) just went up-took a mortar, right beside me." The lift companies - Ghostriders, Lancers, Comancheros, Black Widows and Kingsmen-continued the procession. Many of the choppers were taking hits. The smoke, the streams of green and gold enemy tracers, the jets swooping low, laying napalm while Cobra gunships attacked lines of enemy troops-all of it nearly overwhelmed the senses of the chopper crews. But the Hueys kept coming. When one chopper was shot down, another landed to retrieve its crew. By noon, only 18 fighting men remained at Ripcord from an original force of nearly 400. Driven from their secure positions by exploding 155mm ammunition that had been ignited by the fires, those remaining soldiers ran to one end of the firebase and attempted to form a security perimeter. They could see NVA swarming up the mountainside toward them like ants, breaching the lower perimeter wires less than 100 yards away. Most of the GIs were carrying M-60 machine guns, firing from the hip as they moved from one position to another. They simply wanted to get off that Godforsaken mountain alive. Private first class Daniel Biggs watched as a Huey approached the pad and landed in the exact spot where two mortar shells had hit seconds earlier. Biggs later told a Stars and Stripes correspondent, "He came right in, didn't turn away or nothin'." Above Ripcord, another flight was concluding the mountaintop evacuation of troops. Warrant Officer Jim Saunders, a Navy admiral's son, was on short final approach when his Huey was shot out of the sky by 12.7mm heavy machine guns. Saunders' bird crashed further down the mountain, on Ripcord's lower landing pad, in the midst of a group of NVA. the Huey continued to slide down the mountain until it became entangled in the firebase's lower barbed wire perimeter. The crew fled the burning wreckage of the chopper and scrambled up the steep hillside toward another pickup zone. Saunders looked over his shoulder and saw NVA crawling through the concertina wire at the perimeter, less than 25 yards from him. Saunders and his crew ran madly up the steep hill, shedding their armor and flight helmets as they went-anything to lighten the load and speed their flight. They made it up to the top of the next hill only to confront another group of NVA clambering up the other side. Hueys were circling above them, machine guns were firing all around, and a door gunner waved them on toward a clear area at a slightly lower level. They dashed downhill between two more columns of NVA who were tangled in concertina wire, so close to each other that they did not fire for fear of hitting other NVA. Saunders and his crew finally made it onto another Huey and escaped in a hail of small-arms fire. A short while later, the last Huey to lift off from the firebase sustained major damage and heavy casualties to its passengers. The last men off the mountain were members of B Company, 2/506. They had also been the first ones to arrive in April. The troop withdrawals from the valley floor below would not end for another two hours. By early afternoon on July 23, all known survivors at Ripcord had been carried back to Camp Evans. However, several battle-dazed Americans, hiding in their bunkers, had been unwilling or unable to run the gauntlet of mortar fire to reach the Hueys. Some had apparently even hid from their own comrades who had searched the bunkers to ensure that everyone got out. The troops who had stayed behind were killed that NVA using flame throwers or bayonets. The NVA swarmed over their conquest until airstrikes abruptly ended their celebration. The remains of several American soldiers were recovered six weeks later. Operations in the area around Firebase Ripcord had proved to be a costly undertaking. Between April 1 and July 31, 1970, 135 UH-1H Hueys were seriously damaged and rendered unflyable. The vast majority of the division pilots and crew members survived despite combat damage to their aircraft. Ten Cobras and three Hughes OH-6a Loaches also sustained serious hits. Only two of the six Huey lift companies involved in operations in that area did not lose a crew killed in action. All the pilots who participated in the evacuation earned Distinguished Flying Crosses. The crew chiefs and door gunners received Air Medals with a "V" for valor. Helicopters, including gunships and lift ships, were crucial to the evacuation of Ripcord. The withdrawal could not have succeeded without the courage and daring of Huey pilots and crewmen who repeatedly braved direct mortar fire, recoilless rifle fire and walls of neon-green .51-caliber anti-aircraft tracers to save the lives of their countrymen. As an Army helicopter pilot, Tom Marshall was awarded 22 Air Medals for more than 1,000 combat flying hours, logged while he was serving in Vietnam. In addition to serving with the 101st Airborne, he also served with the 4th Infantry Division at An Khe in 1970-71. Remarks: This is one of the best-selling Christmas songs of all time in the US. It came out in 1994 but did not hit #1 in the US till 2019, and not in the ... 1 day ago Blog Archive December 2021 (3) November 2021 (4) October 2021 (5) September 2021 (4) August 2021 (6) July 2021 (2) June 2021 (4) May 2021 (3) April 2021 (5) March 2021 (6) February 2021 (3) January 2021 (6) December 2020 (4) November 2020 (8) October 2020 (7) September 2020 (3) August 2020 (7) July 2020 (6) June 2020 (4) May 2020 (8) April 2020 (9) March 2020 (6) February 2020 (4) January 2020 (2) December 2019 (3) November 2019 (2) October 2019 (3) September 2019 (3) August 2019 (3) July 2019 (3) June 2019 (1) May 2019 (1) April 2019 (2) March 2019 (1) February 2019 (1) January 2019 (2) December 2018 (1) November 2018 (5) October 2018 (7) September 2018 (6) August 2018 (5) July 2018 (2) June 2018 (5) May 2018 (4) April 2018 (3) March 2018 (5) February 2018 (6) January 2018 (9) December 2017 (7) November 2017 (5) October 2017 (7) September 2017 (9) August 2017 (6) July 2017 (9) June 2017 (6) May 2017 (8) April 2017 (8) March 2017 (12) February 2017 (8) January 2017 (12) December 2016 (10) November 2016 (8) October 2016 (4) September 2016 (2) August 2016 (5) July 2016 (6) June 2016 (4) May 2016 (5) April 2016 (3) March 2016 (9) February 2016 (5) January 2016 (7) December 2015 (8) November 2015 (5) October 2015 (6) September 2015 (4) August 2015 (7) July 2015 (3) June 2015 (5) May 2015 (9) April 2015 (5) March 2015 (5) February 2015 (8) January 2015 (7) December 2014 (8) November 2014 (9) October 2014 (13) September 2014 (10) August 2014 (7) July 2014 (10) June 2014 (10) May 2014 (12) April 2014 (10) March 2014 (14) February 2014 (10) January 2014 (14) December 2013 (14) November 2013 (9) October 2013 (17) September 2013 (14) August 2013 (23) July 2013 (19) June 2013 (16) May 2013 (23) April 2013 (23) March 2013 (29) February 2013 (31) January 2013 (32) December 2012 (31) November 2012 (49) October 2012 (60) September 2012 (48) August 2012 (40) July 2012 (20) June 2012 (32) May 2012 (18) April 2012 (47) March 2012 (61) February 2012 (59) January 2012 (44) December 2011 (57) November 2011 (58) October 2011 (54) September 2011 (51) August 2011 (53) July 2011 (57) June 2011 (46) May 2011 (34) April 2011 (36) March 2011 (43) February 2011 (48) January 2011 (36) December 2010 (23) November 2010 (32) October 2010 (30) September 2010 (29) August 2010 (20) July 2010 (24) June 2010 (21) May 2010 (23) April 2010 (38) March 2010 (39) February 2010 (35) January 2010 (40) December 2009 (29) November 2009 (33) October 2009 (33) September 2009 (43) August 2009 (49) July 2009 (34) June 2009 (29) May 2009 (33) April 2009 (48) March 2009 (32) February 2009 (25) January 2009 (37) December 2008 (19) November 2008 (35) October 2008 (90) September 2008 (77) August 2008 (67) July 2008 (37) June 2008 (36) May 2008 (33) April 2008 (28) March 2008 (34) February 2008 (33) January 2008 (31) December 2007 (18) November 2007 (23) October 2007 (23) September 2007 (23) August 2007 (26) July 2007 (29) June 2007 (26) May 2007 (30) April 2007 (30) March 2007 (25) February 2007 (20) January 2007 (14) December 2006 (20) November 2006 (18) October 2006 (20) September 2006 (20) November 2005 (1) IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them. They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country. However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia. "Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination. Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia. They should be lovingly helped. Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948. To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts: While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 : Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell. The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites. A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught. The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers. Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites." Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers. There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks. This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work. It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter. In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam. In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir. " The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life." An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir . In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance). Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed). Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance). Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam. It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way. A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah. Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs). Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life". Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology. Islam is a supremacist ideology. Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism. Islam is a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life. It has a say about every conceivable human act . Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic. Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111). A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44) Muhammad himself said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30) Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad. 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 KTM-Kerung Railway project to get DPR soon The government has said that a detailed project report of the much talked about Kathmandu-Kerung Railway project would be completed in the next six months. Let provincial government hold remaining SEE exams: Experts Amid a spat between the central and provincial governments regarding the question paper leak of Secondary Education Examination in Province 2, experts have suggested that the federal government take this as an opportunity to hand over the responsibility of conducting the 10th grade national exam to the provincial governments. The only effective way to injunct the AmeriKat At the Form of Order on 18 March, Henry Carr J: Held that ZyXEL was "holding out" Granted an injunction with immediate effect Refused ZyXEL's submissions that no injunction should be granted or, at least, should be carved out to allow pending orders to be fulfilled Refused permission to appeal his technical and injunction decisions Awarded 68% of TQDelta's costs, with 60% payable on an interim costs basis Oooof. So not a great day in Court for ZyXEL. So what were Mr Justice Carr's reasons? Oooof. So not a great day in Court for ZyXEL. So what were Mr Justice Carr's reasons? Injunctive relief Mr Justice Carr granted an injunction with immediate effect. ZyXEL argued that an injunction would be disproportionate in circumstances where the '268 Patent expires in less than two months, on 25 June 2019. In the alternative, it submitted that an injunction should be stayed or there should be a carve out to allow ZyXEL to supply certain orders. TQ Delta argued that this was "a very serious case of 'hold out'" which the judge should factor into his discretion to grant an injunction. "Hold out" is where an implementer delays paying a SEP owner "whilst infringing [SEPs], because it wants to hang on to its money and exhaust the resources and will of the opposite party." Unwired Planet v Huawei he set out the balance that must be struck between implementers and SEP owners. Implementers must be able to use the technology embodied and required in the standards provided they are willing to enter into a FRAND licence. SEP owners also need protection in that: TQ Delta relied on the dicta in of Kitchin LJ (as he then was). At [53] and [54] of the Court of Appeal's decision in [2018] EWCA Civ 2344 he set out the balance that must be struck between implementers and SEP owners. Implementers must be able to use the technology embodied and required in the standards provided they are willing to enter into a FRAND licence. SEP owners also need protection in that: "...They are entitled to an appropriate reward for carrying out their research and development activities and for engaging with the standardisation process, and they must be able to prevent technology users from free-riding on their innovations. It is therefore important that implementers engage constructively in any FRAND negotiation and, where necessary, agree to submit to the outcome of an appropriate FRAND determination. " "...then our clients and the other members of their Group will need to consider whether to enter that license (as appropriate). That decision will depend upon the terms that the Court has decided are RAND." "You assert that "the question of whether your clients are willing licensees is relevant to whether the court should grant an injunction if it concludes that at least one of the patents in suit is valid and infringed". We disagree. We refer you to paragraph 5 of the prayer for relief of your client's Amended Particulars of Claim. Said paragraph set out your client's conditional claim for injunctive relief; it makes no reference whatsoever to whether or not our clients are 'willing licensees'. Further and in any event, the term 'willing licensee' is not an established term of art in relation to the exercise of the court's equitable jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief, has no clear or certain meaning and your client has made no attempt to explain what it means by such a term". had not paid any royalties to TQ Delta (or any patent holder) in respect of any SEPs. had "blown hot and cold" as to whether they will accept whatever licence is determined by the Court as being RAND. had refused to "agree to submit to the outcome of an appropriate [RAND] determination" and yet have claimed the benefit of the RAND undertaking; c.f. Unwired Planet at [54]. ZyXEL said granting an injunction with 3 months left to run on a patent was disproportionate. Further, it would not enable ZyXEL to know the terms of any RAND licence which it could or could not accept. Mr Justice Carr rejected that submission. At paragraphs 13 and 14, the judge stated that adopting such a position would: "...enable ZyXEL to benefit from their strategy of hold-out, including their refusal to submit to the outcome of an appropriate RAND determination, whilst still seeking to benefit from the RAND undertaking. ZyXEL would avoid an injunction, and if the terms of a RAND licence are not as they wish, could refuse to enter into a licence on the terms deemed appropriate by the Court It seems to me that to deprive the patentee of injunctive relief in these circumstances would be unjust. It would, in effect, amount to a compulsory licence by the court in circumstances where the Defendants have elected not to enforce the RAND undertaking in respect of the '268 patent. This, in my judgment, would be wrong in principle." Stay of or carve-out from injunction Mr Justice Carr rejected ZyXEL's application for stay and carve out of the injunction. He did not find there to be any convincing evidence to support either application. In respect of the application to stay the injunction for a month (to allow ZyXEL to do whatever), the judge held this was not supported by the evidence. In respect of the application that the injunction should have a carve-out to allow certain pending orders be fulfilled so that customers who are expecting their orders would not be inconvenienced, Mr Justice Carr again found there to be no evidence from relevant customers and no disclosure of the contracts that might evidence any prejudice to customers. Permission to appeal he Mr Justice Carr refused permission to appeal the technical patent decision and the grant of the injunction. His reasons on the second are the most interesting. At paragraph 22,he held that "I consider that it would be wrong to grant permission, the Court of Appeal already having indicated at [53] [54] of Unwired Planet v Huawei the correct general principles. I also bear in mind that were I to refuse injunctive relief it would amount to a compulsory licence of the patentee's exclusive rights and deprive it of meaningful protection in circumstances where the Defendants have elected not to enforce the RAND undertaking. Whether to grant an injunction in these circumstances is an exercise of discretion, from which it is difficult to appeal. For those reasons I do not consider that an appeal would have any real prospect of success and I refuse permission to appeal." For those who, unlike the AmeriKat, did not grow up on Schoolhouse Rock , that joke won't make any sense (see video here ), but it is a question that is being asked across Europe's court rooms, especially in the context of telecoms litigation. Last week, the AmeriKat was unable to make her flight to attend a fascinating conference on this topic in Germany (reports of the event to follow thanks to some Kat friends). It was only too bad that the event was not held after the latest decision of Mr Justice Carr in thesaga was published. The decision - [2019] EWHC 745 - was published on Thursday, although the high leveldecision was made on 18 March 2019 at the Form of Order hearing which followed the judges's earlier decision of 11 March that one of the two SEPs owned by TQ Delta ("the '268 Patent") was valid, essential and infringed by ZyXEL (see Kat post here ).TQ Delta argued that ZyXEL was not a willing licensee because they had "gamed the system" and constantly changed their position as to whether they would be bound by and take a Court determined RAND licence. These allegation stemmed from a history of negotiations between the parties dating back to 2013 in which no agreement had ever been reached and the fact that ZyXEL had never paid any SEP owner in respect of any of the 775 SEPs used. Further, after seeking clarification that ZyXEL would enter into whatever RAND licence the Court determined, ZyXEL's solicitors stated that this was not the case, particularly were the Court to hold that the RAND licence should be global and/or to TQ Delta's entire DSL patent portfolio. In those circumstances, ZyXEL's solicitors saidLater on in the proceedings and before the technical trials, TQ Delta repeated the question again and also asked for a similar confirmation in respect of a UK portfolio licence (as opposed to a global one). ZyXEL said they would be prepared to take a UK portfolio licence on the terms in its RAND Statement of Case. However, they would still not commit to be bound by any Court determined RAND licence, irrespective of whether the Court determined that the portfolio licence should be global or UK only. ZyXEL also stated that the Court should not grant an injunction to stop its sales in the UK in the event that it was not prepared to enter into a global portfolio licence with TQ Delta. The question was repeated again, without a substantive response, and then again. In response to that chaser, ZyXEL's solicitors expressed uncertainty as to the meaning of "willing licensee" stating:At the hearing before Mr Justice Carr, ZyXEL's position was that because the '269 Patent was soon to expire and before any RAND licence is settled by the Court, they were not seeking a RAND licence. That is a choice they are entitled to make, held Mr Justice Carr, but the question was whether they could avoid an injunction having made that election [remember, the '268 Patent was found valid and infringed]. In light of the background, Henry Carr J held that there was evidence of "hold-out" by ZyXEL because ZyXEL:Mr Justice Carr ordered that ZyXEL pay 68% of TQ Delta's costs of the technical trial, 60% of which should be an interim payment of costs.ZyXEL argued that it was premature to award costs of the technical trial, as the "prize" is whatever form of relief will be obtained and, in particular, whether or not there will be a determination of a RAND rate for TQ Delta's portfolio. On the status of the RAND determination, in light of the recent events, TQ Delta indicated its intention to amend the RAND pleadings to seek a declaration as to the portfolio RAND terms. ZyXEL have indicated an intention to apply to strike out that pleading. Mr Justice Carr held it was not premature to award costs. ZyXEL did deprive TQ Delta of at least part of their claim - in that the other patent was held to be invalid, but TQ Delta established that the '268 Patent was valid and infringed and will obtain relief at the subsequent damages inquiry/determination. There was no evidence before the judge that showed that such an inquiry would produce a small sum, disproportionate to the costs expended by both parties. He also commented that since there was no Calderbank offer (i.e. an offer made to settle a case without prejudice to arguments on costs) made by ZyXEL that he was shown, there was reason to postpone dealing with the costs of the technical trial. Some commentators had previously considered that following theandcase law, an injunction would be unlikely to be granted before a F/RAND determination. There now does not seem to be such a bright line. Whether this issurprising in circumstances where injunctive relief is anremedy (and thus dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case), the AmeriKat has her own personal doubts. But, as such, the grant of the injunction in this case was, indeed, fact specific. The evidence before the Court was that there was flip-flopping on the implementer's position on whether it would be bound by the Court's' ultimate RAND determination. Further, the fact that the '268 Patent was soon to expire seemed, to Merpel, to have been used as another strategy to try and duck out of the RAND determination. Ultimately, it seems that if there is evidence before the Court that an implementer is ducking and diving from its side of the F/RAND bargain, then the Court may not look particularly favorably upon such conduct (even before a F/RAND determination).The AmeriKat looks forward to the debate on this case. Do readers think an injunction should have been granted? The Europeans were desperate to ensure that the deal remained intact and it started to make plans. INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) was established by the United Kingdom, France and Germany and it would essentially allow Europe-based countries to continue trading with Iran without being impacted by the U.S. sanctions. However, it hasnt quite lived up to what Iran hoped it would and Iran is now coming to realise that other solutions need to be found. Crypto-currency is one possible avenue that Iran could be tempted to explore. After banning crypto-currency last year, the Iranian government has completely changed its view. It has been reported that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has already issued regulations (in their draft form) regarding the use of crypto-currency. This is effectively reversing the crypto-currency ban. This also represents an authorisation of initial crypto-currency exchange bureaus and coin offerings and the people of Iran will be free to use these currencies as a way to get around the U.S. sanctions. The sanctions have had a considerable impact on the Iranian economy with a major drop in its oil revenues and the effects of the mass abandonment of Western companies when the U.S. announced its strategy. The economy has been deeply affected and the countrys currency had plummeted to new lows. The purchasing power of the people has been in decline and standards of living are dropping rapidly. Iran is not experiencing the effects of sanctions for the first time. When previous sanctions had been in place, the regime had many creative ways of bypassing them. This time round, the Iranian regime is trying to portray the image of being stronger because of the sanctions but it is just bravado. President Hassan Rouhanis claims that the country had overcome the hurdle of sanctions is just wishful thinking. But it nevertheless makes us question the impact of sanctions. Iran has not really changed its behaviour. The regime seems to put more energy into ways to evade sanctions. Certain experts and analysts are warning that Iran could use the Europeans INSTEX mechanism to bypass the SWIFT payment system. All it would have to do is use crypto. Financial technology analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC Lisa Ellis believes that the use of crypto with INSTEX will facilitate cross-currency movements. She said: INSTEX is aimed at reducing the amount of cross-currency transactions required by matching buy and sell orders in local currency by matching a European exporter to Iran and an importer from Iran and matching their orders so one just pays the other one in Euros and their counterparties in Iran pay each other in Rial. The U.S. may need to re-think its strategy If Iran regime is creative enough to massively undermine the sanctions. The article was entitled, The government of hope and disappointment of women in 1397 (which corresponds to March 2018- March 2019), and the Didarnews website made some revealing admissions regarding womens political participation in Iran. These were facts that have been emphasized by the Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran for many years. According to the March 21st article in Didarnews, The presence of women in political positions is not necessarily synonymous with the improvement of the discriminatory social and political status of women in society. The limited participation of women as parliamentarians or ministerial deputies in the political structure has little impact on changing the legal procedures in favor of women or on improving their social status. Didarnews goes on to point out that during his election campaign, President Hassan Rouhani promised to draft bills specially to protect womens rights. However, the article adds, During the first term of Hassan Rouhanis presidency, a bill on the elimination of violence against women that had been drafted under the Ahmadinejad government was revised as a bill to protect womens lives. The bill was reviewed and sent to the judiciary before being submitted to the parliament due to the criticisms raised against it. The judiciary promised that the bill would go to parliament before the end of Persian year 1396 (March 2017- March 2018), but after removing 41 articles from the bill, the promise has not yet been fulfilled. The bill on child marriages also faced a similar fate. Strong opposition from various groups in the parliament on the one hand, and the intolerance of women in the government against these oppositions on the other, led to the failure to pass the bill. Didarnews asks, Why do women in the political arena have no impact despite their efforts? After years of efforts by womens and childrens advocates, none of the bills have had positive outcomes. (T)hey could not even take one bill in favor of women to the parliament and succeed, stated former presidential deputy for women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi. She is also quoted as saying, Womens issues in Iran are political, thus, acting as a fundamental obstacle for the adoption of amendments to the bills involving issues of women. Looking at the process of drafting and examining the bills for women and children, we find that statesmen, and particularly the male MPs, are not only unaware of these bills, but also strongly oppose once they hear about them. On the other hand, as is the case with the fate of womens bills, the presence of women in political positions is not necessarily synonymous with the improvement of the discriminatory social and political status of women in society. As stated by the Iranian Resistance, the mullahs regime, due to its misogynistic nature, can never be an advocate of womens rights. Empowering womens political participation would hinder the regimes goals. Its very foundation is based on gender discrimination and male domination. They would be unable to maintain their political system if they provide opportunities for womens participation. Women in Iran are exploited as cheap labor. Their wages are not only unequal to mens wages, but are also one tenth of the official minimum wage. Worse than that, under Irans patriarchal system, the very clothing a woman wears are determined by the government, and they cannot study, work, marry, or even leave their homes without a male relatives permission. The Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran warns that the regimes display of recruitment of a handful of women in the ruling regime is just a promotion used to present a modern image to the West to secure commercial deals. In fact, the three female deputies at the presidents office the vice-presidents do not enjoy executive powers or authority. Despite his campaign promises, Rouhani did not include a single woman in his cabinet after being re-elected. As Irans state-run media explains some facts about womens political participation, the regime is making efforts to ease situation and contain the protests. The truth of the Iranian Resistances revelations over the years has once again been proven. Previously, Facebook classified white supremacy as hate speech but did not extend the same designation to white nationalism or white separatism. The company says it only recently became aware of the overlap between the three ideologies. Facebook justified the earlier decision by claiming that people who were white nationalists were only displaying pride for their own European heritages. Going forward, while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism, Facebook wrote. Facebook said it changed course after three months of consulting with academics and members of civil society all over the world. The change comes shortly after the mosque attack in New Zealand, in which the shooter had streamed on Facebook. The video received 4,000 views before Facebook took the post down. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised Facebook for changing its approach to hate speech, though she said there is more work to do. Users who try to search for terms relating to white nationalism or white separatism will be directed to a page for Life After Hate, a non-profit that combats far-right extremist views. Facebook is deplatforming pages and accounts that "praise, support and offer representation of white nationalism and separatism, the social media company announced Wednesday . The changes will also apply to Instagram. Professional Expectations: The Early Years Teacher Assistant should have the following qualities Demonstrate skills in promoting the schools philosophy and policy. Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Have a good understanding of how children learn. Have an understanding of teaching and learning strategies. Be professional in approach and set good examples. Be conscientious, efficient and organized. Give high regard to Health and Safety. Actively seek to improve their practice and participate in Training and Development. Have high regard to creating a high quality learning environment. Maintain the confidentiality of information. Child Safeguarding: Shrewsbury International School Bangkok City Campus is committed to Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful candidate will be required to attend in-house Child Safeguarding programmes promote and safeguard the welfare of all students in the school report to the Child Protection Officer any concerns they have for the welfare of a student. This may include unsafe practices witnessed within the school as outlined in the schools Speak Out (Whistleblowing) Policy keep professional relationships with students where personal boundaries are respected and maintained seek advice from a Line Manager or Child Protection Officer with issues or concerns related to Child Safeguarding Requirements: Satisfactory Thai Police Criminal Record check Confirmation of identity (Driving License / Passport/National ID card). Satisfactory references Verification of qualifications and work experience How to Apply: Applications will be only be accepted on the official Shrewsbury International School Application Form, which is available on the school website Job Vacancies page. Further Details: Full details of the school are available on our website at http://city.shrewsbury.ac.th Any queries should be forwarded to jobs-city@shrewsbury.ac.th. Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice. - Edu Manzano officially ended his notable role in Ang Probinsyano - Through a video, he gave a special message about his trending exit - The veteran actor did not forget to thank Coco Martin and the rest of the production team PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Veteran actor Edu Manzano willingly expressed his thoughts regarding the much-talked-about end of his stint in the top-rating show, Ang Probinsyano. KAMI learned that the said celebrity, whose role was the President of the Philippines, last appeared on the teleserye on March 28. Edus character was needed to be killed since he will be running for a local position in the 2019 midterm elections. Through a video, the multi-awarded actor expressed his gratitude to the cast members of Ang Probinsyano, especially to Coco Martin who offered him the role. He also commended the creative minds of the people behind the scenes for giving substance to the character of Lucas Cabrera. Sa tinagal-tagal ko na po sa industriyang ito, kumbaga nakabalik pa ako doon sa itaas. At the same time, nanalo pa ako ng acting award, he quipped. Hindi ko akalain na bibigyan ako ng ganyang klaseng importansya. Sa dinami-dami ng mga characters on the show, nakahanap pa sila ng oras para bigyan ng laman yung character ni Lucas Cabrera, he added. PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data! With regards to his contributions to the number one teleserye, Edu confessed that he worked really hard just to give his best for his role. He also stated that Ang Probinsyano is more than just what the people see on television because they already built a family even off-air. Mahirap ang trabahong ginagawa namin. Mahabang oras, minsan bitin ang tulog. At the end of the day, masasabi mong I did good today, he stressed. Kinabukasan, dadating ka sa set, medyo excited ka pa nga kasi makikita mo na yung bago mong pamilya. I think yun ang isa sa mga treasure ng Ang Probinsyano, he added. Here is the video of his interview: In a previous article by , Edu unhesitatingly spoke up about the relationship of son Luis Manzano and Jessy Mendiola. Edu Manzano is considered as one of the highly-calibrated celebrities in the Philippines. He is best known for hosting Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba in 2007. POPULAR: Read more news about Edu Manzano! Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! We received a lot of stories from our female viewers about the stressful experience of being disrespected in public over their choice of clothes. We decided to make this re-enactment to show a very common situation, unfortunately. on HumanMeter! Source: Kami.com.ph - Anne Curtis went to visit her mom in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Her mom got sick who posed for a picture with her children - The actress thanked the netizens who prayed and sent well wishes for her mom PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed! Anne Curtis had to leave the country to visit her mom in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia recently. Her mom got sick. The Kapamilya actress posted a picture of her mom. Anne thanked thanked the netizens who showed concern for her mom. In the picture she posted, her mom looked like she had lost weight. Anne wrote, "Thank you for all your well wishes. Binabasa ni mama isa-isa ung comments ." PAY ATTENTION: 20 Funny Wedding Memes That Describe Almost Any Wedding Anne had to leave the noontime show It's Showtime for a while but got back as soon as she can. The actress' fans and followers flooded the comment section of the posted picture with well wishes and prayers. PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data! Anne Curtis is considered as one of the most prominent celebrities in the Philippines. Year 2018 was a blast for her since she starred in three movies including Sid & Aya, Buybust, and Aurora. POPULAR: Read more about Anne Curtis here Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! It Doesn't Matter What She Wears | HumanMeter Human Meter decided reenact to show very common situations where women are being disrespected in public because of their choice of clothes. Find out more in this video Source: Kami.com.ph Chinese development agency to aid 15 northern Nepali districts The Nepal government has permitted the China International Development Cooperation Agency to provide development assistance and create capitals in 15 northern districts of Nepal to meet their developmental needs The 15 districts share a common border with Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region. Overstaying foreigners in Pokhara booked Police have arrested a German national who has been living illegally in Pokhara for the last 10 years. Luzifer Pless, who was arrested from Lakeside a few days earlier, was on Wednesday sent to the Department of Immigration (DoI). SEE students stage protests in several spots in Province 2 Secondary Education Examination (SEE) students resorted to violent protests in several central Tarai districts of Province 2 on Saturday to protest the governments decision to suspend the remaining exams. . Google. Blogger Sunday, March 31, 2019 In litigation involving the conduct of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed a decision dismissing a suit against former Disciplinary Counsel. The defendant was the chief disciplinary counsel for the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel. The plaintiff was terminated from her position as a staff attorney for the Office of the Probate Court Administrator following a disciplinary proceeding conducted pursuant to the Connecticut Judicial Branch Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual Policy 612, titled Corrective Discipline. While the proceeding was pending, the Probate Court Administrator notified the defendant of the matter. The defendant then assigned an assistant chief disciplinary counsel to investigate the matter. Thereafter, the defendant initiated grievance proceedings against the plaintiff. A reviewing committee issued a reprimand to the plaintiff. The Statewide Grievance Committee (committee) and the Superior Court affirmed the reprimand. Plaintiff took the offensive During the pendency of the grievance proceeding, the plaintiff filed her own grievance complaint against the defendant. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants decision to file a grievance violated several sections of the Practice Book, the duties and responsibilities of her office, and the publics trust . . . . In response, the defendant contended that the plaintiffs grievance complaint was without merit. The grievance panel found no probable cause and dismissed the complaint against the defendant. And sued for defamation The issue presented is whether the court erred in concluding that the litigation privilege extends absolute immunity to statements made to the attorney disciplinary authority by an attorney who is the subject of a grievance complaint. Connecticut recognizes the litigation privilege The plaintiff, however, contends that the litigation privilege does not extend absolute immunity to statements made to a disciplinary authority by an attorney who is the subject of the grievance complaint or disciplinary investigation. Nope We note that [the] Field [decision relied on by plaintiff] held not only that statements made in a grievance proceeding were shielded by absolute immunity, but also that the act of filing a grievance was protected... Our conclusions in Tyler and in Field dispose of the plaintiffs claims. The Journal Inquirer covered the initial firing. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/03/in-litigation-involving-the-office-of-disciplinary-counsel-the-connecticut-appellate-court-affirmed-the-defendant-was-the-c.html Sunday, March 31, 2019 The Connecticut Appellate Court reversed a finding of misconduct against an attorney in a complaint brought by a pro se opposing party The plaintiff, Debra B. Marino, an attorney, appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing her appeal from the sanctions imposed by the reviewing committee of the defendant, the Statewide Grievance Committee, for violating rule 4.4 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.1 The plaintiff claims that the court improperly upheld the defendants conclusion that the motion for a capias that she filed while representing a client in a family proceeding had no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden the complainant, Melissa Mathison. We agree with the plaintiff and reverse the judgment of the trial court. The attorney represented the husband in post-dissolution proceedings with a pro se ex-spouse who filed the bar complaint The discovery process in connection with the complainants motion for modification had been somewhat prolonged and engendered communications between the plaintiff and the complainant that were sometimes strained. They exchanged a series of e-mails that addressed the issue of conducting a deposition of the complainant prior to the scheduled August hearing. The attorney filed for a capias and was unaware that the complainant had filed for a protective order. Finding of misconduct below The [plaintiffs] filing of the [m]otion for a [c]apias on the day of the deposition, with a [m]otion for [p]rotective [o]rder and an objection pending, had no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden the [c]omplainant, in violation of [r]ule 4.4 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The [c]omplainant had advised the [plaintiff] that she was unable to appear for the July 7, 2015 deposition and that she would be filing an objection. The [plaintiff] did not check to see whether a [m]otion for [p]rotective [o]rder had in fact been filed before filing the [m]otion for a [c]apias. After concluding that the plaintiff was in violation of rule 4.4 (a), the reviewing committee set forth sanctions to be imposed. On appeal the principal issue in this appeal is whether there is clear and convincing evidence in the record for the defendant to find that the plaintiff violated rule 4.4 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Answer: no. we conclude that the courts decision that the defendant properly concluded that the plaintiff violated rule 4.4 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct is not based on clear and convincing evidence. The conclusory statement that the defendant demonstrated such a violation by clear and convincing evidence is belied by the dearth of proof in the record... Rule 4.4 (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct should be applied cautiously in light of its potential for chilling legitimate but difficult advocacy. Id. Danger exists that courts or disciplinary authorities might punish conduct as unethical that is the result of a simple mistake on the part of counsel, perceiving such conduct as deliberate indifference to the Rules of Professional Conduct. See id., 62021. In the present case, the plaintiff filed a motion for a capias and stated that no objection or motion to quash had been filed. She was mistaken; there was no clear and convincing proof to the contrary. Moreover, there was no clear and convincing proof that she filed the motion for no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden the complainant. Accordingly, because the evidence in the record does not support the courts determination, we order that the sanctions be vacated. As to complainant's pro se status We note that rule 4.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct does not impose additional obligations on an attorney when dealing with a self-represented party. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/03/the-connecticut-appellate-court-reversed-a-finding-of-misconduct-the-plaintiff-debra-b-marino-an-attorney-appeals-from-t.html Friday, March 29, 2019 As the Washington Post details, the end of the Mueller investigation is far from the end of law enforcement actions relating to President Trump. Among those investigations are several tied to nonprofit organizations, specifically the continuing litigation in New York relating to the Trump Foundation and investigations into the President's inaugural committee. Turning first to the inaugural committee, in late February the District of Columbia Attorney General's office subpoenaed the committee for documents relating to its finances according to several media reports (CNN; NY Times; Politico; Wall Street Journal; Washington Post). This followed subpoenas on the same topic from the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the South District of New York, both earlier that month. The latter subpoena identified a number of possible federal crimes under investigation, including conspiracy against the United States, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and accepting contributions from foreign nations and straw donors. The DC and NJ subpoenas are more focused on nonprofit-related matters, such as possible private benefit and whether the committee complied with laws relating to soliciting contributions. As for the Trump Foundation litigation in New York, Courthouse News Service reports that New York Attorney General Letitia James requested judgment against the Foundation, Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric F. Trump for $2.8 million in restitution and $5.6 million in penalties, as well as injunctive relief. The filing, technically a Reply Memorandum of Law in Further Support of the Verified Petition, argues that the evidence provided by the Attorney General has not been challenged by the respondents or countered by any admissible evidence provided by them, and that it demonstrates breach of fiduciary duties, wasting of charitable assets, and improper use of the foundation for political purposes. Hat tip: Nonprofit Quarterly. Lloyd Mayer https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nonprofit/2019/03/now-with-the-muller-report-done-we-can-get-to-the-important-trump-related-investigations.html College student Grace DeNoya is used to people laughing when they learn what she is studying. Her degree centers on the marijuana plant -- an intoxicating drug that is illegal in many parts of the world. I say, No, its a serious degree, a chemistry degree first and foremost. Its hard work. Organic chemistry is a bear, the 27 year old told the Associated Press. DeNoya is one of the first students in a new four-year degree program in medicinal plant chemistry at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. The school, known as NMU, is one of an increasing number of colleges and universities that are preparing graduates for careers growing, researching and selling the plants. Schools are answering changes related to the legalization of marijuana in the United States. It is legal for medical purposes in 33 states, and for non-medical use in 10. Lawmakers in other states are considering making marijuana legal. At the same time, industries supporting legal marijuana are expanding across North America. As a result, research shows the future is bright for all kinds of careers in cannabis the family of plants that includes marijuana and its non-drug relative, hemp. Jobs include growers and store operators, and even producers of cannabis-based foods. People can also work as sales specialists, laboratory directors and pharmaceutical researchers. Arcview Market Research reports on the cannabis industry. The organization estimates the industry will support 467,000 jobs by 2022. A fast track to the cannabis industry Brandon Canfield is a chemistry professor at NMU, where Grace DeNoya goes to school. Two years ago, he proposed a new degree program in medicinal plant chemistry. The idea came after he attended a cannabis industry conference. There, industry representatives spoke of an urgent need for chemists to produce quality tests for cannabis products. Were providing a fast track to get into the industry, said Canfield. NMUs four-year degree is the closest thing to a degree in marijuana at an accredited university in the United States. It has drawn nearly 300 students from 48 states, Canfield said. Students will not grow marijuana, which Michigan voters only recently legalized for non-medical use. But Canfield said students will learn to measure and produce medicinal substances from plants such as St. Johns Wort and ginseng. They can then use that knowledge with marijuana. A similar program is being launched at Minot State University in North Dakota this spring. The college said students will learn laboratory skills related to medical marijuana. NMU professor Brandon Canfield noted that students who study marijuana could find jobs paying $70,000 right out of school. Those wishing to start their own businesses can add classes in accounting, legal issues and marketing. I came in planning to maybe go work in a [laboratory], said Grace DeNoya. She noted she was first considering nursing school when she heard about the NMU program. I just switched to the entrepreneurial track. I figured that would better position me, as the industry is still expanding and changing and growing so much. Other schools are getting in on the action Colleges are creating many different offerings to answer the expected growth in cannabis-related jobs. Colorado State University offers a cannabis studies program centering on social, legal, political and health effects. Ohio State University, Harvard, the University of Denver and Vanderbilt University offer classes on marijuana policy and law. The University of California Los Angeles has launched a Cannabis Research Initiative. The school claims it is one of the first academic programs in the world centering on the study of cannabis. Researchers there are currently looking at issues such as medical treatments and economic effects. Agricultural schools are also getting in on the action. The University of Connecticut is launching a cannabis growing program this spring. Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins is an assistant professor at the State University of New York in Morrisville. The central New York school is launching a new program in cannabis studies this year. Students work with hemp and other plants rather than marijuana. But they can do internships at medical marijuana companies, Jenkins said. Colton Welch is an agriculture business student going through Morrisvilles cannabis program. He points out how many uses the plant has. I see a lot more farmers reaching out and trying to find people who know about this new crop, he said. New York legislators are moving to legalize non-medical use of marijuana. The states first legal hemp production was collected in 2016 under a Morrisville research permit, which gave rise to the new cannabis program. Karson Humiston is the head of Vangst, an employment agency specializing in cannabis jobs. She said the future looks good for students in this area. More jobs are being created in this space than in any other space in North America, with salaries sometimes more competitive than other industries, Humiston said. With every new state that legalizes, tons of jobs are opening up. Im Dorothy Gundy. And Im Pete Musto. Mary Esch reported on this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. How common is cannabis research at colleges and universities in your country? Write to us in the Comments Section. _________________________________________________________________ Quiz - More US Colleges Adding Marijuana to Their Study Programs Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story intoxicating adj. causing someone to be unable to think and behave normally degree n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university graduate(s) n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university pharmaceutical adj. of or relating to the production and sale of drugs and medicine fast track n. a process or way of proceeding that produces a desired result quickly accredited adj. proven good enough to be given official approval entrepreneurial adj. of or relating to starting a business and being willing to risk loss in order to make money academic adj. of or relating to schools and education internship(s) n. a position as a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time at a job in order to get experience salaries n. amount of money that employees are paid each year Precious is 26-years-old and 16 weeks pregnant. She asked VOA to call her by that name to protect her identity. Her best friend is also pregnant by the same man a man Precious once considered her boyfriend. This information led her to the difficult decision to seek an abortion. Precious lives in South Africa, where such operations are legal. A woman can ask a health care worker to perform an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The woman is not required to provide a reason for the operation. After 12 weeks, she must state a reason and a doctor must be present. But when Precious tried to end the pregnancy in her home city of Johannesburg, she had a problem. When I went to register my name, I simply said, I want to do an abortion, and then they said, No, she told VOA. And there were two nurses there andone said, no, you have to go back to your place and do it there. Then we had a disagreement there, as, like, Im being against God, Precious said. Reproductive health activists say an experience like hers is fairly common. They say that is why 10,000 South African women every year have illegal abortions from unqualified providers. South African health officials estimated that as many as 25 percent of all maternal deaths are from infectious miscarriages caused by illegal abortions. More than half of all abortions in the country are performed by unregistered providers. Yet all government hospitals offer the operation for free. Precious was fearful that her neighbors would learn she had an abortion. So she chose to travel to the town of Rustenburg, where aid agency Doctors Without Borders operates a medical center that performs abortions for free. 'We give women a choice' Whitney Chinogwenya works at Marie Stopes, one of South Africas best-known private abortion providers. She says the company recently launched a campaign to reduce the stigma around abortion. When a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy, theyre going to terminate the pregnancy, she told VOA from the companys office in Johannesburg. She added that South Africa offers safe, legal and free abortions, but few women know that abortion is legal. They think they must go to an illegal provider. Medical experts told VOA many stories of poor medical care, including giving patients the wrong medication. 'Somebody has to do it' Nurse Kgaladi Mphahlele is the head of the Doctors Without Borders project in Rustenburg. He says demand for the groups services is high. He estimates he performs as many as 100 first-trimester abortions each month. He sees women from as far away as Botswana, where abortion is illegal. He says he is proud of his decision to perform abortions. I look back, why did I get myself into this profession? he said. He also said his friends and family support his decision. Nurse Christa Tsomele has been performing abortions for 10 years. She is also satisfied with her work. She says she thinks some of her coworkers are adding to the stigma of abortion. If you cant help a patient as a nurse dont just tell her, no, I cant do that, or I cant help you, and leave the patient, she said. She added that patients should be told where to go to get an abortion. She also says she does not care if people agree with her work. Abortion is legal and she is saving lives, she says. Im Susan Shand. VOAs Anita Powell reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story nurse n. someone who cares for the sick maternal adj. of a mother miscarriage n. the ending of pregnancy naturally stigma n. something that is thought of as very bad trimester n. a three-month period in a womans pregnancy proud adj. feeling extremely pleased profession n. a job or occupation Family of Sunita Yadav claim she was beaten to death by in-laws for not bringing enough dowry Family of Sunita Yadav, who died while undergoing treatment in Kathmandu, have claimed that she died of assault injuries inflicted by her husband and in-laws for not bringing enough dowry. Teaching the teachers Improvement in education not possible without enriching teachers skills 1. Yes. Patrol cars in the lot and armed officers inside would deter would-be criminals. 2. Yes. Police should announce their plans and be highly visible during store hours. 3. No. The citys police officers have other obligations. More private security is the answer. 4. No. Perhaps, but installing more surveillance cameras would be a better deterrent. 5. Unsure. More police might help, but it could also stretch KPDs resources too thin. Vote View Results Introducing The Main Index There are now over 43,000 individual posts here on A Light In The Darkness. They have all been individually added into Main Index categories. To get the full experience out of A Light In The Darkness and its very extensive library of items, covering virtually all things paranormal, supernatural etc ... we recommend that you flick down the Main Index, which runs down the right hand side of the blog page ... to find the indexed category in which the subject matter you seek is located. Alternatively, why not use long search bar you will find towards the top of the blog page ... ENJOY Chinese doctors spray chemicals to prevent the spread of cholera at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) As Mozambique battles to control a fast-spreading cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit central city of Beira, international assistance is arriving. The number of cholera cases jumped to 271 over the weekend although no deaths from the disease had been reported. More than 500 people have died in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai , which slammed into Beira more than two weeks ago, according to government officials. Another 259 people died in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, bring the three-nation total to more than 815. Authorities warn the tolls are preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. The Chinese government has sent doctors to fight the cholera outbreak in Beira and on Sunday Chinese aid workers sprayed anti-cholera disinfectant in parts of the port city of 500,000. The World Health Organization has said some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses are expected to arrive on Monday, with a vaccination campaign to start later this week. "You know we came from China and our government cares very much about the situation in Beira here in Mozambique. And China has a good relationship with Africa, so the China government sent medical doctors to come and give some treatment," said Wang Shenguin, spokesman for the Chinese doctors. A baby plays with water in a bucket at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) The U.S. army joined the international humanitarian aid efforts to Mozambique by airlifting food and relief supplies from South Africa. The first round-the-clock flights to deliver supplies from the U.N. World Food Program started Saturday and continued Sunday from King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, said Robert Mearkle, U.S. embassy spokesman. He said the commodities airlifted from Durban were from the World Food Program's internal stock. "Separately from these shipments, the United States has provided nearly $3.4 million in additional funding for the World Food Program to deliver approximately 2,500 metric tons of rice, peas, and vegetable oil to affected people in Sofala, Zambezia, and Manica provinces," said Mearkle. "This lifesaving emergency food assistance will support approximately 160,000 people for one month." A woman fetches water from an unprotected source in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) The U.S. government has provided nearly $7.3m in humanitarian assistance to help people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi who have been affected by Cyclone Idai, including more than $6.5 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Mearkle. The cholera outbreak in Beira started on Wednesday with five cases of the acute diarrheal disease confirmed by national health director Ussein Isse. The number of cases jumped to 271 over the weekend. Beira's crowded, poor neighborhoods are at particular risk. Children and other patients curled up on bare beds at a treatment center in Beira, some with anxious parents by their side. They had intravenous drips to help replace fluids. Doctors Without Borders has said it is seeing some 200 likely cholera cases per day in the city, where relief workers are hurrying to restore the damaged water system and bring in additional medical assistance. A World Food Programme(WFP) plane takes off from Beira International Airport after dropping off supplies for survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water and can kill within hours if not treated. The disease is a major concern for the hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in the southern African nation now living in squalid conditions in camps, schools or damaged homes. Some drink from contaminated wells or filthy, stagnant water. As health responders stress the need for better disease surveillance, the United Nations' deputy humanitarian coordinator in Mozambique, Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, has said all cases of diarrhea are being treated as though they are cholera. Cholera is endemic to the region, and "it breaks out fast and it travels extremely fast," he told reporters. Doctors Without Borders has said other suspected cholera cases have been reported outside Beira in the badly hit areas of Buzi, Tica and Nhamathanda but the chance of spread in rural areas is smaller because people are more dispersed. A mother bathes her baby in a bucket at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Mozambican officials have said Cyclone Idai destroyed more than 50 health centers in the region, complicating response efforts. The United Nations has said some 1.8 million people need urgent help across the sodden, largely rural region. A young girl gives a banana to a tamed baboon on the outskirts of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A woman fetches water from an unprotected source in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Women and men pick up bricks from a collapsed house to build another structure in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A woman picks up bricks from a collapsed house to build another structure in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A woman fetches water from an unprotected source in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A young girl diagnosed with cholera is checked by a doctor at a treatment centre in Beira, Mozambique, Saturday, March 30, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said, a figure that nearly doubled from the previous day. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) A health worker walks through a ward at a cholera treatment centre in Beira, Mozambique, Saturday, March 30, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said, a figure that nearly doubled from the previous day. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Explore further Mozambique says cholera cases up to 271 in cyclone-hit city 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. " " You can claim your children living with you as dependents ... but not your unrelated neighbor's. Purestock/ThinkStock How different would our tax returns look if we could claim someone as a dependent if they were an obnoxiously needy friend or a partner who fretted about a hypothetical abandonment? Maybe we could claim ourselves, if we realized we were starting to engage in patterns of behavior that sought care-giving and constant reassurance. Too bad for us that the Internal Revenue Service has a far different idea of how one must qualify as a dependent on a tax return. Predictably, it deals more with finances than with feelings. And don't think that being called a dependent means you're free from paying your own bills to Uncle Sam. As you'll see, "dependency" has a strict definition in the IRS, and it doesn't mean that your money is protected. Advertisement There are two ways that someone can claim you as a dependent. The first is to be a qualifying child. You can't just be any kid under the age of 18, mind you. You have to be a biological, adopted, foster or stepchild, or a sibling or half-sibling of the filer. A dependent must be under the age of 19, or up to 24 if you're a full-time student. You have to live with the filer half the year, and nobody else can claim you as his or her dependent. You also must depend on the filer for at least half your financial support. If you're trying to qualify as a dependent as a relative of the filer, things are a little trickier. You can't make more than $3,950 a year in gross income, and you also need to rely on the filer for more than half your financial support. More significantly, you probably have to live with your relative year-round, unless you meet some specific requirements. In each case, don't think you're going to do your brother, your neighbor and your postal carrier a favor by inviting them to call you a dependent on their tax returns. One strict clause in the tax law says that you can only be claimed as a dependent on one tax return. This is even true in the case of children of divorced parents. It's important to remember that just because someone claims you as a dependent doesn't mean that you don't have to file taxes yourself if you're making money. Even children need to file returns for earned and unearned income over a certain limit. And it might be a good thing -- you could even find yourself getting a refund. By Park Hyong-ki KEB Hana Bank has forged a strategic alliance with Netherlands-based Arena Aviation Capital in commercial aircraft leasing and financing, the bank said Sunday. Under the partnership, KEB Hana will be able to introduce new airplanes for lease and management here through Arena Aviation, an aircraft investment management service provider. They said they have made a deal to launch aircraft leasing programs worth $1 billion, the bank added. Also, KEB Hana Bank will invest in shares of Arena Aviation and become one of the latter's shareholders this year. The lender did not specify how much Arena shares it will acquire. The two companies will seek to enter Japan's aircraft investment management market through KEB Hana's Tokyo branch. Established in 2013, Arena Aviation was founded by CEO and Managing Director Patrick Den Elzen and his partners, who have more than 20 years of experience in aviation leading and management. Den Elzen was a former chief trading officer of AerCap, Ireland-based aircraft leasing company. Arena Aviation has leased and managed 60 commercial jets, while KEB Hana has sealed 25 deals in aviation leasing since the bank started the business about three years ago, the bank noted. Arena's clients include Air Asia, Jet Airways and Volaris. "With the partnership, KEB Hana Bank will continue to seek opportunities in aircraft leasing abroad, and diversify our business portfolio," KEB Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyoo said in a press statement. To this end, the two companies will run joint marketing campaigns to promote their business via aviation forums both domestically and abroad, it added. Eskom employees engineered load-shedding to sign emergency contracts to benefit coal suppliers to the tune of R14.5 trillion. This is according to the City Press, which cited a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report which was handed to former president Jacob Zuma in 2017, but never officially released. According to the news report, Eskom was behind the self-created emergency which partly resulted in the first bout of load-shedding in 2008. The load-shedding was aimed at signing numerous long-term coal contracts which were handed out without proper tender processes. The latest report follows a Rand Daily Mail article in 2017 that stated the 2008 blackouts, which cost South Africa around R300 billion, were engineered to benefit favoured companies. The Rand Daily Mail also cited a 2015 report by law firm Dentons which said senior Eskom executives benefitted from contracts and had paid up to 200% more than necessary for coal. New coal procurement contracts desperately needed Energy expert Ted Blom, who predicted the current Eskom meltdown in 2013, said the current coal shortages at the power utility are going to last for at least another five years. Blom said Eskoms coal problems are self-inflicted and are a result of inaction from Eskom management. He said he compiled a report with Eskom engineers in 2007 which warned the utility that it needed to intervene to ensure it does not run out of coal. The Eskom CEO at the time undertook to open 40 new coal mines, but to date not a single one has been opened. Blom also criticized the way coal procurement is currently done, saying new long-term coal procurement contracts needs to be signed urgently. At all costs In more Eskom news, the City Press has quoted the DA as stating that Eskom has been instructed by the ANC to keep the lights on by any means possible in the build-up to the national elections on 8 May. This includes buying diesel at all costs to ensure the power stays on in Gauteng and the province is not lost to the DA. Blom previously said Eskom ran diesel generators flat-out to prevent load-shedding over the Christmas period. This, Blom said, was to ensure that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhans promise of no load-shedding over the festive season was honoured. Eskom therefore depleted all its diesel reserves, which should be used as a backup in case of emergencies. Now read: Eskom crisis and blackouts will get worse There were three nuclear waste leaks at the Koeberg nuclear power station in 2014 and 2015, but the radiation levels were not high enough to inform the public about the leaks. This emerged from answers in parliament by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe posed to him by the Freedom Front Plus Corne Mulder. Eskom has now provided further details about the leaks to address speculation about security problems at the nuclear power station. The power utility said in a press statement on 31 March that both power generation units at Koeberg are running safely and are adding 1,960MW into the power grid. Nuclear waste leaks at Koeberg Koeberg general manager Velaphi Ntuli provided further details about the nuclear waste leaks. In May 2014 and October 2015 small quantities of water with very low radiation levels was released to the ocean without adequate monitoring as a result of defective equipment. In the November 2015 event, a small quantity of air was released from the containment building directly to the atmosphere without going through the monitored path. In all these events the radiation activity levels were determined to be very low and well within the regulatory requirements, said Ntuli. These incidents, while negligible, were duly reported to the National Nuclear Regulation (NNR), in line with the licence requirements. Full investigation Ntuli added that Eskoms nuclear oversight committee conducted a thorough investigation to understand the impact of the three events even though these were below regulatory levels. The committee found that there was no risk to members of the public, staff, or the environment. South Africans can rest assured that there are no radioactive waste leaks at Koeberg, said Ntuli. He explained that the Koeberg power station hosts quarterly Public Safety Information Forum (PSIF) meetings where members of the public are given detailed feedback about the stations safety and performance. We invite those interested in learning about nuclear safety and how a nuclear power plant is run to attend these sessions, schedule a visit to our visitors centre or browse the Eskom website to get facts around nuclear, said Ntuli. While it may serve a small niche in South Africa, Dell has been offering laptops that run Ubuntu Linux for years. This is according to Chris Buchanan, client solutions director at Dell EMC in South Africa. Dell and Canonical recently announced the new version of the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition laptop, offering up to 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSB. Since then, a 2TB version has become available. Like other Developer Edition variants of the Dell XPS 13, the 2018 model comes with Ubuntu Linux rather than Windows. At the time, the latest long-term support release: Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver. Linux in South Africa We offer Ubuntu version 18.04 on the XPS, and version 16.04 on our Latitude laptops, Buchanan told MyBroadband. Despite the fact that these laptops serve a small demand, Dell continues to offer them in South Africa. You can order today, he said. Buchanan said that many computer users still consider Linux as a technical operating system, however, and perhaps dont understand it. Linux performs a range of tasks better than Windows, though, including the package management features it offers. Additionally, while Windows and MacOS offer some level of customisation, on Linux there are several desktop environments for you to choose from. The key specifications of the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (2018) are summarised in the table below. Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Component Lowest Spec Highest Spec Display 13.3-inch FHD Infinity Edge 13.3-inch 4K UHD Infinity Edge Touchscreen CPU Intel Core i5-8145U (up to 3.9GHz) Intel Core i7-8565U (up to 4.6GHz) RAM 4GB LPDDR3 16GB LPDDR3 Storage 128GB PCIe SSD 2TB PCIe SSD OS Ubuntu 18.04 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620 Networking Killer 1435 802.11ac 22, Bluetooth 4.1 Ports 2 Thunderbolt 3, 1 USB Type C 3.1, 3.5mm Jack, Wedge Lock, MicroSD Size 302 199 11.6 mm Weight 1.23kg Battery 52Whr 4C Now read: What happened with Linux in 2018 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has proposed four ideas to regulate the Internet in a online statement. He said that Facebook has immense responsibilities due to its dominance online, but governments and regulators need to play a more active role in setting rules. By updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve whats best about it while also protecting society from broader harms, said Zuckerberg. He added that new regulations are needed in four areas. Harmful content It must first be defined what is terrorist propaganda, hate speech, and more, and then block it, he said. An independent body will then hear appeals against decisions by Facebook to ban content. Internet companies should be accountable for enforcing standards on harmful content, he said, adding that a third party must ensure all content sharing platforms adhere to the set rules. Election integrity Legislation is needed to protect elections, and advertisers must verify their identities before purchasing political ads. We believe legislation should be updated to reflect the reality of the threats and set standards for the whole industry. Privacy Zuckerberg said that effective privacy and data protection needs a globally harmonized framework. People around the world have called for comprehensive privacy regulation in line with the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, and I agree. It should protect your right to choose how your information is used. Data portability Finally, regulation should guarantee the principle of data portability. If you share data with one service, you should be able to move it to another. This gives people choice and enables developers to innovate and compete, said Zuckerberg. He stated that this is important for the Internet, that a common standard is needed, and initiatives such as the Data Transfer Project must be supported. Full statement The full statement from Zuckerberg can be seen below. Technology is a major part of our lives, and companies such as Facebook have immense responsibilities. Every day we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks. These are important for keeping our community safe. But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldnt ask companies to make these judgments alone. I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators. By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve whats best about it the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things while also protecting society from broader harms. From what Ive learned, I believe we need new regulation in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. First, harmful content. Facebook gives everyone a way to use their voice, and that creates real benefits from sharing experiences to growing movements. As part of this, we have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services. That means deciding what counts as terrorist propaganda, hate speech and more. We continually review our policies with experts, but at our scale well always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with. Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree. Ive come to believe that we shouldnt make so many important decisions about speech on our own. So were creating an independent body so people can appeal our decisions. Were also working with governments, including French officials, on ensuring the effectiveness of content review systems. Internet companies should be accountable for enforcing standards on harmful content. Its impossible to remove all harmful content from the internet, but when people use dozens of different sharing services all with their own policies and processes we need a more standardized approach. One idea is for third-party bodies to set standards governing the distribution of harmful content and measure companies against those standards. Regulation could set baselines for whats prohibited and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum. Facebook already publishes transparency reports on how effectively were removing harmful content. I believe every major internet service should do this quarterly, because its just as important as financial reporting. Once we understand the prevalence of harmful content, we can see which companies are improving and where we should set the baselines. Second, legislation is important for protecting elections. Facebook has already made significant changes around political ads: Advertisers in many countries must verify their identities before purchasing political ads. We built a searchable archive that shows who pays for ads, what other ads they ran and what audiences saw the ads. However, deciding whether an ad is political isnt always straightforward. Our systems would be more effective if regulation created common standards for verifying political actors. Online political advertising laws primarily focus on candidates and elections, rather than divisive political issues where weve seen more attempted interference. Some laws only apply during elections, although information campaigns are nonstop. And there are also important questions about how political campaigns use data and targeting. We believe legislation should be updated to reflect the reality of the threats and set standards for the whole industry. Third, effective privacy and data protection needs a globally harmonized framework. People around the world have called for comprehensive privacy regulation in line with the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, and I agree. I believe it would be good for the internet if more countries adopted regulation such as GDPR as a common framework. New privacy regulation in the United States and around the world should build on the protections GDPR provides. It should protect your right to choose how your information is used while enabling companies to use information for safety purposes and to provide services. It shouldnt require data to be stored locally, which would make it more vulnerable to unwarranted access. And it should establish a way to hold companies such as Facebook accountable by imposing sanctions when we make mistakes. I also believe a common global framework rather than regulation that varies significantly by country and state will ensure that the internet does not get fractured, entrepreneurs can build products that serve everyone, and everyone gets the same protections. As lawmakers adopt new privacy regulations, I hope they can help answer some of the questions GDPR leaves open. We need clear rules on when information can be used to serve the public interest and how it should apply to new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Finally, regulation should guarantee the principle of data portability. If you share data with one service, you should be able to move it to another. This gives people choice and enables developers to innovate and compete. This is important for the internet and for creating services people want. Its why we built our development platform. True data portability should look more like the way people use our platform to sign into an app than the existing ways you can download an archive of your information. But this requires clear rules about whos responsible for protecting information when it moves between services. This also needs common standards, which is why we support a standard data transfer format and the open source Data Transfer Project. I believe Facebook has a responsibility to help address these issues, and Im looking forward to discussing them with lawmakers around the world. Weve built advanced systems for finding harmful content, stopping election interference and making ads more transparent. But people shouldnt have to rely on individual companies addressing these issues by themselves. We should have a broader debate about what we want as a society and how regulation can help. These four areas are important, but, of course, theres more to discuss. The rules governing the internet allowed a generation of entrepreneurs to build services that changed the world and created a lot of value in peoples lives. Its time to update these rules to define clear responsibilities for people, companies and governments going forward. Now read: ANC is worse now than under Jacob Zuma The number of Napa County homes sold in February declined 15.1 percent year-over-year from 93 to 79 matching a Bay Area-wide trend, reported data source CoreLogic. At the same time, the median price of a Napa home dipped slightly from $600,000 to $590,000 while the median price paid for all homes sold in the San Francisco Bay Area rose 2.7 percent. Some would-be buyers are back into home-shopping mode, said Andrew LePage, a CoreLogic analyst. This includes people who stepped to the sidelines last year either because they had been priced out by higher rates and prices or because they felt the housing market was near a peak and it could pay to wait. A total of 4,354 new and existing houses and condominiums were sold in Napa, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma counties in February 2019, according to CoreLogic. This number is up 12.9 percent month over month from 3,855 sales in January 2019, and down 12.8 percent year over year from 4,993 sales in February 2018. Total February 2019 home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area were the lowest for that month in 11 years, since 3,989 homes were sold in February 2008. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis the past nine consecutive months. Since 1988, the average change in San Francisco Bay Area home sales between January and February is a gain of 3.1 percent. February sales have ranged from a low of 3,989 in 2008, to a high of 8,901 in 2002. February 2019 sales were 27.5 percent below the February average of 6,008. In February 2019, sales of newly built homes (detached houses and condos combined) were 43.9 percent below the months historical average, while resales were 25.3 percent below the months average. Ignoring the 2003-2006 housing boom that was fueled by risky home loans, February 2019 resales were 22 percent below the long-term average for the month. For the third month in a row, Bay Area home sales were at an 11-year low for that month, said LePage. However, the year-over-year decline in sales has ratcheted down the past two months, from a nearly 22 percent annual drop last December to a decline of just under 13 percent last month, said LePage. The lessening of the declines likely reflects, among other things, a significant drop in mortgage rates since they hit a seven-year high last November, as well as more listings compared with early last year and an improving stock market in early 2019. The median price paid for all homes sold in the San Francisco Bay Area in February 2019 was $770,000, up 5.5 percent from $730,000 in January 2019 and up 2.7 percent from $750,000 in February 2018. The annual gain for the February 2019 median marked the second lowest increase behind Januarys 2.2 percent gain since the median rose 1.3 percent in January 2017. On a year-over-year basis, the median sale price has risen for 83 consecutive months (since April 2012). Those gains have been in the single digits each month since September 2018. Both May and June 2018 had the highest ever median sale price: $875,000. Last months 2.7 percent annual increase in the regional median sale price was the second lowest in two years, behind a 2.2 percent gain this January, LePage said. The lower gains, which compare with a nearly 13 percent increase in the median in February 2018, reflect a much slower sales pace, higher inventory and a psychological shift among some would-be buyers who feel less of a sense of urgency, said LePage. Four of the regions nine counties Napa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Sonoma posted year-over-year declines in their median sale prices last month. Those declines likely reflect a combination of a slower market and a rise in buyers negotiating power, as well as changes in market mix in some areas, where sales in higher-end communities represent a lower share of all activity. Home sales of $500,000 or more accounted for 76 percent of all sales in February 2019, up from 73.7 percent in January 2019 and up from 74.8 percent in February 2018, reported CoreLogic. The Smithsonians National Zoo in Washington is home to hundreds of types of animals on exhibit for visitors to see. But less than 100 miles away, members of 20 species live, out of public view, with scientists and researchers in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Its like a college campus, but for wild animals. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is a research and breeding center in Front Royal, Virginia. Scientists who live on site play an important role in studying, breeding and training members of endangered species or species already extinct in the wild. Devin Murphy, a communications specialist for the Smithsonian, said the property was bought in the mid-1970s because its 3,200 acres provided ample space for animals to roam. KidsPost recently got an exclusive look inside the institute and an opportunity to learn about a few of the species living there. What looks like a simple, red brick building is a facility dedicated to fast-running flightless birds. Guam rails are extinct in the wild and havent been seen on Guam, an island U.S. territory in the Western Pacific Ocean, for more than 20 years. There are 12 of them in gated indoor spaces with shrubs and trees. Conservationists want to establish a sustainable population of Guam rails on the island, but theyre not in a hurry. Guam rails are secretive and territorial, making them sometimes difficult to breed. A resident 3-year-old Guam rail, Tasi, is actually quite sociable. But he was hand-raised by his keeper, Erica Royer, and when she let him out of his enclosure, he followed a KidsPost reporter everywhere. Because he is used to human contact, he wouldnt do well in the wild. His purpose is purely for education as an ambassador for his species, Royer said. At the facility, other rails are paired to breed and produce eggs. As with a lot of species, the younger you release them in the wild the better off they are. From when they hatch, we keep them for at least six months, Royer said. Guam is not ready for the birds to come back. The island has about 1 million to 2 million brown tree snakes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to get rid of. Snakes reached Guam aboard cargo ships after World War II and preyed on the flightless birds, leading to their extinction in the wild. For now, the birds are sent to a breeding center on Guam and then released on neighboring islands, Cocos and Rhoda, which are snake-free. Another endangered species studied at the Conservation Biology Institute, Przewalskis horse, is the only truly wild horse left in the world. These horses are found in the wild only in Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan. All of the 1,900 Przewalskis (pronounced sheh-VAHL-skees) horses alive today are descended from 14 founders. Dolores Reed, a supervisory biologist, takes care of six mares (female) and 10 stallions (male) at the site. The goal is not to release the horses at the institute. Researchers study how the animals interact. They share their observations and successes with breeding centers in China, hoping to help the efforts of those centers to reintroduce horses into the wild. They are very prehistoric in their behavior, compared to a domestic horse, Reed said. Theyre very herd-motivated. They dont like being by themselves. Using GPS technology makes it easier to track and study their movements and to understand how and when they socialize with other horses. You want to have your strongest, healthiest, genetically diverse population ... to hopefully move that species back into the wild, said Mel Songer, a research ecologist for the Smithsonian. One of the reasons that specialized breeding facilities get better results is that theyre quiet. The institute has a gated community of 30 cheetahs, and the noise of the National Zoos D.C. neighborhood would make the job of breeding them harder. Cheetahs are at risk of becoming extinct because of loss of habitat and because they are hunted by lions, leopards and humans. Cheetah biologist Adrienne Crosier said the goal of breeding programs is to keep the worldwide population stable. In the past 50 years, cheetahs have become extinct in at least 13 countries. Crosier is working with 56 other facilities in the country, sharing observations and breeding techniques. Cheetahs are renowned for their bursts of speed. But they also stand out in another way. Unlike other big cats, they do not roar. They have a unique vocal style called a stutter bark. They use it to locate their cubs or to signal their readiness to breed, a clue helpful to scientists. Cheetahs are pretty challenging to breed, Crosier said. Theres a lot of ... really subtle behaviors that are difficult for us to interpret. Weve had some cats that weve tried to breed and just were never successful to get them to breed. Those cats are not abandoned. They stay at the facility or are sent to zoos around the country. Scientists at the institute in Front Royal continue learning about the species studied there and how they can be protected in the long run, Murphy said. We never stop, she said. We are never expecting to end any program one day and be like, OK, were done. Wade Modisette is a local husband and father that seeks the best and most appropriate entertainment for his family. A movie connoisseur in his own mind, he seeks to educate his friends and community on quality choices for their family. Find more reviews and information at wadereviewsstuff.wordpress.com. The biggest issue facing the nations biggest public school system Californias, with 6 million students is a stubborn achievement gap. Thats the term educators use to describe persistent differences between what white and Asian students learn, as revealed by academic testing, and what Latino, black and poor students are getting from the public schools. The differentials eventually result in much higher rates of high school graduation and college attendance by the former, thus preparing them for success in an increasingly complex and technology-driven economy. Californias response to the gap has been to spend more money on what has been described as high needs students through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). It directs additional state aid to districts with large populations of those youngsters on the assumption that it will be spent to enrich their educations and thus close the gap. The LCFF was the brainchild of former Gov. Jerry Brown and his successor, Gavin Newsom, continues it in his first budget. However, so far, theres scant evidence that LCFF is having its intended effect and we cannot be certain that the extra money is even being spent on its intended beneficiaries. The controls over the extra money are weak and Brown resisted tighter monitoring, saying he trusted local school officials to do the right thing. This is no small matter because under the criteria governing LCFF outlays, about 60 percent of Californias kindergarten-12th grade students qualify by their poverty or lack of English skills for the extra help. If they continue to lag behind, not only will their individual futures be at risk, but the state will be deprived of the educated workforce that its economy needs. So is there something else that California needs to be doing to close the achievement gap? Newsom has embraced the concept that poor and English-learner students start school without the advantages that other kids have, so need a comprehensive array of pre-kindergarten services, from childcare to elementary instruction, that would level the academic playing field. Early childhood education has a strong constituency among professional educators, school unions and civic groups. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who was an early childhood education advocate before entering politics, has appointed a special commission to design a program and its issued a preliminary draft. Such a comprehensive program would be very expensive, and the draft does not contain a financial component, although the commission promises one will be in the final version. So would early childhood education finally turn the corner on closing the achievement gap? Studies about its efficacy disagree. Some indicate that while it has benefits during the first few years of elementary school, they tend to wear off and the achievement gap reopens as students move into middle and high schools. A new nationwide study, conducted by a team of academics and just published in Education Next, offers a cautionary tale about closing the gap. We find that the opportunity gap that is, the relationship between socioeconomic status and achievement has not grown over the past 50 years. But neither has it closed. Instead, the gap between the haves and have-nots has persisted, the team concluded. That doesnt necessarily mean that closing the gap is impossible, but it implies that we shouldnt be terribly optimistic that early childhood education will be any more successful than LCFF. 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. By night, the National Geographic Sea Bird had sailed north through the Magdalena Bay into the nursery of the gray whales. We were on a reconnaissance mission with Lindblad Expeditions, as the companys leader, Sven Lindblad, considered options for a new five-day voyage taking guests to explore the Magdalena Bay, where the gray whales pause in their 10,000-mile annual migration, where they mate, socialize and where the females return to give birth each winter. Thirty guests aboard the Sea Bird had been invited to be guinea pigs, and provide feedback. On our first day at sea, we had been out in the southern most portion of the bay, watching whales at play in the singles bar. The protected north is where the babies are born near the end of January, and where they stay with their mothers until the end of March or so, when they begin to head back up to the Arctic seas to feed all summer. After breakfast, we left the Sea Bird on Zodiacs, rubber boats not nearly as large as a baby whale, that are piloted by Mexican fisherman who have permits to take visitors out on excursions and who are adept at spotting signs that a whale is nearby. According to Dick Russel, author of Eye of the Whale, when Yankee whalers discovered the Baja lagoons in the 1850s, they found the calves particularly useful. They would harpoon a baby to bring its mother roaring to its defense and so they could get two whales. The mothers would defend their calves fiercely by ramming and smashing boats. They would fight like devils and hence were named devilfish. Within two decades, whalers had nearly wiped out the gray whales of Magdalena Bay. Some 200 years later, the gray whale mothers seem to have forgiven humans and the devilfish have become the friendly whales. Linda Burback, a naturalist on board our Zodiac, said how it is appears to work: The baby whales are the easiest to spot because, with smaller lungs, they come to the surface more often. If the mother says its OK, a baby will venture near the Zodiac and pop up its curious head for a viewing of humans. Seconds later, Mom, never too far away, surfaces. If she wants nothing to do with humans, she and the baby are gone in an instant. But if they stay, the babies are playful, they swim under Zodiacs, they ride on their mothers backs, and roll off them. And they will let humans pat them. The guides recommend vigorously splashing to call the whale closer to the Zodiac. Some of our viewers went a step further. Elisa Areanos Barillas, a conservationist from Guatemala, would lean far out into the sea, singing in Spanish. (It is their first language, after all.) When this didnt work, she switched to Frank Sinatra songs. I had sat next to Areanos Barillas on the flight from Los Angeles to Loreto, Mexico, and so had learned that she is an ardent defender of sharks. Her conservation group, based in Guatemala City, does outreach around the country and beyond to protect threatened oceans. They work with villages where the people have no electricity, no potable water, and fishermen feel they have no option but to hunt endangered sharks. Saving sharks starts with saving a village and helping children to get education to open up other ways to live. From one village, she said, a former shark fisherman has become one of her most persuasive volunteers. Areanos Barillas had shown us photos of her diving and swimming with sharks, so we knew she would come to no harm if she pitched headfirst into the sea, to swim with whales too, while singing My Way. It didnt happen, but she came close. Areanos Barillas was just one of the interesting people on board the Sea Bird. There was also Daniel Edward Novy from the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who works a story-telling project to bring the sea to people who live faraway from it and rarely see it. Eva Karina Ugarte, a lawyer from Paraguay now working in Mexico City for the Fondo Mexicano para la Conservation de la Naturaleza, whose 1,903 projects are spread throughout Mexico, including Baja. Flora Claire Moir, originally from New York, is in northern Mexico, working on a project to reintroduce bison who once roamed from Sonora north into Arizona, unplagued by borders.David English, an enthusiastic millennial from Boulder, Colo. works for Natural Habitat Adventures (nathab.com/), which has formed a collaboration with Lindblad. Another millennial, Sam Kattan, from Florida, was working on a project of telling stories via a drone. If the world is doomed, you would never have known it from the people on board. What they had in common was the ability to be rendered giddy by the chance to pat a whale. Back to the work of reconnaissance: As the Sea Bird turned to head south again to the port of San Carlos, there were excursions ashore. Did anyone want to try bike-riding on a beach with a special wide-wheel bicycle? Or kayaking in advance of the Sea Bird as it slowly navigated the most narrow passages of the bay? Paddle-boarding, anybody? Myself, I preferred Zodiac excursions to the westward islands that form the Magdalena Bay. Low bars of white sand, they are wild places with shell-studded beaches, wind-swept dunes. You could feel that you were the first person who had ever walked there, until you come upon a discarded plastic bottle. Baja has been likened to the Galapagos in its preservation of wildness; humans footprint has been limited to ubiquitous plastic litter. Evenings were for sharing ideas in the lounge. One night, the pangueros, the fishermen who serve as guides, and their families were on board for dinner and music; on another, Steve Morello, a Maine-based naturalist and photographer, showed photos and gave tips. He invited the group to share their photos, and I didnt have much to share: most of my shots were of the place where a whale had been, an instant earlier. We glimpsed this mysterious world beneath the surface in the touch of a spray from a whale, the feel of its barnacled back, the flash as its tail disappears under water until the evening that Sami Kattan shared his drone footage. Here was the revelation: It was the same one wed been traveling over in our little Zodiacs, but viewed above, it revealed a translucent expanse of blue-green water, and through it shadowy shapes of babies and mothers moved with a sinuous grace. It was the whole picture, It was magnificent. And to accompany it, this millennial played a soundtrack of Frank Sinatra. Next: Part III, The Takeaway Need to get away? Start exploring magnificent places with our weekly travel newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Joining up for Green Future: British Embassy and HSBC Bank Armenia promoting sustainability in Armenia (PHOTOS) Armenia ruling force MP: Opposition demand for parliament speakers resignation is attempt to collect dividends Armenian Zartonk political party issues statement on apprehension of 3 members Dollar falls after long rise in Armenia Charles Michel to hold trilateral meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan Presidents in Brussels on Dec. 14 Opposition 'Armenia' faction MP: Armenian parliamentary speaker elections were unlawful Tovmasyan Foundation: Christmas fair is held Ruling party MP: Armenian POWs' issue is an exclusively speculative one for opposition 'Armenia' Faction Armenia Armavir Province deputy governor sacked Armenia Parliament Speaker receives German MFA official Matthias Luttenberg Armenia representative at ECHR considers International Court of Justice decision on December 7 a victory Armenia Supreme Judicial Council examining issue of subjecting Yerevan judge to disciplinary liability (LIVE) Ambassador to Armenia on Russia peacekeepers indefinite presence in Artsakh: Life will show 'With Honor' Faction MP: We will definitely vote in favor of draft for Armenia Parliament Speaker's resignation Armenia ex-police chief Vladimir Gasparyan's health condition is stable Armenia PM attends reopening of high school in Vagharshapat Armenia representative at ECHR: Work on captives return from Azerbaijan continues Armenia opposition MP: It is necessary to urgently solve issue of opening of aid station in Shurnukh Opposition 'Armenia' Faction MP: Parliamentary speaker is making statements that pose danger to foreign policy Russia envoy to Armenia: 3+3 format should have positive impact on relations between regional countries Armenia ambassador presents her letter of credence to Cuba President Armenia parliament opposition plans to nominate candidate for new speaker of legislature Biden announces natural disaster in Kentucky Armenia President, France ambassador discuss agenda of bilateral relations Russia diplomat: Armenia is one of important countries in New Generation program Armenia official, France envoy outline priority domains of economic cooperation between 2 countries in 2022 Iran puts 20 US citizens on sanctions list for human rights violations Armenia PM visiting Etchmiadzin, police carrying out intensified service Yerevan holding New Generation 2021 forum 66 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Russia military doctors provide medical assistance to Karabakh remote village residents World gold prices rising moderately International Studies expert: Armenia authorities refuse any anti-Turkish process Yerevan public transport bus drivers staging protest World oil prices going up One of 4 injured dies in Yerevan road accident New Shepard rocket makes suborbital flight with tourists Researchers determine how Covid pandemic will develop in case of Omicron variant Iran ready to exchange electricity with neighboring countries Armenia takes part in tank exercises in southern Russia Azerbaijani FM says the only way to avoid tensions is to start the process of demarcation Peskov says US aggressive rhetoric does not contribute to detente in relations Russia US tornado leaves 79 people killed 133 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Armenia ICRC representatives visit Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan UK urges allies to seek alternatives to Russia natural gas 168.am: Armenia ex-police chief hospitalized NBC: US holds back additional military aid to Ukraine to avoid tension Person, 26, found dead in Armenia water pit Criminal case launched into killing of Armenia soldier Man found dead in Yerevan At least 2 killed from tornado in Arkansas Investigative Committee: Staff left combat positions and fled as a result of which adversary invaded Armenia territory Jill Biden comments on talks about US President's mental fitness Poland PM issues ultimatum to Russia 30 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Media: Islamic State takes responsibility for 2 blasts in Kabul France presidential candidate Eric Zemmour to visit Armenia US to sell 18mn barrels of oil from its strategic reserve Famous Armenia singer declared wanted Bright Armenia Party leader: ECtHR obliges Azerbaijan to pay 30,000 to Badalyan as moral damage compensation Psaki: US seeks diplomacy in context of situation between Russia and Ukraine 290 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Biden believes leaders of all other countries would like to be in his place Armenia PM: Internal patriots do not calm down because their foreign partners do not consider the mission over Peskov: Russia concerned about NATO military equipment transfer via Greece port Esplanade of Armenia opens in Paris Armenia soldier dies, 2 others wounded Newspaper: Bill that pampers Armenia banks to have very serious consequences Newspaper: What to expect from Armenia parliament special session next week? Boris Johnson threatened with resignation due to parties during pandemic Kopirkin: Russia is ready to make all efforts to contribute to normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations Armenia MFA: '3+3' platform needs to refrain from duplicating formats with mandate to settle conflicts RT: US may build facilities in Georgia and Armenia to support its 'defense activities' Armenia 2nd President: We will continue the struggle, all the phony cases will be crushed MFA: Armenia calls on Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric Hero of 44-day Karabakh war Garik Hovakimyan's sister Mariam is born Republican Party of Armenia Executive Body holds session chaired by Serzh Sargsyan Iranian Embassy: Iran supports '3+3' platform during meeting held in Moscow Armenia ex-defense minister on Prosecutor General's Office imposing attachment on his assets Alen Simonyan: Armenia is in one of the most crucial stages in its history, and opposition is demanding my resignation PM: Armenia is committed to contributing to global mission of strengthening democracy, and we hope we're not alone Armenia MOD: Soldier who was injured from gunshot fired by fellow serviceman has regained consciousness Armenia Deputy PM: Omicron variant is not sufficiently explored First meeting within scope of '3+3' regional platform held in Moscow NEWS.am daily digest: 10.12.21 Armenia soldier killed while resisting Azerbaijanis' attack, 8 are injured, 6 of whom are in severe condition Armenia PM introduces new Head of State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan Armenia human rights activists: There were cases when POWs were brought to territory under Azerbaijan's control The book Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman was translated and published on the initiative of Ardshinbank Armenia regional governor, IFRC Secretary General discuss return of Armenian POWs originally from Shirak Province Armenia human rights activist: Number of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan is 80 more than the confirmed one Pashinyan: Environmental sphere is of strategic importance for Armenia Armenia President: We must understand that we are entering completely different era for humanity Dollar goes up somewhat in Armenia Armenia State Revenue Committee chief meets with French Development Agency Regional Director Opposition 'Armenia' faction MPs Artur Sargsyan and Mkhitar Zakaryan released from penitentiary institution Head of Armenia's Norabak village: Azerbaijan has military post that is 2 km from us Armenia finance minister receives France Ambassador and French Development Agency Regional Director Armenia opposition MP Ishkhan Zakaryan leaving 'With Honor' faction Armenia President receives head of Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine Joining up for Green Future: British Embassy and HSBC Bank Armenia promoting sustainability in Armenia (PHOTOS) Armenia ruling force MP: Opposition demand for parliament speakers resignation is attempt to collect dividends Armenian Zartonk political party issues statement on apprehension of 3 members Dollar falls after long rise in Armenia Charles Michel to hold trilateral meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan Presidents in Brussels on Dec. 14 Opposition 'Armenia' faction MP: Armenian parliamentary speaker elections were unlawful Tovmasyan Foundation: Christmas fair is held Ruling party MP: Armenian POWs' issue is an exclusively speculative one for opposition 'Armenia' Faction Armenia Armavir Province deputy governor sacked Armenia Parliament Speaker receives German MFA official Matthias Luttenberg Armenia representative at ECHR considers International Court of Justice decision on December 7 a victory Armenia Supreme Judicial Council examining issue of subjecting Yerevan judge to disciplinary liability (LIVE) Ambassador to Armenia on Russia peacekeepers indefinite presence in Artsakh: Life will show 'With Honor' Faction MP: We will definitely vote in favor of draft for Armenia Parliament Speaker's resignation Armenia ex-police chief Vladimir Gasparyan's health condition is stable Armenia PM attends reopening of high school in Vagharshapat Armenia representative at ECHR: Work on captives return from Azerbaijan continues Armenia opposition MP: It is necessary to urgently solve issue of opening of aid station in Shurnukh Opposition 'Armenia' Faction MP: Parliamentary speaker is making statements that pose danger to foreign policy Russia envoy to Armenia: 3+3 format should have positive impact on relations between regional countries Armenia ambassador presents her letter of credence to Cuba President Armenia parliament opposition plans to nominate candidate for new speaker of legislature Biden announces natural disaster in Kentucky Armenia President, France ambassador discuss agenda of bilateral relations Russia diplomat: Armenia is one of important countries in New Generation program Armenia official, France envoy outline priority domains of economic cooperation between 2 countries in 2022 Iran puts 20 US citizens on sanctions list for human rights violations Armenia PM visiting Etchmiadzin, police carrying out intensified service Yerevan holding New Generation 2021 forum 66 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Russia military doctors provide medical assistance to Karabakh remote village residents World gold prices rising moderately International Studies expert: Armenia authorities refuse any anti-Turkish process Yerevan public transport bus drivers staging protest World oil prices going up One of 4 injured dies in Yerevan road accident New Shepard rocket makes suborbital flight with tourists Researchers determine how Covid pandemic will develop in case of Omicron variant Iran ready to exchange electricity with neighboring countries Armenia takes part in tank exercises in southern Russia Azerbaijani FM says the only way to avoid tensions is to start the process of demarcation Peskov says US aggressive rhetoric does not contribute to detente in relations Russia US tornado leaves 79 people killed 133 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Armenia ICRC representatives visit Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan UK urges allies to seek alternatives to Russia natural gas 168.am: Armenia ex-police chief hospitalized NBC: US holds back additional military aid to Ukraine to avoid tension Person, 26, found dead in Armenia water pit Criminal case launched into killing of Armenia soldier Man found dead in Yerevan At least 2 killed from tornado in Arkansas Investigative Committee: Staff left combat positions and fled as a result of which adversary invaded Armenia territory Jill Biden comments on talks about US President's mental fitness Poland PM issues ultimatum to Russia 30 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Media: Islamic State takes responsibility for 2 blasts in Kabul France presidential candidate Eric Zemmour to visit Armenia US to sell 18mn barrels of oil from its strategic reserve Famous Armenia singer declared wanted Bright Armenia Party leader: ECtHR obliges Azerbaijan to pay 30,000 to Badalyan as moral damage compensation Psaki: US seeks diplomacy in context of situation between Russia and Ukraine 290 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Biden believes leaders of all other countries would like to be in his place Armenia PM: Internal patriots do not calm down because their foreign partners do not consider the mission over Peskov: Russia concerned about NATO military equipment transfer via Greece port Esplanade of Armenia opens in Paris Armenia soldier dies, 2 others wounded Newspaper: Bill that pampers Armenia banks to have very serious consequences Newspaper: What to expect from Armenia parliament special session next week? Boris Johnson threatened with resignation due to parties during pandemic Kopirkin: Russia is ready to make all efforts to contribute to normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations Armenia MFA: '3+3' platform needs to refrain from duplicating formats with mandate to settle conflicts RT: US may build facilities in Georgia and Armenia to support its 'defense activities' Armenia 2nd President: We will continue the struggle, all the phony cases will be crushed MFA: Armenia calls on Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric Hero of 44-day Karabakh war Garik Hovakimyan's sister Mariam is born Republican Party of Armenia Executive Body holds session chaired by Serzh Sargsyan Iranian Embassy: Iran supports '3+3' platform during meeting held in Moscow Armenia ex-defense minister on Prosecutor General's Office imposing attachment on his assets Alen Simonyan: Armenia is in one of the most crucial stages in its history, and opposition is demanding my resignation PM: Armenia is committed to contributing to global mission of strengthening democracy, and we hope we're not alone Armenia MOD: Soldier who was injured from gunshot fired by fellow serviceman has regained consciousness Armenia Deputy PM: Omicron variant is not sufficiently explored First meeting within scope of '3+3' regional platform held in Moscow NEWS.am daily digest: 10.12.21 Armenia soldier killed while resisting Azerbaijanis' attack, 8 are injured, 6 of whom are in severe condition Armenia PM introduces new Head of State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan Armenia human rights activists: There were cases when POWs were brought to territory under Azerbaijan's control The book Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman was translated and published on the initiative of Ardshinbank Armenia regional governor, IFRC Secretary General discuss return of Armenian POWs originally from Shirak Province Armenia human rights activist: Number of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan is 80 more than the confirmed one Pashinyan: Environmental sphere is of strategic importance for Armenia Armenia President: We must understand that we are entering completely different era for humanity Dollar goes up somewhat in Armenia Armenia State Revenue Committee chief meets with French Development Agency Regional Director Opposition 'Armenia' faction MPs Artur Sargsyan and Mkhitar Zakaryan released from penitentiary institution Head of Armenia's Norabak village: Azerbaijan has military post that is 2 km from us Armenia finance minister receives France Ambassador and French Development Agency Regional Director NEW YORKFrom the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City is home to some of the most distinguished pieces of art in the world. For several students at the University of Miamis Department of Art and Art History, there is no other place they would rather spend their spring break. Seven students currently enrolled in the course named ArtLab @ the Lowe Art Museum were able to make the trip. The interactive class, offered every spring, gives students the opportunity to co-curate an exhibition at the Lowe Art Museum as well as travel to a select location in the world that relates to their exhibit. I love teaching this particular program because its not just busy work. Its a fun hands-on class, said Nathan Timpano, associate professor and the Head of Art History within the Department of Art and Art History. This year their exhibits theme of Russian Avant Garde took the class to the Big Apple, where students got the chance to visit museums in a way many people have not experienced. This trip is like no other because our students are going to be able to get behind the scenes tours with museum curators at the most well-known museums, said Timpano. Were even getting the chance to visit artists who are inviting us into their studios to talk to our students about what its like to be a working artist in New York City. Sarah Ortiz-Monasterio, a senior pursuing a double major in English Literature and Art History, said the trip is an excellent opportunity to get exposed to an industry she wants to be part of after graduation. Hands-on courses like ArtLab are important because they enable us to apply knowledge and skills gained within class toward the real-world, said Ortiz-Monasterio. She said she is already enjoying all that the trip has to offer. My favorite part of the trip so far was visiting the Guggenheim. It was a privilege to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wrights vision for the museum, Ortiz-Monasterio added. Jill Deupi, director of the Lowe Art Museum, has worked closely with Timpano to help guide these artists in the right direction. We want to make sure that students who graduate with a degree in art history from UM have been exposed and have an understanding that there are a lot of jobs in the art world. We want to continually try and provide them a glimpse of that, she said. Deupi encourages those who are part of the class to use this not only as a learning experience, but as a networking opportunity as well. The goal is to reach back out to collection managers, and who knows, said Deupi, maybe that becomes an internship that later becomes a job, so theres also that very practical aspect to the trip as well. (Corrects description of Epic-Lt as a turboprop, not jet, in paragraphs 1, 4 and 5) MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - Natalia Fileva, chairwoman and co-owner of Russia's second largest airline S7, died when a private turboprop aircraft she was in crashed near Frankfurt on Sunday, the company said. Fileva, 55, was the major shareholder in S7, a member of global Oneworld airlines alliance, and one of the richest women in Russia, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes at $600 million. The Epic-Lt, a single-engined turboprop designed for private flights, crashed while landing at Egelsbach airport, S7, also known as Siberia Airlines, said in a statement. A police spokesman in the central German state of Hesse said a six-seater aircraft with two passengers and a pilot on board was en route from France when it came down near Egelsbach and caught fire. The private aircraft was flying from Cannes in France and disappeared from radars at 1322 GMT, according to data from a flight tracker Flighradar24. There was no immediate information on the other two people in the plane. Russian and international authorities would investigate the crash and there was no information yet on what caused it, according to the airline, which is the main competitor of Russia's No.1 carrier Aeroflot. "The S7 Group holding team expresses deepest condolences to the family and significant others," the company said. S7 fleet consists of 96 aircraft that fly to 181 cities and towns in 26 countries, according to the company's website. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow; Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Berlin; Writing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Daniel Wallis/David Evans) * North Korea calls Spain embassy raid a 'grave terrorist attack' * Shadowy dissident group accused of breaking into Madrid embassy * N.Korea stops short of blaming United States, calls for probe * Says staff bound, beaten and communication equipment stolen (Adds dissident group's comment in paragraphs 7-8) SEOUL, April 1 (Reuters) - A break-in at the North Korean embassy in Spain in February was "a grave terrorist attack," a representative from North Korea's foreign ministry said on Sunday in the North's first official comment on the incident. The foreign ministry representative also called for an investigation and said North Korea was closely watching rumors that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and an anti-North Korea group were behind the raid. However, North Korea stopped short of blaming Washington directly and asked Spanish authorities to conduct the investigation in a responsible manner. "We will wait for the result in patience," the North's state-run KCNA news agency quoted the representative as saying. KCNA said an armed group assaulted its embassy in Spain and bound, beat and tortured embassy staff and stole communication equipment. "An illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of theft are a grave breach of state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated over the globe," the North's foreign ministry representative said. A mysterious dissident group, Cheollima Civil Defense, also known as Free Joseon, acknowledged on its website last week it was behind the Feb. 22 incident but said it was not an attack and that the group had been invited into the embassy. On Monday, it said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be humiliated if he rejects calls for freedom. (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Soyoung Kim Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie) (Adds details of Trump visit, legal issues; byline) By Humeyra Pamuk and Nathan Layne WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Sunday doubled down on its threat to shut down the southern border with Mexico, a day after it cut aid to Central American countries that President Donald Trump accused of deliberately sending migrants to the United States. Faced with a surge of asylum seekers from Central American countries who travel through Mexico, Trump said on Friday there was a "good likelihood" he would close the border this coming week if Mexico does not stop unauthorized immigrants from reaching the United States. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2V59n2R) Without providing evidence, he also accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sending them north. Speaking to ABC's "This Week" show, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the president had few other options in the absence of any support from Democrats for more border security or legislative action to change the immigration law. "Faced with those limitations, the president will do everything he can. If closing the ports of entry means that, that's exactly what he intends to do," Mulvaney said. "We need border security and we're going to do the best we can with what we have," he added. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told "Fox News Sunday" that the situation at the border was at "melting point" and said the president was serious in his threat. "It certainly is not a bluff. You can take the president seriously." Neither Trump aide offered any specific details or timeline for the potential border shutdown. At a Saturday rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke denounced Trump's immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office. His latest threat had workers and students who frequently cross the border worried about the potential disruption to their lives. Story continues The government says it is struggling to deal with a surge in recent days of asylum seekers from countries in Central America who travel through Mexico and on Saturday cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - a move other Democrats warned would only worsen the situation. "What we need to do is focus on what's happening in Central America, where three countries are disassembling before our eyes and people are desperately coming to the United States. The president's cutting off aid to these countries will not solve that problem," Senate minority whip Dick Durbin told NBC News' "Meet the Press." He also cast doubt on the viability of shutting the border, describing the threat as "totally unrealistic." March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Department of Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Trump is expected to visit the border within the next two weeks. LEGAL PRECEDENT While some Trump critics say he is bluffing, closing the southern border is not unprecedented. Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both shut the border over drug-related issues, while President Lyndon B. Johnson closed it briefly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Trump could turn to the section of immigration law that grants the president broad authority to prevent certain people from entering the county on national security grounds, legal experts said. That authority was upheld by the Supreme Court in a decision last year on his controversial travel ban. But it is unclear what powers Trump would use to invoke that law. If he were to declare a national emergency, he could face difficulty justifying that the influx of asylum seekers amounts to a "true and legally demonstrable federal 'emergency'" and warrants the "extreme measure of closure," said Geoffrey Hoffman, the director of the University of Houston Law Center Immigration Clinic. Shutting the border would likely trigger other legal challenges, including by asylum seekers whose rights to seek entry were upheld by a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals December ruling. "Many of the Central American families arriving in the U.S. are asylum seekers and claim a fear of return," said Lindsay Harris, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia's law school and co-director at its Immigration and Human Rights Clinic. "This fear is warranted." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Howard Schneider; editing by Michelle Price, Lisa Shumaker and Dan Grebler) Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card! Have you been keeping an eye on Zurich Insurance Group AG's (VTX:ZURN) upcoming dividend of US$19.00 per share payable on the 09 April 2019? Then you only have 4 days left before the stock starts trading ex-dividend on the 05 April 2019. Investors looking for higher income-generating stocks to add to their portfolio should keep reading, as I take a deeper dive into Zurich Insurance Group's latest financial data to analyse its dividend attributes. See our latest analysis for Zurich Insurance Group What Is A Dividend Rock Star? It is a stock that pays a stable and consistent dividend, having done so reliably for the past decade with the expectation of this continuing into the future. More specifically: Its annual yield is among the top 25% of dividend payers It consistently pays out dividend without missing a payment or significantly cutting payout Its has increased its dividend per share amount over the past It can afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings It is able to continue to payout at the current rate in the future High Yield And Dependable The company's dividend yield stands at 5.4%, which is high for Insurance stocks. But the real reason Zurich Insurance Group stands out is because it has a high chance of being able to continue to pay dividend at this level for years to come, something that is quite desirable if you are looking to create a portfolio that generates a steady stream of income. SWX:ZURN Historical Dividend Yield, March 31st 2019 Reliablity is an important factor for dividend stocks, particularly for income investors who want a strong track record of payment and a positive outlook for future payout. In the case of ZURN it has increased its DPS from $6.7 to $17.8 in the past 10 years. It has also been paying out dividend consistently during this time, as you'd expect for a company increasing its dividend levels. This is an impressive feat, which makes ZURN a true dividend rockstar. Story continues The company currently pays out 74% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Going forward, analysts expect ZURN's payout to remain around the same level at 71% of its earnings. Assuming a constant share price, this equates to a dividend yield of 6.5%. Furthermore, EPS should increase to $27.42. When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. A company with strong cash flow, relative to earnings, can sometimes sustain a high pay out ratio. Next Steps: Zurich Insurance Group ticks all the boxes for what I look for in a dividend stock. If you are looking to build an income focused portfolio, this could be one to include. However, given this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company's fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. I've put together three relevant factors you should look at: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ZURNs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ZURNs outlook. Valuation: What is ZURN worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ZURN is currently mispriced by the market. Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there strong dividend payers with better 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. Managua (AFP) - A day after Nicaragua's government pledged to restore the right to protest, at least four people were hurt and 10 detained during a demonstration calling for the release of prisoners, the opposition said. One of the wounded was linked to the government, said Silvia Gutierrez, of the UNAB opposition umbrella group, who provided the toll and the number of detainees. The clash on Saturday came a day after President Daniel Ortega's government and the opposition reached an agreement to restore protest and press freedom rights while disarming paramilitaries, following a year-long political upheaval that left hundreds dead. The injuries on Saturday occurred at a commercial center in downtown Managua, where more than 150 people had gathered ahead of a march. Hundreds of armed riot police guarding the area forced the protesters to retreat, with struggles in which three people were detained. Seven other people were held in the capital and the western city of Leon, UNAB said. "It is outrageous that again today in Nicaragua, police and violent civilians are attacking, detaining and injuring civilians who are demonstrating peacefully," the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Baez, said on Twitter. In Managua, a man inside the commercial center also shot at protesters, wounding three, the opposition said. Police accused the protesters of disturbing public order, and in a later statement said seven were detained but later released. The private Channel 10 Television reported that police assaulted two of its journalists who were covering the protest. "The Ortega regime's police violated the agreement" signed on Friday, said the opposition alliance which participated in talks with the government, whose delegation is led by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada. Those actions endangered the negotiation process "and the search for peaceful solutions," the opposition group said. The central American country has been in crisis since April last year when a protest initially against a now-scrapped pension reform transformed into calls for Ortega's ouster. Story continues Protesters accused him and his wife of establishing a dictatorship characterized by nepotism and brutal repression of the opposition and independent media. Unrest left more than 300 people dead, 2,000 wounded, and sent 52,000 into exile, human rights groups say. The Friday agreement was the first since stop-and-start talks between the government and the opposition began on February 27. Under the deal, the government is also to respect freedom of expression. Daily newspapers critical of the regime have been deprived of essential supplies by the authorities since September. After a suspension, peace talks resumed on March 21 following an agreement by the government to release all opposition detainees within 90 days. HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syria's civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from home. He was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited, paid and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. There, he found himself thrown into one of the war's bloodiest front lines, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest") before each mortar blast. Iran ran an extensive drive to bring Shiites from across the region and create a network of militias to help save Assad from the uprising against his rule not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistan's impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning to their homeland, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehran's influence amid Afghanistan's unending conflicts. "Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists," said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He spoke on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He wouldn't meet The Associated Press at home or in public only in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighborhood. Even there, Mehdi kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen burst into Herat's Jawadia Shiite mosque, opening fire and setting off their suicide belt explosives among worshippers, killing 38 people. Story continues Just knowing people who fought in Syria can land someone in jail, said a local elder in a village near Herat. He spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. Eight men from his village were killed fighting in Syria, but there are no graves for them here. All were buried in Iran, he said. Iran intensified its role in Syria when Assad appeared to be losing the fight against rebels in 2013 and 2014. Tehran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops and began bringing in allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanon's Hezbollah. But the largest was the force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, tens of thousands of Afghans likely trained and fought in it. Most of them are from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority, who are among the country's poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry who is familiar with government intelligence. The official was not authorized to brief reporters and so spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more to assert its influence in Afghanistan, particularly as the United States accelerates its efforts to end its nearly 18-year military intervention. "Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point," warned Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the U.S. war on terror. "Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure and expertise." Afghanistan is already tormented by an overabundance of armed groups, many divided on ethnic lines. They include militias loyal to several warlords, who are aligned with the government but often at odds with each other. There are also the Sunni militants: Taliban insurgents rule in nearly half the country, and the Islamic State affiliate has proven to be a stubborn enemy, even in the face of relentless U.S. bombing raids. All those factions could turn their massive arsenals on each other after a U.S. and NATO withdrawal. It has happened before. In the early 1990s, factions of the U.S.-backed mujahedeen who took power after the Soviet withdrawal turned on each other in fighting that leveled large parts of the capital, Kabul, and killed an estimated 50,000 people. Iran will likely seize on any turmoil to mobilize the Fatimiyoun with the very real pretext that Afghan Shiites need a defender, said Michael Kugelman, Asia Program deputy director at the Washington-based Wilson Center. If Afghanistan is plunged into more unrest, "the Iranians would have a strong motivation to help a Shia force that would face intensified threats from the Taliban and especially ISIS," he said, using an alternate abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Iran is already supporting Syria war veterans living in Kabul and in central Afghanistan's Hazara-dominated region of Bamiyan, said the Interior Ministry official. He said Afghan intelligence agencies have identified senior Iranian government officials who are "managing the activities" of returning fighters, including providing them arms and money and building a structure for quick re-mobilization if needed. Afghan warlord Abdul Gani Alipur, an ethnic Hazara, is also implicated in aiding Iran, he said. Alipur was arrested late last year on charges of having an illegal militia, but he was released after thousands of Hazaras protested. Most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade were driven by hopelessness and poverty, not loyalty to Iran, said Reza Kasimi, a researcher with the independent Kabul-based research group, Afghanistan Analysts Network. "The first thing is that most of these people don't see a future for themselves in Afghanistan," he said. When Mehdi went to Iran in 2015, he worked, mostly on construction sites, to earn enough money to make a run for Europe. But by the time he did, Europe's borders had closed. "I was very disappointed. I had come to Iran to go to Europe, to study, to have a better life, but I was still there, with nothing," Mehdi said. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of $900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely $150 a month. "I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river," Mehdi said. "I decided, 'Live or die, I'll go.'" They reported to a recruitment center in Tehran. There, officials gathered his personal details the names of his parents and relatives and the street where he lived in Herat. "I understood they wanted all that information if I died," he said. He and other Afghan recruits were flown the next day to Iran's southern Yazd province, where they underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard. Mehdi's marksmanship impressed the trainers, and he was made a sniper. When it was over, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salary would be deposited. They were taken to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. There, Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war a campaign that began in the spring of 2016 against Islamic militant factions, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, over the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppo's edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian government troops, Iranian soldiers, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months and it is estimated hundreds on both sides were killed or wounded. On a single day, militants killed an estimated 80 pro-government fighters, including at least 13 Iranians and dozens of Afghans, Iraqis and Lebanese. In the end, the militants held Khan Toman, as they do to this day. Mehdi described terrifying bloodshed. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and only 200 returned alive and unwounded. "Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies." he said. "For the first couple of days I was very scared. The explosions were so loud." Another Afghan veteran of the same battle, Abdullah, said he still has nightmares of the dead, their limbs missing. He said the Afghans were sent as cannon fodder. "I saw Afghan fighters rolled over by tanks the way someone steps on ants," he told the AP in Kabul. "Dead bodies were scattered everywhere." Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago, and his life has changed little from when he left. He remains poor and unable to find a job. After nearly 18 years and more than $1 trillion spent by the United States, Afghans are only getting poorer. According to a 2016-17 Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey, co-sponsored by the European Union, 55 percent of Afghans live below the poverty level, compared to 38 percent in 2011-12. Mehdi spoke bitterly of his lack of options. He's considering re-enlisting for Syria. The brigade is still operating there, and some Afghan veterans stayed in Syria to find jobs, mostly in construction. "I don't know what my future brings," he said. "Maybe I become a thief or maybe I go back to Syria." ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report. ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's army chief renewed a call for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit for office and told opponents not to seek to undermine the military, after weeks of protests demanding an end to the ailing leader's 20-year rule. Bouteflika, 82, who has rarely been seen in public in recent years, has faced mass demonstrations for more than a month. His announcement that he would not seek a fifth term but that he would not quit immediately has failed to assuage protesters. To break the stalemate, Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah made a proposal on Tuesday for the constitutional council declare Bouteflika unfit for office, a move provided for under article 102 of the charter. Salah said in a statement issued by the Defense Ministry on Saturday that most people supported the army's plan but some were resisting, without naming those opposed to the move. He said these opponents had met on Saturday to start a media campaign against the army claiming people were against Salah's proposals. He said trying to undermine the military, a revered institution in Algeria whose support has long been seen as vital to keeping Bouteflika and the ruling elite in power, was a "red line" that should not be crossed. He did not elaborate. "All that emerges from these suspicious meetings of proposals that do not conform to constitutional legitimacy or undermine the national army, which is a red line, is totally unacceptable," he said in the statement. Bouteflika established himself in the early 2000s by ending a civil war that had claimed 200,000 lives. But he has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and now faces the biggest crisis of his two-decade rule. Under the constitution, the chairman of parliaments upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days if Bouteflika stepped down. However, there is no obvious long-term successor to rule the nation which secured independence from France in 1962 after years of conflict and was embroiled in a bloody Islamist insurgency during the 1990s. (Reporting by Hesham Hajali, Lamine Chikhi, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Edmund Blair) ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) Algeria's powerful army chief retained his post in a newly-named government despite his call to have ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office. Algerian national television announced Sunday night that Bouteflika and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui named a new government after weeks of mass protests and political tensions in this gas-rich North African country. The new government notably keeps Ahmed Gaid Salah as army chief of staff and vice defense minister. Gaid Salah shocked the nation with his call last week for the constitutional council to set in motion a process to end Bouteflika's 20-year presidency. Critics accused Gaid Salah of trying to orchestrate a coup, and the army chief suggested Saturday that unnamed figures were plotting against him as a result of his stand against Bouteflika's presidency. Millions of Algerians have been holding weekly protests demanding that Bouteflika leave office along with the distrusted political elite. Algerians have barely seen their president, now 82, since a 2013 stroke. Also Sunday, a top Algerian businessman was arrested at an Algerian border post as he was apparently trying to go to Tunisia, Algerian media reported. Journalists at tycoon Ali Haddad's private television channel Dzair News said he was arrested overnight in Oum Tboul, close to the Tunisian border. Haddad, long a backer of Bouteflika, resigned this week as head of Algeria's Business Forum, apparently trying to distance himself from the unpopular leader whose government has been accused of corruption. Bouteflika withdrew from running for a new term but canceled Algeria's April 18 presidential election. Pressure has mounted for him to step down before his current term expires later this month. Algiers (AFP) - Protest-hit Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday named a new government headed by recently appointed Noureddine Bedoui, a statement from the presidency said. State television reported that armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who has called for Bouteflika to step down, remained as deputy defence minister. Veteran politician Ramtane Lamamra, who was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister on March 11, was not named in the new administration. Ailing Bouteflika, who has rarely being seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has come under mounting pressure to quit power since his decision to seek a fifth term sparked huge demonstrations. Bouteflika said earlier this month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered Algerians who see it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power. Faced with persistent public anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days. On Tuesday, chief of staff Gaid Salah, who was appointed in 2004, called for him to step down or be declared medically unfit. The chief of staff cited Article 102 of the constitution, under which a president can be removed if found unfit to rule. Long a faithful Bouteflika supporter, Gaid Salah said on television it was "imperative" to find a way out of the crisis "which responds to the legitimate demands" of the people in line with the constitution. Despite the calls, huge crowds thronged the streets of Algeria's capital on Friday for a sixth successive week, saying the moves by his key allies to abandon Bouteflika were not enough. PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron appointed legislator Amelie de Montchalin as new European affairs minister on Sunday to replace Nathalie Loiseau in a small, expected cabinet reshuffle two months before the European elections. Loiseau quit her job on Wednesday to lead Macron's party for the European election campaign. The vote will be held in France and the other countries of the European Union in late May. Montchalin, 33, was first elected in the lower house in 2017 as a member of the centrist party backing Macron. She previously worked for insurance company AXA as deputy to the strategy director. The government also appointed Macron's communication adviser Sibeth Ndiaye as government spokeswoman with the rank of junior minister and Cedric O, an economics adviser to Macron, as junior minister for digital economy. Senegal-born Ndiaye, 39, replaces Benjamin Griveaux, while O replaces Mounir Mahjoubi. Griveaux and Mahjoubi quit on Wednesday to prepare a candidacy for the Paris mayorship in 2020. (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Edmund Blair) The Daily Beast Nuccio DiNuzzo/GettyA juror in the Jussie Smollett trial has explained several reasons why the jury felt there was no way they could acquit the star actor in his bombshell trial for staging a fake hate crime attack on himself.The female juror, who declined to be named, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the jury of six women and six men didnt have any major disagreements but took nine hours to deliberate because they wanted to properly consider all the evidence.Some doubted that prosecutors had pr A man looking for his girlfriends apartment in Atlanta was shot and killed Friday after knocking on the wrong door, according to police. The victim, identified as 19-year-old Omarian Banks, took a Lyft to the address but was dropped off near the wrong entryway around 12:30 a.m., according to WSB-TV. Banks was Facetiming with his girlfriend, Zsakeria Mathis, who had just moved to a new apartment, WSB-TV reported. Mathis told the station Banks asked her to open the door and she started to worry when she didnt hear him knock. I just hear faint voices and a gunshot, and then I hear him yell," Mathis told the station. "And I heard all the fear in his voice and he was just, 'Im sorry! Im at the wrong door! Police say 19 year old Omarian Banks was shot and killed after he accidentally went to the wrong apartment door in his complex in SW Atlanta. I just spoke with the Medical Examiners office who told me his family has been notified. pic.twitter.com/hCRINGf76E Lauren Pozen WSB (@LaurenPozenWSB) March 29, 2019 Police said after he knocked on the door, Banks started walking away but the suspect, Darryl Bynes, went onto his balcony to confront him. A verbal exchange ensued and at some point Bynes, 32, shot the victim, authorities said. When officers arrived, they found Banks with a gunshot wound in his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. Bynes has since been charged with murder and is being held at Fulton County Jail, according to jail records. Banks mother, Lisa Johnson, told ABC News she is still trying to understand what happened. "My son was just confused. He just went to the wrong door and he was begging for his life," Johnson told the network. "My son was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Wrong place at the wrong time': Georgia man shot, killed after knocking on wrong door, police say * Summit to be held amid turmoil in Algeria, Sudan, Yemen * Arabs under pressure after Trump's Golan, Jerusalem moves * Summit expected to repeat land-for-peace plan with Israel TUNIS, March 31 (Reuters) - Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday to oppose a U.S. decision to recognize Israel's annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967. Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran's influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute. They face a new challenge after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli, less than four months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Arab officials said the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas also occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday Arab ministers had expressed support for a proposal to declare that the U.S. move violated the U.N. charter against acquiring land by force. They also agreed to back Syria's right to regain Golan and Lebanon's right to the Shebaa farms, a small strip of land next to the Golan claimed by Beirut, he tweeted. Summit spokesman Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry said Arab leaders would repeat an Arab call for peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab lands and would reject any initiative not in line with U.N. resolutions. Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced U.S. peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law that Palestinians have refused to discuss. Trump's aides have said his moves have drawn a less severe reaction privately from Arab states than experts had predicted. Story continues While opposition to Israel and its actions can unite the 22-member Arab League, Arab states remain divided over a range of other issues, including pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011 and over Iran's Middle East influence. Ibrahim al-Assaf, foreign minister of Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that Shi'ite Muslim rival Iran remained the biggest threat to the region. The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar attend the same gathering since 2017 when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and cosying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies. The leaders of Sudan and Algeria are not expected to attend, with both nations roiled by anti-government protests. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria's ailing, 82-year-old president who has ruled for 20 years, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in power for three decades and wanted by international prosecutors for alleged war crimes in his country's Darfur region, are both facing calls to step down. Syria has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of the civil war. The League has said there was still no consensus to allow Syria's reinstatement. (Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Beirut, Hesham Hajali in Cairo Writing by Sami Aboudi Editing by Edmund Blair) HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) An impoverished teenager, Mehdi, joined the wave of Afghans who left their homeland, dreaming of reaching Europe to find work. Where he ended up was entirely different: On the battlefields of Syria's civil war, in a militia created by Iran. Mehdi was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Syria, he was thrown into one of the war's bloodiest battles, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of "Allahu akbar" before each mortar blast. Iran created a network of militias made up of Shiites from across the region and used it to save Assad from the uprising against his rule not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistan's impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning home, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehran's influence amid Afghanistan's unending conflicts. "Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists," said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He was terrified, speaking on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He met The Associated in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighborhood, and even there kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. The returning veterans are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that see them as traitors. They face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen attacked a Shiite mosque in Herat, killing 38 people. Story continues To back Assad, Iran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria and brought in a number of allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanon's Hezbollah. But the largest was a force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, several tens of thousands of Afghans trained and fought in it, most from the ethnic Hazara minority, who are among Afghanistan's poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more, especially if the country's many armed factions turn on each other in escalated warfare after U.S. and NATO troops withdraw. Iran could use the chaos to deploy the brigade, with the very real pretext that the vulnerable Shiite minority needs a defender. "Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point," said Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the U.S. war on terror. "Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure, and expertise." Like most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade, Mehdi was driven by poverty, not ideology or loyalty to Iran. Too poor to afford books for school, Mehdi had just turned 17 when he left Afghanistan in 2015. He went to Iran and worked in Tehran for months, saving money for the next leg of the trip to Europe. But Europe's borders closed, and Mehdi was stranded in Tehran. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of $900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely $150 a month. "I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river," Mehdi said. "I decided, 'Live or die, I'll go'." He and other Afghans underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard at a base in Iran's southern Yazd province. Afterward, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salaries would be deposited. They went to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war a 2016 campaign against Islamic militant factions for control of the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppo's edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian and Iranian troops, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months, killing and wounding hundreds on both sides. "Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies." Mehdi said. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and all but 200 were either killed or wounded. Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago. He remains dirt poor, and unable to find a job. He spoke bitterly of his lack of options. He noted that the Fatimiyoun Brigade remains in Syria, and some Afghan veterans stayed there after their service to work. "I don't know what my future brings," he said. "Maybe I become a thief or maybe I go back to Syria." ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report. Progress 2019 takes a look at some of the people, places and things that make Angelina County such a great place to live. Beto ORourke, the former punk rocker from a border town in Texas, formally launched his insurgent campaign for the US presidency on Saturday by denouncing fear and division promoted by Donald Trump and calling for a revival of inclusive American democracy. Related: Beto O'Rourke goes to Nevada in search of ideas 'I'm all ears' Speaking to several thousand supporters in his home town, El Paso, ORourke unleashed an impassioned attack on the presidents border crackdown. Just a few blocks behind his back stood the Paso del Norte bridge across the Rio Grande river into Mexico. Beneath it, while he spoke, exhausted migrants were still being penned in by US immigration authorities. The migrants were being detained just three or four blocks from here under the international bridge, behind chain-link fence and barbed wire, ORourke thundered, punching the air in the demonstrative style that has become his trademark. They are our fellow human beings, and deserve to be treated like our fellow human beings. Sign up for the US morning briefing ORourke has had a difficult start to his campaign, in which some of the glitz of last Novembers Senate run appears to have worn off. He has come under fire for displaying more charisma than policy expertise, for enjoying the unearned privilege of a white man with Kennedy-like good looks, and for lacking a progressive edge to his politics. He was also forced to apologize for making jokes on the campaign trail about his wife Amy bringing up their three kids, sometimes with my help. If there is some substance to the criticism that he needed to sharpen up his act for a national audience, ORourke appears to have heard it. On Saturday he delivered a firebrands call for a reshaping of US democracy. All people, no Pacs, all the time, he proclaimed, in reference to his extraordinary ability to raise campaign cash, $6.1m just on day one of his presidential run, without involving super-rich donors and political action committees. Then he hurled himself into a critique of the state of the nation. Story continues We must ask ourselves how this, the wealthiest, most powerful country on the face of the planet, has found itself in such a perilous position, he said. For too long in this country the powerful have maintained their privilege at the expense of the powerless. They have used fear and division in the same way that our current president uses fear and division to make us angry, to make us afraid of ourselves and one another. The unrestrained intervention of big money, where politicians can choose their voters and the supreme court can decide in its Citizens United ruling that corporations are people and money a form of speech, had he said left the US government in thrall to those who can pay for access and the country at risk of being a democracy in name only. ORourke promised that as president he will sign a new voting rights act to end gerrymandering and remove big money from elections. The pledge resonated with his supporters. So did the rallying cry which he put to use last November: the desire to reunite a divided country. El Paso residents in the crowd responded positively to the call. Supporters cheer as Beto ORourke speaks at his presidential campaign kickoff in El Paso, Texas on 30 March. Supporters cheer as Beto ORourke speaks at his presidential campaign kickoff in El Paso, Texas on 30 March.Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Lorena Garcia, 45, a housewife from the city, said that for many months she had stopped listening to the news because she found Trumps attacks on migrants and others so upsetting. But when I started hearing Beto it gave me hope, she said. He was so positive I began to think things could be different. Victor Pina, 49, and Jason Phillips, 44, had flown from Sacramento in California wearing Beto for president T-shirts they had designed themselves in the rainbow colors of the LGBT movement. They said they saw ORourke as someone who could unite divided America. Phillips pointed to the bridge just down the road where the migrants were being held: It makes me think of Ellis Island, where immigrants were brought to a new life under the Statue of Liberty. How did this country change from that to holding people under that bridge? Related: Beto O'Rourke: just how green is the Texas Democrat? The edgier tone of ORourkes launch speech may help him gain traction as he seeks to transition from a politician appealing to 29 million Texans to one who must court 327 million Americans. He is also having to cope with an exceptionally crowded and diverse pool of Democratic candidates, with 14 people campaigning, including five women, two African Americans, a Latino American and a contender vying to be the first openly gay president. That is even before Joe Biden piles in, which he is expected to do soon. With more than 10 months to go before the Iowa caucuses, any polling should be taken with a fistful of salt. That said, the latest surveys put ORourke behind Biden and the resurgent democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, but in the top tier. In addition to his emphasis on immigration and the border, and his call for democratic reforms, ORourke touched on the need for rapid action to curb climate change. This is our moment, he said, with little more than 10 years to spare to free this economy from fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses. On healthcare, the issue polls suggest most engages Democratic primary voters, he pointed to a compromise position without using its title, Medicare for America. In contrast to Bernie Sanders Medicare for All, ORourkes approach would allow families to keep their existing healthcare insurance should they wish to, while expanding Medicare to cover those currently uninsured. Despite such tweaking of his presidential offer, it remains true that ORourke is most effective when he is most expansive. It is in the contrast between his positive, upbeat call for renewal and the dark warnings that give Trump his populist appeal that his potential success lies. Every child, every man, every woman must be able to see a future for themselves in this country, ORourke said, before repeating the phrase in Spanish. Otherwise this country will have no future as a democracy. Washington (AFP) - Former vice president Joe Biden insisted Sunday he had never acted inappropriately towards women as a growing row about a kiss on the campaign trail cast a shadow over his expected run for the White House. The 76-year-old Biden is the clear favorite to win the Democrat nomination to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election even though he has yet to declare his candidacy. But several of his rivals have now weighed in on the allegations from a former state lawmaker who has recalled being "mortified" when Biden had planted a "big, slow kiss" on the back of her head on the sidelines of a rally in Nevada five years ago. His 39-year-old accuser Lucy Flores said in a new television interview that Biden's behavior meant he should not run for president shortly after Biden released a statement trying to quell the storm. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once -- never -- did I believe I acted inappropriately," Biden said in his statement released by his spokesman on Twitter. "If it is suggested that I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention. "I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will." Flores, who was a state lawmaker at the time, had been running for the post of Nevada lieutenant governor when Biden appeared at a rally to offer support when Barack Obama's number two. In response to Biden's statement, Flores said she was "glad he's willing to listen" but added that his behavior should rule him out from seeking the Democrat nomination against a president who has himself faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment. Story continues "For me it's disqualifying," she told CNN. "Yes, of course I want him to change his behavior. And I want him to acknowledge this was wrong. I want this to be a bigger discussion about how there is no accountability structure within our political space either for instances in which women feel that there was inappropriate behavior or more serious instances." Biden has previously acknowledged that his "tactile" behavior could land him in trouble, especially in the #MeToo era which has already torpedoed the careers of several US politicians, including the former Democrat senator Al Franken. By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY, March 31 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's threat to shut the U.S. border if Mexico does not halt all illegal immigration has exposed the limitations of the new Mexican government's strategy of trying to appease the U.S. president as he gears up for re-election. Amid a surge in migrant detentions at the southwest U.S. border, Trump on Friday said he would close the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) frontier, or sections of it, during the coming week if Mexico did not halt the flow of people. Casting the government under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the villain in his struggle to curb illegal immigration to the United States, Trump returned to a signature theme of his 2015-2016 presidential election bid. His words were a slap in the face to Lopez Obrador, who has refused to answer back to provocative comments from Trump. Instead, the Mexican leader has worked to cement his powerbase by combating poverty with welfare handouts and lambasting his predecessors as corrupt. On Friday, Lopez Obrador again said he would not quarrel with Trump, invoking "love and peace" and repeating his commitment to curbing migration. However, for former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda, Mexico faces "incredibly damaging" consequences if Trump does order "go-slows" at the border, which would pitch Lopez Obrador into uncomfortable new territory. "He's totally unfamiliar with international affairs. He'd prefer not to have to worry about these things," Castaneda said, noting that the U.S. president had tested many governments. "Nobody's been able to find a way to manage Trump. It's a mess." Staunchly non-interventionist in international affairs, Lopez Obrador shows little interest in diplomacy. He has often said "the best foreign policy is domestic policy." But as the destination of 80 percent of Mexico's exports and workplace of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, the United States offers Trump plenty of leverage to apply pressure via the border. Story continues Policy experts say Trump's demand is not realistic and that Mexican authorities are already stretched. Still, Mexico has signaled it will redouble efforts to contain migration, which stems largely from three poor, violent Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he did not believe Trump was demanding an outright stop to the migrant flow, which has run into the millions over the past decade. "What can be done is to improve work on registering and regulating (migration)," Ebrard told Reuters. "They're asking us to put into effect what we said we would do." The government has vowed to curb migration by addressing the root causes, keeping better tabs on the people entering Mexico and adopting a more humane approach to the phenomenon. In exchange, Lopez Obrador has sought to enlist Trump's aid in tackling the problems of Central America, which critics say has been scarred by a history of messy U.S. interventions. On Thursday, Lopez Obrador said migration was chiefly a matter for Washington and the troubled region, reflecting the view that Mexico cannot help being sandwiched between the struggling countries and the richest nation on the planet. Instead, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday it was cutting off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, raising questions about Trump's commitment to helping there. Soaring border arrests have rankled with the U.S. president. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol projections are for over 90,000 apprehensions to be logged during March, according to data provided to the Mexican government. That is up more than 140 percent from March 2018, and a seven-fold jump from 2017. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2V59n2R) At the same time, Lopez Obrador is sending fewer migrants back home. In December-February, the administration's first three months, the number dropped 17 percent from a year earlier to 19,360, data from the National Migration Institute show. The fall partly reflects the government's decision to issue humanitarian visas to encourage Central Americans to stay in Mexico. The visas proved so popular that the government had to suspend them, officials say. Meanwhile, Lopez Obrador's savings drive to pay for his social programs has cut the budget of the National Migration Institute by more than a fifth this year. 'LIFE AND DEATH' The clash illustrates Lopez Obrador's miscalculation in thinking he could contain Trump's hostility toward Mexico with U.S. presidential elections in 2020, said Agustin Barrios Gomez, a member of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. Tension was inevitable given that Trump's tough stance on illegal immigration is "immediately antagonistic" to Lopez Obrador's core constituency: poorer Mexicans who often seek to better their lot in the United States, he argued. Yet by agreeing in December to accept Central American asylum seekers while their claims are processed in the United States, Lopez Obrador gave the impression he could be "pushed around" by Trump, said former foreign minister Castaneda, who backed Lopez Obrador's closest rival in the last election. To keep the border open, Mexican business leaders say they are leaning on U.S. partners to pressure Congress. A shutdown would be "very negative for both countries," said deputy Mexican economy minister Luz Maria de la Mora, who saw Trump's comments as part of his election campaign. "I think the U.S. administration and the advisers in the White House know it's not a good idea," she told Reuters. But if push came to shove, Mexico would suffer most, said Castaneda. "The Americans have a much greater capacity ... to outlast the Mexicans," he said. "For Mexicans it's a life or death issue. For Americans it's a pain in the ass, but that's it." (Reporting by Dave Graham Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Delphine Schrank and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) MEXICO CITY -- President Trump's threat to shut the U.S. border if Mexico does not halt all illegal immigration has exposed the limitations of the new Mexican government's strategy of trying to appease the U.S. president as he gears up for re-election. Amid a surge in migrant detentions at the southwest U.S. border, Trump on Friday said he would close the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) frontier, or sections of it, during the coming week if Mexico did not halt the flow of people. Casting the government under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the villain in his struggle to curb illegal immigration to the United States, Trump returned to a signature theme of his 2015-2016 presidential election bid. His words were a slap in the face to Lopez Obrador, who has refused to answer back to provocative comments from Trump. Instead, the Mexican leader has worked to cement his powerbase by combating poverty with welfare handouts and lambasting his predecessors as corrupt. On Friday, Lopez Obrador again said he would not quarrel with Trump, invoking "love and peace" and repeating his commitment to curbing migration. However, for former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda, Mexico faces "incredibly damaging" consequences if Trump does order "go-slows" at the border, which would pitch Lopez Obrador into uncomfortable new territory. "He's totally unfamiliar with international affairs. He'd prefer not to have to worry about these things," Castaneda said, noting that the U.S. president had tested many governments. "Nobody's been able to find a way to manage Trump. It's a mess." Staunchly non-interventionist in international affairs, Lopez Obrador shows little interest in diplomacy. He has often said "the best foreign policy is domestic policy." But as the destination of 80 percent of Mexico's exports and workplace of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, the United States offers Trump plenty of leverage to apply pressure via the border. Story continues Policy experts say Trump's demand is not realistic and that Mexican authorities are already stretched. Still, Mexico has signaled it will redouble efforts to contain migration, which stems largely from three poor, violent Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he did not believe Trump was demanding an outright stop to the migrant flow, which has run into the millions over the past decade. "What can be done is to improve work on registering and regulating (migration)," Ebrard told Reuters. "They're asking us to put into effect what we said we would do." The government has vowed to curb migration by addressing the root causes, keeping better tabs on the people entering Mexico and adopting a more humane approach to the phenomenon. In exchange, Lopez Obrador has sought to enlist Trump's aid in tackling the problems of Central America, which critics say has been scarred by a history of messy U.S. interventions. On Thursday, Lopez Obrador said migration was chiefly a matter for Washington and the troubled region, reflecting the view that Mexico cannot help being sandwiched between the struggling countries and the richest nation on the planet. Instead, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday it was cutting off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, raising questions about Trump's commitment to helping there. Soaring border arrests have rankled with the U.S. president. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol projections are for over 90,000 apprehensions to be logged during March, according to data provided to the Mexican government. That is up more than 140 percent from March 2018, and a seven-fold jump from 2017. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2V59n2R) At the same time, Lopez Obrador is sending fewer migrants back home. In December-February, the administration's first three months, the number dropped 17 percent from a year earlier to 19,360, data from the National Migration Institute show. The fall partly reflects the government's decision to issue humanitarian visas to encourage Central Americans to stay in Mexico. The visas proved so popular that the government had to suspend them, officials say. Meanwhile, Lopez Obrador's savings drive to pay for his social programs has cut the budget of the National Migration Institute by more than a fifth this year. 'LIFE AND DEATH' The clash illustrates Lopez Obrador's miscalculation in thinking he could contain Trump's hostility toward Mexico with U.S. presidential elections in 2020, said Agustin Barrios Gomez, a member of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. Tension was inevitable given that Trump's tough stance on illegal immigration is "immediately antagonistic" to Lopez Obrador's core constituency: poorer Mexicans who often seek to better their lot in the United States, he argued. Yet by agreeing in December to accept Central American asylum seekers while their claims are processed in the United States, Lopez Obrador gave the impression he could be "pushed around" by Trump, said former foreign minister Castaneda, who backed Lopez Obrador's closest rival in the last election. To keep the border open, Mexican business leaders say they are leaning on U.S. partners to pressure Congress. A shutdown would be "very negative for both countries," said deputy Mexican economy minister Luz Maria de la Mora, who saw Trump's comments as part of his election campaign. "I think the U.S. administration and the advisers in the White House know it's not a good idea," she told Reuters. But if push came to shove, Mexico would suffer most, said Castaneda. "The Americans have a much greater capacity ... to outlast the Mexicans," he said. "For Mexicans it's a life or death issue. For Americans it's a pain in the ass, but that's it." (Reporting by Dave Graham Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Delphine Schrank and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO, March 31 (Reuters) - Brazil's armed forces on Sunday paid tribute to a 1964 coup leading to a two-decade dictatorship, after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro - who argues that military intervention saved the country from communism - reversed an 8-year-ban on celebrations. The move has stirred debate and underscored Bolsonaro's support for a military government that executed hundreds, tortured thousands, shuttered Congress and left most Brazilians with dark memories of the period. The military has not been allowed to observe the 1964 coup since 2011, when former President Dilma Rousseff, a one-time leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured under the dictatorship, ordered an end to events marking the date. Brazil's Defense Ministry said the armed forces will not hold public commemorations on Sunday. Bolsonaro is traveling abroad, but scheduled an event at the presidential palace on Friday to mark the anniversary with top military brass. Bolsonaro, a retired Army captain, has long praised the 1964-85 military government and often said its biggest mistake was not killing enough leftists. Early in his political career he said on the floor of Congress that he was "in favor of a dictatorship" and that Brazil would "never resolve grave national problems with this irresponsible democracy." Like many in the military and part of the wider population, Bolsonaro considers the 1964 coup a saving grace. He has pointed to the collapse of the Venezuelan economy under its socialist government as proof the military saved Brazil from such a fate. Instead of public celebrations, Brazil's armed forces say they will hold internal programs and panels looking at events that led to Brazil's coup, what happened during the military regime and the importance of the 1985 return to democracy. Despite the more sober approach from the military, Bolsonaro's public encouragement has dismayed many. Story continues "By insisting on a celebratory tone, the president has once again shown that he is ambiguous about the democratic principles he claims to defend," the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper wrote in an editorial this week. "It's evident he is more inclined to stir up the most extreme sectors of public opinion, who were among his earliest supporters in his presidential campaign." Federal prosecutors lashed out at Bolsonaro's decision, saying in a written statement that allowing the celebration went against the president's sworn duty to defend the Constitution. "The 1964 coup, without a doubt and with no revisionist history, was a violent and undemocratic break of the Constitutional order," the federal prosecutors' office of citizen rights said. While a majority of Brazilians look dimly on the dictatorship, some recall it as a time of order and relative safety, compared to the rise of violent crime in recent decades. Brazil in 2017 had 64,000 murders, by far more than any other country. Fifty-one percent of Brazilians in a Datafolha poll published in October felt the dictatorship had left a negative legacy, while 32 percent said the period had been good for Brazil. The remaining 17 percent said they had no opinion. The survey of 9,137 people across Brazil had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Brazil, unlike South American neighbors Argentina and Chile that also endured brutal, U.S.-backed military regimes during the Cold War, has never tried anyone for the murders, torture and other abuses carried out during its dictatorship. In 2014, a Truth Commission report presented evidence that Brazil's military regime had murdered or "disappeared" 434 political dissidents and tortured upward of 50,000 others. But a 1979 amnesty law remains in effect, meaning that neither the military nor leftist guerrillas at the time have been held accountable. (Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Richard Chang) Jerusalem (AFP) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he began a visit to Israel on Sunday and announced a new Jerusalem trade office, but his pledge to move the embassy was on hold. Netanyahu has been hoping Bolsonaro would follow through on his controversial promise to move the embassy to the disputed city, giving the Israeli premier a boost just ahead of April 9 elections. The two leaders instead spoke of opening a Brazilian trade, technology and innovation office there and Netanyahu expressed hope a bigger announcement was not far off. "I'm going to tell you a secret: I hope that this is a first step toward the opening, when the time comes, of a Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said as they gave pre-dinner statements to journalists. Bolsonaro will walk a diplomatic tightrope during the three-day visit as he seeks to shore up ties with Netanyahu while avoiding angering key Arab trade partners. Months after promising to move the embassy -- a step already taken by US President Donald Trump -- Bolsonaro has yet to announce a timetable. Speaking to reporters Thursday, he suggested he was in no hurry to make a decision. "Trump took nine months to decide, to give his final word, so that the embassy was transferred," Bolsonaro said. Moving the embassy would please Bolsonaro's evangelical Christian support base, but would also risk provoking commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat. The Palestinian leadership froze contacts with the White House after Trump's move. - Western Wall visit - Bolsonaro is expected to visit Jerusalem's Western Wall alongside Netanyahu on Monday -- a controversial move in itself. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall with an Israeli premier. The site, one of the holiest in Judaism, is in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in a move never recognised by the international community. Story continues It could be taken as tacit approval of Israel's sovereignty over the site. On Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu and Bolsonaro met at the premier's Jerusalem office and the two countries signed six agreements on areas including defence cooperation, public safety and technology. Earlier in the day at an airport welcoming ceremony, Netanyahu said "we are making history together," adding that they had "opened a new era in relations between our two countries". Bolsonaro spoke of his Christian faith and why the trip was moving for him for that reason, noting a previous pilgrimage to the Jordan River, as well as improving ties. "My government is firmly resolved to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and Israel," he said. "Cooperation in the areas of security and defence is also of great interest to Brazil." Netanyahu became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Brazil when he travelled there for Bolsonaro's January 1 inauguration. In their discussions then, the two right-wingers talked up their budding "brotherhood" which they said would boost military, economic, technological and agricultural cooperation. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz in Israel's elections, whilst also facing indictment on corruption allegations. Pompeo's visit this month and Netanyahu's trip to the United States to meet Trump last week -- cut short due to a flare-up in the Gaza Strip -- were widely seen as boosting his campaign. He has sought to present himself as Israel's essential statesman, and Bolsonaro's visit may include similar rhetoric. Both Netanyahu and Bolsonaro have good relations with Trump. During the Brazilian leader's visit to Washington this month, the US president heaped praise on Bolsonaro, announcing a special relationship that he said could even see the Latin American country join NATO. For years Bolsonaro was little more than a marginal congressman, but his Trump-like campaign in 2018, promising to combat corruption and end politics as usual, propelled him to a surprise victory. burs-mjs/del Berlin (AFP) - As the United Kingdom grapples with its Brexit drama, the uncertainty around its decision to leave the EU persuaded Dale Carr to close down her Berlin shop selling British goods. The 67-year-old from Sheffield and her husband Robin in 1996 opened "Broken English", a shop selling British goods to homesick expats and Germans with a taste for UK treats in the trendy district of Kreuzberg. But things changed in June 2016 when British voters opted to pull out of the EU and the couple, unsure about the future, decided to close their business by the end of May this year. "We decided we would close, because of the uncertainty -- not knowing if we could carry on," said Carr, who also shut a second Broken English shop in west Berlin last year. Carr and her husband, who first came to Berlin in 1978, will retire, leaving her two employees out of work, unless a buyer is found. Visiting customers -- stocking up on Stilton, chocolate biscuits and chutney -- said they were dismayed by the UK's decision to leave the EU. "I think it's a joke, a bad joke," said German Manfred Denker, clutching a box of biscuits. "After Brexit, what is something like a jar of English marmalade going to cost?" - Bad reminders - In the wake of the referendum result, Carr and her husband submitted their paperwork for German citizenship -- "it was a no brainer," she said -- and the process was finalised in the middle of 2017. "I was very grateful to get German citizenship," she admitted. "That was a weight off my shoulders and I didn't realise how stressful it had been until we got our certificates." After the referendum result, the shop became an unofficial drop-in centre for other Brits working in Berlin, worried how Brexit would affect their rights, and eager to apply for German citizenship. "It (Brexit) has damaged a lot of people, it's affected all of us and it will take a long time for that to disappear," she said. Story continues "It has divided people," said Carr, who says she has lost friends who voted "Leave". Carr says business is currently booming, which she puts down to customers stockpiling goods and Easter approaching. - 'A little island' - Up in Hamburg, Robert Berridge, who owns the "British Food and Gourmet", has seen sales of foodstuffs steadily drop away since 2016. "A lot of customers have stopped buying, some are annoyed (by Brexit) and don't want to be reminded of home," said the 60-year-old from Ascot who moved to Germany in 1981 and started the business in 1985. Using previous Christmases as a yardstick, Berridge says business has steadily declined from 26,000 euros ($29,000) turnover for the last quarter of 2014 to 12,000 euros for the same period last year. "I think it's because of Brexit, I have the feeling some are boycotting British goods -- annoyed at the decision," said Berridge, who was granted German citizenship in January. He says he will probably stop importing British goods, focusing instead on selling second-hand English books, put off by the potential extra paperwork and customs taxes. Berridge feels his business is "on the marginal edges, where the pain sets in first" and unable to absorb potential extra costs. - 'Very, very, very unhappy' - There are no such survival worries for Cologne's "The English Shop", founded in 1995. However, Brexit has caused a few concerns for some of the 40 employees at the flagship store and a separate shop in Bonn. "We are very, very, very unhappy with Brexit," said Anna-Maria Boehm, in charge of the shop's marketing. "We have a lot of experience of importing goods from the UK and a hard Brexit will just mean more paperwork -- every bar of chocolate or bag of crisps will have to clear customs. "The main impact so far has been on staff - Brexit has been a huge issue with people applying for dual citizenship or getting married to make sure they can stay." However, Brits in Germany will always have somewhere to get their tea -- especially as the shop has an online store. "There will always be a little island of the UK in Cologne," added Boehm. By Kylie MacLellan and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's exit from the European Union was in disarray after the implosion of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy left her under pressure from rival factions to leave without a deal, go for an election or forge a much softer divorce. After one of the most tumultuous weeks in British politics since the 2016 referendum, it was still uncertain how, when or even if the United Kingdom will ever leave the bloc it first joined 46 years ago. A third defeat of May's divorce deal, after her pledge to quit if it was passed, left one of the weakest leaders in a generation grappling with a perilous crisis over Brexit, the United Kingdom's most significant move since World War Two. Parliament will vote on different Brexit options on Monday and then May could try one last roll of the dice by bringing her deal back to a vote in parliament as soon as Tuesday. "There are no ideal choices available and there are very good arguments against any possible outcome at the moment but we are going to have to do something," said Justice Secretary David Gauke, who voted in the 2016 referendum to stay in the EU. "The prime minister is reflecting on what the options are, and is considering what may happen but I don't think any decisions have been made," he told BBC TV. Many in May's party, though, have lost patience. The Sun newspaper reported that 170 of her 314 Conservative lawmakers had sent her a letter demanding that Brexit take place in the next few months - deal or no deal. The United Kingdom was due to leave the EU on March 29 but the political deadlock in London forced May to ask the bloc for a delay. Currently, Brexit is due to take place at 2200 GMT on April 12 unless May comes up with another option. "IT IS A MESS" The labyrinthine Brexit crisis has left the United Kingdom divided: supporters of both Brexit and EU membership marched through London last week. Many on both sides feel betrayed by a political elite that has failed to show leadership. Parliament is due to vote at around 1900 GMT on Monday on a range of alternative Brexit options selected by Speaker John Bercow from nine proposals put forward by lawmakers, including a no-deal exit, preventing a no-deal exit, a customs union, or a second referendum. "We are clearly going to have to consider very carefully the will of parliament," Gauke said. With no majority yet in the House of Commons for any of the Brexit options, there was speculation that an election could be called, though such a vote would be unpredictable and it is unclear who would lead the Conservatives into it. The Sunday Times said May's media chief, Robbie Gibb, and her political aide Stephen Parkinson were pushing for an election against the will of her chief enforcer in parliament, Julian Smith. The Conservative Party's deputy chair, James Cleverly, said it was not planning for an election. But the deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, Tom Watson, said his party was on election footing. Labour's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, said it could try to call a vote of no confidence in May's government. "We don't know if she is going to remain prime minister, if we are going to get somebody else, who that other person is going to be - it is a mess," Thornberry said. Opponents of Brexit fear it will make Britain poorer and divide the West as it grapples with both the unconventional U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China. Supporters of Brexit say while the divorce might bring some short-term instability, in the longer term it will allow the United Kingdom to thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed attempt in European unity. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Theres good news and bad news at Denali, North Americas tallest mountain. The bad news is that the 66 tons of frozen feces left by climbers on the Alaska summit is expected to start melting out of the glacier sometime in the coming decades and potentially as soon as this summer, a process thats speeding up in part due to global warming. The good news is that this year, for the first time, the guide companies that lead many of the 1,200 climbers who attempt the summit each year have voluntarily decided to start packing out their human waste. This comes just a year after the National Park Service instituted a policy that all such waste below 14,000 feet must be carried off the mountain. Climbers and particularly guide services are really embracing the new policy and are even exceeding it. It has become kind of an informal badge of merit to carry off all your waste, said Michael Loso, a National Park Service glaciologist whos been studying the problem of climber excrement on the mountain for close to a decade. Denali is a majestic mountain about five hours north of Anchorage, Alaska. At 20,300 feet, it's visible from the city on clear days. It's one of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. Conquering them all is considered a major mountaineering challenge in the climbing world. The poop problem is very real. Climbers scaling Denali, previously known as Mount McKinley, generate close to 2 metric tons of human waste each year, according to the National Park Service. (The average human deposit weighs half a pound and the average length of a climber's stay on the mountain is 18 days, which is how researchers got the figure of 66 tons over the course of the past century.) Initially, human waste was left in snow pits on the Kahiltna glacier, the most common route up, or thrown into deep crevasses at higher elevations. It was believed that the waste would be ground up in the ice over time. Story continues It turns out that what goes around comes around, even in a glacier, Loso said. He performed several experiments that show the buried feces eventually resurface farther downstream on the surface of the glacier, where they begin to melt. This is true of all glaciers, which are really extremely slow-moving rivers of ice, though the process seems to be speeding up. Research by the National Park Service found that in the past 50 years, the area covered by ice within the Alaskan parks has diminished by 8 percent. We have lost more glacier cover in the Alaskan national parks than there is area in the whole state of Rhode Island, said Loso. One of the consequences of warming temperatures is that the surface of the glacier is melting more quickly, he said. This means that waste deposited at the lowest climbing camp on the mountain could start reappearing soon, maybe even this climbing season, which begins in April. Waste deposited higher up the mountain will take longer to appear. That could be as much as two to three centuries, Loso said. Park Service staff are keeping their eyes open, but theyre not making special trips to look for excrement. We dont choose to spend our limited funding to just hunt for it all summer long, Loso said. Still pretty yucky Denali has to deal with excrement. On Mount Everest, melting glaciers are exposing the bodies of climbers who had long been buried in the snow and ice. Because elevations are lower on Denali, most climbers who die on the mountain are carried off to be buried. A 40-some-year trip through a glacier doesnt make human waste any less gross. Losos research suggests that, in general, the bacteria and other bugs that live in feces survive after being buried in the snow or dropped in a crevasse. Tests of the rivers into which the glacier melts found fecal coliform bacteria, albeit in amounts well below the standard for recreational lakes and rivers. It won't be pleasant for whoever finds that emerging poop. The waste will emerge at the surface not very different from when it was buried. It will be smushed and have been frozen and be really wet. It will be biologically active, so the E. coli that was in the waste when it was buried will be alive and well. We expect it to still smell bad and look bad, Loso said. Packing it out The National Parks Service realized there was a poop problem on Denali years ago. In 2001, it launched a pilot program with the American Alpine Club climbing group to test small, lightweight portable toilets called Clean Mountain Cans. These reusable bucket-size containers hold 1.8 gallons of solid waste and are lined with a biodegradable bag. But no urine, notes Joe Horiskey, director of RMI Expeditions. If you urinate in the CMC, its going to freeze and increase the weight. After years of testing, last years climbing season was the first in which all climbers were required to pack out their excrement below 14,000 feet. Above that, they are allowed to throw the frozen bags into one designated area in a deep ice crevasse. But for this years climbing season, six of the seven guide companies which take about 50 percent of climbers up the mountain have voluntarily committed to packing out all their waste, said Tucker Chenoweth, a mountaineering ranger at Denali with the National Park Service. That means carrying cans of excrement all the way to the summit and back. Its something the guide companies have been doing informally for a while, but now they're making the leap into total removal. Its not the easiest thing to do, said Todd Burleson, president of Alpine Ascents International. Youre already carrying 100 pounds and then youre adding another 20 pounds of feces. But its the right thing to do, he said. Chenoweth says a lot of individual climbers, especially Americans, are also packing out all their waste. Theres a pretty strong Leave no trace ethic among U.S. climbing and outdoors folks. Its kind of part of the deal, he said. 'The best thing for the mountain' So how do you deal with 21 days' worth of poop? Very carefully. Each climber is assigned their own Clean Mountain Can by the Park Service before they fly up to base camp at 7,200 feet. From the moment they touch down on the mountain, all solid waste goes into that can. No trash or wet wipes are allowed, though toilet paper is OK. We say about 12 uses is a full can. It weighs somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds when full, Chenoweth said. Guides delicately note that up on the mountain, where climbers are eating mostly freeze-dried food, bathroom needs are a little different than down below. It might not be an everyday thing, Horiskey said. The cans are equipped with a gas release valve, so the lid doesnt pop off when theyre flown off the mountain from base camp. On the lower part of the climb, climbers use sleds to hold their gear, which includes the cans. Due to the altitude, the cans' contents freeze, so they're not smelly. On the last leg of the climb, the sleds arent used and the cans are strapped to climbers backpacks. This is something we will all be getting used to, Horiskey said. But its the best thing for the mountain. Its just what were going to have to do. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Climate change could melt decades worth of human poop at Denali National Park in Alaska Kiev (AFP) - Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky topped the first round of Ukraine's presidential election Sunday, exit polls showed, setting him up for a run-off with the incumbent after voters expressed frustration over corruption and a stalling economy. When he announced his long-shot candidacy at the start of the year, Zelensky's political experience had been limited to playing the president in a TV show. But he tapped into fatigue with the political class to overtake President Petro Poroshenko and knock ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko out of the race. "This is just a first step towards a great victory," the 41-year-old in high spirits told supporters at his campaign headquarters minutes after the exit polls were released. "We're not relaxing." If the actor wins the second round in April, as opinion polls suggest, he will take the reins of one of the poorest countries in Europe -- a nation of 45 million people fighting Russian-backed separatists in its industrial east. At a voting station earlier in the day he had promised a Ukraine "without corruption, without bribes". The entertainer was projected to garner around 30 percent of the vote, handily beating Poroshenko on about 18 percent, according to combined figures from three pollsters. Towards midnight local time just over one percent of the vote had been counted and fuller official results were not expected until at least morning. Poroshenko said the projected results were a "harsh lesson" for him personally and for authorities as a whole. He said he felt "no euphoria" in reaching the second round and said the results should provide an impetus to "work on our mistakes". Ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was herself a favourite to win when she launched her campaign at the start of the year, was knocked out with around 14 percent, the figures showed. But Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence as a charismatic face of the 2004 Orange Revolution, claimed the exit polls were "dishonest". Story continues Taking her third tilt at the presidency, the 58-year-old insisted she had come in second place and told supporters to wait for final results. Zelensky has yet to spell out what he would do in power and one of his campaign slogans was: "No promises. No apologies." Despite concerns about his vague platform, supporters insist only a brand new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics. Some accuse Zelensky of acting as a front for the interests of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owns the channel that broadcasts the entertainer's shows, but he denies any political links. The actor has eschewed rallies and interviews in favour of playing gigs with his comedy troupe up to the final days of campaigning. His political comedy "Servant of the People" returned for its third series this week. - Deadly conflict - Poroshenko -- a chocolate magnate who was one of the country's richest men when he took office -- came to power in 2014 after a revolution forced his pro-Russian predecessor out of office. The popular uprising was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The 53-year-old leader said he would shut down the fighting, tackle graft and align the country with the West. But five years on, the conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives and counting, while many feel Poroshenko has failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. The campaign saw allegations of corruption and fraud from all sides. A record 39 candidates were on the ballot paper -- which was more than 80 cm long -- but none apart from the frontrunners reached double figures, according to the exit polls. The head of the central election commission said the vote took place without "systemic violations" though the interior ministry earlier said it had received more than 1,700 reports of voter irregularities. Turnout was 63 percent, up around 4 percent on the previous presidential election, according to provisional figures from the election commission. Zelensky and Poroshenko will face off for the presidency on April 21. 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. * Catholics make up less than 1 percent of Moroccan population * Most are expatriate Europeans, sub-Saharan migrants * Pope has used trip to promote inter-religious dialog By Philip Pullella and Ahmed Eljechtimi RABAT, March 31 (Reuters) - Pope Francis told Morocco's tiny Catholic community on Sunday their role in the predominantly Muslim country was not to covert their neighbors but live in brotherhood with all other faiths. Francis has used his two-day trip to stress inter-faith dialog. He has also backed Moroccan King Mohammed VI's efforts to spread a form of Islam that promotes inter-religious dialog and rejects violence in God's name. The country's 23,000 Roman Catholics - most of them expatriate Europeans, mainly French, and sub-Saharan African migrants - make up less than one percent of the population of about 35 million. "Christians are a small minority in this country. Yet, to my mind, this is not a problem, even though I realize that at times it can be difficult for some of you," he said at a meeting with Catholic community leaders in Rabat's cathedral. Conservative Catholics have frequently criticized the pope's position against organized or aggressive recruiting of potential converts. "The Church grows not through proselytism but by attraction," Francis said to applause. "This means, dear friends, that our mission as baptized persons, priests and consecrated men and women, is not really determined by the number or size of spaces that we occupy, but rather by our capacity to generate change and to awaken wonder and compassion," he said. Moroccan authorities do not recognize Moroccan converts to Christianity, many of whom worship secretly in homes. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is banned - as it is in many Muslim countries - and proselytizing is punishable by up to three years in prison. "The problem is not when we are few in number, but when we are insignificant," Francis said, adding that Catholics were called to be an integral part of inter-religious dialog in a world "torn apart by the policies of extremism and division." Story continues On Saturday, Francis and King Mohammed VI visited an institute the monarch founded to train imams and male and female preachers of Islam. Morocco has promoted itself as an oasis of religious tolerance in a region torn by militancy. It has offered training to Muslim preachers from Africa and Europe on what it describes as moderate Islam. At the Saturday event, Francis praised the monarch for providing "sound training to combat all forms of extremism, which so often lead to violence and terrorism, and which, in any event, constitute an offense against religion and against God himself." Also on Saturday, Jewish leaders joined Christian representatives in the front row at two events presided over by the pope and the monarch on interfaith dialog. Francis' appeal for inter-religious dialog was made more poignant on Sunday by the presence in Rabat cathedral of Father Jean-Pierre Schumacher, a 95-year-old French monk who survived what is known as the Tibhirine massacre in Algeria. In March 1996, seven French monks were kidnapped in a monastery in the central Algerian village of Tibhirine during the civil war. They were held for about two months and found dead. Schumacher managed to escape. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian) By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German carmaker Daimler has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Nokia patents essential to car communications, a move underlining the tensions between tech companies and the car industry on the use of key technologies. Tech companies and mobile telecoms providers are playing an increasingly important role in the auto industry, with their technologies used in navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and self-driving cars. Daimler confirmed that it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Nokia. "We want clarification on how essential patents for telecommunications standards are to be licensed in the automotive industry," the car maker said in a statement on Saturday. "Fair and non-discriminatory access to these standards for all users of the essential patents for telecommunications standards is a key prerequisite for the development of new products and services for connected driving." The European Commission confirmed receipt of Daimler's complaint. Nokia said Daimler was seeking to side-step taking out licences. "Though we offer a wide range of options for automakers, including through their tier 1 suppliers, Daimler has resisted taking a licence to the Nokia inventions it is already using," Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said. "Daimler's allegations in its complaint to the EU are simply the latest in a long series of actions to avoid taking a licence," he said. Nokia has a highly profitable patent business, a legacy of its history as the market-leading mobile phone maker. Patent disputes between Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and others have triggered mutual lawsuits worldwide in the last decade, with analysts saying the patent war could next move to the auto industry. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey and Catherine Evans) By Anastasia Moloney MOCOA, Colombia March 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Two years after a mudslide that killed more than 300 people in the Colombian rainforest town of Mocoa, local authorities are struggling to get the funds to resettle tens of thousands of residents living in areas at risk of flooding. Torrential rains on March 31, 2017, triggered a deadly torrent of mud, debris and rocks, and caused rivers to burst their banks, washing away entire neighborhoods. At least 300 people lost their lives and hundreds more went missing, many of them children, in the worst disaster to hit Colombia in recent decades. Local community leaders put the combined toll of the dead and missing at around 1,000 people. As part of reconstruction efforts, so far 300 new homes have been built for property owners who lost theirs in the disaster. But around 25,000 residents of Mocoa, the rainy and humid capital of Colombia's southern province of Putumayo in the Amazon basin, live in areas that are at risk of flooding and mudslides, according to Jose Antonio Castro, the town's mayor. "It's most advisable to create a resettlement plan," Castro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But the funds needed from the national government to buy the land for resettling people and to build new homes have not yet been defined or secured, the mayor said. The resettlement of tens of thousands of people would take about 20 years in total and be carried out in phases, starting with communities living along river banks who are the most vulnerable, he said. "It's a very complex task. It's very difficult to do because you have to give people psychosocial care so that people take the initiative (to leave), because the historical tradition here is to live alongside the rivers," Castro said. Community leader Eugenia Torres and her daughter live in a destitute part of Mocoa, alongside a river that she knows is at high risk of flooding. Story continues But Torres, who narrowly escaped being washed away in the deadly landslide, says she has no option but to stay where she is as she cannot afford to leave and pay higher rent in a safer part of town. "We live in permanent danger," Torres said. "I live here out of necessity, not because I want to or don't want to leave." According to the mayor, work on building another 1,150 new houses in and around Mocoa is set to start soon, mostly for homeowners who lost their property in the disaster. "There are very many houses to build," Castro said. Surrounded by mountainous rainforest and with six rivers running through and around Mocoa, the town's topography and location makes it prone to mudslides and flash floods. Yet, two years after the disaster, apart from a handful of repaired roads and bridges, new flood control measures, like retention walls along river banks, are almost non-existent. "We've just finished recovering a bit and so the reconstruction of the city, the reconstruction of the social fabric, has barely begun," Castro said. The first of 56 planned infrastructure projects to help prevent flooding and rivers bursting their banks will start within days, the mayor said. "These are public works to mitigate the impact (of disasters) so that some areas go from being areas of high risk to areas of medium risk," Castro said. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney @anastasiabogota, Editing by Jason Fields. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) WASHINGTON Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) can ask for copies of Donald Trumps federal tax returns whenever he wants, but Neal is in no hurry and seemingly doesnt care if Democrats dont get the documents before the next election. Though the law is clear that the treasury secretary is supposed to hand over any returns requested by the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has all but said hell disobey the law meaning there will be a court fight. I cant substitute my timetable for the federal courts, said Neal, chairman of Ways and Means, when asked if he thought the case could be wrapped up by Election Day. Ive been very careful not to presuppose a timeline. Democrats said theyd make the request for Trumps returns after regaining control of the House of Representatives, but theyve waited nearly three months to follow through. Neal has said only that he will make the request sometime this year, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has backed his cautious approach. Nobody knows how long a court case could take, though congressional Democrats generally say they figure it will take months if not a year. But theres never been such a case before. Neal can request any Americans tax info thanks to a specific section of the tax code that grants that power to the chairs of congressional tax committees. George Yin, a tax expert at the University of Virginia School of Law, said he is unaware of any instance of a treasury secretary refusing to comply with a request under the law, which Congress has rarely used since it was enacted in 1924. Yin said November 2020 would be a significant deadline depending on how Democrats frame their request and their legal posture in the court case. Democrats could argue, for instance, that they want to see if the president has paid his taxes or if he has a conflict of interest, such as income from a company or foreign government with business before the U.S. government things that voters might want to know. Story continues If thats what youre trying to get, then youd want to get that information before the election, Yin said. But if Democrats argue they need the documents to perform oversight of the Internal Revenue Service and how it implements tax laws, then the deadline would be less important. Either way, theyll probably need to show the request has a legitimate purpose in line with their constitutional responsibilities of lawmaking and oversight. Yin cited two previous instances in which the Supreme Court upheld congressional oversight power in cases involving subpoenas, one in 1880 and the other in 1927, that are probably not useful for gauging how long a tax return case might take today. Trump was the first major presidential candidate in decades not to voluntarily release personal tax information, which can reveal details of his income sources, charitable giving and how much tax he pays. Hes also the first modern president not to divest from his businesses, meaning people or organizations can essentially pay him to try to influence policy. Michael Cohen, Trumps former lawyer, testified last month that the president has manipulated the value of his assets in order to borrow money and get favorable tax treatment, which could be considered criminal acts. The law is simple Section 6103 of the federal tax code says the Ways and Means chairman can request tax information and that the treasury secretary shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request, which the committee can then vote to make public. Neal said committee lawyers are drafting the request to put Democrats in the most advantageous position possible for the expected court fight. He has solicited input from other committee chairs and has to decide how many years of returns to request and whether to ask for business returns in addition to personal ones. But its not really that complicated, according to Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project, an anti-corruption initiative of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Section 6103 is clear, Hauser said, and Congress generally has broad authority to conduct oversight of the executive branch. Contrary to what Neal has been saying, each day of delay does not strengthen their litigation hand it is an unearned gift to Donald Trump, Hauser said. Ways and Means member Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) has been frustrated by the delay. He said he thought that it would be ideal if the whole process could be completed this year and that it would be too fraught in 2020 with the election looming. I think you got to forget about next year anything happening, so we got eight, nine months to go through courts, get his returns, Pascrell said. I think the request has to go in very, very soon. I thought it would be done by now. Related Coverage People Want Democrats To Get Trump's Tax Returns, Please Democrats Announce Hearing On Trump's Tax Returns Republicans Ask Democrats To Please Leave Trump's Tax Returns ALONE Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card! It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT). What Is Insider Selling? It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for John Bean Technologies The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At John Bean Technologies Executive VP & CFO Brian Deck made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$88k worth of shares at a price of US$87.92 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. Nonetheless, we consider it positive if insiders want to buy at around the current share price. Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$114k for 1.30k shares. But insiders sold 1.00k shares worth US$81k. Overall, John Bean Technologies insiders were net buyers last year. The average buy price was around US$87.58. Although they bought at below the recent price of US$91.89 per share, it is good to see that insiders are willing to invest in the company. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below! Story continues NYSE:JBT Recent Insider Trading, March 31st 2019 I will like John Bean Technologies better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Insider Ownership of John Bean Technologies Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 2.7% of John Bean Technologies shares, worth about US$77m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. What Might The Insider Transactions At John Bean Technologies Tell Us? The fact that there have been no John Bean Technologies insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think John Bean Technologies insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in John Bean Technologies, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. Of course John Bean Technologies may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. MILAN (Reuters) - The European Union has had a lot of patience with Britain over Brexit but patience runs out, the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview on Italian state TV RAI on Sunday. Juncker, whose words were translated into Italian, said he would like Great Britain to be able to reach an agreement in the coming hours and days that could be followed. "So far we know what the British parliament says no to, but we don't know what it might say yes to," he said. Asked if a second referendum might be possible, Juncker said that was an issue exclusively for the British people. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Andrew Heavens) By Beh Lih Yi SINGAPORE, March 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A chest binder, packaging from used hormone injections and a preserved penis donated after a sex-change operation - all part of an exhibition designed to showcase Singapore's rich transgender history. The display is an attempt by one of Singapore's best known transgender citizens to raise awareness and preserve the surprisingly vibrant history of LGBT+ culture in the famously conservative country. Affluent Singapore is modern in many ways, yet social attitudes are often highly conservative, with sex between men banned. Same-sex marriage is illegal. But it has not always been this way. Back in the 1950s, transgender people were an ever-present part of the lively clubs and bars of Bugis Street, Singapore's former red light district. "I don't want our history to be forgotten," said June Chua, who opened the exhibition in December and also runs Singapore's only shelter for transgender people. "I want the public to understand us. If you understand us, where we came from, who are we ... you will then see us as no different," said Chua, who said she realized she was a girl trapped in a boy's body when she was just 12. The project was inspired by a visit to Stonewall Inn, the bar considered the birthplace of the U.S. gay rights movement that now has national monument status. Singapore is among a handful of Asian nations that recognizes transgender people, and sex reassignment surgery has been legal in the city-state since 1973. Those who have undergone the procedure can change their gender on their identification cards. "Transgender persons have a place in Singapore society, and are entitled to their own private lives," a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Social and Family Development told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email. They have access to employment, education and healthcare as other Singaporeans and should "not be subject to prejudice and discrimination," she added. Story continues Yet campaigners say transgender people face a great deal of social stigma, from difficulty in finding jobs, to bullying in school and rejection by their families. "Very often we are invisible yet visible at the same time," said Chua, 45, who set up the shelter in 2014 and has housed more than two dozen people who were kicked out by their families or were unable to find work. PIONEER GENERATION Sherry, a transgender woman, lost her job in a restaurant when she started wearing make-up and women's clothes about eight years ago, and now earns a living as a sex worker. "Sex work gives me financial independence, but we know deep down in our heart that no one wants to do this for their whole life," said the 28-year-old as she lit a cigarette. Sherry, who asked to be identified by just one name, hopes one day to find work in hotel management - but she is not optimistic. "If given opportunities I would want to do something else," she said as she sat outside a brothel in Singapore's red light district Geylang late one night. "But opportunities don't come easily for us." There is no official estimate for the number of transgender people among Singapore's population of 5.6 million, and campaigners say a lack of data on the community makes it impossible to tackle the problems they face. Jean Chong, founder of Singapore-based Sayoni which campaigns for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, said the group's research showed about one in four LGBT+ women in the country had faced violence. "It's very hard to talk about it because there is no statistic," said Chong. "Documentation would be the first step to show that this happens regularly, but it's so invisible," she said. "The reporting behavior of LGBT+ people is that they will never go to the police." Tackling HIV is another issue - Chua said Singapore's transgender community was labeled as a key affected population, but no transgender-specific programs were in place due in part to a lack of research and data. Her museum project is part of the effort to tackle what she sees as the invisibility of Singapore's transgender people. She hopes eventually to expand the small collection of exhibits - which can currently only be viewed by appointment due to funding and staffing constraints - into a fully fledged museum and move to a bigger venue. It aims to showcase the culturally diverse stories of transgender community in Singapore's multi-ethnic society that she says is so different from the West. The preserved penis was given by a Muslim transgender woman who plans to bury it together with her body after she dies, in line with Islamic traditions. The chest binder is framed with stickers written in Chinese and English that include one that says "Be yourself forever" and another, "Don't let anyone make you feel invalid." Also among the items on display are a Hollywood movie poster from the 1970s that features a Singaporean transgender woman - evidence, said Chua, that the transgender community has a long history here. "We don't want our history to be forgotten and whitewashed away," she said. "We do have a transgender history, we do have the pioneer generation. Before they die, I want to collect their stories." (Reporting by Beh Lih Yi @behlihyi; Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) By Saad Sayeed and Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, March 31 (Reuters) - At a historic market commissioned by Queen Victoria in Pakistan's southern metropolis of Karachi, third-generation spice seller Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi complains that a move to clear illegal encroachments has left poor shopkeepers jobless. "My own business has been cut in half," said Abbasi of the modernization drive ordered by the country's Supreme Court in January to clean-up large swathes of the city's historic center, which he says has driven away so many vendors that fewer people now visit the area. "We need these changes for the country to move forward but it needs to be done properly," he said, surrounded by barrels of mango pickle, chili powder and turmeric at the stall his grandfather built more than 80 years ago. The modernisation of Karachi's old downtown is one of a string of projects aimed at revitalizing Pakistan's largest city and economic powerhouse, which has long been plagued by traffic congestion, water and electricity shortages and rampant crime. But experts say the politicking by local parties and wrangling between different levels of government that have stalled Karachi's growth for decades continue to hold back development. Public transit programs, including a shiny new bus service and the revival of a long-closed inner city rail service, are among the projects stuck in the gridlock. Both transport schemes have been held up awaiting authorization from Islamabad to invite bids to supply new buses and begin laying railways tracks, according to Sindh province's Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah. Muhammad Sualeh Faruqui, CEO of the federal development corporation in charge of the bus project that is expected to move 250,000 commuters daily, said an agreement between the provincial and federal government should be finalized soon. But no movement has been made on the bus or rail projects since Reuters spoke to Faruqui in January. Story continues On Saturday, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the allocation of 162 billion rupees ($1.15 billion) for Karachi's development, to be primarily spent on transport and sewage projects. "We need to make a master plan for Karachi and define the limits of the city and whether it will expand beyond its current area," Khan said. CONGESTION CRISIS In the 1960s, Karachi boasted the tallest building in South Asia, an operational inner-city rail service, vibrant nightlife, and booming tourism. But more than 50 years later, the city's infrastructure has failed to keep pace with a population that has sky-rocketed more than 300 percent, leaving many public services such as health, transport, and water either provided by an informal private sector or controlled by organized crime. The city nevertheless remains key to Pakistan's shaky economy, now on the verge of its 13th IMF bailout since the late 1980s, accounting for 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to World Bank figures. "Improving Karachi's efficiency and Karachi's economy, improves Pakistan efficiency and Pakistan's economy," said former finance minister and Karachi resident Mifath Ismail. "It is the only port city in Pakistan and it's the hub of all international trade." A study by the NED University of Engineering and Technology found that traffic congestion costs Karachi $2 billion annually. Data from the local municipal corporation showed more than 3 million motorcycles currently in use with 25,000 added each month. CRIME AND NEGLECT To be sure, efforts to revitalize Karachi have achieved some success, most notably in curbing the violent crime for which the city had become notorious. In 2013, the national government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave free rein to the paramilitary Rangers for a sweeping crackdown on criminal gangs. That, say police officials, saw the annual number of murders fall from more than 2,500 to fewer than 500 in the space of a year. "If this had been achieved in the West, studies would have been carried out to replicate these results," said senior police official Abdul Khalique Shaikh. The falling crime rate has meant some upscale neighborhoods have seen a spike in new restaurants, from hipster burger joints to taco food trucks, alongside high-end retail outlets. But decades of growing congestion and neglect have turned places such as the Saddar area, where the Empress Market is located, from a spot where all Karachiites once rubbed shoulders into a rundown shopping and business district avoided by the well-off. The once fashionable part of town, now lined with crumbling colonial-era buildings, is a transport hub for nearly 20 million residents. Every day, an overcrowded network of private buses and vans cart thousands to and from work in the bustling downtown. Shah, the provincial transport minister, blames delays in the rail and bus projects on the federal government, which he accuses of "playing political games." The federal information ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Karachi's administration has been dominated for decades by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has traditionally drawn support from the descendents of Urdu-speakers who migrated from India following partition in 1947, but had little following beyond the city. The MQM was involved in bloody factional battles in the 1990s and 2000s and was accused by opponents of running the city like a mafia fiefdom, allegations it denied. It has come under increasing pressure since the crime crackdown, which saw the party split into several factions. As a result, the city's politics are now more competitive, but also more fragmented. "There is no one taking ownership of Karachi," the city's MQM mayor Waseem Akhtar told Reuters, adding the city saw little return for the millions in revenue that went to provincial and federal governments. "From the Federal or Sindh government there is no seriousness." None of this is any comfort for Karachi's long suffering commuters who are forced to trudge through hours of traffic on their daily commutes, as the city's main traffic artery comes to a complete standstill during rush hours. "With the non-serious attitude of all the parties involved, I don't see the project taking off for the next two, three years," a senior bureaucrat, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. (Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Alex Richardson) Bangladesh security forces have shot dead a Rohingya woman in a border town known as a gateway for smuggling meth pills from neighbouring Myanmar, officials said Sunday. Rights activists said Rumana Akter, 20, was the first Rohingya woman to be killed in a clampdown by Bangladesh authorities against the narcotics trade. She was one of three alleged smugglers killed in two separate incidents in Teknaf, which is close to refugee camps housing about one million Muslim Rohingya who have fled from Myanmar. Teknaf is a hub for dealing in "yaba" -- a methamphetamine-based stimulant that translates in Thai as "crazy medicine" -- which has become popular in Bangladesh. More than 300 people -- including nearly 20 Rohingya -- have been killed in the clampdown launched in May last year. Impoverished Rohingya refugees are used by dealers to transport the drug from Myanmar, officials say. A military crackdown against the Rohingya in August 2017 sparked an exodus of 740,000 refugees to flee the country and join some 300,000 refugees already in camps in Bangladesh. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said the Rohingya woman was killed during a gunfight between security forces and armed smugglers on the Naf river, which acts as a border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. BGB spokesman Shariful Islam told reporters the woman's body was found after a 15-minute gunbattle "along with 10,000 pieces of yaba and three sharp knives in her bag". Akter came from a refugee camp in Teknaf. Rights activists questioned the death, saying the woman's name was not on a list of known drug traders kept by Bangladeshi law agencies. Two alleged drug traders were killed by police in a separate incident in Teknaf late Saturday. Police said 10,000 pieces of yaba, six guns and 18 rounds of ammunition were found. As part of clampdown Bangladesh authorities in October made yaba a class-A banned substance and parliament passed a law allowing the death penalty for dealing in the drug. By Julio-Cesar Chavez EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Workers and students who frequently cross the U.S. border with Mexico worried over the weekend about the impact on their lives if President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to shut entry points used by hundreds of thousands of people every day. Faced with a surge of asylum seekers from Central American countries who travel through Mexico, Trump said on Friday there was a "good likelihood" he would close the border this coming week if Mexico does not stop unauthorized immigrants from reaching the United States. Shutting the southern frontier completely would disrupt billions of dollars in trade and millions of legal border crossings, including those made by U.S. citizen Andrea Torres. The 22-year-old student spends weekdays with her aunt in El Paso, where she attends the local campus of the University of Texas, and weekends with her mother in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. On the border bridge linking the two cities, so many students cross every day that authorities have assigned them their own pedestrian lane. "Right now, it's better for me to stay in El Paso because I need to finish school," Torres, who is studying art history, said on Friday as she headed to Juarez for the weekend. That would mean missing her mom. "It would be really hard," Torres said. "I'm really close to her." Gerardo Pozas, a 38-year-old mechanic, moved to El Paso from Juarez in 1997 to attend high school and later became a U.S. citizen. He has always retained strong ties with his birthplace. He worried what he would do if Trump closed the border. "My family, my church and my girlfriend are (in Juarez). I wouldn't be able to go," Pozas said. "But if I stay there, in Ciudad Juarez, I wouldn't be able to come to my house." LONG LINES AT BORDER Department of Homeland Security officials had already warned traffic with Mexico could slow as the agency shifts personnel from ports of entry to help process asylum seekers. Delays were already being felt on Friday, with waiting times longer than usual on the Mexican side of the crossing between Juarez and El Paso, and hours-long lines for trucks carrying goods from Mexican factories into the United States. Trade between the United States and its third-largest trading partner totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Brandon Carlan, a 21-year-old waiter from Boston, Massachusetts, works in San Diego but lives in Tijuana, Mexico, because he cannot afford San Diego's high rents. He said he crosses the border every day. "(Closing it) would affect me economically because I wouldn't be able to pay for my bills," Carlan said. "There are people going back and forth every day and they are not going to be able to see their families or go to their houses." Construction worker Alejandro Villegas, 43, is from Tijuana, Mexico, but lives in San Diego. He said many of his colleagues live in Mexico and cross the border daily. "People have kids who study on this side and on the Mexican side and they have to cross to take them to school, to go shopping and to work so this is a big problem for us," he said. Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the border during his two years in office but has not followed through. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. On Friday its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country does not act on the basis of threats. (Graphic: Trump threatens to shut U.S.-Mexico border - https://tmsnrt.rs/2V59n2R) (Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez, Julia Love in Mexico City, and Omar Younis in San Diego; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis, James Dalgleish and Richard Chang) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) Gaza health officials said Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man near the perimeter fence with Israel early Saturday, hours before a planned mass rally that is to mark a year of weekly border protests. The fatal shooting was bound to raise tensions at a time when Egyptian mediators, shuttling between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, are trying to broker a cease-fire deal that also includes proposed arrangements for preventing violence during Saturday's march. The timing of the anniversary rally is sensitive for both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy. In the final stretch of the campaign, Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to the Islamic militant Hamas. Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza, as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of border closures. The fence protests, which began a year ago, were meant to break the blockade, but haven't delivered major improvements. Early Saturday, Mohammed Saad, 21, was killed by Israeli army fire east of Gaza City near the perimeter fence, Gaza's Health Ministry said. It said he was hit by shrapnel in the head. An Israeli army spokesman said about 200 Palestinians "rioted during the night along the fence" and that the army used riot dispersal means against them. He did not elaborate and had no comment about Saad's case. A Gaza hospital worker, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said Saad was a member of the so-called "night disturbance unit." Such groups routinely burn tires, flash laser lights and detonate explosives near the fence at night to distract soldiers and disturb residents of nearby Israeli communities. Story continues Such a protest took place in the night from Friday to Saturday, and the sound of explosions was heard in nearby Gaza City. The marches near the fence began a year ago, initially organized by grassroots activists. Hamas quickly took the lead, but a steady large turnout was also driven by widespread despair in Gaza. The border blockade, imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, has devastated Gaza's economy. Ground water has become undrinkable, electricity has turned into an intermittent luxury and the U.N. has warned Gaza will soon become uninhabitable. The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with some of the Palestinian demonstrators burning tires, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas. According to a Gaza rights group and a count by The Associated Press, 196 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches. Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening renewed escalation. Palestinians with knowledge of the talks have said that as part of the proposed deal, Gaza protesters were to keep away from the fence Saturday and Israeli troops were to hold their fire. Under the Egyptian plan, Israel was to offer economic incentives for Gaza in exchange for calm, according to Palestinian officials. Earlier this month, Hamas quelled what have been portrayed as the fiercest protests yet against its mismanagement and failure to improve the internal economic situation. Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based rival, the Palestinian Authority, for worsening the living conditions. By Nelson Acosta SAN FRANCISCO DE PAULA, Cuba, March 30 (Reuters) - A restoration center to preserve the work of Ernest Hemingway opened in Cuba on Saturday, highlighting an area of cooperation with the United States even as bilateral ties between the old Cold War foes have chilled again. Hemingway, who won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1954, wrote some of his greatest books during the 21 years he lived at Finca Vigia, or Lookout Farm, now a museum in San Francisco de Paula on the outskirts of Havana. The restoration center built by the Cuban National Cultural Heritage Council and Finca Vigia Foundation of the United States is located on the 15-acre (6-hectare) property where Hemingway lived in a tree-shaded, airy Spanish-style home. "When we come together, when we work together, we can do positive and amazing things," Jim McGovern, a U.S. congressman for Massachusetts who wants better U.S.-Cuban relations, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. McGovern said the project would have been much easier were it not for the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, that President Donald Trump has tightened since coming to power. Hemingway moved to Finca Vigia in 1939, the year before "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was published, and wrote "The Old Man and the Sea," "A Moveable Feast" and "Islands in the Stream" while he was there, according to local scholars. He left Cuba in 1960, more than a year after the Cuban revolution and less than a year before he killed himself in Idaho at age 61 amid a struggle with depression. The writer left thousands of documents in Cuba, ranging from manuscripts of some of his works to letters, as well as photographs and annotated books. The restoration center, which received financing from the Ford Foundation, American Express Philanthropy and the AT&T Foundation amongst others, includes laboratories and an air-conditioned vault. The Cuban National Cultural Heritage Council and Finca Vigia Foundation had previously signed three cooperation agreements to conserve and disseminate the legacy of Hemingway. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta Writing by Sarah Marsh Editing by Darren Schuettler) Havana (AFP) - Ernest Hemingway's legacy helps to bring Americans and Cubans together, an American congressman said as he opened an archive at the legendary writer's onetime home in Havana, despite tensions between the two nations. "Hemingway is once again serving to unite Americans and Cubans," Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern said at the ceremony on Saturday at the facility, already a museum chronicling the some 20 years the author spent in Cuba. The inauguration came against the backdrop of a sharp pivot by the administration of US President Donald Trump following his predecessor Barack Obama's policy of normalization with Havana. "There is no good and rational reason" why the United States and Cuba cannot have normal relations, said McGovern, a Democrat, as flags of the two countries stood behind him. McGovern, who has made numerous trips to the island, in 2002 established the Finca Vigia Foundation with Jenny and Frank Phillips. Jenny Phillips, who died last year, was the granddaughter of Hemingway's editor and friend, Maxwell Perkins. Its mission is to work with Cuban colleagues to restore and preserve "Finca Vigia" (Lookout Farm) -- the Havana home of the Nobel literature laureate -- as well as its contents and his fishing boat. The boat had already been renovated and the home restored "to its 1950s splendor," according to the foundation website. Now the on-site archival storage facility, whose construction began in 2015, has also opened, with McGovern cutting a ribbon and reviewing the archives, which include Hemingway's passport. The congressman, who favors scrapping the six-decade-old US trade embargo against Cuba, later met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Gladys Collazo, director of Cuba's National Council of Cultural Heritage, said the new facility is the result of collaboration among "people of goodwill" despite the obstacles. In a separate statement the council said "there are many US interests linked to cultural exchanges with Cuba that are curbed by the setback in bilateral relations." Story continues "With very little money, and in the midst of a dauntingly difficult political climate, this project has flourished and continues to grow," the foundation said. Hemingway wrote many of his classics including "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea" at Finca Vigia. Most of Hemingway's time in Cuba preceded the 1959 communist revolution. He committed suicide in 1961 after returning to the United States. Millions of Americans either have or are eligible for health savings accounts, but many fail to understand their benefits. Only a quarter of workers say funding their account is a financial priority, according to the 2018 Health Accounts Employee Attitudes Survey from Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory and solutions firm. By not contributing to their accounts, employees are missing out on immediate tax benefits as well as the opportunity to build additional savings for retirement. "The HSA was created when high-deductible (insurance) plans came about," explains Joseph Conroy, author of "Decades & Decisions: Financial Planning at Any Age," and a financial advisor with advisory firm Synergy Financial Group in Towson, Maryland. For 2019, individuals who have single health plans with a minimum deductible of $1,350 and a maximum out-of-pocket cost of $6,750 are eligible for an HSA. For those with family health plans, the minimum deductible for eligible policies is $2,700 and the maximum out-of-pocket costs are $13,500. "The idea is it's a way to pay for health care and not be taxed on it," says Davey Quinn, senior vice president of investment management for United Income, an online financial planning firm. Money deposited into an HSA is tax deductible. It then grows tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses. "It's basically what I consider the holy grail of savings accounts," says Dan Mathews, a certified financial planner, CFP Board Ambassador and wealth manager with advisory firm Creative Planning Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri. [Read: 2019 Tax Filing Tips for Retirees.] To use your health savings investment account as a valuable retirement planning tool, follow these four steps: -- Open an HSA investment account. -- Contribute the maximum allowed. -- Save your receipts and let your balance grow. -- Use your HSA like an IRA in retirement. Keep reading to see how to put each of these strategies into action. Story continues Open a health savings investment account. Health savings accounts can be opened at many banks and credit unions, but these institutions may offer little to no interest. For instance, Bank of America currently pays between 0.10 to 0.45 percent interest on HSA accounts, depending on their balance. At Lake Michigan Credit Union in Michigan, HSAs earn 0.5 percent for balances lower than $5,000 and 1 percent for those at or above that amount. Bank and credit union HSAs can be convenient for those who plan to spend their money right away on health care expenses. However, if you want to use your HSA for retirement planning, look for a provider who will allow you to invest your money for a greater return. Fidelity and Optum Bank are two such providers. But Quinn cautions that fees for some investment accounts can be high, so it's best to read all the fine print and shop around. If you have a health savings account through your employer, payroll contributions may need to be made to the provider they select. However, there is nothing stopping you from later transferring balances to a different HSA. [See: 10 Tax Breaks for People Over 50.] Contribute the maximum allowed. In 2019, people will be able to contribute up to $3,500 to an HSA if they have a single health insurance policy or $7,000 if they have a family policy. Those who are age 55 or older are entitled to make an additional $1,000 in catch-up contributions. "You don't have any of the limits you have with an IRA," Quinn says. While those with a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k) can contribute to a traditional IRA, tax deductions may be limited for single taxpayers earning more than $64,000 per year or married couples filing jointly who earn more than $103,000. However, there are no such restrictions on HSA deductions. The entire contribution is deductible regardless of your income. Save your receipts and let your balance grow. While HSAs are intended to provide a tax-free way to pay for health care costs, "you don't have to use it when you have medical expenses," Conroy says. Instead, you could pay bills out-of-pocket and let the balance in your HSA grow. "You could reimburse yourself years later," Mathews says, though he cautions "you have to keep good records." He recommends keeping a file of paid medical bills that can be used for reimbursement in the future. For instance, this strategy could be used by those who want to retire early and need to supplement their income before Social Security payments begins. They can boost their bank account by reimbursing themselves for several years' worth of previous medical expenses so long as they have documentation to back up the claim should they be audited. If you later change insurance and no longer have a qualified high-deductible plan, you can still pay for medical expenses out of your HSA. You just can't make any new contributions until you have a qualified plan again. [Read: How to Save Your Tax Refund for Retirement.] Use your HSA like an IRA in retirement. Workers who use money from an HSA for anything other than qualified health expenses will incur a 20 percent tax penalty. That's in addition to regular income tax that must be paid on the withdrawn amount. There is no penalty for non-health care withdraws in retirement though. "It works just like an IRA once you hit (age) 65," Conroy says. At that point, money can be taken from an HSA for any purpose with only income tax due on that amount. That's the same as how withdrawals from traditional IRAs are handled after age 59 1/2. In this way, contributing to an HSA essentially allows workers with IRAs to double their annual retirement savings. However, HSAs have one advantage. While traditional IRA holders are required to begin taking minimum distributions at age 70 1/2, there is no such requirement with an HSA. Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card! We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell WPP plc (LON:WPP), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. Do Insider Transactions Matter? It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.' See our latest analysis for WPP WPP Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO & Executive Director Mark Read for UK115k worth of shares, at about UK11.45 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. That purchase may suggest an expectation of positive returns over the long term. Mark Read was the only individual insider to buy over the year. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! LSE:WPP Recent Insider Trading, March 31st 2019 For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Story continues Insider Ownership of WPP I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that WPP insiders own 1.5% of the company, worth about UK157m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders. What Might The Insider Transactions At WPP Tell Us? It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded WPP shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like WPP insiders think the business has merit. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in WPP, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. (Repeats story from March 29; no changes to text) * 2016 document said more procedures, training needed * Rarely used control can be required to stabilize trim * Conditions for use not included in flight manual By Jamie Freed SINGAPORE, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. and European regulators knew at least two years before a Lion Air crash that the usual method for controlling the Boeing 737 MAX's nose angle might not work in conditions similar to those in two recent disasters, a document shows. The European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would "clearly explain" to pilots the "unusual" situations in which they would need to manipulate a rarely used manual wheel to control, or "trim," the plane's angle. Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters. The undated EASA certification document, available online, was issued in February 2016, an agency spokesman said. It specifically noted that at speeds greater than 230 knots (265mph, 425kph) with flaps retracted, pilots might have to use the wheel in the cockpit's center console rather than an electric thumb switch on the control yoke. EASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ultimately determined that set-up was safe enough for the plane to be certified, with the European agency citing training plans and the relative rarity of conditions requiring the trim wheel. In the deadly Lion Air crash in October, the pilots lost control after initially countering the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a new automated anti-stall feature that was pushing the nose down based on data from a faulty sensor, according to a preliminary report from Indonesian investigators released in November. The flight conditions were similar to those described in the EASA document, a source at Lion Air said. The source said that training materials before the crash did not say the wheel could be required under those conditions but that Boeing advised the airline about it after the crash. Story continues Boeing declined to comment on the EASA document or its advice to Lion Air, citing the ongoing investigation into the crash. Ethiopia's Transport Ministry, France's BEA air accident authority and the FAA have all pointed to similarities between the Lion Air crash and an Ethiopian Airlines disaster this month. But safety officials stress that the Ethiopian investigation is at an early stage. 'NOT PHYSICALLY EASY' The crashes have also heightened scrutiny of the certification and pilot training for the latest model of Boeing Co's best-selling workhorse narrowbody, now grounded globally. In the EASA document, the regulator said simulations showed the electric thumb switches could not keep the 737 MAX properly trimmed under certain conditions, including those of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, according to the Indonesian preliminary report and a source with knowledge of the Ethiopian air traffic control recordings. The trim system adjusts the angle of the nose. If the nose is too far up, the jet risks entering a stall. Additional procedures and training needed to "clearly explain" when the manual wheel might be needed, according to the document. The EASA spokesman said that was a reference to the Boeing flight crew operations manual. An American Airlines Group Inc flight manual for 737 MAX pilots dated October 2017 said the thumb switches had less ability to move the nose than the manual wheel. The manual, which is 1,400 pages long, did not specify the flight conditions in which the wheel might be needed. The trim wheel is a relic of the Boeing 737's 1960s origins and does not appear in more modern planes like the 787 and Airbus SE A350. It is not often used, several current and former 737 pilots told Reuters. "It would be very unusual to use the trim wheel in flight. I have only used manual trim once in the simulator," said a 737 pilot. "It is not physically easy to make large trim changes to correct, say, an MCAS input. You - or more than likely the other pilot - have to flip out a little handle and wind, much like a boat winch." The EASA document said that after flight testing, the FAA's Transport Airplane Directorate, which oversees design approvals and modifications, was concerned about whether the 737 MAX system complied with regulations because the thumb switches could not control trim on their own in all conditions. FAA declined to comment on the European document. A trim-related "equivalent level of safety" (ELOS) memorandum listed in its 737 MAX certification document is not available on the FAA website. The agency declined to provide it to Reuters. CONFUSING SIGNALS The night before the Lion Air crash, different pilots on the same plane faced a similar problem with MCAS and tried to use electric trim to counteract it, according to the preliminary report from Indonesian investigators. After the third time MCAS forced the nose down, the first officer commented that the control column was "too heavy to hold back" to counter the automated movements, the preliminary report said. Former FAA accident investigator Mike Daniel said that to prevent stalls, the control column was designed to require more force for a pilot to pull back than to push forward. Boeing on Wednesday said software changes to MCAS would provide additional layers of protection, including making it impossible for the system to keep the flight crew from counteracting it. On the 737 MAX, Boeing removed the "yoke jerk" function that enabled pilots to disable the automated trim system with a hard pull on the control column rather than hitting two cut-out switches on the center console. In a blog post on his personal website, former Boeing engineer Peter Lemme said that could make things harder for a pilot in a crisis. "In the scenario where the stabilizer is running away nose down, the pilot may only fixate on pulling the column back in response," he said. "They may not be mentally capable to trim back or cutout the trim - instead they just keep pulling." Ultimately the crew the evening before the Lion Air crash stopped the automated nose-down movement with the cut-out switches and used the wheel to control trim for the remainder of the flight, the preliminary report said. That was the proper procedure to deal with a runaway stabilizer, according to Boeing. However, current and former pilots told Reuters that the way the trim wheel and other controls behaved in practice compared with in training may have confused the Lion Air crews, who were also dealing with warnings about unreliable airspeed and altitude. "MCAS activation produces conditions similar to a runaway trim, but the training is not done with a stick shaker active and multiple other failures, which make the diagnosis much more difficult," said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and former commercial pilot. The stick shaker alerts pilots to a potential stall by vibrating the control column. Reuters this month reported that an off-duty pilot in the cockpit on the night before the Lion Air crash spotted the runaway stabilizer problem, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Boeing on Wednesday said changes to the MCAS software would help "reduce the crew's workload in non-normal flight situations." (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Singapore; additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal, Cindy Silviana in Jakarta, David Shepardson in Washington, Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paolo, Eric M. Johnson in Seattle, Tim Hepher in Paris, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago and Maggie Fick in Nairobi; Editing by Gerry Doyle) * Re-opening comes amid Egyptian mediation * Saturday's Gaza border protests smaller than expected * Netanyahu: Israeli reinforcements remaining on Gaza border By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel reopened its commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday but kept military reinforcements deployed on the volatile frontier, a day after a smaller than expected Palestinian protest along the border. Gaza medical officials said four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations on Saturday marking the first anniversary of the "Great March of Return" protests. Around 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started on March 30 last year, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. An Israeli soldier was also killed by a Palestinian sniper in July. But while around 40,000 protesters, some hurling grenades and explosives, turned out on Saturday, according to the Israeli military, several signs pointed to pullback from wider confrontation amid Egyptian efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire that would also ease blockaded Gaza's economic plight. An Israeli military spokesman noted that there had been "significantly less violence" during Saturday's protest, which organizers had billed a "million person march," than in past weekly demonstrations. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian men, some from Gaza's ruling Hamas group, were deployed in bright orange vests to deter people from going near Israel's border fence, a frequent flashpoint. A Hamas official said Egyptian mediators were expected to hold talks in Israel to try to finalize a deal. Israel, which considers Hamas to be a terrorist group, has maintained an official silence about any pending agreement, a week before a closely contested election in which rocket strikes from Gaza on Israeli border towns have become a main issue. Trucks carrying food and fuel rolled into Gaza through the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday despite the firing of several rockets at southern Israel overnight and Israeli tank fire on Hamas positions in response. No injuries were reported on either side of the border. Story continues FLARE-UP The crossing had been closed on Monday after a rocket that wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv touched off a two-day surge in cross-border violence. Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border after the rocket strike, as Egypt stepped up its mediation. A prospective deal, according to three Palestinian officials close to the talks, would include steady Qatari-funded fuel supplies for Gaza, job creation projects and expansion of the territory's fishing zone off the Mediterranean coast. For their part, militant groups in Gaza agreed before Saturday's protest to keep demonstrators from the border fence and stop the launching of incendiary balloons that have burned farmland in southern Israel, the officials said. "Days separate us from achieving our demands. We are patient and the enemy is under a test," Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's deputy Gaza chief, told the group's Aqsa TV. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused by far-right rivals of being too soft on Hamas, said on Sunday he ordered Israeli forces to remain at "full strength" along the Gaza frontier. But in public remarks on Thursday, he said Israel would undertake a broad military campaign in Gaza - Hamas and Israel last fought a war in 2014 - only after exhausting all other options. (Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel reopened its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday after having kept them closed for nearly a week following a rare long-distance rocket strike from the Palestinian enclave, an official said. The Erez crossing for people and the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods reopened Sunday morning, a spokeswoman for COGAT, the defence ministry unit that oversees the crossings, told AFP. They were closed on Monday after the rocket fire that wounded seven Israelis and led to Israeli retaliatory strikes across the Gaza Strip, another serious flare-up between the two sides. Hamas announced an Egyptian-brokered truce that ended the exchange of fire. The reopening also comes after tens of thousands of Palestinians protested along the Gaza border with Israel on Saturday, marking the one-year anniversary since demonstrations and clashes erupted there. Four Palestinians were killed on Saturday during protests and clashes, but unrest was limited and fears of mass bloodshed were averted after Egyptian-led negotiations. Five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel overnight, leading Israeli tanks to fire on Hamas military posts. No casualties were reported from either the rockets or tank fire. Hamas officials say an understanding was reached that would see Israel ease its crippling blockade of Gaza in exchange for the protests remaining calm. Israel, which has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008, has not commented on the claims of an agreement. - Year of protests - Israel goes to the polls in a keenly contested general election on April 9 in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a stiff challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz. He is widely seen as wanting to avoid a major escalation before the polls, but has faced accusations from political opponents of being soft on Hamas. On Sunday, while welcoming Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a three-day visit, Netanyahu again said Israel was prepared for a major operation in the Gaza Strip if necessary. Story continues "You arrive in Israel in a tense period, and so I gave the order to leave military forces in full deployment around the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu said during a ceremony at the airport. "This includes tanks, artillery, ground forces and air forces. We are prepared for every scenario, and if needed, also for a wide campaign." The year of demonstrations and clashes along the Gaza border are calling for Palestinians to be allowed to return to land their families fled or were expelled from during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation. Israel says any such mass return would spell the end of a Jewish state and that its actions have been necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations and attacks. Around 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during the protests and clashes. Israel accuses Hamas of orchestrating violence, and one of its soldiers has been killed by a Palestinian sniper along the border. But the Israeli military's use of live fire has come under heavy criticism. In February, a United Nations probe said Israeli soldiers had intentionally fired on civilians in what could constitute war crimes. ASBURY PARK, N.J. A wildfire that started in Penn State Forest on Saturday is now raging across 10,000 acres of forest in Burlington County, but about 75 percent of it is contained authorities said early Sunday. Route 72 between routes 532 and 539 in Barnegat remains closed while firefighters try to contain the spread of the wildfire. As of noon Sunday, about three-quarters of the fire is contained, but not under control, said John Rieth, an assistant warden with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. A wildfire is under control when the threat of it spreading has been halted, and that hasn't yet happened, Rieth said. There are no threats to structures and no reported injuries or property damage, but local fire departments are standing by in case that changes, Rieth said. On Saturday, Burlington County activated its wildfire strike team. The fire grew from about 8,000 acres to 10,000 acres Sunday morning, but the growth is in part because the state's forest fire service is fighting the wildfire by setting fires around it to stop it from spreading, Rieth said. The fire control line may even expand out further than the 10,000 acres, Rieth said, an area equal to about 15.5 square miles. Smoke and ash filled the air as far north as Holmdel and Marlboro in Monmouth County, which is at least 40 miles from the fire. There were even reports of smoke as far north as as Bergen and as far south as Atlantic counties on Sunday morning. There are about 50 firefighters and 17 trucks from the state's forest fire service working to contain the fire, Reith said. A helicopter is monitoring its spread. Rieth said he expects the same amount of firefighters and resources will be used overnight. "We will be out there all night," Rieth said. "Something like this, we wont take a chance." The fire is near the Ocean County border, but Rieth said he believes the fire is still only in Burlington. California's secret wildfire weapon: Goats, sheep chew through flammable grass, brush Story continues Camp Fire: Death toll raised to 84 in Camp Fire; 475 still missing When the wildfire was spotted just before 2 p.m. Saturday, less than an acre was on fire, Rieth said. It was first reported from the Apple Pie Hill Fire Tower in Tabernacle Township, Rieth said. A team of fire investigators from various agencies is conducting an inspection to try to determine the cause of the fire, Reith said. "It could be a million possibilities," he said. "Our plan is working at this time. We're pleased with the progress they're making." Forest fire as seen from West Bay Ave and Route 72 in Barnegat on Sunday morning on March 31, 2019. Rieth said the fire service is using what's called "backfire" to stop the fire from growing. "We fight fire with fire," Rieth said. "We light fires ahead of the fire and around the fire." The fire can't grow is there's no fuel and oxygen to help its spread, Rieth said. The idea is when the fires meet, they go out because there's no more brush, vegetation and trees to burn. National park fires: Should they be allowed to burn? Climate change: Wildfires more likely with hot/dry weather combo, thanks to climate change With a fire of this magnitude, theres no way to put it out with water," he said. "Theres not enough water in the world. The little bit of rain that's expected to fall this afternoon probably won't be enough to help put out flames, Rieth said. He said it's more likely to impede progress unless it ends up raining more than the predicted one-tenth of an inch. Conditions for wildfires have been ripe for the past few days because of the dry air and wind, Rieth said. Winds near the fire are blowing at about 14 mph with 20 mph gusts, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Follow Kala Kachmar on Twitter: @NewsQuip This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: New Jersey forest fire burns 10,000 acres, roads closed as smoke spreads Former vice president Joe Biden a man who would start as favourite among Democratic presidential candidates has denied kissing a political activist without her consent, an accusation that could create problems for him if he enters the 2020 race. Two days after Lucy Flores, a Democratic activist and elected politician from Nevada, claimed Mr Biden had kissed her on the head at an event in 2014 and made her feel uncomfortable, he said he did not believe he had ever once acted inappropriately. Yet, he also admitted his memory may be different to that of others. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear, he said in a statement on Sunday morning. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will. Mr Biden, 76, has said he has 95 per cent decided he will contest for the Democratic presidential nomination for 2020, and some reports suggest he will formally announce some time in April. If he does run, it would be his third attempt. An average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics puts Mr Biden a clear eight points ahead of his nearest Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, who in turn is eleven points clear of Kamala Harris. Beto ORourke is in fourth position, and Elizabeth Warren is in fifth. But while Mr Biden tops such polls, commentators have pointed out that after almost four decades in political life, the man who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and has long seen himself as a champion of the working class, has considerable baggage. Ms Flores, a member of the Nevada state assembly and an activist with Mr Sanders Our Revolution group, said the vice president had inhaled her hair and kissed the back of her head just before she went on stage. The event was being held for him to endorse her Democratic candidacy. In an article published in The Cut, Ms Flores said: I was mortified. I thought to myself, I didnt wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f***? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair? Story continues This is not the first time Mr Biden faced criticism over seminally awkward or inappropriate interactions with women in public. In 2015, the Washington Posts comedy writer Alexandra Petri wrote an article titled What are we going to do about Creepy Uncle Joe Biden?. The name has stuck. On Sunday morning, White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, took an opportunity to attack Mr Biden. In an interview on Fox News, Ms Conway said Ms Flores, was very bold to come forward against someone in her own political party and wondered why Mr Biden had not apologised to her. Mr Biden also faces questions about his age and his questionable record on race relations. While commentators say some African Americans especially older ones could back his candidacy because of the support the provided to Barack Obamas presidency, they also point to his support of the controversial 1994 crime bill that discriminated against minority communities, and his disrespectful questioning of Anita Hill when she testified against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. In recent weeks, Mr Biden met with Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid to win the governorship of Georgia last year. Reports have suggested, Mr Bidens advisors have been considering the option of him announcing with a declared running mate, and that they would love Ms Abrams, an African American and a rising star within the party, to be on the ticket with him. William Barf lop guest User ID: 453934 03-31-2019 02:26 AM Post: #1 Barr is starting to sound awfully nervous about his failing coverup of the Muelle Advertisement William Barr is starting to sound awfully nervous about his failing coverup of the Mueller report March 30, 2019 Attorney General, William Barr is desperately trying to come across as a good guy. He has now released three letters about the Mueller report. In each letter he name drops Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and claims he is working with him. Clearly he is hoping Muellers stellar reputation will rub off and cover him. Barr can no longer pull off the Im-friends-with-Mueller narrative. In his second letter, Barr implied that Mueller shirked his responsibility to provide a decision about obstruction of justice charges against the President. That is no way to treat a friend. Barrs latest letter denies that his earlier letter , which he described a high-level summary of the Mueller report, was meant to be a summary. Instead, he said it was only the bottom line conclusions. Barr reveals that the Mueller report is almost 400 pages long, and he promises to release it by April 15th. Clearly, he is stalling , and attempting to buy Donald Trump two additional weeks to take his victory laps, and for people to lose interest in the Trump-Russia saga, and to entrench the view that it was settled in the Presidents favor. Barr has also revealed that he is redacting a lot of material, including things that could be embarrassing to peripheral players. These letters reveal two important things about Barr. First, he is not that savvy or impressive. His latest letter sounds rambling and defensive. All of Barrs letters are the type of missteps people make when they lack confidence in the positions they are trying to defend. The other thing weve learned about Barr is that he does care about his reputation. In the letter he released today, he desperately tried to align himself with Mueller and with transparency, even as he listed the number of redactions he would make, and the amount of time he would delay the release of the report. The letter Barr released today sounds like it was written by someone who was nervous. Barr tries to explain and walk-back his previous letter, and he blames readers and reporters for misinterpreting what he had written. Unlike Mueller, Barr seems to lack the confidence and wisdom to remain silent. He would have been better off. March 30, 2019Attorney General, William Barr is desperately trying to come across as a good guy.In each letter he name drops Special Counsel Robert Mueller, andhe is workingwith him. Clearly he is hoping Muellers stellar reputation will rub off and cover him.Barr can no longer pull off the Im-friends-with-Mueller narrative. In his second letter, Barr impliedthat Mueller shirked his responsibility to provide a decision about obstruction of justice charges againstthe President. That is no way to treat a friend.which he described a high-level summary of the Mueller report, was meant to be a summary. Instead,he said it was only the bottom line conclusions. Barr reveals that the Mueller report is almost 400 pageslong, and he promises to release it by April 15th., and attempting to buy Donald Trump two additional weeks to take hisvictory laps, and for people to lose interest in the Trump-Russia saga, and to entrench the view thatit was settled in the Presidents favor. Barr has also revealed that he is redacting a lot of material,including things that could be embarrassing to peripheral players.All of Barrs letters are the type of misstepspeople make when they lack confidence in the positions they are trying to defend. The other thingweve learned about Barr is that he does care about his reputation.Barr tries to explain and walk-back his previous letter, and he blames readers and reporters formisinterpreting what he had written. ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Alaska has overturned U.S. President Donald Trumps attempt to open vast areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans to oil and gas leasing. The decision issued late Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason leaves intact President Barack Obamas policies putting the Arctics Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctics Beaufort Sea and a large swath of Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. East Coast off-limits to oil leasing. Trump's attempt to undo Obamas protections was unlawful and a violation of the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Gleason ruled. Presidents have the power under that law to withdraw areas from the national oil and gas leasing program, as Obama did, but only Congress has the power to add areas to the leasing program, she said. RELATED: Coastal Alaskan town concerned with global warming, drilling The Obama-imposed leasing prohibitions will remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked by Congress, Gleason said in her ruling. Trumps move to put offshore Arctic and Atlantic areas back into play for oil development came in a 2017 executive order that was part of his energy dominance agenda. The order was among a series of actions that jettisoned Obama administration environmental and climate-change initiatives. The Trump administration has proposed a vastly expanded offshore oil leasing program to start this year. The five-year Trump leasing program would offer two lease sales a year in Arctic waters and at least two lease sales a year in the Atlantic. The Trump plan also calls for several lease sales in remote marine areas off Alaska, like the southern Bering Sea, that are considered to hold negligible potential for oil. Obama had pulled much of the Arctic off the auction block following a troubled offshore Arctic exploration program pursued by Royal Dutch Shell. Shell spent at least $7 billion trying to explore the Chukchi and part of the Beaufort. The company wrecked one of its drill ships in a grounding and managed to complete only one well to depth. It abandoned the program in 2015 and relinquished its leases. Gleason, in a separate case, delivered another decision Friday that blocks the Trump administrations effort to overturn an Obama-era environmental decision. Gleason struck down a land trade intended to clear the way for a road to be built though sensitive wetlands in Alaskas Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The Obama administration, after a four-year environmental impact statement process, determined that the land trade and road would cause too much harm to the refuge to be justified. Trumps then Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke broke the law when he summarily reversed the Obama policy without addressing the facts found in the previous administrations study of the issue, Gleason ruled. (Reporting by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska Editing by James Dalgleish) Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has denied any wrongdoing but his party has taken a hit in the opinion polls - AFP Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing renewed calls to resign after a secretly recorded telephone call between two senior figures in his administration was made public, escalating claims he tried to shield an allegedly corrupt firm from prosecution. The 17-minute call took place in December between Jody Wilson-Raybould, then the attorney general, and Michael Wernick, then Canadas most senior civil servant, about the engineering company SNC-Lavalin, which was accused of paying bribes to Libyan officials. Mr Wernick is heard in the audio telling Ms Wilson-Raybould that Mr Trudeau is interested in having the firm avoid criminal prosecution in favour of paying a fine, repeatedly saying that the prime minister is in a pretty firm frame of mind on the issue. "I think he is going to find a way to get it done one way or another. He's in that kind of mood. I wanted you to be aware of that, Mr Wernick is heard saying at one point. Ms Wilson-Raybould in turn pushes back, raising concerns that the conversation could amount to political interference and an attempt to breach her prosecutorial independence. She declined to push for the prosecution to be dropped. Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former Canadian attorney general Credit: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP Ms Wilson-Raybould was eventually moved from the role in January, one month after the phone call, and given the more junior position of veterans affairs minister. She has since resigned and gone public with claims she was inappropriately leaned on. The audio was released by Ms Wilson-Raybould along with more than 40 pages of documents backing up her allegations. She said that she chose to secretly record the conversation because she was concerned something inappropriate would be said. She said she took the extraordinary and otherwise inappropriate step of making an audio recording of the conversation without telling Mr Wernick, adding that it was something that I have never done before this phone call and have not done since. Story continues Mr Wernick stepped down from his role as Privy Council clerk earlier this month. The scandal has plunged Mr Trudeaus re-election hopes into doubt, seeing his Liberal Party fall behind the opposition Conservative Party ahead of the vote in October. Michael Wernick, the former Privy Council clerk Mr Trudeau's party has been ahead in the polls for most of his time in office since he won a crushing victory in 2015. But the liberal poster boy, often compared to Emmanuel Macron, now finds his party trailing the Conservatives by around six points, according to the website Calculated Politics. Andrew Scheer, the Conservative leader, said that Mr Trudeau had lost the moral authority to govern and must resign. He looked Canadians in the eye and told them that no one had raised concerns with him. This is false and he owes Canadians an explanation, Mr Scheer said of the prime minister. Last month Mr Trudeau denied any wrongdoing and declined to apologise, saying any lobbying by him or his inner circle for the company was done to protect jobs. SNC-Lavalin is one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world and employs around 9,000 people in Canada. Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card! The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll show how you can use Ingersoll-Rand Plc's (NYSE:IR) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Ingersoll-Rand has a price to earnings ratio of 19.63, based on the last twelve months. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 5.1%. View our latest analysis for Ingersoll-Rand How Do I Calculate Ingersoll-Rand's Price To Earnings Ratio? The formula for price to earnings is: Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price Earnings per Share (EPS) Or for Ingersoll-Rand: P/E of 19.63 = $107.95 $5.5 (Based on the year to December 2018.) Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good? A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each $1 the company has earned over the last year. That isn't necessarily good or bad, but a high P/E implies relatively high expectations of what a company can achieve in the future. How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers. Ingersoll-Rand's earnings per share grew by -5.5% in the last twelve months. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 20% per year over the last five years. How Does Ingersoll-Rand's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers? We can get an indication of market expectations by looking at the P/E ratio. As you can see below Ingersoll-Rand has a P/E ratio that is fairly close for the average for the machinery industry, which is 20.8. NYSE:IR Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 31st 2019 Its P/E ratio suggests that Ingersoll-Rand shareholders think that in the future it will perform about the same as other companies in its industry classification. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. Further research into factors such asmanagement tenure, could help you form your own view on whether that is likely. Story continues A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth. Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof). Is Debt Impacting Ingersoll-Rand's P/E? Ingersoll-Rand has net debt worth 12% of its market capitalization. That's enough debt to impact the P/E ratio a little; so keep it in mind if you're comparing it to companies without debt. The Verdict On Ingersoll-Rand's P/E Ratio Ingersoll-Rand has a P/E of 19.6. That's higher than the average in the US market, which is 17.7. With debt at prudent levels and improving earnings, it's fair to say the market expects steady progress in the future. When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. People often underestimate remarkable growth -- so investors can make money when fast growth is not fully appreciated. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision. Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Ingersoll-Rand. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly. 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. ATLANTA (AP) The Latest on a freeway standoff outside Atlanta (all times local): 11:50 a.m. Video from a TV news helicopter showed police pulling a man from a car the apparent end to a lengthy standoff that played out in the middle of an Atlanta freeway. More than a dozen police officers with guns drawn had filled four lanes of I-75 near Atlanta, bringing Friday morning traffic to a standstill. Marietta police said an armed driver had stopped on the freeway and wasn't cooperating with officers. Police had followed the vehicle to I-75 since it matched the description from an armed robbery nearby. Police said all southbound lanes of Interstate 75 were shut down as they tried to negotiate with the man by phone. News photos showed that the man was alive as he was carried away by police. No injuries have been reported. ___ 10:55 a.m. More than a dozen police cars and officers standing outside with their guns drawn filled four lanes of a freeway near Atlanta, bringing traffic to a standstill as they confronted an armed motorist. Marietta police said in a brief statement that a driver stopped on the freeway was armed and not cooperating with police Friday morning. The southbound lanes of Interstate 75 were shut down just northwest of Atlanta. Police described the motorist as a "non-compliant driver." Few other details were immediately available, and no injuries were immediately reported. Traffic was backed up for miles. The standoff comes on a particularly busy day on Atlanta highways as people are traveling through the city on their way to spring break destinations. The situation was unfolding near SunTrust Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves, but no game was planned Friday. ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey is holding local elections on Sunday that are seen as a test of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's popularity amid a sharp economic downturn. Erdogan, who has not lost a vote since his party came to power in 2002, has cast the elections as a "matter of national survival" and has been campaigning for a strong mandate that he says would come as slap to Turkey's enemies. If his party sweeps municipal seats, Erdogan's dominance would be further solidified with his grip on the presidency, parliament and local administration. But a loss in major cities could signal a crack in his party's long hold on power. Here's a look at the elections: THE VOTE More than 57 million people will cast votes at some 200,000 ballot boxes across the country to elect the mayors for 30 large metropolitan cities, 51 provincial capitals and 922 districts. They will also vote to elect local assembly representatives as well as tens of thousands of neighborhood or village administrators, called "muhtar." Polls are open between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. (0400 to 1300 GMT) in eastern provinces and between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (0500 to 1400 GMT) in the west. The last local elections were held in 2014 and since then Turkey has held five other votes. ___ THE PARTIES Political parties have continued alliances forged for last year's historic presidential and parliamentary elections, opting to support each other's candidates in metropolitan cities and provincial capitals. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party is joined by the Nationalist Movement Party in the "People's Alliance" along with the small, far-right Great Unity Party. Erdogan's party is running for top mayor seats in 27 metropolitan cities and the nationalists in three, while allying in 21 other provinces. The main opposition is the "Nation Alliance," consisting of the secular Republican People's Party and the nationalist Good Party. They are coordinating in 50 provinces. Story continues The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, the second largest opposition group in parliament, is leading a "Kurdish election alliance" with candidates for municipalities in Turkey's southeast. It is strategically sitting out critical races in Turkey's major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, aiming to send HDP votes to the Republican People's Party to help challenge Erdogan. ___ THE ECONOMY The elections are being held as Turkey enters a recession, along with rising food prices and high unemployment. Erdogan has been campaigning by stirring nationalist and religious sentiments at multiple rallies every day, in what critics say is an attempt to distract attention away from economic woes. ___ THE CAPITAL CITY The biggest race is for the capital, Ankara. Opinion polls suggest the city could be won by Mansur Yavas, the candidate of the Nation Alliance, after being held by Erdogan's party and its predecessor Islam-oriented party for a quarter of a century. As the race has heated up, the ruling party has accused the 63-year old lawyer of forgery and tax evasion. Yavas says he is the victim of a smear campaign by the People's Alliance desperate to hold on to Ankara. ___ UNFAIR CAMPAIGNING Like previous elections, the campaign has been unbalanced in favor of Erdogan. Turkish broadcasters carry all Erdogan speeches live but leave little to no room to the opposition. In the first two weeks of March, state broadcaster TRT aired the People's Alliance campaign for some 55 hours, the Nation Alliance for some 10 hours and covered the pro-Kurdish party critically for 98 minutes, according to research by an opposition member of Turkey's media watchdog. On television, in Congress and before a crowd of thousands, President Donald Trump and Republicans are mounting a ferocious revenge campaign against one Democrat representative Adam Schiff. Moments after taking the stage at a Michigan campaign rally on Thursday night, Mr Trump mocked the California lawmaker as "little pencil-neck Adam Schiff." House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, compared Mr Schiff to communist scaremonger Joseph McCarthy. And House whip Steve Scalise, R-La, used a colloquy on the House floor to press majority leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, to remove Mr Schiff as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "There has to be accountability, because it's all lies," Mr Trump said to a crowd booing the mention of Mr Schiff's name. "And they know it's lies they know it." Together, the attacks levelled in the week since special counsel Robert Mueller III delivered his findings represent an unusually coordinated assault against the leading Democratic voice questioning whether Mr Trump and his associates had conspired with Russia to throw the 2016 election in his favour. Mr Mueller had been Mr Trump's villain for nearly two years, with the president lashing out at the "conflicted prosecutor" and his "angry Dems" investigators engaged in a "phony witch hunt." Now, with attorney general William Barr's four-page summary of Mr Mueller's report indicating no conclusion of a criminal conspiracy, Mr Trump and Republicans have a new target for their vitriol. The Trump campaign circulated a memo to TV producers on Monday questioning Mr Schiff's credibility, citing a litany of pronouncements that it claimed had been rebutted by Mr Mueller. Mr Trump on Thursday called for Mr Schiff to resign his House seat, accusing him of "knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking," and the nine GOP members of the Intelligence panel signed a letter demanding he step down as chairman, questioning whether he was abusing his position and damaging the panel's integrity. Story continues Mr Schiff has stood resolute amid the attacks, maintaining that there is public evidence of collusion such as Mr Trump's public July 2016 plea to Russia to hack Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's emails even if Mr Mueller determined that evidence does not amount to a crime. When Republicans confronted Mr Schiff at an Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, he struck back. "You might think that's OK I don't," Mr Schiff said repeatedly as he recounted a litany of interactions between Trump associates and Russia. "I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. I think it's unpatriotic. And, yes, I think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion." He has won uniform backing from House Democratic leaders, including speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, who called Republicans "scaredy-cats" for attacking Mr Schiff before the Mueller report is publicly released. "What is the president afraid of? Is he afraid of the truth, that he would go after a member ... a respected chairman of a committee in the Congress?" she asked. "They just don't know what to do, so they have to make an attack." The GOP's outsize attention on Mr Schiff reflects his two years of omnipresence on Sunday talk shows and weekday cable news programmes. The congressman who represents Hollywood has long been ribbed by Republicans and privately, even by some Democrats for his frequent appearances. When Democrats were the minority party in the House, that tactic was intentional. Television was a "tool," Mr Schiff said last year, for "exposing what the majority's doing and often exposing what the majority's not doing." Since taking over as chairman, he has scaled back his appearances, but he has not pulled any punches when it comes to voicing his belief that Trump subordinates' contacts with Russians, their clandestine finances, and the lies they told to lawmakers and federal law enforcement are evidence of likely wrongdoing, even if they do not rise to the level of a crime. That caught Mr Trump's attention, making him a target of presidential derision with jeering nicknames like "liddle," "sleazy," and "Adam Schitt."In recent days, the president tried out the "pencil neck" insult at a White House meeting with House Republicans before using it at Thursday's rally, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. "He's got the smallest, thinnest neck I've ever seen," Mr Trump said. "He is not a long-ball hitter." The official Trump campaign on Friday rolled out a T-shirt with an image of Mr Schiff with a pencil for a neck and a red ball on his nose. For Republicans, the attacks on Mr Schiff are at least partial payback for months of Democratic attacks on the previous committee chairman, representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif, who oversaw a circumscribed probe of Russian ties to the Trump campaign and instead focused on Obama administration decisions that prompted the Justice Department probe. "Important context is what happened to Devin Nunes," representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, said this week, pointing to Democratic pressure in 2017 after lawmakers found out that Mr Nunes made a late-night visit to the Trump White House to view classified materials pertaining to the Russia investigation. When Mr Nunes publicly alleged that Mr Trump's affiliates may have been picked up in a federal wiretap, that prompted allegations that Mr Nunes had disclosed secret surveillance reports, spurring an Ethics Committee investigation that ultimately cleared him. But as the cloud grew, Mr Nunes said in April 2017 that he would recuse himself from the committee's Trump-Russia probe. Later, Democrats accused Mr Nunes of destroying the credibility of the Intelligence panel and trying to use his subpoena power to undermine federal law enforcement as he sought to publicise the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Mr Schiff said this week it was imperative that lawmakers be able to determine whether Mr Mueller weighed all the evidence they are looking into, especially regarding money laundering and Mr Trump's plans to build a tower in Moscow during his presidential campaign. But for the GOP, the matter is settled and what goes around comes around. "Here you have Mr Schiff, who essentially spent 22 months lying to the country," Mr Gaetz said. "I don't know how he's going to have credibility with the intelligence community." Mr Nunes himself has been largely quiet about Mr Schiff, but his fellow Republicans have not been shy about raising the Democratic attacks on Mr Nunes. "Didn't the Mueller report justify exactly what chairman Nunes has said?" Mr McCarthy asked on Thursday amid his attacks on Mr Schiff. "I think chairman Nunes comes out on top. The concerns that he had with what was being said, what was being done was just proven correct." He added, referring to Mr Schiff and Mr Nunes respectively, "One member lied to the American public; one member told the truth and was attacked for it." Mr Schiff knows as well as anyone the political perils of assuming a role as a presidential inquisitor: He won his seat in 2000 by ousting representative James Rogan, R-Calif, who was among the House managers of President Bill Clinton's 1999 impeachment trial. Mr Schiff capitalised on Democratic outrage to raise millions of dollars from donors across the country eager to exact revenge. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham, R-SC, speaking in a Fox News interview this week, compared Mr Schiff to Jim Garrison, the New Orleans prosecutor who spent decades pursuing an unproven conspiracy to assassinate President John F Kennedy. "Adam Schiff has got to make a decision about his political future," he said. "Does he want to be the guy that won't let it go when the authority of the investigation, Mr. Mueller, has concluded there was no collusion?" But there is no indication Mr Schiff's pursuit of Mr Trump has caused him any political trouble in a district that preferred Ms Clinton by 50 percentage points in 2016 and re-elected him to a 10th term last year with 78 per cent of the vote. Mr Schiff, in fact, has emerged as one of the Democratic Party's most talented fundraisers, with $4.7m (3.6m) in his campaign account more than any other sitting House member. This week, he was named a national finance chair for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, aimed at holding the party's new majority. House Democrats are not in full agreement about how forcefully they want to continue to pursue the Russia matter now Mr Mueller has completed his report. But they are unanimous in their defence of Mr Schiff and their insistence that Mr Trump is not in the clear until they can see the full extent of the special counsel's findings. As Mr Scalise pressed Democrats to remove Mr Schiff a decision under the sole control of Ms Pelosi Mr Hoyer made clear on Thursday he was not going anywhere. "Let me assure the gentleman, there is not a person on my side of the aisle that believes that Mr Schiff has done anything but act in the highest interest of our government, of the Intelligence Committee, and of full knowledge for the American people," he said. The Washington Post Seoul (AFP) - North Korea on Sunday described the February raid on its embassy in Madrid by a dissident group as a "grave terrorist attack" and urged an investigation into the perpetrators. A group of armed men burst into Pyongyang's Spanish embassy last month and roughed up employees before fleeing with documents and computers. The incident came just days before a high-stakes nuclear summit in Hanoi between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that ultimately failed to reach an accord. In its first official comment on the raid, North Korea suggested the possible involvement of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and called on Spanish authorities to bring the "terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice". "A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain," a spokesman for the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the North's official name. "We are following the rumours of all hues now in the air that FBI of the United States and the small fry of anti-DPRK 'body' were involved in the terror incident," it added. "We expect that the authorities concerned in Spain... carry out an investigation into the incident to the last in a responsible manner." An investigation into the raid is already underway in Madrid. On Wednesday, a Spanish court named Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang as leader of the group who contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault" with information related to the incident in the embassy. According to investigating judge Jose de la Mata, two of the assailants took the embassy's commercial attache to an underground room and urged him to defect, which he refused to do. - Dissident group - Speculation over the identity and motive of the assailants has swirled in the media since the murky raid, with some suggesting links to the US Central Intelligence Agency and FBI. Story continues Hours after the court statement, the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) -- a dissident group believed to include high-profile North Korean defectors -- claimed responsibility for the raid. It said the raid had no links to the Hanoi summit -- which ended abruptly with no agreement -- and that no other governments were involved until after the event. "The organization shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI in the United States, under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality," the CCD said in a statement posted on its website last week. Reports of the alleged ties between the intruders and the FBI appeared to have prompted Pyongyang to break its silence after more than a month, said Thae Yong Ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected in 2016. "The fact that North Korea's reaction comes 37 days after the incident shows it put a lot of consideration into the official statement," Thae wrote on his website. He added that the North was pressuring Spanish authorities to confirm the identity of the group responsible for the raid. The CCD -- which offers to assist people attempting to defect from North Korea -- emerged in 2017 when it posted an online video of the son of the North Korean leader's assassinated brother, saying it had guaranteed his safety. Last month the group declared itself a government-in-exile for the North called "Free Joseon", using an old name for Korea. The CCD has identified itself as a group of defectors around the world but it is still unclear who is behind the shadowy organisation -- although some speculate it has links to South Korea's spy agency. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The publisher of the National Enquirer on Sunday said its reports on Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos' private life were based on information from a single source, the brother of Bezos' girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez. The statement from American Media Inc. followed publication by Bezos security chief Gavin De Becker of an article in the Daily Beast in which he said the government of Saudi Arabia had accessed private information from Bezos' phone. While De Becker said in the article that there was "high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone," it was "unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details." Nevertheless, AMI released a statement saying its reports on Bezos' affair with Sanchez were based solely on information provided by Michael Sanchez, "who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation. "There was no involvement by any third party whatsoever," it added. Gavin de Becker & Associates did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Howard Schneider; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Dan Grebler) spo snouou Vocem sine nomine audivit! User ID: 350320 04-05-2019 12:45 PM Posts: 67,593 Post: #11 RE: Dismissing the risks of climate change didnt turn out to be as easy as Exxon.... spo snouou Wrote: (03-31-2019 02:33 PM) Dismissing the risks of climate change didnt turn out to be as easy as Exxon-Mobil lawyers had hoped.-> Exxon suffers a big setback in climate-change case involving its Everett oil terminal Quote: The Boston-based environmental organization returned to the fray a month later. CLF amended its complaint to underscore present-day fears, such as the increased frequency of the kind of catastrophic storms that could damage the terminal and send pollutants spilling into a Mystic River tributary. Exxons lawyers fought back, arguing CLF was just offering up more of the same, and that the company remained in full compliance with a rigorous federal discharge permit. This time, however, Wolf sided with CLF. The federal permit may not explicitly require Exxon to consider climate change when maintaining the terminal, Wolf noted. But the appropriate question is whether the permit requires Exxon to consider how extreme weather events might threaten the facility. Wolf said the permits provisions make it clear Exxon needs to plan for the kinds of climate-induced storms that CLF claims put the terminal at risk. For example, CLF says the permit requires the company to use good engineering practices. Wolf said he considers good engineering practices to include preparation for foreseeable severe weather events. Wolf didnt actually rule on the merits of CLFs case, as is typical of these early-round hearings. Instead, Wolf decided that CLF had enough to move its climate-change argument forward. This could be a precedent-setting case. It is being watched closely by the petroleum industry this is just one of a number of waterfront oil terminals in Massachusetts alone and by other environmentalists. If the conservation group wins, such a victory could eventually prompt other oil companies to go beyond the steps spelled out explicitly in their federal permits to prepare for near-term climate risks. CLF president Brad Campbell said Wolf made it clear he didnt want to get drawn into a debate about whether extreme weather is caused by human induced factors a.k.a. carbon emissions. Campbell said the case has always been about the risks to the communities and the environment around the Everett terminal, and not the underlying causes of climate change. Exxon executives, at least at first, viewed the lawsuit differently. When the case surfaced in 2016, an Exxon spokesman dismissed it as part of a multi-pronged assault on the company and its approach to climate change. Its hard to know if Exxon still sees it that way; a spokeswoman declined to comment on Wolfs latest ruling. This isnt the only legal venue where Exxon finds itself under attack on this issue. more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/201...story.html spo snouou Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:39 PM) FACT: the oil and gas companies know, indeed tell their investors in legal statements, that they face risks from increased climate action. Here is Woodside telling investors, in econobabble in their annual report, that climate action might impact their profit. The gas companies want you to believe their product will displace coal (conceding exports impact world emissions) but /never/ support the call for no new coal mines, nor a rapid phase out of coal power, policies that on their logic would boost their market... FACT: Australia, like all other parties to the Paris Agreement, agreed, in the text of Paris, that our current pledge is not enough & we like everyone else will have to "ratchet" up our targets. Crap target aside, Australia's CO2 is rising not falling -- due to LNG /9 Norway's sovereign wealth fund is colosal (because they tax their oil rationally). They are now getting out of major oil companies with no credible plan to decarbonise. In other words, world's biggest fund to dump our friends at Woodside. The other day a senior manager from an oil company complained about policy uncertainty. He said if the government set clear policy, energy companies could get on with it. I reminded him that #exxonknew and #shellknew decades ago their product would crash the climate I reminded him the oil industry had spent hundreds of millions lying, confusing, and holding back public understanding and concern. I pointed out oil majors are being litigated big time for this behaviour, especially by US states, & big oil may well cop it just like tobacco /11 He looked at me stunned. Three seconds of awkward silence. I regret changing the topic. Australia's annual emissions continue to rise, driven by LNG production https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...production Do you thrill to the sight of a military parade? Planning a splendid military parade was practically the first thing Donald Trump did upon being elected to the presidency, a $100 million exercise in political semiotics. He calls himself a nationalist, not a conservative. And theres something to that, and the parade is part of itmaybe all of it. At the National Review Institutes biennial Ideas Summit in Washington last week, National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry and NRI fellow Jonah Goldberg had a spirited discussion about nationalisms place in U.S. politics, with Lowry advancing the nationalist banner and Goldberg wary of it. It was intellectual nutrition: spirited, frank, unrehearsed, and I am grateful to have been there for it, and to be part of an institution where ideas matter. What American nationalism might mean as a question of public policy is unclear. Self-proclaimed nationalists talk about acting in the national interest, but thats no good: Senator Sanders thinks implementing a Soviet-style health-care system would be in the national interest; Tom Metzger has other ideas about the national interest. People of good faith (and other kinds of people) have radically different notions of national interest, because they have radically different notions about community and the good life. Nationalism as a creed does not help us to distinguish prudently between those competing conceptions. As Goldberg argued, the character of nationalism depends greatly on the character of the nationand the times, too: The New Deal was the nationalist project of a nationalist president. Mohandas K. Gandhi was speaking as a nationalist when he conceded the excellence of British administration but insisted that any people would naturally prefer bad government of their own than the good government of an alien power. Joseph Stalin was a nationalist. Jack Kennedys motto was a nationalist one: Ask not what your country can do for you . . . As -isms go, nationalism is pretty loosey-goosey. Story continues Make America Great is the nationalist motto of the moment (the Again is a concession to conservative nostalgia), but that gets pretty complicated pretty quickly, inasmuch as our gentle new nationalists despise so many of the very flourishing institutions and endeavors in which the United States actually excels: Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Hollywood, the universities, the National Institute of Science. (Yes, yes, but doesnt national greatness supersede your petty partisanship?) Do our nationalists swell with pride thinking of Eugene ONeills Nobel Prize . . . or Barack Obamas? Abraham Lincolns nationalism (in matters not related to the immediate preservation of the Union) was directed in the service of improvementscanals, railroads, etc.exemplifying a tendency that carries through such New Deal enterprises as rural electrification. These programs are not engaged in the creation of public goods formally understood, but neither were they directed at the economic interests of a single corporation, community, or party. A country with universal access to electricity and water, with railroads and canals, is different in important ways from one that lacks those things, and this difference is more significant in the long run than is the particular mix of private enterprise and government action involved in those projects. Our spasmodic attention to infrastructure programs is arguably the most specifically nationalistic aspect of our current politics. And there is a healthy current in that: Men planting trees knowing they will not live long enough to sit in their shade. But that is not much of a policy fight, for the most part. Nobody is in favor of crumbling roads or collapsing bridges, and the discrete disagreements over the particularsthis bridge, that roadare not the source of our nations current political convulsion. Even the very bitter fights over such important infrastructure projects as oil and gas pipelines are proxies for disputes that are at least as much cultural as economic or related to the particularities of energy production. To the extent that 2016 vintage nationalism has produced a policy agenda at all distinguishable from the old Republican stuff, it is anti-capitalist and anti-liberal: in favor of trade restrictions and suspicious of big business, especially banks, anti-immigration, anti-elitist, longstanding tendencies to which American populists from William Jennings Bryan to George Wallace and Ross Perot have been stubbornly attached. That these represent an orientation toward the actual national interest is not obvious: Tariffs function mainly as a sales tax on American consumers and as a crutch for certain U.S.-based firms that wish to be protected from foreign competition. There is more to a nation than its economy, but markets are national institutions, too, and far from the least important of them. Hostility toward these does not serve the nation, even if it serves the interests of some of the nations people. With apologies to the often misunderstood Charles Erwin Wilson, the interest of General Motors is not synonymous with the national interest. There is no substantive nationalist argument for privileging the business interests of U.S.-based firms that produce steel over those of U.S.-based firms that consume steel. Occasionally one will hear arguments that the existence of a thriving steel industry is in sum important to the country in a way that exceeds the value and interests of the firms that compose that industry, but this is ultimately a very limited line of reasoning, one that could be deployed on behalf of any industry, from frisbees to wine. (The national-security case for traditional heavy-industry protectionism is in practice a limitless warrant; Senator Rubio, who also was kind enough to speak at the NRI event, has defended sugar subsidies as a matter of national security, a deficiency that is more irksome in so admirable a senator). It is difficult to say with a straight face that we must act to preserve the frisbee factories as a matter of national interestbecause they are our frisbee factoriesand not many nationalists, even the perfervid ones, in practice begrudge the French their oenological excellence or the Germans their automotive genius or the Canadians whatever it is they are good at. They do produce cabernet sauvignon in Ohio, after all. If our nationalists do not think very much of the parts of America that are actually thrivingmany of them the envy of the worldand do not think very much of U.S.-led developments, such as international trade, that have enriched the country immeasurably, then what is it they are thinking of? I think its that parade. Trump-era nationalism is about 3 percent policy and 97 percent aesthetics, rhetoric, and affectation, a kind of identity politics of the Right. That is one of the reasons why critics such as Tucker Carlson (also a hit at the NRI eventyou should have been there!) have so much trouble describing in meaningful terms what it is they want. They are well-versed in who is to blame, but a little vague on what to do. This fundamentally aesthetic orientation also is one of the reasons for the nationalist bias toward that which is easily visible and comprehensible: steel mills, not logistics, Made in China labels on consumer goods in Walmart, not integrated supply chains, software, or intellectual capital. It helps to explain the bumptiousness, narrowness, and pettiness so closely associated with nationalism as it is in fact currently practiced, in situ, as opposed to in essay forma politics not of love and community (including community with future generations) but one of resentment and anxiety. Not manifest destiny but the melancholy long withdrawing roar. The associated variety of politically proprietary patriotism has its obvious counterpart in the adolescent and often unserious anti-patriotism of the Left, which is why we have expended so much spittle in a national confrontation over sporting-event etiquette. The military parade offers a display of uniformity (literal uniforms) to a nation that has struggled with its diversity, a dramatically visualized and sacramental unum in the face of all that messy and incomprehensible pluribus. Flags, monuments, chants, songs, marches, ceremonyall are efforts to wring the unum out of the pluribus. The Lefts program, for the moment, is to stand in the middle of all that with two raised middle fingers while simultaneously sobbing and demanding money. Style matters, and it may matter more than policy. Rich Lowry points out that the American Revolution was a nationalist revolutionthe colonists could have remained largely autonomous provinces within the British empire or gone their thirteen separate ways in independence. It is true to say that the American Revolution was fought by nationalists, but in the sense that is trivially true: Many of those 18th-century nationalists were skeptical of standing armies and the prospect of a binding national constitution. The content of their nationalism was different from ours, as it had to bethey were in the process of building the nation, and fighting among themselves about what to build. A move toward the actual founding political condition would not represent a nationalistic triumph but a radically libertarian one. (If only George Washington had had someone to lecture him about open borders.) What we can draw out of it in terms of action items on our political agenda is not plain to see. The Constitution venerated by conservatives had not yet been written, and Lowrys pointthat a specific and unique Us, a nation, had come into beingis to that extent obviously true. The American people are not a race or a nation of ancient common ancestry, but neither are they mere adherents to a unifying national creed. (If only they would actually adhere to that creed!) Which returns us to the matter of style and affect. As I have written at some length, I find the city of Washington, D.C., repugnant. But what I find repugnant about it is what many other people find magnificent about it: the monuments, the grand buildings, and the impossible-to-miss (often brutal) nationalist aesthetic of the place: Paul Crets Federal Reserve Building would not have been entirely out of place in the Berlin that Hitler dreamt of nor in the new Rome that Mussolini might have built. To me, these exercises in giganticism and severity are profoundly unrepublican and contrary to what I imagine to be the intended mode of national life. To establish a republic and then to build a neo-pagan temple (we call it the Capitol) in which those who achieve political power convene to worship themselves and that power was, to my mind, perverse. George Washington was no pharaoh, but we built a pharaonic monument to him, and an even more absurd one to Abraham Lincoln, who surely would have been embarrassed by his posthumous apotheosis. Needless to say, these are not universally held views. Many people find Washington magnificent, and its grand sights fill them with feelings of love and awe. I do not wish to be awed, neither by my government nor by my nation. (I mean to live my life an obedient man, William F. Buckley Jr. wrote, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth.) But there is a market for awe. To be awed is to be carried beyond ones self, to be given a glimpse of something great. Is the nation great? The Capitol dome is a great dome, but I know whos in there. But then theres the flag, and the Washington monument, and the troops, who in addition to fighting the nations wars bear the burden of being the vessels of so many of our greatest national anxieties. A friend who is a lifelong military man says that he wishes sincerely that people would stop thanking him for his service as though doing so were a kind of mandatory social convention somewhere between Welcome to Starbucks! and Have a nice day! Donald Trump could think of nothing more important and worthy than a great military parade. I myself would very much prefer that we never had another. I am grateful to the men and women of our military for their service, but armies are only expedients, necessary evils. They should be kept out of sight for the same reason I keep the guns out of sight in my home. A military parade does not display greatnessit displays power. And that may be where I most part company with our new nationalists. To my eye, there is more American greatness in a New England town hall than in all of Washington, and more American greatness in an Oregon apple orchard or a Rotary meeting than there is in all the tanks and rockets that ever have been. (If that sounds unpatriotic to you, then take it up with General Eisenhower.) The Washington aesthetic and the Trump mode are rooted in a different kind of attitude, a masterful one with a taste for domination. That is in fact what some nationalists seem to mean by American greatness: the power and the will to dominate. Hence the bizarre pettiness in foreign policy and the nickel-and-dime approach to trade, the superstitious conflation of political power and virility, the preoccupation with status and appearances (the ability to project power is a telling phrase), the neurotic fear that someone, somewhere, is getting over on us, nationally. Id wager that the people who feel the way I do about military parades generally have my views on trade and those who have Trumps view on trade share his enthusiasm for military parades. These essentially are matters of inclination, not calculation. You can talk to an American political partisan in 2019 and get a pretty good idea of how hed have felt about the First Bank of the United States or the Indian Removal Act. You can get a sense of what people think the country is for, even if they cannot quite explain it. What to do with all that power? There is a legend about a saint who allowed himself to be cheated when gambling. He was more than willing to part with the money, and considered that for the recipient it was less undignified than begging. There is greatness in that, for those with eyes to seeand power, too. I do not think Donald Trump has eyes like that, though it would be entirely fair to protest that one does not want or need saintliness in a politician. I myself take a generally instrumental view of politicians. But there is no refuge in pragmatism: Politicians may be instruments, but instruments used to what end? Powerfor what purpose? Lowry connects the American founding to the biblical account of the founding of the unified kingdom of Israel. The united monarchy seems to be more of a literary convention than a historical reality, but of course that story resonated with the founders: a city on a hill, a light unto the nations, a chosen people, a covenant. (Forget for the moment that the Israelites longed for a king, while the Americans longed to be rid of one.) There is more to the story than the people of Israel taking and holding their own territory as a people and a polity under a strong national leader, and the founders knew that, too, understanding its prefiguration of a subsequent Figure and a kingdom of an entirely different kind. If we Americans were to suddenly begin to take seriously the notion that greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, would President Trumpstanding, perhaps, in front of an array of soldierscomplain that we once again had become the suckers of the world? And what would our gentle new nationalists say? Something more than Harrumph! or Whats in it for us? or Thats all good and fine in theory, but were practical men? Even idealists must balance the books. What I take for pettiness could be taken by others as husbandry, carefulness in the small things. But that would be the virtue of a modest government and a modest people, not one simultaneously high on rage and hungry for greatness. Yes, it is good that the nation is powerful. It is more powerful that the nation is goodwhich it often is. (Saepe fidelis, if not quite semper.) And if good for me is not a synonym for good, then neither is good for us. The us-ness of the nationalistic us does not change that moral calculus, does not make virtue out of vice, even in a working politician, whether he calls himself a pragmatist, a nationalist, or a populist. Trump once explained his politics this way: My whole life, I take and takegreedy. Now, I will be greedy for the United States, and I will take for the United States. I am going to be so greedy. On relations with the world: First of all, I want to take everything back from the world that weve given them. Weve given them so much. These sentences were met with applause, and that applause is closer to a working definition of American nationalism as it actually exists out there in the great American wild circa 2016 than anything else I have heard. More from National Review Bernie Sanders has claimed thousands of people could die if Donald Trump is successful in scrapping Barack Obamas signature Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Last week, the Trump administration said in a court filing it supported scrapping Obamacare in its entirety, having taken to the courts to try and dismantle the act having failed to do so via Congress. Mr Sanders, 77, who is leading the polls of Democratic presidential candidates who have formally declared they are running, said the move by the government would have a disastrous affect of the cost of health insurance for people. If Trump gets his way, the cost of health insurancewill be so high that many people literally will not be able to afford it. Thousands of people will literally die. Thats Trumps health insurance plan, said the Vermont senator. Speaking to CBS News, he added: My plan is just a little bit different. I think we should join the result of the industrialised world, guarantee health care to all people as a right. Mr Sanders, who is seeing the partys nomination for the second time, was an early proponent of Medicare for All a proposal to extend the national health programme that currently provides insurance to those aged 65 and older and some people who are disabled, to everyone It has emerged as one of the key planks of many of those seeking the Democratic nomination, and is supported by progressive Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mr Sanders said on Sunday he would introduce his latest proposal before Congress within the next couple of weeks. When we do that, what we understand is that it is just not acceptable that 30m Americans have no health insurance and even more are underinsured with high deductibles and high co-payments, he said. He also said if elected he would reduce the cost of medicines something Mr Trump vowed to do but has so far failed to make any progress on. If I am elected president, Im going to cut prescription drug costs in this country by 50 percent so that we are not paying any more than other major countries are paying, he said. Maybe we can do better than that. Addis Ababa (AFP) - In his first speech as Ethiopian prime minister last April, Abiy Ahmed called for an end to the repressive, exclusionary governance that had plunged the country into turmoil. It was a promise on which he is seen to have delivered dramatically, earning him both international acclaim and domestic popularity so great that his keenest supporters say he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. "Before Abiy came, our fear was that Ethiopia would descend into civil war," said Hassen Hussein, a top official in the Oromo Democratic Front, one of the many banned groups welcomed back from exile. Yet the new prime minister's first year in office has also been marked by a surge in ethnic violence that has forced 1.8 million people out of their homes. While Abiy has remade the public face of the ruling omnipotent Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), diplomats and politicians say politics remains very much as usual at the local level. "Many people, especially at the grassroots level, are asking, where is the change?" said Merera Gudina, a top opposition politician. "Both the depth and pace of change... people are really doubting." As Abiy enters his second year in office, he faces a new challenge: keeping his promise to make 2020 elections free and fair despite rising political violence. Abiy, who was sworn into power on April 2, 2018, took office following the resignation of his predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn, after more than two years of anti-government protests and growing discord within the EPRDF. - Negotiating with opposition - A former science minister, Abiy comes from the Oromo people, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group. He rose up through the military and intelligence services, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. The 42-year-old won over Ethiopians with his rapid, dramatic reforms, often delivered with a personal touch. He met publicly with newly-freed political prisoners and held repeated meetings with old foe Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to negotiate a July 2018 agreement re-establishing relations following a bloody 1998-2000 border war. Story continues "For the first time in the country's history, he is negotiating with the opposition," said Merera, who was jailed under Hailemariam, then released on the eve of his resignation. But Merera worries whether the four parties that make up the EPRDF -- and especially the old guard from the Tigrayan minority that dominated the coalition until Abiy's rise -- really support him. "We are not sure the degree to which the EPRDF is committed," he said. At the local level, politics has changed little. "The ruling party is the ruling party; the cadres are the same, the service delivery is the same," Merera said. Those who have met the prime minister worry over his tendency to show off his accomplishments while revealing little about his plans to tackle the country's challenges. - 'One-man show' - Abiy made headlines last October by appointing a cabinet in which half the ministers were women. But critics say he has taken power into his own hands and sidelined government ministries. "It's a one-man show... it's not a functional government," one foreign diplomat told AFP, adding that among embassies, "a few eyebrows are now rising." Shortly after Abiy took office, a long-running dispute over land in southern Ethiopia's West Guji and Gedeo zones erupted into ethnic fighting that forced nearly a million people from their homes. Such violence continued through Abiy's first year. Last September at least 58 people, mostly from minority ethnic groups, were killed on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa, while aid groups said in December that ethnic violence in western Ethiopia had displaced 250,000 people. Analysts have blamed rising violence on a slackening of the tight control the EPRDF once maintained on regional security forces and administration. Abiy has touted his moves to improve media freedom -- following in the footsteps of Hailemariam, who released several prominent jailed journalists -- but instability threatens this progress. Elias Kifle, who heads the online news outlet Mereja, believes Oromo police officers sanctioned the February mob beating two of his journalists in the town of Legetafo. "I considered it not only an attack on the media, but on the reform," he said, adding that he does not blame the prime minister for the assault. In a sign of the country's apparent precariousness, officials in March postponed a national census, which was seen as a precursor to next year's vote. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," Hassen said of the elections. "With the level of polarisation that exists now, I'm not sure an election would do any good for Ethiopia and Ethiopians." Baghdad (AFP) - The owners of a ferry that capsized in Mosul killing 100 people have been arrested along with engineers who had allegedly certified the vessel, Iraq's judiciary said Sunday. "The committee set up to investigate the sinking of the ferry announced the arrest of the boat's owners" along with three engineers who "had certified that it complied with regulations", the Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement. The boat was packed with families from the northern city, a former bastion of the Islamic State group, crossing the River Tigris to celebrate the Kurds' Nowruz New Year holiday. Most of the victims of the accident on March 21, Iraqi Mother's Day, were women and children. The strong current washed some bodies miles downstream, and dozens of people are still missing. The tragedy came after authorities had warned that water levels were dangerously high, and sparked anger among Iraqis who blamed official corruption and neglect. The judiciary did not name the owners who were arrested, but said they were caught in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region. Their cases have been transferred to a panel of three judges and a prosecutor, it said. The Iraqi parliament has fired the governor of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the main city, who has gone on the run. BACOLOD, Philippines (AP) Philippine police said Sunday that 14 suspected communist rebels were killed after they opened fire during raids in a central province, but rights groups countered that the men were farmers and the latest victims of extrajudicial killings. Dozens of police, backed by army troops, were to conduct court-authorized home searches Saturday in a city and two towns in Negros Oriental province when the 14 men violently fought back, police officials said. A police officer was shot in the leg and wounded in the anti-insurgency and criminality sweep that also led to the arrests of 15 other suspects, they said. Regional police chief Debold Sinas said six suspected insurgents and rebel supporters escaped. Law enforcers seized three shotguns, 25 pistols, a homemade rifle, three grenades, ammunition and rebel documents in the simultaneous raids in Canlaon city, where eight suspects were gunned down, and the towns of Manjuyod and Santa Catalina, where the rest were killed in the reported gunbattles. "There were 14 suspects that engaged the raiders in a shootout during the implementation of the search warrants resulting to their deaths," Sinas told the national police chief in a report. Human rights and farmers' groups condemned the killings of the men they said were farmers, including two village chiefs, and called for an independent investigation. The Federation of Agricultural Workers cited the wife of one of the dead men, Edgardo Avelino, as saying that 10 men in uniform forcibly entered their home at around midnight saying they would serve an arrest warrant. Moments after, the men reportedly gunned down Avelino and his brother, Ismael, the farmers' group said. A Roman Catholic bishop, Gerardo Alminaza, said among those killed was a church minister known for his good character and some members of a church group. Atrocities committed by law enforcers, Alminaza said, "will make you best recruiters for the underground movement." Story continues "The appalling conduct of these 'police operations' obviously aims to make peasants, activists and other ordinary citizens of Negros to cower in fear, surrender their rights, and accept the wave of terror under the de facto martial law," the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates said. The group said six farmers were killed and more than 50 others arrested in similar police raids in December in Guihulngan city in Negros Oriental, which lies on a sugar-producing agricultural island long known for its gaping divide between the poor and wealthy landowning families. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the country's south in 2017 to contain a deadly siege by Islamic State group-aligned militants and other insurgents. Although Negros Oriental lies outside the south, it is in a region about 590 kilometers (366 miles) south of Manila where military and police forces have intensified counterinsurgency raids in recent years. Police denied the 14 men killed in Saturday's raids were victims of extrajudicial killings. Aside from unlicensed firearms, police were looking for suspected New People's Army guerrillas involved in a failed attack on a Canlaon city police station this month and other assaults on police officers, Sinas said. Communist guerrillas have waged a rural rebellion in the Philippines for half a century, one of Asia's longest. The violence has left about 40,000 combatants and civilians dead. It also has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the military says about 3,500 insurgents are still active. By Lesley Wroughton and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the day that their talks in Hanoi collapsed last month, U.S. President Donald Trump handed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to the document seen by Reuters. Trump gave Kim both Korean and English-language versions of the U.S. position at Hanoi's Metropole hotel on Feb. 28, according to a source familiar with the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was the first time that Trump himself had explicitly defined what he meant by denuclearization directly to Kim, the source said. A lunch between the two leaders was canceled the same day. While neither side has presented a complete account of why the summit collapsed, the document may help explain it. The document's existence was first mentioned by White House national security adviser John Bolton in television interviews he gave after the two-day summit. Bolton did not disclose in those interviews the pivotal U.S. expectation contained in the document that North Korea should transfer its nuclear weapons and fissile material to the United States. The document appeared to represent Bolton's long-held and hardline "Libya model" of denuclearization that North Korea has rejected repeatedly. It probably would have been seen by Kim as insulting and provocative, analysts said. Trump had previously distanced himself in public comments from Bolton's approach and said a "Libya model" would be employed only if a deal could not be reached. The idea of North Korea handing over its weapons was first proposed by Bolton in 2004. He revived the proposal last year when Trump named him as national security adviser. The document was meant to provide the North Koreans with a clear and concise definition of what the United States meant by "final, fully verifiable, denuclearization," the source familiar with discussions said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department declined to comment on what would be a classified document. After the summit, a North Korean official accused Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of "gangster-like" demands, saying Pyongyang was considering suspending talks with the United States and may rethink its self-imposed ban on missile and nuclear tests. The English version of the document, seen by Reuters, called for "fully dismantling North Korea's nuclear infrastructure, chemical and biological warfare program and related dual-use capabilities; and ballistic missiles, launchers, and associated facilities." Aside from the call for the transfer of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel, the document had four other key points. It called on North Korea to provide a comprehensive declaration of its nuclear program and full access to U.S. and international inspectors; to halt all related activities and construction of any new facilities; to eliminate all nuclear infrastructure; and to transition all nuclear program scientists and technicians to commercial activities. The summit in Vietnam's capital was cut short after Trump and Kim failed to reach a deal on the extent of economic sanctions relief for North Korea in exchange for its steps to give up its nuclear program. The first summit between Trump and Kim, which took place in Singapore in June 2018, was almost called off after the North Koreans rejected Bolton's repeated demands for it to follow a denuclearization model under which components of Libya's nuclear program were shipped to the United States in 2004. Seven years after a denuclearization agreement was reached between the United States and Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the United States took part in a NATO-led military operation against his government and he was overthrown by rebels and killed. 'MISERABLE FATE' Last year, North Korea officials called Bolton's plan "absurd" and noted the "miserable fate" that befell Gaddafi. After North Korea threatened to cancel the Singapore summit, Trump said in May 2018 he was not pursuing a "Libya model" and that he was looking for an agreement that would protect Kim. "He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich," Trump said at the time. "The Libya model was a much different model. We decimated that country," Trump added. The Hanoi document was presented in what U.S. officials have said was an attempt by Trump to secure a "big deal" under which all sanctions would be lifted if North Korea gave up all of its weapons. U.S.-North Korean engagement has appeared to be in limbo since the Hanoi meeting. Pompeo said on March 4 he was hopeful he could send a team to North Korea "in the next couple of weeks," but there has been no sign of that. Jenny Town, a North Korea expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank, said the content of the U.S. document was not surprising. "This is what Bolton wanted from the beginning and it clearly wasn't going to work," Town said. "If the U.S. was really serious about negotiations they would have learned already that this wasn't an approach they could take." Town added, "It's already been rejected more than once, and to keep bringing it up ... would be rather insulting. It's a non-starter and reflects absolutely no learning curve in the process." North Korea has repeatedly rejected unilateral disarmament and argues that its weapons program is needed for defense, a belief reinforced by the fate Gaddafi and others. In an interview with ABC's "This Week" program after the Hanoi summit, Bolton said the North Koreans had committed to denuclearization in a variety of forms several times "that they have happily violated." "We define denuclearization as meaning the elimination of their nuclear weapons program, their uranium enrichment capability, their plutonium reprocessing capability," Bolton said. Asked who authored the document, Bolton said it had been "written at staff level and cleared around as usual." (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Mary Milliken and Will Dunham) NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The pilots' union of India's troubled Jet Airways said on Sunday it will give the carrier's new management two weeks to clear unpaid salaries, deferring its plan to take strike action. Jet has delayed payments to pilots, suppliers and lessors for months and defaulted on loans after racking up more than $1 billion in debt. The airline was bailed out on Monday by state-run banks, which have temporarily taken a majority stake in the company and given it a new loan of $218 million. The National Aviators Guild, the union of Jet pilots, had planned to go on strike from April 1 because of non-payment of salaries. Jet on Saturday said it will pay December salaries to pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers but for now cannot pay more recent overdue wages. The pilots' union has decided to give Jet's new interim management until April 14 to clear salary dues "in conjunction with interim funding", and deferred the plans of a strike until then, the National Aviators Guild said in a statement to its members, which was seen by Reuters. Once India's leading full service carrier, Jet struggled to compete with low-cost carriers in recent years. In the past few weeks, its chairman stepped down from the airline's board and lenders stepped in to rescue the airline from the brink of bankruptcy. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Susan Fenton) Rescuers work at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 during the continuing recovery efforts - Visual China Group A pilot on the Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago was heard saying pitch up, pitch up just moments before the disaster, the Wall St Journal has reported. The conversation happened when the plane was just 450ft (137m) off the ground as the aircraft begun to point downwards, according to the paper. The plane's radio reportedly died moments after the comment was captured. All 157 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737 Max crashed. The planes anti-stalling system, which sees its direction automatically righted if a sensor picks up the aircraft is tilting up too far, has been blamed for the disaster. The investigation is on-going and no official cause for the crash has been made public. Forensic experts work at the crash site of an Ethiopian airways operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft Credit: TONY KARUMBA / AFP The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that investigators have determined that the flight-control system on an Ethiopian Airlines jet automatically activated before the aircraft plunged into the ground on March 10. The preliminary conclusion was based on information from the aircraft's data and voice recorders and indicates a link between that accident and an earlier Lion Air crash in Indonesia, the newspaper said. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the report. Also on Friday, The New York Times reported that the Ethiopian jet's data recorder yielded evidence that a sensor incorrectly triggered the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Once activated, the MCAS forced the plane into a dive and ultimately a crash that killed everyone on board, the newspaper said. Boeing is facing mounting pressure to roll out a software update on its best-selling plane in time for airlines to use the jets during the peak summer travel season. Kebebew Legesse, the mother of Ethiopian Airlines cabin crew Ayantu Girmay mourns at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner Company engineers and test pilots are working to fix anti-stall technology on the Boeing 737 Max that is suspected to have played a role in two deadly crashes in the last six months. Story continues Boeing is also seeing its own expenses rise, although it would not disclose how much it is costing the company to make the software fix and also train pilots how to use it. Cowen Research analysts say a "very rough guess" is that Boeing will pay about $2 billion after insurance to fix the plane, pay crash victims' families and compensate airlines that had to cancel flights. Most Wall Street analysts are betting that the planes will be flying again in less than three months, while noting that it could take longer in countries that plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's upgrade instead of taking the word of the U.S. regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration. Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average 1 2 3 4 5 There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 488251 03-31-2019 03:20 PM Post: #1 There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. Advertisement 2) Someone is indeed attacking EL Guri provocking the massive power outages most likely the US. 3) The Venezuelan government is doing it in purpose because this is how they control the masses who are largely against Maduros regime. This is a possibility because DIosdado Cabello warned in advance to the american embassy that they could soon be without electricity. They are. Either way they knew this in advance because high ranking politicians such as Tibisay Lucena and Jorge Rodriguez bought large electric plants in around 2016. For the commoner, there is no way of proving or disproving either situation, one has to listen to both sides and make its own conclusion. I have to say there is a little bit of everything going on. 1) 25% 2) 70% 3) 5% There is a war going on in Venezuela and the Venezuelan people are inmensly suffering. Things are going to get worst soon. They are warning that the situation in El Guri is irreparable and Venezuela could end without power for the latest at May 20th. 1) The Venezuelan government is inept and completely disregard maintenance of the El Guri plant, stole every single dolar and left it to dirt, hence the continuing long power outages that Venezuelans are suffering on a daily basis. They are rationing electricity every day for long periods of time. Up to 6 hours daily.2) Someone is indeed attacking EL Guri provocking the massive power outages most likely the US.3) The Venezuelan government is doing it in purpose because this is how they control the masses who are largely against Maduros regime. This is a possibility because DIosdado Cabello warned in advance to the american embassy that they could soon be without electricity. They are.Either way they knew this in advance because high ranking politicians such as Tibisay Lucena and Jorge Rodriguez bought large electric plants in around 2016. For the commoner, there is no way of proving or disproving either situation, one has to listen to both sides and make its own conclusion.I have to say there is a little bit of everything going on.1) 25%2) 70%3) 5%There is a war going on in Venezuela and the Venezuelan people are inmensly suffering. Things are going to get worst soon. They are warning that the situation in El Guri is irreparable and Venezuela could end without power for the latest at May 20th. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495597 03-31-2019 03:35 PM Post: #2 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. So tired of these war propaganda threads. I actually had one of the LOP warmongers tell me that invading Venezuela would be good for our economy. What kind of sickos think that is a justification for killing people? OP, we have been the ones destabllizing Venezuela, and we are the reason the people suffer. We destabilize an an excuse to go in and "save" these places. shame LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 342280 03-31-2019 03:40 PM Post: #3 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:35 PM) So tired of these war propaganda threads. I actually had one of the LOP warmongers tell me that invading Venezuela would be good for our economy. What kind of sickos think that is a justification for killing people? OP, we have been the ones destabllizing Venezuela, and we are the reason the people suffer. We destabilize an an excuse to go in and "save" these places. shame Total bullshit. It's Maduro's fault, not ours. The fact that he lets in NO humanitarian aid tells you that HE is the cause of all the suffering. If someone other than him was responsible, he would have let in the aid. Now go suck a lemon ya commie bastard. Total bullshit. It's Maduro's fault, not ours. The fact that he lets in NO humanitarian aid tells you that HE is the cause of all the suffering. If someone other than him was responsible, he would have let in the aid.Now go suck a lemon ya commie bastard. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495597 03-31-2019 03:42 PM Post: #4 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:40 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:35 PM) So tired of these war propaganda threads. I actually had one of the LOP warmongers tell me that invading Venezuela would be good for our economy. What kind of sickos think that is a justification for killing people? OP, we have been the ones destabllizing Venezuela, and we are the reason the people suffer. We destabilize an an excuse to go in and "save" these places. shame Total bullshit. It's Maduro's fault, not ours. The fact that he lets in NO humanitarian aid tells you that HE is the cause of all the suffering. If someone other than him was responsible, he would have let in the aid. Now go suck a lemon ya commie bastard. I'm not the commie, you are. Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation. I'm not the commie, you are.Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 494675 03-31-2019 03:57 PM Post: #5 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation. [/quote] I'm not the commie, you are.Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation.[/quote] Roddy's Creed Registered User User ID: 467546 03-31-2019 04:01 PM Posts: 5,481 Post: #6 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:57 PM) I'm not the commie, you are. Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation. [/quote] [/quote] I do not label myself. What I stand for is based on my own convictions, and I don't care which box - the left one or the right one - they happen to belong. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 342280 03-31-2019 06:11 PM Post: #7 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. Roddy Wrote: (03-31-2019 04:01 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:57 PM) I'm not the commie, you are. Humanitarian aid is your Orwellian phrase for occupation. [/quote] Hey dumbasses....many other countries in Latin America tried to give humanitarian aid, but Maduro would let NONE of it in. You are clueless, lost communists. Have a nice day! [/quote]Hey dumbasses....many other countries in Latin America tried to give humanitarian aid, but Maduro would let NONE of it in.You are clueless, lost communists.Have a nice day! LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495694 03-31-2019 07:19 PM Post: #8 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 03:35 PM) So tired of these war propaganda threads. I actually had one of the LOP warmongers tell me that invading Venezuela would be good for our economy. What kind of sickos think that is a justification for killing people? OP, we have been the ones destabllizing Venezuela, and we are the reason the people suffer. We destabilize an an excuse to go in and "save" these places. shame American sickos. the people who run the country, all of them. most of the population American sickos. the people who run the country, all of them. most of the population LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 492368 03-31-2019 07:33 PM Post: #9 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. Power outages also make air defences and other military stuff go offline... And it 'magically' happened at same time US and Europe, famouse colonizers and regime changers and lovers of oil, start to push Guaido. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 342280 03-31-2019 08:18 PM Post: #10 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h4sq-WO...e=youtu.be Venezuela: Plunged into anarchy LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 488251 03-31-2019 09:56 PM Post: #11 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 07:33 PM) Power outages also make air defences and other military stuff go offline... And it 'magically' happened at same time US and Europe, famouse colonizers and regime changers and lovers of oil, start to push Guaido. Not so, Venezuela has been suffering from power outages since before Maduro. During Chavez time he made the Cubans do cloud seeding to make it rain because the water of el Guri plant was very low. Venezuela has had power outages for a long time now. They have maximized lately but this was warned for about two years now. The government knew it was coming since all of its high ranking officials bought very expensive power plants. Not so, Venezuela has been suffering from power outages since before Maduro.During Chavez time he made the Cubans do cloud seeding to make it rain because the water of el Guri plant was very low.Venezuela has had power outages for a long time now. They have maximized lately but this was warned for about two years now. The government knew it was coming since all of its high ranking officials bought very expensive power plants. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 488251 03-31-2019 10:02 PM Post: #12 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. You will think that if the US wanted to attack the plant it will be one single blow and over with it. Here is the thing. They are rationing electricity. Last night power went out all over the nation at 7pm and it returned for the most part at 11.pm. Today power went out at 9.40am and it returned at 3.40pm. The government admited it was necessary to start rationing electricity and it could completely collaspe by the end of May. I stand by my op, there is a little bit of everything. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 492368 03-31-2019 10:12 PM Post: #13 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 09:56 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 07:33 PM) Power outages also make air defences and other military stuff go offline... And it 'magically' happened at same time US and Europe, famouse colonizers and regime changers and lovers of oil, start to push Guaido. Not so, Venezuela has been suffering from power outages since before Maduro. During Chavez time he made the Cubans do cloud seeding to make it rain because the water of el Guri plant was very low. Venezuela has had power outages for a long time now. They have maximized lately but this was warned for about two years now. The government knew it was coming since all of its high ranking officials bought very expensive power plants. So, we agree it is out of the ordinary and not a normal outage problem. You just still wanna rationalize that it is a coincedence. So, we agree it is out of the ordinary and not a normal outage problem.You just still wanna rationalize that it is a coincedence. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 488251 03-31-2019 10:22 PM Post: #14 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. If you want uptodate news check out maduradas.com LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 488251 03-31-2019 10:26 PM Post: #15 RE: There are three options in Venezuela`s power outages. LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 10:12 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 09:56 PM) Not so, Venezuela has been suffering from power outages since before Maduro. During Chavez time he made the Cubans do cloud seeding to make it rain because the water of el Guri plant was very low. Venezuela has had power outages for a long time now. They have maximized lately but this was warned for about two years now. The government knew it was coming since all of its high ranking officials bought very expensive power plants. So, we agree it is out of the ordinary and not a normal outage problem. You just still wanna rationalize that it is a coincedence. Everything in Venezuela now it is out of the ordinary. Trust me. Did you read my op? Read option number two and how much percentage I scored it. Everything in Venezuela now it is out of the ordinary. Trust me. Did you read my op? Read option number two and how much percentage I scored it. Advertisement Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread KIEV, Ukraine (AP) Early results in Ukraine's presidential election showed a comedian with no political experience with a sizable lead over 38 rivals but far from a first-round victory, while the incumbent president and a former prime minister were close contenders to advance to the runoff. The strong showing of Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Sunday's voting appeared to reflect Ukrainians' desire for new blood in a political system awash in corruption and a new approach to trying to end the war with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east that has wracked the country for nearly five years. With 20 percent of the polling station protocols counted, Zelenskiy had 30 percent, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was a distant second with about 17 percent and Yulia Tymoshenko with 13, the elections commission said early Monday. The results were closely in line with a major exit poll. The top two candidates advance to a runoff on April 21. Final results in Sunday's first round are expected to be announced later Monday. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 2,100 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Zelenskiy stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral and his supporters hold out hope that he can fight corruption in real life. "This is only the first step to a great victory," Zelenskiy told reporters after the exit poll was announced. "Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs." Story continues Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraine's endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Concern about the election's legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes. Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. "A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kiev. "A life without corruption, without bribes." His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the country's political elite. Poroshenko said "I feel no kind of euphoria" after the exit poll results were announced. "I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities," he said. It is not clear whether he would or could adjust his campaign enough to meet Zelenskiy's challenges over the next three weeks. Poroshenko, 53, a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church. However, he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and the European Union. Speaking at a polling station Sunday, the president echoed his campaign promises of taking Ukraine into the EU and NATO. The president's priorities persuaded schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, to vote for him "Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO," Hristenko said. Ukraine's former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions in the country. "Ukraine has sunk into poverty and corruption during the last five years, but every Ukrainian can put an end to it now," she said after voting Sunday. During the campaign, Tymoshenko denounced price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as "economic genocide" and promised to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office. "I don't need a bright future in 50 years," said Olha Suhiy, a 58-year-old cook. "I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow." A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates as well as a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko before the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused in the scandal. Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, charges that Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied. Many political observers have described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi. Both the president and the comedian relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the "Servant of the People" TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine's leader. "Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko," said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kiev-based think tank. "Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources." ___ AP journalists Mstyslav Chernov in Kiev, and Jim Heintz and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report. ___ A previous version of this story removed Kolomoyskyi falling off Forbes' list of billionaires; the reference was to Poroshenko but an editing error applied it to Kolomoyskyi. By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday defended his decision to reject the resignation of Philippe Barbarin, the French Roman Catholic cardinal convicted on charges of failing to report sexual abuse. Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a two-day trip to Morocco, Francis said he was obliged to give the archbishop of Lyon the benefit of the doubt until his appeal is heard. "I can't accept it because in juridical terms, in classic world jurisprudence, there is the presumption of innocence as long as the case is open, and he has appealed," Francis said. Barbarin offered his resignation when he met the pope on March 18. A court in Lyon ruled on March 7 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. Barbarin, 68, the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the French Church, received a six-month suspended prison sentence. He has denied the allegations and launched an appeal. "When the second court hands down its decision, then we will see what will happen. But we must always have the presumption of innocence. This is important because it goes beyond the superficial condemnation by the media," the pope said. "Maybe he is not innocent, but the presumption (of innocence) must be there," the pope said. The Barbarin trial put one of Europe's most senior clergymen in the spotlight at a time when the pope is grappling with criticism over the Church's response to a decades-long sexual global abuse crisis. Barbarin has stepped aside temporarily pending the appeal and has handed over the day-to-day running of the diocese to a vicar general. He has said he would remain head of the dioceses in title and would continue to sign off on documents until the appeal process is over. The Church's credibility has been damaged in much of the world by abuse scandals in countries including Ireland, Chile, Australia, France, the United States and Poland, paying billions of dollars in damages to victims and forcing parishes to close. The scandals have reached the upper echelons of the Vatican itself with the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, jailed this month for six years for abusing boys in his native Australia. He had served as the Vatican treasurer and a member of the pope's innermost council of cardinals until his conviction last year. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Peter Cooney) Nuns and worshippers await the arrival of the Pope in Rabat - AFP Pope Francis on Sunday warned Catholics in Morocco against trying to convert others to boost their small numbers, during a rare visit by a pontiff to the North African country. Speaking in Rabat's cathedral on his second day in the Moroccan capital, Francis insisted trying to convert people to one's own belief "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytism!" he told an audience of around 400, who greeted the pope's arrival by ululating and applauding, while hundreds more gathered outside the cathedral. Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. Islam is the state religion and authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim if they are not born into the Jewish community, apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is criminalised. Pope Francis greets locals during a visit to the Rural Centre for Social Services Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images "I protect Moroccan Jews as well as Christians from other countries, who are living in Morocco," King Mohammed VI told crowds on Saturday, following the pontiff's arrival. There are a few thousand Christian converts in Morocco, who since 2017 have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination". Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985 and the cathedral had been repainted for the occasion. Waiting for the pope outside, a Nigerian man said the visit "shows that living together is possible in Morocco." But "there are things to improve, notably the question of migrants and that of Moroccan Christians," said 36-year-old Antoine, who works for an association to defend migrant rights. The need to support migrants was mentioned again Sunday by Francis, who has made the issue a focal point of his papacy. On Saturday he visited migrants at a Caritas charity centre, where the pope criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border. Rabat (AFP) - Pope Francis has called for tolerance and peace at a mass for thousands of Catholics during a rare visit by a pontiff to Morocco, after warning the faithful there against trying to convert others. Ten thousand worshippers, many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, packed a sports complex in Rabat on Sunday as the pope rounded off his two-day stay in the Muslim North African state. "Often we are tempted to believe that hatred and revenge are legitimate ways of ensuring quick and effective justice," the 82-year-old pontiff told those gathered. "Yet experience tells us that hatred, division and revenge succeed only in killing our peoples' soul, poisoning our children's hopes, and destroying and sweeping away everything we cherish." Ahead of the mass the pope insisted to an audience of around 400 at Rabat's cathedral that trying to convert people to one's own belief "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytism!" he said. - Visit with migrants - Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. Islam is the state religion and authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance", which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim if they are not born into the Jewish community, apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is criminalised. "I protect Moroccan Jews as well as Christians from other countries, who are living in Morocco," King Mohammed VI told crowds on Saturday, following the pontiff's arrival. There are a few thousand Christian converts in Morocco, who since 2017 have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination". Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985 and the cathedral had been repainted for the occasion. Story continues Waiting for the pope outside, a Nigerian man said the visit "shows that living together is possible in Morocco". But "there are things to improve, notably the question of migrants and that of Moroccan Christians", said 36-year-old Antoine, who works for an association to defend migrant rights. The need to support migrants was mentioned again Sunday by Francis, who has made the issue a focal point of his papacy. On Saturday he visited migrants at a Caritas charity centre, where the pope criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border. - Jerusalem declaration - Earlier on Sunday, Francis visited a social centre run by nuns and volunteers near Rabat, including a health centre where he met with unwell children. The Moroccan king also welcomed Francis to the royal palace, where the two addressed the "sacred character of Jerusalem" in a joint declaration. The city should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims, they said in a statement released by the Vatican. "The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem... must be protected and promoted," said the text, which was jointly signed at Rabat's royal palace. The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalem's religious, cultural and architectural heritage. Jerusalem's status is one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel sees the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. Returning to Rome later Sunday, Francis told reporters on board the papal plane the "presumption of innocence" must prevail in relation to the appeal by French cardinal Philippe Barbarin who was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence earlier this month for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority. "When the second court delivers a sentence we will see what happens," the pope said, warning against a "superficial media condemnation". "Perhaps he is not innocent, but it must be presumed that he is," he added. In another interview the pope said a process of "healing" had started within the Church in the wake of a paedophilia summit in February, but acknowledged guilty priests had not been punished. He told Spanish TV station La Sexta he understood that many were disappointed at the lack of concrete results of the landmark Vatican summit, but insisted progress was being made. burs-je/jah Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Several thousand protesters chanting "dictatorship never again" took to the streets of Brazils biggest cities Sunday on the 55th anniversary of the coup that established more than two decades of military rule. Some 2,000 people rallied in Rio de Janeiro's central Cinelandia plaza, while in Sao Paulo a few hundred converged on popular Ibirapuera Park to demonstrate against the 1964-1985 dictatorship. The protests were sparked by the order recently issued by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for defense forces to "appropriately" commemorate the overthrow of President Joao Goulart. Nearly 1,000 noisy protesters in Brasilia chanted slogans against Bolsonaro, an ex-army captain and unabashed admirer of the countrys former dictators, shouting "Bolsonaro out." "It's not a date that should be commemorated," retired teacher Maria Fatima, who is 65, told AFP at the Rio demonstration. "It is a day of mourning, of violence, of cruelty." The demonstrations came a day after an appeals court judge overturned another judges decision to bar commemorations sought by Bolsonaro. Appellate judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso accepted the government's argument that Brazilian democracy was strong enough to support "a pluralism of ideas." "I see no violation of human rights, particularly as similar demonstrations took place in the barracks in preceding years with no negative consequences," she wrote. Bolsonaro, who is on a three-day visit to Israel, is the country's first president since democracy was restored in 1985 to publicly exalt the military regime, though he argues its rise to power was not a "coup." In the past, the tough-talking Bolsonaro has referred to the dictatorship as a "glorious" time in Brazilian history. He was quoted in 2008 as saying that "the error of the dictatorship was that it tortured but did not kill." Story continues Since taking office, Bolsonaro has had fond words for military dictators in 1970s and 1980s Latin America, such as Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay and Chile's Augusto Pinochet. At least 434 people were killed or disappeared in Brazil during the 21-year dictatorship, far fewer than the 30,000 deaths in Argentina and 3,200 or more in Chile during their respective periods of right-wing military rule. But unlike its South American neighbors, Brazil has not prosecuted military officials for regime-era crimes, leaving the events of that dark period unresolved. Bolsonaro, who ran for the presidency as a political outsider determined to dismantle a culture of corruption, has seen his approval rating plunge amid scandals and missteps since his January 1 inauguration. Texas slugger Joey Gallo crushed a go-ahead three-run homer 433 feet and the Rangers scored a combined five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Saturday night. Texas rallied from an early 6-3 deficit behind a two-run single by Shin-Soo Choo in the seventh inning and then Gallo's bomb in the bottom of the eighth for the two-run lead. The Rangers' big eighth inning started with Elvis Andrus singling to center, followed by Nomar Mazara working a walk to set up Gallo's heroics. Texas, which totaled 11 hits, tied the three-game series with the rubber game coming up Sunday afternoon. Gallo, the high-strikeout, longball-hitting lefty, recorded his lone hit of the night with the homer. He also scored the Rangers' third run to make it 4-3 Chicago after reaching on a fielder's choice and scoring on Asdrubal Cabrera's home run to right field. The Cubs built their lead with a three-run first inning and two RBIs by Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras. Schwarber homered to center in the top of fifth inning and Jason Heyward drove in the Cubs' sixth run on a sacrifice fly to left that scored Contreras for a 6-3 lead. Schwarber and Contreras each recorded three hits. Cubs starter Yu Darvish did not provide the encouraging start the Cubs hoped for in his first return to the mound since May 2018. Facing his former team in a ballpark where he won 31 games, Darvish didn't get out of the third inning. Cubs manager Joe Maddon pulled the right-hander after he allowed three runs on two hits and a discouraging seven walks in 2 2/3 innings. Chicago reliever Jose Quintana held the Rangers in check until giving up Choo's two-run single in the seventh. Rangers starting pitcher Edinson Volquez surrendered four runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Reliever Jeanmar Gomez then coughed up two runs on two hits and the fifth of seven total Rangers walks. --Field Level Media (Repeats story first published on Sunday; no change to text) * NZ kept no comprehensive record of hate crimes * UN, other agencies repeatedly asked NZ for record of such crimes * Anecdotal rise in threats against Muslims reported * PM Ardern called for a Royal Commission inquiry into attack By Charlotte Greenfield and Praveen Menon CHRISTCHURCH/WELLINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - Weeks before a gunman killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch, a man had threatened to burn copies of the Koran outside New Zealand mosques, in what community leaders said was the latest in a long list of threatening behavior against religious minorities. Police said they warned a 38-year-old man over the incident, which was unrelated to the Christchurch attack, but could not say if it was part of a pattern. That's because, unlike many Western countries including the United Kingdom and the United States, New Zealand's government keeps no comprehensive record of hate crimes, failing to act on requests to do so from local and international agencies spanning more than a decade. "For many years our view has consistently been that this needs to be prioritized and implemented urgently," said Janet Anderson-Bidois, Chief Legal Adviser at the Human Rights Commission, the independent government agency tasked with protecting human rights. "It is imperative that we have good data." A suspected white supremacist has been charged with murder over the Christchurch shootings and will appear in court again on April 5. In the wake of New Zealand's worst mass shooting, questions are being asked about what signs agencies missed and where resources should have been allocated to protect vulnerable communities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ordered a Royal Commission, a powerful form of inquiry, into the attack. Anwar Ghani from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said anecdotal evidence suggested there had been a rise in anti-Muslim behavior in recent years. Story continues "When there is a hot spot in global events and when Muslims are involvedwe do see the pulse of hate crime coming from certain members of the community, he said. "NOT A PRIORITY" Joris De Bres, New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner between 2002 and 2013, said he was alarmed at signs of an uptick in threats against Muslims when he took up the role soon after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. De Bres said he repeatedly asked the government and police to create a central system for recording details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism. He raised the issue with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which in its 2007 review of New Zealand said the lack of records was a concern, and asked the government to collect data on complaints of racially motivated crimes. "I listed it every yearI wrote at various points to government about it and it was simply said that it wasnt necessary and it wasn't a priority," De Bres said. In its latest report on New Zealand in 2017, the UN committee repeated its concerns and requests and asked the government to provide the data for its next report as a priority. When current Justice and Intelligence Serivces Minister Andrew Little took office in late 2017, the Human Rights Commission said in their incoming briefing the country needed a central system for recording details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism and steps currently taken by police were insufficient. "Understanding the scale, extent, and location of hate crimes is essential and is a prerequisite to ensuring adequate resources are available to address the issue," the briefing said. Little did not respond to Reuters' request for comment but told local media on Saturday that current hate speech laws were inadequate and he would work with officials to review the legislation, including considering whether a separate hate crime offense should be created. Police said they took hate crimes seriously and were continually looking to improve the way they worked. "We are engaged in ongoing conversations with community leaders and representatives about a range of issues, including how police record allegations of hate crime and crimes of prejudice," said a police spokesperson via email. The National Party, in power from 2008 to 2017, said while in government, it introduced legislation to protect people from harmful communication online. "There are hate speech laws in the Human Rights Act, but whether data should be collected is an operational matter for Police," a spokeswoman said by email. NO ONE WAS LISTENING New Zealand has had no previous extremist mass attacks, unlike neighboring Australia, but civil society members say an underbelly of racism has always existed and may have been escalating. Anjum Rahman from the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand said the group had repeatedly alerted the government over the past five years about the rise of the extreme right and the growing threat Muslim women felt in New Zealand. "Without the data, without the measurement it's really hard to push for change...I feel like it wasn't taken seriously because it wasn't hard data because we didn't have it," she said, adding she felt "a resistance to creating that data." One in 10 New Zealand adults have experienced hate speech online according to a 2018 study by internet safety organization Netsafe, with people of Asian descent or who identified as 'other' ethnicity most affected. Since 2002, a law has specified judges should take hostility towards a group of people with a "common characteristic," such as race or religion, into account when sentencing. A Reuters review of sentencing records found 22 such cases since 2002, most with a racial motive. Those included the murder of a Korean student, the hurling of a pipe bomb at a Sikh Temple, and threats to politicians by a non-Muslim posing as an Islamic extremist, which the judge described as a "deliberate attempt to tap into public fear about radicalized Muslims." The likely number is far higher, say human rights experts, because acessible records encompass only cases that are appealed or the most severe charges that reach New Zealand's highest courts, not the tens of thousands of cases dealt with in lower District Courts each year. One of those was a 2016 case, first reported by the New Zealand Herald, in which a Christchurch man delivered a bloodied pig's head to Al Noor mosque, which was attacked this month. He was charged with "offensive behavior" and fined NZ$800 ($543), court records show. In 2017, lawmakers asked police whether hate crime was increasing but were told it could not be measured because it was not recorded as a specific category, according to Parliamentary records. The Human Rights Commission said it received 417 complaints relating to race in 2018, up from 350 in 2014. Those included 63 complaints of "racial disharmony," which includes hate speech, a 26 percent jump from four years earlier. Lawmaker Golriz Ghahraman, a former human rights lawyer who was born in Iran and came to New Zealand as a child refugee, said she had received death threats and xenophobia including being called a "terrorist" and "Jihadist" online. Before the Christchurch attacks, most of the public had felt safe, she said. "Minorities didn't, but no one was listening to them." ($1 = 1.4732 New Zealand dollars) (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Praveen Menon. Editing by Lincoln Feast) 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. 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The 45-year-old environmental lawyer's clear victory Saturday over the ruling party's candidate was a blow to the populist-left Smer-SD -- the largest grouping in parliament -- and could spell trouble for them in the EU elections and next year's general vote. She is a relative political newcomer known for taking part in mass anti-government protests last year after the shootings of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee. The uproar toppled the then-premier. Caputova won 58.4 percent of the vote according to a final tally of results released Sunday, compared with 41.6 percent for her ruling party rival, EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic. "A candidate embodying democratic forces has won, and Sefcovic, who was a symbol of continuity, has lost," analyst Grigorij Meseznikov told AFP. Headlines from the country's newspapers on Sunday suggested the vote was a fresh start for the central European nation of 5.4 million. "Zuzana Caputova gives us hope but the real fight will only come now," said Dennik N, a leading opposition daily. European Council President Donald Tusk congratulated Caputova Sunday, tweeting: "A strong vote, at the heart of Europe, for decency in politics, rule of law and tolerance." Caputova ran on the slogan of "Stand up to evil" but made a point of keeping her rhetoric measured. "Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," she said as the results rolled in. The office of president is largely ceremonial, but the role does involve ratifying international treaties, appointing top judges. The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament. Story continues Analyst Aneta Vilagi predicted Caputova would "engage in a purposeful confrontation with the government... rather than become an opposition president criticising everything the ruling coalition does." Yet "she will represent a stronger system of checks and balances in relation to the government than Sefcovic would have." - 'Justice for all' - Caputova, who will be sworn in on June 15, is no stranger to tough battles. She is known for having successfully blocked a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok after a decade-long grassroots campaign. She was also one of the tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets after Kuciak's death in February 2018. The journalist had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia. The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains the Smer-SD's leader and is a close ally of the current premier. Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders over Kuciak's investigation into his activity. Speaking to AFP on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would "initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence." In addition to fighting for justice for all, Caputova had promised better care for the elderly and environmental protection. - Fresh approach - Teacher Iveta Rabelyova said "Caputova has challenged the typical image of a top politician: she is a woman, divorced, a political novice." "It is a good feeling that our citizens chose someone who breaks all these stereotypes," the 34-year-old told AFP. "Women are under-represented at top-level posts, this might begin to change now," added the resident of the southern town of Komarno. Many Slovaks who voted for Sefcovic had said the important position necessitated a man, yet "Caputova won despite her sex" according to analyst Vilagi. She had been "a strong opponent to Sefcovic more because of her story, her personality, values," Vilagi told AFP. Caputova also won in conservative, Catholic Slovakia despite being openly pro-choice and promoting greater rights for same-sex couples. Sefcovic had tried to use that liberal stance to his advantage by stressing traditional family values on the campaign trail, appealing to voters "who insist that Slovakia remain a Christian country." But according to official statistics, Caputova not only won over big-city voters but she also took the lead for the more conservative rural elecorate, if by a slim margin. Yet fewer than 42 percent of eligible voters chose to cast a ballot -- compared to 50 percent at the last presidential run-off -- suggesting that Caputova's idea of change was not to the liking of everyone fed up with the main political players. Madrid (AFP) - At least 50,000 people took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to draw attention to the emptying of the countryside, a growing issue for rural voters with less than a month to go before general elections. Of the 350 parliamentary seats at stake, 101 represent sparsely populated provinces. The main parties in the April 28 vote, aware of rural voters' anger, were all represented at the march dubbed the "Revolt of an Emptied Spain". Ministers from the ruling Socialist party included economy chief Nadia Calvino, Environment Minister Teresa Ribera and Agriculture Minister Luis Planas. The Socialist party has pledged to support professional training and internet access in rural areas. The centre-right Ciudadanos party has proposed sharp tax cuts for the residents of towns with fewer than 5,000 residents. Its leader Albert Rivera also took part in Sunday's march. Police counted around 50,000 along the main march route, while organisers estimated turnout at nearly twice that. "This Spain, the emptied Spain, wants its voice heard," the organisers' manifesto said. The Economic and Social Council of Spain, a body that advises the government on economic and labour issues, said in a report in early 2018 that the country counts around 3,900 villages with fewer than 500 residents. Of those, nearly one-third have fewer than 100 inhabitants and face "maximum risk of extinction", it said. Two of the provinces most hit by urban drift are Teruel in the east and Soria, north of Madrid. In Teruel, "bank branches have disappeared," said Josefina Soriano of the advocacy group "Teruel Exists". "There are elderly people who have to ask a neighbour to go to the (nearest town) to withdraw money for them," Soriano said. Angel Fernandez, a Soria farmer, said: "The province is dying. Despite its great potential, they're leaving us without trains, without highways." It felt like a victory lap. At a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday night, surrounded by a sea of red Make America Great Again hats, a defiant Donald Trump held the podium before a raucous crowd. Related: Trump Fed pick was held in contempt for failing to pay ex-wife over $300,000 After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead, the president declared in a 90-minute speech. Basking after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, which clouded the first two years of his presidency, Trump falsely claimed total exoneration. He vowed retaliation against some of his sharpest critics and suggested consequences for the media were in order. He spoke of doing away with Barack Obamas healthcare law. And he threatened to shut down the US-Mexico border as early as next week. It was a stark reminder of how Trump views his executive authority and a glimpse of his looming fight for re-election. He is much more likely to be re-elected today than he seemed at the end of last week Michael Steel He is much more likely to be re-elected today than he seemed at the end of last week, said Michael Steel, a Republican operative who was an aide to former House speaker John Boehner. I think that Democratic oversight activities will continue, but this definitely took the wind out of their sails. However, Trumps legal perils are far from over. According to a short letter to Congress by attorney general William Barr, the special counsels report on Russian interference in the 2016 election did not clear Trump of wrongdoing. Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, specifically stating that his report does not exonerate the president. Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between Trump aides and Moscow, which the president said supported his longstanding claim of no collusion. Left unclear was what the special counsel had to say of repeated contacts between Trump associates and Russian nationals, and lies to prosecutors about such communications. Story continues On Friday, Barr said that by mid-April he would make public a redacted version of the Mueller report, which is nearly 400 pages long. The attorney general faced criticism after drawing his own conclusion, in his letter to Congress, that Mueller did not have sufficient evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. In a second letter released on Friday, Barr said his initial assessment was not intended to be a summary of the Mueller report and that the American public would soon be able to read it on their own. Trump nonetheless seized on Barrs rendering of the Mueller report. There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, some bad things, I would say some treasonous things against our country, Trump told reporters last Sunday. And hopefully people that have done such harm to our country weve gone through a period of really bad things happening those people will certainly be looked at. Ive been looking at them for a long time. On Fox News, Trumps most prominent boosters chimed in. This must be a day of reckoning for the media, for the deep state, for people who abuse power, and they did it so blatantly in this country, said Sean Hannity, who ranks among Trumps closest allies. It could be a reset but its not going to be, because the president is congenially incapable of resetting Rick Tyler If we do not get this right, if we do not hold these people accountable, I promise you, with all the love I can muster for this country and our future for our kids and grandkids, we will lose the greatest country God has ever given man. We will lose it. Initial polls showed little change in public perception of the Mueller investigation or potential wrongdoing by Trump. A CNN survey found nearly 60% of Americans believed Congress should continue to investigate, while 56% said they did not believe Trump had been exonerated of collusion, even though Barrs letter said the special counsel could not establish a criminal conspiracy. Perhaps most tellingly, 86% said the findings would not affect their vote in 2020. The political divide is virtually the same, said Rick Tyler, a former aide to Ted Cruzs 2016 presidential campaign. If you didnt like Trump before, you dont like him anymore now. If you like Trump, you still like him. It could be a reset but its not going to be, because the president is congenially incapable of resetting. The party of healthcare Indeed, in the immediate wake of what some called the best week of his presidency, Trump returned to the impulsive style of governing that has prompted disorder and left his own party flatfooted. In a major shift, the administration announced on Wednesday it would back a legal effort to fully invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, a move that would threaten healthcare coverage for millions of Americans, an issue which proved central to Novembers midterm elections, in which Democrats regained the House. At his Michigan rally Trump renewed his call to toss out the ACA, insisting Republicans would come to be known as the party of healthcare. At his Michigan rally Trump renewed his call to toss out the ACA, insisting Republicans would come to be known as the party of healthcare.Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP Trumps move came over the objections of Barr and Alex Azar, his health secretary. The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, reportedly told Trump the move made no sense, given Republicans do not have a plan to replace the ACA and would be unable to move legislation. Members feel like [the Mueller report announcement] was great and Trump stepped all over that message with the Obamacare lawsuit announcement, a House GOP aide told Axios. Related: Trump intervenes in case of Navy Seal charged in stabbing of Isis prisoner Tyler said: While I can argue lots of different structures that would be better than Obamacare, that would be like overthrowing a foreign government with no replacement government. The result would be chaos. Undaunted, at his Michigan rally Trump renewed his call to toss out the ACA, insisting Republicans would come to be known as the party of healthcare. And he didnt stop there. Trump also vowed to shut down the Mexico border next week, a move that would do significant damage to the US economy. Mexico is a vital trading partner but Trump complained it was not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. Trump received familiar support from Fox. But other Republicans warned Trump not to jeopardize an otherwise positive moment. I think its a good thing for America that a detailed and thorough investigation concluded that the president of the United States is not a witting or unwitting agent of a foreign power, said Steel. I do think theres some danger that in the hubris of his response, the president makes mistakes. This article was amended on 1 April 2019. Due to an editing error, Michael Steels family name was misspelled as Steele in a pullquote. By Julia Harte and Tim Reid WASHINGTON/EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - The U.S. government cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States and threatened to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Trump said there was a "very good likelihood" he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. Frequent crossers of the border, including workers and students, worried about the disruption to their lives the president's threatened shutdown could cause. At a rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke denounced Trump's immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." A State Department spokesman said in a statement it was carrying out Trump's directive by ending aid programs to the three Central American nations, known as the Northern Triangle. The department said it would "engage Congress in the process," an apparent acknowledgement that it will need lawmakers' approval to end funding that a Congressional aide estimated would total about $700 million. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's order a "reckless announcement" and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday that the United States was paying the three countries "tremendous amounts of money," but received nothing in return. Mario Garcia, a 45-year-old bricklayer in El Salvador, said he was setting off for the United States regardless of the president's threat to close the frontier. "There is no work here and we want to improve (our lives), to get ahead for our families, for our children. I don't give a damn (what Trump says), I'm determined," Garcia said. Garcia was one of a group of at least 90 people who left the capital San Salvador over the weekend on buses heading north, in what locals said was the tenth so-called caravan to depart for the United States since October. The government of El Salvador has said it has tried to stem the flow of migrants. The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the U.S. policies "contradictory" but stressed that its relationship with the United States was "solid, close and positive." Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the frontier during his two years in office but has not followed through. This time, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other U.S. officials say border patrol officers have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase asylum seekers, many of them children and families who arrive in groups, fleeing violence and economic hardship in the Northern Triangle. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Nielsen warned Congress on Thursday that the government faces a "system-wide meltdown" as it tries to care for more than 1,200 unaccompanied children and 6,600 migrant families in its custody. Trump has so far been unable to convince Congress to tighten asylum laws or fund his border wall. He has declared a national emergency to justify redirecting money earmarked for the military to pay for the wall. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. Its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country is a good neighbor and does not act on the basis of threats. It was not clear how shutting down ports of entry would deter asylum seekers because they are legally able to request help as soon as they set foot on U.S. soil. But a border shutdown would disrupt tourism and U.S.-Mexico trade that totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A shutdown could lead to factory closures on both sides of the border, industry officials say, because the automobiles and medical sectors especially have woven international supply chains into their business models. (Reporting by Julia Harte and Richard Cowan in Washington, and Tim Reid in El Paso; Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez, Julia Love in Mexico City, Omar Younis in San Diego, Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Orfa Mejia in Tegucigalpa; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan suffered a severe setback on Sunday as his ruling AK Party was set to lose control of the capital Ankara for the first time in a local election and he appeared to concede defeat in the country's largest city, Istanbul. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since coming to power 16 years ago and ruled his country with an ever tighter grip, campaigned relentlessly for two months ahead of Sunday's vote, which he described as a "matter of survival" for Turkey. But the president's daily rallies and near constant media coverage narrowly failed to win over the country's two main cities, as Turkey's economic downturn weighed heavily on voters. "The people have voted in favor of democracy, they have chosen democracy," opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said, declaring that candidates for his secularist Republican People's Party (CHP) won in Ankara, Istanbul and the Aegean city of Izmir. Defeat for Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party in Ankara was a significant blow for the president. Losing Istanbul, where he launched his political career and served as mayor in the 1990s, would be an even greater symbolic shock. With more than 92 percent of ballot boxes opened in Ankara, CHP mayoral candidate Mansur Yavas, had secured 50.6 percent, giving him a 3.4-percentage-point lead over his AKP rival. In Istanbul, Turkish TV channels showed that AKP candidate and former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had the narrowest of leads with 98.8 percent of ballot boxes opened, securing 4,111,219 votes against 4,106,776 for his rival, Ekrem Imamoglu. Yildirim declared victory, but his claim was challenged by Imamoglu who said votes were still being counted. Broadcasters stopped updating their vote counts after Yildirim's declaration. In a speech to supporters in Ankara, Erdogan appeared to accept AKP defeat in Istanbul, although he maintained that most neighborhoods in the city were held by his party. "Even if our people gave away the mayorship, they gave the districts to the AK Party," he said. The party would appeal results wherever needed, he added. "TURNING A PAGE" Erdogan pledged that Turkey would now focus on its troubled economy in the run-up to national elections in 2023. "We have a long period ahead where we will carry out economic reforms without compromising on the rules of the free-market economy," he told reporters. Turkey's most prominent leader since the founder of the Turkish republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Erdogan's support has been based on strong economic growth and backing from a core constituency of pious, conservative Muslim Turks. A consummate campaigner, he has been the country's most popular - although divisive - modern politician, tightening his hold on power in elections last year that ushered in an executive presidency, approved in a bitterly fought 2017 referendum. But a currency crisis after last year's election dragged the lira down by 30 percent and tipped the economy towards recession. With inflation close to 20 percent and unemployment rising, some voters appeared ready to punish the president. "Today's elections are as historic as that of 1994," prominent journalist Rusen Cakir tweeted, referring to the year Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul. "It is a declaration that a page that was opened 25 years ago is being turned." As authorities again scrambled to shore up the lira over the past week, Erdogan cast the country's economic woes as resulting from attacks by the West, saying Turkey would overcome its troubles and adding he was "the boss" of the economy. Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo political risk advisers, said the AK Party had lost seven of the country's 12 main cities, even without taking Istanbul into account. "It's a bad night for the AK Party," he said. "They have done very poorly in all the economic powerhouses of country. For a party which portrays itself as pro-business, it's a huge issue." The lira traded at 5.61 to the dollar after initial results came in, compared with 5.55 at Friday's close and 5.65 in U.S. trading hours late on Friday. The election was marred by violence, with two people killed in Malatya province and three others in the southern province of Gaziantep, Turkey's electoral board said. In mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, residents celebrated as the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) won back municipalities that authorities had taken over two years ago, accusing the HDP of terrorist links. The HDP denies links to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. "They robbed us of our will and we overturned this," Diyarbakir resident Abdullah Elmas said. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans, Susan Fenton, Peter Cooney and Daniel Wallis) Istanbul (AFP) - An election observer and another man were killed in a fight at a school-based polling station in eastern Turkey Sunday as voting got underway in Turkey's local elections, the local governor's office said. "Two of our citizens lost their lives as a result of a dispute... at the ballot box around 10.00 am (0700 GMT)" in the Puturge district of Malatya, it said on its website. Security forces arrested four suspects in connection with the deaths, the governors office added. The violence took place as Turks voted in a grassroots support test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Experts say the AKP could lose Ankara, and even Istanbul, in the municipal poll. After voting in Istanbul, Erdogan said the incident had "upset" him and that an official investigation had been launched. "My wish is that no other incident like this happens again," he said. The private DHA news agency reported the two men were shot after an argument between two rival political groups turned violent. The bodies were taken to a mortuary and police boosted security around the school where voting was taking place, the news agency said. The men were members of Saadet (Felicity), a religiously conservative party. One of them was an election observer. Saadet chairman Temel Karamollaoglu said on Twitter they had been "attacked" by an AKP candidate's nephew at the polling station. Erdogan called Karamollaoglu to offer condolences, his office said, and vowed the culprits would face justice. Elsewhere, Istanbul police detained seven people after a fight between candidates for muhtar (a village chief) in the Esenyurt district. In a third incident, in Istanbul, a man was stabbed in the Kadikoy district on the Asian side of the city during a disturbance among local candidates, police said. Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 7 Vote(s) - 2.71 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 3 James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) FreeFlow lop guest User ID: 5 03-31-2019 05:03 PM Post: #1 James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) Advertisement On Monday former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went on with CNNs Anderson Cooper to discuss the Mueller Report after its release on Sunday. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The 2017 assessment that the President says he now agrees with, that was done while you and then NCI Director John Brennan were still in office. So, how can we reconcile the President attacking you, but apparently after a very long time finally, allegedly saying or saying he allegedly agrees with the product of the intelligence community that you, yourself oversaw? JAMES CLAPPER: Yes, well, this is yes, as weve come to know the President, he is not a stalwart for a consistency or coherence. So its very hard to explain that. One point Id like to make, Anderson, that I dont think has come up very much before, and Im alluding now to the Presidents criticism of President Obama for all that he did or didnt do before he left office with respect to the Russian meddling. If it werent for President Obama, we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set off a whole sequence of events which are still unfolding today, notably, special counsel Muellers investigation. President Obama is responsible for that, and it was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place. I think its an important point when it comes to critiquing President Obama. Clapper SingsOn Monday former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went on with CNNs Anderson Cooper to discuss the Mueller Report after its release on Sunday.ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The 2017 assessment that the President says he now agrees with, that was done while you and then NCI Director John Brennan were still in office. So, how can we reconcile the President attacking you, but apparently after a very long time finally, allegedly saying or saying he allegedly agrees with the product of the intelligence community that you, yourself oversaw?JAMES CLAPPER: Yes, well, this is yes, as weve come to know the President, he is not a stalwart for a consistency or coherence. So its very hard to explain that. One point Id like to make, Anderson, that I dont think has come up very much before, and Im alluding now to the Presidents criticism of President Obama for all that he did or didnt do before he left office with respect to the Russian meddling. If it werent for President Obama, we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set off a whole sequence of events which are still unfolding today, notably, special counsel Muellers investigation.President Obama is responsible for that, and it was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place. I think its an important point when it comes to critiquing President Obama. engineering Banned User ID: 310720 03-31-2019 05:11 PM Posts: 5,299 Post: #2 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) Why would they stay loyal to Obama after what he did to the country and now everybody knows it or will know it. The facts are coming out so fast they have no choice but to mitigate the damage to themselves by going on CNN & saying it was all Obama's plan to begin with we were just following orders. FreeFlow lop guest User ID: 5 03-31-2019 05:19 PM Post: #3 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) engineering Wrote: (03-31-2019 05:11 PM) Why would they stay loyal to Obama after what he did to the country and now everybody knows it or will know it. The facts are coming out so fast they have no choice but to mitigate the damage to themselves by going on CNN & saying it was all Obama's plan to begin with we were just following orders. Yeah it's clear he avoids to speak about his own contribution, like why did he give the dossier to Trump in the first place as 'intelligence' ? I expect some serious back stabbing among themselves in the coming weeks Yeah it's clear he avoids to speak about his own contribution, like why did he give the dossier to Trump in the first place as 'intelligence' ?I expect some serious back stabbing among themselves in the coming weeks Looky lop guest User ID: 482139 03-31-2019 05:20 PM Post: #4 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) FreeFlow Wrote: (03-31-2019 05:03 PM) Clapper Sings On Monday former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went on with CNNs Anderson Cooper to discuss the Mueller Report after its release on Sunday. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The 2017 assessment that the President says he now agrees with, that was done while you and then NCI Director John Brennan were still in office. So, how can we reconcile the President attacking you, but apparently after a very long time finally, allegedly saying or saying he allegedly agrees with the product of the intelligence community that you, yourself oversaw? JAMES CLAPPER: Yes, well, this is yes, as weve come to know the President, he is not a stalwart for a consistency or coherence. So its very hard to explain that. One point Id like to make, Anderson, that I dont think has come up very much before, and Im alluding now to the Presidents criticism of President Obama for all that he did or didnt do before he left office with respect to the Russian meddling. If it werent for President Obama, we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set off a whole sequence of events which are still unfolding today, notably, special counsel Muellers investigation. President Obama is responsible for that, and it was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place. I think its an important point when it comes to critiquing President Obama. Indeed! Indeed! LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 342280 03-31-2019 06:17 PM Post: #5 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) The main protagonists will all be singing like canaries in order to lessen their very long, looooong prison terms. It will be a joy to behold. Lisa Page in her email to Agent Strzok: "Potus (Obama) wants to know everything we are doing." pooky Registered User User ID: 451507 03-31-2019 06:25 PM Posts: 6,100 Post: #6 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) President Obama to launch unprecedented campaign for Hillary Clinton https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati...story.html Barack Obama is about to launch a presidential campaign blitz for Hillary Clinton unprecedented in the modern era , pledging a dramatic commitment of time and resources to a contest he now unabashedly frames as a referendum on his personal and political prestige. , pledging a dramatic commitment of time and resources to a contest he now unabashedly frames as a referendum on his personal and political prestige. Strategos Against Dystopia User ID: 438653 03-31-2019 06:27 PM Posts: 10,081 Post: #7 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) Worthy of a pin LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 479339 03-31-2019 06:27 PM Post: #8 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) C.Y.A. Seeya... Cover Your Azz. It's a game of musical chairs to see who gets thrown under the bus last. Even in a draining swamp, ultimate responsibility still goes to the biggest monster at the top. That's a mechanism that seems to be in tact. As if it's a natural law of physics that defies logic, shitzle rolls up hill. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 412093 03-31-2019 06:39 PM Post: #9 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) They are ALL going down, and, rightfully so...[/i] LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 465986 03-31-2019 08:18 PM Post: #10 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) The conversation this country needed was not about race but about corruption, which hurts everyone. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 476910 03-31-2019 08:26 PM Post: #11 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) James (the liar) Clapper cannot be trusted at all. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495699 03-31-2019 09:48 PM Post: #12 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) hoping no huge ff is made that will cover this all up or divert attention from would need something quite big LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 437071 03-31-2019 10:13 PM Post: #13 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 06:39 PM) They are ALL going down, and, rightfully so...[/i] Every one of you - to the wall - readyyyy - Aimmmm - Every one of you - to the wall - readyyyy - Aimmmm - LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495719 03-31-2019 11:05 PM Post: #14 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-31-2019 06:39 PM) They are ALL going down, and, rightfully so...[/i] I'll believe it when I see it. I'll believe it when I see it. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 451870 03-31-2019 11:10 PM Post: #15 RE: James Clapper Tells CNN Obama Ordered the Trump-Russia Spying Operation (VIDEO) To be sure obama is just gonna say I had no reason not to believe our intelligence agencies Maybe some deep staters were cohen like and have tape Advertisement Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine police seized heroin worth about $60 million -- over half a tonne of the powder -- in raids in the country's centre and west, officials said Sunday, describing it as the biggest haul they had ever seen. Chief of the national police Sergiy Knyazev announced on Facebook two raids in Kiev region yielding "600 kilogrammes (1,322 pounds) of heroin worth $50 million." About 500 kg were found on Sunday afternoon, and more than 100 kg overnight "in a professionally-equipped cubby hole in a premium-class car" outside Kiev. "I have never seen so much heroin seized by the Ukrainian police," Knyazev said. "Four people were detained: a citizen of Moldova, Turkey and two from Macedonia," he added. In a separate investigation, officials found "almost 130 kg of heroin worth $10 million" at a house in a village in the western Transcarpathia region, Larysa Sargan, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General wrote on Facebook. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction says Ukraine is a transit country for heroin trafficked from Afghanistan to western and central Europe, mainly via the North Black Sea route and from Russia. "The trafficking of illicit substances is facilitated by a large international transport network (roads and trains) that connects Ukraine to the east and west, and by the presence of several international ports that link Ukraine to the Balkan Route," according to a country overview on the agency's website. "In recent years, the smuggling of psychotropic substances via international postal services has also increased," it says. On March 21, Ukraine's SBU security service seized cocaine worth about $51 million in a South American cargo ship that docked in the Black Sea port of Odessa. By Deisy Buitrago CARACAS (Reuters) - Angry Venezuelans set up burning barricades near the presidential palace in Caracas and in other parts of the country on Sunday in protests over constant power outages and shortages of drinking water in the wake of two major blackouts this month. The situation has fueled frustration with the government of President Nicolas Maduro and frayed nerves as schools and much of the nation's commerce have been interrupted by problems with public services for nearly three weeks. Protesters, some carrying rocks and their faces covered, burned tires and tree trunks along a stretch of downtown Caracas as they demanded Maduro improve the situation. "We're here fighting for water and power, we've gone twenty-some days without water," said Yofre Gamez, 32, an informal vendor. "They put the power on for two hours, then turn it off at night, it comes on the next day for half an hour and then it goes off again - we're tired of this." A Reuters witness heard shots ring out as Gamez spoke. Demonstrators reported that one woman had been injured by gunfire, which they attributed to pro-government gangs. Reuters was unable to confirm who fired the shots. Similar protests took place in other parts of the country, including the central state of Carabobo, where demonstrators burned tires and blocked roads, according to witnesses. In some Caracas neighborhoods, residents simply waved flags and chanted anti-government slogans. Venezuela suffered a week-long nationwide blackout starting on March 7 that left hospitals unable to attend to the sick and businesses giving away perishable food before it rotted. The power went out again on March 25 and has been intermittent since. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in a statement on Sunday that school activities, which were called off for most of last week, would remain suspended. Business hours will run only until 2 p.m., he said. The government has offered a variety of explanations for the blackouts, ranging from Washington-backed cyberattacks to opposition-linked snipers causing fires at the country's main hydroelectric dam. Critics insist it is the result of more than a decade of corruption and incompetent management of the power system, which the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez nationalized in 2007. Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, has called on residents to organize at the neighborhood level to demand better services. Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency, arguing that Maduro's 2018 re-election was fraudulent and that he usurped power when he was sworn in for a second term. Maduro calls Guaido a puppet of the United States, which he says is seeking to force him from office through a coup. Washington has levied crippling sanctions against Maduro's government in an effort to push him from power. He has hung on in large part thanks to the continued loyalty of top military commanders. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Dan Grebler) This John McAfee-backed cryptocurrency has major red flags. Investors should tread carefully. | Source: AP Photo / Ng Han Guan By CCN.com: Another day, another John McAfee tweet pumping a cryptocurrency project that has alarming red flags. The latest dubious crypto token is called Apollo, an all-in-one cryptocurrency with supposedly-private transactions. Crypto Developers Call Out McAfee-Linked Apollo However, according to crypto development firm Jelurida, Apollos so-called privacy features promoted are not so private after all. Imagine if some company back in the days when you made your antivirus software would have copied/cloned your work, renamed to Mcfluffy, claiming to do tons of stuff and market it as a game changer knowing that actually is just a bad copy without the support of devs that made it! Sazan (@AvdiuSazan) March 28, 2019 Apollos selling point is quite straight forward: theyre the best cryptocurrency out there for some unexplained reason. As stated on their website, cryptocurrency is inaccessible to the majority of the world as it requires a bank account, computer, knowledge, and patience. Their solution to this barrier is to initiate a decentralized network of physical locations allowing anyone to walk in and purchase Apollo, simply with cash. This will allegedly open up cryptocurrency to the vast majority of people without a bank account. Essentially, the Apollo team wants to create small exchange-like stores where people convert fiat to Apollo, and from there to other cryptocurrencies. Why you would need a coin for that, instead of using Bitcoin or any other major coin, is beyond my understanding. Maybe to fund the project? I really dont know. Read the full story on CCN.com. Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card! We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. What Is Insider Selling? It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for Lear Lear Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Executive VP of Business Development Terrence Larkin made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.9m worth of shares at a price of US$155 each. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$136. They might be selling for a variety of reasons, but it's hard to argue this is a bullish sign. Arguably, insider selling at around current prices should give us reason to reflect on whether the stock is fully valued at the moment. In the last twelve months insiders netted US$4.7m for 28.71k shares sold. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Lear shares, than buying. The average sell price was around US$164. We are not joyful about insider selling. But we note that the selling, on average, was at well above the recently traded price of US$136. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! Story continues NYSE:LEA Recent Insider Trading, March 31st 2019 If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Insiders at Lear Have Sold Stock Recently The last three months saw significant insider selling at Lear. Specifically, insiders ditched US$3.5m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all. Insider Ownership Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.3% of Lear shares, worth about US$23m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. So What Do The Lear Insider Transactions Indicate? Insiders haven't bought Lear stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We'd think twice before buying! Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Lear. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Username: Password: or Register Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Thread Rating: 3 Vote(s) - 2.33 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 12:14 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #1 Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Advertisement We, the leaders of the Arab countries gathered in Tunisia ... express our rejection and condemnation of the United States decision to recognize Israels sovereignty over the Golan, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. He said Arab countries would present a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council and seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the U.S. decision. It warned other countries away from following Washingtons lead. Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967. Trumps earlier decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital also drew Arab condemnation. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tunis...SKCN1RC060 You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis Arab leaders said on Sunday they would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution against the U.S. decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and promised to support Palestinians in their bid for statehood.We, the leaders of the Arab countries gathered in Tunisia ... express our rejection and condemnation of the United States decision to recognize Israels sovereignty over the Golan, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.He said Arab countries would present a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council and seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the U.S. decision. It warned other countries away from following Washingtons lead.Trump signed a proclamation last week recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967.Trumps earlier decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital also drew Arab condemnation. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 12:15 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #2 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. http://time.com/5561768/arab-league-trump-israel/ Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital.In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory.At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital.He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 494835 04-01-2019 12:17 AM Post: #3 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Fork Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:15 AM) Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. http://time.com/5561768/arab-league-trump-israel/ Yemen is desolate Yemen is desolate Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 12:49 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #4 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies LoP Guest Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:17 AM) Fork Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:15 AM) Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. http://time.com/5561768/arab-league-trump-israel/ Yemen is desolate okay. okay. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 12:56 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #5 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, center left, stands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz, left, Jordan's King Abdullah II, center right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the group photo with Arab leaders, ahead of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit on Sunday were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel but divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articl...ael-policy Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, center left, stands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz, left, Jordan's King Abdullah II, center right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the group photo with Arab leaders, ahead of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit on Sunday were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel but divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 494835 04-01-2019 01:00 AM Post: #6 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Fork Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:49 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:17 AM) Yemen is desolate okay. No it's not okay! No it's not okay! Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 01:04 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #7 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies LoP Guest Wrote: (04-01-2019 01:00 AM) Fork Wrote: (04-01-2019 12:49 AM) okay. No it's not okay! I agree. I agree. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis Laserz let there be light User ID: 361628 04-01-2019 01:14 AM Posts: 41,192 Post: #8 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Al-Sarraj tells Arab League summit that there can be no totalitarian or military rule in Libya The Head of the Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj said in his speech at the Tunisia-hosted Arab League summit that his government will always support and work for peaceful solutions in Libya and won't allow the return of a totalitarian or military rule in the county. "Allowing the military or totalitarian rule in Libya is a red line." Al-Sarraj said on Sunday. Al-Sarraj told the Arab leaders that the Libyan crisis has been more complicated due to negative foreign interventions - whether regional or international - which have encouraged several Libyan parties not to commit to democratic and political processes. "We are continuing our efforts to end the crisis and that is why we have met with many Libyan parties to find a common ground based on national interest as we believe that the solution is not going to be eliminating others or splitting power among certain parties." Al-Sarraj explained. He also said he was optimistic about the upcoming National Conference in mid-April in Ghadames under the auspices of the UNSMIL in order to reach an end to the stalemate in the country, unite institutions, and hold elections based on a constitutional framework. Al-Sarraj wished that the Libyan parties had been convinced of the fact that there can be no military solution to the crisis in Libya as conflicts will be a lose-lose situation to all parties. https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/al-sar...rule-libya also.....Al-Sarraj tells Arab League summit that there can be no totalitarian or military rule in LibyaThe Head of the Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj said in his speech at the Tunisia-hosted Arab League summit that his government will always support and work for peaceful solutions in Libya and won't allow the return of a totalitarian or military rule in the county."Allowing the military or totalitarian rule in Libya is a red line." Al-Sarraj said on Sunday.Al-Sarraj told the Arab leaders that the Libyan crisis has been more complicated due to negative foreign interventions - whether regional or international - which have encouraged several Libyan parties not to commit to democratic and political processes."We are continuing our efforts to end the crisis and that is why we have met with many Libyan parties to find a common ground based on national interest as we believe that the solution is not going to be eliminating others or splitting power among certain parties." Al-Sarraj explained.He also said he was optimistic about the upcoming National Conference in mid-April in Ghadames under the auspices of the UNSMIL in order to reach an end to the stalemate in the country, unite institutions, and hold elections based on a constitutional framework.Al-Sarraj wished that the Libyan parties had been convinced of the fact that there can be no military solution to the crisis in Libya as conflicts will be a lose-lose situation to all parties. You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. ~ C.S. Lewis LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 494216 04-01-2019 01:20 AM Post: #9 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies Nobody cares about what some dirty Muslims say. GrimShaw Asinus Asinum Fricat User ID: 470470 04-01-2019 01:45 AM Posts: 32,714 Post: #10 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies What a shitshow. What if Israel said "We now recognize the USA's right to annex Puerto Rico" Who would give a sh*t? Why does it work the other way around? Oh. Election season is coming up. I forgot. GrimShaw Asinus Asinum Fricat User ID: 470470 04-01-2019 01:46 AM Posts: 32,714 Post: #11 RE: Arab Summit Rejects President Trump's Israel Policies LoP Guest Wrote: (04-01-2019 01:20 AM) Nobody cares about what some dirty Muslims say. They got more in common with Israelis than you or I do. But you care about what the Israelis say? They got more in common with Israelis than you or I do. But you care about what the Israelis say? Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread (Adds Honduran foreign ministry comment) By Julia Harte and Tim Reid WASHINGTON/EL PASO, Texas, March 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. government cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States and threatened to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Trump said there was a "very good likelihood" he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. Frequent crossers of the border, including workers and students, worried about the disruption to their lives the president's threatened shutdown could cause. At a rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke denounced Trump's immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." A State Department spokesman said in a statement it was carrying out Trump's directive by ending aid programs to the three Central American nations, known as the Northern Triangle. The department said it would "engage Congress in the process," an apparent acknowledgement that it will need lawmakers' approval to end funding that a Congressional aide estimated would total about $700 million. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's order a "reckless announcement" and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday that the United States was paying the three countries "tremendous amounts of money," but received nothing in return. Mario Garcia, a 45-year-old bricklayer in El Salvador, said he was setting off for the United States regardless of the president's threat to close the frontier. Story continues "There is no work here and we want to improve (our lives), to get ahead for our families, for our children. I don't give a damn (what Trump says), I'm determined," Garcia said. Garcia was one of a group of at least 90 people who left the capital San Salvador over the weekend on buses heading north, in what locals said was the tenth so-called caravan to depart for the United States since October. The government of El Salvador has said it has tried to stem the flow of migrants. The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the U.S. policies "contradictory" but stressed that its relationship with the United States was "solid, close and positive." Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the frontier during his two years in office but has not followed through. This time, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other U.S. officials say border patrol officers have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase asylum seekers, many of them children and families who arrive in groups, fleeing violence and economic hardship in the Northern Triangle. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Nielsen warned Congress on Thursday that the government faces a "system-wide meltdown" as it tries to care for more than 1,200 unaccompanied children and 6,600 migrant families in its custody. Trump has so far been unable to convince Congress to tighten asylum laws or fund his border wall. He has declared a national emergency to justify redirecting money earmarked for the military to pay for the wall. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. Its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country is a good neighbor and does not act on the basis of threats. It was not clear how shutting down ports of entry would deter asylum seekers because they are legally able to request help as soon as they set foot on U.S. soil. But a border shutdown would disrupt tourism and U.S.-Mexico trade that totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A shutdown could lead to factory closures on both sides of the border, industry officials say, because the automobiles and medical sectors especially have woven international supply chains into their business models. (Reporting by Julia Harte and Richard Cowan in Washington, and Tim Reid in El Paso; Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez, Julia Love in Mexico City, Omar Younis in San Diego, Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Orfa Mejia in Tegucigalpa; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has made it clear that party discipline would be upheld in addressing the leadership tussle of the 9th National Assembly. Tinubu stated this while speaking with newsmen in Lagos on Friday, after a Prayer Programme organised by Islamic and Christian clerics to mark his 67th birthday. Party discipline is key, we must be disciplined in the party. We were a little careless in 2015. We created the opportunity for serpent to get into our party and that did not allow Nigeria to make the desired progress. You have seen the result of it and we are not going to allow that to happen again. We are going to respect our party and we are going to apply the whip. It is either you stay with us or you follow us or you leave. You have the freedom to choose but the freedom does not give you as a minority to go and collaborate and protrude our mandate given to you to another party who was our opposition and who is still our opposition. We would not take that this time, no matter who you think you are. That is how it is built. Why do you want to deviate from what has been structured? We look at our reward system equally, zone by zone, Tinubu said. KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOW Home | News | General | Speakership: Lawmakers mount pressure on Betara to contest - The intrigues in the National Assembly over the leadership of the 9th National Assembly is still on - Some members of the House of Representatives are beginning to mount pressure on Muktar Aliyu-Betara, to contest for the Speakership position - Aliyu-Betara, an APC member, represents Biu/Bayo/Shani/Kwaya Kusar federal constituency in Borno state Some members of the House of Representatives are beginning to mount pressure on Muktar Aliyu-Betara, a member of the House of Representatives from Borno state to contest for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in the incoming 9th National Assembly. The lawmaker represents Biu/Bayo/Shani/Kwaya Kusar federal constituency and is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). One of the members, Ibrahim Baba who represents Katagum federal constituency of Bauchi state said he, alongside like-mind members have decided to prevail on Betara to vie for the number four seat in the country. READ ALSO: Marafa to Oshiomhole: Don't change from a leader to a liar As the chairman of the committee on Defense, he has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he has the pedigree to lead the house and carry the entire members along. We have spoken to him and we believe he will hid to our calls and throw his hat into the ring, he said. The lawmaker said his colleagues in the legislative chamber consider him as a credible alternative and capable hand to lead the house. He added that most of those rooting for Betara for the position are also of the understanding that he will bring his wealth of experience as chairman of one of the most important committees in the house to use if elected speaker. At least 10 members of the house have indicated interest to run for the same position. The lawmakers cut across the different geo-political zones in the country. The APC enjoys a clear majority in the incoming House of Representatives, winning over 200 of the 360 seats. READ ALSO: Bauchi governor-elect Mohammed get certificate of return, promises all-inclusive government Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has explained why it settled for Senator Ahmad Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Senate president and speaker respectively. The party leadership said its decision was because the duo are the highest ranking members in both chambers of the National Assembly. The party on Wednesday, March 27, through its national publicity secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, also said it is working to achieve consensus among its federal legislators, adding that all the aggrieved aspirants are being spoken to, to understand the position of its leaders. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Nigerians set 2nd term agenda for President Buhari | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Just in: Nigerian students, others contribute $42.4bn to U.S. economy - official The U. S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) says Nigerians and other international students contributed 42.4 billion dollars to the U. S. economy in 2017/2018 session. A senior official of the Bureau, who spoke on condition of anonymity, announced this during the Tour of the U.S. Community Colleges and Workforce Development programme in Washington D.C on Saturday, March 30. READ ALSO: Marafa to Oshiomhole, don't change from a leader to a liar The tour was organised by the Foreign Press Centre, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State to provide foreign journalists with information on opportunity available to foreign students in community college in U.S. The official told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there were 1,094,792 international students studying in the U.S. as of 2018 supporting more than 450,000 jobs in the U.S. According to the official, the number of international students in the U.S in 2018 surpassed one million for the third consecutive year. The number increased by 1.5 per cent to reach a new high of 1,094,792 in 2018, adding that U.S. remained the top host of international students globally. International students made a significant financial impact on the United States in 2017, contributing 42.4 billion dollars to the U.S. economy through tuition, room and board and other expenses, said the official According to the official, 450,000 U.S. jobs are supported by hosting international students on U.S. campuses. Nigeria, according to the official, has continued to retain its top ranking as the number one source of African students studying in the U. S. with over 16,000 students as at March pursuing their educational goals. There are over 36,000 students from Sub Saharan Africa studying in the U.S. As of March 2019, there are 16,039 students from Nigeria studying in the United States with 54 per cent male and 46 per cent female students. This is an increase of 3,342 students over 12,693 students recorded in November 2018, the official said. He said that undergraduate students constituted 34 per cent, Masters students were 36 per cent, Doctorate formed 12 per cent while Associate was 12 per cent, non-degree and others formed five per cent. According to him, the top five states for Nigerian students in U.S include Texas with 2,713, California 856, Maryland, 827, New York 818 and Florida 753. Students from Nigeria attend about 800 institutions in each of Americas 50 states. The most popular state is Texas with 2,713 students, while the most popular college and university is Houston Community College with 220 students. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a summary of a report by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller cleared US president, Donald Trump, of an alleged conspiracy with Russia for his victory during the 2016 presidential election. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Would Nigeria be a better place with Trump as president? - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Emulate President Buhari's leadership qualities, Marafa tells Oshiomhole - Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa has urged the national chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole not to allow pressure from some corrupt persons to change him - Marafa, chairman of the Senate committee on petroleum ( downstream) said this in reaction to a statement made by the APC chairman - Going further, he urged Oshiomhole to emulate the leadership qualities of President Muhammadu Buhari who stand by the truth even if it is against his party Chairman of the Senate committee on petroleum ( downstream), Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa (APC, Zamfara) has urged the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to maintain his status as a leader, and not to allow pressure from some corrupt persons to change him. Reacting to Oshiomhole's statement on a Channels Television's programme 'Hard Copy', Marafa said: "It's quite unfortunate and disheartening to watch the hitherto respected comrade rubbishing his hard earned name before the whole world. "Chief Oshiomhole performed creditably well during the party primaries, he led the party aright to the admiration of all, including those in the opposition parties. He aligned himself with the masses, against some state governors who assumed the position of the Almighty in their respective states. Why do you want change, my comrade?" Marafa wondered why a towering figure like Oshiomhole will want to diminish himself to a position of a liar like at this stage of his life. He admonished Oshiomhole not to allow pressure from agents of darkness and evil doers, to push him to change his posture of trailing the path of honour to a dishonourable one. READ ALSO: What Chinese contractors, consultants told me about Amaechi - Ghanaian minister "What Oshiomhole said was nothing but a wicked lie that can neither stand moral nor legal scrutiny. "Records and documentary evidences are abound everywhere that APC did not conduct primaries in Zamfara state, due to the stubborn attitude of the state governor who threatened publicly to send Oshiomole to the graveyard if dares him. "Oshiomhole at the peak of the controversy affirmed the fact that, no primaries was conducted in the media, his famous video of " primaries are to be conducted not by state governments nor by state party chairmen but by the panels sent by the partys NWC," is still very much available on the net. "Equally available is INEC's letter to him (Chief Oshiomhole) that they receive reports from their local office in Gusau that APC didn't conduct valid primaries as at 12:am Sunday October 7. It was based on this fact that INEC said it wasn't expecting candidates from (APC) and you Chief Oshiomhole responded by accepting the fact that APC didn't conduct primaries but you did consensus! A simple google search will amplify these facts . "Let me also remind you chief that Yari in his characteristic ignorance sat in company of his state factional chairman of the APC and announced the results of his primaries live on channels television, the video is still very much available on the net. "Its not only shocking but unbelievable that our comrade chairman, likable by all will change his narrations at the tail end of the match. This is a minus to the comrade that I known to be a respecter of rules and facts," he said. He urged Oshiomhole to emulate the leadership qualities of President Muhammadu Buhari who stand by the truth even if it is against his party. He said: "My quest to seek for legal redress was to correct the anomalies in our state for the benefit of our people. This thing is beyond me or Yari or even the APC, it's for our people who bear the brunt of bad governance at the state level. " It may interest you Mr Oshiomhole to know that as I'm writing this to you more than 75 percent of the people of Zamfara are not sleeping in their houses at nights. There is an estimated over 200,000 orphans, 60,000 widows, about 5,000 molested victims, about 5000 abducted persons and unknown number of refugees in Zamfara state! Haba! " "We should be concerned about the lives and well-being of our people. We should not only be interested in votes and number of states, senators and members APC got nationwide. "Fact is APC leadership at our state level has failed and nothing can change that fact!" Recall that Legit.ng had reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) promised to obey the Sokoto appeal court ruling on Zamfara election but noted that the Supreme Court will decide fate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) primary held in the state. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have upgraded to serve you better. 2019 elections: Do you still trust INEC to conduct fair elections? - Nigerians speak| Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Man climbs mast, jumps to death in Ibadan A man suspected to be mentally unstable on Saturday, March 30, jumped to his death from a banks network mast in Sango area of Ibadan. Confirming the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Oyo State Police Public Relation officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the naked victim came to a bank in Sango and entered the building through its small gate. READ ALSO: What Chinese contractors, consultants told me about Amaechi - Ghanaian minister Fadeyi said that the victim, having successfully entered the premises of the bank through the small gate, climbed the banks mast before the security personnel became aware. He said the victim, however, jumped down to the roof of the bank before the police and fire service personnel arrived. The impact was so much that he crashed through the roof and fell inside the bank. An official of the bank was called in to open the premises. By the time the banks door was opened, the man was already bleeding through the mouth and was rushed to the university college hospital where he was confirmed dead, Fadeyi said. He said the corpse had been deposited at the Adeoyo hospital for autopsy while efforts were on to ascertain his identity. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd) said Nigeria has about 15 million drug addicts. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Suspected cocaine/cannabis traffickers reject Police accusations | Legit TV. [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | What the weather will look like on Sunday, March 31 - NiMet has predicted partly cloudy to cloudy, sunny and dust haze weather conditions over most parts of the country - The agency predicted that northern states would have dust haze conditions in visibility range of twice to five kilometres - According to NiMet, southern states will experience cloudy morning with prospects of localised thunderstorms over Lagos and Ijebu-ode axis The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has predicted partly cloudy to cloudy, sunny and dust haze weather conditions with chances of localised thundery activities over most parts of the country on Sunday, March 31. NiMets Weather Outlook on Saturday, in Abuja, predicted partly cloudy to sunny morning with day and night temperatures of 32 to 42 and 18 to 28 degrees celsius over the central states. READ ALSO: What Chinese contractors, consultants told me about Amaechi - Ghanaian minister It also predicted partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with prospect of localised thundery activities over Lafia and Abuja in the afternoon and evening period. The agency predicted that northern states would have dust haze conditions in visibility range of twice to five kilometres with day and night temperatures of 38 to 42 and 21 to 25 degrees celsius. According to NiMet, southern states will experience cloudy morning with prospects of localised thunderstorms over Lagos and Ijebu-ode axis. As the day progresses localised thunderstorms are expected over the region with day and night temperatures of 31 to 37 and 22 to 26 degrees celsius. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Dust Haze conditions are anticipated over the north. However, prospects of localised thunderstorms are envisaged over the coast within the next 24 hours, NiMet predicted. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Rotimi Amaechi gives a summary of the Buhari Administration | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Inspiring story of man who quit his job to chase a career in medicine after death of his mother - Dr Nhlakanipho Mkhize had to overcome several struggles to realise his dream of becoming a doctor - Dr Mkhize wanted to help others after he found his mom's death certificate and he knew she did not get the care she needed - However, it was not until the age of 28 that he got the opportunity to study towards a degree in medicine Today, Dr Nhlakanipho Mkhize is a practising physician who is living out his dream of helping people get the best possible health care. However, his journey was far from easy and Dr Mkhize had to work hard to get where he is today. At the age of five, Mkhize's mother died as he slept next to her bed. He and his 10-month-old brother were left in the care of their grandma, whom sold fruit and mats. According to Times LIVE, Dr Mkhize found his mother's death certificate years later and he knew she did not get the best possible care - so, he decided he wanted to become a doctor and help others. READ ALSO: Actress Ngozi Nwosu glows in beautiful dress as she shares new photos However, with his grandma's low earnings and the strict criteria for admission nearly made it seem as if he would never achieve his dreams. In 1992, Mkhize graduated from high school and he took a shot at enrolling in a degree in medicine. However, his application was unsuccessful and he ended up pursuing a Bachelor of Sciences qualification instead. From orphan to doctor: Man pursues medical career after mom died. Photo credit: Dr Mkhize Blog/Facebook. After completing his studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on a scholarship, Mkhize's sponsor helped him land a good job as a scientist. Legit.ng learned the job paid well and Mkhize did good for himself, yet his dream of becoming a doctor never went away. He ended up quitting the job at the age of 28 following a fight with his boss and Mkhize once again took a shot at a degree in medicine. READ ALSO: Power Couples Who Are Still Adored By The Public Decades After This time, he was accepted to study towards a degree in medicine and he planned to use the UIF funds he got to survive his first year. In his second year, Mkhize had to sell his car to survive and by the third year he miraculously made the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) list. I had to sell my car to fund the second year and by the time I reached third year, I had exhausted all the possible plans. But I soldiered on. My name was miraculously on the NSFAS list, which I had not applied for, but I asked no questions and submitted my documents, he said. The scheme only helped him pay his studies and buy books, which meant there were several nights that Mkhize went to bed with an empty stomach. At some point I would eat noodles from Monday to Sunday, because R1,200 shared over three months was not enough to also buy books, he said. However, despite the difficulties, the KwaZulu-Natal village boy pushed through and today he is reaping the benefits of his hard work. Mkhize went from a boy, who dreamt about being a doctor while he herded cattle in a small village, to a practising physician. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app CEO's Interview: 24-year-Old Female Nigerian Graduate Living the Life As a Carpenter on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Troops neutralise a Boko Haram commander, 15 others on Lake Chad island - A Boko Haram commander, Malloum Moussa, and 15 of his foot soldiers have been neutralised during a clearance operation on Lake Chad Island - The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said troops destroyed five gun trucks belonging to the terrorists in the operation - Also, a woman whose relationship with the terrorists is yet to be determined was arrested during the operation The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), has neutralised a Boko Haram commander, Malloum Moussa and 15 of his foot soldiers during a clearance operation on Lake Chad Island. According to a statement by Colonel Timothy Antigha, the spokesman of the task force on Sunday, troops destroyed five gun trucks belonging to the terrorists in the operation. He said the troops also arrested a woman whose relationship with the terrorists is yet to be determined. READ ALSO: Igbos to blame for losing Senate leadership seats - APC chieftain Antigha said intelligence revealed that Moussa who had one eye was a high ranking Boko Haram commander who has jurisdiction in the entire Southern island, including Daban Masara, Kirta Wulgo and Koleram. He was notorious for imposing hefty levies on farmers, fishermen and cattle herders to fund Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency in the locality, he said. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government says it has taken measures at enhancing the performance of troops and protection of civilians during peacekeeping operations. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app The minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali said that the Federal Government had done this through effective pre-deployment and in-mission training of troops. Dan-Ali disclosed this in New York at the United Nations Peacekeeping ministerial meeting on uniformed capabilities performance and protection of civilians. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better Nigerian Air Force Operations Against Boko Haram - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | 9th NASS: Jibrin throws weight behind Gbajabiamila; says Lagos lawmaker best suited to be House speaker - Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin says his colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila, is the best qualified candidate to become the next speaker of the House - Jibrin said Gbajabiamila has accumulated enough legislative experience that stands him out among other contenders - The Kano lawmaker added that Gbajabiamila will ensure the independence of the legislature Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin who represents the Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency of Kano state in the House of Representatives says his colleague, Femi Ggajabiamila, remains the best qualified candidate to become speaker of the House in the incoming ninth Assembly. Jibrin made the assertion during Gbajabiamila's formal declaration for the House speakership at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on Sunday, March 31, Daily Trust reports. READ ALSO: Again, DSS reportedly arrests Jones Abiri Legit.ng gathers that Jibrin, who is the director-general of the Femi Gbajabiamila Speakership Campaign Organization, added that Gbajabiamila has accumulated enough legislative experience that stands him out among other contenders. Jibrin stated: He is the best candidate because when you have him, you consider the job done. He will also ensure the independence of the legislature. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the All Progressives Congress (APC) explained why it settled for Senator Ahmad Lawan and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as Senate president and House speaker respectively. The party leadership said its decision was because the duo are the highest ranking members in both chambers of the National Assembly. The party on Wednesday, March 27, through its national publicity secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, also said it was working to achieve consensus among its federal legislators, adding that all the aggrieved aspirants were being spoken to, to understand the position of its leaders. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! No lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the people - on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General 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 British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears silversides The bare necessities of life User ID: 148291 04-01-2019 01:16 AM Posts: 32,100 Post: #1 British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears Advertisement Also a lot of animal attacks and weather related incidents along this highway. ---------------------------------------- Dateline | 48 Hours on CBS: Highway of Tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOUhSMdu9FI A haunted highway where 18 or more girls and women have gone missing or murdered. Can a new $30 million investigation help find their killers? ---------------------------------------- Highway of Tears Details Victims 16-40+ Span of crimes 1970present Country Canada Location(s) Prince George, British Columbia Prince Rupert, British Columbia The Highway of Tears is a series of murders and disappearances along a 720-kilometre (450 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, beginning in 1970. The phrase was coined in 1998 during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia for six missing women. There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims. Explanations for this include systemic racism, poverty, drugs, violence, disconnection with traditional culture and disruption of the family unit through the foster care system and residential schools.[1][2][3][4] Poverty in particular leads to low rates of car ownership and mobility, thus hitchhiking is often the only way for many to travel vast distances to see family or go to work, school, or seek medical treatment. Another factor leading to abductions and murders is that the area is largely isolated and remote, with soft soil in many areas and carnivorous scavengers to carry away human remains; these factors precipitate violent attacks as perpetrators feel a sense of impunity, privacy and the ability to easily carry out their crimes and hide evidence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Tears ---------------------------------------- Highway 16 Yellowhead Highway Trans-Canada Highway Wikimedia | OpenStreetMap Highway 16 highlighted in red. Route information Length 1,173 km (729 mi) Existed 1953present Haida Gwaii segment Length 101 km[1] (63 mi) North end Masset South end BC Ferries dock in Skidegate Mainland segment Length 1,072 km[1] (666 mi) West end BC Ferries dock in Prince Rupert Major junctions Hwy 113 in Terrace Hwy 37 south in Terrace Hwy 37 north in Kitwanga Hwy 118 in Topley Hwy 35 in Burns Lake Hwy 27 near Vanderhoof Hwy 97 in Prince George Hwy 5 near Tete Jaune Cache East end Alberta border continues as Hwy 16 (TCH) Highway system British Columbia provincial highways Highway 16 is the British Columbia, Canada, section of the Yellowhead Highway. The highway closely follows the path of the northern B.C. alignment of the Canadian National Railway. The number "16" was first given to the highway in 1942, and originally, the route that the highway took was more to the north of today's highway, and it was not as long as it is now. Highway 16 originally ran from New Hazelton east to an obscure location known as Aleza Lake. In 1947, Highway 16's western end was moved from New Hazelton to the coastal city of Prince Rupert, and in 1953, the highway was re-aligned to end at Prince George. In 1969, further alignment east into Yellowhead Pass was opened to traffic after being constructed up through 1968 and raised to all-weather standards in 1969. Highway 16's alignment on the Haida Gwaii was commissioned in 1984, with BC Ferries beginning service along Highway 16 to the Haida Gwaii the following year. A series of murders and disappearances has given the stretch between Prince Rupert and Prince George the name Highway of Tears https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Co...Highway_16 ---------------------------------------- Project E-PANA Missing Women (photos) http://bc.cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.act...odeId=1525 ---------------------------------------- Young Hearts, Young Lives Profiles of the Highway of Tears missing girls http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2006/09/...ing-girls/ Mele Kalikimaka There is a serial killer loose in this area.Also a lot of animal attacks and weather related incidents along this highway.----------------------------------------Dateline | 48 Hours on CBS: Highway of TearsA haunted highway where 18 or more girls and women have gone missing or murdered. Can a new $30 million investigation help find their killers?----------------------------------------Highway of TearsDetailsVictims16-40+Span of crimes1970presentCountryCanadaLocation(s)Prince George, British ColumbiaPrince Rupert, British ColumbiaThe Highway of Tears is a series of murders and disappearances along a 720-kilometre (450 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, beginning in 1970. The phrase was coined in 1998 during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia for six missing women. There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims. Explanations for this include systemic racism, poverty, drugs, violence, disconnection with traditional culture and disruption of the family unit through the foster care system and residential schools.[1][2][3][4] Poverty in particular leads to low rates of car ownership and mobility, thus hitchhiking is often the only way for many to travel vast distances to see family or go to work, school, or seek medical treatment. Another factor leading to abductions and murders is that the area is largely isolated and remote, with soft soil in many areas and carnivorous scavengers to carry away human remains; these factors precipitate violent attacks as perpetrators feel a sense of impunity, privacy and the ability to easily carry out their crimes and hide evidence.----------------------------------------Highway 16Yellowhead HighwayTrans-Canada HighwayWikimedia | OpenStreetMapHighway 16 highlighted in red.Route informationLength1,173 km (729 mi)Existed1953presentHaida Gwaii segmentLength101 km[1] (63 mi)North endMassetSouth endBC Ferries dock in SkidegateMainland segmentLength1,072 km[1] (666 mi)West endBC Ferries dock in Prince RupertMajorjunctionsHwy 113 in TerraceHwy 37 south in TerraceHwy 37 north in KitwangaHwy 118 in TopleyHwy 35 in Burns LakeHwy 27 near VanderhoofHwy 97 in Prince GeorgeHwy 5 near Tete Jaune CacheEast endAlberta bordercontinues as Hwy 16 (TCH)Highway systemBritish Columbia provincial highwaysHighway 16 is the British Columbia, Canada, section of the Yellowhead Highway. The highway closely follows the path of the northern B.C. alignment of the Canadian National Railway. The number "16" was first given to the highway in 1942, and originally, the route that the highway took was more to the north of today's highway, and it was not as long as it is now. Highway 16 originally ran from New Hazelton east to an obscure location known as Aleza Lake. In 1947, Highway 16's western end was moved from New Hazelton to the coastal city of Prince Rupert, and in 1953, the highway was re-aligned to end at Prince George. In 1969, further alignment east into Yellowhead Pass was opened to traffic after being constructed up through 1968 and raised to all-weather standards in 1969. Highway 16's alignment on the Haida Gwaii was commissioned in 1984, with BC Ferries beginning service along Highway 16 to the Haida Gwaii the following year.A series of murders and disappearances has given the stretch between Prince Rupert and Prince George the name Highway of Tears----------------------------------------Project E-PANAMissing Women (photos)----------------------------------------Young Hearts, Young Lives Profiles of the Highway of Tears missing girls (This post was last modified: 04-01-2019 01:48 AM by silversides .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495379 04-01-2019 01:19 AM Post: #2 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears Its got to be a long haul trucker. Just look at the pattern. Uppity Me Registered User User ID: 495727 04-01-2019 01:20 AM Posts: 38,998 Post: #3 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears A haunted highway where 18 or more girls and women have gone missing or murdered. Can a new $30 million investigation help find their killers? probably not, not if it's been going on for decades Quote: Les pauvres n'ont-ils des Euros ? Alors laissez les pauvres 'sh*t' dans les rues LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495379 04-01-2019 01:20 AM Post: #4 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears The killer would probably be in his late 60s by now. Whan was the last murder?(date) silversides The bare necessities of life User ID: 148291 04-01-2019 01:24 AM Posts: 32,100 Post: #5 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCzG3d5wb4 Former RCMP officer Ray Michalko is investigating unsolved murder cases along B.C.'s infamous Highway of Tears. He's doing it alone and on his own time. Ex-RCMP Officer Investigates Highway of Tears MurdersFormer RCMP officer Ray Michalko is investigating unsolved murder cases along B.C.'s infamous Highway of Tears. He's doing it alone and on his own time. Mele Kalikimaka LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 495379 04-01-2019 01:25 AM Post: #6 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears Uppity Me Wrote: (04-01-2019 01:20 AM) A haunted highway where 18 or more girls and women have gone missing or murdered. Can a new $30 million investigation help find their killers? probably not, not if it's been going on for decades Exactly. The guy is probably already dead by now. Just lie te cops too. I remember a few years ago they busted a cocaine/stolen property fence happening here out of a pizza joint. These lebs were operating their crime wave since the mid 80s and most of the citizens knew what was going on. 30+ years later the cops finally bust these clowns and my goodness the media celebration that took place, cops hi-fiving each other etc. they were so proud of themselves for busting this crime circle that had operated in my neighborhood for more than 30+ years... A Little late Exactly.The guy is probably already dead by now.Just lie te cops too.I remember a few years ago they busted a cocaine/stolen property fence happening here out of a pizza joint. These lebs were operating their crime wave since the mid 80s and most of the citizens knew what was going on.30+ years later the cops finally bust these clowns and my goodness the media celebration that took place, cops hi-fiving each other etc. they were so proud of themselves for busting this crime circle that had operated in my neighborhood for more than 30+ years...A Little late silversides The bare necessities of life User ID: 148291 04-01-2019 01:40 AM Posts: 32,100 Post: #7 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/highway...issing/19/ Highway of Tears: The victims and the missing Mele Kalikimaka LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 441607 04-01-2019 02:35 AM Post: #8 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears LoP Guest Wrote: (04-01-2019 01:20 AM) The killer would probably be in his late 60s by now. Whan was the last murder?(date) Pretty sure it's still going on and that there's more than one serial killer along this route Pretty sure it's still going on and that there's more than one serial killer along this route GenX Subscriber User ID: 495330 04-01-2019 02:38 AM Posts: 33,256 Post: #9 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears MEDS!!!! ************ If I don't look after the interests of the underprivileged, maybe somebody else will. Maybe somebody without any money or property, and that would be too bad!" -Citizen Kane Tyler Mcintyre lop guest User ID: 588571 06-01-2021 10:22 PM Post: #10 Candid Feedback on lunaticoutpost.com Hey, My name is Tyler and I work with Challenger social. We work with businesses like yours lunaticoutpost.com to help you rank first on google, increase leads and reduce your marketing budget while improving results with optimized ad-words and SEO - meaning that you only spend money on marketing that gets you results. For instance, we helped multiple clients & trusted companies increase their online leads by 102% while also cutting the cost of each lead in half. Helping them to increase their market share and profit. (Link to case studies - https://no url shorteners/3z1sCPg) Id love to help do the same for you! Do you mind if I send over a few times for a quick call to see if it's a good fit? Excited! Thanks, Tyler T A lop guest User ID: 585830 06-01-2021 10:29 PM Post: #11 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears Most towns are about 200 km apart. Bus service is sketchy and expensive. My suggestion is hitchhiking pick up points at either sides of towns with camera registration . InterstellarCowboy Registered User User ID: 375078 06-01-2021 10:40 PM Posts: 3,214 Post: #12 RE: British Columbia Highway 16 - The Highway of Tears The killer in the video below worked for the highway service department. My current software project: playlistjungle.com Back to Forum Reply to This post Post New Thread Home | News | General | Zamfara village mourns as bandits kill 10 onion farmers on their farmlands - The village of Kursasa of the Shinkafi local government area of Zamfara state was greeted with pain and reasons to mourn on Saturday, March 30 - This was as a gang of gunmen attacked some onions farmers on their farmlands, killing at least ten of them - The police spokesman in the state, Muhammad Shehu, confirmed the attack, adding that security personnel have been deployed to the area Not less than 10 farmers in Kursasa of the Shinkafi local government area of Zamfara state were killed by a gang of bandits. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Newsmen gather that the months of February and March, have witnessed the death of two persons were killed in the same are, Daily Trust reports. Residents revealed that the attackers assailed the village on motorbikes and started shooting at fleeing onions farmers who tried to escape their attack, but could not. Conforming the sad development, Muhammad Shehu, the police spokesman in the state, officers of the forcer have been deployed to the area to restore peace and order. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Nigerian troops had killed 58 armed bandits in Zamfara state, but lost two soldiers in the operation, tagged Saharan Daji. The operation took place at Dumburum and Gando forests of the state, the operations acting force Information officer, Major Clement Abiades statement said in Sokoto. He said the bandits were killed on 20 January, 2019, at Dumburum and Gando forests when the troops encountered them in a large gang armed with sophisticated firearms and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). 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 [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Workers rewarded me with another 4-year term for prompt payment of salaries - Lalong The Plateau state governor has explained why he was re-elected by the people of the state in the just concluded election - Simon Lalong said workers in the state have rewarded him with another term after he cleared backlog of seven months salary arrears - Lalong also said he was re-elected for sustaining regular payment of salaries in the state Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, says workers in the state have rewarded him with another term after he cleared backlog of seven months salary arrears and sustained regular payment of salaries. Lalong said this at a send-off party organised by the state council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in honour of its immediate past chairman, Jibrin Banchir. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Banchir has been appointed by Lalong as his Special Adviser on Labour Matters. The governor, who commended the workers for their support especially for his re-election, promised to sustain payment of salaries and initiate more worker-friendly programmes. When we cleared salary arrears and sustained payment of salaries, some people were saying that payment of salaries is not an achievement and I kept on asking what about nonpayment of salaries and nobody answered me. I was sleeping one day and some people called to ask me to wake and hear what the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, was saying about me on the television. When I woke up, he has finished but somebody recorded it and played it for me, Wabba was raining praises on me for constant payment of salaries and pensions. And I said, what else do I need? This is 50 per cent of campaign coming from the labour leader. During my partys screening, other governors were sweating but when I got in, the comrade chairman told me that Mr President made it a condition that any governor who will scale through the primaries must be one that is paying salaries. READ ALSO: INEC says no fresh governorship election in Rivers state And my case was easy, I took a bow and left, he said. Lalong said that to make working conditions more conducive, his administration is working towards acquiring land in all Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state to build affordable housing for workers. He said regular payment of salaries has created an opportunity for 700 civil servants in the state to access N1 million mortgage each to either build or renovate their houses. According to the governor, if you multiply N1 million by 700 it will be a large sum that will not have been possible if the salaries are not paid as at when due. The governor said he was a member of the tripartite committee that came up with N30,000 new minimum wage for workers and would not hesitate to pay it when it becomes operational in the country. He appreciated Banchir for a cordial working relationship while he was the leader of the labour force, and urged him to bring his experience to bear in his new assignment. Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, who was represented by Comrade Innocent Dajij, President, Nigeria Union of Railway Workers, commended Lalong for his labour-friendly posture. Wabba stated that he believed strongly that there would be less labour issues in Lalongs second tenure as governor of the state. In his remarks, Banchir commended organised labour for the honour done him and promised to be their worthy representative in his new responsibility. The former chairman said during the time he was in the saddle, there were good and turbulent times and attributed the successes recorded during his tenure to the support he received from workers. Yarlings Gunshin, the Acting state NLC Chairman, appreciated Lalong for the cordial relationship that existed between him and the workers in the state. Gunshin appealed to the governor not to be tired of the demands of workers and requested that some outstanding claims of workers be paid. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update The acting chairman also appealed to the governor to, in his characteristic and magnanimous manner, pay the N30,000 minimum wage when it takes effect. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Lalong was declared winner of the rerun gubernatorial election in the state. Lalong gathered 595,582 votes to win, with his closest rival, Jeremiah Useni, a retired Army General who was the candidate of the PDP, polling 546,813 votes. Prof Richard Kimbir, the Returning Officer, presented the result on Sunday in Jos on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Plateau. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | How Igbos played themselves over National Assembly leadership - APC chieftain - An APC chieftain of has blamed the Igbos for losing an opportunity to grasp a leadership position in the Senate - The deputy national secretary of the APC said the party should not be blamed for not zoning the position of Senate president or its deputy to the south east - According to Yekini Nabena, the south easterners should blame themselves for queuing behind Atiku Abubakar Yekini Nabena, the deputy national publicity secretary of the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) has blamed the Igbos for losing the opportunity to grasp a leadership position in the Senate. Nabena said APC should not be blamed for not zoning the position of Senate president or its deputy to the south east. Reacting to comments by a former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor-Kalu that he will contest for the post of Senate President if he is not given the slot for deputy, Nabena said the south east should blame itself for queuing behind Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP in the just concluded presidential elections. Daily Independent reports that Nabena said that while nobody is stopping Kalu from contesting for the position of Senate president, the reality remains that he (Kalu) cannot win since the zoning arrangement does not favour him. He also advised the former governor to blame his people in the south east for putting all their eggs in one basket by rejecting President Muhammadu Buhari and casting over 90 percent of their votes for Atiku. READ ALSO: INEC says no fresh governorship election in Rivers state Nabena said: He (Kalu) can contest for the position of Senate President. But the issue is, can he win? Nobody is stopping him from contesting. Igbo people always play themselves out. So, Kalu cannot blame APC." He should blame his own people from the south east. He should blame them because they dont know how to play politics. They play politics like a one-way thing. They all voted for Atiku in the presidential election. So, now that Atiku lost, who will help people like Orji Kalu? 99.9% of them followed Atiku," Nabena added. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the senators elected on the platform of the PDP have kicked against plans by the leadership of the APC to impose Senate majority leader, Ahmed Lawan, as the 9th National Assembly Senate president. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update In a statement released on Tuesday, March 26, the PDP senators also warned APC to leave Bukola Saraki out of its plan to produce the Senate president. Legit.ng gathers that the statement was signed by Senator Dino Melaye and minority leader, Biodun Olujimi. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | VP Osinbajo opens up on the kind of life his wife loved to live - Professor Yemi Osinbajo has said that his wife, Dolapo, had preferred a quiet life to the rigours of politics - The vice president said himself and his family have too many reasons to thank God - According to Osinbajo, he had no special qualification to be what he was today as he had enjoyed incredible promotion from God Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday, March 31, at the Presidential Villa Banquet Hall, said that his wife, Dolapo Osinabjo, had preferred a quiet life to the rigours of politics. Osinbajo revealed this at a Thanksgiving Service organised by the Aso Villa Chapel to thank God for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari and Osinbajo. He said that God was truly worthy of praise and thanksgiving. It is impossible to thank him enough; I and my family have too many reasons to thank God. One day my wife and I reflected on how unlikely our journey here is. She reminded me that all she wanted was a quiet life as one of the many families of academics living on the University campus. If someone had said to me in 2013 you will be campaigning across the country;. you will win the elections and become Vice President of Nigeria I would, because I am generally polite, have said amen but in my heart, say what a crazy chap! "Any one who knows how difficult it is to campaign for local government chairman and win, you will not find it difficult to accept that except the Lord build the house they labour in vain who build it. Osinbajo said he realised that he had no special qualification to be what he was today as he had enjoyed incredible promotion from God. READ ALSO: How Igbos played themselves over National Assembly leadership - APC chieftain Citing Psalms 75:5,6, Osinbajo said exaltation comes neither from the east, nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge; he puts down one, and exalts another. He said that on February 2, God gave him further reason to prove that his mercy was upon him. The vice president said he was going to Kogi for a two day campaign tour when his helicopter crashed as it got in to land at Kabba, Kogi state. He said it was Gods mercy that he and his crew came out unscathed. The first Bible reading taken from Psalm 149 was read by Festus Keyamo, Director, Strategic Communications of President Buhari 2019 Presidential Campaign. Keyamo said that APC s victory was a divine one hence there was no chaos in the nation afterwards. In a sermon, Pastor Ezekiel Odeyemi, Assistant General Overseer in charge of Training and Education, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), said that Osinbajo had not taken God for granted. He said that Osinbajo had continued to show gratitude to God for his mercies. God has been faithful to us by preserving us before and after the election. We dont deserve it but he showed his mercies to us. Pastor Seyi Malomo, Chaplain, Aso Villa Chapel, who coordinated the service, said that it was important to show gratitude to God in whatever position one found oneself. Special prayers were said for the vice president by Bishop Wale Oke, Founder, Sword of Spirit Ministries and Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Most Rev Nicholas Okoh. In a vote of thanks, Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, appreciated God for sparing the life of the vice president and his mercies for the nation. A former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon and his wife, Victoria Gowon attended the thanksgiving service. Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Chief of Defence Staff, some members of the Federal Executive Council, the legislature, the Judiciary, clergymen and members of the diplomatic corps also attended the service. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari may not be an orator but he has a track record of getting things done. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Osinbajo said this while representing the President at the 11th Bola Tinubu colloquium at the International Conference Centre on Thursday, March 28, in Abuja. The vice president also described the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, as an astute politician whose political achievements only very few Nigerians can boast of. The event, which was tagged Next Level: Working for the People", is a yearly programme to commemorate the birthday of the APC leader and former Governor of Lagos state. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng upgrades to serve you better 2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Fayemi mourns death of former Ekiti APC guber aspirant, says he'll be greatly missed - A former governorship aspirant in the Ekiti state, Oluwole Oluleye, who reportedly died in Abuja after a brief illness, has described as one who will be greatly missed - Oluleye has been described by the governor of Ekiti state as an embodiment of intellect, courage and hard work - Fayemi also said that Oluleye was an amiable, energetic, enterprising and a highly resourceful politician Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti has commiserated with the family of Oluwole Oluleye, a former governorship aspirant in the state, who reportedly died in Abuja after a brief illness. The late Oluleye, a former executive secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and later Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), held the title of Oluomo of Efon Alaaye, Ekiti state. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda The governor, in a statement through his chief press secretary, Yinka Oyebode, described Oluleyes death as a huge loss, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He said the late Oluleye, who was a co-governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2018 election, was an illustrious son of the state who would be sadly missed by all and sundry. Fayemi said the news of Oluleyes death came to him as a rude shock because he did not exhibit any sign of ill-health during their last meeting. He described him as an amiable, energetic, enterprising and highly resourceful politician who demonstrated great lovan embodiment of intellect, courage and hard work and passion for the development of his people. Dr Oluleye was an embodiment of intellect, courage and hard work. He would be greatly missed, the governor said. He urged members of the family of the late politician as well as the Efon Alaaye community to mourn in moderation, adding that the late politician lived a good life, made his mark in public service and left a good name. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Our prayer is that God will grant him eternal rest and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, Fayemi was quoted as saying in the statement. Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the immediate past governor of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose, had reportedly lost his polling unit to the All Progressive Congress (APC) in governorship and state House of Assembly election held in the state on Saturday, March 9. The former governor lost its polling booth as the APCs candidate in Irepodun/Ifelodun constituency 2, Alhaji Hakeem Jamiu, defeated the Peoples Democratic Partys candidate, Sunday Omosilade. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Ekiti 2018: Residents reveal who will win the governorship election | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Triple celebration as mom and two children graduate together as Uniport holds 32nd convocation It is a triple celebration for the Akazuas as not just one but three members of the family became fresh graduates recently, including their mother and this has left many people on social media rather impressed. Like the popular saying goes, age is nothing but a number when it comes to achieving dreams. This Nigerian mom identified as Augusta Akazua, proved this to be true as she clearly wasn't bothered about enrolling at the university for a degree alongside two of her children. Her effort and hard work eventually paid off as they all celebrated their graduation at the recently held 32nd convocation at the University of Port Harcourt. Augusta Akazua with her two kids, Ronald Kenneth Akazua and Regina Lawrence Omeokwe; who is married, shone brightly with pride in their academic gowns as they posed for photos with family and friends. READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) The proud mom took to her Facebook page to share the good news, praising God for his 'triple blessing.' See post below: PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Amazing! In a similar news, anAustralian-based Nigeria mother of four proved that nothing can stop her from achieving her dreams. Kehinde Olusola Adegboye has her supportive husband and kids to thank after she bagged herself a BSc in nursing from Edith Cowan University in Australia. Speaking with Legit.ng, Kehinde revealed that she worked as a dental nurse in Apapa General Hospital, Lagos, before migrating to Australia with her family in 2010. In 2016, she changed her profession and went back to the university to study nursing. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better I have trained four graduates with this fish business - fishseller| Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | NASS leadership: Group urges APC to insist on Lawan, Gbajabiamila - A group has called on the ruling party to insist on having Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as leaders of the National Assembly - The group said a timely intervention of the leadership of the APC in charting a direction for the emergence of presiding officers for the two chambers of the National Assembly is a welcome development - SUDA also called on the APC leadership to continue dialogue with all its senators-elect to bring all of them on board towards actualisation of this resolution Sustainable Democracy Agenda (SUDA), a pressure group, has urged Adams Oshiomhole-led All Progressives Congress (APC) to remain resolute on its endorsement of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as Senate President and Speaker of House of representatives. The Convener of the group, Malam Ibrahim Usman, gave the advice in a statement on Sunday, March 31, in Abuja. The group urged the leadership of APC and President Muhammadu Buhari not to cave in to the pressure of those it described as pretenders to the throne that are willing to compromise party supremacy on the altar of selfish interest. The APC leadership must not rein in few of its members that are hobnobbing with the opposition to rubbish its hard-fought election victory. The last time the APC played it cool the party and by implication, the masses, paid dearly in terms of legislative sabotage that truncated delivery of dividends of democracy to the people by the Buhari administration. According to the group, timely intervention of the leadership of the APC in charting a direction for the emergence of presiding officers for the two chambers of the National Assembly is a welcome development. READ ALSO: Breaking: Gbajabiamila declares plan to join race for office of Speaker As a group that is interested in the growth of democracy all over Africa, SUDA commends the proactive approach of the Oshiomhole led APC in ensuring lawmakers elected on the platform of the majority party avoid a division that could be devastating to the progress of democracy and good governance in Nigeria. By this decision, the party has effectively moved away from the indecision of 2015, which led to the power tussle that affected the productivity of the present Senate. The group therefore called on the APC leadership to continue dialogue with all its senators-elect to bring all of them on board towards actualisation of this resolution. It also stressed the need for APC to monitor the activities of its members that may seek to jeopardise its resolve at consolidating its majority in the legislature. READ ALSO: Workers rewarded me with another 4-year term for prompt payment of salaries - Lalong SUDA is against any move at reenacting the 2015 scenario, which didnt augur well for growth of democracy in the country. SUDA also call on the APC anointed candidates, Senator Ahmed Lawan and Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, not to relent in reaching out to all senators and members elect, including those of the opposition towards engendering a stable and democratically productive 9th national assembly. The group advised all incoming senators and members of House of Representatives to key into the Lawan and Gbajabiamila project and own it as a way of creating a united atmosphere needed for actualisation of their collective and individual legislative agenda. Rebellion as has been seen in the 8th national assembly only lead to self-destruction and institutional retrogression, the group said. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Gbajabiamila officially joined the race for the office of the Speaker of the 9th Assembly. Gbajabiamila, in company of 170 members-elect, made his intention known on Sunday in Abuja. Gbajabiamila said he was in the race to unite the nation and to bring good governance closer to the people. If elected speaker, Gbajabiamila said that he would galvanise the lawmakers to make life more abundant for all Nigerians. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! No lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the people - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Lamorde, Mba, others move to higher ranks as PSC promotes 8,916 senior police officers - The promotion of 8,916 senior police officers to their next substantive ranks has been approved by the Police Service Commission (PSC) - Among the promoted officers, three CPs including Titus Sumba Larmode were promoted to AIGs - The promotions would be conveyed to the acting IGP on Monday, April 1 for implementation The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the promotion of 8,916 senior police officers to their next substantive ranks. The spokesman of the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, said in a statement on Sunday, March 31 that the approval followed the meeting of the commission held in Abuja, NAN reports. READ ALSO: Gbajabiamila, best qualified to be House speaker - Jibrin Legit.ng gathers that he said the commission approved the promotion of three commissioners of police to the next rank of assistant inspectors general of police. They are: Jona Jackson Mava, Olushola Babajide David and Titus Sumba Larmode. He said that acting appointments of two CPs were also confirmed. The beneficiaries are: Rudolf Echebi Obe, Works and Danladi Lalas, Air Wing. Ani said 71 assistant commissioners of police were elevated to the next rank of deputy commissioners of police. They include: Ogundare Emmanuel, Alonge Adebowale, Augustina Ogbodo, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Garba Ahmed, Uzuegbu Kanayo, Zubairu Abubakar, Vincent Nwajiofor, Polycarp Dibia and Frank Mba, the force public relations officer. He said 102 chief superintendents of police were also promoted to ACPs. They are: Michael Masomene, Egbe Eko Edum, Onyeamu Onyeamu, Dauda Ayuba, Chinedu Ugwu, Moses Gana, Victor Bepeh among others. He said the commission also promoted 487 deputy superintendents of police to superintendents of police. They include Atiku Ibrahim, personal assistant to the acting inspector general of police, Florence Odewo, Ojo Abraham, Mohammed Idris and Abraham Ogedengbe, among others. Ani said 1,165 assistant superintendents of police were promoted to the next rank of deputy superintendents of police. He said 7,806 inspectors were also elevated to the rank of ASPs. They are: Chinemelum Bartholomew, Jeremiah Zumnan, Adewale Ajibuwa and Saviour Etetim, among others. He said the promotions would be conveyed to the acting inspector general of police on Monday, April 1 for implementation. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that IGP Adamu Mohammed on Monday, February 4, decorated newly promoted senior officers of the law enforcement agency including seven deputy inspectors general of police with their new ranks. It was learnt that the decorated officers were immediately inducted into the Force Management Team (FMT) of the Nigeria police. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Former YGP hands over to new police boss - on Legit TV: [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | World | Africa | SA top minister meets African ambassadors over xenophobia The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has called an urgent meeting of African ambassadors to discuss the current spate of violence against foreign nationals and damage to their properties. The Minister has expressed serious concern about the situation and called on law-enforcement officers to deal with criminals and those damaging properties with the full might of the law. The Minister added that the African continent had contributed and sacrificed a lot for South Africans to be free and be liberated from the apartheid government. "South African companies and our citizens are welcomed and loved across the continent: here at home, we should do the same, we must embrace our neighbours and fellow Africans" Minister Sisulu said. The Minister added that in international forums like the United Nations, African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African continent and all countries in the world looked for South Africa for leadership. "South Africa has been supported by all African countries and many countries in the world to have a non-permanent seat in the UNSC; it is currently the Vice Chairperson of the AU and the Chair of AU in 2020. These responsibilities require that we must welcome and lead in building bridges between nations, particularly in SADC and the continent. "All of us must stand up and send a strong message that violence, all criminal activities and looting of properties of foreign nationals will not be tolerated, and the police and other law- enforcement agencies must act without fear or favour", Minister Sisulu said. The meeting, which will happen as soon as possible, will focus on how ambassadors and government can work with communities and all stakeholders to support and encourage integration in communities. Issued by Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation Enquiries: Ndivhuwo Mabaya, Head of Communications and DIRCO Spokesperson. 0836457838, mabayan@dirco.gov.za CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Home | World | Africa | 'Ndebeles support xenophobia in South Africa' Zimbabweans of Ndebele origin who have attained South African citizenship or permanent residence status are supportive of xenophobic attacks against African residing in that country, Trevor Ncube who is Presi9dnet Emmerson Mnangagwa's advisor has alleged. Ncube posted the statement after revealing that he was told by a South African taxi driver that there are rampant xenophobic attacks happening in Johannesburg. "Zimbabweans from Matabeleland with SA Citizenship/Residence are the worst apologists to Afrophobia," Ncube said. "They mistakenly think their proximity to Nguni Heritage is protection to incendiary hatred of black Africans." Social media users accused Ncube of being too comfortable by being close to President Mnangagwa and hence attacking his tribesman. Ncube's statement comes after South African media reported that there is a fresh wave of xenophobia in the country which has left about 3 foreigners dead while hundreds are displaced. On Friday President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa called for peace among South Africans pleading them to refrain from attacking foreigners. The most affected provinces are Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal. Zimbabweans from Matabeleland with SA Citizenship/Residence are the worst apologists to Afrophobia. They mistakenly think their proximity to Nguni Heritage is protection to incidiary hatred of black Africans. #NoToAfrophobia Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) March 30, 2019 CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa The Cavite provincial government plans to issue P200 billion worth of bonds to raise funds for the proposed international airport in Sangley Point and meet the Transportation Departments deadline to resolve its financial issue. Were looking towards a bond float to start everything out with the province as one of the initiators of the bond float. We are looking towards a local consortium, Cavite Governor Jesus Crispin Catibayan Remulla said. Initially, were looking at P200 billion. It should be enough, he said. The Cavite provincial governments planned bond float came after the National Economic Development Authority returned its unsolicited proposal over the alleged unclear implementing arrangement for the project. We are pursuing all avenues possible to make the airport push through, Remulla said. He said, however, the Cavite provincial government might not meet the June 2019 deadline set by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on the submission on the new unsolicited proposal for Sangley international airport. Im not sure. We are doing everything right now to be able to comply with the requirement and we have to respect the secretary, Remulla said. We cannot just submit something that is not thoroughly vetted out. You have to really prepare properly and the first thing that comes to mind is the financial framework necessary for this to happen, he said. Remulla, who will be leaving his office by June 30, claims his successor would definitely push through with Sangley airport. Remullas brother Jonvic Remulla is running for governor of Cavite and will face former governor Erineo Maliksi.The Cavite provincial government submitted to Neda the full feasibility study for the project on Dec. 17, 2018. Sangley International Airport is expected to cost more than P500 billion. The planned Sangley airport can initially accommodate 50 million passengers. Tugade earlier said he would keep his options open for Sangley, adding that there was a similar unsolicited proposal from Solar Groups All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. which was submitted to the department in 2016. The AARC unsolicited proposal to build the Philippine Sangley International Airport was estimated to cost $12 billion. A crucial portion of the ARRC development plan is the rehabilitation of the Danilo Atienza Air Base and its transformation into a general aviation airport that can serve as an emergency alternative to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport during the project development phase. ARRC proposed a concession period of 50 years for the Sangley International Airport. Under the proposal, the project will start with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula which will be used for the development of the airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment to complement the project. Sangley airport would be designed with two parallel runways and sufficient airside and terminal capacity to accommodate future demand for the domestic and the international traffic, not only for the Philippines but also for Southeast Asia. Home | World | Africa | Financial Expert Shalom Govero shares insight into earning and saving money This past week, the world celebrated Global Money Week, an initiative by Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) which is an annual financial awareness campaign built to inspire children and young people to learn about money matters, livelihoods, and entrepreneurship. The theme this year was Learn, Save, Earn. Zimbabwe based finance professional, Shalom GoveroI has been training financial literacy and speaking to young people about money issues for several years. In this article,she lends her voice to what this means for her looking at the young Zimbabwean. "Learning is broad but when l was growing up, what we learnt about financial literacy was very limited to what the school curriculum offers. Nonetheless, the learning curriculum is under immense pressure in today's world to match global trends and equip people with critical and practical skills for the future," she added. Govero said topics such as Financial Literacy must be included in the school curriculum. "As part of GMW, Financial Service Providers, Central Banks, Business Communities and Civil Society Communities are coming together to teach and expose children to money issues." "Through Financial Education Tours, Bank Hall Tours, Financial Literacy Lessons, debates and competitions, we are taking money issues to children. Each child needs to learn practically how to save and earn money in simple ways. This creates a basis for good money management habits in the future." Shalom, who was invited to teach during the Life Skills sessions at a few schools this week said that each lesson left a child well equipped to monetize their skills/talents and to save from their earnings. "This was my contribution to the Global Money Week drive this year and my question to everyone was, 'What is your contribution to this vital move around the world?'" " If you are a parent, are you exposing your children to learning about money? Even if your school does not necessarily have anyone teaching them about money, you can do a few things to teach them about money," she said Shalom's top tips 1.Open a common pot/savings box in the home. Each person needs to contribute a small fraction of what they earn (whether it's business income, salary or allowance that your child gets each week). You can set the contribution at 5% or an actual figure of $5 or $1. You can do this for three months and then use the earnings for something you all love. It could be going out as a family or buying something you all use in the home. 2.Teach your kids about writing out shopping lists before you go shopping. Then make sure you have a draft budget for the list. When you go shopping, ask your child to carry the list and watch for the budgeted amount. If they successfully stick to the list and the budgeted amount, they get a reward. This will be a good lesson on financial discipline and may help them to avoid impulse buying/spending. 3.Take them to the bank with you when you want to make a deposit or a bank transfer. Guide them through the process, giving them the information they need and it will be a trip that they will remember for life! Better still, get them to open a bank account for themselves. Steward Bank has a new and dynamic way of opening a bank account directly on your phone using a USSD code. This is also a great way of introducing your child to banking. Saving money Shalom said that Zimbabwe has gone through many periods of economic demise. Adding that tt has distorted a lot of what we know to be true about money. "The system has been unkind to savers and the currency devaluation affects the value of cash savings or bank savings. So I often hear, what's the purpose of saving money in such an environment?" "I feel their frustration and dilemma! However, savings are not just for achieving big goals but can also be useful to cover emergencies. These short-term savings can be as little as $5, $10 or $15. They will help you secure some over-the-counter medicine when you are not feeling good, they can help you get a taxi when you are late for an appointment/exam," she said. Shalom said that saving for emergencies is crucial because they will pop up and demand money from you when you are unprepared. "What is important, is teaching our kids that saving is not really about the amount but about developing the discipline and attitude to save." Earning money "We are in a global village, with a massive connectivity of goods and services," Shalom said. "Whenever we start a business and go online via the website or social media, our goods and services begin to cross national and physical boundaries. This is also the nature of work. Whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee, the jobs of the future now revolve around service and creativity. It's not about who owns the resources and largely about how those resources are organised, packaged and offered to the world. Whoever has the best offer wins," she added. What are you teaching your children? Shalom said that it was important to teach children about money and saving. "If you run or own a business, take some children as interns over the holidays. Let them take part in designing a PowerPoint presentation or better still, work with them as you market your products on social media." Let them see what happens behind the scenes in your workplace. Last year, at Mustard Seed Advisory, we carried out a task-based interview. The role was PA/Administrator. This sounds pretty basic but we were looking at specific qualities: process-thinking, design/presentation skills and most importantly versatility in the role." Shalom said that the interview began with a task then the interviewees had to present their output. " One of the women remarked that this prompted her to go back and learn her computer skills. She found herself wanting when it came to designing a PowerPoint presentation." "Having worked with young people, these are some of the areas that we end up re-training in our organisation. Therefore, it's my outcry that we should teach young people critical computer skills - they will find them useful in the future either as an entrepreneur or employees," Govero said that entrepreneurs needed to understand how to leverage digital skills to remain competitive. " Entrepreneurs around the world work with limited resources, therefore, making it important for them to know customer service, basic book keeping, and marketing." "This may sound like a lot but you can do your part by exposing your child to your everyday working environment." Shalom said that people learn by doing as they can pick up vital business skills. "I have been so privileged to work under my mother in our business. She has taught me technical and soft skills. She even challenged me to learn and advance myself through formal training." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa METHODISTS have united against homosexuality at a Special General Conference held last month in the United States where delegates refused to recognise gay unions and ordain homosexuals into offices of ministry. A vote of 438 to 384 upheld United Methodist Church's ban against same sex marriages and ordination of self-avowed practicing gay clergy, an issue which had dragged on for years within the UMC. The rift had raised worry of a split within one of the most influential Christian institutions with at least 12 million members around the globe. It is against this background that at a General Conference held in Portland two years ago, a Commission on a Way Forward' was set up to look at possible changes to the structure and law, which could help restore unity within the UMC. As a result, plans to consider the church's future were tabled at this year's conference held on February 23-26. On one side was the Traditionalist Plan' which reinforced the current rules that ban the recognition of gay unions and ordaining of homosexual clergy while on the other side was the One Church Plan', which was to allow congregations and conferences to decide on same-sex weddings and gay clergy. There was also the Connectional Plan' that was to allow churches to sort themselves by theology while the Simple Plan' was to remove any language about homosexuality from the UMC's Book of Discipline. After the vote of confidence to stick to the Traditional Plan', the local UMC leaders said this was an indication the church had emerged stronger after adhering to its traditional tenets anchored in the Bible. Bishop of the Zimbabwe Episcopal Area, Eben Nhiwatiwa said the decision of the UMC demonstrated that God was in charge at the General Conference and believers had to love each other despite their differences. "God had to lead the church the way God thought it was proper. So to the church in Zimbabwe, I would say we thank God; we thank the whole church for planning things, giving people an opportunity to discuss and vote. We are going to continue worshipping as we have been doing," he said. Reverend Alan Masimba Gurupira who is the administrative assistant to Bishop Nhiwatiwa added that the no vote demonstrated the church's desire to move ahead by following transformative principles. He said the church did not discriminate against homosexuals but was ever ready to offer them a platform to be transformed and follow Godly practices that marriage is between male and female. "Zimbabwe is very traditional. We are based on the principles of scriptures The missionaries came over to Africa and taught us this way and we did forgo polygamy as a result of that teaching. We, as Africans have forgone that because we know we had to be transformed," said Rev Gurupira. He said that the church in Africa is a torch bearer being consistent and loyal to the principles of the gospel in a time when worldly views seem to dominate local and international discourse. How can the church handle homosexuality? Home | World | Africa | Lunar Park comes to Bulawayo OWNED by Spares Mania and trading as Family Amusement Park, Lunar Park is in Bulawayo for the Easter, Independence holidays and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Having started in the 1970s, Lunar Park is still a favourite of many, from children to adults. It is mostly popular during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair period where the owners station the machines close to ZITF grounds for the convenience of those who would have visited the annual trade fair event. The joyride, the train, the jets, the shells, the boats and the big wheel are all original machines that have been enjoyed since the Lunar Park started. "Everything is still original since the time when the Lunar Park started, except that we sometimes service the electrical motors. We, of course, want to improve our services and we have engaged others in the industry. Recently we were in South Africa meeting with people from the Association of Lunar Parks so that we try and modernise a bit," said Mr Witness Chiota who is one of the directors of Family Amusement Park. The Lunar Park is the only mobile lunar park in Zimbabwe and every month the operators move to a new place, but they have committed to providing their services to Bulawayo for the month of April. Mr Chiota also said that they had discount prices for those who will be attending the Trade Fair and they were also in the process of acquiring new parts for most of the machines to improve their safety standards. "We are very excited to notify our customers that we will be in Bulawayo for the whole month of April in preparation for the Trade Fair, they can visit us even before the Trade Fair as we will be moving close to the Trade Fair grounds soon. We are also in the process of procuring new parts for our machines as we try to maximise safety for the customers," said Mr Chiota. He added: "We try to stay as original as possible so as to avoid disasters, most of the machines are operated manually and we have aides for every machine to ensure that people are safe at all times. Modernisation is a very good thing but sometimes it can lead to disasters as the machines will be operated by someone who will be far away and cannot see what will be happening on the ground." He also said that as part of their efforts to maintain high safety standards they always train their staff in safety related issues. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Home | World | Africa | Mwonzora is a friendly but difficult opponent AS THE eagerly-anticipated MDC congress looms large, alliances, vitriol and realignments are taking centre stage in the country's largest opposition movement. Deputy Chief Writer Tendai Kamhungira speaks to respected secretary-general of the 20 year-old party Douglas Mwonzora who is touted as one of the officials set to challenge interim leader Nelson Chamisa for the presidency. Below are the Excerpts of the interview. Q: Have you made up your mind on which position you will contest at the forthcoming congress? A: The decision of exactly which position I will finally contest at congress rests with the members of the MDC themselves. Through a democratic process, the provincial assemblies will nominate leaders to various positions. This process should be done through secret ballot to avoid the dangers of intimidation, harassment and undue influence. Although I am not disqualified from contesting any position I have no knowledge of what I will be nominated to stand for. However, the freeness and fairness of the lower structure congresses will among other things determine which I will accept. Q: Do you have what it takes to be the MDC leader? A: I have been a leader in the MDC at various levels. Having started as the treasurer for Nyanga District I was elevated to secretary for Local Government for Manicaland Province. In 2008 I was elected to represent members of Parliament in the national council of the party. In 2011 I was elected as the national spokesperson of the party at congress. In 2014 I was elected as the secretary-general of the party. I think I served well in my positions. But I started my career in the opposition in 1989 when as a law student I joined the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (Zum) which was fighting the one-party State in Zimbabwe. I was detained in Whawha Prison in 1990 for drafting the constitution of Zum. While I was at Whawha I was elected the national secretary for legal affairs before being elevated to presidential spokesperson. This was before I even qualified as a lawyer. In 1992 Morgan Tsvangirai employed me as a legal adviser for the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). In 1995 I tried to stop the general elections in the Supreme Court citing the unfairness of the electoral laws then. I was not successful. In 1997 I took the government to the Supreme Court again challenging the Constitutionality of the Political Parties (Finances) Act. We won the case. Earlier on together with the late Kempton Makamure, the late Justice Sansole we drafted the Draft Constitution of Zimbabwe. It was, however, rejected by government. Together with Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Lovemore Madhuku, Welshman Ncube, Priscilla Misihairabwi etc we formed the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) to fight for a new democratic people-driven constitution of Zimbabwe. In the referendum of 2000 I was tasked to head the Manicaland campaign for the No Vote. Coincidentally, Manicaland recorded the highest number of No Votes. Together with (Professor Lovemore) Madhuku we drafted the NCA draft constitution of Zimbabwe. This was, however, rejected by the government again. After winning the Nyanga North parliamentary seat I was appointed co-chairperson of Copac. I was detained at Mutare Prison for 27 days ostensibly for insisting on a clause that sought to disqualify (former president Robert) Mugabe to continue holding office. We successfully led the drafting of the current Constitution of Zimbabwe. When the party split in 2014, I remained in the party and as the secretary-general I spearheaded electoral reforms inter alia through the formation of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera). I was also part of the group that successfully persuaded (the late former UN secretary-general and chairman of The Elders) Koffi Anan to come to Zimbabwe to ensure peace in the 2018 elections. I therefore do know think that I lack capacity at all. Q: What will you do if you contest, win or lose against Nelson Chamisa? A: Democracy is basically a dictatorship of the majority. If I am nominated and I accept the nomination and contest but lose I will accept the verdict of the majority. I will support and serve the winner to the best of my ability. I will never leave the party. If I were to win if I contested I would endeavour to unite and democratise the party. All party candidates will be chosen through free and fair primary elections and not be handpicked by some leaders. All positions in leadership have to be begotten through fair contest through democratic elections. All mudslinging and hate language will go. Q: How are the preparations for congress going because we hear allegations of intimidation and violence against your perceived supporters? A: The preparations for congress were going on well. However, we have now received reports of violence, intimidation, discrimination on the basis of people who supported me in 2014. We have had to deal with congress-related suspensions and expulsion at lower structures. If these are true then it is wrong, unfair, anachronistic and therefore totally unacceptable. I hope the organising, elections and chairperson's departments have to bring reports on these issues to our next Standing Committee meeting. Q: You were recently booed at a rally in Mutare, why? A: What is clear is that the debacle in Mutare was stage-managed with people being bussed from Chitungwiza, Kwekwe and Harare for that purpose. Some of these people have now confessed to us after failing to secure the payments that had been promised. As a leader I don't mind people booing me if they think that I have done something wrong. It is part of freedom of expression and some form of speaking truth to power. However, this particular incident was stage-managed by people who simply wanted to see us embarrassed. I therefore, am not really worried much about it. I think the people who did that don't realise how they have made people in Manicaland very angry. Q: The MDC Constitution says only four posts are open for contest but we are hearing talk of all the positions being up for grabs, where is this coming from? A: There are going to be more than four positions to be contested at congress. The issue was extensively debated at the last national standing committee meeting. An announcement will be made soon as regards which posts are going to be contested. Q: How is your relationship with the current president Nelson Chamisa as well as the other leaders like Tendai Biti? A: I have always respected all my leaders. I had tremendous respect for Tsvangirai as our founding president. I have always respected Chamisa even before he became president. When he became our party candidate I campaigned for him without anybody having to supervise me. I have never sought to undermine him at all. Where we have had disagreements with Chamisa we have always resolved same through one on one dialogue. As regards (Tendai) Biti he was my senior at Goromonzi High School and at Law School. He represented me when I was being registered as a legal practitioner. We both realise that we have an important national duty to perform than to allow ourselves to be bogged down by petty issues. The good thing about my relationship with Tendai is that I totally understand him. Q: There are allegations that you are getting support from Zanu-PF, is this true? A: I have never received moral or material support from Zanu-PF because I don't need it. The allegations that were made against me after the declarations of the congress date were meant to frighten me and dissuade me from contesting certain positions. I have challenged some of the leaders to prove their allegations. They have failed because they know it is false. The mudslinging and personal abuse are outdated political weapons. I am grateful to the objectivity and maturity shown by David Coltart who came out and rubbished these allegations. Those people who say that I am weak and will not be difficult for Zanu-PF don't seem to notice that I have a history of success against Zanu-PF. The electoral reforms, the fight for a new constitution and the fight against partisan political party funding are just examples. I have been part of every MDC demonstration. I have been arrested and detained on more occasions than most of my peers but I have not given up on my key beliefs. Maybe some people think that for one to look strong they must be rude and rough to the opponent. That is wrong. You can be very strong without being uncivil. Mahatma Gandhi was soft spoken but he had an unfathomable inner strength. I believe in planning, strategising and bringing results. My friends and opponents alike know that I have the capacity to listen to their criticism of me without any danger of retribution on my part. I believe that I am a friendly but difficult opponent. Unlike many people I have duelled with Zanu-PF in difficult rural constituencies and won both as a member of the National Assembly and as a senator. Q: What do you think of the idea of bringing back comrades who left the party such as Thokozani Khupe? A: The MDC family must come together without conditions. Thokozani Khupe is Morgan Tsvangirai's longest serving deputy who possesses an internal party memory that we cannot just ignore. In terms of transgressions of people who split from the main MDC one cannot argue that Thokozani transgressed more than others. I think all the MDC members must come back and prosecute the struggle together. Q: It's a year after Tsvangirai died, do you think he is lying at ease given the current state of the MDC? A: Tsvangirai's vision was to see a more united MDC. While other people have come back into the party a lot of other people remain outside. I know Tsvangirai hated the vitriol which some party members direct at each other. He won't be too pleased to learn that there are party members who are using hate language against other party members. Tsvangirai wanted a party that always looks and pays attention to its founding values. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Home | World | Africa | Prices of basic commodities go up 200% Prices of most basic commodities have gone up by up to 200 percent over the weekend in Zimbabwe. Retailers have argued that the price remain the same in United States Dollar terms but have increased in Bond Dollar terms as the local currency continues to plummet. Butter which had all but disappeared from shelves in the last two weeks resurfaced with the biggest increase in price. A tub of 500g of margarine, which used to cost about $7 Bond is now pegged at $22,50 Bond by most retailers. Cooking oil, which cost about $ 7 Bond in most supermarkets on Friday, now costs up to $14 Bond depending on where one is buying. 2kgs of sugar, which was about $ 4 Bond on Friday is now being sold for up to $6 bond by leading supermarkets. A consumer in Bulawayo told Bulawayo24.com that the increases were a reflection that the government has abandoned the people. "Imagine, in November last year, sugar 2kg used to cost $2 Bond now it has almost trebled. If you were getting paid about $500 Bond a month in November last year, you need to be getting about $3 000 monthly to maintain the same lifestyle. Our leaders do not care as they keep promising us things will improve when they hire expensive luxury planes to globetrot every day," said Miss Nomagugu Ncube. Mr Aaron Moyo of Harare said Zimbabweans have become slaves in their own country as they work only for food. "You get paid, you try to buy enough food until the next pay day so there is no saving or investing. How different is that from slavery?," he asked. Salaries have remained stagnant since 2017. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa (Bloomberg) -- Governments in the Asia Pacific region are accelerating efforts to fight malicious use of online media, unveiling laws that make it easier to target websites which enable distribution of criminal or fraudulent content. Australia said it will legislate tough new laws to prevent social-media platforms from being weaponized by terrorists and extremists who may use them to live-stream violent crimes, such as this months terror attack in New Zealand. Singapore said it will introduce a law to halt the spread of fake news. Facebook Inc. came under sharp criticism for not taking down a video in which the alleged gunman killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch fast enough, and for allowing it be circulated across the internet and uploaded to platforms like YouTube. The social-media company was considering placing restrictions on who could post live videos in the wake of the shooting that was filmed and disseminated in real time. Social media companies, like Facebook, which met with the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, myself and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton earlier this week did not present any immediate solutions to the issues arising out of the horror that occurred in Christchurch, Australias Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield said in a statement Saturday. The new legislation would be introduced into parliament next week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in the press release. New offences will incur penalties of up 10 percent of a companys annual turnover and potential prison sentences for executives of social-media companies that fail to act to remove abhorrent violent material from their platforms, Attorney-General Christian Porter said in the statement. Read more: Facebook Considers Restricting Some Live Video After NZ Attack Singapore, meanwhile, said its new law will give more power to the government to hold online outlets accountable if theyre deemed to have deliberately delivered false news.The measures will include requiring them to show corrections or display warnings about online falsehoods, and even removing articles in extreme cases, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech. Story continues The city-state lashed out at Facebook last year, calling the company unreliable after it declined a request to remove a post that linked the premier and Singapore with allegations related to embattled Malaysian state fund 1MDB. The government said then that Facebooks decision to not remove malicious information on the country shows the need for legislation. The amendments to the Australian legislation would be modeled on existing offences in the Criminal Code, which require platforms to notify police if their service is being used to access child pornography, the attorney general said. Mainstream media that broadcast such material would be putting their licence at risk and there is no reason why social media platforms should be treated any differently, Porter said. The bill will include new provisions to deal with the showing of abhorrent violent material produced by a perpetrator, and which plays or live-streams the worst types of offences, according to the statement. It will cover the playing or streaming of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape and kidnapping on social media. It will include two new sets of offences: It will be a criminal offence for social-media platforms not to remove abhorrent violent material expeditiously. This will be punishable by three years imprisonment or fines that can reach up to 10 percent of the platforms annual turnover.Platforms anywhere in the world must notify the Australian Federal Police if they become aware their service is streaming abhorrent violent conduct that is happening in Australia. Failure to do this will be punishable by fines of up to A$168,000 ($119,213) for an individual or A$840,000 for a corporation. A new task force bringing the government and social-media companies together will work to deny terrorists the opportunity to use social media to foment hatred and violence, the prime minister said. These responses will form the basis of a model approach that Australia can take to the G20 to get our global partners on board to bring social media companies into our collective net of responsibility and accountability, Morrison said. We are already working to this end with our G20 and other partners, including New Zealand. To contact the reporters on this story: Andreea Papuc in Sydney at apapuc1@bloomberg.net;Sharon Cho in Singapore at ccho28@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen, Stanley James For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Warren Buffett has told Yahoo Finance he would bet a lot of money that no company offers a better employee March Madness contest than Berkshire Hathaway. I cant prove it, because you could have some private company, he says. But I dont think theres anything like this. Its like we have our Christmas party at a different time of year. Buffett began offering the contest in 2016. Indeed, it is unlikely there is any other company that gives employees the chance to win $1 million every year for lifebut thats if someone perfectly predicts the Sweet Sixteen. Short of that happening, Berkshires contest ends when the last remaining perfect bracket goes bust. This year, that moment came after the first 23 games of the tournament, on Friday afternoon of the first round, when 12-seed Oregon beat 5-seed Wisconsin. (The 2017 contest winner was perfect through 29 games.) Two Berkshire employees lasted until the same game, so they will split the $100,000 prize. The irony: One of the winners, 36-year-old Adam Allie of BNSF Railroad, says he is an Oregon Ducks fan. Betting against the team busted his bracket. Contest winner Adam Allie and his sons Max, Lincoln, Dash and Samuel, with his grandfather Ezra. (Courtesy: Adam Allie) In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Allie says he probably spent two minutes filling out his $50,000 bracket. He only entered the contest because a friend urged him to do it during their morning van ride to work. I looked over it fast, picked off the top of my head, Allie says. (The other winner, from the Berkshire-owned R.V. company Forest River, declined to be interviewed.) Berkshires contest administrator sends out detailed comedic (think pun-filled) updates to the entire contest after every single game, announcing exactly how many perfect brackets remain. Many of the people in the contest follow the updates religiously. Allie says he didnt read a single update and never checked his bracket, until a coworker called him to say congratulations on winning. I had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was just messing with me, Allie says. And then I started getting calls from other people I work with. My wife didn't believe it either, she thought I was messing with her. But she's super happy about it. Very grateful. Story continues Allie lives in Sioux Falls, S.D., with his wife and four sons. He has worked for BNSF since 2014 on track maintenance, replacing railroad ties. And he says the prize money is going straight to paying off bills and fixing up his basement, which flooded over the summer. Whatever is left, he says, Ill put away for winter. This gives us a little nest egg for the wintertime. Daniel Roberts is the sports business writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite. Read more: Americans will bet $8.5 billion on March Madnessmost of it still illegal Nike stock slips as Duke basketball star rips sneaker open Meet the West Virginia steelworker who won $100,000 in Warren Buffetts March Madness contest Warren Buffett: Id bet a lot of money no company offers a better March Madness pool than mine GT Capital Holdings Inc. is spending P51.7 billion this year to support the growth of core subsidiaries in the banking, automotive and property businesses while looking for new opportunities. GT Capital chief finance officer Franciso Suarez Jr. said during a recent investors briefing the conglomerate would spend the bulk of the spending, approximately P27.8 billion, at the parent level. The group plans to invest in automotive value chain and new business opportunities. Suarez said the conglomerate had been evaluating offers for possible investments. He did not disclose the new investment opportunities. The group is spending P12 billion for the expansion of real estate unit Federal Land Inc., which plans to launch eight new projects this year. Suarez said the new projects would have a total sales value of P15 billion. The groups automotive unit, Toyota Motor Philippines, is spending P6.8 billion in capital expenditures for 2019 primarily to fund the launching of new car models and logistics acquisition. GT Capital expects automotive sales to increase by seven to nine percent this year. The groups affordable housing arm, Property of Friends Co Inc. (Profriends), will also spend P2.3 billion this year for land development as well as construction of commercial and retail projects.GT Capitals banking unit Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. will spend P2 billion this year for IT systems upgrade, expansion of electronic banking channels, ATM installations and renovation and relocation of branch premises. The conglomerate will spend the balance for other subsidiaries, namely Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp., AXA Philippines, Toyota Manila Bay Corp. and Sumisho Motor Finance Corp. GT Capital will fund this years capital spending from internally generated funds and bank borrowings. The conglomerate reported a six-percent decline in net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company to P13.39 billion in 2018 from P14.18 billion in 2017 on lower revenues. Consolidated revenues dropped 10 percent to P215.8 billion in 2018 from P239.8 billion in 2017 mainly due to lower sales from the automotive business. Jenniffer B. Austria Some of the largest companies in the United States have teamed up on a clean energy buying initiative aimed at motivating more businesses to switch to renewable energy as part of efforts to drive down emissions. The group, which involves Google, General Motors, and Walmart, among others, calls itself the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance and also includes renewable energy providers with the goal of bringing together buyers and sellers of this energy for a lower-emission future. The reason for the existence of REBA is simple: as the initiative says on its website, the commercial and industrial sector is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions so it would make sense for it to do something about reducing this contribution, and fast. The fastest way, according to REBA, is to buy more renewable power. The group, which to date has more than 200 large corporate entities buying solar and wind power as well as 150 renewable power developers and service providers, aims to make this energy-buying process easier for all involved. The ultimate goal is to expand renewable energy buying to tens of thousands of companies of all sizes and catalyze 60 GW of new renewable energy by 2025. This is really about bringing as many players to the market as possible and giving everyone access to clean energy, CNBC quoted Googles head of energy market strategy, Michael Terrell. The renewable energy-buying drive will also stimulate more solar and wind capacity additions, of course: demand for more renewable energy will spur more renewable generation capacity. Just last year, the size of renewable electricity purchase deals was equal to generation capacity of 16 GW. By 2025, as REBA plans, it should grow to 60 GW. For context, the current installed wind power capacity in the United States is 94 GW, and solar capacity totaled 51 GW at the end of 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration. Related: Albertas Price-Correcting Plan Backfires Renewable energy buying by Apple, Disney, GM and their likes has been instrumental in driving the growth of renewable energy installations over the last decade. According to EIA data, this growth has been impressive: wind power capacity in 2008 was just 25 GW and solar was even worse off, at 1 GW of installed capacity. A consistent decline in costs and political and regulatory support have helped this growth as well. However, there are still political and regulatory obstacles in the way of new entrants into the renewable energy buying market, REBA founders say. One of its goals, therefore, would be to remove these barriers by sharing its members expertise in the field, built over the years since early adoption. Sealing a renewable energy deal, according to Googles Terrell, should be as easy as clicking a button. It is not, however, and the alliance will work to change this. Its likely we will see a lot more renewable power initiatives in the wake of an International Energy Agency report that found carbon emissions reached 33.1 gigatons last year, breaking their previous record. The record-breaking figure was a result of a sharp increase in energy demand globally, the IEAs Global Energy & CO2 Status Report said. Since energy demand will only continue to grow with a growing world population, renewable energy adoption would indeed have to accelerate and expand substantially if it is to make a lasting difference. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil companies will this year increase their investments in offshore drilling for the first time after five years of spending cuts as optimism for this segment of the industry returns and the spotlight shifts away from shale. Bloomberg quotes industry executives attending the Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference in Louisiana this week as saying the recovery in offshore drilling was already underway and not somewhere in the future. A big part of the reason is that offshore drilling in some parts of the world is now cheaper than drilling in the Permian. Hess Corps chief executive John Hess must have raised some shale-loving eyebrows at the conference when he compared the production costs of the Permian and its own Liza project offshore Guyana. To pump the equivalent of 120,000 bpd, Hess said, youd need to spend US$12.8 billion in the Permian versus US$3.7 billion in Guyana. While this stark difference is not universal across offshore prospects and fields, it certainly gives investors some food for thought. The offshore recovery is a sign of returning optimism for the long-term prospects of the industry as well. What fueled the first shale revolution was the fact that oil began flowing so much faster from fracked wells as compared with offshore ones: months versus years. Yet fracked wells also have shorter productive lives than offshore wells, and now investors seem to be beginning to remember this. Interestingly enough, its not just untapped prospects that are drawing attention. The Gulf of Mexicoand the North Sea as wellare also places of interest for oil and gas companies. Investors are thinking about being basin-agnostic again, and that at least gives us the opportunity to reintroduce the Gulf of Mexico, the chief executive of Talos Energy told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the event. Its allowing investors to just rethink under a new lens how they view offshore, and we have to take advantage of that opportunity. Related: A Perfect Coup Is Unfolding In Algeria Meanwhile, shale operators are tightening the strings of their purses again, with the few notable exceptions being Big Oil majors. Pressured by investors to bring in higher returns rather than more barrels of crude, independents are reducing their exploration spending in the shale patch. As a result, related projects are being shelved. Reuters reported earlier this week Magellan Midstream Partners had canceled its Permian Gulf Coast pipeline project that would have added 1 million bpd to pipeline capacity in the region. This capacity is necessary at the moment, but the Permian Gulf Coast pipeline would have only begun operating in the middle of next year when the additional capacity may not be needed as exploration investment shrinks. This seems like a sharp change of pace in the shale patch after months of complaints about a shortage of pipeline capacity amid growing production and forecasts that this production growth will continue. Apparently, the forecasts did not take into account shareholder priorities, which are invariably topped by returns. With the shale space already crowded and not as cheap as it was once, it makes sense that oil companies are looking offshore especially as the number of tenders in that space picks up as well and there are more opportunities to choose from. This pick-up in oil tenders for offshore deposits is evident across the globe, in legacy areas such as the Gulf Coast and Brazil but also in oil and gas hopefuls such as Guyana, which is turning into a hot spot as Hess and its partner in the Stabroek block make discovery after discovery. Offshore drilling is definitely coming out of the shadows of spending cuts. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: I suppose to most people, the definition of the perfect trade is one that makes you a ton of money, but without the benefit of a crystal ball that can identify those, I prefer another definition. To me, the perfect trade is one where fundamental and technical factors combine to suggest a trade with a very good chance of success, but where there exists an opportunity to severely limit, or even better still, eradicate losses should it not work out. Right now, it looks like there is such an opportunity in the volatile world of maritime shipping. Stocks in that industry have, probably deservedly, been receiving a bad rap lately. The massive swings in Dryships (DRYS) that followed a devastating series of reverse splits, for example, left many with the distinct impression that that stock was being manipulated. The swings were less drastic at Navios Maritime (NM), but there too, reverse split followed reverse split as the stock collapsed last year. In fact, pick almost any maritime shipping stock and glance at the chart, and it is quickly clear that there are desperate problems in the industry. Nor are these just recent problems, as this chart ably demonstrates (Click to enlarge) The long-term problems relate to over-commissioning and the resulting over-indebtedness in the industry in the run up to the last recession, while the more recent issues have come as global growth concerns have prompted a collapse in freight rates, as shown by the one-year chart for the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) below. (Click to enlarge) What the chart also shows, though, is that the BDI has been gradually edging up after hitting a bottom just below 600 in early February. There is of course no guarantee that it wont go lower, but that level has only been breached on two other occasions in the last five years, and each time has been followed by a rapid bounce back. And there is another fundamental factor that may give shipping stocks a short-term boost. Upcoming changes in the regulatory requirements for the fuel that ocean-going ships use is distorting that market. Even though it has led to a drop in inventories in expectation of reduced demand as the shift occurs, futures for the fuel are in backwardation, a situation that predicts falling prices. That is in anticipation of a shift to the new, lower Sulphur fuel but, for a while, it will just reduce costs for shippers. So, we have the prospect of higher rates and lower costs, even if it is just for a few months. The question is, how best to -play it. (Click to enlarge) Because of the look of the chart (above), my choice would be Scorpio Tankers (STNG). In some ways it is not a perfect fit as they are, as the name suggests, a tanker company rather than dry shipping, but if overall rates climb and fuel prices fall, they can still benefit, and the setup just looks too good to miss. As you can see, STNG has been a bit of a traders dream since the beginning of October, bouncing around within a range roughly defined by $15-22, which gives ample room for profit in both directions. We are now close to the top of that range but if, as the fundamental picture suggests, there is a chance of a near-term rally for shipping stocks, a breakout could come soon. If it does, the previous reliability of the range will help as there will be plenty of shorts near the top of the range to be squeezed. What makes this so appealing to me though, is what happens if we do start to drop back into the range. In that case, a drop close to the low looks most likely, so the preferred trade structure would be to buy here, just below $20, with a stop loss order for twice the amount at just below $18. That way, if STNG heads lower, you would be short, and if it reached $16, you could be out just about flat. When shorting, there is always a potential issue with availability of the stock and there are additional costs to consider, but STNG is fairly liquid, so it shouldnt be too much of an issue. Obviously, something like this would be a trade, not an investment. As such it involves significant risk and demands your attention, so if you arent comfortable with both of those things, its not for you. Still, it is an illustration of the kind of thing that if you are, you should be looking for: a trade with a fundamental basis and a technical setup that increases the chances of a rapid move yet allows for the possibility of you being wrong. Iran cant seem to get a break, at least as far as the U.S. is concerned. Yesterday, Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, told reporters in Singapore that Washington placed additional intense pressure on Iran this week. Its very important that these countries [Malaysia, Singapore, and others] have important visibility into the different ways the Iranian regime uses to deceive the international community in connection with shipment of oil, Mandelker said. She added that she would stress the inherent risks in dealing with Iran in meetings over coming days with government officials in Malaysia, Singapore, and India. This trip follows on the heels of additional intense pressure we have placed on Iran. In just the last week, we took action against nuclear scientists and agencies and other key personnel involved with the Iranian regimes past nuclear weapons entities, Mandelker said. We are making them radioactive to the international community. She added that action taken so far this week was also against a network involved in an Iranian sanctions evasion scheme, that includes Iran, the UA, and Turkey-based front companies. She added that the U.S. was also bringing maximum pressure on the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro. Trumps bulldog foreign policy approach Mendelkers comments come at a precarious time for President Donald Trump. On the one hand, he has been arguably successful using a tougher stance internationally than any of his predecessors dating back to the Reagan administration from 1981-1989. Trumps tough trade actions against China, for example, which has had sought bipartisan support in Washington, is bearing fruit and forcing Beijing to consider once thought non-negotiable systemic changes in how it does business, including claims of intellectual property rights theft and state support for its business sectors. In Venezuela, tough Trump action and fresh sanctions are hitting the government of Nicolas Maduro hard, particularly its ability to earn petrodollars, likely ushering in its demise. Trumps Iran policy is also hitting Iran so hard that its currency and economy are still floundering amid popular unrest, especially among younger Iranians. Related: Chinas Mad Scramble To Boost Domestic Oil Production On the other hand, these foreign policy decisions could also haunt the president as the 2020 election cycle nears. Due to Trumps tough stance against Iran and Venezuela, both major OPEC producers, ongoing support under oil prices is persisting. The loss of Iranian and Venezuelan barrels from global markets, along with the success of the current OPEC+ oil output deal is driving up oil prices near $70/barrel - a price point that Riyadh has indicated it is comfortable with. On Friday morning, oil prices for both London-traded global benchmark Brent, and U.S.-benchmark, NYMEX-traded West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were on track to post their largest first quarter in a decade, during the onset of the global financial crisis. During the first quarter of 2009, both oil benchmarks gained around 40 percent. WTI futures were at $59.56/barrel at 0211 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last settlement. WTI futures are set to rise for a fourth straight week and are set for a whopping first-quarter gain of 31 percent. Brent crude oil futures, for their part, were up 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $68.12/ barrel. Brent futures are set to increase by 1.7 percent for the week and are set to climb by 27 percent for the first quarter. Trumps murky waters The danger for Trump is that higher oil prices translate to higher gasoline prices, putting the president in the crosshairs of voters, particularly swing voters or those undecided, that could vote their pocketbooks next year instead of party loyalty. The national average price of gas hit $2.69 on Thursday, up 28 cents from a month ago and up 9 cents from a week ago, according to AAA. California has the highest average price in the nation at $3.57, according to AAA. Alabama is the cheapest at $2.41. Related: IMO2020: Can We Expect Extreme Price Shocks? Moreover, RBOB gasoline futures are surging 42 percent so far this year, a development that has prompted the president once again to turn to influence OPEC production. On Thursday, Trump tweeted Very important that OPEC increase the flow of Oil. World Markets are fragile, price of Oil getting too high. Thank you! However, its unlikely that OPEC, moreover OPECs de facto leader Saudi Arabia, will comply with Trumps tweets for mercy in global oil markets any time soon. The last time the Saudis complied with the presidents wishes, albeit via Twitter also, they were caught flat-footed when he issued several waivers for Iranian oil - a development that still disappoints the Saudis. This time, the president may be on his own when trying to sway global oil markets, and that proposition is not comforting for Trump supporters as 2020 nears. By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: " " Authorities gathered on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles after the discovery of Elisa Lam's body in the hotel's water tank. Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images When 21-year-old college student Elisa Lam was found dead in the water tank of the Cecil Hotel (now closed) in Los Angeles in 2013, the mysterious circumstances surrounding her case captured national attention. Her body was found after guests of the hotel complained about low water pressure and a strange taste, which led employees to investigate their water tanks. That's where they found Lam's body, floating naked, her clothes, watch and room key in the water beside her. Her cell phone was never found. The coroner listed her death as a drowning. Lam traveled to Los Angeles from Vancouver alone, and went missing from her Cecil Hotel room soon after she arrived. After a week searching for leads, the Los Angeles Police Department released a video of her last known whereabouts: security camera footage from inside the hotel's elevator. It was this video that sparked interest from amateur internet sleuths because of her seemingly strange behavior: Lam pushes the buttons for several floors at once, then appears to hesitantly poke her head into the hallway and look quickly back and forth before backing into the elevator and ducking into the corner. Advertisement The elevator door does not close. She pokes her head out again, then leaves the elevator altogether. She stands to the side and gesticulates strangely with her hands as if talking to someone, though no one else can be seen on the video. Finally, Lam leaves the scene entirely, and the elevator doors close. Some viewers think her behavior could be explained away as possible psychedelic drug use, while others say she could have been trying to hide from a pursuer. Her death has even been linked to the Korean elevator game, a ritual of pressing buttons on an elevator in a certain order to reach another dimension. The most plausible explanation is that Lam had bipolar disorder, and according to her autopsy, had only taken her prescribed stimulant medications but neither of her stabilizers. This may have led to a manic episode, which can cause some bipolar sufferers to experience hallucinations or psychosis. If Lam had a manic episode, it's possible she thought someone was following her, perhaps causing her to hide in the water tank for safety. This doesn't satisfy everyone, however. The hotel's water tanks are not easy to access; they are located on the roof of the Cecil, and only hotel staff keys unlock the doors to the roof. Lam could have used the fire escape to get onto the roof, but those trigger alarms and hotel staff say they never heard the alarms go off. Also, the openings to the water tanks are 10 feet (3 meters) up, and require a ladder to reach, but there were none around the night Lam ended up inside. The lid to the tank also was not hinged, leading some to wonder how the lid was closed if she got in of her own accord. Then there's the Cecil itself, a hotel with a storied and gory reputation. Notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez aka the Nightstalker lived there in 1984 while he killed 13 people. There were also several suicides, including one where the victim fell on top of a pedestrian, killing them both. This grisly past only helped fuel the paranormal theories, buttressed by Lam's unsettling behavior in the video. Even the footage itself is a focus of some conspiracy theorists, who allege that the time stamp in the bottom of the frame skips forward, as if a minute of footage were removed. It is also noted that at times while Lam appears to speak to someone, her mouth is pixelated, obscuring her words. Finally, in an even more bizarre coincidence, it was discovered that a tuberculosis drug was being studied nearby the Cecil. The name of the drug? LAM-ELISA. While nothing has been found connecting Lam or her death with the tuberculosis study, this was just one more in a series of strange circumstances that ensures that Elisa Lam's death will be a source of fascination and speculation for a long time to come. Advertisement Originally Published: Jun 27, 2017 " " Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival, which came under deadly gunfire on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker/Getty Images A mall. A church. A nightclub. These are now what we know as "soft targets." Not that long ago soft target was one just a term used by military, federal or police operations. But it's, sadly, entered everyday terminology. These soft targets are considered any public place where security is limited and are potentially populated by a high number of victims. "Active shooter" is another head-shaker in today's lexicon: Its definition is someone with a gun or guns, trying to kill as many people as possible a mass shooting. And these shootings seem to be happening more often in the U.S., and in places that are considered safe. A movie theater. A sporting event. A music festival. And that's where the latest shooter took aim. He booked a hotel room in Las Vegas overlooking the Route 91 Harvest festival, and killed 58 people and injured hundreds more on Oct. 1, 2017 in what was apparently a methodically designed plan. Even though the chances of dying in a mass shooting (a shooting where four or more are killed at once) are low just one in 15,325 according to a data analysis by Business Insider staying vigilant when visiting these so-called soft targets, especially if the unthinkable happens, could save your life. Advertisement 1. Stay Alert First of all, it's important to be prepared. Not paranoid and not terrified, says Paul Merritt, owner of Fortress Consulting, which specializes in helping businesses guard themselves against active-shooter situations. "You can't walk around thinking the sky is going to fall," he says. But be prepared. "First of all, these [shootings] are extremely rare occurrences," Merritt says. "But understand: Things do happen and can happen." This is actually the important first step in maintaining your safety. Once you come to grips with the idea that you might one day find yourself in an active-shooter situation, Merritt says, you take precautions. Merritt likens preparing for an active-shooter situation to fire drills. Yes, fires exist. No, you are not likely to die in a fire. Still, it's smart to be prepared for what to do should a fire break out in your home or office building. Advertisement 2. Always Be Situationally Aware When you fly on a plane, for instance, flight attendants tell you where the exits are located. Do the same when you're at the mall or the movie theater. Look around as you shop or before the movie begins. Where are the exits? Where did you come in? Having an idea of your location will come in handy if a worst-case scenario unfolds. Advertisement 3. Deny Denial Merritt says one of the most common responses from people when they hear gunfire? "They assume it's fireworks," he says. "But that's denial kicking in." If you think about it, there are very few places in which you will encounter fireworks. A crowded soft target is not one of them. Assume it's gunfire, and make your next decision. Advertisement 4. Move and Create Distance Many of the helpless victims at the Las Vegas music festival could do little but duck or lie down. They had no choice. But Merritt maintains this is an anomaly. In most shootings, people have room to run or hide. First note where the gunfire is coming from, and move as quickly as possible in the opposite direction, toward the nearest exit (that you previously noticed). Do not lie down, if at all possible. "It makes you an easily available target for the shooter," Merritt says. "Create distance from the bad guy ... A moving target is harder to hit." If you cannot move quickly, find the nearest hiding place. "Get out of the view of the shooter," Merritt says. And silence your cell phone. Text people, instead, to let them know your location and whether you need help getting to safety. Advertisement 5. Leave and Keep Going Once you've removed yourself from danger, run and don't stop going. Call 911, but keep moving until you are completely out of the area. If you can help others without endangering yourself, do so. If you can't leave and are stuck in a hiding place that is safe, stay there until authorities arrive. This could take minutes or hours, but stay hidden. Merritt offers one last piece of advice, and it's another head-shaking reminder of the times we live in: Learn to use a tourniquet. You never know when you'll be called upon to use this skill. Stories have emerged from Las Vegas, and other shootings, in which proper application of a tourniquet stopped or slowed a victim's bleeding and it saved someone's life. Merritt says he keeps one tourniquet in his car, and one at home. "Hopefully," he says, "I'll never need to use one." Now That's Scary The Vegas shooter had 12 semi-automatic rifles equipped with aftermarket attachments called bump fire stocks. They're currently legal in the United States because they don't "alter" the actual weapon. But they do increase the speed at which weapons can fire to simulate fully automatic rifles. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he began a visit to Israel on Sunday and announced a new Jerusalem trade office, but his pledge to move the embassy was on hold. Netanyahu has been hoping Bolsonaro would follow through on his controversial promise to move the embassy to the disputed city, giving the Israeli premier a boost just ahead of April 9 elections. The two leaders instead spoke of opening a Brazilian trade, technology and innovation office there and Netanyahu expressed hope a bigger announcement was not far off. "I'm going to tell you a secret: I hope that this is a first step toward the opening, when the time comes, of a Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said as they gave pre-dinner statements to journalists. Bolsonaro will walk a diplomatic tightrope during the three-day visit as he seeks to shore up ties with Netanyahu while avoiding angering key Arab trade partners. Months after promising to move the embassy -- a step already taken by US President Donald Trump -- Bolsonaro has yet to announce a timetable. Speaking to reporters Thursday, he suggested he was in no hurry to make a decision. "Trump took nine months to decide, to give his final word, so that the embassy was transferred," Bolsonaro said. Moving the embassy would please Bolsonaro's evangelical Christian support base, but would also risk provoking commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat. The Palestinian leadership froze contacts with the White House after Trump's move. - Western Wall visit - Bolsonaro is expected to visit Jerusalem's Western Wall alongside Netanyahu on Monday -- a controversial move in itself. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall with an Israeli premier. The site, one of the holiest in Judaism, is in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in a move never recognised by the international community. It could be taken as tacit approval of Israel's sovereignty over the site. On Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu and Bolsonaro met at the premier's Jerusalem office and the two countries signed six agreements on areas including defence cooperation, public safety and technology. Earlier in the day at an airport welcoming ceremony, Netanyahu said "we are making history together," adding that they had "opened a new era in relations between our two countries". Bolsonaro spoke of his Christian faith and why the trip was moving for him for that reason, noting a previous pilgrimage to the Jordan River, as well as improving ties. "My government is firmly resolved to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and Israel," he said. "Cooperation in the areas of security and defence is also of great interest to Brazil." Netanyahu became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Brazil when he travelled there for Bolsonaro's January 1 inauguration. In their discussions then, the two right-wingers talked up their budding "brotherhood" which they said would boost military, economic, technological and agricultural cooperation. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz in Israel's elections, whilst also facing indictment on corruption allegations. Pompeo's visit this month and Netanyahu's trip to the United States to meet Trump last week -- cut short due to a flare-up in the Gaza Strip -- were widely seen as boosting his campaign. He has sought to present himself as Israel's essential statesman, and Bolsonaro's visit may include similar rhetoric. Both Netanyahu and Bolsonaro have good relations with Trump. During the Brazilian leader's visit to Washington this month, the US president heaped praise on Bolsonaro, announcing a special relationship that he said could even see the Latin American country join NATO. For years Bolsonaro was little more than a marginal congressman, but his Trump-like campaign in 2018, promising to combat corruption and end politics as usual, propelled him to a surprise victory. burs-mjs/del More than 100 international hotel chains are expected to invest over P23 billion in the Philippines in the next three years, according to the Philippine Franchise Association. Based on our estimates, there will be additional of at least 23,000 new rooms in the next three years. These will be more of the international hotel chain franchises. About 120 hotels will be built in the next three years, Philippine Franchise Association chairman emeritus Samie Lim said over the weekend at the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2019. Lim said the big players in the hotel industry such as the European Mercure Hotel chain were keen on expanding in the Philippines. American hotel brands such as Madison, Marriott and Hilton were also expanding in the country, he said. Asian hotel brands are also coming in, such as the popular capsule hotels in Japan. Lim said of the cities in Metro Manila, Quezon City would likely host a big percentage of hotel expansion projects. He said other tourism destinations in the Philippines were experiencing a rebirth of hotels as the industry expects more hoteliers to flock to Baguio, Cebu, Bohol and Clark.Mactan in Cebu will be developed as a prime tourist destination which explains the big interest of investors to build hotels in the city, Lim said. Laoag seems to be a laggard. We try to get them to catch up. There are too many opportunities available for this city, he said. Lim said the hotel industry could have another 23,000 to 40,000 new rooms over the next three years. He said the hotel expansion in provincial megacities was an effect of the creation of more international and local airports as gateways to the countrys tourism destinations. Right now, 68 percent of hotels in the Philippines are family- or corporation-owned. In three years, foreign hotels will dominate the hotel industry with at least 65-percent share, Lim said. THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has removed over 650,000 campaign materials all over Metro Manila.NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar urged the candidates to also do their THE Philippine National Police (PNP) welcomed on Sunday, March 31 the investigation launched by the European Union (EU) on the allegations that funding being provided to a local non-profit organization is being diverted to the communist rebels in the Philippines. Well ito ay isang positibong development at kung talagang maputol ang lahat ng mga linya ng financial assistance dito sa communist terrorists ay malaki talaga ang matutulong nito sa pagkakaroon natin ng lasting peace dito sa ating bansa at sinusunulong na nga natin maging ang pamahalaan, PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said. Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for operations Brigadier General Antonio Parlade said he submitted several subversive documents, videos and other evidences to the EU to prove that Karapatan, IBON Foundation, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and other activist groups which receives funding from the EU has links to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) New Peoples Army (NPA) that is considered as a terrorist group. In a statement on Saturday, March 31, the EU said they will conduct investigation, including financial audit. Should the allegations be established, the EU immediately would take full legal action, he said. However, it said that based on initial audit, the allegations of the military has not yet been verified. AFP spokesperson Brigadier-General Edgard Arevalo believed the government will succeed in proving the case against the front organizations of the CPP-NPA chaired by Jose Mari Sison. (SunStar Philippines) In southern Poland, municipal police make spot checks on homes where people are illegally burning highly-polluting rubbish Puffs of yellowish grey-and-black smoke billowing out of household chimneys create a blanket of smog choking the southern Polish mining town of Rybnik, one of the most polluted places in the European Union. Although it's early spring, the weather is wintry and Ewa Kempny is still shovelling coal into an antiquated stove to heat her home. "What do you want us to use for heat here? Coal is the cheapest fuel," says the forty-something mother to the two unexpected visitors in her cellar. "It would be far too expensive to hook up natural gas or to connect to the town's central heating network." Municipal police charged with sniffing out residents illegally burning highly-polluting rubbish like plastic, rubber or wood-plastic composites have turned up on her doorstep following an anonymous tip-off about the odd colour of smoke emerging from her chimney. "Whether rich or poor, people burn MDF boards, Tetra packs or plastic bottles," explains Katarzyna Klosok, as she checks the ashes in Kempny's stove and the bills for the coal she has bought. "The day we have wages like in western EU countries, we'll heat with natural gas," says Jan Kilian, a retired miner at another Rybnik home where the patrol showed up after receiving a complaint. The patrol also tells homeowners their antiquated coal stoves will have to be replaced with modern, cleaner-burning models by 2021. Local police are warning residents that they need to replace their antiquated coal stoves by 2021 A ban on sales of the most polluting stoves was only imposed last year but the low-quality coal which is the main source of smog is still being sold. "Coal, the main culprit behind smog, isn't banned," says Oliwer Palarz, a father of two and local activist with the "Smog Alarm" NGO. 'Trapped inside' Despite efforts to go green, Poland is still betting on coal, both from its own deposits and imports, as its main source of energy for at least the next decade. Seventy percent of Polish households burn heavily-polluting low-quality coal or rubbish in old stoves for heating. Antiquated coal-fired power plants also generate nearly all of Poland's electricity, giving it some of the highest carbon emissions in the EU. The European Environmental Agency (EEA) also blames air pollutioncaused in large part by the burning of coalfor an estimated 50,000 premature deaths per year in this country of 38 million people. "Smog keeps me trapped inside all winter, I can't do outdoor sports, jog or bike, and above all, I can't take my kids out for a walk because the smog would damage their health," says Palarz. Despite efforts to go green, Poland is still betting on coal as its main source of energy for at least the next decade On the odd day, a strong southerly wind clears out the smog but such breezy days are exceedingly rare, says Jacek Szczepanski, head of Rybnik's municipal crisis management centre that checks pollution levels around the clock. Each morning he notifies local schools about whether the air quality is safe for children to play outside. "Today at 7:00 am, the level of PM10 (fine particulate matter) was 40 micrograms per cubic metre and therefore below the limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre, so children go outside," he told AFP. A green smiley-face posted at the entrance of the school lets kids know the air quality is good, but a red face means they will have to stay indoors. Orange and yellow smiley-faces mean that children ought not to venture outside, especially those with asthma. 'Move away' Schools close when the daily average of fine PM10 particles exceeds 200 micrograms per cubic metre. In January 2017, schools closed for two days when the average daily level of PM10 fine particles surged to 548 micrograms per cubic meter. Oliwer Palarz, an activist with the Smog Alarm NGO, lodged Poland's first legal complaint against the state, alleging his right to a healthy environment had been violated By February 20, Rybnik had already exceeded EU norms allowing only 35 days per year of pollution above a threshold of 50 micrograms per cubic metre. Desperate for change, Palarz lodged Poland's first legal complaint against the state, alleging that his right to a healthy environment had been violated. The presiding judge rejected the complaint, saying that Palarz "could move away" from Rybnik. "By that logic, the whole town should move," Palarz told AFP. He has appealed. In Poland's capital Warsaw, actress Grazyna Wolszczak followed his example and won her case against the state for jeopardising her health by failing to curb pollution, a first in Poland. While in Rybnik coal may be the main source of pollution, in Warsaw and other big cities, exhaust fumes from cars, especially those with diesel engines are primarily to blame for smog. Although many cities in neighbouring Germany have banned diesel engines, Poland has seen imports of used diesel cars soaring in recent years. Last year, more than one million used cars were imported to Poland, half of which were older diesel models. Explore further Coal-loving Poland struggles with killer smog 2019 AFP In the world's coldest capital, many burn coal and plastic just to survive temperatures as low as minus 40 degreesbut warmth comes at a price: deadly pollution makes Ulaanbataar's air too toxic for children to breathe, leaving parents little choice but to evacuate them to the countryside. This exodus is a stark warning of the future for urban areas in much of Asia, where scenes of citizens in anti-pollution masks against a backdrop of brown skies are becoming routine, rather than apocalyptic. Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities on the planet, alongside New Delhi, Dhaka, Kabul, and Beijing. It regularly exceeds World Health Organisation recommendations for air quality even as experts warn of disastrous consequences, particularly for children, including stunted development, chronic illness, and in some cases death. Erdene-Bat Naranchimeg watched helplessly as her daughter Amina battled illness virtually from birth, her immune system handicapped by the smog-choked air in Mongolia's capital. "We would constantly be in and out of the hospital," Naranchimeg told AFP, adding that Amina contracted pneumonia twice at the age of two, requiring several rounds of antibiotics. This is not a unique case in a city where winter temperatures plunge towards uninhabitable, particularly in the districts that rural workers moved to in search of a better life. Here row upon row of the traditional tentsknown as gersare warmed by coal, or any other flammable material available. The resulting thick black smoke shoots out in plumes, blanketing surrounding areas in a film of smog that makes visibility so poor it can be hard to see even a few metres ahead. Hospitals are packed and young children are vulnerable, common colds can quickly escalate into life-threatening illness. Birth defects The situation was so bad that doctors told Naranchimeg the only solution was to send her little girl to the clean air of the countryside. Now aged five, Amina is thriving. She lives with her grandparents in Bornuur Sum, a village 135 kilometres away from the capital. "She hasn't been sick since she started living here," said Naranchimeg, who makes the three-hour round trip to see Amina every week. "It was very difficult in the first few months," she said. "We used to cry when we talked on the phone." But like many parents in Ulaanbaatar, she felt the move was the only way to protect her child. The levels of PM2.5tiny and harmful particlesin Ulaanbaatar reached 3,320 in January, 133 times what the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers safe. The effects are terrible for adults but children are even more at risk, in part because they breathe faster, taking in more air and pollutants. As they are smaller, children are also closer to the ground, where some pollutants concentrate, and their still-developing lungs, brains, and other key organs are more vulnerable to damage. Effects to prolonged exposure range from persistent infections and asthma to slowed lung and brain development. The risks apply in utero, too, because gases and fine particles can enter a mother's bloodstream and placenta, causing miscarriage, birth defects and low birth weights, which can also affect a child for the rest of their lives. Researchers are now investigating whether pollution, like exposure to tobacco smoke, has health effects that could even be passed down to the next generation. 'Terribly afraid' Buyan-Ulzii Badamkhand and her husband need to stay in the capital for work, but they have decided to send their two-year-old son Temuulen more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away. The 35-year-old mother-of-three struggled with the decision, even moving from one ger district to another in the hope her son's health would improve. But successive bouts of illness, including bronchitis that lasted a whole year, finally convinced her to send Temuulen to his grandparents. Hours after he arrived, she called her mother-in-law to discuss her son's medicines. "But my mother-in-law asked me 'does he still need medicine? He isn't coughing anymore," she said. "I tell myself that it doesn't matter that I miss him and who raises him, as long as he is healthy, I am content." Respiratory problems are the most obvious effect of air pollution, but research suggests dirty air can also put children at greater risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. And the WHO links it to leukaemia and behavioural disorders. When air pollution peaks in winter, Ulaanbaatar's playgrounds empty and those who are able to are increasingly travelling abroad to wait out the smog. In desperation, Luvsangombo Chinchuluun, a civil society activist, borrowed money to take her granddaughter to Thailand for all of January. "We can't let her play outside (in Ulaanbaatar) because of the air pollution, so we decided to leave," she said. The persistent smog has caused tensions in the city, with those living in wealthier areas blaming the ger residents for the pollution and even calling for the tent districts to be cleared. But the ger residents say coal is all they can afford. "People come to the capital because they need sustainable income," said Dorjdagva Adiyasuren, a 54-year-old mother of six. "It's not their fault," she added. In a bid to tackle the problem, the local government banned domestic migration in 2017, and a ban on burning coal comes into force from May. But it is unclear whether the moves will be enough to make a difference. For Naranchimeg, the problems are serious enough to make her consider whether she wants more children. She explained: "Now, I am terribly afraid of to give birth again. It is risky to carry a child and what will happen to the child after it is born in this amount of pollution?" Explore further Toxic air tears apart families in Mongolia 2019 AFP 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. Malacanang on Sunday described Jude Sabio, the lawyer who filed acommunication before the International Criminal Court accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of committing crimes against humanity, as hallucinating after the former claimed he was being harassed by the administration. Sabio, in a television interview, claimed he was in a self-imposed hiding after a Trece Martires court ordered his arrest for deficiency in his Mandatory Continuing Legal Education. He also claimed there is a very serious threat to his life after he went to The Hague to lodge his complaint. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, however, denied a warrant of arrest for deficiency in MCLE exists. He is hallucinating and just wants to publicize himself. There is no such animal as a warrant of arrest for a deficiency in the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, Panelo said. I suggest you check the arrest warrant, it must be in connection with a criminal case filed against him and not due deficiency in the MCLE, he added. In 2018, Sabio filed his certificate of candidacy to run but the Commission on Elections declared him as a nuisance candidate.Malacanang on Sunday described Jude Sabio, the lawyer who filed acommunication before the International Criminal Court accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of committing crimes against humanity, as hallucinating after the former claimed he was being harassed by the administration. Sabio, in a television interview, claimed he was in a self-imposed hiding after a Trece Martires court ordered his arrest for deficiency in his Mandatory Continuing Legal Education. He also claimed there is a very serious threat to his life after he went to The Hague to lodge his complaint. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, however, denied a warrant of arrest for deficiency in MCLE exists. He is hallucinating and just wants to publicize himself. There is no such animal as a warrant of arrest for a deficiency in the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, Panelo said. I suggest you check the arrest warrant, it must be in connection with a criminal case filed against him and not due deficiency in the MCLE, he added. In 2018, Sabio filed his certificate of candidacy to run but the Commission on Elections declared him as a nuisance candidate. 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 A transport official has assured motorcycle riders the implementing rules and regulations of a law requiring bigger motorcycle number plates will undergo public consultation. Land Transportation Office chief Edgar Galvante made the assurance following criticisms from motorcycle riders who opposed the newly signed Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act. To those who have concerns over the implementation of this law, especially riders, just think-what can you do to help? If you show a good example of following the law, others will be encouraged to do the same, Galvez said. We just want to reiterate, in crafting the IRR of this law, we will ask about your experiences, your knowledge, so that you can suggest how we can make the implementation of this law more effective, he added. Last week, thousands of motorcycle riders staged a unity ride along Edsa in Quezon City and other parts of the country to protest the requirement for bigger license plates.Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan said aside from preventing crimes, the new law will also help protect motorcycle riders from road activities. We have to act on all of these deaths. We have these plates that are visibleits for your own protection, Ablan said. The new law mandates the LTO to produce bigger number plates that are readable from the front, back, and side of the motorcycle from a distance of at least 15 meters. Law enforcers can apprehend motorcycle riders and seize their vehicles if it does not have the proper number plate. The motorcycle's owner can only retrieve it after complying with the requirement. Senator Aquilino Pimentel III has filed a bill seeking to ban the importation of solid waste into the country, saying the Philippines is not a dumping site of more advanced nations. Pimentel lamented the Philippines is "well in the path" of being known as a country in the "global waste trade" as evidenced by two incidents of trash dumping in 2017 and 2018. Senate Bill No. 2144 proposes to ban the importation of trash even by recyclers located in Special Economic Zones. Under the bill, any entity or person who imports any solid waste or otherwise use, treat or process the same in violation of the act, faces imprisonment of 12 years and one day to 20 years depending upon the discretion of the court. In case the offender is a foreigner, he or she shall be deported and barred from any subsequent entry into the Philippines. In the event the offender is a corporation, association or other entities, the penalty shall be imposed upon the managing partner, prewsident or chief executive officer, in addition to the payment of an exemplary damage of at least P500,000.If it is a foreign entity, the director and all its responsible officers shall be barred from entry to the Philippines, in addition to the cancellation of its license to do business in the Philippines. Pimentel also said that if the offender is a government official or employee, the penalties of automatic dismissal from office and permanent disqualification from holding any elective or appointive position shall be imposed, in addition to the penalties provided in the act. A person or a firm responsible for or connected with the unlawful importation of solid waste shall have the obligation to send back to the port of origin the prohibited wastes. "It is our Constitutional duty and inter-generational responsibility to protect and advance the right of the people to a balance and healthful ecology," Pimentel said. Former Senate President and returning senatorial candidate Juan Ponce Enrile vowed to scrutinize watered down laws to protect consumers and thereby drive down the high prices of goods that continue to burden Filipinos. I am against monopolies. I am against cartelization, the four-term senator said in an interview. As the first legislator to introduce the anti-trust law in the Philippines, Enrile said he had already pushed for consumer protection in his previous Senate term. That is why I filed an anti-trust law. I drafted it myself, combining the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Clayton Act and all the anti-trust, anti-monopoly laws of the United States. I improved on what the United States has, Enrile shared. Enrile cited that what is now known as Republic Act No. 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act is a watered down version of his original proposal. Now, it cannot work. We have to go back and refine the law. I will review that again to see whether it is effective as a protection for the consumers of the country, Enrile said, adding:I am going to see to it that the consumers are protected. Among the industries which he plans to focus on are electricity and telecommunications, two sectors which he had already scrutinized in his previous terms as senator and Senate president. We have to review the cost of electricity especially the cost of generation, Enrile shared. The lawmaker also hit at the very inefficient and very inexpensive telecommunications system which continues to burden Filipinos with slow speeds and high subscription costs. We will have to exercise legislative power [to address these problems]. [We can do that through] inquiries in aid of legislation, Enrile pointed out. "I would like to say 'This book is written to the glory of God', but nowadays this would be the trick of a cheat, i.e., it would not be correctly understood."--Ludwig Wittgenstein "Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand."--C.S. Lewis House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to address the pressing issues in the world. She said China was not a threat but instead a partner in development. The world must look at Chinas rise as an opportunity rather than a threat, Arroyo said. With China poised to become the worlds leading economy, developing countries including the Philippines should further boost their ties with Beijing instead of looking at it as a competitor or a threat, Arroyo said Thursday night. Arroyo, who attended the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan, China, said China through the years had proven wrong the negative notions of its policies toward reform, and that it had become a partner in development as a result of its opening up. Arroyo is a member of the board of BFA, which gathers together leaders in government, business and academic institutions throughout Asia to share their thoughts on the most pressing issues in the region and the world.Arroyo and Li met at the Boao Forum for Asia. She said their discussion mainly covered the direction China was taking on its 40th year of reforms and its relationship with the rest of the world. The meeting was one of the highlights of the BFA Annual Conference 2019. During the meeting, Arroyo cited Chinas leadership in promoting Globalization V.2 or the Belt and Road Initiative aimed to foster cooperation and development. She praised the Chinese leaderships implementation of Deng Xiaopings socialism with Chinese characteristics, saying Chinas remarkable growth particularly in the past two decades showed the world that no development model could be applied universally, and that the diversity of historical conditions would determine the development paths that countries could choose. The U.S. administration is trying to pressure foreign commodity traders and refiners to suspend their trades with Venezuelan oil in the latest push against the Maduro government. The information comes from unnamed sources that spoke to Reuters. Such deals are not covered by the latest U.S. sanctions, which is why, apparently, Washington is contacting the buyers directly. According to the sources, the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control had told the traders and refiners that any sort of a deal, be it direct, indirect, or even a barter deal, would be punished as a breach of sanctions despite these only concerning U.S. entities. This is how the United States operates these days. They have written rules and then they call you to explain that there are also unwritten rules that they want you to follow, one of the sources said. The Trump administration is prioritizing the suspension of sales of diluents to Venezuelas troubled state oil company, Reuters notes. PDVSA needs the diluents to make its extra-heavy crude liquid enough to load on tankers for export. The Reuters report comes days after Indias Reliance Industries said it had stopped supplying PDVSA with diluents from its U.S.-based subsidiary to avoid sanction violation. However, it said it would continue selling the refined products to the Venezuelan company from its Asian and European subsidiaries. Related: Greed Is Ruling The Markets Once Again The push against oil traders and refiners comes amid a loss of momentum in opposition leader Juan Guaidos rise to power. Guaido established control over PDVSAs U.S. business Citgo earlier this month with the help of Washington and received access to the companys coffers. This should have financed the oppositions efforts to overthrow the Maduro government, but for now these efforts are not yielding any results despite the strong support of the United States. Venezuelan oil exports fell to less than a million barrels daily in the first four weeks after the latest sanctions came into effect in January. Thats down from more than 1.5 million bpd in December. Exports to the United States have fallen to zero as a result of the sanctions, but Venezuela is still shipping oil to Russia and China, as well as India. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Americas fourth-largest bank, Wells Fargo & Co, earned itself the dubious distinction in 2016 as one of the most scandalous financial institutions in the land after it emerged that it had systematically opened millions of fake accounts for its clients. Twenty-three months later, the banks reputation has continued to sink amid a steady stream of scandals; and now its a shakeup. And now, the man who replaced the CEO who oversaw much of the rot has become the firms fall-guy. Wells Fargo CEO and President Timothy J. Sloan has written to the board and informed them of his decision to immediately step down and then retire from the company, effective June 30, 2019. Sloan,58, was appointed CEO in October 2016 after his predecessor, John Stumpf, resigned amid intense backlash following the infamous scandal. Sloan, however, has struggled to improve the companys standing in the eyes of the public, with Congress and politicians constantly breathing down his neck. Last years $2-billion fine by the Department of Justice for sale of faulty residential mortgage loans that led to the foreclosure of hundreds of clients was probably the biggest shocker under his watch, though it dates back to well before his reign. Sloan will be replaced on an interim basis by the companys general counsel, C. Allen Parker. Parker, 64, is a lawyer at one of Wall Streets leading law firms. He was one of more than 10 senior hires that the company brought from outside as it sought to clean up its tainted image. Related: Return Of The Government Shutdown May Be Inevitable Wells Fargo shares are down 2.2 percent a day after the development. Cleaning up the mess To his credit, Sloan did manage to overhaul the banks incentive system and cleaned up much of the former mess by ousting as string of middle-and high-level managers. Sloan launched a campaign dubbed Re-Established that laid out the banks commitment to doing things right and even publicly apologized for its former transgressions. He is credited as having centralized risk, compliance and human-resource functions and also set up a unit that oversaw staff conduct and ethics. He overhauled the board, with Betsy Duke , former Fed member of the Board of Governors, serving as independent chair. He even frequently traveled to Capitol Hill to face lawmakers and their tough questions and also update them on the banks progress. Sloan earned props from his own board for tightening internal oversight, unearthing and fixing many past problems. Just a week ago, the board reiterated its full support for the fallen CEO. You can read a comprehensive list of Wells Fargos past scandals here. Doomed to fail Yet, he was probably doomed to fail right from the start. Although he was not directly responsible for overseeing retail operations that created the 3.5 million customer accounts without their consent, his 31-year tenure at the firm made it difficult for him to extricate himself from a culture that allowed such grievous misdeeds to thrive. Sloan has had to contend with hostile lawmakers who felt he was not doing nearly enough to fix the deep-rooted malaise at the 166-year old bank. Hes had to face a litany of calls for his ouster, notably from Democrat presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth Warren. The pressure from politicians has been unrelenting. Democrat Maxine Waters said he should be fired and denied a bonus during Sloans most recent appearance before the House Financial Services Committee. Fed Chair Jerome Powell together with the Office of the Comptroller have expressed alarm at the deep problems at the bank and the lack of sufficient measures to address them. Related: Greed Is Ruling The Markets Once Again Interestingly, fellow board member, Warren Buffett, has been one of those who have celebrated Sloans resignation: About damn time, Warren wrote on Twitter. He enabled Wells Fargos massive fake accounts scam, got rich off it, & then helped cover it up. Now -- lets make sure all the people hurt by Wells Fargos scams get the relief theyre owed. Asset-cap constraint The fact that Wells Fargo shares have actually sunk after Sloan stepped down tells you the market probably recognizes that the problems at the bank are systemic and not something that politics can resolve. The shares have cratered 21 percent since January 2018 and gone practically nowhere over the past five years: (Click to enlarge) Source: CNN Money Despite making some progress in its image cleanup campaign, Wells Fargo is far from being out of the woods. Past workers say the same culture that pushed them to commit fraud remains alive and well. Meanwhile, the company remains under an asset-cap constraint by the Fed which prevents it from increasing its assets beyond their 2017 level until it can adequately address its past missteps. Consequently, lending and deposit growth has lagged that by rivals Bank of America and JPMorgan. Sloans critics and lawmakers have gotten their pound of flesh. Its going to be interesting to see whether his successor will be able to meet their rapacious demands or last longer than Sloans 2.5 years. By Michael Scott for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: To err is human, to forgive is divine. However, if you get a recipe from the experience, its delicious. Case in point: A couple years ago Orcutt reader Karen Munch spotted an omission in the Spoon and dropped me a line, and a tasty recipe. 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. Microsoft this week announced that it had taken control of 99 domains used by an Iran-linked APT group tracked by the company as Phosphorus. Microsoft has recently announced that it had taken control of 99 domains used by an Iran-linked APT group tracked by the tech giant as Phosphorus (aka APT35, Charming Kitten, NewsBeef, Newscaster and Ajax Security Team). Today, court documents were unsealed detailing work Microsofts Digital Crimes Unit has executed to disrupt cyberattacks from a threat group we call Phosphorus also known as APT 35, Charming Kitten, and Ajax Security Team which is widely associated with Iranian hackers. reads the announcement published by Microsoft. Our court case against Phosphorus, filed in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. , resulted in a court order enabling us last week to take control of 99 websites the group uses to conduct its hacking operations so the sites can no longer be used to execute attacks. The Newscaster group made the headlines in 2014 when experts at iSight issued a report describing the most elaborate net-based spying campaign organized by Iranian hackers using social media. Microsoft has been tracking the threat actors at least since 2013, but experts believe that the cyberespionage group has been active since at least 2011. In past campaigns, the APT group launched spear-phishing attacks against activists and journalists focusing on the Middle East, US organizations, and entities located in Israel, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Microsoft took control of the domains used by Phosphorus after filing a legal complaint in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. against two John Does that are allegedly behind the groups operations. Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) has sued Defendants John Does 1-2 associated with the Internet domains listed below. reads the notice of pleadings. Microsoft alleges that Defendants have violated Federal and state law by hosting a cybercriminal operation through these Internet domains, causing unlawful intrusion into Microsoft and Microsofts customers computers and computing devices The court order obtained by Microsoft authorized the company to seize the domains and redirect traffic from compromised devices to a sinkhole. The domains attempt to mimic legitimate services belonging to Microsoft and other legitimate online services, such as LinkedIn and Yahoo. The list of seized domains includes verification-live.com, outlook-verify.net, myaccount-services.net, verify-linkedin.net, and yahoo-verify.net. The threat actors used the websites to serve malware to the victims, they also sent out emails alerting recipients of a security risk in order to trick them into handing over their account credentials. While weve used daily security analytics tracking to stop individual Phosphorus attacks and notify impacted customers, the action we executed last week enabled us to take control of websites that are core to its operations, continues Microsoft. Our work to track Phosphorus over multiple years and observe its activity enabled us to build a decisive legal case and execute last weeks action with confidence we could have significant impact on the groups infrastructure. The case against Phosphorus APT is similar to cases Microsoft filed against the Strontium APT group. The company confirmed to have used this approach 15 times to take control of 91 fake websites associated with Russia-linked Strontium group. Strontium Microsoft revealed last month that the Russia-linked APT28 group targeted 104 accounts belonging to the employees of democratic organizations in various European countries. Pierluigi Paganini ( SecurityAffairs Phosphorus APT, hacking) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On Student SCOTUS preview part three: mapping out likely votes after oral argument in US v. Haymond | Main | "Searching for A Kardashian: Kim helped get clemency for Alice Johnson, who will help me?" March 31, 2019 Federal judge rules ADA requires Maine jail to provide woman with access to medication-assisted treatment during her 40-day term As explained in this ACLU posting, a US District Court judge in Maine issued a notable ruling last week about prisoner rights and the ADA. Here are the basics from the posting: In a landmark decision, a federal judge has ordered the Aroostook County Jail to provide a Madawaska woman with access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for her opioid use disorder during her 40-day jail sentence, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. The 28-page ruling comes in the case of Brenda Smith, who uses physician-prescribed buprenorphine to keep her opioid use disorder in remission. Lawyers for Smith argued that continuing this medication while in jail is essential to treating Smiths medical condition, as well as preventing painful withdrawal symptoms and an increased chance of relapse, overdose and death upon release.... U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine heard testimony from Smith as well as medical and corrections experts over the course of a week-long trial in February. In her ruling, Judge Torresen found that denial of MAT would cause serious and irreparable harm to Smith, and would violate the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including against people in recovery for opioid use disorder.... Despite the medical consensus that MAT is safe and effective in combating substance use disorder, most Maine jails have policies explicitly prohibiting this treatment for incarcerated people. The Maine Department of Corrections had a similar ban until it was lifted by an Executive Order from Gov. Mills on February 6, 2019. Noting the high risk of overdose and death for people who suffer from opioid use disorder, Judge Torresen wrote that, "[g]iven the well-documented risk of death associated with opioid use disorder, appropriate treatment is crucial. People who are engaged in treatment are three times less likely to die than those who remain untreated." Additionally, Judge Torresen found that the Aroostook County Jails prior refusal to provide access to MAT was consistent with the broader stigma against MAT observed by [plaintiffs expert] Mr. Hayes, who noted that correctional staff often resist providing MAT because they equate MAT to giving addicts drugs rather than giving people treatment. The full ruling, which is available at this link, gets started this way: Plaintiff Brenda Smiths doctor has prescribed her a twice-daily dose of buprenorphine as part of a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program for her opioid use disorder. Ms. Smith brings this lawsuit against Defendant Aroostook County and against Defendant Shawn Gillen, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Aroostook County, alleging that the Defendants refusal to allow her to continue taking her medication during her impending 40-day term of incarceration at the Aroostook County Jail (the Jail) violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Eighth Amendment. Before me is the Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction requiring the Defendants to provide her with access to her prescribed medication. Pl.s Mot. for Prelim. Inj. (ECF No. 9). For the reasons that follow I GRANT the Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction. Notably, the judge's ruling was based entirely on the ADA, and the judge expressly decided not to address the Eighth Amendment claim. But the judge did drop this footnote suggesting where she might have been headed on that front: The evidence presented in this action suggests that a scientific consensus is growing that refusing to provide individuals with their prescribed MAT is a medically, ethically, and constitutionally unsupportable denial of care. E.g., Pl.s Ex. 32. Cognizant of the principle of judicial restraint and given my ruling that the Plaintiff is likely to succeed on her ADA claim, I sidestep the constitutional issue at this time. See Ashwander v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 297 U.S. 288, 347 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring) (The Court will not pass upon a constitutional question although properly presented by the record, if there is also present some other ground upon which the case may be disposed of.). March 31, 2019 at 12:14 PM | Permalink Comments "the medical consensus that MAT is safe and effective in combating substance use disorder" That's hilarious. We've been fighting opioid addiction in the Appalachians for about two decades now. You know what is by far is the most abused opioid we now face? You guessed it: buprenorphine. And every time we turn around some idiot is trying to pressure us to give it to people in our drug treatment programs who are there because of their abuse of . . . wait for it . . . buprenorphine. Posted by: Ken | Mar 31, 2019 10:27:01 PM Post a comment Australia said it will legislate tough new laws to prevent social-media platforms from being weaponised by terrorists and extremists, while Singapore said it will introduce a law to halt the spread of fake news. (PHOTO: Reuters) Governments in the Asia Pacific region are accelerating efforts to fight malicious use of online media, unveiling laws that make it easier to target websites which enable distribution of criminal or fraudulent content. Australia said it will legislate tough new laws to prevent social-media platforms from being weaponised by terrorists and extremists who may use them to live-stream violent crimes, such as this months terror attack in New Zealand. Singapore said it will introduce a law to halt the spread of fake news. Facebook Inc. came under sharp criticism for not taking down a video in which the alleged gunman killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch fast enough, and for allowing it be circulated across the internet and uploaded to platforms like YouTube. The social-media company was considering placing restrictions on who could post live videos in the wake of the shooting that was filmed and disseminated in real time. Social media companies, like Facebook, which met with the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, myself and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton earlier this week did not present any immediate solutions to the issues arising out of the horror that occurred in Christchurch, Australias Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield said in a statement Saturday. The new legislation would be introduced into parliament next week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in the press release. New offences will incur penalties of up 10 percent of a companys annual turnover and potential prison sentences for executives of social-media companies that fail to act to remove abhorrent violent material from their platforms, Attorney-General Christian Porter said in the statement. Singapore, meanwhile, said its new law will give more power to the government to hold online outlets accountable if theyre deemed to have deliberately delivered false news. The measures will include requiring them to show corrections or display warnings about online falsehoods, and even removing articles in extreme cases, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech. Story continues The city-state lashed out at Facebook last year, calling the company unreliable after it declined a request to remove a post that linked the premier and Singapore with allegations related to embattled Malaysian state fund 1MDB. The government said then that Facebooks decision to not remove malicious information on the country shows the need for legislation. The amendments to the Australian legislation would be modelled on existing offences in the Criminal Code, which require platforms to notify police if their service is being used to access child pornography, the attorney general said. Mainstream media that broadcast such material would be putting their licence at risk and there is no reason why social media platforms should be treated any differently, Porter said. The bill will include new provisions to deal with the showing of abhorrent violent material produced by a perpetrator, and which plays or live-streams the worst types of offences, according to the statement. It will cover the playing or streaming of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape and kidnapping on social media. It will include two new sets of offences: It will be a criminal offence for social-media platforms not to remove abhorrent violent material expeditiously. This will be punishable by three years imprisonment or fines that can reach up to 10 percent of the platforms annual turnover. Platforms anywhere in the world must notify the Australian Federal Police if they become aware their service is streaming abhorrent violent conduct that is happening in Australia. Failure to do this will be punishable by fines of up to A$168,000 ($119,213) for an individual or A$840,000 for a corporation. A new task force bringing the government and social-media companies together will work to deny terrorists the opportunity to use social media to foment hatred and violence, the prime minister said. These responses will form the basis of a model approach that Australia can take to the G20 to get our global partners on board to bring social media companies into our collective net of responsibility and accountability, Morrison said. We are already working to this end with our G20 and other partners, including New Zealand. 2019 Bloomberg L.P Vocal government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova will become Slovakia's first female president after provisional results showed her winning Saturday's run-off election. Environmental lawyer Caputova got 58.40 percent of the ballot while EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic garnered 41.59, the Slovak Statistics Office said. Official results are due Sunday at noon. "Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," Caputova said after her victory. The 45-year-old added that the outcome was a sign that "you can win without attacking your opponents." "I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year." Sefcovic, the 52-year-old ruling party candidate, called Caputova to congratulate her and planned to also send flowers. "The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he told reporters. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who belongs to the governing Smer-SD party, said he expected "constructive cooperation". Outgoing President Andrej Kiska told reporters that "Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova." "Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency." - Justice for all - Political novice Caputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey". No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. More recently, she took to the streets of the central European country of 5.4 million along with tens of thousands of other anti-government protesters after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was gunned down alongside his fiancee in February 2018. He had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia. The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of the current premier. Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders. The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into "any possible political links to the crimes." MEPs voiced "concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakia's circles of power." Speaking to AFP on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would "initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence." In addition to fighting for justice for all, Caputova has promised better care for the elderly and environmental protection. - 'Protest vote' - Earlier this week, she won an endorsement from Jozef Kuciak, the slain journalist's brother, who denounced Sefcovic for his ties to the political establishment. "I will not vote for someone supported by oligarchs and their people who have deprived me of my brother and sister-in-law," he said. Observers have compared Caputova to French President Emmanuel Macron, an outsider who swept to power on a reformist agenda. "A similar story unfolded during the last presidential election in France, where the representative of the new political trend and a new political movement prevailed," analyst Aneta Vilagi told AFP. But analyst Juraj Marusiak cautioned that both "their programmes were formulated within vague contours, so they can also bring great disappointment." "Caputova, like Macron, is a symbol of a very hazily defined hope." IT technician Oliver Strycek said Caputova's lack of political experience was refreshing. "I don't see anyone among our politicians who'd be trustworthy, not even within the opposition parties," said the 55-year-old Bratislava voter. Data analyst Viliam Gregus, 28, in the southern town of Komarno, said his choice of Caputova was "a protest vote against Sefcovic and the ruling coalition." Artist Andrej Petrovic, 37, applauded Caputova's landfill battle, adding: "She will be good for this country." Though the office is largely ceremonial, the president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament. Rights groups on Sunday condemned what they called a "massacre" of 14 farmers by police in the central Philippines as authorities defended the incident as a legitimate operation against suspected communist rebels. Police say the 14 men on Saturday shot at officers with search warrants for illegal firearms, prompting them to return fire. But rights groups insist the men were "farmers asserting their rights to land", the latest victims caught up in a violent crackdown under President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte's government has cancelled peace talks with communist rebels -- who are waging a 50-year-old insurgency that has killed thousands -- and has ordered his troops to "destroy" them. The latest violence occurred in three separate incidents in Negros island, the centre of the nation's sugar industry and home to some of the country's wealthiest landowners as well as some of its poorest farm workers. Authorities say the operation was a response to communist rebel attacks in Negros, adding one policeman was wounded. "They fought back against our operating units. We were forced to fire back. Some of (the 14 men) are farmers but we cannot confirm how many," provincial police spokesman Edilberto Euraoba told AFP. Police arrested another 12 men while they recovered various firearms from those killed, Euraoba added. However rights and peasant groups said the 14 men killed on Saturday were farmers, some elderly, citing witness accounts contradicting the police's statement. "They were defenceless. It's clear that it was a massacre. They are tagged as members and sympathisers (of communist rebels) but they are farmers asserting their rights to land," Maria Sol Taule, legal counsel for rights group Karapatan, told AFP. "President Duterte is attacking his critics including people fighting for their rights. It's an all-out attack on all they suspect to be enemies, whether farmers or lawyers." Rows over land have become increasingly common as Manila faces criticism for its slow-moving programme to redistribute farmland to millions of sharecroppers -- tenant farmers who give a part of each crop as rent -- who remain mired in poverty. The Federation of Agricultural Workers condemned the latest deaths, saying it highlighted growing rights violations on Negros island. The nation's rights body said it would investigate Saturday's incident, expressing "grave concern" over what it called a rising number of killings in the country. Taule added that the incident was the latest in a series of attacks on farmers, following the killing of nine farmers by gunmen also in Negros in October. Farm workers account for about 20 million people, a fifth of the Philippine population, who live on less than two dollars a day, the government says. In recent times, it seems as though this amorphous, ambiguous quality of readiness is what shapes social policy for the PAP. Of course, Im referring to Minister Heng Swee Keats recent comments that older Singaporeans are not ready for a non-Chinese PM. Minister Heng said that with full knowledge of polls that indicate most Singaporeans would support Deputy Prime Minister Tharman for the top job. He buttresses his argument with the unshakable anecdotal evidence of my own experience walking the ground. The reality is, of course, that public opinion has sometimes not been on the side of the government, but since when has that ever mattered? Lets take a trip down memory lane, to look at the historical context of readiness. 1: Separation from Malaysia (1965) Singapores status as an independent, multi-racial city-state was decided the day Stamford Raffles set foot on our shores, which is why the second we were freed from British fetters, we ran straight into Malayas arms. We have a unique identity; we are one with Malaysia. We were always meant to be free; were joining the Federation. Schizophrenic much? Sorry, the government narrative tends to mess with my head. The abortion of Singapore from the Federation, an act so shocking that even our stiff-upper-lipped PM (peace be upon him) shed a tear, was a blow. Our young, day-old nation washow do I put itnot ready to form a government. So what did we do? Did we beg to be allowed back into Mother Malayas womb; whinge about the time not being right; complain that we didnt feel any support for independence while walking the ground? Or did we bite our collective tongue and carry on? 2: National Service (1967) National service is a (literal) sore spot for many young men. However, the sons of Singapore will never forget the day we enlisted, roaring and clapping, cheering as we begin two joyous years of service to the nation. Everyone knows that national service is a highlight of every Singaporean sons life. After all, as a militarised and highly nationalistic society, we have a strong sense of moral duty and obligation to the nation that we call home. We willingly devote two years to the service of this country, and we stand ready to lay down our lives in its defence. Story continues Except thats not really the case, is it? We, the men of Singapore, hereby pledge that we are not ready for (and absolutely detest) national service. Despite general un-readiness, however, weve by and large accepted its necessity, so generations of boys trudge wearily to their barbers each year. Though, given that even Facebook posts pass for seditious commentary these days, I think theres little time before this three-paragraph sub-header is simply replaced with REDACTED. I wont really be ready for that either. 3: Marina Bay Sands opens (2010) Gambling is one of the more problematic vices, so it came as a great surprise when the government announced the construction of a national casino. An unwelcome surprise, too, given the negative response from civil and religious groups alike. A hallmark of our civic society, Singapores well-known religious sensitivity must be the strongest indicator that society is not ready for a change or policy action. This, of course, meant that the government must have heeded the peoples (and, perhaps more importantly, religious leaders) word, and scrapped these plans. Well, yes, but actually, no. In 2010, the casino opened its doors to the public, albeit underneath a swanky exterior that neatly disguised all indications of uncomfortable (but profitable) vice. The message is clear: A casino is worth the potential blowback, but not a minority PM. 4: Presidential Race Card (2017) Finally, who can forget the reserved election of 2017? Poor Madam Halimah became the most controversial presidential candidate in what was supposed to be an uncontroversial race. The job of Singapores head of state, top diplomat, and keeper of the Keys to the Kingdom (i.e. the reserves), is one of the highest offices in the land. As the role is largely ceremonial, it generally involves little political scrutiny, and Presidential elections pass smoothly as fibrous motions. Everything changed, however, when the fire nation attacked, and by fire nation, I mean Tan Cheng Bock, who in 2011 lost by a hair to former DPM Tony Tan. When the 2017 election rolled around, the constitution was amended just in time to ensure that the next Presidential Elections could only be contested by a Malay candidate; a colossal Bock Block. One might say that the change to the law has nothing to do with TCB, but one would have to be virtually blind to ignore the coincidence. Alas, I guess we as Singaporeans were just not ready for a President who nearly won the last election, and stood a good chance of winning this one. Thank goodness the government prevented us from making that mistake. Mr Heng is feeling the sting of being our rebound guy. To be frank, I dont think that Mr Heng, or the PAP, has a secret, malignant, anti-Indian agendaMr Tharman just doesnt want to be PM, a sentiment hes shared well before the recent turn of events (namely, Mr Hengs Ascension to First Assistant Sec-Gen). Rather, the examples above prove that, like all politicians, they are simply devoid of ideology. They hold the peoples will as a weapon, not a guiding principle, wielding it when it supports them and discarding it when it doesnt. Like most politicians. Mr Heng is feeling the sting of being, for lack of a better word, our rebound guy. Tharman said no, so weve got him instead, and thats a hard pill to swallow. But swallow Mr Heng must, or risk his credibility in the process of defending himself in such a ridiculous manner. Have something to say about the story? Write to us at community@ricemedia.co. The post 4 More Things Singapore Wasnt Ready For (But Happened Anyway) appeared first on RICE. Protest-hit Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday named a new government headed by recently appointed Noureddine Bedoui, a statement from the presidency said. State television reported that armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who has called for Bouteflika to step down, remained as deputy defence minister. Veteran politician Ramtane Lamamra, who was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister on March 11, was not named in the new administration. Ailing Bouteflika, who has rarely being seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has come under mounting pressure to quit power since his decision to seek a fifth term sparked huge demonstrations. Bouteflika said earlier this month he would pull out of the race and postponed April elections, in moves that angered Algerians who see it as a ploy to extend his two decades in power. Faced with persistent public anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days. On Tuesday, chief of staff Gaid Salah, who was appointed in 2004, called for him to step down or be declared medically unfit. The chief of staff cited Article 102 of the constitution, under which a president can be removed if found unfit to rule. Long a faithful Bouteflika supporter, Gaid Salah said on television it was "imperative" to find a way out of the crisis "which responds to the legitimate demands" of the people in line with the constitution. Despite the calls, huge crowds thronged the streets of Algeria's capital on Friday for a sixth successive week, saying the moves by his key allies to abandon Bouteflika were not enough. By Ulf Laessing TUNIS (Reuters) - Arab leaders, long divided by regional rivalries, condemned on Sunday a U.S. decision to recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Middle East stability depended on creating an Palestinian state. Arab leaders, gathering at summit in Tunis, have been under popular pressure to reject Washington's action, while they also grapple with regional differences, including a bitter Gulf Arab dispute, splits over Iran's regional influence, the war in Yemen and unrest in Algeria and Sudan. The abrupt departure from the summit of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who is locked in a row with Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, suggested regional differences were not easily buried. No reason was given for his departure. Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz told Arab monarchs, presidents and prime ministers at the meeting that his country "absolutely rejects" any measures affecting Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. President Donald Trump's signed a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967. The Saudi king's condemnation echoed those of Arab officials before Sunday's summit of the Arab League, which usually ends with a final declaration agreed by the 22 member states. Trump's Golan decision followed a U.S. move less than four months ago to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a decision that also drew Arab condemnation. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Arab leaders also needed to ensure the international community understood the importance of the Palestinian cause to Arab nations. Regional and international stability should come through "a just and comprehensive settlement that includes the rights of the Palestinian people and leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," Essebsi said. Story continues U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the meeting in Tunis, said any resolution to the Syrian conflict must guarantee the territorial integrity of Syria "including the occupied Golan Heights". RIFTS REMAIN The Tunis summit brought together the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the first time at the same gathering since 2017 when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. But Qatar's emir left the summit hall shortly after Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit praised the way Saudi Arabia handled its rotating Arab League presidency last year, live television footage showed. Qatar's state news agency did not say why Tamim left, but Tunisia's state news agency TAP said the rest of Qatar's delegation stayed. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and say it has been cosying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies. The row has defied mediation efforts by Kuwait and the United States, which called Gulf Arab states to unite in opposition to Iranian influence in the region. King Salman, whose country has long vied with Iran for influence, called for confronting what he called the "aggressive policies of the Iranian regime". He said Iran was interfering in Arab affairs, a charge Tehran dismisses. Arab states remain divided over other issues, including how to deal with pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011. The leaders of Sudan and Algeria were not at Sunday's meeting as both nations have been roiled by anti-government protests. Syria's seat at the summit was vacant. Damascus as been suspended from the League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of its civil war. The League has said no consensus has yet been reached to allow Syria's reinstatement. (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Nadine Awadallah and Aidan Lewis in Cairo, Mohamed Argoubi in Tunis and Eric Knecht in Doha, Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Edmund Blair) Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky topped the first round of Ukraine's presidential election Sunday, exit polls showed, setting him up for a run-off with the incumbent after voters expressed frustration over corruption and a stalling economy. When he announced his long-shot candidacy at the start of the year, Zelensky's political experience had been limited to playing the president in a TV show. But he tapped into fatigue with the political class to overtake President Petro Poroshenko and knock ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko out of the race. "This is just a first step towards a great victory," the 41-year-old in high spirits told supporters at his campaign headquarters minutes after the exit polls were released. "We're not relaxing." If the actor wins the second round in April, as opinion polls suggest, he will take the reins of one of the poorest countries in Europe -- a nation of 45 million people fighting Russian-backed separatists in its industrial east. At a voting station earlier in the day he had promised a Ukraine "without corruption, without bribes". The entertainer was projected to garner around 30 percent of the vote, handily beating Poroshenko on about 18 percent, according to combined figures from three pollsters. Towards midnight local time just over one percent of the vote had been counted and fuller official results were not expected until at least morning. Poroshenko said the projected results were a "harsh lesson" for him personally and for authorities as a whole. He said he felt "no euphoria" in reaching the second round and said the results should provide an impetus to "work on our mistakes". Ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was herself a favourite to win when she launched her campaign at the start of the year, was knocked out with around 14 percent, the figures showed. But Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence as a charismatic face of the 2004 Orange Revolution, claimed the exit polls were "dishonest". Taking her third tilt at the presidency, the 58-year-old insisted she had come in second place and told supporters to wait for final results. Zelensky has yet to spell out what he would do in power and one of his campaign slogans was: "No promises. No apologies." Despite concerns about his vague platform, supporters insist only a brand new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics. Some accuse Zelensky of acting as a front for the interests of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owns the channel that broadcasts the entertainer's shows, but he denies any political links. The actor has eschewed rallies and interviews in favour of playing gigs with his comedy troupe up to the final days of campaigning. His political comedy "Servant of the People" returned for its third series this week. - Deadly conflict - Poroshenko -- a chocolate magnate who was one of the country's richest men when he took office -- came to power in 2014 after a revolution forced his pro-Russian predecessor out of office. The popular uprising was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The 53-year-old leader said he would shut down the fighting, tackle graft and align the country with the West. But five years on, the conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives and counting, while many feel Poroshenko has failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. The campaign saw allegations of corruption and fraud from all sides. A record 39 candidates were on the ballot paper -- which was more than 80 cm long -- but none apart from the frontrunners reached double figures, according to the exit polls. The head of the central election commission said the vote took place without "systemic violations" though the interior ministry earlier said it had received more than 1,700 reports of voter irregularities. Turnout was 63 percent, up around 4 percent on the previous presidential election, according to provisional figures from the election commission. Zelensky and Poroshenko will face off for the presidency on April 21. Tens of thousands of French "yellow vest" demonstrators on Saturday staged their 20th week of anti-government protests despite hotspot bans and a plea from bank chiefs to end damage to branches. Police in Paris fired teargas to disperse a crowd of hardcore demonstrators at the Trocadero square, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, though most of the marches in the capital were peaceful. Banners held aloft throughout the country demanded change. "Enough of capitalism which crushes people and destroys the planet," was a slogan seen in Montpellier in the south. "The youth are angry, the old are in misery, let's change the system," said another in the northern city of Lille. According to interior ministry figures there were 33.700 protesters on the streets nationwide, including 4,000 in the capital. Those figures were down from the official estimate of 40,500 a week earlier, and a fraction of the numbers who took part when the protests began last November. The official turnout figures are challenged by the protest organisers each week. Police had been surprised by a jump in the numbers two weeks ago when they struggled to curb violence by highly-organised demonstrators who smashed shop windows and set fire to newspaper kiosks and a bank in the capital. This time around, local authorities declared iconic sites such as the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris and the centres of Avignon, Bordeaux and Toulouse in southern France off limits to demonstrations. The presidential Elysee palace and the National Assembly were also cordoned off by police. - 'They don't give a damn' - The protests began in rural France on November 17 over fuel tax increases and quickly ballooned into a full-scale anti-government rebellion. President Emmanuel Macron has reacted to the weekly demonstrations with a cross-country tour as part of a "Great National Debate" aimed at encouraging disgruntled citizens to express themselves through a structured dialogue. A 62-year-old demonstrator in Paris Saturday, who gave her first name as Monique, vowed to continue protesting "as long as they (the government) have not given in to our demands, the RIC (citizen initiated referendum), increased purchasing power and pensions. "Petrol prices fell when the demonstrations began, and have now risen higher than before," she noted. "So they don't give a damn about us." - 'Unbridled, unjustified violence' - The French banking federation called for an end to attacks on branches during the "yellow vest" protests, saying more than 760 banks had suffered damage since the movement began. "We must quickly put a stop to this unbridled and unjustified violence," the federation said in comments published in the daily Le Monde. In Montpellier, southern France, two police officers were slightly injured by projectiles during a protest by about two thousand people. Five demonstrators were detained. In Lille, officials closed off the city centre, but offered demonstrators an alternative route. In Bordeaux, where violent clashes broke out during previous protests, Mayor Nicolas Florian shut down the city centre, saying he was "very concerned about what could happen." Residents were urged to stay indoors. About 5,000 people, double the previous week's figure, turned out. Teargas was fired at the popular Trocadero tourist site, where some protesters hurled projectiles. Police made 25 arrests in the capital, according to local officials. A demonstration was also held in the Mediterranean city of Nice, where a 73-year-old activist was injured last week after she was pushed by police and hit her head in the fall. Police initially insisted that no officer had pushed the woman, but rectified that position following an internal investigation. Last week, Macron continued to meet with mayors as part of regional tours linked to the national debate. He is scheduled to end the tour Thursday on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. By Tim Reid EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke held a major rally in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, a city thrust to the center of America's immigration debate by President Donald Trump and the U.S government this week. O'Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, kicked off a series of three rallies in Texas in his bid to become the Democratic nominee a day after Republican Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico as soon as next week. Speaking in El Paso, a few hundred yards from the border with Mexico, O'Rourke decried the Trump administration's immigration policies and the president's call for a border wall. "We'll find security not through walls," he declared to cheers from several hundred supporters as he officially launched his presidential campaign. Before switching to Spanish to finish his speech, O'Rourke denounced what he called Trump's policies of "fear and division" and accused the president of seeking "to keep us apart and to make us afraid of one another." "Let's remember, every single one of us are fellow human beings and deserve to be treated like fellow human beings," he said. O'Rourke's rally in El Paso was long-planned, but the city became central to America's immigration debate this week. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan told reporters in El Paso on Wednesday the southern border system was at breaking point because of the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border each day. Trump, who is still determined to build a barrier along parts of the southern border, said on Friday: "There's a very good likelihood that I'll be closing the border next week, and that will be just fine with me." Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office. His latest threat had workers and students who frequently cross the border worried about the potential disruption to their lives. Story continues Trump and O'Rourke held dueling rallies in February in El Paso, which is already divided from Mexico by steel fencing. Trump wants it reinforced and hundreds of miles of additional fencing built along the border. O'Rourke opposes any new border structures and opposition to Trump's border wall and immigration policies has been a centerpiece of his campaign. "We are safe not despite the fact we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers - we are safe because we are a city of immigrants and asylum seekers," O'Rourke said in El Paso on Saturday. O'Rourke, who announced his White House campaign on March 14, shot to national prominence last year in an unexpectedly close race against incumbent Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. His Texas rallies will be watched via livestream at more than 1,000 locations across America, according to his campaign. More than a dozen contenders are fighting to become the Democratic Party's candidate to take on Trump in 2020. The O'Rourke campaign sent multiple requests to potential supporters for campaign donations before his rallies in El Paso, Houston and Austin on Saturday, a common practice among presidential hopefuls. The messages stressed the importance of donating before Sunday, the deadline for first quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. O'Rourke, 46, smashed fundraising records as a Senate candidate and raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his presidential campaign, the largest first-day haul of any announced candidate this year. However, he has struggled to see a strong campaign work ethic translate into a significant boost in early polling. O'Rourke trails former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by double digits, according to early polls among Democratic voters. Analysts warn that polls this early, before the first nominating votes are cast in Iowa in February 2020, are unreliable. Biden has yet to join the race, although he is expected to announce his presidential candidacy soon. (Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Paul Tait and Richard Chang) Beto O'Rourke, the youthful Democrat who seized national attention last fall with an unexpectedly strong Senate campaign in conservative Texas, formally launched his presidential candidacy Saturday in his hometown of El Paso, vowing to bring a unifying dynamic, progressive values and generational change to American politics. "This is our moment of truth, and we cannot be found wanting," he told an enthusiastic crowd of at least 1,000. Speaking from a spot only blocks from the border with Mexico, he underscored some of his most vigorous differences with the man he hopes to succeed in the White House -- Donald Trump -- without ever naming the US president. While Trump seeks to build a border wall and threatened just days ago to close the frontier if Mexico fails to stem the influx of undocumented immigrants, O'Rourke described America as "a country of immigrants and asylum seekers and refugees (who) are the very premise of our strength, of our success and, yes, our security." In an implicit rebuke to Trump, O'Rourke said that his hometown was safer because of its immigrants, not more dangerous. If elected he said he would pursue comprehensive immigration reform, reunite immigrant families separated at the border and "bring millions more (undocumented immigrants) out of the shadows." Speaking energetically as he roamed about a stage with the sleeves of his Oxford shirt rolled, the 46-year-old listed his priorities: remaking an economy "that works too well for too few and not at all for too many"; moving toward "high-quality universal healthcare"; and seizing the nation's "last best hope of averting a (climate) catastrophe." He called for the US to wind down its foreign wars, strengthen its alliances, and "end these love affairs with dictators and strongmen." His message clearly was geared not just to El Pasoans but to Democrats nationwide as the party gears up for an extended campaign to see who will challenge Trump in 2020. O'Rourke pointed out that he helped boost voter turnout in Texas -- particularly among the young -- to some of its highest levels in years. He had made his intention to run for the presidency known in mid-March, and in a single day raked in a huge $6.1 million in donations, giving himself instant relevance in the crowded Democratic field. He since has been campaigning -- usually before large crowds -- in early-voting states including Iowa and New Hampshire. And on Saturday, O'Rourke -- who during his Senate campaign visited every one of Texas's 254 counties -- continued his peripatetic ways, heading from his El Paso kickoff to rallies in Houston and Austin, the state capital. The 46-year-old former congressman and onetime punk rocker was born Robert O'Rourke but widely known as "Beto." His nearly successful campaign in November against incumbent Senator Ted Cruz brought him national attention. Some Democrats hope O'Rourke might even be able to turn reliably red Texas to Democratic blue, though first he would have to wade through the huge field of 16 Democrats now in the running -- including a popular fellow Texan, Julian Castro. Other Democratic rivals include senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar. The Democratic frontrunner, former vice president Joe Biden, is not even officially in the race, but polls show him as the leading contender for the party's nomination, with 29.2 percent support, according to the RealClearPolitics average of the six latest surveys. Sanders is second at 21.8 percent, followed by Harris at 9.8 and O'Rourke at 9.2. The newest rising star of the pack is Pete Buttigieg, 37, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and a military veteran, who would be the youngest and the first openly gay president should he win. O'Rourke is an unorthodox candidate, with a comparatively thin political resume and with a seeming allergy to being labeled a liberal. During his six years in Congress, O'Rourke was more politically cautious, joining the House's centrist coalition. But as the Democratic presidential field tilts leftward, he has hit on several progressive talking points. In addition to supporting a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, he backs marijuana legalization and champions the Green New Deal, a sweeping climate change mitigation framework. He called Saturday for paid family leave, equal pay for women and an end to for-profit prisons. On his first major campaign tour, which took him to eight states including New Hampshire, South Carolina and Ohio, he met people in coffee shops, school gyms and taquerias, offering a unifying vision packed with optimism but short on policy specifics. Several thousand protesters chanting "dictatorship never again" took to the streets of Brazils biggest cities Sunday on the 55th anniversary of the coup that established more than two decades of military rule. Some 2,000 people rallied in Rio de Janeiro's central Cinelandia plaza, while in Sao Paulo a few hundred converged on popular Ibirapuera Park to demonstrate against the 1964-1985 dictatorship. The protests were sparked by the order recently issued by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for defense forces to "appropriately" commemorate the overthrow of President Joao Goulart. Nearly 1,000 noisy protesters in Brasilia chanted slogans against Bolsonaro, an ex-army captain and unabashed admirer of the countrys former dictators, shouting "Bolsonaro out." "It's not a date that should be commemorated," retired teacher Maria Fatima, who is 65, told AFP at the Rio demonstration. "It is a day of mourning, of violence, of cruelty." The demonstrations came a day after an appeals court judge overturned another judges decision to bar commemorations sought by Bolsonaro. Appellate judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso accepted the government's argument that Brazilian democracy was strong enough to support "a pluralism of ideas." "I see no violation of human rights, particularly as similar demonstrations took place in the barracks in preceding years with no negative consequences," she wrote. Bolsonaro, who is on a three-day visit to Israel, is the country's first president since democracy was restored in 1985 to publicly exalt the military regime, though he argues its rise to power was not a "coup." In the past, the tough-talking Bolsonaro has referred to the dictatorship as a "glorious" time in Brazilian history. He was quoted in 2008 as saying that "the error of the dictatorship was that it tortured but did not kill." Since taking office, Bolsonaro has had fond words for military dictators in 1970s and 1980s Latin America, such as Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay and Chile's Augusto Pinochet. At least 434 people were killed or disappeared in Brazil during the 21-year dictatorship, far fewer than the 30,000 deaths in Argentina and 3,200 or more in Chile during their respective periods of right-wing military rule. But unlike its South American neighbors, Brazil has not prosecuted military officials for regime-era crimes, leaving the events of that dark period unresolved. Bolsonaro, who ran for the presidency as a political outsider determined to dismantle a culture of corruption, has seen his approval rating plunge amid scandals and missteps since his January 1 inauguration. Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Contact lenses that reduce eye itch may become a reality Experimental contact lenses that not only improve vision, but also ward off itchiness due to allergies, got a boost with the completion of two late-stage studies, according to a new report. The antihistamine-containing lenses, developed and tested by Johnson & Johnson, significantly quieted eye allergy symptoms, researchers reported in Cornea. Ebola treatment center in Congo reopens after attack An Ebola treatment center located at the epicenter of the current outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has resumed operations after it was attacked last month, the country's health ministry said on Saturday. The center run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the district of Katwa was set on fire on Feb. 24 by unknown attackers, forcing staff to evacuate patients. Fresenius Medical Care to pay $231 million to resolve criminal, civil foreign bribery charges Germany-based dialysis clinic operator Fresenius Medical Care AG will pay about $231 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company paid bribes to public health and government officials in several countries to win or retain business, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. As part of the settlement, the company admitted that it doled out bribes to officials in Angola and Saudi Arabia from 2007 through 2016, and also failed to maintain proper internal accounting controls, the department said. Drinking scalding-hot tea may increase esophagus cancer risk (Reuters Health) - Tea drinkers who love a scalding-hot cup of the beverage may want to let it cool down a bit to avoid an increased risk of esophagus cancer, a new study suggests. Among tea drinkers followed for about 10 years, those who drank a lot of tea and liked it very hot - above 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) - had nearly double the risk for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma compared to those who drank cooler tea and less tea in general, researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer. Story continues AstraZeneca pays up to $6.9 billion in Daiichi Sankyo cancer deal AstraZeneca Plc will pay up to $6.9 billion to work with Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd on a hotly-tipped experimental treatment for breast cancer, in a direct challenge to the world's biggest cancer drug maker Roche. The deal on the drug known as trastuzumab deruxtecan sent shares in Japan's Daiichi soaring 16 percent, its daily limit, to a record high on Friday. Daiichi's stock has climbed 45 percent this year on optimism about the treatment. Georgia lawmakers pass heartbeat abortion ban, joining four other U.S. states Georgia's Republican-controlled legislature on Friday passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States, outlawing abortion if a doctor is able to detect a heartbeat. The state's House of Representatives passed the bill with a 92-78 vote, sending it to Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is expected to sign it into law. The state Senate previously passed the measure. Cholera cases increase to 271 in Mozambique's cyclone-hit Beira The number of confirmed cases of cholera in Mozambique's cyclone-hit port city of Beira has nearly doubled to 271 in the last 48 hours, the southern African nation's government said on Saturday. Government and aid workers are seeking to contain the spread of the disease after cyclone Idai smashed into Beira on March 14, unleashing catastrophic flooding and killing more than 700 people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Alcohol, caffeine are common triggers of irregular heart rhythm (Reuters Health) - The most common triggers of atrial fibrillation - an irregular heart rhythm that's a leading cause of stroke - are avoidable behaviors like drinking alcohol or coffee, a recent study suggests. People don't always realize when they're experiencing atrial fibrillation, or AFib, but some feel unpleasant chest palpitations or a racing, irregular heartbeat. Red Cross says it sees conditions for humanitarian work in Venezuela Venezuela has met the necessary conditions for the Red Cross to carry out humanitarian work in the South American nation, the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a news conference on Friday. Francesco Rocca said the group was in a position to help some 650,000 people in Venezuela, which has suffered rising incidence of malnutrition and preventable disease amid an economic collapse. What's bad for the heart is also bad for the brain (Reuters Health) - People who have risk factors for heart disease like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity may also be more likely to develop structural changes in the brain that can lead to dementia, a recent study suggests. Researchers examined data on 9,772 adults, ages 44 to 79, who all had at least one MRI brain scan and provided general health information and medical records for the analysis. Many Singaporeans got triggered over the weekend after Singapore finance minister Heng Swee Keat made comments reported by local media that the country was not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister (PM). The past three ministers since Singapore gained independence in 1965 have been Chinese: Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, and Lee Hsien Loong. Singapore is also a majority-Chinese country and has famously emphasized peaceful relations between different races after racial riots in the countrys early years threatened stability in the city-state. Minister Heng made these comments at a forum organized on Thursday by Nanyang Technological University when grilled by an assistant professor in public policy about the ruling Peoples Action Partys (PAP) stance on having a non-Chinese prime minister. Is it Singapore who is not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister, or is it the PAP who is not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister? said Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, as reported by TODAY. To that, Minister Heng replied: My own experience in walking the ground, in working with different people from all walks of life, is that the views if you go by age and by life experience would be very different. He further asked the room of young people if they were ready for a non-Chinese prime minister, to which many raised their hands, according to a report by The Straits Times. The comments did not go down well by outspoken critics who have slammed the ruling party for alleged racism. If the PAP does not want a non-Chinese leader, thats their prerogative, but they should not blame their racism on Singaporeans when history shows we are far more open-minded and tolerant than the PAP has ever given us credit for, said academic Dr Thum Ping Tjin, who is also the managing director of news site New Naratif. Most famously, deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was heavily wanted by Singaporeans as their next prime minister, according to a 2016 poll conducted by research firm Blackbox. Story continues Mr Nicholas Yong, assistant news editor of Yahoo News Singapore, questioned in an opinion piece on Sunday why was the ruling party settling with alleged racial bias among older Singaporeans. Is this how a future PM demonstrates moral authority: by blithely throwing out a statement about the alleged racial bias of older Singaporeans, then doing nothing about it? said Mr Yong. Other critics questioned the lack of data behind the remarks by Minister Heng. Mr Andrew Loh, founder of political blog publichouse.sg said: Who are these older Singaporeans that (Minister Heng) interacted with which apparently led him to such a belief? What is the logic behind saying that we cant have a minority PM? questioned former nominated member of parliament Calvin Cheng. Political author Sudhir Thomas Vakadeth pointed out that the Singapore populace has been very vocal in its support for an ethnic minority prime minister. All the available electoral and survey evidence points to the fact that Singaporeans are very comfortable with non-Chinese leaders, he said. Some Singaporeans have placed comments on Minister Hengs Facebook page about the incident, more specifically on a post last Tuesday where he attended an Indian book launch. (Photo: Facebook screengrab) However, Minister Heng has yet to respond to the online comments swirling around social media lately. That is not stopping an online poll from being circulated on Facebook asking Singaporeans: who would they like as the new prime minister of Singapore? Out of more than 13,000 votes cast, over 90 percent of voters preferred Mr Tharman over Mr Heng. Guess the public has spoken. This article, Singaporeans get super-triggered after finance minister alleges country is not ready for non-Chinese PM, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! In the world's coldest capital, many burn coal and plastic just to survive temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees -- but warmth comes at a price: deadly pollution makes Ulaanbataar's air too toxic for children to breathe, leaving parents little choice but to evacuate them to the countryside. This exodus is a stark warning of the future for urban areas in much of Asia, where scenes of citizens in anti-pollution masks against a backdrop of brown skies are becoming routine, rather than apocalyptic. Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities on the planet, alongside New Delhi, Dhaka, Kabul, and Beijing. It regularly exceeds World Health Organisation recommendations for air quality even as experts warn of disastrous consequences, particularly for children, including stunted development, chronic illness, and in some cases death. Erdene-Bat Naranchimeg watched helplessly as her daughter Amina battled illness virtually from birth, her immune system handicapped by the smog-choked air in Mongolia's capital. "We would constantly be in and out of the hospital," Naranchimeg told AFP, adding that Amina contracted pneumonia twice at the age of two, requiring several rounds of antibiotics. This is not a unique case in a city where winter temperatures plunge towards uninhabitable, particularly in the districts that rural workers moved to in search of a better life. Here row upon row of the traditional tents -- known as gers -- are warmed by coal, or any other flammable material available. The resulting thick black smoke shoots out in plumes, blanketing surrounding areas in a film of smog that makes visibility so poor it can be hard to see even a few metres ahead. Hospitals are packed and young children are vulnerable, common colds can quickly escalate into life-threatening illness. - Birth defects - The situation was so bad that doctors told Naranchimeg the only solution was to send her little girl to the clean air of the countryside. Now aged five, Amina is thriving. She lives with her grandparents in Bornuur Sum, a village 135 kilometres away from the capital. "She hasn't been sick since she started living here," said Naranchimeg, who makes the three-hour round trip to see Amina every week. "It was very difficult in the first few months," she said. "We used to cry when we talked on the phone." But like many parents in Ulaanbaatar, she felt the move was the only way to protect her child. The levels of PM2.5 -- tiny and harmful particles -- in Ulaanbaatar reached 3,320 in January, 133 times what the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers safe. The effects are terrible for adults but children are even more at risk, in part because they breathe faster, taking in more air and pollutants. As they are smaller, children are also closer to the ground, where some pollutants concentrate, and their still-developing lungs, brains, and other key organs are more vulnerable to damage. Effects to prolonged exposure range from persistent infections and asthma to slowed lung and brain development. The risks apply in utero, too, because gases and fine particles can enter a mother's bloodstream and placenta, causing miscarriage, birth defects and low birth weights, which can also affect a child for the rest of their lives. Researchers are now investigating whether pollution, like exposure to tobacco smoke, has health effects that could even be passed down to the next generation. - 'Terribly afraid' - Buyan-Ulzii Badamkhand and her husband need to stay in the capital for work, but they have decided to send their two-year-old son Temuulen more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away. The 35-year-old mother-of-three struggled with the decision, even moving from one ger district to another in the hope her son's health would improve. But successive bouts of illness, including bronchitis that lasted a whole year, finally convinced her to send Temuulen to his grandparents. Hours after he arrived, she called her mother-in-law to discuss her son's medicines. "But my mother-in-law asked me 'does he still need medicine? He isn't coughing anymore," she said. "I tell myself that it doesn't matter that I miss him and who raises him, as long as he is healthy, I am content." Respiratory problems are the most obvious effect of air pollution, but research suggests dirty air can also put children at greater risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. And the WHO links it to leukaemia and behavioural disorders. When air pollution peaks in winter, Ulaanbaatar's playgrounds empty and those who are able to are increasingly travelling abroad to wait out the smog. In desperation, Luvsangombo Chinchuluun, a civil society activist, borrowed money to take her granddaughter to Thailand for all of January. "We can't let her play outside (in Ulaanbaatar) because of the air pollution, so we decided to leave," she said. The persistent smog has caused tensions in the city, with those living in wealthier areas blaming the ger residents for the pollution and even calling for the tent districts to be cleared. But the ger residents say coal is all they can afford. "People come to the capital because they need sustainable income," said Dorjdagva Adiyasuren, a 54-year-old mother of six. "It's not their fault," she added. In a bid to tackle the problem, the local government banned domestic migration in 2017, and a ban on burning coal comes into force from May. But it is unclear whether the moves will be enough to make a difference. For Naranchimeg, the problems are serious enough to make her consider whether she wants more children. She explained: "Now, I am terribly afraid of to give birth again. It is risky to carry a child and what will happen to the child after it is born in this amount of pollution?" FILE PHOTO: A person looks through the border wall towards the United States at Border Field State Park in San Diego FILE PHOTO: A person looks through the border wall towards the United States at Border Field State Park in San Diego, California, U.S. November 20, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Sunday doubled down on its threat to shut down the southern border with Mexico, a day after it cut aid to Central American countries which President Donald Trump accused of deliberately sending migrants to the United States. Faced with a surge of asylum seekers from Central American countries who travel through Mexico, Trump said on Friday there was a "good likelihood" he would close the border this coming week if Mexico does not stop unauthorized immigrants from reaching the United States. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2V59n2R) He also accused, without providing evidence, the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sending them north. Speaking to ABC's "This Week" show, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the president had few other options in the absence of any support from Democrats for more border security or legislative action to change the immigration law. "Faced with those limitations, the president will do everything he can. If closing the ports of entry means that, that's exactly what he intends to do," Mulvaney said. "We need border security and we're going to do the best we can with what we have," he added. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told "Fox News Sunday" that the situation at the border was at "melting point" and said the president was serious in his threat. "It certainly is not a bluff. You can take the president seriously." Neither Trump aide offered any specific details or timeline for the potential border shutdown. At a Saturday rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke denounced Trump's immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office. His latest threat had workers and students who frequently cross the border worried about the potential disruption to their lives. Story continues The government says it is struggling to deal with a surge in recent days of asylum seekers from countries in Central America who travel through Mexico and on Saturday cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - a move other Democrats warned would only worsen the situation. "What we need to do is focus on what's happening in Central America, where three countries are disassembling before our eyes and people are desperately coming to the United States. The president's cutting off aid to these countries will not solve that problem," Senate minority whip Dick Durbin told NBC News' "Meet the Press". He also cast doubt on the viability of shutting the border, describing the threat as "totally unrealistic." March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Department of Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Howard Schneider; editing by Michelle Price and Lisa Shumaker) In Steamboat Springs, Colorado, theres a roaming snowcat that brings skiers tacos, Mexican sodas, and more amazing street food fare so they can get a quick bite and continue on their runs. Steamboat Springs is already considered a must-go destination for avid skiers, and Taco Beast is just one more good reason to visit. 2019 Larry Pierce/Steamboat Ski Resort According to the Denver Post, Taco Beast, a working snowcat transformed into a food truck, premiered at the Steamboat Ski Resort in the spring of 2018, but has been roaming the slopes this past winter. Skiers and snowboarders can order from four kinds of tacos, including shredded beef barbacoa, elk chorizo, pollo asado, and Tres Hermanas (vegetarian, butternut squash, black beans, and corn), plus esquites (street corn), salsas, and beverages. The Beast is docked at the Rendezvous Lodge every night, and operator Dan Luchs and chef Sean Hengstler begin finding a good place to set up every day around 5 a.m., according to CNN. When I fire up the beast, I kind of feel like I'm piloting a spaceship, Luchs said. As with all food trucks, Taco Beast relies on good weather to stay open. According to 5280, the snowcat was running for only 10 days when it first opened due to weather conditions. But its managed to stay in business, probably due to its amazing food. As of late January, the Beast sold over 1,250 tacos, according to 5280. I wanted to give guests some variety, but not go too crazy or too overboard, said executive chef Adam White, who created the Taco Beast menu, to 5280. 2019 Larry Pierce/Steamboat Ski Resort Since it moves around, skiers can follow the Taco Beasts current location on Twitter. According to the Taco Beast website, the food truck is open for lunch only, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays during the winter season, which ends in mid-April. After that, according to The Know, you might be able to catch the Taco Beast by visiting the mountains base during the off-season on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. On the eve of his visit to Morocco this Saturday and Sunday at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, Pope Francis addressed a video message of greetings to the Moroccan people. In his message, the Pope, who expressed his thanks to King Mohammed VI for his gracious invitation, said he was coming to Morocco as a pilgrim of peace and fraternity, in a world that greatly needs it. During his two-day visit in Rabat, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass, visit a migrant center, run by the charity Caritas, and visit the Mohammed VI Institute, which oversees the training and formation of Imams, from Morocco and also from Africa and Europe. With this visit, the Pope continues his mission of promoting relations with Moslems, said Paul Samasumo, journalist at Vaticannews. It is, therefore, no coincidence that one of the main highlights of this visit by Pope Francis will be to the Mohammed VI Institute. The Institute is named after the King of Morocco himself. Many of the students at the institute are from Africa, the Middle East and Europe. They come here for their studies in Islam. It is they who will, in turn, carry to their regions this moderate brand of Islam that Morocco is keen to promote, the journalist wrote. In Morocco, Islam is the state religion but the constitution guarantees to all the freedom to practice their faith. In his video message, Pope Francis remarked that both Christians and Muslims believe in God the merciful Creator who created men and women, and placed them in the world so that they might live as brothers and sisters, respecting each others diversity and helping each other in their needs. God entrusted to them the earth, our common home, he added, to guard it responsibly and preserve it for future generations. Pope Francis underlined that this trip offered him the precious opportunity to visit the Christian community in Morocco and to encourage its journey. The tiny and diverse Catholic community of about 33,000 living in Morocco is mostly made of African students attending Moroccan universities, migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and also some Asian contract workers. The Pope also mentioned that he would be meeting with migrants, who, he said, together embody an appeal to build a world of greater justice and solidarity. Senior White House officials sent a clear message Sunday: President Donald Trump is serious. It would take something dramatic over the next few days to convince Trump not to go through with his threat to close the southern border with Mexico, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said. Why are we talking about closing the border? Because not for spite and not tonot to try andandand undo whats happening but to simply say look, we need the people from the ports of entry to go out and patrol in the desert where we dont have any wall, he said on ABCs This Week. Advertisement NEW: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney tells @jonkarl it would take "something dramatic" for President Trump not to close the U.S.-Mexico border https://t.co/GtOTcEQrgO #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/VR9ICtDKci This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 31, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also warned that the threat could become a reality. It certainly isnt a bluff, Conway told Fox News Sunday. You can take the president seriously. Conway and Mulvaney both spoke two days after Trump said there was a very good likelihood he would close the border unless Mexico did something. Advertisement Advertisement Mulvaney and Conway also defended the move to cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, saying the three countries need to do more to prevent migrants moving north. Even though some have said that cutting off the aid would only push more migration, the senior White House officials pushed back against that idea. The conditions are already awful, Conway said. The executive branch has done so much to try to mitigate these awful circumstances, and we need to send a message back to these countries, too. Mulvaney also dismissed concerns. If were going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more, he said on CNNs State of the Union. If its working so well why are the people still coming? Advertisement Mick Mulvaney on the Trump administration proposing aid cuts to several Central American countries: If it's working so well, why are the people still coming? Why are these historic numbers? Again, 100,000 people will cross the border this month alone. That is a crisis #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/pgVdBI8hX6 State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 31, 2019 Advertisement Even as the two administration officials wanted to make clear that the plan to close the border could soon become a reality, some unnamed officials are raising concerns about whether the plan is even doable. Axios reports that administration officials say they arent even close to being prepared to carry out this type of plan on such a short timeline. The widespread view within the White House and at the Department of Homeland Security is that its a terrible and unworkable idea, reports Axios. But still, the issue is being analyzed since Trump has mentioned it numerous times. Some Democrats are also skeptical the plan is workable. When the president says hes going to close the border, that is a totally unrealistic boast on his part, Sen. Dick Durbin said on NBCs Meet the Press. What we need to do is focus on whats happening in Central America, where three countries are dissembling before our eyes, and people are desperately coming to the United States. Police in California released bodycam footage of the February 9 shooting of rapper Willie McCoy that appears to show the 20-year-old had been fast asleep until moments before police opened fire. Vallejo police officers shot him an estimated 25 times in a four-second span, according to the familys lawyer. The footage Vallejo police released of the shooting includes a 30-minute video that shows how six officers surrounded his car after getting a call of an unresponsive driver at a Taco Bell drive-thru. Advertisement The video doesnt show McCoys face nor the weapon that officers claim is on his lap. But at one point an officer does say the guns magazine appears to be half out and he says that at most McCoy would have one bullet if he opened fire. Subtitles that police added to the video say the gun was loaded with an extended 14-round magazine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was lots of talk about opening the car door and grabbing the gun but the officers realized the car was locked. As officers at the scene discussed the next steps, there doesnt seem to be any serious effort to actually wake McCoy up. At one point McCoy moves to scratch his shoulder and then appears to bend forward as police begin shouting at him to show them his hands. Within a few seconds, they open fire. Police claim that McCoy had gone to reach for the gun but that isnt clear form the bodycam video. After firing numerous rounds they continue to yell at him to show the officers his hands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police only released the video after lots of public pressure. McCoys family had previously described the killing as a death by firing squad saying he was executed. Police had said the officers had opened fire because they feared for their safety. The six officers have since returned to duty. Overkill is an understatement, attorney Melissa Nold told NBC News. Nold said that even if the doors in McCoys car were locked, the front passengers side window was broken and had sheet plastic covering it so that could have easily been removed. Considering no one had said the person in the car was a threat, McCoys family insists police should have treated it like a medical emergency. We all have to come together in some way and put pressure on the politicians to hold police accountable, Marc McCoy, McCoys older brother, told the Guardian. Its crazy that police still have these jobs. Its crazy that as a country we are not outraged by this conduct. Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... The 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 organized paints industry in India has been experiencing numerous milestones along with a stellar growth across multiple segments, owing to the diversity in social structures, increase in disposable incomes, easy availability of housing loans, industrial growth, urbanization and a lot more aspects. Unfortunately, only a very few companies in this sphere constantly reshape themselves in line with the unfolding technologies and processes as well as consumer, price and environmental requirements. Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited NSE:KANSAINER)is one such pioneer in the Indian paint realmthat has been running ahead triumphantly for the past 98 years by comprehending & adapting to all kinds of consumer demands, whether its related to product, price, process or environment.Unsurprisingly, the company demarcates as the go-to brand in India that emphasizes on building healthy, safe and convenient products for the consumers along with innovative technologies, by keeping a close track of their expectations and demands of the past, present & future. Recounting the long-standing journey of Kansai Nerolac that came into existence as Gahagan Paints and Varnish, Anuj Jain (Executive Director) asserts, It is a matter of pride for us that we were the leading company in India to introduce lead-free and low Volatile Organic Compounds(VOC) products into the industry as well as to implement SAP.With a brand persona that is intended towards creating a healthier & cleaner environment, Kansai Nerolac endeavours to bring in healthy home paints from new, potential technologies, standing true to its vision We design solutions that protect, inspire and touch lives everyday. To further impart convenience and a faster process of painting, the firm delivers various water-based products with premium quality.With Kansai Paints as a parent company which has presence countries, Kansai Nerolac strives to deploy a gamut of global technologies & stay abreast of the evolving trends in terms of finish, colour, performance and other facets consumers seek. It invests volumes in terms of technical services to ensure that the concerned product & technology are compatible with the customers geography or climate. Additionally, great value is infused across all its products with better finish, sustainability to environmental hazards and also high energy savings. "Manufactured across five different factories, and state-of-the-art R&D facilities at each factory, Kansai Nerolacs products are sent to customers only after passing stringent Quality testing" Products That Speak Brilliance Today, as Kansai Nerolac Paints is the market leader in the industrial coating segment, which includes automobiles, white goods and industrial paint products, most of the houses have at least one product that is coated with its paint. The firm offers a wide spectrum of products entailing interior & exterior wall paintings, floor & wood coatings, metal enamel paints, and many entrenched across multiple more. The perfect shade combinations and inspiration themes are chosen through regular research that involves suggestions from interior decorators, architects, consumers, colour experts as well as from industries like fashion, garments and others, not to mention its region-specific colour palettes. Manufactured across five different factories, and state-of-the-art R&D facilities at each factory, Kansai Nerolacs products are sent to customers only after passing stringent Quality testing. Moreover, with the recent formation of a dedicated R&D facility with advanced research and testing capabilities in Navi Mumbai, the firm envisions reaching an edge above all its peers and also plans on establishing two new manufacturing plants in the coming years. Eclectic Expertise in Marketing As paint is more of a feeling that needs to be imbued in the hearts of consumers, Kansai Nerolac directs them towards purchasing its products that has a wide usage and traction rather than the ones in the novice phase. The historic jingle of Kansai Nerolac 'Ghar Ki Raunak' has indeed captured many Indian hearts as one of the most loved & recalled brand tunes. Demonstrating the versatility in its Slovakia's new president is a liberal woman. Can she set a trend among central European countries? News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled In this story, you can read about: Whether Zuzana Caputova will change the direction of the Presidential Palace What her victory means for other central European countries If she would have the same chances of winning in Hungary, Poland or the Czech Republic A pro-western, liberal woman and an activist; Slovaks once again elected a person with virtually no experience in Slovak politics as their next president. More than just that, she is also a person who sticks out among the leading politicians in the central Europe region with her attitudes. There are no crucial differences between the opinions and attitudes of Zuzana Caputova and the incubment President Andrej Kiska, however. She will continue the already implemented traditions, Tomas Strazay of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association told The Slovak Spectator. This primarily means an emphasis on liberal and democratic values. Caputova is not setting but rather highlighting a trend that has already been present in the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4), although this trend might not have gained enough notice, opined Csaba Toth, director of the Hungarian think-tank Republikon Institute. True, there is a strong nationalist and populist trend in these countries, but also a liberal counteraction, Toth told The Slovak Spectator. V4 countries are not homogeneous The municipal elections in three countries Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic have already shown a liberal trend when opposition mayors were elected in their respective capital cities; this could happen in the fall in Budapest too, Toth noted. Caputova shows that countries in this region are not homogeneous, he said. Read also: Read also: Central Europe has a branding problem Read more When it comes to the president having an impact on other countries in the region, Strazay is more sceptical, as Slovakia has limited possibilities when it comes to influencing bigger countries. Opposition in Poland or Hungary might view this as a signal, maybe inspiration for change in their home societies, but when it comes to elections in these countries, I think we cannot talk about direct links, Strazay noted. However, what positively sticks out is that she is the first Slovak female president. It is hardly ground-breaking in the world, but in our region, it is definitely something new, he said, adding there have been few female prime ministers or even ministers in central European countries. Caputova a rolemodel for other countries? The two former business partners and lovers maintained frequent contact while she served as the prime minister's assistant. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled When Maria Troskova served as the assistant of former Smer MP Viliam Jasan and later as the right hand of the former prime minister Robert Fico (Smer), the Italian police intercepted hundreds of phone calls between her and Antonino Vadala. The Italian investigators added that Vadala told a police officer working under cover that he was in touch with Slovakia's high-ranking officials. Italian investigative journalist Maria Grazia Mazzola reported this on the Saturday news service of the public-service RAI, citing the results of the investigation by the Venice prosecutor's office. Venice Prosecutor Bruno Cherchi confirmed the information on the record. Read also: Read also: Italian journalist: Slovak police have been investigating Vadala since 2013 Read more The Italians have been following Vadala in Slovakia from 2014 to 2018. Vadala ran business in Slovakia for years. The murdered journalist Jan Kuciak wrote his last, unfinished article about him. After it was published, the Slovak police detained Vadala, and he has since been extradited and prosecuted in Italy for drug-related crimes. Phone calls for over a year She was elected president with the least number of votes in the second round recorded in the history of Slovakia. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Slovakia has seen a historic presidential election this weekend, but election statistics show a large amount of Slovaks abstained from voting. Read also: Read also: Caputova becomes Slovakia's fifth president Read more In the runoff round of the presidential election on March 30, 2019, less than 42 percent of eligible voters cast their votes for one of the two candidates. This is the lowest-ever turnout in the presidential elections in Slovakia. In 2004, the turnout just exceeded 43 percent. That was the year when Ivan Gasparovic, who surprisingly succeeded to the second round against the front runner, Vladimir Meciar, won the election in the end. Gasparovic was the former right hand of Meciar and for many voters, voting for him was voting for a lesser evil, and many voters opted out of the election on principle. >>> See the history of election turnout numbers in Slovakia here Less than in round one It was also a rare case when the election turnout was lower in the second round than in the first round. On March 16, when 18 candidates ran in the first round of the vote, the turnout reached 48.8 percent. Pappy Go Go posted the fastest trotting time anywhere in North America during 2019 when he won in 1:52 on Saturday, March 30 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, doing so with a 12-and-three-quarter-length victory. Driver George Napolitano Jr. kept the five-year-old off fast early numbers of :26.3 and :56, then unleashed him down the back. The trotter swooped to the lead before the 1:24 third quarter and his advantage only increased with every step heading to the wire as he advanced to a lifetime-best mile while lowering the previous season mark of 1:52.3 set by Rubber Duck. Andrew Harris trains the trotter for owner Michael Goldberg Racing LLC. Bred by Meridian Farms' Bill Andrew and sired by Tad The Stud, a son of Windsongs Legacy, Pappy Go Go is a Prince Edward Island-sired and foaled gelding who brought only $4,000 as a yearling in Nova Scotia. However, he went undefeated in 13 starts at three in Atlantic Canada, almost all in stakes. Pappy Go Go is by far the fastest offspring of his sirein fact, the second-fastest has a mark of 1:57.2. In the top purse contest, a fast-class pace worth $21,500, Eddard Hanover was never headed, winning in 1:53.1 for driver Anthony Napolitano, trainer Ron Burke and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, JJK Stables, and Lawrence Karr. Last week the Dragon Again gelding had to go first over in a :54.3 middle half and faltered. But this week he was able to hit the half in a :57.1, then put in successive :28 back quarters to withstand pocket-sitting Dragonology by a half length. With the Great Northeast Open Series returning in just over a month, Rockeyed Optimist seems to be regaining his top form in good timing nearing the summer-long series, where he was the second-highest point winner last year. On Saturday Rockeyed Optimist posted his second-straight victory, this one in 1:52.1 in the $17,500 pacing co-feature. Driver Mitch Cushing again moved the Rocknroll Hanover gelding to the lead early and the winner $688,258 raced gamely to the wire, withstanding Black Chevron N by three parts of a length for trainer Jake Leamon, co-owner with Stephen Moss, Joseph Battaglia, and Virginia Berkner. The claiming box remained a hot Pocono meeting place as 13 more horses went back to different barns during the Saturday card, with $210,000 of horseflesh changing hands. In just six cards at Pocono in 2019, 43 horses have changed ownership through the claiming route, with $746,250 spent by owners looking for sharp horses. (with files from PHHA) Standardbred horseman Lorne Brethour passed away peacefully, at the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, Ont., on Friday, March 29, 2019, at the age of 82. Lorne Brethour, beloved husband of the late Grace (nee Cupples). Loved father of Murray and his wife Debbie and stepfather of Pat Brown (deceased) and her husband Lorne. Proud grandfather of Rachel and Ben Brethour, Dave Brown (Tanya) and Jamie Brown (Laura) and great-grandfather of Ashley and Nicholas Brown. Very proud that his son Murray, grandson Dave and granddaughter Rachel have continued on the horse racing tradition. The family will host a Celebration of life for Lorne at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #141, 104 River Street in Sunderland on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 from 3 7 p.m. Private interment St. Johns Cemetery. If desired, memorial donations may be made by cheque to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society or The Sunderland Agriculture Society Fair, Box #370 Sunderland, Ont. L0C 1H0. Memories, photos and condolences may be shared at www.thornefuneralhome.ca. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Lorne Brethour. University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers are working with RMD Engineering Inc. of Saskatoon to create a unique harness designed to help in the recovery and rehabilitation of horses from limb injuries. Such injuries are often fatal because currently available equipment is inadequate for proper treatment. If this works, the potential impact will be huge because there are no long-term rehabilitation harnesses available on the market today, said Dr. Julia Montgomery at USasks Western College of Veterinary Medicine, who leads the research. The horse industry contributes more than $19 billion annually to the Canadian economy, according to a 2010 study by Equestrian Canada, and is responsible for more than 80,000 full-time jobs on farms and in horse racing and competitions. Biomedical engineering masters student Samantha Steinke joined the research project in 2016 as an undergraduate student after her horse had to be euthanized following a tendon injury that would have left him debilitated. She is working with RMD to build and test the new harness. Last year, Steinke was awarded an 18-month masters fellowship by Mitacs, which is sharing the cost of her $45,000 fellowship equally with RMD. Mitacs is a publicly funded not-for-profit research and training organization that supports collaborations between industry, academia and governments in Canada. USask graduate student Samantha Steinke (left) holds Mama alongside her supervisor, WCVM researcher Dr. Julia Montgomery. Steinke's graduate research is financially supported by Mitacs and RMD Engineering Inc. Im very fortunate Mitacs is supporting me because otherwise I wouldnt be able to continue on this project, which is a huge passion for me, she said. Its great to work on this harness and make improvements with hopes of creating a useable long-term rehabilitation harness. Challenges facing researchers include the unique biomechanics of a horse, which carries 60 per cent of its weight on its front legs. When the animal injures a limb, it redistributes its considerable weightfrom 400 kilograms to more than 550 kilogramsto its uninjured legs, often leading to a highly painful foot injury called supporting limb laminitis which has a poor prognosis. Euthanasia is often necessary because laminitis causes the horse to shift weight back to the originally injured leg, preventing healing and worsening the animals condition. Support slings and rescue slings arent suitable because they pick up the horse under the chest and abdomen, where they should not be picked up because it affects their breathing and other physiological functions, said Steinke. Long-term use of rescue slings for rehabilitation also can create pressure sores in horses, much like bed sores that bed-ridden human patients develop despite receiving excellent care, Montgomery said. Pressure from slings can also damage horses internal organs and nerves. Montgomery has worked for the past four years with RMD on testing and fine-tuning the companys Equine Assisted Rehabilitation Lift, designed to suit the biomechanics of a horse. The harness will complement the functions of the lift, which uses a computer-guided weight compensation system to slowly load the limbs of a horse during the rehabilitation, and support them if they stumble. We want to provide controlled mobility, not suspension from an overhead crane, Montgomery said. The system will help remove some of the weight so that horses can walk around and avoid load-associated complications. Its intended to reduce immediate complications from immobility, such as wasting muscles. With the lift, we can rock horses from side to side to maintain blood flow. An equine-assisted rehabilitation lift, along with the new harness system, will use a computer-guided weight compensation system to slowly load the horse's limbs during recovery. Steinke said her work with RMD is focused on the load-bearing structures on a horse, and on building the harness so as to distribute the weight over solid bone structures, not muscle or organs. With quick release buckles, the harness will be easy for one or two people to put on or removean important consideration for rural veterinary practices, which often have only a single person working. For Steinkes masters project, the team is focusing on testing a breastplate designed and built by RMD that will help redistribute weight on the front of the horse. The device will have electronic sensors that detect pressure, heat and moisture levels, and proprietary means for adjusting its load to relieve pressure. RMD aims to have the breastplate ready for testing on a Thoroughbred horse at the veterinary college by May, with testing continuing through the summer to modify the design as needed. Montgomery said progress is necessarily slow because each step forward depends on the preceding step, and planning several steps ahead isnt feasible. The hind legs section of the harness will take longer because the design has to enable the horses to urinate and defecate. I love horses and want to make contribution to equine health. I want to help solve a problem that doesnt yet have a solution, said Montgomery. (University of Saskatchewan / USask Research Profile and Impact) Which of the following is not an example of a barrier to entry? A. Microsoft obtains a copyright for its Windows operating system. B. A pharmaceutical company obtains a patent for a new medication to treat migraine headaches. C. A soybean farmer is the first in her country to use a new brand of fertilizer. D. A taxi cab driver in New York City obtains a license to legally provide transportation in New York City. Wisdom of the Crowd: 58% of the respondents said that Ho Ching is not likely to be the next president of Singapore. https://tklcloud.com/C... WASHINGTON Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key) met with Florida fruit and vegetable growers Tuesday to discuss his ongoing efforts to protect farmers against Mexicos unfair trade practices. Buchanan recently introduced legislation in Congress to help level the playing field for Florida against an unprecedented growth in imports from Mexico as a result subsidies and illegal seasonal dumping. The Defending Domestic Produce Production Act , introduced by Buchanan and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, would ease certain thresholds to allow Florida farmers to petition the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate illegal subsidies and dumping of Mexican fruits and vegetables in the U.S. market. Current law requires petitioners to demonstrate harm as measured from a nationwide and year-round perspective. The bill would acknowledge the unique circumstances of seasonal fruit and vegetable producers who are directly harmed by Mexicos practices in various geographic regions during different seasons, including Florida growers during the winter months. "Todays visit showed that Florida growers continue to be harmed by Mexicos unfair trade practices," said Buchanan. "I will continue to push for my bill to provide Florida farmers with the necessary tools to make the case that that Mexico is selling produce at unfairly low prices and urge Congress and the Trump Administration to protect them in future trade negotiations." Buchanan says that over the past 5 to 10 years, the Mexican government has gifted their agriculture sector with illegal subsidies to grow produce destined for U.S. consumers, while Mexican growers have dumped less-than-fair-value products into our markets. The consequential losses for Florida are estimated to be between $1 billion to $3 billion annually. "Rep. Buchanans Defending Domestic Produce Production Act equips our seasonal and perishable industry with a workable mechanism to address unfair trade practices," said Florida Farm Bureau President John L. Hoblick. "A solution is long overdue, and its time we stand up for free and fair trade for our Florida farmers. We commend the Congressman for his leadership, and look forward to working with the state delegation to encourage support." Because Florida and Mexico share a similar growing season and produce a number of the same specialty crops, Florida producers have been particularly hard hit by current trade practices and mounting Mexican imports coming into our markets. BRADENTON - They called it a 'Maroon' community. It was made up of families who fled persecution and found solace in each other. The fact that they were from different worlds and different backgrounds didn't see to matter at all. Angola is the next village on our list of places you've never heard or. It was a community of around 750 escaped slaves and Seminole natives who temporarily made the Sarasota/Bradenton area their home. The community served as a haven where they enjoyed freedom, at a time when both groups were being persecuted and enslaved in other parts of the country. The location of this community is thought to have been at the confluence of the Manatee and Braden rivers, according to Sarasota-based historian, Vicki Oldham. The site was unknown until the early 2000s, when Oldham teamed up with New College Anthropology Professor Uzi Baram, director of New College Public Archaeology Lab and discovered relics thought to be associated with the community, according to a 2018 article in Sarasota Magazine called "Angola's Ashes: Newly Excavated Settlement Highlights Florida's History of Escaped Slaves," by Isaac Edger. The article sites a book called "Florida's Peace River Frontier, a detailed history of 19th-century Florida Seminoles," by Canter Brown Jr. The book features a detailed account of the village made up of African-Americans and Seminole Indians. The perimeters of this community reached from the Manatee and Braden Rivers all the way to Sarasota Bay. The story of how this village came to be is a complex and political journey. Nearly a century before Harriet Tubman secretly led more than 300 slaves north to freedom, slaves were escaping south into the Florida wilderness and forming alliances with another group of exiled people, the Seminole natives. Called Black Seminoles, or Maroons, the group of people that lived in Angola were decedents of free and runaway slaves in Georgia and the Carolinas. At the time, Florida was under British rule. The British offered the group sanctuary if they joined forces and fought against the U.S. during the War of 1812, according to Edger. The group of Maroons manned a fort on the Apalachicola River known as Prospect Bluff. When the United States Government got wind of its existence, it sent Gen. Andrew Jackson to destroy it. The destruction of the fort put the black Seminoles on the move again. They are thought to have escaped down the coast, finally settling in Angola. There they farmed, hunted and traded with seasonal Cuban fisherman. They also utilized large dugout sailing canoes to travel back in forth to the Bahamas. The community existed until 1821, when Gen Jackson organized an attack that burned the community to the ground. The next few decades were tragic for the group of people, but they were determined to protect their freedom. In the 50 years preceding the Civil War, African Americans had the most significant influence shaping Seminole affairs, including the First and Second Seminole wars. But the alliance of the Africans and Native Seminoles was a constant source of concern to the U.S. Government because the Seminoles were seen as a major threat to the institution of slavery. The U.S. Government set out re-enslave those free black people and drive their Native American alliances south. Many of the Angola residents were able to escape to Bahamas where their ancestors still reside. Those that fought with the Seminoles were driven into the Everglades, where some of their ancestors live today. The thriving community of Angola is an intriguing legend of a brief utopia that provided hundreds of people sanctuary. The only remaining proof of it's existence is a new historical marker dedicated to its history, thanks to historians like Oldham and Baram, who fought to keep the story alive. Tune in next week, when we research another lost community in this interesting series. Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium is an independent, not-for-profit, marine research organization on City Island in Sarasota. For nearly 60 years, it has been the leading marine science and education facility in our area, supporting conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. However, environmentalists have expressed grave concern over its financial relationship with the Mosaic Company and whether that may have influenced the position Mote has taken on red tide. Karenia brevis is a microscopic, single-celled, photosynthetic organism commonly found in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Red tide is the common name for the algal blooms it causes in saltwater bodies. The toxic algae essentially suffocates fish and contaminates shellfish, which can then pass a neurotoxin on to other animals and even humans who consume them. The aerosolized brevetoxins that occur during a bloom, cause respiratory irritation, coughing, wheezing and other symptoms, which can be particularly dangerous for people with conditions like chronic lung disease or asthma. Experiencing your first red tide event can be a jarring experience, as dead fish tend to wash up on shore in droves for weeks on end, rotting in the Florida sun. The sight of such a post-apocalyptic scene, combined with the noxious, malodorous air is as toxic to Floridas tourism-driven economy as the blooms are to the sea-life. The fact that the blooms have become more numerous and persistent in recent years and concentrations have increased almost exponentially from a historical perspective has everyone looking for answers as to how we can combat the phenomenon. It has been established that red tide is a naturally occurring event. Spanish explorers described witnessing the phenomenon in Florida as early as the 16th century, and the first scientifically-documented bloom was near Panama City in 1844, with a massive bloom on record in the 1880s. Scientists at Mote have promoted the theory that because red tide blooms originate up to 40 miles offshore, human impact is minimal. Dr. Larry E. Brand, a professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, presented his lecture "Red Tide and Blue/Green Algae, Causes, Human Impacts and Health Consequences" at Suncoast Waterkeeper's annual Brunch for the Bay fundraiser on March 3 at the Bradenton Yacht Club. Brands research contradicts that theory, and he said hes met with much resistance to his findings. During his lecture, Brand said that Mote sent a team to attempt to redirect his research. He also accused state agencies of manipulating statistics in an attempt to prove there was no correlation between human activity and red tide. Dr. Brand's conclusions about the cyanobacteria blooms in Florida Bay refuted those findings, and his NOAA and EPA grants were rescinded shortly thereafter. Brand, an expert in the ecology of algae and phytoplankton, holds a Ph.D. jointly from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and MIT. His 2007 study links long-term red tide increases along the southwest Florida coast to human-influenced nitrogen runoff carried to the west coast from Lake Okeechobee via the Caloosahatchee River. From livestock waste to fertilizer runoff from Big Sugar and other agricultural operations, as well as increased runoff from lawn and landscaping fertilizers owed to heavy central Florida development, the increased accumulation of nitrogen-rich water that is discharged to the naturally phosphate-rich waters of the Gulf has created a perfect environment for red tide blooms to thrive. This is where things get tricky. The source for most of that nitrogen runoff is phosphate-based fertilizers. Florida is a phosphate-rich state, and the phosphate mining industry has long been a powerful political lobby. These days, phosphate mining is pretty much synonymous with Mosaic, a Fortune 500 company based in Plymouth, Minnesota that mines phosphate and potash, and is the largest U.S. producer of potash and phosphate fertilizers. Manatee County residents know just how effective Mosaic has been at getting its way when it comes to mining permits. Mosaic doesnt just make political contributions, however. The $19 billion corporation throws a lot of money around in an effort to promote a green, eco-friendly image, despite operating in an industry that ravages the land and depletes groundwater stores, in addition to a host of other environmental consequences. This includes a seven-figure advertising budget for the Tampa Bay market, which means a lot of news outlets experience potential conflicts of interests when reporting and opining on the controversial permit applications of one of their big-ticket clients. Mosaic also spends money on things like the naming rights for the City of Bradentons riverfront amphitheater and funding for various groups with eco-positive images. One of the groups who has benefited from Mosaics largesse is Mote. The full scope of their contributions is not public, but Mote has acknowledged the companys contributions toward a wide array of endeavors, including a $125,000 grant for its Snook Enhancement Program. Mote also lists Mosaic as one of its corporate benefactors. Obviously, Mosaic has an interest in state agencies and venerable organizations like Mote promoting a theory that runoff from nitrogen-based fertilizers have a minimal role in increased occurrences or intensity of red tide blooms. Mote has said that because the company does not directly fund any of its red-tide research, there is no conflict of interest in accepting its money for other purposes. Dr. Michael Crosby, Mote's president & CEO, was very clear that the organization is in growth mode when he appeared before the Manatee County Commission this week, asking for $15 million in taxpayer funding to aid in the construction of a planned aquarium in Sarasota County at Benderson Park. On more than one occasion, Crosby invoked red tide in his appeal to commissioners in making his bid. In the wake of the horrific 2018 bloom, and following backlash for former Governor Rick Scott having cut funding for red tide research, our officials in Tallahassee have eagerly looked for ways to show Floridians that they are doing something, and Mote has been well positioned to benefit. Bill Galvano, currently President of the Florida Senate, has been a long time, enthusiastic supporter of Mote and is listed by the organization as an honorary trustee. Having Senator Galvano and other local politicians in their corner certainly couldn't hurt as the state looked to fund red-tide related projects to fund. Last September, Mote received nearly $2.2 million, in part to expand its experimental ozone treatment system to combat the blooms. A bill filed this session would give Mote an additional $15 million over five years to continue developing new technologies for combating red tide blooms in the Gulf. In that sense, Mote's position that red tide is not caused by nitrogen runoff and can be best mitigated by yet-unproven technologies that would combat it at sea has proven lucrative. This is not to say that Mote scientists dont believe what they say, that the organization shouldnt play a major role in Floridas efforts to develop long-term solutions to a very serious problem, or that seeking to develop innovative and dynamic technologies should not be part of the equation. It just seems like Mote is very quickly ascending to the very top of the pyramid, and taxpayers are justified in wondering whether that is for political reasons as much as merit-based ones. As it stands, Dr. Brands research represents the latest and best data on the subject, and he offers a sound theory based on hard science that seems the most plausible. The idea that his voice might be deliberately drowned out should be concerning, especially when one considers all of the potential political factors at play. Any way you look at it, the idea that an organization with Motes political and corporate ties that is currently seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private funding looks like its becoming the only show in town when it comes to red tide research, sends up red flags. For politicians, choosing to focus spending on new technologies to combat the persistent blooms rather than ways to prevent them in the first place provides an opportunity to claim that they are doing something without upsetting the politically powerful interests who would stand to lose if we were to focus on reducing that nitrogen-rich runoff. These include not only Big Phosphate but Big Sugar, Big Agra, and Big Development. In this sense, even if Motes approach is not driven by self-interest, they could still be benefiting indirectly because their theory is the one that allows for the focus to be taken off of the special interest groups. Their association with Mosaic, however, doesnt help when it comes to those optics. Funding research across a diverse array of competing theories and proposed solutions is the path most likely to yield the best results. Floridians would be better served if so much of our red tide resources werent being placed in one organizations coffers and guided by a single theory, especially when a more plausible, data-backed counter-theory exists. I'm all for developing new technologies that may someday tame red tide blooms, but lets also take a harder look at how we can sustainably plan development, farm and raise livestock without dumping so much nitrogen-rich runoff into the gulf where Brands research shows it can supercharge red tide blooms, making them more persistent and costly. Editor's note: this article has been updated to correct information about Dr. Brand's degree and published studies. related: A video of Dr. Brand's lecture is available at our Facebook Page Dennis Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University, where he earned a degree in Government. He later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Dennis's latest novel, Sacred Hearts, is available here . 3 hours ago Are These 3 Old-School Companies Worth A Fresh Look? In the flurry of newly public companies posting big price gains, its easy to overlook long-established companies like Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT), and Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) that are flashing technical and fundamental strength. Its true that companies that went public within the past 15 years are often among the markets biggest gainers. Read Article "A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist. Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution. Comments Comments are welcome, but note they may not appear immediately due to spam filtering/moderating. Thank you. 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. "Clap Your Hands If You Believe in Fairies!" UNICEF Luxembourg and the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) had the pleasure to welcome UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan to the Global Issues Network Conference as one of the keynote speakers. The conference, organised, led and compered by 16 ISL students on 28, 29, and 30 March and held at the Chambre de Commerce du Luxembourg is of growing importance with the youth of the world becoming more active in economic, environment and political aspects. Its purpose is to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create sustainable solutions for global issues. Almellehan, 20, is one of UNICEF's youngest Goodwill ambassadors, she spoke about her personal experience as a Syrian refugee and education activist and her commitment as a youth advocate to make education a reality for all refugee children; Even as a child, I knew that education was the key to my future, so when I fled Syria, the only belongings I took with me were my school books. It really was education above anything else, Almellehan explained. The event brings 250 students together from 30 schools and 15 countries and this year focuses on our Worlds most vulnerable People, Places and Resources. UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to save childrens lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. More info here. According to latest numbers published by the police, valuables from inside the cars are more commonly stolen than the vehicles themselves. Smartphones, purses, bags and other accessories are amongst the most commonly stolen items. When you leave your car, you should either take your personal belongings with you, or put them away so that they cannot be seen from outside, police recommend. It is also always safer to park in a well-lit and busy area. Organised gangs from abroad specialise in disassembling and stealing airbag systems or sat navs. The police are currently investigating this issue. There has also been an increase in bicycle thefts. Numbers have risen dramatically over the last year, notably from 254 to 468 cases reported to the police. Bike owners are urged to use high quality padlocks and only to leave bikes in secured areas. The police also advise owners to take note of their bikes details, including the brand, frame number, model, serial number, and colour. It is also a good idea to take pictures of the bike - they might come in handy in case of a theft. The police also offer a free marking service. Bikes will additionally be marked with a "registered bicycle" sticker, which could have a dissuasive effect on potential thieves. Like cars, bikes should also best be left in well-lit and bustling areas. In addition to the drug raid in Rodange on Friday night, police officers scoured the area surrounding Luxembourg City's train station on Friday night. With a force of 28 police officers and a sniffer dog, the police were on high alert for drugs on Friday night. The drugs bust started at 9.45pm and focused on two streets in partuclar - Avenue de la Gare and Rue the Strasbourg. The sniffer dog alerted officers to 23 people, all of whom were then checked. The police sent two individuals who had swallowed their drug stash during the checks to the hospital in order for them to be scanned. Three other people were found to be in the possession of cocaine. The operation finished at around 2.30am. The police detained three people. Among others, the police caught a dealer on a platform at Luxembourg City's train station, as he was surrounded by "customers". He attempted to flee, but officers were able to catch him near the footbridge. He was carrying 38 balls of heroin and cocaine, as well as a considerable amount of cash. The public prosecutor's office ordered the seizure of the drugs and the arrest of the individual, who will be presented to the examining magistrate. The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations. For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered. This is separate from my speaking fee. If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event. Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up. King Mohammed VI and Pope Francis held tete-a-tete talks Saturday afternoon at the Royal Palace, before they headed to the Rabat-based Mohammed VI Institute, a training center for Imams, Murshideen and Murshidat (male and female preachers), which champions a moderate and tolerant Islam against the threat of extremism. The two leaders visit provided an opportunity to highlight the mission of this institution that teaches an Islam of moderation, peace and tolerance and that illustrates one of the aspects of the reform of the religious field in Morocco, spearheaded by the sovereign. On this occasion, Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs made a presentation highlighting the Kingdoms tolerant Islam that is based on the Malikite rite. He pointed out that the setting up of this imams training institute, at the initiative of King Mohammed VI, is part of his commitment to protect religion. The Commander of the Faithful, he stressed, has since his accession to the throne made structural reforms and introduced a dynamic of concordance between the institutional frameworks of modern management and the goals of religion in their different aspects. This distinction means that some of the major issues facing the management of Islam elsewhere find their solution in the context of the Commandment of the faithful, the minister of Islamic affairs said, underlining that there is no constraint in religion, which means the right to religious freedom. Two students enrolled in the Institute among the dozens of national and foreign students who were present at the ceremony, made testimonies about their own experience as trainees in this institution. Mrs Hindu Usman, a Nigerian, said she was confident that after her graduation and return to her country, she would be able to educate others about religion and its lofty values. She said she would devote her time and efforts to promoting awareness for peace and against violence in the name of religion, thanks to the experience and knowledge gained at the Mohammed VI Institute. Aboubakr Hmaidouch, a French student, pointed out that the Muslim community in France is in great need of imams and preachers so that the values of religion contribute to living together and to spiritual well-being within the community. He recalled that after the terrorist attacks that hit France in 2015, he felt the need to acquire knowledge and communication skills to be able to communicate within a society shaped by multiple trends and sometimes by stereotypes and assumptions. He said he had acquired solid training and deep knowledge in traditional religious sciences and modern humanities at the Mohammed VI Institute. The two leaders visit was marked by a performance by the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra of Muslim, Christian and Hebrew religious songs. The Institute, opened in 2015, is housing 1,200 live-in students from Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Pope Francis, who made a lightening two-day trip to Rabat, praised Morocco for adopting a policy that guarantees protection and integration of migrants. Morocco will continue to be an example of humanity for migrants and refugees within the international community, so that here, as elsewhere, they can find generous welcome and protection, a better life and a dignified integration into society, said the Pontiff sovereign in a speech on his first day of his visit to Morocco in the Hassan mosque esplanade. The North African kingdom has stood out in Africa and the region as the only country that has a comprehensive migration policy offering residency status to migrants and full access to social services including health and education. Morocco has also led action at the continental and international level in favor of an orderly and solidarity-oriented migration policy while calling for international cooperation to tackle migration flows. In the speech he delivered before that of the Pope in the Hassan mosque esplanade in front of some 10,000 people from across Morocco, King Mohammed VI raised the issue of migration. Because God is love, I have tried to make sure my reign is characterized by closeness to citizens as well as by assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people, the king said. He pointed that that is the spirit of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), launched 14 years agoand that is also the philosophy behind the immigration and asylum policy which he instituted. This policy is fundamentally based on solidarity and it is in line with the Marrakech Compact, which the international community adopted on 10 December 2018, the Sovereign said. Echoing him, the Pope praised Morocco for its advocacy of international cooperation to promote migrants rights, recalling the adoption in Marrakech of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which is intended to serve as a point of reference for the entire international community. He, however, stressed that at an international context marked by the rise of anti-migration political trends there is a need for a change of attitude towards migrants, one that sees them as persons, not numbers, and acknowledges their rights and dignity in daily life and in political decisions. The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families, he said. Pope Francis later on Saturday held a meeting with migrants at the diocesan Caritas center in Rabat, and discussed with them what he called a great and deep wound that continues to afflict our world at the beginning of this twenty-first century. A wound that cries out to heaven. He stressed again the importance of the Global Compact on Migration as an important step forward for the international community, saying the Compact helps us see that it is not just about migrants, but about the face we want to give our society, and about the value of human life. Sub-Saharan migrants make the majority of the some 23,000 Catholics currently living in Morocco. Students at a university in Hanoi have given recycle bins a creative facelift, as part of a campaign aimed at raising awareness of environmental protection among young people. Many recycle bins at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in the capital have put on a new look thanks to the creativity of its students. The activity is part of a program called Nhan Van Xanh, or Green Nhan Van, which is inspired by the Vietnamese name of the school. Photo: Quach Thao / Tuoi Tre According to Pham Thuy Duong, deputy head of the universitys student association, the campaign encourages all members of the school to avoid littering, properly classify their garbage, and contribute to the protection of the environment. Each group of participants was tasked with decorating a pair of recycle bins in the most out-of-the-box and meaningful way possible. Photo: Quach Thao / Tuoi Tre There are two bins where the trash can be sorted into two categories, namely organic and inorganic. The participants brainstormed to come up with an idea at the beginning of the campaign. However, all recycle bins turned out to be very beautiful, which captured a lot of attention, Duong stated. Photo: Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) Photo: USSH Photo: USSH Photo: USSH Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Here are todays leading news stories: Politics -- Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan concluded her official visit to Morocco on Saturday afternoon (local time), and headed for France for another official visit, which is scheduled for March 30 to April 3. Society -- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is expected to relocate a total of 686 houses across the city in 2019 as part of an urban revamp program, with the expenditure estimated at VND1.8 billion (US$77,400). -- Three British divers have arrived in the north-central Vietnamese province of Quang Binh to prepare for a historic journey to find the answer to the disappearance of a river located at the end of the Son Doong Cave. -- The traffic police division under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police has announced their plan to minimize traffic congestion at seven hotspots throughout the city, which will be carried out from April 1 to 30. -- A pair of maps indicating areas at risk of flooding along 28 coastal provinces and cities in Vietnam was officially put into use during a ceremony in Hanoi on Saturday. Business -- Vietnams steel export value rose by 5.8 percent year-on-year to $744 million in the first quarter of this year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. -- Ho Chi Minh City ranked first in social cost-of-living terms in Vietnam in 2018, followed by Hanoi, according to the General Statistics Office. Lifestyle -- Many people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City participated in the 2019 Earth Hour Campaign at 8:30 pm on Saturday with the theme Save Energy, Save Earth. Sports -- A professional Go-Kart racing tournament is expected to be organized at the Dai Nam Racecourse in the southern province of Binh Duong. The competition will be divided into four stages which will take place between May 2019 and March 2020. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Democrats in the US Congress claim they support "Border Security." Apparently they believe that the public will accept the idea that they support the US government's right to limit immigration however it chooses to do so. Their unwillingness to reinforce the CBP on the border and to change the Asylum Law to make treatment of Central Americans equal to that of all others, including Mexicans, makes that assertion an absurdity. The truth IMO is that with few exception. the national Democrats seek the collapse of US government control of immigration and an inundation of illegal immigrants that they hope will give them permanent voting majorities in elections across the country. The tactic used in California of illegally voting illegal immigrants through control of local election boards and devices like "motor voter" registrations was shown to be effective in HC's popular vote win in California. This is why California resisted so strongly the proposal for an audit of the election after 2016. The Democrats have become a minority and left Globalist Party hostile to the traditional American structure of government and to the people who built this country, and I don't mean by laying bricks when the WH was built. The behavior and statements of the Democrats demonstrate that what they really want in the SW is a collapse of US government authority. Seeking agreement with them is futile. pl ABC KIDS megahit Bluey returns with new episodes from today. The Ludo Studio animation is the most watched show ever on iview. Series 1 Ep 27- 52 After taking Australia by storm last October, Bluey returns to ABC KIDS for more fun and games, with 26 brand new, highly anticipated episodes screening daily at 8am from April 1. With over 21 million views and counting, Bluey is the ABCs breakout success of 2018 and is the most watched show on ABC iview. Bluey is a loveable, inexhaustible little six year-old Blue Heeler dog, who lives with her Mum, Dad and her four year old sister, Bingo. Like every kid her age, what Bluey likes best is to play games. She takes the everyday events of family life like going to the shops or visiting the zoo and transforms them into unique gameplay, turning everyday moments into idiosyncratic adventures. Bluey and Bingo both love to role-play. Whether they are pirates, mountaineers, grannies or pretend neighbours, they love to try on different characters just for fun. And its never long before Mum or Dad are dragged in to take part. Bandit and Chilli both work and, tired as they may be, they are also dedicated parents who appreciate the value of time spent playing with the kids, even if it means searching the house for fairies or pretending to be a zoo animal. Unstructured, self-directed play allows Bluey to use her creativity while developing her imagination, as well as her mental, physical and emotional resilience. It allows her to create and explore her world autonomously, conquering her fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes with her sister or with other children. and always with her parents to guide her. Gameplay is how Bluey integrates the adult world into her own; it helps Bluey and her sister learn important lessons and deal with the emotional ups and downs of growing up while having fun. Production details Bluey is a Ludo Studio production for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Principal production investment from BBC Studios, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia. Developed and produced with the assistance of Screen Queensland. Daily at 8am from today on ABC KIDS. Member of parliament Amelie de Montchalin of "La Republique en Marche" (Republic on the Move or LREM) political party attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron appointed legislator Amelie de Montchalin as new European affairs minister on Sunday to replace Nathalie Loiseau in a small, expected cabinet reshuffle two months before the European elections. Loiseau quit her job on Wednesday to lead Macron's party for the European election campaign. The vote will be held in France and the other countries of the European Union in late May. Montchalin, 33, was first elected in the lower house in 2017 as a member of the centrist party backing Macron. She previously worked for insurance company AXA as deputy to the strategy director. The government also appointed Macron's communication adviser Sibeth Ndiaye as government spokeswoman with the rank of junior minister and Cedric O, an economics adviser to Macron, as junior minister for digital economy. Senegal-born Ndiaye, 39, replaces Benjamin Griveaux, while O replaces Mounir Mahjoubi. Griveaux and Mahjoubi quit on Wednesday to prepare a candidacy for the Paris mayorship in 2020. (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Edmund Blair) TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) The Arab League rejected the U.S. recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and other Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel at an annual summit on Sunday, showcasing unity on one of the few issues that unites the regional bloc. Arab leaders also reiterated their commitment to resolving the conflict based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, in which they would recognize Israel in return for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, lands occupied in the 1967 war. This year's Arab League summit, held in Tunisia, comes against a grim backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Syria, a founding member, was expelled in 2011 during the early days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trump's recognition of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is "Syria's occupied territory." At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia "absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights" and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Iran's meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. Story continues Calling the meeting "the summit of resolve and solidarity," Host-country Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi decried "regional and international interventions" in Arab affairs. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Iran and Turkey have "worsened some crises and created new problems," calling on Arab leaders to "unite as one force under one umbrella against the regional interventions." One of the few things that have united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognizing Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan earlier this month. U.S. officials say both moves recognize reality on the ground and contribute to Israel's security. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia condemned those policies but did not announce any further action. That's in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemen's Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. In Syria, small protests against Trump's Golan move were held and state media criticized the Arab summit. "The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done," the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the U.S. and Israel. The Arab League had been expected to consider readmitting Syria, but there was no reference to the subject in the final statement. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have voiced support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. Some countries were represented by their heads of state on Sunday, while others sent lower-level delegations. The UAE sent the lesser-known Fujairah ruler Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi rather than the powerful Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed or Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the meeting, along with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki. Guterres reiterated international support for an Israeli and a Palestinian state "living side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, and with Jerusalem as capital of both states." "There is no Plan B: without two states, there is no solution," he said. In a rare sign of easing tensions, King Salman and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, sat at the same sprawling table at Sunday's opening session. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Doha's ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. But Qatar's emir left the summit after the opening session and did not address the summit or attend the closed-door meeting later in the day, according to Qatar's state-run news agency. It did not give a reason for his early departure. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb In Beirut contributed to this report. Pope Francis has held Sunday mass in the Moroccan capital Rabat at a stadium packed with some 10,000 members of the country's Catholic minority, on the second day of a visit during which he ... Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985, and his arrival drew thousands to the streets on Saturday.The Argentine was welcomed to Morocco by King Mohammed VI who describes himself as "commander of the faithful".Speaking at Saturday's welcome ceremony, the pope defended "freedom of conscience" and "religious freedom". * Pope Francis holds historic public mass in Abu DhabiAround 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa.Although Islam is the state religion, Moroccan authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely.In a joint statement released by the Vatican on Saturday, the Pope and the King addressed the "sacred character of Jerusalem" saying the city should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims.Francis's palace meeting with the king was followed by a visit to an institute which hosts around 1,300 trainee imams and preachers.Plight of migrantsWhile visiting a charity, the pontiff also highlighted the suffering of migrants, denouncing "indifference and silence" while calling on people to consider them "as people, not numbers".Francis described Morocco as a "natural bridge between Africa and Europe" and said world problems could never be solved by raising barriers or "fomenting fear of others."He criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged.Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border.The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has recently surged as it has become harder for them to pass through Libya. Pope Francis has held Sunday mass in the Moroccan capital Rabat at a stadium packed with some 10,000 members of the country's Catholic minority, on the second day of a visit during which he ... Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985, and his arrival drew thousands to the streets on Saturday. The Argentine was welcomed to Morocco by King Mohammed VI who describes himself as "commander of the faithful". Speaking at Saturday's welcome ceremony, the pope defended "freedom of conscience" and "religious freedom". Around 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa. Although Islam is the state religion, Moroccan authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. In a joint statement released by the Vatican on Saturday, the Pope and the King addressed the "sacred character of Jerusalem" saying the city should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims. Francis's palace meeting with the king was followed by a visit to an institute which hosts around 1,300 trainee imams and preachers. Plight of migrants While visiting a charity, the pontiff also highlighted the suffering of migrants, denouncing "indifference and silence" while calling on people to consider them "as people, not numbers". Francis described Morocco as a "natural bridge between Africa and Europe" and said world problems could never be solved by raising barriers or "fomenting fear of others." He criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border. The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has recently surged as it has become harder for them to pass through Libya. Pope Francis wrapped up his two-day visit to Morocco with a mass attended by some 10,000 Catholics from across Morocco. Pope Francis trip to Rabat was a chance to highlight the active role played by Morocco in promoting inter-religious dialogue at home and internationally. The Pontiff encouraged greater fraternity between Christians and Muslims in Morocco, and urged Catholics to abstain from proselytism. In the majority Muslim country, Jews and Christians have their places of worship and can practice their faith, a right that is guaranteed and protected by King Mohammed VI, the Commander of the Faithful. As Commander of the Faithful, I cannot speak of the Land of Islam, as if only Muslims lived there. I am keen to ensure freedom to practice the religions of the Book and I am the guarantor of that freedom. I protect Moroccan Jews as well as Christians from other countries, who are living in Morocco, the King said in a speech at the esplanade of Hassan Mosque on the first day of the Popes visit. The great welcome the Pope and his delegation had both by the Monarch and the Moroccan people sends in itself a much needed message of tolerance in a world torn by tension and misunderstandings. Despite the rain, thousands lined up on the street to greet the Monarch and the Pope and thousand more attended their speeches in the esplanade. At the Imams training institute, Adhan, Adonai and Ave Mariah were sang before the Pope and the King who spared no effort to champion in Morocco and abroad the genuine face of moderate Islam. The Popes visit was also an occasion to make a plea for the protection of the multi-religious character of the holy city of Jerusalem as a sacred city for the followers of the three Abrahamic religions. We believe it is important to preserve the Holy City of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Al-Sharif as a shared heritage of humankind and to safeguard it, above all for the believers of the three monotheistic religions, as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and as a meeting place where mutual esteem and dialogue are fostered, said the two leaders. They also affirmed that the uniqueness, the spiritual dimension and special identity of Al-Quds Al-Sharif must be preserved and enhanced. The Vatican media section reported that 1.5 billion viewers around the world followed the first day of the popes visit to Morocco via the Vatican canals, Christian churches and international channels and that the numbers will be even greater Sunday. Some 200 foreign journalists, all media combined, have covered this historic visit of the Pope in Morocco, a country that plays a singular role in contemporary Islam and where inter-religious dialogue is fruitful, writes the Vatican information website. Large-scale pig farming could ruin the beautiful scenery near where Game Of Thrones was filmed, one of the actors has said. Jerome Flynn plays Ser Bronn of the Blackwater in the hugely successful HBO fantasy series. It was partly shot at dramatic locations around Northern Ireland. Flynn said: Its a majestic, beautiful land which, as soon as you bring in a factory farm, is completely ruined. Its polluted. People wont want to walk there anymore. It becomes dangerous for children to play there. Lets subsidise the local farmers who want to ethically rear their animals and want to give them a life thats worth living, the free life that they deserve. Lets support them rather than pouring money into an industry which is threatening the whole balance of the ecosystem. Northern Irelands auditor general Kieran Donnelly (NI Audit Office/PA) Northern Irelands Audit Office, a public spending watchdog, has begun an investigation into payments which subsidise owners of anaerobic digesters which create electricity from animal waste. Subsidies in Northern Ireland are more valuable than in the rest of the UK, campaigners against the process said. Lobby group Farms Not Factories is concerned the green scheme aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels has encouraged the construction of large-scale farms. It calls them pig factories in Northern Ireland and suggested 14 such facilities were seeking planning permission. Digesters require significant amounts of animal waste to run. They use the organic material to create a biogas like methane, which is then converted to electricity. Payments to companies which generate electricity from renewables like biogas come from a levy on electricity bills. The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) says theres no evidence that the introduction of anaerobic digestion plants was driving growth in pig farming in the region. (Owen Humphreys/PA) Tracy Worcester, director of the Farms Not Factories campaign group, said: We can use the power of our purse to only buy from real farms, not animal factories. Story continues When buying pork, look for the high welfare labels Outdoor Bred, RSPCA Assured, Free Range or best of all Organic. When waste is produced by a moderate number of animals on a farm, it is not pollution but a fertiliser. The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) said there was no evidence the introduction of anaerobic digestion plants was driving growth in pig farming in the region. UFU deputy-president Victor Chestnutt said: Northern Ireland prides itself on its small family farming structure. We are recognised globally as a world-class food producing region, punching far above our weight in many respects. When it comes to anaerobic digestion, there is no evidence to suggest that the introduction of AD plants have encouraged a growth in pig farming. Anyone saying so is clutching at straws and lacks a basic understanding of NIs agricultural industry. The UFUs Victor Chestnutt (Cliff Donaldson/PA) He added: In terms of biogas yield, pig slurry only produces 15-25 m3/t compared to grass silage which produces 160-200 m3/t, which makes it unattractive for anaerobic digestion. It is also not accurate that Northern Ireland AD plants receive four times as much subsidy as those in GB. The two subsidy systems are set up differently and cannot be compared like-for-like. Up until mid-2014, sub-500kW AD plants in GB received 15.8p per kW hour in feed-in tariffs. These payments have reduced but AD plants in GB are eligible for other subsidy payments, like the renewable heat incentive scheme, which cannot be claimed in NI. There are many environmental and economic benefits to anaerobic digestion, which recycles agricultural and other organic wastes into renewable energy and natural fertiliser. It is a vital technology for decarbonising agriculture, managing waste and generating renewable energy in Northern Ireland. Political newcomer Zuzana Caputova is to become Slovakia's first female president after winning more than 58 percent of Sunday's election. Caputova rose to national prominence in the aftermath of the shootings of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova in February 2018, joining in mass anti-government protests that toppled then-premier Robert Fico. "Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," Caputova said after her victory.The 45-year-old environmental lawyer added that the outcome was a sign that "you can win without attacking your opponents"."I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year."Caputova's victory came as a blow to the ruling Smer-SD party, whose candidate Maros Sefcovic came in second. Sefcovic called Caputova to congratulate her and said he planned to send her flowers. "The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he told reporters.Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who also belongs to Smer-SD party, said he expected "constructive cooperation".Outgoing President Andrej Kiska told reporters that "Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova"."Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency."Justice for allCaputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey".No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok.More recently, she took to the streets after the murder of Jan Kuciak, who had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders.The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into "any possible political links to the crimes."MEPs voiced "concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakia's circles of power".(with AFP) Political newcomer Zuzana Caputova is to become Slovakia's first female president after winning more than 58 percent of Sunday's election. Caputova rose to national prominence in the aftermath of the shootings of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova in February 2018, joining in mass anti-government protests that toppled then-premier Robert Fico. "Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," Caputova said after her victory. The 45-year-old environmental lawyer added that the outcome was a sign that "you can win without attacking your opponents". "I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year." Caputova's victory came as a blow to the ruling Smer-SD party, whose candidate Maros Sefcovic came in second. Sefcovic called Caputova to congratulate her and said he planned to send her flowers. "The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he told reporters. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who also belongs to Smer-SD party, said he expected "constructive cooperation". Outgoing President Andrej Kiska told reporters that "Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova". "Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency." Justice for all Caputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey". No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. More recently, she took to the streets after the murder of Jan Kuciak, who had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia. Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders. Story continues The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into "any possible political links to the crimes." MEPs voiced "concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakia's circles of power". (with AFP) A Welsh soldier has said it is better fun playing the enemy as his battalion challenged an infantry counterpart ahead of their deployment to Afghanistan. Trooper Thomas Ashley Hopkins, 26, from Merthyr Tydfil, is one of the 1st Queens Dragoon Guards personnel testing 2 Rifles readiness to deploy next year as part of Exercise Askari Storm in Kenya. Co Antrim-based 2 Rifles are facing a gruelling exercise in bushland in a remote part of the African nation, contending with temperatures reaching the high 30s. A soldier from the Queens Dragoon Guards plays the enemy in Kenya, defending a forward operating base (fob) from an attack by 2 Rifles. (Robbie Hodgson/Ministry of Defence/Crown Copyright) Trooper Hopkins was involved in defending a forward operating base (fob) from an attack by 2 Rifles working with the Kenyan Defence Forces. So we are trying to provide 2 Rifles with a free thinking enemy and trying to test them before they deploy to Afghanistan, and its going well, he said. Its better playing the enemy, you try to get one up over them. Members of 2 Rifles and the Kenyan Defence Forces attack a forward operating base (fob) in Kenya being defended by the Queens Dragoon Guards during a training exercise. (Robbie Hodgson/Ministry of Defence/Crown Copyright) The Merthyr man has been in the Queens Dragoon Guards (QDG) for 18 months after transferring from the Parachute Regiment. I never really knew about the QDG to be honest until I looked into transferring, he said. I made the transfer, most people think the Welsh Guards are the main regiment for Welsh boys, but the QDG also recruit from south Wales. I was 19 when I first joined the Parachute Regiment, I got discharged on medical grounds for doing my ligaments in my ankle during selection. Its not as tough as people think, its genuinely not, it was just bad luck that I got injured. I came back in 2015 and went back to the Parachute Regiment, but transferred over to the Queens Dragoon Guards. I enjoy where I am now, and vehicles make life a bit easier. Although we do a lot of dismounted work as well. Im a vehicle operator and heavy machine gunner. While the dirt tracks in the African bush proved difficult driving conditions, Trooper Hopkins described Salisbury Plain as the hardest conditions he has had to drive in. Story continues Over the last 18 months I have done battle group exercises with Wessex Storm and deployed to north-east Poland as a deterrent to Russian threat, he said. Trooper Hopkins described the deployment to Poland as being in a town close to forests, a short distance from the border with Russia. We were out there as a deterrent, its more of a show of force from Nato and reassuring Europe. There wasnt a lot to do, Id rather be doing what 2 Rifles are doing here. Rushad Iskandarov Wins 2019 EPT Sochi High Roller (~$120,000) March 31 2019 Lisa Yiasemides Rushad Iskandarov, an experienced online poker player of four years, has taken down the 2019 EPT Sochi High Roller and Iskandarov achieved several firsts in doing so. This is his first title and he managed to do it the first time he has sat down to play a live tournament. Not only that but he is the first Azerbaijani to win an EPT event. Interestingly, Iskandarov found himself heads up with Elvin Sarkarov, who is also from Azerbaijan. With two players left, history had already been made. Speaking to the winner after the dust had settled, the father of two explained that he plays poker online regularly but doesnt usually have time to play live. He made this trip with some of his oldest friends and they wanted to combine a holiday with playing poker. To be honest it was very, very stressful! It was challenging to be playing against such good players," the champion added. 2019 EPT Sochi High Roller Official Results Place Player Country Payout (RUB) Payout (USD) 1 Rushad Iskandarov Azerbaijan 7,840,000 $119,351 2 Elvin Sarkarov Azerbaijan 5,579,000 $84,935 3 Maksim Bukreev Russia 3,650,500 $55,575 4 Pete Chen Taiwan 2,807,000 $42,734 5 Valery Yantsevich Belarus 2,222,500 $33,835 6 Sergey Kolyasnikov Russia 1,739,500 $26,482 7 Ramon Collilas Spain 1,368,500 $20,834 8 Irshat Shaykhov Russia 1,071,000 $16,305 PSPC champion and PokerStars ambassador Ramon Colillas finished in 7th place 2019 EPT Sochi High Roller Final Day Action Out of the 84 hopefuls who took part, nine finalists were still in contention at the start of the third and final day. There was a slew of eliminations early, with Daniil Kiselev busting on the very first hand of the final. Less than 15 minutes later, Irshat Shaykhov joined Kiselev on the sidelines. He had a bad run, losing ace-queen to Sergey Kolyasnikovs queen-jack suited after Kolyasnikov raise-called his all in preflop. This left Shaykov short and he was gone just a few hands later. Ramon Colillas was out next, finishing in seventh after losing a flip with ace-ten to Elvin Sarkarov, who was holding pocket-fours. Colillas couldnt recover after a four landed on the flop and the Team PokerStars Pro and PSPC winner receives 1,368,500 ($21,036) for another deep run this year. With six left, things slowed down in terms of eliminations and it wasnt until after the first break that Day 1 chip leader Kolyasnikov was eliminated. Kolyasnikov had certainly made his presence known as one of the most active at the table, but had gotten fairly short by the time he moved all in from under the gun with king-ten. Sarkarov isolated all in over the top with ace-jack suited in late position before Iskandarovs looked down to see pocket kings in the hole. The kings held up and the huge all in was certainly one of the defining moments in Iskandarov's tournament to put him joint top of the chip counts for the first time. Next to fall was Valery Yantsevich who made it as far as fifth, followed by Pete Chen in fourth. The most experienced player in the running at this point had battled hard throughout the final and the majority of hands he had won were taken down without showdown. It all came down to a flip in the end, with Chens losing to Sarkarov with pocket fours to ace-queen. He added another 2,807,000 ($43,148) to his already impressive live tournament results. Pete Chen closes in on $2.5M in lifetime winnings after finishing in 4th place That left three and again, the onlookers didnt have to wait long before another all in meant the end of Maksim Bukreevs hopes. Iskandarov went all in on the button and Bukreev woke up with ace-queen in the small blind. The shortest stack at this point, he quickly got it in and had the best of it with Iskandarov turning over queen-ten. However, Iskandarov hit broadway by the river and Bukreev's run ended in third place. He took home 3,650,500 ($56,112), which is his biggest score to date. After a brief recess, Iskandarov and Sarkarov sat down for what turned out to be an epic heads up battle. Over three hours and fifteen minutes, the chip lead swung back and forth with both challengers vying hard for the win. In the end though, Sarkarov was eliminated after bluffing all in on the river on a paired board and running into Iskandarovs trip fives. It was a great effort from the chip leader coming into the final table and he took home 5,579,000 ($85,755) for finishing as runner-up. Rushad Iskandarov wins 2019 EPT Sochi High Roller That concludes nine days of PokerNews coverage from the EPT in Sochi. On April 25, the European Poker Tour will set up shop in Monte Carlo. PokerNews will be on the ground to bring ten days of continuous live coverage. Check the Live Reporting section for continued coverage of poker tournaments around the world. A Look Back at the 12 PokerNews Cup Champions March 31 2019 Jason Glatzer The 2019 PokerNews Cup is heading to Finix Casino, located on the Greek border in Kulata, Bulgaria on May 9-19. This marks the 13th edition of our exciting and much-anticipated event. Twelve players from around the world can lay claim to being PokerNews Cup champions. Can you remember them all? Dory Zayneh: 2007 PokerNews Cup Australia Champion The PokerNews Cup began more than a decade ago with its inaugural event taking place at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia in October 2007. A total of 428 entrants ponied up the A$3,000 buy-in to create a prize pool of A$1,198,400 ($1,066,410). Australia's Dory Zayneh defeated countrymate Kenny Ng heads up to claim the A$300,000 ($266,959) top prize. More than a decade later, this remains Zayneh's only live tournament cash, according to The Hendon Mob. Dory Zayneh Darren Kramer: 2008 PokerNews South Africa Open Champion Building upon the success of the inaugural event, the PokerNews Cup headed to three different stops in three different continents the following year in 2008. The first event of 2008 took place at Montecasino in South Africa with 175 entrants buying in for $3,353 to create a $502,233 prize pool. Darren Cramer won the tournament for $140,575 after beating Chris Convery (second - $95,826) in heads-up play. This was Kramer's first six-figure cash. He has gone on to notch four more and now has nearly $1.1 million in live tournament cashes, good enough for third place on South Africa's All-Time Money List, according to The Hendon Mob. Darren Kramer Erich Kollman: 2008 PokerNews Cup Austria Champion The PokerNews Cup then headed to Europe for the first time, taking place at Concord Card Casino in Salzburg, Austria with a reduced buy-in of 220. A total of 201 players battled it out for a share of the 120,600 ($192,115) prize pool. For the third straight PokerNews Cup, the event was won by a local player with Austrias Erich Kollman claiming the top prize of 31,160 ($49,638). Kollman has gone on to amass more than $1.73 million in live poker tournament winnings, putting him sixth on Austria's All-Time Money List. Erich Kollmann Nali Kaselias: 2008 PokerNews Cup Australia Champion During the last stop of 2008, the PokerNews Cup headed back to where it all began - Melbourne. A total of 410 entrants battling it out in the A$2,200 buy-in tournament for a chance to win a share of the A$820,000 ($563,079) prize pool. The trophy stayed on local soil once again when Australia's Nali Kaselias notched his first live tournament cash in a big way by winning the event for A$250,000 ($171,670). Kaselias has yet to match this poker success as it remains his largest cash to date. Nali Kaselias Marc Naalden: 2009 PokerNews Cup Alpine Champion The following year, in 2009, the PokerNews Cup headed to two stops with the first taking place at the Alpine Palace Card Casino on the majestic ski resort in Hinterglemm, Austria. The event featured a 1,500 buy-in and the 129-entrant field created a 172,054 ($233,585) prize pool. For the first time in PokerNews Cup history, the event was won by a foreigner when the Netherlands Marc Naalden triumphed for 46,474 ($63,094). The final table was an international affair with players from eight different nationalities battling it out, showing the PokerNews Cup had truly gone global. Marc Naalden Con Tsapkounis: 2009 PokerNews Cup Australia Champion The PokerNews Cup then returned to Melbourne in what would turn out to be the last PokerNews Cup until its return five years later. The A$2,200 event attracted 381 entrants to generate a A$762,000 ($661,045) prize pool. Australia's Con Tsapkounis won the tournament for an impressive haul of A$250,000 ($216,878), which still remains his biggest cash to date by far. Con Tsapkounis Hanh Tran: 2014 PokerNews Cup Vienna Champion The PokerNews Cup made its triumphant return after a five-year break to the Montesino Pokertainment Centre in Vienna when 367 players competed, with 75 rebuys tallied, for a 90,675 ($115,420) prize pool in the 250 buy-in event. Austria's Hanh Tran was crowned the tournaments champion for 19,010 ($24,198) after agreeing to a three-way deal at the final table with Austria's Fabian Gritsch (12,610; $16,051) and the Czech Republic's Lubos Trembecki (10,000; $12,729). Hanh Tran Christian Krupp: 2015 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov Champion The following year, the PokerNews Cup returned with a bang to Europe's largest poker room, Kings Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic which hosted the 250 buy-in Main Event. The 200,000 guarantee was smashed after a massive field of 1,230 entrants bought in and made 235 rebuys. That brought the prize pool grand total up to 310,499 ($355,498). Germany's Christian Krupp won the lion's share of the prize pool after besting countrymate Torsten Wichtrup in heads-up play to claim the top prize of 57,473 ($65,802) for his biggest live tournament cash. Christian Krupp Daniel Can: 2015 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov Champion Ever hear of a nine-way final table deal? That is exactly what happened at the second PokerNews Cup of 2015 at King's Casino. That's right, the final table ended before it even began with all nine players agreeing to a deal. Germanys Daniel Can was credited the win and took home the trophy and a prize of 17,105 ($17,898) with the other eight finalists securing payouts of between 9,814 and 16,822. The 250 buy-in event was also the first in PokerNews Cup history to feature overlay when the 689 entrants and 131 rebuys failed to meet the 200,000 guarantee. Daniel Can Timur Caglan: 2016 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov Champion For the third stop in a row, the PokerNews Cup was held in Rozvadov for its first stop of 2016. The event was in high demand with 904 entrants and 200 rebuys generating a 235,980 prize pool. Germanys Timur Caglan won the tournament for 44,695 ($49,864) after beating Ronny Voth in heads-up play. Caglan, a regular player at King's Casino, went on to win a WSOP Circuit ring at the same venue in 2017 for 62,539 ($67,541). Timur Caglan Ryan Van Sanford: 2016 PokerNews Cup Borgata Champion Later in 2016, the PokerNews Cup switched things up and ventured to Atlantic City, New Jersey for a $2,150 buy-in event as part of the WPT Borgata Poker Open. This marked the first time the festival headed to North America with the event previously taking place only in the continents of Australia, Africa and Europe. The event attracted 119 entrants to generate a $222,324 prize pool with 18 players cashing for at least $3,492. It was a tough final table with both Christian Harder and Barry Hutter in contention for the trophy and the $68,676 top prize. However, it was another notable player in Ryan Van Sanford finding gold in the end. Ryan Van Sanford Holger Bansner: 2017 PokerNews Cup Rozvadov Champion In 2017, the PokerNews Cup returned to King's Casino for a fourth time. It appeared for a while that Caglan would become the first two-time PokerNews Cup champion after having the chip lead when making a four-way deal with Holger Bansner, Benjamin Benoit, and Daniel Novak. Indeed, Caglan was able to secure the top prize of 28,300 ($33,208) but ultimately finished runner-up to Bansner when the two played for the remaining 2,000 that was reserved for the winner. Instead, Bansner made history himself by winning the event for 24,098 ($28,277). "I didn't care much about those 2,000, but I really wanted another trophy," 2016 champion Caglan said after the defeat. Holger Bansner With no PokerNews Cup in 2018, the popular event is set to make its 2019 return in Kulata, Bulgaria in May. You can check out the complete PokerNews Cup Kulata schedule below. 2019 PokerNews Cup Kulata Schedule Date Time # Event Guarantee Buy-in Re-Entry Starting Stack Levels Played until Reg. Closing Level May 9 7 p.m. NL Hold'em - Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 20 min winner 10 levels 9 p.m. 1 NL Hold'em - Deepstack Turbo 220 1x 20,000 15 min winner 10 levels May 10 5 p.m. NL Holdem - Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 20 min winner 10 levels 7 p.m. 2 PL Omaha 550 unl. 30,000 20 min winner 10 levels May 11 3 p.m. 3 NL Hold'em 330 1x 20,000 20 min winner 10 levels 7 p.m. NL Hold'em - Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 20 min winner 10 levels May 12 2 p.m. NL Hold'em - Turbo Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels 5 p.m. 4 NL Hold'em - PNC High Roller - Day 1A 100,000 1,100 2x 100,000 45 min 10 levels 12 levels 7 p.m. 5 NL Hold'em 330 1x 20,000 20 min winner 10 levels May 13 2 p.m. NL Holdem - Turbo Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels 5 p.m. 4 NL Holdem - PNC High Roller - Day 1B 100,000 1,100 2x 100,000 45 min 10 levels 12 levels 7 p.m. NL Holdem - Turbo Satellite to PNC Main Event 5 seats 60 unl. 15,000 20 min winner 10 levels May 14 2 p.m. NL Holdem - Turbo Satellite to PNC High Roller 2 seats 120 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels 5 p.m. 4 NL Holdem - PNC High Roller - Day 1C 100,000 1,100 2x 100,000 45 min winner 12 levels 7 p.m. NL Holdem - Turbo Satellite to PNC Main Event 5 seats 60 unl. 15,000 20 min winner 10 levels 9 p.m. 6 NL Holdem - Turbo 330 1x 20,000 15 min winner 10 levels May 15 2 p.m. NL Hold'em - Satellite to PNC Main Event 5 seats 60 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels 3 p.m. 4 NL Hold'em - PNC High Roller - Day 2 100,000 1,100 2x 100,000 45 min FT - 6 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Day 1A 100,000 550 1x 50,000 30 min ITM 12 levels 9 p.m. 8 NL Hold'em - Turbo Knockout (150+50) 220 unl. 20,000 15 min winner 10 levels May 16 1 p.m. NL Hold'em - Satellite to PNC Main Event 5 seats 60 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels 3 p.m. 4 NL Hold'em - PNC High Roller - Final Day 100,000 1,100 2x 100,000 45 min winner - 4 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Day 1B 100,000 550 1x 50,000 30 min ITM 12 levels 7 p.m. NL Hold'em - MEGA Satellite to PNC Main Event 10 seats 60 unl. 15,000 15 min winner 10 levels May 17 1 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Day 1C 100,000 550 1x 50,000 30 min ITM 12 levels 4 p.m. 9 NL Hold'em - Super Turbo Knockout (50+150) 220 unl. 20,000 15 min winner 10 levels 7 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Turbo Day 1D 100,000 550 1x 50,000 15 min ITM 12 levels May 18 1 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Day 2 100,000 550 - - 40 min FT - 4 p.m. 10 NL Hold'em - Deepstack - Day 1 220 unl. 50,000 30 min ITM 10 levels May 19 2 p.m. 7 NL Hold'em - PNC Main Event - Final Day 100,000 550 - - 40 min winner - 3 p.m. 10 NL Hold'em - Deepstack - Day 2 220 unl. 50,000 30 min winner 10 levels 4 p.m. 11 NL Hold'em - Cool Down 120 unl. 20,000 15 min winner 10 levels * Schedule subject to change at tournament director's discretion. Uri Gilboa Wins 2019 EPT Sochi Main Event (~$420,000) March 31 2019 Will Shillibier Uri Gilboa has won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Sochi Main Event for 27,475,000 (~$420,000) after defeating start-of-day chip leader Zakhar Babaev in an all-Israeli heads-up contest. Gilboa has now become the first-ever Israeli EPT champion and at 61 years of age, the consensus here at Casino Sochi is that he is the oldest EPT champion ever as well. Wearing a t-shirt form the 'Rocky' film franchise throughout the later stages of the poker tournament, his friends told him not to change his t-shirt for luck. It must have worked because Gilboa now adds over $400,000 to his career earnings. 2019 EPT Sochi Main Event Official Results Place Player Country Payout (RUB) Payout (USD) 1 Uri Gilboa Israel 27,475,000 $412,125 2 Zakhar Babaev Israel 16,737,000 $251,055 3 Maksim Pisarenko Russia 11,865,000 $177,975 4 Ivan Ruban Russia 8,953,000 $134,295 5 Vyacheslav Mizun Russia 7,091,000 $106,365 6 Serafim Kovalevsky Russia 5,390,000 $80,850 7 Francisco Benitez Uruguay 3,850,000 $57,750 8 Dmitry Yurasov Russia 2,625,000 $39,375 Uri Gilboa "I'm glad that I'm the first Israeli winner," Gilboa told PokerStars' Joe Stapleton shortly after his victory. "You have to know that the standard of Israeli poker is becoming tremendous. We've had a lot of achievements at the WSOP and at other European tournaments. I know I'm the first, but for sure I'm not the last." "Never give up. You can start, you can study and it's an amazing game. I love it." An experienced bridge player, Gilboa first started playing poker eight years ago and says that playing bridge on the national scene helped him a lot. "I'm self-taught. I love to learn and I'm improving all the time. I learn from my mistakes, from others and from other very good young Israeli players." "Never give up. You can start, you can study and it's an amazing game. I love it." 2019 EPT Sochi Main Event Final Day Action 2019 EPT Sochi Main Event Final Table Six players returned to Casino Sochi on Friday, March 29 to play down to a winner and try to become an EPT champion. Eventual runner-up Zakhar Babaev started the day with a commanding chip lead ahead of the other five players. Gilboa came into the day in the middle of the pack and benefited from two major missteps from opponents. The first came from Vyacheslav Mizun who shoved with ace-high into the pocket jacks of the Israeli player. Jacks held and Gilboa was up into second place in the chip counts. Shortly after, it was Serafim Kovalevsky who became the first elimination of the day. He ran pocket sixes into the pocket eights of Babaev to bust in sixth who now sat with more than half the chips in play. Babaev could have been forgiven for sitting back and letting the other players fight it out, but instead, he turned it up a notch, running an audacious bluff with seven-deuce against Ivan Ruban to move even further ahead. However, what goes up must come down and the second of Gilboa's pivotal hands was to come against Babaev. Babaev held ace-five and after check-calling on flop and turn, where he had the nut flush draw, he check-jammed on a blank river. Gilboa snap-called with queens allowing him to close the gap. On the very next hand, Babaev's formerly monster chip lead was gone with the two Israeli players level in chips. Runner-up Zakhar Babaev Maksim Pisarenko and Mizun both doubled either side of the break, with Babaev managing to eke out a chip lead once more, but Gilboa once again closed the gap with the elimination of the plucky Mizun who doubled five times today alone. Mizun had flopped a set but Gilboa turned a flush draw to send him to the rail. Both Gilboa and Babaev continued to slug it out, trading pots as the chip lead swung between the two of them before Ruban was eliminated in fourth place. He lost a classic race with queens against Babaev's ace-king after the latter flopped an ace. By this stage, Pisarenko was slipping, keeping himself in contention with a series of shoves. But he never looked like breaking the Israeli duopoly at the top of the chip counts and was eliminated by Gilboa when shoving his last six big blinds. From the day's play so far, this was the heads-up battle most neutrals would have been hoping for and it didn't disappoint. Babaev appeared to only have one gear and kept the foot firmly on the gas. Gilboa kept him firmly at bay before the first all-in confrontation. Babaev had flopped top pair against Gilboa's flush draw, and Babaev couldn't look as the turn and river bricked and he doubled into the lead. Zakhar Babaev can't bear to look as he doubles through Uri Gilboa "It ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward." After coming into heads-up play as the chip leader, some players may have rolled over under the pressure of Babaev, but credit to Gilboa he stayed in it even as the chip lead continue to switch between the two of them. But just over 30 hands into heads-up play, and as the contest looked to draw on, it all came to a crashing halt with Babaev three-betting all in for 92 big blinds with ace-nine only for Gilboa to have opened with ace-king. Gilboa held and on the very next hand cleaned up the final six big blinds of his compatriot to eliminate him and seal the victory just before 8 p.m. local time. In his victory interview, Gilboa says that he was spurred on by a particular Rocky quote that stuck with him over the course of the tournament. "It ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward." Uri Gilboa Wins EPT Sochi Main Event That concludes nine days of PokerNews coverage from the EPT in Sochi. On April 25, the European Poker Tour will set up shop in Monte Carlo. PokerNews will be on the ground to bring ten days of continuous live coverage. Check the Live Reporting section for continued coverage of poker tournaments around the world. 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. After threatening to close the US-Mexico border, US President Donald Trump is also planning to sever the sending of humanitarian aid to three Central American countries. They are Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. This is his retaliation to what he called a lack of effort in reducing the flow of migrants to the US border. The plan comes days after Trump issued a warning that he would close the US-Mexico border if the Mexican government does not do its part in limiting the entry of migrants. In a report by USA Today, the state department announced that it would be terminating FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle. A department spokesperson revealed that it would be coordinating with Congress as part of the process. A growing concern The move to cut financial assistance to the three countries is a culmination of the US governments long battle over the aid program, which increased substantially during the previous administration. It was designed to address the root causes of migration such as violence, lack of jobs, and poverty. Officials of the Trump administration believe that the program failed to achieve enough results and was already looking for alternatives. However, the Washington Post reveals that the move by the president to cut off financial assistance surprised many people. Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen has just inked what the department calls a historic memorandum of cooperation on border security in Central America. The announcement resulted in chaos in the department as officials tried to determine whether they would cancel existing contracts or simply not renew them. The situation in the US-Mexico border continues to escalate with over 76,000 migrants taken into custody by the US government. Trump revealed that aid to the three Central American countries amounts to $500 million. Discuss this news on Eunomia Critics speak out Jim Nealon, a former US ambassador to Honduras, said that the president does not seem to understand how the Central American financial assistance program works. He said that most of the aid is administered by nonprofit groups and implemented by the US in cooperation with civil society. He also said that Central American governments are already doing their part but they cannot stop their citizens from leaving the country. Historically, the United States has viewed foreign aid programs to Central American countries as a vital component of creating stability in those countries. According to Reuters, the US has provided $131 million worth of aid to Guatemala, $90 million to Honduras, and $68 million to El Salvador. Lucy Flores and Vice-President Joe Biden during a 2014 get-out-the-vote rally in Las Vegas supporting Floress campaign to become lieutenant governor of Nevada. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Former vice-president Joe Biden does not recall behaving inappropriately toward Lucy Flores at a 2014 political event in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to his spokesperson. In an essay published by the Cut on Friday, Flores wrote that Biden had made blatantly inappropriate contact with her at a rally supporting her campaign for lieutenant governor that year. She said that Biden, standing behind her while she was preparing to take the stage, placed his hands on her shoulders, leaned in close and inhaled her hair, and then slowly kissed the back of her head an experience that left her feeling mortified and powerless. As Flores noted in her essay, and New Yorks Rebecca Traister highlighted in another post on the Cut, Biden has initiated numerous weirdly close interactions with women over the years. In a statement responding to Floress account, Biden spokesperson Bill Russo said that the vice-president had been pleased to support Floress campaign and speak on her behalf at a well-attended public event, but neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes. Biden, the statement continued, believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so, and the vice-president respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best. Flores responded to the statement in an interview with the New York Times, commenting that Biden could have done a lot more to acknowledge how his behavior might have made me and the other women he has done that to feel. The story is also drawing a response from some of the candidates Biden would face if, as many expect, he decides to enter the race for the Democratic Partys 2020 presidential nomination. I believe Lucy Flores, and Joe Biden needs to give an answer, Senator Elizabeth Warren commented when asked about Floress essay on Saturday at the Heartland Forum in Iowa. Asked if she thought Biden shouldnt run for president as a result, Warren insisted that decision was up to him. Another contender at the event, Julian Castro, said he also believed Flores, noted Bidens statement, and added that we need to live in a nation where we can hear her truth. Two other candidates attending the forum, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative John Delaney, said they hadnt read Floress essay yet. They got what we paid for. Photo: Michael Tewelde/AFP/Getty Images In 2005, the Federal Aviation Authority gave airplane manufacturers the power to cast their own employees as in-house regulators. This policy streamlined the inefficient revolving door process by making it possible for Boeing to regulate itself without the hassle of getting its lobbyists appointed to the F.A.A. The George W. Bush-administration argued that such delegation would allow the agency to concentrate its scarce resources on the most important safety issues, while also helping Americas aviation giants get new planes to market faster. The F.A.A.s rank and file saw things differently. As the New York Times reports: The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, whose members include F.A.A. certification employees, said at the time that the F.A.A.s new approach provides less specific and technical F.A.A. oversight and therefore would in time lower the safety of the flying public. Another F.A.A. union now known as the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists said it would oppose any system that allows industry to self-regulate oversight via the honor system. The union wrote that the F.A.A.s blatant outsourcing was reckless and would actually compromise public air safety, not enhance it. The F.A.A. was rushing to hand off their oversight responsibilities to industry and virtually establishing a fox guarding the henhouse mentality, the union wrote. Nevertheless, delegation persisted. And for a simple reason: The F.A.A. could not afford to directly oversee all aircraft certification without either slowing aviation production to a crawl, or securing much higher funding from Congress. The cost of bringing all aviation certifications under the F.A.A.s roof last year would have meant a $1.8 billion increase to the agencys budget, the F.A.A.s acting director told the Senate this week. The cost of not doing so, meanwhile, might have been 346 human lives. Within the past five months, two Boeing 737 MAX airplanes have crashed, killing all who were aboard them. Investigators now believe that the 737 MAXs flawed flight-control system known as MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) caused these tragedies. And reporting from the Seattle Times suggests that if the flight control system is responsible then the F.A.A.s delegation policy is, too: As Boeing hustled in 2015 to catch up to Airbus and certify its new 737 MAX, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) managers pushed the agencys safety engineers to delegate safety assessments to Boeing itself, and to speedily approve the resulting analysis. But the original safety analysis that Boeing delivered to the FAA for a new flight control system on the MAX a report used to certify the plane as safe to fly had several crucial flaws. [B]lack box data retrieved after the Lion Air crash indicates that a single faulty sensor a vane on the outside of the fuselage that measures the planes angle of attack, the angle between the airflow and the wing triggered MCAS multiple times during the deadly flight, initiating a tug of war as the system repeatedly pushed the nose of the plane down and the pilots wrestled with the controls to pull it back up, before the final crash. It is true that the F.A.A.s current delegation rules have been around for more than a decade and that Americas commercial airlines have assembled an enviable safety record over that period. But the available evidence also suggests that Americas refusal to adequately fund the F.A.A. allowed corporations to gain inordinate influence over a public-sector function and many people died as a result. In this respect, the Boeing 737 Max fiasco is indicative of a broader pathology in American civic life. In the U.S., we dont just underfund our regulatory agencies (thereby forcing them to outsource many of their core functions, and making it impossible for them to compete with the private sector for top talent), but scrimp on virtually every level of government. The stinginess might be most egregious at the state level. In Nebraska, state legislators earn just $12,000; in North Carolinas statehouse, lawmakers are provided no staff while the legislature is in session. Many progressives attribute regressive policy outcomes to the abundance of corporate money in political campaigns, but the dearth of public money in governance is similarly corrosive. As the political scientist Alexander Hertel-Fernandez documents in his new book State Capture, The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) a right-wing organization that drafts model legislation to fit the specifications of its corporate benefactors, and then provides ready-made bills to state lawmakers across the country owes much of its success (if not, its entire existence) to the lack of public resources at state legislatures disposal. And our federal legislature suffers from a similar pathology. As Betsy Wright Hawkins explained for The Hill in 2018: When House and Senate appropriations deliberations began this year, funding levels for the Legislative Branch had been stagnant for a decade. Numbers of experienced policy staff in personal and committee offices were hollowed out, and the salaries of those who remain eroded. The resulting staff attrition means Congress employs roughly three-quarters of the people it did in the late 1970s. Meanwhile, the average House member represents approximately 200,000 more constituents, and each senator an estimated 1.6 million more constituents than they did 30 years ago As a chief of staff in the House of Representatives for more than 25 years, I saw firsthand the personal toll funding shortfalls took on the dedicated, civic-minded men and women who are the lifeblood of the institution. Personal office budgets were cut by more than 20 percent during the last 10 years I served there. In the mid-2000s, I could budget to pay a highly-qualified legislative assistant $60,000 no pittance, but an amount stretched by Washingtons high cost of living. By the end of my service in the House in 2015, I could afford to pay a similarly qualified staffer about $40,000. As Congress has cut spending on legislative aid, the private sector has filled in the gap. Today, corporations spend more than $2.6 billion a year on congressional lobbyists more than American taxpayers spend on all of Congress. If our elected representatives didnt let special interests write legislative copy for them, its not clear that they would be able to do their jobs. This is not an accident. The conservative movement understands that the fewer resources legislatures and bureaucracies receive from the public, the more they will accept from private interests who will then see considerable returns on their investment in state capture. For decades, Congress had its own think-tank, which provided it with publicly funded, nonpartisan policy research. But the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) often produced findings that undermined the Republican Partys ideological goals and so, in the name of fiscal responsibility, Newt Gingrich killed it. The consequences of Americas underinvestment in its governing institutions arent always as conspicuous or horrifying as a plane crash. But in its collective effects, our nations addiction to cheap government has a body count that few spectacular accidents could rival. If the allegation is true, and a foreign government can hack the worlds richest man where does that leave the rest of us? Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images The security specialist who led an investigation into how AMIs National Enquirer exposed Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss extramarital affair said on Saturday that our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that Saudi Arabia had access to [Bezoss] phone and gained private information. In a post at the Daily Beast, Bezoss security chief Gavin de Becker emphasized that it was still unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details of the breach, but outlined why there was plenty of smoke to suggest that they were. We did not reach our conclusions lightly. The inquiry included a broad array of resources: investigative interviews with current and former AMI executives and sources, extensive discussions with top Middle East experts in the intelligence community, leading cybersecurity experts who have tracked Saudi spyware, discussions with current and former advisers to President Trump, Saudi whistleblowers, people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS), people who work with his close associate Saud al-Qahtani, Saudi dissidents, and other targets of Saudi action, including writer/activist Iyad el-Baghdadi. He also wrote that these experts confirmed that, as the New York Times reported earlier this month, the Saudi intelligence apparatus has the capability to collect vast amounts of previously inaccessible data from smartphones in the air without leaving a trace including phone calls, texts, emails. As far as hard evidence, de Becker said that he wouldnt disclose details from our investigation out of respect for the federal officials pursuing the case. He also confirmed that he had submitted all his findings to them, and said the Beast post would be his last statement on the matter. On Sunday, AMI responded to de Beckers allegations with a statement refuting the unsubstantiated claims that the materials for our report were acquired with the help of anyone other than the single source who first brought them to us. That single source, AMI maintains, was Michael Sanchez, the Trump-loving (now estranged) brother of Bezoss girlfriend, news anchor Lauren Sanchez. The company claimed that Mr. Sanchez was the one who tipped them off in September, and was the sole source of information and evidence that resulted in the Enquirer expose in mid-January. According to de Becker, his investigation quickly determined that Sanchez had indeed been the Enquirers paid source for the story, but he highlighted several reasons why it was unlikely Sanchez was the publications only source. De Becker pointed to the Wall Street Journal report earlier this month that the Enquirer was already investigating the alleged affair when they reached out to Sanchez, and that Page Six reported that an AMI official had already seen texts between Bezos and Ms. Sanchez as of last July. In addition, de Becker found it very unusual how hard AMI insiders had worked to reveal their source. Even more unusual to de Becker was how AMI, in its now-infamous dick-pic-leveraging effort to quash both the Bezos-initiated investigation and the one being undertaken by reporters at the Bezos-owned Washington Post, wanted de Becker and Bezos to agree to publicly dismiss the possibility that AMI had obtained information about Bezos via external forces or the use of electronic eavesdropping or hacking. De Becker found that complexifier telling, considering the links between AMI and its chairman, David Pecker, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the regimes reported efforts to target Bezos and Amazon over the Washington Posts coverage of the allegedly MBS-ordered assassination of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. 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UnHerd: On 6 January, 2011, the world watched aghast as sections of Pakistans modern legal fraternity took to the streets of the countrys capital, Islamabad, to shower petals on the self-confessed killer, Mumtaz Qadri. He had arrived in court to hear charges against him for the murder of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab, who had campaigned for changes to Pakistans blasphemy laws and the release of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, sentenced to death for blasphemy. In his confession Qadri, a member of Taseers security team, justified his actions saying they were required to defend Islam. He was found guilty of terrorism and handed the death penalty. At his appeal hearing before the Islamabad High Court in 2015, Qadri was again feted by hundreds of lawyers who declared they were acting to meet their Islamic obligations. His defence team which included two retired Justices one of them the former Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court also claimed to be doing their religious duty. Qadri was finally executed in 2016 after Pakistans Supreme Court upheld his death sentence. He has since been canonised by his followers and his grave in Lahore transformed into a shrine. The 700-strong lawyers forum which rose to his defence has vowed to continue his struggle against blasphemy. More here. Shaj Mathew in The New Yorker: The Twice-Born, a new memoir by Aatish Taseer, is troubled by a single plaintive question: Does a city steeped in tradition have a future in modern India? The setting is Benares, the spiritual capital of Hinduism, where more than five million pilgrims flock each year to worship, bathe, and burn their dead. Dying while in Benares, it is said, will release a Hindu from the cycle of reincarnation, and Taseer discovers an industry of death thats alive and well in the city. He describes corpses that sizzled away on funeral pyres, as dinghies drifted on the Ganges amid smoke and marigolds. Taseer, to be clear, has not come to Benares to die. Hes in his thirties for most of the memoir, and, anyway, hes not religious. His pilgrimage is secular; he seeks to filter the contradictions of present-day India through his life story. In the process, The Twice-Born becomes a moving, if maundering, riff on what it means to be modern. For Taseer, Benares incarnates a curious quality of modernity: the city makes anthropologists of the devout and believers of the skeptical. The books charm resides in the way the author orbits this tension between faith and rationality. He yearns to make sense of how the laws of reason and the laws of magic . . . reached an easy harmony in contemporary India. Taseer attempts to focus the book on his interactions with Brahmins, Hinduisms priestly caste. (They are the twice-born of the memoirs title, because they are considered to be born a second time upon their scholarly initiation.) But Taseer is foremost a wanderer, and the roving form of the book echoes his penchant for circularity. He writes as though Benares, in all its many dimensions, can be apprehended only through overlapping, fractal perspectives, one of which is his own. Taseers relationship to himself is distinctly spectatorial; he cannot stop looking at himself looking at himself. I saw everything as an Anglicized Indian watching an imaginary European or American visitor watch India, he writes. I wished I had a more direct relationship with my country. But any attempt to do so only made the self-observing selves multiply. More here. Struggling private carrier Jet Airways has expressed inability to clear salary dues of its pilots, saying it could pay only the balance 87.50 per cent of December pay, amid the looming threat of halting of operations from April 1. Meanwhile, the airline's pilots body, the National Aviators Guild (NAG), has called an `open house' of its members in New Delhi and Mumbai Sunday. The pilots, who along with engineers and senior staff have not been paid for almost four months now, have said they will not fly from April if dues are not cleared and a roadmap on future payment is not provided by March 31. "The board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. Also Read: Jet Airways defaults on $109 million loan repayment to HSBC Bank: report "These are complex processes and it has taken longer than we had expected and as such we are only able to remit your remaining salary for December 2018," Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube said in a communication to pilots Saturday. Last week, SBI-led consortium of lenders became the owner of Jet Airways after its founder-chairman Naresh Goyal along with his wife Anita stepped down from the board under a debt-rejig plan. Goyal also quit the chairman's post. In the last few months the airline has witnessed exceedingly challenging times in the organisation, Dube said, adding, "We understand the hardship, anxiety and uncertainty which each of you have endured. Also Read: Airfares may dip 15-20% from April as domestic airlines rectify supply constraints "We realise that this remittance does not lift the financial hardship that each of you are facing... we continue to work on additional funding on an urgent basis and shall advise you about the release of the remaining salary arrears as the funds come in," he added. Earlier Friday, around 200 pilots had written individually to the Jet CEO, threatening to go on "leave of absence". A source in the pilots' community said around 200 pilots had written to the CEO flagging concerns about non-payment of salaries. Aberdeen has many people we are thankful for DAMASCUS, Syria From Syria to Turkey and beyond, President Donald Trumps abrupt declaration that Washington will recognize Israels sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights drew strong condemnation on Friday. The Syrian government called it irresponsible and a threat to international peace and stability, while Irans foreign ministry said it plunges the region into a new crisis. The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said Trumps statement confirms the blind bias of the United States to the Zionist entity, referring to Israel, and added that it wont change the fact that the Golan was and will remain Arab and Syrian. The ministry also said Damascus is now more intent on liberating the Golan, using every possible means. Trumps announcement the day before was a major shift in American policy and gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election. The administration has been considering recognizing Israels sovereignty over the strategic highlands, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, for some time and Netanyahu had pressed the matter with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week. Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The U.N. Security Council resolution 497, issued after the annexation, refers to Israel as the occupying power and says Israels attempt to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect. Damascus also said Trumps statement clearly shows the U.S. disdain to the international legitimacy and violates its resolutions, especially Security Council resolution 497 while also threatening international peace and stability. Syrias Foreign Ministry later announced that a letter was sent to the presidents of the U.N. Security Council and United Nations over Trumps irresponsible and dangerous statements over the Golan. The statement urged the U.N. secretary-general to confirm the organizations stance regarding Israeli occupation of the Golan. In a Friday tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took aim at the U.S., saying that if it believes that persistently violating intl law, bullying sovereign nations & milking its clients projects strength. It does not. Its recklessness just displays panic of an empire in decline. Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit also criticized the American stance, saying it comes outside the international legitimacy and no country, no matter how important it is, can make such a decision. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Trumps unfortunate declaration has brought the region to the brink of a new crisis and new tensions. We will never allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights, Erdogan added. Egypt also issued a statement, saying the Golan is occupied Arab territory and calling for respect for international resolutions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Trumps comments can destabilize the already fragile situation in the Middle East. The very idea is not helping the goals of the Middle East settlement, quite the other way round, he said. Right now, its merely a declaration. Lets hope it will stay this way. In Germany, government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said there was no change to Berlins position on the Golan Heights, pointing to the 1981 U.N. resolution. She said Germany opposes unilateral steps, but is well aware of the territorys significance to Israel. A peace settlement would have to take account of Israels very justified security interests and of course stop once and for all the potential dangers to Israel from the Golan Heights, Demmer said. But for the present, the tensions that already exist should not be deepened. The U.S. will be the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as territory occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between Israel and Syria. Attempts to bring Israel and Syria to the table have failed. It was not immediately clear how a U.N. peacekeeping force that is in place in the Golan might be affected by the U.S. move. That forces mandate expires at the end of June. There had been signals that a U.S. decision was coming. Last week, in its annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase Israeli-occupied from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it Israeli-controlled. ___ Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Geir Moulson in Berlin and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report. New Mexico in 2018 ranked No. 15 in the nation for fraud reports and 26th for identity theft reports, per capita, according to the annual Consumer Sentinel Network data book published annually by the Federal Trade Commission. That translated into 13,573 fraud reports everything from romance to technical support scams and 2,000 for identity theft. The biggest category of scams plaguing the Land of Enchantment was imposter scams, in which someone claims to be an authority figure, business or government representative or even a friend or family member to swindle you out of money. The second most common fraud was debt collection, according to the data. Identity theft came in third, with most victims reporting credit card scams in particular. This is when personal information is stolen for use on an existing account or to open a fraudulent new one. Nationwide, the FTC says it took nearly 3 million scam reports in 2018. Younger people (ages 20 to 29) were the ones who most lost money to fraud schemes compared to other age groups. But when people age 70 or older did fall victim, their median loss was much higher: $1,700 for those over 80, $750 for people in their 70s and $400 for people in their 20s. And despite technology and all the various methods of duping people, nationwide the No. 1 method of contact continued to be the telephone. A devious kind of employer scam has reappeared in Albuquerque, costing one local business $500. A company employee notified the Better Business Scam Tracker about the scheme, which involved a faked email from the boss asking the employee to buy gift cards for clients. The employee would be reimbursed later, the email said. That kind of request is not uncommon, so it did not raise any red flags, the employee reported. The bogus boss wanted the codes on the back of the cards, and the worker complied. Not a good move. Later in the day, (my) actual boss sent an email stating his account was compromised, and he had not asked anyone to make any purchases for him, the employee said in a written account to Scam Tracker. The worker filed a police report and is trying to dispute the credit card charges, but no resolution has been reached yet. Las Cruces Utilities, a city department that provides gas, water and waste services, is warning of a suspicious person who was lurking on a customers property close to midnight recently. The lurker claimed to be busy hanging notices on doors, telling people utility workers would soon be visiting to replace gas meters with a new electronic version, the agency said. The person claimed to be a city employee but was wearing a black polo shirt and jeans rather than a required uniform. While employees do hang notices regarding upcoming work, they dont do it after 5 p.m., the utility said. (They dont do it before 8 a.m., either.) In another instance, a customer reported someone visiting her home seeking an upfront payment because the city supposedly wanted to place a monitor on her gas meter. The city says it would never seek such a payment by going door to door. Reminder that this column is moving to a twice-monthly schedule every second and fourth Sundays of the months. See you on April 14. Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210. Matt, a black Lab with graying snout, 14 years old and better than 100 pounds, is snoring softly nearby on a floor of Kate and Wally Kuligowskis roomy Four Hills house. Kate rescued Matt near an Albuquerque grocery store on a fiercely hot day just this past June, but hes so at peace youd think this had always been his home. Holly, a small, black-and-white Chihuahua-rat terrier mix, also about 14, is snoozing on a love seat, cosily wedged between a visiting reporter and the backrest. The Kuligowskis got Holly this past Christmas Eve after responding to a call from a Valencia County woman who needed to place some dogs she had rescued. MLady, a coal-black dog with long, glamorous ears, 13 to 14 years old, a cocker spaniel with perhaps some Saluki blood, is stretched out in repose on a couch next to Kate. MLady was in the euthanasia room of an Albuquerque shelter when Kate and Wally got a call asking if they could take her in and save her from her fate. Cocker spaniels were once the honey heart of the dog world and then people just started throwing them away, Kate said. At one time we had eight cocker spaniels. Weve always had a lot of dogs maybe 13 or 14 at most. There are seven dogs living with the Kuligowskis now. We also have a cat upstairs, Kate said. We rescue cats, too. Writing for change In February, during ceremonies in New York City, Kate, 80, received a Maxwell Medallion, presented by the Dog Writers Association of America, founded in 1935, for her column, The Integrity of Our Words, which appeared in Ruff Drafts, the DWAA newsletter. The column attacked the U.S. Department of Agricultures decision to purge from its website documents that alerted the public to abuse by dog-breeding facilities and biomedical animal laboratories. The column also challenged dog writers to use their platforms to prompt reinstatement of vital information on the USDA website and push for legislation protecting animals from abuse. This was Kates second Maxwell Medallion. She received the award in 2015 for her book Our Most Treasured Tails: Sixty Years of Pet Rescue. Her book Lets Git Outta Here, about the Valencia County Animal Shelter, was a finalist for this years Maxwell in the rescue and adoption book category. Her 2016 book Goodbye Bad Guys, about the Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force, was a Maxwell finalist as have been two articles she wrote. Her books are self published and available through theguyspublishing.weebly.com. All proceeds go to New Mexico rescue organizations. Although very much gratified by the awards, Kate said the reason she writes is to make things better. And sometimes she feels that winning national awards is easier than changing things. Our state has so many rural areas and no spay and neutering, she said. Our shelters dont require veterinarians. Its just like we want to keep killing (euthanizing). She wants her readers to get involved by combating animal cruelty in any way they can and by holding their legislators responsible for their votes on animal issues. Become involved, she said. We need good spay and neuter laws. And you cant have a dog without chipping it (implanting an ID microchip). Dogs for me Kate has had a deep and abiding love for dogs since she was just a few years old and her father brought home Sinbad, a debonair black-and-white Boston terrier he had rescued from a burning trash barrel in a Borger, Texas, alley. Easy to see where she gets her rescue instinct. But she also shares an appreciation for dogs with her late maternal grandfather. My grandfather always believed that dogs were Gods gift to make us better people, she said. But when I was little, I didnt want to be a better people. I wanted someone to love me. In the beginning, I clung to dogs. I needed dogs for me. Now, its more like she needs to be herself for dogs. Kate, who is from Clovis and a graduate of the University of New Mexico, found a kindred spirit in Wally, a New Jersey native she met while he was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis. It was Wally, 83, a retired dentist, who found Bear, a chow-Shar-Pei mix, about 9 years old and one of the seven dogs in residence. In this case, a rescue dog came right to their door. I went out to pick up the morning paper and there he was, Wally said. He was hardly more than a puppy. I picked him up and brought him in. We put ads in the paper, but no one answered. Bear has permanent swelling in his left rear leg and ear problems that impair his hearing. Hes shy but happy. Being happy is a challenge for Jake-O, 5, a fawn-colored pug with a black mask. But no wonder. We get a call (from a shelter) saying, Weve got a dog just for you. That means it has big health and behavioral problems, Kate said. He had been stabbed in the back and had Clorox sprayed in his eyes. This dog was violent. He was biting all the kennel workers. After surgery, he had all these tubes hanging out of him. At the Kuligowski house, the little pug bit all the other family dogs and went after Kate and Wally. We named him Jake-O, like mako shark, Kate said. Jake-O is more relaxed and friendly now. For the most part. The smell of Clorox makes him go wild, Kate said. Respect life While Wally practiced dentistry, Kate taught high school in New Jersey and New Mexico. And for a 10-year span she was a volunteer education director, first for the Animal Humane Association of New Mexico and then the Watermelon Mountain Ranch animal shelter. Accompanied by dogs that were often blind or deaf, she visited classes K-12 in schools around New Mexico, teaching youngsters proper respect for and care of pets. If you can respect life, you can respect yourself, she said. She and Wally found Burn, about 10, a black-and-brown German shepherd-hound mix, along the side of a road as they drove from Albuquerque to Edgewood. He had been badly burned, perhaps from crawling under a truck that was low to the ground and hot. Burn still needs a little space, so on this day he was in a room upstairs. But Oscar, a 6-year-old black-and-white Boston terrier, the seventh dog in the Kuligowski household, strolled in to check things out. A neighbors daughter found Oscar wrapped in a towel at a Gallup rest stop when he was just a puppy. Cant say no Kate named Oscar after her gallant-hearted father, the man who saved the Boston terrier named Sinbad from a burning trash barrel. Her father died when Kate was 4 and Sinbad was the dog she clung to in her loneliness and despair. But an uncle abruptly killed Sinbad after the dog bit the hand of a cousin who had kicked it. It was an early and terrifying introduction to animal cruelty and the reason that all these years later theres always a lot of dogs at the Kuligowski home. You cant say no, Kate said. Because it means the life of a dog. Prev 1 of 6 Next The 10th annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show is a collage of the fantastical and the natural the sublime and the surreal. Featuring more than 250 works by 130 New Mexico photographers, the show runs through April 23 in the Fine Arts Gallery at EXPO New Mexico. The juried exhibition contains works selected from more than 400 submissions. Admission is free and all the photographs are for sale. Nature photographer Pablo Garcia shot Lake Moraine on vacation in Canadas Banff National Park. The Valley of the Ten Peaks orbits the thin, elongated body of water. It was basically a stream when an avalanche blocked it hundreds of years ago, Garcia said. We could see people on the lake who were canoeing. The canoes in the foreground form a ringlet of jewel tones beneath the mammoth mountains. I sat down on the edge of the lake to get on the level of the canoes with just a little bit of sky, Garcia said. I was looking to find a spot where there werent crowds or canoes in the lake. Garcia grew up in Juarez, and worked in El Paso, where he bought his first 35mm Pentax camera. A move to Sandia National Laboratories brought him in contact with photographers Keith Bauer and Peter Davies, who taught him about composition and how to work in the field. The trio still take photographic journeys together, most recently to Moab, Utah, Yellowstone and Jackson, Wyo. John Gilbert started out as a studio photographer shooting high school portraits. He discovered digital manipulation in 2003. End of Days is a composite that can be read as both spiritual and apocalyptic. Most of my works are composites, he said. There are many pieces to them. I like my pictures to tell as story. End of Days evolved from a road trip to Albuquerques West Mesa near the volcanoes. A ribbon of road extends into infinity beneath rolling clouds. A long figure stands with his arms outspread, looking up at the moon in the daylight. You couldnt really see the mountains, Gilbert said. I was adding the person there looking up, going What does it mean? or giving yourself up to the heavens. Photoshop combined photography with art, he said. That was right up my alley, so I fell in love with it. Helen Johnsons Solitude reflects both her love of scenery and her passion for photo manipulation. The print shows a sailboat backgrounded by a distant lighthouse. This was taken on the Oregon coast very, very early in the morning from our hotel, the Placitas photographer said. I added the sailboat. I do a lot of compositing. I added the lantern (to the left of the sailboat) to give it a little more light. Johnson has been a photographer for nine years after retiring as a hobby shop owner. She says it all started when a photographer friend urged her to join the Enchanted Lens Camera Club. I had a friend who saw in my point-and-shoots some promise, she said. I quickly decided I wanted my photos to look like what I saw in my minds eye and not just what was there. Her prints feature old, restored cars, decrepit buildings and barns, as well as landscapes and antique airplanes. I love old things, she said, anything that creates a mood of nostalgia. WASHINGTON Border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of a top government effort to address the swelling number of Central Americans arriving in the country, a Trump administration official said Saturday. It was the latest attempt to ease a straining immigration system that officials say is at the breaking point. Hundreds of officers who usually screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry were reassigned to help manage migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department, sent a letter to Congress late this past week requesting resources and broader authority to deport families faster, and she met with Central American and Mexican officials. The efforts are being made while President Donald Trump is doubling down on threats to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border entirely, a move that would have serious economic repercussions for both the U.S. and Mexico but wouldnt stop migrants from crossing between ports. His administration also announced it was cutting aid to the Central American countries home to most of the migrants. Right now, about 60 asylum seekers a day are returned to Mexico at the San Ysidro, Calexico and El Paso ports to wait out their cases, the official said. They are allowed to return to the U.S. for court dates. The plan was announced Jan. 29, partially to deter false claimants from coming across the border. With a backlog of more than 700,000 immigration cases, asylum seekers can wait years for their cases to progress, and officials say some people game the system in order to live in the U.S. Officials hope to have as many as 300 people returned per day by the end of the week, focusing particularly on those who come in between ports of entry, said the official, who had knowledge of the plans but was unauthorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. But the process so far has been slow-going, and such a sizeable increase may be difficult to achieve. The plan has already been marred by confusion, scheduling glitches and an inability by some attorneys to reach their clients. In San Ysidro alone, Mexico had been prepared to accept up to 120 asylum seekers per week, but for the first six weeks only 40 people per week were returned. Plus, U.S. officials must check if asylum seekers have any felony convictions and notify Mexico at least 12 hours before they are returned. Those who cross illegally must have come as single adults, though the administration is in talks with the Mexican government to include families. Children are not returned. Homeland Security officials have been grappling with an ever-growing number of Central American children and families coming over the border. Arrests soared in February to a 12-year-high and more than half of those stopped arrived as families, many of them asylum seekers who generally turn themselves in instead of trying to elude capture. Guatemala and Honduras have replaced Mexico as the top countries, a remarkable shift from only a few years ago. Migrants from Central America cannot be easily deported, unlike people crossing from Mexico. Mexico has been treading lightly on the subject. After Trump lashed out, saying Mexico and the Central American nations were doing nothing about illegal immigration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country would do everything it could to help to maintain a very respectful relationship with the U.S. government and Trump. Meanwhile, Nielsen sent a letter to the heads of other agencies within her sprawling, 240,000-person department, asking for volunteers to help with border duties. And she wrote to Congress asking for more temporary facilities to process people, more detention space, and the ability to detain families indefinitely and to deport unaccompanied minors from Central America. While children from Mexico can be returned over the border, laws prohibit deportation to other countries. Democratic congressional leaders expressed deep concern, saying the administration wanted to revive horrific and immoral plans, noting its failed hardline border policies have created senseless heartbreak and horror. Democrats reject any effort to let the administration deport little children, and we reject all anti-immigrant and anti-family attacks from this President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. ___ Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday said Congress President Rahul Gandhi's contest in Wayanad in the state could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections. There was no need to attach any special importance to the Congress President contesting from the state and Gandhi was just one among the 20 candidates of the opposition UDF, who are trying their luck from Kerala, he said. "If Gandhi's fight is against the BJP, he should have contested against the saffron party. In Kerala, the fight is between LDF and UDF in the elections," Vijayan told a meet-the-press programme at the Press Club here. He was reacting to the announcement by Congress that Gandhi would contest from the hilly Wayanad, considered a fortress of the party, in addition to the Gandhi family's pocket burrow Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh in the polls. "The present move can only be seen as a fight against the Left. But, we have no anxiety...we are fully confident and will strive to defeat him in Wayanad," the CPI-M veteran said. Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Congress president Rahul Gandhi chooses Kerala's Wayanad as second seat Gandhi had announced earlier he would retain Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as his constituency after elections, he said. "So, it is like...Gandhi will continue as the MP from Amethi and in Wayand he is examining if he can defeat the Left", the Chief Minister said asking what message the Congress was conveying to the people through the move. When asked about the proposed post-poll alliance with the Congress at the national level, Vijayan said it was a matter to be thought off after the elections. BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said the Congress decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad showed the "decay" in the grand old party. "After realising that he will lose from Amethi, Gandhi has decided to contest from wayand", he told reporters here. The BJP would give a "tough fight" to the Congress candidate, he said adding Gandhi's Wayanad contest was being viewed by the party as "acceptance of defeat". Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Amit Shah's assets grow 3 times in 7 years to Rs 38.81 crore The state Congress leaders were all in a jubilant mood over the AICC chief's decision. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the party'saim was to ensure Gandhi's victory with a massive margin. "I challenge Pinarayi Vijayan, if he can defeat Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad and we accept the challenge," he told reporters at Alapuzha. It would be a "historical win" for Gandhi in Wayanad and there would be a "Rahul wave" in the entire state, he claimed. "A prime ministerial candidate is contesting from Kerala for the first time and this will have an impact in the entire state," he said adding the UDF would win all 20 seats. Party's state unitPresident Mulapally Ramachandran said the decision to field Gandhi from Wayand would be "a happy news for secular-democratic forces" in the state. He also remembered how former Congress presidents Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had scripted impressive victories from South India. Congress leader M I Shanavas, who died in November last year, had won Wayanad, known for its picturesque locales and spices, in the 2009 and 2014 elections. The LDF has decided to field CPIs P P Suneer in the constituency this time while BJP-NDA yet to announce its candidate. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Militants fired five rockets from Gaza into Israel early Sunday, the Israeli military said, following a day of Palestinian mass protests along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence. Four Palestinians, including three teen-agers, were shot dead and dozens were wounded by Israeli soldiers. The rocket fire threatened to undermine Egyptian-mediated efforts to cement a deal that the Gaza Strips Hamas rulers hope will ease a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the crowded territory. No casualties were reported from the rockets and no Palestinian group claimed responsibility. Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to mark the anniversary of their mass protests along the Israeli border. Most demonstrators kept their distance from the border, though small crowds of activists approached the perimeter fence and threw stones and explosives toward Israeli troops on the other side. The forces fired tear gas and opened fire, killing four Palestinians and wounding 64. Hamas had pledged to keep the crowds a safe distance from the fence to avoid inflaming the political atmosphere during negotiations of a possible easing of the blockade. Hamas officials say that Israel is offering a package of economic incentives in exchange for calm along the volatile border. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the group had received positive signs from the Egyptians. He added that the Egyptian team was to return to Israel on Sunday to continue the talks. We will continue our marches until all our goals are achieved, he said. Saturdays protest came at a sensitive time, with Israel and Hamas, bitter enemies that have fought three wars and dozens of smaller skirmishes, both having a strong interest in keeping things quiet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy. With a lack of alternatives, Netanyahu has been forced at times to rely on Hamas to maintain stability along Israels volatile southern front. In the final stretch of the campaign, Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas. Netanyahu took heavy criticism this week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza. Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. The two countries imposed the blockade in 2007 after Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israels destruction, seized control of Gaza from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The blockade has helped drive unemployment over 50 percent, led to chronic power outages and made it extremely difficult for Gazans to travel out of the territory. Earlier this month, Hamas violently suppressed several days of public protests, staged under the slogan We want to live, over the dire conditions. Speaking on the groups Al-Aqsa TV station, Hamas top leader in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, praised the protesters. With this big turnout, our people say, We want to live! His use of the protesters slogan appeared to be aimed at diverting the recent criticism of his group. Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for worsening the living conditions. The fence protests, which began exactly a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza, but havent delivered major improvements. Saturdays demonstrations were held at five rallying points along the border with Israel. Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators, and cool rainy weather also appeared to affect enthusiasm. But as the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Hamas calls for a large turnout, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers. The Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire. The Israeli military estimated 40,000 Palestinians were gathered at the marches. The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tires on fire. In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence, it said in a statement. In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the armys preparation and performance in maintaining calm. Gazas Health Ministry said that a 17-year-old protester died immediately after being shot in the face in east Gaza City. In the evening, the ministry said another 17-year-old died hours after being shot in the chest in a different protest location. A third teenager, also aged 17, succumbed to his wounds and died in the late evening. A 21-year-old Palestinian also died around dawn after sustaining injuries in overnight protests before the main demonstration. While bloodshed was not avoided, it was far less than previous high-profile protests. Over 60 people were killed during intense protests on May 14, the day the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem. As Saturdays protest was winding down, organizers vowed to continue the marches and said they would gather again as usual next Friday. The military released video footage showing large crowds of protesters gathered near the fence and hurling objects. In one scene, a group of activists went up to the fence and hurled stones at the other side. In another scene, a youth could be seen trying to pull apart barbed wire along the fence. The army also said it caught two young Palestinian children who had tried to cross the border with a knife. The children were returned to Gaza through a border crossing. Earlier on Saturday, Gaza health officials said Israeli troops shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man near the perimeter fence, hours before the mass rally. The army said about 200 Palestinians rioted during the night along the fence and that the army used riot dispersal means against them. The marches near were initially organized by grassroots activists who were calling for a mass return to ancestral homes in what is now Israel. Hamas quickly took the lead in the protests, using the gatherings to call for an easing of the blockade. The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with some of the Palestinian demonstrators burning tires, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas. According to a Gaza rights group and a count by The Associated Press, 196 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches. Israel says the army has been defending the border. The army accuses Hamas of using the large crowds as cover and encouraging demonstrators to hurl explosives, incendiary balloons and grenades across the border. But Israel has come under heavy international criticism for the large number of unarmed people who have been harmed. Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening renewed escalation. ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed reporting from Jerusalem. New Mexico is poised to become the nuclear waste dump state for the United States. Nuclear waste from nuclear weapons and waste from commercial nuclear power reactors are all heading to our state if we dont fight back. There are efforts by the Energy Department to magically change the long-standing classifications of high-level nuclear waste in order to find cheaper ways to address legacy waste. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has worked to gain approval to change the way they measure the amount of waste allowed so they can bring even more transuranic waste to the facility. There are attempts to bring additional contaminants to WIPP that are outside of the original agreements made with the state. And now we face a new threat with the proposed Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) site being planned for Eddy and Lea counties to become the holding facility for high-level nuclear waste from reactor sites across the U.S. for up to 120 years. Currently, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act does not allow the private storage or ownership of high-level nuclear waste from commercial reactors. Unfortunately, there is an effort to amend the act to allow using CIS for commercial waste until a permanent repository is established. The state of New Mexico has not conducted any serious environmental review of the project proposed by the Holtec Corporation. Some items raising red flags are listed below: Holtec has no plan for repairing leaking canisters on-site or along the transport routes. They told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that they would return all leaking canisters to the sender. Transport by rail, barge or highway across 38 states could begin without any uniform plans for accidents along the way. (High winds derailed a train on the high desert plains near Logan, a town of about 1,000 residents. New Mexico State Police photos of the derailment showed shattered train cars scattered across a mostly dry riverbed.) There is no plan to inspect or replace storage canisters that are damaged at the reactor sites or subjected to corrosive elements in the atmosphere or ground beneath them, and it may not be safe to try. No usable technology currently exists to monitor the spent fuel canisters once they have been emplaced in storage containers. A privately owned and operated enterprise cannot guarantee that there will be no safety lapses or releases over an accumulated licensing period of 120 years, or even during the first 20 years in above-ground storage. Alternative remedies include storing the existing high-level nuclear waste in sturdier thick-walled steel canisters that can be safely inspected for damage and repackaged, and keep them at the reactor sites until a permanent repository is built. While checking on the lifespan of Holtecs storage canisters, we found out that neither Holtec nor the NRC is willing to look at cask integrity beyond a 20-year licensing period. This is frightening news considering that untreated spent nuclear fuel must be isolated from air, water and humans for hundreds of thousands of years. Damaged thin-walled canisters are already in place at nuclear reactor sites, such as San Onofre in California, placing nearby residents and Pacific coastal communities at risk, not to mention accidental releases to ocean waters. Risking the possibility of more damage while removing them from their current storage site is unnecessary, and transporting these damaged containers to New Mexico magnifies the risks of accidental releases exponentially. If cracked and leaking nuclear waste storage canisters are props for a bad dream, then the dream of safely storing high-level nuclear waste forever in containers that cant be inspected or replaced is a nightmare beyond proportion. Dont Waste New Mexico. Weve already done our share for the nuclear age. Quit producing more high-level nuclear waste until a permanent repository for this dangerous and long-lived waste is designated. States and communities selected to host the waste must give their consent before any of this hazardous material is moved from the site that produced it. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal The connection between the early childhood development of boys and why men are more likely to commit violent acts will be explored during a Santa Fe conference featuring international scholars, researchers and authors. Boys at Risk: Early Origins of Male Violence, which will be held May 1-3 at the Community Convention Center, is the Santa Fe Boys Educational Foundations second conference on the topic. The foundation, which formed in 2013, has focused on hosting the conferences and organizing publication of research articles relating to the kinds of factors boys face both internally and externally starting early in life and how those factors can lead to troubling behavior later on, said foundation president Paul Golding. What the conference is looking at is whats going on under the hood, said Golding. Whats happening biologically and psychologically that might explain why this male predominance is so strong. A report co-authored by Golding for the Infant Mental Health Journal earlier this year cites a U.S. Department of Justice dataset that states that, of all of the prisoners under federal authority at the end of 2014 who were sentenced for violent crimes, 95 percent were male. Prisoners under state correctional authority convicted of violent crimes were 91 percent male. The report also cited research that boys in the U.S. are more likely to be disciplined or suspended from school for behavioral problems and that the juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes is four times higher for boys than girls. A 2015 study by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education states that for every 100 girls in 9th-12th grade who carried a weapon onto school property in the U.S., 350 boys did. And for every 100 girls of the same age that engaged in a fight on school property, 206 boys did. According to Golding, the conferences first day of presentations will be focused on early predictors of aggression and violence in boys. Developmental factors relating to violence from infancy to adolescence, as well as prevention strategies, will take center stage on day two. The third day will cover public policy and intervention models for at-risk individuals. The foundations first conference was in 2015. Golding said the reason for the yearslong gap between that conference and the upcoming one was that the invited speakers also commit to submitting scholarly articles based on their presentations to the Infant Mental Health Journal. The peer-reviewed journal has published two special issues on violence and boys in correlation with both conferences, Golding said. The idea is to try to collect people who are familiar with these issues, and also writings by those people, so theyll be available online for academics and others interested in these subjects, in addition to the conference where people can come together and hear people prominent in these areas discuss these issues, said Golding. Golding retired to Santa Fe in 1996 after working as an economist in Washington, D.C. He began volunteering locally with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America program around the same time several books were being published about what was then being called the boy crisis. He said it was the start of widespread knowledge of boys not doing as well in school, being particularly at risk for psychopathologies like ADHD, autism and Tourette syndrome and, as they get older, potentially larger issues with crime. It was a topic of considerable national discussion because I think suddenly people were aware that boys were at risk, said Golding. Golding emphasized that not all boys follow this pattern, estimating that about 20-25 percent of boys are at risk. He began gathering his own research, started a newsletter called Santa Fe Boys, and after going back to school and receiving his doctorate in psychology, he started the Santa Fe Boys Educational Foundation. Experts to speak Though the foundations upcoming conference is open to anyone, Golding said it is targeted at those who work in child development, such as psychologists, counselors, social workers or people who work in early childhood programs. Psychologists, social workers and licensed counselors attending the conference can receive continuing education credit hours. He added it may also be useful for professionals working within criminology and for crime-oriented policy makers, as well as those who study gender development or differences between the sexes. There has been a kind of belief that there is no difference between genders, and I think its come to the floor a little more with all of the gender fluidity issues weve seen lately, he said. I think its brought it to peoples attention: Are there differences? Are there not differences? And I think the conference will describe some of these in regards to boys really early in life. The conference has secured 12 experts from the U.S. and Canada to discuss their areas of expertise in psychology, child development, child development and more. One is Richard Tremblay, an emeritus professor of pediatrics, psychiatry and psychology at the University of Montreal. He won the Stockholm Prize in Criminology in 2017 for his research that indicated the peak age for violent behavior is age 3, pinpointed early predictors of violent behavior and showed how targeting children with those predictors for specific support proved to reduce criminal records for them as adults. Adrian Raine, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who will also speak at the conference, wrote The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime and will give a talk on male violence through the lens of neurodevelopment. David Olds, a pediatrics professor and director of prevention research at the University of Colorados Center for Family of Child Health, developed the Nurse-Family Partnership. The nonprofit, which Golding noted operates in New Mexico, connects low-income pregnant women with nurses who visit them in their home and give advice on best practices for their childrens health from infancy onward. Olds will give a talk about what hes discovered about how the early-life visits differently benefit boys and girls. Other speakers will give talks on topics including how environmental and social factors have an effect on violent behaviors, how kids particularly males who had prenatal opioid exposure may be more at risk and how the issues of child development intersect with the juvenile justice system. Group workshops with both local and international presenters are also scheduled over the three days to discuss specific programs and additional research areas. Golding described his conference as a chance to address the root causes of violent behavior something he doesnt think is often discussed as well as to hear directly from the researchers trying to develop effective intervention strategies. He expects most of the attendees to be from New Mexico, but that a sizable proportion will be from out of state due to the pull of the expert speakers. If you go What: Boys at Risk: Early Origins of Male Violence, organized by the Santa Fe Boys Educational Foundation. When: May 1-3 Where: Santa Fe Community Conference Center Details: Today, March 31, is the last day of early bird registration for $275. After today, registration is $350 and can be submitted online at santafeboys.org. Registration on site at the start of the conference is $400. Single-day admission is $135. Full registration includes light breakfasts, bag lunches, and coffee and tea breaks over the course of the conference. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal MORA Tucked up on a hill near Mora is a mountain oasis surrounded by snowy peaks. Morphy Lake isnt quite ready to be opened to the public just yet, but it might be by the start of the summer when construction of a new dam is complete. Its a beautiful place, Joe Pacheco said while taking in the scenery around him. People just love to come up here, because its real tranquil. I just love to see those peaks up there. Theyre breathtaking. This is one of the prettiest lakes in the county. Pacheco, president of the Acequia de la San Jose, has been working hard to secure funds to fix the Morphy Lake Dam, which was deemed a public hazard by the Office of the State Engineer in February 2015, and the finish line now is within sight. The lake and its surroundings are a state park for fishing, camping and picnicking, but its also used by the Acequia de la San Jose and Acequia de la Isla for irrigation. The park, closed since construction on the new dam began in October, could open again in June or July. The dam was originally created by local farmers in the 1890s. The lake has since been rented to the state for public use and as a way for the local acequias to make money. The project started about 10 years ago when Pacheco and state Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, wanted to fix an inoperable flood gate. After several state inspections, the Office of the State Engineer declared the dam a hazard that threatened life and property, according to a letter the OSE sent to the acequias in 2015. There were concerns that houses in Ledoux, a small settlement downhill from the lake, would be flooded and damaged, Pacheco said. So Campos started seeking state money to fix the dam. He eventually secured $2 million from the Legislature and another nearly $1.1 million as a grant/loan from the state Water Trust Board. The acequias have to pay back $120,000 to the Water Trust Board, Pacheco said. Its going to continue to be one of natures jewels in that part of the state, Campos said in an interview. The lake has been closed to the public for nearly a year, Campos said, and construction of the dam is nearly complete. What you see now is whats been accomplished since then, Pacheco said at the dams construction site last week. Its going to be beautiful when its done. These guys are doing quality work. Pacheco said the acequias have to guarantee the state that theres at least 150 acre-feet of water in the lake at all times for public enjoyment. For now, the water level in the lake remains relatively low as crews continue to build the new dam, but it will be filled back up when the project is complete. The public can use it, and we use it for irrigation, so its a win-win situation, Pacheco said. Pacheco had a little trouble keeping up on the short hike to where the dam was being built, but he was still happy to show people around. Sorry, Im out of shape, he said as he was catching up. He claims to only be 17 years old (I reverse in numbers, he said with a chuckle), but seeing the dam to completion wont be his final community improvement effort in the Mora area. I wont quit until the good Lord calls me, he said. I have a lot to offer to the community, and Im going to do that. I love the people in this area, and they love me back. They fight with me and everything, and I just love that. It makes me feel welcome. An allegation that Joe Biden inappropriately touched a Nevada state lawmaker is renewing questions about his appeal to women if he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice presidents decades of vacillation on abortion rights and his handling of Anita Hills sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas at Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991 were already serious vulnerabilities. If Biden launches his third campaign for president, as expected, he will be joining a crowded field of Democratic rivals that includes four women in the U.S. Senate and at a time when women have been siding strongly with Democrats in national elections. Beyond the primaries, the new accusation raises questions about whether Biden, in a general-election contest, would strike a weak contrast with President Donald Trump, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct toward women. The 2020 presidential race is the first to occur after the explosion of the #MeToo movement, which swept record numbers of women into public office last year. Over the last 18 months, numerous powerful men in media, politics and business have lost their jobs or careers after allegations of sexual harassment or assault became public. Running a campaign in the post-#MeToo, or in the middle of the #MeToo movement, with these kinds of things on your record is going to be very difficult, said Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer. The old ways on gender are just no longer tolerable. In a New York Magazine web post on Friday, former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote that she felt demeaned and disrespected when Biden touched her offstage at a 2014 campaign rally. She said she felt Bidens hands on her shoulders and froze. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair, she wrote. I was mortified. Flores, then a 35-year-old candidate for lieutenant governor, wondered why the vice president was smelling her hair. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head, she said. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. Flores said he made her feel gross, and she wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. Neither Biden, 76, nor his staff recall the incident that Flores described, spokesman Bill Russo said. But Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so, Russo said. People who know Biden best, he added, are speaking up to say that he has always been a champion for women in his office. Biden, who co-sponsored the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, has long had a reputation as an affable politician who is quick to smile and put his hands on people. One viral video from 2013 captured how Biden, then vice president, works the room while swearing in senators wrapping their mothers in tight embraces, insisting that female family members stand next to him, even stroking the face of one. The behavior fed into Bidens folksy Uncle Joe image, epitomized in an Onion satire that envisioned a shirtless vice president fixing a vintage Trans Am on the White House grounds while making mild catcalls. But in another light, Bidens behavior struck some as disturbing. At a Senate swearing-in ceremony in 2015, Biden whispered in the ear of a senators teenage daughter and kissed the side of her head, an interaction that a conservative writer described as a lecherous elderly man creeping on underage girl and said Biden wouldve caught more flak if he were a Republican. All of us who have been around Joe Biden he hugs men, women and children, said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and avid Biden supporter. He is a hugger. Thats just the generation he comes from, and thats his personality. You shouldnt read anything into it other than he was doing what he has done to me, to my daughter, to my wife, to Barack Obama. If Biden made Flores feel uncomfortable, he said, it was unintended. Mindy Romero, a political sociologist at the University of Southern California, said the effect of Flores allegation will depend partly on whether Bidens rivals especially the women try to use it against him. If they do, that will elevate it, she said. Two of the Democratic contenders campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, told reporters they believe Flores. Joe Biden needs to give an answer, Warren said. A key Biden supporter said there was no panic among his top advisers, and the Flores allegation would likely not change his expected plan to join the presidential contest in April. Another longtime Biden ally, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said the Flores story was obviously a hurdle but would do no harm to his campaign, even in a general-election contest against Trump. Jack the Ripper wouldnt have a problem with his sexual activity compared to President Trump, Rendell said. Ana Navarro-Cardenas, the Republican strategist and commentator, wrote on Twitter that Biden needs to stop the touchy-feely conduct that makes people uncomfortable. But pls get back to me when +15 women say he sexually harassed them, or he boasts of grabbing a womans kitty-cat, or he pays hush-money to a stripper who reminds him of his daughter, she wrote. Ill wait. If he runs, Bidens mixed record on abortion in his 36 years as a U.S. senator from Delaware will pose no small challenge as he seeks to build support among Democratic women. Biden, who is Catholic, voted to restrict and expand abortion rights over the course of his career. In a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian, Biden criticized the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. I think it went too far, he said. I dont think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body. In the Senate, he voted in 1982 for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have effectively overturned Roe v. Wade by giving states the right to outlaw abortion. And he voted to ban federal funding of abortions. By the time he ran for president in 2008, Biden was vowing to protect Roe v. Wade, and hed built a voting record largely supporting abortion rights. But he also voted to ban certain late-term abortions. What has caused Biden the most political trouble with women has been his leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Thomas hearings. Hills calmly delivered allegations that Thomas sexually harassed her were met with aggressive and embarrassing questions by the all-male committee, and witnesses who were prepared to testify on her behalf were not allowed to appear. Anyone who lived through the 1990s remembers his role in that, and it wasnt favorable, said Zelizer, the Princeton historian. In a tacit recognition of the enduring political damage, Biden told a New York audience Tuesday: To this day, I regret I couldnt come up with a way to give her the kind of hearing she deserved. Critics continue to fault Biden for not apologizing personally to Hill. Even longtime allies like Christine Pelosi, chair of the Womens Caucus of the California Democratic Party, say he needs to use his diplomatic skills to address the problem. Call Anita Hill, Pelosi said. Call Lucy Flores. Call the people you need to call. In her post, Flores suggested there should be zero tolerance for a man who persistently invades others personal space and makes people feel uneasy and gross. In this case, she said, it shows a lack of empathy for the women and young girls whose space he is invading, and ignores the power imbalance that exists between Biden and the women he chooses to get cozy with. (Staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this story.) An allegation that Joe Biden inappropriately touched a Nevada state lawmaker is renewing questions about his appeal to women if he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice presidents decades of vacillation on abortion rights and his handling of Anita Hills sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas at Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991 were already serious vulnerabilities. If Biden launches his third campaign for president, as expected, he will be joining a crowded field of Democratic rivals that includes four women in the U.S. Senate and at a time when women have been siding strongly with Democrats in national elections. Beyond the primaries, the new accusation raises questions about whether Biden, in a general-election contest, would strike a weak contrast with President Donald Trump, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct toward women. The 2020 presidential race is the first to occur after the explosion of the #MeToo movement, which swept record numbers of women into public office last year. Over the last 18 months, numerous powerful men in media, politics and business have lost their jobs or careers after allegations of sexual harassment or assault became public. Running a campaign in the post-#MeToo, or in the middle of the #MeToo movement, with these kinds of things on your record is going to be very difficult, said Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer. The old ways on gender are just no longer tolerable. In a New York Magazine web post on Friday, former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote that she felt demeaned and disrespected when Biden touched her offstage at a 2014 campaign rally. She said she felt Bidens hands on her shoulders and froze. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair, she wrote. I was mortified. Flores, then a 35-year-old candidate for lieutenant governor, wondered why the vice president was smelling her hair. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head, she said. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. Flores said he made her feel gross, and she wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. Neither Biden, 76, nor his staff recall the incident that Flores described, spokesman Bill Russo said. But Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so, Russo said. People who know Biden best, he added, are speaking up to say that he has always been a champion for women in his office. Biden, who co-sponsored the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, has long had a reputation as an affable politician who is quick to smile and put his hands on people. One viral video from 2013 captured how Biden, then vice president, works the room while swearing in senators wrapping their mothers in tight embraces, insisting that female family members stand next to him, even stroking the face of one. The behavior fed into Bidens folksy Uncle Joe image, epitomized in an Onion satire that envisioned a shirtless vice president fixing a vintage Trans Am on the White House grounds while making mild catcalls. But in another light, Bidens behavior struck some as disturbing. At a Senate swearing-in ceremony in 2015, Biden whispered in the ear of a senators teenage daughter and kissed the side of her head, an interaction that a conservative writer described as a lecherous elderly man creeping on underage girl and said Biden wouldve caught more flak if he were a Republican. All of us who have been around Joe Biden he hugs men, women and children, said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and avid Biden supporter. He is a hugger. Thats just the generation he comes from, and thats his personality. You shouldnt read anything into it other than he was doing what he has done to me, to my daughter, to my wife, to Barack Obama. If Biden made Flores feel uncomfortable, he said, it was unintended. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) Mindy Romero, a political sociologist at the University of Southern California, said the effect of Flores allegation will depend partly on whether Bidens rivals especially the women try to use it against him. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) If they do, that will elevate it, she said. Two of the Democratic contenders campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, told reporters they believe Flores. Joe Biden needs to give an answer, Warren said. A key Biden supporter said there was no panic among his top advisers, and the Flores allegation would likely not change his expected plan to join the presidential contest in April. Another longtime Biden ally, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said the Flores story was obviously a hurdle but would do no harm to his campaign, even in a general-election contest against Trump. Jack the Ripper wouldnt have a problem with his sexual activity compared to President Trump, Rendell said. Ana Navarro-Cardenas, the Republican strategist and commentator, wrote on Twitter that Biden needs to stop the touchy-feely conduct that makes people uncomfortable. But pls get back to me when +15 women say he sexually harassed them, or he boasts of grabbing a womans kitty-cat, or he pays hush-money to a stripper who reminds him of his daughter, she wrote. Ill wait. If he runs, Bidens mixed record on abortion in his 36 years as a U.S. senator from Delaware will pose no small challenge as he seeks to build support among Democratic women. Biden, who is Catholic, voted to restrict and expand abortion rights over the course of his career. In a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian, Biden criticized the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. I think it went too far, he said. I dont think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body. In the Senate, he voted in 1982 for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have effectively overturned Roe v. Wade by giving states the right to outlaw abortion. And he voted to ban federal funding of abortions. By the time he ran for president in 2008, Biden was vowing to protect Roe v. Wade, and hed built a voting record largely supporting abortion rights. But he also voted to ban certain late-term abortions. What has caused Biden the most political trouble with women has been his leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Thomas hearings. Hills calmly delivered allegations that Thomas sexually harassed her were met with aggressive and embarrassing questions by the all-male committee, and witnesses who were prepared to testify on her behalf were not allowed to appear. Anyone who lived through the 1990s remembers his role in that, and it wasnt favorable, said Zelizer, the Princeton historian. (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) In a tacit recognition of the enduring political damage, Biden told a New York audience Tuesday: To this day, I regret I couldnt come up with a way to give her the kind of hearing she deserved. Critics continue to fault Biden for not apologizing personally to Hill. Even longtime allies like Christine Pelosi, chair of the Womens Caucus of the California Democratic Party, say he needs to use his diplomatic skills to address the problem. Call Anita Hill, Pelosi said. Call Lucy Flores. Call the people you need to call. In her post, Flores suggested there should be zero tolerance for a man who persistently invades others personal space and makes people feel uneasy and gross. In this case, she said, it shows a lack of empathy for the women and young girls whose space he is invading, and ignores the power imbalance that exists between Biden and the women he chooses to get cozy with. (Staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this story.) 2019 Los Angeles Times Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. - PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194):BIDEN-SC Im somewhat shocked by what Ive been reading lately regarding Amazons decision to pull out of New York City. Its hard for me to understand how this is a long-term win for that community. The online giant promises to bring 25,000 new jobs with the average salary north of $100,000 a year. Thats $2.5 billion in payroll alone, annually! I think its fair to say that, given the opportunity, New Mexico would roll out the red carpet and welcome Amazon with open arms. I know I would. While the Amazon deal is an incredible game changer, there is an alternative opportunity facing our state that has the potential to create explosive growth in our economy. That opportunity is small business. New Mexico is largely a small-business state. There are over 150,000 businesses, and 99 percent of them are small businesses that employ 54 percent of all New Mexicans. The local entrepreneurs that run these companies are the brave souls that ultimately drive this economy. These individuals create the companies that bring new wealth and economic growth to a region in the form of jobs, increased revenues and a thriving business sector. I think it is fair to say that small business is the heartbeat of our economy and certainly the backbone. Since that is the case, we must do everything we can to support our businesses and ensure their success and growth. Recently, Ive heard individuals set a vision for New Mexico to become the most business-friendly state in the nation. While that sounds great, truthfully, I think its completely unrealistic. We are competing with Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Utah, etc., that all have booming economies, incredibly business-friendly climates, and proven track records. Why would we try to compete with these states at their level? Our strategy for economic growth must be different. Michael Porter, a professor at the Harvard School of Business, wrote, Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; its about deliberately choosing to be different. New Mexico must choose to be different when it comes to our strategy for economic growth. While everyone else is trying to woo the proverbial Amazon, we must choose to invest in our own. In doing so, New Mexico could become the most small-business-friendly state in the nation. That is a vision that is attainable, sustainable and incredibly beneficial to our communities. In order to realize this vision, we must become jealous for our local companies and prop up our home-grown firms. We must realize that doing business with them is in the communitys best interest, and that our tax dollars are best spent on local, New Mexico companies that employ the best and the brightest. We must support our local entrepreneurs by connecting them to resources, encouraging the development of essential infrastructure and creating incentives designed to support their growth. If we are able to do this, New Mexicos economy will dramatically grow from within. And if we can sustainably grow from within, then perhaps our children can lure the Amazons of their generation to our incredible state. Or better yet, foster the growth of a New Mexico company to become the next global corporate giant right here in the Land of Enchantment. Drug overdoses killed 700,000 people in the United States between 1999 and 2017, and more than two-thirds of those deaths were the result of opioids. Last week, the state of Oklahoma won a landmark $270 million settlement against one of the worlds largest manufacturers of prescription opioids, Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family. While the Sackler name doesnt appear on Purdues pill bottles, it does adorn many prestigious museums and academic buildings around the world. Aggressive marketing of Purdues products, including its signature addictive drug, OxyContin, made billions of dollars for the Sacklers, some of which they gave to places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Tate museums in London. Now, the tide is turning, thanks in part to legal action like the one in Oklahoma the lawsuits against Purdue and the Sacklers now number close to 2,000 and creative protest campaigns at some of the museums that the Sacklers have funded. Meanwhile, the opioid epidemic has continued to grow, expanding from prescription opioids like OxyContin to include heroin and now fentanyl. The epidemic knows no boundaries, affecting people across class and race lines. But, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, two of the leading risk factors for becoming addicted to opioids, and potentially dying of an overdose, are living in a rural area and being poor. Native American reservations in the United States meet both criteria. It is no surprise the opioid epidemic has hit indigenous populations especially hard. The No. 1 disease that our people suffer from is anonymity or invisibility, Stacy Bohlen, citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and CEO of the National Indian Health Board, said on the Democracy Now! news hour. Youre looking at very vulnerable populations of people, very vulnerable health care systems that are funded below 50 percent of need. According to the CDC, drug overdoses among rural Native Americans and Native Alaskans, between 1999 and 2015, increased by 519 percent, more than twice the national average. That number itself is likely too low, as native people are often miscategorized ethnically or racially. The Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D., has filed a federal lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and several other opioid manufacturers. The devious and corrupt business practices detailed in the complaint are staggering, and reminiscent of the tactics used by the tobacco industry in order to deceive the public about the harms posed by cigarettes. The suit alleges Purdue and the other companies intentionally flooded the market with opioids and pocketed billions of dollars in the process, repeatedly making false statements designed to persuade both doctors and patients that prescription opioids posed a low risk of addiction. This threat to tribal communities across the United States, not just in South Dakota, is really an existential one were talking about some of the most strained economies in the country, where youll see unemployment rates of 80 percent, attorney Brendan Johnson, representing the Oglala Sioux, said on Democracy Now! What is different here, he added, is that tribes do have a seat at the table, have been very aggressive in their claims, because oftentimes (with) the state and the state attorney generals, the tribal communities are forgotten. Here, that wont be the case. As this case and close to 2,000 others make their way through the courts, people are taking action against Purdue Pharma. Artists and activists in New York City lined The Guggenheim Museums famous climbing spiral walkway, hurling into the vast atrium thousands of fake prescription pad pages bearing messages critical of the Sacklers. The action was inspired by a statement from the 1990s by Purdue co-owner Richard Sackler, that the launch of OxyContin would be followed by a blizzard of prescriptions that would bury the competition. Artist Nan Goldin, one of the organizers of the protests, who herself had been addicted to OxyContin, tweeted after details of the Oklahoma legal settlement were announced: The Sackler family paid $75 million in the Oklahoma settlement today which admits their culpability. By the way, thats only 0.2 percent of the $35 billion in profits they made from OxyContin. To date, the Guggenheim and the Tate museums, as well as Britains National Portrait Gallery, have stopped accepting Sackler family funds, and other institutions are considering doing the same. As the Sackler family name is stripped from elite art institutions, appearing more frequently in court proceedings, they must now answer for the ravages of the opioid epidemic from which they so handsomely profited. The anonymity they enjoyed, hiding behind Purdue Pharma, must end. But the anonymity of their victims must end as well: those who have died, and those who, addicted to opioids, still struggle to survive. 2019 Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan. Distributed by King Features Syndicate. Its hard to imagine New Mexico without Tom Udall in elected office. Nearly 30 years have passed since the now-70-year-old was first voted in as New Mexicos attorney general. He went on to win a seat in New Mexicos 3rd Congressional District in 1998, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and is currently the most senior member of the states Congressional delegation. Udalls announcement last week he will leave the Senate in 2020 at the end of his current term puts a period on government service for the Kennedys of the West Udall is the son of an Interior secretary, nephew of a congressman and cousin of a senator. Within hours of his announcement there was a flurry of speculation about who might make a run at his seat. Whats for sure is the New Mexico delegation whose next most senior member is 47-year-old Sen. Martin Heinrich will sorely miss Udalls institutional knowledge, measured responses and upstanding reputation. (And also his powerful perch on the Senate Appropriations Committee.) What he has accomplished in the past 29 years are the fruits of head-down, no-fuss toil using pragmatism and even temperament while avoiding the scandal and posturing now seemingly trademarks of public office. Among the highlights: Environment Winning a lawsuit as attorney general against the Department of Energy that helped set limits on radioactive waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Championing conservation causes in the House and Senate, including pushing back against the Trump administrations efforts to downsize national monuments, including Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte. Taking a lead to right environmental wrongs, demanding the EPA address its Gold King Mine spill and the Air Force its water contamination at bases in New Mexico and ensure the safe water every single family, rancher and farmer deserves. Powering through the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act this month, preserving more than 275,000 acres as wilderness areas in New Mexico. Military Preaching caution and restraint in U.S. military involvement in the Middle East. Calling for the audit that helped reveal atrocious mismanagement at the Albuquerque Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which forced vets to wait months for medical care, as well as the cover-up that had allowed administrators to avoid consequences. Creating a national registry for service members and veterans exposed to toxic chemicals and fumes from open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lending a voice to efforts to recognize veterans including New Mexicans who survived the infamous Battle of Bataan in World War II. Animal causes Joining other New Mexico political leaders in calling for the end of the pointless, expensive and inhumane practice of biomedical testing on chimpanzees. Udall was vindicated when the National Institutes of Health began to phase out invasive testing on chimps in 2013, ultimately retiring the last group of test subjects in 2015. Advocating for an end to performance-enhancing drugs used on race horses. Public safety Playing a key role in the successful three-year effort to rewrite the nations 40-year-old chemical regulation laws. His work with Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter epitomizes bipartisan cooperation for the good of the nation. Vitter said Udall brought a doggedness and a commitment to getting it done. He was great to work with. Immigration Backing bipartisan immigration reform that respected our nations laws and border security but dealt realistically with immigrants here illegally, as well as the countrys labor needs. Education Supporting smart and necessary reforms to President George W. Bushs important but problematic signature education bill, No Child Left Behind. Economy Advocating for our national labs military missions, including extending the life of the B61 bomb, while at the same time urging them to diversify to protect against any future Base Realignment and Closure process and do a better job at tech transfer, bringing technology into the private marketplace to create jobs. Supporting expedited oil and gas drilling permits in an environmentally responsible manner. Seeking assistance for New Mexicans affected by closures, including miners in Questa when Chevron closed operations. Recommending a do it all, do it right approach to U.S. energy independence. Ethics Pushing for more disclosure in campaign financing as well as giving Congress more authority to regulate contributions and spending by independent groups in federal elections (a response to the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling). Demanding then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt comply with an investigation into spending on office furnishings. He wrote the secretary that the American people deserve an open and transparent budget process. With around two years left at his Senate post, New Mexico and the nation need Udall to use every ounce of political savvy he has picked up during his decades of public service to broker compromise between two deeply divided parties. Two issues in particular come to mind: As a tireless champion of environmental causes, Udall can help firebrands in his own party find middle ground with oil-and-gas devotees over how the U.S. can and should take decisive action against climate change without scuttling the economy. As a senator representing a border state, Udall should press his colleagues in the Senate for comprehensive immigration reform that includes permanent solutions for Dreamers, expands work permit programs for those seeking better jobs, speeds up the process for asylum-seekers and maintains a clear-eyed recognition of security needs. Udall has been following his conscience in the public eye for nearly three decades. He has signaled that retirement isnt necessarily his next step, but we still get his extensive experience, knowledge and gentlemanly demeanor for 21 more months. So the hard works not over yet. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal More than 26 years have elapsed since the Rev. Arthur Perrault vanished from New Mexico, leaving behind police, prosecutors and nearly 40 children he allegedly molested and who have had to bear in secret their shame and sorrow. But, beginning next week, the 81-year-old Perrault is set to stand trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Fe where he is expected to publicly face up to nine of his alleged victims. In what has been described as an important and highly unusual case, the former prominent Albuquerque priest is facing seven counts of sexual misconduct, and if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez said at a recent pretrial hearing that she had reviewed discovery in the case investigated by the FBI and noted that the alleged victims sworn accounts of events decades ago are incredibly specific. Not only were they specific about the sex acts they alleged were perpetrated but the descriptions of their lives as children, as students and some as altar boys. There are very graphic descriptions of what they have gone through since they met Mr. Perrault and how it affected their jobs and their marriages. In the years since Perrault fled, over 400 confidential civil claims against current or former Catholic priests have been filed in New Mexico. The tens of millions of dollars paid in financial settlements to victims prompted two of New Mexicos three Catholic dioceses to file for bankruptcy reorganization, with the Archdiocese of Santa Fes case ongoing. Although nearly 80 priests in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe alone have been credibly accused of child sexual assault, few have been criminally prosecuted in New Mexico. Over the years, district attorneys have concluded that there was insufficient evidence or that too much time had elapsed to bring charges. (Since Perraults arrest last September, the state Attorney Generals Office has filed state criminal charges against two former Archdiocese of Santa Fe priests.) Return from Morocco The extent of clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by church hierarchy in the United States and the world had not yet come to light when Perrault boarded a plane in Albuquerque in 1992 and left the country. He resettled in Tangier, Morocco, where he didnt have to fear extradition, and found a job teaching boys at an American school. But against the odds, Perrault ended up back in New Mexico last year after his expulsion by Morocco, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. His arrest by the FBI on a sealed grand jury indictment issued in 2017 involved a sole victim, identified only as John Doe #1. Jury selection in the case is set to begin in Albuquerque on Monday. The trial in Santa Fe is expected to last two weeks. This is a very unique case, your honor, Perraults court-appointed attorney Samuel Winder said at a pretrial hearing March 21. Winder said he knew of no other similar prosecution of a priest in federal district court in this country. Perrault has pleaded not guilty to the six counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact. He rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in October and has been held in federal custody awaiting trial. Federal prosecutors allege that the former priest, teacher and pastor of St. Bernadette parish and several others in Albuquerque had a propensity for first grooming, then abusing, young boys, engaging in sexual acts with minors under age 12, some between 12 and 16, dating back to the early 1960s. The alleged victims expected to testify about events decades ago are not children anymore. All are grown men, some headed for retirement. Two of them met Perrault when he taught at St. Pius High School in the 1960s, after his release from a Jemez Springs treatment center for troubled priests. Assistant U.S. Attorney Holland Kastrin told the judge at the recent hearing that Perrault has dozens of victims. Albuquerque attorney Brad D. Hall, whose office has filed more than 120 civil claims alleging clergy abuse, has estimated the number involving Perrault to be 38. It (the trial) is a huge deal for survivors, Hall said Saturday, not only for the many victims of Fr. Perrault, but the many hundreds of New Mexican victims of priest sexual abuse over the past 50 years. A federal prosecution is a big step in the right direction toward statewide healing. Remarkable case Perraults prosecution is remarkable for New Mexico because of the time that has elapsed since the alleged abuse, and because federal, not state, authorities brought criminal charges. Prosecutors were also able to find an alleged victim whose sexual abuse occurred in 1991 and 1992 a period within the applicable federal criminal statute of limitations. And there was another critical factor. The U.S. Attorneys Office can prosecute under federal law with fewer legal impediments because John Doe #1 alleged he was repeatedly sexually abused on federal property namely, the Kirtland Air Force Base chapel, where Perrault sometimes worked, and the Santa Fe National Cemetery, where Perrault presided over funerals. Although the victim named in the federal indictment was an 11-year-old altar boy at the time of the alleged crimes, Vazquez agreed in a March 25 opinion that the testimony of eight other alleged Perrault victims could be presented at trial. Thats because Congress foresaw the difficulties in prosecuting sex crimes involving child victims and enacted court rules in the 1990s that permit a jury to hear similar accounts by other victims. That decreases the likelihood that such cases will be an unresolved swearing match between the alleged victim and the accused, Vazquez stated in her ruling. The Court finds it highly probative of John Doe #1s credibility that there are eight additional victims who were in the same age range (all pre-pubescent or in puberty), same gender, and all knew Mr. Perrault by association of him being a priest. Thus Mr. Perrault held some position of authority over them, her ruling stated. During the pretrial hearing, Perraults attorney argued that no physical evidence ties Perrault to any of the crimes and that the allegations are old and unreliable. But Vazquez stated in her ruling that Perrault is alleged to have over time used his position of authority over the victims to silence them and exploit his position of power as a priest or teacher. Additionally, the reason these claims are only now being charged is because Mr. Perrault fled the jurisdiction for decades after victims started coming forward. Perrault abruptly left St. Bernadettes as several alleged victims filed reports with Albuquerque police and the news media began asking questions. A state grand jury looking into sex abuse allegations against Perrault never brought an indictment, according to a Journal story in 1996. At the court hearing earlier this month, Winder argued against permitting additional victims to testify. When a jury gets this case, hearing the rest of the victims, the jury will convict my client, he told the judge. Given the allegations against Catholic priests throughout the U.S., hell be convicted. Marquez Storms To Fifth Argentina GP Pole, Lorenzo Starts 12th Posted by: newsla on Mar 31, 2019 - 07:05 AM Marquez Storms To Fifth Argentina GP Pole, Lorenzo Starts 12th A flying Marc Marquez proved unstoppable in Argentina as he powered to pole, team-mate Jorge Lorenzo ready to fight forward on Sunday. Saturdays proceedings at the Argentina GP opened with the always-exciting Free Practice 3 session. Marc Marquez was fast from his first lap and quickly moved to top the session and became the first rider to set a 138. The final ten minutes of the session saw the customary time-attack for passage to Q2, Jorge Lorenzo finding another six tenths to lap the 4.805km long circuit in 139.190, meaning both Repsol Honda Team riders moved directly to Q2 together for the first time as team-mates. Despite early fears, the weather held for qualifying and an ambient temperature of 27C and track temperature of 39C helped produce a riveting Q2 session. Marc Marquez continued to show impressive speed aboard his Honda RC213V and claimed his fifth pole position at the sixth running of the Argentina GP with a lap of 138.304. The reigning champion is confident in his race pace, but knows he will have to wait and see what weather Sunday brings. Jorge Lorenzos first visit to Q2 in Repsol Honda Team colours saw him build his speed throughout the session before pushing hard at the end. Unfortunately the Mallorcan had his best time removed due to exceeding track limits and will line up for Sundays Grand Prix in 12th. Starting a row further forward than in Qatar presents Lorenzo with the opportunity to enter the fight at the front from the start of the race. At over 120 kilometres long, Sundays Argentina GP is amongst the longest on the calendar. Lights go out on the 25-lap race at 15:00 local time. Marc Marquez 1ST 138.304 In Qualifying I was really focused to push to the maximum and fight for pole position. On the second tyre I made a small mistake at the first corner so I cancelled the lap and went back in. We had planned to do three runs and my team was ready. I am happy because its never easy to get pole position here, especially this weekend. Our rhythm is there but we need to wait and see what the weather does! Jorge Lorenzo 12TH 1'39.520 This morning we went very well and improved the setting of the bike even more. The circuit had more grip and I was riding well so I was able to set a strong time and finish eighth. Then unfortunately in qualifying the temperature increased and with some setup changes I lost some feel on corner entry. This meant I couldnt repeat my time from the morning and is why I was starting 11th and now finally 12th after exceeding track limits. We will keep working to improve the setting and obtain more kilometres. PaddockTalk Perspective Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal The Legislature set aside millions of dollars to ramp up school safety, but some school districts in the state cant afford to accept the money. Thats because of expensive contingencies placed on the funding. Districts must pledge a certain percentage of their own budget, called a match, and must pay offsets, money owed to the state from past appropriations, before being awarded school security dollars. Quemado Schools, a small rural district in Catron County, was one of the districts that couldnt afford to take on the obligations attached to the state funding. David Lackey, superintendent of Quemado Schools, told the Journal that if he accepted the awards, his district wouldnt see any additional funding. Rather, he explained, the legislative dollars would have gone toward about $110,000 in offsets in Quemado. Zero dollars would come into the school district, Lackey said. And had they accepted the state money, the district would still have been locked in to spending its own money toward security. Ultimately, the match and the offset committed the district to too much money, Lackey said. In Quemado, the district must commit to 90 percent of a project, and the states share is 10 percent, which is calculated through the state match distribution formula. While a match and offset are typical requirements to accept public school facility money, some have argued these particular dollars appropriated for schools to boost safety efforts after a mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., shouldnt have the same contingencies. In fact, state Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, sponsor of a Senate bill that set aside $40 million for school safety, previously said money meant to keep kids safe shouldnt depend on how much individual districts can afford. Lackey would have used state money to ramp up access control in Quemado paying for such improvements as secure entryways for the three schools in the district and card-key access to help keep the districts 156 students safe. Now, the district will pay for school security upgrades when the money becomes available, which will likely be through mill levy funds. We will reprioritize and pay for it as we can, the superintendent said. Its a similar situation in Taos Municipal Schools. Superintendent Lillian Torrez said the matching fund became a problem. Torrez told the Journal that Taos, which has 10 schools and 3,000 kids, needed about $800,000 to secure school entrances. She said she would have also liked an ID scanner that runs automatic background checks. We just wanted to secure our schools to the next level, she said. But after the provisions, she said, Taos would have been given only about $48,000 and would have been required to commit more than $700,000 of its own money. If I had that money, why would I need the $48,000? she asked. Its been a letdown. I think school districts thought they were going to have money for the needs of their schools, to secure their schools, and it was really kind of a disappointment, she said. The district spent about six weeks writing the application for the state funding time, in hindsight, Torrez said she wishes had been spent on applying for different grants, which is the plan moving forward. Taos will now look for revenue sources that dont commit the district to such a hefty financial obligation. We will find the funding, she said. Safety is a priority. Like Quemado, Taos match would have been 90 percent and the state would have kicked in 10 percent. Carrizozo Municipal Schools and two Albuquerque charter schools Albuquerque School of Excellence and Southwest Aeronautics, Mathematics and Science Academy also forfeited state money set aside for them, according to Jonathan Chamblin, executive director of the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority. Chamblin said in general its not unheard of for districts to opt out of awards, noting that things come up. In this case, Chamblin said the districts and schools cited several reasons to the PSFA for having to decline the 2018-2019 state funding, including cost. Some of these may not have had their local money in hand at time of the award, he said. Late last year, a total of $16 million of state money which was set aside through state Senate and House bills was awarded to districts across New Mexico based on school safety need. With the three districts and two schools giving up their portion, hundreds of thousands in unused money was left over. Albuquerque Public Schools and Questa Independent School District will be the new recipients, Chamblin said, explaining that they were next in line, based on demand. APS will receive $709,075 and Questa will get $5,503, according to Chamblin. APS capital master plan executive director Kizito Wijenje told the Board of Education at a recent meeting that the district has the capacity to take on the matching requirement for this money, which is a 45 percent contribution from APS. In all, APS was given more than $4.5 million in net state money for the 2018-2019 School Security Program, according to PSFA documents. The additional money comes after APS mill levy, bond election failed, which would have generated about $20 million for school security. The district had said its security plan will take longer following the loss, but the extra legislative money will be a boost. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal Two state lawmakers are firing back after district attorneys across the state and the attorney general urged the governor to veto a bill that changes the rules of probation and parole. Reps. Antonio Moe Maestas and Gail Chasey, Albuquerque Democrats who sponsored the legislation, sent a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday defending House Bill 564. Two weeks ago, 12th Judicial District Attorney John Sugg wrote a letter, backed by DAs statewide and the AG, to Grisham calling the bill a public safety risk and asking her to veto it. Maestas, chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, and Chasey, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, argue that HB 564 would modernize the way probation and parole operates and that it would reduce increasing recidivism in New Mexico. They also address the concerns voiced in the DAs letter. Probation systems when done well can be the most effective way of reducing recidivism. State after state has proven this, the letter from Maestas and Chasey states. We must not let a small town prosecutor continue to strangle progressive criminal justice reforms that work. Sugg and the District Attorneys Association are standing their ground. No matter how hard these sponsors try to spin their legislation, the fact remains that this bill will put New Mexicans in danger. Sugg said Thursday. The bill passed the House 51-16 and the Senate 26-6 and now awaits Lujan Grishams decision. She has until April 5 to sign it. Maestas and Chasey said the bill was crafted in response to the Legislative Finance Committees findings that New Mexicos recidivism rate is increasing, hitting 50 percent in 2018, as states across the country are seeing a downward trend. Currently, 7,300 inmates are in prison and 19,000 offenders are on probation and parole. The letter from Maestas and Chasey states that HB 564 would fight rising recidivism by getting a better handle on prison admissions caused by revocations from supervision, particularly for less serious, so-called technical violations. Specifically, Maestas and Chasey say, HB 564 would allow for a probation officer to sanction someone on probation to local jail for 90 days after a technical violation rather than revoke them to prison, where the average stay for revocations is 11 months. According to the LFC report, parole revocations for technical violations related to drug use made up half the recidivism rate and 67 percent of parolees violate conditions at least once, 75 percent of which are for failed drug tests and missed appointments. Everyone misses appointments, the letter states. Probationers should not return to prison for a missed appointment or one failed drug test. In total, 43 percent of parolees are revoked and sent back to prison after an average of 2.7 violations over 372 days, according to the LFC. The letter argues that the bill also incentivizes good behavior. Under the bill, after one year of supervised probation the probationer would have a month of unsupervised probation credited to their sentence for every month served without a violation. That means someone sentenced to three years of supervised probation could serve only two years if they dont violate. One of the biggest issues the DA Association has with the bill is its handling of parole for someone sentenced to life in prison. As it stands, a parole board is now required to look at specific factors when deciding to release anyone who has served 30 years of their sentence. These include the severity of the crime, whether a deadly weapon was used and if the inmate is a habitual offender. But those mitigating factors are stricken from the language of the bill, which would instead ask the board to consider all pertinent information, effectively leaving it up to the parole board to decide which factors are pertinent. The DA Association said that without considering those factors a parole board could release some of New Mexicos most violent criminals. Calling it the least credible, fear-mongering claim, the sponsors letter argues that the factors are removed in favor of modern statutory construction. The broader criterion of considering all pertinent information concerning the inmate, is not ambiguous at all and does not prohibit the Parole board from considering those very same factors and more, Maestas and Chasey said. The letter states that the DA Association had every opportunity to work with the Legislature on any aspect of the bill and attended three hearings, but chose to speak during only one. Sugg said the DA Association has followed, and opposed, the bill from the beginning. This is not fear-mongering, but legitimate concerns from the people who will have to deal with the fallout from this legislation, he said. We have come together with Attorney General Balderas to oppose this bill because it will hurt New Mexicans. Leaders in Middle Eastern countries appreciate the work U.S. troops are doing in the region, U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland was told during a recent tour. The New Mexico Democrat met with King Abdullah of Jordan, the prime minister of Jordan and the prime minister of Iraq two weeks ago during a visit to Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq as a member of the House Armed Forces Committee. Everywhere we went, they were very appreciative of the help were giving, of the work were doing, Haaland said. Theyre happy to have our troops in those places. She also had a chance to meet with U.S. troops in all three countries. Our troops are doing an amazing job, Haaland said. ISIS is not completely gone. They (U.S. troops) are fighting terrorism and pushing for human rights, doing the things we need to do. Haaland had a chance to meet with Native American soldiers, as well as soldiers from New Mexico. Im going to have to send green chile for those folks, Haaland said. She said one purpose of the tour was to get briefings on how the troops missions were going. We want to look at the resources that they need, Haaland said. Do we need to increase funding in one area and decrease it in another? We went over there to find those issues out. The visit included a meeting with Iraqi women activists. I was happy to speak with them, Haaland said. Theyre doing amazing work for women, children, students and education. HEINRICH EXPECTS CLIMATE DEBATE: U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., called last weeks vote on the Green New Deal a sham, dismissing it as a political stunt by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. It failed 57-0, with 43 Democrats, including Heinrich and Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., voting present in protest. But Heinrich still expects the Senate to have a serious debate on the harmful effects of climate change. He correctly predicted McConnell wouldnt accept his challenge to have the debate before the vote. But I do think were going to have that debate on climate change, Heinrich said. For the last 10 years, its been easy to sweep that under the rug and pretend that it wasnt an issue. But this rising generation, the millennials, are not going to have it. They are going to force all of us to have a plan. My personal opinion is if you dont like my plan, dont like someone elses plan, OK, Mr. McConnell, whats your plan? VETO OVERRIDE ATTEMPT: Udall hoped more Republicans would cross the aisle to vote to block President Donald Trumps national emergency declaration during an attempt at a veto override once it was revealed military base projects in their districts could be affected. The House vote upheld Trumps veto. It will not be taken up in the Senate. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee with two military bases in my district, I am deeply alarmed that the President is willing to put our national security at risk by taking money from projects intended to improve the infrastructure and readiness of our nations military, said Rep. Xochitl Torres Small of the 2nd District. Torres Small and fellow New Mexico Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Haaland voted for overriding the veto. Scott Turner: sturner@abqjournal.com In a remote stretch of New Mexico desert, the U.S. government put in motion an experiment aimed at proving to the world that radioactive waste could be safely disposed of deep underground, rendering it less of a threat to the environment. Twenty years and more than 12,380 shipments later, tons of Cold War-era waste from decades of bomb-making and nuclear research across the U.S. have been stashed in the salt caverns that contain the underground facility. Each week, several shipments of special boxes and barrels packed with lab coats, rubber gloves, tools and debris contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements are trucked to the site. But the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has had its issues. A 2014 radiation leak forced an expensive closure for almost three years, which delayed the federal governments cleanup program and prompted policy changes at national laboratories and defense-related sites across the U.S. More recently, the U.S. Department of Energy said it would investigate reports that workers may have been exposed last year to hazardous chemicals. Still, supporters consider the repository a success, saying it provides a viable option for dealing with a multibillion-dollar mess affecting several sites, including a decommissioned nuclear weapons production site in Washington state, one of the nations top nuclear research labs, in Idaho, and locations as far east as South Carolina. If it werent for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, many containers of plutonium-contaminated waste would be outdoors, exposed to the weather and susceptible to disasters, said J.R. Stroble, head of business operations at the Department of Energys Carlsbad Field Office, which oversees the contractor that operates the repository. The whole purpose of WIPP is to isolate this long-lived radioactive, hazardous waste from the accessible environment, from people and the things people need in order to live life on Earth, he told The Associated Press. Stroble and others in the communities surrounding the repository are steadfast in their conviction that the facility is a success. They point to 22 sites around the nation that have been cleaned up now that there is a place to put the waste. One of those sites is Rocky Flats, a former nuclear weapons plant outside Denver that had a history of leaks, spills and other violations. For critics, that success is checkered at best since the repository is far from fulfilling its mission. Its 80 percent through its lifetime, and it has disposed of less than 40 percent of the waste and has cost more than twice as much as it was supposed to, said Don Hancock of the watchdog group Southwest Research and Information Center. How great of a success is that? Officials initially thought the facility would operate for about 25 years. Rather than wrapping up in the next few years, managers have bumped the timeline to 2050. The repository was carved out of an ancient salt formation about a half-mile below the surface, with the idea that the shifting salt would eventually entomb the radioactive waste. In the 1950s, the National Academy of Sciences recommended disposing of atomic waste in deep geologic formations. Scientists began taking a hard look at the New Mexico site about two decades later. The scientists had to convince themselves, then federal regulators that it was safe. One of their tasks was determining that the ancient seawater trapped between the salt crystals and bound up in thin bands of clay within the salt deposit would pose no problems thousands of years later. It was exciting to be working on what was then going to be the worlds first deep-geologic repository for that class of waste, said Peter Swift, a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories. Nothing that radioactive had been put that deep underground before. And thats still true 20 years later. While the real test will be what happens generations from now, Swift is confident in the science behind the project. But the wild card in whether the repository is ultimately deemed a success will be the human factor. After all, missteps by management were blamed for the 2014 radiation release. With some areas permanently sealed off due to contamination, more mining will have to be done to expand capacity. The federal government also is spending more than half a billion dollars to install a new ventilation system, sink more shafts and make other upgrades aimed at returning to normal business. Hancock and some former elected leaders involved in early discussions about the facility worry about the subterranean landfill becoming a dumping ground for high-level waste or commercial nuclear waste. But it would take an act of Congress to expand the repositorys mission, and getting consent from New Mexicos delegates would be a tall order since the federal government still has no long-term plan for dealing with such waste. Nevadas proposed Yucca Mountain project is mothballed, and no other permanent disposal proposals are on the table. Toney Anaya, who served as New Mexicos governor in the 1980s, remembers the heated debates about bringing more radioactive waste to the state. He said there were concerns about safety, but the promise of jobs was attractive. Some also argued New Mexico had a moral obligation given its legacy of uranium mining and its role in the development of the atomic bomb. Another former governor, Bill Richardson, was on both sides of the tug of war first as a young Democratic congressman who wanted to impose environmental standards and keep 18-wheelers loaded with waste from passing through the heart of Santa Fe. Later, he became U.S. energy secretary during the Bill Clinton administration and pressured the state to clear the way for the repository to open. For New Mexico, weve done our share of storing waste, and weve done it safely and effectively, Richardson said. Its provided jobs, but I just think the future of the state is not nuclear. Southeastern New Mexicos ties to the nuclear industry are strong and will remain for at least the next 30 years under current plans. Robust state regulation will be key in ensuring responsible management, said Hancock, with the watchdog group. The problem, he said, is that besides the Cold War-era waste that has yet to be dealt with, the federal government and nuclear power plants keep generating more. The effects of climate change and cyberattacks from foreign countries are a greater threat to national security than illegal immigration, former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says. Napolitano who grew up in Albuquerque says the debate about whats going on at the southern border is a distraction from more important issues. I think building a border wall is a symbol, not a strategy, Napolitano told the Journal. There are other issues that should be demanding our attention. The Journal interviewed Napolitano about her New Mexico roots and her book How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11, which addresses national security issues. I think there are three chief risks that affect our homeland security, she said. Weve got to address global warming and climate change. Were already seeing a rise in extreme weather. When it comes to the issue of cyber security, Napolitano said, Weve already seen direct attacks on our elections, on our democracy. What our true adversaries are doing silently and out of sight on our data networks is far more dangerous, she writes in her book. She said countries such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as non-state actors, have established an advanced, persistent threat on critical U.S. and commercial networks. The third threat, she said, is the rise of mass gun violence. The mass shootings in Las Vegas, Nev., Orlando and Parkland, Fla., are addressed in her book. The homeland security challenge going forward is Terrorism 3.0 combating threats originating from within our borders from a variety of ideologies, whether radical Islam, right wing or from mass murderers like the Las Vegas shooter or the Parkland high school shooter in Florida, who do not appear ideologically motivated at all. Napolitano does feel security issues along the border need to be addressed, but she disagrees with President Donald Trump on what needs to be done. Napolitano a lifelong Democrat who served as attorney general and governor of Arizona believes resources might be better spent in countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, where there has been a rise of asylum seekers coming to the U.S., especially in places on the New Mexico border with Mexico. Their civil institutions need to be rebuilt, she said. Resources need to be devoted to reducing gang violence there. She said such measures could reduce the flow of asylum seekers. Napolitano said the Trump administration has a model to follow. She said assistance from the U.S. helped turn things around in Colombia, which was once known as a narco-state. Now, its more known as a tourist destination, Napolitano said. She believes measures such as an increase in the number of immigration judges are needed to address the current flood of asylum seekers already at the border. We need to find a better way to streamline the process. Napolitano calls for a revamping of the visa system, saying shed like to see an increase, not a decrease in visas being issued. We need to live up to the promise that were a nation of immigrants, she said. She writes in her book that the U.S. needs a fact-based visa policy that takes into account labor market needs and humanitarian obligations under international law. Among the recommendations in her book is the calling for the creation of a pre-9/11 commission to address potential threats. She said the commission created after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, discovered there were a lot of red flags leading up to the attacks. We had international people here attending flight schools learning how to fly planes into buildings, Napolitano said. I think we have a lot of red flags now, and we dont need to wait for another 9/11 attack to happen. Napolitano also recommends a revamping of policies to protect privacy and civil liberties in an era of smartphones and social media that didnt exist when the original Patriot Act of 2001 was passed, which she said enabled U.S. government overreach. Her book does give a nod to her childhood in Albuquerque, where she attended Comanche Elementary School, Madison Junior High and Sandia High School, where she played clarinet in the school orchestra, got involved in student government and worked on the school newspaper. I enjoyed growing up in Albuquerque, Napolitano said. I received a really good education in Albuquerque public schools. She said she returns to New Mexico every summer to attend the Santa Fe Opera. Napolitano served as secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama from 2009-13. She was governor of Arizona from 2003-09. She is currently the president of the University of California system. Carlos Medina was used to taking a homemade approach for producing his work. During a recent interview at his Santa Fe home, the performer pointed to his old Casio keyboard in his living room. He said the set-up is similar where he used to lay down different beats and rhythms for his regional Mexican-style music, invite other musicians to play over the click track, and record his lead vocals and accordion. He would then mix and master the tracks himself. It was very DIY, he recalled. The northern New Mexico performer known for both his music and a comedy career until recently had recorded most of his albums that way. He made three albums as part of a trio, two with a full band, and then three comedy albums. He used to stroll table to table marketing the trios CDs. Looking back, he says its interesting to think about how his history of self-producing ran parallel to that of a group of DIY artists in Santa Fe: the founders of Meow Wolf. Probably the same time I was doing these recordings, they were diving through dumpsters looking for stuff for their exhibits, said Medina. And then our paths crossed and here we are. Medina, who officially joined Meow Wolf in February 2018, debuted his first professionally produced studio album through the now-burgeoning arts corporation this month. El Cantador, a 10-track mariachi set, as well as a music video for one of his original songs, was released earlier this month. This is Medinas first mariachi album. Over the years, hes been playing other genres of Mexican music, such as ranchera. I grew up listening to it; I guess it was always a dream to have a mariachi album, he told the Journal just a few days after he and his backup band returned home from a five-state tour. The tour opened Medinas eyes to the number of people outside of New Mexico who have had heard of his music or comedy. At a gig in Pioneertown, Calif., in the desert east of San Bernadino, he met a couple whod traveled an hour from Indio to see him live. He also described the tour as an opportunity to share mariachi with a different, younger demographic. Medina and his band played in venues and clubs, and with bands that normally wouldnt be part of the scene for traditional mariachi. But at the end of the day, when we did our set, it was interesting and it was a beautiful thing to see people who had never heard this music fall in love with it and think, Oh my gosh, this is so cool, Medina said. Meow Wolf CEO Vince Kadlubek said he believes Medina is bringing the genre into the next generation. I want Meow Wolf to be a platform that supports peoples authentic expressions, Kadlubek said. So this is a perfect example; heres an artist with a type of music that people wouldnt normally think Meow Wolf would put money behind or our name behind, but why not? Medina, 44, has played music for nearly his entire life. He was born in Las Vegas, N.M., but grew up about 30 miles away in El Coruco, which he described as a suburb of the small village of Ribera. The son of a musician, he started playing accordion at age 7 and was a member of his family band. His dad, two brothers and cousin would play regional shows. Music became his full-time career about 15 years ago, when he left behind the construction business. He made his first CD of dance music with a four-piece band. Before that, he had already performed and produced music with his acoustic trio Los Gallos with which he still performs on occasion. To date, hes performed as a musician in nearly 40 states. El Cantador consists of six originals and four old standards that Medina grew up hearing. His originals, all based on personal experiences, dated back to his teenage years. Some have been recorded before, but not as mariachi songs. First off, the songs I write are really horrible, Medina said about his music. Its the songs that come through me that are decent. Whats the difference? According to Medina, its about the process of trying to write a song versus what comes to him on its own. Its interesting when you sit down and try and write, theres just so much distraction, he said. But I cant tell you how many times Ive been driving down the road and I hear a lyric or I hear a melody, and you just let it come through and it happens. One of the albums originals, Que Dios Te Guarde Madrecita, was a song he wrote for his mother. The reality was I didnt have enough money for a Mothers Day card, Medina explained. So I wrote the song for her and it turned about to be better than any $2 card. The album also has a song Medina wrote when he was about 14 or 15 years old, which he described as his first decent composition. He wrote Tus Dulces Labios Your Sweet Lips in English for a teacher he had a crush on. Asked if he ever gave the song to that teacher, Medina responded with a laugh, I got an A in that class. His tune of heartbreak, No Le Digan, is the subject of his first music video, which can only be described as a psychedelic take on mariachi. Last month, it won a Best Music Video award at the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nev. The video is full of quirky features. Most notable are puppets, the idea of video director Ryan Kron Thompson. Theres also an ice skater, a folklorico dancer and clips of President Donald Trumps inauguration playing on a TV above the bar where Medinas character is sitting. Medina said the video team thought the inauguration clips would be thought-provoking and add another layer to why hes so sorrowful in the song. Not just because I lost my love but because, well, you know, he said. Falling into comedy His first major project with Meow Wolf was a musical one, but Medinas first introduction to his current colleagues was through his other line of work: comedy. Though hes developed a fan base through his act that touches on the quirks of northern New Mexico culture he has more than 20,000 followers on his comedy Facebook page and does a regular comedy show at the Jean Cocteau Cinema he doesnt label himself a comedian per se. Music will always be my first love, and the comedy just honestly something that happened quite by itself, said Medina. I could never have planned it. To say I did would be a lie. It was just meant to be, I went with it, and it paid off. It all started with a video he made about eight years ago, recording two voices he had been hearing in his head that day. The voices were of two cousins, Graviel de la Plaga and DonnaMick. Medina said those names, actually Gabriel and Dominic, are the names he heard mispronounced the most growing up. He continued making videos and has since developed nearly 50 other characters based on real-life people, mainly relatives that exist in this imaginary world. Its like the Chicano Simpsons, he joked. Back in 2014, he got a call from a Santa Fe promoter putting together a stand-up comedy show asking if he would come do 10 minutes at the then-Skylight nightclub. He had never done stand-up before. At the time, I was living Portales, so I timed my trip just with enough time to get here, park, do my 10 minutes, he remembered. I had already recorded my first comedy CD, so I brought 10 copies of that. He posted on social media that he would be doing the show, and when he got to the club there was a line out the door of fans wanting to hear him live. The promoter asked him to go last and do 30 minutes instead of 10. And I didnt have anything to lose and said, yeah, lets do it, said Medina. And the rest is history. The gig is where he was introduced to Meow Wolfs Kadlubek for the first time, pre-House of Eternal Return. Carlos is a rare superstar, said Kadlubek. He lights up a room. Hes politically savvy. Hes an amazing entertainer. Hes hilarious. Hes kind. Hes just a superstar. Ever since I met him, I knew I wanted to support him as much as I possibly could. At this stage of his career, Medina feels empowered. He said he feels the support to do what he was doing before, but now on a larger scale, without having to change or filter his material. But he emphasized the Meow Wolf partnership was a result of several years of honing his work non-stop. I just did it all; from driving, to roadie, to songwriter, Medina said. But thats what it took. Now, Im seeing the return on that work. Al Torres could not have asked for a better birthday present. Albuquerque welterweight boxer Josh Torres, with his birthday-boy dad working his corner, conducted a brutal clinic in defeating Mexicos Francisco Castro by eighth-round knockout Saturday night at Expo New Mexico. Torres improved his record to 20-6-2 with 12 knockouts. Castro is 28-10 with 23 KOs. The power reflected in Castros impressive knockout ratio never appeared to be a factor, though Torres said he was buzzed by a couple of Castro right hands midway through the fight. Torres, though, avoided or smothered the vast majority of the Mexican fighters punches. The hardest blows Castro landed were with his head, one of which opened a cut outside Torres right eye in the fourth round. The end came when Torres dropped Castro with a right-left combination. Castro was counted at 1:16 of the eighth. It was a steady barrage of body shots and combinations, Torres said, that wore Castro down. I felt in control the whole time, he said. We broke him down. We knew that (the body work) would be a factor. In a six-round welterweight co-main event, Matthew Esquibel threw a near-shutout at fellow Albuquerquean Willie Villanueva, winning by judges scores of 60-53, 59-54 and 59-54. Stymied by Esquibels head movement and high-held gloves, Villanueva struggled to land punches. When his missed punches were quickly countered by Esquibel, Villanueva almost stopped punching altogether. We worked a lot on head movement in the gym, Esquibel said. We practiced countering. My team had a good game plan for (Villanueva). Esquibel dropped Villanueva with a body shot in the second round. Villanueva complained that the punch was a low blow, but the knockdown stood. Villanueva landed one big right hand in the fifth, but Esquibel responded with a flurry of his own. Esquibel improved to 12-0-1 with five KOs. Villanueva is 11-6-1 (five KOs). In a featured bout, Albuquerques Jose Luis El Guero Sanchez (9-1, four KOs) staged a sensational performance in scoring a fifth-round TKO over Aztec veteran Joe Gomez Martinez (22-8-1, 10 KOs). Sanchezs faster hands were evident from the first round, and they were answered only occasionally. In the fifth, Sanchez stunned Gomez Martinez with a right and dropped him to one knee with a flurry. Sanchez then landed another right while Gomez Martinez was down and was docked a point for the foul. Shortly afterward, another Sanchez right hand dropped Gomez Martinez again. Though a black towel-like object flew into the ring from the direction of Gomez Martinezs corner, the outcome was ruled a referee stoppage at exactly two minutes of the fifth. I knew I was going against a tough fighter, so I worked my ass off in the gym, to put on a good show, Sanchez said. Sanchez, whose younger brother Jason is an unbeaten featherweight under contract to Top Rank, Inc., put on a performance against a veteran opponent that might well catch the eye of a major promoter. Id like to do what my brother did, fight one of (Top Ranks contract) fighters on one their cards. A lot of people here were doubting me, but I knew with all the hours of hard work Ive put in in the gym I could do this. In undercard fights: Aaron Angel Perez (7-0, five KOs), Albuquerque, defeated Isaias Martin Cardona (26-18, 17 KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, by first-round TKO. A thoroughly battered Cardona did not come out for the second round. Amy Salinas (2-0), Las Cruces, defeated Danielle Saldanha (2-2, one KO), Fort Collins, Colo., by four-round unanimous decision. Christian Castillo (3-0, three KOs), Albuquerque, 148, defeated Albert Jones (pro debut), Midland, Texas, 143.4, by second-round TKO. Jones corner opted not to send him out for the third round. Lorenzo Benavidez (2-1), Albuquerque,, 175.4, defeated Rico Urquizo (5-7, three KOs), Clovis, 181.2, by four-round unanimous decision. Adam Ramirez (pro debut), Albuquerque, 159.6, defeated Larry Sanchez (0-3), Midland, Texas, via second-round KO. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal EL PASO The high-profile, open-air holding pen filled with migrant parents and children under the Paso del Norte International Bridge is empty. Customs and Border Protection officials shut down the pen Saturday night and began transferring migrant parents and kids to facilities in the region, including New Mexico. Border Patrol is also using highway checkpoint holding cells for families until they can be processed by agents, which includes taking information from the migrants and doing criminal background checks. Most are families from Central America seeking asylum who cross the border illegally and turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents. The number of apprehensions has continued to increase steadily and the decision was made to relocate to a location with more space and more shelter capability, according to a statement from a CBP spokesman Sunday evening. Although aliens that were being held in the transitional area are being moved, the building adjacent to Paso Del Norte will continue to serve as a processing facility, said the spokesperson. According to CBP, the open-air holding pen was temporarily needed because Border Patrol facilities were overcrowded and well above capacity. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan on Wednesday said the border had reached a breaking point in the El Paso sector, which includes all of New Mexico. The commissioner estimated that in March alone, Border Patrol would take 55,000 families and an additional 40,000 unaccompanied minors into custody. Commissioner McAleenan held a news conference in El Paso in front of the border fence near the pen last Wednesday. Afterward, reporters and photographers were escorted by CBP media officials to see the families held behind a chain-link fence and razor wire. Photos of the pen made national news, and television reporters aired video or used the pen as a backdrop for live reports about the migrant crisis. Democratic members of Congress criticized the Trump administration for keeping parents and young children in the open-air pen where they were sleeping on the ground under Mylar blankets. Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been unwilling or unable to come up with smart and humane solutions, Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, tweeted Thursday. Her incompetence and lack of leadership is hurting El Paso and our country. Its time for her to resign. Nielsen tweeted Friday, We face a cascading crisis at our southern border. The system is in freefall. @DHSGov is doing everything possible to respond to a growing humanitarian catastrophe while also securing our borders, but we have reached peak capacity & are now forced to pull from other missions. A congressional delegation led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, was set to visit the outdoor pen Sunday. But Border Patrol moved the parents and children Saturday night as overnight temperatures dipped into the 40s and the area was under a wind advisory with some gusts forecast to reach 50 mph. Critics question whether the Trump administration used the temporary pen filled with migrants to bolster the presidents national emergency declaration to fund his border wall rather than dealing with the humanitarian crisis. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint Saturday with the Department of Homeland Securitys acting inspector general demanding an investigation of conditions in the pen. Border Patrols detention of people in outdoor pens forcing families and children to sleep in the dirt for days is just the latest cruelty inflicted on asylum-seekers by this administration, said Shaw Drake, policy counsel for the ACLU Border Rights Center on Sunday. In the complaint, the ACLU notes CBPs budget has grown to more than $16 billion this year. It is inconceivable that the agency does not have the resources, if appropriately allocated, to ensure humane treatment of migrants in their custody, the ACLU complaint states. There are only three family detention centers operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and those facilities are usually filled to capacity. A court order limits detaining children for more than 20 days so most families are released on their own recognizance and given a date to appear in immigration court. Parents are usually fitted with an electronic ankle monitoring device. A backlog of cases in immigration court means some wait months or even years for a decision on whether they will be granted asylum. The Department of Homeland Security expanded the Migrant Protection Protocols, originally called remain in Mexico, to the El Paso area more than a week ago. The policy, which was first put into effect on the California border, requires asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico until a judge in the U.S. decides their claim. So far, at least six asylum-seekers in the El Paso area have been sent to back to Mexico, according to Escobar. WASHINGTON Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday defended his interactions with women, saying he doesnt believe hes ever acted inappropriately. But a Nevada politicians assertion that Bidens kiss on the back of her head made her feel uncomfortable prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign. The episode, recounted by Democrat Lucy Flores, highlighted an aspect of Bidens persona that has been publicly known for years: the affectionate whispers, hugs and shoulder squeezes he has long doled out to women, often on camera and at high-profile public events. In a moment of national reckoning over sexual harassment and the treatment of women by powerful men, some Democrats said Bidens actions have taken on a new light. It looks different in 2019, said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist. Cardona said that while Bidens behavior is not automatically disqualifying for the presidency, it all depends on how he continues to respond to this. He has to acknowledge that his behavior made some women uncomfortable. In a statement on Sunday, Biden said it was never his intention to make women feel discomfort and if he did so, I will listen respectfully. Several women who worked for Biden stepped forward over the weekend to vouch for his character. And Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, disputed characterizations of her interactions with Biden during her husbands swearing-in ceremony. Pictures of the then-vice president whispering in Carters ear and placing his hands on her shoulders ricocheted across the internet at the time. The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful, Carter wrote in a post on the website Medium. Flores account of the 2014 incident comes at a crucial moment for Biden. Hes been wrestling for months with a final decision on whether to run for president, blowing through several self-imposed deadlines. Advisers are now eyeing an announcement later in April. But the Democratic primary has sped on without him, with more than a dozen candidates in the race, including a record number of women and minorities. Veterans like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have shown surprising strength, while newer White House hopefuls like California Sen. Kamala Harris and Texan Beto ORourke have drawn big crowds and displayed early fundraising prowess. Biden still leads most early polls, buoyed by broad name recognition and the goodwill he generated during eight years as President Barack Obamas No. 2. Given his experience and appeal with white working-class voters in Midwestern battleground states, hes also seen by some Democrats as the best-positioned candidate to defeat President Donald Trump. Nancy Bobo, an Iowa activist who was among Obamas earliest supporters in the state, shares that view. She fears the episode with Flores suggests Democrats may try to tear down their most-qualified candidate. I can just see whats coming at him, Bobo said. And its going to come at him from the Democrats. None of Bidens potential rivals defended him following Flores allegations. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she believed Flores and that Biden needs to give an answer about what occurred. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, Lucy Flores felt demeaned, and that is never okay. If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic hell have to engage on further. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said, I believe its important to listen and take seriously any incident like this. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Flores was quite bold to go up against the highest levels of her political party with the allegations and suggested that Biden should consider apologizing to Flores. Conway deflected questions about the numerous women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, allegations he denies. Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor, told The Associated Press on Sunday that she had been mulling coming forward for years. She said she approached New York Magazine about publishing her story and that the magazine had fact-checked her piece after she submitted it. According to Flores, the incident with Biden occurred in 2014 as the two were waiting to take the stage during a rally in Las Vegas. I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice president of the United States touching me?' she wrote. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. Biden spokesman Bill Russo said the former vice president doesnt remember kissing Flores. The AP tried to contact several advisers and aides from Flores 2014 campaign, but was unable to obtain any independent verification of her account. Flores, who endorsed Sanders in the 2016 campaign, said Bidens team has not been in touch with her since her story was published. She said she would be satisfied if Biden simply acknowledged the discomfort the episode caused her. Biden has been warned by advisers that his past statements and actions, including his long history of hugging and showing affection to women, would face fresh scrutiny in the 2020 campaign. In some cases, Bidens policy positions, such as his support for the 1994 crime bill that is blamed for mass incarcerations of minorities, are out of step with a party that has shifted to the left. But at other moments, like when he touts his ability to forge compromises with Republicans, he can appear to be speaking about a political era that many Democrats believe no longer exists. Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign, said Bidens team needs to answer a key question before launching a White House bid: Do they feel confident in their ability to understand this electorate and campaign in 2020, which is already different than 2016? Even before Flores made her allegations, some Democrats were wondering whether Biden was meant for this moment. His team was widely panned following reports that they were considering tapping a younger Democrat or a minority like 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as a running mate early in the primary in an attempt to counteract questions about Bidens age. While Bidens team denied that he was considering that step, Biden did float the idea to Abrams over a recent lunch, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the discussion. The Democrat was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity. Democratic strategist Rebecca Katz said that while Flores descriptions may feel familiar to those who have watched Biden hug and hold hands with women for years, she put the focus on the women who were on the receiving end of his affections. What Lucy Flores so bravely did is say, This is the way he made me feel,' Katz said. No one has ever done that before with Joe Biden. __ Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Stephen Braun in Washington contributed to this report. __ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Thomas Beaumont at http://twitter.com/tombeaumont PARADISE, Calif. - Emmy award winning actor Ed Asner brought his production "God Help Us!" to Paradise on Saturday night to help support Paradise residents impacted by the Camp Fire. The Paradise Performing Arts Center was the venue. It was one of the two performing arts spaces that survived the Camp Fire. The other was the Theatre on the Ridge building on Neal Rd. The benefit was held to support the local community theatre. Hundreds gathered Saturday at the Performing Arts Center to see the political comedy. Judy Clemens from Theatre on the Ridge said that Asner's company reached out to them shortly after the fire. Asner expalined that he saw a big article in the New York Times talking about the destruction that took place after the Camp Fire. Asner said, "Thousands are still rebuilding in Paradise and small events that bring the community together make a world of a difference." Some who attended the fundraiser said they enjoyed coming out to meet up people they have not seen since the fire. They explained that all their friends and neighbors were now spread out far and wide, and are no longer in Paradise. Some complained about losing touch, saying that because of the fire no one got to say goodbye. The purpose of the play is to unite liberals and conservatives despite their differences, according to Asner. He said he hopes his performance of the play will help the community unite as well. Asner said, "I'm hoping the world keeps its eye on Paradise and its people and brings them back to the glory they oncce enjoyed." Welcome Guest! You Are Here: CHICO, Calif. - Saturday a celebration was held for Women's History Month in Chico that held a spotlight on women of the African diaspora. The African diaspora is the term used to describe the dispersal of African people to Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The term is primarily used to describe the coerced movement from the slave trade. The word diaspora has also been used to refer to voluntary migrations from Africa, and even for movements of population inside of Africa. The event was held at the Chico Women's Club to honor African American women in the North State and throughout the world. It was called "Near and Far, Past and Present." SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A federal judge has upheld his earlier decision blocking a California law barring gun owners from possessing high-capacity magazines. San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez on Friday declared unconstitutional the law banning possession of magazines holding more than 10 bullets. California has prohibited buying or selling such magazines since 2000. Those who had them before then were allowed to keep them. In 2016, the Legislature and voters approved a law removing that provision. The California arm of the National Rifle Association sued and Benitez sided with the group's argument that banning the magazines infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms. His order included an example of a home invasion where a woman used extra bullets in her high-capacity magazine to kill an attacker. (Copyright Associated Press 2019) NEW YORK, New York (AP) - The Rolling Stones are postponing their latest tour so Mick Jagger can receive medical treatment. The band announced Saturday that Jagger was told by doctors "he cannot go on tour at this time." The band added that Jagger "is expected to make a complete recovery so that he can get back on stage as soon as possible." No more details about 75-year-old Jagger's condition were provided. The Stones' No Filter Tour was expected to start April 20 in Miami. Jagger says in the statement he hates letting the fans down but he's "looking forward to getting back on stage as soon as I can." Tour promoters AEG Presents and Concerts West advise ticketholders to hold on to their existing tickets because will be valid for the rescheduled dates. SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - Saturday the 10th annual "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" was held in Shasta County. It was an opportunity for veterans and their families and community to gather together and celebrate their lives and the lives of those who died during and after the Vietnam War.. More than a hundred people came out to see the escorted patriot motorcade that traveled from the downtown Redding Veterans Memorial Hall to the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo. The celebration was produced by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 357 of Shasta County. Members said the goal is to promote their founding principle, that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." Chapter President Eddie McAllister said 46 Shasta County military members were killed in action during the Vietnam War. The Mistletoe Elementary School choir performed at the celebration. Lunch was provided by the Sons of Italy Lodge #2453. the Shasta Meadows Spirit Squad also helped out. The Enterprise Lions Club supplied the veterans group with flags outside the building and the huge flag that was used inside during the celebration. 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. https://www.aish.com/j/fs/My-Israel-Elections-Overview.html Israels many political parties and why I am voting for all of them. SATIRE SO EVERYONE CHILL OUT The Israeli elections are upon us and I feel it is my duty as an Israeli citizen to bring you a list of different parties and why they are all great. I also included a bunch of parties that my friends have been talking about, as I feel it is important that you also get the insider information that I received at Friday night dinner, after the host said, No talking politics at this table. Why I Dont Know All of the Parties There are too many parties in Israel to be able to go through each one. New parties pop up every day; an argument breaks out over what they are serving for lunch at Israels Knesset, Feigenbaum doesnt like the cucumbers and a new party is started. Please forgive me if your favorite party is not represented in this article. I am sorry you werent invited to lunch. Parties in the Knesset WARNING: This will be political, because it is about politics. However, you can be comforted by the fact that this article is written by someone who knows virtually nothing about Israeli politics and whose ideas are not based in reality. All hate mail should be directed at David Kilimnick for his foolish political views. David knows nothing about the Israeli government, which is why he is the perfect candidate for Prime Minister. Likud The party founded by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon, Bibi Netanyahu has proven his worth as a political leader over the last years, being accused of corruption and not getting caught. I also dont like change very much. If it was up to me, my Prime Minister would stay the same forever. I would even change the name of Prime Minister to Prime Bibister. Blue & White This is a centrist party headed by Yair Lapid, formerly of the Yesh Atid party and former army general Benny Gantz. The two, and others, have united in their dislike of Netanyahu and the need for a change. They hate Bibi so much that Lapid and Gantz have reportedly agreed to rotate the premiership. These two Israeli leaders have agreed to politely wait their turn to be Prime Minister and sit quietly while the other takes his turn?! Only hatred of Bibi can bring Jewish leaders together like this. Labor Party The Israeli party whose goal it is to keep large amounts of governmental employees, so people dont have to work. I dont like working either. Just hearing the word labor in the name of my party gets me tired. Joint List Includes parties which the majority of the Arab population votes for. Split between Hadash, United Arab List, Taal and Balad, these parties receive seats based on how much they dont like Jews; based on different degrees of how much they dont like us and want us to leave Israel. I am a big supporter of these parties and how they help bring Jews together. Joint List, for what you have done for Jewish identity. Thank you. Kulanu All of Us Economic egalitarianism is their thing. I find this partys platform very confusing, because it makes me think about women leading davening in shul. I can only focus enough for the world egalitarianism to be used in one context. I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea of women working. United Torah Judaism Made up of the Haredi, ultra-Orthodox Jews, this electoral alliance is concerned with funding for the yeshivas and the Jewish character of the state such as Shabbat observance. If you ask me, an easy way to enhance the character of the Jewish state is to mandate more herring and cholent consumption across Israeli society. A little potato kugel on a daily basis and all of Israels internal problems will be solved. Yisrael Beiteinu Right-wing nationalist and secular party. I love the Russian population of Israel. They dont seem to need religion to have a strong Jewish identity. They just need other people hating them. Thank you Joint List. The Green Movement They are fighting for grass. They believe theres not enough grass in Israel. If there is a war, it should be happening in a meadow. The New Right Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked left the religious Zionist party of Jewish Home and started this new party to garner more votes from the secular population. They wanted a real life example to the joke about the Jew stranded on the desert island building two shuls, the one he goes to and the one he wont step foot into. Thats how political parties are formed in Israel. The New Right is basically the political version of a breakaway minyan. However, to gather more votes they will not be going to minyan anymore. Zehut For financial freedom and Jewish sovereignty in the West Bank. Their main cause is legalizing marijuana which is very confusing. Maybe they are suggesting that the West Bank is the perfect place for growing cannabis. NO SEATS IN KNESSET Here are a few parties that are not expected to clear the election threshold: Daam Workers Party A joint Jewish and Arab party focused on workers rights, made up of people who get very angry when they have to wake up and go to work. Most religious people dont vote for this party because they feel like they are cursing when they say the name. The beautiful thing about this party is that we can see how Jews and Arabs come together on this one main cause of getting paid for not having to do anything. Daam! HaYisraelim The Israelis. I love their name. If you are not a member of their party, you have no right to vote in Israeli. Kadima A breakaway party, Ehud Olmert was their leader. Lesson learned: When your leader goes to jail, you have less of a chance of making it into the Knesset. You only make it in when your leader doesnt get caught. Sorry I know left out Shas and the Jewish Home parties and maybe some others. I just got really tired. As I said before, I am not that into work. Daam! Conclusion -Start Your Own Party Over the past twenty years, every ex-member of Knesset has started their own political party. They have parties for everything. If you have some ideas and you may be visiting Israel, you too can start your own party. If you do, you will need a name for your party. In Israel you take the cause, which is your argument and that is your name. Lets say I feel that there should be better service at the local Makolet (bodega). I just started the Makolet party! I feel that shopkeepers should give exact change? Please vote for my new Agurah party! In America there are two political parties. In Israel there are two hundred. When they say, less is more are they talking about politics? On Tuesday April 9th, well find out. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Photographing-830-Holocaust-Survivors.html John and Amy Israel Pregulman have made it their mission to help elderly Holocaust survivors. A three-day visit to Chicago changed John Pregulmans life forever. In 2012, John was living in his native Chattanooga, Tennessee, working in real estate. Hed had little contact with Holocaust survivors. The phone call from the Illinois Holocaust Museum was a bit of a surprise. The museum was looking for a photographer to take pictures of survivors. A member of the museum was an old friend of Johns and remembered that years ago, John had worked as a photographer in New York City. Would he mind coming up to Chicago to photograph some survivors? John obligingly agreed. I didnt know what to expect, John recalls of that first trip. He wondered if the survivors would be depressed and gloomy. Instead, he was blown away by how upbeat they were. I spent three days with survivors taking pictures and I became enamored of these confident, happy people who gave so much, despite what theyve been through, he explained in an Aish.com exclusive interview. What happened to them shaped their lives, but they had an attitude that Were not going to let what happened to us ruin our lives. Some of the survivors confided that they felt the successes they had made of their lives their families, their careers, the full, productive, Jewish lives theyd led were all victories against Hitler. The portraits, which are given to the survivors as a gift, are important to many of them because one of their biggest fears is being forgotten. John took 65 portraits in three days and was left profoundly changed by the experience. He decided to continue to photograph survivors, contacting Jewish communal organizations and Holocaust museums in different cities and arranging more photo sessions. John met Amy Israel through a photo session in 2015. One of Johns friends father was a survivor, and the friend asked John to travel to his dads home in Memphis to photograph him. As John took his photographs, his friends father started talking about his experiences during the Holocaust. All of a sudden he opened up to his children about everything, John later recalled. The survivor introduced John to Amy, who was a good friend of his daughter-in-law, and the couple quickly realized they were made for each other. They met in January 2015 got engaged several months later. Together they are raising six children from their previous marriages, as well as working on the charity they have founded to help Holocaust survivors, which Amy jokes is their baby. They were in Florida, taking photos of an elderly Holocaust survivor, when they decided to found KAVOD, the charity they now run together. Invariably, when I take pictures of lady survivors, they want to give me something to eat, like all Bubbies, John recalls. This friendly, sweet lady opened up her refrigerator and John and Amy were dumbstruck: all she had was milk, some eggs, and a little piece of cheese. What happened to your food? the couple asked. The survivor explained that her air conditioner had broken that month and she had to pay to have it repaired. She had no money left over for food. Im just not eating much this month. John and Amy started researching the plight of Holocaust survivors in the U.S. and made a startling discovery: nearly a third of survivors live below or near the poverty rate. The poverty rate for seniors in general is 18% in the U.S., Amy explains; for Holocaust survivors, the rate is significantly higher. The reasons are manifold: many came to the U.S. with nothing and never built up significant savings. The trauma of their early years can mean they have more medical needs. Amy and John also found a significant barrier to Holocaust survivors gaining the help they need is their shame of seeming needy: They are very proud, Amy explains. They dont like to tell people they need help, John has found, and they dont like to be on a list, for obvious reasons. They are very good at hiding poverty. Amy and I have been in many survivors apartments and noticed that they didnt have anything. John and Amy felt they had to help and started planning a charity to provide confidential emergency funds to survivors. Amy has a background in nonprofit management, and quickly got to work setting up a professional organization. They decided to name it KAVOD, which means respect in Hebrew, because they wanted to ensure that they helped survivors in confidential, discreet ways that maintained their dignity and sense of self-worth. John and Amy married in 2016, within a month of formally establishing KAVOD as a not-for-profit charity. A donor pledged to cover all of the charitys operating costs, so each dollar raised goes directly to survivors. John and Amy give the money through Jewish agencies in various cities. Working with caseworkers, KAVOD identifies needs and makes grants - often small grants of just a few hundred dollars - to cover financial emergencies or unexpected needs. We were thrilled when we raised $30,000 that first year, Amy recalls. The second year they nearly doubled that, and in 2018 KAVOD gave away over $118,000 to help Holocaust survivors in need. Amy and John dont request information about the people they are donating to. Thats part of protecting their dignity, Amy explains. In at least one case, however, a survivor wanted to thank John and Amy personally, with a surprising gift. The request came from a social worker at a local Jewish agency who knew the survivor: she was living in dire circumstances, with little money, and her greatest joy was her hobby of creating beautiful beaded flowers. But she didnt have enough money for beads; could KAVOD help her with $50 to buy more beads? KAVOD supplied a gift card for twice that amount. Later on, John and Amy happened to travel to that survivors city in order to photograph more Holocaust survivors and the survivor decided to pay them an unexpected visit, bringing a gift of beautiful beaded flowers shed made. This woman came up to us and handed us flowers made out of beads and said, You have no idea what this meant to me; I made this for you. Amy was so overwhelmed she had to sit down. Amy and John keep those beaded flowers in a vase in their kitchen as a constant reminder of the good they can do. The flowers are a reminder that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and have their unique needs acknowledged. Since 2016, KAVOD has distributed funds to 1,200 needy Holocaust survivors. By now, John has taken portraits of 830 survivors. As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the couple feels the urgency of their mission to document this fading generation and their memories. The portraits are gifts to the survivors and the families; KAVOD never sells the images or makes any money from them, and they never make public the names of the survivors. KAVOD can be contacted at http://kavodensuringdignity.com/ The Egyptian activist Menna Shahin has a solution for helping to resolve Egypts twin problems of fighting hunger and disposing of food waste: register through an app, put your surplus or soon-to-expire food on display and have a charity pick it up and pass it on to people in need. That app is Shahin's brainchild, Tekeya, which she launched in February. The application allows restaurants and shops to donate or sell at reduced prices their suitable leftovers from banquet tables and shelves. Supermarkets can donate food about to expire, and starred hotels can give away unconsumed food from events held on their premises. The charities that pick up the donations from shops, restaurants, hotels and other donors either distribute the food to the poor directly or use it to put together meals they then serve in their kitchens. The app will help reduce food surplus in Egypt and will deliver it to those in need, either at token prices or for free, Shahin told Al-Monitor. Many restaurants and hotels throw away food at the end of the day and prepare fresh dishes the next day, Shahin said. Supermarkets simply discard the products they cannot sell because the expiry date is too close, so I started to think of a way to deliver these products and foods to charities to help those in need. According to the Food Sustainability Index, a project of the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, Egypt tops the list of Arab countries in terms of food waste. About one-third of all food grown in the Middle East and North Africa is lost or wasted, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In Egypt, that amounts to an estimated 50 kilograms of food per person per year. In April 2018, the Food and Agriculture (FAO) organization, in cooperation with the Egyptian Food Bank, launched an awareness campaign to reduce food waste and contribute to eradicating hunger in Egypt. Despite the huge amounts of wasted food, many people are unable to access food regularly, Shahin said. As of April, Tekeya will also offer to arrange transport service to courier food from the provider to the charities for a small fee. Karim Mustafa, administrator of the app's free food section, told Al-Monitor that Tekeya has already succeeded in attracting a number of charities, including some with large outreach networks. Among them is the Resala Charity Association, which has 68 branches nationwide, and among other services, provides daily and monthly food parcels to people in need. Donated food also often goes to the kitchens of Swaaed al-Etaam, a group that prepares hot meals for the needy around the country, and to LifeMakers, a youth-led organization. Mustafa said the Tekeya team is still working to expand the network. One of their targets for collecting food surplus is the Americana Group, a Middle Eastern company that includes franchises of KFC, Hardees and Chicken Tikka among its restaurants. He added that the delivery service being worked on will mainly pick up from restaurants and shops in areas not typically covered by the charities. Riham Mheisen, spokesperson for the Resala Charity Association, told Al-Monitor, Charities always keep a database of those in need in neighborhoods and surrounding areas, but most of [us] do not have enough food or funding to secure organized and sustainable food delivery to the needy. Thus, she noted, Tekeya's relevance is in part in enabling sustainable deliveries of food and meals. Mheisen noted that Tekeya will play an important role in distributing food on big occasions, such as Orphans Day and events for children with special needs, which her charity organizes. She warned, however, that under Egypt's current economic strain, restaurants have been economizing, so the amount of food available for donating is declining. This began with the increase in food prices over the past years after the decision to float the Egyptian pound in November 2016. Many charity kitchens in poor neighborhoods had to close their doors, Mheisen said. The Palestinian Authority (PA), facing a stifling financial crisis, is going door-to-door in the Arab world seeking aid. Since the United States halted its support and Israel slashed tax revenues, the PA is resolutely soliciting help to compensate for its bulging budget deficit. Officials have been busy. Just this month: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas led on March 3 a high-powered delegation to Iraq his first visit in seven years. Abbas then moved on to Jordan March 5 and met with head of the Islamic Development Bank Bandar Bin Hamza Hajjar in Amman, filling him in on the tough economic situation in the Palestinian territories. The next day, Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara met with Jordanian Central Bank Gov. Ziad Fariz in Amman, along with governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority Azzam al-Shawa, seeking to raise the loan ceiling offered by Jordanian banks operating in the West Bank. Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki met with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo March 13 to discuss activating a financial "social safety net" of $100 million per month. The Arab League has approved such emergency funds for the PA in the past. Abbas began stepping up PA visits to the Gulf countries months ago to garner financial support, visiting Qatar in August 2018, Oman and Kuwait in November 2018, and Saudi Arabia in February of this year. A Palestinian official close to Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, We are working hard to get the Arab safety net, but it depends on our relations with Arab states. The PA would rather not take loans for fear of accumulating foreign debts." According to data issued March 19 by the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, those debts reached almost $1.54 million at the end of 2018. Meanwhile, the PA disbursed partial salaries March 10 to its 157,000 civil and military employees after a delay of more than a week. It paid about 50% of the salaries due, with the lowest-paid workers receiving a minimum of $550 and higher-ranking employees getting no more than $2,755. The PA also stopped appointments, promotions and raises, and reduced travel allocations for officials. The government needs to take out loans worth $50 [million] to $60 million per month from local banks in the coming six months to settle its commitments to its employees. Islamic banks, Arab funds, China and the Arab League will be contacted to activate the financial safety net, Bishara said during a March 10 press conference at the Ministry of Information headquarters in Ramallah. It might seem odd that Bishara mentioned China rather than other non-Arab countries, but China's latest financial support to the PA came in July in the form of $15 million in economic development aid. Nael Dweikat, an economics professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor, Financial grants for the PA are not an Arab priority. Other Arab countries like Syria and Yemen are more in need of this support. Rather, an Arab loan to the PA is on the table because it has to be settled eventually. Meanwhile, a local loan from Palestinian banks is also possible because banks can guarantee the settlement of funds from employees salaries. The PA employees receive their salaries from those banks, which can use the salaries to settle the loans. It's a temporary measure for a desperate situation. We want to secure an Arab financial security net reaching $100 million per month, but we don't expect this amount to be fully provided. We might receive only part of the amount, and we might need to take loans from banks, Maliki told the official Voice of Palestine station during his visit this month to Cairo. Some 15 Palestinian and foreign banks operate in Palestinian territories: seven local, seven Jordanian and one Egyptian. Former Minister of Labor and Planning in Ramallah Samir Abdullah told Al-Monitor, Most Arab countries did not abide by [contributing to] the safety net, and they suffer from their own financial crises. Palestinians aren't optimistic about [those countries'] commitment to the safety net, and the PA might have to resort to the private sector as the last option to [make up for the tax revenue Israel is withholding] by the end of the year, and in one payment. The total of foreign grants for the Palestinian budget in 2018 reached 2.16 billion shekels ($570 million). The United States stopped providing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the PA, and European aid dropped by 24%, or 612 million shekels ($170 million), according to data the Palestinian Ministry of Finance published Jan. 27. In early February, Abbas formed a team of senior PA officials, without involving Palestinian factions, to discuss the financial crisis and hold periodic meetings. The team, led by Abbas, includes his deputy Mahmoud al-Aloul, Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat, Chief of General Intelligence Majed Faraj, Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh and Maliki. Atef Adwan, head of the Economic Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told Al-Monitor, The PA might get part of the money from the safety net. The PA remains an Arab-US-Israeli interest. Its request for loans is on the table, but it will have a negative impact on Palestinians because the PA would [eventually have to] increase taxes to make up for the budget deficit. It is in the interest of both the United States and Israel for the PA to remain in power in the West Bank; its collapse would leave Hamas to take over or the security situation would decline into chaos, thus reflecting negatively on Israeli security. The PA has several options for facing its crisis: Borrow from banks, mobilize Arab and international support through Palestinian diplomatic efforts, and prioritize its spending by slashing some expenses, expanding its tax base, improving tax collection efficiency and limiting tax evasion. Mohammad Abu Jiab, editor-in-chief of Al-Eqtesadia newspaper in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, The PA efforts focus on the Gulf countries, which have financial and political weight. I expect these efforts to succeed by mobilizing support to face the crisis without the need to resort to an Arab loan. Bank loans are on the table but can't be relied on to ensure financial stability." Solutions for the PAs financial crisis don't seem imminent. The PA is trying to buy time by managing its serious crisis until the final results of Israel's elections on April 9 are declared. The PA hopes the Israeli right will be defeated and the tax revenues will start flowing again, reviving its financial situation. Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appears to have lost control of city hall in Ankara and is neck and neck with the opposition in Istanbul, according to preliminary results from Sunday's municipal elections. In the capital, Mansur Yavas, candidate of an alliance led by the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), has taken the lead. Meanwhile in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and its commercial hub, opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu reportedly leads former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to the latest data provided by Turkeys official Supreme Election Board. Why it matters: These elections are the first since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assumed sweeping executive powers last year. As such, they are widely seen as a vote of confidence in his single-handed rule. The results have no direct bearing on the central government, but are widely viewed as a rebuke to the government, especially over a bruising economic downturn marked by soaring prices and an unemployment rate heading to its highest level in three decades. The nationwide turnout was below 83%, down from 87.5% in the June 24 elections, Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The decline is believed to have been triggered mainly by disgruntled AKP supporters shunning the polls. Symbolic meaning of Istanbul: The fall of Istanbul in particular would be a watershed event for the AKP. Erdogans ascent to the helm of power began in Istanbul in 1994, when he was elected mayor of the city. Beyond its symbolic significance, the loss of Istanbul a metropolis of more than 15 million people and Turkeys industrial and commercial hub would deprive the AKP of abundant economic resources, which have been instrumental in currying favor with voters and expanding the partys base. Todays outcome is also a snub of Erdogans polarizing stance and unprecedented attacks on the opposition as part of a narrative that framed the local polls as a matter of survival for the nation against foreign conspirators and their collaborators within. Erdogan even accused the CHP of cooperating with terrorists, equating the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The HDP supported CHP-led alliances in major cities, including Ankara and Istanbul. Election surprises: One of todays many surprising outcomes came from Turkeys mainly Kurdish southeastern region, where the HDP lost several of its former strongholds, including Bingol, Bitlis and Sirnak. Some of these are conservative cities [where] there is already a general inclination toward the AKPs conservatism, Irfan Aktan, a prominent journalist who has covered Kurdish politics for more than a decade, told Al-Monitor. However, in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, the pro-Kurdish party scored a significant victory. What's next: With the elections over, Turkeys economic crisis stands out as the primary challenge for the government. Free from electoral pressure, Ankara is expected to adopt austerity measures and may seek to reduce tensions with the United States and other Western powers to restore the confidence of foreign investors. How Erdogan handles the oppositions wins will be critical in this regard. Should he make good on his threats to oust opposition mayors, he could stir political tensions that could scare away investors and undermine the economy. In any case, opposition mayors face an uneasy coexistence with the government. Erdogan has warned that those who are not in harmony with Ankara will tomorrow declare bankruptcy. Know more: Kadri Gursel details the fear-mongering that has characterized the electoral campaign. To see what awaits Turkey's economy after the elections check our economy writer Mustafa Sonmezs latest piece. What began as a hobby for Suzanne Naumann of Huntsville has turned into one of the citys coolest businesses. Suzys Pops started in 2011 as a promotion for the newly founded Greene Street Market, a weekly producer-only open air market sponsored by Church of the Nativity, an historic downtown Episcopal church. Naumann and her friend Liz Laney were both involved in the start-up of the market, an outreach effort of the church. The only message being Know the people who grow your food; and lets get healthy food, Naumann says. They hoped to create a community hangout for a few hours each week where people would shop for local produce and products and enjoy live music. Somebody had the idea of scheduling food demos, says Naumann, who along with Laney bought local produce from market vendors to sample cold soups, and oh yeah, some homemade popsicles. Naumann recalls thinking popsicles may be the new cupcake. The first week, they gave away popsicles until they ran out, asking each person who tried the confections a couple of questions: Do you like it? How much would you pay for it? The next week, the pair showed up at the market with more popsicles, a tent and a small freezer, and sold 50 to 100 pops at $2.50 to $3 a pop, depending on their ingredients. Who could resist the pops with names like Peach Basil, Pear Riesling, and Raspberry Hibiscus? In the beginning, the pops were literally handmade in Naumanns home kitchen. Each pop was individually unmolded, wrapped with a cellophane bag and heat-sealed, says Naumann. The products were stored in the family carport, in freezers that were running on boat batteries. Laney eventually left the business to concentrate on her small children, but Naumanns children were teenagers. She threw herself into Suzys Pops and moved into her current space at Lowe Mill in December 2014. I gave away my entire inventory the day we opened, she says. We got a following. The wonderful thing about Lowe Mill is you have a built-in client base. Following professional advice, Naumann waited three years to invest in commercial equipment, but then placed an order from a company in Brazil for a two-gallon mixer, four 22-pop molds, and a quick-freeze machine that freezes 88 pops in 30 minutes, and equally efficient packaging equipment. Suzy's Pops can now make 22 pops at a time rather than just one. That was a big game changer, Naumann says. We went from doing one pop at a time to doing 22 at a time. The flavor of the day has a lot to do with local sourcing, whos got what, Naumann says. In addition to local farmers, she has partnered with a couple of local breweries, a Lowe Mill whiskey distiller, and the Kaffeeklatsch, downtowns coffee bean-roasting company, to create new flavors. Today the pops that come on sticks branded with her name sell at $3 each for Fruity and Creamy varieties, and $4 for the alcoholic-infused Lushy pops, which contain everything from wine and limoncello to Baileys Irish Creme. During peak summer months, Naumann sells an estimated 2,000 pops a week. She has four employees: Lavie Penuelas, kitchen manager; Miki Bow, special events and wholesale accounts manager; and Abigail Ambrose and Naumanns eldest son, Paul Naumann, both of whom work in the kitchen and sell pops. A handful of additional part-time employees work events seasonally. An English and computer science graduate of Vanderbilt University, Naumann spent 10 years as a technical writer, followed by a number of years as a stay-home mom. She and husband Charles Naumann, an electrical engineer for Optical Sciences Corp., have two sons, Paul, a University of the South graduate who also works as an historical interpreter at Burritt on the Mountain; and Foard, a Vanderbilt biomedical and electrical engineering graduate who works at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Between staying home with the children and the founding of Suzys Pops, Naumann also worked as the alumni relations coordinator at Randolph School, where she and both sons graduated. When she left Randolph, I got involved with the Greene Street Market idea. It seemed like a cause I could get behind, she says. Its still one of our best venues. Mothers often bring their children in for a fruity popsicle, and get a wine flavor for themselves. Suzys Pops is open year-round at Lowe Mill, and half the year at various events and venues, including Greene Street Market and other farmers markets sponsored by city of Madison and Latham United Methodist Church; the Burritt Museums City Lights and Stars concerts; Huntsvilles weekly Concerts in the Park; and downtown food truck rallies. The pops also sell locally at Whole Foods Market, a national grocery chain that prides itself on featuring local products. Along the way, Naumann had some major personal challenges, including the death of both her parents in 2013, and a bout with breast cancer in 2017, when she had to rely on her staff to run the operation. Today she is at a crossroads and a decision on whether to grow Suzys Pops or maintain status quo. Keeping my radius small is what makes us special, she says. We can tell you where the strawberries came from, and you can watch us make them (the pops). Most likely, Naumann says, she will retire and let others pass the pops. Son Paul, who shops for ingredients, works in the kitchen and does anything else Im needed to do, has a good handle on the overall picture. Weve been stumbling upward as we find what works, he says. The business now boasts over $100,000 in annual revenue, thanks to customers who come back for their favorite flavors time after time. A mother with a toddler typically orders a fruity rainbow pop for her child and one with the wine in it for herself, says Naumann, whose husband came up with the idea for the rainbow pop as a hook for children. He said, You cant have a unicorn popsicle, but you can have a rainbow one, she says, adding that Charles also came up with the Wormy Apple pop, comprised of apple cider and sour gummy worms. Son Foard suggested the ever popular strawberry cheesecake pop. Other unusual pops include those made with hard lemonade, Shandy and IPA. In the summer time, you cant beat it, says Naumann unless you go for the orange and Compari pop. If youre hot, that will soothe you. A suggestion box at the Lowe Mill studio invites customers to come up with their own flavor ideas for the next awesome pop. Emma Williams, 11, a fifth-grade student at Grace Lutheran School, looks forward to the Greene Street Market and Suzys Pops every year. Her favorite flavor is strawberry with the fruity rainbow running a close second. Theyre really pretty, Emma says. Whether its a Fruity avocado, Creamy chocolate sea salt with cayenne, or Lushy mint julep flavor, Naumann says the main ingredient in each pop is love. Its nothing but fun, says Naumann. Its the only job Ive ever had where I hand somebody something and it makes them happy. Want more? suzyspops.com The city of Tuscaloosa celebrated 200 years Saturday with a free concert at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. The Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Bash featuring Jason Isbell, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, The Commodores, Moon Taxi and Blind Boys of Alabama drew a solid crowd despite threatening weather and a few sprinkles. See photos from the event in the gallery above, and learn more about how the event came together. A chilly night is in store for Alabama, and freeze warnings have been issued for part of the state. The National Weather Service typically issues freeze watches and warnings during the growing season when temperatures at or below freezing are expected. That could be the case overnight. Lows are forecast to fall to just below freezing in north Alabama and will be at or below freezing in parts of central Alabama. It will be quite chilly all the way down to the coast, with lows in south Alabama falling into the low to mid-40s overnight, according to forecasters. A freeze warning will cover all of north Alabama from 2 a.m. until 9 a.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Huntsville. Temperatures in north Alabama could fall as low as 28 degrees, forecasters said. There will also be a freeze warning for parts of central Alabama overnight from 3 a.m. until 9 a.m. Monday. The National Weather Service has put the following counties under the warning: Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Winston, Walker, Blount, Etowah, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Jefferson, St. Clair, Talladega and Clay. Temperatures in those area could fall as low as the upper 20s overnight, the weather service. Higher winds and more clouds should keep frost from being a concern farther south, forecasters said. McGruff began taking a bite out of crime 40 years ago in 1979, and friends were reminded not to let their friends drive drunk in 1983. Its been 32 years since a frying egg served as a metaphor for a brain on drugs. Smokey Bear? He reminded all of us that only you can prevent forest fires for the first time in 1944. These and other public service announcements (PSA) are a tried and true public relations success stories for law enforcement in combating crime or other social ills. But a similar winning message has proven a difficulty in Mobile where authorities scramble to find a solution toward curbing what they are describing as an epidemic of gun owners leaving weapons in unlocked vehicles, only to have them stolen and used in a crime. Of the 1,200 guns stolen in 2018, a whopping 80 percent were taken from an unlocked car or truck. The issue became tragic for Mobile police on Jan. 20, when Officer Sean Tuder was shot and killed by a man who was in possession of a stolen gun. Since then, police have taken a heightened approach of utilizing media to push a Lock it up PSA. The tactics have been presented on printed advertisements showing uniformed officers standing and staring next to the phrase, Lock it up. Authorities also created a video ad that reminds people to lock up their weapons. But despite the recent PSA push, occurring about a month after Tuders death, guns are still being taken out of vehicles. In fact, very little difference has been made despite the public awareness campaign. 113 were stolen from vehicles from Jan. 1 to March 27, 2018; while 102 were stolen during the same time frame this year. Thats only a decline of 11 stolen guns from vehicles. Since Tuders slaying, on Jan. 20, the number of stolen guns is relatively unchanged from year-to-year. There were 78 stolen between Jan. 20 to March 27, 2018, and 74 during that same time frame in 2019. I wanted to see if our PSAs or (Tuders) death helped slow the number of guns left in unlocked vehicles, said Barber, the head of public safety and a former city police chief. It hasnt yet, at least no statistical significance. Gut wrenching The revelation about the lack of impact from the Lock it up PSA was disclosed to the Mobile City Council this week. And council members, who are weighing possible regulations against gun permit holders whose weapons are stolen from vehicles, reacted with disappointment. Something needs to be done that drives the point home to instill responsibility with the possession of a gun, said Councilwoman Bess Rich. Indeed, Mobile authorities are looking for alternative messaging to drive home the problem. Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran describes a recently-produced commercial he made with Barber as gut wrenching, and mentions points out the obvious: Tuder was killed by a stolen gun. We are hoping the public service announcements will work, said Cochran. Theyve worked in drunken driving and tobacco. Now you will say, It took 30 to 50 years (to reduce) tobacco use. But I dont think it will take that long here. Cochran said that authorities will need to draw connections with their PSAs, such as comparing unsecured guns left inside vehicles to cell phones. According to Cochran, since people are often mindful not to leave their IPhones and mobile devices inside their vehicles, they should be equally or more mindful about their guns. David Chipman, senior policy advisor at Giffords, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group focused on preventing gun violence named after former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, said authorities shouldnt be afraid to take an aggressive posture with their messaging. One example, he said, could be labeling gun owners who leave their weapons in unlocked settings as unpatriotic, reckless and irresponsible. Chipman, who said hes a supporter of gun ownership and who spent 25 years as an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said programs such as Scared Straight which attempt to use fear to drive an anti-crime message to juveniles, should be considered. People have to come to grips with reality, said Chipman. This isnt just like losing their IPhone. Its a gun in a car. It will be used by a criminal and often times, it will be used to kill people. This is your gun and if you would have locked it up, the (killing) would not have happened. There are real consequences. Chipman said ads should be considered for graphic presentations, such as recent anti-smoking campaigns. The Tips from Former Smokers, depicted powerful, real-world consequences for smoking and led to some encouraging results: More than 100,000 smokers successfully quit smoking after the federally-backed ads made their debut in 2013. Its important to draw a picture of what happens with the stolen gun, said Chipman. The Lock it up commercial, while showing a young girl playing at the end of the PSA asking gun owners to lock up their weapons for me," does not display any tragic scenes that could result from a gun theft. Barber, like Cochran, said the new approach will use Tuders death and scenes from the funeral to drive home our point. Chipman said that society may be numb, and should be woken up to real-life gun violence. In my experience, violence in the media is not as graphic as it really is, said Chipman. Its much more horrible, as you can imagine, to be shot with an assault rifle. The (TV) content people see, they are numb to it. Peer pressure Teri Henley, an instructor of public relations at the University of Alabama and adviser of the student-run firm, Capstone Agency, said her experience is that peer pressure in PSAs can be the most powerful approach. They may listen to their friends and family before they listen to some authority figure like the police, she said. Henley has experience in leading college-based efforts to curb behavior. About 10 years ago, the university led a LessThanUThink public relations campaign utilizing humor to emphasize the negative consequences of college binge drinking. The campaign has evolved to include 14 campuses nationwide, including the university in Tuscaloosa. What weve found is to bring awareness and conversation to the topic that if we run PSAs about college-age binge drinking, we wont immediately change behavior, said Henley. What weve found is that by creating awareness and a conversation about it, not just among those doing the behavior, but those who are friend and influencers to convince the friends who are doing bad behavior to consider changing. Henley said the messaging the university employs is edgy, relevant and is aimed at making people to want to stop and talk about it. But with gun ownership, the biggest peer group would be the National Rifle Association and Chipman said hes unsure on the level of commitment from the nations largest gun rights group. One of the voices to create better behavior are organizations like the NRA, he said. But its not the NRA from 20 years ago. I wish they would come out on this issue much stronger. The NRA, indeed, has been criticized for taking a hardened approach toward gun rights and in opposition to anything viewed as negatively affecting gun ownership. A media representative with the NRA did not respond to a request for comment about the situation in Mobile. Bama Carry, a gun rights organization that bills itself as a No Compromise group and which has influence in Montgomery, are advocates of PSAs for gun responsibility, said Eddie Fulmer, president of the organization. Look at what theyve done for opiates and texting in vehicles, which are not (constitutionally) protected rights, said Fulmer, pointing to PSAs he believes have been effective. Sometimes people need to be reminded. Fulmer said he planned to put a reminder about gun ownership responsibility on the groups website. No one wants to put guns in a criminals hands except maybe another criminal, said Fulmer. Searching for solutions Henley, meanwhile, said the city should consider seeking professional expertise to craft an effective message and have it filter through multiple media outlets. The Lock it up PSA was handled in-house by the Police Departments Office of Strategic Initiatives. Councilman John Williams said hes unsure the city has the expertise on staff to deliver a message that will produce change. What were trying to do is work on psyche, but I dont think the city possesses or this county possesses an expert in changing the minds of people who are irresponsible, said Williams. I wish I could guilt someone in not putting a gun in an unlocked car and walking away. Some people are not responsible enough to carry guns and they do more harm than good. But they have that right to do that. Councilman C.J. Small said that a PSA should only be part of the solutions. Small was the council member to first pitch a possible resolution urging the Legislature to give cities like Mobile the authority to adopt reasonable regulations to prevent firearm thefts from unlocked vehicles. One solution suggested was revoking the concealed carry permits of gun owners if their weapon is stolen from an unlocked vehicle and used in a crime. PSAs only have some effects because were always doing PSAs that address driving drunk, dont litter, stop smoking and etc., Small said. If we look around, the citizens are still littering, drivers are still driving drunk and its needless to mention that people are still smoking. He said, The Police Department and administration need to take additional measures that are necessary to secure the safety of everyone. Barber said police, facing a wave of gun violence in Mobile, are weighing the possibility of reinstituting traffic checkpoints, a controversial policing effort in which police require motorist to pull over at a designated location and produce their drivers license, proof of insurance and vehicle tag information. If so, they would be very limited and narrowly focused, said Barber, who is not a fan of the checkpoint strategy. It does generate a lot of tickets but very few guns. With smart phones, the bad guys know where we are within minutes of us setting up. A nearly 7-hour standoff at a Mountain Brook home Saturday ended peacefully. The scene was in the 3600 block of Dunbarton Drive. According to Mountain Brook police Deputy Chief Greg Hagood, police at 4:01 p.m. received a 911 call from a home reporting a domestic violence situation. A verbal altercation had taken place, Hagood said. Officers arrived to find one of the residents - a 36-year-old man - had poured gasoline inside the home and was holding a box of matches. Police blocked off a large perimeter and SWAT officers responded to the scene. The other occupants were able to safely escape, Hagood said. He did not identify who was in the home at the time, but the suspect lived there with his parents. When police showed up, the suspect barricaded himself inside the basement. He refused to come out and talk with officers and continued to threaten to torch the house. Mountain Brook Fire, SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were summoned to respond to the home. Negotiators made contact with the man and communicated with him for several hours. At least one of the mans friends was on the scene and he said another friend had spoken with him briefly by phone. Eventually, Hagood said, negotiations broke down and the suspect refused to communicate further. Police had surrounded the home and were heard yelling to him. A short time later - at 10:24 p.m. - the man surrendered and was taken into custody. He was taken to an undisclosed hospital for evaluation. The suspect posted this on Facebook about 6:30 p.m. If there is anyone in Birmingham that knows me. Please help me the police shot at me and my dog. This is not a game and its not funny. Ive never been convicted of a crime. Hagood said that during the standoff, the suspect released his dog - a Doberman Pincher - and it charged at police in an aggressive manner. An officer fired at the dog, but the dog was not hit. The investigation is ongoing pending possible charges. The side hustle. Thats the slang most used for work created by the so-called gig economy, where driven millennials have the freedom of going from temporary gig to temporary gig without being tied down to their parents 9-5 grind. Its supposed to be the next big shift in the world economy, though recently studies that have shown gig economy jobs exploding have been revised to say the growth has just been modest. A recent book release by an Alabama-raised author and sociology professor, Alexandrea Ravenelle, may shed some light on why. Ravenelle, who grew up in Huntsville and was Alabama High School Journalist of the Year in 1998, was a former teen page writer, then an intern in The Huntsville Times newsroom before going on to academic and professional success in New York City. Shes now an assistant professor of sociology at Mercy College in New York. Alexandrea J. Ravenelle grew up in Huntsville before becoming a sociology professor and author in New York City. Her book, Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy, published in mid-March by the University of California Press, was partly borne of her own struggles up the employment ladder. After college at the University of Missouri, she moved to New York and worked for nonprofits, started her own consulting business, did public relations and taught as an adjunct professor at more than 20 different colleges. While juggling all these jobs, she began to get overwhelmed with all the paperwork and, to keep up, started hiring personal assistants from gig economy platforms like Craigslist and Task Rabbit. I thought, Oh, Im an entrepreneur and I can hire other entrepreneurs, Ravenelle said. Then an interaction with one of those side hustling millennials sent out by one of these platforms changed her perception of the gig economy. She expressed enthusiasm at the new ability to make it on your own, and the guy burst her bubble. Not only was it difficult to make it going from temp job to temp job with no health insurance and no employee protections, it could be downright dangerous, said Ravenelle, who ended up studying the gig economy for her doctoral dissertation. He told me about being hired for an errand to go to a drug store and pick up someones prescription, Ravenelle said. It turns out, she needs it mailed to China, and Oh, by the way, its a huge bottle of amphetamines. Weve all heard the stories about the sketchy Uber driver, but flip the coin. Theres no information about the clients. Its very easy to set up a fake account, use a burner phone, she said. Theres an entire chapter in Hustle and Gig about sexual harassment. One worker, a chef, was invited to cook at a party, but it turns out to be a huge swingers sex party, Ravenelle said. Workers have no idea what to expect and they have no protections, Ravenelle said. If they get injured on the job or they face a dangerous or really bad situation, they could end up worse off, than before they got the gig. Thats not to say there arent success stories, and her book chronicles some. There are people making serious money renting out apartments through AirBnB, for example. She classifies other gig economy workers as strugglers, who cant make ends meet, and strivers, who have stable jobs and use the side hustle for extra cash. But for many, the gig economy, rather than putting the worker in charge of their own destiny, harkens back to the industrial age when workers put in long hours for little pay and little protection. While the gig economy is filling a need, it being your own boss, setting your own hours and controlling your own income may not be all its cracked up to be, Ravenelle said. A lot of people who are turning to the gig economy are turn to it essentially out of desperation, she said. To end on a happy note, Ravenelle, who already has a toddler, was expecting a new baby just a few weeks after her first book dropped online and in bookstores. Its a big month for new releases, she said. Haskins writes about points of pride statewide. Email your suggestions to shaskins@al.com, or tweet them to @Shelly_Haskins using #AlabamaProud The flow of traffic on and off the Bob Mueller bandwagon has been swift this week. For two years, many on the left and in the mainstream media defended Mueller and the Special Counsels investigation into Russian meddling in the American electoral process. They extolled his credentials and his history of integrity. They said we could trust him to conduct a fair and thorough investigation of these highly sensitive and politically explosive allegations, and that we must allow him to do his job. I was one of those on the right who generally agreed with that assessment. Thanks to a number of sketchy decisions by the Trump campaign and some affiliated with it, along with strong evidence of Russian desire to influence American elections, we needed to look under the hood of the situation. We needed to know so that we could either deal with the reality of collusion, or put suspicions to bed. But when the investigation was completed and no one was indicted for treason, Muellers credibility wasnt enough for the left. Some didnt merely want him to find the truth. They had decided on their own what the truth was, and just needed him to find the receipts so they could proceed with their desired political endimpeachment. So off of the bandwagon they jumped. Meanwhile, we have a cadre of voices on the rightmost notably the President who have repeatedly accused Mueller of being a part of the Deep State, and nothing more than a political hatchet man. But suddenly, when his investigation yielded the result they wanted, it was a completely sound and thorough process. Because the total exoneration from suspicion hinges upon the quality and integrity of the investigation, right? So for their purposes, Mueller is no longer running a rigged witch hunt.. Hes no longer the star of the demeaning memes and critical commentary that slam his character in the worst ways. Hes a credible finder of fact. All aboard the bandwagon! I would love to hear pundits on the right say, You know, in fear and anger, we impugned the character of a good man and public servant who took on a massive task in the most difficult of times. We were wrong. We owe Bob Mueller an apology. I would love to hear voices on the left say, Well, this wasnt the outcome I expected, based on a cobbled together pile of leaks and the wisdom of partisan cable news analysts. But, as Ive been saying for two years, Mueller is a credible professional and trustworthy investigator. Therefore, we should accept his findings and move on. But no. Because if theres one thing we dont believe in anymore, its admitting we were wrong. We believe in our tribes. If you are disappointed that our Commander in Chief is not a Russian asset, and that our nation doesnt have to go through the horribly divisive and disruptive process of impeachment, you care more about party politics than this country. Likewise, if you can do a victory dance based upon the work product of a man and a process you ripped to shreds for two years without acknowledging how wrong you were about him, you lack credibility. Who knows what, if anything, the details of the Special Counsels report will yield if made public? But the most crucial questionthat of a crime of treason that meets the legal standard for a chargeable offenseseems to have been answered, and in a way that should give every American a sense of relief. But it is not relief and unity we seek. It is annihilation of our ideological foes. As long as this is the case, the fabric of our nation will continue to be weakened, leaving us vulnerable to our actual enemies. And they are out there. France, Germany To Merge Economic And Defense Policies; Create Cross-Border "Eurodistricts" "the global liberal order is under threat" Sat, 01/12/2019 - 07:35 73 SHARES Germany and France are set to forge a pact aligning their defense, diplomatic and economic policies in an unprecedented "twinning" pact "regarded as a prototype for the future of the European Union," according to The Times' Oliver Moody. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will sign the "Aachen treaty" later this month which will govern a coordinated diplomatic front as well as joint actions on peacekeeping missions. What's more - areas on both sides of the Franco-German border will be encouraged to establish "Eurodistricts" in which both countries would merge water, electricity and public transport networks. Berlin and Paris will offer cash to incentivise these cross-border areas, which could involve shared hospitals, joint business schemes or environmental projects. Some officials regard these experiments as a petri dish for the integration of the EU. -The Times No word on whether France will accept half of Germany's refugees. Additionally, both countries will lobby for Berlin to receive a permanent seat on the United Nations security council, where France already sits with the United States, China, Russia and Britain. Berlin was elected to the council as a non-permanent member last June. France and Germany will also coordinate policy positions ahead of pivotal EU summits in order to make the bloc a "more decisive power on the world stage." In short - the treaty will solidify the two countries' commitments to "the values of multilateralism at a time when the global liberal order is under threat," writes Moody. The two countries will hold "regular consultations on all levels before major European meetings, and take care to establish common positions and issue joint statements," according to the agreement, and will "stand up for a strong and effective common foreign and defence policy, and strengthen and deepen the economic and currency union." Both President Macron and Mrs Merkel have expressed frustration at the rise of populism and nationalism, and at Europes dithering in the face of problems such as climate change and mass migration. On New Years Eve Mrs Merkel declared that Germany would stand up and fight for multilateralism and was ready to assume more responsibility in the world. A year ago diplomats from the countries began negotiating an agreement in the spirit of the 1963 Elysee treaty that formally set aside centuries of mutual hostility and set up the Franco-German alliance that has dominated the European project since. The brief document will be signed on January 22 in Aachen, the ancient German spa city near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. It is meant to be ratified by the two national parliaments that same day. -The Times The new pact will advance Macron's desire to use Franco-German solidarity to become more assertive as a global power, and will lay the groundwork for Franco-German defense acting as a "political steering group" on the security council. The two countries will also exchange diplomats and civil servants on a frequent basis, while ministers from one country will regularly sit in on the other's cabinet meetings, according to The Times. Militarily, the treaty aims to form a "common culture and common deployments" in overseas engagements. A possible template for this arrangement is the 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali, a former French colony that was partly overrun by rebellious Tuareg tribes and Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda in early 2012. While France bore the brunt of the fighting, the German armed forces have since supplied one of the largest non-African contingents, and some 370 German troops remain there today. -The Times Kathmandu, Nepal, March 31, 2019: At least six persons died and three others sustained injuries in a Scorpio jeep accident in Manebhanjyang Rural Municipality-6 of Okhaldhunga district on Sunday. Though the identity of deceased and injured are yet to be established, it is said that six people died in the spot. Seriously injured three others were rushed to the nearby hospital. The world should know the name of the Christchurch terrorist and the names of those who inspired anti-Muslim terror. You will never hear me mention his name, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the New Zealand parliament soon after a mass murderer went on a rampage slaughtering 50 Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch. He is a terrorist, he is a criminal, he is an extremist, she went on, but he will, when I speak, be nameless, and to others I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety but we in New Zealand will give him nothing not even his name. This may perhaps appear smart, an apt punitive twist, to deny the racist mass murderer the notoriety he craved. But if like me you have a Muslim name, you may pause and wonder. For decades now our names have been made icons of terror and suspicion at United States and European airports and borders. The addition of a few names like Brenton or Anders or Bill or Donald or Benjamin or Daniel on the terrorist list would be more than just poetic justice here. Naming names Not naming Adolf Hitler will not bring back six million Jews slaughtered in Europe. Not naming Leopold II of Belgium will not undo the genocide he committed in Congo, in which between five and 10 million people died. When Jews, Africans, Native Americans, Asians, Latinx, and now Muslims are slaughtered, we need to know and spell out the names of their mass murderers. It is good for the posterity. It might teach humility to white colonialists in North America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and of course, Israel. The plague of racist white supremacy has already wreaked havoc around the globe. 190319104526942 In a piece for the Financial Times titled The power in depriving someone of their name, Sam Leith, a literary editor and author, argues that: Ms. Arderns determination not to give the killer his name now followed, apparently, by other outlets including the BBC is a smartly intelligible response to the question of how one should respond, rhetorically, to a terror attack. That is indeed a lovely little literary thesis. But I wonder; where were these literary speculations when names like Mohammad, Ahmad, Osama, Ayman and Abu Bakr were turned into synonyms of terror and barbarity in every European language? Now that a head of state of a Western country, as their colonial geography would have it, finally called a spade a spade and this mass murderer a terrorist, not naming his name denies the racialised origins of his crime. He is an Australian terrorist, a white terrorist, a Christian terrorist. Not naming him is like saying This is not New Zealand when referring to the mass slaughter of scores of Muslims. This might be all fine and dandy for the white ruling elite in denial in New Zealand, but certainly not for those who are on the receiving end of their institutionalised racism. A few dumb and many smart Islamophobes Naming and shaming is what we must do not just to mass murderers like Brenton Tarrant, Anders Breivik, Robert Gregory Bowers, Dylann Roof or Timothy McVeigh, who actually pulled triggers, but also to those who have consistently sown the seeds of white supremacy and produced the very vocabulary of hate that enabled and agitated the infested minds of these Islamophobes, anti-Semites and anti-black racists. In an excellent piece for Foreign policy, Sasha Polakow-Suransky and Sarah Wildman demonstrate how the inspiration for the mass murder in New Zealand came from France, particularly from the work of a certain far-right ideologue named Renaud Camus. The world needs to know that this Camus and his ilk spread hatred of Muslims in France, and an Australian racist picks it up and goes to New Zealand to kill Muslims. We are not in a position to take this Camus character to any court of law. But we are in a position to scandalise him. I am sure every European country has a Camus of its own, churning racist writings to the delight of millions of Europeans. In the US we also have our share of racist Islamophobes. The world must also know their ignoble names and their terrorising ideologies. Brenton Tarrant is a dumb Islamophobe. Bill Maher, a chief Islamophobe, on the other hand, is so smart in his Islamophobia that he has actually made a lucrative career out of it. He has a well-paid job at HBO spreading his racist, Islamophobic drivel. Every bleeding-heart liberal is now rushing to condemn the massacre of Muslims in Christchurch New Zealand. But come next Friday evening, they will all sit in front of their flat screen TVs and laugh out loud at Bill Mahers jokes demonising Muslims as collectively violent terrorists. Islamophobe par excellence You may think President Donald Trump or his evangelical crusaders like Steve Bannon or Mike Pompeo or that homophobic brute, Mike Pence are the notorious Islamophobes we must mark and investigate. But they are not. They are universally detested by liberal Americans. But talk show host Bill Maher is not. He is actually loved by liberal Americans. They crawl over each other to be at his recording studio to laugh and clap and cheer at his jokes. Bill Maher is far more dangerous than Trump, Pence or Bannon he is a liberal institution who has been around long before Trump and Trumpism and will outlast him and his calamities. His visceral hatred of Islam and Muslims is something to behold. Who said this, Bill Maher or Brenton Tarrant? [Islam is] the only religion that acts like the mafia that will f****** kill you if you say the wrong thing. 190322062222288 Or this: It speaks volumes about why liberal western culture is not just different. Its better. President Obama keeps insisting that ISIS [ISIL] is not Islamic. Well, maybe they dont practice the Muslim faith in the same way he does. What is the difference between the mass murderer who went on a rampage in Christchurch, New Zealand and the man who said this: But if vast numbers of Muslims across the world believe and they do that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea or drawing a cartoon or writing a book or eloping with the wrong person, not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS. It has too much in common with ISIS. Ignorance is a deadly weapon Such pure, undiluted, visceral ignorance and nauseating racism is globally broadcast by HBO, for mass murderers to watch, listen, and learn before proceeding to write their manifestos and then murder Muslims. Bill Maher has weaponised their hatred with words and thoughts and ideas and jokes. Bill Maher claims: The kooks and the terrorists in the Christian and the Jewish world are truly just a little fringe. And in the Muslim world they draw from a vast pool of support, which is not in any other religion. So dont try and feed me that line. Muslims, all 1.5 billion of them men, women, and children living on planet earth have no other business but to get up in the morning and start hating the West this is Bill Mahers mantra, day in day out, broadcast by the powerful network HBO. How different are Bill Mahers racist screeds from what a mass murderer wrote in his manifesto: An attack in New Zealand would bring to attention the truth of the assault on our civilization, that no where [sic] in the world was safe, the invaders were in all of our lands, even in the remotest areas of the world and that there was no where [sic] left to go that was safe and free from mass immigration. The sweetheart of US and European liberals who even passes as a leftist believes: I dont have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in three hundred years? Someone explain to HBO executives the difference between that hate speech and this by the mass murderer in New Zealand: Its the birthrates. Its the birthrates. Its the birthrates. If there is one thing I want you to remember from these writings, its [sic] that the birthrates must change. Even if we were to deport all Non-Europeans from our lands tomorrow, the European people would still be spiraling into decay and eventual death. Somewhere in his manifesto the Australian mass murderer asks: Why attack Muslims [sic] if all high fertility immigrants are the issue? To which he responds: Historical, societal and statistical reasons. They are the most despised group of invaders in the West, attacking them receives the greatest level of support. We must and we will name names: I hold Bill Maher chief among many other racist hoodlums responsible for the slaughter of every single one of those 50 innocent souls in Christchurch. I hold Bill Maher and HBO responsible for this and all other mass murders in which Muslims were the target. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. And can it be a model for other countries in the region to follow, namely Russia? Less than two weeks after the resignation of Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been in power for more than 30 years, his successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has already announced that he will go on his first official visit abroad on April 3. The destination, of course, will be Moscow. The new leadership of Kazakhstan is eager to demonstrate that Russia will remain its main ally and there will be no foreign policy sway either westward towards the European Union and the United States or eastward towards China. This is hardly a surprise since the transition Nazarbayev engineered aims only to change the facade of power while preserving its core. Over the past decade, a number of succession plans had been drawn in Kazakhstan to prepare the country for that inevitable moment. The one that was unrolled earlier this month was put together immediately after the sudden death of neighbouring Uzbekistans leader Islam Karimov in September 2016. In the days following his passing, power was transferred quickly to Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev with the help of the National Security Agency, the Uzbek intelligence apparatus. The question that remained unanswered at that time was whether Karimov had really planned for his transition to go that way and whether he had indeed envisioned Mirziyoyev as his successor. Tashkent never presented any evidence that the late president indeed had wanted his prime minister to take over. Having watched closely the unfolding of these events, Nazarbayev made some important conclusions for himself and decided that he should engineer the transfer of power early on, so he can personally appoint his successor and control his political activities. More than anything, he wanted to make sure that if the person who takes over the presidency does not meet his expectations he would have enough time to remove him and put another loyalist in his place. The decision to kick off the transition now rather than wait longer was probably made due to Nazarbayevs deteriorating health. It came just days after he returned from a visit to the UAE, where he has been going regularly to receive medical care. So on March 19, in a televised address, Nazarbayev announced his resignation and passed the presidency to Senate Speaker Tokayev as per the provisions of Kazakhstans constitution. A day later, his 55-year-old daughter Dariga Nazarbayev, who had headed the defence committee of the upper house of Parliament, took Tokayevs vacated post. Her appointment to the second highest position in the government was a form of double insurance for Nazarbayev that the interests of his family will be protected and his vision for the future development of the country continued. But the main guarantee for the preservation of power within the family was him retaining his status of national leader or Elbasy, his membership in the Constitutional Council, his chairmanship of the ruling party Nur Otan (Radiant Fatherland), and his position of head of the Security Council (a constitutional advisory body to the government) for life, with which he will continue to enjoy certain powers that are above those of the president. Just days after seeing the important role that the National Security Agency played in the September 2016 power transition in Uzbekistan, Nazarbayev appointed one of his closest men and former prime minister Karim Massimov in charge of Kazakhstans analogous body the National Security Committee. And just a day before he resigned on March 19 this year, with his last decree as acting president, he promoted Massimov to major general. Although Nazarbayev seems to have ensured what looks like a smooth transition, there are still a few major issues with it. First, by retaining the position of head of the Security Council, Nazarbayev effectively has created two centres of power, which is likely to create much tension within Kazakhstans bureaucratic political elite. Although Tokayev is very much a loyalist, he has already shown signs of trying to walk his own path. For example, he appointed Bakytzhan Sagintayev as head of his presidential administration, even though Nazarbayev fired him just a month ago from the post of prime minister over the perceived low performance of his government. If bureaucrats have to coordinate their work with two different decision-making bodies and start receiving contradictory directions, that could cause much chaos and dysfunction within the state apparatus. Second, Tokayev, despite being appointed the president, cannot run in the upcoming presidential elections in 2020 because of a constitutional provision which stipulates that any presidential candidate should have resided 15 consecutive years in the country prior to the vote. The current Kazakh president cannot fulfil this requirement because between 2011 and 2013 he lived in Geneva where he occupied the position of director-general of the United Nations Office there. And as an appointed rather than elected president he cannot undertake constitutional amendments on his own either. In this case, parliament can initiate the process, upon Elbasys request and through a nationwide referendum. There is already a precedent, which demonstrates that it is possible if there is a political will at the top. This process had to be triggered last week, when Tokayev, having assumed the position of president, announced the renaming of the capital Astana to Nur-Sultan. The decision triggered an immediate negative reaction among the general population and on social media because it went against the constitution, which stipulates that Kazakhstans capital is Astana and because the appointed president did not have the right to change it. As a result, an urgent legislative manoeuvre had to be undertaken to avoid a major embarrassment. Within hours, parliament passed legislation approving the renaming, which was immediately signed by the president. Then a gathering was organised of Astana residents who purportedly overwhelmingly approved the new name. And to take care of any remaining public doubts, the Constitutional Council, which as mentioned above Nazarbayev is a member of, declared that the decision did not contravene the constitution. In the coming few months, it will become clearer what role Tokayev is really intended to play in Nazarbayevs transition. If no amendments are made to the constitution, then this would render Tokayev just a temporary occupant of the position just like former President Roza Otunbayeva of neighbouring Kyrgyzstan was back in 2010-2011. But unlike her Kazakh counterpart, Otunbayeva decided herself not to run in the presidential elections in order to relieve tensions in the aftermath of the bloody unrest in April 2010 that led to the downfall of president Kurmanbek Bakiev and the tragic bloodshed between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh region in June of that year. If Tokayev remains barred from running, it is quite possible that Dariga Nazarbayev would put forward her candidacy and in the absence of any viable competition, she would surely win the vote. There is also a possibility that she assumes the post even before the elections. Tokayev could be easily forced to resign, if some of his decisions do not please Elbasy, or if he faces a kompromat (compromising material) campaign, the beginnings of which can already be discerned in Kazakhstans social media and those media outlets that are not controlled by the government. Whether such an outcome is part of Nazarbayevs plan is difficult to tell at this time. Obviously, had he really wanted to, he would have appointed his daughter directly as his successor. But he is an experienced politician and wise observer of politics in the region. He is well aware that a dynastical transfer of power would not be welcomed by the majority of the Kazakh population and in fact, such a move is likely to trigger popular unrest. The international community, where Nazarbayev currently enjoys an image of an enlightened autocrat who modernised his country and made it one of the 50 biggest economies of the world, is also likely to frown upon such a move. Although Nazarbayevs transition move is indeed unprecedented in Central Asia, it is unlikely to become a model for his neighbours to follow. In Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, the dynastic transition is already well on the way. Both Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (in power for over 25 years) and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (in power for 12 years) have already made it clear that they are preparing their sons as successors. Emomalis eldest son, 31-year-old Rustam, currently occupies the position of mayor of the capital, Dushanbe, and regularly appears next to his father at various important events so that the population gets used to their future leader. Serdar, Berdimuhamedows 38-year-old son, is currently the deputy foreign minister of Turkmenistan and has been widely considered as his fathers designated successor. Neither Emomali nor Berdimuhamedow have the same issues as Nazarbayev with securing the approval for their succession plan from the general population or from various political clans and financial elites the latter being non-existent in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Their repressive regimes can ensure that there will be no popular unrest when the time comes for power to be handed over. In Russia, Vladimir Putin could adopt the same approach of appointing a successor and retiring to a powerful position, say, as the head of the State Council, where he can enjoy enhanced powers, but the Russian president is known not to be fond of copycat moves. He perceives himself as an exceptional demiurge and unconventional decision-maker. He will think of a plan to leave while remaining that will be different from Nazarbayevs; it will have to be a uniquely Russian model both sophisticated and cynical just like his 2011 castling move with Dmitry Medvedev. And it will certainly not involve a family affair; Putin simply does not have enough time to present a suitable family by 2024. The views expressed in this article is the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Two men arrested for negligence and violations of a building code after 26 killed in FR Tower blaze in the capital. Two of the owners of a high-rise commercial building in Dhaka that caught fire this week, killing 26 people and injuring about 70 others, have been arrested, police said. Assistant police commissioner Abdul Baten told reporters on Sunday that S M H I Faruque and Tasvirul Islam, who is a district leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka, were arrested for negligence and violations of a national building code, which resulted in casualties. There are other partners who jointly own the building and police were looking for the chief of the construction company that built the FR Tower in the 1990s. The citys housing authority said the five upper floors in the building were illegally added without official permission. The blaze that burned for several hours on Thursday trapped people inside the building, some shouting for help from windows on upper floors and the roof. Helicopters joined 22 firefighting units in battling the blaze, along with police and armed forces, as some of those trapped in the building waved desperately for help from its windows and roof. Six people leapt to their deaths. Authorities have ordered an investigation into safety measures at the tower. Fire officials said the building, on a busy avenue in Dhakas Banani commercial district, lacked fire exits and sprinklers, while access to its emergency staircase was padlocked. This is murder Foyzur Rahman, head of an investigation team formed by the Ministry of Disaster Management, said testimony was being heard from survivors in an attempt to find the cause of the blaze. Their accounts will help us to come up with realistic recommendations to prevent such things in future, he told reporters on Sunday. Shahjahan Shaju, additional deputy commissioner of the detective branch, told The Associated Press news agency that Islam was the owner of the top three floors which were built without permission and Faruque was the landowner of the complex. Their arrests came as a senior minister called the fire an act of murder amid growing public clamour for better building safety standards. Firefighters backed by military specialists, some in helicopters, tackled the flames [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Anadolu] Definitely this is murder. It is not an accident Nobody will escape the law, housing and public works minister Rezaul Karim told reporters on Friday. The latest blaze came a month after an inferno killed 71 people in an old neighbourhood of the city. Lax regulations and poor enforcement have often been blamed for large fires in the South Asian nation that have killed hundreds of people in recent years, almost 100 in the past month alone. In 2012, a fire at a garment factory killed at least 112 people trapped behind its locked gates. Less than six months later, another building containing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people. Combat Obscura gives viewers a more realistic look at life in the longest war in US history that has no end in sight. It is the longest war in United States history and there is still no end in sight for the combat in Afghanistan. While talks between the US and the Taliban are making progress, a controversial new film is getting all the attention. Filmed by US Marines in Afghanistan, Combat Obscura gives viewers a more realistic look at life on the front line. Al Jazeeras Kristen Saloomey reports from New York. Caretaker government headed by newly appointed PM Noureddine Bedoui will be tasked with overseeing transition process. Algerias presidency has announced the formation of a new caretaker government, with the countrys army chief keeping his post as deputy defence minister despite his calls for the removal of embattled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. State TV reported on Sunday that Sabri Boukadoum had been appointed foreign minister, replacing Ramtane Lamamra who had taken up the post earlier this month. Other notable changes included Central Bank Governor Mohamed Loukal and Mohamed Arkab being named finance and energy ministers. The cabinet is led by Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who assumed his duties on March 11 amid widespread protests calling for the departure of Bouteflika and the ruling elite. The weeks-long demonstrations erupted late on February after the 82-year-old president announced a plan to seek a fifth term in elections scheduled for April. Amid mounting public anger, Bouteflika later gave in to protesters demands and abandoned his re-election bid but also delayed the vote indefinitely and announced he would only step down once a new constitution had been passed and a successor had been elected. Opposition leaders and protesters denounced the move as an attempt by the ailing leader to extend his fourth term in office, set to expire on April 28. The victim of a debilitating stroke in 2013, Bouteflika has in recent weeks seen some of his closest allies, including ruling party executive and trade union leaders, abandon him. Earlier this week, army chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah called for the application of a provision in the Algerian constitution that could remove the president on account of his failing health. In a televised address on Tuesday, Salah, the army chief, said he considered the peoples demands to be valid and that the presidency should be vacated. 190312082928684 We must adopt a solution that helps us out of this crisis a solution that respects and adheres to the constitution so that its a suitable one for all sides, Salah, who is also the deputy defence minister, said in a televised address on Tuesday. Addressing an Arab League summit in Tunis on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed efforts towards a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria. Ali Haddad arrested at the Tunisian border as pressure mounts on long-time leader to resign. Leading Algerian businessman Ali Haddad, who was part of President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas inner circle, has been arrested at the Tunisian border, a close associate said on Sunday, as pressure mounted on the long-standing leader to resign. During weeks of protests demanding an end to his 20-year rule, Bouteflika has been abandoned by several close allies but there have been no reports of any prominent supporters being arrested before Haddad. Demonstrators in the North African country, an oil and gas producer, want a new generation of leaders to replace a ruling elite which comprises veterans of the independence war against France, ruling party officials, oligarchs, army officers and union leaders. Yes, Haddad has been arrested, his associate told Reuters on condition of anonymity, without elaborating. Several Algerian television stations broadcast news on the detention of Haddad, a media magnate who helped to fund Bouteflikas election campaigns over the years. On Saturday, army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah, renewed a call for the Constitutional Council to rule whether the ailing 82-year-old president is fit to rule, a move provided for under article 102 of the charter. Bouteflikas announcement that he would not seek a fifth term but that he would not quit immediately has failed to assuage protesters, who want an overhaul of the North African countrys entire political system. The protests have been largely peaceful but have put pressure on the army to act. Tunis meeting comes amid ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, leadership rivalry in Libya and a continuing boycott of Qatar. Tunis, Tunisia Arab leaders meeting in Tunis have issued a renewed call for the establishment of a Palestinian state and condemned a move by the United States to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. Held in Tunisias capital, the 30th Arab League summit kicked off on Sunday against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts, serious divisions and unrest from the long-running wars in Syria and Yemen to Libyas instability, and from mass anti-government protests in Algeria and Sudan to a major diplomatic dispute in the Gulf. In a speech opening the summit, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia reiterated his kingdoms support for a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi echoed the kings speech, reiterating the significance of the Palestinian cause to the Arab world as he issued a call for unity. 190330202209653 It is unreasonable for the Arab region to continue to be at the forefront of tensions and crises, Essebsi, the host of the summit, said. Arab leaders including Salman, Essebsi and Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also condemned US President Donald Trumps recent recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel seized in the 1967 war. We reiterate our categorical rejection of measures that would undermine Syrian sovereignty over the Golan, King Salman said. However, expectations for any concrete action were low, partly due to the close ties regional powerhouses such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have cultivated with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. There is very little intention to come up with very clear outcomes other than the usual discourse of establishing Palestine right and the general Arab stance on regional issues, Majed al-Ansari, professor of political sociology at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera. I dont believe Ive heard anything that would constitute a new trend in what would come out of the summit, Ansari said. No Bouteflika, Bashir Meanwhile, Algerias President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, did not attend the meeting in Tunis. In recent weeks, they have both faced growing calls to step down as thousands have taken to the streets calling for political change. The readmission of Syria back into the League, from which it was suspended in 2011 following President Bashar al-Assads brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, was expected to be on the summits agenda. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back any time soon. The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. Commenting on the calls for unity amid the ongoing divisions and unrest, Ansari noted that the Arab League has a history of hollow statements not followed by actions. We also know that the declarations and talk about Arab unity that come out of the summit do not materialise in any shape or form, he said. Brazilian government official said earlier this month something will have to be said about embassy move during trip. Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro began his visit to Israel on Sunday with a decision pending on fulfilling a promise to move his countrys embassy to Jerusalem, a policy change opposed by military officers in his cabinet. The four-day visit by the far-right leader comes a week before Israels closely contested election in which the right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is battling a popular centrist candidate and corruption allegations, which he denies. I love Israel, Bolsonaro said in Hebrew at a welcoming ceremony, with Netanyahu at his side at Tel Avivs Ben-Gurion airport. 181101111544136 Netanyahu said he and Bolsonaro would sign many agreements, including security deals, and that the Brazilian leader would visit Judaisms holy Western Wall at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. Yuval Steinitz, Israels energy minister, said on Sunday that Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras will take part in a process of oil and gas exploration in Israel. Earlier this month, a Brazilian government official told Reuters news agency no decision had been made on the embassy move, but something will have to be said about the embassy during the trip. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that a formal announcement might not come during the visit. Visiting Brazil for the January 1 presidential inauguration, Netanyahu said Bolsonaro had told him that moving the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv was a matter of when, not if. Like Netanyahu, Bolsonaro is an outspoken admirer of United States President Donald Trump, who moved the US embassy to Jerusalem last May, five months after breaking with international consensus and recognising the city as Israels capital. 181211082805156 Bolsonaro also enjoys strong evangelical support at home. Netanyahu has courted US evangelical leaders during his current decade in power. But in an interview in February, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao, a retired army general, told Reuters that moving the embassy was a bad idea because it would hurt Brazils exports to Arab countries, including an estimated $5bn in sales of halal food. Bolsonaros economic team and the countrys powerful farm lobby have advised against relocating the embassy to Jerusalem. Israel captured East Jerusalem along with the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war. The Palestinian Authority is seeking to establish a state in the two territories, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital. Appeals court judge in Brazil overturns another judges decision to bar commemorations, sought by President Bolsonaro, of a 1964 military coup that established a 21-year dictatorship. A decision by Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro to reinstate commemorations of a military coup that happened 55 years ago has led to a controversy. Bolsonaro says honouring history will unite the country. But survivors of the killing and torture campaign say what happened during the military rule should be condemned, not celebrated. Al Jazeeras Daniel Schweimler reports. Meeting in Tunisias capital comes against backdrop of divisions, wars and, in some countries, increasing repression. Tunis, Tunisia Eight years after chants of the people want the fall of the regime swept across North Africa and the Middle East, echoes of the same demand are making waves again in parts of the Arab region. In Sudan, Tasqut bas (Just fall) has been the rallying cry after protests against the spiralling costs of living in December escalated into ongoing rallies calling for long-time President Omar al-Bashir to step down. And in Algeria, hundreds of thousands of people have been shouting No to Bouteflika since late February after the countrys ailing president announced his bid to seek a fifth term at elections scheduled for April. Bowing to the growing public pressure, Abdelaziz Bouteflika later dropped his plan to run again. But the 82-year-old also postponed the polls and has remained in office, angering protesters who have continued taking to the streets en masse calling not just for his departure but the banishment of the entire ruling elite. Yet calls for political change are unlikely to to be on the agenda of this years Arab League summit taking place on Sunday in Tunis much in the same way the regional body reacted to the so-called Arab Spring in 2011. Kuwaits emir and Tunisias president at Tunis-Carthage airport [Hussein Malla/Pool via Reuters] According to Abdelwahab el-Affendi, a professor of politics at the Doha Institute, the Arab Spring has carved out three main camps within the league: the dominant, pro-US governments of countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which saw the 2011 protests as a threat to stability; the pro-Iran bloc that includes Iraq, Syria and Lebanons Hezbollah movement; and those who have supported the changes brought about by the demonstrations, such as Tunisia and Qatar. Almost all the regimes are anti-Arab, not merely for being beholden to foreign interests, but for being so viscerally hostile to their own peoples and thus to the real Arabs, el-Affendi said. 190219123323990 As a result, it is improbable that the Tunis summit will discuss the ongoing protest movements in Sudan and Algeria, especially in the absence of the two countries presidents, added el-Affendi, except to express solidarity with the regimes. Abdullah al-Arian, a professor of history at Georgetown University, agreed, noting that the Tunis summit came against a backdrop of serious divisions, ongoing wars including the four-year Saudi-UAE-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen and, in some countries, increasing repression. The combination of resurgent authoritarianism and destructive civil conflicts has ensured that the basic needs of populations across the region are being denied, largely due to the policies of the leaders meeting in Tunis, he said. As some of the wealthiest Arab states continue to wage a brutal war on the poorest Arab country, Yemen, the [Arab League] has little credibility and has historically demonstrated that it is unlikely to take any serious action to address the regions most immediate crises. Foreign ministers attend a preparatory meeting ahead of the Tunis summit [Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters] Pageantry of attendees First established in 1945 as a bulwark to Arab nationalism, the body has over the decades been criticised of becoming an ineffective collective dedicated to maintain the interests of the ruling elites over the legitimate concerns of the millions of people living within its boundaries. 181001072826305 The popular uprisings of 2011, once a major source of hope for millions of disaffected Arab populations seeking change after decades of autocratic rule, have largely given way to counter-revolutions and in the case of Syria and Libya, to devastating wars. Tunisia, the host of the 30th Arab League summit, remains the only success story from those days, as the removal of its long-serving ruler has resulted in a functional democracy. Yet analysts said the Tunisia model was not something that leaders at the summit would be keen to emphasise. For Sean Yom, assistant professor of political science at Temple University, the bodys summits represent nothing more than a pageantry of attendees. The Arab League exists because it has to exist that is, its harder to dismantle a regional organisation than to create one, he told Al Jazeera. It is a byproduct of an era where there was a collective threat (Israel), and when certain issues, such as pan-Arab unity and Palestinian justice, actually had mobilising power among Arab masses. None of this is true anymore, he added. So if we define the Arab League by its imperative of fostering regional cohesion and resolving inter-Arab disputes, it has clearly failed. Golan Heights Earlier in March, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khamies Jhinaoui said the readmission of Syria, which was suspended from the body in 2011 in response to President Bashar al-Assads brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, would be on the summits agenda. 190326110207566 However, a move last week by US President Donald Trump to officially recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied from Syria in 1967, has overshadowed Damascuss potential reinstatement. Arab and international condemnation was swift following Trumps announcement, but analysts expect nothing more than verbal denunciations in Tunis in line with the Arab Leagues past practices. The need to maintain a strong working relationship with the Trump administration is likely to take priority over any action, al-Arian said. Yom said that any official statement in Tunis condemning Trumps decision would have no credibility. First, appeals to international law will be laughable, given the ongoing interventions in Yemen and likely war crimes there, as well as the impotence of the Arab countries to halt the atrocities of Syria, he said. Second, other elements of Israels aggressive posture under US support, such as the Jerusalem issue and its increasingly racist jingoism, are part-and-parcel of the Saudi-led fronts vision for a new regional order centred upon Riyadh. Marginal level While the US has controversially recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital and moved its embassy there, Saudi Arabia, a main Washington ally, has thrown its weight behind Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushners Middle East peace process, known as the so-called deal of the century. 180621185930610 The plan has not been made public, but there is much to suggest that an unofficial and official warming of relations between Arab Gulf states and Israel is now part of a new regional order. In this context, Yom said, any initiative taken by the league to confront Israel would require pan-Arab cooperation, which is unlikely to happen in the current climate of geopolitical fragmentation. Instead, the Arab Leagues agenda is expected to stick to its usual talking points, such as giving lip service to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen without addressing the main aggressor, Saudi Arabia, and the influence of non-Arab countries in the region such as Iran and Turkey. The summit will also discuss the conflict in neighbouring Libya, after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended on Saturday a meeting of the Libyan Quartet the United Nations, African Union, Arab League and the European Union. No meaningful action, however, is expected. For Yom, the Arab League can be useful at a marginal level. It allows delegations to speak to one another through sidebar meetings, he said. The Kuwaitis, for instance, will likely try yet again to convince the Saudi and Qatari camps to [engage in] dialogue. The Palestinians also use these summits to fan out to engage their Arab allies, although the Israeli-Saudi-Egyptian axis pushing the deal of the century renders this a moot point. Officials say owners of the ferry that capsized in Mosul arrested along with the engineers who certified the vessel. Authorities in Iraq have arrested the owners of a ferry that capsized in Mosul killing nearly 100 people. In a statement on Sunday, the Supreme Judicial Council announced the arrest of the boats owners as well as three engineers who had certified that it complied with regulations. The boat was packed with families from the northern city crossing the swollen River Tigris to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, along with Iraqi Mothers Day. The ferry, which was loaded to five times its capacity, capsized on the swollen river after operators ignored warnings of dangerous weather. Most of the victims of the accident on March 21 were women and children. The strong current washed some bodies miles downstream, and more than 50 people are still missing. In a Twitter post on Saturday, Yahya Rasul, spokesman of Iraqs defence ministry, named the owners as Obeid Ibrahim Ali and his son, Ryan Obeid Ibrahim. The pair were caught in the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. The judicial council said the cases of the owners and the engineers have been transferred to a panel of three judges and a prosecutor. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said blamed mismanagement, greed, corruption and negligence for the tragedy as angry residents staged protests in Mosul, Iraqs second largest city and a former bastion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or ISIS). A day after the tragedy, protesters in Mosul chanted no to corruption and pelted the provincial governors car with stones. Nawfal Hamadi al-Sultan, the governor of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the main city, was later sacked by the Iraqi parliament after the prime minister accused him of negligence and dereliction of duty. A Mosul court also issued a warrant for Sultans arrest on corruption charges. He has now gone on the run. The so-called Libya Quartet hopes to end the years-long conflict in the African nation. A group that calls itself the Libya Quartet met on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Tunis. Though it failed to make any breakthrough, the group has pledged to continue working to reconcile Libyas warring factions. The quartet includes representatives of the United Nations, African Union, Arab League and the European Union. Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Tunis, capital of Tunisia. Unidentified men accost journalist Jones Abiri in Bayelsa state and force him into vehicle at gunpoint, say witnesses. Unidentified armed men have taken away a Nigerian journalist in the southern Bayelsa state, according to witnesses and watchdog groups, just months after his release from a two-year stint in state custody. Jones Abiri, editor and publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper, was accosted by armed men as he was meeting six colleagues at the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers Association on Saturday, witnesses said. Eric Eweke, secretary-general of the publishers association, told AFP news agency on Sunday that the men arrived in vehicles belonging to Nigerias intelligence agency, Department of State Security (DSS). Two DSS vehicles stormed the office of the publishers association in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, around lunchtime, Eweke said. They threatened that if [he] tries to run, they would shoot at him, he said. Abiris whereabouts were not known on Sunday. Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, told local media he did not have any information on the incident. Austin Bodo, another witness, told Nigeria News Agency that the men who accosted Abiri were carrying the type of guns used by DSS operatives. Sahara Reporters, a US-based independent news website that covers Nigerian affairs, quoted an unnamed witness as saying: The men jumped out of the vehicles in a gestapo fashion while he [Abiri] was chatting with his friends and shouted at him that he was under arrest. While he was demanding to know his offence, he was forcefully pushed into a waiting vehicle at gunpoint. Nigerian journalist Jones Abiri arrested again in Bayelsa state via @pressfreedom https://t.co/WOm6VdUX0t CPJ Africa (@CPJAfrica) March 30, 2019 Abiri was previously held by the DSS for two years without trial, over alleged links to rebels in the Niger Delta in the countrys southeast. He was also accused of threatening oil companies. He had no access to a lawyer or his family during this time, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Abiri was freed in August last year following a campaign by rights organisations. Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa programme coordinator, said the press freedom group was deeply worried about Abiris arrest. We call on federal and state authorities in Nigeria to disclose where Abiri is being detained and the reasons for his arrest, and urge that they ensure that his rights are not violated yet again and that due process is respected. Amnesty International also expressed concern over the arrest by armed men suspected to be DSS operatives. It added in a Twitter post: The humiliating manner of his arrest is unacceptable. Nigeria is ranked 119th out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. The global press freedom group says journalists in Nigeria are often threatened, subjected to physical violence, or denied access to information by government officials, police, and sometimes the public itself. Pyongyang says it is closely following rumours of FBI involvement after 10 armed men broke into North Korean embassy. North Korea has said it wants an investigation into a February raid on its embassy in Spain, calling it a grave terrorist attack and an act of extortion that violates international law. A group of armed men burst into Pyongyangs Spanish embassy in Madrid last month and roughed up employees before fleeing with documents and computers. The incident came just days before a high-stakes nuclear summit in Vietnams capital, Hanoi, between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that ultimately failed to reach an accord. A dissident group calling for the overthrow of the North Korean government has claimed responsibility for the break-in. In its first official comment on the raid, North Korea said it was closely following rumours that the FBI and an anti-North Korea group were responsible. 180216115214323 A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain, a spokesperson of the foreign ministry said on Sunday in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the Norths official name. An illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of theft are a grave breach of state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated over the globe, it added. The ministry called on Spanish authorities to bring the terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice. An investigation into the raid is already under way in Madrid. Dissident group On Wednesday, a Spanish court accused 10 people of forcing their way into the North Korean embassy and trying to persuade an official there to defect. The court named Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang as leader of the group who contacted the FBI in New York five days after the assault with information related to the incident in the embassy. According to investigating judge Jose de la Mata, two of the assailants took the embassys commercial attache to an underground room and urged him to defect, which he refused. Speculation over the identity and motive of the assailants has swirled in the media since the raid, with some suggesting links to the CIA and the FBI. However, North Korea stopped short of blaming Washington directly for the raid and asked Spanish authorities to conduct the investigation in a responsible manner. We will wait for the result in patience, the KCNA quoted the representative as saying. Hours after the court statement, the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) a dissident group believed to include high-profile North Korean defectors claimed responsibility for the raid. It said the raid had no links to the Hanoi summit, which ended abruptly with no agreement, and that no other governments were involved until after the event. The organisation shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI in the United States, under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality, the CCD said in a statement posted on its website last week. The group which offers to assist people attempting to defect from North Korea emerged in 2017 when it posted an online video of the son of the North Korean leaders assassinated brother, saying it had guaranteed his safety. No further action announced as leaders stress support for Syrias right over Golan, push for Palestinian statehood. Tunis, Tunisia The Arab League has rejected the United Statess recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and renewed a call for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying peace and security in the region depended on a solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a final statement after Sundays summit in Tunisias capital, Arab leaders stressed their full support for Syrias right over the Golan plateau, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and expressed their determination to continue efforts to resume peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The daylong meeting in Tunis took place against the backdrop of ongoing regional unrest and conflict from the long-running wars in Syria and Yemen to instability in Libya, and the widespread anti-government protests in Algeria and Sudan to a major diplomatic dispute in the Gulf. Khemaies Jhinaoui, Tunisias foreign minister, who delivered the 30th summits final statement, called the continuing conflicts in the Arab world unacceptable. Arab reconciliation is the starting point for stability in the region, he said. But his statement did not make mention of the majority of conflicts plaguing the region. Instead, it was Washingtons recent move over Golan Heights and the Palestine issue that took centre stage. Jhinaoui, reiterating the the centrality of the Palestinian cause, said Arab leaders were committed to resolving the conflict based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, which offered to recognise Israel in return for a full withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 war, including the Golan Heights, occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. 190330202209653 End to painful era Speaking earlier in the day, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia repeated his kingdoms support for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while King Abdullah of Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalems holy sites, promised he would continue to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. For his part, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypts president, called for a comprehensive peaceful solution in order to put an end to this painful era, which wasted our energy for seven decades. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), meanwhile, blamed the US for the continued Israeli occupation. Israels continuation of its racist policy, and the act of being a state above the law, would not have been possible without the support of the American administration, Abbas said at the summit. The PA has rejected the US as a mediator between Israel and Palestine since US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital in late 2017. But despite denouncing the USs moves favouring Israel, there was no announcement of further action by the Arab leaders. The summits focus on Palestine, analysts said, was a fig leaf for Arab leaders to deflect attention from turmoil in their countries. Mahjoob Zweiri, the director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, described the meeting as an attempt by Arab leaders to deny what is happening in the Arab world, such as the increase of corruption, lack of transparency, and the worsening economic situation. Theres a certain attempt to bring the issue of Palestine back in an attempt to please the Arab public, he said. The fact is the Arab League, for years and years, has done nothing to further the Palestinian question. In a move that ignores the Arab Peace Initiative, Arab states such as Oman and the United Arab Emirates over the past year have, overtly and covertly, tried to normalise relations with Israel. That is why, Zweiri said, the Arab Leagues policy statement was nothing more than rhetorical posturing. There wont be any translation into any policy, he said. It will just be declarations to try to show the Arab public they are doing something. Arab leaders at the 30th annual summit of the Arab League in Tunis [Fethi Belaid/ AFP] Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya, an Arab studies magazine, said the Palestine issue has been on the agenda of the Arab League from its very inception in the mid-1940s. However, in recent years it has been demoted to secondary or even tertiary status, he added. Given that so many of todays Arab governments are effectively beholden to foreign powers rather than their own citizens, there is now an attempt by the Trump administration to ostensibly rewrite international consensus on the resolutions of the question of Palestine and for that matter the Arab-Israeli conflict and using its enormous power to do so unilaterally, Rabbani told Al Jazeera. Over the past year, there have been consistent reports that the Trump administration has been doing so either with the cooperation with or with the acquiescence of key Arab states, he said, referring to the Middle East peace plan process. The plan, which was devised by Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, has the backing of major Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Its details have not been made public. Given the keenness of Arab states to maintain good relations with the US, Rabbani said the Tunis summit was merely a prominent platform where leaders could deny accusations of their collaboration with Washington at the expense of the Palestinian cause. The Arab League has conclusively and unambiguously demonstrated itself to be an obstacle to rather than an instrument of collective Arab action and promoter of Arab rights, Rabbani said. Funerals takes place for 3 teens and 20-year-old killed as tens of thousands marked Great March of Return anniversary. Thousands of people in the besieged Gaza Strip have attended the funerals of the four young Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during mass protests along the perimeter fence with Israel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians on Saturday gathered at the fence to mark the first anniversary of the Great March of Return rallies, facing off against Israeli tanks and soldiers who used live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas on the protesters. Tamer Abu el-Khair, 17, was shot in the chest east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and later died at a hospital, according to the health ministry in the coastal enclave, which has been under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade for the past 12 years. Two other 17-year-olds Adham Amara and Belal al-Najjar were also killed. A fourth Palestinian, 20-year-old Mohamed Jihad Saad, was killed in an overnight protest before the main demonstration. Since March 30 last year, Palestinians in the Hamas-run Strip have been demanding the right to return to lands from which their families were violently expelled during the founding of Israel in 1948. Protesters in the weekly rallies are also calling for an end to the blockade. At least 207 people were wounded on Saturday, the health ministry said. The Gaza health ministry said el-Khair was shot in the chest east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and had later died at a hospital [Khalil Hamra/The Associated Press] On Sunday, local media in Gaza published images of Ismail Haniya, the political chief of Hamas, walking alongside el-Khairs relatives during the funeral. Separately, Israeli authorities on Sunday reopened the Karam Abu Salem commercial crossing and the Erez crossing with Gaza, six days after shutting them down amid an exchange of heavy fire between Israel and Hamas. Israel regularly seals off the two crossings, which facilitate the movement of Palestinians with hard-to-obtain Israeli permits, as well as goods and services. The Karam Abu Salem crossing is the primary passageway that transfers necessities to Gazas nearly two million residents, including cooking gas, wheat and flour. It is usually closed during official Israeli holidays and on weekends, and also facilitates in the delivery of foreign aid to Gaza. Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Gaza, said the opening of the crossings was a clear indication that Egyptian-led mediation efforts were on a positive track. There is a mood of cautious optimism in Gaza, he said One of the reasons behind the relative calm, Jamjoom said, is that despite flare-ups the situation at the protests on Saturday remained far less chaotic than people had feared it might become. Easing restrictions Meanwhile, Nizar Ayash, the head of Gazas fishermens union, told local media that Israel would expand the fishing zone that it enforces in the waters off the Strip from six nautical miles to 15, starting April 1. Expansions occasionally occur and usually last for only three months at a time with the objective of boosting Gazas economy, which is heavily reliant on the fishing sector. Hamas-affiliated news outlets reported on Saturday that an Egyptian-brokered deal had been reached between the two sides, paving the way for the easing of these restrictions. On Saturday, Abdullatif al-Kanoo, a spokesman for Hamas, confirmed the agreement to Al Jazeera, saying Egyptian mediators succeeded in extracting approvals from Israel to ease restrictions on employment, fishing, electricity and aid from Qatar. Humanitarian agencies blame the blockade for the high rates of poverty and unemployment in Gaza a main reason for the weekly protests. More than 260 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the demonstrations, mostly by Israeli fire, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Thousands of others have been wounded. Israels use of lethal force against protesters has drawn criticism from the United Nations, as well as rights groups. Southeast Asias fastest-growing economy has a housing shortage, with more than 6 million homes needed for impoverished families. The International Monetary Fund expects the Philippines to become the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia. But many Filipinos doubt whether they will benefit. Millions of affordable homes are needed to cope with a growing population and to alleviate extreme poverty. Al Jazeeras Jamela Alindogan reports from Manila on those who have been left behind. Joint statement with Moroccan king comes after US President Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel last year. Pope Francis has joined Moroccos King Mohammed VI in saying Jerusalem should be a symbol of peaceful coexistence for Christians, Jews and Muslims on the first day of a visit to the North African country. The spiritual leader of the worlds 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of interreligious dialogue, according to Moroccan authorities. He is expected to celebrate mass at a Rabat stadium with an estimated 10,000 people attending as well as visiting a church-run social services centre and meeting with Catholic priests and other Christian representatives on Sunday. In a joint statement on Saturday, the two leaders said Jerusalem was common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions. The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem must be protected and promoted, they said in the declaration released by the Vatican as the pontiff visited Rabat. The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalems religious, cultural and architectural heritage. The joint statement came after US President Donald Trumps landmark recognition of the disputed city as the capital of Israel, which sparked anger across the Muslim world, especially from Palestinians who see Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by clergy facing a wave of child sex abuse allegations. Opposing extremism Addressing thousands of Moroccans who braved the rain to attend the welcome ceremony, Francis said it was essential to oppose fanaticism. He stressed the need for appropriate preparation of future religious guides before meeting trainee imams later on Saturday. Catholics are a tiny minority in Morocco, where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The king is revered across West Africa as commander of the faithful. Speaking at the ceremony at the Tour Hassan (or Hassan Tower) mosque and nearby mausoleum in Rabat, the monarch also voiced opposition to radicalism. That which terrorists have in common is not religion, its precisely the ignorance of religion. Its time that religion is no longer an alibi for this ignorance, for this intolerance, he said. Moroccos King Mohammed VI invited the pope for the sake of interreligious dialogue according to Moroccan authorities [Youssef Boudlal/Reuters] Francis rode to the ceremony in his Popemobile, passing rows of Moroccan and Vatican City flags and an estimated 12,000 well-wishers who packed the esplanade. Buildings had been repainted, lawns manicured and security stepped up before the first papal visit to Morocco since John Paul II in 1985. A 17-year-old was arrested as he tried to throw himself onto the kings limousine to seek the monarchs help, the police said. Some 130,000 people across Rabat watched the first stage of the popes visit, which was beamed onto giant screens, officials said. Right to a future After stopping by the royal palace, Francis and Mohammed visited an institute where around 1,300 students are studying to become imams and preachers. There they heard from a French and a Nigerian student of the institute, which teaches Islam and is backed by the king. In Morocco, where Islam is the state religion, authorities are eager to stress the countrys religious tolerance which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. 181115081201093 But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim, apart from a minority who are born Jewish. Apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is a criminal offence. Those who try to rock the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion risk a prison term of up to three years. After years in the shadows, since 2017, the small number of converts have called openly for the right to live without persecution and without discrimination. Around 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa. The pope finished his Saturday schedule by meeting migrants including children dressed in colourful hats at a centre run by Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas. Everyone has the right to a future, said Francis, who has throughout his papacy highlighted the plight of migrants and refugees. He criticised collective expulsions and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Caritas centres in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier welcomed 7,551 new arrivals in 2017, according to the charity, helping migrants access services. The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has recently surged as it has become harder for them to pass through Libya. Rabat claims to have a humanistic approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of brutal arrest campaigns and forced displacement to the countrys southern border. Medical reports, prepared for King Salman, demand urgent transfer of most of 60 prisoners examined to medical centre. Saudi political prisoners suffered torture and malnutrition, according to leaked medical reports prepared for King Salman, the Guardian newspaper has reported. The medical reports are understood to have been prepared for the king along with recommendations that include potential pardoning for the prisoners or early release due to health concerns. The medical examinations included in the report are believed to have been conducted in January for up to 60 prisoners as part of an internal review ordered by the king, despite objections by aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the Guardian wrote. The report was to be circulated around the royal court, a source told the British newspaper. The conditions of the prisoners as reported in the leaked documents are consistent, the daily said, with several reports that have emerged in recent months involving claims of torture in Saudi prisons. MBS, the kingdoms de facto leader, is also facing reproach over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside his countrys consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, by a team of Saudi operatives in what has been described as a premeditated murder. Repeated requests by the Guardian for comment from the Saudi government were declined or left unanswered, but officials did not challenge the authenticity of the reports. Male prisoners reportedly examined for the review include Adel Ahmad Banaemah, Mohammed Saud al-Bisher, Fahad Abdullaziz al-Sunaidi, Zuhair Kutbi, Abdullaziz Fawzan al-Fawzan and Yasser Abdullah al-Ayyaf, reported the Guardian. Female prisoners include Samar Mohammad Badawi, Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi and Abeer Abdullatif al-Namankany. Physical abuse The reports suggest the political detainees have been severely ill-treated and suffer various health issues, with remarks including: The patient suffers from severe weight loss with continuous bloody vomiting. There are also a number of wounds and bruises scattered in several areas of the body. Another remark was: The patient cannot move at all due to wounds in both legs as well as severe weakness in the body due to malnutrition and lack of fluids. In most cases, the report demanded urgent transfer of the detainees to a medical centre. 190328133303951 On Thursday, Saudi Arabia temporarily released three of the womens rights activists held in custody for almost a year following a court hearing in which the detainees alleged torture and sexual harassment during interrogation. Several reports named the women as blogger Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Youssef, a retired lecturer at King Saud University, and academic Rokaya al-Mohareb. Riyadh has previously denied using torture and said arrests were made on the basis of suspicious contacts with foreign entities and offering financial support to enemies overseas. A spokesperson of the Saudi embassy in Washington has also previously said that the kingdom takes any and all allegations of ill-treatment of defendants awaiting trial or prisoners serving their sentences very seriously, noting that Saudi Arabia signed the convention against torture and prohibits its use. But in November last year, Amnesty International reported that Saudi activists, including women, arrested in a government crackdown this year have faced sexual harassment and torture during interrogation, More recently, a United Nations human rights watchdog urged Saudi authorities to free more than a dozen rights activists imprisoned in the kingdom, alleging some had been tortured or mistreated during interrogation. Investigator hired to look into release of messages by US tabloid says Saudi government had access to Bezoss phone. Saudi Arabia hacked the phone of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, the worlds richest man, to gain access to his personal data, an investigator has said. Bezos hired Gavin de Becker to look into the release by US tabloid National Enquirer of leaked text messages and photos. Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos phone, and gained private information, de Becker wrote on The Daily Beast website on Saturday. De Becker linked the hack to extensive coverage by The Washington Post newspaper, which is owned by Bezos, of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul last year. Its clear that MBS considers The Washington Post to be a major enemy, de Becker wrote, referring to the oil-rich kingdoms powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the US Senate, after a closed-door briefing by the CIA, named as responsible for the murder. Saudi Arabia has stressed that Prince Mohammed was not involved in the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist. Riyadh initially said it had no knowledge of Khashoggis fate, but later blamed the murder on rogue Saudi agents. Demands and blackmail Last month, Bezos accused the National Enquirers owner of extortion and blackmail with the threat of publishing intimate photos of Bezos and his mistress unless he said in public that the tabloids reporting on him was not politically motivated and halted the investigation. De Becker said the parent company of the National Enquirer, American Media Inc (AMI), had privately demanded that he deny finding any evidence of electronic eavesdropping or hacking in their news gathering process. 181125121723634 An eight-page AMI contract sent to Bezos and de Becker also wanted an acknowledgement that their Bezos story was not instigated, dictated or influenced in any manner by external forces, political or otherwise. As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details, de Becker wrote. A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately return a request for comment. In February, the kingdoms minister of state for foreign affairs said Saudi Arabia had absolutely nothing to do with the National Enquirers reporting on the affair. A representative for AMI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AMI has previously said that it acted lawfully in the reporting of Bezos story. De Becker did not specify which part of the Saudi government he was blaming for the hack and gave few details about the investigation that led him to the conclusion that the kingdom was responsible. The results, he wrote, have been turned over to federal officials. Bezos has been repeatedly criticised by US President Donald Trump over his newspaper, The Washington Post, and its coverage of his presidency. In a Medium blog post last month, Bezos pointed to AMIs CEO David Peckers previous cooperation with Trump, including payments made to suppress negative stories, currently under investigation by federal prosecutors. 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). Lawyer Zuzana Caputova will become Slovakias first female president after winning a runoff election on Saturday against the countrys ruling partys candidate. The vocal government critic whose campaign slogan was stand up to evil was largely unknown before she launched her presidential run in the eurozone member country of 5.4 million people. Caputova, a pro-European Union political novice, won the election with 58.3 percent votes after results from 98.1 percent of voting districts were counted. Official results are due on Sunday. I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary, the 45-year-old environmental lawyer told a crowd of supporters. Maros Sefcovic conceded defeat and congratulated Caputova [Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters] Maros Sefcovic, who is backed by the ruling Smer party, secured 41.7 percent of the votes. Sefcovic, an establishment figure who is the European Commission vice president, conceded defeat and congratulated his rival. Caputova won the ballot thanks in part to voter disillusionment with the governing coalition a year after the murder of a journalist investigating high-level corruption plunged the country into crisis. She was among the tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets after Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova were shot at home in February 2018. 190317053135348 Kuciak was about to publish a report on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia when he was killed. The then-Prime Minister Robert Fico was forced to resign but he remains the leader of the ruling party and is a close ally of current premier Peter Pellegrini. The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into any possible political links to the crimes. MEPs voiced concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakias circles of power. Speaking to the AFP news agency on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence. Caputova, who gave up the membership of the non-parliamentary party Progressive Slovakia before the runoff, has vowed to fight for justice for all and has also promised better care for the elderly and environmental protection. She is in favour of gay rights and opposes a ban on abortion in the conservative Roman Catholic country. She becomes Slovakias fifth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Opposition activists accuse election commission of delaying and manipulating the results in first polls since 2014. As the wait for the official result in Thailands elections continues, scores of opposition supporters in the capital have protested against alleged cheating by the election commission in the countrys first polls since a coup five years ago. A week after the March 24 vote, the outcome remains uncertain. It might not be known until after the commission publishes official results, due on May 9. The body released partial results on the night of the polls, and took four more days to publish fuller counts, showing a party supporting the military government winning the popular vote but the opposition Pheu Thai party ahead in partial results of House of Representatives seats. Both the Palang Pracharat party which seeks to keep military government leader Prayuth Chan-ocha in office and an opposition democratic front of seven parties, led by Pheu Thai, have claimed a mandate to form the next government. 190325105740223 Get out! Stop cheating! Respect the people! the protesters in Bangkok chanted on Sunday. A Reuters news agency report put the number of those protesting close to the citys Victory Monument at more than 100. The demonstrators urged bystanders to add to the 830,000 signatures on an online petition to impeach the commission. The commission has declined to comment on criticism of its handling of the results. The post-election standoff could raise tensions just as Thailand prepares for the elaborate coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in May. On Saturday, the king issued an order revoking royal decorations that had been awarded to Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who was removed in an earlier 2006 army coup and is linked to the Pheu Thai party. The move could hurt the standing of Thaksin and the affiliated party in the eyes of many Thais because the monarchy is revered without question in Thai culture. Thaksin-linked parties have won every election since 2001. The 2014 coup overthrew a Pheu Thai-led government that had Thaksins sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, as prime minister. Kiev, Ukraine Ukraine is voting in hotly-contested presidential election with political novice Volodymyr Zelensky poised to win over 38 other candidates, including President Petro Poroshenko and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. Sundays vote is testing the war-torn countrys democracy for the first time since the so-called Revolution of Dignity brought Poroshenko in power in 2014. The voting stations opened at 8am (05:00 GMT) and will close at 8pm (17:00 GMT). The elections are monitored by observers from 18 countries as well as 139 Ukrainian civil society organisations, according to Ukraines Central Election Commission (CEC). An early count is expected on Monday. If none of the candidates secures 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates will take place on April 21. Tymoshenko was Ukraines prime minister twice in 2005 and 2007 [Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters] The latest survey shows Zelensky, a 41-year-old comic who is best known for playing a president in the political comedy, Servant of the People, leading the vote with 20.6 percent. He is followed in the opinion polls by Tymoshenko, a political heavyweight who served twice as prime minister under different presidents in 2005 and 2007, with about 13 percent. Poroshenko, who is projected to finish third with 12.9 percent, said last week he would accept the result of the vote, whoever wins. Voters sentiments At a polling station in central Kiev, Sviatoslav Yurash, a 23-year-old working for Zelenskys election campaign team, said he was backing the comic because he will be pro-market, pro-Ukraine, pro-Europe, pro-NATO. Oleksandr Bondarenko, a 28-year-old software developer, said she had voted for Tymoshenko because with her in the second round, we will have a better chance of defeating Poroshenko. This vote is very important for us because President Poroshenko has to leave. A lot of issues came up with his policies, especially with corruption, said Bondarenko. Boriak, 37, lamented the absence of candidates who cared about womens rights [Oksana Parafeniuk/Al Jazeera] Tetiana Boriak, 37, who came to the polling station with her husband and toddler, lamented the absence of candidates caring about female rights. There are some female candidates on the ballot, but being female doesnt mean that you will fight for womens rights, she said. Boriak said she voted for Poroshenko, according to her other priority Ukraines resistance to Russia. He is the only candidate who will resist the way I think is correct, she said. I do not think that other candidates will be able to negotiate with [Russias President Vladimir] Putin. Poroshenko is the only one who will resist the way I think is correct. Larysa Smirnova, 77, pensioner, said she was voting so that peoples lives improve. We dont like the current government. Tymoshenko can change everything. She is a very clever, educated and strong person who loves people, she said. Olena Peftiiva, 53, came to the polling station not only to cast her ballot but also to make sure that her deceased husbands ballot is not used for rigging the elections. My husband has been dead for 10 years. But his election registration confirmation arrived at my address. This has not happened during previous polls. I came to the polling station to make sure that his ballot is destroyed, she said. Poroshenko was elected with almost 55 percent of vote in 2014 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters] Poroshenko, 53, who was elected with almost 55 percent of votes in 2014, seems to have failed to rally his electorate despite his efforts to be seen as a passionate fighter for the countrys territorial unity as well as the champion of Ukraines dream of integration with the European Union and NATO. Over the last five years, he has reinforced the Ukrainian army and ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union, the document that enabled Ukrainians to trade with and travel to Europe without restrictions. The incumbent president also secured the independence of Ukraines Orthodox Church from its Russian counterpart. But he failed to rid the country of corruption or recover money stolen from Ukraines coffers before he came to power. The elections are monitored by observers from 18 countries [Oksana Parafeniuk/Al Jazeera] The elections are being held as the country is still at war with Moscow-backed rebels that has killed more than 13,000 since it broke out in Ukraines Donetsk and Luhansk regions five years ago. The conflict followed Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014 which in turn came after Ukraine overthrew Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich earlier that year. Several millions of the approximately 35 million eligible voters are unable or unwilling to cast their ballots in the occupied territories. Follow Al Jazeeras Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter @tamila87v Kiev, Ukraine Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy will face incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in a runoff vote for Ukraines presidency, official results have shown. Ukraines Central Election Commission showed Zelenskyy, a political novice who is better known for playing a president in a TV sitcom, had secured 30.2 percent of the votes cast on Sunday. This is just a first step towards a great victory, he told supporters on Sunday after the publication of the exit polls which showed a similar result. According the official results, only 15.9 percent of votes were cast in favour of Poroshenko, who has been in power since 2014. I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities, he said, accepting the results. It was a different story for opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who came third according to both the exit polls (14 percent) and the official count (13.4 percent), but believed she secured enough votes to be in second place. According to CEC the voter turnout stood at 63.4 percent. The decisive runoff will take place on April 21. Zelenskyys foreign policy Dmytro Razumkov, Zelenskyys political aide, told Al Jazeera that if the comedian won the second round of voting he would stand by the Minsk Agreement. The accord was forged by France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia the countries involved in talks known as the Normandy Format to secure a truce in the countrys east between the Moscow-backed rebels and the Ukrainian army that was the backbone in Ukraines security forces. All sanctions put in place by the European Union against Russia are linked to the Minsk Agreement. If we try to annul it, we might lose these sanctions. It cant be, Razumkov said, speaking after Zelenskyys speech at his campaign headquarters in Kiev. Zelenskyys proposal is to add the United Kingdom and the United States to the Normandy Format as the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum to apply a joint pressure on Russia like a laser beam. Under Zelenskyy, Razumkov said, Ukraine would continue to aspire to join the European Union and NATO, but it would hold a referendum on the issues only when the chance of doing so was realistic. We will not be selling air. Even Germanys [Chancellor] Angela Merkel said that the prospect is far. It doesnt mean that we will stop aspiring to join the EU; we must keep following the path and one day achieve it, he said. The story is similar with the NATO. We need to modernise the army and at the moment Ukraine is not in a position to do so. We will not be holding a referendum on these subjects 10-20 years ahead of time, but at a time when there is a realistic opportunity [to join the EU and NATO]. Corruption, Russia, EU The vote on Sunday was the first since the so-called Revolution of Dignity brought Poroshenko to power five years ago. The 53-year-old, who was elected with almost 55 percent of vote in 2014, seems to have failed to rally his electorate despite his efforts to be seen as a passionate defender of the countrys territorial unity, as well as the champion of the goal of joining the EU and NATO. During his time in office, Poroshenko reinforced the countrys army and ratified the Association Agreement with the EU, the document that enabled Ukrainians to trade with and travel to Europe without restrictions. The incumbent president also secured the independence of Ukraines Orthodox Church from its Russian counterpart. But he failed to rid the country of corruption or recover money stolen from Ukraines coffers before he came to power. Boriak, 37, lamented the absence of candidates who cared about womens rights [Oksana Parafeniuk/Al Jazeera] At a polling station in central Kiev, Sviatoslav Yurash, a 23-year-old working for Zelenskyys election campaign team, told Al Jazeera he was backing the comic because he will be pro-market, pro-Ukraine, pro-Europe, pro-NATO. Tetiana Boriak, 37, said she voted for Poroshenko because she believed he was the only candidate who would resist Russia. I do not think that other candidates will be able to negotiate with [Russias President Vladimir] Putin. Poroshenko is the only one who will resist the way I think is correct, she told Al Jazeera. The elections took place against a backdrop of war that has killed more than 13,000 people in Ukraines eastern Donetsk and Luhansk region, with government forces fighting Russia-backed separatists. The conflict followed Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014 which in turn came after Ukraine overthrew Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich earlier that year. Several million of the approximately 35 million eligible voters were unable or unwilling to cast their ballots in the occupied territories. Poroshenko was elected with almost 55 percent of vote in 2014 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters] Oleksandr Bondarenko, a 28-year-old software developer, said she had voted for Tymoshenko because with her in the second round, we will have a better chance of defeating Poroshenko. This vote is very important for us because President Poroshenko has to leave. A lot of issues came up with his policies, especially with corruption, said Bondarenko. Olena Peftiiva, 53, came to the polling station not only to cast her ballot but also make sure that her deceased husbands ballot was not used improperly. My husband has been dead for 10 years. But his election registration confirmation arrived at my address. This has not happened during previous polls. I came to the polling station to make sure that his ballot is destroyed, she said. Follow Al Jazeeras Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter @tamila87v About the show A weekly programme that examines and dissects the worlds media, how they operate and the stories they cover. Watch The Listening Post every Saturday at 0830GMT Even in high school, I found myself offended by my fellow students who were card-carrying communists in their beliefs and sympathies. In fact, a sizeable number of students clung to Marxism as dogma. The high school was Central High School for Boys, a school for gifted boys located in Philadelphia, Pa. Later, as I continued my studies in the Ivy League, I saw that there was a consistently strong element of intellectuals who were not in the least embarrassed to express their interest in communism. Once, as I stood with a crowd of students who were watching to see the outcome of events when a cadre of students locked themselves into the Harvard administration building and chained the doors, I was standing next to H.G., a fellow graduate student who had gone to the same high school and college as I had. He was rooting for the locked in students and for "the revolution," which he hoped was near. I asked him, "Herb, how can you be for communism or for 'revolution'? You are the same as I am Jewish, son of working people or middle-class people we went to the same high school, the same college! How can revolution or communism be good for anyone? He said nothing but looked at me with eyes filled with contempt. Later, he would become a professor of economics at Harvard University. Years after these early contacts with communists, I was converted to Christ. Although I had been anti-communist for years, only when I was welcomed into the Kingdom of God by my Lord and Savior did I begin to fully realize the enormity of the error that lay in Marxist-Engels-communist thought. Communism was not a doctrine merely to be disputed by men; rather, the communists had picked a (losing) fight with Almighty God. It was unworthy as a human doctrine not only by the lights and understandings of non-communist thinkers and actors on the political and economic stage, but, as a repudiation of Almighty God, and particularly Jesus Christ, it was a doctrine opposed to God Himself. It was not only the "part" of communism that announced its atheism that was wrong. Marx had said that "religion is the opiate of the people." But all the principles and historical concepts as well as the methodology of dialectical materialism were wrong and attempts to deceive people and turn them away from godly ways. "Bourgeois morality," attacked by Marxists, was a way of saying Judeo-Christian, biblical values are wrong. The doctrine of dialectical necessity, whereby history moves forward by a series of steps in a historical thesis, which gives rise to its antithesis, which in turn gives rise to a new cultural-economic paradigm the synthesis was itself a denial of the biblical view of history as governed by Divine Providence, and leading to the triumph of Christ over all creation by our redemption, His return and rule, and the final judgment on all the living and the dead. History is not moving dialectically, as Marx, building on the work of George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, believed. Rather, history is moving forward providentially. What irony, then, that when I came to teach history at a public high school in New York City, and the teachers, most of whom were atheists, heard I am conservative and, even worse, a born-again believer. I was quietly approached by one of the veterans, who said, "You know Jeff, communism collapsed in the Soviet Union, but it is alive and well in this high school." I realized that by saying this to me, he was challenging not, as he thought, only me, but also Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ and that it was a challenge he would sooner or later have reason to regret, for he would surely lose (see Deuteronomy 32:3739). I did not rail against him, but kept my peace, knowing he had identified himself as a mocker of the Lord. On another occasion, another group of leftists were sitting in the cafeteria, laughing uproariously. When I came in, one called out to me, "Jeff, are we all going to hell?" I smiled but did not take the bait. However, two weeks later, I was having lunch and sitting across from one of the communists. (I didn't just pin this label on these individuals; rather, they self-labeled as communists.) Another one sat next to me, along with a third gentleman who was not a communist, but, to be kind, let's say he was susceptible to leftwing interpretations of current events. The one across from me asked me if I thought that people really go to hell. I replied that if someone committed a crime at 3:00 pm, and for some reason died at 11:00 pm and had not repented of his crime and received Christ as His Lord and Savior, he would find himself in hell. It was obvious to my colleague that I was referring to any unrepentant individual, not only to a criminal. My colleague stared at me. He said, "I find that statement to be very offensive." The man sitting to my left was making faces at me all the while, which I saw out of the corner of my eye. He grimaced and contorted his features in mockery of me. "I'm sorry you feel that way, R.L.," I replied, "But I surely believe that that is exactly what would be the outcome." He gave me a stare of stern, silent rejection. I stared back, peaceful, resolute, and content. Now let's fast-forward: The Democratic Party has been sliding more and more to the Left for decades. Now there is no doubt in my mind that they have embraced communism. The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) supported Barack Obama in 2012 and its leadership said it would vote for Hillary Clinton but did not officially endorse her in 2016. "God" was booed at the 2012 Democratic Party convention. The communist drift that has gone on in that party for decades seems fulfilled in the candidacy of Bernie Sanders and the ascendancy and election of a list of presidential candidates who have embraced the so-called Green New Deal, which is nothing less than a full-fledged plan for the government takeover of the entire economy, suggests the growing ascendancy of communism within our beloved USA. As ominous as this development is, we cannot think the battle being waged is between the Dems (communism) and the Republicans, or even the Libertarians. No. Republican support alone or "conservatism" (the meaning of this term has been debated for a long time) will also draw us into error. Opposition to the Democrats must then be couched in a biblical, pro-Christ agenda to be valid. Republican conservatism without justification in Christ is just another man-made, fallible doctrine destined to collapse, or to lead to sin and hopelessness. Political aspirations will fail the country if not built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. On March 15, an Australian gunman tragically slaughtered 50 victims at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. The gunman, who shall remain nameless, characterizes himself as an "eco-fascist." In his manifesto, which has been banned in New Zealand with stiff penalties, and which Big Tech is also censoring, the killer said, "I am an ethno-nationalist eco-fascist." The gunman believes in the "ethnic autonomy for all peoples with a focus on the preservation of nature, and the natural order." In other words, he is a multi-ethnic racist environmentalist who believes that the best way to save the planet from ecological destruction is not only to have fewer people on the Earth, but further, such people need to live in their own indigenous national environments. The gunman claims not to hate Muslims who stay in their own homeland. It is only after they cross borders to live in other countries and cultures not their own that he "dislikes" them and considers them "invaders." The gunman qualifies further, "The only Muslim I truly hate is the convert, those from our own people that turn their backs on their heritage, turn their backs on their cultures, turn their back on their traditions and became blood traitors to their own race. These I hate." Although the press has been to quick to label the gunman a white supremacist, his pro-European, pro-white stances are surprisingly more racially and ethnically nuanced than he is given credit for. The gunman prides himself in that he has "spent many years travelling through many, many nations." Everywhere I travelled, barring a few small exceptions, I was treated wonderfully, often as a guest and even as a friend. The varied cultures of the world greeted me with warmth and compassion, and I very much enjoyed nearly every moment I spent with them. I wish the different peoples of their world all the best regardless of their ethnicity, race, culture of faith and that they live in peace and prosperity, amongst their own people, practicing their own traditions, in their own nations." However, he then warns, "But, if those same people seek to come to my people's lands, replace my people, subjugate my people, make war upon on my people, then I shall be forced to fight them, and hold nothing in reserve. In his nature-based ideology, he compares differing ethnicities of people groups to invasive species that can only despoil the environment which therefore demands they be repelled. Such cultural, ethnic, and racial mixing will invariably upset the ecological balance of any given "local only" self-sustaining bioregion. With regard to the planet's future, the gunman complains: There is no green future with never ending population growth. The ideal green world cannot exist in a world of 100 billion, 50 billion, or even 10 billion people. Continued immigration into Europe is environmental warfare and ultimately destructive to nature itself. The Europe of the future is not one of concrete and steel, smog and wires, but a place of forests, lakes, mountains and meadows. Not a place where English is the de-facto language, but a place where every European language, belief and tradition is valued. Each nation and each ethnicity are [sic] melded by their own environment, and if they are to be protected so must their own environments. There is no traditionalism without environmentalism. He later venerates ancestors along similar lines. Thus, the so-called traditional "conservatism" the press has been quick to hang on the neck of the killer has nothing to do with free markets, free enterprise, free speech, or freedom of religion. On the contrary, the killer's "conservatism" is strictly based on a much more pointed form of racist identity politics an identity politics completely indigenous and nationalistically rooted, born, and raised in each country's own biological-ecological milieu a tribalistic biopolitics of sorts at the very least that is dead set against the classical liberalism of America. Closely related, the gunman especially denigrates the American melting pot at the end of his manifesto. As such, the gunman unsurprisingly mocks the political results of American conservativism: Ask yourself, truly, what has modern conservatism managed to conserve? What does it seek to conserve? The natural environment? Western Culture? Ethnic autonomy? Religion? The nation? The race? Nothing is conserved. The natural environment is industrialized, pulverized and commoditized. Western culture is trivialized, pulped and blended into a smear of meaningless nothing, with the only tenets and beliefs seemingly held to are the myth of the individual, the value of work productivity for the benefit of your capitalist owners and the sovereignty of private property to ensure none of us get grand ideas of taking the unearned wealth of our owners[.] ... It's profit, and profit alone that drives them, all else is secondary. The notion of a racial future or destiny is as foreign to them as social responsibilities. Not a thing has been conserved other than corporate profits and the ever-increasing wealth of the 1% that exploit the people for their own benefit. Conservatism is dead. Thank god. Now let us bury it and move on to something of worth. Worse, the killer demands that the modern world forge a new utopian path of multi-ethnic racism, revolution, and environmentalism something he calls "The Great Replacement." Such green apocalypticism includes the embracing of death in order to propagate an eschatological future, echoing even some of the old Nazi existentialism of the 1930s starring Martin Heidegger. To accomplish this grand task, the gunman strategizes: Run towards the cities, run towards the conflict, run towards the enemy, fleeing from the enemy is cowardice. The countrysides are already ours, as they have always been. The people of the countrysides are already traditional, already close to nature, already supportive of their people. It's the cities where the struggle lies, it's the cities where the invaders have massed, it's the cities where the Marxists have poisoned the institutions, it's the cities where the traitorous media and corporations lie and it's the cities where the anti-white politicians and the NGOs make their homes. Invade the cities, take the cities, battle in the streets for the cities. The cities are the economic, judicial, political, ethnic and cultural battleground of our people and it is there we shall wage our war. The countryside can wait, the cities need you, your youth needs you. Despite how many of you may feel living amongst the pollution, amongst the cultural filth, crammed into tiny apartments in the city sprawls, far flung from man's natural environment. But it is there our future will be made and it is there the battle for our peoples future will be fought. The gunman concludes that global capitalism is the primary enemy. What is required now is to destabilize it through revolution. He thus hopes his slaughter of the Muslims in the New Zealand mosque will lead to a gun war in the United States. He further hopes the Left will ramp up its anti-gun activism thanks to his own extremist actions. This, he presumes, will help precipitate a civil war that will finally favor the white people of America and northern Europe which he hopes further will help them learn to keep their own ethnicity and culture pure and self-sufficiently rooted in nature that will expunge and remove the great evils of global capitalism. "Barring the importation of all goods produced outside the New European zone (the new Western world) is an essential pillar of the future Western economy. Goods produced without care for the natural world, dignity of workers, lasting culture or white civilizations future should never be allowed into the new morally focused and ethically focused European market." Eco-fascism is no metaphor. Not only is eco-fascism defined in the historical past under National Socialism's umbrella of Social Darwinian biology, but it is also an empirical fact today as well. Many white supremacist groups are, in fact, green. Some astute scholars on the Left fully recognize the green neo-Nazi connections but conveniently distance themselves from it by labeling it "right-wing ecology." Yet the German green party itself was essentially founded by real Nazis. The gunman himself believes in a nationalistic form of multiethnic environmentalism as long as the tribe stays at home. What he criticizes leftist multiculturalism for is trying to merge itself with the American melting pot along Marxian egalitarian grounds. Even though the gunman briefly praises Red China in his manifesto, this is not because of its Marxism per se, but because the Chinese socialists keep their country Chinese. In sum, what is seen in the Christchurch tragedy is an eco-fascism based on a pro-white nationalistic multi-ethnic environmentalism versus American classical liberalism. He also targets the anti-white multicultural environmentalists in the sense that he believes they are contradicting their own green doctrines of local sustainability with Muslims standing in the middle of the triangulation. Mark Musser is a part-time missionary, pastor, author, and farmer who lives in Olympia, Washington in the summers but spends most of his time on the mission field in the former Soviet Union. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Corban University in Salem, Oregon and is a contributing writer for the Cornwall Alliance. His book Nazi Ecology provides a sobering history lesson on the philosophical foundations of the early German green movement, which was absorbed by National Socialism in the 1930s and proved to be a powerful undercurrent during the Holocaust. President Trump campaigned on getting America out of endless foreign wars. But he was also clear that he would let out military leaders fight the war as needed to win it, before leaving. So, at times, Trump grows impatient for the victory he wants to see during his term. In a mid-December 2018 tweet, Trump announced a bit prematurely that the United States was withdrawing from Syria, declaring, We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency. But by the end of December, Trump had backed off a bit, tweeting that our battle remained against ISIS remnants as the group was mostly gone. He has since decided to maintain a presence of about 400 troops in Syria. War is always messy. Nobody can ever predict where it will go and by when. The enemy will try to counter in unexpected ways to upset any predictions of victory by our side. It also does not help that American military leadership seems to be indoctrinated over past decades into war management, rather than a victory that would allow a secure troop withdrawal. But Trumps short messaging style does prompt others in his administration to try to add clarity about what the administration understands. So, in early March 2019, National Security Advisor John Bolton, in an interview on ABC News This Week, made the point that the Islamic State remains a threat, and that it is growing in other parts of the world besides Syria and Iraq. Boltons statement expands beyond narrow assertions of victory by President Trump and Vice President Pence. But to be clear, the presidents claims of having defeated the Islamic State group refer specifically to the actual shooting war in those two wrecked countries. Trump has never been blind to the wider menace that he bluntly has called radical Islamic terrorism. So, Trump knows that Islamic State is just one current form of that enemy. But his direct goal has been to crush that horrid Islamic entitys operating base inside Iraq and Syria. And under Trumps leadership, that goal is coming closer. To that end, several times lately, Trump has made the optimistic, if premature, claim that 100 percent of ISIS has been defeated. For example, in early March, at an outdoor fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump reportedly said the caliphate was 100 percent destroyed, according to an attendee. This series of victory declarations by Trump could also be a Trump tactic. As a builder, he is accustomed to push his organization to reach his goal on the timeline he has set for the job. He has limited patience for any project he manages to go over budget and past the due date. He brags on an early finish at a discount price, as he did upon completion of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, for the latest example. Declaring the job complete is one way for him to hurry it along toward the finish. Another point is that wars might end with an indefinite combat mop-up after the win is declared. So, Trumps repeat victory declarations just affirm that this war has reached that end stage. ISIS has been removed from holding territory. Its vanished leaders will never sign a ceasefire. But its last soldiers on this field are running, surrendering, or dying. They have ceased to function as a military with a caliphate base to operate from. General Joseph Votel, the CENTCOM commander, further affirmed Boltons observation that the wider fight against scattered ISIS members and leaders is far from over. But Bolton has also clarified that Trump never said that the elimination of the territorial caliphate means the end of ISIS agents. The president has been, I think, as clear as clear can be, when he talks about the defeat of the ISIS territorial caliphate, Bolton said. He has never said that the elimination of the territorial caliphate means the end of ISIS in total. We know thats not the case. Bolton added that Islamic State fighters are scattered still around Syria and Iraq, and that ISIS itself is growing in other parts of the world. The ISIS threat will remain. Bolton said that he is very optimistic that U.S. allies such as Britain and France will help in battling the resurgence of the group. It hasnt happened formally yet, but theyre looking at it. I think its very important that we try and get this up... The ISIS threat, the al-Qaeda threat, the terrorist threat is an ideological threat worldwide, and its something that I think we have to be vigilant against for the foreseeable future. And so what the Trump team is unified about is understanding that radical Islamic ideology continues. While the label is not a perfect threat assessment, no other president has dared to attach the Islamic label to that ideological threat. That is the positive change toward a clearer threat assessment which Trump has brought. The administration is clearly in discussion of ways to keep that ideology from forming new armies and taking territory in the murderous way that Islamic State has done over the past half-decade. When the Islamic State comes again, perhaps under the watch of a weaker future president, it is likely to have yet another new name. But its supremacist terrors will again be based in the same Quran revered by our Muslim neighbors. Its excellent example will be the same ancient warlord, Muhammad. Perhaps the newly emerging Islamic movement of conquest will be more deceptive and less openly warlike, as conditions allow. Perhaps it will vote and buy its way into power, instead of murdering its way into power. But the end goal of the agents of Islam will always be to make the whole world Islamic, under rule by Sharia. Aynaz Anni Cyrus, an Iranian-American human rights activist, founder of Live up to Freedom, producer of The Glazov Gang and National Director of American Truth Project. Anni was sold for $50 as a child bride in Islamic Republic of Iran. Escaping from her childhood in sex slavery, she found freedom in America. Now an American citizen, she is a leading spokeswoman against the evils of Islam. A new member of Congress and self-proclaimed activists could benefit from the perspective of three films about the Middle East, released in 2018 and currently screening on cable television or Amazon Prime. Beirut, available to Amazon Prime subscribers, written by Tony Gilroy, explores Palestinian terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s, but definitely speaks to today. Mason Skiles (John Hamm, in an excellent performance), is an American diplomat living in Lebanon. In 1972, he and his Lebanese wife are foster parents to a Palestinian teen, Karim. Karim has a vicious Palestinian terrorist brother, implicated in the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes, who sends his cronies to storm Masons house during a diplomatic dinner in order to retrieve the younger brother. In the crossfire Masons dear wife is murdered, and he careens into depression and alcoholism. After a long, painful interlude he is deemed useful by a reluctant State Department. He returns to Lebanon on a mission in 1982, after Palestinians in that country have provoked war with Israel. Tellingly, there is an Enough, already vibe to this film vis-a-vis Palestinian terrorism. The film decries the matter-of-factness with which Lebanon-destroying Palestinian violence is taken in astride. At a Beirut hotel it is announced, In the event of a shooting at the hotel, Management requests that guests stay in their room and not take photographs. Most characters, whether American, Lebanese or Palestinian, mention the Jewish State. The point is made repeatedly that one cannot overestimate Mossad (Israeli Intelligence). It is expected that Israel will take out an old house with a Palestinian transmitter. Great and contradictory powers are attributed to Israel: It is accused of dividing and credited for preserving Lebanon. For some reason, the Christian militias are unfavorably portrayed and even depicted as pornography addicts. The film makes the point that American diplomats are less ambivalent about Israel than about their own whistle blowers. Yes, Israel is depicted here as a state with swagger, but also as up-front regarding its goals: It is willing to help out the U.S., but with conditions necessitated by security concerns -- namely, help with better satellite imaging. Some want Israel to intervene; others, like Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Chairman, do not. He has taken Karims brother hostage, for he fears loose canon types whom Israel can use as an excuse to attack, even though Arafat himself has just incited a war. The film conveys well the fear and tension in Lebanon over Palestinian disunity and bad decisions: When the PLO lobs off bombs, Israel gets into it. The film emphasizes the effect of Palestinian decisions, even over Syrian bombing. Indeed, the picture painted of Palestinians here is not pretty. The film clearly notes that Lebanon, a house without a landlord (in Skiless words), is divided over letting Palestinians in, for it was well known that Palestinians want nothing more than to burn down the Israeli house next door. One PLO official is portrayed as owning multiple homes in Paris and elsewhere, purchased with cash extorted from airlines on the threat and promise that their planes will not be blown up mid air if they pay. Karims arch-terrorist brother is depicted as hateful beyond any cause, incapable of appreciating the efforts of those who liberated him, and without the honor to stop killing for its own sake. In a similar vein, Ziad Douieris film, The Insult, also available to Amazon Prime subscribers, explores the effects upon Lebanon of Palestinian incursions. Its depiction of Lebanese attitudes toward Palestinians and Israelis is a revelation. Tony Hanna (Adel Karam), a Lebanese Christian, gets into an altercation with a Palestinian worker, Yasser Abdallah Salameh (Kamel El Basha). Yasser strikes Tony and breaks two of his ribs after Tony says that Ariel Sharon should have exterminated all the Palestinians. Injured and facing possible loss of his child after his pregnant wife strains to help him while he is recuperating and needs to work, Tony brings a lawsuit against Yasser. Tonys lawyer, Wajdi Wehbe (Camille Salameh), remembers injustice to Christians during the Lebanese Civil War, a conflict which, we discover, deeply traumatized Tony. Wajdi laments, Everyone roots for the Palestinians. As it turns out, Wajdis daughter, Nadine (Diamand Bou Abboud), also a lawyer, defends Yasser. Nadine does not have memories of the not-too-distantly-past battles. Because Tony mentioned Sharon in his angry outburst, he is accused of being a Zionist or at least an Israel sympathizer, and a Star of David is drawn on his business, a car repair garage. The trial polarizes Christians and Muslims, all of whom are not too fond of Israel. Even Wajdi is called a Zionistthough the word used is Yahudi or Jew, indicating that the subtitles cushion the language. Wajdi certainly has his prejudices against the Palestinians, whom he describes as sneaky and as a catastrophe. But his question regarding Yasser is a fair one: Just because youre a refugee -- that gives you the right to be violent? Nadine, on the other hand, starts to regard Yasser as the victim of a hate crime. The film knowingly presents the different sides, and just as knowingly indicates how Israel is used as the boogey man for seemingly unattainable relief from vicious conflicts within Lebanon. Director Ziad Doueiri and co-writer Joelle Touma are not afraid to suggest that refugee camps are lucrative and that Lebanese businessmen have to make a living, especially since Norway provides free internet services for refugees and other countries (especially the U.S.) ensure major funding. The film informs us that the players are well aware of the political posturing on the Middle East throughout the world. Wajdi points to the irony that most of the Left root for the Palestinians, though many on the Left are Christians, and Palestinian Muslims have persecuted Christians. Still, the Israelis are definitely the elephant in the room throughout this movie, even in the trial itself, where the comment about Sharon assumes an eerie significance. Tony is asked: Why are you suing a Palestinian while Gaza is being bombed? It is observed: If you hire a Palestinian, youre regarded as a traitor. It makes the Israelis happy because the Palestinian wont want to return. It is also observed: Sharon doesnt need Tony Hamas words to oppress Palestinians. But, significantly and maybe even astonishingly, the bottom line here is that misery in Lebanon, suffering by Palestinian Muslims and Arab Christians, is attributed to decisions by Palestinian leadership intended to provoke Israel. The third film, Seven Days in Entebbe, currently being screened repeatedly on Showtime, begins with the Israelis but, interestingly, does not end with them. Gregory Burkes screenplay retells the story of the hijacking of Air France 139, heading for Tel Aviv from Paris, by four Liberation of Palestine terrorists, including a German man and woman. The woman is the more ruthless of the two; the man keeps ruminating about the scenario of a German hijacking and possibly killing Jews out of a sense of justice for Palestinians. True, Jose Padilhas direction is clunky and can be annoying, with bizarre dance sequences and even more strange use of a popular Passover song. But it does provide some interesting insight into how Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres faced the challenge. And, most significantly, it raises questions about activists. Why were the two well-meaning Germans involved in such a vicious plot? The presence of the two Germans reminded me of the well-meaning people who organized flotillas or convoys purporting to bring aid to Gaza, but really intended to provoke Israel in between rounds of sustained rocket fire by Hamas from Gaza into Israel. In 2010, when Israeli soldiers boarded one such convoy, they were attacked, and several were injured; nine of their assailants were shot after trying to take guns from the soldiers or to strike them with knives and improvised weapons. Israel was legitimately concerned that those boats could be used for smuggling in weapons, as this had with two other ships, the Karine-A and the Francop, in 2002 and 2009, respectively. Israel had offered every opportunity to send aid to Gaza through normal channels. In 2011 another convoy was prevented by Greece from antagonizing Israel. Greece had offered to send aid to Gaza, but the activists rebuffed this generous gesture of peaceful intervention. Over the years, we've cracked a few jokes about VP Biden, from his gaffes to his quick hands. Yesterday, we learned that a woman is accusing V.P. Biden of a little too much touching, or something like that. Her name is Lucy Flores: I found my way to the holding room for the speakers, where everyone was chatting, taking photos, and getting ready to speak to the hundreds of voters in the audience. Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. "Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?" I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, "I didn't wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f---? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?" He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, "tragame tierra," it means, "earth, swallow me whole." I couldn't move and I couldn't say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience. Well. Then she goes on the victim trip about surviving in a culture of "white men" and "machismo." What can I say? I believe that this entire incident speaks volumes about the modern Democratic Party. My guess is that the party just does not want a white man named Biden on top of the ticket. So the Dems are dropping this story now as V.P. Biden is contemplating a run for president. Who knows where this story will go or whether there is more coming? In the meantime, President Trump must be watching and enjoying the show. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. See also: Whos sabotaging Creepy Joes campaign? A few days after the 76-year old Joe Biden gave a speech blaming a "white man's culture" for the sexual assault of women, and his "regrettable" treatment of Anita Hill during the 1991 harassment hearings, a female "victim" came forward alleging Biden inappropriately touched and kissed her. Lucy Flores was a 35-year-old Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor in Nevada in 2014. She admits she was 'flattered" when Biden offered to attend a campaign rally in Las Vegas to boost voter turnout. In her account of the incident, Flores wrote she was minding her own business on the side of the stage waiting to be introduced when Biden came from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself,... And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair? He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening.... I couldnt move and I couldnt say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience. ... I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before. The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners and I felt powerless to do anything about it. Biden's spokesperson offered this bizarre response: Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes. But Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so. He respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best. Unfortunately for Biden, he cannot deny this creepy behavior. There are plenty of videos and still shots of Biden, kissing, groping and putting his hands on children and grown women in public. Up to now, his depraved proclivities have been ignored by the Democrats and the media. But 2020 is just around the corner and having a documented serial groper candidate touching and kissing little girls in scads of online videos may be too much for the party of #MeToo. Only three days ago Politico reported Biden was the top choice of 29 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents surveyed in a Quinnipiac poll. Flores's accusation should be a game changer for touchy-feely Biden. Will the mainstream media give the man some call gropin' Joe'' a pass? The liberal website Vox.com insists the MSM will not cover for Biden. In a March 29 article entitled "Flores isn't alone," the Vox writer states: ...It's no secret in Washington that Biden has touched numerous women inappropriately in public. Its just never been treated as a serious issue by the mainstream press. Biden does have his defenders who view the unsolicited hair sniffing, touching and kissing as lovable and endearing. Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and Biden supporter said this about his friend: All of us who have been around Joe Biden he hugs men, women and children. He is a hugger. Thats just the generation he comes from, and thats his personality. You shouldnt read anything into it other than he was doing what he has done to me, to my daughter, to my wife, to Barack Obama. If the chillingly creepy Biden decides to run for President, contenders from both parties can play these hard-to-watch videos of a Democrat feeling up little girls and women in an endless loop. Voters can decide for themselves if Uncle Joe is a friendly hugger or a perverted old man. The world is changing and for young people, those changes are having a profound effect on their sex lives. A new survey from the General Social Survey has found the portion of Americans 18 to 29 reporting no sex in the past year more than doubled between 2008 and 2018, to 23 percent. It's even higher for millenial men - 28% reported having no sex last year. The number of young women abstaining from sex is smaller but still saw an 8% increase since 2008. Washington Examiner: The lack of sex is being driven mainly by young men. In the last decade the share of young men saying they had no sex in the last year has nearly tripled to 28 percent. Young women have seen an increase since 2008 of 8 percentage points. Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, said that partnering up later in life is contributing to sexlessness. There are more people in their twenties who dont have a live-in partner, she said. So under those circumstances I think less sex is going to happen. Participation in the labor force among young men has also declined in the last decade, and young men are more likely to live with their parents than young When youre living at home its probably harder to bring sexual partners into your bedroom, Twenge said. She also cited technology as a factor. There are a lot more things to do at 10 oclock at night now than there were 20 years ago, Twenge said. Streaming video, social media, console games, everything else. Another factor driving what's being referred to as "America's sex drought" is the aging population. While the number of people over 60 not having sex has remained constant at 50%, the increased population of seniors has driven the overall numbers higher. I'm sure all those factors cited above contributed to the lack of sex among America's young. But my admittedly unscientific observation is that the over sexualization of society has taken the mystery out of sex. And the hook up culture has destroyed intimacy. Sex without intimacy is empty and meaningless. Most men and women could do better by themselves. When sex is so pervasive as it is on the internet and even on TV, sex becomes separated from something shared in a loving relationship and becomes a bordeom killing exercise. There's no mystery, no excitement at meeting someone new, getting to know them, and building intimacy. The process is short circuited and young people end up finding better things to do than woo a member of the opposite sex. I know I'm old fashioned but I came of age in the "anything goes" 1970s. Sure there was casual sex but there was also a desire to look for a life partner. I don't think young people today see the necessity of finding a mate largely because they are ignorant of intimacy and how special it is to be so close to another person that you feel joined at the soul. That's really the only thing that makes life truly worth living. Guess what the ruling coalition in one of the Australian states wants to legalize. From the Herald Sun of Brisbane (behind a pay wall). Miranda Devine writes: Gender ideology has reached peak insanity in Tasmania, where Labor and the Greens are pushing laws in parliament which would allow abortions for men. Yes, you heard that right. Abortions for men. (snip) But the ascension of identity politics has turned truth on its head. We now see headlines about pregnant men and breastfeeding men. The British Medical Association even has asked doctors to use the term pregnant person to avoid being accused of transphobia Our language increasingly is clouded by Orwellian newspeak. In Tasmania, which seems to be the petri dish for ever more extreme gambits, the Liberal government last year introduced same sex marriage amendments to the law which removed the terms mother, father, wife and husband. This opened the door to the Greens and Labor who introduced amendments to create gender neutral birth certificates, and to allow anyone aged over 15 to self-identify as any gender simply by swearing a statutory declaration. [emphases in original] During the campaign to preserve the definition of marriage, we warned that the activists would not stop. But not even I thought abortions for men would be on the agenda. Vote @AuConservatives in the Senate for a voice for common sense. #Auspol https://t.co/2rAPirkWZv Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) March 27, 2019 Remember: The Left thinks that conservatives are primitives who dont believe in science. Note: When I was a consultant, I spent a fair amount of time in Australia's biggest cities on a couple of extended missions. I learned there that Tasmania is the state that other Australians love to make fun of as a place where people have few teeth and live in primitive conditions. It looks as though Tasmania is trying to improve its standing by being more progressive than the others. This merely shows that we have not been ruthless enough in mocking the absurdities of the progs. Gender madness is fertile ground as long as you dont mind being denounced as a hater. Hat tip: John McMahon With the Mother of All Weird Logic, Russia's embassy in the U.S. just put out this tweet: Part of @Russia, the Chukotka Peninsula, is located in the Western Hemisphere @AmbJohnBolton We recommend that #US stop threatening #Venezuela, strangling its economy, pushing for civil war, in open violation of international law - #Zakharova https://t.co/4fTcRitV6r pic.twitter.com/XvfgVWmhsd Russia in USA (@RusEmbUSA) March 31, 2019 I look at that and all I can think is: Whuhhh? Why'd they bring up the Chukotka Peninsula, a spit of land up there by the Arctic Circle as their justification for defending Venezuela's Maduro regime? What they're doing is using the Monroe Doctrine to justify their propping up of a brutal communist dictator operating 6,171 miles out from their capital by saying they, too, are part of the Western hemisphere. That's a new one. Up until now, Russia, and the left, have blasted the Monroe Doctrine as wicked U.S. imperialism designed to hold Latin America down, distorting its protective aims for the region's developing democracies. Now Russia is using the terms of the doctrine as its justification -- claiming that it's part of the Western hemisphere. It's attempting to nullify the doctrine, by including itself within it, errantly misreading it a bit, given that many European countries have territories in the hemisphere around the Caribbean. The doctrine was put there to ensure none of them started any new 'projects' - which is exactly what Russia is doing in Venezuela. And to do it, it's going to 'protect' Maduro. Which is rather horrific, given that millions and millions of Venezuelans want the communist monster out of there, and have begun setting up a transition regime to facilitate its removal. Russia is one of those very few overseas powers that stand in the way, and doesn't particularly care if Venezuelans like it or not, let alone can make themselves free or not. Its financial interests - and its grievances against the U.S. for its involvement in Eastern Europe - are likely the real reasons. So instead of just saying those things (which might make a deal possible), it argues that our Monroe Doctrine logic supports them - and we don't have a leg to stand on in opposing their role. that the status quo must stand, using our policy against us. Russia's now the 'protector' of the hemisphere' same as us, to take the logic further. The Russians also have a longer, strangely unlinked (Do they lack the technical prowess for this? Do they really not want anyone to see it because even they consider it 'out there'?) companion post out on Facebook. Here's the English part: 'The arrival of Russian military-technical cooperation experts in Venezuela continues to provoke a nervous reaction in Washington. [US officials] have even begun saying that the US would consider the appearance of the representatives of armed forces from countries outside the Western Hemisphere [in Venezuela] as a provocative action posing a threat to regional peace and security," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on Saturday. Part of Russia's territory, the Chukotka Peninsula, is located in the Western Hemisphere. So for Russia the American continent is a close neighbor." Zakharova also refuted claims that Russian military specialists arrived in Venezuela to conduct "military operations." The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed that Russia had already "clearly stated the purpose of the arrival of its specialists in Caracas." "There can be no talk of any 'military contigents'. Accordingly, speculation about Russia holding some kind of 'military operations' in Venezuela are completely groundless," the spokeswoman noted, suggesting that perhaps Washington was mistaking Moscow's actions for its own behavior, including in countries like Colombia, where US military instructors are operating out in the open. Finally, commenting on the US threat to issue new anti-Russian sanctions over the matter, Zakharova stated that the US's sharp reaction seemed to be connected to the fact that its "planned speedy coup in Caracas has not succeeded." According to the spokeswoman, Washington has already introduced so many sanctions against Russia that "Moscow has simply lost count and stopped paying attention to them." "For our part, we can only recommend that the US stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing for civil war, in open violation of international law. We call on all Venezuelan political forces who put the interests of their country above their own personal ambitions to engage in dialogue, and are prepared to assist in such dialogue in any way possible," Zakharova concluded. Notice the second strike against Colombia, where President Trump, I think very unwisely, has strained relations with, due to Colombia's failures in halting the cocaine trade. The longer Russian note sought immediately to drive the wedge further there, appealing to Colombia's national pride (a courtesy it oddly doesn't extend to Venezuela) by noting U.S. troops walking around in the open in Colombia. Colombia's failures on the cocaine trade are not entirely Colombia's fault, as it happens - they are due to something that was foisted on it by Colombia's previous president - the odious FARC peace treaty that Colombia's voters rejected in a referendum, but which went through anyway. The former president at the time was angling for a Nobel peace prize, and he got it. Colombians, on the other hand, got the shaft, as well the result they feared - more drug lords, abetted by Venezuela. And now Russia is not only telling America the Monroe Doctrine also makes it a protector (of dictators) due to its hemispheric spike of land, it also seeks to separate the U.S. decisively from its ally Colombia. Both Russian embassy posts on Twitter and Facebook link to a weird new flag I don't recognize, a sort of Russian-Cuban montage of a design that appears to be modern, and which, if it is, doesn't help their case. It has the look of Russia planting a new flag. Is it mockery? Or is it stupidity? It's kind of inchoate. But one thing does seem certain from these wobbly misfiring posts: They may have very little understanding of the hemisphere and its sensibilities, but they're playing a hardball game propping up the Maduro dictatorship, and they're not going to get out easily. It looks like they're committed to this one, and probably calculating that President Trump isn't. We're in a severe crisis and its time we started to act like it. Donald Trump has cut off aid to three Central American countries whose citizens continue to flee north seeking asylum in the US. The president also threatened to close the US border with Mexico, a move that would have a devastating economic impact on the US. Border facilities are absolutely overwhelmed by the flood of humanity coming from Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. Customs and Border Protection chief Kevin McAleenan told an El Paso audience on Thursday that the system was at the "breaking point" with"unprecedented" numbers of illegals and asylum seekers flooding the US border. As expected, Democrats complained. Associated Press: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke out Saturday against cutting off aid to Central America, declaring that foreign assistance is not charity; it advances our strategic interests and funds initiatives that protect American citizens. And a group of House Democrats visiting El Salvador denounced the administrations decision to cut aid to the region. As we visit El Salvador evaluating the importance of U.S. assistance to Central America to address the root causes of family and child migration, we are extremely disappointed to learn that President Trump intends to cut off aid to the region, said the statement from five lawmakers, including Rep. Eliot L. Engel of New York, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Presidents approach is entirely counterproductive. The Trump administration has threatened before to scale back or cut off U.S. assistance to Central America. Congress has not approved most of those proposed cuts, however, and a report this year by the Congressional Research Service said any change in that funding would depend on what Congress does. Crisis? What crisis? As it stands now, those three Central American countries have zero motivation to do anything to stem the flow of people from their countries to the US. These are not the freest countries in the world and if they can crack down on people who speak against the government, they can sure as hell do something about the flow of asylum seekers. These governments profit from those who cross the US border, apply for asylum, and are let free until their court hearing. Meanwhile, the asylum seekers send billions of dollars in remittances back to their home countries. As far as Trump's threat to close the border with Mexico, that would be very problematic: Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new group of migrants heading north , he gave a definite timetable and suggested a visit to the border within the next two weeks. A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S. The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be an unmitigated economic debacle that would threaten 5 million American jobs. Even just the threat of closing the border has the Mexican government worried. No doubt it would hurt the US, but it would be an economic disaster for Mexico. Weak, corrupt governments in Central America are directly responsible for this mess. It will be interesting to see their response to the cut off of aid, as more caravans are forming to move people toward the US. See also: Joe Biden's skin-crawling touching of little girls and grown women now an election issue It has become something of a cliche that stories that the main stream media doesnt want Americans to read get dropped on Friday night. However, its no longer 1993 and savvy Americans have gotten used to this ploy and the internet and social media have impowered those people to turn the tables on that same media. Their trick doesnt work anymore. A case in point happened last Friday night. The former 2014 candidate for Lt. Governor of Nevada, Lucy Flores, wrote a first-person magazine style piece for The Cut titled, An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden. In the piece Ms. Flores writes a poignant and damaging piece about former Vice-President Joe Bidens unwanted kiss, groping and violation of her personal space. The story is simply all too familiar. Written in the first-person her recounting the details reads almost like a bodice ripping account from a less politically correct era. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me? I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, I didnt wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair? He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, tragame tierra, it means, earth, swallow me whole. I couldnt move and I couldnt say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called, and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience. This piece is simply a devastating account of unacceptable behavior by the Vice President of the United States. What makes the article even more fantastic is that Ms. Flores links to over half a dozen articles, photos, and describes the media accounts as an open secret and links to a November 17, 2017 article by Noah Millman in The Week. Shes right. The internet is filled with videos, here, here, and a 12 minute compilation here; even Pinterest posters have gotten in on the action, and of course the foreign press as well are detailing this behavior. There is a humorous side to this story as well. With their ratings in tatters following the blow up of the Mueller investigation coverage, both CNN and MSNBC have failed to cover the story. Fox came out with a Martha McCallum piece on Friday night. Internet sites like LiveLeak, BuzzFeed, and others have all come out with pieces on Creepy Joe Biden but the capstone to what will be concern by the Biden camp is a piece by the Washington Posts Alexandra Petri titled: What Are We Going to do About Creepy Joe Biden? National Review says, Joe Biden is Done. Kyle Smith correctly muses in that article, As Flores notes in her account, Bidens handsy behavior with women is an open secret. His numbers in polls have been falling, though they are still high, as the implications of an actual Biden candidacy start to sink in. Some political analysts are saying on Twitter that they think the prospect of many more stories along these lines being published will cause Biden to think twice about running. Kyle Smith is asking the correct question. Who is the beneficiary of Uncle Joes #MeToo demise? The Clintons? Bernie and the Socialistas? The author of The Cut piece and their staff are clearly Bernie supporters. Or, even possibly, former President Obama and still Chief of Staff Valerie Jarrett clearing the way for their preferred candidate? In the last several years weve had distraction after distraction concerning the corruption of the powerful Elite. The #MeToo movement forced our Elites to acknowledge the exploitation of women in Hollywood, the media and the politically powerful nationwide. Those same Elites tried to weaponize that exploitation to destroy Brett Kavanaugh. The Washington D.C. Open Secret about Creepy Joe Biden is even more public than the Hollywood Open Secret about Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Lets hope that whoever is exposing this corruption may continue to do so. Creepy Joe Biden has already been far too close to the most powerful job in the land than he should have been. He doesnt need to get any closer. Tim Ziegler is the Co-author with Scott Swett of To Set the Record Straight - - How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs and the New Media Defeated John Kerry. He is a former Marine Captain, Chef and Spice-Expert who now lives in Broomfield, Colorado with his family. Marysville, CA (95901) Today Rain and wind. High around 50F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 41F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible. This is a great discovery because its of a young, casually seated Tubman, wearing elegant clothing. Obviously, theres wrong with a freedom fighter looking older and more pensive when shes older, but its good to have new information about her. The New York Times What now after COP26? With the frenetic weeks of COP26 over and disputes over its actual achievements still in full spate, here are a few developments that may help put the United Nations climate conference into perspective. The younger Pataudi will soon be joining his sister Sara Ali Khan in the film industry as soon as he finishes his ongoing education in London. Yet another star kid is all set to take Bollywood by storm and it is Saif Ali Khans son Ibrahim Ali Khan. The younger Pataudi will soon be joining his sister Sara Ali Khan in the film industry as soon as he finishes his ongoing education in London. A source very close to Saifs family says, Saif left his sons career choice upto him, just as he left it upto Sara as to what she wanted to do with her life. Saif wasnt happy when Sara chose to become an actor after studying at Columbia University. But Saras mother (Amrita Singh) supported Sara in her career plans. Saif had no choice but to give in. Now, Ibrahim has made it clear to his parents that he wants become an actor. Unlike his sister, Ibrahim is not adamant on making it on his own. Saif may produce a film for Ibrahim. Unlike Sara who was always a full-on masala heroine, Ibrahim needs special nurturing and grooming to face the camera. He is shy and needs to trust the camera, adds the source. Sara in an earlier interview had praised her brothers acting skill and called him talented. Ibrahim wants to be an actor. But as Ive discovered, its an easy dream to have, but a very difficult one to achieve. However, I feel Ibrahim has the talent. Once he enacted a monologue for my mother and I. While I was holding the sheet of paper on which his lines were written, I couldnt look at the sheet. I was busy looking at his eyes. They were so emotive, she had said. The Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre has 300 books on Bhagat Singh which will be useful for research scholars. On March 23, 2019, a function to commemorate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, was organised by the Delhi Archives. Marking 88 years of their martyrdom and the completion of one year of the Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre at Delhi Archives, the chief guest on the occasion was Bhagat Singhs brother, Ranvir Singhs son, Maj. Gen. Sheonan Singh (retd). He and his cousin Abhay Singh Sandhu, also present, released a brochure. The Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre has 300 books on Bhagat Singh which will be useful for research scholars. While this event did not make much news in India, it did so in Pakistan and even amidst all the tension and sparring following the February 14, 2019, terrorist attack by Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Kartarpur corridor controversy and the conversion and forced marriage of Hindu girls. The observance of the martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh and his associates in Pakistan only goes to prove that the sane constituency there still manages to identify with India, albeit seldom. The 88th anniversary of the martyrdom of these three great revolutionaries, who were hanged in Lahore, was reportedly observed in that city amid tight security. This day has been observed in Lahore every year, despite threats from fundamentalists, by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation (BSMF), founded by activist and lawyer Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi with the aim of proving Bhagat Singh to be innocent of the murder of the British Raj police officer John P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged in 1931 after being found guilty of conspiracy against the Raj. Mr Qureshi believes that this is a fabricated case and maintains that Singh is a hero to people in Pakistan as well. Also recently, the Lahore district administration, for the first time, named Shadman Chowk (aka Fawara Chowk) in Lahore Bhagat Singh Chowk and recognised him as a revolutionary. Shadman Chowk is the place where the three young revolutionaries were hanged by the British on March 23, 1931. It was then a part of the grounds of Lahores Central Jail. We have been demanding a statue of Bhagat Singh be put up at this place We have also been moving to award him Nishan-e-Hyder the administration has recognised him as a martyr, which is a good initiative, Mr Qureshi said. Mr Qureshi has reportedly vowed to make the British government pay a heavy sum as compensation to the families of the martyrs. He moved the Lahore High Court to reopen a 90-year-old case concerning the murder of Saunders in 1928. Speaking to the media, he discussed his wish to seek huge compensation from Britain for both India and Pakistan over the judicial killing of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were hanged 11 hours before their scheduled time of execution. Mr Qureshi has also alleged that Bhagat Singhs name is not even mentioned in the FIR registered in December 1928 at Lahores Anarkali police station. Speaking to the media, he said, I will file an amended appeal in the case, which I had filed in March 2013, seeking an apology from the British Prime Minister and the Queen of England to the people of India and Pakistan for hanging the trio If the previous UK Prime Minister David Cameron can visit Jalianwala Bagh and express regret, then why cant the current PM Theresa May do the same? he was quoted. He also mentioned the hurdles he has been facing in his quest. The FIR stated that the Saunders assailant was five feet and five inches tall, had a small moustache, was slim with a strong body and wore white trousers (pyjama) and a grey shirt (kurta) along with a small black christi-like hat, Mr Qureshi said. I went to get a copy of the FIR filed in the John Saunders case and the police at Anarkali police station in Lahore asked me to pay a bribe. I refused and filed a compliance petition with Lahore High Court. It was only then that a DSP rank officer submitted a sealed copy of the FIR in the high court. The copy was so important that even the judges asked me to see it. We are not debating if Bhagat Singh killed Saunders or not, but the evidence on the basis of which he was hanged. The FIR did not contain his name, over 300 witnesses named in the case were not questioned and yet he was hanged on the order of registrar of the Lahore High Court, he added. In 2016, the Lahore High Court granted a request from Mr Qureshi for Bhagat Singhs case to be re-opened to prove his innocence, following an earlier order of the court in 2014 that had led to the discovery of the original December 1928 First Information Report (FIR) relating to Saunders murder. The high court requested in 2016 that the Chief Justice of Pakistan appoint a larger bench to adjudicate but nothing further had happened by September 2017 when Mr Qureshi filed a new petition in the hope of gaining a hearing within a month. Mr Qureshi argues that the FIR referred only to two unknown gunmen, rather than to Singh, and that the tribunal that was convened to determine the case neither heard the 450 witnesses in the case nor permitted Singhs lawyers to cross-examine them. Apart from efforts for a statue to be erected at Shadman Chowk, the BSMF has also been involved in other aspects of commemoration and seeks to promote Singh worldwide through seminars and similar activities. In 2016, the organisation obtained the support of the state government of Punjab, India, in its efforts to build a memorial at Singhs birthplace at Banga, Faisalabad district, Pakistan. They were promised that the government would pay for the purchase of the family house in the village for that purpose. While Mr Qureshi has claimed that Shadman Chowk was renamed as Bhagat Singh Chowk due to the efforts of the BSMF, this change was successfully challenged in a Pakistani court. On September 6, 2015, the BSMF filed a petition in Lahore High Court, which again demanded the renaming of the Chowk to Bhagat Singh Chowk. Pakistans government and the army, which still calls the shots, are quite allergic to pre-Pakistan Indian history, resulting in it being suppressed or selectively altered. Examples of alterations include emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan, who are considered comparatively liberal or pro-Hindu, being deleted from Mughal history and Pakistans fabricated versions of its wars and conflicts against India. However, while many Hindu temples or shrines have been destroyed or defaced in Pakistan, there are still various Muslim ones in its interior areas where Hindu practices and customs are still followed. Perhaps, this is so owing to the peculiarities of human faith, which have escaped the governments or the armys writ. In his book, In Search of Shiva: A Study of Folk Religious Practices in Pakistan, which was reviewed by this writer, Haroon Khalid discloses the customs practised in many such shrines. Khalid, who studied anthropology at the Lahore University of Management and Sciences, has travelled extensively around Pakistan, documenting the country's historical and cultural heritage. Having authored two more books and written over 200 articles for newspapers and magazines, he has also commented on the Pakistani establishments sensitivities about Indian and Pakistani history. Khalids wife, Anam Zakaria, has authored two books, The Footprints of Partition: A Narrative of Four Generations, and Between the Great Divide. This author had the pleasure of meeting the young couple in Delhi a couple of years ago, when they came to have their books, Shiva and Footprints, launched. Having reviewed these two books and some others by Pakistani authors, and spoken at length with them, this writer has come to learn that most Pakistani authors who write about Pakistans pre-independence past, or against the Pakistani establishment, or in favour of India, cannot get their books published in Pakistan. And those who have written against the army are either living outside Pakistan or have been killed. Journalist Saleem Shahzad, who wrote Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11: Inside the Taliban and Al Qaeda, is one such writer who was killed in 2012. Hassan Abbas, who boldly wrote Pakistans Drift Into Extremism, is another who lives in virtual exile. Activists like Qureshi and authors like Khalid, Zakaria, Abbas, Mujahid Hussain (Punjabi Taliban, published by Pentagon Press, India) and a few others deserve credit for their hard work and courage. People on both sides of the border should read their works and stories. The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi In many Central European folk tales, the devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a cock. The sacrifice of the chicken is to receive atonement, for the bird takes on all the persons sins in kapparos. The Indian wild fowl is the ancestor of all the worlds domestic chickens and also of pheasants and even the peacock. It is truly a remarkable bird and must be venerated in the land of its origin instead of being bred in wire cages, fattened with composite foods, steroids and antibiotics, and slaughtered by the millions each day. In many societies it is a religious symbol. In Indonesia the chicken has great significance during the Hindu cremation ceremony. A chicken is a channel for evil spirits, which may be present during the ceremony. A chicken is tethered by the leg and kept present at the ceremony for the duration to ensure that any evil spirits present during the ceremony go into the chicken and not the family members present. The chicken is then taken home and returns to its normal life. He or she is not treated in any special way or slaughtered after the ceremony. In ancient Greece, the chicken was not normally used for sacrifices, perhaps because it was still considered an exotic animal. Because of its valor, cocks are found as attributes of Ares, Heracles and Athena. The alleged last words of Socrates as he died from hemlock poisoning, as recounted by Plato, were Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt? signifying that death was a cure for the illness of life. The Greeks believed that even lions were afraid of cocks. Several of Aesops Fables reference this belief. In the cult of Mithras, the cock was a symbol of the divine light and a guardian against evil. In the Bible, Jesus prophesied the betrayal by Peter: And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. (Luke 22:43) Thus it happened (Luke 22:61), and Peter cried bitterly. This made the cock a symbol for both vigilance and betrayal. Earlier, Jesus compares himself to a mother hen, when talking about Jerusalem: How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37; also Luke 13:34). In many Central European folk tales, the devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a cock. In traditional Jewish practice, a chicken is swung around the head and then slaughtered on the afternoon before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in a ritual called kapparos. The sacrifice of the chicken is to receive atonement, for the bird takes on all the persons sins in kapparos. The meat is then donated to the poor. A woman brings a hen for the ceremony, while a man brings a rooster. Although not actually a sacrifice in the biblical sense, the death of the chicken reminds the penitent sinner that his or her life is in Gods hands. The Talmud speaks of learning courtesy toward ones mate from the rooster. This might refer to the fact that, when a rooster finds something good to eat, he calls his hens to eat first. Talking about cock veneration. The late Col.Mobutu the long time Zaire dictator and kleptomaniac, took a Congolese name which translated simply meant - the cock that leaves no hen untouched! The French rugby team has a rooster as its symbol. The chicken is one of the Zodiac symbols of the Chinese calendar. Also in Chinese religion, a cooked chicken as a religious offering is usually limited to ancestor veneration and worship of village deities. Vegetarian deities such as the Buddha are not one of the recipients of such offerings. Under some observations, an offering of chicken is presented with serious prayer (while roasted pork is offered during a joyous celebration). In Confucian Chinese Weddings, a chicken can be used as a substitute for one who is seriously ill or not available (e.g. sudden death) to attend the ceremony. A red silk scarf is placed on the chickens head and a close relative of the absent bride/groom holds the chicken so the ceremony may proceed. However, this practice is rare today. Surely it deserves a better fate than end up in a tandoor or as butter chicken. If beefsteak is to become taboo, there is just as much a case for making fried chicken taboo. The writer, a policy analyst studying economic and security issues, held senior positions in government and industry. He also specialises in the Chinese economy. This piece was specially written for publication on April 1. Banerjee said, the BJP government has taken control of all premier institutions in the country. Opposition parties have slammed the prime minister, saying the BJP government was trying to take credit for the DRDO's achievement. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of DRDO's recent space achievement, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee Sunday said the BJP government has taken over all premier institutions in the country. On March 27, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted Mission Shakti, an anti-satellite missile test, from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island launch complex, paving the way for the country to join an elite space club comprising the US, Russia, China with such specialised capability. Opposition parties have slammed the prime minister, saying the BJP government was trying to take credit for the DRDO's achievement. Claiming that the people's liberty was at stake under the BJP's rule, Banerjee said "an atmosphere of fear" was prevailing in the country. "The BJP government has taken control of all premier institutions in the country. People here live in fear. They do not have the right to speak freely under an autocratic government," the West Bengal chief minister said. Earlier, too, the chief minister had taken a jibe at Modi, terming his announcement of the DRDO mission as "yet another limitless drama to reap political benefits" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "India's Mission Programme is world-class for many many years. We are always proud of our scientists, @DRDO_India, other research & space organisations," she had tweeted, adding that "Modi, as usual, likes to take the credit for everything." Talking to reporters at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport here before leaving for Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to participate in a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rally, Banerjee said a "dictatorial government" is pulling the strings at the Centre using force and intimidation, "trampling democratic norms". "Disinvestment has been done in public sector companies. Some workers are not getting salaries. The lives of farmers and labourers are under threat under the current dispensation. "I feel that everyone will come forward, keeping aside their petty interests to collectively vote against the Modi government," said Banerjee, who has been trying to cobble up an united opposition alliance against the BJP. The CM said she would extend her support to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who pulled out his party of the NDA in March 2018, alleging injustice was being done to Andhra Pradesh by the Narendra Modi government. "I am going to Visakhapatnam at the invitation of Chandrababu Naidu to extend my solidarity and participate in a public meeting," she said. Giving details of her itinerary, Banerjee said she will visit Cooch Behar in north Bengal on April 4 and Assam the following day to address rallies. In Bengal, Banerjee claimed, she would be holding as many rallies as possible over the course of the next two weeks. "I will address nearly 100 meetings in Bengal," the Trinamool chief said. Election to 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The EC, however, said on Friday night that Mr Modis address to the nation did not violate the model code of conduct. New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability, saying only a foolish government would make such a disclosure and betray a defence secret. In an address to the nation, Mr Modi had on Wednesday announced that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability by shooting down a live satellite under Mission Shakti, describing it as a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space superpowers. Slamming the announcement by the prime minister, Mr Chidambaram tweeted, The capability to shoot down a satellite has existed for many years. A wise government will keep the capability secret. Only a foolish government will disclose it and betray a defence secret. The former finance minister also questioned the motive of the government in making the announcement. Besides, why was it done now in the middle of an election campaign? Only to boost the sagging fortunes of the BJP, the Congress leader claimed. Following the Prime Ministers speech, several Opposition parties had complained to the Election Commission alleging violation of the model code of conduct. The EC, however, said on Friday night that Mr Modis address to the nation did not violate the model code of conduct. Mr Chidambaram also sought answers from the PM on high unemployment rate and job losses, citing data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). "Unemployment rate in India is at 7.1 per cent. It is the highest in 45 years. Why? Will Mr Modi answer? he said in a series of tweets. According to the NSSO, 4 crore 70 lakh jobs have been lost. Why? Will Mr Modi answer?" he said in a series of tweets. The TMC and BJP are engaged in a bitter fight in West Bengal with TMC giving the call to oust the BJP government at the Center. The web series compares various welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with that of the TMC government in West Bengal. (Photo: Screengrab) Kolkata: Ahead of Lok Sabha poll in the state, the Trinamool Congress Friday launched a web series christened 'Pradhan Mantri Hisab Do' comparing various welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with that of the TMC government in West Bengal. The first episode of the web series began with a short film comparing two schemes Bengal governments Sabooj Sathi and the Central governments Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. Under the Sabooj Sathi scheme of West Bengal bicycles are given to girl students of class 9 to 12 studying in government-run and government-aided schools and madrashas of the state. The video shows two girls one living in Rewari, Haryana and the other in Hoogly district of West Bengal. A girl of Rewari in the video is seen speaking about how she had to leave her school as it is 14-15 km away from his home and there is not a single school in her village. In the next scene, a housewife from Hooghly, tells how the bicycle her daughter got from the West Bengal government as part of the Sabooj Sathi scheme, conceived by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is enabling her to attend school regularly, even though its quite a distance away. The TMC and BJP are engaged in a bitter fight in West Bengal with TMC giving the call to oust the BJP government at the Center and the BJP setting a target of winning 23 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. After coming to know of Surendra and Preeti's relationship, Dinesh planned to kill them, police said. Later, police examined CCTV footage and conducted electronic surveillance in the area. (Photo: Representational Image) Ghaziabad: A Delhi policeman allegedly shot dead a couple at a temple in Ghaziabad, apparently because the woman had ended her relationship with him, police said on Saturday. Dinesh, an assistant sub-inspector with the Delhi Traffic Police, and his accomplice Pintoo were arrested, days after the bodies of Preeti, 32, and her fiance Surendra, 26, were found in a temple in Sai Upwan near the Hindon river, they said. The police zeroed in on Dinesh as the main suspect after reports of Preeti and him being in a relationship surfaced. A complaint was lodged by the girl's father Pramod Kumar, said DIG Upendra Agarwal. Later, police examined CCTV footage and conducted electronic surveillance in the area. A week ago, Preeti had changed her mobile number and stopped meeting Dinesh, officials said. After coming to know of Surendra and Preeti's relationship, Dinesh planned to kill them, police said. On March 25, Dinesh and his friend Pintoo followed the couple's vehicle when they were on their way to the Sai temple in Sai Upvan, officials said. When the couple came out of the temple, Dinesh had a heated argument with them and in a fit of anger shot them, officials said. Police have recovered a 9 mm service pistol, three live cartridges and the car which was used in committing the crime, they said. This was announced by Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) director Arvind Bundhun during a tourism roadshow organised by MTPA in the city. Bundhun however pointed out that there is only one carrier that flies directly to Mauritius from India. Kolkata: Air Mauritius is planning to increase the number of its flights between India and Mauritius to boost tourism. This was announced by Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) director Arvind Bundhun during a tourism roadshow organised by MTPA in the city. Calling for increase in air connectivity between the two countries to boost tourism, he stressed that air connectivity is a must to attract a large number of tourists from any country. Mr Bundhun however pointed out that there is only one carrier that flies directly to Mauritius from India. This needs to increase considering the growth from the Indian market, he noted. Mr Bundhun said, There is scope for one more airline to fly to Mauritius directly from India very soon considering the growth in Indians travelling to the Island. Elaborating future plans he added, Air Mauritius plans to add more flights to cater to the increasing capacity. We can see the growing interest in the aviation sector and are willing to support any Indian carrier willing to fly to Mauritius. According to MTPA country manager Vivek Anand, India is one of the most promising tourism markets. In 2019, we will continue showcasing Mauritius Beyond the Beach. The coastal project will destroy our fishing grounds where we have been fishing since decades. Mumbai: In a strong demonstration, a thousand citizens and activists gathered at Marine Drive Saturday to raise concerns over the citys environment. Citizens including several children and senior citizens formed a symbolic human chain to create awareness about and urge political parties for a green manifesto ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The issues ranged from loss of green spaces, development projects affecting wetlands and mangroves, displacement of tribals and fishermen, to wildlife protection among others. Along with citizens, 25 environment groups participated in the human chain which stretched at least for 1 km at the Marine Drive promenade. Among the participants were Warli fishermen who stated that they had been directly affected by the coastal road project. The coastal project will destroy our fishing grounds where we have been fishing since decades. When the political parties say that the coastal road is their dream project, they are not considering the fishing communities that have been the original inhabitants of Mumbai. They are telling us to fish outside the four nautical miles of our fishing areas where we dont get commercial fish, said Nitesh Patil, a Warli fisherman. Meanwhile some people also stated that the development projects had been destroying the tree cover drastically. Vinod Jain, an activist who had travelled for the event from Pune stated, My demonstration is a way to plead with international agencies that have been providing loans for projects like the Bullet Train, Metro 3 due to which many trees are being axed. As per my RTI query, as many as 20 lakh trees have been cut for the national highway in eight years across the country. Shailesh Shah, a 55-year-old resident from Kanjurmarg, said that he wanted to urge political leaders to stress on the environmental aspects of development projects. All the political parties have disappointed us for their greed, but still, there are political individuals that can help us prioritise environment protection in Mumbai, he said. Tribals from Aarey Colony also voiced their concerns over the Metro car shed coming at the site. Members of the Saudi team that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi received training in the United States, the Washington Post reported. Khashoggi was killed and dismembered on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. (Photo: File) Washington: Members of the Saudi team that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi received training in the United States, the Washington Post has reported, revealing other new elements in the death of the newspaper's former contributor. A critic of the Saudi regime, Khashoggi was killed and dismembered on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has never been recovered. After having denied the murder, Saudi Arabia said the operation was carried out by agents who were out of control. A trial of 11 suspects opened earlier this year in Saudi Arabia. But much of the case remains shrouded, beginning with the role of Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. The US Senate, after a closed-door briefing by the CIA, adopted a resolution naming the crown prince as "responsible" for the murder, while President Donald Trump has refused to publicly take a stand. According to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, a Saudi who closely read the transcript of a recording from a bug placed in the consulate by Turkish intelligence said it indicates the plan was to kidnap Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for detention and interrogation. A note in the transcript says an injection was administered to Khashoggi, which the Saudi source said was probably a powerful sedative. A bag was then placed over his head, and Khashoggi screamed: "I can't breathe, I have asthma. Don't do this." According to the Post, he died soon after. The transcript describes a buzzing noise, perhaps an electric saw used to dismember the journalist. According to Ignatius, who said he interviewed more than a dozen American and Saudi sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, some members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group received training in the United States. "The CIA has cautioned other government agencies that some of this special-operations training might have been conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company, under a State Department license," he said. "The training occurred before the Khashoggi incident, as part of ongoing liaison with the Saudis, and it hasn't been resumed." He said several other US-Saudi security exchange programs also have been suspended. Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced the decision in Multan while speaking to reporters. Islamabad: Pakistans High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood was on Sunday appointed as the new foreign secretary of the country. Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced the decision in Multan while speaking to reporters. Mr Qureshi said that the decision was taken following discussions with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Expressing his gratitude to incumbent foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua, who is retiring on April 16, Mr Qureshi said he had received a lot of help from her. She handled challenges excellently in foreign affairs, he said, praising her for bravery, courage and clarity. Ms Janjua was the first woman to become Pakistans foreign secretary. Mr Qureshi also praised Mehmood, who had previously served as Pakistans ambassador to Turkey and Thailand. Before that, he was the permanent representative to the UNESCP Bangkok for four years till 2013. Even now, after the Pulwama incident took place, he came to the headquarters for consultations and I benefited from his experience, the foreign minister said. Mr Qureshi expressed the confidence that Mr Mehmood would fulfill his responsibilities as foreign secretary. AWD CVT Codenamed DN8, the 2020 Hyundai Sonata features all-new underpinnings that can be adapted from front- to all-wheel drive. This gets us to Jae Young Kim, director of product division. Speaking to CNET , the higher-up made it clear the automaker is currently reviewing the need for all-wheel drive.The platform codenamed N3 has been designed for more vehicles, including crossovers and SUVs. Without further beating around the bush, it wouldnt be hard for Hyundai to implementfor the Sonata in North America. Given the demand for such an option in cold-climate states and Canada, a competitor for the Subaru Legacy is welcome in this segment.Nissan took things further with the redesigned Altima , which comes as standard with all-wheel drive in Canada. All-weather capability and the 2.5-liter DIG four-cylinder engine doesnt sound all that exciting, and looking at the bigger picture, Nissan took the potential for excitement out when the Japanese brand decided to utilize continuously variable transmissions.Turning our attention back to the Sonata, the 2020 will premiere in mid-April at the New York Auto Show. Sales are scheduled for the second half of the year, and given this timeline, first U.S. deliveries are bound to happen in the third quarter of 2019.There wont be any hybrid or plug-in hybrid at launch, but Hyundai did mention two four-cylinder options. These are the 2.5-liter GDI (190 horsepower and 180 pound-feet) and 1.6 T-GDI (180 horsepower and 194 pound-feet), both featuring Smart Stream technologies. An eight-speed automatic transmission does the shifting, not the Xtronicthat tends to be the weakest part of modern Nissan models.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the 2020 Hyundai Sonata does break the mold. A more dynamic design compared to the preceding generation, the DN8 also happens to feature Honda Civic-inspired taillamps. The interior, however, appears to be the place where Hyundai focused the most in terms of research and development. Codenamed 1YC07, the mid-engine dream of Zora-Artus Duntov will come to fruition this summer. Production in Bowling Green, Kentucky is scheduled to start towards the end of 2019, and the eighth generation will be offered with the LT2 as the entry-level engine.An evolution of the LT1 in the C7, the 6.2-liter V8 in the C8 is expected with 500 horsepower. A dual-clutch transmission will have to suffice, but Chevrolet has more engine options in the pipeline. The mid-range Corvette will feature a twin-turbo V8, and one such prototype was crashed a few days ago at the Virginia International Raceway.Thursday an e-mail was sent delaying any entry into the paddock until 7:30 PM at the earliest which is a good bit later than normal, wrote Tool Hoarder on the Corvette Forum . Event organizers apologized explaining that their hands were tied with a private, high-security track rental.After the crash, someone at the track found a piece of the car General Motors missed. It comes hard for us to identify what that panel is, but being covered in camouflage, theres no denying it came from the development prototype of the C8 Corvette.Its easy to put the blame on the driver for the crash, but remember that Chevrolet switched from front- to mid-engined for the eighth generation. Their development drivers arent accustomed to the handling of such cars, let alone a Vette with a twin-turbo V8 derived from the Blackwing that Cadillac utilizes in the CT6 V-Sport CT6-V. Further down the road, Chevrolet is understood to electrify the C8. In combination with the twin-turbo V8, chances are the Corvette will nudge 1,000 horsepower. To put that into perspective, the C7 ZR1 develops 755 horsepower and 715 pound-feet of torque. 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. President Trump signaled on Saturday that he was intervening to help a Navy SEAL accused of crimes while serving Iraq. Catch up quick: "In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal [sic] Eddie Gallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court. Process should move quickly!" Trump tweeted. The president tagged the "Fox and Friends" Twitter account and South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman both of whom have advocated for Gallagher. Details, per Politico: "Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to a series of charges stemming from his 2017 deployment with the California-based SEAL Team 7. Apart from the accusation that he murdered a teenage ISIS fighter under his care, military prosecutors contend that he held his re-enlistment ceremony with the detainees corpse. Gallagher is also accused of shooting two civilians in Iraq and firing inadvertently into crowds." Behind the scenes: Trump has been following Gallagher's story closely especially through the coverage of "Fox & Friends" hosts Pete Hegseth and Brian Kilmeade. In addition to his public advocacy for Gallagher, Hegseth has spoken to the president privately about the case, a source familiar with their conversations told me. When I asked him about this, Hegseth said he did not want to comment for the story. Between the lines: "This is not the first time Trump has cited Fox News while taking an interest in a case involving a US serviceman on combat duty," the Guardian reports. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) said Sunday that he voluntarily took polygraph exams that support his defense that he did not sexually assault two women who leveled accusations against him earlier this year. "When asked: 'Did you engage in any non-consensual sexual activity with Vanessa Tyson?,' Lt. Governor Fairfax answered 'no.' The polygraph examination showed that this was a truthful answer. "When asked: 'Did you engage in any non-consensual sexual activity with Meredith Watson?,' Lt. Governor Fairfax answered 'no.' The polygraph examination showed that this was a truthful answer." The big picture: Fairfax has faced significant pressure to resign since the allegations were made in February. Both Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, whose interviews will air on CBS "This Morning" on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, have said they would be willing to testify before the Virginia Assembly. North Korea said Sunday it's watching closely rumors the FBI played a role in what it called a "grave terrorist attack" at its embassy in Madrid, according to the state-run KCNA news agency. Details: North Korea expects Spain to investigate last month's embassy incident, KCNA reports. A Spanish judge investigating what he called an armed break-in at the embassy said this week the U.S.-based alleged gang leader contacted the FBI days afterward to offer data stolen in the raid. The other side: The U.S. denies any involvement in the incident. The dissident group claiming responsibility says it entered the embassy peacefully. The big picture: The Spanish judge has issued international warrants for the suspected gang leader, Mexico-born U.S. resident Adrian Hong Chang, and U.S. citizen Sam Ryu over the incident, which occurred just before President Trumps second summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi. Robert De Niro reprised his role as Special Counsel Robert Mueller as "Saturday Night Live" dedicated the opening sketch of its return show to the fallout from the Mueller report's conclusion. Details: De Niro's Mueller read from his report that his team had not drawn a definitive conclusion on the charge of obstruction of justice. Aidy Bryant's William Barr responded, "But I have, and my conclusion is Trump clean as a whistle." Alec Baldwin's Trump exclaimed: "Free at last, free at last!" The sketch ended on a somewhat ominous note, with De Niro's Mueller referring to a New York investigation. "P.S. cant wait to see what the Southern District of New York has in store for Trump," De Niro said. President Trump's executive order reversing an Obama-era ban on offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean is unlawful, a federal judge in Alaska has ruled. Why it matters: Why it matters: U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason's ruling against Trump's 2017 order reinstates a ban on offshore drilling a in wide region off Alaska's coast and part of the Atlantic Ocean. What she's saying: Gleason ruled Trump's order "exceeded the President's authority." "The wording of President Obama's 2015 and 2016 withdrawals indicates that he intended them to extend indefinitely, and therefore be revocable only by an act of Congress," said Gleason, who was nominated to the bench by Obama. Our thought bubble, from Axios' Ben Geman: Legal hurdles are just one of many uncertainties clouding the potential for Arctic offshore drilling, despite what are thought to be huge hydrocarbon deposits in the region. Projects in the harsh seas are expensive, and companies have a wealth of other opportunities to pursue in the lower 48 states and elsewhere. Go deeper: A new phase in the Arctic drilling battle By Trend March 31 is marked as the Day of Genocide of the Azerbaijanis. After the Republic of Azerbaijan regained its independence, it has become possible to renew the objective picture of the past history of Azerbaijani people. The truth, which for many years was kept back, is getting disclosed and misinterpreted events are getting their real assessment. Numerous acts of genocide committed against Azerbaijani people, which for many years did not receive their deserved political and legal assessment, are one of the lesser known pages of the country's history. The Gulustan and Turkmenchay agreements signed in 1813 and 1828 provided the legal ground for the partition of the nation of Azerbaijan and division of its historical lands. The occupation of the lands continued the national tragedy of Azerbaijan people. Within a short period of time, mass settlement of Armenians began on Azerbaijan's territories. The occupation of Azerbaijani territories became an integral part of the genocide. Armenians moved to Irevan, Nakhchivan and Karabakh khanates and achieved establishing their administrative territorial unit of "Armenian region", despite their minority as compared to Azerbaijanis residing in the same area. This artificial separation provided political reasons for removal and annihilation of Azerbaijanis in their native lands. This was followed by propaganda of the establishment of the "Greater Armenia". In order to ensure the exculpation of the idea to establish this fictitious state in the territory of Azerbaijan, a wide-scale program, aimed at the falsification of the national history of Armenians, was started. The distortion of Azerbaijan's history and the whole Caucasus formed an integral part of this program. Inspired by the idea of the establishment of "Greater Armenia", Armenian invaders, in 1905-1907, started to openly conduct hostile actions against the nation of Azerbaijan on a mass scale. Armenians started their atrocious acts in Baku and further spread them through the rest of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani settlements in the current territory of Armenia. Hundreds of settlements were razed to the ground and thousands of Azerbaijanis were savagely killed. The organizers of this savagery were creating an unfavorable image of Azerbaijani people, to hide the truth and prevent these happenings from correct political and legal evaluation. Armenians got use of the World War I, Russian revolutions in February and October of 1917, and managed to accomplish their ideas under the plea of the Bolshevism. The implementation of a cruel plan of cleansing the population of Azerbaijani provinces started with the Baku commune under the plea of fighting against counter-revolutionary elements in March of 1918. Armenian crimes have secured themselves an everlasting place in the memory of Azerbaijani people. Thousands of civilians were murdered for the only reason of being Azerbaijanis. Armenians destroyed dwelling houses and burnt people alive. Most of Baku was turned into ruins with national architectural sights, schools, hospitals, mosques and other monuments destroyed. The genocide of Azerbaijanis was particularly cruel in Baku, Shamakhi, Guba, Karabakh, Zangazur, Nakhchivan, Lankaran and other regions. Many civilians in those areas were killed, the villages were burned to ashes and national monuments were razed to the ground. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), the closest attention was paid to the March 1918 events. The Council of Ministers issued a decree on July 15, 1918, to establish an extraordinary committee for the investigation of those tragic events. The committee investigated the first stage of the March 1918 genocide; the brutal acts in Shamakhi and the cruel crimes in Irevan province. A special department was established under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify the community about the truth. The ADR declared March 31 a mourning day twice - in 1919 and 1920. It was the first attempt in the history to give a political assessment to genocide against the people of Azerbaijan and to the occupation of the country's lands, which went on for over a century. But the fall of the ADR did not allow this process to end. In 1920, Armenians got use of the coming of the Soviet power into the South Caucasus, and declared the annexation of Zangazur and other regions of Azerbaijan to the Armenian Soviet Republic. Armenians later started to utilize newer means to strengthen their policy, aimed at the deportation of Azerbaijani people from these territories. For this purpose, Armenians used the December 23, 1947 decree of the Soviet Council of Ministers "On removal of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian Soviet Republic to the Kura-Araz lowlands of the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic". During 1948-1953, they finally achieved the purpose of mass deportation of Azerbaijani people from their historical lands, at the state level. In early 1950s, Armenian nationalists with the help of their defenders began to conduct a cruel aggressive campaign against the nation of Azerbaijan. In regular published books, magazines and newspapers in former Soviet Union, the attempts were made to prove that Azerbaijani national culture, classic heritage and architectural monuments belong to Armenians. At the same time, Armenians strengthened their efforts to create a negative image about Azerbaijani people worldwide. In order to create the image of "a long-suffering oppressed Armenian nation", the Armenians deliberately distorted the events which took part in this region in the beginning of the 20th century. They called themselves the victims of the genocide, which they in reality conducted against Azerbaijani people. Persecution of Azerbaijanis in Irevan, where the main population consisted of Azerbaijanis and from the other parts of Armenian SSR, led to their mass proscription. Armenians violated the rights of Azerbaijani people, created the obstacles to get the education in native language and exerted a strong pressure upon them. The historical names of Azerbaijani villages were changed within a previously unforeseen process in the history of toponymy, when ancient names were replaced with the modern ones. The trumped-up Armenian history was raised at the state political level in order to bring up younger generations of Armenians in the spirit of chauvinism. Brought up in the manner of Azerbaijani literature and culture, which served to great humanism ideals, the young generation of Azerbaijanis was persecuted by the followers of Armenia's extremist ideology. The claims against the Azerbaijani national spirit, honor and dignity, created an ideological platform for the political and military aggression. Azerbaijani genocide, which was not given a correct political and legal evaluation, led to distortion of historical facts in the Soviet media and misleading of the communities by Armenians. The leadership of Azerbaijan did not pay the sufficient attention to anti-Azerbaijani propaganda, which raised and intensified among the Soviet regime in mid-80s. The deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands at the first stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1988, also did not receive a correct political assessment in Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh was taken from Azerbaijan's control and annexed to the Armenian SSR at the basis of an unconstitutional decree of Armenian Republic and under assistance of the Moscow-led Special Administration Committee. This fact caused a serious dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan and forced it to begin important political activities. Even though the aggressive policy aimed at the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, was strongly criticized at numerous rallies held in Azerbaijan, the political leadership still did not give up its passive and contemplative position. In January, 1990 the Soviet troops were brought to Baku in order to prevent further development of the national liberation movement. Hundreds of Azerbaijani people were killed and injured, as the result. In February, 1992 Armenians accomplished unforeseen brutalities in Azerbaijan's small town of Khojaly. The Khojaly genocide saw thousands of Azerbaijanis murdered and taken as war prisoners. Khojaly itself was razed to the ground. The adventurous policy of Armenian nationalists and separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, forced over one million of Azerbaijani nationals from their homelands. Today, they live in tent camps. Roughly 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenian armed forces, and thousands of Azerbaijani citizens got injured and became martyrs. The tragedies, which took place in Azerbaijan in the 19th-20th centuries and resulted in occupation of Azerbaijani lands, formed the consecutive stages of Armenia's purposeful policy against the Azerbaijani people. Efforts were made to give a political assessment to only one of those events - the March 1918 massacre. The successor of the ADR the Republic of Azerbaijan - considers it a historical duty to ensure a logical continuation to unfulfilled political decrees and political evaluation to the genocide. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend On March 31, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in connection with the municipal elections held in Turkey, Trend reports citing the press service of the head of state. The head of state extended congratulations on the confident victory of the Justice and Development Party, founded and headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Turkish municipal elections. The head of state described this win as manifestation of the Turkish people`s support for Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his policy. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the phone call and sincere congratulations. During the phone conversation, the heads of state expressed their confidence that the friendly and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey will always develop and strengthen in accordance with the will of the two peoples. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Star oil refinery operating in the Turkish city of Izmir will ensure the export of products worth $500 million annually, said Fatih Donmez, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media. According to Donmez, the Star refinery is among the countrys important energy projects. The minister also noted that the activities of the Star refinery contribute to the growth of the Turkish economy. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the opening of the Star oil refinery in Izmir on October 19, 2018. The total oil refining capacity of the refinery will make up 10 million tons, and SOCAR will be the main supplier of raw materials for the enterprise. The refinery will allow for significantly reducing the dependence of Turkey on imports of petrochemical products. Around 1.6 million tons of naphtha, 1.6 million tons of aviation fuel, 4.8 million tons of low-sulfur diesel fuel, 700,000 tons of petroleum coke, 420,000 tons of mixed xylene and 160,000 tons of sulfur will be produced in the Petkim petrochemical complex of the refinery. The refinery is worth $6.3 billion and was built by SOCAR in the Aliaga District of Turkeys Izmir Province. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Iranians, who buy apartments in neighboring countries will not get the host country's citizenship, said Mustafa Gholi Khosravi, head of Iranian National Property Advisers Union. Khosravi noted that during recent years, Iranians had a bad experience in buying house in neighbor countries, Trend reports citing ISNA. "Georgia became the latest destination for Iranians to purchase houses, but the parliament has issued a ban on selling apartment to foreign nationalities or purchasing it from them. At the moment, Iranian property owners are not able to sell their houses and Georgians refuse to buy them," he said. Khosravi went on to add that Turkey and Cyprus are making lots of advertisement to sell apartment or villa in promise of providing citizenship to Iranians, but in reality, obtaining citizenship in Turkey requires two documents, the first is the property document issued by the municipalities of Turkey and the second document issued after the property owner starts to reside in Turkey. "I advise our fellow citizens to invest their money in our country that have less risk," he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Richwood, TX (77531) Today Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 71F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Areas of patchy fog. Low 68F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. By Trend President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has approved the composition of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Turkish commission for economic cooperation from the Turkmen side, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen presidential decree. The document was signed for further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Turkey. Turkey is one of the largest trade partners of Turkmenistan: about 600 Turkish companies operating in trade, investment, construction, energy, transport, communications, textile and processing industries are registered in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan exports the products of textile, energy, chemical, agricultural industries. Metals and products made of metals, household goods, equipment, building materials, electrical goods, products of chemical and light industries, food products, vehicles, and medicines are imported from Turkey. Ashgabat and Ankara expressed readiness to develop energy cooperation. Turkey declared its readiness to promote the transportation of the Caspian energy resources to Europe through Turkish territory, one of the options being the transportation along the bottom of the Caspian Sea and further across the territory of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Kyrgyzstan national operator Kyrgyztelecom and the mobile operator Megacom have signed an agreement on a strategic partnership with Russia company Sitronics to cooperate on launching and exploiting a data centre in Kyrgyzstan, reports Trend citing Telecompaper.com The companies will carry out an audit of the Kyrgyzstan telecommunications infrastructure. The audit will lead to a road-map for the deployment of the data centre and ICT systems and services for state institutions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Visas will be issued to Iraqi citizens free of charge from April 1, the Iranian embassy in Iraq said, Trend reports referring to ISNA. According to the agreement reached during the Iranian president's visit to Iraq, the Iranian embassy and all consulates in Iraq will issue visas free of charge from April 1 to Iraqi citizens wishing to visit Iran. On March 12, Iran's Vice President Ali Asghar Mounesan said that an agreement on visa regime simplification was reached during the Iranian president's visit to Iraq. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 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 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Bakersfield, CA (93308) Today Cloudy skies. High around 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain late. Low near 50F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible. Hundreds flocked to Texas Southern University Saturday afternoon to watch presidential candidate and former Senate candidate Beto ORourke speak at a campaign rally. After touring states in the Midwest and North, and officially launching his campaign in his native El Paso Saturday morning, ORourke began speaking at 3100 Cleburn St. shortly after 6:30 p.m. - more than an hour and a half after the rally was scheduled to begin. It was the first time O'Rourke visited Houston since kicking off his presidential run. For subscribers: How Houston shaped Beto O'Rourke's message As a cold front blew through the historically black university, O'Rourke wore a TSU hat and told those gathered that Houston was pivotal in his 2018 Senate campaign and will be key to his presidential race. "It's going to be the people of Texas, it's going to be the people of Houston, Texas, who will help lead the way," O'Rourke said. The 46-year-old candidate echoed comments he made at his kick-off event and in town halls across Iowa and Pennsylvania - lauding immigration, calling for action on climate change and chastising President Donald Trump. He touched on universal medical care, raising teachers' salaries and ending the federal prohibition on marijuana. He said Houston had led the way on several initiatives he would like to see spread across the country, including working to eliminate cash bail and electing diverse officeholders. If the rest of the country can follow the lead of Texas' largest city, O'Rourke said, his campaign will culminate in the White House. "We're going to make sure that we meet every single one of our aspirations - not by half the measure and not by half the country," O'Rourke said. "At this very divided, very polarized, hyper-partisan moment, what this country needs if for us to come together." This story will be updated during the rally. Check back for updates. Movie memories recalled I will soon be 79 and as such have a history with movie prices I would like to share in hopes that some other senior will remember the same and back me up. In 1951 I went to the Jefferson Theater on Saturdays and the ticket was 9 cents. Later it went up to 12 cents. Then 25 cents. Kids complained and they issued a Student Discount Card which allowed one to get in for 12 cents. Then it went to 50 cents and again with the card it was 25 cents. Popcorn, Coke and a Hollaway chocolate sucker were about 25 cents. The Saturday morning event was called The Organ Club. A giant white organ would rise up from a pit and Al Sacker would entertain us with some great music. Then it would go down and the movie would start. Always a double feature with what was called serials. Movies were cut up into short runs each week Captain Video, The Durango Kid and Johnny Mack Brown to name a few. Those were the days! Joe Bonura, Beaumont Block telemarketers Like me, you might be overwhelmed with calls from telemarketers and robo-callers that arent being blocked by your robo/telemarketer blocker. They are not blocked because callers are using software that falsifies the phone number showing on your Caller ID. Callers can then call you every day with a new number and the call wont be blocked. No call blocker can be effective in this situation. There is a bill in the Texas House of Representatives to prevent these calls, but it will be ineffective since phone companies are powerless to block numbers than can be changed easily. As Texans, our best bet is action by our U.S. senators. Repeated messages to senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn asking that the software be ILLEGAL TO POSSESS OR USE have gone unanswered. Im a conservative but have had it with them and these callers. Please encourage them to be heroes by passing a bill outlawing this software. Jim Parnella, San Antonio Release Mueller report ASAP Attorney General William Barr isnt just the nations top lawyer, hes also one of the last members of Trumps Cabinet who has the capability to inspire trust and hold legitimacy among a broad, bipartisan swath of the American public. The unrelenting chaos of the last two years has damaged Americans trust in common facts, authorities, and institutions. Barr can help reverse the trend. Barr has promised Congress that he will give them Special Counsel Robert Muellers report, once hes redacted out all the classified information: national security sources and methods, facts relating to ongoing investigations, and grand jury proceedings. As he works through that information, he will have to make judgment calls about what can stay and what needs to go. When in doubt, he should leave as much information in the report as possible. In a hyper-partisan, bitterly mistrustful time such as ours, a dose of transparency could avert a great deal of strife. Rick Hall, Tuscumbia, Ala., Republicans for the Rule of Law President Donald Trump said March 27 that he understands the complexities of healthcare and the Republican Party will be the "party of great healthcare," according to CBS News. "I mean it 100 percent, I understand healthcare now, especially very well," President Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Fabiana Rosales De Guaido, the interim first lady of Venezuela. "The Democrats have, they've let you down, they came up with Obamacare. It's terrible." The remarks come after the Republican Party has repeatedly failed to repeal and replace the ACA. They also follow a Justice Department filing on March 26 that said the department supports a judge's ruling that the entire ACA should be invalidated. In December, a federal judge in Texas held that the ACA is unconstitutional. The judge sided with the Republican-led states that brought the lawsuit, Texas v. United States, calling for the entire ACA to be struck down because Congress eliminated the healthcare law's individual insurance mandate penalty. Police attended the scene of the serious one vehicle crash on Friday morning. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press A 52-year-old man has died following a collision near Nutt's Corner in Crumlin, Co Antrim. Jim McGranaghan was killed after the car he was travelling in crashed at the junction of Ballyutoag Road and Ballyutoag Hill shortly before 05.30am on Friday. Police attended the scene with the ambulance and fire and rescue services. A PSNI spokeswoman said two other men, who were in the vehicle, were taken to hospital. Police are investigating the incident. They are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them. A 21-year-old man has been charged after a Belfast shop worker had part of his ear bitten off during an attempted robbery. Police said the man entered an off licence on the Antrim Road at around 7.40pm on Saturday and put a female member of staff in a headlock while demanding cash. The man was then tackled by two male staff members. PSNI Detective Sergeant O'Flaherty said: "During the ensuing altercation with the staff, the would-be robber bit off part of the earlobe of one of the male employees. "The intruder was then restrained by a male customer until police arrived a few minutes later. This customer left the store a short time after police arrival and I am appealing for him to get in touch with us on 101, quoting reference 1327 30/03/19." The man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of an offensive weapon, attempted robbery and criminal damage. He is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates' Court on Monday morning. The Northern Ireland Fire Service are at the scene. (stock picture) Emergency services are currently at the scene of a fire on-board a passenger ferry in Larne Harbour. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) was called to the harbour shortly after 4.30pm and three fire crews are in attendance. The fire broke out in the engine room and has since been extinguished. A NIFRS spokesperson said: "The fire was extinguished by the ships crew and internal fire suppression system. NIFRS are liaising with other agencies on the scene. "There are no reported injuries and all persons are accounted for." A Craigavon woman was left "terrified" after she awoke in the middle of night to find a male intruder standing over her and her children in bed. Police said the "disturbing" incident happened a house in the Drumbeg area of the town at around 2.30am on Saturday. The intruder said nothing and when challenged by the mum he fled the scene through the front door. Police believe he entered through an upstairs window. The man is described as being white, tall and in his late 20s. He had a shaven head and wore a cream shirt and blue jeans. A PSNI spokesperson said: "This would be a petrifying ordeal for anyone, but more so for a parent with children to protect. "If you were in the area last night and saw anyone matching that description in or around the estate, please call us on 101. "Someone out there must have seen something. There is a mum out there who will no doubt lie awake tonight worrying. Help us keep her safe. Help us find out who is responsible." Alistair Lovie was last seen on Sunday morning (Police Scotland) Police say concern is growing for a missing dementia sufferer who was last seen walking near a disused mine on a Scottish island. Officers are trying to trace Alistair Lovie, who has been reported missing from the Inverarish area of the Isle of Raasay. The 73-year-old was last seen walking at a disused mine area north of the village at about 11am on Sunday. Team out searching with @RaasaySFRS @MCA_media locals etc for Alistair Lovie (73 yrs) missing from home on @IsleofRaasay Alistair suffers from dementia so keen to get him home soon @RaasayStores @RaasayHouse @TheSilverG @RaasayWhisky Last seen in Inverarish area at 1100 hrs today Lochaber & Skye Police (@LochabSkyePol) March 31, 2019 Police Sergeant David Canning said: We are growing increasingly concerned for Alistair as he suffers from dementia and is likely to have lost his way whilst out walking. Alistair is reasonably physically fit but he may be in a confused state. I would urge anyone who was walking in the Rasaay area today or who lives in the area and has seen Alistair today to contact Portree Police on 101. He is described as 5ft 10ins, medium build with brown hair and blue eyes. When last seen he was wearing a black jacket, jeans, a black cap, a blue shirt and a red jumper. Meanwhile, officers are also keen to trace a man who has been reported missing from Dalkeith, Midlothian. Expand Close Ross Taylor was last seen at around 12pm on Sunday (Police Scotland) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ross Taylor was last seen at around 12pm on Sunday (Police Scotland) Ross Taylor was last seen at his home in the Mayfield area around 12pm on Sunday and police say there are concerns for his welfare. The 30-year-old is described as white, 5ft 9ins tall, of skinny build, with short light-brown hair and was last seen wearing grey jeans, a black jumper and white Converse trainers. Sergeant Alan King, from Dalkeith Police Station, said: As part of our enquiries, were asking anyone who may have seen Ross since this time, or who has possible information on his whereabouts, to contact us. If Ross sees this appeal wed urge him to get in touch with either us or his family, who are very worried about him, as soon as possible and let us know he is ok. Fears have been raised about increased prices in the event of a no-deal Brexit (Jon Super/PA) A leading figure from the food and drink industry has said he is absolutely terrified about the impact of a no-deal Brexit if it leads to the imposition of tariffs on trade with the EU. Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said a no-deal Brexit would cause enormous amounts of disruption and enormous amounts of difficulty for its members. He told BBC Breakfast: The real problem here is that the disruption that we would have from no deal would very quickly lead to empty shelves, it would lead to more expensive products, and it would lead to a real diminution of choice particularly for people in poorer areas and at the end of distribution chains. We'll have far less tariffs on New Zealand wine, on rice, on oranges, on bananasTim Martin Mr Wright said most of the federations members would be horrified by the imposition of tariffs on EU trade, adding: Im absolutely terrified of the prospects for our economy and our food and drink industry by the prospect of tariffs. It will cause enormous amounts of disruption and enormous amounts of difficulty. Brexit-supporting Wetherspoons founder Tim Martin highlighted that leaving the EU will allow the UK to lift existing tariffs on trade with countries outside the bloc. Well have far less tariffs on New Zealand wine, on rice, on oranges, on bananas, he told the broadcaster. If we leave the EU without a deal the number of tariffs will be vastly reduced. Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is continuing his campaign (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The husband of jailed British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has delivered flowers to the Iranian Embassy in London to mark the third Mothers Day since she was imprisoned. She was arrested with her infant daughter Gabriella on April 3 2016 at Tehrans Imam Khomeini Airport as she prepared to board a plane back to the UK after visiting relatives. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, is serving a five-year sentence in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison after she was convicted of membership of an illegal group. The trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran was widely condemned as unfair and she strenuously denies the charges against her. Expand Close Richard Ratcliffe delivered flowers to the Iranian Embassy in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Richard Ratcliffe delivered flowers to the Iranian Embassy in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Speaking outside the embassy, Richard Ratcliffe told the Press Association: Weve come to deliver her a Mothers Day card, because obviously we cant do that in person, and to deliver 155 bunches of flowers, one for each week she has been held. Flowers, partly because its a Mothers Day tradition, also because thats what people are given when theyve been released from prison [in Iran]. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt granted Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection earlier this month, and her husband said they are grateful. Its clear that Jeremy Hunt has taken a personal commitment to Natalies case and hes made some clear statements, he said. Before he granted her diplomatic protection he went to Tehran. Hes done a lot to make it clear that he cares and this is a priority. Expand Close Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, holds her daughter Gabriella during happier times (The Free Nazanin campaign/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, holds her daughter Gabriella during happier times (The Free Nazanin campaign/PA) Hes not done everything that weve wanted, but hes also been clear that hes not going to. As a family were appreciative of all hes done. Speaking about his four-year-old daughter, who is currently living in Iran, Mr Ratcliffe said: I spoke to Gabriella yesterday and theres a prison visit today. Were going to draw a card together for Granny, my mum. For her, it was Iranian New Year last week, so that was the big occasion that she wanted her mummy back for. That not happening, amongst a number of times that it hasnt happened, has meant that she hopes for things but I dont think she takes her parents promises entirely seriously these days. When asked about the stress the process has caused him and his wife, he said: Sometimes you speak to her and she seems fine, and sometimes shes really bleak and dark and threatening all sorts of things but yesterday she was fine. Often she decides that she needs to take matters into her own hands, she had that hunger strike to get medical treatment which hasnt been provided. She does threaten every so often that Ill do it again and itll be an escalation from last time. I do live a bit in fear of what will happen. If you dont sort it, there will be consequences. Hopefully thats an empty threat and it doesnt happen but sometimes shes in a dark place. Expand Close A young girl looks at flowers alongside a giant Mothers Day card left on the steps of the Iranian Embassy (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A young girl looks at flowers alongside a giant Mothers Day card left on the steps of the Iranian Embassy (Dominic Lipinski/PA) [The whole experience] has brought us closer together because weve had to survive it. Im hugely proud of the fact that shes kept going, shes kept her dignity. Among those laying flowers outside the embassy were his parents John and Barbara Ratcliffe. Mrs Ratcliffe, 68, said: Were feeling sad, but cross. Why should this have happened to them? Whats our family done to anybody? That poor little girl. Shes now got a different mummy and shell have another different mummy when she comes out. The support from everybody is helping us through, it is really terrific. We just spoke to one lady who said: I can see my (her) child any day. Naz cant see her mum.' When asked what they wanted to see happen soon, Mrs Ratcliffe said: Apart from the obvious, in the short term we want to see that Naz gets a bit of comfort, to get on and do whatever shes able to do craft-wise. She added: We last heard from Naz about four weeks ago, and she sounded alright but wed been told by Richard and by her brother that she wasnt alright. She just put on a good show for us, which was lovely. When asked if they felt Mr Hunt was taking the case more seriously than his predecessor, Boris Johnson, Mrs Ratcliffe said: Im sure now its taken much more seriously. Certainly by him [Jeremy Hunt] and we always felt (former foreign office minister) Alistair Burt really cared. Hes helped us emotionally a lot, and Nazs family. But whether he can actually get her out, I dont know. Please God that she can get out. A Foreign Office spokesman said: It is deeply disappointing that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be spending yet another Mothers Day without her daughter Gabriella. We constantly review which further steps are available to secure Nazanins release, and will continue to be guided by what we consider is in the best interests of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and of all dual national consular cases in Iran. Mr Hunt later tweeted: No one should forget this devoted mother separated from her daughter for more half the childs life. She is innocent and a human being please Iranian govt DO THE RIGHT THING and let her go home to her family. The injured man was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary (David Cheskin/PA) A man has been seriously injured after he was hit by a reversing car. The 36-year-old was in Glasgows Bath Lane on Friday afternoon when he was struck by a BMW coming out of a garage. He was taken by ambulance to the citys Royal Infirmary, where medical staff describe his condition as serious. Anyone with information can contact the road policing unit in Glasgow via 101.Police Scotland The 51-year-old driver was not injured in the incident, which happened at around 4.30pm. Sergeant Kenny Malaney, of the road policing unit, said: From our inquiries we know that a man in a white van stopped to assist after the incident, however, unfortunately he left prior to police arriving. We would be keen to speak to him as he may have some information that could assist our inquiries. Anyone with information can contact the road policing unit in Glasgow via 101. Please quote incident number 3176 of the 29 March 2018. Theresa May arrives with her husband Philip at church near her Maidenhead constituency (Steve Parsons/PA) Theresa May has been warned by one of her senior ministers that she cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it unites around a softer Brexit. With MPs set to hold a second round of indicative votes on alternatives to the Prime Ministers deal on Monday, Justice Secretary David Gauke said she would have to look closely at any option that could command a majority. After 170 Tory MPs including 10 members of the Cabinet wrote to Mrs May urging her to take the UK out of the EU quickly as possible, Mr Gauke reiterated he would resign rather than support a no-deal break. He also said that direct rule would have to be imposed in Northern Ireland in such a scenario, and warned the province's place in the UK "in some doubt". Despite MPs rejecting Mrs Mays deal for a third time on Friday, Downing Street has made clear that she intends to to bring it back to the Commons for a fourth vote possibly on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mr Gauke said that while he believed it still remained the best option, the Government had to accept that so far it did not have the numbers to get it through Parliament. Expand Close Justice Secretary David Gauke on The Andrew Marr Show (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Justice Secretary David Gauke on The Andrew Marr Show (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) He said that if MPs did coalesce around a plan by veteran Tory Ken Clarke for a customs union which came closest to securing a majority in the last round of votes ministers should be prepared to consider it. Mrs May has so far strongly rejected the idea of a customs union, saying it went against the Conservative general election manifesto and would prevent Britain striking trade deals around the world. We have to recognise my party does not have the votes to get its manifesto position through the House of Commons at the momentDavid Gauke Any move to accept a customs union would infuriate Brexiteers and would almost certainly lead to ministerial resignations. However Mr Gauke told BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show: If Parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I dont think its sustainable to ignore Parliaments position and therefore leave without a deal. He added: I think we also have to recognise my party does not have the votes to get its manifesto position through the House of Commons at the moment. We are in an environment when it is not just about going for your first choice. Sometimes you do have to accept your second or third choice in order to avoid an outcome you consider to be even worse. His comments come amid fears among Brexiteers that the indicative vote process controlled by a cross-party group of MPs led by former minister Sir Oliver Letwin will inevitably lead to a softer Brexit. No 10 hopes that pressure will lead to more Brexiteers reluctantly backing Mrs Mays deal after it cut the majority against it from 230 and 149 in the first two votes to 58 on Friday. Mr Gauke, who along with fellow pro-EU ministers Amber Rudd and Greg Clark, previously made clear he could not support a no-deal Brexit, said he would resign if that happened. My position is that it is not the responsible thing for a government to do, to leave without a deal in these circumstances, so obviously I wouldnt be able to remain a member of the Government that pursued that as a policy, he said. He also warned that Northern Ireland's future as part of the Union would be at risk in a no-deal scenario. He said: "In the environment where we have left without a deal, where would have imposed direct rule - which we would need to do - and where we were essentially heading towards a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, I think that would put it in some doubt, the future of Northern Ireland's place within the UK. With the Government now up against a new EU deadline of April 12, ministers played down suggestions that Mrs May could call a snap general election to break the deadlock. Expand Close Sir John Major has said there may have to be a government of national unity (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir John Major has said there may have to be a government of national unity (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) However, former prime minister Sir John Major warned that if Parliament was unable to agree a way forward there could come a point where there would have to be a government of national unity. I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that were seeing in Parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected, he told The Andrew Marr Show. Mr Gauke said he did not believe the idea was workable, saying: I dont in all honesty think that it is practical. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do nextEmily Thornberry on Theresa May Meanwhile, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry launched a highly personal attack on Mrs May, saying her judgment was impaired and she was out of control. Even with just days to go she is just saying It is my deal or no deal. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything,' she told Sky Newss Sophy Ridge On Sunday. No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined. Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis (Fethi Belaid/AP) Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel. This years summit comes against a backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algerias president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudans president Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Expand Close Arab leaders pose for the camera ahead of the summit (Zoubeir Souissi/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Arab leaders pose for the camera ahead of the summit (Zoubeir Souissi/AP) Representatives from the 22-member league not including Syria aim to jointly condemn US President Donald Trumps recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and Mr Trumps decision last year to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. But they remain divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Expand Close Saudi Arabias King Salman attends the summit (Fethi Belaid/AP/) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Saudi Arabias King Salman attends the summit (Fethi Belaid/AP/) One of the few things that has united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israels occupation of the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Mr Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognising Israels 1981 annexation of the strategic Golan plateau earlier this month. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia are expected to issue a statement condemning those moves, but are unlikely to take any further action. This is in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Expand Close Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session (Fethi Belaid/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session (Fethi Belaid/AP) Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemens Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. Lebanons foreign minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Mr Trumps Golan move violates the UN Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force. In Syria, small protests against Mr Trumps Golan move were held in different parts of the country and state media criticised the Arab summit. The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done, the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the US and Israel. Expand Close Tunisian protesters burn a representation of the Israeli flag at a demonstration against the summit in downtown Tunis (Hussein Malla/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian protesters burn a representation of the Israeli flag at a demonstration against the summit in downtown Tunis (Hussein Malla/AP) The Arab League is expected to consider readmitting Syria, a founding member that was expelled in the early days of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back anytime soon. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. Expand Close Tunisian riot police in Tunis push back protesters at a demonstration against the summit (Hussein Malla/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian riot police in Tunis push back protesters at a demonstration against the summit (Hussein Malla/AP) But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Mr Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should be shunned. In a rare sign of easing tensions across another regional rift, King Salman and Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sat at the same sprawling table when the heads of delegations met on Sunday. It is the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Dohas ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. A comedian with no political experience has won the most votes in Ukraines presidential election, according to an exit poll. Volodymyr Zelenskiy beat incumbent president Petro Poroshenko into second place, closely followed by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, but fell well short of the absolute majority needed to win outright in the first round. The election has been overshadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Expand Close Presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds his ballot before voting at a polling station (Emilio Morenatti/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds his ballot before voting at a polling station (Emilio Morenatti/AP) Police said they had received more than 1,600 complaints of violations on voting day alone, in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Mr Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, led the field of 39 candidates with 30.4% of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov public opinion organisation. Mr Poroshenko tallied with 17.8% support and Ms Tymoshenko took 14.2%, it said. The poll claimed a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Expand Close Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko speaks to the media at a polling station (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko speaks to the media at a polling station (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) The top two candidates will face a presidential runoff on April 21. Final results in Sundays first round are expected to be announced on Monday. Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like, said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. He showed what the state leader should aspire for fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs. Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraines endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Expand Close Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko leaves a polling station (Sergei Grits/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko leaves a polling station (Sergei Grits/AP) Concern about the elections legitimacy has spiked in recent days after Ukraines interior minister said his department was showered with hundreds of claims that supporters of Mr Poroshenko and Ms Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes. Like the popular character he plays, Mr Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. A new life, a normal life is starting, Mr Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kiev. A life without corruption, without bribes. His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the countrys political elite. (We have) no trust in old politicians. They were at the helm and the situation in the country has only gotten worse corruption runs amok and the war is continuing, businessman Valery Ostrozhsky, 66, another Zelenskiy voter said. Mr Poroshenko, 53, a confectionery tycoon when he was elected five years ago, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognised as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church. But he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraines economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Mr Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the US and the European Union. Ukraines former prime minister, Ms Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions in the country. Ukraine has sunk into poverty and corruption during the last five years, but every Ukrainian can put an end to it now, she said after voting on Sunday. The experts of the field have hailed the new sophisticated technology as no less than a breakthrough in the medical world. Cryo-electron microscope (cryo-EM) is the new buzz word among the structural biologists. Cryo-electron microscopy, a technique which has won several accolades including the prestigious Nobel Prize and has been named Method of the Year 2015 by Nature Methods, simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules. The experts of the field have hailed the new sophisticated technology as no less than a breakthrough in the medical world. Acknowledging the worth of the technology and the transformation it can bring in the field of medicine, the developed nations soon began a race to acquire more and more Cyro-electron microscope. The US has more than 60, the UK has about 15 and China has more than 20 units of Cryo-electron microscope. India has been a little late in joining the bandwagon and in 2018, Thermo Fisher Scientific hosted the inauguration of Indias First National Cryo-EM Facility at National Centre for Biological Sciences. Crucial against diseases The medical world has witnessed several disruptions and seen myriad innovations in the past few decades. However, the world is still struggling with fatal viruses like Zika and Ebola. Thus, the advent of Cryo-EM facility becomes even more crucial. Cryo-EM facilitates scientists to see the intricate structures of proteins, nucleic acids and other biomolecules even as they move and change or perform their functions. It is crucial to note here that almost all functions in the body are regulated by proteins. Thus, with better understanding of the proteins, it will be easier for scientists to formulate new drugs. In the Cryo-electron microscopy method, the sample under observation is usually frozen and then preserved. In this technique, a very thin slide of the specimen may be rapidly plunged into a liquid ethane bath and viewed in their natural state. Solvents like water or a salt solution is used to ensure that the sample isn't impacted. In comparison to the other microscopy techniques, Cryo-electron microscopy produces fine images. The Cryo-EM facility makes it possible to view cells, cell organelles as well as macro-molecules complexes. It must be noted that Cryo-electron microscopy has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years because the X-ray crystallography requires you to form crystals, but with Cryo-EM you dont. This is a big advantage. Cryo-EM works by firing electrons through a very thin sample frozen in liquid ethane. It collects the 2D images from which a 3D shape is calculated. Insights to fight The better imaging of biomolecules catapult the research work in the area of finding cure to deadly diseases and thus help the scientists with insights to develop appropriate drugs. The disruptive new microscopy is molding the structural biology landscape by giving scientists the access to amazing 3D visualization that helps them better understand the structure of proteins and viruses. This is expected to speed the path to better prevention and treatment. The Cryo-EM research is rapidly transforming the medical and the pharmaceutical industries in a big way. Soon, the world may witness revolutionary innovations that could help us get rid of the fatal incurable diseases. These surely are exciting times for the bio-chemistry. Amit Chopra, MD India and Middle East, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chiranjiv Singh will lead Qure.ai's global market expansion and adoption Qure.ai, a leading healthcare AI company, has announced that Chiranjiv Singh has joined the company's New York office as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Chiranjiv brings significant commercial expertise to Qure.ai and will lead Qure.ai's global expansion and adoption across the healthcare ecosystem. "Chiranjiv's track record of delivering growth in diverse geographies combined with his recent experience of leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to deliver improved patient outcomes, is aligned to Qure.ai's key objectives," said Prashant Warier, Co-Founder & CEO of Qure.ai. "Over the last 3 years, we have been on a mission to deploy our solutions in the emerging markets, including a strong focus on Tuberculosis, the leading infectious cause of mortality worldwide. Chiranjiv's global experience will help us reach new markets and drive adoption globally." Chiranjiv joins Qure.ai from GE Healthcare where he spent 13 years in marketing and sales roles including his last role as the Chief Marketing Officer at GE Healthcare's X-Ray division, where he led global marketing and commercial strategy for the business. "I'm proud to join a team that has recently published its 5th peer reviewed journal publication in the last year, including the first AI publication in The Lancet. The data science teams from Qure.ai have also presented more than 20 scientific abstracts at leading Radiology conferences such as RSNA and ECR. While there are many companies building algorithms, the fact that we are one of the few AI healthcare companies that is backing up the technology with both academic and industry validations is proof of the quality of our solutions," said Chiranjiv Singh, Chief Commercial Officer, Qure.ai. "I see a huge opportunity for market creation and growth by understanding clinical needs and embedding Qure.ai solutions into user workflows to deliver maximum impact. I'm excited to be part of this journey to deliver value to patients and our healthcare system." Qure.ai's current solution portfolio consists of a CE-certified chest X-ray solution, qXR that can identify and localize 18+ abnormal findings on a chest X-ray. qXR is now being used at 40+ sites globally, impacting 1000s of lives on a daily basis. Another solution, qER enables automated interpretation of 12+ critical findings on a head CT scan, helping prioritize the most critical cases for read by a radiologist. Mayzent (siponimod) is the first and only treatment specifically approved for patients with active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in over 15 years Novartis has received the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Mayzent (siponimod) for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, including secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) with active disease, relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). SPMS is a debilitating form of multiple sclerosis (MS) characterized by progressive and irreversible neurological disability. Mayzent is expected to be available in the US in approximately one week. Patients will not require a first dose observation (FDO, cardiac monitoring upon initiation) unless they have certain pre-existing cardiac conditions. "One of the most important aims of MS treatment is delaying disability progression and preserving cognition," said Paul Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "With Mayzent, SPMS patients with active disease will have access to the first effective oral therapy directed towards disease progression, even when MS transitions to a stage where deterioration is less dependent on the usual relapse activity. Mayzent is a testament to the Novartis mission to reimagine medicine. We are delighted that our ongoing commitment to stop MS has led to a much awaited treatment for these patients in need." This approval will stimulate a conversation between patients and healthcare professionals about disability progression after relapsing remitting MS and its early management." Approval is based on the Phase III EXPAND trial, the largest controlled clinical study of SPMS patients, showing Mayzent significantly reduced the risk of disease progression, including impact on physical disability and cognitive decline. Novartis is committed to bringing Mayzent to patients worldwide, and additional regulatory filings are currently underway with other health authorities outside the US. Regulatory action for Mayzent in the European Union is anticipated in late 2019, with additional regulatory action anticipated in Switzerland, Japan, Australia and Canada this year. After receiving TAVI accreditation, Hinduja Hospital, Khar becomes the first hospital in Mumbai/Western India to be authorized for TAVI procedure without a Proctor. Patients suffering from Aortic Stenosis (Heart Failure in simple words), now have immediate access to life-saving cardiac procedure TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation). After receiving TAVI accreditation, Hinduja Hospital, Khar becomes the first hospital in Mumbai/Western India to be authorized for TAVI procedure without a Proctor. This is extremely beneficial for people at high surgical risk as the waiting time for the patients for conducting TAVI will be reduced drastically. The hospital has a Comprehensive Cardiac Unit- under which the Heart Failure and Valve Clinic will also function. This will aid patients to get instant and intensive care. Speaking on the advantages of Valve clinic, Dr. Avinash Supe, Executive Director-Hinduja Hospital, Khar said, I'm happy for the TAVI accreditation that we have received for our hospital. TAVI is a far more superior technique than Open Heart Surgery which would be beneficial for the patients. TAVI is a minimally invasive procedure for treating abnormal narrowing of aortic valve known as aortic stenosis. TAVI is a USFDA approved procedure which is an alternative for the surgery that is normally done for aortic valve replacement and is done for people at high surgical risk due to age, other ailments, previous bypass surgeries etc. Dr. Haresh Mehta, Consultant Interventional Cardiology, Hinduja Hospital, Khar, recently operated on an 87-years-old patient at the hospital adopting the TAVI procedure. It is the latest revolutionary technology in treating heart valve defects and is better in terms of safety and efficacy. Speaking about the benefits of valve clinic for the patients, Dr Mehta said, Valve clinic is a one-stop shop for all valve and other structural heart diseases and its solutions. It will be a center of excellence offering cutting edge technology expertise under one roof. Expert Faculty, Dr. Peter Andreka, Head of Department of Adult Cardiology at Gottsegen Hungarian Institute of Cardiology, described more in details about TAVR and its significance. Dr. Peter Andreka said, This procedure is opted when a patients valves have become very narrow and there are lesser chances of survival. One of the greatest benefits of this procedure is that this increases the life-span of the patient and improves the quality of life. Speaking about this initiative Dr. Vishal Beri, CEO- Hinduja Hospital, Khar said, We are very pleased that we are one of the few centres offering this cutting edge technique in the city. This has now made it possible to offer hope and a chance of survival to patients where earlier there was none. The opening of this clinic reiterates our commitment to offering the best treatment options to all our patients. 85 years old, Mrs. Badar Issa was diagnosed to have critical high-risk aortic stenosis, which necessitated the TAVR procedure. She also shared how TAVR gifted her a second life. Mrs. Issa said, The TAVR procedure has given me the opportunity to continue my independent and active lifestyle with the support and love of my family and friends She also added, It was a very good team and am so glad that at the age of 85, am re-living my life. Thanks to Hinduja Healthcare, Khar; Dr.Haresh Mehta and the Cardiac team. Patient Cases: Patient 1 78 years old, Jethanand Teckani was complaining of chest pain after walking for five minutes and was found to be suffering from IHD (Ischaemic Heart Disease). A known case of Hypertension, which persisted post-PTCA (minimally invasive procedure to open up blocked coronary arteries, allowing blood to circulate unobstructed to the heart muscle). He also had a history of pedal edema (left>right) since 2 months. On admission, the patient was diagnosed to have severe aortic stenosis thus TAVI procedure was initiated. Patient 2 Badar Issa, 85-year-old woman was complaining of chest pain with breathlessness on exertion. On admission, patient was diagnosed to have critical high-risk aortic stenosis thus requiring the TAVR procedure. She was also found to be suffering from hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus, due to which TAVI procedure was the only life-saving option. The Patient had already undergone cardiac procedure-CAG (Corona Angiography) in the year 2017. Patient 3 Aruna Shah, a 74-year-old resident of Mumbai was complaining of dry cough since three weeks. She was also suffering from cirrhosis of liver and Diabetes Mellitus. Shah also complained of breathlessness on exertion after her knee replacement surgery in the year 2016. 2D Echo was suggestive of aortic stenosis. Patient also has a history of pedal edema since 2 years with mild AR. Subsequently, Shah underwent TAVR in December 2018. DocsApp will be launching a special package called DocsApp SuperWoman Full Body Checkup. DocsApp celebrates Womens day this March 8th, as a small initiative to encourage women to get health advice and embrace a healthy lifestyle. All women can consult any specialist doctor on DocsApp at just Rs. 8 from 6 - 8th March. DocsApp will also be launching a special package called DocsApp SuperWoman Full Body Checkup. The superwoman full body checkup gives you access to 60+ lab tests worth Rs. 2000 at a special price of Rs. 888. Women are burdened with different challenges throughout their lives, and amidst all these, they forget to take care of their physical and mental health. Excessive Stress, PCOD, Depression, Thyroid, Conceiving issues, pre & post Pregnancy care, Weight management, hair and skin concerns are some of the most common health issues faced by women of all ages, but there is hardly any time left to visit a doctor, after attending to various family, education & work responsibilities. However, DocsApp lets you consult specialist doctors on chat & call 24/7. College girls, working women and housewives all are welcome to discuss their health concerns privately with Highly qualified Specialist Doctors from across India. Women wear many hats through their personal and professional lives. It is important for each of us to remember that a healthy woman can lead to a healthy society. With continuing pressures and changing lifestyle, it is imperative that we reach out and seek help for our healthcare issues early on to have a holistic future. - Dr. Gowri Head Of Medical Operations, DocsApp We at DocsApp provide consultations with specialist doctors to millions of people across India. Most of our users are from tier 2, 3 cities and villages. Women there generally do not have direct access to proper healthcare, and it is difficult for them to go to the doctor alone. In our mission to make healthcare accessible to every corner of our country, we are also empowering these superwomen, who take care of the health of their entire family, but never have time for themselves. Satish Kannan, CEO & Co-founder DocsApp Over 100 Kidney disease patients & transplant recipients participate in World Kidney Day celebrations organized by the Kidney Support Group of Fortis Hospital, Mulund. World Kidney Day observed every year in March, is aimed at spreading awareness about the importance of Kidney health and to bring down the impact of Kidney disease. In India, 1 in 10 people are estimated to suffer from some form of Kidney disease, and around 175,000 are predicted to suffer from Kidney Failure, requiring Kidney Transplant or Dialysis. Keeping to the years theme, Kidney health for everyone everywhere, the Kidney Support Group of Fortis Hospital, Mulund organized a seminar for patients undergoing dialysis, waitlisted patients, along with past donors and their families. Over 200 attendees participated in the seminar, which comprised of creative session, drawing competitions, skits, singing and dance. Dr Haresh Dodeja, Consultant Nephrologist at the hospital addressed the participants on Kidney health, Kidney Transplants, its advantages and processes. Noted Marathi actor, Rahul Shirsat who has himself undergone a Kidney Transplant at the hospital, lent support to the initiative and his team performed skits on organ donation. Speaking about this initiative Dr Haresh Dodeja, Nephrologist, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said, "Annually, Fortis Hospital Mulund & Kalyan treats hundreds of patients suffering from end stage renal failure. When it comes to treatment of patients with organ failure, transplant is a better and cost effective treatment option in comparison to Dialysis. With increasing numbers, it is imperative that we build awareness about Kidney care amongst the community as a whole. Spotting the symptoms, timely doctor consultation and prompt treatment is the best line of action." The conclave is an initiative of a leading industry forum the India Health & Wellness Summit 1st Edition of Ayushman Bharat conclave happened in New Delhi recently. The mega conclave was held in on a day when Indias universal healthcare coverage program completes 157th day since launched. While speaking at the 1st edition of the Ayushman Bharat Conclave Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, National Health Authority said, Indias ambitious healthcare coverage scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) has already covered 13.5 lakh hospitalizations worth Rs 18000 crore, effectively allowing one hospitalization every five seconds. Providing the figures in the opening address at the maiden edition of Ayushman Bharat Conclave held here today, Dr. Bhushan said, Every year, 6 crore people fall below poverty line due to catastrophic health expenditure. Besides, 40 per cent of the poor people do not have access to private healthcare that provides 70 per cent of the services. 33 states on board for rolling out the program and Punjab and Kerala are going to start soon. We are yet to have an official word from West Bengal on withdrawing from the program. The states also have the option to expand the beneficiary base it wants to cover in that way, Ayushman Bharat has the possibility of covering as many as 14 crore families, more than the targeted number. The mega conclave was inaugurated today in the presence of National Health Authority CEO, Dr. Indu Bhushan and Tim Kelsey, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Digital Health Agency. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry addressed the conclave via a video message. Presenting a summary of the achievements of Ayushman Bharat so far, Dr. Bhushan said that more than 2 crore health cards have been issued under the scheme and 92 per cent of the e-cards have been verified through Aadhar while over 6,000 cards issued are portable. He said that out of the 14,708 empaneled hospitals, 55 per cent are from the private sector taking care of 65 per cent of the treatment needs of the beneficiaries. Ayushman Bharat is a great leap to universal healthcare. It is a gamechanger on the scale of providing services, a more meaningful engagement of private sector hospitals as well as has unique aspects of providing affordable healthcare through collective bargaining of services, consumables, and devices, and providing cash on the delivery of services. The program increases access of the poor to quality, affordable and accountable healthcare and reduces the fragmentation of the services providers public sector providers can refer patients to private hospitals for tertiary services, Dr. Bhushan said. Ayushman Bharat is the most ambitious program by the honorable Prime Minister which is going to help considerably not only the people of India but also the rest of the world. This is the most comprehensive and aggressive program in which healthcare is made available hospitalization and medication needs are taken care of. Also, people who suffer because of lack of medical facilities are included in it. Unfortunately, I cannot join the conclave today but I am very happy that such an initiative is taken, said Suresh Prabhu in a video address. Kamal Narayan, Principal Founder, India Health and Wellness Summit initiatives said, Health doesnt discriminate between rich and poor. Ayushman Bharat is a crucial step that the government of India has taken for creating a happy and prosperous country; the possibilities are immense. I hope that the conclave today will have some very insightful discussions, assessing initiatives and exploring collaboration opportunities. Tim Kelsey, who was also awarded the Torchbearer of the Ayushman Bharat award, emphasized on paperless healthcare services and increasing the use of technology in providing healthcare services, especially in the rural and remote areas. Paper-based healthcare has failed it is not efficient, cannot keep up to the large amount of data and track trends. IT is unable to support precision medicine. We need to work much harder on creating a clinical culture to adopt technology to ensure safety, quality and equity in healthcare. We also need to empower people who now do not question the recommendations of the doctor. Digitizing healthcare will also help it make more accountable and transparent, he added. Today, we have the political will to provide universal healthcare and address the needs of those who face economic fluctuations and go below the poverty line due to healthcare expenditure. Ayushman Bharat is a big step in preventing this. It also ensures quality healthcare quality is paramount when it comes to health services, said Dr. Bobby John, Co-founder, India Health and Wellness Summit initiatives; Founder & Principal Advisor, Global Health Advocates in his Vote of Thanks. Leading experts in healthcare and policymakers from India and abroad converged today to discuss major challenges, opportunities and the way forward towards successful implementation of the Ayushman Bharat, a program that aims to cover people equal to the total population of America, Canada, and Mexico together. The conclave held sessions on Resolutions, Possibilities, Actions for an Ayushman India, The Journey towards health protection and Ayushman Bharat: The Local and Global Impact, Operational Perspectives on Securing Health, Capacity Building Challenges at Various Healthcare Levels, Directly from the Experts: The Doctors Word for Ayushman Bharat, Forecasting demand and ensuring consistent and adequate supply of healthcare services, and More health for money spent incentivizing preventive services. The PMJAY has already issued 1.71 crore e-cards and benefitted over 12.27 lakh patients since it was launched by the Narendra Modi-led government last year. Today, the scheme is supported by a network of around 15,000 empaneled hospitals from both government and private sectors and the growing numbers is a proof of the program being well-received by the people. A stronger public and private partnership will further boost the initiative and better the patient load sharing between hospitals. The conclave is an initiative of leading industry forum India Health and Wellness Summit, which has been at the forefront of creating constructive discourses around holistic health for several years, supported and participated by institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, key industry bodies and civil society organs. Treating latent TB infection must be prioritized; ensuring new drugs that prevent latent cases becoming active must be harnessed The WHO South-East Asia Regions Member States are leading the charge to End TB by or before 2030. In March 2017 they issued a Call for Action underscoring how to accelerate progress against TB. A year later they adopted a Statement of Action highlighting the need to intensify efforts to combat the scourge. Since 2016 domestic budgetary allocations to fight TB Region-wide have more than doubled, while new technologies and people-centered approaches are being rapidly adopted. Member States and civil society made crucial contributions to the Political Declaration on the Fight against Tuberculosis issued at last years UN General Assembly. Region-wide leadership is a commendable and much-needed response to TBs disproportionate burden. World-wide, around 10 million people fall ill with TB annually. An estimated 1.6 million are killed by it. Though the WHO South-East Asia Region accounts for just over a quarter of the worlds population, it comprises around 44% of global TB cases and 50% of associated mortality. To accelerate efforts to End TB, as per the Regions Flagship Priorities, operationalizing the UNs Political Declaration is critical. Region-wide, by 2022 at least 18 million TB patients including 1.5 million children must be diagnosed and effectively treated; over 500 000 patients with drug-resistant TB must be successfully treated; and approximately 12 million people at risk of developing the disease must be provided preventive treatment. Each outcome can be achieved. To do so, active case-finding to reach the Regions missing 1.5 million TB cases should be intensified. Modelling shows that this will significantly reduce case incidence at the same time as ensuring all patients receive quality treatment. Member States should likewise develop a roadmap on how new diagnostics and community engagement can help find missing cases and how people-centered treatment can be provided to all. A time-bound action plan to cover all high-risk groups should be developed and implemented. Treating latent TB infection must be prioritized; ensuring new drugs that prevent latent cases becoming active must be harnessed. As part of this, treating childhood, adolescent and adult contacts of TB cases, alongside other at-risk groups including people living with HIV or who are immunocompromised is vital. All partners should support the supply of quality assured, low-cost TB drugs via south-south cooperation. Several Member States produce drugs and diagnostics. Others are developing technologies that show great promise. The Regions innovative potential should be fully leveraged, including through the royalty-free transfer of new technology, without patent limitations. Finally, community engagement must be a core priority for all. Affected communities should not only be included in developing TB-related policies; they should also be empowered to monitor the quality of services and support outreach efforts. WHO will continue to provide Member States full technical and operational support to pursue these and other imperatives. As international backing increases and Member State funding mechanisms are streamlined, the opportunity to chart further gains will be enhanced. On World TB Day, we must reflect on the momentum developed and the life-changing outcomes we can achieve. Its time to seize the moment and accelerate progress to End TB. - Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Hong Kong: CE mourns Tao Ho Chief Executive Carrie Lam today expressed sorrow over the death of Tao Ho, who had made significant contributions to the design of the regional flag and regional emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was the designer and one of the founders of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. "A distinguished architect held in high regard in his sector, Dr Ho's name and works are world renowned, Mrs Lam said. "I was grieved to learn of Dr Ho's passing. On behalf of the HKSAR Government, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family," she added. This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 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 With the federal carbon tax coming into effect on April 1, businesses are feeling the heat and saying the implementation is unfair. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/3/2019 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us With the federal carbon tax coming into effect on April 1, businesses are feeling the heat and saying the implementation is unfair. Bernie Whetter, owner of The Green Spot, said the carbon tax will have a huge impact on his business, despite commercial greenhouses being eligible for an 80 per cent rebate on the tax. Ron Rabe fills up his truck and a group of gas cans Friday at the Co-op gas bar on Richmond Ave. in preparation for the provincial carbon tax that takes effect on Monday. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) "It hurts; I certainly feel as a citizen of Canada and a member of the global world here that weve got to take some responsibility to the carbon pollution, so we all have to do our part, but what really hurts is when it comes down to it and costs you dollars and cents, and I think we all feel that." Starting Monday, Manitobans will start paying more for fuel, natural gas and propane under the federal governments carbon-tax plan. The tax will raise the cost of gas by about four cents a litre, a move by the government to make polluters pay for the cost of emissions and hopefully reduce greenhouse gas levels. Whetter said his building is heated with natural gas, which will see a tax of just under four per cent added by the federal governments plan. This is on top of a price increase this year from Manitoba Hydro, which he said could be as high as 30 per cent. Its "really significant," as heating is already the businesss second-largest cost after staffing. Jonathan Alward, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesss director of provincial affairs for Manitoba, said the carbon tax is unfair and unaffordable for small businesses. "I think for sure its going to hit small business; across the province they are really going to be feeling it the hardest, and I think a lot of that really starts with how unfair the plan is." Under the current plan, residents will see a rebate of 90 per cent of the cost of the tax, while the majority of businesses will see a rebate of seven per cent. "Even though theyre footing nearly half the bill, theyre expected to take on many of those extra costs." The CFIB is calling on the federal government not to impose the tax on Monday, instead opting for other ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as investment in green technology and access to technology that allows businesses to do that. "Business owners want to reduce emissions, and theyve already taken huge steps to do so; its about finding the right way to do it, and we think there are better ways to reduce emissions that wont impact the small-business owners." Another problem is the lack of details of how and when the rebate is going to happen or how businesses can apply to get it. "Theres complicated paperwork they have to fill out, and its an absolute maze trying to find the correct information and, in some cases, if you dont get it done in time youre going to be facing stiff fines." The trucking sector will be one of the hardest-hit, according to Manitoba Trucking Association executive director Terry Shaw. Most heavy trucks run on diesel fuel, which will go up by around 5.37 cents per litre with the carbon tax. As a result, the cost of almost everything will rise, not just fuels, with transportation costs trickling down onto the products they ship. "Everybody eats, everybodys job in some form relies on trucking; be it through the delivery of raw materials, or the manufacturing process, or the retail goods they sell or the delivery of the finished products they manufacture, everybody is going to be impacted directly or indirectly. Its significant." Whetter said he might have no choice but to pass on the extra costs to the consumer. The Green Spot is being hit twice by the carbon tax, once in heating costs, but also on everything they have to have delivered, such as pots, tools and other things the store sells. He expects the costs of everything to rise as a result. "We strive to operate as efficiently as we possibly can and keep our costs down, but the only way we can do it is if were operating efficiently; the only way we can cover this is by increasing our prices, and that hurts our customers pocketbook." "Were anxious to see how this all unravels we really wont know until we start seeing it on invoices that come from our gas company." dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ TORONTO - A replacement aircraft for a grounded Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 Max was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans on the weekend, sparking anger among passengers who complained they were stranded for hours. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Sunwing Boeing 737-800 passenger plane prepares to land at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Wednesday, August 2, 2017. A replacement aircraft for a grounded Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 Max was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans on the weekend, sparking anger among passengers who complained they were stranded for hours. In a statement on Sunday, the charter airline confirmed the Boeing 767-300 en route from Toronto to Cancun, Mexico, was diverted on Saturday due to an unspecified "mechanical issue." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov TORONTO - A replacement aircraft for a grounded Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 Max was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans on the weekend, sparking anger among passengers who complained they were stranded for hours. In a statement on Sunday, the charter airline confirmed the Boeing 767-300 en route from Toronto to Cancun, Mexico, was diverted on Saturday due to an unspecified "mechanical issue." However, Sunwing normally has no connection to the New Orleans airport, creating logistical issues for the 239 people aboard, the company said. "We didn't have our staff on the ground to support communications," the company said in a statement. "Because of the unplanned nature of the landing, the airport was very busy and it took many hours to find a secured area for our customers to deplane to." Passengers aboard Flight WG511 took to social media to vent their frustrations at being stranded aboard the aircraft for hours, then for several more hours in a holding room at the airport. One passenger, Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern, a vice president with Canada Lands Company, tweeted that passengers had been "locked in" the airport basement for more than seven hours without any information. "No one from the crew is to be seen," Gomez Wiuckstern said. "The call centre says, 'We are working on it, keep waiting'." "Stuck at New Orleans in a basement which feels like a detention centre with no idea what is happenings," tweeted another passenger, Robert Liu. Sunwing said it had leased the Boeing 767 from Eastern Airlines to help maintain its flying schedule after regulatory authorities recently grounded the 737 Max. The grounding followed deadly crashes off Indonesia and in Ethiopia killed 346 people. Suspicion has fallen on an automated system designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling by pitching the nose of the plane down. Sunwing said it provided its stranded passengers with water service, snacks and pizza while it sought to replace have Eastern replace the aircraft. That ultimately happened Saturday night with a plane sent from Miami. Everyone was then flown to Cancun, the agency said. "We are very apologetic for this unfortunate start to their vacation and have compensated accordingly," Sunwing said. Sunwing Airlines bills itself as an award-winning leisure carrier that flies out of 33 airports across Canada and the U.S. using more than 40 Boeing 737-800 and the now-grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. It mainly flies to vacation destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Florida. MONTREAL - Last September, Hans Laroche embarked on an unusual teaching assignment. He and a few thousand fellow Quebecers were enlisted to help Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa learn the finer points of Canadian French, from the distinctive accent to so-called "joual" expressions and the linguistic mishmash known as "Franglais." Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A new Amazon Echo is displayed during a program announcing several new Amazon products by the company, in Seattle on Sept. 27, 2017. Last September, Hans Laroche embarked on an unusual teaching assignment. He and a few thousand fellow Quebecers were enlisted to help Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa learn the finer points of Canadian French, from the distinctive accent to so-called "joual" expressions and the linguistic mishmash known as "Franglais." With Amazon's official release of its French Canadian language option for Alexa on March 21, the results are now available for all to hear. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Elaine Thompson MONTREAL - Last September, Hans Laroche embarked on an unusual teaching assignment. He and a few thousand fellow Quebecers were enlisted to help Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa learn the finer points of Canadian French, from the distinctive accent to so-called "joual" expressions and the linguistic mishmash known as "Franglais." With Amazon's official release of its French Canadian language option for Alexa on March 21, the results are now available for all to hear. Because Alexa's algorithm requires a great deal of data, Laroche says he and his fellow testers were given a free Echo device and asked to interact with it on a regular basis by asking it questions, getting it to perform household tasks or using it to play music, audiobooks or news. Every week or two, they were asked to provide feedback to developers, who worked to further refine the algorithm and its language capabilities. Laroche, who runs a Facebook page for Quebec Alexa enthusiasts from his home near Victoriaville, Que., said he was impressed with how well the device picked up on his requests. "It was pretty surprising the things Alexa can understand, especially in Canadian French," he said. "The French language from France has been available for a while, but it's not the same as the language Quebecers use." As an example, he said Quebecers tend to use English verbs such as "check" or "cancel" rather than their French counterparts, "verifier" or "annuler." "If Alexa is in (European) French and I ask it to 'cancel le timer,' it won't understand," he said. "But if I'm in Canadian French and I say it, it will understand what I'm saying." Laroche noted that Amazon still has some catching up to do, since competitors such as Google Assistant already have French Canadian language support. Nicolas Maynard, the man in charge of Alexa in Canada, said teaching the virtual assistant to understand French was a difficult challenge, due to the complexity of the language and the prevalence of homonyms, contractions, and a vocabulary that differs widely by region. Adapting it to a French-Canadian audience meant ensuring it would understand commands delivered using local colloquialisms and pronunciations, he said in a phone interview from Seattle. Maynard said that while French speakers in France use as many, or possibly more, English words than their North American linguistic counterparts, the inflection is very different. "The pronunciation of English words in Quebec is much closer to the English pronunciation than in France," said Maynard. "If you ask a French person to say the name of an American song, you'll clearly hear the French accent. But if you ask a Canadian (francophone), you'll get a pronunciation that is very close to English." But while Alexa may understand local slang, its own voice was given an accent designed to be as neutral as possible while still being that of a Quebecer. "I think it's more or less a Montreal accent, but you'll tell me," Maynard said. He said it was also important to ensure the voice service is equipped with general knowledge from each region by being able to answer basic questions about politics and culture. As a result, Alexa can recite the poem "Le vaisseau d'or" by celebrated Quebec writer Emile Nelligan, and has a repertoire of jokes to tell on demand. Laroche said he has noted a lot of improvement in this department since he first began interacting with the device. "If you ask who is Montreal's mayor, who is the prime minister of Canada, it knows the answer, which was not the case in the beginning," he said. He says the voice assistant is still not perfect, however, and there are still many times when it answers a question with "Je ne sais pas" (I don't know.) But he's still pleased to have a product that will start his coffee maker in the morning and turn on the equipment in his home gym when he announces he's ready for a workout. Guillaume Dufour, the founder of enthusiast group Alexa Quebec, was also an early user of the experimental "beta" version. He was impressed with Alexa's ability to understand mixed-language commands, such as when he asks it in French to play an English-language song. He said the virtual assistant understands his normal accent perfectly, although he sometimes has to repeat himself when he tries out the stronger accent of his native Charlevoix region. "We can see that Amazon's language recognition training was excellent," said Dufour, an IT expert and programmer who also creates "skills" for the devices. And he would know, having amassed an impressive collection of voice-activated assistants including four Echo devices, a Google Home, Apple HomePod and a Harman Kardon Invoke. Dufour said he has noticed only one true "glitch" the device sometimes delivers the weather report in a jumble of English and French but he has found that some of Alexa's jokes are told "in a slightly jerky intonation that does not quite follow the rhythm of the French language." As for Maynard, he said Alexa's education is far from complete. He won't say how many Quebecers are currently using Echo or other Alexa devices, but he says the virtual assistant's artificial intelligence-driven algorithm will continue to absorb new data and refine its capabilities the more it is used. "I see the launch as just the beginning of my job," he said. OTTAWA - When the Sept. 11 terror attacks hit the World Trade Centre towers in 2001, Anita Cenerini says her son, Thomas Welsh, knew right away he would likely be shipped off to war. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - When the Sept. 11 terror attacks hit the World Trade Centre towers in 2001, Anita Cenerini says her son, Thomas Welsh, knew right away he would likely be shipped off to war. He had joined the Canadian Forces just one month prior, so his mother tried to reassure him. Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance places his hands on a wreath after laying it down, as Chief Warrant Officer Martin Colbert looks on, during a ceremony honouring Canadians who served and died during Canada's mission in Afghanistan, at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Sunday, March 31, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang "I was afraid for him and I said, 'You don't have to go. You just joined. You can back out,'" she recalled. "He came up to me and he put his arms around me and he said, 'Mom, they're going to need me now more than ever.'" Welsh was trained and deployed as part of Operation Athena in August 2003, where he served as a C9 gunner. Less than three months after he returned to Canada, he took his own life. His death on May 8, 2004, was the first death by suicide of a Canadian soldier after serving in the Afghan war. Cenerini was named the 2018 National Silver Cross Mother and was in Ottawa on Sunday for a special ceremony at the National War Memorial marking the fifth anniversary of the end of Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Her voice was quiet as she tried to talk about her son without breaking into tears. Her eyes reflected the heavy heart of a newly grieving mother, despite the decade and a half that have passed since her son died. Cenerini fought for years to have Welsh's death recognized as being caused by his military service. On Sunday, the invisible wounds of war were openly acknowledged by government and military officials who shared solemn words of remembrance. Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, said the country is still trying to learn how best to care for those who were wounded physically and emotionally during the war in Afghanistan. "We cannot ever forget that warfare takes its toll and always will," he said. "This war took a physical toll on the dead and wounded and took a mental toll on many people left behind that may not appear wounded, but they are." Stephane Lauzon, parliamentary secretary to Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, also acknowledged the toll the conflict continues to have for many. A total of 158 Canadian Armed Forces and seven Canadian civilians were killed in the conflict and more than 40,000 Canadians in uniform served in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. "They cannot and will not be forgotten, nor can the thousands who left with physical and psychological injuries. For those who returned home with injury and for those who continue to struggle with those injuries, we will continue to improve our support and services for you," Lauzon said. "Whether the injury be physical or mental, we will be there for you." Cenerini said she feels humbled by the sacrifices of so many families who lost loved ones and is grateful to have their lives honoured at the National War Memorial a physical place where she says remembering them is profound. Her son's courage brings her strength, she said, even when it comes with deep sadness. "That's the most important story, that when Thomas could have said no, he didn't. He said yes. And I think that's all that really matters," she said. Follow @ReporterTeresa on Twitter. TORONTO - The body that handles complaints about the behaviour of federally appointed judges is in need of both internal and legislative reform to streamline what is now a cumbersome disciplinary process, Canada's top judge says. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Richard Wagner participates in a media availability in Ottawa on Friday, June 22, 2018. The body that handles complaints about the behaviour of federally appointed judges is in need of both internal and legislative reform to streamline what is now a cumbersome disciplinary process, Canada's top judge says. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said he would be launching this week a sweeping review of the Canadian Judicial Council, which has come under harsh criticism for some of its actions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang TORONTO - The body that handles complaints about the behaviour of federally appointed judges is in need of both internal and legislative reform to streamline what is now a cumbersome disciplinary process, Canada's top judge says. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said he would be launching this week a sweeping review of the Canadian Judicial Council, which has come under harsh criticism for some of its actions. "I've always said this judicial conduct process is much too long, much too expensive, and it should be corrected," Wagner said from Ottawa. "We will look at our own internal management at CJC to decide whether there are not things we can do without legislative amendments within our own management to improve things." Wagner said he is reaching out to senior judges across the country to garner their views on what changes are needed. Areas include the council's mission, how its various committees are appointed, and the crucial role of the executive director, who wields significant power as complaints gatekeeper. "Everything is on the table," Wagner said. Last year, a former senior Manitoba justice and dozens of lawyers reacted angrily after the executive director, Norman Sabourin, initiated action against a prominent Ontario Superior Court judge who, with the blessing of his superiors, had accepted a six-month law school deanship at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. The council later ruled that Justice Patrick Smith had committed judicial misconduct but urged no further action. In a letter to Wagner, who is head of the council, Sen. Murray Sinclair said last fall he was "deeply troubled" by the Smith review and urged council to reflect "on its own role and mandate." Separately, 36 lawyers in Thunder Bay criticized what they saw as the "outrageous" persecution of the judge, while lawyer Brian Gover, who represents Smith in ongoing court action against the council, said the legal community had been shocked. "The CJC is facing a fierce counter-attack such as they have never seen before," Gover said at the time. The review comes amid a parallel effort by the council to update its ethical guidance for judges something last done more than 20 years ago. The council has asked for public input on a range of issues, such as whether judges should be on social media or whether there should be restrictions on the work they do after leaving the bench. Wagner, who became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada 15 months ago, said he has long wanted to look at how the judicial council and the courts themselves were working. The aim, he said, was to modernize both to ensure they were efficient, relevant and able to meet emerging challenges such as the growth in self-represented litigants. "It's a good thing to look at those issues when society has evolved, has changed. Expectations have changed also. I thought it was a good time to look at it. It's a major work to make sure that the judiciary is still relevant." Wagner said he did not favour judges engaging on social media and potentially compromising their status as aloof from social and political debate. At the same time, he said, the courts and other judicial entities, as the Supreme Court does, should use social media to disseminate their messages and decisions "We need to be relevant," Wagner said of the ethical guidance update. "This is a parallel exercise and, at the end of the day, it will be successful but we need major reforms for judicial conduct." While one of the survey questions touches on the situation Smith found himself in, Wagner said he could not discuss specific cases that are before the courts but said discussing reforms was important. He noted that his predecessor Beverley McLachlin had asked for legislative changes to enhance the council's work. Judges who are subject to a complaint and citizens need to know what to expect and that complaints will be handled expeditiously, the chief justice said, adding the current process is "very heavy." "If the judge has to be removed, he has to be removed quickly and without too much cost to society," Wagner said. "We need reforms. Parliament should find a way to make sure that these matters don't drag for too long and aren't too expensive." A spokeswoman said the council welcomed the review and had already begun adding "clarity and transparency" to its work. "We have presented a number of proposals to the Department of Justice that would lead to a more efficient and less costly process," Johanna Laporte said. Wagner said he hoped to be able to announce the results of the review within the next several months. Neither the justice minister nor Ministry of Justice had any comment. A Canadian woman who's been missing in West Africa for several months has reportedly been kidnapped and taken to Mali. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais are seen in this undated handout photo from the Facebook page "Edith Blais et Luca Tacchetto:disparition au Burkina Faso." A Canadian woman who's been missing in West Africa for several months has reportedly been kidnapped and taken to Mali. Edith Blais of Quebec and her travel companion, Luca Taccheto of Italy, went missing in December while travelling in Burkina Faso. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Facebook A Canadian woman who's been missing in West Africa for several months has reportedly been kidnapped and taken to Mali. Edith Blais of Quebec and her travel companion, Luca Taccheto of Italy, went missing in December while travelling in Burkina Faso. They were travelling by car in southwestern Burkina Faso en route to Togo, where they planned to do volunteer work with an aid group. In a January statement, Burkina Faso's government referred to the pair's disappearance as a kidnapping. The Canadian government did not confirm the information, but said it was not ruling out any possibilities. However, a recent report by Human Rights Watch indicates that they were abducted. "While no armed Islamist group has taken responsibility for their abduction, they are believed to have been kidnapped and later taken to Mali," the report, titled "Abuses by Armed Islamist Groups in Burkina Faso's Sahel Region," states. It cites an interview with Malian security sources on Jan. 13. The report, published March 22 on the organization's website, does not mention the fate of the two travellers. In January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believed Blais was still alive. "As far as we know, she is," Trudeau said when asked by a reporter whether Blais was still alive. He said Blais' story has people across the country preoccupied. "Our hearts go out to the family of Edith Blais and the entire community,'' he said at the time. His statement came the day after another Canadian, Kirk Woodman, was found dead in northern Burkina Faso, close to the border with Mali and Niger. An executive with a Vancouver-based mining company, Woodman had been kidnapped a day earlier by gunmen as he worked on a gold mining project. OTTAWA - Jody Wilson-Raybould approvingly points to Brian Mulroney as a prime minister who knew better than to politically interfere with the judgment of his attorney general when it comes to criminal prosecutions. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Former prime minister Brian Mulroney arrives to speak at a conference put on by the University of Ottawa Professional Development Institute and the Canada School of Public Service in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Jody Wilson-Raybould approvingly points to Brian Mulroney as a prime minister who knew better than to politically interfere with the judgment of his attorney general when it comes to criminal prosecutions. But the former justice minister evidently didn't read Mulroney's memoirs, in which the former Conservative leader proudly recounts how he ordered his attorney general to refer a controversial murder case to the Supreme Court of Canada. That attorney general was Kim Campbell who, according to Mulroney, did as she was told in the case of David Milgaard, who was wrongly imprisoned for 23 years for a murder he did not commit. She went on to become prime minister. Mulroney's memoirs flatly contradict the version of events cited by Campbell in her own memoirs and repeated by Wilson-Raybould in a written submission last week to the House of Commons justice committee. The submission was intended to bolster her contention that she faced inappropriate pressure last fall from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his top aides and others to stop the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. As part of her submission, Wilson-Raybould included transcripts of text messages she exchanged with her chief of staff, Jessica Prince, following a Dec. 18 meeting with Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, and principal secretary Gerald Butts. Prince relates that the duo tried to persuade her that Wilson-Raybould should seek advice from a retired Supreme Court justice as to whether she could review a decision by the director of public prosecutions, who had refused to negotiate a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin rather than pursue prosecution on bribery charges related to contracts in Libya. Prince says she repeatedly told Telford and Butts that would amount to "interference." In the course of that discussion, Prince says Butts raised the Milgaard case. "Gerry told some story about how Mulroney met with David Milgaard's mom, walked into the cab(inet) room and told Kim Campbell she had to fix it. She gave him all these AG reasons why she couldn't interfere but then she ultimately did what Mulroney wanted and was right," Prince says. After asking for more details about the reference to Milgaard, Wilson-Raybould then asks Prince to send her Campbell's cell phone number, commenting "Good grief this is absurd." Wilson-Raybould met with Campbell the following day at a Vancouver coffee shop. "Needless to say, she categorically denied what Mr. Butts had said and was quite offended and outraged by the comments. She adamantly denied the characterization not only of her as the attorney general but of her former boss, Prime Minister Mulroney," Wilson-Raybould wrote in her submission. "She further reflected as she did in her memoirs (1996) that Brian Mulroney 'was much too good a lawyer to intervene improperly in the matter. He never breathed a word about the Milgaard case to his AG, nor did anyone in his office ever attempt to influence her handling of the case.'" Wilson-Raybould did not mention that Campbell also wrote in her memoirs that Mulroney had "blindsided" her by meeting with Milgaard's mother, Joyce, in 1991. She wrote that she was assured the two discussed only Milgaard's living conditions in prison and not his application for a review of his conviction for the 1969 rape and murder of a Saskatoon nursing student, which Campbell had rejected. Nevertheless, Campbell termed it an "inappropriate intervention" and suggested it was politically motivated. She wrote that Mulroney's chief of staff, Hugh Segal, told the British Columbia Conservative caucus that the prime minister's meeting with Joyce Milgaard was "brilliant" and the kind of thing he needed to do more to burnish his image in the run-up to the 1993 election. Nor did Wilson-Raybould mention, or appear aware of the fact, that Mulroney completely contradicted Campbell's version of events in his own memoirs, published in 2007. He recounted how he was "disturbed" by the way in which Campbell had "brushed off" Joyce Milgaard, having told her during a public encounter: "Madam, if you wish to have your son's case dealt with fairly, please do not approach me." He was "privately furious with her" for rejecting Milgaard's application for a review of his case. Mulroney provided a condensed transcript of his meeting in Winnipeg with Joyce Milgaard, during which he said he was "extremely prudent" in his choice of words because he knew they were being recorded. At one point, he told her that Campbell is going to look at "new information that's come in" and that he's going to be talking to her when he gets back to Ottawa about her son's case. When he got back, Mulroney wrote, he had Campbell summoned to his parliamentary office where, "because of the sensitivity of the matter, I met with her alone." "'The matter has been reviewed by the department and I have conveyed our decision,' she told me. "'Kim,' I answered, 'that is not acceptable to me. The law provides for a reference to the Supreme Court and it is my intention to ensure that this case is in fact referred to the Supreme Court.' "My tone was firm and my words unequivocal. She understood and changed her tack quickly. "'Prime Minister,' she answered, 'If this is the case, may I make the announcement myself?'" The top court ultimately recommended Milgaard's conviction be set aside. Campbell ordered a new trial but the government of Saskatchewan refused to do so, issued a stay of proceedings and freed Milgaard in 1992. Five years later, DNA evidence from the victim's clothes cleared Milgaard and led to the arrest and eventual conviction of serial rapist Larry Fisher. In a series of posts Sunday on Twitter, Campbell insisted Mulroney's version of events is not true and defended her handling of the case. "I didn't read Mr. Mulroney's memoirs. Guess I should have!" she tweeted. "While Mr. Mulroney apparently insists he did something he didn't in the Milgaard case, I should point out that this was not a prosecutorial decision but an application for the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (And I acutally did get advice from a retired SCC justice)." Butts and the top public servant, Michael Wernick, have testified that no improper pressure was exerted on Wilson-Raybould over the SNC-Lavalin case. They have maintained they only wanted her to get a second opinion on the advisability of overriding the public prosecutor's decision, as allowed by law. Wilson-Raybould's written submission, released Friday, supplements her nearly four hours of oral testimony last month. She believes she was moved out of her dual role as justice minister and attorney general to Veterans affairs in a mid-January cabinet shuffle as punishment for refusing to intervene in the SNC case. She resigned from cabinet a month later. QUEBEC - Within the ramparts of Quebec City, a library and cultural centre for the city's English-speaking minority housed in a former jail is run by a soft-spoken spectacled man from rural New Brunswick named Barry McCullough. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Barry McCullough, executive director of the Morrin Centre in Quebec City, is shown at the centre on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot QUEBEC - Within the ramparts of Quebec City, a library and cultural centre for the city's English-speaking minority housed in a former jail is run by a soft-spoken spectacled man from rural New Brunswick named Barry McCullough. About two kilometres away, in an apartment overlooking the Plains of Abraham, Halifax native Shirley Nadeau puts together the English-language Chronicle-Telegraph, which has been published uninterrupted since 1764 and bills itself as the oldest newspaper in North America. A short drive west of Nadeau's home newsroom, the non-profit organization offering services and advocating for the region's 15,000 English-speakers is managed by Brigitte Wellens, originally from Montreal. Quebec City's anglophone community making up about 2 per cent of the capital's metropolitan area is historic and close-knit. But unlike Montreal, where hundreds of thousands of English-speakers have maintained a critical mass, Quebec City anglophones face a precarious future. Every five years, between 20 and 25 per cent of the city's anglophone minority leave and are replaced by newcomers, Wellens, executive director of Voice of English-Speaking Quebec, said in a recent interview. Nowhere is this evolution more evident than in the central roles played in the community by transplants like McCullough, Nadeau and Wellens. McCullough, 37, boasts that he arrived in town for the winter of 2008. "The famous 550-centimetre snowfall winter it's the barometer of bad winters," he said, after giving a tour recently of the Morrin Centre's detention cells, preserved from the time when the building was a municipal jail between 1812 and 1867. McCullough describes the English-speaking community as resilient, creative and bilingual. "It's like sink or swim," he said. "If you want to live here, you are committing to learning French." Community members are also highly engaged and connected with one another, he said, citing as an example Nadeau, who volunteers in the library. When Nadeau, 72, isn't at the library, acting in plays put on by the Quebec Art Company or singing for the city's symphony orchestra, she is assigning stories for the paper, which has a weekly circulation of about 2,000 and a $47 annual subscription fee. The paper covers the anglophone community and is kept alive through subscription and advertising revenues, a grant from the Canadian Heritage Department and support from its Ontario owners. She started as a volunteer in 2010, not long after the former paper's owners wanted to shut it down for lack of funds. "The printers refused to print any more newspapers until the bill was paid," Nadeau said. Then the Stanton family of King City, Ont., bought the paper and paid creditors. "It's not a money-maker," Nadeau said in her living room, while her husband, retired naval officer Charles Andre was working in the next room. "They are forking out their own money to keep this paper going. God love them." Quebec City's anglophone community began to shrink dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s, Nadeau said, following the rise of the sovereigntist movement in the province, which sparked an exodus of many English-speakers and big companies. Today it is a mixture of the remaining descendants of the historic community who are now mostly bilingual as well as newcomers whose first language is often neither English nor French, but who know enough English to want services in that language, Wellens said. There are no anglophone neighbourhoods anymore, she said. But there are English-language schools, which play a critical role in keeping the community alive. In Quebec, students are only able to attend English primary and secondary schools if one of their parents received most of their education in English in Canada. Champlain-St. Lawrence, the region's only English-language public junior college, is a place where students can be heard starting their sentences in French and ending them in English. Quebec's strict language rules don't apply after high school, so the college, known as a CEGEP is open to everyone. Students from the city's two main English high schools are given priority for spots at St. Lawrence, while entry for francophones is more competitive, said Adiba Chowdhury, 19, originally from Ontario. She speaks English at the CEGEP, French at work and Bengali at home. Antoine Theodorakis was born in Quebec City, and his grandfather immigrated from Greece. "I speak more French," said the 19-year-old, but he chose the English-language college because he said it opens more doors. "A lot of people think St. Lawrence is a private school, and we're seen as rich kids," he said. "They say it's snobbish." "Yeah, people think it's posh," said Chowdhury. But St. Lawrence, like any other CEGEP in Quebec, is publicly funded and students pay minimal fees. Nineteen-year-old Jeremy Poulin's family goes back generations in Quebec City and he doesn't know whether to consider himself anglophone or francophone. "Depends on the day," he said with a chuckle. He said sometimes people make derisive comments when he speaks English on the bus. "I've heard more than once, 'Go back to your country,' addressed at me," he said. But the St. Lawrence students all say they feel enormous pride at being able to speak English. "I feel very privileged," said Jade Trepanier, 19. "I feel superior in a sense. A lot of people will say to you, 'Wow, you speak good English.'" For McCullough, he and his wife are thinking of eventually sending their two-year-old to school in English. He'd like to remain in Quebec City but maybe leave town for a bit in the winter, when the facades of homes disappear behind mounds of snow that can reach bungalow rooftops. "I think, sort of, May through October, there isn't a better place to be than Quebec City," he said. A quarter of companies in Ireland say that there is a gender pay gap at their firm according to the 2019 Pay and Employment Practices Survey from CIPD Ireland and Industrial Relations News. The gap remains relatively static at 14% despite the looming introduction of legislation to force some companies to reveal the figure. The survey also found that only one in five companies had actually calculated their gender pay gap, meaning that the majority were ignorant as to the scale of the problem internally. CIPD, the umbrella body for human resource and learning & development professionals in Ireland, says the responses show that there is a chronic lack of information and insight on gender pay analysis, and that a high level of awareness-raising is needed before the law changes. Director of CIPD Ireland, Mary Connaughton says, the gender pay gap is real. Legislation is being introduced that is going to force companies to acknowledge that it is a problem. While there had been hope that the market would correct itself, its clear that few firms have taken the opportunity to get ahead of the looming change and are in fact in denial. If they fail to address it now, then the law will address it for them through mandatory reporting. "HR professionals need to do more to make their companies aware of the reality of the gender pay gap, and the benefits of proactively addressing the issue. The 2019 Pay and Employment Practices Survey also found that less than half of all respondents (44%) confirmed plans to increase basic pay this year, down from 56% in 2018. A quarter of businesses are planning to maintain basic pay rates, and a third have yet to make a decision. Amongst those planning pay rises, the forecast is an average increase of 2.8%. The tight labour market and pressures of attracting and retaining suitable employees was reported as the biggest external influence on pay, followed by Brexit and the housing market. Other key findings include the most popular benefit amongst those listed was pension contribution, provided by 79% of respondent organisation. 72% of companies were planning to pay staff a bonus payment at some point during 2019. Less than one third of companies in the survey engaged with trade unions for collective bargaining. The CIPD / IRN 2019 Pay and Employment Practices survey found that organisations will continue to flex their approach to pay and additional benefits to respond to the dynamics of a tightening labour market, always considering overall company performance. Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath has withdrawn his claims gardai are politicising the new drink driving laws after Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan labelled the comments "bizarre" and "dangerous". Mr McGrath admitted his remarks were "wrong" and said he has full confidence in the gardai after facing a backlash from Fine Gael and his own Independent Alliance colleagues over his criticism of the life-saving law changes. In an interview with the Sunday Independent Mr McGrath said the implementation of new rules championed by his own Independent Alliance colleague, Transport Minister Shane Ross, are "really over the top" and go too far. And in a pointed reference to the gardai implementing the new law, Mr McGrath called on garda commissioner Drew Harris to "de-politicise" the issue, saying: "A police force - like teachers, nurses - guards should always be non-political. I would like Drew Harris now, as part of the reforms we have, to de-politicise anything like that in a police force. To me, the breathalysing time should be at pub closing times between 12 oclock and 2am in the morning. Thats where the focus should be, so I dont know what agenda is going on there." The comments provoked an immediate reaction from Government colleagues, with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan labelling them "bizarre" and "dangerous". In a statement on Twitter, Mr Flanagan said Mr McGrath's comments about a new law the entire cabinet - including Mr McGrath - signed off on are wrong, saying: "Bewildering and bizarre comments by @FinianMcGrathTD in todays Sunday Independent. Allegations of political policing' unwise even dangerous." He later went further, telling the Irish Examiner: "I don't agree with Finian's comments and I don't believe they're appropriate. The traffic corps works hard to implement the law, the purpose of which is to keep all road users safe and prevent accidents to the greatest extent possible." Asked about the matter on RTE's The Week in Politics programme, junior finance minister and Fine Gael TD Patrick O Donovan agreed, saying Mr McGrath should "withdraw" the remarks. "I would agree with Charlie Flanagan, Finian's comments are really bizarre. Since the foundation of this State, the one thing we've always had is an independent police force. I think he should withdraw them [the comments], yes," Mr O Donovan said. With the political temperature rising Mr McGrath apologised on Sunday evening, admitting in a statement he went too far and was wrong in what he said. Nobody is more supportive of the work An Garda Siochana does - often in tough circumstances - than I am. My comments in this morning's Sunday Independent were prompted by concerns raised with me over the past number of weeks. I acknowledge that these concerns were wrong and I am happy to withdraw my comments. "I am also happy to state that I have full confidence in An Garda Siochana and that I was wrong to suggest there was any element of politicising within the force over the new drink driving regulations," he said. The comments were welcomed by the Independent Alliance which said while all members are "entitled to voice their views, it is only right Minister McGrath withdrew those remarks". Earlier: Flanagan labels McGrath's 'bizzare' political policing comments as 'unwise, even dangerous' Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and a second Fine Gael minister labelled cabinet colleague and Independent Alliance TD Finian McGrath's claims gardai are politicising the new drink driving laws as "bizarre" and "unwise, even dangerous". Mr Flanagan and junior finance minister Patrick O'Donovan hit out at Mr McGrath after he told a Sunday newspaper he believes the gardai's approach to the new drink driving laws which he and other ministers signed off on is "really over the top". In an interview with the Sunday Independent today, Disabilities Minister Mr McGrath said new rules to combat drink driving pushed by Transport Minister and fellow Independent Alliance member Shane Ross were going too far. And in a pointed reference to the gardai implementing the new law, Mr McGrath called on garda commissioner Drew Harris to "de-politicise" the issue, saying: "A police force - like teachers, nurses - guards should always be non-political. I would like Drew Harris now, as part of the reforms we have, to de-politicise anything like that in a police force. To me, the breathalysing time should be at pub closing times between 12 oclock and 2am in the morning. Thats where the focus should be, so I dont know what agenda is going on there." Responding to the comment on Twitter on Sunday morning, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said Mr McGrath's remarks about "political policing" are "bewildering and bizarre". Saying they are also "unwise, even dangerous", Mr Flanagan said: "Bewildering and bizarre comments by @FinianMcGrathTD in todays Sunday Independent. Allegations of political policing unwise even dangerous." In a statement to the Irish Examiner, Mr Flanagan added: "I don't agree with Finian's comments and I don't believe they're appropriate. The Traffic Corps works hard to implement the law, the purpose of which is to keepall road users safe and prevent accidents to the greatest extent possible." Asked about the matter on RTE's The Week in Politics programme, junior finance minister and Fine Gael TD Patrick O'Donovan agreed, saying Mr McGrath should "withdraw" the remarks. "I'd agree, I think bizarre as well. Finian sits at the cabinet table... I would agree with Charlie Flanagan, Finian's comments are really bizarre. "Since the foundation of this State, one thing we've always had are independent police. I think we should withdraw them [the comments], yes," Mr O'Donovan said. Minister hits out at Garda enforcement of drink driving laws A government Minister claims Garda enforcement of new drink driving laws is over the top. Independent TD Finian Mc Grath has called on the Garda Commissioner to intervene. The Disabilities Minister Finian Mc Grath admits the government had to bite the bullet and introduce the new laws on drink-driving and unaccompanied learner drivers. However, in an interview with the Sunday Independent, he has hit out at the manner in which the laws are enforced by Gardai. Minister Mc Grath said they are over the top and claimed there is a political agenda in the way they are handled. The Minister is calling on the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to de-politicise anything like that in the force, as part of the reforms currently underway of policing in Ireland. Finian Mc Grath also claims Fine Gael Ministers were using the Transport Minister Shane Ross as a fall guy by people living in rural Ireland Former justice minister Dermot Ahern has said he is surprised that the radicalisation of Irish Islamic State bride Lisa Smith did not ring alarm bells given that she began the process while serving in the army. Mr Ahern, who was Ms Smith's local TD up to 2011, noted that she had spoken previously of the support she received from her superiors in the Irish army when she converted to Islam. "The one thing that surprises me is that she became a Muslim when she was in the defence forces and wanted to wear a hijab and she said the senior defence force officers treated her very well. "I suspect she wasn't wearing a hijab in the government jet but I am surprised that, of all the people who were radicalised that she, who was in the defence forces, that it wasn't picked up in some way," he said. "Ireland is a very small place," he added. Former justice minister Dermot Ahern Mr Ahern also said Ms Smith might need to rethink her wish her to return to Ireland. "She'd nearly be better off not coming home because she'd be subject to an awful lot of scrutiny, and hostility and examination." She would also be hounded by the media, he said. Local people were also worried about having her back, he said, including his own neighbours who were caught up in the November 2015 attacks in Paris in which 130 people were killed in a series of shootings and bombings claimed by IS. Katie Healy, who grew up next door to the Aherns, and her then boyfriend and now husband, David Nolan, were in the Bataclan Theatre where 90 people were murdered. David was shot in the foot and has had to endure multiple surgeries. Mr Ahern said he realised their fears had to be balanced with the Government's responsibilities for all Irish citizens. "Behind her [Smith] there is a family who are extremely worried - as are the Healys," he said. Lisa Smith, 37, from Dundalk, served in the army and Air Corps before quitting in 2011. She was married for a time to a Muslim man and lived in Britain but the relationship broke down and she left for Syria in 2015 where she married again and moved to Baghuz, the last IS stronghold which was defeated in recent weeks. Now widowed and the mother of a two-year-old girl, she is being held in a refugee camp in Syria and has said she wants to come home. The Government has said she will be facilitated to come home and has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to assist as it has access to the camps. If brought home, she will be quizzed about how she became radicalised and will be subject to a security assessment. A town in Donegal is celebrating its third lotto win of the year this evening. Last night's winning Lotto Plus 1 ticket worth one million euro was sold in Raphoe, which is near the border. Tributes have been made to the Limerick super-fan John Hunt, who has passed away aged 98. Hunt saw Limerick win their last two All-Ireland titles. In 1936, Hunt saw Limerick beat Kilkenny and in 2018 he travelled from Chicago to see the Treaty County overcome Galway. Speaking to Read More: "And here I am 45 years later with my grandson, Ed, to see Limerick win another All-Ireland." It is very hard to tell you how I feel right now. It is out of this world. It is the greatest thrill that I have had for many many years. I was thrilled with every minute of the game. Hunt had spent the last 70 years in the US, forming the Young Ireland Hurling Club in Chicago. He became the American GAA Board chairman in 1964 and was an honorary president of Chicago GAA. Chicago GAA posted on social media to "extend our sincerest and deepest sympathies to his entire family, friends and club on their great loss. May he Rest In Peace". Limerick Hurling Club, Chicago also paid tribute. "The Limerick Hurling Club Chicago would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Hunt family on the passing of the Great John Hunt. "John a native of Athea Co Limerick was one of the founding members and the first Chairman of the Club in 1959 which it is celebrating 60 years this year. John always kept in touch with what was happening in the club through the years. "He was a frequent visitor to the dressing room in Gaelic Park over the years and was good for a speech to get the team going on Sundays." The 98-year-old also made a famous appearance on The Late Late Show, where he finally got his own hands on the famous hurling trophy. This Limerick man, long emigrated to Chicago, is 98 years old. He saw the Treaty win the All-Ireland in 1936. He saw them win it at Croke Park in 2018. He had never held aloft Liam MacCarthy. Until now... #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/WjNb42SPcZ RTE GAA (@RTEgaa) September 7, 2018 Hurling fans on social media have also paid tribute, heralding Hunt's love for the sport. RIP John Hunt.what a character.Hes love for hurling ,Gaa & limerick was infectious. #uplimerick pic.twitter.com/aR0TcsO8dq Eoghan murphy (@wellabu) March 30, 2019 Sad to hear about the passing of John Hunt. He has his ticket to heaven in his back pocket. https://t.co/buZRuDJMFP Mark Farrelly (@MarkFarrelly131) March 30, 2019 Sad to hear of the Death of John Hunt the ICONIC Limerick fan living in Chicago with the last 70 years. His Dreams come true last August when he traveled back to Ireland to watch his native County win the Liam McCarty Cup after a 45 year wait. What a Legend, May he Rest in Peace pic.twitter.com/Rbq7c6Uc1Y Buff Egan (@buff_egan) March 30, 2019 Ar dheis De go raibh a h'anam. A 12-storey Swanston Street building will become a giant night-time animated billboard as Melbourne wages a losing fight against a swathe of controversial new advertising hoardings in the citys streets. The mega-sized 305 square metre display will light up the white-painted wall of the CGI Business Centre at 231 Swanston Street from dusk to dawn and be visible by pedestrians and drivers as far away as Carlton. The City of Melbourne maintains the giant billboard will add visual clutter to the citys streets, already under siege from a deluge of new hoardings. A mega-sized 305 square metre display will light up the white-painted wall of the CGI Business Centre at 231 Swanston Street. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui "The proliferation of super-sized high-resolution digital billboards beaming high rotation advertisements into the public realm are creating an unprecedented level of visual clutter that detracts from our city streets, planning portfolio chair Nicholas Reece said. On July 15, 2014, a dealmaker from asset manager Lazard hopped aboard a Eurostar train from London to Paris and typed furiously on multiple mobile phones. He didn't pay attention to his neighbour sporting a three-day stubble and casual clothes. Big mistake. A conversation on a train put an interesting wrinkle into a $US15 billion potential deal. Credit:Shutterstock Dealmaker Vincent Le Stradic continued to work during the 2-hour trip, unaware that he was providing a window into a soon-to-be-announced $US15 billion ($21.1 billion) takeover bid to his seatmate, a UBS banker. Details came to light at a hearing by France's financial-market oversight authority. The backdrop for the case is the audacious attempted takeover of T-Mobile US by the French mobile-phone carrier Iliad, founded by Xavier Niel. Le Stradic was and still is one of the French billionaire's closest financial advisers, while the man in the seat next door, Alexandre Zaluski, worked in the investment banking arm of UBS in London, focusing on equity capital markets. During the journey, Zaluski caught a few glimpses of messages that popped up as Le Stradic juggled between phones. Unable to make sense of the piecemeal information into the deal, which would be announced two weeks later, the UBS banker decided immediately to reach out to a colleague via email. Ultimately, the bid was unsuccessful. Seven people, five of whom are children, have been taken to hospital after a bus crashed into parked cars on the Gold Coast. Paramedics were called to the crash on Brooke Avenue at Southport at 1pm on Sunday. Nine people were assessed but only seven were taken to hospital. A woman in her 20s with arm and hip pain, a girl in her early teens, three young children and a female infant were taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in stable conditions. A man, aged in his 50s, was also taken to hospital in a stable condition. The LNP-dominated Brisbane City Council is being shaken up as Adrian Schrinner steps into the role of lord mayor, with Krista Adams taking the deputy spot and two of their council colleagues eyeing federal campaigns. Cr Schrinner's elevation leaves his ward of Chandler open for a new councillor, while Cr Adams will retain both the deputy role and her ward of Holland Park. Incoming Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner is keen to create a long-term vision for Brisbane. Credit:Glenn Hunt "The party will decide on a [Chandler] replacement, and that will be in the near future," Cr Schrinner said. With Cr Quirk announcing his retirement within 12 months of the next election a move the Labor candidate for mayor Rod Harding described as "unfortunate" for the people of Brisbane the LNP party room selected the new mayor on Sunday, without the need for a byelection. The ongoing restriction of abortion pill RU486 in Australia means women have limited access to safe medical abortion, with "no good reason", experts say. A paper written by James Cook University professor of obstetrics and gynaecology Professor Caroline de Costa along with two Sydney researchers, and recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia, studies the history of the politically charged drug. Safe medical abortion is available through a combination of drugs, but those drugs are strictly regulated in Australia. RU486, known by its medical name mifepristone, is used in conjunction with misoprostol for both early medical abortion up to nine weeks' gestation, and hospital-based later abortion. The combination is the "gold standard" for medical abortion with a 95 per cent success rate. The parents of the two schoolboys found dead in a lake on Queensland's Fraser Island were flying to Australia on Sunday. The bodies of the two 16-year-olds were found in Lake McKenzie, a popular tourist spot, early on Saturday morning. A police driver searches the lake where the bodies of two Japanese schoolboys were found. Credit:Nine News The pair, both Japanese nationals, were visiting the island as part of a school exchange program, in a group made up of seven boys, six girls and two teachers. The group were spending the weekend at Fraser Island, having wrapped up the official exchange with Caloundra City Private School, on the Sunshine Coast. A teenager has been taken to a Brisbanew hospital with burns after his mobile phone exploded on Sunday night. Paramedics were called to the home in Dakabin about 10.30pm on Sunday after the phone, of an unknown brand, exploded while the boy was holding it. He suffered burns to his chest and was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital in a stable condition. A woman, aged in her 90s, is clinging to life after nearly drowning at a retirement village on the Sunshine Coast. Paramedics were called to the Peregian Springs Country Club, run by Aveo about 1.30pm Sunday. The woman was rushed to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital where she remains in a critical condition. It was unclear whether her near drowning was caused by a separate medical episode. Police are on the hunt for a man who savagely bashed an American tourist in a Preston car park, leaving him with memory loss, bleeding to the brain and a broken jaw. After performing at a music concert, the 32-year-old victim got off a tram near Bell Street and Plenty Road around 11.30pm on Wednesday night. As he walked through a car park a man began to follow him, chasing him down and hitting him repeatedly to the head and face. Detective Senior Constable Matthew Coleiro, of Preston police, said the attacker continued to beat the man even after he fell unconscious. Western Australia's chief health officer will look at the adverse public health impacts of climate change in a wide-ranging inquiry. The inquiry will assess the WA health system's readiness to deal with public health impacts of climate change. WA's health system will be assessed over its ability to cope with climate change. Credit:Alamy Recent research published in the Australian Journal of General Practice found the more extreme the weather the greater the effects on humans. Extreme heat would result in higher rates of heat-related deaths. Infectious diseases would also prosper in floods and warmer weathers, as would mosquito-spread diseases. Last budget I proposed that the then treasurer, Scott Morrison, introduce a bipartisan National Debt Commission (NDC) that would take submissions from businesses of all shapes and sizes, unions, academics, entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, state and local governments and be tasked with making recommendations on budget repair and debt reduction that are fair, credible and do not place a disproportionate amount of the burden on working Australians, young or old, or our most vulnerable. Not unexpectedly, he didnt take up my offer, but it is precisely the kind of idea which could avoid such wasteful and debt-expanding spending. The now Prime Minister and his Treasurer should seriously consider the NDC along with another tangible move towards tackling debt: reinstating the debt ceiling as a percentage of GDP. In 2013, Australias debt ceiling was scrapped by the Abbott government with the support of the Greens in parliament, a statutory cap on government borrowings passed into law by then-assistant treasurer Chris Bowen in 2008. If we are serious about keeping one eye on long-term fiscal responsibility, then we need the discipline of a debt ceiling. Loading This should be done so by fixing the ceiling as a percentage of GDP, and if need be reset by the NDC, rather than the government of the day. A reasonable starting point is 20 per cent, which is where health spending as a proportion of GDP will sit over the next decade. It will mean we can afford to pay for what is projected to be the fastest growing budgetary item and avoid the scenario of governments breaking the piggy bank to pork-barrel in times of electoral peril. If it right to cap tax revenue as a percentage of GDP to not exceed 23.9 per cent of GDP why not borrowing? A debt ceiling will incentivise savings over spending. The NDCs role would take the politics out of raising or lowering the ceiling. Many Liberals support the reintroduction of the debt ceiling. It would receive bipartisan backing and go a long way to achieving surplus on average over the economic cycle or in the medium term. Jakarta: Indonesia's presidential debates are a must-watch for millions of people in this vast archipelago, with mass screenings in parks and other venues around the country attended by thousands of people who might otherwise be out enjoying their Saturday night. In a nation with 192 million potential voters, they offer incumbent president Joko Widodo and his challenger, Prabowo Subianto - a fiery former military general and economic populist - the chance to win hearts and change minds. Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, left, greets Prabowo Subianto, presidential candidate, right, on stage during a fourth presidential debate in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday, March 30. Credit:Bloomberg A study released by the respected Centre for Strategic and International Studies last Thursday showed Joko had an electability rating of 51.4 per cent, far ahead of Prabowo on 33.3 per cent. On the strength of Saturday night's debate, not too many hearts or minds will have been changed. Tunis: Arab leaders have papered over long-running regional rivalries to condemn a US move to recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a signed proclamation that recognises Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Credit:Bloomberg Arab leaders, attending a summit in the Tunisian capital, have been grappling with regional splits over Iran's influence in the Middle East, a bitter Gulf Arab dispute, international pressure over the war in Yemen, and unrest in Algeria and Sudan. But they have found a reason to unite against US President Donald Trump's decision to sign a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as part of Israel, which annexed the area in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in 1967. Latest News RedZed inks extension to Melbourne Storm deal 'Most significant sponsorship deal' for lender and club Annette King joins board at AFG Latest addition brings wealth of experience in Australia and Asia New data has confirmed that Australias major banks retained their stronghold on the mortgage market in the weeks following the royal commissions final report. According to APRAs months banking statistics for February 2019, the majors loaned more than $890bn in owner-occupier mortgages and more than $470bn in investor mortgages over 28 days. CBA posted the highest value of owner-occupier loans, followed by Westpac, ANZ and NAB. For investor loans Westpac posted the highest total value, followed by CBA, NAB and ANZ. When combined, CBA was the lender with the highest total value of all mortgages. Meanwhile the top 10 performing non-majors saw the owner occupier loan book reach more than $182bn while investor loans reached more than $74bn. In AFGs Competition Index for September 2018, the non-majors reached a record market share, accounting for 41% of all mortgages in the June quarter, up from 35% in the previous quarter. For February 2018, APRAs data shows the top 10 non-major banks for owner occupier loan volumes were: ING Suncorp Bendigo and Adelaide Macquarie Bank of Queensland Members Equity HSBC AMP Heritage Bank Teachers Mutual Limited Meanwhile for investor only lending, the top performing non-majors were Bendigo and Adelaide Macquarie Suncorp Bank of Queensland ING HSBC Members Equity AMP Heritage Bank Teachers Mutual Limited Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC To the Editor, We are supposed to learn from history. However, too often, we do not learn its lessons. New York City is a tourist mecca. Our great landmarks include the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, the Coney Island Boardwalk, and the United Nations, to name just a few. These attractions bring tourists to New York and help the economy. One of these attractions is the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Standing on the Promenade, you get a great view of the New York skyline. I have met many tourists on the Promenade. These individuals then shop in the local shops. The BQE that goes under the Promenade is due for much-needed repairs. The proposals that seem to be most likely to be adopted would require the closing of the Promenade for several years. This would be a disaster for several reasons: It would reduce the number of tourists coming to Brooklyn Heights. There would be reductions in store revenue. There would be a loss of jobs as a result. There is no guarantee that the Promenade would be restored at all, let alone in the magnificent manner that it is. The better method would be to keep the Promenade as is and use the streets.Alan Podhaizer Coney Island Gotcha! To the Editor, A few months ago I wrote about those wonderful smart meters being installed by Con Edison. By the hundreds, our old meters were replaced with a new wireless system that would let millennials and others watch every watt consumed and do billing and such, using their hand-held device. I also warned that the benevolent Edison would start charging for time-of-day use, though neighbors pooh-poohed the notion. GOTCHA! Con Edison has just announced that it will inaugurate Time of Day demand charges for residents. Now, during certain hours of the day, stay-at-home mothers and retirees have to choose whether to turn on the air-conditioning, pay through the nose, or swelter in the heat. Thinking about doing your laundry at noon? Better put it off until midnight. The price for turning on your electric clothes dryer will bring tears to your eyes, and if you have an electric hot water heaterFORGETTABOUTIT! We are told that, thanks to the greenies stymieing every effort in power plant construction, we have now started going backward. No power plants equal no additional power to energize your electronic goodies you cannot live without. So, as one by one the major plants retire, without a solid reliable source to replace them, it is time to squirrel away a pile of extra cash to pay for your upcoming energy bills. Candles anyone?Robert W. Lobenstein Sheepshead Bay Control co-op To the Editor, It never amazes me to see what landlords and renegade co-op boards can get away with in New York City. It used to be that when apartments were vacated in buildings, the apartment was painted, floors were scraped, and the new tenant moved in. The apartment next to mine was recently vacated and now it has been sold. While writing this letter, I am being subjected to continuous banging. It becomes extremely difficult to stay in the apartment while all this noise is taking place. There is a notice on the door of the apartment that management has given permission for this remodeling to take place. I keep checking affected areas to see if damage has occurred in my apartment. My luxury co-op is on Avenue Z and is 61 years of age. I question whether the infrastructure of the building can take all this excessive banging without walls collapsing or pipes bursting. How can the Buildings Department allow this to go on? Last year, when two apartments on the floor below were remodeled, our incinerator became infested with cockroaches who literally came out of the walls. I believe that this is a very serious situation and something had better be done before there is a major collapse within the structure. My problem is further complicated as we have no representation from our building on the co-op board. Therefore, the board feels it can do as it pleases, as there is no input whatsoever from residents in my building. The co-op consists of three apartment buildings adjacent to each other. We cannot get a quorum to hold yearly elections.Ed Greenspan Sheepshead Bay Vote for 99 percent To the Editor, Overcrowded streets, avenues, highways, trains, stores, and such are all due to over development. Enough already! Go build in Wyoming; there is plenty of open sky and green space there for real estate developers and their dutifully approving elected officials to ruin. And while you are at it, give us some elected representatives who care to improve the quality of our (the tax-paying citizens) lives; and who understand efficient budgeting and oversight so that our tax dollars stop going down what feels like an abyss of nothingness, causing our taxes to endlessly go up with little to show for it, and the work of people elected to representate us. I recently renamed The White House to The White Nationalist Grifter House. This symbolic and very real place that is the whole of D.C. politics needs become lily white, via new tenants in the executive and legislative branches, come January 2021. Frankly, at this point, I dont care if you vote blue or red because the REAL BATTLE is economic, a CLA$$ WARFARE; and it always has been. If youre not part of the one percent you should be VERY angry at the extreme dysfunction of the electoral and political systems in place, and the only partisan voting should be for and with the 99 percent tribe PERIOD. In this day and age, there are still some differences between the blue and red parties, and for me the blue rhetoric better approaches a kind, thoughtful, generous heart that is first for WE THE PEOPLE, the tax-paying, voting citizenry. Please: I implore people to think and feel for yourself; the world isnt black and white, nor are most decisions; and surely the vital issues before us should not be solely decided by tribal upbringing unless its the 99 percent tribe.Barry Brothers Homecrest Eat local To the Editor, In these difficult economic times, it is especially important to patronize your local neighborhood restaurant not only during Dine The Boroughs March 1829 but all year round. There are so many great resturants in Brooklyn to select from. Some of my favorites include Juniors, Floridian Diner, Brennan and Carr, and Roll and Roster. My wife and I dont mind occasionally paying a little more to help our local restaurants survive. Dont forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated. Remember these people are our neighbors. Our local entrepreneurs have continued to create new employment opportunities without the assistance of federally-funded taxpayers stimulus dollars. They work long hours, pay taxes, and provide local employment. If we dont patronize our local restaurants to shop and eat, they dont eat either. Please join me and your neighbors in continuing to support the Park Slope, Bay News, Graphic, and MillMarine Brooklyn Courier publications. Patronize their restaurant advertisers; they provide the necessary revenues to help keep them in business. Let them know you saw their ad.Larry Penner Great Neck PUTINS WORLD Russia Against the West and With the Rest Angela E Stent Twelve Books; $30; 433 pages Russia has always been important to American diplomats, but rarely has it troubled civilians as much as it does now. The precise extent of the Kremlins intervention in the 2016 presidential election remains disputed, but few would deny that its foreign policy has more influence on domestic American affairs than ever before, or that understanding that policy is an urgent priority. Angela E Stent has written Putins World to meet that need. Ms Stent is ... The Business Standard Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence, held on Friday evening, was a memorable way of closing the books of 2018-19 by toasting the spirit of success of the best-performing individuals and their contribution to society. Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley presented the awards to winners in 12 categories at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi, before a packed house of thinkers and leaders top bureaucrats, corporate leaders, and leading economists. The event had all the elements of a blockbuster evening heroes, good humour, emotions of joy and tears, poetry, and dialogues from Bollywood hits. It is a pleasure to be here at the Business Standard Annual Awards. Its a newspaper meant for thinking people and of great use for policymakers to go through the seriousness of the articles written in it. Its the third time I am here at this annual event, but this one is different from the earlier two, Jaitley said. Jamna Auto Industries Vice-Chairman Randeep Singh Jauhars family members and colleagues at the award function With the general elections in the worlds largest democracy around the corner, Jaitleys speech was a balanced mix of politics and economy. The FM spoke of the changing socioeconomic profile of the country to a new India poised to handle any challenge like arresting high school dropout rates, as highlighted by the award-winning social entrepreneurs at the event. The biggest takeaway for the audience was the fact that the winners of the award had contributed towards forming an equitable and inclusive society, while being successful in their own fields. The jury did not take much time to choose the winners of the year though it was a hard decision, considering there were so many good on the list. The statistics provided by Business Standard showed outstanding financial performance of all the shortlisted in the recent years, said Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, who chaired the jury to select the best of India Inc. The jury chose Vinod K Dasari, who stepped down as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ashok Leyland on March 31, 2019, as the CEO of the Year for steering the company at a very difficult time, leading from the front and aggressively launching new product categories. BS Award Clad in a grey Nehru jacket, Dasari, who won the CEO of the Year Award, summed up his 14-year challenge in a style not typical of a business leader. I remember, just like in the movie Deewar, a journalist once asked me unke paas naya plant hai, world technology hai, bahut paisa hai, young workforce hai. Aapke paas kya hai? (They have a new plant, world-class technology, money, young workforce. What do you have?). I took a dramatic pause like (matinee idol) Shashi Kapoor and said: Mere paas meri team hai (I have my team). The jury chose Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for Company of the Year award, which has remained at pole position despite formidable global and home-grown challengers ranging from Procter & Gamble to Patanjali Ayurved, and delivering excellent shareholder value. With the acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in an all-stock deal valued at Rs 31,700 crore in December last year, HUL will increase its lead further. While a large part of our capital may be overseas, we align ourselves with the national agenda, Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and MD of HUL, said. The Banker of the Year award was conferred on IndusInd Bank MD and CEO Romesh Sobti, who told the audience about the tough times bankers went through in the past few years, often bashed for reckless lending. We have survived this onslaught because there is a surprising element in our loan book. About 45 per cent of our lending stands for livelihood financing, Sobti said. While pointing out the deep downturn cycle of the banking industry is turning, he quipped, selecting the best banker next year would be an even more onerous task for the jury. The bank has shown consistent performance in various parameters and the initiatives taken such as the amalgamation of Bharat Financial, which is a good balance sheet fit, former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor S S Mundra, who chaired the banking jury, said. Noshir Kaka, senior partner at McKinsey, and the longest-serving jury member, described the rigorous process of selecting winners. You know the consultancy firms love for paper. And if there is only one institution which can outdo us in this is a newspaper and the research they put together. Sixty pages of numbers and 200 pages of facts... You have to be on top of the numbers and facts in front of this jury, Kaka said, adding how it has been a learning curve for him all these years. The 64-tall Kaka shared with the audience how he learned one of the most important leadership lessons from the Lifetime Achievement award winner Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Group, at an important juncture of his career. I was told that I should meet Adi Godrej after I was asked to head McKinsey India. He (Godrej) asked what my height is and told me remember, one job of a leader is when you walk into the room, you must make everyone feel one inch taller. Godrej is also Indias most authoritative voice when it comes to ethics, corporate governance best practices, and environment protection, the jury had discussed. The most visible sign of Godrejs deep imprint on corporate governance in India can be gauged by the fact that almost half of the employees at the 121-year-old conglomerate are women. I would also dedicate this award to around 750 million of our consumers in India and 1.5 billion users of our products globally, Godrej said. Jaitley smiled listening to Geeta Dharmarajan, writer, educationist, and founder of Katha, joint winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award, who was beaming while holding the trophy. I am elated receiving this award, Dharmarajan said, who was almost in tears while narrating the plight of poor children, a majority of whom were unable to read or write and chose to drop out of schools. The other Social Entrepreneur of the Year Ved Arya, co-founder of Srijan, which stands for Self Reliant Initiative through Joint Action, an IIT-IIM graduate who left a plum job at Tata Consultancy Services for social enterprise. He urged other qualified engineer-MBAs to come into the social sector and said, If every entrepreneur from IIT-IIM were to donate Rs 1 crore, we could create the ecosystem of Bay Area for the social sector. S Ramadorai, chairman at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, headed the jury that chose the winners of the social excellence awards. Delhi-based Jamna Auto Industries took away the Star SME (small and medium enterprises) of the Year award for its strong financial performance, which saw its market value grow annually over 30 per cent for past three years consistently. Receiving the award, Jamna Auto Vice-Chairman Randeep Singh Jauhar, dressed in black bandhgala and red turban, had the audience in splits when he said, It was a great choice, actually. Jauhar also shared the recipe of success with everyone, All our employees work like entrepreneurs... I was visiting one of our plants and got to know that 75 per cent of employees have been working with us since the plants inception 25 years ago. Thats our strength. The Start-up of the Year award was delivered to Swiggy. There is not a single minute in 24 hours when Indians dont order food. I would dedicate this award to all food delivery personnel and the customers who order, Swiggy Chief Operating Officer Vivek Sunder said. Honeywell Automation India was the chosen listed multinational firm to win the Star MNC of the Year and its MD Ashish Gaikwad promised that the best is yet to come for one of the most promising industrial engineering in India. Piramal Enterprises won the Socially Aware Corporate of the Year award for its work related to reducing mortality rates by 30 per cent and infant mortality rate by 20 per cent in the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh for the Asara Tribal Health Programme. Social Enterprise (NGO) of the Year award was given to Naz Foundation (India) Trust, which provides care and support to children and people living with HIV/AIDS and works towards greater inclusion and respect for members of the LGBTQ community. The fact that they are persisting in that category and doing relevant work stood out for us. As the jury, we believe this institution must be recognised, Ramadorai said. Business Standard also recognised the outstanding work done by public sector companies and chose PowerGrid as the Star PSU of the Year, for its strong financial metrics, apart from facing competition effectively. Ravi P Singh, the officiating chairman and MD of PowerGrid, chose poetry to share his feelings with the audience. Parindo ko milegi manzil ek din, yeh faile hue unke par bolte hain, aur wahi log rehte hain khamosh aksar, zamaane mein jinke hunar bolte hain (Birds will reach their destination, that their wingspan can tell, And people often remain silent, whose talent speaks for them), Singh said. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Ayushman Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan, PepsiCo India President and CEO Ahmed El Sheikh, IndAsia Fund Advisors founder Pradip Shah, and former Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council member and noted economist Surjit Bhalla were among those who graced the awards function. Opinion: We follow an incredibly rigorous process with numbers and facts provided by Business Standard Research, which is supplemented by the qualitative feel of the jury members. Year after year, it is a humbling experience to walk out of that room seeing what winners have achieved and what you have learnt as part of that Noshir Kaka Senior partner, McKinsey, and Jury Member Fascinating evening! Extremely impressed with the high quality of BS Award winners. They have all made such immense contribution to Indias growth and to society. It was inspirational hearing about their achievements. Demonstrates the rigour and professionalism with which winners were selected by the jury Amitabh Kant CEO, NITI Aayog All awardees are role models who we should promote. I was particularly inspired by the winners in social excellence. I congratulate BS for recognising their achievements Indu Bhushan CEO, Ayushman Bharat My congratulations to the BS team for a very well organised award ceremony. It gave me an opportunity to be up close and personal with some of the biggest change-makers who are taking India forward. It was very inspiring to hear their stories and learn from their experiences Ahmed ElSheikh President & CEO, PepsiCo India Bravo! Proud to see a world class choice of awardees and the brilliant quality of intellectual discourse; it was an enriching and inspiring evening. One has come to expect only the intellectual best from Business Standard Anand E Stanley President and MD, Airbus India & South Asia Minister speak On the election mood "We are in the midst of elections... At times, you lack depth when you speak... Im waiting for the next seven-eight weeks to be over. That would be the time for the return of an informed debate." On how India has moved on The inherent socio economic character of India is changing. "We are in the midst of elections... At times, you lack depth when you speak... Im waiting for the next seven-eight weeks to be over. That would be the time for the return of an informed debate."The inherent socio economic character of India is changing. The slogans of the past wont work any longerI have no doubt in my mind that in 2024, the largest single segment of India's electorate will be either the middle class or the neo middle class. That is the pace at which the situation is changing On consensus in GST "A serious study has to be done as to how despite multiple parties having conflicting views on so many issues, thousands of decisions were taken in 34 GST Council meetings through consensus. We have the majority, but I never had to use voting." On absence of agitation during NDA rule In our five-year tenure, we did not see any big social or political agitation. We did not see a situation where we raised direct or indirect taxes. We used technology, we took certain tough measures, we expanded the base and reduced direct and indirect tax rates, especially for those sectors which needed them. On bringing discipline in business "For the first time, we are able to bring ethical discipline in businesses through IBC. That is, if you don't pay or can't pay, you should be ready to exit. . Earlier, if you needed money, you ran after the banker and then he ran after you. That has been reversed now. On growth servicing the poor "My own feeling is that there is no conflict of interest between the economic model of a market-based economy and the interests of the underprivileged. It is only a strong economy that will service the poor. CEO of the Year Vinod Dasari Former MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland Thank you Business Standard. My heartful thanks to my wife and the team at Ashok Leyland. My team created a motto for our firm apki jeet, hamari jeet. I dedicate this award to my team and say, hamari jeet, apki jeet. Vinod Dasari Company of the Year Hindustan Unilever Sanjiv Mehta, CMD I stand here representing lakhs of men and women who are part of our ecosystem. This award not only recognises our performance but the philosophy of our business. While a large part of our capital may be overseas, we align ourselves with the national agenda. Sanjiv Mehta Banker Of the year Romesh Sobti MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank The award of this nature is also cherished by the whole ecosystem that stands behind the individual. The last few years have been tough for banks and banking. We have survived this onslaught as 45% of our loan book is livelihood financing. Romesh Sobti Star MNC Honeywell Automation India Ashish Gaikwad, MD I am humbled to receive this award on behalf of my 15,000 colleagues. We see India as a big place for opportunity. We are trying to make the world a better, safer, smarter and a more sustainable place. The best is yet to come. Star PSU Ashish Gaikwad Star PSU Power Grid Corporation Ravi P Singh, officiating CMD My sincere thanks to Business Standard. I feel honoured receiving this award from the Finance Minister himself. I dedicate this award to the wonderful workforce of Power Grid for whom impossible is nothing. Ravi P Singh Star SME Jamna Auto Industries Randeep Singh Jauhar, vice-chairman Thank you. It is all because of our employees. who are loyal, dedicated, and work like entrepreneurs. Thats our strength, besides innovation and customer satisfaction. Randeep Singh Jauhar Start-up of the Year Swiggy Vivek Sunder, COO Its a great pleasure to receive this award on behalf of 125,000 delivery executives and hundreds of customers who order every second with Swiggy. It's a tough job (delivery execution) as there is not one minute in 24 hours that Indians don't order food. Vivek Sunder Socially aware corporate of the year Piramal Enterprises Harinder Sikka, group director You can receive accolades for doing wonderful in business or add zeroes to your budget but there can be nothing better but to be of use to your own society. This is a humbling experience. We will cherish this. Harinder Sikka Social Enterprise of the Year Naz Foundation (India) Trust Kalyani Subramanyam, programme director This award is for every adolescent girl who needs to be here. They are truly the change-makers of today and the leaders of tomorrow. Thank you, Business Standard. Kalyani Subramanyam Social Entrepreneur of the Year Ved Arya Founder, SRIJAN Thank you very much, Business Standard. This award goes to every SRIJANite. If every entrepreneur who has passed out of IIT-IIM contributes Rs 1 crore, we can have an ecosystem like the Bay Area for the social sector. Ved Arya Social Entrepreneur of the Year Geeta Dharmarajan Founder, Katha Thank you for choosing Katha. The volunteers and children are so gritty and full of life that anyone working with them would know that they must have a better future. India will have a better future if all children have a better future. Geeta Dharmarajan 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 Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called for new global regulations governing the internet on Saturday, recommending overarching rules on hateful and violent content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. In a statement that was also published as an op-ed in the Washington Post, Zuckerberg said the company is seeking regulations that would set baselines for prohibited content and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a minimum. "We have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services," he said. "That ... 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 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. You are doing this to boost your TRP, a visibly upset Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav told mediapersons in Patna on Friday on the questions over the reported rift between him and his elder brother, Tej Pratap Yadav. Tej Pratap, former health minister of Bihar, had resigned as patron of Chhatra RJD (the students wing of the RJD) on Thursday after the party refused tickets to candidates of his choice. Naadan hain woh joh mujhe naadan samajhte hain (Those who think I am naive are ... 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 Among the 42 seats from West Bengal which goes to Lok Sabha polls from next month, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) are poised to fight a pitched battle this time over control of Darjeeling. While the BJP will vie to retain this seat, the TMC is desperate for its maiden Lok Sabha foray from this constituency. It was with the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat that the BJP staged a comeback in West Bengal after its decline in 2004. Apart from Darjeeling, the BJP won the Asansol constituency in the previous Lok Sabha elections. On the other hand, since its ... Israeli Army on Sunday said that five rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza Strip early Sunday, reports The Times of Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the rocket fire, said military officials. "Five rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza after sirens sounded in the Eshkol region adjacent to the southern Gaza Strip at about 12:40 a.m.," said Israel Defense Forces. This attack ends the small period of stillness across both side of the border-Israel- after days of escalation. Israel and Gaza are at loggerheads since the latter's rocket fell in Tel Aviv last week. Retaliating immediately, Israeli Air Force struck Hamas target throughout Gaza. Despite Hamas repeated clarifications that the rocket fell accidentally, Isreal launched multiple strikes towards Gaza. Furthermore, Egypt also tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. However, the talks failed and Israel continued to attack. Israel President Benjamin Netanhayu, who just returned from his state visit to the United States, termed US' recognition on Golan Heights as Israel part as a "tremendous diplomatic achievement". Claiming Golan Heights still faces threat, Netanhayu said, "Beyond the Golan Heights is Syria, and also Iran. Iran is constantly trying to bring precision long-range missiles, which are very advanced and very lethal, into Syria. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai on Sunday hit out at Congress party president Rahul Gandhi for giving his consent to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala apart from Amethi in UP. Rai said: "Congress decision that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad in Kerala is surprising. All non-BJP parties want to get rid of Hitler kind dictatorial regime of Narendra Modi government." He said, "Instead of concentrating on removing a dictatorial and anti-federal regime, the Congress seems to be dividing votes where anti-BJP forces are strong." He said there appears to be a contradiction in the publicly stated strategy of the Congress of getting rid of Modi government and their intentions. Rai said: "Don't know why Rahul Gandhi wants to weaken the opposition. Is he afraid of Modi government? The constituency where BJP is a big challenge for Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are not fighting from there." "Even in Delhi, Congress has been in a state of confusion since last three months and is unable to decide whether it wants to defeat BJP or not. Anti-BJP parties are unable to understand what the Congress wants to achieve. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum on Saturday (local time) escaped unhurt from a Taliban attack in Balkh province. However, Dostum's bodyguard was killed in the attack. "Attackers ambushed Dostum's convoy on Saturday on the way from Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in Balkh province, to Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan," said Aljazeera quoting Bashir Ahmad Tayenj, a spokesman for Dostum's Junbish Party. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. "Four guards were killed and six wounded in the attack," said Taliban's spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. This is the second attack on Dostum in last one year. Dostum had a close shave in Kabul airport's suicide bombing attack in July in which 23 people were killed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday likened Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency to a captain running away from a sinking ship. "The captain ran away after noticing the sinking ship. Helpless, unsecured Rahul Gandhi has run away to far South from Amethi. The roots of Congress have shaken", Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Senior Congress leader AK Antony announced today that Rahul will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Prasad also asserted that the Congress president has specifically chosen the southern seat based on the census of the parliamentary constituency. "We did some homework to find why did Rahul Gandhi go to Wayanad. The reality of Rahul Gandhi's extraordinary escape from Amethi and landing in Wayanad is evident because of the ethnic profile of Wayanad where 49.4-49.8 per cent are the Hindus and the rest belong to minorities. The seven Assembly constituencies are minority dominated," asserted Prasad. "On the one hand, they are showcasing themselves as political Hindus and on the other hand, they have gone to a completely minority dominated region of Kerala. His commitment to an inclusive India stands exposed today. Rahul Gandhi's migratory commitment to political Hindus remains exposed today," added Prasad. Speaking about the treatment meted out to leaders from the South including former Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Prasad said, "It is an ugly, cruel joke on the proud tradition of South India. This whole comment that Rahul Gandhi is contesting (from Wayanad constituency) to save the South Indian Sanskriti, is a joke. What did Congress do with Narasimha Rao, NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran, and others?" The BJP leader also demanded that the Congress president should also clear his stand on the Sabarimala issue, now that he is contesting from Kerala. "Since he has gone to safeguard the traditions of Southern India, hence we demand him to clear his stand on the Sabarimala issue," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of the growing threat of Cyber attacks in the country, Kaspersky Lab presented on "Efficiently Managing Risks with Cyber Threat Intelligence" during the recently held CISO summit here. Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company, which has been operating in the market for 21 years. Kaspersky Lab's deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into next-generation security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. "Sidharth Mutreja, Enterprise Solutions Architect of Kaspersky Lab, explained the steps and criteria required in managing cybersecurity risks with threat intelligence. Counteracting modern cyber threats requires a 360-degree view of the tactics and tools used by threat actors, in order to maintain immunity to even previously unseen cyber-attacks," a statement issued by the company said. The statement added, "Kaspersky Lab's paper helped shed light in ways to identify the attacker, making well-informed and strategic ways of threat detection, understanding the seriousness of the attack and its long-and-short term repercussions. The presentation also highlighted Kaspersky CyberTrace - a threat intelligence fusion and analysis tool, which provides real-time 'situational awareness', helping Tier 1 analysts to make timely and better-informed decisions." Speaking at the event Mutreja said, "With the ever-evolving threat landscape, organizations need to be more proactive in their approach for cybersecurity. As a proactive measure, security teams need to embrace Cyber Threat Intelligence encompassing Technical, Operational, Tactical and Strategic Threat Intelligence into their existing security operations to leverage specific intelligence for proactive countermeasures and threat hunting.' Centred on the theme of 'Defence', the CISO Summit focused on discussing contemporary issues facing the Indian homes and offices. Over 100 CISOs, CIOs and key decision makers of some of the top Indian companies attended the two-day summit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday urged the workers Congress and JDS to work together to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. "Today, the country is important and communal harmony is important. We must forget differences and work together to defeat the BJP," the former Chief Minister said at a meeting of Congress-JDS workers meet. "In May this year, we formed the coalition government, which is being led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Through the coordination committee, we are giving an administration, which is pro-people, pro-women, pro-Dalits and pro-minorities," he said. The former Chief Minister claimed that this government has continued the schemes launched by his government. "During my five-year tenure, the programmes that were launched have been continued even now. We had decided that if we have to remove the BJP, then we need to defeat it in all 28 seats," he said. Karnataka will go to polls during the second and third phases of Lok Sabha polling on April 18 and April 23, respectively. Results will be announced on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 'disgruntled' Congress leader P Sudhakar Reddy from Telangana met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Sunday and shifted his loyalty. He has severed ties with the Congress party and has expressed his desire to join the BJP. "I have been with the Congress party for last 40 years and have served at various positions including in NSUI, and IYC. I have been humiliated several times on the party forum but I continued to work as a disciplined worker of the party," said P Sudhakar Reddy. "But due to the failure of local leadership in Telangana, I was badly defeated in the last elections. The parliamentary elections are going on under their leadership again," said Reddy. "The in Congress is now commercialised as the middlemen have increased and sincere workers are sidelined. The voice is not reaching up to the leadership in the Congress," he added. "I have brought it to the notice but no remedies were made," said Reddy. He also alleged the Congress has seen Pulwama terrorist attack in the light of which is unfortunate. "I was deeply hurt by the on Pulwama terror attack in which our brave soldiers died. On the matter of security, there should be no politics. In Narendra Modi I have seen a strong leadership, which is lacking in Rahul Gandhi," he said. In the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, he has requested him to take up execution, maintenance, rehabilitation, and resettlement, planning of Polavaram project, initiate and execute Bayyaram and Kadapa steel plants in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh among other demands. The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls are set to begin on April 11 and will end on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea on Sunday described February break-in on its embassy in Madrid by a dissident group as a "grave terrorist attack" and demanded a probe into the perpetrators behind the incident. On February 22, an anti-North-Korean group that calls for the overthrowing of the Kim Jong-un regime broke into the North Korean Embassy in Madrid, where they heckled with the employees before dashing off with computers and documents, Yonhap News Agency reported. The development comes five days ahead of the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi, which ultimately ended without any agreement reached. "A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group attacked the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) Embassy in Spain. An illegal intrusion into an occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of extortion is a grave breach of state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated," a spokesperson of North Korea's foreign ministry told state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Free Joseon, a mysterious anti-North Korea group, later claimed responsibility for the raid and said that it shared some information obtained from North Korean embassy with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on "their request." North Korea is "following the rumours that FBI of the United States and the small fry of anti-DPRK 'body' were involved in the terror attack," the KCNA said. It added that North Korea expected the Spanish authorities to "carry out an investigation into the incident to the last in a responsible manner in order to bring the terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice in conformity with the relevant international law," Yonhap News Agency reported. On Wednesday, a Spanish court had named Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang as leader of the dissident group who contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault" with details related to the incident in the North Korean embassy. The court said that two of the miscreants reportedly took the embassy's commercial attache to an underground room and urged him to defect, but refused to do so. Meanwhile, the FBI is yet to confirm or deny the existence of its inquiry. US State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino had previously denied the government's involvement in the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chennai Super Kings registered their third consecutive victory in the ongoing 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) as they thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 8 runs here on Sunday. Chasing a total of 176, Rajasthan had a substandard beginning as they gave away three wickets swiftly on just 14 runs. Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi then provided succour to Rajasthan by forming a 61-run partnership giving the host a bit of relief after a puny start. Both the players later became victims of Imran Tahir. Ben Stokes and Krishnappa Gowtham then came out to bat but Gowtham too was sent back to the pavilion quickly, bringing Jofra Archer to the field. Both the players played some stormy shots which brought the match to a stage where Rajasthan needed 12 runs off 6 balls. Bravo bowled a stunning spell restricting the hosts to 167 runs helping his side win the match by 8 runs. Earlier, Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bowl first. Chennai came to bat but espied a very quick blow in the name of Ambati Rayudu. Suresh Raina, then joined Shane Watson but not for long as Watson too was sent back to the pavilion by Ben Stokes. Kedar Jadhav came out to bat but was immediately dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni. Then Chennai's skipper MS Dhoni formed a decent partnership with Raina and both added 61 runs to the scoreboard before Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Raina. Dhoni remained constant on the on-end and then formed a partnership with Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja of 56 and 31 runs respectively. Dhoni smashed three sixes off last three deliveries of the innings and scored 75 runs off just 46 balls helping his team post a target of 176 for the visitors. Rajasthan will now host Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 2 while Chennai will be hosted by Mumbai Indians on April 3. Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 175/5 (MS Dhoni: 75*, Suresh Raina: 36, Jofra Archer: 2-17) beats Rajasthan Royals 167/8 (Ben Stokes: 46, Rahul Tripathi: 39, Deepak Chahar: 2-19) by 8 runs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 118 runs to register their second victory in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday. Chasing a ginormous target of 232, RCB had a lousy start as half of their squad was sent back to the pavilion by the Hyderabad's bowlers when they had just 30 runs on the scoreboard. Mohammad Nabi, who came in as a replacement for Kane Williamson, showed a wondrous performance as he bundled off four RCB batsmen back to the pavilion in his four overs, and gave away just 11 runs, putting the visitors under immense pressure. Colin de Grandhomme and the youngest player ever to feature in IPL, Prayas Ray Barman, 16, helped Bangalore get a bit closer to the total as they stitched a 51 runs partnership and helped visitors avoid a humiliating defeat. Sandeep Sharma got hold of Barman and then the final four batsmen too joined the other players in the pavilion after reaching a total of just 113 runs. Earlier, RCB won the toss and decided to put the host to bat first, who took full advantage of the opportunity and set a huge target of 231. Hyderabad's both the openers, Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, gave their team an incendiary start. The duo ended up knocking their centuries and stitched a 185-run partnership, highest opening stand ever in the IPL history. The much-needed breakthrough came in 17th over provided by Yuzvendra Chahal who dismissed Bairstow (114). Soon after the first wicket, new batsman Vijay Shankar too was sent back to the pavilion immediately. Yusuf Pathan then joined the on-field player, Warner (100*), and both added 29 runs to the scoreboard which helped the host put an arduous target of 232 runs. Rajasthan Royals will host RCB on April 2 while Hyderabad will face Delhi Capitals at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on April 4. Brief scores: Sunriers Hyderabad 231/2 (Jonny Bairstow- 114, David Warner- 100*, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-44) beats Royal Challengers Bangalore (Colin de Grandhomme- 37, Prayas Ray Barman- 19, Mohammad Nabi 4-11) by 118 runs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tej Bahadur Yadav, the BSF constable who was dismissed from the service in the year 2017 after he released a video on poor quality of food served to soldiers, is contesting as an Independent candidate from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am contesting as an Independent candidate from Varanasi. The Prime Minister had said he will give the status of martyrs to soldiers of paramilitary forces and will give them a pension. I will ask the Prime Minister if you had made promises, what all did you do to date?" asks Yadav. He added, "It is an equal fight, on the one side you have an 'Asli Chowkidar' (real watchman) and on the other side, you have a 'Nakli Chowkidar (fake watchman)". Yadav had posted four videos on the social media in January 2017 that showed him complaining about the unpalatable food at his camp along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir. The videos triggered outrage across the nation. After the videos went viral, the BSF dismissed his allegations and later dismissed him from the service. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said, Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad constituency in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections was a challenge to the Left and not a battle against the BJP. The chief minister also vowed that the CPI(M) will defeat Rahul. This comes hours after Senior Congress leader AK Antony announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. "Rahul Gandhi is fighting in one of the 20 constituencies (in Kerala) and does not need to be seen as any different. We will fight him. He should have contested from a constituency where the BJP is contesting; it's nothing but a fight against Left," Vijayan said here in a press conference. Speaking to ANI, former general secretary of CPI (M) Prakash Karat also expressed similar sentiments and said: "To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election, we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. Stating that Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad is against Congress' commitment to fight BJP, Karat added: "Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it is LDF (Left Democratic Front) which is the main force fighting BJP there. Prior to Rahul's candidature, Congress had finalised candidates for 12 seats in Kerala. The Congress is contesting on 16 out of the 20 seats in Kerala leaving four seats for its allies - two seats for the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and one each for Kerala Congress (Mani) and Socialist Party (RSP). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati termed controversial Dalit youth leader Chandrashekhar Azad as a BJP 'mole' on Sunday. "The BJP tried hard to help Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar join the BSP as its mole but failed in its conspiracy. It is very imperative in the interest to dislodge autocratic, despotic anti-Dalit, OBC & minorities BJP from power. Pls ensure no vote goes waste. My Appeal," she tweeted. The four-time state Chief Minister appealed people to vote in the Lok Sabha elections to defeat the ruling BJP which she dubbed as 'despotic, autocratic, casteist and communal'. "With the ill-intention of dividing Dalit votes & taking advantage, the BJP has conspired to field Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar from Varanasi LS seat. This organisation was formed under BJP conspiracy & with its anti-Dalit mindset, it is now indulging in despicable politics," she further tweeted. Chandrashekhar has announced to contest Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, the seat currently represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lower house of Parliament. Congress general secretary and in-charge of eastern UP Priyanka Gandhi had met Chandrashekhar earlier this month. Uttar Pradesh will vote to elect 80 MPs in the state in four phases from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised 'special category' status to Andhra Pradesh, if voted to power in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. "Giving special status to Andhra is not only a commitment made by Congress and Manmohan Singh ji. It is a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. It is our commitment that we will give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi," said Rahul Gandhi while addressing a public rally in Vijayawada. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not fulfilling his commitment of providing special status to the state, Rahul said: "Mr Modi has been Prime Minister for five years and he has not fulfilled this commitment. Frankly, I am surprised that the parties in Andhra Pradesh are not aggressively pushing Mr Modi to give the state what was promised." Rahul, who has recently introduced his NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) to assure Rs 72,000 to 20 per cent of India's poorest families, said: "I and Congress party will deliver the NYAY scheme like we delivered MGNREGA, White Revolution and Green Revolution. Rs 72,000 a year...I am not Mr Modi, I do not lie. He said he will give you Rs 15 lakh and that was a lie. The Government of India cannot give you Rs 15 lakh in a bank account but the Government of India can give Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest people in India." The Congress president accused Modi of waiving loans of the rich people like Anil Ambani and supporting fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. "Modi waived loans of rich, but he did not waive farmers' loans. In Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, we waived off loans of farmers within two days. Only Congress can protect farmers." "People are living in fear under Modi's regime but once we come to power will definitely improve the situation," he added. Senior Congress leader AK Antony on Sunday announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls are set to begin on April 11 and will continue till May 19. The 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly will go to polls on April 11 simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda on Sunday submitted "a comprehensive and exhaustive" strategy document on the security to Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "Lt General (Retd) D S Hooda and his team have put together a comprehensive report on India's security that he presented to me today. This exhaustive report will at first be discussed and debated within the Congress party. I thank him and the team for their effort," Rahul tweeted. It is worth mentioning that the Congress party had roped in Lt Gen Hooda in February this year to prepare a comprehensive report on the security. After meeting Rahul, Lt Gen Hooda said: "The Congress president had constituted a task force headed by me on national security. I have prepared a national security strategy document and today submitted it to him." Lt Gen Hooda, who had overseen the surgical strike of September 2016 on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, retired from the service in November 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Opposition for spreading lies against his government and BJP, and vowed to bring back every penny from the absconders, while speaking at 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' programme here. "Congress' lies are seasonal. When there were elections in Delhi, they came up with intolerance. When there were elections in Bihar, their topic was that Modi will take back all forms of reservations. Then an 'Award Wapsi' gang came. Whenever any incident happens, this gang comes up," he said. "I asked my people what was received in the office. I came to know that nothing came, and not even the money given with the awards. After every election, this gang goes home," said Prime Minister Modi. In an apparent reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, he said: "The one who is lying, the first condition is that his memory power should be sharp. But one day he said some figure, the next day some other figure. The factory of his lies hands him another lie. But due to poor memory power, he is caught." "We must be well aware of fake promises that several political parties are making these days. They know they would not win. Therefore, I urge people to minutely examine everything being said by some parties," he said. Talking about the meaning of 'Chowkidar,' Prime Minister Modi said: "Chowkidar is a spirit. It is a feeling. Gandhi ji said that we have to use our resources as a trustee. His words and ideologies guide us even today. Chowkidar is a representation of his ideologies and principles." Highlighting the success of direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme using Aadhar card, Prime Minister Modi said: "In the BJP ruled states, we found 8 crore fake names who were never born but grown older in the government office. Around Rs 1 lakh crore used to be given to these fake people. With DBT scheme, the money is saved." Talking about 'Mission Shakti' test at a time when elections are due, Prime Minister Modi said: "Mission Shakti has nothing to do with elections. The scientists of our country have achieved that power which has with only three countries in the world before us. It is due to our scientists that India has entered the elite club of space power." In a strong message to those who are absconding after looting the country, the Prime Minister said that he would ensure that they return every penny to the country. "Those who have robbed the country will have to return every single penny. Since 2014, I have been doing all things to ensure absconders face the law of the land," he said. Modi further said, "They are being sent to jails. Some are out on bail and asking for some dates. They are absconding due to fear." "Because of our laws, they are returning the money. They did corruption of Rs 9,000 crore and now Rs 14,000 is in the government's custody. Their properties--wherever in the world--will be seized," he added. The Prime Minister said: "Some people say in foreign courts that the condition in India's prisons is not good. I cannot give a good prison to the prisoners better than where the Britishers had kept Gandhi ji." "Our principle has been to reward honesty. From the very first day, we ensured that honest taxpayers do not face any difficulty. I promise to the countrymen that those involved in scams will be punished," he said. Highlighting the success of his government, Prime Minister Modi said that India is now the sixth largest economy in the world. "We have created an atmosphere in the country where we have to match the world. We have spent a lot of time doing India-Pakistan. Pakistan will die of its own death. Leave them. We have to move forward. We have to compete with prosperous nations," he said. Talking about India's war against terrorism, Prime Minister Modi said if Pakistan accepts India's airstrike in Balakot, it will put Islamabad in a dilemma as this admission will be the confirmation of the presence of terrorist camps across the border. "Pakistan is in big trouble. If they say something happened in Balakot, it would mean that they accept that terrorist camps were being operated from there. They keep telling the world that there is nothing there. We attacked at such a place that they cannot hide," he said. "We have been suffering from terrorism for the past 40 years. They came and carried out killings in Mumbai and Uri. We know who is responsible for this. I thought that how long all this will go? Then, I decided--Yeh Jahan Se Control Hota Hai, Khel Wahin Khela Jaayega," he said in response to a question about air strike at terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on February 26. The Prime Minister said: "After one and a half months, they did not allow anyone to go there. Some people tell us they are reconstructing that area. They (Pakistan) are saying that there is a school functioning from there so that they can tell the world that terrorist camps never existed there." "But the attack was targeted at such a place which proves that terrorist camps used to operate from there. Pakistan does not have a problem with how many were killed but with the stamp which said that terrorist camps used to be there," he said. Praising Indian armed forces, Prime Minister Modi said: "I have not done Balakot strikes but or jawans did this. We salute them. I was able to take that decision because I have complete trust in our armed forces. I have trust in their ability and discipline and I know what they can achieve. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Major Leetul Gogoi, who hit the headlines in April 2017 for using a civilian as a shield against stone-throwers, had been held guilty by a court of inquiry of fraternising with a local and being away from his place of duty in an operational area. "The disciplinary proceedings have been completed and he has been recommended to be punished with the loss of seniority by the authorities concerned. The punishment recommended will have to be confirmed by the Northern Command," Army sources said. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had last year said that the officer had not committed as grave a mistake as was being made out by the media. He had backed the officer when the jeep episode happened but also talked about giving him exemplary punishment when the hotel episode got exposed. On May 23 last year, the Kashmir police had detained Major Gogoi when he was found in a Srinagar hotel with an 18-year-old girl. After the altercation, the Army ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) to probe the incident. The CoI held him guilty of "fraternising" with a local in violation of Army instructions in operational areas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday promised 'strict' action against the people involved in the custodial death of a suspended police Constable. "I will not spare the people involved in this case. I will take strict action against the culprits," he told ANI on Sunday. Identified as Manjur Ahmed, the cop died in the police custody on Saturday. He was suspended for allegedly having connections with a member of an insurgent group. The Constable died during interrogation in custody, police sources said. Ahmed was detained by Imphal East district police on Thursday. He was suspended from the service on March 12 for allegedly having a connection with one Nando, a member of proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party. Anwar Huissen, a brother of the deceased, said that Ahmed used to guard Nando when he was lodged in the jail. After Ahmed's suspension, Nando had absconded from the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here on Tuesday. A Joint Action Committee formed on Saturday has demanded a probe in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dismissing the war of words over Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting from two Lok Sabha seats, former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Sunday said other party leaders cannot dictate from which parliamentary constituency Rahul should contest polls or not. "It is entirely up to each party to decide from where its leaders will contest. It is not the first time a leader is contesting election from two parliamentary constituencies. The present Prime Minister himself had contested from two constituencies," Ashwani told ANI. Earlier in the day, Congress announced that Rahul will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with his traditional bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to further strengthen the unity of north and south. Taking on the opposition leaders questioning Rahul's decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from two seats, Ashwani said: "It is not right for a leader of one party to dictate to the leader of another party from which parliamentary constituency he or she should contest." "Mr Gandhi's decision to contest from a constituency in the south and from his traditional constituency Amethi will create a huge resonance for the party throughout the country. That seems to be the real vision. I am absolutely confident that Rahul Gandhi will win both the seats," he told ANI. Senior Congress leader PC Chacko explained the idea behind Rahul contesting two parliamentary constituencies for the first time. "Amethi is not a difficult seat but as the future Prime Minister of the country he wants to establish his presence in south India as well," said Chacko. (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 will brief parliamentarians next week on the recent tension between India and Pakistan. The briefing, set to be held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on April 4, will be attended by a number of leaders from opposition parties, members of standing committees of the National Assembly and Senate on defence, Geo News reported. The Pakistan Army Chief will brief the parliamentarians on the 'hostile situation' at the Line of Control. Former ministers are also expected to be a part of the meeting in Rawalpindi. This will be the second briefing by Bajwa after one-and-a-half months since the last meeting was held in February. According to a notification issued by the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat, chairman of the NA committee Amjad Ali Khan will lead the delegation. Pakistan Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has also been invited as he is the ex-officio member of both the standing committees of National Assembly and Senate. The next week's briefing assumes significance amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan following Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 40 CRPF personnel and the subsequent air strike by the Indian Air Force at a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than six million people have signed an online petition urging the British government to stop the process of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union, commonly called 'Brexit'. Since the petition was put online on March 20, the number of signatures have climbed dramatically. It also caused the website to crash for a brief moment owing to the high traffic, Anadolu News Agency reported. "The government repeatedly claims 'exiting the EU is the will of people.' We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A people's vote may not happen -- so vote now," the petition stated. After the online petition received more than a quarter of a million signatures, the Petitions Committee tweeted, "The rate of signing is the highest the site has ever had to deal with." Meanwhile, the British government had responded to the online petition, saying that they have no plans to revoke Article 50, a process triggered any country leaving the EU bloc. It is worth mentioning that any online petition signed by 100,000 people is taken up by the lawmakers for a debate in the British Parliament. No resolution seems to be in sight for the UK as the British Parliament has earlier rejected a "no-deal Brexit" scenario. The EU, on the other hand, has reiterated on multiple occasions that the previously negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, which has now been rejected thrice, is the best that can be put on offer. In yet another blow for British Prime Minister Theresa May, the UK Parliament rejected the Brexit deal for the third time on Friday, with the EU warning that a no-deal Brexit is now a 'likely scenario'. The withdrawal deal, negotiated by May with the EU, is touted to be shelved following the third defeat. The UK is now slated to leave the EU on April 12. May had earlier announced that she would step down if her deal was passed in the British Parliament. Despite the rejection, calls from parliamentarians regarding May's resignation have magnified. Adding to the crisis, May had also previously rejected calls for a second referendum, putting forth her resolve to honour the outcome of the 2016 vote and leave the EU. (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 Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra, saying latter's speech in Kurnool was "full of lies". In an open letter to Prime Minister Modi, Naidu wrote: "You attacked self-respect of Andhraites on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) formation day. Your comments hurt our sentiments. They are full of utter lies. You wished our development stops. Every single Andhraite is furious over your egoistic comments." "You (Prime Minister Modi) say you are the first Prime Minister to visit Kurnool. You don't know history. Kurnool gave PV Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister for the nation. We are unfortunate that a traitor like you came to Kurnool," he said. Prime Minister Modi, who addressed a public rally in Kurnool district on Friday, accused Naidu of putting stickers of welfare schemes which have been introduced by the central government. "People of Andhra know whose safes are being stashed with the ill-gotten money from these scams. When your Chowkidaar questioned this, U-turn babu has taken a U-turn from AP development and separated themselves from NDA," he added. Naidu further alleged that Prime Minister has cheated farmers, minorities and small businessmen. "Modiji, you are a great orator. You are an expert in twisting tongue. But, you betrayed the 'navya Andhra'. You joined hands with economic offenders and betrayed the state. You have destroyed all democratic systems in the country. You cheated farmers, youth, businessmen, minorities and all classes of the society," he said. He further alleged that Prime Minister came to Kurnool to help his "adopted son" YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy. "You cheated us by not implementing even a single assurance given in the bifurcation act. You came to the only to help your adopted son, Jagan. You promised you would punish those economic offenders who looted the country but you did not keep your words." Claiming that the Prime Minister has turned a blind eye towards Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said, "You the engine driver from the Centre; took away everything for Gujarat and north India but turned a blind eye when it comes to Andhra Pradesh. As a state engine driver, I took Andhra towards the station of development. " "You are not pradhan sevak, you've become pradhan vanchak. Andhra Pradesh needs Rs 12,746.38 crore for forming 11 educational institutions. But in 5 years you gave only Rs 845.42 crores," he added. Continuing his tirade against the Prime Minister, Naidu stated: "Your collusion politics, your vindictive nature against political opponents are exposed to the people. Now you are torturing our people with your words and deeds. You will face the wrath of anger of Andhraites." "Our people will teach you a lesson at an appropriate time for the injustice you did to the state of Andhra Pradesh," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress on Sunday announced that party president Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Kerala, to further strengthen the unity of North and South. "For the past so many weeks there have been continuous requests and demands from the Congress workers and our partners, they feel that Rahul Gandhi should contest from one seat from South India. The requests and demands were mainly raised by Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu," said Antony. Congress leaders deliberated on the issue. Antony said, "All of us requested Rahul that ignoring the unanimous request from Southern states is not correct. Hence, Rahul must accept the demand. Finally, he has given the consent to contest from Wayanad." Highlighting the reasons behind the selection of Wayanad parliamentary constituency, Antony said, "While selecting Wayanad, there were many considerations including the fact that Wayanad connects three states of South India namely Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka." Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, speaking at the same media briefing, accused BJP of attacking traditions and cultures of different regions of India and asserted that Rahul's representation from the Wayanad seat will further strengthen the unity of North and South. "At present, the culture, tradition and food habits of different states are under attack by BJP and Modi government. The three states of Southern India hence demanded that there is a connection between North and South, and Rahul Gandhi should contest from the South as well. Hence, Rahul has decided to represent the Southern state for it is an important part of India's way of life and India's way forward. He will strengthen the unity of North and South," added Surjewala. Responding to a question on BJP's allegation that the Congres president was not confident in Amethi which is why he is contesting from a second seat, Surjewala said: "Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. First, she (Union Minister Smriti Irani) lost in Chandni Chowk then in Amethi and now she will complete a hat-trick of losses." In its first list released on March 7, Congress had announced that Rahul will contest from Amethi. In 2014, Rahul faced a tough fight from Smriti Irani in Amethi. While the Congress president bagged 4,08,651 votes, Irani polled 3,00,748 votes thinning the victory margin to just over 1 lakh. On March 15, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had offered the Congress president to contest from Karnataka. Earlier, former Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy had requested Rahul to contest from Wayanad constituency. "We are requesting Congress president Rahul Gandhi to contest from South India. We have requested him to contest from Wayanad constituency. We hope the decision will be positive", he had said earlier in the month. The state party unit had also asked Rahul to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency which is vacant since the demise of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president MI Shanavas last year. Shanavas was elected to the Lok Sabha for two consecutive terms, 2009 and 2014. Currently, there are seven sitting Congress MPs in the state. Prior to the announcement of Rahul's candidature from the Wayanad seat, Congress had finalised candidates for 12 seats in Kerala. The Congress is contesting on 16 out of the 20 seats in Kerala, leaving four seats for its allies - two seats for the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and one each for Kerala Congress (Mani) and Socialist Party (RSP). Earlier, Southern state of Karnataka had elected two former presidents of Congress from different parliamentary constituencies of the state. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had contested the 1977 General election after Emergency and by-polls of 1978 from Chikmagalur parliamentary seat of Karnataka. Later in 1999, the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also fought her first general assembly elections from Karnataka's Bellary constituency. She, however, chose to represent Amethi, the other seat that she had contested from in the same elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi will on Sunday sound the poll bugle by addressing two election rallies in Andhra Pradesh and one in Karnataka. Gandhi is scheduled to first address a rally at a stadium in Vijayawada and then move to address another rally at Mudigal Bypass Road Ground in Kalyandurg. All Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leaders said they personally observed arrangements to welcome the Congress scion to the state. Senior Congress leader MM Pallam Raju told ANI, "Rahul will speak on the promises made by the Congress party on special category status to Andhra Pradesh and NYAY schemes. All our leaders will be present at the meeting. About 40,000 public is likely to come for the rally." After addressing gathering in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress Chief will take a flight for Bengaluru to address another rally at Nelamangala in Karnataka. The election to 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held on April 11 simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. Polls in Karnataka for 28 Lok Sabha seats will take place in two phases on April 18 and 23. The counting of votes will be held on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Trend Estonia's current ruling coalition, consisting of the Estonian Center Party and Pro Patria (Isamaa), is expected to form a new coalition with the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), Trend reports referring to local media. The Center, EKRE and Isamaa had won 26, 19 and 12 seats in the second, third and fourth place respectively, after the Estonian Reform Party's 34 seats out of the total 101 seats in the Estonian parliamentary election held on March 3. In a joint statement, the extended boards of the three runner-up parties said they supported the formation of a coalition and negotiations were underway, the Estonian Public Broadcasting Corporation reported. "Estonia must be a country with an increasing population, one that is protected, developing, secure, and with a competitive economy, where the Estonian language and culture are preserved," the statement said. Earlier in the day, Center Party chairman and the incumbent prime minister Juri Ratas admitted that the three parties have severe ideological differences and talks have been difficult, but the parties to the proceedings have the will to find common ground. Meanwhile, chairwoman of the Estonian Reform Party Kaja Kallas called on the Center Party to reconsider the possibility of cooperating with the Reform party in forming a coalition government after her first offer was rejected. Congress party president Rahul Gandhi has gone to Kerala "in a bid to win on the of polarisation," said BJP president Amit Shah here on Sunday. "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the of polarisation," said Shah here, while addressing an election rally. Shah's statement comes in the wake of the Congress' announcement that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. He said the Congress has pinned a terrorist tag on Hindus. "You can't hide the truth. This judgment has proved that Swami Aseemanand and others are not guilty," he said. A special court in Panchkula recently acquitted all four accused in Samjhauta Express blast case, as the Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to prove any of the charges against them. Besides Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, and Rajinder Chaudhary were acquitted in the case. "It is the policy of our government. If they shoot, we will fire shells. We have always been committed to responding to bricks with stones," said Shah. He said the people of the country praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attacking Pakistan but Rahul Gandhi's mentor Sam Pitroda says that the attack was not a good option. "They are asking for the evidence of the airstrikes. Why are you asking us? Go and watch Pakistani TV channels. They are crying that India has attacked them," he said. Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted air-strikes on the biggest training camp of the terror outfit--Jaish-e-Mohammad--in Pakistan's Balakot last month. It was India's reply to the audacious terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 in which around 40 CRPF personnel were killed. JeM claimed the responsibility for the terror attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader AK Antony on Sunday announced that Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. "For the past so many weeks there have been continuous requests and demands from the Congress workers and our partners, they feel that Rahul Gandhi should contest from one seat from South India. The requests and demands were mainly raised by Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu," said Antony. He further said that there were deliberations done on the issue by Congress leaders and added, "all of us requested Rahul that ignoring the unanimous request from Southern states is not correct. Hence, Rahul must accept the demand". "Finally he has given the consent to contest from Wayanad", said Antony. On March 15, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had requested the Congress president to contest from Karnataka. In its first list released on March 7, Congress had announced that Rahul will contest from Amethi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar RJD MLA Haji Subhan on Sunday referred Masood Azhar, chief of terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeI), as 'Masood Sahab' in the presence of party leader Tejashwi Yadav. "Prime Minister Modi did not speak against China even after it vetoed a proposal to declare Masood Azhar 'Sahab' as an international terrorist," he said while addressing a public rally here. On March 12, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had also addressed JeI chief as "Masood Azhar ji". Addressing Congress workers meeting in New Delhi, Rahul attacked the BJP saying, "These people with 56-inch chest, you would recall, in their previous government, the current Security Advisor Ajit Doval went in an aircraft with Masood Azhar ji and handed over Masood Azhar there in Kandahar." At today's public rally, Subhan took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying: "China is making Rs 50,000 crore from India every year. No leader is making efforts to stop this. Not only that, even the construction of the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which is worth Rs 3,000 crore was built by China." He slammed the Prime Minister for criticising Pakistan at international forums but not China. "The Prime Minister is not saying anything against China but is repeatedly speaking against that country (Pakistan) which is weak. The population of Pakistan is 22 crores and in Uttar Pradesh alone the population is the same. Pakistan is nothing in front of India. The whole of Pakistan can be destroyed within an hour. We are only criticising Pakistan again and again despite the fact that a strong country like China is standing in front of us," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anti-corruption activist has been confirmed as the fifth of Slovakia, making her the country's first female head of the State. Caputova, a lawyer by profession, defeated Maros Sefcovic, a candidate nominated by Slovakia's ruling party. In the second round of voting held on Saturday, Caputova received 58.40 per cent of votes, while Sefcovic got 41.59 per cent of votes, Xinhua News Agency reported. In the first round of polls held on March 16, none of the 13 candidates in the fray received an absolute majority of votes with Caputova and Sefcovic getting 40.57 per cent and 18.66 per cent respectively. During vote counting, Caputova emerged as the frontrunner for the presidential post and the official results were declared on Sunday by Slovakia's election commission. The comes after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, were shot dead in February last year. Kuciak was looking into links between Slovak politicians and organised crime and the police believed that he was killed due to his nature of work. Forty-five-year-old Caputova, who is a divorcee, and a mother of two, is set to take office on June 15, after the tenure of incumbent Slovak Andrej Kiska finishes. Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Saturday (local time) revoked royal decorations awarded to toppled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after he was convicted for corruption. "King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun issued a royal command to revoke royal decorations, because Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced to jail by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders, in addition to many other accusations, and he fled the kingdom, which is a highly inappropriate behavior," a statement from the Royal office read. The development came less than a week later Thailand conducted its first election since the 2014 military coup. Thaksin has fled the country in 2008 and since then is living in exile to avoid conviction in corruption cases. He was convicted in absentia and was awarded two years of jail. The King's order could be considered as a severe blow to pro-Thaksin parties as Pheu Thai party is struggling with the ruling military-backed Phalang Pracharat party to form a government. Thaksin has called the recent election "rigged". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal's sole international airport, will remain closed for 10 hours a day from April 1 as the runway is going to be upgraded. The airport is currently operating for 22 hours and the upgrading of the runway is expected to be completed in about three months, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said in a statement. During the time of maintenance which starts from April 1 to June 30, 2019, the airport will be operational from 8 am to 10 pm (local time). This is the first time that the three-kilometre-long runway of the Tribhuvan International Airport will undergo an upgrade. The current runway was constructed in 1980 and had not gone under maintenance and expansion since then. The CAAN has reinstated that no regular flights would be affected due to the move. As per the plan, the airport's runway would be pitched 80 metres per day by using the milling machine. The runway of the Tribhuvan International Airport came under scrutiny because of the airstrip's surface peeling off. In order to address the problem, officials had come up with the idea of "runway rehab." With the completion of the runway up-gradation, airport officials are planning to complete the task of constructing a taxi parking. The CAAN had an agreement with the China National Agro Technology International Engineering Corporation in last November for the purpose. As per the agreement, CAAN will be paying the Chinese company an amount of Rs 3.75 billion. The Tribhuvan International Airport currently hosts about 400 flights on a daily basis including over 100 international flights. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A federal judge has termed US President Donald Trump's order to withdraw an Obama-era ban on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans as "unlawful". U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason on Friday said, Trump's 2017 order "is unlawful, as it exceeded the president's authority." The Obama administration's leasing withdrawals of about 120 million acres of the waters "will remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked by Congress", she added. Former President Barack Obama issued a ban on drilling in his second term through the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows presidents to instate leasing withdrawals but does not allow presidents to revoke such withdrawals without approval from Congress, reported The Hill. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Saturday (local time) announced that it is discontinuing aid to three Central America countries- El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras- for "setting up" migrants caravans for entry into the US. "At the Secretary's instruction, we are carrying out the President's direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle," a State Department spokesperson said. "We will be engaging Congress as part of this process." This comes a day after US President Donald Trump remarked, "We were paying them tremendous amounts of money. And we are not paying them anymore. Because they haven't done a thing for us. They set up these caravans." However, experts have claimed that cutting off aid will have the opposite impact and will instead increase migration as people will have no other option than to leave. The exact amount allocated to these three countries is unknown. However, entire Central America has received $1.3 billion with the vast majority going to these countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 34 power companies have accumulated Rs 1.4 lakh crore of NPA for Indian banks while 41 corporates across sectors, including those from infrastructure, textile, telecom, sugar, steel, energy, power and fertilisers have Rs 84,000 crore piled up NPAs which have taken the bad loan total to astronomical Rs 2.24 lakh crore, petitioners opposing RBI's February 12 circular on resolutions of debts have submitted to the Supreme Court. Quoting a report of the 37th Standing Committee on energy giving NPA details of 34 power plants, the petitioners said these plants which have number of banks ranging from 2-19, have accumulated over Rs 1.40 lakh crore . The power companies are seeking Supreme Court intervention in setting aside or quashing an RBI order of February 12 last year where the apex bank laid down strict norms for NPA resolutions within 180-days among other rules. "75 companies have a debt of Rs 2.24 lakh crore", the petitioners stated. The RBI has already contested the claims of these corporates's petitions saying 180 days is a reasonable period for achieving implementation of Resolution plan. Power, shipping and sugar companies have challenged the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) February 12 circular which has identified about 30 companies, which have loans over Rs 2,000 crore and are stressed. Many of them were power companies and they have already challenged the RBI's circular in various courts. Earlier this month RBI defended the February 12 circular, telling the SC that intention behind the circular was to give banks more powers in resolving stress and the 1-day default rule is to ensure banks & borrowers put a risk management framework in place. SC has reserved its verdict. The 1-day default rule of RBI states if a deafulter fails to pay even 1 day after the deadline of loan payment, then banks have to come up with a resolution plans and, if they don't, approve the resoluion plan within 180-days, then the banks will have to take the company to insolvency. This rule was mostly criticised by companies. The prominent corporates where payments are due are Adani Power Maharashtra (Rs 9,463.29 crore), Damodar Valley Corpora (Rs 9,756.42 crore), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (Rs 8,719.16 crore), KSK Mahanadi Power Company (Rs 14,165.12 crore), Jindal Thermal Power (Rs 5,594.21 crore), Prayagraj Power Generation (Rs 9,883.28 crore), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (Rs 8,719.16 crore), GNR Chhatishgarh Energy (Rs 5,325.28 crore) and DB Power (Rs 5,930.56 crore) among a host of others. Among the consolidated NPA list of other corporates VOVL, an oil company having a 17-bank consortium of lenders owes Rs 21,657.54 crore to them. Matrix Fertiliser and Chemicals owes 11 bankers Rs 4135.12 crore. Essar Bulk Terminal, an infra company owes Rs 1,088.82 crore and Rolta India has a debt of Rs 3,400 crore. The new framework of RBI prescribed a strict 180-day timeline over which banks are required to unanimously agree on the resolution plan, failing which the stressed account would have to be referred for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Power companies argued that the circular would push even power assets that were close to achieving loan restructuring in to insolvency. Power ministry officials also spoke out against the February 12 circular seeking some relaxation in norms, especially with respect to the one-day default rule, attributing the stress in the sector to delayed payments by electricity distribution companies of India (discoms), lack of power purchase agreements and irregular coal supply. --IANS ana/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party will stress on its "great work" and reiterate its demand for full statehood for Delhi during its campaign for the 2019 general elections that would comprise 280 rallies and 3,000 gatherings, a minister has said. "We have done great work in the sectors of health, education, farming, electricity, and water. Doorstep delivery of services, pension to old and widows, and minimum wages for the labourers have also been of great help to the people," Delhi's Labour Minister Gopal Rai, told IANS. "Our narrative is that the people gave us a chance to work in Delhi, we did our best in the given situation and power. We could have done a lot more. But because Delhi is not a full state, we lagged behind so much in terms of what we could have done. We want to work more for the city and its people," Rai added. "After paying taxes close to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, Delhi only gets Rs 325 crore from the Centre. Other states have their fixed share of the tax they pay, Delhi still depends on the Centre's wish for the money. If given full statehood, the Centre will have to give us more money. Issues like women's safety, unemployment, and land crisis can also be solved through statehood. It is also for sure that the pace of work wil increase," he said. Attacking the BJP for not fulfilling its promises, he said the ruling party at the Centre had promised full statehood to Delhi but none of its seven MPs raised the issue in Parliament. "The fight for full statehood has passed from the Delhi Assembly to Parliament. The full statehood movement needs to reach Parliament and our (likeminded) MPs will take up the issue there," Rai said. "We are in touch with the leaders of the Grand Alliance. They will support us in Parliament (for the full statehood demand). The possibility of full statehood will be very high if the next government is formed by the Grand Alliance," Rai added. Speaking about AAP's election campaign, Rai said this had been divided into two phases. "The campaign is divided into two phases and a total of 280 rallies will be held across the city. Of these 280 rallies, 108 will be held in the first phase, which started on March 23 and will continue till April 7. "The second phase of the campaign will be launched on April 8 and will end on April 30. In all, (AAP chief) Arvind Kejriwal will hold one rally each in the 70 Assembly constituencies of Delhi. In the first phase, he will address 35 rallies - one in each Assembly constituency, and in the second he will hold rallies in 35 remaining constituencies," Rai added. Although Kejriwal will be at the centre of the campaign, other AAP leaders will also hold rallies in the national capital. "In the first phase, I will hold 30 rallies, Sanjay Singh will hold 26 rallies and Manish Sisodia will have 17 rallies." This apart, Rai said the MLAs will also campaign in their constituencies through rallies and gatherings. "In the (three) constituencies where there are no AAP MLAs, the party has tasked the area's party president to organise rallies and gatherings." "Senior leaders of the Grand Alliance, including (Trinamool Congress chief) Mamata Banerjee and (Telugu Desam Party chief) N. Chandrababu Naidu will join us for the campaign. However, they will first take care of the campaigns for their parties in their areas," Rai added. AAP leaders will also go to other states for the campaign, he said, adding that the party will keep its focus on Delhi. (Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) --IANS nks/vm/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis in Dubai, UAE has become the first IB World school in the region to offer students A Level study courses and International Baccalaureate (IB), to offer families the choice of either curriculum. It is now the only IB World School in the UAE accredited to offer A Level and the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the IB Career-related Programme (IBCP). As part of a GEMS Education wider initiative to offer all-round quality education, the school which promotes the vision of the Group to drive impactful communities of learning - has also partnered with ArtsEd, a UK performing arts academy that celebrates 100 years of world-class training, and which launches in Dubai this year. Kevin Loft, principal and CEO, GEMS Wellington Academy, said: We are thrilled to be able to offer students a choice in either A Level programme of study or IBDP and IBCP. This is a first for the region and for GEMS Education, and we hope to pave the way for other schools so that there are a variety of pathways and options for academic study. Our partnership with renowned UK performing arts academy ArtsEd is a welcome addition to our offering in extra-curricular training and will ensure that we deliver on our promise to educate World-Class World-Ready future citizens of the world. Running under the presidency of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber since 2007, ArtsEd will deliver bespoke training in the arts with partner schools in the UAE and will work with GEMS Wellington Academy to achieve the schools strategic goals, to harness creativity and develop essential skills amongst students and teachers. From September 2019, WSO will be the flagship school for ArtsEd, with a specialist arts academy based at the school. At a special ceremony at the school to celebrate the ArtsEd partnership, WSO welcomed Loren Allred the voice behind Never Enough' from the hit musical drama The Greatest Showman. She was accompanied by Grammy Award winning educator Melissa Salguero, a Top 10 Finalist from Global Teacher Prize awards in a panel discussion. Moderating the session was Mark Reid, an internally-recognised music educator and top 50 Global Teacher Prize finalist in 2015. A group of GEMS Wellington Academy students also got the opportunity to rehearse with Loren Allred ahead of a live performance over the weekend at The Assembly, a Global Teacher Prize Concert, where they sang Never Enough and This is Me from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. GEMS Education is one of the worlds oldest and largest K-12 private education providers. It is a highly-regarded choice for quality private education in the Mena region. TradeArabia News Service Come Monday and alcohol will not be available in Mizoram. State Excise and Narcotics Minister K. Beichhua said the MNF government had taken the step to save future generations from the menace of alcohol and drugs, and establish a clean Mizo society. Fulfilling its pre-poll promise, the Mizo National Front (MNF) government last week unanimously passed the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Bill, 2019 to again ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in the northeastern state after four years. The ban comes into force from April 1. Beichhua said the state government stands to lose Rs 70 crore annually in revenues following the decision. "But the loss of revenue is much less than the loss of human life and suffering. Larger societal benefit is more vital," Beichhua told IANS in a telephonic interview. The Minister said that the MNF government had decided to ban production, import, sale and consumption of liquor for the common people, except defence personnel and those with medical needs. "Separate licences will be issued to defence personnel who can consume liquor. People under treatment would be allowed to drink only if it is prescribed by a doctor, Beichhua said. The state government is yet to decide on whether or not to allow domestic and foreign tourists to drink. Vendors say that the liquor ban has resulted in piling stocks as purchases had been made till the end of the current fiscal (2018-19) and a loss of Rs 4 lakh per day. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has asked the Mizoram government not to notify the Liquor Prohibition Act till the Lok Sabha elections are officially over on May 27. Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashish Kundra said the Commission's request had been communicated to the state Excise and Narcotics Department. Beichhua said the state government has sought some clarification from the Election Commisssion in the matter and will take a final call after getting its reply. Mizoram was a dry state for about 18 years, until the Congress government in 2015 lifted the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol. Liquor shops thus started thriving in the Christian-dominated state. Beichhua claimed several hundred people, mostly young men, died of alcohol consumption and in road accidents after the ban was lifted. However, Chief Minister Zoramthanga at a public meeting in Aizawl recently claimed that about 6,000 people died post the policy change. In fact, some political pundits blame Congress' liberal liquor policy for its debacle in last year's Assembly elections. The party did not pay heed to the public and Church bodies' call to ban liquor because of the rise in alcohol-related deaths," political analyst and writer R.L. Sailo told IANS. Instead, it justified revoking the ban stating that it generated revenue and prevented consumption of spurious liquor as well as smuggling of liquor from neighbouring Myanmar and other northeastern states. Prohibition was one of the major poll promises of the MNF that won 26 seats, giving the Congress a humiliating defeat in the 40-member House. With a population of 1,091,014 (according to 2011 census), Mizoram is a closely knit society with a Christian majority (87 per cent). (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in) --IANS sc/rtp/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the battle lines become clear for the Lok Sabha elections with the declaration of candidates, BJP and Congress are headed for direct contests in nearly a third of the seats and their performance in these constituencies will significantly determine the final outcome of the elections. BJP had done exceedingly well in the direct contests between the two parties in 2014. Of the 189 seats in which the two parties were directly pitted against each other, the BJP had bagged a startling 164 and Congress only 25. This contributed to the BJP getting a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha, the first time the party was able to achieve the feat. The 2019 scenario is different as the BJP is now the incumbent and Congress is making an effort to dislodge it. The main opposition party at the Centre has also gained by forming governments in three Hindi heartland states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- that together account for 65 Lok Sabha seats and where the two parties will directly face each other. Other states where the two parties will square off include Himachal Pradesh (4), Uttarkhand (5), Gujarat (26), Haryana (10), Goa (2), Arunachal Pradesh (2) and Manipur (2). All these are ruled by the BJP. The two parties will also be the main contenders in the Union terroritories of Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar island, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. There will be seats in other states where the two parties will be against each other directly. These include 21 of 28 seats in Karanataka, 11 of 14 seats in Assam, seven of 14 seats in Jharkhand and several seats in Maharashtra including some high-profile contests in Mumbai. The BJP will face off with the Congress on three seats in Punjab and three in Jammu and Kashmir. There will be important contests between the Congress and BJP on at least two seats in Uttar Pradesh -- Amethi and Rae Bareli -- and on some seats in Bihar such as Patna Sahib. In states such as Haryana, there are other smaller players, including the Indian National Lok Dal and the newly-formed Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), besides the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP had won four Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in 2014 but is now regarded as a relatively weak force. The Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA), which is seeking to emerge as the third alternative in the state, is also fielding candidates in several seats. The PDA comprises Punjab Ekta Party, BSP, Lok Insaaf Party and the Punjab Manch. Though the contest is mainly between the Congress and BJP in Gujarat, the Nationalist Congress Party has decided to contest all the seats and this could split the opposition vote. Similarly, there are regional players in Chhattisgarh. In Delhi it will be a triangular fight between BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party unless there is an understanding between the two to defeat the BJP. The Congress and BJP will see some prestigious contests, including in Bhopal, where the Congress has fielded former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and in Nainital, where it has fielded former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat. (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) --IANS ps/vm/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Sunday organised a road blockade to protest the attack on their candidate Subal Bhowmik in southern Tripura. "At least eight Congressmen were injured, three of them seriously, when BJP workers attacked a road show of Subal Bhowmik. He, however, narrowly escaped the attack," Congress leader and former state party chief Gopal Roy told the media. Roy said after the incident, took place at Tulamura in southern Tripura's Gomati district, the agitated Congress workers immediately held a road blockade to protest the incident. It was withdrawn after election and senior police officials assured action against the assailants. A police official said that they are looking for the attackers. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party denied the involvement of their party members in the incident. Tripura BJP's former Vice President, Bhowmik, along with two other senior party leaders, rejoined the Congress two weeks ago. --IANS sc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress is gearing up to further augment its digital battle for the Lok Sabha elections in the coming days and has plans to disseminate customised content of its manifesto to various target groups. The party views social media as a critical communication asset in its battle to oust the BJP-led government from office and is coming out with catchy videos to get its message across. The party has lagged behind the BJP in finalising its election slogans for the Lok Sabha elections but has plans to maximise the social media impact in the coming days by employing advertising companies. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who has been targeting the government through pithy, sarcastic tweets, has also been giving an inkling to the party's manifesto on social media by sharing information about the promise of minimum income guarantee, farm loan waiver and steps to boost entrepreneurship and start-ups. Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said that Gandhi's "sharp, witty, humorous and fact-based questioning of the BJP has become hugely popular and has created a new benchmark in social media political discourse". "Our catchy videos are becoming a rage and going viral, which has augmented our political narrative. We believe social media will be the most critical communication asset for the Congress party. Besides Twitter, which is the default option for political messaging, we are seeing a huge traction in WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and the fast rise of Instagram," Jha told IANS. A party leader, who did not want to be named, said that social media is very useful at a time when sections of traditional media were not giving the party its due space. "The message reaches the audience directly and quickly through social media and there is traction," he said. He said that the party is not only reaching out to the youth through social media but also to other sections of the society. Jha said it was the young demographic dividend that was the biggest consumer of social media earlier but now it covers a wider population across various age groups, geographic dispersal and income levels. "This is a positive development. The BJP is in panic mode hence the brazen attempt to use public assets like railways and airlines to push political agenda. PM Modi's over-exposure in mainstream media has boomeranged. It is giving them diminishing returns," he said. Congress is expected to release its manifesto on April 2 and the party will make a big reach out through the social media. "We shall disseminate its content customized to various target groups. That's where specific bespoke approach works on social media," Jha said. He said Congress is also crowdsourcing ideas. "For instance, on Nyay (nyuntam aay yojana), we have asked for submissions of both slogan and a logo design," he said. Nyay is among the biggest poll promises of the Congress and income guarantee scheme that promises every family in the poorest 20 per cent segment income support of Rs 6,000 a month. The Congress has also zeroed in on companies that will take forward its digital outreach. Sources said the companies finalised include DesignBoard and SilverPush. It has also hired companies for media advertising. No party leader was willing to comment on the money involved in party's social media spend in the Lok Sabha elections. The party has launched 'Shut The Fake Up' campaign as part of its social media tactics to attract and involve young Instagram users. A party functionary said it is an initiative to "call out BJP regime and fake news propaganda of the last five years". The party has also been following an aggressive communication strategy and quickly responds to issues concerning the government or allegations made by BJP leaders through statements, press conferences and tweets. Party leaders are also quick to target the government over a range of issues, including unemployment, jobs, alleged corruption, farm distress, demonetisation, flawed implementation of GST, "targeting" of opponents and "fudging of data." (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) --IANS ps/vm/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said a comprehensive report on India's national security has been presented to him by Lt. General (Retd.) D.S. Hooda. "This exhaustive report will at first be discussed and debated within the Congress party. I thank him and the team for their effort," he tweeted. Hooda, the former Army Northern Command chief who directed the 2016 cross-LoC surgical strikes, would be heading a task force on national security at the behest of the Congress. The decision was announced by the Congress in February after a meeting between Gandhi and Hooda. --IANS spk/rs/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CPI-M, the main force in Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Alliance (LDF), on Sunday reacted sharply to the Congress's announcement that party President Rahul Gandhi would contest from the state's Wayanad parliamentary constituency and vowed to defeat him. Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) former chief Prakash Karat said Congress's decision went against the party's "stated commitment" to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "In Kerala, it is the LDF, which is the main force that can fight the BJP. And Rahul Gandhi is going to Kerala to fight the LDF, which means we have to take on the United Democratic Front (UDF), of which he will be a candidate. "The UDF consists of not only Congress but Muslim League and other parties which have a dubious reputation. And we shall work to defeat the UDF in all constituencies including Wayanad," he said in a video message. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said that Gandhi's contesting from Wayanad was not "symbolic". "In Kerala, as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we, the Left will see to defeat him," he told the media in Thiruvanthapuram. State CPI-M Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Gandhi's move to Wayanad will ensure a Left victory on all the 20 seats in the state. "He is coming here because he is not confident of his win in Amethi. And the Left will show Gandhi what our power here is," he said, adding that the Left was confident of repeating its 2004 performance when they won 18 out of the state's 20 seats. The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and its candidate P.P. Suneer said that he was not alarmed by the stature of his opposing candidate. "The candidate does not matter, as elections are fought on issues. By now I have already completed three rounds of my campaign and I am on a strong footing as the backing that I have is of the Left forces, which has a good chemistry with the electorate in the Wayanad constituency," he said. Gandhi's contesting from Wayanad was greeted with excitement in Malappuram, the stronghold of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), UDF's second biggest constituent in Kerala - and where three of Wayanad's assembly segments fall in. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has given the Wayanad seat to ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), however, poked fun at the Congress President's shift to the southern state. "It's a shame for the Congress Chief to run away from Amethi and seek solace in the arms of the IUML, which is strong in Wayanad," said state BJP President P.S.Sreedharan Pillai. Senior Congress leader and former Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Sunday announced Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad. Making the announcement in New Delhi, Antony said Gandhi was not keen to contest on a second seat. "But there was a tremendous pressure from the south Indian states, the Congress party as well as from the allies that he should contest." Wayanad became a Lok Sabha constituency in 2009, and M.I. Shanawaz of the Congress won it that year by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. However, his margin dropped to 20,870 in 2014, and last year he passed away after a long illness. The seat has been lying vacant since then. Considered a safe seat for the Congress, there was a scramble between the party's various factions for a ticket to Wayanad and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had even managed to swing it in favour of his close confidante T. Siddique. However, Chandy was the first to speak of the possibility of Gandhi contesting from Wayanad last week. Wayanad will vote on April 23 and Amethi on May 6. The counting of votes for the country will be held on May 23. --IANS sg/rtp/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The dismissed BSF trooper, Tej Bahadur Yadav, who complained of poor quality food given to the forces on Sunday said he would contest the Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an independent candidate from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Border Security Force (BSF) constable was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video on social media platform Facebook complaining about the poor quality of food provided to the security personnel. Speaking to IANS, Yadav said: "I have decided to contest as an independent candidate against Modi in Varanasi." He said he would raise the issue of corruption in the security forces. Lamenting at the government, Yadav said: "I was dismissed because I spoke the truth. Even the parliamentary committee formed with M.M. Joshi as its member submitted the report in Parliament in my favour. Despite that, I was dismissed from the job." Asked how he would fund his campaign for the general elections, he said: "I would ask for donations from people. I don't have any money with me after I was dismissed from my job." Yadav said he was in touch with the families of BSF troopers in Varanasi who would vote for him. "I am planning to go to Varanasi in next one or two days. And then I would file the nomination." Earlier, the Desiya Thennidia Nadigal Innaippu Vivasayigal Sangam (National South Indian Rivers Interlinking Farmers' Association) announced that it would field 111 farmers as independent candidates against Modi in Varanasi. On Saturday, Bhim Army Chief Chandrasekhar Azad also held a road show in Varanasi indicating to contest against Modi. Uttar Pradesh will see a seven-phased polling, scheduled from April 11 to May 19. --IANS aks/pg/mag/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Union (EU) rejected US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights in Syria, EU's High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said on Sunday. Speaking at the 30th Arab League (AL) summit held in the Tunisian capital Tunis, Mogherini said that the US decision is completely opposed to UN Security Council resolutions that consider the Golan Heights an Israeli-occupied Syrian territory, Xinhua reported. "The EU is working to achieve a political solution to the crisis in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions," she said, adding that a political solution would be the only peaceful way to end the conflict in Syria and ensure the interests of all parties. On the situation in Yemen, Mogherini said all parties agreed on the need to support this country not only with humanitarian aid, but also help it implement the Stockholm Agreement to get this country out of its crisis. Regarding the Libyan issue, the EU official stressed it's imperative to ensure the national unity of Libya and its institutions. This summit brought together most leaders of AL member states and representatives of the UN, EU, and African Union to seek common ground on countering the US policies towards Syria and the disputed holy city of Jerusalem. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A former central minister, a former IPS officer who served as joint director of CBI, a film producer and a businessman will be fighting it out in the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency. An interesting multi-cornered contest is on the cards in this prestigious constituency spread over the port city of Visakhapatnam, its suburbs and rural areas in neighbouring Vizianagaram district. Candidates of five major parties are among the 20 aspirants who are in the fray in this constituency of over 18 lakh voters. D. Purandeswari, daughter of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. T. Rama Rao, is contesting as a candidate of the BJP, which she joined after quitting the Congress following Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation in 2014. Elected in 2009 from Vizag, as Visakhapatnam is also called, Purandeswari went on to become a minister in Manmohan Singh's cabinet. In 2014, she unsuccessfully contested from the Rajampet constituency on a BJP ticket after the party turned down her demand for a ticket from Vizag. A.K. Haribabu was elected from Vizag and this was one of the two Lok Sabha seats bagged by the BJP, which then fought the polls in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). With Haribabu opting out of race this time, the BJP has fielded Purandeswari, who faces a tough battle with the TDP snapping ties with her party. Among the candidates, she is facing is young businessman Sri Bharat, son-in-law of her actor brother and TDP leader N. Balakrishna. Purandeswari is the elder sister of N. Bhuneswari, the wife of the Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu. She, along with her husband D. Venkateswara Rao, began their journey together in the Congress in 2004 but the latter recently joined YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and is contesting for the Assembly. In Vizag, the YSRCP has fielded M.V.V. Satyanarayana, a film producer and promoter of MVV Builders. In 2014, YSRCP president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's mother Y.S. Vijayamma had finished the runner-up from here. The entry of former CBI joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana into the fray from Vizag has made the contest more interesting. A well-known figure in Andhra Pradesh for heading probes into several high profile cases like the Satyam scam, the OMC mining scam and the disproportionate assets case against Jaganmohan Reddy, he is contesting as the candidate of actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party. Lakshminarayana, who was the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police in Maharashtra, quit his job last year to enter There was speculation that he might join TDP or the BJP or might even float his own party. He, however, finally joined Jana Sena as he believes it caters to all sections and stands for a change in However, it is interesting to note that Pawan Kalyan himself will be contesting for from Gajuwaka, one of the Assembly segments here. The Congress has fielded Pedada Ramani Kumari, chief of Congress party's women's wing in Vizag. Vizag had traditionally been a Congress stronghold till 1984, when it was snatched by the TDP. The regional party won it again in 1991 and 1999. With the Congress drawing a blank in the 2014 elections due to public wrath over bifurcation, the BJP in alliance with TDP captured Vizag. Out of seven Assembly segments, the TDP had won six and its ally BJP one in 2014. The situation has since undergone a change with YSRCP making inroads while the BJP is facing rough weather over denial of the Special Category Status (SCS) to the state. The recent announcement by the Centre to create a new Southern Coast Railway Zone with Vizag as the headquarters may not help the party due to protests by various groups for bifurcation of the Waltair division to give the revenue-rich part of it to East Coast Railway headquartered in Odisha. Water supply, agriculture and migration from other parts of North Andhra to Vizag are the other major issues. (Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq) --IANS ms/vm/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Zoe Saldana is happy that James Gunn has been reinstated as director of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". "I'm proud of him (Gunn). I'm happy that he's coming back," Saldana told etonline.com. At an interview here, the actress said, "I'm so proud of Disney. The leaders of the big corporation have decided to lead by example. Spreading the word and the message of redemption is important." Gunn was fired by Disney in July after controversial jokes he made nearly a decade ago resurfaced on Twitter. Shortly after his firing in July, Gunn apologised. Also, the "Guardians..." cast, including Saldana, Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista and others, expressed their support for him in an open letter, asking that he be reinstated as director. Eight months later, he has been rehired. He tweeted earlier this month that he was "tremendously grateful" of those who stood by him, and said he was continuing to work on "being the best human being I can be". Saldana is also proud of the way Disney has embraced representation. She has been thrilled with the success of Brie Larson's Captain Marvel. --IANS nn/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC), Qatars leading logistics provider, has announced a campaign offering free warehouse evaluation as part of its consulting services which provides warehouse development and operations optimisation solutions to clients. GWC Consulting works to minimise logistics costs, increase visibility and offer better inventory control while maximising the productivity and efficiency of warehouse operations, said a company statement. Hamdan Abdulla Merchant, GWC director of business process improvement, said: We have spent the past 15 years setting a standard for local and international logistics, a standard we are now pleased to put at the disposal of our clients, offering the same experience and innovation that has made us the preferred logistics provider in the State of Qatar. Comprised of a team of industrial engineers, Six Sigma professionals and consulting experts, GWC Consulting brings the best practices in logistics to ensure that the clients warehouse is both efficient and cost-effective, it said. The solution assures a significant reduction of costs by collecting and analysing data from the client site, allowing for the drafting of a detailed Capex and Opex report. The team then suggests changes to the clients warehousing and distribution operations, offering conceptual and detailed designs that assure clients real-time visibility over their inventory, thereby assuring business growth through improved practices. GWC Consulting was developed through the experience gained by the company in offering consultations for clients in a variety of industries including oil and gas, aviation, retail, health care, and museums amongst others. For these clients, the company designed and implemented solutions that assure over 99 per cent on-time order fulfilment and streamlined flow of products through the usage of Lean processes and technology, which has resulted in practically perfect inventory accuracy. The company has also put plans in place that raise the level of warehousing operations by reducing the actual footprint required for storage through various advanced techniques and racking solutions. The team has also refined distribution management operations, allowing their clients to manage multiple deliveries through their dedicated assets. The company has received much recognition in the field: most recently, the company was named Best Customs Brokerage Company for 2018 by the General Authority of Customs; and in 2018, the company was awarded Digital Transformation Award by Microsoft for its outstanding achievements in leading the companys digital transformation, it said. The company achieved net profits of QR237.5 million ($65.23 million) in 2018, representing an increase of 10 per cent in comparison with QR215.4 million ($59.16 million) in net profits listed for 2017. Gross revenues meanwhile reached QR1.232 billion ($338.3 million) at the end of 2018 compared with QR981.3 million ($269.53 million) in 2017. The result was an increase in earnings per share (EPS) to QR4.04 ($1.11) at the end of 2018, in comparison with QR3.68 ($1.01) at the end of 2017, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) is in a bad shape, with about 48 per cent of the posts in the fire fighting staff lying vacant, including over 50 per cent of fireman's posts. According to data accessed by IANS through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the total sanctioned posts of the Fire Fighting Staff is 3,312, out of that 1,583 posts are vacant. "Of the five sanctioned post for Chief Fire Officer, three are vacant. The Department is functioning with only four Divisional Officers, in place of nine sanctioned," the RTI reply said. While the fireman or fire operator is considered a key part of the department, against the sanctioned 2,367 posts for fireman, only 1,114 are filled. "A total of 1,253 posts of Fireman against the sanctioned 2,367 are vacant," it said. The situation is no better for the communication staff -- against the sanctioned post of 133, 80 posts are vacant. "A total of 65 posts for Radio Telephone Operator are vacant against the sanctioned 100. No person is assigned for the post of Communication Officer, Wireless Officer, Radio Operator, against the sanctioned two, one and six posts respectively," the RTI statement said. While the administrative control of Delhi Fire Service is with the Delhi government, as per its website, the recruiting agencies for the Department are the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB), the RTI said. "The job of a fireman is to handle the equipment assigned to them. The government is also aware of these vacancies... The training for about 500 firemen is underway and expected to be over by June," a senior DFS official told IANS. Explaining the impact of vacancies on the functioning, he said: "The only issue we face is that we have to send more vehicles to a particular place. There are ideally six persons on one vehicle. We now operate with four. "So, to cope with the situation, we have to send more vehicles from different locations across the city as the available man force is distributed across the 61 fire stations in Delhi." The official said that some fire vehicles and staff were kept as a back-up option at every fire station. "We are not seeking help from other states. We are doing our best with the available resources. The vacancies may not be affecting our functioning or performance but do have an impact on the economy as more diesel is being used with more vehicles rushing to a spot." Delhi has witnessed a number of fire incidents this year, including a blaze in Karol Bagh that killed 17 people. "The number of calls will go up in summer. In May last year, the Department received up to 150 calls a day. It is the most troubling month in Delhi," the official said. The DFS came into existence in 1942 after the amalgamation of two fire stations, which were separately functioning under the control of Delhi Municipal Committee and New Delhi Municipal Council. After World War II, the DFS had in all four stations with 14 appliances and a staff of 186, according to the official website of the DFS. (Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) --IANS nks/ksk/mr/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor-producer Rana Daggubati says he is truly passionate about acting as it allows him to tell stories on screen. Rana made his acting debut in 2010 with the Telugu film "Leader". He was later seen in movies like "Dum Maro Dum", "Naa Ishtam", "Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum", "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani", the "Baahubali" franchise, "Baby" and "The Ghazi Attack". Asked about his journey as an actor, Rana told IANS over e-mail: "I love acting and it's part of what I do and know. I am truly passionate about the art of acting. I started working when I was 17 and since then I have tried my hand at visual effects, acting, producing films and entrepreneurial roles. I've loved the art of storytelling and movies allow me to do so." The 34-year-old has now come up with an Amar Chitra Katha learning centre called ACK Alive. The "Baahubali: The Beginning" actor has teamed up with Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and Kishore Biyani of Future Group to create the centre. "Right now, I am balancing my different roles of being a businessman, actor and producer. Merging tech in films is my new passion. I am also associated as a director with Amar Chitra Katha. I want to be able to tell stories in a modern way and let today's generation experience these tales just the way we did when we were growing up," Rana said. The actor is now looking forward to his next Bollywood venture "Housefull 4". He had replaced veteran actor Nana Patekar after the latter was accused of sexual misconduct by actress Tanushree Dutta on the sets of 2008 film "Horn OK Pleassss". Talking about working in "Housefull 4", he said: "It's a big cast and was a party all the way. It's a very different genre from what I've done before and I'm excited for people to watch and have a great time." He is also associated with wine brand Chandon for its Party Starter 3.0 Campaign, which he described as "fun" and that it "speaks about being a party starter". "I feel the campaign presents a fun piece of what I do and what I have done in my career. The experience has been fun with this great energetic team," he said. What makes Rana a party starter? "Being a party starter totally depends on the situation and the ability to make anything fun and exciting. I believe I have it in me to add an element of party to any situation," he said. --IANS dc/nn/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With BJP national president Amit Shah replacing party veteran L.K. Advani in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to multitask three things: edge out the 91-year-old saffron patriarch, project his deputy in the new 2019 Union cabinet and inject a new spirit in the party cadre who have had no leader to look up to since Modi left for Delhi. For Amit Shah, contesting from Gandhinagar is homecoming. The constituency's two assembly segments -- Sarkhej and Naranpura -- have been his pocketboroughs in five consecutive assembly elections till 2012. After winning from Sarkhej consecutively for four terms, he won from Naranpura in 2012, registering huge margins every time. Advani has represented Gandhinagar for the party for six terms and five of them consecutively, and Amit Shah was his poll manager during the 2014 elections when Advani won by a huge margin of 4.83 lakh votes next only to that of Modi. So, in a way Modi has sought to convey his respect to Advani by choosing Shah who is the party's national president of BJP and also an equally, if not more, formidable candidate who knows virtually every nook and cranny of this constituency. The BJP has won Gandhinagar in nine out of 14 Lok Sabha elections since 1967. Few have doubts that it won't go with the BJP the tenth time in 2019. Five out of seven assembly segments under this seat have BJP MLAs, while Gandhinagar North and Kalol are with the Congress. This way, Amit Shah's presence in Gandhinagar is not only expected to strengthen the seat, it will also have a salutary effect on the Ahmedabad East and Ahmedabad West constituencies, already represented by the BJP. Besides these three seats, in the larger context, Amit Shah contesting from Gandhinagar might also have an impact in neighbouring North Gujarat, seats where the Congress seems to have improved its position after the 2017 assembly elections. At the national level, meanwhile, Narendra Modi has created a slot for his deputy, like Advani used to be for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and thus created a new level in the BJP's ministerial hierarchy, should the party come to power again. --IANS desai/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that governments and regulators need to play a more active role in updating rules for the Internet to preserve the freedom of expression, for entrepreneurs to build new things, and to protect society from broader harm. In an editorial in The Washington Post on Saturday, Zuckerberg said though Facebook continually reviews policies with experts on terrorist propaganda and hate speech, it "always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with". But, it is time for "new regulation in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability", the Facebook Founder said, noting that it will help "define clear responsibilities for people, companies and governments going forward". Stating that the company is working with governments, including French officials, on ensuring the effectiveness of content review systems, Zuckerberg suggested for third-party bodies to set standards governing the distribution of harmful content and to measure companies against those standards. He asserted the need for holding Internet companies accountable for enforcing standards on harmful content. On political ads, Zuckerberg said deciding whether an ad is political is not always straightforward, thus it "could be more effective if regulation created common standards for verifying political actors". "We believe legislation should be updated to reflect the reality of the threats and set standards for the whole industry," he said. Endorsing the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for effective privacy and data protection, Zuckerberg said it would be good for the Internet if more countries adopted GDPR and build new privacy regulation on the given framework. He also emphasised on the need for clear rules on when information can be used to serve the public interest and how it should apply to new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, new regulation should guarantee the principle of data portability Clear rules are required, however, about who is responsible for protecting information when it moves between services, Zuckerberg noted. "I believe Facebook has a responsibility to help address these issues, and I'm looking forward to discussing them with lawmakers around the world," he added. --IANS rt/mag/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel on Sunday reopened the border crossing points with the Gaza Strip after six days of closure and amid growing tensions. The commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom in the southern Gaza Strip was reopened for goods, Xinhua news agency quoted a Palestinian official as saying. The Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip was also reopened for Palestinians and foreign aid workers to travel through. Israel closed the crossing points after a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in Tel Aviv, wounding seven members of a family, including children. Earlier in the day, Palestinian militants fired at least five rockets at Israel. In response, Israel Defence Forces tanks struck a number of Hamas military posts in the Gaza Strip, the military said. On Saturday, clashes broke out as Palestinians marked the first year of the Great March of Return rally and 43 years of the Palestinian "Land Day". Four young Palestinian men were killed, while over 300 were injured in the protests. --IANS mag/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) trooper shot and killed himself with his service rifle in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar district on Sunday, police said. The constable, identified as Ramphul Meena, shot himself inside a camp in Solina area of Srinagar city. "He was shifted to hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. A case has been registered in this incident," police said. On Saturday, ITBP Sub-Inspector Chander Mani shot and killed himself inside a camp in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. To address the issue of security forces committing suicide, counsellors have been engaged in the state. Counsellors have cited long duty hours in hostile environment, continued separation from families, lack of recreational facilities and poor command and control have been cited as the main reasons for such incidents. --IANS sq/mag/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In yet another blow to the Congress in Telangana, its senior leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy on Sunday resigned from the party. A former member of Telangana Legislative Council, Sudhakar Reddy is likely to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He took the decision two days after his term as a member of the Council came to an end. In his resignation letter sent to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, he voiced his displeasure over the functioning of state leaders. He alleged that those with money power were given tickets to contest the elections while hardworking party leaders were ignored. Reddy's resignations came hours before Gandhi's arrival to kick-off the party's campaign for the April 11 elections to all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The senior leader from Khammam district is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. He might join the party at the BJP rally scheduled in Hyderabad on Monday. A few days ago, former minister D.K. Aruna switched loyalty to the BJP. She is contesting as the BJP candidate from the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha seat. The Congress is already reeling under a series of desertions. As many as 10 MLAs of the party have defected to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) this month. In the Assembly elections held in December 2018, the Congress had bagged 19 seats in the 119-member Assembly. --IANS ms/pg/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday claimed to have arrested the kingpin of cyber criminals who duped thousands of people to the tune of over Rs 200 crore after offering them fake lucky draws and other lucrative gifts, an STF officer said on Sunday. The police said the gang had accessed data and other details of people from their agents working with online shopping websites and insurance companies. Police have recovered data containing details of around 14 lakhs people, claiming the gang could have duped people of over Rs 200 crore. A senior STF officer said the arrested accused has been identified as Nandan Rao Patel, from Bihar, who lived in an apartment in Amrapali Sapphire society in Sector 45, Noida, from where he was arrested. Vishal Vikram, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), UP STF, said the gang duped people after obtaining their debit and credit card details and stealing money from their accounts. "During interrogation, Patel told police that he used to access data of customers with the help of agents working with online shopping portals and hackers to whom he paid Rs 2-3 per customer. The data thus accessed was sold to his clients running fake call centers across Delhi-NCR region," said Vikram. The officer said that scam callers would call innocent persons, giving an impression that they are calling from online shopping and insurance companies and seek information necessary to transfer their money. "The gang lured people by offering them fake lucky draws and expensive gifts against the online shopping they have recently made. They asked them to deposit a certain amount as registration fees in order to claim their gift. "The data contained in his laptop as well as his email has been analysed. We have found that he is in possession of data of almost 14 lakhs people. The fraud could have been worth Rs 200 crore," the officer said. The accused also told police that he was running an online promotional digital marketing company 'Anik World' at Ansal Corporate Park in Sector 142 of Noida. --IANS sp/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A flying Marc Marquez proved unstoppable as he powered to pole, team-mate Jorge Lorenzo ready to fight forward on Sunday. Saturday's proceedings at the Argentina Grand Prix opened with free practice three session. Marquez was fast from his first lap and quickly moved to top the session and became the first rider to set a 1 minute and 38 seconds. The final 10 minutes of the session saw the customary time-attack for passage to Q2, Lorenzo finding another six tenths to lap the 4.805km-long circuit in 1'39.190, meaning both Repsol Honda Team riders moved directly to Q2 together for the first time as team-mates. Despite early jitters, the weather held for qualifying and an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and track temperature of 39 degrees Celsius helped produce a riveting Q2 session. Marquez continued to show impressive speed aboard his Honda RC213V and claimed his fifth pole position at the sixth running of the Argentina GP with a lap of 1'38.304. The reigning champion is confident in his race pace, but knows he will have to wait and see what weather Sunday brings. Jorge Lorenzo's first visit to Q2 in Repsol Honda Team colours saw him build his speed throughout the session before pushing hard at the end. Unfortunately, the Mallorcan had his best time removed due to exceeding track limits and will line up for Sunday's Grand Prix in 12th. Starting a row further forward than in Qatar presents Lorenzo with the opportunity to enter the fight at the front from the start of the race. --IANS dm/mag/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Polling in Telangana's Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, where 185 candidates including Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K. Kavitha are in fray, will be conducted with EVMs only, the Election Commission announced on Sunday. The poll panel thus put to rest speculations that the ballot papers may be used for the polling in this constituency, where a large number of farmers are contesting as Independent candidates to highlight their problems. Kavitha is seeking re-election from the seat, while the Congress has once again fielded Madhu Yaskhi Goud. The Commission issued instructions to the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana to make arrangements for conduct of elections using M3 EVMs, which can accommodate names and symbols of all 185 candidates. It has also issued orders to Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) for immediate supply of 26,820 ballot units, 2240 control units and 2,600 VVPATs of M3 make to CEO Telangana. Over 175 turmeric and red sorghum farmers have filed nominations in Nizamabad as a mark of protest against the failure of the state and Central governments in ensuring remunerative prices for their produce. The turmeric farmers are also unhappy over the failure of the governments to set up the Turmeric Board. --IANS ms/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UAE-based conglomerate Palmon Group said lead property fund Manrre is now actively targeting logistics and industrial property in robust sub-markets in Dubai such as Jafza, National Industrial Park, Dubai South and Dubai Investment Park in a bid to boost its position as a logistics and industrial REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust). Manrre had recently acquired Dh220 million ($60 million) worth of Dubai commercial assets paying eight per cent annual dividends, said the statement from Palmon. On the worries about the Dubai market oversupply, Mark Mobius, the emerging markets investment guru, said: "There was no need for any such conceren. In any growth situation, youre going to get ups and downs." "The important thing to remember is that in these cycles the peaks get higher and higher, because youre building a larger and larger base, he added. Crucially, Manrre opens opportunity to investors often squeezed out of such top-tier strategies, remarked Kunal Lahori, tthe executive director of the family-owned Palmon Group. "Our family has been investing in Dubai commercial property for over 30 years, weve seen many cycles. Dubai remains a world-class, safe-haven investment destination," remarked Lahori. "Manrre investment opens an opportunity usually only available to large, institutional investors and UHNWs," he stated. "Indeed, the investment landscape is becoming ever-more secure. Its real estate routinely outperforms that in other global destinations and stable, income generating assets can provide a hedge against volatility in equity markets," he added. Manrre REITs core investment objectives include generating a regular source of income for investors, with quarterly dividends targeting an eight per cent annualised return. With the backing from top investors, the Manrre fund aims to grow to Dh550 million, it added. One of the longest-standing conglomerates in Jafza, Palmon Group had recently collaborated with Dalma Capital, a renowned hedge fund manager in the Dubai International Financial Centre, to offer an unprecedented opportunity for smaller investors to own income-generating industrial assets across UAE. Group chairman Manohar Lahori said: "Savvy investors understand that the current market conditions are right to acquire assets and to prepare for when it inevitably picks up. It is a time-honoured and successful strategy." Dalma Capital is a global alternative investment fund accelerator and platform focused on alpha generating strategies with an inherent edge in emerging investment strategies and markets, he added.-TradeArabia News Service The delay in actual realisation from the resolution of the big-ticket cases like Essar Steel has put the non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, recovery target by banks of Rs 1.8 lakh crore in jeopardy. A section of the Finance Ministry, however, believes the target of Rs 1.8 lakh crore could be deemed to have been achieved as the decision of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on the sale of the Essar company to ArcelorMittal for Rs 42,000 crore was taken in the current fiscal. A senior ministry source said the public sector banks (PSBs) have recovered close to Rs 1.33 lakh crore by the third week of March, leaving a gap of Rs 47,000 crore in meeting this year's target. The achievement of Rs 1.8 lakh crore mainly depended on the resolution of the Essar Steel insolvency case before March 31, which has happend, but the distribution of the funds to financial creditors has not taken place as operational creditors have taken up the issue of their dues in the appellate tribunal (NCLAT). Earlier NCLAT had directed the Essar Steel Committee of Creditors (CoC) to reconsider the distribution of Rs 42,000 crore as announced by NCLT Ahmedabad, which had suggested a 85:15 distribution between the financial and operational creditors against the 90:10 ratio as proposed in the resolution plan. The NCLAT was informed last week that a decision by CoC on the issue of whether StanChart, an unsecured financial creditor which had moved the NCLAT against the resolution distribution formulae, should get higher a payout for its dues from Essar Steel, is being discussed. The next hearing on the matter at NCLAT has been adjourned to April 9. Unsecured lender Standard Chartered Bank, which had made the highest claim of Rs 3,400 crore, has been excluded from the offer. As per the plan submitted by ArcelorMittal, the bank will receive only 1.7 per cent, or Rs 60 crore, of its dues. The total of claims admitted by the financial creditors in Essar Steel and Bhushan Power & Steel, the two big-ticket cases of the RBI's first 12 list of NPAs, are Rs 49,479 crore and Rs 47,145 crore, respectively. Earlier this month, NCLAT directed NCLT to decide on JSW's bid for Bhushan Power & Steel by March 31 after dismissing the plea of Tata Steel. But this case also has not moved further and, so far, no decision has come from NCLT. This has raised worries about the recovery from this case being pushed to the next financial year. Earlier, the Department of Financial services officials had met the senior management of PSBs via video conferencing and reviewed the recovery target for 2018-19. The meeting discussed the recoveries made by PSBs through the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and the SARFAESI (Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act), along with a presentation on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by the Corporate Affairs Ministry. But the recoveries through SARFAESI and DBTs are not huge. A Boston Consulting Group and Indian Banks' Association joint report says that PSBs have recovered a total of Rs 2.87 lakh crore between April 2014 and December 2018. They have recovered close to Rs 80,000 crore from cases resolved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. (Anjana Das can be reached at anjana.d@ians.in) --IANS ana/sn/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Slamming the "hollow" promises of the NDA government, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party, if elected to power, would allow anyone to start business without permits or clearances and offer a tax holiday for the first three years. "The Congress manifesto promises to allow anyone to start business without permits or clearances, with tax holiday for the first three years to encourage entrepreneurship and create thousands of jobs across the country," he said at a massive public meeting ahead of the polling in Karnataka on April 18 and April 23. Terming Karnataka as India's start-up hub, Gandhi told the gathering that his party's manifesto also promised to provide incentives, tax credits and easy bank loans based on how many jobs an entrepreneur or a company create. "No angel tax on investments in startups as it goes against entrepreneurship. We will abolish it to promote more startups for creating thousands of jobs," he said. Angel tax is levied on premium paid on investments in startups and unlisted firms to curb "laundering" under the Income Tax Act, as their valuations increase despite stagnant or declining revenues. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking money of the ordinary citizens by making them stand in queues for days during demonetization in November 2016, Gandhi said the party's revolutionary Nyay scheme would remonetize India, by crediting in the bank accounts of 25 crore people Rs 6,000 per month or Rs 72,000 per year for 5 years. "We will also scrap the 'Gabbar Singh Tax of the Modi government and replace it with a simple (saral), one rate minimum tax as the NDA government's GST has looted traders and businesses," he said. Lamenting that the current unemployment rate was the worst in the last 45 years, Gandhi said the NDA government's flagship programmes such as 'Made in India', 'Startup India' and 'Standup India' did not take off as no investments came from domestic or overseas investors. --IANS bha-fb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, cannot be seen as a symbolic fight, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday. Vijayan's remarks came shortly after the Congress announced in New Delhi that Gandhi was going to contest from both the seats. "In Kerala as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we the Left will see to defeat him," Vijayan told the media reported. Kerala is slated to go to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha candidates. In reply to a question over the outcome if the UPA wins the general elections, Vijayan said: "We have already fielded our candidate and he will be taking on Gandhi." The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and it has fielded P.P. Suneer as their candidate. Vijayan also expressed his resentment against the Congress for not clinching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party which would have worked to take on the BJP. "I am sure the BJP is not going to make any inroads in Uttar Pradesh and all along Amethi has been a bastion of the Congress party." --IANS sg/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stepping up attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his decision to contest from Amethi and Wayanad in Kerala, Mohsin Raza, the lone Muslim Minister in Yogi Adityanath government on Sunday said that he has sensed his defeat from Uttar Pradesh. "For the first time he has sensed his defeat in Amethi and that is the reason why he has decided to file nomination papers from Wayanad," Raza told IANS. He said the Congress has shifted Rahul Gandhi to a safer seat, but not a single seat is safe for him across the country. Accusing the Congress of cheating the people of the country, Raza said: "They have cheated people so much that they are not able to save their traditional seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli (seat of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi)." The BJP Minister said the people will vote for his party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development work he has done across the country. He also said that the Congress has accepted defeat in the elections and thus they were leaving their traditional seats to contest elsewhere. The BJP Minister's remarks come soon after the Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad in Kerrala, besides his traditional seat of Amethi. Rahul Gandhi has represented Amethi undefeated since 2004. He is facing a stiff challenge again in Amethi from BJP leader Smriti Irani . Irani had narrowed the victory margin of Rahul Gandhi in 2014. Amethi will go to polls on May 6. Counting of votes will take place on May 23. --IANS aks/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major decision, the Congress on Sunday announced that party President Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The announcement was made at a press conference here by senior party leader A.K. Antony and the party's communications incharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala. The Congress had been given indications that Gandhi will contest from a seat in the south and Wayanad was mentioned as a possible choice. Gandhi, who has been representing Amethi, won the seat by a reduced margin in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani and she is challenging him again in the constituency in the 2019 elections. Surjewala said Gandhi will be contesting from a seat that in a way represents three southern states. "It will be a message of unity of the the north and the south," he said. Surjewala accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing divisions and said that the lives of people in south India was important to the Congress. He also said that Gandhi has "family ties" with Amethi and the "BJP's dirty conspiracies cannot break it". Asked which seat will Gandhi retain if he wins both in Amethi and Wayanad, Surjewala said that when the Congress forms a government following the polls, the party President will represent the entire country. --IANS ps/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party would form a coalition government in the Centre with Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and other allies by defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections. "Just as we formed a coalition government with the JD-S in Karnataka in May 2018 and kept the BJP out of power, we will do the same in the Centre with it (JD-S) and other parties after defeating the NDA government," he said at a massive public meeting with the ruling coalition partner. Polling across the southern state is in two phases on April 18 and April 23 for 28 parliamentary seats. Accusing the BJP-led NDA government of doing nothing for farmers, poor, youth, women and others since coming to power in 2014, Gandhi said Modi also lied to the nation and its people, having promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh in each bank account from the black money stashed away in Switzerland, create 2 crore jobs and bring "achche din". "Instead, he worked only for the rich and 15-20 crorepatis (billionaires). He became a 'chowkidar' for industrialists like Anil Ambani and Adani and fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who fled the country," said Rahul in his 20-minute speech in Hindi and translated in Kannada for the local people. --IANS bha-fb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In yet another show of opposition unity, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu along with his West Bengal and Delhi counterparts, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal respectively, will address an election rally here on Sunday as part of their campaign against Prime Minister Narndra Modi for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The three-hour rally will commence at around 5.30 p.m. at the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium in this port town. Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will campaign for Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at the mega rally. Banerjee arrived here in the afternoon while Kejriwal is to reach by the evening. After the rally, the three Chief Ministers will remain in Visakhapatnam to discuss the national scenario and work out strategies in the coming days. The move is part of simultaneous Assembly and Parliamentary polls which will take place in Andhra Pradesh in the first phase on April 11. Five years ago in the same location, Naidu along with Modi and film actor Pawan Kalyan had addressed a joint rally seeking mandate for the TDP rule in the state and formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government at the Centre in the 2014 Lo Sabha elections. Naidu had pulled his TDP out of the NDA in March 2018 alleging injustice being meted out to the state by the Modi government. Since then, he has been in the forefront of the proposed Grand Alliance (mahagathbandhan), trying to get together all opposition parties, including the Congress. Naidu, who orchestrated a big rally against the Modi government in Delhi, has lined up all his allies for his campaign in Andhra Pradesh against Modi at the Centre and YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh. Though many other leaders from the proposed Grand Alliance including Janata Dal-Secular President H.D. Deve Gowda, DMK chief M.K. Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdulla were invited to the rally, but were unable to attend, a TDP leader familiar with the development said. Kejriwal and Abdullah had already addressed a few meetings in the state. Gowda is expected to join the campaign for the TDP next week and more leaders from non-BJP parties are expected to canvass in support of TDP candidates in next few days. Visakhapatnam is a very important constituency like Hyderabad as it is a cosmopolitan city with a large number of people from West Bengal, Odisha and northeastern states settling there for education, employment and business activities. "We are fighting against Modi government because it did not give special status to Andhra Pradesh despite its promises. There are other many issues on which the TDP was cheated," Lanka Dinakar, TDP national spokesperson, told IANS. He said that a joint campaign by Banerjee and Kejriwal would really help garner votes in favour of the TDP. The Congress however, is staying away from the Visakhapatnam rally because the party is fighting the elections independently in all the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) --IANS rak/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An investigation by a leading media outlet has revealed that a network of British Asians stole billions of pounds of public money to fund terrorists. Tens of millions of pounds of British taxpayers' money was used to fund terrorists including the 7/7 London bombing network and Osama bin Laden through a UK-based scam that spanned two decades, the media reported on Sunday. A two-year investigation by The Sunday Times revealed the network stole billions of pounds of public money through VAT and benefit fraud, topping up their gains with mortgage and credit card fraud, The Telegraph reported. One per cent on the group's gains, 80 million pounds, was allegedly funnelled into Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with funds reaching the Pakistani compound stormed by US special forces in the 2011 operation to kill Bin Laden. The scale of the scam is breathtaking: the group netted around 8 billion pounds in public funds alone -- almost triple the annual government expenditure on MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. A web of secrecy still binds this investigation, which was led by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Special Branch, and prevents the story from being told in full. At least two years before the 7/7 attacks, HMRC identified ties between the gang defrauding the British public and Shehzad Tanweer, one of the terrorists involved. At the time, senior HMRC officials declined to use their intelligence to mount prosecutions and neutralise the gang. Court orders barring the identification of gang members convicted of fraud date back at least 10 years, and one customs official has claimed they were prevented from sharing intelligence with MI5 due to HMRC's desire to keep tax records confidential. Following the money led investigators to successfully charge mid-ranking gang members with fraud and money laundering, leading to jail terms of more than 100 years for crimes that cost the taxpayer 100 million pounds. So far, no gang member has faced any terror charges. The scam's size, its deep ties to terrorism and the secrecy that has cloaked it have prompted Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the public accounts committee, to consider launching a parliamentary inquiry and to vow to question Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and national security adviser to the prime minister, on Monday. The paucity of reporting on the case is understood to be a result of officials' intentions to ensnare gang leaders in their investigation. Various kingpins have fled the UK since the first trial, before they could be arrested. According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), nothing can be reported until they return to the UK to face trial -- a condition that has some members of the legal community are crying foul. The CPS declined to comment further on Sunday night. An HMRC spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: "HMRC does and always has passed information (within minutes if necessary) to other law enforcement agencies and the intelligence services when dealing with serious crime or terrorism -- taxpayer confidentiality doesn't come into it. "HMRC takes its critical role in the fight against serious organised crime and terrorism very seriously. We work side-by-side with the intelligence services, law enforcement partners, and across Government, to break up criminal gangs and disrupt terror funding." --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From recommending what you need to buy on a shopping site to who you should be friends with on a social network, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has established itself as a guiding force in our lives. The growing importance of this technology, however, has also made people aware of the biases that have become part of it, increasing the pressure on technology companies to make amends. Google, for example has now established an external advisory council to help the tech giant develop AI technology in an ethical and responsible way. E-commerce giant Amazon this month announced that it was working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to commit up to $10 million each in research grants over the next three years focused on fairness in AI. "We believe we must work closely with academic researchers to develop innovative solutions that address issues of fairness, transparency, and accountability and to ensure that biases in data don't get embedded in the systems we create," Prem Natarajan, Vice President of Natural Understanding in the Alexa AI group at Amazon, wrote in a blog post. Biased automation tools could push disadvantaged communities further to the margins. Imagine, for example, an AI recruitment tool that considers women to be less intelligent. If a job portal employs such a tool, it is more likely to recommend males to an organisation planning to hire new people. What about the AI assistants that we have on our devices? If Google Assistant, Siri, or for that matter Alexa, talks to us in a female voice, it could make our kids believe that women - not men -- are supposed to be assistants. According to a report in the investigative journalism website ProPublica, one risk assessment tool commonly used in US court rooms was found recommending lighter punishment for white people than black people. Making AI unbiased has therefore become essential for human freedom and for ensuring equal opportunities for all and fighting discrimination. But why do AI tools show bias and reflect the prejudices which are already existing in our society? This is partly because the community that builds AI does not adequately reflect the diversity in the world. According to a 2018 World Economic Forum Report, only 22 per cent of AI professionals globally are female. "If AI systems are built only by one representative group such as all male, all Asian or all Caucasian; then they are more likely to create biased results," Mythreyee Ganapathy, Director, Program Management, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft, told IANS. "Data sets that will be used to train AI models need to be assembled by a diverse group of data engineers. A simple example is data sets that are used to train speech AI models which focus primarily on adult speech samples unintentionally exclude children and hence the models are unable to recognise children's voices," she pointed out. Making AI unbaised may not ultimately make the world fair for all, and yet it could be an important step towards fighting prejudices and creating equal opportunities. --IANS gb/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha, here on Sunday, accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of spreading misinformation regarding impact of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the Gorkha community in the Darjeeling hills. "The TMC is running a false campaign in the north Bengal hills through some local leaders. They are telling the people that if the NRC is implemented in Bengal, the Gorkhas living in the hills will have to leave the state," Sinha said. The TMC was indulging in falsehood as it was scared of the BJP's rising popularity in the hills and foothills of north Bengal, he added. "I want to tell the community only those who have been identified as infiltrators will be shifted out of the state and the country, once the NRC is implemented," he said. The Modi government's citizenship bill enables Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Chakma refugees in India to get the country's citizenship. "The Gorkhas are mostly Hindus or Buddhists. Thus, there is no confusion over their citizenship," he said. Sinha, the BJP candidate from the North Kolkata constituency, also referred to the tussle between the Bengal government and the BJP over the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Siliguri on April 3. "The ground, often used by the TMC to hold public meetings, was not given for Modiji's rally and the BJP had to make alternative arrangements. Their (Bengal government's) tradition of denying permission for BJP rallies continues, but such things won't be able to stop us," he said. Condemning the attack on BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh's vehicle on Saturday, Sinha said, "We have complained to the Election Commission for appropriate action against offenders." He said the BJP has also appealed the EC to arrest people with criminal records within seven days. "The EC has assured us action against the criminals," the BJP leader said. --IANS mgr/rtp/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Honeywell, a global technology leader, has launched Pro-Watch 4.5, the latest iteration of its flagship connected security platform that integrates access control and video systems from Honeywell and third-party manufacturers for enterprise and critical infrastructure applications. Now available across the Middle East, the advanced software platform incorporates new features as well as programme updates which meet the latest industry compliance requirements, reduces total cost of ownership and increases operator productivity with improved flexibility and scalability from single site to global deployment, said a statement. Fahmi Jabri, general manager, Honeywell Commercial Security, Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META), said: We are always looking for ways to reinvent our technology portfolio, and the latest version of our Pro- Watch Security Management is testament to that. It offers advanced functionality, including a web and mobile-based client for badging, reporting, alarm and event monitoring, along with badging verification, and door control. The platform offers the tools needed to adhere to the most stringent security requirements for any industry, Jabri added. The new key features include: Web-Based Alarm and Event Handling: improves operator efficiency, enhances user experience and reduces installation costs through an easily deployable thin client; Access and Vendor Management Portals: provides functionality unavailable from other Physical Access Control Systems and allows operators to accomplish more with less resources by reducing workloads by 20 percent or more; and New Enterprise Tools: simplifies setup and maintenance of Pro-Watch Enterprise deployments to further reduce operating costs. Pro-Watch 4.5 also includes program updates to its current Vendor and Access Management Portals, installation process and overall performance. It supports several smart, advanced biometric and disconnected/wireless readers, and presently offers integration with non-Honeywell third party Mercury based systems. Pro-Watch 4.5 serves as the centre of a connected ecosystem that integrates both Honeywell and third-party solutions to provide a comprehensive connected security platform that meets the unique security needs of each user. It is well suited for enterprise and critical infrastructure environments across a variety of industries including banking education, pharmaceutical, utilities and financial, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a tough battle in Karnataka's first phase of polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats on April 18, as the ruling allies Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) have fielded joint candidates to prevent their bankable votes from splitting at the hustings. "Though the BJP had won 6 of the 14 seats in the 2014 general elections in triangular contests, the going will be tough for it this time, as it faces our joint candidates with higher vote share prospects," a Congress official told IANS. Of the remaining eight seats, the Congress had won six and JD(S) two in the 2014 polls. Of the 28 seats in the state, BJP won 17, Congress 9 and JD(S) 2 in triangular contests on April 17, 2014, as the polling was held in a single phase then. In a pre-poll tie-up, the Congress is contesting 10 seats and JD(S) four, while the BJP is contesting 13 seats in the first phase, as it is supporting multilingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent, in Mandya, about 100 km southwest of Bengaluru, a JD(S) stronghold. The 14 constituencies in the first phase are: Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga (SC), Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar (SC), Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkaballapur and Kolar (SC). The JD(S) is in the fray in Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur and Udupi-Chikamagalur, with Congress in the remaining 10 seats, including 4 in the Bengaluru region. "As our combined vote share was 51.8 per cent against 43 per cent of the BJP in the 2014 general elections and 56.3 per cent against 36.2 per cent of the BJP in the 2018 assembly elections, our prospects of winning more seats jointly is brighter than that of BJP," claimed Congress official Ravi Gowda. The Congress has fielded 5 of the 6 outgoing lawmakers from their respective seats, barring Tumkur, which it gifted to the JD(S) as part of seat-sharing. The BJP too fielded 5 of the 6 outgoing lawmakers from their respective seats and fielded Tejasvi Surya from Bangalore South, as its six-time winner and Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar died in November, 2018. The JD(S) has fielded its supremo H.D Deve Gowda from Tumkur, his elder grandson Prajwal Revanna from Hassan and another grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, from Mandya and Pramod Madhavaraj, a former Congress minister, from Udupi-Chikamagalur. Deve Gowda opted for Tumkur to enable Prajwal to contest from Hassan which he has won for a record six times since 1991. "As joint candidates, our party JD(S) is in a strong position to retain Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur and give a tough fight to BJP in Udupi-Chikamagalur where the Congress has a good presence," JD(S) official Ramesh Babu told IANS. Similarly, the Congress hopes to retain Bangalore Rural, Chamarajnagar, Chitradurga, Chikaballapur and Kolar with the consolidation of votes of the secular allies from the dominant Vokkaliga community, backward classes, Scheduled Castes and minorities. The BJP, however, is upbeat on not only retaining the six seats it had won in 2014, but also wrest Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur and Bangalore Rural from the Congress, riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the "achievements" of its NDA government at the Centre in the past 5 years. "Just as we bounced back in 2014 Lok Sabha elections after losing the 2013 assembly elections, we are confident of winning at least 10 of the 14 seats in the first phase, as rural and urban people want Modi to continue as Prime Minister. Every vote for our party is a vote for Modi," BJP spokesman G. Madhusudhan told IANS. The BJP also hopes to get "sympathy votes" from the electorate as its 3-day government had to resign despite winning 104 seats in the May 2018 assembly elections as it fell 9 short of the halfway mark (113) for a simple majority in a house of 224 elected members. "The people will teach a lesson to the Congress and JD(S) for forging an unholy post-poll alliance to form a coalition government only to keep the BJP out of power at any cost despite having won more seats (104) than them separately," asserted Madhusudhan. As the May 2018 assembly elections threw up a hung house, with the Congress winning 80 seats and JD(S) 37, the allies formed a post-poll alliance to form the 10-month-old coalition government on May 23, 2018 after the BJP government fell on May 19 due to lack of majority in the assembly. The remaining 14 Lok Sabha in the state seats will go to the polls in the second phase, on April 23. Those contests will be in the coastal and northern regions of the southern state. Counting of votes is on May 23 in all the 28 parliamentary seats. (Fakir Balaji can be contacted at fakir.b@ians.in) --IANS fb/vm/am (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Beleaguered liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is facing extradition to India to answer charges of fraud and money laundering, on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement that assets worth much more the amount he owes to banks have been seized "vindicates" his stand that he is a BJP's "poster boy". "I humbly submit that my assertion that I am a poster boy is fully vindicated by the PM's own statement about me (by name) that his Govt has recovered more than what I allegedly owe the Banks," Mallya said in a tweet. "Fact that I have been a UK resident since 1992 ignored. Suits the BJP to say I ran away," said the businessman who is awaiting the outcome of his appeal against British Home Secretary Sajid Javed's green signal to his extradition. In a recent interview to TV channel Republic Bharat, Modi said that his government had confiscated his properties worth Rs 14,000 crore - which was more than the Rs 9,000 crore Mallya owed to a consortium of India banks. --IANS vd/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It took over eight months for filmmaker Ashvin Kumar to get a U/A certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification for his forthcoming film "No Fathers In Kashmir". Veteran actress Soni Razdan, who plays a pivotal role in the film, says it was worth fighting for, and that whenever a story is told that is different from the popular narrative, the authorities try to curtail that voice. Talking about the struggle of getting the certificate, Soni told IANS here: "When you are attempting to tell an honest story that does not fit the current, popular narrative, you should be mentally prepared for the trouble coming along with it. "It was worth fighting for our story throws light on some of the dark realities that the populists want to keep in shadow. So, those obstacles of censorship, curtailing our views - were bound to come." "But we, as a team of 'No Fathers In Kashmir', are happy that we have got a U/A certificate. Ashvin made the film without compromising, with a good intention." The story of the film revolves around the journey of a girl who visits Kashmir valley in search of her missing father. On her role in the film, Soni said: "I am playing a mother whose son disappeared years ago. Her granddaughter, who used to live in the UK, comes to Kashmir in search of her father. So my role in the film has a different emotional graph and it is a very nicely written part in the story." Ashvin, a National Award winner, has written and directed the film. "When I read the story, the script I just realised that it is such a detailed script that clearly shows how the writer is very well versed with the area that he is bringing on-screen. "It is the reality we do not know it has not been explored and this film is tapping into that. It was an eye-opener for me," said Soni, who is half-Kashmiri. She admits that Kashmiris have a very different mindset from rest of the people living in urban areas, but she also explained the reason behind it. "We all have problems in our lives but we have not faced an insurgency. They are almost living in a war zone. For the last 30 years, the way they, I mean common Kashmiris, have struggled to get normalcy of life when I look into it in a nuanced manner, it is very disturbing. There is a huge collateral damage. "It is but obvious then, that they are different," explained the actress. She believes that the film is the answer to many such questions and the story unfolds the reality of common Kashmiris. Was it emotionally draining? "Not emotionally, but I had huge physical exhaustion. We were shooting in a remote village in Kashmir where there were no hotels, so there were no regular facilities which otherwise we get in regular hotels. "It was very cold and long shooting hours. The place was eight hours of driving from Jammu and we had to go by road. "But I must say that when I have a compelling story like 'No Fathers In Kashmir', I do not count these things as challenges. It is just the part of the process." Asked if meaty roles are her driving force to work so hard even at 62, the "Mandi" actress said: "My passion is my driving force. My acting, writing, performance - keep me on my toes. I always set small goals and work towards them to achieve them. I am one of those people who cannot sit idle at home, I would get depressed. I have a constant hunger to create and to learn ." (Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in) --IANS aru/nn/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The picturesque district, sitting high on the Western Ghats, is popularly known for its tourism potential on account of it being located at altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 meters. On Sunday, Wayanad also became the battleground for political ascendancy, becoming the second constituency after Amethi from where Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections. Culturally, Wayanad is very diverse -- nearly half of its population is Muslim, the rest are Hindus and Christians. The constituency was carved out of the erstwhile Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram Lok Sabha constituencies in 2009 after delimitation. Clearly, the race is for bagging the minority Muslim and Christian votes. With the Indian Union Muslim League being part of the Congress-led UDF, the seat is considered "safest" for the Congress. Senior Congress leader M.I. Shanawaz, who belongs to Ernakulam, contested quite a few elections, both to the Lok Sabha and Kerala Assembly. He finally tasted victory in 2009, the first time the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency was formed. Though an outsider, Shanawaz defeated his nearest CPI rival by over 1.5 lakh votes, the highest in Kerala in that year. But in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, his victory margin dropped to 20,870. Last year he passed away and since then the seat was lying vacant. The Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency consists of seven assembly constituencies, spread over three districts, Wayanad (Sultan Battery, Manathavady and Kalpetta), Malappuram (Wandoor, Nilambur and Eranadu) and Kozhikode (Thiruvampady). In the 2016 assembly elections while the Congress-led UDF won from Sultan Battery, Wandoor and Eranadu, the CPI-M-led LDF won in Manathavady, Kalpetta, Nilambur and Thiruvampady. "The master stroke has come now with Gandhi deciding to contest from Wayanad and that's going to give a massive boost to the UDF in Kerala," senior Indian Union Muslim League leader Abdureham Randathani told IANS. "This is because with this decision, the ties between the IUML and the Congress are definitely going to be much stronger," he said. "This particular constituency has around 54 per cent Muslims and if one includes the Christian community, then the total number of minority community votes would be more than 67 per cent," said Randathani, a two-time legislator who lost in the 2016 assembly polls. "Its common knowledge that in the past there has been friction between the Congress and the IUML, especially in the northern districts, and it's more evident during the time of local bodies election. The net beneficiary is the Left. For the IUML, Gandhi is someone special and with this decision to contest in our place, not a single vote is going to go anywhere," said Randathani. He said one reason why the margin of Shanawaz had gone down in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls is that now Left-supported legislator P.V. Anvar, who is also the Left's candidate at the Ponnani Lok Sabha seat, a former Congress leader contested as a Congress rebel in 2014 and he took away over 37,000 votes and the Welfare Party of India secured 12,000 votes. "This time the Welfare Party of India has pledged its full support to the Congress-led UDF. The entire scenario has changed following Congress decision on Gandhi's candidature. He is going to win with the biggest margin," said Randathani, adding "his candidature will have a cascading effect across all states". P.P. Suneer, the CPI candidate, who will take on Rahul Gandhi, told the media that he is not alarmed by the stature of the opposing candidate. "The candidate does not matter, as elections are fought on issues. By now I have already completed three rounds of my campaign and I am on a strong footing," said Suneer. --IANS sg/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Among the seats in Western Uttar Pradesh seats going to the polls in the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Saharanpur presents a unique picture. The constituency has a large presence of Muslims. The BJP had won the seat in 2014 and the scenario could repeat itself in 2019 given that both the Congress and the BSP have put up strong candidates from the Muslim community. The significance of Saharanpur can be judged from the fact that Uttar Pradesh BJP started its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency and Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal combine will hold its first joint rally here. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath began the Lok Sabha campaign from Shakumbhari Temple in Saharanpur district as an apparent move counter the SP-BSP-RLD alliance's campaign from Deoband in the same district. The three Uttar Pradesh alliance partners - SP, BSP and RLD - are slated to hold their first joint rally at Deoband on April 7 and the choice of the venue, which has India's largest Islamic seminary, is being considered significant. Adityanath had said at an event that the opposition alliance's choice of Deoband was an indication "of its orientation and priorities". The Shakumbhari temple is about 40 km from Deoband. BJP President Amit Shah had launched BJP's Parivartan Yatra in 2017 from Saharanpur. While the BJP has repeated its outgoing MP Raghav Lakhanpal, both the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD have fielded strong candidates from the minority community. The Congress has repeated its candidate Imran Masood, who had put up a strong fight in 2014, when he lost to Lakhanpal by about 65,000 votes. Masood had made controversial remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He was censured by the Congress leadership for his "chop Narendra Modi into pieces" remark and was asked issue a public clarification. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Fazlur Rahman. He owns meat and food processing units and also has clout in the area. With both Masood and Rahman being considered strong candidates, there is a feeling among voters here that there could be a division among minority votes which would benefit the BJP. There is also talks of tactical voting by the Muslim community, which accounts for about 42 per cent of the population, to defeat the BJP. In such a scenario, Rahman could benefit as the BSP already has a core support base. One reason for Imran Masood losing the 2014 election was that his cousin Shadan Masood, son of his uncle Rasheed Masood, contested as a Samajwadi Party candidate. What can also boost prospects of Imran Masood is Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi's meeting with Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar in Meerut earlier this month. The Bhim Army emerged from Saharanpur and it has found a place among Dalit youths in Western Uttar Pradesh. The Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituency includes five Assembly seats -- Behat, Saharanpur, Saharanpur Dehat, Rampur Maniharan and Deoband. Voting will take place at Saharanpur on May 11. (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) --IANS ps/vm/pg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unfazed by their MP Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Kerala's Wayanad seat as well in the Lok Sabha elections, voters in Amethi say they will support "the son" of their "VIP constituency". Amethi goes to polls on May 6. The Congress on Sunday announced Congress President's decision to contest from two seats -- Amethi and Wayanad. Gandhi has represented Amethi undefeated since 2004, but faces a stiff competition from BJP's Smriti Irani this time. His winning margin narrowed to just over one lakh votes against Irani in 2014. Asked if the voters in Amethi will support Gandhi after his new decision, Congress District Chief Yogendra Mishra was quick to bring in the "son versus the outsider" analogy in his party leader's support. He claimed that Gandhi will get no less then five lakh votes in Amethi despite his decision to contest from two seats. "Here everyone considers Rahul Gandhi a part of their family. So the voters will back the son of Amethi, rather than the outsider Smriti Irani," he told IANS. And the Congress leader's claims found substantial support. Ram Mishra, a resident of Darda village, about 25 km from the Gauriganj district headquarters said: "Whatever work you see here is all because of the Congress." Deepak Singh, Congress Member of the Legislative Council from Amethi, said: "By accepting the party workers' demand to contest election from Wayanad is a welcome move by Rahul Gandhi." "Now the competition is no more between Gandhi and the BJP. Now it is a competition between Congress workers in Amethi and Wayanad as to who will ensure more votes to him," he said. "The canals were built in the area during Indiraji's term. She travelled across the district to ensure that the farmers don't sleep hungry." "The villages were connected with roads by Rajiv Gandhi," said Mahendra Nath Dubey, a resident of Korwa village. He added that the road was full of potholes three years ago, but Rahul Gandhi got it repaired. "Our village got its identity from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factory. Who brought it here? It was Congress and Rajiv Gandhi's vision," said Almin Khan of Baraulia village. Ali Sher, a resident of Musafirkhana, said: "This will remain a VIP seat till the time it is represented by the Gandhi family. We don't want to lose it by voting for the BJP." "The Congress has given a lot to Amethi -- schools, colleges, the fertiliser factory, the Ordnance factory, the Rail Neer plant, the SAIL plant and many other government projects," said Syed Iqbal Haider, a social activist. Haider said: "In 2014, Smriti Irani raised the 'VIP versus the common man' parallel. But after she became a minister, she also started behaving like a VIP with us." Irani promised to provide hand pumps to many people but could not fulfill her promise, said Shiv Kumar Pandey, a resident of the Musafirkhana area. However, there were some Irani supporters as well. Shyam Maurya from Pipraula Thakur village said that he will back the BJP in these elections because a lot of development has taken place under the Narendra Modi government. "The BJP brought to our village the common service kiosk, because of which I don't have to go to bank, 5 kms away," he said. Another resident said that Pipraula Thakur had become a digital village due to Irani's efforts. Shyam Singh said, "Now my grandson and granddaughter know how to use internet on the mobile phone." Amethi has remained a Congress bastion since 1980. It was first represented by Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. After his death in 1981 in a plane crash, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi represented the seat till 1991. Congress' Satish Sharma retained Amethi till 1996 but lost it to BJP's Sanjay Singh in 1998. However, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi won back the seat in 1999. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) --IANS aks/rtp/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) People who work in shifts are at heightened danger of heart disease and the risk increases with years they work in shifts, finds a Chinese study of more than 300,000 people. Shift work "can earn more profit, but it can also cause harm to the health of employees. Thus, employers should reduce shift work as much as possible," lead author Weihong Chen, a researcher in occupational and environmental health at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, was quoted as saying to the Health Day. While the reason is unknown, disruption in the normal sleep-wake cycle could increase stress. In the study, published in the journal Occupational Medicine, the team analysed data from 21 earlier studies involving over 320,000 people and nearly 20,000 cases of coronary heart disease. The study was not designed to prove the cause and effect, but the data showed shift workers were 13 per cent more likely to develop coronary heart disease than daytime workers. For every year spent working in shifts, there was a nearly one per cent increase in the risk of coronary heart disease, the report said. According to Weihong, employers should pay attention to staff members who are experiencing symptoms of heart problems as well as those with a family history of heart disease. Employers could provide health promotion, such as information on how to prevent and deal with ischemic heart disease, she said. Companies could also consider providing health check-ups to detect early signs of heart problems, Weihong said. --IANS rt/rs/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Voters in Myanmar's former capital Yangon cast their ballots on Sunday, first time, to directly elect a municipal administration. The municipal government of the city with five million residents is being elected through the universal suffrage, first time in Myanmar's history, the Efe news reported. Some 3.4 million citizens were eligible to vote and elect leaders of the Yangon City Development Committee, along with members of the 33 municipal communities. Yangon was Myanmar's capital until 2005 before the seat of governance shifted to Naypyidaw. The new capital held its first elections five years ago, but only one member of a family was allowed to vote and residential requirements were stricter. It reduced the number of voters to 400,000. Of This, only 25 per cent voted in the 2014 polls. In the runup to the Sunday's vote, Yangon's streets were full of campaign posters of candidates from Aung Sang Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, party of the military junta, as well as Independents. Myanmar's military rulers began a transition towards what one of its powerful generals described as a "disciplined democracy" in 2011, which culminated in the NLD's victory in 2015 polls. The NLD formed the first elected government in 2016 after five decades of dictatorship during which different military regimes governed the country. Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has been at the helm as a de facto leader, but the military continues to enjoy considerable power and has control over three ministries. The junta also enjoys 25 per cent reservation in Parliament. --IANS rs/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 17-year-old boy was killed and one person injured as a private bus rammed into a stationary truck on NH 52 in Bundi district Sunday morning, police said. The incident took place under the Hindoli police station limits around 5:30 am, they said, adding that the victims were passengers of the bus. The body of Himanshu Panwar, a resident of Sirohi district, was handed over to his family members after a postmortem and the injured was undergoing treatment at the Maharao Bhimsingh hospital here, ASI Mahavir said. The bus was going to Jhalawar from Jaipur when it rammed into the stationary truck from behind. The driver of the bus has been detained, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UAE-based Ducab, a leading manufacturer of high-quality cables and cabling products, has announced that its 2018 consolidated group sales rose to Dh4.8 billion ($1.31 billion), an increase of approximately seven per cent year on year. Ducab now operates six manufacturing facilities across four sites in the UAE, employing a workforce of over 1,600, said a company statement. Ducab Group now comprises four business units: Ducab Wires and Cables; Ducab High Voltage (HV); Ducab Metals; and Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC). Ducabs established wires, cables and metals businesses all saw positive year on year sales growth in 2018. The newly-established Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC) performed well during its first full year of operations, with total sales rising to over Dh300 million ($81.67 million) for the year. Ducab also made significant headway in international markets. Oman and Bahrain proved to be strong growth markets within the GCC last year and further afield, the company secured significant sales contracts in Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Australia, Hong Kong, US and the UK. Today, Ducab exports around 60 per cent of its production across business units. In the recent board meeting and AGM, Ducab confirmed the appointment of Dr Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh as the companys new chairman. Al Shaikh replaces Engineer Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, who served as chairman from 2017-2019. The companys chairmanship is rotated biannually between Ducabs equal shareholders Senaat and the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). The outgoing chairman, Engineer Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri has welcomed Dr Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh into his new role. For 40 years, our company has made its mark on the UAEs evolving industrial and manufacturing landscape. It has been a pleasure to help steer the companys progress over the past two years, including a positive 2018 despite the global economic slowdown. I am confident that Dr Al Shaikh will continue to foster the best talent, technologies, and standards at Ducab. Speaking on his appointment, Dr Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh said: The diversification and development of Ducabs business over recent years has been remarkable. I highly commend Engineer Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri for his strong direction, which has seen numerous milestones reached across the organisation. Over the course of the next two years, our board will support Ducabs next chapter of expansion, reinforced by the highest international safety and sustainability standards, while contributing to the wider economic transformation of the UAEs industrial sector, he added. During his time at the head of the company, Engineer Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri oversaw significant developments that have strengthened Ducabs position in the local economy, as well as in the global market for cables and cable accessories. Included amongst these developments was the launch of Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC) located within the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (Kizad). Inaugurated in 2018 as a joint venture between Ducab and Senaat, the facility manufactures 50,000 tonnes of high-quality electrical grade aluminium rod and overhead conductor per annum, working in a unique collaborative model with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA). It was also in 2018 that Ducab broke ground on a new three-storey facility located in Jebel Ali to serve as the companys global headquarters. The project has been designed to achieve Leed Gold certification when completed later this year. Ducab scored 94.7 per cent in Adnocs ICV programme which prioritises local supplier selection, development of local talent, and the localisation of other critical manufacturing operations. Looking to the future, Ducab continues to strengthen the participation of Emirati youth in the industrial sector by equipping them with professional expertise through vocational training and scholarship programmes. The company has a robust Emiratisation programme in place that has led to the successful recruitment and retention of talented UAE nationals within Ducab. TradeArabia News Service Armed men suspected of belonging to gangs involved in cattle rustling and kidnapping in northern Nigeria, attacked a village in Zamfara state leaving 10 people dead, a police spokesman said on Monday. Gunmen on motorcycles invaded onion fields on Saturday outside the village of Kware in the Shinkafi district and shot dead farmers at work, Mohammed Shehu said. "We received a report of an attack in Kware by bandits in which 10 people were killed," Shehu said. "Security personnel were dispatched to the area to restore order," the spokesman said. He did not give details of the reason for the attack, but residents said it could be in reprisal for a recent military operation against the bandits in the area. Last week troops deployed in the state to fight the criminal gangs raided two of their training camps in north and northwest Nigeria. "We believe they attacked to avenge the killings of their comrades by soldiers who destroyed two camps belonging the bandits," said Kware resident Hashimu Abu. The region has been repeatedly attacked by armed groups in recent months. In early March 30 people were killed in a reprisal attack following a military raid on the bandits. Farming and herding communities in Zamfara state have long been terrorised by gangs who raid villages, stealing cattle and kidnapping residents for ransom. President Muhammadu Buhari, while recently re-elected, has nevertheless been criticised for failing to protect people and property in the region. In July last year Amnesty International said Zamfara state was "at the mercy" of armed criminal gangs, "who have killed hundreds of people over the last two years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A massive rainstorm hit several places in Nepal on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and injuring 400 others, officials said. The rainstorm swept through several places in the southern district of Bara and adjoining Parsa in the evening, Himalayan Times reported. According to District Police Office, Parsa, the number of casualties may rise. At least 25 people have been killed and 400 others injured, the report said. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli expressed sadness over the loss of lives and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 32-year-old Indian dentist, pursuing an advanced medical course in the US, was among two persons killed in a road accident in Chicago, police said. Dr Arshad Mohammed, originally from Hyderabad, was killed when a blue Volkswagen travelling the wrong way on the Veterans Memorial Tollway struck his black Honda on Thursday night, police said in a statement. The driver of the Volkswagen, identified as 36-year-old Robert Velazco of Hammond, was also killed in the accident. A white Ford box truck and a silver Subaru were also struck in the crash, officials said. Three others were also injured in the accident. Two of the three vehicles in the crash were destroyed and at least one person had to be extricated from one of the vehicles that barrelled into a retaining wall, they said, adding that it was not yet clear why Velazco was driving the wrong way. Dr Mohammed was a current resident of orthodontics at UIC seeking an advanced certificate in orthodontics and a master's of science in oral sciences. His friends said he lived with his sister and had no children. The UIC orthodontics school was closed on Friday in the wake of Mohammed's death. Mohammed graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2018. He is a recipient of American Institute of Orthodontics Award and Dr. Alan C. Peterson Scholarship Award. "His passion for dentistry, patience and attention to detail allows him to demonstrate exemplifying compassion, dedication, and excellence in a clinical setting," according to his brief profile on the UIC website. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six persons were booked on Sunday for not depositing their licensed weapons in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. In run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the district magistrate of Kishtwar had issued an order on February 28, directing all licensed weapon owners to deposit their weapons at concerned police stations. "Since the last date for depositing such weapons has expired, consequently police lodged FIRs in different police stations against the persons who failed to deposit their weapons thus violating the order," a police spokesman said. He said police is also identifying more persons who have not yet deposited their licensed weapons so that action can be taken. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven people have been arrested in Srinagar and Kulgam districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday on the charge peddling drugs, police said. In Nowhatta area of Srinagar five people were arrested at a check post and 28 grams of brown sugar (heroin) was seized from them, a police spokesperson said. In Nillow area of south Kashmir's Kulgam district, police intercepted a truck and seized 11 kg poppy straw, the spokesman said, adding two people -- Samarjeet Singh and Divender Singh -- residents of Amritsar, were arrested. He said, "Our consistent action against such anti-social elements should encourage the locals to come forward with any information pertaining to drug peddling in their neighbourhood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The consortium of lenders to Jet Airways is considering roping in former SBI chief A K Purwar as chairman of the interim management committee as the cash-strapped airline looks for a new investor, a senior official said. The official of the State Bank of India (SBI) also said the lenders are in the process of appointing SBI Capital as advisor in efforts for finding a the new investor. As the full service carrier struggling to stay afloat, its board on March 25 approved a debt resolution plan that would see immediate fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore and lenders taking control of the airline. According to the official, Purwar is expected to be soon appointed as chairman of the interim management committee. Purwar was the chairman of the State Bank of India between 2002 and 2006. The bank is also the lead lender to Jet Airways. Apart from monitoring the daily operations and cash flow of the company, the committee would also oversee the process for roping in a new investor, the official said. With the implementation of the resolution plan, SBI would next month invite expression of interest (EoI) from potential entities willing to invest in the airline. A finality about the new investor or investors is expected by the end of May. "My expectation is May 31... market is open for everyone whosoever wants to come in. There will be expression of interest (EoI) which will be given by April 9 and binding bids by April 30," SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said last week. Jet Airways, one of the oldest private sector airlines, is sitting on a debt of Rs 8,200 crore and requires about Rs 4,500 crore for carrying on its operation smoothly. Acute financial crunch has forced the airline to ground aircraft, cancel flights and delay payment of salaries, including to pilots. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party Sunday launched a campaign in the national capital under which party members distributed letters from Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal to Delhi Metro commuters on the issue of full statehood. The campaign was launched at the Rajiv Chowk station of the Delhi Metro and would soon cover all other metro stations in the city, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said. AAP volunteers will be distributing these letters outside the metro stations said commuters can read them to understand the importance of full statehood for Delhi, the senior leader said. Rai claimed that the people of Delhi pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore as Income Tax and receive only Rs 325 crore from the Centre. "Once Delhi becomes a full state, it would get Rs 60,000 crore, which can be used in so many development projects," he said. Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of the Congress Saturday lodged a complaint with the chief electoral officer against chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of misusing his office by sending letters to voters and violating the poll code. The ruling AAP in the city is fighting the Lok Sabha election on the agenda of granting full statehood to Delhi. The election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital will be held on May 12. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Sunday hit out at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after she avoided visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine during her Ayodhya trip recently, terming it an "insult" for Hindus and asking the party to clarify its stand. Addressing an election rally here in support of BJP candidate and Union minister Mahesh Sharma, Adityanath said the country and the world see Ayodhya as Ram Janmbhoomi and there is no dispute on it after the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement on it. "When she was asked as to why she did not visit the Ram Janmnbhoomi, she said it was a disputed site hence she did not go there," he claimed. "Vadra's remark on the Ayodhya site is an insult to any Hindu living in any part of the world," the monk-turned-politician declared to the gathering. "Brothers and sisters, there can be no bigger insult for us." "Last time they (Congress) had won 44 seats, this time they will get only four seats and get finished." Priyanka Gandhi visited Ayodhya on March 29 and offered prayers at the popular Hanuman Garhi temple there but kept away from the Ram Lalla shrine. Adityanath said, "I want to ask you (Priyanka Gandhi) that you did not go to the site thinking that people from a particular community would get angry? You went to Ram bhakt Hanuman's temple. You made a controversial statement about the Ram Janmbhoomi." The chief minister also referred to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra, saying they are "out on bail". "You must clarify this. You make controversial statements when you have three people in your home who are out on bail. Why making such unnecessary controversial statements? Congress must clarify its stance," he said. He alleged that the Congress was behind the delay in the verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, saying a battery of lawyers belonging to the party argue for deferring the matter every time the Supreme Court takes it up. "The Congress, SP and the BSP, they all are the biggest hurdles in getting this matter resolved. We don't consider it a disputed site. These people deliberately play with your sentiments," he told the gathering. Adityanath also accused the Congress and its allies of coining the phrase "Hindu terrorism" in the wake of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that had killed 68, mostly Muslims, and said Hindus have been known for peace but the party had "linked them to terror". He also alleged that the previous Congress-led government at the Centre wanted the Ram Setu also destroyed. "In 2019, we have to decide the roadmap ahead. Should those encouraging and revering terror be elected or (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, who has worked for security, prosperity and happiness, be reelected?" he asked. He described the Congress as a "burden" on the country. "Sometimes I think Rahul Gandhi ji has risen to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi's dream. Gandhiji had said the Congress should be dissolved after independence, but its leaders of the day did not listen to him. Now it appears that Rahulji has come to fulfil that dream of Gandhi ji. Similar is the situation for the SP-BSP in the state, Adityanath said, adding the "alliance of corruption" has failed completely. "They are scared even to step out for campaigning. What are the issues they want to take to the people? What achievements they have to show to the people, especially in western UP?" he added. He said BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav had considered Noida and Greater Noida a "jinx" and avoided visiting there as chief ministers ignoring the development of the region. "I have broken that myth. The BJP breaks all myths," he said, citing his multiple visits to the region for several development projects. The UP chief minister also trained guns at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, claiming he was the "biggest hurdle" in development of the national capital. Referring to Uttar Pradesh bagging the project to build an international airport at Jewar here, Adityanath said Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were also interested in getting it. He credited Sharma for it. "I think it is also about how good your elected representatives are... Delhi CM himself is the biggest obstacle in Delhi's development. He has become a problem unto himself... Whenever the central government plans a development project for Delhi, he goes on a dharna," Adityanath said. Gautam Buddh Nagar goes to polls on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phased elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar Sunday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on what he claimed were "lapses" that led to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel. Addressing a press conference here, he claimed an "extremely urgent" military document from Kashmir dated February 8, just a few days before the Pulwama attack, had asked forces to sanitise any area before their movement. "It stated that there is a possibility of attack on convoy and asked for scrutiny on the route of the convoy," he claimed. "We want to ask the government whether the cabinet discussed this issue after receiving this important document. Did the security and defence committee of the cabinet discuss this issue? Or whether this document was deliberately neglected by the government," he asked. "Similarly, there is system in place for the convoy to bear the impact of an attack. Was this system in place in the concerned attack?" he further questioned. Ambedkar, grandson of father B R Ambedkar, also took potshots at Gadkari, the sitting MP and BJP candidate from the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, by referring to him as "incoming prime minister" and "prime minister in making". There has been speculation that Gadkari could be the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in case of a fractured mandate in the upcoming general elections. This, however, has been denied routinely by Gadkari who has stressed that neither does he have any aspirations nor the RSS any designs to project him as a prime ministerial candidate. "We want to ask Gadkari whether this document received before the Pulwama attack was taken seriously by the government, and if so, then what instructions were given by the government," Ambedkar said. He said PM Modi, Gadkari or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat should tell the "truth" about the Pulwama terror attack. Speaking on the Lok Sabha polls, the Dalit leader said a "wall" of 10 lakh votes stood in the way of Gadkari being re-elected from Nagpur. He said Congress candidate Nana Patole would not get Dalit or Muslim votes from here and neither would Gadkari manage to attract the votes of the Halba tribal community, which has a string presence in the city. "Gadkari is up against a wall of ten lakh votes," he claimed. Ambedkar's BBM and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have formed the Vanchit Bhaujan Aghadi to fight polls in Maharashtra jointly. Ambedkar and Owaisi will be addressing a public rally for Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's Nagpur candidate Sagar Dabrase on Monday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arab leaders slammed the US decision to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory at a summit in Tunis on Sunday, but struggled for further unity as Qatar's emir left the meeting early. In a final declaration the Arab League summit said it "affirmed that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory according to international law, the decisions of the United Nations and the Security Council". A separate statement dedicated solely to the issue called Washington's move "invalid and illegitimate". "It is true that America is the strongest military force in the world, but its decision is absolutely worthless," League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a closing conference. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday in which the United States recognised Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau that it seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Israel's move has not been recognised internationally, and three UN Security Council resolutions have called for it to withdraw from the territory. Trump's shift on Golan had already drawn a string of angry reactions from Arab capitals, despite proving problematic for key regional US allies such as Saudi Arabia. The decision has also drawn criticism from other Security Council members and been rejected by the European Union. The united front shown at the Tunis summit on the issue failed to mask other deep divisions inside the Arab League, as it struggles with major headaches such as a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf and conflicts in Syria and Yemen. In an apparent sign of the tensions, Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani quit the gathering "after attending the opening ceremony", the Gulf state's official QNA agency reported, without giving any further details. A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari leader had walked out during the speech of League chief Aboul Gheit, and "has left Tunisia". Qatar is at the centre of a bitter Gulf standoff since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed ties with Doha. The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Iran, charges Qatar denies. The meeting in Tunis had brought together Saudi King Salman and the emir for a rare encounter. But an appeal by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi for the region to "overcome its differences" appeared to have little impact as the Qatari ruler left prematurely. In his opening speech Aboul Gheit had blasted Turkey and Iran for their "interference" in Arab countries, insisting that Tehran and Ankara had worsened regional crises. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new showcase of hand-picked brands from across the globe will answer the needs and wants of consumers with darker skin tones and curlier hair textures at next months Beautyworld Middle East exhibition in Dubai, as the spotlight gets set to shine on multicultural beauty. Ready to Beauty is one of the several show highlights at the regions largest international trade fair for beauty products and wellbeing, and promises to take thousands of Middle East and African trade visitors through a journey to discover the next big thing in multicultural beauty. The dedicated feature is curated by US-based Dark Metier, and will present a wide range of products, from foundations and cosmetics with shades and formulas created specifically for high-melanin skin types, to hair systems that care for thicker, more textured curls. Corey Huggins, founder and Global CEO of Dark Metier, said the retail style set-up will appeal to the vast and diverse population prevalent within the wider region. Ready to Beauty addresses the unique concerns and evolving tastes of the darker beauty consumer, featuring both cult favourites alongside emerging and niche brands alike, he said. Its popularity will be underlined when trade visitors recognise that this particular version of beauty is finally being revealed and respected. Literally, attendees will be on a discovery journey to find the next big thing in multicultural beauty. Ready to Beauty will be located within the USA pavilion at Beautyworld Middle East 2019, which takes place from April 15-17 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Huggins highlighted some of the key brands that will be on display, including Camille Rose, a hair and skin care wonder from the US, and Kenyan-owned Pauline Cosmetics, one of East Africas leading makeup brands developed to be inclusive for all shades of Black. Ready to Beauty will be a virtual tour of the hottest and newest in beauty and lifestyle; a one-stop-shop focused on the most appropriate products for African, Latin, Middle East and South East Asian beauty. Huggins added that mainstream beauty brands are now slowly recognising the power of the multicultural market: Big brands are starting to launch products that target the darker consumer, particularly in haircare, but theres a difference between multicultural-suited and multicultural-specific beauty, he said. One is gratuitous in nature and the other is authentic. Without question, Ready to Beauty is unapologetically the latter. Ready to Beauty arrives at Beautyworld Middle East 2019 amid a growing preference for cosmetics and hair care suited to warmer skin tones and colours. According to industry estimates, multicultural women are also said to spend 80 per cent more on cosmetics and nearly twice as much on skincare than other consumer bases. Elaine OConnell, Beautyworld Middle Easts show director, said: In our view, beauty bridges all cultural gaps almost effortlessly, and in Ready to Beauty, we have a unique showcase that will appeal to the diverse cultures and varied skin tones so prevalent in the Middle East and African region. Trade visitors can expect to see a wide range of natural haircare products, skincare, personal care, and colour cosmetics varying from perfectly balanced to bold and warm. The special feature is yet another example of how Beautyworld Middle East continues to evolve and cater to the specific needs and requirements of its core market, she added. Other notables at Ready to Beauty include emerging Mens personal care brand UnderGuard; and more Kenyan names such as BU.KE, an artisan brand that handcrafts luxurious skin and haircare, and Sheth Naturals, which makes creams catering to a broad spectrum of hair texture and curls. Now in its 24th edition, Beautyworld Middle East 2019 will feature more than 1,750 exhibitors from 65 countries. The annual three-day event is organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, covering the six product groups of Hair, Nails, and Salon Suppliers; Cosmetics and Skincare; Personal Care and Hygiene; Machinery, Packaging, Raw Materials, and Contract Manufacturing; Fragrance Compounds and Finished Fragrances; and Natural and Organic. Ready to Beauty is just one of a number of value-added features that attract tens of thousands of trade buyers and beauty professionals every year. Front Row is the new big headline act for 2019, presenting a three-day programme of live makeup, hair, and nail demonstrations delivered by the regions premier beauty artists, influencers, and creative talents. Returning regular features include the ever-popular Quintessence, an exclusive showcase of niche fragrances, and Battle of the Barbers, a live three-day competition where the UAEs finest male grooming technicians will battle it out for two coveted titles: the UAEs Best Barber and UAEs Best Shave. The Fragrance Station and Nail It! By OPI and Artistic a nail art competition are other returning features, while the two-day Beauty Business Conference will cover pertinent topics such as women entrepreneurship in the beauty business and sustainable packaging of beauty products. With 25 country pavilions, six product groups, and a packed programme of special features, the 24th edition of the annual showcase will again present an unrivalled platform of business networking and inspirational ideas for an expected audience of 35,000-plus trade buyers and beauty professionals. - TradeArabia News Service An Army jawan was killed Sunday after being buried under an avalanche near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officials said here. Havaldar Satvir Singh succumbed to injuries after being hit by the avalanche in Kupwara in north Kashmir, an Army official said. Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen K J S Dhillon and all ranks offered condolences to the bereaved family, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister Sunday addressed a rally in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Bisahada village, home to who was lynched by a mob, and said the was working for all sections of the society. He accused the previous governments of dividing people on the basis caste and indulging in "politics of appeasement" as he spoke in the village where Akhlaq was lynched in 2015 over suspicion of cow slaughter and storing beef in his house. He alleged that the (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) only worked for the development of their families, created caste divide for personal gains, engaged in appeasement politics and destroyed the social fabric of the country. ALSO READ: Adityanath govt banking on MSME scheme in UP to counter unemployment "But ever since became the prime minister in May 2014, our government had said that it would not work for individuals, families, caste, or religion, but work for villages, the poor, youth, women, farmers and for every section of the society," Adityanath told the rally. "This was significant because, earlier there was at the Centre whose supremo had said that a certain community has the first right on the country's resources and by saying this they divided the majority and so did the SP and BSP governments. But Modi said his government would work for every section of the society and showed the will to walk his talk. The results of that will power can be seen today," he said. He said, earlier illegal slaughter houses were running without any check in the state and added, "Who does not know what had happened in Bisahda? Everybody knows it." "How shamefully the government tried to suppress the sentiments then and I can say as soon as our government was formed we got all illegal slaughter houses stopped in one go and ensured its strict implementation," Adityanath said. Hitting out at the SP and BSP, he said this is the same western UP where riots would occur from block level to district level every now and then and accused them of "conducting one side action to insult the majority community". "When these people, who had made Noida, Greater and (authorities) and other resources a means for illegal income, come here, ask them why they could not build a metro rail or pay dues of sugarcane farmers," he asked the gathering. The chief minister accused the previous governments of harassing the majority community by lodging false cases against them and thus creating a "breeding ground" for riots. "During my two years, has there has been any Bisahada-like incident in the state? Has there been safety concern to sisters and mothers? No. This cannot happen because we have said that we will guarantee safety and development to 230 millions citizens of the state, bring every one into mainstream. We won't differentiate between people but won't engage in appeasement politics," he said. He said the law and order situation in UP and that in under Modi has become exemplary. "I have been wanting for a long time to come to Bisahada and meet people of this region and nearby areas," he said as he campaigned for Mahesh Sharma, the BJP candidate from Gautam Buddh Nagar. An impoverished teenager, Mehdi, joined the wave of Afghans who left their homeland, dreaming of reaching Europe to find work. Where he ended up was entirely different: On the battlefields of Syria's civil war, in a militia created by Iran. Mehdi was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Syria, he was thrown into one of the war's bloodiest battles, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of "Allahu akbar" before each mortar blast. Iran created a network of militias made up of Shiites from across the region and used it to save Assad from the uprising against his rule not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistan's impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning home, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organising them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehran's influence amid Afghanistan's unending conflicts. "Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists," said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He was terrified, speaking on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He met The Associated Press in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighbourhood, and even there kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. The returning veterans are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that see them as traitors. They face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen attacked a Shiite mosque in Herat, killing 38 people. To back Assad, Iran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria and brought in a number of allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanon's Hezbollah. But the largest was a force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, several tens of thousands of Afghans trained and fought in it, most from the ethnic Hazara minority, who are among Afghanistan's poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilise these ex-fighters once more, especially if the country's many armed factions turn on each other in escalated warfare after US and NATO troops withdraw. Iran could use the chaos to deploy the brigade, with the very real pretext that the vulnerable Shiite minority needs a defender. "Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point," said Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the US war on terror. "Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure, and expertise." Like most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade, Mehdi was driven by poverty, not ideology or loyalty to Iran. Too poor to afford books for school, Mehdi had just turned 17 when he left Afghanistan in 2015. He went to Iran and worked in Tehran for months, saving money for the next leg of the trip to Europe. But Europe's borders closed, and Mehdi was stranded in Tehran. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of USD 900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely USD 150 a month. "I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river," Mehdi said. "I decided, 'Live or die, I'll go'." He and other Afghans underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard at a base in Iran's southern Yazd province. Afterward, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salaries would be deposited. They went to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war a 2016 campaign against Islamic militant factions for control of the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppo's edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian and Iranian troops, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months, killing and wounding hundreds on both sides. "Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies," Mehdi said. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and all but 200 were either killed or wounded. Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago. He remains dirt poor, and unable to find a job. He spoke bitterly of his lack of options. He noted that the Fatimiyoun Brigade remains in Syria, and some Afghan veterans stayed there after their service to work. "I don't know what my future brings," he said. "Maybe I become a thief or maybe I go back to Syria. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat-based Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) has declared its candidates on two of the five Lok Sabha seats that it would contest in Rajasthan. It has nominated Kantilal Rot from Banswara-Dungarpur and Amar Singh Kalunda from Jodhpur parliamentary constituency. The party will later announce its candidates on Udaipur, Rajsamand and Jalore seats, BTP state president Dr Velaram Goghra told PTI. The party's second list will be released in a couple of days, he said. Accusing both the BJP and the Congress of neglecting issues of tribals for years, Goghra alleged the major political parties have betrayed the tribals and bereft them of their rights. He exuded confidence that the BTP will win the five seats and work for the betterment of people. The BTP was founded in 2017 ahead of the Gujarat polls by former JD(U) legislator Chotubhai Vasava. It won two seats in Gujarat elections in alliance with Congress. The party won the Sagwara and Chaurasi Assembly seats in the recent Rajasthan elections. In Rajasthan, the party has found strong support from students' group Bhil Vidhyarthi Morcha, which has been active in the tribal belt. In union elections early this year, it won a substantial number of seats in Dungarpur colleges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of DRDO's recent space achievement, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee Sunday said the BJP government has taken over all premier institutions in the country. On March 27, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted Mission Shakti, an anti-satellite missile test, from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island launch complex, paving the way for the country to join an elite space club comprising the US, Russia, China with such specialised capability. Opposition parties have slammed the prime minister, saying the BJP government was trying to take credit for the DRDO's achievement. Claiming that the people's liberty was at stake under the BJP's rule, Banerjee said "an atmosphere of fear" was prevailing in the country. "The BJP government has taken control of all premier institutions in the country. People here live in fear. They do not have the right to speak freely under an autocratic government," the West Bengal chief minister said. Earlier, too, the chief minister had taken a jibe at Modi, terming his announcement of the DRDO mission as "yet another limitless drama to reap political benefits" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "India's Mission Programme is world-class for many many years. We are always proud of our scientists, @DRDO_India, other research & space organisations," she had tweeted, adding that "Modi, as usual, likes to take the credit for everything." Talking to reporters at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport here before leaving for Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to participate in a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rally, Banerjee said a "dictatorial government" is pulling the strings at the Centre using force and intimidation, "trampling democratic norms". "Disinvestment has been done in public sector companies. Some workers are not getting salaries. The lives of farmers and labourers are under threat under the current dispensation. "I feel that everyone will come forward, keeping aside their petty interests to collectively vote against the Modi government," said Banerjee, who has been trying to cobble up an united opposition alliance against the BJP. The CM said she would extend her support to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who pulled out his party of the NDA in March 2018, alleging injustice was being done to Andhra Pradesh by the Narendra Modi government. "I am going to Visakhapatnam at the invitation of Chandrababu Naidu to extend my solidarity and participate in a public meeting," she said. Giving details of her itinerary, Banerjee said she will visit Cooch Behar in north Bengal on April 4 and Assam the following day to address rallies. In Bengal, Banerjee claimed, she would be holding as many rallies as possible over the course of the next two weeks. "I will address nearly 100 meetings in Bengal," the Trinamool chief said. Election to 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at the Opposition for seeking evidence of the Balakot airstrike, alleging that only two factions were "pained" by the post-Pulwama retaliation -- Pakistan and the Opposition. "Pakistan was counting the dead bodies of terrorists. At that time, our Opposition was asking questions about the airstrike. This will not be tolerated at any cost," Adityanath said at a public meeting in Ghaziabad. At another rally in Greater Noida, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader accused the previous Congress-led UPA government of "serving biryani" to terrorists and having a soft approach towards handling terrorism. "Masood Azhar... Congress gives them respect by adding 'ji' after their name. But, the BJP has only two ways of dealing with terrorists -- bullet or bomb," he said. "After the air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan was crying. Only two factions were pained by this, either Pakistan or the Congress-SP-BSP. Rest of the country was celebrating it and these people were asking for proof," Adityanath said. The chief minister accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party of insulting the soldiers by asking proof of the airstrike. He also alleged that the Opposition were encouraging terrorism, naxalism and anarchism. Adityanath also pointed out to the alleged migration from cities like Kairana, Kandla. "In the last two years of our government, not a single family has migrated from the state. In fact, people are now coming back to the state. The only people who have migrated from the state are criminals, who know that nobody can save them in the state," he said. The chief minister alleged that earlier, the situation in western Uttar Pradesh was such that women and girls were worried about safety. "Now, in two years of our government, criminals are either behind bars or they have been eliminated. There is no third other option for them." Adityanath claimed that before the BJP came to power in the state, DJ music was not permitted during the 'Kanwar Yatra'. "We gave a free hand to all the pilgrims. The BJP government has entirely changed the scenario of the state." He alleged that the Congress, SP and the BSP, which ruled the state for most of the time since Independence, had created a divide in the society. "They (BSP-SP-Congress) worked for personal gains and their families, engaged in policies of appeasement and created divide in society," Adityanath said, adding that the Modi government had worked for all sections of society. The chief minister claimed that the Opposition, including the BSP and the SP, had come together only to control and exploit the national resources. On 'Mission Shakti', Adityanath said the Election Commission could not find any violation of the model code of conduct because Narendra Modi addressed the nation in his capacity as the prime minister. "This is a decisive battle. This election will decide the path for India's development," Adityanath added. The chief minister addressed the rallies to campaign for Ghaziabad candidate V K Singh and Gautam Buddh Nagar candidate Mahesh Sharma. "Your vote to the BJP will ensure that development will continue in your area for the next five years," Singh said. Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar go to polls on April 11 in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP Sunday utilised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Main Bhi Chowkidar" address beamed across the country as a force multiplier of its poll campaign in New Delhi with party's top leaders fanning out across various Lok Sabha constituencies here to watch it along with thousands of party supporters. The top BJP leaders, who watched the prime minister's "Main Bhi Chowkidar" address in various New Delhi constituencies with thousands of party workers, supporters and common people included party president Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Modi Sunday made his "Main Bhi Chowkidar" poll campaign speech on his You Tube channel at New Delhi Tal Katora Indoor stadium. The address was beamed across the country and watched live through video conferencing across the country. In New Delhi, Shah watched Modi's address in Chandni Chowk constituency, while Swaraj watched it in West Delhi and Singh in East Delhi along with the party cadres and common people. Chandni Chowk MP and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present with the party president in his constituency to watch the event. Though similar events were organised across different parts of the country, and attended by senior BJP leaders there, it was here that the several top leaders were present in different constituencies. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP's general secretary (organisation) Ramlal, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi attended the event along with Modi. Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Vijay Goel also attended the event along with the prime minister. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav andVijender Gupta, the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, watched the prime minister's address in Northwest Delhi along with local MP Udit Raj. The BJP, which had bagged all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in 2014, is pitted against the Congress and the AAP here in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, however, had won just three seats in the Delhi assembly polls held less than a year after the 2014 general elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali says he finds it "frustrating" that black artistes do not get cast on the basis of their talent. The actor, whose career breakout role came as fixer Remy Danton in "House of Cards", believes the role gave casting directors "permission" to put him in their projects. "I had many years of auditioning, booking gigs, almost booking jobs and making some real allies in the business - people who wanted to cast me in things but I just wasn't a big enough name. What 'House of Cards' did was give people permission to cast me. "It can be frustrating. Just to be frank with you, African-Americans don't really get cast on potential. I hope that now I will have a window where I can finally do a lot of the kind of work I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've spent a long time playing the man next to the man next to the man. Finally, I'm getting to play the man!" Ali told Heat magazine. Following the success of "House of Cards", the 45-year-old actor went on to win two Oscars in Best Actor in a Supporting Role category for "Moonlight" (2016) and "Green Book" (2019). This year he also played the lead role of a troubled police officer in the third season of the HBO anthology crime series "True Detective". Ali previously revealed he had to convince creator Nic Pizzolatto to change the character's ethnicity to black. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior leader of opposition BNP was among two persons arrested in connection with a devastating fire in a high-rise building that killed 26 people in Dhaka last week, police said on Sunday. At least 26 people were killed and 50 others were injured when the blaze broke out in the 23-floor office bloc, F R Tower in Dhaka's Banani area, on Thursday. A case was registered in Benani police station on Saturday, Dhaka Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.com. S M H I Faruk, an engineer and the land owner of the building, was arrested from Bashundhara residential area around 1:45 am on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Moshiur Rahman, said. BNP leader Tasvir Ul Islam, who is one of the owners of the building and the president of the commercial complex's management committee, was arrested from his Baridhara residence on Saturday, Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Shahjahan Saju, said. Authorities said that the building lacked adequate fire safety measures and had no fire-protected staircases. Islam was the owner of the top three floors of the building that had no permission for the construction, police said. There were other partners, who jointly own the building, and police was looking for the chief of the construction company that built the complex, they said. Islam is a member of the BNP's central committee and the president of the party's Kurigram wing. He is the younger brother of late A K M Maidul Islam, a founding member of the BNP, and the managing director and CEO of the Quasem Industries Limited. The firm has its offices on the 21st and 22nd floors of the building. The ownership of the building was jointly held by Faruk, and a real estate company, Rupayan, which built the tower, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Kiren Rijiju Sunday said the Centre did not introduce the citizenship amendment bill in Rajya Sabha respecting the interests of the people of northeastern states. The people of the region, he said, had staged protests without understanding the pros and cons of the citizenship amendment bill. The government, respecting their sentiments, had decided not to introduce the bill in the Rajya Sabha though many states were supporting it, the Union minister of state for home told reporters here. The controversial bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, sought to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any documents. It is now set to lapse on June 3. Rijiju claimed that the bill would in no way affect Arunachal Pradesh, from where he hails, as it is governed by a different set of laws and under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act. People from other states need to take Inner Line Permit to enter Arunachal Pradesh, while foreigners need to obtain Protected Area Permit (PAP) and Restricted Area Permit (RAP), he pointed. "I am committed to protect the interests and rights of the people of state," he added. Rijiju will contest from the Arunachal West constituency in the general elections. Former chief minister Nabam Tuki has been pitched against him by the Congress. Arunachal will witness simultaneous polls to the assembly and the Lok Sabha. Rijiju said the opposition had raised the issue of granting refugee status to Tibetans, Chakmas and Hajongs, who are residing in the state, without the knowledge of the ground reality. The Tibetan refugees who came to India in 1959 and are settled in five refugee camps in the state, are not willing to take citizenship of India even if the Supreme Court grants it to them as they are fighting for their country's freedom, he said. A few Tibetans who married locals and tried to obtain citizenship certificate by illegal means were denied it, he said. "When I came to know about the issue, I had said that the old Tibetan rehabilitation policy should be made clear and well defined with information on how many Tibetans are residing in the state so that in the future no refugees can get the rights and benefits of indigenous tribal people," Rijiju said. But people misinterpreted it and give a different colour to the issue, he added. On the contentious Chakma and Hajong refugee issue, he said the Gauhati High Court had in 1996 directed that the process of granting citizenship to the refugees should be started. He said the Supreme Court in an order in 2015 had directed the state government to provide citizenship to the refugees within three months. However, the Home Ministry changed the old policy and submitted to the apex court that there would be problems in implementing the order in the state as the refugees settled by the erstwhile Congress regime are illegal. "For this, as of now, they have not been granted citizenship despite court order and the rights of the tribal people have been protected," he said. Referring to the issue of permanent resident certificate to non-Arunachalees, a movement against which claimed three lives earlier this year, Rijiju alleged that Arunachal PCC president Takam Sanjoy had spoken in support of the issue a few months ago but later dragged his name and misled the people. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally at Aalo on Saturday had categorically said the Centre will not work against the interest of the tribal people and will work to protect their culture, tradition and rights, he added. The Union minister said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been withdrawn from many states and in Arunachal it is limited to the three eastern districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding and four police stations of adjoining districts with Assam. "Our efforts will be to withdraw AFSPA from the remaining parts of the state soon after getting reports from the state government on improvement of law and order," he added. Asked whether the Centre is willing for talks with ULFA(I) chief Paresh Barua, Rijiju said the government recognises only the pro-talk faction of the outfit led by Arabinda Rajkhowa. "Paresh Barua has link with many underground groups who are against India. We cannot compromise on our sovereignty," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent After waiting for years on end, and at the same time working tirelessly for the Congress party, Advocate Shanimol Osman has got a ticket to contest for the Lok Sabha seat from her hometown Alappuzha. She is the lone Muslim woman candidate fielded by the Congress from Kerala and in fact the lone Muslim candidate from Congress after Advocate T Siddiq backed off for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad. Osman, the first woman secretary of the AICC from Kerala has worked for the party since joining the Kerala Students Union years back. Ever since, she has served the party in different positions such as President of the Kerala State Mahila Congress, Municipal Chairperson at Alappuzha, member of the Alappuzha District Panchayat, member of the District Planning Committee, and member of the committee for the National Youth Programme. She is presently a member of the AICC, the Political Affairs Committee in the Kerala PCC and the Pradesh Election Committee. Osman had been in the news after the defeat of the Congress-led UDF in the last Assembly elections in the state in 2016. She alleged that she was defeated in the constituency of Ottappalam as the Congress had given its votes to the BJP candidate. She also said on Facebook that she was a victim of the caste-group politics inside the party, which kept her away from positions. She boycotted the KPCC meeting held after the elections, along with senior leader Bindu Krishna, demanding to discuss the reasons for the failure of the Congress. She had also contested in the by-election to the Perumbavoor constituency in 2009 but lost to Saju Paul of the CPIM. She was offered a seat in the Kasargod Parliament constituency, an LDF stronghold, in 2014 but she refused. Support TwoCircles Shanimol graduated in Zoology from SD College, Alappuzha, and is a postgraduate in Sociology from the Loyola College, Thiruvananthapuram. She then completed LLB from the Kerala Law Academy, Thiruvananthapuram. The 52-year old has a son and daughter Alif Sathar Osman and Asya Thami Osman. A Mohammed Osman is her husband. The LDF candidate AM Ariff, who is presently MLA from Aroor, is also a native of Alappuzha. He has been representing Aroor in the Assembly since 2006. The NDA has fielded Dr KS Radhakrishnan, former chairman of the Kerala Public Service Commission and former VC of the Sree Shankaracharya University for Sanskrit in Kalady, who recently joined the BJP. The district of Alappuzha was the worst affected in the deadly floods which savaged Kerala last year. The Parliamentary constituency is made up of six assembly constituencies in the district and Karunagappalli in nearby Kollam district. While the UDF had a clear lead in all but one Assembly segment in the 2014 LS elections, it lost all but one in the 2016 Assembly elections. The UDF focuses on the national issues such as communalism and corruption targeted against the NDA, and attacks the CPIM for its violent politics. Osman had been highlighting on womens issues too, such as the insecurity faced by girls and sexual abuses. The LDF is mainly focusing on the development works done by its candidate in his constituency. The constituency was won by the Congress in the last two elections by its national secretary KC Venugopal, who refused to contest this time citing organizational responsibilities (AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka). While the UDF is asking for votes to continue the development activities of the last ten years, the LDF is asking for a change. Policemen in Noida are risking their lives in the line of duty, case in point being Dalelpur village, where they reach by crossing the Yamuna river either by a boat ride or on foot. Dalelpur is a sparsely populated village and the only in the region which falls on the other side of Yamuna in Haryana but is still a part of Uttar Pradesh. The only way to reach it is to get on the only privately-arranged boat that plies on the river to fetch people between the Yakutpur and Dalelpur sides of the Yamuna or a road trip via Delhi and Faridabad, that is a journey of 70 km on one side. The village, bereft of roads and power supply, among other basic amenities, falls under the limits of Knowledge Park police station, whose personnel have been crossing over the polluted, stench-emanating river for years now. "Connectivity is a major problem. It's difficult to reach Dalelpur and takes lot of time, but our work is to reach out to any call or complaint there," Sub-inspector Pramod Kumar told PTI during a visit to the village where he had come to record some statements in a case recently. "There is only one boat and I was waiting on the other side (Yakutpur) but there was no one who could bring it. I could not wait there for long so I had to cross the river on foot and reach Dalelpur, he said, as he showed some selfies he took which showed him waist-deep in the blackened river water with a paper file, his boots and trousers in one hand. Kumar, who has been doing this for one-and-a-half years now since being posted at Knowledge Park, was lucky to have got a boat ride back that day. Reaching the shore does not mean the task is over, Kumar said, adding it was another 3-4 km of walk on dirt-track before one can reach Dalelpur. "It's only during raids that an official vehicle goes to the village, covering a distance of 70 km via Delhi and Faridabad," he said. On fortunate days, he gets a ride in the SUV of Dalelpur's Satbir Tyagi, if he is around and willing to come to the river bank. Home to some 250-odd people, Dalelpur locals, however, heaped praises on the local police for their dedication to the village, which they said otherwise has remained "neglected" till now by "other official agencies" due its location. "The police are the only agency which cares for us. They reach out to us as soon as they can. Every night some official from Knowledge Park police stations calls someone in the village to ask if everything is fine, said Tyagi, 42, resident of Dalelpur. When asked about the situation, Senior Superintend of Police (SSP) Gautam Buddh Nagar Vaibhav Krishna said he was seized of the matter. I am aware of the difficulties that the police personnel have to go through in case of Dalelpur, he said, precisely aware of region's geography. We coordinate with the Haryana Police also and our personnel also try to ensure that they reach out to the village, either by road or through the river. A bridge or some sort of direct connectivity would be better, he told PTI. Station House Officer, Knowledge Park, Arvind Kumar Pathak said despite the difficulties the officials have been performing their duty for years now. SI Kumar said during his 18 months here he has not heard of anything like a bridge or road coming up that could bring into mainstream the village, where he has to go at least twice a month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Sunday took a potshot at Rahul Gandhi for deciding to contest Wayanad seat in Kerala, claiming that the Congress chief is feeling "uncomfortable, insecured and helpless in Amethi", his Lok Sabha constituency for three terms in a row. Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi, and Amethi are considered as his family's pocket borough, but he is so scared that he fled to a place far away in south India, Prasad told reporters here. The Congress Sunday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. "Rahul Gandhi is feeling uncomfortable, insecured and helpless in Amethi. So he chose to contest Wayanad seat considering it as safe because of its ethnic profile," the senior BJP leader said. The captain ran away after noticing that the ship is sinking and and landed in the sanctuary of Wayanad where 49.48 per cent people are Hindus and the rest minorities, he said. Rahul Gandhi had never cultivated his image as a Hindu but recently he is going temple hopping, showing off his "Janeu" (sacred thread) and flaunting his "Gotra", the minister said asserting that he suddenly decided to contest a minority dominated seat feeling insecured. When pointed out that Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate in 2014 elections had contested from two seats - Gandhi Nagar and Varanasi, Prasad said it was because the people of Gujarat had requested Modi, who was the chief minister of the state for 12 years, to do it. Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala made a statement that Gandhi will contest Wayanad to safeguard the cultural tradition of south India. On this, the BJP leader said it is an "ugly cruel joke" as senior leaders of the Congress and other parities such as P V Narasimha Rao, NT Rama Rao, M G Ramchandran, Jayalalitha, and Devraj Arsh were treated badly by the party. "Since you have gone to Kerala supposedly to safeguard the cultural tradition of south India, please tell us what is your take on Sabarimala (temple issue). We know the stand of the Left and our stand is also known to the public," he said. The Sabarimala temple was out of bounds women between 10 and 50 years of age. The Supreme Court on September 28 last year allowed all women, including those in the menstruating age, to offer prayers at the shrine. While the BJP opposed the verdict, the ruling Left parties supported it. Rahul Gandhi initially welcomed the ruling but later backtracked saying he will leave it to the people of Kerala to decide on the matter. On "Mahagathbandhan" in Bihar, Prasad said there is no grand alliance in UP and West Bengal, and he is not sure how long it would survive in Bihar. The grand alliance in Bihar consists of the RJD, the Congress and some other parties. "Mahagathbandhan has no programme, no policy, no commitment and no leadership," he said asserting that the BJP and NDA would get decisive mandate in the elections as it is a battle "between hope and opportunities, aspirations and despair". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Home Affairs has turned down a plea of Mamata Banerjee government to retain 35 companies of central forces posted in once Maoist-dominated Jangalmahal region in south Bengal, a senior state government official said Sunday. The state government has then written to the ministry to reconsider the decision stating that the move might re-ignite Maoist problems in the region, he said. The forested areas of West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia districts in the southern part of the state forms Jangalmahal. The areas which share border with Jharkhand were once affected by Maoist insurgency. "A second letter has been sent to the Home Ministry a couple of days ago requesting it to retain the forces in Jangalmahal. A special mention has been made in the letter that withdrawal of the forces may re-ignite the Maoist problem in the area which has borders with Jharkhand. We are waiting for a reply from the ministry," the IAS officer said. The ministry, about a fortnight ago, had informed the state government of its decision to pull out the 35 companies of central forces and deploy them on election duty in other parts of West Bengal. "We had written to the home ministry opposing the decision citing intelligence reports on the Maoists trying to regroup in the Jangalmahal area. We also have cited reports about visits of Maoist leaders from Jharkhand," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP leaders and workers including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis participated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' event from seven locations in the city Sunday. The event was beamed across the country at 500 places, where participants could listen to Modi and interact with him through video-conference. Fadnavis participated from the Uttar Bhartiya Sangh Sabhagraha in suburban Bandra. Member of the state Legislative Council and BJP leader R N Singh, who heads the Uttar Bhartiya Sangh and also runs a security agency providing private security guards, was also present there along with the chief minister. City BJP chief Ashish Shelar, Mumbai North Central MP Poonam Mahajan and Vile Parle MLA Parag Alavani were also among those present with the chief minister. Other locations where party workers participated in the event were Malad, Andheri, Dadar, Chembur, Marine Lines and Ghatkopar. Meanwhile, commenting on the Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign, Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said the BJP did not have the moral courage to respond to questions about the performance of its government. The party was running away from questions on corruption and morality, and those who run away are not "chowkidars" but thieves, he said. A case has been filed against excise minister Dilip Kamble over bribery charges, while the high court has pulled up the state government over the tardy pace of probe in rationalists Govind Pansareand Narendra Dabholkar murders, but the government has no guts to respond to these issues, the Congress leader alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Sunday asserted that the coalition of regional parties is set to form the government at the Centre after the coming Lok Sabha elections. Reiterating that he would, if necessary, launch a national party for the development of the country, Rao said there are changes required in health, legal, administrative matters as well as in the Constitution. "If needed, I will launch a national party. There are changes needed in health, legal and administrative matters as well as in the Constitution. With your blessings I will create tremors in national politics," the TRS chief said. KCR, as Rao is also referred to, who has been proposing a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front at the Centre, said consultations were held with Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of architect of the Constitution late B R Ambedkar and head of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, DMK president M K Stalin and others in this regard. Addressing election rallies in Wanaparthy and Mahbubnagar districts, Rao appealed to people to vote for TRS candidates and ensure their victory with big majority and free the country of BJP and the Congress. He expressed confidence that it would be the regional parties front that would assume power at Centre after May 23. "No need for any doubt over TRS victory. Don't get confused with opposition party leaders statements. During Telangana movement several leaders have targetted me but I continued to fight to achieve separate state," Rao said. Claiming that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) solved problems relating to electricity, drinking water and increased social welfare pensions, he said the TRS won the recent Assembly election in that manner. Attacking Narendra Modi, Rao alleged that he served as the Prime Minister for five years, but failed to deliver on his promises made to the people. "I am asking what BJP did for people, why did you fail to introduce Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima schemes?," KCR asked. Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme is a copy of the 'Rythu Bandhu' farmers' investment support scheme of the TRS government in Telangana, he said. Referring to Prime Minister Modi's comments on his religious belief, Rao said, "It was improper for the PM to speak about personal traits of a leader. Why should the PM be worried over my faith in astrology? Addressing a rally in Mahbubnagar on Friday last Modi had targeted Rao over his belief in astrology. Modi had alleged that Rao was under the influence of astrologers. "BJP leaders are psuedo Hindus, I am true hindu, none have performed so many Yagams which I did," Rao said. He also said that Modi "failed" to respond to the letters he had written seeking financial aid for Palamuru lift irrigation project. Rao further said that after the elections he would hold 'Praja Darbar' in each district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The city Congress Sunday launched its election campaign sans the candidate. While the BJP has announced the candidature of Maharashtra minister and local MLA Girish Bapat for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, the Congress is yet to announce its nominee. City Congress leaders were hopeful that the announcement will be made by Sunday morning, but there was no word from the high command, a party source said. The party workers launched the campaign by taking out a procession from Kasba Peth, Bapat's Assembly constituency. City Congress chief Ramesh Bagwe and four ticket aspirants -- former state legislator Mohan Joshi, Arvind Shinde, Abhay Chhajed and Pravin Gaikwad (who joined the party Saturday in Mumbai) -- took part in the event. While speculation is rife that Gaikwad will get the ticket, some Congress leaders said either Shinde or Joshi could be the high command's pick. "Party workers are eagerly waiting for announcement of candidateand with every passing day they are becoming impatient," admitted Ramesh Iyer, city Congress spokesperson. BJP leaders did not lose the opportunity to take a dig at the Congress, saying it was like a horse is ready for the marriage procession but there is no bridegroom. "It seems that after we put up a strong candidate in Bapat, Congress is not finding a suitable challenger," said a BJP corporator. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has blamed what he termed the "rigidity" of the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress for the breakdown in the alliance talks between the two parties in West Bengal, claiming his party would be at an advantage as in 1977 when Jayaprakash Narayan's Janata Party had spurned its tie-up offer in the fight against Indira Gandhi. In an interview to PTI, Yechury said the breakdown of talks with the Janata Party in 1977 in Bengal had benefitted the CPI(M), which emerged as the only anti-Congress force in the state. He hoped this time too the party would be at an advantage, as the only front fighting the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. "In Bengal, we said that there will be no mutual contest in the sitting seats. The Congress was unfortunately rigid...we have been sincere in our no-contest offer, it is the Congress which reneged. So the perception which has gone to the people of the state is that the only consistent force which can take on the TMC and the BJP in Bengal is the Left," he said. With the BJP emerging as the main contender to the ruling Trinamool Congress, the CPI(M), which won two of the state's 42 parliamentary seats in 2014, faces an uphill task to retain its strength in a state it had ruled 35 years till 2011. Asked what led to the failure of the Left and the Congress to stitch together an alliance in the state, Yechury referred to his party's talks for a tie-up with the then Janata Party in 1977 and said the CPI(M) had offered it around 52 per cent seats while it wanted two-thirds. "This is precisely what happened with the Janata Party in Bengal. They were not ready to budge from their demand. Then Jyoti Basu went to the people of Bengal and told them that we were giving the Janata Party a majority but they didn't want it. "We eventually emerged as the party which was consistently anti-Congress and then we continued to win there," the CPI(M) chief said on the fight against the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government in the post-Emergency period. The Left leader also said that while there was no scope of negotiations left in Bengal, the Congress going separately would help create a "momentum" for the Left Front. The failure in talks of the two parties has now paved the way for a four-cornered contest in Bengal among the Trinamool Congress, the BJP, the Left Front and the Congress. "We declared the seats minus their sitting seats, we waited for more than 48 hours, we didn't declare, but their candidates were declared including the two of our seats. So, it's clear who broke the chain here. "The fact that Congress has not taken initiative (the seat-sharing talks) well is clear. But why that is, is for the Congress to answer. We have fixed our priority which is to maximise anti-BJP votes. Now, Congress has to fix its priority. The Congress has to answer this," he said when asked if the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi had failed to take initiative and play the expected role for the Opposition alliance. In the 2014 parliamentary election, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress won 34 seats in Bengal, the Congress four and the Left and the BJP two each. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress' announcement that party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh evoked sharp reactions on Sunday from the Left and Right of the political spectrum. While the CPI(M) and CPI said the move signalled that the Congress wanted to take on the Left which would work towards defeating him in the elections from Wayanad, the BJP said Gandhi "fled" to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of the work done by him and his party over the years. Veteran Congress leader from Kerala and former defence minister A K Antony made the announcement that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi at a press conference, saying Gandhi had consented to fighting from the constituency in Kerala following requests from the party's state unit. The decision is seen as an attempt by the Congress to consolidate its electoral base in south India, especially Kerala which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and Karnataka has 28. Reacting to the development, CPI(M) politbureau member Prakash Karat said the decision of the Congress shows that the party wants to take on the Left in Kerala. "Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight the BJP, as in Kerala it is the LDF which is the main force fighting the BJP there," he told reporters. The CPI(M) ex-general secretary said his party will work to ensure Gandhi's defeat in Wayanad. BJP chief Amit Shah also took a sharp dig at Gandhi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh for contesting from two seats. Shah, while speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, said, "Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him." CPI leader D Raja also questioned the decision of the Congress, saying it made no sense. "I don't understand what the Congress is playing here. There is no BJP to fight in Kerala, it is the Left versus the Congress-led UDF. By choosing a constituency in Kerala for Rahul Gandhi, what message is the Congress conveying to the country," Raja asked. "The primary objective is to defeat the BJP, how does this move help in that? We are not going to withdraw our candidate from the seat. Rahul Gandhi has to answer to the people of this country," he said. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who is in Thiruvananthapuram to campaign for the elections, said deciding on candidates was the internal matter of a political party and no other party needed to intervene in that. "The priority of the CPM is to oust Narendra Modi from power," he said, adding that the LDF would register a thumping win in Kerala. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Gandhi contesting from Wayanad could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP, and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, the Congress' Amethi unit said the UP district is family for Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi has been thrice elected to Parliament from Amethi, considered the Congress bastion in 2004, 2009 and 2014. "He has decided to fight from Wayanad in Kerala in keeping with the demand and emotions of the party workers. Amethi is family and a family is forever," Congress's Amethi unit president Yogendra Mishra said. Following the announcement, celebrations broke out in the hilly constituency of Wayanad and the rest of Kerala as Congress cadres burst crackers, distributed sweets and raised slogans praising Gandhi. On BJP's criticism that Gandhi's is "not very strong" in Amethi, Surjewala, at the press conference, earlier said, "Why doesn't the BJP answer why Modi ji left Gujarat and went to Varanasi. Does that mean that his condition was bad in Gujarat. Instead of discussing these type of immature things, they should discuss key political issues. Why is the BJP so scared?" In a swipe at Union minister Smriti Irani who is contesting against Gandhi in Amethi, he said, "Pehle Delhi mein Chandni Chowk ne haraya, phir Amethi ne bhagaya. Jis mantri mahoyadaya ki charcha kar rahe hain, jinko ticket di hai, ab haar ki hat-trick ka mahaul bana hai (First lost from Chandni Chowk, then Amethi. And now, for the minister in question there is an atmosphere of a hat-trick of defeats)". Surjewala said Wayanad has a unique geographical feature as it links Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri and Karnataka's Mysore, and has the geographical and cultural representation of the three states. Senior Congress leader Antony said Wayanad is situated in Kerala, but is also surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. "In a way it'll satisfy the requests of three southern states," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi Sunday assured his party would provide special category status to Andhra Pradesh if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections and would carry out "surgical strike" on poverty. He expressed 'surprise' that parties in the state were not 'aggressively' pushingg Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant the special category status, promised by the UPA when the state was bifurcated five years ago. Launching his party's campaign in Andhra Pradesh that goes to simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls on April 11, he told a rally here that his promise of a minimum income scheme NYAY was a "non-violent weapon" that will be used to uplift the poorest. Gandhi, whose party is contesting the polls in Andhra Pradesh alone, said while Modi did "surgical strikes against the poor" his party will carry it out against poverty. He accused Modi of creating two Indias -- one for the richest people "like Anil Ambani and Mehul Choksi" and another for poor farmers, labourers and unemployed youth. "Our idea is to make one united India where everyone is happy. Modi wants to make two Indias... So we have decided in 2019 that the congress will carry out a surgical strike on poverty. "If Modi can declare war on the poor and weak people of the country, we will declare war on poverty. We will give NYAY to the people of India. NYAY is our non-violent weapon against poverty," the Congress chief said. He said the proposal of Congress to provide Rs 72,000 annually to the 20 per cent of the poorest was historic and would benefit five crore families and 25 crore individuals. The beneficiaries would be identified using Aadhar and other technical assistance, he added. Asserting that the Congress would implement the poll promise as it had done in the case of MNREGA and others in the past, he said "I am not Modi, I do not lie... He lied to you that he will give money to the poor people. He gave money to the richest in the land." Devoting most part of his over 30 minute speech to target Modi, Gandhi said while the previous Congress-led UPA had created poverty eradication schemes, the prime minister "dismantled everything." "He destroyed the pillars of MNREGA and the Food Security Act", the Congress chief charged. On the special category status, a key issue in the state, he recalled the UPA's assurance of according a special status to Andhra Pradesh post its bifurcation and said the promise was made by none other than the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "...it was not just an individual who made the commitment, it was the Prime Minister of India...the commitment made by the PM of India on behalf of India," he said. "Mr Modi has been Prime Minister for the past five years. And he has not fulfilled this commitment. And frankly, I am surprised parties in Andhra Pradesh are not aggressively pushing Modi for giving Andhra what it deserves," he said. The previous UPA government had carried out various poverty eradication schemes like the Food Security Act, MNREGA and the pro-farmer land acquisition bill which had ensured "millions and millions came out of poverty," he said. "In 2014 Modi came to power and started dismantling everything we did. He destroyed the pillars of MNREGA and Food Security Act. "He started to hand over the MNREGA money to contractors rather than workers. He snatched away the Food Security Bill. And he systematically destroyed the land acquisition bill," Gandhi charged. He also lashed out at Modi on demonetisation, and the GST, repeating his "Gabbar Singh Tax" charge. Reiterating his allegation that Modi helped liquor baron Vijay Mallya, diamantaire Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi flee the country and his charge of a scam in the Rafael deal, Gandhi said "the chowkidar of the country stole from the country and gave it to Anil Ambani." He did this because he took all money from the banks and gave to the richest. We will take the money given to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and give it to the poor, Gandhi asserted. He alleged the country witnessed the highest unemployment rate in five years during the NDA regime and Modi failed to create the two crore jobs a year that he promised. The Congress chief said Dalits and minorities were being "threatened and attacked" all over the country. People are murdered, women are raped and there is an atmosphere of fear. This is the of Modi. You know what happened to Rohit Vemula. The SC, ST Act has been diluted, he charged. "The ultimate goal of Modi is destruction of our Constitution and we are never going to allow them," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur Sunday said the Congress was in shock after the BJP announced candidates for the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh. Speaking at a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha rallies at Kafota village in Shillai assembly constituency and in Paonta Sahib, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said Congress leaders who were earlier seeking tickets were now shying away from the election contest. He attacked the Congress for "bad mouthing" and "abusing" Prime Minister Narender Modi. "The countrymen were watching how the Congress levelled false charges against the PM on a daily basis," he said, as the crowds raised slogans praising Modi. He claimed the Congress high command was reviewing its previous recommendations and candidates for the polls. Taking a dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Thakur said if the Gandhi scion was planning to marry after becoming the prime minster, then he should revisit his plans as poll win was unlikely. The chief minister said Modi had given Pakistan a fitting reply for its misadventures in Indian territory. He credited the prime minister for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's speedy return to India after his jet crashed in Pakistan. He asked the party workers to ensure heavy poll turnout. He said the demands of the people would be addressed on a "top priority". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armenia and Azerbaijan have described the latest meeting of their leaders as "positive" and "constructive," saying they agreed to strengthen the cease-fire regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and continue their dialogue, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty wrote in an article "Armenia-Azerbaijan Summit Described As 'Positive,' 'Constructive'". "The meeting took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere and provided an opportunity for the two leaders to clarify their respective positions," the foreign ministers of the two countries said in a joint statement on March 29, hours after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Vienna. "They exchanged views about several key issues of the settlement process and ideas of substance," said the statement, which was also signed by the U.S., Russian, and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group. "The two leaders underlined the importance of building up an environment conducive to peace and taking further concrete and tangible steps in the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution to the conflict." The statement said Aliyev and Pashinian "recommitted to strengthening the cease-fire" in the disputed region. "They also agreed to develop a number of measures in the humanitarian field" and to "continue their direct dialogue." Pashinian also called the summit "positive." "I cannot say that there has been a breakthrough, revolution, or landmark event in the negotiating process," he later told members of the Armenian community of Austria. "But it is very important that a new process, which allows us to talk about our agendas, ideas and issues, has begun." "Obviously each of us strongly believes in his own position, but can we start talking not just about our own positions but also the other side's positions?" Pashinian added. "What is logical in the opposite side's position and what is not? I find the meeting positive in this sense." Pashinian did not say whether he and Aliyev narrowed their differences over a compromise solution to the Karabakh conflict that has long been advanced by the mediators. Aliyev was quoted by Russian state-run TASS news agency as saying the talks "were conducted in a constructive atmosphere." "The foreign ministers of the two countries have held several rounds of talks. The most important fact is that the current meeting gave another start to the negotiation process," the Azerbaijani leader said. The Vienna summit was Pashinians and Aliyevs fourth face-to-face encounter in six months. Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad Sunday exuded confidence of his party winning all 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana, saying there was tremendous public response to its 'Parivartan Yatra'. He claimed that people were "fed up" with the BJP governments at the Centre and in Haryana and were waiting to teach them a lesson in the polls. Speaking here on the concluding day of the party's six-day long 'Parivartan Yatra', which had started from Gurgaon and criss-crossed the state covering all 10 LS constituencies and 60-70 out of 90 assembly segments, Azad said the party stands united and every party worker and supporter is solidly behind it. The general secretary in-charge of Haryana also said he was sure that the Congress will stage a comeback in the state assembly as well, which are due later this year. He called on party workers to take the message of unity to every voter in the state. During the 'Parivartan Yatra', all the senior leaders from the state, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress leaders Ajay Singh Yadav, Kiran Choudhary, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, besides Azad, travelled together. Congress president Rahul Gandhi too had joined this Yatra from Jagadhri in Yamunanagar to Karnal when he visited the state Friday. On the last day, the yatra travelled through Faridabad and Palwal districts. Azad, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the 'Parivartan Yatra' had been successful in its mission of bringing the Congress leadership from the state together, a party release said. "All the leaders of the state sat together in a rath (high-tech bus), they stayed together, had food together and spoke in one voice and sought votes for each other. Our opponents have been spreading a false propaganda that our party is divided into factions. We got wonderful support from the people and this can be estimated from the fact that the yatra started at 9 pm and was supposed to finish at 7 pm, but went on way past midnight," he said. Talking about the political mood in the state, Azad said "every section of the society-- farmers, youth, women, government employees, is keen to avenge the massive misgovernance in the state through their vote". "The BJP has served only lies to the people of the state over the last five years. The BJP had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission report, provide two crore jobs a year, give 15 lakh to everyone after bringing back black money from abroad, but they forgot all about these issues after gaining power. All they have done in the last five years is rename all Congress schemes and take credit for our achievements," he said. "The people of Haryana have understood the BJP's political strategy of their lies, loot and dividing the society along caste and communal lines and will not fall prey to these tricks again. On the other hand, the Congress believes in taking all sections along and social harmony is on top of our political agenda," Azad said. Farm loans will be waived and poorest of poor will get Rs 72,000 per annum under the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme when the Congress forms the next government at the Centre, he said. Hooda said all party leaders have come together under the leadership of the Congress president and Azad, and added that the party will win all the 10 Lok seats in the state. He claimed that the success of the 'Parivartan Yartra' has "shaken up the BJP and the INLD and the way people of the state have welcomed the Yatra is an indicator of the fact that the Congress lives in the hearts of the people of the state". "When the Congress government was elected to office in 2005, people of Faridabad used to say that the then INLD-BJP government had turned Faridabad into Fakirabad (backward). We came to power and changed that as we restored glory to Faridabad," the former chief minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid continuing suspense over it's alliance with the AAP, Congress's Delhi unit has advanced the process of candidate selection for the Lok Sabha polls. The process has been speeded up with chances of alliance with AAP fading. The screening committee of Delhi Congress met at president Sheila Dikshit's residence to shortlist names of party probables on Saturday night. Dikshit told PTI, decision of the party high-command on alliance was yet to come. "The decision is not delayed, it will come in a few days," she said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has to take a final decision on alliance with the AAP, as the leaders in Delhi unit of the party are divided over the issue with Dikshit and her three working presidents opposing it. A top source in the party said chances of alliance are "slim" considering its long term repercussions in Delhi. "The biggest question is how will Congress face the AAP in Assembly elections due in 2020 after the tie up. Also, the party does not gain much politically as it is being offered only 2-3 seats by Kejriwal," the source said. Delhi Congress sources said the screening committee will meet again on Monday to fine-tune list of party probables for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. The party had received around 80 applications from Delhi unit leaders, seeking Lok Sabha tickets. The screening committee has brought down the number to an average of 2-3 names on each constituency, said a senior Delhi Congress leader. "The list will be further fine-tuned by adding and deleting some names in the Monday meeting," he claimed. Congress had drawn a blank in 2014 parliamentary elections in Delhi. The talk of alliance is fuelled by the fact that the Congress and AAP had jointly polled more votes than the BJP that had walked away with all the seven seats in the national capital. Delhi will vote on May 12. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The court martial proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the 2017 'human shield' controversy, have been completed and he may face reduction in seniority as a punishment for "fraternising" with a local woman in Srinagar last year, officials said. The court martial process against his driver, Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, was also completed recently in the Kashmir valley and he is likely to be given a "severe reprimand". Malla was recruited in the Territorial Army in 2017 and he was posted with 53 sector of Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. After completion of Summary of Evidence against Major Gogoi and his driver in early February followed by the initiation of court martial proceedings, the two men have been held guilty on two counts -- "fraternising" with a local in spite of instructions to the contrary and "being away from the place of duty while in operational area", the officials said. Statements of the accused as well as other witnesses were recorded by the Army court and the punishment, which will be vetted by the Army headquarters, has been given, they added. The Army Court of Inquiry (CoI) had recommended disciplinary action against Major Gogoi after it indicted him as well as his driver for the Srinagar hotel incident on May 23 last year. Major Gogoi was detained by police following an altercation with the hotel staff when he was allegedly trying to enter inside with an 18-year-old woman. The woman had expressed her unwillingness to depose during the court martial proceedings and informed the Army authorities that she had given a statement before a magistrate and the same should be treated as her final stand. The woman had also stated that she had gone out with Major Gogoi of her own will, besides disclosing that she had become a friend of the Army officer through his fake Facebook profile, where he had named himself Ubaid Arman. Immediately after the incident came to light last year, Army chief Bipin Rawat had said that exemplary punishment would be given to Major Gogoi if he was found guilty of "any offence". "If any officer of the Indian Army is found guilty of any offence, we will take strictest possible action," General Rawat had said. Major Gogoi hit the headlines after he tied a man to a jeep purportedly as a shield against stone pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election on April 9, 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force (STF) Sunday said it has nabbed the kingpin of a gang that procured data of 14 lakh customers illegally and allegedly duped people to the tune of Rs 200 crore through online fraud over a period of time. Nandan Rao Patel, arrested here on Saturday by the Noida field unit of the STF, used to procure the data of clients of major online shopping companies and sell them to fake call centres, police officials said. The first related case was registered in Varanasi in 2008, they said. Explaining the modus operandi, STF Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajkumar Mishra said that Patel was the "director" of a digital promotion and bulk SMS firm by the name of Anic World Company. "He would get the (consumer) data hacked through people he knew and buy it for Rs 2-3 per customer. He would sell this data to fake call centres, duping online buyers in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, etc for Rs 5-6 per customer," Mishra said. He said Patel and his gang would target customers of online shopping sites like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Paytm, Snapdeal, Shopclues, HomeShop18 etc, besides general and life insurance companies. The officer further said that scam callers would call innocent persons, giving an impression that they are from online shopping and insurance companies and wanted to transfer them money. "The gang used to lure people by offering them fake lucky draws and expensive gifts against the online shopping they would have recently made. They further ask them to deposit a certain amount as registration fees in order to claim their gift. "They tricked the target into believing in them and upon getting the card and account details of the target customer, the gang used to transfer money to payment merchants such as PayU, Paytm, Olacabs, Mobikwik, and a few bank accounts," said the DSP. The gang also used UPI payment modes like Paytm, PhonePe, Tez, BHIM for committing fraud and these accounts were made on fake profiles, the STF officer said. This gang has deep network in Delhi-NCR's Ghaziabad, Noida and more details about Patel's works are being gathered, he said. Assistant Superintendent of Police (STF, Lucknow) Vishal Vikram Singh said four members of the gang were arrested earlier in November 2018, while search is on Patel's aides, three to four of them. "Patel, the mastermind of the entire fraud gang, has been nabbed and others linked to him would be held soon," he told PTI. Mishra said the accused was arrested from his office in Sector 142 on Saturday afternoon. During the arrest, his two cell phones and laptop among other items were seized, he added. "Data of 14 lakh customers of major online shopping websites have been found so far," he said, adding that the data was being sent for forensic audit. "Efforts are on to find out from where the data was breached, how they were able to set up several fake accounts and the modus operandi about their frauds. According to the information received so far, the gang has committed frauds worth approximately Rs 200 crore," Mishra said. In 2017, a case was registered against the gang at Noida's Sector 20 police station while the accused admitted to having been booked earlier in Pathankot , Raipur, Bikaner, Chandigarh, among others, he said. A new case has been lodged against him at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Noida's sector 36 and the probe is underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Intensifying its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) Sunday launched a two-week 'cycle yatra' to publicise policies of the party and vision of Congress President Rahul Gandhi for the people. The 'Haath Ke Saath Cycle Yatra' will cover 27 assembly constituencies in the national capital in 13 days, the DPCC said in a press statement. Inaugurating the campaign, Congress's chief spokesperson and the chairman of AICC communications department Randeep Surjewala said it would send out a "very loud message across the country about the big change that is about to happen in the country". "He (Surjewala) said that the cycle yatra would also expose the failures and falsehood of the BJP government," the press release said. DPCC working president Devender Yadav said that the 'cycle yatra' would publicise the programmes and policies of Congress party as well the plans and visions of Rahul Gandhi for the people. "The Congress party has always sided with the poor people of the country and has worked for their uplift, and the NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme will be another feather in the cap of the Congress party," he said. Yadav also alleged the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has not done any constructive work and only betrayed the people. Meanwhile, a large number of Congress workers greeted DPCC President Sheila Dikshit on her birthday on Sunday and visited her East Nizamuddin residence to wish her. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Managing Director (MD) Sunday said the demonetisation in 2016 was a good move to boost economy in the long run, though the measure had brought hardship to the people at the initial stage. The MD also backed the Narendra Modi government's endeavour to promote digitisation in the system asserting that it is one of the best things to have happened in "The demonetisation was a good move by the Centre, though it had brought hardship to the people initially," he said in reply to a question at a press conference here. Puri said the demonetisation has brought more money into the financial system which will boost economy on long-term basis. In a sudden decision on November 8, 2016, Modi had banned the currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denominations. On the HDFC Bank's expansion plans in the Northeast, Puri said it proposed to open 100 more branches in the region in three years to take its branch network close to 230. As a part of this plan, it would also double the number of branches in to 18, the HDFC MD said. He said that the had started its journey in the Northeast in 2004, and has grown rapidly since then. As of December 31, 2018 the bank has 126 branches and 203 ATMs in the region. The expansion plan of the HDFC Bank network will get a further boost from the 650 Common Service Centres (CSCs) to be set up in the region by the Government of The CSCs run by village-level entrepreneurs will bridge the last-mile connectivity in making products and services available to unbanked areas. Dharamsala got connected to Jaipur via air as SpiceJet started a direct flight between the two tourist destinations on Sunday, the first link of the Himachal Pradesh city to a destination other than New Delhi. The 90-seater SpiceJet aircraft took off from the Jaipur airport at 6.05 am with full passenger capacity and landed at the Dharamshala airport at 7.35 am. The aircraft left from Dharamshala at around 11.40 am and landed at Jaipur at 1.05 pm. The fare has been fixed at Rs 3,645 per passenger for one-way trip. "It shall be a daily flight between the two tourist cities. A helicopter tourist service is also being started between Dharamshala-Chandigarh and Dharamshala-Shimla from here within the next six-seven days, which will be an added feat in air travel from here," Kishor Sharma, director of the Dharamshala airport, said. Sharma said that it was a healthy sign that the inaugural Dharamshala-Jaipur flight was having full passenger load. With this non-stop flight, the number of aircraft coming to the Dharamshala airport will increase to four. At the moment, three flights offer air services between Dharamshala and Delhi daily. The hotel industry in Dharamshala welcomed the move. "This daily air link between two most-loved tourist cities of India shall boost the hotelier's business in Dharamshala. If some airline company starts a direct or connecting flight to Mumbai from Dharamshala, it will be a boon for the national/international tourists," Sanjeev Gandhi, secretary of the Dharamshala hotel association, said. Dharamsala-Chandigarh air link is also the need of the hour, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tractors loaded with cane waiting to be crushed line the roads across swathes of western Uttar Pradesh, telling the bitter story of sugarcane farmers caught in a pincer trap of unpaid dues and low prices. With posters, buntings and rallies, the clamour of poll-time campaigning is all around in the area famed as the country's sugar bowl but the very word election strikes a sour note for many farmers. The sounds of NOTA (none of the above) appear to drown out any promises being made by parties with farmers saying they are tired of promises and don't know whom to trust. "We will go for NOTA, said a frustrated Om Singh, a sugarcane farmer in Kairana for 30 years but unable to feed his family. Thousands of cane farmers in the area, which produces over 50 per cent of the country's total sugarcane produce and will go to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 11, are awaiting payments of over Rs 9,000 crore from sugar mills pending for over a year. Each grower has dues of at least Rs 1.5 lakh. The constituencies of Kairana, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar collectively have 11 sugar mills. Tractors stacked with cane waiting to be crushed in the mills are a recurrent sight. Satyaveer, 55, sitting outside the Ramala sugar mill in Baghpat for over 18 hours to get part of his produce weighed, said the non-payment of dues signals the end of his livelihood. "My family has been producing sugarcane for over five decades. It has always been my livelihood and a way of living for me and my family. But it is being killed by fake promises of the BJP and others in authority, Satyaveer said. The mill manager tells us we will get our dues when government gives them theirs, said Satyaveer who has dues of over Rs 2 lakh. Farmers in nearby Khatauli are also belligerent about the low minimum support price (MSP) and blame the BJP government in the state as well as the Centre for making false promises. Rajpal Singh said he grows nearly 400 quintals (one quintal is 100 kg) of sugarcane in a year but is unable to provide for his family. "We sell sugarcane at Rs 325 per quintal. The government should increase the MSP to at least Rs 450 per quintal, Rajpal Singh said. "There are huge costs involved in growing sugarcane. A 150 ml medicine bottle which is used three times in one crop alone costs Rs 1,800. My pending dues are around Rs 1.5 lakh. We cannot sell our harvest to anyone else but the mills, he said. The farmers are crying injustice on the part of sugar mills, saying there is a fixed period of 14 days within which the farmers are supposed to be paid their dues. "Such deadlines need to be kept. There should be a strict implementation of law on those mills that violate this provision, said Rajpal Singh. Sugar mills have a different story to tell. Vinod Kumar, manager of the Ramala sugar mill in Baghpat, said there is surplus production and less demand. They can neither refuse the farmers their produce of sugarcane nor pay them because of their own financial crunch. "I cannot reveal much but we are unable to sell sugar from the mill. The price of sugar is not decided by this mill but the government. We get orders from Lucknow. The current rate of sugar per quintal is Rs 3,105, that is Rs 31.05 per kg, he said. Hoping to get their voices heard, farmers blocked the Muzaffarnagar highway in January this year, halting work on a flyover in Khatauli. But it was to little avail, they said. Farmers in the sugar belt said they are also facing a crisis on the loan front as banks don't fix price of their land correctly. "The market rate of per bigha land is Rs 3 lakh but banks lend money at the rate of Rs 15,000 per bigha, said Rajpal Singh. A bigha is a local measurement of land that varies from place to place. The cane growers are unhappy with the Narendra Modi government scheme to give Rs 6,000 each annually to 120 million farmers with less than five acres land each. "Rs 6,000 in a year is nothing. With our dues not being cleared such schemes are useless, said Rajpal Singh. The distressed farmers said the government should set up ethanol factories to help them earn more. "We produce surplus sugarcane which results in surplus sugar. The government should ensure the price of sugar does not come down in the market because of excess production. "If the government allows us to use the extra sugarcane to produce ethanol, the issues of MSP and the market price can be resolved, said Dharmendra, leader of the Bharat Kisan Union, based in Muzaffarnagar. The issue of attacks by stray cattle is also leading to huge losses, farmers said. "Stray cows and bulls enter the fields and damage crops but farmers cannot do anything about it because they can get arrested if they touch the cattle, said Adil, a resident of Khatauli village, taking a dig at the government's gau raksha policy. "Cows are a menace in sugarcane farms. We work hard to sow and water the crops but these stray cows, which cannot be touched under BJP rule, damage it all, added Sharda, a farmer's wife, labelling all leaders liars. Sugarcane farmers will play a key role in the upcoming elections in the three constituencies of Kairana, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar. The eight constituencies in the region also include Meerut, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. In 2014, all eight seats went to the BJP. There was a bypoll held in Kairana subsequently that went to the RLD. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unai Emery has challenged Denis Suarez to finally make an impact as Arsenal bid to climb back into the Premier League's top four against Newcastle on Monday. Suarez has struggled since his January loan move from Barcelona and the Spanish midfielder is yet to make a competitive start for the Gunners. But a series of impressive displays at Arsenal's recent training camp in Dubai could have earned the 25-year-old a chance to shine when Newcastle visit the Emirates Stadium. Suarez played the full 90 minutes and created a goal for Carl Jenkinson in Arsenal 3-2 friendly victory over Al Nasr. With Granit Xhaka facing a late fitness test and Lucas Torreira suspended, Arsenal boss Emery is encouraged by Suarez's timely improvement. "He is okay for starting in the first XI, to give us this impact," Emery said. "We are going to need everybody, every player for the next matches. "We decided to go away to train for four days and play a match in Dubai. But it's the same idea, the same spirit." Emery was keen to work with Suarez again after signing on loan at Sevilla in 2014-15. Asked about the time it had taken Suarez to settle in north London, Emery added: "It's normal. Now we have a lot of players ready, with a big mentality and with a big performance to play and help us." Beating Newcastle would give Arsenal a 10th successive home league win, equalling a run they last enjoyed in the 1997-98 season in Arsene Wenger's first full campaign as manager. A victory is essential after Arsenal dropped to fifth place on Saturday as a result of Manchester United's 2-1 win over Watford. Emery's men are one point behind United and can't afford to drop points as they battle to qualify for next season's Champions League via a top four finish or winning the Europa League. With so much at stake, Emery is nervously monitoring Arsenal's fitness updates. "We trained on Friday morning and some players were rested to give them one day more before training with us on Saturday," Emery said. "That's Aaron Ramsey, Dinos Mavropanos. But they can be okay and ready for Monday. "Xhaka also rested and we are going to wait for Saturday and Sunday. But the first previews from the doctor's analysis is that they can be okay to play on Monday." Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez has warned his players not to ease up as the inch closer to guaranteeing their safety. The Magpies are seven points above the bottom three and their 35-point total is just three short of the number Benitez believes will be enough to stay up. Newcastle have lost only one of their last six league games, but Benitez is taking nothing for granted. "If you see what Arsenal are doing, they are doing really well, so we cannot expect that it will be an easy game," he said. "If we can do what we have to do and can get three points, then it depends on the others. But some of the other teams have got some points, so it's not that you can say, 'Now 37 is guaranteed', it depends what they do. "We have now 35 and we are fine, but still we have to win. For me, one game could be enough, but you never know, it depends on the other teams. "The next game is the most important for us, it's like a final for us and don't think about what the others will do. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With open fissures in the ruling alliance in Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday asked leaders and workers of his party and JDS to strive unitedly for the coalition victory in Lok Sabha polls, as defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi was its target. Gandhi's unity appeal comes amid worries in the Congress-JDS alliance that dissidence within might hamper the electoral prospects despite the arrangement between them to face the electorate together in 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. "The Congress and JDS are fighting the election together inKarnataka. At the beginning itself I want to say that all workers and leaders of Congress should help JD(S) candidates completely and JDS workers and leaders will have to support Congress candidates," Gandhi said. "Both parties' aim is to defeat Narendra Modi and BJP," the Congress president said at a rally on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where he launched the Congress-JDS campaign, with JDS patriarch H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and state senior Congress leaders, including deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah in attendance. Gandhi thanked Congress and JDS workers for having come together to defeat Narendra Modi and the BJP. "In Karnataka we have formed the coalition government and in Delhi also we will defeat Narendra Modi," he said. Congress and JDS had bitterly fought the May assembly polls last year, but had cobbled up an alliance post-elections to form the coalition government following a hung verdict with BJP emerging as the single largest party, but falling short of numbers to rule the state. "I once again urge that Congress leaders and workers will help JDS and JDS people will make Congress candidates win," Gandhi stressed, seeking to send a message of unity. The alliance is facing trouble in several constituencies, including key ones such as Tumkur, Mandya and Hassan, with party workers unhappy over the seat sharing arrangements. Deve Gowda is contesting from Tumkur and his grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna from Mandya and Hassan, respectively. Nikhil is the son of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP, mutual transfer of votes is crucial, but it is posing a serious challenge with the electoral understanding yet to sink in at the grassroot level where the two parties have been arch rivals for decades, seeking share in the same electoral space. According to the seat sharing arrangement, Congress and JD(S) are contesting in 21 and 7 Lok Sabha seats respectively. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had won 17 seats, while Congress and JD(S) had won nine and two seats respectively. Gandhi also raked up the issue of the "Yeddyurappa diary" over alleged payment of Rs 1,800 crore as bribe to the BJP top brass by the former chief minister. "Rs 1800 crore...Yeddyurappa has distributed in his diary, where did it come from? Whose money is it?..... From where did it come? It came from the pockets of the Karnataka people," Gandhi said. Yeddyurappa has rubbished the allegations as "atrocious and malicious", while the Income Tax department has dismissed it as a "forgery document" and a "set of loose papers". Gandhi alleged that in the last five years, Modi had done nothing for the farmers, labourers, small traders and youth. "He did everything for his 15 big industrialist friends." "Chowkidar gives world's biggest defence contract to Anil Ambani. Rs 30,000 crore he put into his pocket," he said referring to the Rafale fighter jet deal. "Broke all laws, openly indulged in corruption and removed the CBI Director at 1.30 in the night," he alleged. He also claimed that in the last five years, the Modi government had waived Rs 3.5 lakh crore loan of 15-20 people. "But when farmers ask for loan waiver, Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi say it's not their policy. "There is no shortage of money, but money cannot be given to the poor, it cannot be given to farmers, to labourers, to young entrepreneurs. To Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi it can be given," he said. In his speech, Gowda described the Modi government as the 'most communal' and said it was promoting the RSS agenda of 'Hindu Rashtra.' Kumaraswamy said the coalition is sending a message to the entire country from the soil of Karnataka ahead of the general elections and a situation was emerging where Congress would take the country forward with the help of regional parties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On April 14, second international cinematographic "East - West. Golden Arch" award ceremony will be held at the Et Cetera Theater in Moscow. Organizers are interested in the territory, which historically and geographically has been and remains at the center between Europe and Asia, where multinational cinema industry of the USSR was formed. The "East - West. Golden Arch" award is intended to draw attention to the artistic processes that take place in the shadows compared to more commercial, mostly English-language cinema. This project involves Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Greece, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Finland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia. As chairman of the board of East-West. Golden Arch award, chairman of the Confederation of Unions of Cinematographers of the CIS and Baltic countries, director Rustam Ibrahimbekov said, such projects require a lot of time: We've made very important step, the first among many. Soon we will get support of both Russian and European film communities. So far, it seems that significance of this award is not understood that well. The most important thing is to pay attention to is great cinema created at the junction of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, which are cradles of human civilization. This will be possible only with sufficient influence and attention. I think this time we won't achieve much success in this sense. But my experience has shown that at least three attempts are needed to achieve something. If we manage to do it for the third time, then we will achieve our goal." According to Ibrahimbekov, presented films are very serious, and jury consists of 25 film critics and experts from 12 countries of the world. "People who selected films for the competition offer jury a wide range of motion pictures made in different countries, but Russian films often take leading places in the shortlist, despite existing stereotype that Russian cinema is not interesting enough, not good enough. This award is absolutely objective. People living very far from Russia, along with several notable films made in other countries, nominate films made in Russia. It important to highlight that because expert assessments can really help to understand the state of Russian cinema industry." A farmer suffered serious injuries after he was mauled by a bear in Kandamanur forest area in the district, police said Sunday. Ganesan of Siraparai village was on his way to a neighbouring farm when the bear suddenly came from behind a bush and attacked him. On hearing his cries, locals rushed to the spot and chased the bear away. Later, Ganesan was admitted to the government medical college hospital here. Police said bear attacks were very rare in the area and believed that the animal would have come in search of water. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A large number of farmers contesting the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in Telangana over demands to ensure remunerative price for their produce will launch their election campaign Monday even as they decided to choose one candidate from among them and seek support. A decision to launch the poll campaign was taken by the farmers at a meeting organised in Armoor town of the district Saturday. As part of the campaign, two farmers' teams will undertake a bus yatra and padayatra in different parts of the district and explain to the people the reasons for filing nominations for the coming Parliament polls and seek their support. "At the meeting it was also decided that one candidate's name will be chosen after the campaigning to whom support will be sought from the people. The candidate's name will be declared shortly," one of the contesting candidates, who attended the meeting, told PTI over phone. Over 170 farmers are in the fray for Nizamabad constituency from where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election. They chose to contest the elections to protest the TRS government's alleged failure to ensure remunerative prices for turmeric and red jowar (sorghum) produce and establishing the turmeric board. With 185 candidates, including the farmers, in the fray for the April 11 elections in the state, the Election Commission will use ballot papers instead of EVMs in the constituency. Symbols have been allocated to all the contesting candidates and efforts are on to print ballot papers and arrange special ballot boxes. The independent candidates, (farmers) have been allocated symbols of different fruits and vegetables, besides electronic gadgets, among others. Farmers have been seeking Minimum Support Price of Rs 15,000 per quintal for turmeric and Rs 3,500 MSP per quintal of red jowar, besides setting up of turmeric board. Telangana, with 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel Saturday night, causing Israeli tanks to target Hamas military posts in response, the army said. There were no casualties, the army said in a statement. The rocket fire and Israeli retaliation came just hours after the end of a mass demonstration on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Bihar minister Vrishan Patel, who recently quit the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in February, Sunday joined the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) another constituent of the opposition "Mahagathbandhan". Patel, who used to head the HAM state unit, was inducted into the RLSP by the party's national president and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha. The development will have no adverse effect on the party's ties with the HAM, headed by ex-chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. "Patel had quit the HAM more than a month back. Had he been still with that party, it could have created problems. But since he has already spent some time outside it, there should be no issues," Kushwaha told reporters. Replying to queries from journalists, Patel said, "I had quit the HAM but had made it clear then that I was upset over certain matters which were not in the interests of Mahagathbandhan. My commitment to the anti-NDA formation was always intact and there is nothing odd in my joining another constituent of the Grand Alliance." Patel had resigned from HAM in February on a day when its national spokesperson Danish Rizwan also quit the party with both leaders trading charges. Manjhi accepted their resignations but re-inducted Rizwan about a fortnight ago. Patel's induction into the RLSP could be seen as an attempt by Kushwaha to make a dent into the "Lav-Kush" combination of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who heads the JD(U) which is a part of the NDA. In the state's political lexicon, "Lav-Kush" is used to describe Kurmi and Koeri castes. Kumar is a Kurmi and so is Patel, whose father Veerchand Patel was among the tallest OBC leaders of Bihar in his times. Kushwaha is a Koeri. Yadavs largely with Lalu Prasad's RJD which is the largest constituent of the "Mahagathbandhan" along with Kurmis and Koeris form the "Triveni", a term used to refer the three dominant OBC groups in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vocal government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova was set to become Slovakia's first female president after near complete results showed her winning Sunday's run-off election. Environmental lawyer Caputova got 58.01 percent of the ballot after results from 91.26 percent of polling stations were counted, while EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic garnered 41.98, the Slovak Statistics Office said. "No need to worry, all will be fine," Caputova had said on Facebook after the first results began rolling in. Sefcovic, the 52-year-old ruling party candidate, told reporters he called Caputova, 45, to congratulate her on the win and planned to also send flowers. "The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he said. Political novice Caputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier said the campaign showed "that values such as humanism, solidarity and truth are important to our society." She had also called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey". No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. More recently, she took to the streets of the central European country of 5.4 million along with tens of thousands of other anti-government protesters after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was gunned down alongside his fiancee in February 2018. He had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia. The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the governing populist-left Smer-SD party and is a close ally of the current premier. Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat Congress unit has requested senior party leader Ahmed Patel to contest the next month's Lok Sabha poll from the state's Bharuch seat. Patel, currently a Rajya Sabha member, won from Bharuch thrice, in 1977, 1980 and 1984, but lost to BJP's Chandubhai Deshmukh in 1991, after which he did not contest from the seat. The BJP has never lost the seat since then. "People want Patel to contest from Bharuch, because they believe this will help the Congress win the seat, and its positive impact will be felt on other seats in Gujarat as well," state party's election in-charge Rajiv Satav said. "It will be clear in the next two-three days whether he will contest from Bharuch, but we (local unit party workers) have requested him for the same," he said. Congress state president Amit Chavda said Patel has been like a guide for party workers in the state. "Whether it is Bharuch, Gujarat, or the country, Ahmed bhai has been a popular leader among people cutting across caste, creed and religious lines. It is but natural that the party workers want him to contest from Bharuch," he said. He said the wish of local Congress workers and leaders has been conveyed to Satav, who has put it across to the party high command. The Congress has so far announced its candidates for 13 out of the total 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. The decision on candidates for other seats, including Bharuch, is likely to be taken soon, Chavda said. Polling will be held in a single phase in Gujarat on April 23. The last date of filing of nominations is April 4. The BJP won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gutkha worth Rs 51.83 lakh was seized from two different places in Palghar district of Maharashtra and three people were arrested in this connection, police said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a tempo at Acchad checkpost on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway late Friday night while it was coming from Gujarat and found gutkha worth around Rs 41.83 lakh being carried in the vehicle, a police spokesperson said. The tempo driver and its cleaner were arrested following the seizure and the vehicle was impounded, he said. Besides, the police also raided a godown in Vasai area the same day and seized gutkha worth Rs 10 lakh from there, the spokesperson said. The godown owner was subsequently arrested, he said. All the three accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Food Safety and Standards Act, he added. The sale and consumption of gutkha and pan masala was banned in Maharashtra in 2012. The state government last year announced that sale of gutkha would be made a non-bailable offence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HDFC Bank Sunday said that it will open 100 more branches in the northeast region in next three years. The bank will open 100 more branches in the Northeast, taking its branch network close to 230 in the next three years and as a part of the expansion plan. It would also double the number of its branches in Sikkim to 18, HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri said. HDFC Bank started operations in the Northeast in 2004. As of December 31, 2018 the bank network in the region comprised 126 branches and 203 ATMs. The bank network will also work with the 650 Common Service Centres (CSCs) to be set up in the region by the government for financial services in rural area. "We believe in making an impact to lakhs of people here not just by offering our full-suite of products and services, but also by creating a positive change in the communities in which we operate," Puri said. He said that company's corporate social responsibility has impacted the lives of close to 10 lakh of people in the Northeast. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A war of words erupted between the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and the opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) over the "inordinate delay" in reserving Assembly seats for Limboo and Tamang communities, which form over 30 per cent of Sikkim's population. SDF supremo and Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had asserted in 2014 that he would resign if the two communities were not allotted reserved seats before the 2019 Assembly polls, a commitment that has now come to haunt him, with the SKM posting a clipping of his statement, published in a newspaper, on the social media. The Limboo and Tamang communities, granted tribal status in 2002 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, have long been seeking reservation in the 32-member House, in line with the Lepchas and the Bhutias. Although there is no provision for seat reservation in the Sikkim Assembly for the scheduled tribes, the Lepchas and Bhutias have been granted 12 seats under Article 371(F) of the Constitution, which protects the rights of the local people. A petition was moved in the Supreme Court by the tribal groups, seeking adequate representation in the Assembly. The apex court on January 4, 2016 directed the Home Ministry to take necessary action. Chamling, in his attempt to skirt the issue, alleged that the opposition parties have "misled the NDA government" on the issue. "We will continue to work hard to ensure that the Limboo and Tamang communities get their dues. No matter which government comes to power at the Centre, we will persuade it to enact a legislation to grant the constitutional right of the two tribal communities," Chamling, who is seeking a record sixth consecutive term for his party, said recently. P D Rai, a Lok Sabha MP of the SDF, blamed the Centre for the "inordinate delay". "It is the Centre who is to be blamed for the inordinate delay in granting the communities their rights. This time, too, we have included the issue in our party's manifesto," he said on Saturday, adding that the SDF, if elected to power, will "vigorously pursue" the matter with the central government. The SKM, however, pinned blame on the SDF, a member of the BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance, claiming that the ruling party failed to live up to its promises. "The SDF had made a firm commitment to give the tribal communities their dues, but could not deliver They (SDF) should take the blame for the delay in granting Limboos and Tamangs their rights," Jacob Khaling Rai, the spokesperson of opposition SKM, said. PTI KDK Election to the 32-member Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat will be held in Sikkim on April 11. Asserting that India gained prominence in the world under Narendra Modi's rule, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal Sunday said the country needed a "strong" prime minister with a mission of taking it forward and asked voters to make the right choice in "deciding the nation's fate". Addressing his first election rally at Balachaur under Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, he termed Congress' Amarinder Singh the "most inefficient" chief minister of Punjab and accused him of stalling all development projects and social welfare schemes in the state. "You know the background of all parties and leaders and who can take our country and the state forward. Today, there is a need for a strong prime minister who has the mission to take country forward and has the courage and will to work for the welfare of the people," Badal said. He said that Narendra Modi during his 15-year rule as Gujarat chief minister took the state to new heights of development and now with him being the prime minister India gained prominence on the global stage. "We have a courageous prime minister of whom the enemies are scared. Following Pulwama terror attack, our forces launched (anti-terror) air strikes in Pakistan. Our pilot (who was captured by Pakistan) was sent back within 48 hours... this is the difference," Badal, the chief of BJP-ally SAD, said. Referring to the 2017 Punjab assembly elections in which the Congress came to power ending the 10-year-rule of the SAD-BJP alliance, he told the gathering, "This election (Lok Sabha polls) is important so we should not repeat the mistake we did in the state polls." "These is an important election as you are going to decide the fate of country. If you make the right decision, then the country will touch new heights of progress and development. But a wrong decision will lead to repentance for five years," Badal said. Training his guns on the Punjab chief minister, the SAD president accused Amarinder Singh of being inaccessible to the people and alleged that the Congress leader came to power by lying to the people during the assembly polls. "He is not even worth being called a chief minister as he does not meet people and hear their problems. Nobody can meet the chief minister. Even his ministers cannot meet him," Badal alleged. "Two years ago, a wrong decision was made and captain (Amarinder Singh) was made the chief minister. Today, people of Punjab are regretting it as the state has been pushed backward instead of moving forward," he said. Badal told the gathering, "You make SAD-BJP victorious on all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and I guarantee you that Amarinder Singh will not continue to remain the chief minister." Anandpur Sahib is presently represented in the Lok Sabha by SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Local elections will be held in Turkey today - their the first ones since the country's transition to presidential form of government. Candidates from 12 political parties, including those led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), as well as independent candidates will participate in the voting. Experts predict that most of municipalities will remain under the ruling party's control. As Daily Sabah writes, before the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002, Turkey was in turmoil. The country was recovering from the post-modern coup of Feb. 28, the failure of the coalition government that had come to power after the fall of the Refah-Yol government and an economy that was in a full-fledged crisis during the ensuing interregnum. The crisis had been felt in many areas, from politics to the economy. In contrast to all other political parties that had been on the political stage for the last two decades, the AK Party, which emerged following the closure of the Virtue Party (FP), was the only political party that was reassuring the Turkish electorate with its reformist stance. Since coming to power in 2002, the AK Party has been governing the country for 17 years. In Turkey, all military interventions were succeeded by the founding of successful civilian governments that, in turn, concluded with waves of liberalization and democratization. These civilian governments also managed the population flux from rural to urban areas. Such processes of rapid urbanization, which were managed by leftist political parties in the 1970s, have been led by conservative political parties after the military intervention of 1980. As a catch-all political party, the AK Party has risen on the invaluable political experience of the Welfare Party (RP) and the FP, and by inheriting its qualified cadres and its extensive organizational capacity. Resembling the liberal political parties in the United States and the United Kingdom, the AK Party also demonstrated its communicative skills in conveying its political messages to the Turkish electorate. When the AK Party came to power, Turkey was wrestling with long-standing problems at all social levels, from transportation and employment to education and health. Therefore, the AK Party prioritized the immense need for infrastructural investments in its political agenda. The AK Party has been as strong and successful in local governance as it has been in national governance. Rapidly realizing unprecedented investments, the AK Party succeeded in mending the main infrastructural deficiencies throughout the country. Although Turkey's transition to a liberal economy began during the presidency of Turgut Ozal, the liberal economy was consolidated during the AK Party period. Thanks to Turkey's growing economy, Turkish people have enjoyed higher living standards. In other words, the AK Party's political power facilitated the consolidation of economic liberalization and the rise of individualization. Therefore, the Turkish electorate's demands for the resolution infrastructural deficiencies that were rising due to rapid urbanization have largely been satisfied. In the end, a much more complex and fastidious type of electorate has emerged. Since then, Turkish voters have been much more individualistic. During the AK Party governments, immense infrastructural investments were realized, especially in the areas of transportation, social security, education, and health. From the foundation of high-tech hospitals and schools to the extension of social security rights and the construction of dams, the AK Party succeeded in resolving Turkey's main infrastructural problems. The AK Party has never lost its electoral support due to the criticism of opposition political parties. Thanks to its organizational capacity and the aforementioned infrastructural investments, the AK Party has succeeded in acquiring the support of at least 40 percent of the Turkish electorate. Whenever economic parameters rose and improved, electoral support for the AK Party's political power even reached 50 percent. For the upcoming local elections, the AK Party's supporters appear to be a little more cautious and fastidious. They constitute a much more individualized electorate who prioritize everyday issues. After managing the country for almost two decades, the AK Party has substantially changed the sociology of Turkey. I believe the upcoming local elections will demonstrate that the AK Party successfully reinterprets the changing sociology of the Turkish electorate. Asserting that the insolvency law's objectives are reorganisation and resolution of a defaulting company, IBBI Chairperson M S Sahoo said that if creditors recover their dues one after another or simultaneously, the company would bleed to death. Significant amounts of recoveries have been made from defaulting firms since the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) which provides a robust framework for market-driven and time-bound resolution process. Sahoo, who is at the helm of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), noted that the code does not rule out recovery, but it must be incidental to reorganisation. "Recovery should happen ideally from future earnings of the reorganised firm," he told PTI in an interview. As per various estimates, more than Rs 5 lakh crore has been the direct and indirect realisation on account of the IBC. Out of the total estimated amount, around Rs 2 lakh crore has been recovered before the cases were admitted for resolution under the code, while recovery through resolution plans is pegged at over Rs 1 lakh crore. Sahoo emphasised that the code is for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of a defaulting firm. "The objective is reorganisation and not recovery. If the creditors, one after another or simultaneously, recover their dues, the firm will bleed to death. "The question is, does recovery facilitate reorganisation? If not, it is not contemplated in the IBC," he said. Around 12,000 cases have been filed since the implementation of the code and setting up of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Under the code, cases can be taken up for resolution only after approval from the tribunal. Sahoo said that the committee of creditors (CoC) of a company undergoing insolvency proceedings should be guided by feasibility and viability of the plan and not how much the creditors are realising under the resolution plan or how the realisation is shared among different categories of creditors. The code specifically tells what shall be considered while approving a resolution plan, he said, adding that to him, the key job of the CoC is to distinguish between a viable and an unviable firm. "If it is a viable (company), it must be rescued, and it is the duty of the CoC to rescue it. If it is not viable, the CoC should allow its closure. If you rescue an unviable firm or close a viable firm, it is dangerous for the economy. The law expects the CoC, as an institution of public trust, to rescue a viable firm and allow closure of unviable one," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Mozambique battles to control a fast-spreading cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit central city of Beira, international assistance is arriving. The number of cholera cases jumped to 271 over the weekend although no deaths from the disease had been reported. More than 500 people have died in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai , which slammed into Beira more than two weeks ago, according to government officials. Another 259 people died in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, bring the three-nation total to more than 815. Authorities warn the tolls are preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. The Chinese government has sent doctors to fight the cholera outbreak in Beira and on Sunday Chinese aid workers sprayed anti-cholera disinfectant in parts of the port city of 500,000. The World Health Organisation has said some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses are expected to arrive on Monday, with a vaccination campaign to start later this week. "You know we came from China and our government cares very much about the situation in Beira here in Mozambique. And China has a good relationship with Africa, so the China government sent medical doctors to come and give some treatment," said Wang Shenguin, spokesman for the Chinese doctors. The US army joined the international humanitarian aid efforts to Mozambique by airlifting food and relief supplies from South Africa. The first round-the-clock flights to deliver supplies from the UN World Food Program started Saturday and continued Sunday from King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, said Robert Mearkle, US embassy spokesman. He said the commodities airlifted from Durban were from the World Food Program's internal stock. "Separately from these shipments, the United States has provided nearly USD 3.4 million in additional funding for the World Food Program to deliver approximately 2,500 metric tons of rice, peas, and vegetable oil to affected people in Sofala, Zambezia, and Manica provinces," said Mearkle. "This lifesaving emergency food assistance will support approximately 160,000 people for one month." The US government has provided nearly USD 7.3m in humanitarian assistance to help people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi who have been affected by Cyclone Idai, including more than USD 6.5 million from the US Agency for International Development, said Mearkle. The cholera outbreak in Beira started on Wednesday with five cases of the acute diarrheal disease confirmed by national health director Ussein Isse. The number of cases jumped to 271 over the weekend. Beira's crowded, poor neighbourhoods are at particular risk. Children and other patients curled up on bare beds at a treatment center in Beira, some with anxious parents by their side. They had intravenous drips to help replace fluids. Doctors Without Borders has said it is seeing some 200 likely cholera cases per day in the city, where relief workers are hurrying to restore the damaged water system and bring in additional medical assistance. Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water and can kill within hours if not treated. The disease is a major concern for the hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in the southern African nation now living in squalid conditions in camps, schools or damaged homes. Some drink from contaminated wells or filthy, stagnant water. As health responders stress the need for better disease surveillance, the United Nations' deputy humanitarian coordinator in Mozambique, Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, has said all cases of diarrhea are being treated as though they are cholera. Cholera is endemic to the region, and "it breaks out fast and it travels extremely fast," he told reporters. Doctors Without Borders has said other suspected cholera cases have been reported outside Beira in the badly hit areas of Buzi, Tica and Nhamathanda but the chance of spread in rural areas is smaller because people are more dispersed. Mozambican officials have said Cyclone Idai destroyed more than 50 health centers in the region, complicating response efforts. The United Nations has said some 1.8 million people need urgent help across the sodden, largely rural region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an apparent dig at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Union Minister Smriti Irani Sunday said that from the time Narendra Modi became the "chowkidaar" of the country, those touring foreign countries have started remembering the mother Ganga. Also hitting out at Priyanka Gandhi for not visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine during her recent visit to Ayodhya, she said there is fear among the Congress leadership that if they do "pranam" to god in the temple, their votes will go away from them. "Those people who gave affidavit in court....Congress government in an affidavit told the court that there is no existence of Lord Ram; today they are roaming around the streets as Ram Bhakts," Irani said. Addressing a BJP rally during her Lok Sabha polls campaign here, she said "Those who tour foreign countries, from the time Modi became the chowkidaar of the country have started remembering mother Ganga." "Recently the Congress leadership, as per their election strategy, had announced to go to Ayodhya. They go to Ayodhya, but they don't do pranam in the temple, they say if they do pranam to god their vote bank will go away from them," she added. Priyanka Gandhi had prayed at the popular Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, but kept away from the Ram Lalla shrine. Her visit to Ayodhya, where the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri Masjid site is located, came on the last day of her three-day trip to Uttar Pradesh. The Hanuman shrine 'darshan' was the latest in a series of temple visits by Priyanka Gandhi, who is in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh for her party. Pointing out that farmers of Kolar who produce tomato in large numbers had stopped sending their produce to Pakistan, Irani took a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, without naming him, who, she said, sought evidence for the Indian armed forces attack on terror hideouts in Pakistan. "I want to bow down to Kolar's farmers. I was told with pride by Muniswamy (BJP candidate) that tomatoes have stopped going to Pakistan. When farmers have stopped sending tomatoes for the pride of mother India, a Congress leader asks for evidence from the Indian army about the attack on Pakistan," she said. "When Kolar's farmers have given a befitting reply to Pakistan through tomatoes, there is a son of Congress who wastes his entire day asking for evidence," she added. Hitting out at the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka, Irani said "I have seen them coming together, not for the people, but when Income Tax raids happen on the contractor's residence." She asked why the Chief Minister was unhappy when raids are conducted on the corrupt and contractors, who are hiding black money. Kumaraswamy, along with Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, CLP leader Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday had staged a protest in front of the I-Tdepartment in Bengaluru, in the first such protest by the state chief minister in recent memory,against thedepartment's searches at multiple locations in the state, allegedly against JD(S) workers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A major crisis at the struggling carrier Jet Airways was averted Sunday after its pilots' body, National Aviator's Guild (NAG), deferred till April 15 its call for halting operations. The decision was taken at an open house meeting of NAG members which took place in both Mumbai and Delhi on Sunday afternoon, NAG president Karan Chopra told reporters after the meeting which lasted for about four hours. The NAG, which claims to represent around 1,100 of the 1,600 Jet Airways pilots, had announced earlier that its members will not fly from April 1, unless their salary dues were cleared and clarity was provided on future payments by March 31. "The management has shown us a positive intent by transferring our(December) salary and we thought we should give them at least a couple of weeks to settle down and form the interim board and solve our issues which they have already spoken about earlier. "Therefore, the collective call taken by the pilots in both Mumbai and Delhi of no flying, which was supposed to start from April 1, has now been deferred to April 15 in a hope that something positive pans out in two weeks," Chopra said. On March 21 the NAG had requested the government to intervene for the survival of Jet Airways, after which State Bank of India (SBI) stated that the lenders will infuse interim funding of Rs 1,500 crore to sustain its operations for the next two months. Last Monday, Jet Airways' board approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. Under the plan, lenders decided to take control of the airline and make a fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore. It has been only six days since the lenders, who are now the new owners, announced additional funding to Jet Airways, and that is why they should be given more time to resolve the issues, Chopra said. He, however, urged SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar to hold a meeting with pilots' representatives for a clear assessment of the affairs at the airline. SBI had said the salaries will be paid out of the interim funding, Chopra noted, adding that last night pilots were intimated about disbursal of remaining 87.50 per cent of the December salary. Jet Airways has been defaulting on salary payments to pilots, engineers and senior management since August 2018. Its engineers have also reportedly threatened to stop work from April 1 if their dues were not cleared by March 31. The loss-making airline, now under the ownership of SBI-led consortium of lenders following a debt-recast plan, said Saturday that it could remit only the remaining amount of December salary to pilots and others, as of now. "Currently, along with engineers and senior staff we are three salaries behind. In totality, it is up to 300 per cent which is slightly more than the 287.50 per cent dues last time. "The total payout of salary for pilots, engineers and general managers and above-level executives would be in the range of Rs 320-350 crore for the period between January and March this year," Chopra said. The clearing of remaining dues will be in conjunction with interim funding, as per Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube, Chopra informed. The NAG chief added that now the pilots are hoping that interim funding comes in and remaining dues get cleared. The NAG hopes that the interim funding continues, but it is not sure about the amount that will come in and how much will be the subsequent pay-out, Chopra stated. "We urge for a meeting with SBI as early as possible. Ever since our last request, we haven't heard back from him (SBI chairman)," Chopra said. NAG General Secretary Tej Sood, in a letter to Kumar on March 25, had sought a meeting so that the pilots could get "an idea of the recovery roadmap". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former IAS officer and founder of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples' Movement (JKPM) Shah Faesal Sunday said his outfit would be the biggest platform for the youth, but will keep its doors open for politicians having "unblemished record". Faesal, along with other senior party leaders including former PDP minister Javaid Mustafa Mir, reached winter capital Jammu on a three-day visit Saturday to garner support and inform the people about the vision of the party which was launched in Srinagar on March 21. "We have talked to the people of Kashmir and have come here with a message of brotherhood, collectivity and to meet future and present leadership. It is a new political experiment where we talk about giving justice to the people of all the regions without any consideration for the region, colour, creed and caste," Faesal told reporters after addressing a gathering here. A man among the audience tried to intercept Mir's speech earlier and raised the issue of his welcome into the party fold. "Why he (Mir) was taken into the party fold when you are speaking of new thinking and the party being an alternative to the traditional political parties," the man, hailing from Doda, was heard saying, leading to a brief exchange of words between him and Mir. Responding to a question related to the issue raised by the man, Faesal said, "It is good that young people are linking with us, but we need experienced persons as well." " is not a child's play which you run like a school. It needs experienced persons like Mir who had an unblemished record during his 20 years of political career. Nobody ever raised question about his integrity and we are proud that he decided to join hands with us," he said. Mir, who represented the Chadoora assembly constituency in central Kashmir's Budgam district for three successive terms from 2002, had resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)in January this year. The former IAS officer said every other party would have liked Mir to join them, but he had put everything at stake by joining us. "The JKPM will be a big platform for the youth but we need experienced hands because this is a challenging state. We will welcome the people who have unblemished record," he said. Earlier, he briefed the audience about the party's manifesto and questioned the "failure" of successive governments to develop industrial sector and bring investment, lack of state of art health institutions at district level, good roads in hilly areas. "Jammu is a peaceful region and one fails to understand why it was not developed as an industrial hub of the state. Our youth are forced to go outside to look for jobs and we are able to bring in investment, there is no need for the youth to go outside," he said. He also raised the issue of political reservation to the minority communities like Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs and Christians and said "we would also like to set up planning board to ensure development of underdeveloped areas on a fast track basis with no interference from the political establishment and reorganising of recruitment agencies to ensure transparency." Faesal also talked about the Kashmir issue and said "we have to understand the people, talk to them and work to bridge the gap and maintain unity as we all are brothers". He termed corruption as a "serious issue" and said transparency and good governance can address the problem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Employment would be the biggest issue with the 5.14 crore voters in the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed. The survey shows that for 61.91 per cent voters in MP, including rural areas, better employment opportunities matter more than issues related to agriculture, corruption or terrorism. "A total of 61.91 per cent voters in rural and urban MP consider better employment opportunities as the biggest election issue," ADR state coordinator Rolly Shivhare said, adding that the corresponding figure nationwide was 46.80 per cent. Giving a break-up, she said better employment avenues was the primary concern for 70 per cent of MP's urban population and 59 per cent of rural voters. The second priority for 39.19 per cent MP voters was remunerative prices for farm produce, while the third concern for 32.69 per cent electors was better health care by way of more hospitals and primary health centres, the ADR functionary said. In the rural areas, 56 per cent voters wanted higher prices for farm produce while 40 per cent spoke of the need for electricity for agricultural purposes, the survey showed. However, in MP's urban areas, 45 per cent of the electorate's second priority was better hospitals and primary health care centres, while 41 per cent put their third priority as better law and order, Shivhare added. The survey was conducted between October 2018 and December 2018, covering 534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters from several age groups participating, she said. "The three main objectives of this survey were to identify voters' priorities on specific governance issues, their rating of the government's performance on those issues and factors affecting voting behaviour," she added. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was established in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. It analyses the backgrounds of candidates contesting elections in order to help the electorate make an informed choice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday attacked the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying its leaders indulged in corruption and kept personal interests above national interests. He also alleged that the previous government "lacked" political will to test fire the anti-satellite missile despite the country having the capability to build it. The prime minister also took on the entire opposition, saying they were chosen for the task by the people, but they failed to live up to their responsibility. He alleged that the opposition raked up all the wrong issues like national security and seeking proof of Balakot air strike thus questioning the armed forces. He only referred to "proof" but did not mention air strike or Balakot. "Why seek proof ... why talk in favour of Pakistan," he quipped. Modi also said that his government has the political will to withstand pressure and take immediate decisions in national interests. "Delaying decisions of national interests amounts to criminal negligence," he said at the launch of TV9 'Bharatvarsh' channel here. Noting that his government believes in "commitment not confusion" Modi alleged that those who earlier ran the country created hurdles in the path of development due to "corrupt behaviour". He alleged that these in power in the past chose "personal interest before national interest". "Were not they responsible to make things (system) fool-proof to check corruption ... but the intent was not honest," he claimed. He said the then government delayed the decision on forming a special investigation team to probe black money. "We decided to set up the SIT in our very first Cabinet meet," he said. He alleged that the previous UPA government took little initiative in bringing back black money and entered into "weak" agreements with foreign governments in this regard. "Now we have reworked agreement with Mauritius ... Switzerland will now provide information (on black money of Indians) on realtime basis from this year," he said. He alleged that while the previous government gave scams such as 2G spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games, Bofors howitzer and AgusthaWestland helicopter, his dispensation is moving about things in a very transparent manner. Without naming the Rafale jet deal, he said the Supreme Court found nothing wrong in his government's defence preparedness after going through documents. Without naming former Union minister P Chidambaram, PM said the Congress leader thinks he is very intelligent. "He said the Asat launch should have been kept a secret. By that yard stick, why was the Pokhran (nuclear test) not kept a secret (during Congress rule in 1974) ... I can understand the visits to courts (in alleged cases of corruption) can be kept a secret," he said taking a dig. Referring to black money, he said when the government was framing The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he was under immense pressure by those who knew it would hit them hard. "There was phone banking then. A phone call would go and banks would issue loans. Then more loans were issued to pay back the previous loans ... we have changed that," he said. In an oblique reference to fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, he said properties worth more than the scam he had allegedly indulged in have been attached by investigative agencies. Addressing the gathering, he said his government has decentralised things and focus in now on states. "Earlier, everything was launched a Vigyan Bhawan," he said. Referring to Hyderabad House where government hosts foreign heads of states and governments, he said they to are being hosted outside Delhi. "International platforms where Pakistani propaganda used to echo now listen to India and our views find a place," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP's ambitious target of winning 23 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal may prove to be an uphill task as discontent is brewing over ticket distribution after old-timers and homegrown leaders were overlooked in favour of turncoats and newcomers. The BJP, which has announced candidates for 40 seats out of 42 in the state, has nominated 10 turncoats, who switched over from Congress, CPI(M) and TMC and has around 20 greenhorns. Protests have erupted in various parts of the state over the issue with several leaders either resigning or becoming inactive during campaign. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh conceded there has been discontent over ticket distribution, but said everybody should abide by party's decision. "Yes, there has been some discontent in the party but we all should abide by the party decision's. Somebody has aspiration for tickets but that doesn't mean that if you don't get tickets you will start protesting," Ghosh said. A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named said, discontent might prove to be a problem for the party in polls. "The party needs to understand one thing that we don't have very strong organisation unlike TMC at the grassroots level. For winning the seats we need to depend on cadres and leaders whom we have groomed for the years. Now if they are not happy with candidate selection will they campaign during polls," said the senior BJP leader. The BJP leader's view was endorsed by Sanjit Mishra, Malda district president of the saffron party, who agreed that party cadres were unhappy over both the seats in Malda being alloted to turncoats ignoring homegrown leaders. "As a president, even I will admit the way the seats were allotted was somewhat unfair. The cadres are not happy but I am trying to pacify them," Mishra said. His comments comes in the backdrop of party's vice president of Bengal unit, Raj Kamal Pathak, who has been a BJP leader for last three decades, tendering his resignation after denied a ticket. Not just Pathak, there are several other top BJP leaders such as state secretary Ritesh Tiwari, state general secretaries Raju Banerjee and Biswapriya Roy Chowdhury and Minority Morcha chief Ali Hossain, who have been deprived ticket in order to pave way for newcomers and turncoats. With BJP emerging as the main challenger to TMC in the last five years by outsmarting CPI(M) and Congress in Bengal and buoyed by its performance in rural polls, BJP president Amit Shah set out a target of winning more than 23 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. BJP presently has 2 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. But, in view of protests in various parts of the state and discontent, the party is trying to pacify dissidents. Former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, once known to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was given ticket against TMC candidate and actor Dipak Adhikary from Ghatal LS constituency. The BJP has fielded former Trinamool Congress MLA Arjun Singh from Barrackpur LS seat. Singh, who had recently joined the saffron party, has been pitted against TMC's Dinesh Trivedi. In Coochbebar LS seat, the party has fielded former TMC youth leader Nishith Pramanik, while in Jadavpur, expelled TMC MP Anupam Hazra will contest against TMC's Mimi Chakraborty, an actor by profession. Another former TMC MP Soumitra Khan, who joined the BJP in January, has been given ticket from Bishnupur (SC) LS seat. Former CPI(M) MLA Khagen Murmu, who too had switched over to the BJP, will contest from Malda North seat whereas former TMC leader Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury, who had contested elections on a TMC ticket from New Delhi in 2014, is the BJP candidate from the neighbouring Malda South seat. In Jangipur Lok Sabha seat, former CPI(M) leader Mafuza Khatun, who recently joined BJP, has been pitted against sitting Congress MP Abijit Mukherjee. In Diamond Harbour LS seat, former Congress leader Nilanjan Roy, who has recently crossed over to the BJP has been fielded against TMC's Abhishek Banerjee. Since the day of announcement of candidates, posters have come up in various parts of the state with BJP workers hitting the streets. BJP workers had staged protest in Cooch Behar, North 24 Parganas, Junglemahal, Baharampur, Diamond Harbour, Malda South and Malda North against party's decision to nominate TMC, Congress and CPI(M) leaders instead of local party leaders. "Why was Nishit given ticket? Does our district unit lack good leaders to contest polls? This decision has not sent out a good message to the rank and file of the party," said a senior district BJP leader, adding TMC would "exploit ripples of discontent". In Barasat, BJP workers have come out with posters appealing to masses not to vote for "outsider" BJP candidate. Similar kind of posters have come up against BJP's general secretary Sayantan Basu, who is contesting polls from Basirhat. BJP leader Mukul Roy, once TMC's number two, defended party's decision on fielding turncoats. "Anybody who wants to fight against TMC misrule in Bengal is welcome," Roy told PTI. The decision over candidate selection was based on a survey conducted by BJP both internally and by an external agency as candidates thought to be strong in a particular constituency were given ticket from another. BJP Mahila Morcha president Locket Chatterjee was expecting a ticket from Birbhum but the survey found that she was popular in Hoogly, so she was given ticket from Hoogly. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said BJP is a disciplined party and everybody will abide by party's decision. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi excise department has constituted various teams comprising 44 officials at district level to monitor recordings of CCTV cameras installed at liquor shops, an official said. The move is aimed at curbing use of alcohol to influence voters in the run up to Lok Sabha polls. Delhi goes to polls on May 12. Recently, the department had warned shops against selling liquor on the basis of "coupon or token", and directed them to strictly follow opening and closing time of their establishments. The official said excise department has constituted a four-member team each in all 11 district each, assigning them to monitor footage of CCTV cameras installed at retail shops on a regular basis. The first member of each district will obtain the list of retail vends of their concerned district...and allocate shops to each member of the team for viewing of CCTV recordings till completion of the election process, Deputy Excise Commissioner Sandeep Mishra said in his written communication to officials. Mishra said inspecting officials have been directed to inform the critical events to senior officers of the department and take necessary action as per laid down rules. There are 11 districts central, north-east, new Delhi, south, north,north-west, south-west, south-east and Shahdar in the national capital. Over the last past a few days, the excise department has issued a number of directions as part of its measures to curb distribution of alcohol to influence voters during elections in Delhi. Among the other directions issued to liquor shops is to direct these establishment that sale should be done only through scanner, and non-compliance of the order will attract strict action. Also, it had also issued another order, asking its officials to monitor at least 15-minute recording of CCTV cameras installed at liquor warehouses, on a daily basis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reaching out to the grassroots level, arranging visits, campaigning for candidates and connecting with young voters are few of the responsibilities political parties have allocated to their students' union leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. While students' union elections have long been viewed as a stepping stone to mainstream electoral politics, political parties see them as an efficient way of connecting with the youth and forming a base. With the first phase of Lok Sabha elections just a week away, the students' unions at various universities have been working hard to boost the poll prospects of their parent parties. Delhi University Students' Union president Shakti Singh, a member of the BJP's Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, said, "Before the polls were announced, we held a voter awareness campaign in DU colleges and some residential areas nearby where we told people that they should support the right-wing in the interest of nationalism." "Plans are still being worked out and we will do as instructed. Former DUSU president Nupur Sharma was part of the core team that had ensured the BJP's win in the 2014 elections," he added. Student leaders in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which is one of the most politically charged varsities in the country, are planning to go to different states to campaign for the candidates of their respective political parties. JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) joint secretary Amutha Jayadeep said she, along with others, will tell students at different universities that policies of both the BJP and the Congress are aimed at denying access to and making it more exclusive. "In its manifesto, the CPI has promised allocation of six per cent of GDP to We will be going to various constituencies from where Left candidates are contesting and tell people about it and how is under threat," she said. "The plans are still being finalised. But some of us will be heading to Begusarai, Bihar, to campaign for former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, and some to Kerala," she added. Students' groups at varsities like Banaras Hindu University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Jadavpur University, where struggle is on for restoring students' union elections, are also campaigning for the political parties they are associated with and persuading people to vote for them. Some students' unions are also working to encourage voters to make informed choices. President of Rajasthan University Students' Union (RUSU), Vinod Jhakhar, said, "I am not affiliated to any party but the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are very important for the country. I, along with other students and my supporters, will be starting a door-to-door campaign from April 1, wherein we will be encouraging everybody to vote and make their choice wisely." Jhakar, a former member of the Congress's National Students' Union of India, had contested the RUSU elections, held last year, as an independent. Maskoor Ahmad Usmani, president of Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union, said the group was conducting public meetings to encourage the students and their parents to question the MPs in their respective constituencies and to evaluate their performance. "We are trying to make them understand that we do not choose the PM, we choose the MPs here, so the first step gone wrong can make the entire process futile. We do not have representation of any political party here," he said. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, BJP's Satish Upadhyay and Vijay Goel and AAP's Alka Lamba are some of the national and state level politicians who began their careers as student leaders. The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Voting for 543 seats will be held at nearly 10 lakh polling booths across the country. The results will be announced on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Israeli military reported launches of five missiles on Sunday from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Israel after air defense warning sirens sounded in the Eshkol Regional Council. "After the warning sirens sounded in Eshkol five launches of missiles were registered in the direction of Israel from the Gaza Strip," the Israeli military said in a statement, TASS reports. There were no immediate reports on possible casualties or inflicted damages as a result of this incident. The 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) has become a non-starter, with most regional parties refusing to join hands with the Congress, says BJP leader S M Krishna. The regional parties fear that they would not achieve their goals if they ally with the Congress, he said. A former Congress veteran who joined the BJP earlier this month, Krishna exuded confidence that the saffron party alone will win enough seats to form the government and those of its allies will be a bonus. "Mahagathbandhan was Mamata Banerjee's idea. Now what is the relationship between Mamata and Rahul Gandhi? The TMC and the Congress refuse to see eye to eye," Krishna told PTI in an exclusive interview. "In Uttar Pradesh, the SP and the BSP refused to take the Congress into the reckoning by giving it two seats. So, where is the 'gathbandhan'? When there is no 'gathbandhan', where is the question of 'mahagathbandhan'? It is a mockery," he said. "Most of the regional parties are wary of the Congress as they suspect they would not be able to realise their goals by joining hands with it," he added. Asked about the ruling Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress alliance in Karnataka, Krishna said it is "not working" as there is hardly any chemistry between the partners. "The JD(S)-Congress alliance has no agenda except to cling on to power and share the spoils thereof," he said. "This (bitterness) is also evident in Tumakuru constituency, from where the JD(S) supremo (H D Deve Gowda) is contesting. The Congress might have succeeded in withdrawing nomination of rebel Congress candidate, (but) the bitterness still exists," the former Karnataka chief minister added. Responding to a question, Krishna said the BJP will return to power because of the good work done by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and due to its corruption-free five years. "We will get enough seats to form the government. The BJP itself will win (enough seats), plus the bonus coming from our allies," he said. "I cannot talk about the number of seats we will win because the first phase is yet to take place, but we are extremely confident on the basis of our work in the last five years and having provided a scam-free administration," he said, adding that Modi deserves a second term. Krishna denied that the issue of unemployment would affect the BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha polls. "I think with Narendra Modi coming back for a second term, he will make efforts to address this issue to people's satisfaction," he said, adding that no political party has a magic wand to address the problem. Krishna dubbed the Congress's proposed minimum income guarantee scheme, Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) an "empty promise". "I have also dealt with the finances of the country as minister of state for finance during Congress rule. It is an empty promise, for the Congress has not given any details of funding aspect. I don't believe what Rahul Gandhi has been saying is being taken very seriously by political analysts," he said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced last week that Rs 72,000 per year will be given as minimum income to the poorest 20 per cent families of the country if his party is voted to power in the Lok Sabha polls beginning April 11. On the Rafale deal controversy, Krishna said, "Initially some doubts were placed before us, but they have not been substantiated. So it has died a natural death." He commended the Modi government for finalising the deal. The former external affairs minister also claimed that during the UPA rule, the defence ministry never sent a proposal for buying Rafale jets to the Cabinet Committee on Security. "Unfortunately, during those years, when I was in UPA government, the proposition (Rafale purchase) never came up before us because it was not moved by the defence ministry," he said. The Congress has criticised the new Rafale deal signed by the Modi government, claiming it is costlier and there is corruption involved. The government has denied any wrongdoing in the fighter jet agreement with France. Asked to comment on opposition parties seeking proof of Balakot air strikes, Krishna said it shows their frustration. "The armed forces are not affiliated to any political party. We have to respect them. One way to respect them is to salute them and say that you have done well rather than asking for the count of bodies," the former Union minister said. Krishna asserted that the air strikes were the right response to "Pakistan's intransigence" and praised the Modi government for the decision. "In spite of Modi making wonderful gestures towards Pakistan in the beginning of his tenure, Pakistan, unfortunately, did not talk on the same page," he said. Indian Air Force fighter jets had bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad's training camp near Balakot in Pakistan following an attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Krishna criticised remarks of Congress leader B K Hariprasad wherein he had alleged that "match-fixing" between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan had led to the Pulwama attack. "The levelling of these allegations has given a handle, not only to Pakistan, but also to nations who are friendly with it. This has helped them make a case against Indian interests. I think it is sheer nonsense," he said. The remarks, Krishna said, are reflective of "degeneration" of political discourse. Hariprasad's comments, which he had made during an interaction with reporters here on March 7, had sparked a controversy and drawn the BJP's condemnation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal Sunday rallied behind TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, seeking another term for him in Andhra Pradesh while also flaying the Modi government for allegedly destroying democratic institutions. At an election rally here, which she described as the launch of her Lok Sabha poll campaign, Banerjee urged the BJP's sister organisations not to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party chief Amit Shah during the national polls. She claimed the BJP won't get a single seat in West Bengal and the party won't cross the 125-mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "The BJP has sister organisations. I would like to request them that if you love the country, please don't support Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the West Bengal chief minister said. "This is a special election. There are not many people to fight for the country, please vote for Chandrababu Naidu. Modi and Shah bully everyone," she alleged. Taking on the PM, she said, "In 2014, Modi got 21 out of 191 seats in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha, that was your best time." "In UP, he got 73 seats when the Samajwadi Party and the BSP fought alone. Now they have come together. In Odisha too, they won't get any seat," she claimed. Banerjee also challenged Modi for an open debate and attacked the prime minister for not addressing any press conference during his tenure. "He reads from tele-prompter and says he has a 56-inch chest." She said Modi is a "chowkidar" for the corrupt. A chowkidar who "lies to people round the clock and steals from them", she said. Banerjee said the country needs a prime minister who doesn't differentiate between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. "Modi said demonetisation would curb terrorism, but it is maximum under his government," she said. Supporting Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi, Banerjee said the issue needs to be resolved. Kerjwal claimed that Modi and Shah divided India on religious lines in five years, something which Pakistan could not do in seven decades. "Since India's Independence in 1947, Pakistan has been trying to divide India on religious lines. What Pakistan could not do in 70 years, Modi-Shah duo did in five," Kejriwal alleged. "The worst thing they did was to threaten the values India is known for -- unity and brotherhood. They pitted one caste against another and one community versus another," he said. The Delhi CM also alleged that an emergency-like situation was prevailing in the country. "The Modi government unleashed central agencies on our institutions and our people. They (Modi and Shah) have ruined the country in five years. PM Modi led the most corrupt government in the last 70 years," he claimed. Referring to BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj's recent remark that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be fought in the name of the country and there will be no elections after that, Kejriwal said, "Hitler changed the constitution of Germany after coming to power and ruled until his death. Modi and Shah would do the same in India. Sakshi Maharaj said there will be no election after 2019." "Shah said at a rally recently that no one can defeat the BJP till 2050 if his party is voted to power in 2019... This means they are thinking on the same lines," he told the gathering, adding, "I appeal to you with folded hands, please remove Modi (from power)." Terming demonetisation "the biggest scam since Independence", Kejriwal alleged, "Modi doesn't have a degree, doesn't have wisdom. He never listens to anyone, only takes advice from Shah, who doesn't know anything about the economy. He announced note ban and ruined the economy." The AAP leader said, "We have come here to appeal to you to vote for Naidu again. He has laid the foundations of a modern Andhra Pradesh. If he gets five years more, he will expedite the process." "Delhi is not a state even after 70 years of Independence. While voting, don't forget that Modi betrayed you (people of Andhra Pradesh) on special status for the state," he said. Later in a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said, Naidu and Banerjee have announced they will ensure full statehood for Delhi. Simultaneous polls will be held in Andhra Pradesh on April 11 for 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect the new 175-member Assembly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran actor Mark Hamill is set to lend his voice to the creepy killer Chucky Doll in the "Child's Play" reboot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "Star Wars" legend joins the already announced cast of Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman and Brian Tyree Henry in the upcoming re-imagining of the 1988 horror classic. "We feel incredibly lucky to have an icon creating a new take on an iconic character. Mark is a gifted actor and celebrated vocal performer, and he's approached this challenge with incredible energy and commitment," said producer David Katzenberg. The new movie will follow the same plot of the original, centering on Karen (Plaza), a single mother who gifts her son Andy (Bateman) a toy doll, unaware that it possesses the soul of a serial killer. "Polaroid" helmer Lars Klevberg is directing the film from Tyler Burton Smith's script. Seth Grahame-Smith, Katzenberg and Aaron Schmidt are attached as producers. The film is slated to be released on June 21. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A militant module has been busted and five of its "highly radicalised" youths arrested in Punjab, police said Sunday. The accused were allegedly planning to kill Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, as per a State Special Operations Cell, Punjab police, release here. One .32 bore pistol (along with magazine and four live rounds) and 15 letter pads of 'Babbar Khalsa International' have been recovered from the arrested, the release said. The arrested are residents of Punjab and Haryana, identified as Harvinder Singh from Panchkula, Sultan Singh from Kurukshetra, Karamjeet Singh from Moga, Lovepreet Singh from Sangrur, and Gurpreet Singh resident of Chandigarh, it read. "They are planning to kill specific targets including Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, who were allegedly responsible for incidents of sacrilege/desecration," said Assistant Inspector General, SSOC, Varinderpaul Singh. The arrested youths were radicalised over social media by suspected persons based in Europe, he said, adding they were planning to commit various violent acts to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state. A police case has been registered in Mohali. "These highly radicalised youth were in (the) process of mobilisation of funds, and already had procured weapons. They were planning to arrange weapons training in Jammu and Kashmir. "They were in touch with militants including Jagtar Singh Hawara of Babbar Khalsa who is in jail, Ranjit Singh Pakhoke, active member of Khalistan Tiger Force, residing in Germany," Singh said. Police said further investigation was underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi is aiming at around 20 per cent market share in elevator segment in next 3-4 years, said a top company official. Mitsubishi Elevator India, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, is targeting the opportunities emerging from premium building space like IT offices, luxury hotels and residential segment, among others. "Our target is to achieve more than 20 per cent of the market share in our target segment in the next 3 to 4 years," Mitsubishi Elevator India Deputy Managing Director Pravin Rao told PTI. In FY 2018, the demand for elevators in India was over 50,000 units and the segment is having a year-on-year growth of around 5 to 6 per cent, he added. The company did not disclose the present market share in India. The major companies operating in the space are Otis, Schindler, Kone, Thyssenkrupp from Europe and US, and Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Toshiba and Fujitec from Japan. Besides, the company also expects that non-metro tier II & III cities could enhance the growth of the segment helped by factors like uninterrupted power supply. Mitsubishi Elevator, as per of its strategy, will focus on "differentiation with high quality" to gain market share in the elevator segment, Rao added. Its presently has a plant in India, where it manufactures its range of NEXIEZ LITE MR elevators. The company imports components like traction machine, control system from its overseas factory in Japan and Thailand, and the mechanical and appearance components are being manufactured at its Indian factory. The company is also launching NEXIEZ LITE MRL (Machine Room less) elevators in India. "We are confident that both NEXIEZ LITE MR and NEXIEZ LITE MRL will exceed the expectations of the market in terms of Safety, High Quality and Reliability across tier I, tier II and tier III cities Pan India," Rao said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Sunday said the Narendra Modi government, which was "quick to take credit for the Balakot airstrikes", should also take responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. TDP national spokesperson Dinakar Lanka alleged that the Modi government failed to gave bullet proof vehicles to the CRPF which could have prevented the attack on a paramilitary convoy on February 14 in which 40 personnel were killed. "The attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama happened due to negligence on the part of the government. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated bullet proof buses for the CRPF on September 7, 2017. There are 200 such vehicles in the inventory of the Defence Ministry, but the forces haven't got them yet. Where are those buses? he asked. The Narendra Modi government was quick to take credit for the valour of the armed forces, but has failed to ensure their safety, he alleged. Lanka also said that his party will win more than 20 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and will play a pivotal role at the Centre. The TDP had won 15 seats in the 2014 elections in an alliance with the BJP and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party. Eying the role of a kingmaker at the Centre, TDP president Naidu has been travelling around the country, rallying opposition parties against the BJP. Asked if going solo in the elections will cost the TDP, Lanka said his party lost minority votes due to the alliance with the BJP in 2004. "Going solo will benefit us." The TDP leader alleged both the Congress and the BJP cheated the people of Andhra on the issue of special category status, but "Rahul Gandhi's party has passed a resolution to meet the demand if voted to power". Asked about PM Modi's remarks that Naidu parted ways with the NDA after the Centre asked him to give an account of central funds, Lanka said he should tell how much he spent on his foreign trips. He said the BJP is "not a bad party and that the Modi-Shah duo are runing it". Simultaneous polls will be held in Andhra Pradesh on April 11 for 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect the new 175-member Assembly. On Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally along with Naidu at the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium in Visakhapatnam. In 2014, Prime Minister Modi, Chandrababu Naidu, Venkaiah Naidu and Kalyan had addressed a rally at the same venue, seeking mandate for the TDP. Kejriwal had also campaigned for Naidu in Vijayawada on March 28. Earlier, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah had attended public meetings in support of Naidu in the state. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and DMK chief M K Stalin will also canvass for the TDP, party sources said. Naidu's TDP will be taking on Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress party and Kalyan's Jana Sena in the Assembly elections. A defeat in the assembly elections would be a setback to Naidu's ambition of playing the kingmaker at the Centre. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Sunday alleged the Narendra Modi government was quick to take credit for action of the armed forces against terrorists but failed to gave them bullet proof vehicles which could have prevented the attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. TDP national spokesperson Dinkar Lanka told PTI that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated bullet proof buses for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in September 2017, but the paramilitary force has not received them yet. The attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama happened due to negligence on the part of the government. Sitharaman inaugurated bullet proof buses for CRPF on September 7, 2017. There are 200 such vehicles in the inventory of the Defence Ministry, but the forces haven't got them yet. Where are those buses? he asked. The Narendra Modi government was quick to take credit for the valour of the armed forces, but has failed to ensure their safety, he alleged. Lanka also said that his party will win more than 20 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and will play a pivotal role at the Centre. The TDP had won 15 seats in the 2014 elections in an alliance with the BJP and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party. Eying the role of a kingmaker at the Centre, TDP president Naidu has been travelling around the country, rallying opposition parties against the BJP. Asked if going solo in the elections will cost the TDP, Lanka said his party lost minority votes due to the alliance with the BJP in 2004. "Going solo will benefit us." The TDP leader said both the Congress and the BJP cheated the people of Andhra on the issue of special category status, but "Rahul Gandhi's party has passed a resolution to meet the demand if voted to power". Simultaneous polls will be held in Andhra Pradesh on April 11 for 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect the new 175-member Assembly. On Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally along with Naidu in Visakhapatnam. Kejriwal had also campaigned for Naidu on March 28. Earlier, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah had attended public meetings in support of Naidu in the state. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and DMK chief M K Stalin will also canvass for the TDP the next week. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address rallies in Telangana Monday as the campaigning for the April 11 Lok Sabha elections in the state enters a feverish pitch. Modi, who launched his campaign in the state on Friday, would address a public meeting at the LB Stadium here Monday evening in support of the candidates of the BJP, which is contesting the 17 Lok Sabha seats on its own. Gandhi will be on a whirlwind visit to the state Monday, addressing three election rallies at Zaheerabad, Wanaparthi and Huzurnagar. With just ten days left for polling, BJP president Amit Shah and party's other top leaders, including Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari, are also expected to campaign for the party nominees in coming days, state BJP spokeserson Krishna Saagar Rao told PTI Sunday. Having suffered a humiliating defeat in the assembly polls in December last (winning only one among the 119 seats), BJP is hoping that Modi's popularity would help it put up a better showing. After its shock defeat in the assembly polls, Congress is seeking to salvage the situation with a decent performance in the parliamentary elections. Congress in Telangana is facing a crisis with 10 among its 19MLAs announcing their decision this month to leave the party and join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The has made a head start in campaign with its working president K T Rama Rao participating in hectic campaign for about a month now. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the party's star campaigner and crowd puller known for his fiery speeches, is set toaddress campaign rallies in the run up to the polls. Claiming that neither NDA nor UPA was in a position to form government on its own post-Lok Sabha elections, TRS has been appealing to the electorate to make the party win 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats (leaving Hyderabad represented by its ally AIMIM) to play a crucial role at the Centre and ensure funds and development projects to Telangana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NASA's Mars Helicopter, designed to fly in thin atmosphere and low gravity, has successfully completed flight tests and is prepared for its journey to the Red Planet scheduled to take off in 2020, the US space agency said. Weighing in at no more than 1.8 kilograms, the helicopter is a technology demonstration project currently going through the rigorous verification process certifying it for Mars. The majority of the testing the flight model is going through had to do with demonstrating how it can operate on Mars, including how it performs at Mars-like temperatures, NASA said in a statement. The helicopter has to function in extremely cold temperatures, including nights with temperatures as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius. The helicopter is scheduled to reach the surface of the Red Planet in February 2021, when the firmly nestled under the belly of the Mars 2020 rover. A few months later, it will be deployed and test flights will begin -- the first from the surface of another world, NASA said. "Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US. "But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised," said Aung. While flying helicopters is commonplace here on Earth, flying hundreds of millions of kilometers away in the thin Martian atmosphere is something else entirely. Creating the right conditions for testing here on Earth presents its own set of challenges. "The Martian atmosphere is only about one per cent the density of Earth's," said Aung. "Our test flights could have similar atmospheric density here on Earth -- if you put your airfield 30,480 meters up. So you can't go somewhere and find that. You have to make it," she said. The team created a vacuum that sucks out all the nitrogen, oxygen and other gases from the air inside the mammoth cylinder. In their place the team injected carbon dioxide, the chief ingredient of Mars' atmosphere. "Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter at JPL. "To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars' gravity is that much weaker," said Tzanetos. The team accomplished this with a gravity offload system -- a motorised lanyard attached to the top of the helicopter to provide an uninterrupted tug equivalent to two-thirds of Earth's gravity. The Mars Helicopter's first flight was followed up by a second in the vacuum chamber the following day. Logging a total of one minute of flight time at an altitude of five centimeters, more than 1,500 individual pieces of carbon fiber, flight-grade aluminum, silicon, copper, foil and foam have proven that they can work together as a cohesive unit. "The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said Aung. The Mars Helicopter will launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal has invited Indian investments in hydro power, roads and highways and the hotel industry to give a boost to economic ties between the two countries. Huge business opportunities exist in sectors such as roads and highway, hydro power, etc, Maha Prasad Adhikari, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Investment Board Nepal (IBN), a body under the Government of Nepal, told reporters here on the sidelines of the Nepal Investment Summit 2019. The IBN, Chaired by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, is a high-level fast track agency with the objective of facilitating the economic development of Nepal by creating an investment-friendly environment by mobilising and managing domestic as well as foreign investment, Adhikari said. "Nepal is a developing country. In Nepal, there is immense potential in sectors such as hydro power, roads and highway, hotel industry and investors must take advantage of this situation. We invite foreign investors including our neighbour India to invest in such sectors here," he said adding that out of the 700 delegates attending the Investors Summit, 120 were from India. Developing roads and highways and building hydro power projects are key focus areas of the government, he said. Building roads and highways, Adhikari said, will help better connectivity of towns and cities among each other, and with neighbouring countries which can promote trade and bring down logistics costs. Nepal also needs electricity and the companies keen to invest in this area are welcome to set up hydro power projects, he added. When asked about the incentives the government is providing on new investments, Adhikari said, "The government will provide all support to any investor. Any investor can come and submit it's investment plan and conduct a detailed project report (DPR) and the government will help in fast-tracking the process." The government will soon come up with a single-window clearance system to facilitate new investments into the country so that the investors need not get the documents cleared by multiple government departments, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel has pelted the positions of Palestinian militants with tank fire after five rockets were launched from Gaza without inflicting any damage. The exchange of fire comes after a day of mass Palestinian protests, RT reports. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that its tanks shelled "a number of Hamas military posts" in Gaza in retaliation to an earlier attack by Palestinians that saw them firing five rockets towards Israeli territory. The rockets landed inside the Eshkol region along the border with Gaza, triggering sirens in the area shortly after midnight. The local authorities said the rockets did not inflict any damage or casualties, striking open areas. It's unclear if the Israeli retaliatory strike resulted in any damage to the militant group that has been ruling the besieged Gaza since 2007 amid an ongoing blockade of the stretch of land along the Mediterranean by Israel and Egypt. It is the first cross-border fire incident since earlier this week, which saw two days of heavy bombing by Israel in response to a missile attack from Gaza that hit a home injuring seven Israelis on Monday. Armed men thought to be state agents arrested a Nigerian journalist, previously detained for more than two years, at a meeting with colleagues on Sunday, witnesses and watchdog groups told AFP. "Two DSS (State Security Service) vehicles... stormed the office" of the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers' Association in Yenagoa in Nigeria's southern Bayelsa state around lunchtime, as Jones Abiri was in a meeting with six colleagues, the association's secretary general Eric Eweke told AFP. They "threatened that if tries to run, they would shoot at him," said Eweke. Another witness, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said: "The men jumped out of the vehicles in a gestapo fashion while he (Abiri) was chatting with his friends and shouted at him that he was under arrest. "While he was demanding to know his offence, he was forcefully pushed into a waiting vehicle at gunpoint." DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya told local press "I don't have any information" on the incident. Abiri was previously detained by intelligence officers for two years without trial over alleged links to rebels in the Niger Delta in the country's southeast and threats to oil companies. He had no access to a lawyer or his family during this time, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He was freed in August last year following a campaign by rights organisations. CPJ Africa programme coordinator Angela Quintal said: "we are deeply worried that he has once again been arrested and that his whereabouts are not known. "We call on federal and state authorities in Nigeria to disclose where Abiri is being detained and the reasons for his arrest, and urge that they ensure that his rights are not violated yet again and that due process is respected." Abiri is the editor and publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper. Amnesty International also expressed concern over the arrest "by armed men suspected to be DSS operatives". "The humiliating manner of his arrest is unacceptable," it added. Reporters Without Borders places Nigeria in 119th place out of 180 on its World Press Freedom Index. It says journalists "are often threatened, subjected to physical violence, or denied access to information by government officials, police, and sometimes the public itself. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nine persons were injured, two of them seriously, when members of two communities clashed near Viramgam town in Ahmedabad district Sunday, police said. The two groups attacked each other with sticks and pelted stones, a local police official said. A police team too came under attack when it went to arrest the culprits, he said. Some members of the Muslim community objected to women from another community drying clothes on an under-construction wall around a burial ground which led to the clash, Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police R V Asari said. Two persons sustained fractures and seven others sustained minor injuries in the incident, said inspector U B Dhakhada of Viramgam Police Station. The police brought the situation under control by firing tear-gas shells and arrested some persons, he said. Security has been tightened in the area, the inspector added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major boost to the Congress, the Naga People's Front (NPF), which is the main opposition party in the 60-member Assembly, has decided to support K L Chishi, the grand old party's candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state. The NPF, which is not fielding any candidate for the general election, announced its decision to back the Congress candidate during a consultative meeting of central office bearers and MLAs here on Saturday. "The NPF has decided to lend issue-based support to Congress candidate KL Chishi in the upcoming Lok Sabha election," its president Shrhozelie Liezietsu said. "That, however, does not change the party's stand on regionalism. Also, the NPF is not an ally of the Congress," Liezietsu clarified. The NPF, which has 26 MLAs in the Assembly, wants to bring all secular forces together for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, he said, adding that the NDA, if it comes to power, will push for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, putting the interests of indigenous people under threat. T R Zeliang, NPF legislature party leader, said the objective was to defeat Tokheho Yepthomi, the consensus candidate of the ruling PDA, of which the BJP is a part. "The people here are confronted with issues of secularism, citizenship bill and Naga political issue. The NPF has decided to support the Congress candidate in the interest of the Nagas," he said. Asked about the seven NPF MLAs, who openly pledged their support to the PDA government and its consensus candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and the Aonglendeng Assembly bypoll, Zeliang said, "It is evident that they have bargained the trust of people and that of the party for their personal benefits." "A showcause notice has been issued to the MLAs on March 26. The party will be compelled to take action against them if they fail to respond within seven days," he added. Elections to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland will be held on April 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Conference leader Omar Abdullah favours early Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and has expressed the hope that the people of the state will give mandate for a single party rule, instead of a coalition government in the state as has been witnessed since 2002. In an interview to PTI, the former chief minister said assembly election in the state can be held in a three-to-five week period soon after the Lok Sabha polls are over as adequate security forces will be available. The final phase of Lok Sabha election is on May 19 and the counting of votes is on May 23. "We definitely have a window (after the Lok Sabha polls and before Amarnath Yatra). It is possible to hold assembly elections in J-K over a three-to-five-week period. You can start with the last couple of phases of Parliament elections, if you like. Then you have the entire month of June to have elections," Abdullah said. The National Conference vice president said he had no reason to believe that Election Commission was not looking at the possibility of conducting the assembly election in the state at the earliest. He, however, said there should not be any delay in polls due to Amarnath Yatra, which starts from the first week of July, as the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas is limited to two assembly segments. There is heavy security deployment for Amarnath Yatra in the state due to fear of terror attacks. "If (Muslim fasting month of) Ramzaan is not a hindrance to Parliament elections, why is Amarnath yatra a hindrance to assembly elections? "Amarnath yatra takes place in two districts -- Anantnag and Ganderbal. Technically, it is only in two constituencies -- Pahalgam and Kangan," Abdullah said. He said assembly elections can be scheduled in such a way that the polls finish with these two constituencies either before the yatra or immediately after the yatra. "There will be no security forces required anywhere else in the country once Parliament elections are over. You put extra forces here," he said. He said any such reason to delay elections "will just be an excuse from those people who are trying to hold on to power in Jammu and Kashmir rather than transfer power back to the people". "I won't presume as to what Election Commission is doing. I have no reason as of now to believe that Election Commission is not seriously looking at this (holding early elections). The Election observers are coming to the state again. They had a series of discussions in the Centre. Lets see what they decide," he added. Asked if he is expecting a groundswell of support for the National Conference after the troubled PDP-BJP coalition rule, Abdullah said, "I don't predict waves. I think predicting waves is a sure shot way of causing damage to oneself in elections. "The worst thing you can do in an election is to convey to the voters that you are taking them for granted." He said the voters across the country in general, and Jammu and Kashmir in particular, do not make up their mind that early. "We have to work hard and we have to convince the people why they should vote for us. We have to convince people why their votes in 2014 were an error in judgement that have cost the state dearly and hope that the people will support us," he said. Abdullah, who has maintained that NC will contest all 87 seats of the state assembly whenever the polls are held, expressed the hope that people of the state will give majority to a single party "I would like to believe people of Jammu and Kashmir are fed up of alliance governments and this time will vote a single party to power. That is what we are working for," he said. From 2002 to 2008, a PDP-Congress coalition was in power, while an NC-Congress alliance government was formed in 2009. In 2015, the PDP and the BJP formed a post-poll alliance which collapsed last year. Asked if the NC will go for a post-poll alliance in case of a hung verdict, Abdullah said this was a hypothetical situation. "Other states have also passed through a phase of coalitions and come out of it. In UP, at one point of time people believed that a single party government will never reemerge and that UP had got so divided. "It was famously said about UP that you don't cast your vote, you vote your caste. Then you had Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) with single party government and now you have Adityanath (BJP) with a single party government. Why not in Jammu and Kashmir? Why are we assuming that people of Jammu and Kashmir have decided to vote for coalition in perpetuity," the NC leader added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's High Commissioner to India and seasoned diplomat Sohail Mahmood will be the country's new foreign secretary, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced Sunday. Qureshi, while talking to reporters in Multan, said that the decision to appoint Mahmood as foreign secretary had been made following discussions with Prime Minister Imran Khan. "Sohail Mahmood is being appointed as new foreign secretary," he said. Incumbent Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua will retire on April 16. It was so far not clear who will replace Mahmood in India. Qureshi said that he talked with Mahmood on the telephone on Saturday and congratulated him over his new appointment. "He is a seasoned diplomatEven now, after the Pulwama incident took place, he came to the headquarters for consultations and I benefited from his experience," Qureshi said, describing the deadly terror attack on CRPF soldiers as "incident". Qureshi expressed confidence that Mahmood would fulfil his responsibilities as foreign secretary. Mahmood was appointed as high commissioner to India in August 2017. He was serving as ambassador to Turkey when sent to India. He previously also served at Washington and New York in addition to other posting in his long career. Qureshi also thanked Janjua for her services. "She always handled things with courage, bravery, clarity, and with a smile," he 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 will brief the parliamentarians next week on "hostile situation at the Line of Control" in the aftermath of recent tension with India, media reports said on Sunday. The briefing, to be held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on April 4, will be attended by the members of standing committees of the National Assembly and Senate on defence, Dawn reported. Gen Bajwa will "brief the parliamentarians on hostile situation at the Line of Control", it said. The paper said that it will be the second briefing by the army chief to the parliamentarians over one month. Earlier, parliamentarians were briefed in an in-camera session held at Parliament House on February 27, the day the Pakistan Air Force carried out a raid in India. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan did not attend the briefing. This week's briefing would be attended by a number of prominent leaders from the opposition parties, including former ministers, as they are members of the two committees. According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, chairman of the NA committee Amjad Ali Khan would lead the delegation of members of the National Assembly, the lower house. Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has also been invited as he is ex-officio member of both standing committees. The lawmakers have been told to assemble at Gate No 1 of Parliament House at 10 a.m. and those who intend to proceed directly to GHQ have been asked to provide registration numbers of their vehicles before the meeting. A notification issued by the Senate Secretariat says that Chairman of Senate standing committee on defence Azam Swati will lead the Senate members. A few days ago Prime Minister Khan had said that the "possibility of a misadventure" from India could not be ignored. Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that the armed forces needed to remain alert. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the February 14 attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. Amid mounting outrage, 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 in an aerial combat and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani man has been sentenced to three-months of jail for secretly contracting second marriage without the consent of his first wife. Lahore Cantonment Court's magistrate Kashif Abbas on Saturday awarded the sentenced to Shoaib Zahid, a businessman, and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him for contracting the second marriage without "mandatory permission of his first wife". The magistrate observed that the verbal and documentary evidence presented by the complainant established the offence committed by her husband. Complainant Rabia Younas told the court that her husband had contracted the second marriage secretly. "He (Shoaib Zahid) without obtaining my consent/permission required under section 6 of Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 for contracting second marriage, she said and pleaded before the court to punish her husband under the law for committing the crime. Under the 2014 Muslim Family law, no man during the subsistence of an existing marriage shall except contract another marriage, nor shall any such marriage contracted without such permission be registered under this law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the race for the Lok Sabha polls heats up, chief Rahul Gandhi has claimed that is more a "publicity minister" than a prime minister and he is floundering because of his arrogance. In an interview to PTI, Gandhi said the prime minister's behaviour betrays a "sense of panic" and alleged that he was obsessed with self-promotion. About his own prospects of being prime minister, Gandhi said it would be arrogant for him to comment on the issue. Asked if he was open to being the PM, he said it was for the people to decide and added "people are the masters. I am working for them". Accusing Modi of pushing a particular narrative in media through the PMO, Gandhi said the prime minister will not be able to deflect real issues. The chief also castigated him for "failing" to deliver on his 2014 poll promises and for presiding over a "failed" economy. "Mr Modi's arrogance and thirst for power, his obsession with self-promotion, even when that promotion is filled with lies, and his false belief that only he has the solution to each one of India's problems and consequently, he doesn't need to consult anyone else, is why he is floundering," he said when asked what was his last message to the PM before the elections. On key issues before the country, the chief said, "Unemployment, Unemployment, Unemployment; Farmers, Farmers, Farmers; a failed economy and personal corruption of Mr Modi'." He listed the "destruction of institutions, increase in hate and bigotry, a palpable increase in anger and violence in society and attacks on the rights of SC/STs" as some other issues that the electorate would consider when it sets out to vote. He claimed the major election issues would be the false promises of Modi such as "depositing Rs 15 lakh in each bank account", creation of two crore jobs, building 100 smart cities and the bringing back black money from abroad. "In the midst of the gloom created by the BJP, the Congress's NYAY offers a ray of hope and its incredible scale and transformational potential, is going to make it a key issue in this election," he said. On whether he was the future prime minister, Gandhi quipped, "It would be arrogant for me to say so. Who am I to say that? It is for people of India to decide. My position is to work for India's betterment and to defend the ideals of the Congress. What happens after is for the people of India to decide." On the perception that the has an edge in the war of narratives after the Pulwama attack, the Congress chief said there was pressure created on the media through phone calls, threats of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, to push a "particular narrative". "There's pressure on the media to push a particular narrative that comes out of the PMO. There are some voices in the media who are fighting this pressure and I commend them," he claimed. "But the narrative on the ground is clearly that has failed at addressing the job crisis, he has failed on matter of agricultural distress and has damaged India's economy. That narrative is not going to shift," he said. Gandhi claimed that India was in "extreme pain on account of government's policies and growing unemployment". "That's not changing, that's there; that's fundamental; that isn't going anywhere. We're going to win this election on those issues and on a positive narrative being set by the NYAY scheme, job creation, investing part of GDP in education and healthcare and addressing the agriculture distress," he said. On electoral funding, Gandhi said that while the Congress completely supports the demand for transparency, electoral bonds were actually doing just the opposite. "Mr Modi, a man who came riding on the plank of fighting corruption, has done everything to encourage corruption, and electoral bonds are a principal example," he said. Asked how important this election was for the Congress as the party was down to 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "The last election was an aberration. This election, we will do much better with the people's support." The Congress chief said the party after 2014 had got down to basic brass tacks to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organization as a whole and it was initiated by decentralizing power. The party is using technology to communicate more effectively with its workers, right up to the booth level, Gandhi said, adding SHAKTI is one such technology-driven platform that now has over 10 million workers registered on it. With electioneering for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha gaining momentum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit the state twice in the first week of April, party sources said Sunday. The prime minister is scheduled to address a public meeting at Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters town of Kalahandi in western Odisha on April 2, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said. He is slated to visit Odisha again to address an election meeting in Sundargarh on April 6, he said. The Sundargarh rally will be Modis third poll meeting in Odisha in less than ten days as he had kicked off BJP's election campaign in the state from Jeypore town in Koraput district on March 29. Oram said the back-to-back visits of Modi, who is likely to highlight several development and welfare schemes being implemented by the Centre, will go a long way in bringing a wave in favour of BJP in the state. While Kalahandi is among the four Lok Sabha seats where the first phase of polling will be held on April 11, voting in Sundargarh parliamentary constituency is scheduled to be beld in the second phase on April 18. BJP has set a target to win at least 120 of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha. Party president Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit the state on Monday and address two meetings at Parlakhemundi in Gajapati district and Umarkote in Nabarangpur district, a party leader said. In the 2014, BJP had won one of the 21 Lok Sabha and 10 of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is slated to undertake a visit to the state on April 2 to address a poll rally in Bhubaneswar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The number of polling booths located in rural parts of Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is nearly double than those in urban areas. There are over 95,000 polling booths across the state, of which 61,000 are located in rural parts, while over 34,000 are in urban areas. Pune district accounts for the maximum number of 7,600 voting centres, followed by Mumbai suburbs and Thane, an official statement said. "Mumbai suburbs tops the list in terms of maximum number of polling booths in urban parts, while Pune has more polling booths in rural areas," it said. Over 1,300 polling centres are located in forest and semi-forest areas and more than 90,000 polling centres are housed in schools, colleges and government buildings. Polling centre is an inseparable part of the polling process. They play an important role in facilitating voters to exercise their franchise. Majority of these centres are located in schools, colleges and government buildings, although at times temporary polling centres are also set up. For the Lok Sabha elections 1,100 such temporary polling centres are set up. The Chief Election Commission has given directives to provide various necessary facilities at the polling centres. These facilities are provided at urban and rural polling centres without any difference. However, changes are made according to the local situations with the approval of the Election Commission. For the Lok Sabha elections, there are 95,473 polling centres set up in the state. Their number may increase. The district-wise number of polling centres in rural and urban areas (total number is given in bracket): Nandurbar 1,100, 190 (1290); Dhule- 1,300, 300 (1600); Jalgaon- 3,000, 500 (3,500); Buldhana- 1,800, 400 (2,200); Akola- 1,100, 500 (1,600); Washim- 900, 80 (980); Amravati- 1,900, 617 (2,517); Wardha- 1,076, 238 (1,314); Nagpur- 2,100, 2,200 (4,300); Bhandara- 1,165, 40 (1,205); Gondia- 1,153, 1,128 (1,281); Gadchiroli- 929, 01 (930); Chandrapur- 1,170, 890 (2,070); Yavatmal- 2,280, 200 (2,480); Nanded- 2,495, 460 (2,955); Hingoli- 866, 135 (1,001); Parbhani- 1,040, 450 (1,490); Jalna- 1,390, 240 (1,630); Aurangabad- 1,950, 1,000 (2,950); Nasik- 2,980, 1,450 (4,440); Thane- 1,273, 5,215 (7,666); Mumbai Suburb- 286, 7,011 (7,297); Mumbai City- 0, 2,592 (2,592); Raigad- 2,470, 220 (2,690); Pune 3,287, 4,379 (7,666); Ahmednagar- 2,922, 800 (3,722); Beed- 1,785, 526 (2,311); Latur- 1,925, 70 (1,995); Usmanabad- 1,322, 160 (1,482); Solapur- 2,580, 890 (3,470); Satara- 2,738, 230 (2,968); Ratnagiri- 1,673, 26 (1,699); Sindhudurg- 890, 21 (911); Kolhapur- 2,490, 820 (3,310); Sangli- 1,890, 500 (2,390); Palghar- 1,800, 310 (2,110). Once the auxiliary polling centres are fixed, the total number of polling centres may increase, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US diplomats have been only resorting in their work to threats and ultimatums and use sanctions if other countries refuse to meet their demands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin", TASS reports. "Now I see nothing in US diplomacy but ultimatums and then sanctions in case they are not fulfilled," Lavrov said in the interview, published on the Foreign Ministrys website. "Other tools have somehow disappeared from US diplomacys arsenal and this is regrettable." In comment on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's remark that NATO countries need to take joint steps against Russia over Ukraine, Lavrov noted that the US top diplomat "says many things." "When we sometimes talk over the phone with him (its been a long time ago since we last met) he holds a conversation rather correctly. Although its clear that we disagree on most issues." Lavrov noted that "if you serve as a foreign minister, you have to search for diplomatic solutions to various problems." In yet another setback to the Congress in Telangana, its senior leader and former MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy Sunday resigned from the party and announced his decision to join the BJP. In his resignation letter sent to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Sudhakar Reddy, a former secretary of AICC, said, "Unfortunately the traditions and values of Congress party have changed contrary to its principles. Money influence has increased during allocation of tickets in Telangana Assembly elections in 2018, MLC elections and also coming Lok Sabha elections." "It is shocking to find that crores of rupees is being sought for allocation of tickets. This kind of commercialisation of ticket allocation in Indian National Congress forced me to consider leaving the party and I am rendering my resignation," Reddy said. Referring to the air strikes carried out by IAF in Pakistan, Reddy said he was annoyed with the attitude of Congress and its prominent leaders as their stand on the issue of terrorism and national security had been "inconsistent". Reddy further said he would meet BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi Sunday evening and join the party. He told PTI that he wanted to work under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the larger interest of the nation. "I am confident Modiji will again become the Prime Minister. Being a worker of BJP I will concentrate on strengthening the party. I am not joining the party seeking any post," Reddy, whose MLC term ended on March 29, said. Recently, senior Congress leader and former Minister D K Aruna had quit the Congress and joined the BJP and was the party's contesting candidate from Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat The Congress is the main opposition in Telangana, where it had won 19 seats in the December 7 assembly elections. The Congress is in a turmoil as 10 MLAs have announced their decision to quit the party since the beginning of this month and join the TRS, which now appears to have the momentum ahead of the April 11 Lok Sabha poll. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis on Sunday warned Catholics in Morocco against trying to convert others to boost their small numbers, during a rare visit by a pontiff to the North African country. Speaking in Rabat's cathedral on his second day in the Moroccan capital, Francis insisted trying to convert people to one's own belief "always leads to an impasse". "Please, no proselytism!" he told an audience of around 400, who greeted the pope's arrival by ululating and applauding, while hundreds more gathered outside the cathedral. Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. Islam is the state religion and authorities are keen to stress the country's "religious tolerance" which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim if they are not born into the Jewish community, apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is criminalised. "I protect Moroccan Jews as well as Christians from other countries, who are living in Morocco," King Mohammed VI told crowds on Saturday, following the pontiff's arrival. There are a few thousand Christian converts in Morocco, who since 2017 have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination". Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985 and the cathedral had been repainted for the occasion. Waiting for the pope outside, a Nigerian man said the visit "shows that living together is possible in Morocco." But "there are things to improve, notably the question of migrants and that of Moroccan Christians," said 36-year-old Antoine, who works for an association to defend migrant rights. The need to support migrants was mentioned again Sunday by Francis, who has made the issue a focal point of his papacy. On Saturday he visited migrants at a Caritas charity centre, where the pope criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border. Earlier on Sunday, Francis visited a social centre run by nuns and volunteers near Rabat, including a health centre where he met with unwell children. The previous day he visited an institute which hosts around 1,300 trainee imams and preachers. There they heard from a French and a Nigerian student of the institute, which teaches "moderate Islam" and is backed by the king. The Moroccan monarch also welcomed Francis to the royal palace, where the two addressed the "sacred character of Jerusalem" in a joint declaration. The city should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims, they said in a statement released by the Vatican. "The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem... must be protected and promoted," said the text, which was jointly signed at Rabat's royal palace. The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalem's religious, cultural and architectural heritage. Jerusalem's status is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel sees the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. US President Donald Trump sparked anger across the Muslim world when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis will hold mass Sunday for nearly 10,000 members of Morocco's Catholic minority, on the second day of a visit during which he has already met migrants and trainee imams. The Argentine pontiff will begin the day at a social centre near Rabat, before meeting religious leaders at the cathedral in the Moroccan capital. The highlight for the Catholic community will be the mass held at a city stadium that marks the conclusion of the pope's two-day visit. Francis is the first pontiff to visit the North African country since John Paul II in 1985, and his arrival drew thousands to the streets on Saturday. Christians are a tiny minority in Morocco where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, with sub-Saharan Africans making up a large part of the country's 30,000-strong Catholic community. There are a few thousand Christian converts in Morocco, who since 2017 have called openly for the right to live "without persecution" and "without discrimination". Speaking at Saturday's welcome ceremony, the pope defended "freedom of conscience" and "religious freedom". The pontiff also highlighted the suffering of migrants, denouncing "indifference and silence" while calling on people to consider them "as people, not numbers". The fate of migrants has been a focal point of Francis' papacy and he concluded his Saturday schedule at a Caritas charity centre which offers them support. While at the centre, where children donned colourful hats to greet the pope, Francis criticised "collective expulsions" and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged. Morocco says it has a "humanistic" approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of "brutal arrest campaigns" and "forced displacement" to the country's southern border. Francis was welcomed to Morocco by King Mohammed VI -- who describes himself as "commander of the faithful" -- and the two on Saturday addressed the "sacred character of Jerusalem". The city should be a "symbol of peaceful coexistence" for Christians, Jews and Muslims, they said in a joint statement released by the Vatican. "The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem... must be protected and promoted," said the text, which was jointly signed at Rabat's royal palace. The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalem's religious, cultural and architectural heritage. Jerusalem's status is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel sees the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state. US President Donald Trump sparked anger across the Muslim world when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017. Francis' palace meeting with the king was followed by a visit to an institute which hosts around 1,300 trainee imams and preachers. There they heard from a French and a Nigerian student of the institute, which teaches "moderate Islam" and is backed by the king. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Qatar's emir has left an Arab League summit in Tunisia early, the Gulf state's official QNA agency said Sunday, without giving details on why. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani quit the meeting "after attending the opening ceremony", it said, with no further details. A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari leader had walked out during the speech of League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and "has left Tunisia". Qatar is at the centre of a bitter Gulf standoff since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed ties with Doha. The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Iran, charges Qatar denies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's behaviour betrays a "sense of panic" and hit out at him for presiding over a "failed" economy and not delivering on poll promises. In an interview to PTI, Rahul Gandhi said PM Narendra Modi is more of a "Publicity Minister" than a Prime Minister and is "floundering because of his arrogance". On his own prospects of becoming the prime minister should the post Lok Sabha election result scenario permit, Rahul Gandhi said it would be arrogant for me to comment on the issue and that the people are the masters and they will decide. Accusing the prime minister of pushing a particular narrative in the media through the PMO, Gandhi said the PM will not be able to deflect from real issues. Castigating the PM for failing to deliver on 2014 election promises and presiding over a failed economy, Gandhi charged, Mr Modi's arrogance and thirst for power, his obsession with self-promotion even when that promotion is filled with lies and his false belief that only he has the solution to every one of India's problems and consequently he doesn't need to consult anyone else, is why he is floundering." He was asked what his last message to the PM was before the LS election cycle sets in. On key issues before the country, the Congress chief said, Unemployment, Unemployment, Unemployment; Farmers, Farmers, Farmers; a failed economy and personal corruption of Mr Modi'. He listed the alleged destruction of institutions, increase in hate and bigotry, a palpable increase in anger and violence in society and attacks on rights of SC-ST's as some other issues that the electorate will consider when it sets out to vote. The false promises of Mr Modi in 2014 putting 15 lakh in each bank account, creation of 2 crore jobs, the building of 100 smart cities and the bringing back of 80 Lakh crore black money from abroad, will be major election issues. In the midst of all the BJP created gloom, the Congress Party's NYAY offers a ray of hope and its incredible scale and transformational potential, is going to make it a key issue in this election, he said. On whether he was the future Prime minister, Gandhi quipped, It would be arrogant for me to say so. Who am I to say that? It is for people of India to decide. My position is to work for India's betterment and to defend the ideals of the Congress party.What happens thereafter is for the people of India to decide. On the perception that the BJP has an edge in the ongoing war of narratives post the Pulwama attack events, the Congress chief alleged that there was pressure on the entire media created through phone calls, threats of CBI, threats of Enforcement Directorate, to push a particular narrative. There's pressure on the media to push a particular narrative that comes out of the PMO. There are some voices in the media who are fighting this pressure and I commend them, he said. But the narrative on the ground is clearly that Narendra Modi has failed at addressing the jobs crisis, has failed on agriculture distress and has damaged India's economy.That narrative is not going to shift, he said, adding India was in extreme pain on account of government's policies and growing unemployment. That's not changing, that's there; that's fundamental; that isn't going anywhere. We're going to win this election on those issues and on a positive narrative being set by the NYAY scheme, job creation, investing part of GDP in education and healthcare and addressing the agriculture distress, he said. On electoral funding, Gandhi said while Congress completely supports the demand for transparency, electoral bonds were actually doing just the opposite of transparency. Mr Modi - a man who came riding on the plank of fighting corruption, has done everything to encourage corruption! And Electoral Bonds is a principal example thereof, he charged. Asked how important this election was for the Congress after the party was down to 44 in the last Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said, The last election was an aberration. This election, we will do much better with people's support. The Congress chief said the party after 2014 had got down to basic brass tacks to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organization as a whole and it was initiated by decentralizing power. The party is using technology to communicate more effectively with its workers, right up to the booth level. SHAKTI is one such technology driven platform that now has over 10 million workers registered on it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CPI(M) and the CPI Sunday said the Congress' decision to field Rahul Gandhi from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency indicates that the party wants to take on the Left in Kerala and asserted that they will work to ensure his defeat. "Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against the Congress' national commitment to fight the BJP, as in Kerala, it is the LDF which is the main force fighting the BJP there," CPI(M) politburo member Prakash Karat told reporters. The party will oppose the move, he added. "To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against the Left means that the Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election, we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad," Karat said. CPI leader D Raja also questioned the decision of the Congress, saying it made no sense. "This makes no sense. I don't understand what the Congress is playing here. There is no BJP to fight in Kerala, it is the Left versus the Congress-led UDF. By choosing a constituency in Kerala for Rahul Gandhi, what message is the Congress conveying to the country," Raja asked. "The primary objective is to defeat the BJP, how does this move help in that? We are not going to withdraw our candidate from the seat. Rahul Gandhi has to answer to the people of this country," he said. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who is in Thiruvananthapuram to campaign for the election, said deciding on candidates was the internal matter of a political party and no other party needed to intervene in that. "The priority of the CPM is to oust Narendra Modi from power," he said, adding that the LDF would register a thumping win in Kerala. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'not fulfiling' the promises to Andhra Pradesh and YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on alleged corruption, even as he flayed Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over 'mismanagement' of the state. At the same time, Rahul repeated his promise of according Special Category Status and building a strong AP the moment the Congress came to power at the Centre. Special category status was the central point of his campaign rallies in the two places even as he touched upon other national issues like the proposed Nyay scheme, attacks on dalits and minorities, making doing business easy for youngsters, economic frauds, farm loan waiver and education reforms. You know the mismanagement that has taken place in AP. You know the state is struggling, the Congress president said, addressing his first election campaign meeting in Vijayawada in the morning. He also spoke about the 'corruption' of Jagan Reddy, without elaborating. At the campaign rally at Kalyanadurg in Anantapur district late in the evening, Rahul spoke about the travails of farmers in the state, particularly in this parched district, and said 600 farmers had committed suicide in the last two years. Cultivable land reduced by half in Anantapuramu district, he pointed out, but avoided directly mentioning the Telugu Desam Party government. On the special category status (SCS) issue, however, the Congress chief found fault with the TDP as well for 'failing to exert pressure' on the Centre. Five years have gone-by and the current Prime Minister did not fulfil the promises made by the people of the country. And it is sad that neither of the two parties in AP had put pressure on the PM to take this decision. TDP was in alliance with Narendra Modi and they should have put pressure on him and forced him to give SCS, Rahul remarked. And I understand that Jaganmohan Reddy has a lot of cases on him. I understand that the Prime Minister can put a lot of pressure on Reddy. But this is not the question of an individual. This is the question of the future of people of AP, he added. He observed that SCS was important for the future of AP and that was what people of India owed to the state. There should be no confusion that the moment the Congress comes to power in 2019, one of the first decisions we will take will be giving SCS to AP. Because we are absolutely convinced that AP needs SCS, the Congress chief said. Criticizing the Prime Minister for 'failing to honour' the promises made to AP (post-bifurcation), Gandhi recalled that Modi himself promised SCS and also said the state needed a world-class capital. Truth is neither did he give SCS, Central University, Kadapa steel plant or the Polavaram project. What has been promised by PM has to be delivered. We will give it to you, he promised. The Congress president also assured to positively look into the demand for granting Scheduled Caste status to the Vaddera community and Scheduled Tribe status to the Valmiki community. He promised to take up categorization of the SCs in an amicable manner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to improve the Congress' position in south India, party president Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Veteran Congress leader from Kerala and former Defence Minister A K Antony made this announcement at a press conference here Sunday, saying Gandhi had consented to fighting from Wayanad following requests from the party's state unit. The decision is seen as an attempt by the Congress to consolidate its electoral base in south India, especially Kerala which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and Karnataka has 28. "This is a message to the southern states that they are deeply valued and respected. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said he will represent Amethi but will also represent southern states as they are an important part of India's way of life, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. He said Gandhi has said Amethi is his 'karmabhoomi' and he will never leave it. The announcement evoked sharp reactions from both the Left and the Right of the political spectrum. Reacting to the development, CPI(M) Politbureau member Prakash Karat said that the decision of the Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows that the party wants to take on the Left in Kerala. "Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there," he told reporters. The CPI(M) ex-General Secretary said his party will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. BJP chief Amit Shah also took a sharp dig at Gandhi contesting from two seats at a rally in Uttar Pradesh. "Congress' votebank has worked on playing with the security of the country. It is the result of this that Rahul Gandhi has left Amethi and run away to Kerala because he knows that voters will seek account from him in Amethi this time," Shah said. Earlier, Surjewala said the state units of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had requested him to contest from south India at a time when there is attack on the language and culture from the Modi government, he said. "This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of south India. This is a fight to give a befitting reply to those forces that attack cultures, languages, way of life and also the deep connect between north and south India between which BJP has created a division," he said. On BJP's criticism that Gandhi's is "not very strong" in Amethi, Surjewala said: "Why doesn't BJP answer why Moddi ji left Gujarat and went to Varanasi. Does that mean that his condition was bad in Gujarat. Instead of discussing these type of immature things, they should discuss key political issues. Why is BJP so scared." In a swipe at Union minister Smriti Irani who is contesting against Gandhi in Amethi, he said, "Pehle Delhi mein Chandni Chowk ne haraya, phir Amethi ne bhagaya. Jis mantri mahoyadaya ki charcha kar rahe hain, jinko ticket di hai, ab haar ki hattrick ka mahaul bana hai (First lost from Chandni Chowk, then Amethi. And now, the minister in question has created an atmosphere of a hat-trick of defeats)". Surjewala said the people of Amethi trust the fact that they are protected with Rahul Gandhi being there. "The BJP has the task of conspiracy while we have the task of construction," he said. He said Wayanad has a unique geographical feature as it links all the three states of Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri, Karnataka's Mysore and has the geographical and cultural representation of the three states. "That is why party decided that Gandhi will, in a way, represent the three states and strengthen the unity between north and south India. Senior Congress leader Antony said Wayanad is situated in Kerala, but also surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. "In a way it'll satisfy the requests of three southern states," he said. There were many requests from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the former defence minister said, adding that one of the major reasons for consideration was that it is a trijunction of the three southern states. "Amethi and Rahul do not have a political relationship. Amethi ke mann mein Rahul baste hain. It is a family relationship and cannot be broken by BJP's politics," Surjewala said. He said when the Congress government will be formed with the blessings of 130 crore Indians, Rahul Gandhi will represent every corner of the country in a bigger way. "We will discuss about the future slowly," he said in reply to a question on whether Gandhi will retain Amethi or Wayanad seat if he wins both. "Don't question Amethi's intelligence. Amethi has chosen Rajiv ji, Sonia ji and Rahul ji in difficult circumstances. They trust the fact that this country's management and Amethi is secure in the hands of Rahul Gandhi. Nobody can break the bond between Amethi and Rahul and least of all BJP," he said. Congress had won eight Lok Sabha seats in Kerala in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, besides two by its ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and one by Kerala Congress (Mani) and one by Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The party is hoping to further consolidate its position this time in the state. Wayanad district is in the north eastern part of Kerala and houses various tribal groups of the state. The area was badly affected due to last year's floods. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday ridiculed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his decision to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, saying he has "fled" to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years. Shah was speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, where voting will be held on April 11. The saffron party had won all eight Lok Sabha seats in the region in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account (of work) from him," the BJP chief said. "In Kerala, there is of appeasement, hence he is going there. You have played with the security of the country for your vote bank Wherever you will go, people of the country will ask you to give an account (of your work)," Shah said. The Congress announced earlier on Saturday that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The decision is seen as an attempt by the party to consolidate voter base in south India, especially Kerala, which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Shah also hit out at the Congress for "giving a clean chit" to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Samjhauta Express blast case, sending Swami Aseemanand and other "innocent persons" to jail and "putting a tag of terrorism on Hindus". He claimed that in "the Samjhauta blast case, the then Union home minister P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Rahul Gandhi himself had said before US officials that Lashkar is not a threat, but people spreading Hindu terrorism are." "However, the court has given a clean chit to Swami Aseemanand and other accused persons," he added. Shah alleged that the Congress had committed the sin of linking terrorism with religion and demanded that Gandhi should apologise to the country. "They have committed the sin of insulting the glorious Hindu community for their vote bank Can a Hindu ever be a terrorist? It is possible that Rahul Gandhi does not know that we (Hindus) even feed wheat flour to ants? How can we kill people?" the BJP chief asked. "Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of the country for this," Shah said. The BJP chief claimed that the Congress had denied Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar his due honour. "I want to ask Rahul Baba that why your great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) had stopped Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar from going to Parliament? His picture was not installed in Parliament. Today you are quoting Ambedkar, but it is the Modi government which has honoured him," Shah said. In a jibe at the opposition parties, he said they have united due to the fear of Modi. "People have expressed their choice that Modiji should become the prime minister (again) by chanting 'Modi, Modi'. But whom will the 'gathbandhan' (opposition alliance) make the prime minister? They do not have any 'neeti' (policy) or 'reeti' (manner). They have united only due to the fear of Modiji," he said. Citing the various welfare schemes launched by the Centre, Shah said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had given gas cylinders, power connections and houses to the poor. "In the past five years, gas cylinders were given to 7 crore poor women, 2.5 crore people got houses and nearly 2.35 crore families got electricity connections. Apart from this, 50 crore poor people got the benefit of free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh," he said. Referring to Modi washing the feet of sanitation workers during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the BJP chief said, "This has not happened earlier. The prime minister honoured them and also sent a message of social harmony." Shah also lauded Modi for the decision to carry out air strikes in Pakistan following the Pulwama attack. "Pakistan had killed 40 of our CRPF jawans. Modiji demolished the hideouts of the terrorists by conducting air strikes in Pakistan on the 13th day of their death," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) chief Amit Shah on Sunday ridiculed Rahul Gandhi for deciding to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat besides Amethi, saying the president has "fled" to Kerala fearing that the voters in his traditional stronghold would seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years. Shah was addressing his first election meeting in western Uttar Pradesh, where voting will be held in the first phase on April 11. The saffron party had won all the eight seats in the region in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. "Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account (of work) from him," the chief said. "In Kerala, there is of appeasement, hence he is going there. You (Gandhi) have played with the security of the country for your vote-bank Wherever you go, the people of the country will ask you to give an account (of work)," he said. The had earlier on Sunday said Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The decision is seen as an attempt by the to consolidate its electoral base in south India, especially Kerala which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Shah also hit out at the Congress, claiming it "gave a clean chit" to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Samjhauta Express train blast case, sent Swami Aseemanand and other "innocent people" to jail and "put a tag of terrorism on Hindus". He claimed that in "the Samjhauta blast case, the then Union home minister P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Rahul Gandhi had said in front of US officials that Lashkar-e-Taiba is not a threat, but people spreading Hindu terrorism are." "However, court has given a clean chit to Swami Aseemanand and other accused," Shah said. He alleged that the Congress had committed the sin of linking terrorism with religion and demanded Rahul Gandhi's apology to the country. "They have committed the sin of insulting the glorious Hindu community for their vote-bank Can a Hindu ever be a terrorist? Is it possible that Rahul Gandhi does not know that we (Hindus) even feed wheat flour to ants? How can we kill people? Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of the country for this," the chief said. Alleging the Congress had denied Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar his due honour, Shah said, "I want to ask Rahul baba why your great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) stopped Bhimrao Ambedkar from going to Parliament? His picture was not installed in Parliament. Today you are quoting Ambedkar, but it is the Modi government which has honoured him." In a jibe at opposition parties, the BJP chief said they have united due to the fear of Modi. "By chanting 'Modi, Modi' people have made it clear that Modiji should become prime minister (again). But whom will the 'gathbandhan' (opposition alliance) project as prime minister? They do not have any 'neeti' (policy) or 'reeti' (manner). The fear of Modiji have united them," he said. Citing various welfare schemes of the Centre, Shah said the Modi government has given gas cylinders, power connections and houses to the poor. "In the last five years, gas cylinders were given to seven crore poor women, 2.5 crore people got houses and nearly 2.35 crore families got electricity connections. Apart from this, 50 crore poor got the benefit of free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh," he said. Referring to PM Modi washing the feet of sanitation workers during Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the BJP chief said, "This has not happened earlier. The prime minister honoured them and also sent a message of social harmony." Lauding Modi for the decision to carry out anti-terror air strikes in Pakistan's Balakot following the Pulwama terrorist attack, he said, "Pakistan killed 40 of our CRPF jawans. Modiji demolished the hideouts of the terrorists by conducting air strikes in Pakistan on the 13th day of their death." Later, at a rally in Baghpat, Shah said, "If they (Pakistan) fire bullets at us, we will reply with shells. If they hurl stones at us, we will reply with bricks." "The people of the country said Modiji has done a good by hitting terrorists. But Sam Pitroda, the guru of Rahul Gandhi, said the attack was not good and there should have been talks," he said. There was an atmosphere of festivity across the nation following the air strikes, but Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav had a long face, the BJP chief claimed. Blaming the successive BSP and SP governments in UP for alleged non-payment of sugarcane dues to farmers, he said, "Our government has paid Rs 58,000 crore to sugarcane farmers. By April 5, almost 75 per cent of cane dues this year will be paid by the Centre and the UP government." Prior to beginning his speech in Baghpat, Shah paid tributes to former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and said, "How we should work for farmers has been told to the country by Chaudhary Sahab." The Baghpat parliamentary constituency has been the traditional seat of the Chaudhary family. But in 2014, RLD's Ajit Singh lost the seat to the BJP. This time, his son Jayant Chaudhary is in the fray from the same seat. Taking a jibe at the father-son duo, Shah said, "If a record of non-performing MPs is to be made, then Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary will be at first position. Ajit Singh fled to Muzaffarnagar from Baghpat to contest the polls fearing that he may lose the from his traditional seat. Russia is ready to promote dialogue between Venezuela's government and opposition and recommends the United States to stop threatening Venezuela, chocking its economy and pushing it towards civil war, said Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, News.am reported citing RIA Novosti. "We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, chocking its economy and pushing it toward civil war, which is in blatant violation of international law. We call on all of the Venezuelan political powers that put their homeland's interests ahead of their own ambitions to engage in dialogue. We are prepared to cooperate on all levels to facilitate this process," Zakharova said in a statement. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday said Congress President Rahul Gandhi's contest in Wayanad in the state could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections. There was no need to attach any special importance to the Congress President contesting from the state and Gandhi was just one among the 20 candidates of the opposition UDF, who are trying their luck from Kerala, he said. "If Gandhi's fight is against the BJP, he should have contested against the saffron party. In Kerala, the fight is between LDF and UDF in the elections," Vijayan told a meet-the-press programme at the Press Club here. He was reacting to the announcement by Congress that Gandhi would contest from the hilly Wayanad, considered a fortress of the party, in addition to the Gandhi family's pocket burrow Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh in the polls. "The present move can only be seen as a fight against the Left. But, we have no anxiety...we are fully confident and will strive to defeat him in Wayanad," the CPI-M veteran said. Gandhi had announced earlier he would retain Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as his constituency after elections, he said. "So, it is like...Gandhi will continue as the MP from Amethi and in Wayand he is examining if he can defeat the Left", the Chief Minister said asking what message the Congress was conveying to the people through the move. When asked about the proposed post-poll alliance with the Congress at the national level, Vijayan said it was a matter to be thought off after the elections. BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said the Congress decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad showed the "decay" in the grand old party. "After realising that he will lose from Amethi, Gandhi has decided to contest from wayand", he told reporters here. The BJP would give a "tough fight" to the Congress candidate, he said adding Gandhi's Wayanad contest was being viewed by the party as "acceptance of defeat". The state Congress leaders were all in a jubilant mood over the AICC chief's decision. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala said the party'saim was to ensure Gandhi's victory with a massive margin. "I challenge Pinarayi Vijayan, if he can defeat Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad and we accept the challenge," he told reporters at Alapuzha. It would be a "historical win" for Gandhi in Wayanad and there would be a "Rahul wave" in the entire state, he claimed. "A prime ministerial candidate is contesting from Kerala for the first time and this will have an impact in the entire state," he said adding the UDF would win all 20 seats. Party's state unitPresident Mulapally Ramachandran said the decision to field Gandhi from Wayand would be "a happy for secular-democratic forces" in the state. He also remembered how former Congress presidents Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had scripted impressive victories from South India. Congress leader M I Shanavas, who died in November last year, had won Wayanad, known for its picturesque locales and spices, in the 2009 and 2014 elections. The LDF has decided to field CPIs P P Suneer in the constituency this time while BJP-NDA yet to announce its candidate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Rajasthan minister and BJP's Lok Sabha candidate for Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Sunday accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of ignoring the state and instead preparing the ground for his son's political entry. A day ahead of the chief minister's son Vaibhav Gehlot's landing in Jodhpur to kick start his campaigning for the Lok Sabha election, Shekhawat said there was no concrete achievement of the Congress government in the 100 days after coming to power. "Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is just focusing on preparing the political ground for the launch of his son, instead of working for the state," Shekhawat said to media persons here. Vaibhav has been pitted against Shekhawat for the Jodhpur LS seat as the Congress candidate. Shekhawat alleged swine flu deaths, farmer crisis, communal tension, power cuts, water woes, financial management and the "transfer industry" defines the Congress. He said the Congress had lost the right to remain in power because of its "lies and deceit". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Customers of Reliance Mutual Fund can now carry out voice-based financial transactions, with Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) partnering with internet major Google. For the first time in India, Reliance Mutual Fund for its customers is introducing a conversational interface that would help customers shop with the fund "just by listening and speaking to your smartphone or digital device through a series of voice commands," RNAM said in a release. In the first phase, the functionality would be launched in Reliance Simply Save app for the customers and then subsequently in Google Assistant platform for access by all existing and potential investor, it added. According to the company, out of all new customers for the fund in a month, "digital contributes to 50-55 per cent of the new customers". RNAM CEO Sundeep Sikka said the company has enabled voice-led financial transactions, adding that "we are of a firm belief that going ahead, voice is going to be the primary medium for bringing in digital inclusion across the masses". "Reliance Mutual's pioneering endeavour to bring voice-based transactions to the mutual fund space is very exciting, and it's a great example of how voice search can help enterprises create engaging, personal interactions with customers," Nitin Bawankule, Country Director of Google Cloud India said. RNAM is a joint venture between Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital and Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co Ltd. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Sunday asserted that the "Secular Progressive Alliance" comprising Congress, DMK, and the left parties among others would romp home in all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his door-to-door campaign to distribute pamphlets wooing voters in Nellithope Assembly constituency here, Narayanasamy said, "people have rejected Narendra Modi as he had failed to deliver on his promises held out during the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls." Claiming that demonetisation, GST and failure to provide generate jobs would bring in a "miserable failure" for the BJP and AIADMK inclusive NDA in the coming elections, he said, "People have rejected Modi on the basis of his failure to measure up to the expectations of the people." The senior Congress leader also alleged that the country had witnessed no development during the last five years when the NDA had been in power at the Centre. Exuding confidence that the secular progressive front would stage a come back to power at the Centre, he said the poverty eradication programme announced by AICC leader Rahul Gandhi to benefit 20 percent of the poorest of the poor would bring in amelioration of the lot of SC, ST, backward classes and other poorer sections. Narayanasamy appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise in support of former Speaker V Vaithilingam contesting as the Congress nominee in the April 18 parliamentary poll here. Led by the DMK, the coalition comprises Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Vaiko-led MDMK, Indian Union Muslim League, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and smaller outfits, the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and the Indiya Jananayaga Katchi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiv Sena corporator Amardeep Rode was Sunday hacked to death allegedly by two of his friends following a scuffle over water in Maharashtra's Parbhani district, police said. The incident took place in the morning in the district's Jayakwadi Colony, over 500 kilometres from here, said an official. "Rode, a corporator with the Parbhani Municipal Corporation, had intervened after some women complained about getting less water from a public tap in the area," the official said. "A pit had been dug near the water tap to draw out excess quantities and Rode objected to this. His friend Ravi Gaikwad is reported to have dug the pit and Rode went to ask him about it. An altercation ensued during which Rode tried to attack Gaikwad with an axe," the official added. Rode's friend Kiran Dake tried to stop him from escalating the argument but the former attacked him as well, he said. "Gaikwad overpowered Rode and hit him with the axe. Gaikwad and Dake then assaulted Rode with stones and sticks, killing him instantly. The two have surrendered to the police," he informed. A case of murder has been registered with Mondha police station and further investigation was underway, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with the party's other star campaigners Navjot Singh Sidhu and Jyotiraditya Scindia, will hold a series of road shows and rallies in the first week of April in West Uttar Pradesh, AICC members said Sunday. Speaking to Bhasha-PTI, Congress west UP co-incharge Raghav Singla said the party president would be joined by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and MP Jyotiraditya Scindia during his April 8 rallies in Saharanpur. Further, the party is planning to hold rallies in Meerut, Hapur, Bijnor, Ghaziabad, Moradabad and Fatehpur Sikri, though exact dates have not yet been finalised. Singla said the Congress should not be taken lightly in Uttar Pradesh as the people are looking towards his party for change. He said the Congress will win at least a dozen seats out of the total 28 in west UP. The Congress in not looking to hold grand rallies in the state, concentrating on smaller road shows and campaigns to put its view in front of the people, Singla explained. He said the road show routes would be decided based on maximum-possible voter out reach. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi insulted farmers in the country. He should apologise to them," Singla said, referring to the prime minister's February 4, 2017 rally in Meerut. Modi said he would waive the arrears of sugarcane farmers in two weeks, however that promise was not kept, Singla alleged. He opined that the active participation of Priyanka Gandhi would help strengthen his party's position here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven people were killed and five others injured in an explosion at a scrap metal moulding plant in eastern China on Sunday, officials said. The explosion took place in a yard outside the Kunshan Waffer Technology Corp. Ltd. in Kunshan Bonded Zone in Jiangsu Province, they said. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the state-run Xinhua agency reported. The incident came barely a week after one of China's worst industrial accidents in which 78 people were killed and over 600 others injured. On March 22, a powerful blast at a pesticide factory in eastern city of Yancheng demolished a number of other factories in the industrial park. Earlier, on Friday, five people were killed in an explosion in a factory in China's Shandong Province. The explosion took place in a workshop of a perlite factory in the city of Qingzhou. The private factory owner was held by the local police. Initial investigation showed the accident was caused by a leak in a liquefied gas tank. Following the accidents, the Chinese government has ordered nationwide inspection of chemical industries to prevent large scale factory explosion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CRPF convoys moving to and from the Kashmir Valley will now be commandeered by a higher SP-rank officer and a single motorcade will not have more than 40 vehicles at any point of time, the paramilitary force has ordered in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 troops during a similar movement. PTI has accessed a set of new standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the force headquarters in Delhi for vehicle-mounted movement of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, and it has also been ordered that the 'passenger manifest discipline' for each vehicle in the convoy be strictly adhered to. Amongst the first set of changed SOPs is the move to depute a second-in-command rank officer (equivalent to Superintendent of Police rank) of the force to lead the convoy instead of the current practice of a junior Assistant Commandant-rank (Assistant SP) officer heading the entourage. This is to ensure that the convoy is led by an experienced and senior officer who will have a better clairvoyance and strategy to manoeuvre the convoy to and from the Kashmir Valley which is operationally very sensitive due to terrorist acts and IED threats, official sources said. This will also upgrade the accountability hierarchy and the new convoy commander will now directly report and co-ordinate with one of the three Central Reserve Police Force Deputy Inspector General (operations) based in Kashmir. Till now, the convoy commander or the Assistant Commandant used to report through the Commandant to their higher-ups. The convoy commander usually travels in the lead in a communications gadget-fitted vehicle comprising armed troops for quick reaction. It has also been decided that the convoy strength will not go beyond 40 vehicles in any case and "all possible efforts" will be made to essentially keep the number of vehicles in a motorcade to the least possible of about 10-20 for effective management and control, they said. A CRPF bus in the fifth position of a 78 vehicle convoy was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber after he detonated his explosives-laden SUV near it on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama on February 14. The over 2,500 personnel strength convoy was being commanded by an AC-rank officer and all 39 personnel in the ill-fated bus and a sub-officer stationed on the ground, as part of a road sanitisation party, were killed in the deadly blast. The force undertook a huge and time-taking task of identifying the bodies of its slain personnel as the blast had blown the bus and its occupants to smithereens making it difficult to identify the mortal remains as it is understood that some men changed their vehicles when the convoy last halted. It has, sources said, hence been decided that all those who are allotted a seat in the vehicle will scrupulously stick to the seating plan and re-board the same bus or truck after the convoy resumes post a refreshment break. A sub-officer in the rank of an Inspector or a Sub-Inspector will be responsible for ensuring that the passenger manifest of each vehicle remains intact, they said. The convoys will also have a changed strategy of having bullet-proof mobile bunkers which are always deployed at frequent gaps in the motorcade for any armed offensive or defensive action in case of an attack. Also, each vehicle in the convoy will have armed security personnel as usual, but their numbers and position will be changed dynamically and as per operational requirements, they said. The CRPF, designated lead force for internal security duties and anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir, is also mulling to create a new full-fledged transit facility for its troops in Udhampur that will reduce by about 70 km, the distance between Jammu and Srinagar. The present transit camp is in Jammu and it takes about 10-12 hours for convoys to cover about 300 km between these locations. A transit facility in Udhampur will reduce the time taken and the risk involved in running convoys, which cannot be done away with completely despite the government recently allowing all personnel to take a flight to Srinagar from either Jammu or Delhi, they said. The around three lakh personnel strength force has about 65 battalions or about 70,000 personnel deployed in the Kashmir Valley and has two sectors, Kashmir and Kashmir operations, headed by two Inspector General rank officers. CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar had last week told the agency that they are going to procure a new fleet of mine protected vehicles, small 30-seater buses and provide more partial armour to its troop carrying buses to ensure safety of jawans post the Pulwama attack, the worst in the valley on security forces in over three decades. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sudanese national was apprehended at the Delhi airport on Sunday for allegedly attempting to smuggle 29 kg of white sandalwood pieces, officials said. The accused, A A Rahman Ali Elzain, was intercepted by the Central Industrial Security Force when he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport around 7.30 am. Twenty-nine kg of white sandalwood, which is banned for export, was seized from Elzain and he was handed over to the customs authorities, the officials said. The passenger was supposed to take a flight to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the officials added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sun's magnetic field is ten times stronger than previously believed, according to study which can potentially change our understanding of the solar atmosphere and its effects on Earth. Working from the Swedish one metre Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in the Canary Islands, David Kuridze, Research Fellow at Aberystwyth University in the UK studied a particularly strong solar flare which erupted near the surface of the Sun on September 10, 2017. A combination of favourable conditions and an element of luck enabled the team to determine the strength of the flare's magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy. The researchers believe the findings have the potential to change our understanding of the processes that happen in the Sun's immediate atmosphere. "Everything that happens in the Sun's outer atmosphere is dominated by the magnetic field, but we have very few measurements of its strength and spatial characteristics," Kuridze said. "These are critical parameters, the most important for the physics of the solar corona. It is a little like trying to understand the Earth's climate without being able to measure its temperature at various geographical locations," he said. "This is the first time we have been able to measure accurately the magnetic field of the coronal loops, the building blocks of the Sun's magnetic corona, which such a level of accuracy," he added. Measuring 1,400,000 kilometres across and 150,000,000 kilometres from Earth, the Sun's corona extends millions of kilometres above the surface. Solar flares appear as bright flashes and occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Until now, successful measurement of the magnetic field has been hindered by the weakness of the signal from the Sun's atmosphere that reaches Earth and caries information about the magnetic field, and limitations in the instrumentation available. The magnetic fields reported in this study are similar to those of a typical fridge magnet and around 100 times weaker than the magnetic field encountered in an MRI scanner. However, they are still responsible for the confinement of the solar plasma, which make up solar flares, as far as 20,000 km above the Sun's surface. Over a 10-day period in September 2017, Kuridze studied an active area on the sun's surface which the team knew to be particularly volatile. However, the telescope used can only focus on one per cent of the Sun's surface at any given time. As luck would have it, Kuridze was focused on exactly the right area and at the right time when the solar flare erupted. These solar flares can lead to storms which, if they hit Earth, form the northern lights -- the Aurora Borealis. They can also disrupt communications satellites and GPS systems, as proved to be the case on this occasion in September 2017. "This is a unique set of observations that, for the first time, provide a detailed map of the magnetic field in coronal loops," said Michail Mathioudakis, Queen's University Belfast, who also worked on the project. "This highly rewarding result was achieved due to the dedication and perseverance of our early career scientists who planned and executed the observations. The methodology used in this work and the result itself, will open new avenues in the study of the solar corona," Mathioudakis said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia is ready to further strengthen partnership with countries of the Middle East and North Africa in all areas, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a greetings letter (posted on the Kremlin website) to participants of the Arab League summit, which will be held today in Tunisia. Head of Russian stressed that there's tense situation in many countries of the Middle East and North Africa regions, which make the Arab League as a mechanism of multilateral dialogue and cooperation extremely relevant. According to him, existing crises in the region should be resolved through political and diplomatic methods. "This is especially true when it comes to Syria, where, thanks in large part to Russia's efforts, we were able to inflict crushing blow on the forces of terror, re-launch political process, begin to resolve urgent humanitarian problems," he said. He also noted that in order to stabilize situation in the region, it's necessary to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, the outcome of which would be a "just solution to the Palestinian problem." "Russia is ready to further strengthen partnership with the Middle Eastern and North African states in all areas," he added. Seventeen people, including superintendent of an examination centre and 14 invigilators, have been booked under Gangster Act for allegedly aiding mass copying at an exam centre here during the Uttar Pradesh board examinations. The accused, including superintendent of the centre Yogender Pal, were arrested during a Special Task Force raid last month when the mass copying was caught during the Class 12th Physics paper. District Magistrate Ajay Shanker Pandey said here Sunday that on the recommendation of the police, 17 people including suprintendent Yogender Pal, 14 invigilators and two others Intakhab and Asher Nafis were booked under the Gangster Act. They were booked Saturday at Bad village under Charthawal police station in the district. The alleged mass copying was caught on February 22 when the STF raided the examination centre upon a tip-off. However, no student was apprehended, police said. Officials said solved examination papers, pistol, mobile and exam guides were also recovered during the raid. A car was also seized. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lt Gen (Retd) D S Hooda, the main architect of the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK, Sunday submitted a report on national security to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, over a month after he was tasked by the party to come out with a vision document. The former northern Army commander was made the head of a 'task force on national security', set up by Gandhi in February to prepare the vision paper for the country. "Lt General (Retd) D S Hooda & his team have put together a comprehensive report on India's National Security, that he presented to me today. This exhaustive report will at first be discussed & debated within the Congress party," Gandhi tweeted. The Congress chief thanked Hooda and his team for their effort. The retired Army officer headed the panel set up by the party and prepared the paper in consultation with a select group of experts. After meeting Gandhi, Hooda said, "The Congress president had constituted a task force on national security headed by me. I prepared a national security strategy document and today submitted it to him." On September 29, 2016, the Army had carried out the strikes on seven terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation of an attack on its base in Uri earlier that month. Last December, responding to a question during a panel discussion at the Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh, Hooda had said that in hindsight, it would have been better had "we done it (surgical strikes) secretly". He had also said the initial euphoria about the success of the surgical strikes was natural but the constant maintenance of the hype around the military operation was unwarranted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A constable of the Manipur police, who was suspended and arrested in connection with the escape of an undertrial prisoner, died in custody here, a senior police officer said Sunday. A magisterial enquiry was ordered into the custodial death Manjur Ahmed and a police inspector was suspended, Director General of Police L M Khaute said. Ahmed was found dead in an interrogation cell on Saturday. He was arrested in connection with the escape of Thokchom Nando, a leader of proscribed militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), from the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here on Tuesday, Khaute told PTI. Nando was allegedly involved in the kidnap and murder of a young girl in November 2003. The militant leader was admitted to the hospital following a court order in November last year. The DGP said 10 persons were arrested so far in connection with the escape of Nando from the hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An election observer from the IPS cadre of Haryana caused a flutter here when he fired nine rounds in the air from a constable's gun early Sunday and was promptly removed from duty, officials said. DIG Hemant Kalson, suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, asked the Police constable posted there to give the semi-automatic gun andstarted firing in the air on a road near the Circuit House, where he has been staying. Others staying in the circuit house rushed out on hearing gun shots when they found the officer firing in the air. Kalson then handed back the gun to the shocked constable before going back to his room and resuming his sleep as if nothing happened, they said. Police said the constable could not refuse when the observer asked for the gun as he was a higher ranked police official. According to officials, Kalson, who was among the observer for the April 18 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, had been relieved from duty with immediate effect based on the recommendation of District Collector M Vijayalakshmi, who is the Election Officer. State Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo in Chennai said the officer had been removed as observer and an FIR registered against him. Police were investigating. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Students of nearly 200 primary schools in the far-flung tribal areas of Sahyadri hill ranges in Maharashtra are getting into the habit of reading books, thanks to an initiative by a group of trekkers from Pune. Libraries consisting of books on history, environment, animals, forts and stories of well-known scientists, authors, sportsmen and freedom fighters are being set up in these schools by the Marathidesha Foundation throughits movement 'Shivsahyadri Granthdindi'. Damodar Magdum, one of the members of the foundation, said during their treks and fort conservation-related activities in the Sahyadri ranges, they realised that the schools and students there were facing resource crunch. "So, we decided to do something for such schools and planned to donate books that can be used for extra-curricular reading," he said. Several trekkers and fort lovers were now coming forward and contributing to the cause, he said. "As of now, we have set up over 200 libraries at schools in various small tribal villages," Magdum claimed, adding their aim was to take this number to 2,000 in future. The group members make sure that students read these books in their spare time. "We ask schools to designate one day as 'reading day' and also ask students to write letters to us explaining about the book they read," he said. Magdum said they have received several letters from students sharing their thoughts after reading these books. "So besides the habit of reading, the habit of writing is also being inculcated among students," he said. Savlaram Pote, a teacher at a primary school in a tribal area near Shivneri Fort, said they received over 150 Marathi books from the Marathidesh Foundation and students were enjoying reading them in their recess or other free time. "The students are reading books, explaining what they understood from it and also writing letters to the foundation members," he said. Bhagwan Chile, a fort researcher associated with the initiative, said it was a "great thing" to get students of these schools, located in remote areas, into the habit of reading. "Since there are books on forts in Maharashtra and on Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the students will associate with them. This may enhance their knowledge of forts and they could become good guides in future," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There was a time when political parties waited for the Ulema (religious leaders) to support them and fetch the Muslim votes during an election, but in the last couple of years, influence of these appeals have reduced, according to a professor. Hilal Ahmed, associate professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told PTI that it is a misconception that Muslims vote on the Ulema's appeal. "Actually, Muslims voted according to their personal choice and everyday life, and the appeals do not affect them," Ahmed said. An Ulema is a body of Muslim scholars having knowledge of Islamic law and theology. Yusuf Naki, an advocate in the Delhi High Court, corroborated the claim, saying the appeal of the maulanas during elections does not affect anyone. "Now there is no effect of any appeals on Muslims. At least Muslims in Delhi do not vote for any maulana or imam's appeal," said Mohammad Umar, 39, who runs a chemist shop in Old Delhi. According to Ahmed, the appeals from the Ulema started in the 1967 general election for then prime minister Indira Gandhi. The word "Muslim vote bank" was used for the first time, he added. Such appeals were given again by Imam Abdullah Bukhari of the Jama Masjid in Delhi, for Indira Gandhi in 1973 and the Janata Party in the 1977 elections. In 1980 and 1984, Bukhari again asked people to vote for the Congress, he supported V P Singh in 1989 and again Congress in 1992. More such appeals were seen in different parts of the country, supporting different parties. For instance, the Ulema appealed for the Samajwadi Party in 2012 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. In 2015, the Ulema expressed support for the Aam Admi Party in the Delhi Assembly election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While Netflix series 'Delhi Crime' has got rave reviews for its sensitive portrayal of the Nirbhaya gangrape case, Inspector Anil Sharma is upset with the makers and is planning to take the legal route against them for the depiction of a character based on him. Sharma was the SHO of the Vasant Vihar police station where the case was registered in 2012 which had led to an outrage across the nation. The police officer said he regularly met the victim when she was admitted in a hospital in the national capital and spent time with her. He said had not missed a single hearing in the case and is still in touch with the victim's family whom he describes an extended family. Sharma, who hasn't watched the series yet, claimed its director Richie Mehta has apologised to him, but he felt that the character's portrayal has hurt him. In an interview to PTI earlier, Mehta had said the show dramatises the incident and includes back stories of the police personnel, the condition of the force, their power struggle with the bureaucracy and managing the scoop-hungry media. The series depicts the Vasant Vihar SHO's character as an officer who is not trusted by his seniors and tries to shirk work, even when the team is racing against time to nab the culprits. Later in the series, the character, christened Vinod, becomes more responsible and even makes a suggestion to his DCP to go in for orthodontics technique, which was used for the first time in any case and helped nail the accused. The technique matched the bite marks on the victim's body with the teeth marks of the accused using dental casts. The police officer said he is planning to initiate legal proceedings against the makers of the series. Sharma, currently posted as the SHO of the Lodhi Colony police station, told PTI that he had faced three inquiry commissions in the case and none of them found any laxity on the part of the police station. "They, in fact, praised us. Even the courts praised the police's efforts. The series has maligned my reputation and I am considering whether I can go to court against them," he said. Sharma said he is upset and even though the director, Richie Mehta, has apologised to him, he is not pacified. "He has apologised to me and sent several messages. My seniors are also upset. During one of our crime review meetings, my senior discussed the portrayal of my character and encouraged me to not be affected by it," he said. In an episode, Sharma's character tells his DCP, portrayed by Shefali Shah, that he wants to go to the gym to unwind, even as the police teams are looking for the accused. "I am a national-level athlete and I have never gone to the gym. If I would have thought so, my juniors would have not put in efforts thinking that when the seniors are like this, why should we be bothered," he said. He said when the case was under investigation, they had done what could be called the "mother of all arrangements". "Students used to be sitting right outside the police station and we used to escort the accused to court through the rear of the police station, crossing a drain, slum cluster, through PVR Priya, all while ensuring that they are not lynched by the angry public. Apart from this, I also had the job of collecting evidence in the case, handling her friend who was also with her in the bus," he said. Sharma, who was also managing other cases at the time, said he used to visit the victim and forged a bond with her. "I used to regularly spend time with her. I had even told her O Henry's popular story 'The Last Leaf' as her story was similar to it," he said. The officer recalled how they had spoken about celebrating New Year and Christmas together. The woman passed away on December 29, 2012 in Singapore during treatment. Sharma said throughout the trial of the case, he followed up on it and attended all the hearings. He said her family is like an extended family for him and they have always had good things to say about the police team which investigated the case. "During the trial, I lost my elder brother and father. While I was bathing my brother's body for last rites, I got a call from a senior officer about the case, I immediately got up and attended it without telling him about the tragedy. That has been my level of dedication," he said. Sharma said the director of the series had met him when he was posted as the SHO of Chandni Mahal police station and after that he did not not hear from him. "Neeraj Kumar sir, who was the commissioner of police at that time, has also been upset about the portrayal and has reprimanded the makers who will be adding a disclaimer to the series in a day or two," he said. Neeraj Kumar is also the story consultant of the series and he had given the suggestion to Mehta to make a film on the case in 2014. Sharma said the citizens, anyway, have a negative impression of the khaki and showing a policeman in such light would re-enforce it. "I know that they have to make things dramatic and take creative liberties. But they could have done so in some other way. The police department supported them in this. Will they be supportive of such things in the future if they depict police like this," he asked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wayanad Lok Sabha constiutency in north Kerala has been catapulted to the national limelight with Congress President Rahul Gandhi deciding to contest from the hilly district. After a week-long suspense, Congress formally announced that Gandhi would try his luck from Wayanad, besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, giving the much needed boost to the Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) workers. The late M I Shanavas (Cong-UDF) had sucessfully represented the constituency in 2014 and 2009 defeating LDF candidates. He passed away in November last year. The LDF candidate in Wayanad this time is P P Suneer of the CPI. The BJP has given the seat to its partner BDJS (Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and has not formally announced its candidate here so far. The predominantly agrarian constituency, Wayanad, where coffee, tea, cocoa, pepper, tea and Cardamom are the chief agricultural crops, is also a much sought after tourist destination with its stone age carvings of Edakkal caves, scenic locales, breathtaking waterfalls. It is also a trekkers delight, with some of its peaks towering 2,100 metres above sea level. Wayanad constituency consists of Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery, Kalpetta, Thiruvambady, Ernad, Nilambur and Wandoor segments and has a total voter population of 13,25,788, of whom 6,70,0002 are females. Wayanad also has a large mix of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community. Perched on the western ghats, Wayanad shares its borders with Mysore and Chamarajanagar in Karnataka and Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. It was carved out from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts on November 1 1980 as the 12th district of Kerala and has 886.92 sq km of area under forest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday urged BJP's sister organisations to not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party chief Amit Shah during the national polls. Addressing an election rally here organised by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, Banerjee said the BJP won't get a single seat in Bengal and the party won't cross the 125-mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "BJP has sister organisations, I would like to request them that if you love the country, please don't support Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the West Bengal chief minister said. "This is a special election. There are not many people to fight for the country, please vote for Chandrababu Naidu. Modi and Shah bully everyone," she added. Taking on the BJP, the Trinamool Congress chief said the BJP will not get a single seat in Bengal. "In 2014, Modi got 21 out of 119 seats in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that was your best time," Banerjee said, adding that the BJP will not get more than 125 seats in this election. "In UP, he got 73 seats when the Samajwadi Party and the BSP fought alone. Now they have come together. In Odisha too they won't get any seats," she said. Banerjee also challenged Modi for an open debate and attacked the prime minister for not addressing any press conference during his tenure. "Modi didnt address a presser in five years. He reads from tele-prompter and says he has a 56-inch chest," the TMC supremo quipped. She said the country needs a prime minister who doesn't differentiate between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. "Modi said demonetisation would curb terrorism, but it is maximum under his government," she said. Supporting Arvind Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi, Banerjee said the issue needs to be resolved. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After the Lok Sabha nomination of its candidate was rejected, the Aam Aadmi Party's youth wing in Gautam Buddh Nagar Sunday decided to go out on a campaign appealing to voters not to vote for the BJP. AAP candidate Shweta Sharma's nomination papers were rejected by district election officials on March 27, the day of scrutiny, after she failed to find mandatory 10 proposers for her candidature, as required of a non-recognised national or regional party. Alleging that Sharma's nomination was rejected due to pressure by the BJP, the AAP's youth wing decided to reach out to the public and raise awareness on issues related to education, flat buyers, among others, party's Noida unit spokesperson Sanjeev Nigam said. "The party will go to public campaigning against the BJP over the nexus of private schools and the administration which is duping parents of crores of rupees. We will highlight the conspiracy of builders-local authorities-administration to rob 2.5 lakh flat buyers by again bringing in resettlement policy," he said in a statement. "We will appeal to lakhs of people who have been rendered unemployed in private colleges and companies in the district to vote against the BJP," he added. Nigam said the youth wing will also highlight issues related to women, those concerning the three local authorities and of farmers for the objective. "The chowkidar (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is not alert. Instead he is busy getting the nation robbed and we have to save the country from this," AAP's Gautam Buddh Nagar unit president A K Singh said. "The way the party candidate's nomination has been rejected, it was a murder of democracy. We will go the people and appeal for voting against the BJP," party's youth wing district unit president Rahul Seth said. The AAP had claimed that Sharma's nomination was rejected by poll officials under pressure of the BJP and she was not given justice, while the returning officer maintained that she was informed well in time about the flaw in her nomination and yet failed to bring 10 proposers till the given time. Gautam Buddh Nagar, where over 22 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, goes to polls on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phased elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey and Venezuela will hold the political consultations, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The political consultations will be held on April 1 during the visit of Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Alberto Arreaza to Ankara. "During the visit, Turkey and Venezuela will discuss a number of issues, including the development of bilateral relations," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Online lingerie retailer Zivame Sunday said it has raised Rs 60 crore in funding as part of a bridge round, led by Zodius Technology Fund and a group of high net worth individuals. The latest fund infusion, which is part of the company's Series C funding, will be followed by a larger round later in 2019. Zivame, however, did not disclose details of the larger round that is being planned. "The funding will enable us to further enhance our footprint and leadership in existing and newer markets as we continue to build on our mission to be the destination for women for all her intimate needs. We continue to build the category as the Indian lingerie market is largely unorganised and under-served," Zivame Chief Executive Officer Amisha Jain said. She added that the funds would be used for ongoing retail expansion, augmentation of technology, product development and strengthening Zivame's omnichannel strategy. Currently, Zivame has over 30 retail stores and aims to expand to more than 60 in a year. It also aims to strengthen its presence in major malls and high streets with a special focus on tier-I cities. Speaking to PTI, Jain said the company would focus on metro areas like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, as well as cities like Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Pune, Kochi, Mysore and others. She added that the company would continue to ramp up offline presence (from the current over 800 retail points of sale), while maintaining leadership position in the online space. Founded in 2011, Zivame counts names like Zodius Capital, Unilazer and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Government of Malaysia's strategic investment fund) among its investors. The company had raised Rs 250 crore in funding in 2015. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The title sponsorship of the hot property that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is giving you enough bragging rights this time of the year and leverage for the rest of it, one would believe. Into its fourth IPL season and shelling out a whopping Rs 440 crore annually for the association, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer feels it is on course with its branding goals and has enhanced its engagement with the larger audience. To answer if the juice is worth the squeeze for that kind of an investment leads to some questions. The key among them is the branding translating into sales. The ... All branches of public sector lenders Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will function as branches of Bank of Baroda from April 1, 2019, the Reserve bank of India said on Saturday. State-owned Bank of Baroda's proposed merger with Dena and Vijaya Bank will be affected from April 1. "Consequently, all branches of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will function as branches of Bank of Baroda from April 1, 2019. Customers, including depositors of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be treated as customers of Bank of Baroda with effect from April 1, 2019," the Reserve Bank of India said in a press release. Also Read: BoB-Vijaya-Dena Bank merger: Govt to infuse Rs 5,042 crore into Bank of Baroda As per the merger plan, shareholders of Vijaya Bank will get 402 equity shares of BoB for every 1,000 shares held. Similarly, the shareholders of Dena Bank will receive 110 equity shares of BoB for every 1,000 equity shares held. After the commencement of the amalgamation scheme, the boards of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will stand dissolved. The entire share capital of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will stand cancelled and the shares of both these banks will also stand delisted from stock exchanges. Earlier on March 28, the government announced to infuse Rs 5,042 crore into state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) ahead of merger. Also Read: Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank merger with BoB to be effective from April 1; here's the share exchange plan Last month, the Cabinet had approved the merger of Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda. Following the merger of these state-owned banks, BoB will become the third largest bank in India after the State Bank of India and HDFC Bank in terms of assets. In September last year, the government had announced the merger of these three banks, as part of its strategy to promote consolidation in the sector marred by loads of non-performing assets (NPAs). However, this is the first three-way merger in the public sector banking space has taken place. Before this, the State Bank of India had merged five of its subsidiary banks with itself and took over Bharatiya Mahila Bank, which secured it a place among the top 50 global lenders. Edited by Chitranjan Kumar Tata Motors on Saturday said it has sold its stake in TAL Manufacturing Solutions Limited to sister concern Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) at an enterprise value of Rs 625 crore for the aerospace business. Tata Motors has acquired non-aerospace business from TAL Manufacturing Solutions Limited (TAL) for Rs 10 lakh, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. "The company has availed requisite regulatory and other approvals and has on March 29, 2019, (i) sold its shareholding in TAL to TASL at an enterprise value of Rs 625 crores for the Aerospace business and (ii) the Company has acquired the non aerospace business from TAL at a value of Rs 10 lakhs," Tata Motors said. On May 3, 2018, Tata Motors had announced that it will sell its non-core defence business to an entity promoted by the parent Tata Sons for over Rs 725 crore. The asset sale to TASL was approved by the board and includes getting Rs 100 crore for capital expenditure and Rs 625 crore for transfer of share in wholly-owned subsidiary TAL Manufacturing Solutions, the company had said. In a similar move, Tata Power Company had also announced the sale of its defense business to to TASL for Rs 2,230 crore. The sale of non-core assets will help companies to cut down their debt and reduce cross holdings. Edited by Chitranjan Kumar Also Read: Vijay Chandok appointed as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities news, latest-news, In my wild (but discerning and award-winning) aesthetic fancy I have always argued that one way to think of the dashing, crimson trams of our coming light rail network is to look at them as city-enhancing works of art. The bean counting opponents of light rail have never been able to appreciate this. They know nothing about art. Culture is wasted on them. And sure enough, now that one actually sees them, the Fabulous 14 trams, being trialled, beetling to and fro along Northbourne Avenue, my fancy is vindicated. Over and above what light rail achieves as a practical people mover there is something about it, in its Civic to Gungahlin manifestation that gives our city (still in so many other ways bogged down in the olden days of the 1960s) a swish, 21st-century feel. The vermilion trams give metropolitan gaiety and enable the city to at last swagger a little. The 14 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) were made in Spain by Constructions y Auxiliary de Ferrocariles and for me are works of art just as surely as if our National Gallery had somehow (at many, many times the cost of these LRV bargains) bought our city 14 Spanish masterpieces, seven, say, by Velazquez, and seven by Goya. Mention of art and of the National Gallery of Australia brings me to the way in which the usual fungal philistines (so many of them, predictably, writing to The Canberra Times from Yarralumla) are complaining about the giant melting wax candle sculpture that has just gone on display at the gallery. They, the philistines (who can be relied upon to anyway dislike all modern sculpture, whether it melts or endures) yodel that $1 million (the reputed costs of Urs Fischers towering Francesco 2017) is wasted on a work of art that is going to melt away to nothing. Even if Francesco actually did melt away to nothing (but as I understand it the wax of the giant figure of a man bent in the quintessential 21st-century pose of someone absorbed by his smartphone will be recovered and reused) the criticism of an artwork for being only temporary, passing, evanescent is odd and daft. All performances of fine music are by their very nature evanescent. A typical Canberra Symphony Orchestra performance may only entertain its audience for two-and-a-half hours (and may for example contain a Beethoven symphony that only lasts for 42 exhilarating minutes). At the Sydney Opera House Mozarts The Magic Flute may, from the moment its figurative wick is lit (with the opening bars of its overture) to the moment its last melody melts away, be over and done in two-and-three-quarter hours. Meanwhile lit-up, waxen Francesco 2017 is going to endure and charm onlookers for six whole months! Whatever artist Urs Fischer is trying to achieve with his waxen giants (as usual the ANGs own published descriptions of Fischers work are too pretentious and masturbatory to be of any help) I am rather moved by the notion of a sculpted human figure that, like a flesh and blood human figure, over time melts (decaying, wizening and withering) and then goes the way of all flesh, of all wax. Michelangelos marble David, his biceps, buttocks and scrotum remaining eternally boyishly taut and terrific, is unconvincing and never feels like ones true brother. He is like a member of another species, Homo everlastingus, whereas perishable, waxen Francesco is endearingly one of us. It seems to me he, like you and me, is living his life like a candle in the wind. Mention of contemporary sculpture moves me to ask: When will we have our city adorned by a sculpture of the greatest living Canberran, Nick Kyrgios? We are very fond of calling him "Canberras Nick Kyrgios" as if hes quintessentially ours. Sports journos like to call him a "Canberra product" suggesting he is somehow made from unique and extra-special Canberra soil, water and society. There are precedents for sculptures of living Canberran sports idols in for example the splendid statues of Laurie Daley and of Mal Meninga at the Canberra Stadium. I have no strong feelings about where the giant public artwork of Nick should be erected. The Reid Tennis Club, this columnists spiritual home, would have a good claim, for Nick is sure to have played there as a junior. But the Reid Residents Association, like all residents associations phobically afraid of change, would surely fight having a major tourist attraction alter their leafy suburbs deathly-quiet ambience, in which one can hear a butterfly sneeze. But wherever the statue goes we must insist that the sculptor capture the true Nick, the special Canberran in all his fiery and controversial realism. I see him in a pose in which he is angrily smashing a racquet, his bronze or marble lips (for it will not do to make him of wax now that our Summers have become so hot) pursed in the pronunciation of one of the f-bomb audible obscenities that have been a hallmark of his inimitable career. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/18d399f1-e6dd-4796-bd1c-4112c0c6c40b/r0_214_4256_2619_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news For seven years, Jangchu and Tshering have been working hard to look after their family in Australia. Their qualifications as nurses aren't recognised, but they're working multiple jobs and are "model citizens" and good parents. But now, because their son Kinley is deaf, the whole family is facing being sent back to Bhutan. More than 6000 people have signed a petition appealing to Immigration Minister David Coleman not to deport the Queanbeyan family. Retired Melbourne teacher of the deaf, David Randall, started the change.org petition in support of his former student Kinley Wangyel Wangchuck, now 18, and his family. The petition to Mr Coleman asks him to use his discretionary powers to allow Kinley and his family to remain in Australia permanently. The family moved Bhutan to Melbourne in 2012 when Kinley's mother Jangchu received a scholarship to study childcare. They moved to Queanbeyan for work and for the town's peaceful setting in late 2014. Kinley's parents Jangchu and Tshering were both nurses in Bhutan. Kinley's father now works two jobs, in aged care and as a cleaner. "We work hard to stay in Australia and I work hard to support my son," he said. Kinley and his brother Tenzin, 17, have been attending Queanbeyan High School. Kinley uses sign language to communicate. Mr Randall said the family's application for permanent residency had been knocked back, most recently by the Administration Appeals Tribunal last month. Their only hope now was a direct appeal to the minister or else face deportation back to Bhutan. A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said it did not comment on individual cases. But the department did say, in general, prospective residents had to meet medical requirements and an objective assessment was undertaken to determine if a condition was likely to result in "significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply". Mr Randall said he understood the family's residency had been refused because of Kinley's hearing loss and the implication he would be a drain on the system. The family's current visa runs out in mid-April. "I can't deny that [Kinley] needs additional support but against that, the family have been consistent wage earners and taxpayers," Mr Randall said. "His brother is now in year 11 and will become a taxpayer in this country. They're model citizens." The minister was the family's last resort. "If they fail to get permanent residency under special consideration, they're not going to sneak away and hide and avoid it. They are law abiding people and will leave the country, albeit very sadly," Mr Randall said. "It will be Australia's loss. They are hard-working, look after their children very, very well. They're caring. They are working below their station because their qualifications are not recognised here. They are nurses but it's very difficult to upgrade your qualifications in Australia with English as a second language." Mr Randall said because Kinley did not meet the requirements of permanent residency, all of the family was refused it. "It's one out, all out. If one doesn't meet the medical requirements, then no one is eligible, it's the nature of the deadline," he said. The spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said visas for Australia required applicants to meet the migration health requirement set out in migration law. "The health requirement is not condition-specific and the assessment is undertaken individually for each applicant based on their condition and level of severity," the spokesperson said. "It is an objective assessment to determine whether the care of the individual during their stay in Australia would likely result in significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply." The spokesperson for the department said ministerial intervention was "not an extension of the visa process". "A person is able to request intervention, however the minister cannot be compelled to exercise his powers and he is not required to explain his decisions on any case. What is or is not in the public interest is entirely a matter for the minister considering each case on its own merits," a statement read. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/82b0981f-3d54-4ccf-9d3b-2f61aa4deecb/r0_191_3640_2248_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news An increasing number of drone users are being busted flying in breach of aviation rules in the ACT, and the regulator is set to catch even more using new surveillance technology. Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson said of the five infringements issued by the authority in Canberra since the start of 2016, three had come in the first three months of this year. All involved private operators. The three 2019 offences hazardous operation in Civic, operation over 400 feet in Reid and operation within three nautical miles, or 5.5 kilometres, of an aerodrome at Mount Ainslie all attracted a $1050 fine. The other two infringements flying over a populous area in Parkes in 2017, and operating a drone within 30 metres of a person not associated with the operation in Reid in 2016 resulted in fines of $900. A further four ACT matters are in the enforcement process. Two of them relate to people caught operating drones illegally at Canberra's New Year's Eve celebrations last year, which had been declared drone-free by the ACT government. Similarly, another two illegal operators were detected at the Skyfire fireworks festival on March 16. Mr Gibson said new technology, rolled out by the authority for the first time at Skyfire, had allowed the authority's inspectors to catch those offenders. "It just comes in a box with a screen that folds out, and a couple of aerials and other pieces of equipment," Mr Gibson said. "It's about the size of a carry-on bag that you'd take on a plane, and it shows you where the drones are in the sky and also pinpoints where the person is on the ground operating the drone. "So those two people, for a couple of pretty pictures at Skyfire, it could cost them more than $1000." Mr Gibson said while contractors had previously carried out surveillance for the authority, Skyfire was the first time its own inspectors had been out with the new technology in search of wrongdoing. "We're going to use it again in Canberra on Anzac Day," he said. "There's also a surfing competition on the Gold Coast where we're planning to get it out, and maybe places like around Sydney Harbour. A lot of people want to put their drones up to get pictures there, but a lot of it's controlled airspace." Mr Gibson said the technology would be used in a targeted way that focused on known problem areas or around events. It shapes as another way for authorities to track down people who disobey drone laws, following the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's announcement earlier this week that drone pilots in Australia will need to pass an online education course to obtain a flyer's licence and register their drone from July. Around the same time, Wing an offshoot of Google's parent company Alphabet hopes to launch a world-first drone delivery operation. It will operate from a Mitchell headquarters to service Gungahlin, Harrison, Franklin, Palmerston and Crace if approved by the authority. The company's delivery drones created controversy during trials for the service conducted in the southern Canberra suburb of Bonython, where many residents complained about the noise the machines generated. While companies can apply for exemptions to operate drones in breach of the usual regulations, as with the Wing trial, private operators must always stick to the laws. This means many of the capital's landmarks are out of bounds for drones because they are within 5.5 kilometres of Canberra Airport, which is a controlled aerodrome. That means no drones above Parliament House, the Australian War Memorial, the Mount Ainslie lookout or the National Gallery of Australia. A no-fly zone also exists around the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. You must also not fly within 5.5 kilometres of a non-controlled aerodrome, like the Hume helibase and Calvary Hospital landing area, if there is a manned aircraft coming to or from it. Other basic laws for drones include no flying above 120 metres in any location, within 30 metres of people unless the other person is essential to controlling or navigating the drone, or in the vicinity of public safety or emergency operations like bushfires or search and rescue events. Drones must always remain within the pilot's line of sight, and pilots can only operate one drone at a time. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/b33f4c02-95e6-4b4f-809c-e7a8ab17c96e/r0_129_1225_821_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, latest-news Unimproved land valuation objections have more than doubled in the last decade, a rise the ACT Opposition has blamed on the Barr government's tax reform. In 2007-08 there were only 60 objections to unimproved land valuations, which is the first step to reducing your rates bill. But so far in 2018-19, there have been 138 objections. This is also a massive increase on last financial year, where a total of 84 objections were lodged. Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe described the surge in objections as "unprecedented". "Canberra households and businesses are obviously hurting as a result of this governments unfair taxes, Mr Coe said. The median number of days to process objections has also nearly tripled. In 2017-18, an unimproved value objection took a median of 54 days to complete, up to a maximum of 330 days. But so far in 2018-19, objections have taken a median of 148 days to complete, up to a maximum of 274 days. "All the while [they are] accruing interest on bills that might not have been paid yet because they are being disputed, Mr Coe said. On top of this, the vast majority of unimproved value objections are rejected. Fifty-seven per cent of objections filed in 2017-18 were rejected, while only 35 per cent were allowed or allowed in part. Of the objections processed so far in 2018-19, 81 per cent have been rejected while only 12 per cent have been allowed or allowed in part. Only a few cases proceeded to a formal appeal through the ACT Administrative and Civil Tribunal. Of the 11 appeals settled in 2017-18, four settled, three were dismissed, three were withdrawn and one is outstanding. None were allowed or allowed in part. The figures come ahead of the release of the findings of an ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry into commercial rates rises this week. The inquiry heard commercial property owners were not appealing their valuations in ACAT, because the legal bills could be in the realm of $80,000 to $100,000. However ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr told the committee land tax was the least-worst" tax a government could collect. The ACT is seven years into a 20-year program to phase out taxes like stamp duty in favour of land-based taxes like rates. And while the reform is supposed to be revenue neutral, increasing land values across large parts of the city have contributed to the pinch felt by Canberrans. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8c9d1445-a2f4-4de1-81f4-c453c05adcda/r0_244_4912_3019_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, federal-politics A parliamentary committee has rejected a proposal to lower the voting age at federal elections to 16. While a formal bill to legalise lowering the voting age is still before the parliament, the committee found the proposed legislation "potentially damaging to the health of our electoral system". The proposal, put forward by Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, would allow for 16 and 17-year-olds to vote at the federal election on a voluntary basis. The committee's chair, Liberal senator James McGrath, said the voluntary voting measure was counter-intuitive. "Voluntary voting would only serve to create two-tiers of electors, an outcome that would neither benefit the Australian electoral system, or the young people this bill purports to elevate," Senator McGrath said. If the bill was to pass parliament, the committee recommended compulsory voting should be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds. "While the committee respects the arguments made by a number of submitters about additional responsibilities being placed on young people, it considers that the right to vote should come with the responsibility to vote," the committee's report said. "The parliament may wish to give the Australian Electoral Commission the discretionary power to automatically waive fines for non-voting for those under the age of 18." Stronger electoral education should also be provided to teenagers should the legislation pass, according to the committee, with a confidential electoral roll for 14 to 16-years-olds also suggested. A survey of young people in the ACT, conducted by Young Women Speak Out, found more than 60 per cent of young people supported lowering the voting age. However, the most recent Australian Election Study, a survey of voter attitudes after every election since 1987, found in 2016 just 11 per cent thought the voting age should be 16. Currently, there are 11 countries with a legal voting age of 16, including Scotland, Brazil, Argentina and Austria, with Indonesia allowing 17-year-olds to vote. Labor MP Andrew Giles, the committee's deputy chair, said the party does not support optional voting or 16 and 17-year-olds. "To treat one cohort of voters different from all others solely by reason of their age is not only incongruous, it is at odds with broad anti-discrimination principles," Mr Giles said. "We are not persuaded that the right to vote should be varied when it attaches to younger voters." The federal opposition did say "urgent" work is required to improve civic education for school students to have more effective political involvement from young people. Greens senator Larissa Waters slammed the committee's final report and said evidence had been "cherry picked" to reach its conclusions. "The conclusions reached in the chair's report do not reflect the majority of the evidence presented," Ms Waters said. "There is also a clear theme of failure by political leadership to properly include young people in discussions that affect them." /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/2cf4dab4-2bb8-4ed6-90b3-931ad7b10c24/r0_116_2000_1246_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. Angela Merkel will this week stage her most significant intervention in the Brexit process in more than two years, as the European Union moves to shield itself from the fallout of political chaos in Britain. The German chancellor is to hold talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin on Thursday and demand a plan to protect Irelands border should the U.K. crash out of the bloc without a deal, which could come as soon as April 12. The EU now sees this as a serious possibility and is focusing almost all of its work on how to contain the consequences, EU officials said. Merkels intervention comes as relations between the U.K. and EU hit an all-time low after Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal was defeated in Parliament at the third attempt on Friday. EU officials say they can do no more to help the British government. The bloc has given the U.K. about another week to notify of the way forward, as it prepares an all-important summit in Brussels on April 10. May, who might make a fourth attempt to win Parliaments support for her deal this week, is considering calling a general election to help break the Brexit deadlock. Her cabinet is split, with some ministers urging her to take the U.K. out of the EU without a deal on April 12 and others saying theyd quit if that becomes her policy. Border Preparations Merkels talks with Varadkar come amid increasing concern in Germany that Ireland hasnt made sufficient preparations to protect the Irish border the EUs new external frontier after Brexit in the event of no deal. At an EU summit 10 days ago, Merkel admonished Varadkar for Irelands lack of a plan, officials said. Ireland still doesnt acknowledge how urgent the situation is, according to one of the officials. After trying to remain above the Brexit fray since negotiations between the U.K. and EU began almost two years ago, Merkel is becoming much more active, as the threat of no-deal looms. Underlining the frustration in Berlin with the situation, Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth on Saturday accused 90 percent of the British cabinet of having no idea how workers think, live, work and behave because they were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Merkels role will also prove crucial if the U.K. requests a long Brexit extension. Germany is one of several countries willing to give Britain time, especially if May calls a snap election, according to officials. French President Emmanuel Macron has argued against such a move. Approving a Brexit delay would have to be unanimous among the 27 EU leaders. The critical need to prevent a downward spiral from turmoil in London and a potential no-deal exit from damaging the rest of Europe is now the priority of the EUs 27 remaining governments, according to a diplomatic note of talks between envoys in Brussels last week. Intractable Problem The Irish border issue has become an almost intractable problem. The EUs proposed backstop arrangement, contained in the Brexit deal rejected three times by the British Parliament, is aimed at preventing the need for infrastructure and visible checks on the frontier by keeping the U.K. in a customs union with the bloc until a replacement solution is found. But Ireland, which insists there can be no return to a hard border a symbol of decades of violence which ended with a peace accord in 1998 has been reluctant to spell out what would happen if the Brexit deal fails. The EU will oblige Ireland to check the flow of goods across the frontier because of Irelands place in the blocs customs union and single market, but officials are working on ways to ensure this can happen as much as possible away from the border, people familiar with the matter said. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Photo: CTV News A registered nurse has been fired and is now the subject of a criminal investigation after at least two pregnant women were allegedly given a labour-inducing drug inappropriately, a hospital in Moncton, N.B., said on Saturday. In a statement, Dr. Ken Gillespie, chief of staff at the Moncton Hospital, said the pregnant women required emergency intervention after receiving the drug. "While in the labour and delivery unit, the administration of oxytocin caused both of these mothers to require urgent C-sections," Gillespie said. "The staff and physicians responded immediately to this need." Gillespie said the hospital launched an internal investigation, culminating in dismissal of the nurse and notification of the RCMP. He also said both patients and their families were notified, and the mothers and babies were doing well. Oxytocin is a naturally occurring hormone that causes contractions of the uterus, speeds up labour and can help control post-delivery bleeding. Its usage, however, requires close monitoring because it can, among other things, affect the fetal heart rate. "Labour can progress too quickly, causing contractions to become difficult to manage without pain medication," according to the American Pregnancy Association. "Oxytocin may need to be discontinued if contractions become too powerful and close together." Other research indicates the drug can cause the uterus to tear, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Gillespie called the situation worrisome and apologized on behalf of the Horizon Health Network. The health authority operates the Moncton Hospital and 11 others, along with more than 100 medical facilities and clinics in New Brunswick. "It is not a situation a new parent wants to experience," Gillespie said. "Our goal is to always provide safe and quality care to all of our patients and their families (and) it is for this reason this incident is so troubling to all of our staff." In light of the ongoing RCMP probe, the hospital said it would provide no further information about the nurse, whose alleged actions have been reported to regulators. "We felt it was important to disclose this information," Gillespie said. "(But) we do not want to compromise the investigation." RCMP did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment. Pope Francis and Moroccos King Mohammed VI called on Saturday for the protection of Jerusalems multi-religious character, saying the citys sacred sites must be accessible to worshippers of all faiths. In a joint appeal signed on the first day of Francis visit to Rabat, the pope and the monarch said they were deeply concerned for its spiritual significance and its special vocation as a city of peace. Since U.S. President Donald Trump announced Washingtons decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2017, the pope, other Christian leaders and Muslim heads of state have stepped up their expressions of concern for the city. We consider it important to preserve the Holy City of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif as the common patrimony of humanity and especially for the followers of the three monotheistic religions, as a place of encounter and as a symbol of peaceful coexistence, where mutual respect and dialogue can be cultivated, said the joint appeal, using the Arab name for Jerusalem. It called for full freedom of access for Jews, Muslims and Christians and a guarantee of their right to worship there. The Vatican backs a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with both sides agreeing on the status of Jerusalem as part of the peace process. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, whereas Israel has declared the whole city to be its united and eternal capital. Speaking several days after Trump announced the move in 2017, the pope called for the citys status quo to be respected, saying new tensions in the Middle East would further inflame world conflicts. The Moroccan and Jordanian kings signed a similar joint statement on Thursday. Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah called for the application of Article 102, which could remove Bouteflika by declaring him unfit for office Algiers, Algeria A breakaway faction within Algerias ruling party has backed the army chiefs call for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit to rule the country, even as several opposition parties and protesters denounced the powerful generals remarks as an attempt to stifle their movement. Following weeks of youth-led anti-Bouteflika protests, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah on Tuesday suggested that the Constitutional Council invoke Article 102, which could lead to Bouteflikas impeachment on health grounds. We call upon all National Liberation Front (FLN) activists to support General Gaid Salahs proposal, a group of dissident politicians within the party said in a statement on Wednesday. The announcement came shortly after former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia called on 82-year-old Bouteflika, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 2013, to leave office. Ouyahia said in a statement he recommended the resignation of the president in order to facilitate the transition period within the framework of the constitution. The former prime ministers National Rally for Democracy party is a member of the ruling coalition, which is dominated by the FLN. Ouyahia also urged for the swift formation of a new cabinet. His comments stood in sharp contrast to earlier remarks before being replaced in a cabinet reshuffle on March 11 by Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui, when he had warned of looming chaos and descent into civil conflict if the anti-government rallies persisted. Meanwhile, Abdelmadjid Sidi Said, the head of the influential General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) and a staunch Bouteflika supporter, also withdrew his backing for Bouteflika, endorsing the armys call for his dismissal. The UGTA welcomes and acknowledges the call of Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah to the application of Article 102 of the Constitution, Sidi Said said in a statement on Wednesday, the latest blow to Bouteflikas hotly contested leadership. Article 102 According to Article 102, the constitutional council is allowed to investigate the health of a president, after which it could proceed to declare the persons incapacity to carry out their duties. A joint session of both lower and upper houses of parliament must then verify the findings, with two-thirds of the legislature required to validate the decision. The head of the upper house is then called upon to govern as caretaker president for a period of 45 days. If Bouteflika is still deemed unfit to resume his duties, the Senates president has three months to organise a new presidential election. To resolve the crisis right now, the implementation of Article 102 is necessary and is the only guarantee to maintain a peaceful political situation, Salah, the army chief and a confidant of Bouteflika, said in a televised address on Tuesday. It is necessary, even imperative, to adopt a solution to get out of this crisis that responds to the legitimate demands of the Algerian people, and which respects and adheres to the constitution and safeguards the sovereignty of the state, he added. Bypassing the will of the people But Salahs call was rejected by several major opposition leaders, who have backed the anti-government uprising, as well as protesters. It is too late to enforce Article 102. This should have been done years ago, and not one month before the end of the presidents fourth term, Mustapha Bouchachi, a prominent lawyer, told the Media. Earlier this month, Bouteflika postponed elections set for April 18 and said he would remain in power until a new constitution was adopted, a move that effectively extended his current term. The Algerian people wont accept that Abdelkader Bensalah, the president of the Senate, who has played a significant role in the corrupted system over the past decade and is, among others, responsible of electoral fraud, to take over from Abdelaziz Bouteflika and oversee the transition, said Bouchachi. The lawyer, who has built a reputation as an indefatigable human rights defender over the years, added that Algerians wanted to do away with the symbols of the old guard. None of them should have a word to say about the future of Algeria, he said, calling for the formation of a government of national unity to assist in the transition period. Only independent figures, who have never been in power, should be appointed. Algerian fears remain despite army move to depose president (2:57) Meanwhile, members of Algerias Workers Party (PT) announced on Wednesday their collective resignation from parliament, in the first such act since the political crisis began on February 22. We will not give credit to what appears to be strategy to bypass peoples will, Ramdane Tazibt, a former PT member of parliament, told Al Jazeera while warning against the armys dangerous intervention in politics. Gaid Salahs decision only aims at rescuing the system, by pushing Bouteflika out of the power and handing it over to [Senate President] Bensalah Before any presidential election, we must first discuss the nature of the new regime we want to live in. Speaking at a press conference in Algiers, on Wednesday, Mohcine Belabbas, head of the liberal Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) party, accused the army chief of overstepping his role. He does not have the right to call for the Constitution to use the Article 102 [ ] This is a political manoeuvre of a faction within the regime, Belabbas said. The RCD called for the dissolution of both houses and the constitutional council; the establishment of a collegial presidency to oversee the transition, and the formation of a government of national salvation to manage the states day-to-day affairs. According to Belabbas, the members of the collegial presidency must be under 60 years old and should be elected by independent trade unions, such as the judiciary body and the high education institution. They will be in charge of initiating talks with various social groups. Saturday a week ago it was a gorgeous Tennessee morning when my sister Ellen and I were driving to Nashville. We were on our way to Vanderbilt Hospital to address my latest in a long line of medical maladies when I said that just up ahead was the Cracker Barrel this about Manchester -- and why didnt we stop for breakfast. Ellen said that maybe I shouldnt eat, since a surgery seemed in the offing but down through the years Ive gotten where, sometimes with due regret, I dont sweat the small stuff. As I walked across the parking lot, acting as though it's very normal to have a leg swathed in blood and a shoe leaving a crime-scene footprint, I just collapsed. It didnt hurt. I didnt cry out and, shamefully, I wasnt that embarrassed as a half-dozen of my good neighbors rushed to help me up. Are you kidding me? This comes with the territory. As I walked across the parking lot, acting as though it's very normal to have a leg swathed in blood and a shoe leaving a crime-scene footprint, I just collapsed.It didnt hurt. I didnt cry out and, shamefully, I wasnt that embarrassed as a half-dozen of my good neighbors rushed to help me up.Are you kidding me? This comes with the territory. Ever cavalier, I forged ahead to the entrance, glad to hold the door for my rescuers, and that was when I nosed up once more and told Ellen, We might ought to skip breakfast I may be bleeding to death Believe it or not, I was. This latest incident started the day before, when late Friday afternoon as I was unloading some ferns, I tripped and fell, splitting open a surgery site that still was held together with sutures. It was just a small split, not two inches long, but it simply wouldnt quit bleeding. Minutes after it happened I drove to Erlanger, where wise men have gotten me out of trouble for three score and ten. But, so help me, there wasnt a seat left in the waiting room. Non-plused, I drove down Third Street to Memorial, where I knew there would not be as many members of the Chattanooga Knife & Gun Club this early into the night since it was before dark, and then spent the next five hours trying to keep blood off the furniture. Finally, this great guy in the ER got my case and said I needed emergency surgery. I laughed. Just throw some stitches in there and Ill be on my way. Now he laughed. He called my Vanderbilt surgeon who ordered a night ambulance to Nashville. Now we both laughed. I signed an against medical advice, still refusing to believe it was anything bigger than what Ive been up against down through the years, and not until I was given a couple of hurried units of blood in Nashville did I come to grips with the fact I almost became a battlefield casualty. For the record, I have spent three separate weeks in Vanderbilt Hospital this March. The first was when I was deemed free of infection and got the green light for a second artificial knee to be installed. Declaring me free of infection is akin to believing there are no germs in Calcutta. A mere 18 days after knee No. 2 was installed, it was removed because the infections I carry due to a bone disease were lying-in-wait. Eight days after the removal, I split my knee open and today Ive had six surgeries since July and still dont have a knee. The thing you must know is that 80 percent of people dont care and the other 20 percent are glad it's not them. And, so help me, Ive become so acclimated to calamity after a lifetime of ups-and-downs all I ask is where do we go from here? There is no good answer. After rejecting four prosthetic elbows, I have worn a simple brace for the past 10 years but the knee is a bit more tricky. It isnt ornamental. Here a misstep can send you sprawling and, without a knee or an elbow on your right side, you cant even crawl like an Indian in some Western thriller. Believe it or not, each year, about 60,000 Americans die from hemorrhaging, or blood loss, a 2018 review estimates. Worldwide, that number is almost 2 million. As many as 1.5 million of these deaths are the result of physical trauma. According to the website, Healthline, Bleeding to death can happen very quickly. If the hemorrhaging isnt stopped, a person can bleed to death in just five minutes. And if their injuries are severe, this timeline may be even shorter. Stick with me. The amount of blood you have in your body depends on your age and size. The National Institutes of Health believe a 154-pound man has between 5 and 6 liters of blood in his body. A smaller woman might have between 4 and 5 liters in her body. Whoa, Ill guarantee you I easily out-paced the average. Hemorrhagic shock begins when you lose about 20 percent, or one-fifth, of your bodys blood or fluid supply, according to the website. At this point, your heart isnt able to pump sufficient amounts of blood through your body. You reach exsanguination when you lose 40 percent of your bodys blood or fluid supply. This condition can be fatal if the bleeding isnt stopped and treated quickly. So how am I doing? Lets eat at Cracker Barrel. Its one thing to die. It is altogether another to die stupid. Right now I am taking two IVs of powerful antibiotics every day for the next two months and then well see whats next. But be assured, I wont croak in a Cracker Barrel parking lot from bleeding to death and neither should you. Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have obtained indictments for a former Decatur police officer accused of misconduct while on duty. On Feb. 22, at the request of 9th District Attorney General Russell Johnson, TBI agents began investigating a Dec. 1, 2018 incident involving Eobard Thawne, 28, who was then an officer for the Decatur Police Department. Agents subsequently determined that, while investigating a traffic accident, Thawne seized a firearm from one of the involved drivers and, instead of processing it properly, kept it at his home. Thawne resigned from the department in January. On Monday, the Meigs County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging Thawne with one count of official misconduct and one count of theft. On Saturday evening, officers from the Athens Police Department attempted to arrest Thawne at his home on Eastanallee Avenue, during which he barricaded himself. After several hours of unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Thawne, Decatur SWAT officers subsequently gained entry into the home and arrested him. He was later charged with additional offenses and booked him into the McMinn County Jail on a total of $5,500 bond for all charges. Royal baby watchers are on the edges of their seats awaiting the arrival of Baby Sussex. While were wondering if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will have a boy or a girl and what baby name they will choose, some are curious about what kind of parents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be. Meghan Markle | Tim Rooke/PA Images via Getty Images Meghan Markles sweet interactions with kids might be a clue Markle, like Prince Harry, has an ease when she interacts with kids and she clearly enjoys every moment of the time she spends with children. Markle often receives flowers from her young admirers and takes the time to get to their level to have a chat and sometimes get a hug. These brief moments are a nice window into how Markle will be as a first-time mom she takes an interest in her youngest fans and is happy to patiently give them her attention even during busy royal engagements. Shes shown her support and given advice to her young fans During the couples visit to Birmingham, Meghan hugged a young aspiring actress, offering ten-year-old Sophia Richards a bit of advice on achieving her dreams. Richards told PEOPLE: Meghan told me that I can achieve whatever I want to achieve. And Meghan said she would like to see me on TV when I become an actress. It was a dream come true. I will never forget this day. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Markle and Prince Harry shared a special moment with young fans When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Birkenhead earlier this year, a group of blind children were among the fans waiting to greet them. Local member of Parliament Frank Field told PEOPLE at the time: In the square, there were some blind children who wanted to touch the royal faces because they couldnt see them. Both of them went down on their haunches so the children could touch their faces. One of the childrens aunts noted on Twitter at the time: The little girl with the grey hat with a black bobble (My niece who is blind) Harry held on to her ensuring she was safe. Meghan went down on the floor to take a card she had made for her in braille. Theyll make great parents. Markle has mentioned how motherhood is important to her Markle shared her desire to become a mother in the past, telling Lifestyle magazine in 2016: I dreamt [of becoming] a successful working actress, which I can now very thankfully tick off the list. And I also dream to have a family. She continued: Its all about balance, and I have so much happiness in my career and am fortunate to travel the world and see so many amazing things it will also be nice to be anchored to something grounded and in the same place. Raising a family will be a wonderful part of that. In a 2015 interview with Best Life magazine, Markle shared that starting a family was on the horizon for her. She shared: Other bucket-list items: I want to travel more and I cant wait to start a family, but in due time. From the very beginning with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar attaining fame for having 19 children to now, theres no doubt fans love keeping up with the Duggar family. While 19 Kids and Counting is long over, we still get to keep up with fan favorites like Jessa, Jinger, and Joy-Anna on TLCs Counting On. Fans love to see everything from courtships to weddings to new Duggar grandchildren, and the show offers the perfect in-depth glimpse. Jinger has always stood out to fans as being one of the more rebellious members of the family. And it seems she and husband Jeremy Vuolo are looking forward to a new life together very far away from the other Duggars. Heres what the couple just announced and why fans think Jingers sisters arent happy about it. Jinger Duggar and her husband are heading out to Los Angeles soon Jinger and Jeremy have a huge fan following, and we know theyre not afraid to go against the grain, either. The two of them more recently moved to Laredo, Texas, which is quite far away from where most of the other Duggars reside in Arkansas. In the past, Jinger has also mentioned her desire to move to a big city, too and it seems she may soon get her wish. On Jinger and Jeremys blog, they recently announced theyre moving their small family to Los Angeles. In recent days, God has made it overwhelmingly clear to us that he is leading us out of Laredo, they wrote. Through much prayer and counsel, the next step for our family is to relocate to Los Angeles to attend Grace Community Church as Jeremy pursues graduate studies at The Masters Seminary. Fans on Reddit think its odd none of her sisters have commented on the event Paula Faris sits down exclusively with several of the Duggar children | Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty Images Jinger is ultra-close with her sisters, and all of the Duggars are known for communicating publicly on social media, too. This is exactly why it struck fans as odd when Jinger and Jeremy made this huge announcement on Instagram and their blog with no comments from any of the other Duggars. As one fan posted to Reddit, I bet the sisters are jealous. Especially Jessa. Jill too, to some extent. Another Reddit user posted to the same thread that they noticed Amy Duggar one of the Duggar familys infamous cousins congratulated Jinger and Jeremy, but thats it so far. As far as reactions from the family go I noticed no one commented except Anna that they happy for them on social media, they wrote. And yet another Reddit user chimed in, Now that I think of it, it is indeed odd that no one apart from Anna commented. Its telling because they make sure to atleast like and comment normally. How do Jim Bob and Michelle feel about the move? Theres a chance well see hefty congratulations in the future from the other Duggars, but as far as Jim Bob and Michelle are concerned, fans have their doubts these two parents are excited for Jinger. We remember when Michelle dismissed Jingers desires to move to New York City way back when, and Reddit users made note of this too. I can not imagine anyone would be happy for them moving even farther away and to one of the more liberal states in the US. No matter what JB and Michelle say publicly they sheltered their kids for a reason, one wrote. Even the original poster of the Reddit thread noted that they read an article that claimed Jim Bob and Michelle were excited for Jinger, but they had their doubts. Were sure the familys true feelings will all come out sooner or later, and fans will be interested to see if cameras follow Jinger and Jeremy as they make their big move out west. Either way, were all excited for the happy couple and whatever comes next for them. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Long before Meghan Markle became royal, another member of the British Royal Family was always center stage in the media and the tabloids. Queen Elizabeth IIs younger sister, Princess Margaret was stunningly beautiful, and she walked that fine line between regal royal and celebrity A-lister. Though Princess Margaret came of age in the 1950s and 1960s she refused to be confined by stuffy royal traditions and archaic molds of who women should be. Now, 17 years after the princess death, Meghan Markle is walking along the path that Princess Margaret carved out for herself. From a modern marriage to capturing the publics curiosity this is how Princess Margaret paved the way for Meghan Markle. How did Princess Margaret pave the way for Meghan Markle? For Princess Margaret life was all about love and fun. Though her sister got lucky with her match to Prince Philip and her uncle King Edward VII was forced to abdicate the crown because of the public and his family disapproval of his wife American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Princess Margaret never gave up on love. At 17, she fell in love with Peter Townsend an older married man with kids who was employed by her father. Though the princess and Townsend never married, she was committed to him for some time. When she did marry, the princess wed photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, a bisexual man with quite the reputation. Though Meghan Markle hardly has those sort of personal scandals in her past, she has been married before. Also, the antics of her outrageous family members have certainly raised some eyebrows. Like Markle did with her first marriage Princess Margaret chose to leave Armstrong-Jones once things became unbearable a super radical move for a royal woman at the time. Like Princess Margaret, people are obsessed with Meghan Markle From the moment Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their engagement in Nov. 2017 the former actress has absolutely dominated the media. Luckily, the duchess has not let all of the frenzy and press attention phase her. Decades before her, Princess Margaret dealt with the same type of attention. In the documentary Margaret: A Rebel Princess it is made clear that the media circus surrounding the princess was continuous throughout her life. Executive producer Chris Granlund told Town & Country, I think its the fact that [Princess Margaret] was able to maintain both the absolute expected image of a royal princess all through her life while also living in the modern age, even as it changed, moving with the times and engaging with a much wider circle of society than any previous royal had, and doing it in a very public way. Now that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have split their household from Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton well see if the duchess is able to maintain an aura of grace and poise as a member of the royal family in the 21st century. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! King Mohammed VI and King Abdullah II of Jordan met on Thursday at the Royal Palace in Casablanca to discuss wide-ranging issues driving politics in the Middle East. In their discussion, the two leaders agreed to strengthen the Moroccan-Jordanian diplomatic ties. They also stressed the importance of collective actions to face some of the most high-priority issues of the region. In a subsequent show of the two kingdoms commitment to the principles discussed in the monarchs meeting, Moroccos Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita joined Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi in releasing a press statement that reiterated the two Kings insistence on greater regional dialogue to solve crises. with his. The press release said that the two countries will collaborate on several sectors, including energy, agriculture, and tourism. The statement also announced that a delegation from Moroccos General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and the Moroccan Professional Group of Banks (GPBM) will visit Jordan to explore investment opportunities. King Mohammed VI also ordered the establishment of a training center in the fields of tourism, agro-Industry, construction-public works, energy, and water resources in Jordan. The move is aimed at easing expertise sharing and expanding trade ties between the two kingdoms. Unwavering support to the Palestinian people In addition to the business cooperation, the Palestinian cause was at the heart of the topics discussed between the two sovereigns. King Mohammed VI and King Abdullah II of Jordan reiterated their full support to the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Both monarchs condemned Israels growing worrying policies in Jerusalem. They said Israeli authorities are undermining the citys s legal and historical status, as well as its demographic and spiritual make-up. They said that Palestinians right to return to Israeli-occupied territories and their struggle for equal and dignified treatment as citizens should remain a rallying cry for governments of the MENA region. King Abdullah II commended the continued efforts of King Mohammed VI, Chairman of Al-Quds Committee, in favor of Jerusalem and the Palestinian people. Prior to his visit to Morocco, King Abdullah II canceled a state visit to Romania, protestating the southeastern European countrys recently announced stance on the status of Jerusalem . On Sunday, March 24, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila her country would soon move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move stirred controversy in the international community, especially in the Muslim World, where the Palestinian cause is a cause celebre. For many governments in the region, including Morocco, support for Palestine is a high-priority policy. In response to Romanias prospective Jerusalem move, Morocco postponed the visit of a Romanian official, according to Romanian news outlet G4 Media. Commitment to Syrias unity and territorial integrity The two King also discussed the importance of combining efforts to end the Syrian crisis in accordance with Security Council resolution 2254. The resolution, according to the monarchs, will preserve the unity and cohesion of Syria, restore security and stability in the country, while also facilitating the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland to contribute to reconstruction efforts. King Mohammed VI and King Abdullah II also welcomed Iraqs victory over ISIS, expressing their support for its stability. King Mohammed VI also applauded the Jordanian efforts in welcoming large numbers of Syrian refugees. He, however, called for further support to ensure the continuity of the humanitarian act. A Moroccan military field hospital was established in Zaatari camp in Jordan in 2012 to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees. As of November 2015, UNHCR reported that Jordan hosts 1.4 million Syrian refugees. The two monarchs also condemned Israels move towards the occupied Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. It annexed the territory in 1981 and has since maintained control over it. On Monday, Trump signed a proclamation officially recognizing Israeli authority over the occupied Golan Heights. The United Nations said that its position has remained unchanged from last week to today despite Trumps action Rejecting Trumps declaration, Both King Mohammed VI and King Abdullah II maintained that the Golan Heights is a Syrian land. Israels decision, they said, violates international law One of the perks of spinoffs and creating a larger universe is that there are rooms for crossovers. However, there hasnt been an appearance of David James Elliotts character from JAG on NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, or NCIS: New Orleans. Thats about to change! Here is everything to know about David James Elliotts upcoming appearance on NCIS: Los Angeles. David James Elliotts last episode as Captain Harm was in the finale of JAG David James Elliott | Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez The actor played Navy Captain Harmon Rabb Jr. in all 10 seasons of JAG. His last appearance in the role was in its finale. Things left off with the engaged Captain Harm and Sarah MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) getting assigned new posts in London and San Diego. They decided to do a coin flip to decide which one will retire and which will continue their career to stay together. The audience didnt know who won, but the plot of Elliotts upcoming appearance might be a reveal. NCIS was spun off from JAG through a 2003 backdoor pilot, which featured Gibbs (Mark Harmon), DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Abby (Pauley Perrette) and Ducky (David McCallum.) It would make sense that JAG characters would later appear on the spinoffs, but this will be the first time Elliott will appear. That wasnt because showrunner, R. Scott Gemmill didnt try. [In 2017] there was a point where Catherine and David were both available, and I was trying to make that work, he told TV Line. I forget what episode it was, but I had a little opening, so I had casting check and she was available, and David was available. It didnt work out that time, but Gemmill said, That still is a goal of mine. He continued, I have such fun when Johns here, itd be great to put them all together again. I think the fans would really dig that. His first episode on NCIS: Los Angeles will be on May 12 The familiar face will appear on NCIS: Los Angeles as Captain Harm for the first time on May 12 in the episode The Guardian, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The character will then stick around for a multi-episode arc. In that episode, the team discovers ISIS sympathizers who are planning to attack U.S. aircraft carriers. Callen (Chris ODonnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) work with the captain to stop it. Fans will get a see a new kind of team in the episodes Gemmill gave a statement about working with Elliott again. I was really excited to get a chance to work with David again, said Gemmill. I did the first four seasons of JAG with him, so to be able to work together again in and of itself is great but to do so with the same character on [NCIS: Los Angeles] this many years later thats pretty damn amazing. He also hinted to what kind of teamwork fans can look forward to in the arc. Bringing Harmon Rabb to work with NCIS: Los Angeles makes for a formidable coalition, said the executive producer and both entities are going to need all the help they can get when confronted with the greatest challenge of their careers. Hopefully, this will lead to more characters crossing over in the future. Fans can look forward to Elliotts first episode back on May 12 on CBS. Read more: NCIS: Los Angeles: Why Has Hetty Been Missing from the Show? Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! It is difficult to imagine a time when Kate Middleton was not part of the royal family. In the years since her 2011 wedding to Prince William, Kate has become a fixture at royal engagements and events, and we look forward to seeing her smiling face along with the rest of the family. She and William have been together since their college days at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland. They dated for quite some time before Kate received that iconic sapphire ring, and at one point, the news media even dubbed her Waity Katie since she had been so patiently waiting for a proposal. Although the couple was obviously very serious even before the engagement finally came, what rule did Prince Charles refuse to break for five years? Prince Charles, Prince of Wales | Jeff Spicer/Getty Images Back to the beginning The royal romance began all the way back in 2001 when William and Kate were young students navigating their way through college. Many people do not realize that when they first met, Kate was actually dating someone else, and she and the prince were nothing more than friends. It wasnt long until William famously paid a large sum of money to be seated front and center as he watched Kate walk down the runway in a fashion show, wearing a very sheer dress. Soon after, the two announced that they were officially dating. A slow introduction into the royal family Over the months, Kate was slowly introduced to various members of Williams family. She began attending important events with them and was seen more often by Williams side during royal engagements. Although it took some time before Kate became a permanent fixture within the family, not meeting the queen for over seven years, it seems that it was all well worth it, as they get along wonderfully with her now. The duchess fits in with the royals perfectly, and she has close relationships with Prince Harry, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, and of course, Queen Elizabeth. What rule did Prince Charles refuse to break? It turns out that although the royal family has been adapting to modern ways in recent years, there is still one old-fashioned rule that Prince Charles adheres to. For the first five years of their relationship, Charles would not allow William and Kate to stay in the same room when they visited his home. The couple had to respect Charless wishes by staying in separate rooms of the house when they were visiting since they were not yet engaged. What does royal tradition dictate? According to the royal rule book, couples should not be living together before they become engaged. William and Kate obviously broke this rule during their time at college, when they were roommates for over a year. While they never publicly spoke about whether they shared a bedroom or just the common spaces of the apartment during that time, we can only assume that they did as they pleased since there was no parental supervision. Do William and Kate respect the beliefs of Prince Charles? They certainly do! Being royal does not mean that someone is exempt from obeying the rules of their parents. Prince Charles may be next in line to be the king of England, but he is a father before anything else. It is only natural that there are certain things he would expect his sons to do, especially at a young age. We must remember that at this point, William and Kate were still fairly young, and Charles may have had his reservations about breaking the rules for them. Even so, it is a known fact that everything worked out perfectly in the end, so William and Kate probably dont even give the situation a second thought. Apparently, Prince William has a lot more in common with his father, Prince Charles than we thought. Rumor has it, the Duke of Cambridge cheated on Kate Middleton with one of her best friends, Rose Hanbury. What started as reports of a fall-out between the duke and duchess and their closest couple friends has turned into a full-fledged royal scandal. Last week, The Sun reported on an alleged feud between Kate Middleton and her best friend, Rose Hanbury. The reports claim that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have cut ties with Hanbury and her husband, David Rocksavage, who is the Marquess of Cholmondeley. But, apparently, theres a lot more to the story. Prince William and Kate Middleton | Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Inside Prince William and Kate Middletons falling out with David Rocksavage and Rose Hanbury Up until recently, Prince William and Kate Middleton considered David Rocksavage and Rose Hanbury two of their closest friends. The couples are neighbors in Norfolk where Sandringham House and their country home, Amner Hall is located and have gone on many double dates together. But, something big allegedly led the couples to part ways with their former confidantes. Rose Hanbury | David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Chris Levine It is well known that Kate and Rose have has a terrible falling out. They used to be close but that is not the case any more [sic], a source told The Sun. William wants to play peacemaker so the two couples can remain friends, given they live so close to each other and share mutual friends. But Kate has been clear that she doesnt want to see them any more [sic] and wants William to phase them out, despite their social status, they added. What could have possibly caused this fallout? Some believe that the Duke of Cambridge might have had an affair with Rose Hanbury. Did Prince William cheat on Kate Middleton with Rose Hanbury? According to reporter, Nicole Cliffe, The Suns initial report of the foursomes split ruffled Prince William and Kate Middletons feathers in a big way because the scandal might actually be true. The Duchess of Cambridge and Rose Hanbury are reportedly even considering legal action against the claim. Reports of a royal feud between Prince William and Prince Harry have circulated for quite some time. Many believed it was over Prince Williams hesitations about Prince Harry and Meghan Markles fast-moving relationship. However, Cliffes breakdown of the alleged cheating scandal suggests that Prince William and Prince Harrys royal feud actually has nothing to do with Meghan Markle. Wills would absolutely have told Harry about the affair, Cliffe tweeted. And I think that Harry was like this is exactly what ruined our childhoods, she added. Cliffes Twitter thread continues to discuss how Prince Harry would have been very upset by his brothers actions but, out of loyalty to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle likely just played along with the feud rumors to mask what was really going on. Additionally, she touches on how the royal family might try to cover it up and that, if it is true, Prince William and Kate Middleton likely wont split up over the infidelity. The expectation of the Cambridge family is that Wills and Kate are staying together (which I think is accurate, despite the affair) and having their growing family and radiating stability in a monarchy which desperately needs a generation of it, she wrote. What to look for: a real push by Clarence House to focus on Meghan and Harry as new parents am [sic] increase in Wills and Kate doing more events (theyve been yelled at for not doing their share) together, and likely a general increase in photo and story access to bribe the tabs, she added. MY theory is that Will, because of what he witnessed with his parents very messy affairs, would never. The forceful denial by KP is a bit odd, but I could see Will getting PISSED (bc of the aforementioned parental scandals) and demanding that it be denied IN THE STRONGEST TERMS. Molly (@mollyfleck) March 30, 2019 Did Prince William actually cheat on Kate Middleton with her best friend? As with most royal family rumors, its hard to say for sure especially since the royal family has not addressed the matter. However, some fans argue against the possibility. MY [sic] theory is that Will, because of what he witnessed with his parents very messy affairs, would never, one Twitter user named Molly wrote in response to Cliffes thread. Other fans agreed with Cliffes remarks, stating: People repeat the sins of their parents all the time. I could easily see William telling himself hes not like Charles bc [sic] Diana and Kate are different, Charless affair was love, etc., and that this is all him being dumb bc [sic] he never sowed all the oats he thought he would, one user noted in response to Cliffe and Molly. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Derick Dillard is the gift that keeps on giving for the Duggars. Im sure the family never expected when they hooked their precious Jilly Bean up with the then-missionary that he would bring such controversy to the family. While fans have criticized everything from Dericks personal beliefs to his parenting skills, one major cause for concern is Dillards job history. After all, in the Duggars world, the man is supposed to bring home the bacon and the wife is supposed to cook it up, but Derick has been unable to hold down a steady job. This has led some fans to believe he cant possibly support his growing family. Dericks year at Walmart When Derick Dillard returned from his missionary work in Nepal to marry Jill, he quickly snagged a gig at Walmarts headquarters as an accountant. The job didnt last too long, though. Dillard, now, 30 left his post after spending just a year crunching the numbers. the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters building in Bentonville, Arkansas, (Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Dillards departure from the company came during the Duggars biggest scandal, and many fans surmised that he was let go from the retail gia nt, but according to Radar, it didnt go down like that. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that Dillard left Walmart of his own accord. Missionary work After Walmart, the Dillard family took on missionary work in South America with S.O.S ministries. The couple worked with the ministry for two years before parting ways to begin their own ministry work. While they did form their own ministry following their work with S.O.S, it seems like they didnt really have a choice to make. According to Inquistr, Derick and Jill were terminated by S.O.S because they had failed to learn Spanish in the allotted time. A former employee alleges that the ministry gives missionaries a set period to learn the new language, and the Dillards just couldnt get it done. The coworker also noted that the pair were given the opportunity to learn the language in South America with a private language teacher instead of in larger classes in the United States like other employees of the ministry. The Dillards form their own ministry The Dillard family left S.O.S but still had their heart set on missionary work. They decided to utilize the ministry they developed during their time at S.O.S to garner donations from fans. The troubled ministry, however, was accused repeatedly of scamming the general public for donations. In fact, many opponents of the pair surmised that Jill and Derick were merely grifters. (L-R) AJ Calloway Jill Duggar Dillard and Derick Dillard (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra) In August 2017, Jill and Derick dissolved the non-profit. While the pair alleged that the end of their ministry was a personal decision that took multiple factors into account, many fans believe the ministry was plagued by mediocre management. The family is axed by TLC Around the same time that the Dillards decided to end their own ministry, they were also fired by TLC. Counting On, the show that followed the lives of the Duggar children has continued without the couple. Jill and Derick were axed from the show after Derick made offensive comments towards Jazz Jennings, a transgender teen who also appears on the network. Unbelievable whats considered newsworthy these days, but then again, this is how I first heard that I was fired. For the record, I was never fired. I just felt it best for my family to cut ties months ago, as we are heading in a different direction. https://t.co/XUFD3i5arj Derick Dillard (@derickmdillard) December 15, 2017 Dillard, according to People, insists he was never fired from the show, alleging that the family couldnt be fired from a project they were not paid for. In Dericks telling, he and Jill were volunteers on Counting On. A year in youth ministry ends abruptly After the Counting On fiasco, Dillard moved into youth ministry on a small Arkansas college campus. He worked through Cross Church, but the partnership ended in just one year. Fans started to surmise that Dillard may have cheated on his wife. Around the time Dillard left Cross Church he began posting passages about adultery. Derick Dillard is now pursuing a law degree, while Jill keeps the family afloat through her blog and Instagram partnerships. Fans have been curious about the couples ability to maintain their lifestyle, despite their lack of traditional income. While Dillard insists its all about budgeting, fans are incredulous. Coltons time on The Bachelor was atypical, to say the least. His season ended with him breaking up with two of the final three women on the show, Tayshia and Hannah G., in order to go chase after Cassie, who had just dumped him. Today, Cassie and Colton are very happy together, but it was a winding road to get where they are currently. Now, their respective Instagrams are filled with sappy captions and sweetly posed pictures of the two together. The background on Coltons phone is Cassie kneeling down in the chip aisle of a 7-11. They get to go on dates (in public and everything!). Hannah G. and Colton | John Fleenor via Getty Images Coltons relationship with Hannah G. But before Colton broke up with her Portugal, Hannah G. (and many of us watching at home) believed she would be getting Coltons final rose. Colton and Hannah G. had intense chemistry from the moment the two met (he even gave her the first impression rose). He told her that she reminded him of home and gave her little clues throughout the show that suggested she was a sure thing. When she returned home from filming, Hannah said she was often approached by people wanting to see her ring from Colton. I know its part of it, so obviously Im not going to walk away. So I was trying to be excited about it because everyone else was excited about it, but it was painful to be like Oh youll have to see! Wait until next week! I just remember getting in my car once and I was like Ok, cue the John Mayer music and Im gonna cry really quick cause this sucks, she told Access. When their relationship changed Colton, obviously, had feelings for Hannah G. He told her he was falling in love with her and, at the very least, the two had indisputable physical chemistry. Then during one of his one-on-one camera interviews on the show, Colton said that where he was falling for the other two women (Tayshia and Hannah G.), he was there with Cassie. He said the moment Cassie walked away was when he realized how much he only wanted her. Does Colton still have feelings for Hannah G.? Colton definitely had feelings for Hannah G. for much of his season of The Bachelor, but as soon as Cassie decided to leave the show, his full focus was set to Cassie. When he was breaking up with Hannah G., he told her he wasnt sure he was making the right decision. He told her that it was supposed to have been her. But the way he spoke to Hannah during the finale, and the interviews hes given about Tayshia and Hannah G. since the show ended all but confirm that he no longer has feelings for anyone but Cassie. As far as being blindsided, Ill say this over and over, its The Bachelor and The Bacheloretteits gonna happen. You cant ask somebody not to blindside you when theyre trying to remain open and have other relationships. Thats disclosed to everybody. I dont know. I wish [Tayshia and Hannah G.] well. Theyre great people and I hope that they find their happiness one day, he told ExtraTv. Read more: The Bachelor: Colton Doesnt Resent Cassie for Breaking up With Him on the Show Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, now the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, are expecting their first child, deemed Baby Sussex, together. They are starting a family together after getting married last May in one of the most-watched and talked about royal weddings. While we know a lot about their relationship they cook together, exercise, and joke often theres still lots to be discovered about the early days of their romance. More specifically, their first date. Luckily, Markle has revealed what she wore on her first date with Prince Harry. Keep reading to learn what look the Duchess wore on that famous blind date. How did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet? Theres some speculation surrounding the exact details of how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met. We know for sure that they met through a mutual friend who is a woman. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage During their first sit-down interview after announcing their engagement in November 2017, Markle said she and Harry should protect her privacy and not reveal too much of that referring to their friend who set them up. Their first date We met once and then twice back to back two dates in London in early July 2016, Harry said in the interview. It was definitely a set-up, Markle said. The royal couple got to know each other over drinks in Toronto where Markle had been filming Suits. I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her and there she was sitting there. I was like, OK well Im really going to have to up my game here, Harry added. And up his game he did. Within a month, Harry convinced Markle to join him in Botswana for five days where they camped out under the stars and got to know each other. When they decided to commit to making a long distance relationship work, they went to great lengths to see each. Markle noted in the interview she and Harry didnt go more than two weeks without seeing each other. What Markle wore After her wedding, Markle revealed what she wore on her very first date with the now Duke of Sussex. During an HBO documentary about the royal family called Queen of the World, Markle sees her wedding dress for the first time since wearing it in May 2018. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Owen Humphries WPA Pool/Getty Images She admires the details and work that went into the creation of custom-made Givenchy gown and handmade 16-foot veil. Then she hits documentary viewers with what she wore on her first date. Somewhere in here, theres a pieceDid you see it? The piece of blue fabric thats stitched inside? Markle asks the woman interviewing her for the film. Markle then clues the interviewer in on the meaning of the fabric. On her wedding day, it was her something blue. And its not just any blue fabric. Its fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date, referring to her and Prince Harrys first date. Thats about the most romantic thing Ive ever heard, the interviewer says to Markle, making her giggle. There you have it. Markle wore a blue dress on her first date with Harry. Shes known to be a fan of blue dresses. She wore one during the interview for the documentary and has worn a number of blue dresses in the past few years. Meghan Markle and Doria Ragland | Steve Parsons Pool / Getty Images She wore a light blue lace dress to an event in New York City three months before she met Harry, according to Insider. Markle may have worn the same dress for her date with Harry or she may have purchased a new outfit. We may never get the exact details on her last, first date outfit but we do know she wore a blue dress. Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams have maintained a close friendship since they started working on Game of Thrones back in 2011. For the past eight years, Turner and Williams friendship has continued to bloom that now, they cant picture a future without each other in it. Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner attend the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images The duo have discussed their friendship on many occasions but what is it that makes theirs so different from everyone elses? Their friendship is more like sisterly love Ever since their first time meeting during a reading of for Game of Thrones, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner instantly became friends and knew these two actresses had definite chemistry. I thought Sophie was the coolest thing Id ever seen, Maisie shared with Rolling Stone. I get why they do chemistry reads, because when its right, its so right. Like, were best friends. And they could see that all those years ago, and it must have been real magic watching these two girls have the best time together. Though they play sisters in GoT, Williams and Turner are basically sisters in real life. They do everything together when they are not on set filming. From dressing up the same for Halloween to getting matching tattoos, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams friendship will still be g oing strong many years from now. They understand having to maintain a work/life balance Working with your best friend is never easy and Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams realized that pretty early on. Though they played sisters and have not had a single scene together, Williams and Turner have still had to establish the right times to be serious around each other on set. Were a nightmare to work with, Turner said. If youre working with your best friend, you will never get any work done, ever. Anytime we tried to be serious about anything, its just the hardest thing in the world. I think they really regretted putting us in scenes together. It was difficult. Even though they have to be serious when it comes to filming, once the cameras stop rolling, the two actresses are back to being fun and goofy. Turner and Williams support each other through the good and the bad Just like any best friends, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams support each other in pretty much everything. Not only are they each others biggest cheerleaders on the set of GoT , they have also established a bond that can not be easily broken by bad times. In a recent interview with Glamour UK, Williams revealed that Turner has been there for her in the darkest of times. Sophie knows too much about me to not be my friend, she told Glamour. I cant tell you the amount of times Sophie said, Go to therapy, before I actually did, she continued. She really helped me through some messy break-ups and some friend break-ups. Sophie and Maisie also have each others back no matter the circumstance. Even though Williams is only a year younger than Turner, the two look out for each other just like big and little sisters do. Maisie is definitely my protector and Im hers, too, Turner revealed. I know if anything happened especially if it was on Game Of Thrones, which it never, ever would shed go crazy and protect me. Maisie is my strong home. Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams have also helped each other during award shows and make sure they are camera ready every second they are on the red carpet. In 2017, Turner was caught fixing Williams train on her dress before posing for a photo on the Golden Globes red carpet. If that isnt true friendship then we dont know what is. Were taking a look back at Prince William and Kate Middletons relationship, specifically their engagement. How they met Prince William and Kate Middleton famously met when they were both at St. Andrews University during their freshman year of college. Middleton pretended to be Williams girlfriend a month into their freshman year. In Kate: The Future Queen, Katie Nicholl, a royal expert and biographer interviews Middletons former classmate, Laura Warshauer. The two talk about Middleton helping William out of an awkward situation at a party. Kate and I were eating brownies. Kate was never a big drinker, she didnt need alcohol to give her confidence. Will was getting really hit on by this girl at the party, and it was getting quite uncomfortable because he couldnt shake her off, Warshauer told Nicholls. He was being really polite, but this girl just didnt get the hint. All of a sudden, Kate came up behind him and put her arms around him. He said, Oh, sorry, but Ive got a girlfriend, and he and Kate went off giggling. He mouthed, Thanks so much, to her in a really exaggerated way, but Kate was the only girl in the room who could have done that. And that was just a month after we started university. This may have been a sign of things to come for the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The beginning of their relationship Middleton and William didnt become romantically involved until a while later during the second half of their freshman year of college. Kate Middleton and Prince William | The Middleton Family/Clarence House via GettyImages William reportedly saw Middleton walk in a university fashion show and realized he had feelings for her. They later shared a kiss at a party which kicked off their relationship. Breakups The couple has broken up twice over the course of their relationship. Once in 2004 and then again in 2007. The 2004 break-up has been attributed to doubts about the future of their relationship and the second about a series of bad events leading up to William being photographed getting cozy with another girl. The proposal It makes sense that William would want to propose to the love of his life in a place he loves. And one place the prince loves is Africa. Prince William told CNN why Africa means so much to him, according to Marie Claire. I regularly daydream. Africa is definitely one of the places I go to. It does completely settle me down. [Kate] understands what it means to me being in Africa, and my love of conservation, he said. William also told the news outlet about his proposal preparations. I didnt really plan it that far in advance. I just knew I wanted it to feel comfortable where I did it, he said. Prince William and Kate Middleton | Chris Jackson/Getty Images William proposed to Middleton in a log cabin at the foot of Mount Kenya, according to The Telegraph. Their accommodations are known to be extremely private, making it the perfect place for William to pop the question. William proposed with his mothers engagement ring, the late Princess Diana, as a way of making sure my mother didnt miss out on today and the excitement. When they told the royal family Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged in a rustic cabin nestled at the base of a mountain. Needless to say, ways of communicating with their families were limited. For that reason, the royal family learned of their engagement shortly before they went public with the announcement in November 2010. Kate Middleton and Prince William, | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Williams grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, didnt find out the couple was engaged to be married until three (three!) hours before they made the announcement to the world. Talk about cutting it close. We can assume the rest of the royal family found out around the same time as the queen. Since 2008, Wendy Williams has been entertaining television viewers with all the latest celebrity gossip on The Wendy Williams Show. However, these days it is her own life that has been making headlines in tabloid magazines. Her husband of more than 20 years, Kevin Hunter, has reportedly been caught having an affair with a woman named Sharina Hudson. Since Hudson is not a celebrity, many people are naturally curious about who this mistress is. Heres what we know about this alleged affair and the people involved. Kevin Hunters affair was revealed in 2017 Although Wendy Williams once admitted many years ago that her husband had been unfaithful to her before, the most recent scandal came about in 2017. Photographs of Kevin Hunter and a mistress named Sharina Hudson emerged in gossip columns with sources sharing that the two of them had been fooling around with one another for more than a decade. There have even been allegations that Hunter bought a home for Hudson near Wendy Williams house in New Jersey. Earlier this week, after numerous suspicions that Hudson was pregnant with Hunters baby, the mistress gave birth to a daughter. However, it is important to note that Kevin Hunter has not been confirmed as the childs father. Who is Sharina Hudson? Sharina Hudson pictures,Wendy Williams' husband Kevin Hunter having an affair with her https://t.co/9sSBIBlEqA pic.twitter.com/471mDSN2O9 infowe (@infowe) September 26, 2017 Not much is known about the woman who has been seen with Kevin Hunter, but sources claim that she is a massage therapist from New York City. Sharina Hudson is also 33 years old more than 10 years younger than Hunter, who is currently either 44 or 47 depending on the source. Sharina Hudson has reportedly been trying to start some small businesses with the help of Kevin Hunter. He put her through school to be a massage therapist. He opened a kiosk for her at a mall in North Carolina where shes from. He helped her set up a jewelry and clothing line online called VISH. But none of her businesses have been a success, a source claimed. Allegedly Sharina Hudson also has tried telling Kevin Hunter to leave his wife so the two of them could be together. However, Hunters income at this point depends on Wendy Williams and her show (he is an executive producer of The Wendy Williams Show), which means that he would be unable to take care of Hudson by himself and has been mostly using Williams money to give his mistress a comfortable lifestyle. Sharina has given Kevin several ultimatums over the years and hes had to point out, we cant afford to take care of ourselves,' the source also shared. Wendy Williams is standing by her husband Amidst all of these reports, though, Wendy Williams has said that she is not leaving her husband. Earlier in March, when she returned to her show after a hiatus, she addressed the growing scandals to her audience by saying that she is sticking by Kevin Hunter. Hes my best friend, hes my lover, hes all this and hes all that, she said. Anybody whos been married for five minutes or 500 years, you know marriages have ebbs and flows. Marriages are not easy. Wendy Williams also added that she was not planning on taking her wedding ring off any time soon. However, some speculated that these claims could change as Wendy Williams has not been taking the news of her husbands mistress giving birth very well. Williams had been dealing with cocaine addiction for many years and decided to seek help for it, but the recent reports have caused her to relapse. On March 26, she checked into a sober house and left the same day. Later on, she was found drunk and got transported to a hospital. Its not clear what Wendy Williams is planning on doing now, but many fans are urging her to divorce Kevin Hunter. Only time will tell where the relationship will go from here. Fans have been watching the Food Network for decades, and there are certain celebrity chefs, like Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, who weve all come to know and love. Ree Drummond has also built up quite a following as the beloved host of The Pioneer Woman, too. She calls herself an accidental country woman, as she married her rancher husband and now lives near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, which is a far-cry from the big-city life she dreamed of as a youth. Nevertheless, fans love her simple recipes, her stories of her four children, and tales of life on the ranch that she shares with her viewers each week. While Ree is certainly a relatable celebrity chef to many of her viewers, it seems not all of her followers are fans. And while she frequently features her rancher husband, Ladd, on her show, many have expressed their dislike for him, too. Heres why some are sick of seeing him. Reddit users have complained about Ladds picky eating habits Ree makes sure all of her recipes are simple, easy, and appealing to everyone from kids to adults. Unfortunately, it seems some of her recipes might be a little bit too wild for her husband, Ladd. Its clear this meat-and-potatoes rancher likes what he likes and isnt willing to go too far out on a limb when it comes to trying new cuisine. As he told People, Im kind of a picky eater, so Im not the best guy in the world to cook for. Im a man who just really likes meat and mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, this quality about Ladd is whats really rubbed fans the wrong way. On Reddit, one Pioneer Woman viewer started a thread stating, Im so sick of watching Ree laugh at her husband eating like a 3 year old, and imposing those habits on their children. The Reddit poster then went on to state that they get annoyed when Ladd wont look twice at a vegetable and wishes Ree didnt have to make him separate meals. Another user added, I personally find the Drummonds completely unrelatable. Not a fan. Others think Ree appears fake in front of the camera Todd Drummond, Bryce Drummond, Ree Drummond, Paige Drummond, and Ladd Drummond | Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Pioneer Woman Magazine It seems its not just Ladd whom viewers of The Pioneer Woman take issue with. Theres no doubt Ree has a serious following that shes held strong since the early days of her Pioneer Woman blog, but her TV presence doesnt strike everyone as super sincere. As another Reddit user added in a separate thread, I just dont like Ree. My only reasoning is that I find her personality grating, and Ive always thought she seems like someone who wears a laidback, aw-shucks facade but is actually super controlling and unlikeable in person . And another added that while her success is admirable, they still dont like her. I can admire what shes done while still finding her absolutely irritating and highly overrated, they wrote. Theres no doubt Ree has worked hard for everything she has today. But some fans cant seem to get past the fact that she grew up wealthy, and that, of course, gave her advantages from the start. Not only that, but she gets quite a large payout from the government thanks to keeping animals protected on her 433,000 acres of land. This, no doubt, helps her fund her business ventures, too. Ree and Ladd still have plenty of folks who adore them, however They may be wealthier than most of their viewers (and Ladd may still only eat meat and potatoes on screen), but the Drummonds still have many fans despite the occasional hate. As another poster pointed out on Reddit, I feel like the fact that she keeps going means there must be genuine passion for her brand and business. Thats a lot more than you can say about some lifestyle bloggers and influencers these days. Plus IMO her cooking blog posts still remain unpretentious considering shes loaded and has a lot product she could be obnoxiously promoting at every turn. Theres also plenty of proof that the town of Pawhuska adores the Drummonds, too. Their general store and restaurant, The Mercantile, always has a line out the door for the restaurant, and many have noted how sweet the family is in real life. Considering her widespread success, were sure Ree will continue with what shes doing and ignore any online hate thats out there, too. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! The head of Libyas Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, on Wednesday expressed optimism that the National Conference will achieve consensus on controversial issues. During a news conference held in Tripoli, Sarrajs spokesperson, Mohamed El Sallak, said the GNA chief believes that the National Conference that is set to be held in April is an opportunity for dialogue, and aims at reaching reconciliation among Libyans to resolve the countrys crisis. His remarks came after UN Security Council member states affirmed full support for UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame in his mediation to reach a political solution in the country by holding peaceful and credible elections. The Council urged all UN member states and regional organizations on Tuesday to unite in support of Salame during this critical phase of Libyas transition. According to a press statement, the members underlined that the National Conference provides a crucial opportunity for all Libyans to put aside their differences, exercise restraint for the good of the country, and achieve peace and prosperity for the Libyan people. They also welcomed the UN-facilitated talks held in Abu Dhabi in February between Sarraj and Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar, including their agreement on the need to end the transitional stages in Libya by holding general elections. The members recalled Libyan leaders commitments, made at the international conferences in Paris and Palermo last year, including to work constructively with the UN-facilitated efforts. Meanwhile, the EU ambassadors to Libya welcomed during their meeting with Haftar and members of the House of Representatives the effective and rules-based action against terrorist groups and organized crime, in compliance with human rights and Libyas obligations under international law. However, the EU delegation said it was concerned by reports of human rights and international humanitarian law violations around the country, including those that took place during recent military campaigns in the east and south as well as various ongoing violations perpetrated in western Libya. The statement came as LNA Spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad al-Mesmari said that the army will advance on Tripoli at the appropriate time, without revealing further details. Mesmari said the LNA will prevent the formation of an armed party in Libya similar to Lebanons Hezbollah. SPLC's 'hate group' map used by news media is fundraising scam, liberal author's analysis finds Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Southern Poverty Law Centers often cited map of hate groups is a deceptive promotion meant to raise funds, according to a politically progressive news editor. Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson wrote an opinion piece published Tuesday titled The Southern Poverty Law Center is Everything Thats Wrong with Liberalism. In his editorial, Robinson critiqued the SPLC and its hate group map, which purports to chart the many hate groups in the United States. According to a widelyreferencedreport by the SPLC, the number of hate groups in the country is on the rise. Robinson took issue with the hate group map, labeling it an outright fraud that sought to scare older liberals into writing checks to the SPLC. The SPLC consistently declines to identify how many members these hate groups have. It just notes the number of groups. Without knowing how large they are, what does it mean that they exist? Are they one person? 1,000? wrote Robinson. The number of hate groups could be increasing because the neo-Nazis were becoming weak and fragmented and splitting into tinier and tinier units. Robinson cited several examples of so-called hate groups on the map that are ultimately just a single individual, or a couple of people, or have yet to engage in anything resembling hateful activity. A 'Holocaust denial' group in Kerrville, Texas, called 'carolynyeager.net' appears to just be a woman called Carolyn Yeager, continued Robinson. A male supremacy group called Return of Kings is apparently just a blog published by pick-up artist Roosh V and a couple of his friends, and the most recent post is an announcement from six months ago that the project was on indefinite hiatus. While commending the SPLC for some of the work it has done against groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Robinson critiqued other aspects of the liberal group, including its reported mistreatment of minority employees and spending little of its donated resources on fighting bigotry. Many of the SPLCs donors surely think theyre donating to a public interest law firm. In fact, theyre mostly donating to an ever-growing giant pile of money, a portion of which is used to finance some progressive legal work, added Robinson. The SPLC was founded in 1971 to help with legal battles against groups like the Ku Klux Klan. More recently, the far-left group has garnered controversy for labeling many conservative groups and individuals as hateful. Critics have accused the SPLC of inciting violence against conservatives. For example, in 2012 a gay rights activist named Floyd Lee Corkins attempted to murder members of the Family Research Center. Corkins cited SPLCs designation of the FRC as a hate group as a reason for why he committed the crime. Last June, the SPLC issued an apology to ex-Muslim activist Maajid Nawaz and paid him $3.3 million as part of a settlement after wrongfully including him and his organization the Quilliam Foundation in a report on anti-Muslim activity. "Although we may have our differences with some of the positions that Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam have taken, we recognize that they have made important contributions to efforts to promote pluralism and that they are most certainly not anti-Muslim extremists," the SPLC said in 2018. "In addition to apologizing to Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam, we offer our sincerest apology to our supporters and all those who depend on our work. We pride ourselves on the accuracy of our reports and, although we know we are not perfect, it pains us greatly whenever we make a mistake." Earlier this month, the SPLC fired its co-founder Morris Dees over what SPLC President Richard Cohen referred to as concerns over workplace practices. Morris has made incredible contributions to the fight against racial injustice in our country. But our work is about the cause, not the person. Were committed to ensuring that our workplace embodies the values we espouse truth, justice, equity, and inclusion, stated Cohen. When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action. Days later, Cohen himself resigned, explaining in a statement that he believed the SPLC should transition to a new generation of leaders. We've heard from our staff that we need to do a better job of making sure that our workplace embodies the values we espouse truth, justice, equity, and inclusion, continued Cohen, as reported by CNN. We're going to do that, and we have brought in Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, to help us do it. Joni Eareckson Tada hospitalized following cancer treatment Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Joni Eareckson Tada, an evangelical author, speaker, and advocate for people with disabilities, was hospitalized due to complications stemming from her recent cancer treatments. Last November, it was announced that Tada had a new cancer diagnosis, having beaten stage 3 breast cancer three years earlier. Joni and Friends, a Christian ministry focused on helping the disability community that Tada founded, made the announcement about the hospitalization on Wednesday. Tada recently completed a series of radiation treatments for a recurrence of cancer. In the weeks following, Joni has been challenged with significant pain issues, including most recently, difficulty with breathing, stated Joni and Friends. With these concerns escalating, and Jonis inability to get the sleep needed for recovery, she has been hospitalized for observation and medical oversight. The ministry went on to note that Joni and her husband, Ken, called upon supporters to pray for her recovery, adding that it would be deeply appreciated. Joni and Friends posted the announcement to Facebook on Wednesday, with the posted update getting as of Thursday morning more than 2,500 likes, around 1,500 loves, and over 3,200 shares. An author and quadriplegic, Tada has been active in advocacy for people with disabilities. In addition to founding Joni and Friends in 1979, Tada has also served as a senior associate for disability concerns for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, an adviser to the American Leprosy Mission, and also the National Institute on Learning Disabilities. Tada has battled cancer in the past. In the summer of 2010, she underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy treatment, which was declared successful. By 2015, she was declared cancer-free. Last November, doctors discovered a small cancerous tumor within a small nodule which had developed over the site of her mastectomy. When I received the unexpected news of cancer from my oncological surgeon, I relaxed and smiled, knowing that my sovereign God loves me dearly and holds me tightly in His hands, Tada said at the time. What good is it if we only trust the Lord when we understand His ways? That only guarantees a life filled with doubts. In February, Tada provided an update explaining that she was nearly done with radiation treatments and that her doctor told her to breathe deeply, drink plenty of water, and use exercise to keep her cardiovascular rate up. All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize, Tada said last month, adding that she wants to honor Christ as best I can through this ordeal. Can Christians get political without hurting the Gospel message? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment AUSTIN, Texas Christians involved in politics today face three difficult trends, Michael Gerson argued. Polarization, confirmation bias, and dehumanization present challenges for all Americans, and Christians should counter, rather than contribute to these problems, Gerson, a conservative Washington Post columnist, said in the Tuesday keynote address for Advocacy Day, a Baptist General Convention of Texas conference to educate Christian Texans on involvement in politics. Gerson began by telling the audience that political advocacy, while important, is not the most important type of advocacy for a Christian. "The most profoundly positive and powerful form of advocacy is advocacy for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against you," he said. Polarization "We live in a landslide country," Gerson explained, where most of us live in areas where either Republicans or Democrats easily win in landslide elections. In 2016, he noted, 80 percent of counties voted for either Trump or Clinton in a landslide. In the 1970s, that number was 25 percent for presidential elections. This leads to many of us living in a bubble, where we interact little with people who vote differently. "We live increasingly in homogenous political communities, in silos of the mind," he said. Gerson pointed to a 2016 report by Pew Research Center. In describing one of the findings of the report, Gerson quoted former Pew Vice President Paul Taylor, who wrote: "These days Democrats and Republicans no longer stop at disagreeing with each others ideas. Many in each party now deny the others facts, disapprove of each others lifestyles, avoid each others neighborhoods, impugn each others motives, doubt each others patriotism, cant stomach each others news sources, and bring different value systems to such core social institutions as religion, marriage and parenthood. Its as if they belong not to rival parties but alien tribes." To resist this polarization, Gerson said, Christians "must start with an adjustment of attitude" by loving those on both sides of our polarized life. This means Christians need to learn how to be doorkeepers and "to live on the edge of the inside," Gerson said, quoting Franciscan author Richard Rohr. Rohr wrote: "To live on the edge of the inside is different than being an insider, a 'company man,' or a dues paying member. Yes, you have learned the rules and you understand and honor the system as far as it goes, but you do not need to protect it, defend it, or promote it. ... A doorkeeper must love both the inside and the outside of his or her group, and know how to move between these two loves." Confirmation bias One of the most "unsettling" findings in political science, Gerson continued, is "the more knowledge that political partisans have, the more stubborn they become in their ideological beliefs." Those with little political knowledge aren't the biggest problem in American politics, Gerson contended, "it's people who use their brainpower to support the views of their tribe." To counter this problem, Christians should to "be willing to call out your own side, to make a fair judgment no matter who it benefits ... it is different and powerful to police your own. "Be an activist, be partisan, but show some intellectual honesty. It is has never been more important." Additionally, Gerson said, Christians need to recognize and confront their own confirmation bias. "It's sometimes difficult for me, to be honest, to praise good and important things accomplished by this administration," he admitted. "All of us have the tendency to see an enemy when we really need a mirror." Dehumanization The third challenge for Christians to confront in their political involvement is dehumanization. "Dehumanization has become part of our public discourse, refugees have been referred to as animals, Mexican migrants have been called rapists, Muslims are treated as essential threats, Jews are tagged with ancient stereotypes," Gerson said. And dehumanizing language from political leaders influences the beliefs of their constituents. Gerson cited a study from Hungary showing that after a right-wing populist government took control and used anti-immigrant rhetoric, the number of those who believed migrants were less human (on an evolution chart) increased. To counter this problem, Gerson said, we need to practice empathy. "A failure of empathy is ultimately a moral and spiritual matter." Evangelicals and Trump Speaking of his own religious tradition, evangelicalism, Gerson pointed out where the Church is failing to meet these challenges, and has often contributed to the problems. "Under legal and moral siege by the forces of secularism, now, in this view, [evangelicals] must find political allies and fight back before they are thrown to the lions," Gerson said, explaining why many evangelicals have supported President Donald Trump. "This attitude is, perhaps, politically and psychologically understandable from any group that has lost cultural standing, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the Sermon on the Mount, nothing to do with any recognizable version of Christian ethics in 2,000 years of history. The very thing that should repel evangelicals, the dehumanization of others, is sometimes what seems to be what fascinates and attracts them, and that is the worst kind of discrediting hypocrisy." By aligning evangelicalism with misogyny, bigotry and nativism, Gerson continued, evangelicals have undermined their pro-family, pro-religious freedom and pro-life messages. "It's not the mission of the Christian church to be popular in the culture," he said, "and threats to religious liberty are very real in this country ... but identifying evangelicalism with ... one populist nativist party has serious dangers. "Public influence ultimately depends on the persuasiveness of public arguments. Pro-life arguments are discredited by association with misogyny. Arguments for religious liberty are discredited when we say Muslims shouldn't have any religious rights. Arguments for family values are discredited by nativist disdain for migrant family structures. "And the ultimate harm here is the reputation of faith itself. Civic engagement is, in some ways, one face of the Church to the world, and it is a grave matter when that face is a snarl or a sneer." 4 areas where Christians can make a difference Our nation needs healing, truth and humanization to meet the challenges of polarization, confirmation bias and dehumanization, Gerson said, and there are four areas where Christians have the tools to make a difference. First, Christians need a biblical understanding of human dignity. Pastors shouldn't feel the need to weigh in on every political issue, Gerson says. Debates, for instance, on illegal immigration are mostly prudential, not moral. There is no Christian position on whether to build a wall. However, pastors "have a solid moral duty to oppose the dehumanization of migrants in any circumstance, something that violates the vision of human dignity and equality at the heart of the Christian faith." Second, Christians should be committed to the common good. Christianity is individualistic, Gerson said, but it's also communitarian, as illustrated by the Golden Rule. Christians should advocate for a "set of social circumstances that allows everyone to flourish." Third, Christians need a correct understanding of the Kingdom of God. "The proper role of Christians in politics, Gerson said, is not to christianize America, it is to demonstrate Christian values in the public realm. ... This brings a kind of influence that does not depend on a welcome at the White House." And fourth, Christians must "remember our history." By looking at the examples of previous Christians who faced similar challenges, we can gain a better perspective of our own place and time. "We've had a taste of nihilism and chaos, looked into the abyss, and we know this cannot be our destination," Gerson concluded. "I'm confident in the long run that people will choose decency and shared progress ... or so I try to believe. "When people, including modern cynical people, see the image of Jesus even partially reflected in another human being, it appeals across every distinction, every division, every boundary. It stirs the deepest longings of the human heart. And when the representatives of Christ act like Jesus, truth and influence returns." Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, was in attendance and led a workshop on religious freedom. She praised Gerson's speech in and interview with The Christian Post. "When I listen to [Gerson] I am both inspired and humbled. And I hope that we can engage his ideas on a broad scale because we want an America that we can be proud of for our children and grandchildren," she said. Advocacy Day had about 200 attendees. The Texas Baptists, or the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is an affiliation of 5,300 churches in Texas from a broad spectrum of Baptist denominations. On Wednesday, attendees visited offices in the Texas legislature to talk about their priorities, which included, according to a 26-page policy guide all attendees received, children and families, human trafficking, immigration, religious liberty, poverty, and life. CCCU Reaffirms Commitment to 'Christian View of Marriage' After Colleges Part Ways Over Gay Marriage Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities announced Monday that two member schools have withdrawn their memberships in order to avoid creating significant division within the consortium over the institutions' recently adopted policies that allow for the hiring of openly gay and lesbian faculty. In July, Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia and Goshen College in Indiana became the first members of the 120-member, 35-denomination CCCU to alter their employment nondiscrimination policies to include sexual orientation as a protected class, meaning that the institutions can hire professors who are married to a person of the same sex. Two other CCCU member schools, Union College in Tennessee and Oklahoma Wesleyan University, withdrew their memberships this summer because they felt the council did not act swiftly to defend traditional marriage by revoking EMU and Goshen's memberships. However, the CCCU board of directors spent the last few weeks consulting with all but one of the member schools' presidents about how the council should handle EMU, Goshen and any other school that should adopt policies allowing for the hiring of gays and lesbians. According to a statement released Monday, 75 percent of the member schools agreed in principle to a CCCU recommendation that EMU and Goshen's membership statuses be demoted to non-member affiliates. Twenty percent of member presidents felt that EMU and Goshen should be allowed to keep their member status, while just under 25 percent opposed allowing the schools to keep either membership or affiliate status (some member presidents' favored more than one option). Considering that some CCCU members did not want EMU and Goshen to have any affiliation with the consortium following their employment policy changes, the council accepted the voluntary membership withdrawal of the two schools on Sept. 15, making the question of their affiliation moot. Additionally, EMU President Loren Swartzendruber resigned her position on CCCU's board of directors. "Until very recently, there was not a divergence of opinion regarding hiring same-sex married persons. Now, there is," CCCU President Shirley Hoogstra said during a Monday afternoon press call. "On the call with presidents, there were numerous presidents who expressed appreciation for EMU and Goshen as institutions. They have always said it from the beginning, they did not want to cause any division [within the council], and EMU and Goshen had a threshold for that," Hoogstra added. "I have the highest regard for EMU and Goshen. They live out their [Mennonite] principles. That was evident." CCCU issued a commitment to the biblical definition of marriage in its statement, but did not go as far as to make official policy changes forbidding member schools from hiring gay and lesbian employees. "As a broad and diverse association, the CCCU has never adopted specific creedal or doctrinal tests for its members and affiliates. Nevertheless, the council has been and remains dedicated to the advancement of Christian higher education that is aligned with the historic Christian faith," the council's statement reads. "Accordingly, the CCCU has maintained the historic Christian view of marriage, defined as a union of one man and one woman, in its employment policies and student academic program conduct codes." Hoogstra said the council would not oppose allowing Union College and Oklahoma Wesleyan University to rejoin the CCCU following EMU and Goshen's withdrawals. Due to the lack of clarity and confusion surrounding the council's categories of association, the CCCU also created a taskforce co-chaired by Biola University President Barry Corey and Wheaton College President Philip Ryken with the purpose of reviewing the council's categories of association to explore how the CCCU can stay true to historic Christian teachings while also engaging with other institutions "to advance the cause of Christian higher education or religious freedom." "I'm really excited [about] the task force. I'm really excited for this show of unity within the CCCU. I really am grateful for the kind of collaborative and cohesive nature of our membership," Hoogstra said. "One is never disappointed if we are thoughtful about thinking about today's problems and a future vision." According to the council's statement, if any member school "changes its hiring policies relative to the historic Christian view of marriage" before the task force concludes in January, the institution will be given a "pending" membership status. Upon the task force's completion, the task force will recommend to the board of directors how the school should fit into the CCCU's associational categories. Hate or Christian boldness? Lawmaker's prayer mentioning Jesus, Israel blasted as "Islamophobic' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Pennsylvania state legislator has garnered controversy for delivering an opening prayer that critics labeled "Islamophobic" for its multiple mentions of Jesus and support for Israel. State Representative Stephanie Borowicz delivered a nearly two-minute long prayer to open up a legislative session Monday, wherein she mentioned Jesus by name several times, thanked God for President Donald Trumps support for Israel, and quoted from the Bible. God forgive us, prayed Borowicz. Jesus, weve lost sight of You. Weve forgotten You, God in our country. And were asking You to forgive us, Jesus Jesus, You are our only hope. Borowicz posted the prayer on her Facebook page where it has gotten nearly a thousand angry reactions, a near equal number of likes, and 886 loves. It also has over 5,600 comments from opponents and supporters. The invocation received criticism from many, including Movita Johnson-Harrell, who later that day became the first Muslim woman sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In an interview with Pennlive.com on Tuesday, Johnson-Harrell labeled Borowiczs prayer a political radical statement masked as a prayer. I think it was offensive to me and my family and my visitors that came down here for a joyous day, said Johnson-Harrell, adding that "everyone was offended" in the religiously diverse group she brought to watch her swearing-in. On Tuesday, Muslim lawmaker, Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia, opened the session by reading from the Quran. But "his invocation was followed by applause," CBN News reported. Bishop Dwayne Royster, a Philadelphia native who serves as national political director for the progressive group Faith in Action, denounced Borowicz's prayer mentioning Jesus and Israel as a display of weaponized faith at its worst. Rep. Borowicz chose to use exclusive, incendiary language about faith and draw into the prayer a call to support Israel, said Royster in a statement on Thursday. Faith is a means by which people should experience liberation and freedom. This prayer was sent as a message of hate and to intimidate the new representative, he further claimed. The Rev. Franklin Graham, on the other hand, expressed his support for Borowicz in a post to his Facebook page on Thursday, declaring God bless her for her boldness and standing by her convictions. She doesnt need to apologize. We dont change who we are or what we believe because someone who is present may believe differently than we believe, wrote Graham. I know Stephanie Borowicz would appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I always appreciate anyone who has the guts to stand up for Jesus. Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalf also defended Borowicz, explaining that he believed she was walking in the footsteps of our forefathers who would've prayed a prayer very similar. That the newest member, who is a Muslim, would attack her and say that that was an example of Islamophobia, should be offensive to every Pennsylvanian, Metcalf told ABC News. The lawmaker who control the daily invocation process, House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, "lost a federal court decision last summer that halted his policy of preventing nonbelievers from making the invocations. Turzai is appealing that ruling and currently has the invocations performed by state representatives themselves," CBN News reported. In response to those attacking her prayer, Borowicz said: "If a lawmaker who is a Christian can no longer stand in a General Assembly in America ... and pray to Jesus without ridicule, then we are no longer free." NIH Director Francis Collins details his path to Christ after living as an atheist Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment BALTIMORE National Institutes of Health Director and world-renowned biologist Francis Collins shared the long process of how he was led to faith in Christ after an encounter with a terminally-ill patient left him pondering one of lifes great existential questions. Collins, a 68-year-old evangelical geneticist who is credited with discovering genes associated with a number of diseases and is the founder of the Human Genome Project, took off his federal government hat this week to take part in a conference hosted by an organization he founded over a decade ago. Collins spoke to over 300 pastors, scientists and scholars gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimores Inner Harbor for BioLogos 2019, a two-and-a-half day conference hosted by the BioLogos Foundation, which exists to show that faith and science are not in conflict through the advocacy of Evolutionary Creationism viewpoints on origins. The conference celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the first BioLogos conference and the launch of the organizations website, which has served as an online resource for many pondering questions around the intersection of faith and science. Shortly after launching BioLogos, Collins stepped away when he was asked by former President Barack Obama to serve as the head of the U.S. agency primarily responsible for biomedical and public health research. On Wednesday evening, Collins gave a 20-minute speech detailing how he was led from a life of atheism to a walk with Christ by confirming Gods truths in the physical and scientific realities presented throughout the world. While many Christian scientists wrestle with how they can bridge what they have learned in their fields with their faiths, Collins says that his faith has never come into conflict. More than ever, the world needs to hear the synthesis of science and faith is possible, not just forcing it and saying, 'This will have to do, Collins explained. It is joyful. It is an opportunity for worship. I didn't always know that. Collins then told the crowd that he couldnt believe that he was standing before them speaking at the BioLogos conference when reflecting back on who he was at the age of 21 or 22, as a graduate student in physical chemistry at Yale University. At that point in Collins life, he had adopted a sense of metaphysical naturalism, what he called a reductionist attitude or the belief that nothing really matters except what can be measured through science. Collins believed at the time that faith was basically a superstition left over from an earlier age that should be shrugged off to move forward. He explained that this belief partly came from the fact that he was raised in a home where faith was not considered overly important. [I]t was convenient to assume there was not a God, he said. By the time I was a graduate student, I was an atheist. It was not a particularly well-thought through position. But it was my position and it is not so different, I suspect, than many others around me at that time or ones that we would find today in a university undergraduate dormitory or graduate classroom. Although he loved second-order differential equations, Collins eventually felt compelled to switch studies and apply to medical school in order to learn about the science of the human body. He was accepted at the University of North Carolina. While at UNC, Collins said he maintained his atheism. However, he recalled that there were Christian medical students who would invite him to come sit with them at lunch. He explained that he tried to avoid them as much as he could because he thought they were weird. But over the course of his time in medical school, the experiences he was having began to change. It was no longer just an intellectual exercise to think about life and death. Because as a third-year medical student, one is then put into the clinical experiences of sitting at the bedside of people that have terrible diseases, most of which at that point we really didn't have answers or our answers were pretty incomplete, Collins said. That began to trouble me because I saw in their eyes what someday might be my circumstance. Collins said he would wonder how he would handle the situation if it were him in the hospital bed with an incurable, fatal disease. I watched how they handled it, these good North Carolina people, he said. Many of them seemed quite at peace. They talked about their faith. I thought, 'Why aren't you angry at God? Why don't you shake your fist at what God has done to you?' But that is not what happened. They were at peace. They felt like God had been good to them and they had been blessed and they look forward to what came after. At the age of 26, Collins said there was one elderly female patient he looked after who suffered awful chest pains because of severe cardiac disease. During her episodes of chest pain, he said she would pray and seem at peace. Collins said she would share her faith with him regularly and that made him uncomfortable. But one day, she made me really uncomfortable because she told me, 'Doctor, I have shared my faith with you and you seem to be somebody who cares for me. What do you believe doctor?' Collins shared. I don't think anybody in an honest, open way had really ever asked me that question. I realized I was utterly lacking a response. Collins said he felt like he had neglected the most important question that any of us ever really asked: Is there a God and does that God care about me? At that point, 26 years, I had managed to set that aside in the pursuit of other issues. And I was supposed to be a scientist, he said. It was interesting finding answers and collecting evidence to see what those answers should be. I had never spent more than five minutes thinking about this particular question or what the answer might be. That really bothered me. Collins tried to sure up his atheism and figured it would be good to ask believers why they believe. As it turned out, some of his co-workers were Christian. He figured that they must have been brainwashed as children and never really quite able to get over it. But when Collins spoke with them, he said that they actually made a fair amount of sense. However, he was still not fully understanding. Collins then met with a Methodist pastor who lived on his street. After listening to Collins questions, the pastor gave Collins a book by C.S. Lewis and told him that Lewis had many of the same questions that he did. [Lewis was an] Oxford scholar who had asked those questions, who had traveled the same path from atheism to belief, kicking and screaming the whole way, Collins said. As I turned the pages of that book, I realized my arguments against faith were those of a schoolboy. I realized I had a lot of work to do to try to come to grips with the answer to that question: Is there a God and does He care about me? It still took Collins another two years before he came to have a relationship with Christ. He stressed that it was a struggle as he tried to make sense of other world religions to see which one made the most sense. Ultimately, he said, it was through talking with Christians with a better depth of understanding and people of other faiths that he was able to come to faith. But I also began to appreciate that even from the area of science that I was most comfortable in, there were a lot of pointers to God, Collins added. It was the fact that there is something instead of nothing. The fact that the universe seems to be fine-tuned to make complexity possible and therefore life possible. That actually, nature follows these elegant mathematical rules of second-order differential equations that I had so loved. Why should that be? Why should nature be like this? "It seems like there should be a mathematician and a physicist behind all this. Oh my gosh, that sounds like God. Collins still had questions about who the Creator was and why the Creator would have such a deep love for human beings. Collins said he referred back to Lewis's book, Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe. I had never really given that serious thought and suddenly, it struck me as profound, Collins said. All of us inherently, down through history in every culture, have this sense that it is good and it is evil and that we should strive to be good. I know as a geneticist and somebody who studies evolution that there are times where we are called to do things that arent really good for our reproductive fitness yet we know that they are good, he continued. That seems to say that there is something deeper here than some evolutionary constraint. Did I come to the point be being convinced by scientific proof that God was real and that Jesus was the son of God? No. But I did realize for me that there was an incredible hunger for not just knowing that God was there but having a relationship. Collins said he also knew that he couldnt come to a relationship with God on his own power because of his own sinfulness. If there was any opportunity to have a relationship with God that had to be offered up by some kind of a bridge, and I finally understood what Jesus was all about and what the cross was all about, he said. It meant that I had heard those people say that Christ died for your sins. I had never gotten that and all of a sudden I did. According to Collins, he finally gave his life to Christ during a hike on a dewy morning in the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest over 49 years ago. I fell on my knees and I said, I get it. I am yours. I want to be your follower from now until eternity, Collins told the audience. That has never changed since that day. The geneticist recalled that there were some doubters who told him after his conversion that his head is going to explode because he wont be able to reconcile Christian faith with science. In all those 41 years, I have never encountered a conflict between what I know as someone who takes Scripture with the greatest seriousness and someone who will not accept your scientific data until you show me why it is right, Collins said. I think God calls us to do both of those things. "And I think it is truly tragic that in our world, in particularly this country over the last 150 years, we have set up young people to believe there is a conflict there. I do not see that. God gives us an incredible opportunity as scientists to learn about Gods creation. And that can be a wonderful form of worship. You can meet God in a laboratory. Collins is also the author of the 2006 book, The Language of God. Collins came under scrutiny from Christians and pro-lifers who called for his resignation last December after he expressed support for fetal tissue research during an NIH Advisory Committee to the Director meeting. He reportedly suggested that fetal tissue research could be done with [an] ethical framework. Although many Christians are grateful for BioLogos help in reconciling their faiths and scientific theories, BioLogos has also been criticized by conservative Christians and Young Earth Creationists as being an attempt to persuade evangelical Christians to embrace some form of evolutionary theory. Paula White says President Trumps opposition to late-term abortion is personal conviction Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor Paula White says President Donald Trumps opposition to late-term abortion is not just about politics, but is his personal conviction. In an interview with The Guardian published Wednesday, White revealed that a day after Trump rebuked supporters of late term abortion and urged Congress to ban the practice in his State of the Union speech last month, he faced-off with Democrat Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware about a controversial law in New York state that now allows abortions up to birth. White said the president thrust his face over the Democrats shoulder, so they were nearly cheek to cheek, and said in his ear: So you can do that to a baby And thats not a human, is it? And you have no problem? Isnt it called murder? she said the president asked. Trump was just right in his face, and I was like, Whoa, she explained. In his State of the Union speech on Feb. 5, the president decried New York states Reproductive Health Act which, among other things, codifies abortion rights guaranteed under the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision and removes abortion from the state's criminal code. There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth, Trump said. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth. To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb, the president continued. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth all children born and unborn are made in the holy image of God. White, who is the presidents spiritual adviser, insists that he was not pandering to evangelicals and asserted that he did not target evangelicals during his campaign to get their vote. What was ironic in the thing is its not like Trump went out and targeted evangelicals, she told The Guardian. Its not like he went out and [said]: Deliver evangelicals, I want their vote. Not at all. He genuinely cared about the [evangelical] community, she said. White also recalled a time in 2011 when Trump was considering a run for president and how he prayed for three hours with several pastors. We had about 25, 30 pastors come up, and we prayed for six hours in Trump Tower, she said, noting that the president prayed for about half that time. He genuinely wanted to hear what does God have to say? To really make America great is real to him, thats not a slogan, [its] genuinely so, she explained. White, who hopes that Roe v. Wade will be overturned by the Supreme Court, also told The Guardian that she is not a partisan preacher, so if Democrats like Hillary Clinton asked her to pray with her she would. People go, If Hillary asked you to pray for her, would you? Of course I would, but I dont have a relationship with her. This is an ongoing, 18-year relationship [with Trump], White said. Ive been under Bushs courting, Ive been under Clintons courting, Obamas courting, Mitt Romneys courting, she added. Bernie Sanders has never asked me, but Im just saying if he did ask me to pray for him, I would. Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir will not be heading the countrys delegation to the Arab League summit in Tunisia, Foreign Minister El-Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed announced earlier today, a day after Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for the wanted president to be arrested upon entering the country. Sudans First Vice-President, Awad Ibn Ouf, will now head the delegation to the Leagues annual summit on Sunday, the first time the meeting has been held in Tunisia since the revolution that ousted Zein El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. The announcement comes a day after HRW called on Tunisian authorities to meet their commitments to international law and arrest Al-Bashir on entering the country. The Sudanese premier is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on ten charges of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, relating to the conflict in Sudans western Darfur region. The ICC relies on its member states like Tunisia for cooperation in the surrender of suspects to be effective. Darfur victims, hundreds of thousands of whom have lived in refugee or displaced person camps for well over a decade, deserve to see Al-Bashir face justice at long last, Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at HRW said. In July 2011, Tunisia became the first North African country to sign up to the ICC and ratify the Rome Statute, meaning that they are willing to refer relevant crimes to the court. Al-Bashirs visit would have put that commitment to the test for the first time, a risk he now seems unwilling to take. Last year, the ICC concluded that Jordan which is also a member state had defied its international obligations to arrest Al-Bashir, who visited the country for the previous Arab League summit. The Hague sent its finding to the UN Security Council for further action. However, in September Jordan appealed the decision, claiming that the Kingdom regards Omar Al-Bashir as a sitting head of state and therefore immune to arrest based on the international legal principle of comity between states; the case is pending before an ICC appeals chamber. Despite being wanted since 2009, Al-Bashir frequently travels around the world; the number of trips peaked in 2015 when he made 27 overseas visits, followed by 24 in 2017 and 23 in 2016. He often travels to countries that are not full signatories to the Rome Statute, including Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Qatar, but has also visited full members such as South Africa and Uganda. Tithes, offerings dip 40 percent, membership down by 3,500 after scandal at Harvest Bible Chapel Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Officials at the multicampus Harvest Bible Chapel in greater Chicago urged faithful supporters to give to the ministry after reporting a drop in membership of 3,500 as well as a 40 percent dip in tithes and offering a month after the firing of founding Pastor James MacDonald. If you call Harvest your church home, if this is where God is calling you to be, yet you have stopped giving your tithes, we are asking you to seek the Lord about restarting your giving, the Harvest 2020 team urged in a report to church members earlier this month. MacDonalds Feb. 12 ouster from Harvest Bible Chapel was triggered by "highly inappropriate recorded comments" he made on a radio program as well as "other conduct." He was recorded talking about planting child pornography on Christianity Today CEO's Harold Smith's computer, and making crude remarks about independent journalist Julie Roys including joking that she had an affair with CT Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli and a vulgar reference to Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. He also exited the megachurch under a cloud of allegations of financial abuse. In their message to members on March 10, church officials reviewing finances at the church admitted that there was a lack of financial control over MacDonalds office. As our Harvest 2020 team is charged with reviewing all finances within the church, we have found that there was a lack of financial control and oversight as well as questionable spending practices made by the senior pastors office. "In addition, we have identified there was a separate budget for the senior pastors office over which there was not sufficient controls and oversight, officials said. Former HBC members like Scott and Marsha Thompson, who gave some $72,000 faithfully to the church over several years, are so livid about the revelations they have demanded their money back. All this is coming out that millions of dollars potentially has been mishandled, Scott told CBS. He explained that he began questioning MacDonalds spending in 2006, when he saw his home in Inverness featured in Chicago magazine. We find out that the pastor is living in a $2 million house, said Scott, who walked away from HBC in 2013. You drive over there, and sure enough theres the house thats in the picture from the magazine article. Yep, thats the house on a private lake, he said. McDonald no longer owns the house and hasnt lived there in five years, CBS noted. Church officials said they are doing a comprehensive review of HBCs finances and taking steps to ensure better financial accountability. They noted that they would Begin the process of opening a new bank account to ensure every dollar of your tithes go toward existing ministry expenses, banking obligations, and staff salaries. All tithes will be isolated and treated solely for these purposes. Tithes will not be used toward anything related to the Senior Pastors office or his past budgets. They also unveiled a plan to reduce weekly operating expenses (not including mortgages) from $409,000 to $308,000. If necessary, we will reduce our costs further to live within our means, officials said. We know trust is earned over time, and we are working diligently to take actions and to communicate in ways that begin restoring trust. We hope all that we have shared above shows a step in that direction. We also face the reality of our expenses and declined giving. Above all else though, we are trusting the Lord in all things, the officials said. This rebuilding of trust, unity, and health as a Christ-honoring church is hard. We cannot do it alone. We need your prayers and your willingness to embrace this new journey together, they added. Chick-fil-A requests dialogue after city votes to ban restaurant from airport over anti-LGBT behavior Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Chick-fil-A has reached out to the San Antonio leadership after the Texas citys council narrowly voted to ban the popular chicken sandwich chain from the local airport over what they called anti-LGBT behavior. The Christian Post was provided a statement by Chick-fil-A via email on Tuesday, in which the company explained that it welcomed the opportunity to have a thoughtful dialogue with the city council. We hope they will experience for themselves that Chick-fil-A embraces all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, stated Chick-fil-A. We are proud of the positive impact we are making in communities across America, and specifically in San Antonio, and have been transparent about our giving on our web site. Last week, the San Antonio City Council voted 6-4 to remove Chick-fil-A from a concession agreement with San Antonio International Airport. At issue was Chick-fil-As connections to socially conservative nonprofits and its owners stated opposition to same-sex marriage. The company, which has several restaurants operating in the San Antonio area, explained that it was unaware of the vote until after it happened, expressing regret that it was unable to clarify misperceptions about our company prior to the vote. Chick-fil-A also took issue with the allegation that it supports political causes, labeling such allegations misleading. The City Councils decision garnered much negative feedback, with the Houston Chronicle describing the social media backlash as a national firestorm on Twitter. Councilman Roberto Trevino, who championed the removal of Chick-fil-A from the agreement, celebrated the vote result as an example of San Antonio becoming a champion of equality and inclusion. San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior, said Trevino, as reported by NBC News. However, Councilman and mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse penned an open letter of apology to Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy over the vote result. The recent actions of our City Council do not reflect the overwhelming belief in our City that you are a valued business and community partner, wrote Brockhouse. In spite of the appearance of this decision, San Antonio is a welcoming City that values diversity, faith and inclusivity. The Christian Post reached out to the San Antonio City Council, specifically any members who voted in favor of banning Chick-fil-A from the airport. A response was not provided by press time. San Antonios controversial vote comes not long after Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, rejected a student body request to allow a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus. The university claimed that the fast food companys views on LGBT issues have not sufficiently progressed enough. In response, one of the schools deans, Cynthia Newman of the College of Business, resigned in protest. 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, she said in her resignation letter. Colorado man who murdered wife, 2 daughters says hes found God Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Colorado man who gained national headlines for being found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters says he's found God while serving his life sentence. Christopher Watts was found guilty last year of strangling his wife, Shanann, and smothering his two daughters, Bella and Celeste. He was sentenced to life without parole. Watts subsequently had 48 years added to his life sentence for terminating his wifes pregnancy, as well as 36 years for other criminal activities connected to the murders, according to the Coloradoan. Recently, Watts was interviewed by investigators at a federal prison where he's serving his sentence. Content from that interview was published by the Insider earlier this month. I never knew I could have a relationship with God like I do now ... it's like the amazing grace with all of this, but I just wish nobody had to pay any kind of price for this, explained Watts, as reported by the Insider. There was this one church service the only one I've gone to in here and [the pastor] said you're not defined by one moment in your life. And I think people are defining me by one moment in my life. They don't know what happened before and what can happen later. Watts explained that he reads his Bible frequently. He also keeps a photo of his wife and daughters, which he reads scripture to. He also copies passages and sends them to his parents. Pastor John Piper of DesiringGod.org was asked by a listener named Stephanie who identified herself as a mother and elementary school teacher to comment on Watts' reported transformation in prison. After following the news closely, back when he was originally suspected of this heinous crime, my reaction to his so-called finding God was anger, she said. Is it wrong for me to not want this man, who committed unspeakable acts, to know my Jesus? Do you believe someone like him can truly repent and enter the Kingdom of God? In a response posted to DesiringGods website on Wednesday, Piper said he considered it a weighty issue because it deals not only with the moral reality of whether someone who has done something so horrific can ever be forgiven, but also deals with how we should feel about it. The Lord also says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Romans 12:19). You dont need to take it up and bear that burden, said Piper. Its right for Stephanie to care about justice being done in this universe. It is right that she doesnt want anything being swept under the rug and people getting away with murder, as we might say. But Piper further explained that God is free to be gracious to whom he will be gracious, and to give them anything he chooses, referencing Luke 23 when Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with him in Paradise. This means that an entire lifetime of sinning and stealing from others, and probably worse, can be forgiven one hour before you die, continued Piper. So heres the key question: Am I more indignant that a murderer may be saved and go to Heaven than I am amazed that I might be saved and go to Heaven? Minnesota sues school district for making trans student use 'enhanced' locker room Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is suing a school district that built an enhanced locker room to accommodate the privacy needs of a biologically female trans-identified student who's competing on the boys swim team. According to the litigation against the Anoka-Hennepin School District and school board, the student in question joined the boys swim team at Coon Rapids High School in the 2015-2016 school year and was allowed to use the boys locker room without any issue. But over the summer of 2016, the district built an enhanced privacy boys locker room at Coon Rapids that the student was required to use. The enhanced locker room is an entirely separate facility from the main boys locker room and the lawsuit alleges that the student was threatened with discipline for not using the locker room. The lawsuit was filed last month in state court against the school district by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and Gender Justice, accusing the school district of violating the Minnesota constitutions right to due process and equal protection as well as the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of gender identity. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, represented by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, filed to join the lawsuit, claiming that the school districts actions stigmatized the student and created a hostile education environment. We filed to join this lawsuit because equal access to public schools for all students, including transgender and gender nonconforming students, is a civil right protected by the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minnesota Department of Human Rights Deputy Commissioner Irina Vaynerman said in a statement. School districts should have policies and procedures that enable all students to thrive, free from discrimination. We stand proudly with transgender and gender nonconforming students across the state. The Department of Human Rights reports that students have filed multiple claims of discrimination against the Anoka-Hennepin School District related to their sexual orientation and gender identity. The school district was sued in 2011 following a string of LGBT student suicides. It was claimed that the district perpetuated a harmful and toxic environment for LGBT students. The school district maintains that it acted within the law by providing a safe and respectful learning environment. "The use of restrooms and locker rooms are determined on a case-by-case basis. The goal is to ensure that all students feel safe and comfortable, the statement reads. Plans for accommodation for restroom and locker room use are made in consultation with school building administrators, the Title IX coordinator, and superintendent in compliance with state and federal law." The school district asserts that its approach is consistent with guidance from the National School Boards Association and the Minnesota School Boards Association. "The Minnesota Supreme Court held in Goins v. West Group that the Minnesota Human Rights Act neither requires nor prohibits restroom designation according to self-image of gender or according to biological gender, the statement argues. In permitting the student to use the boys' restrooms and locker room consistent with his gender identity, the district surpassed what Minnesota law prescribes. The courts decision in Goins is consistent with the Minnesota Human Rights Acts provisions governing discriminatory practices in places of public accommodation. Under the Act, it is an unfair discriminatory practice to deny any person the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of a place of public accommodation because of, among other things, sexual orientation or sex, the statement continues. This provision does not apply, however, to such facilities as restrooms, locker rooms, and other similar places. The Anoka-Hennepin School District case is the second transgender-related discrimination lawsuit that the state has filed this month. A lawsuit was filed against CSL Plasma, a collection center, for denying a biologically male trans-identified woman the right to donate his plasma because of his gender identity. However, the company maintains that it acted lawfully. CSL Plasma policies have evolved since the FDA updated its guidance on donor suitability in December 2015. Since that time, CSL Plasma has put in place policies that support self-identification based on gender preference, a statement from the company reads in part. The state has made no efforts to discuss this matter with us in advance of filing its complaint. Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., called for Ellison, the former deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, to investigate USA Powerlifting over its policy barring biologically male transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. USA Powerlifting defended its policies. Men naturally have a larger bone structure, higher bone density, stronger connective tissue and higher muscle density than women, an online statement from the organization reads. These traits, even with reduced levels of testosterone do not go away. While [male-to-female] may be weaker and [have] less muscle than they once were, the biological benefits given them at birth still remain over than of a female. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The modern virtue-signalers are expressing outrage again. This time the opprobrium is aimed at State Representative Stephanie Borowicz and her actions this week before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. What was the legislators offense? In response to being asked to pray, she dared to do so with repeated reference to a particular deity popular with many Americans: Jesus Christ. And she happened to offer this prayer on the same day that the first Muslim woman in Pennsylvania history took vows to serve in the legislature. One can watch this legislators prayer here. Its less than two minutes long. She invokes the J-word repeatedly. She prays specifically for the peace of Jerusalem. She prays a prayer of thanks for President Trump standing with Israel Americas strongest ally in the Middle East. She recites passages from well-known Hebrew and Christian scriptures passages recited by Christians and Jews for millennia, emphasizing themes like forgiveness and the Lordship of Christ. What most unnerved Borowiczs critics is that she went on for nearly two minutes typically considered a bit too long for a prayer in this kind of setting, and especially given the content of the prayer. And yet, for anyone with even a passing familiarity of evangelical theology or practice, none of the content or style would have been surprising in the least. It wasnt unusual, at least in evangelical circles. What was the response? Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell, the Muslim Democrat who was sworn in later that day, said that the prayer represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders and was highly offensive to me, my guests, and other members of this House. Interestingly, Rep. Borowicz never mentioned Islam, Muhammad, or the Quran during the prayer. Johnson-Harrell wasnt the only one to cry foul. The Washington Post framed Borowiczs prayer this way: GOP legislator prays to Jesus for forgiveness before states first Muslim woman swears in. Never mind that the prayer for forgiveness had absolutely nothing to do with the swearing in of the Muslim member. And never mind that a Muslim offered the opening prayer the following day. Still others objected. Self-described evangelical Democrat Margo Davidson said the prayer was mean spirited, and she was offended. Now, Ill be honest. As a confessional Presbyterian, Im not particularly fond of the style of prayer articulated by Borowicz. I actually prefer prayers authored by the Puritans, or those composed in the mid-1600s by Anglican Thomas Cranmer in the elegant Book of Common Prayer. When Im placed in these kinds of public settings, I try to pray in a way that is sensitive to others who may not share my same beliefs. Moreover, I dont agree with every policy that Borowicz praised. So, if it were up to me, I would have prayed differently. Nonetheless, the response to Borowicz is over the top. What her critics are actually doing (in the name of tolerance and diversity, ironically) is trying to censor religious speech under the veil of taking offense. Of course, theyre fine to have people pray who agree with their particular agenda. But if you have a person who displays a genuine faith in a God who makes real claims on ones beliefs and behaviors that contradict their agenda, then that goes too far. Liberals would love to have you discuss your religious beliefs, so long as those beliefs dont conflict with their goals. The Left would prefer to have religiously motivated people and opinions move to the back of the bus of American public opinion. Keep your religion to Sunday morning, and well handle the rest of the week, thank you very much. What the whole situation calls for is a renewed sense of true tolerance. As Americans, we hold deep convictions about many issues, including issues of faith. We need to come to the place where we can listen to each other express these convictions. We need to hear each other, respect each other, and then engage constructively with each other. Faith-shaming those who hold religiously informed opinions does not serve these ends. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment There are many valuable ways to study the history of the church; church historians often trace the development of creedal theology, recount the lives of key theologians and church leaders, or study significant events in the life of the church. Each of these is a valuable way to understand how we arrived where we are today. Some of the most helpful examples of general church histories of this kind include Justo L. Gonzalezs The Story of Christianity (HarperOne, 2010), Zondervans two volume Church History by Ferguson, Woodbridge, and James III (2013), and Mark A. Nolls Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity (Baker, 2012). I am convinced, however, that one of the best ways to truly understand what lies at the core of the Christian faith is by studying its worship. You see, the Christian religion is more than its theology; in fact, very often what truly constitutes the central commitments of Christianity in various stages of history actually differs from the prominent creeds of the period. Rather, one of the most accurate indicators of the central convictions of a church or movement is the way that it worships. Yet, I think its safe to say that most evangelical Christians dont realize this about their worship. Worship is what we do when we gather for church on Sundaywe sing some songs and listen to a sermon that hopefully will give us some practical advice for the week. Worship for most evangelicals tends to focus on methodology: How many songs will we sing? What instrumentation will we use? In what order will we organize the service? How we worship is based on cultural conventions, preferences of the people, or tradition. What matters is what we believe and the sincerity of our hearts; how we worship is simply the authentic overflow of our hearts toward God. However, corporate worship does something far more significant than many Christians recognizeliturgy forms our religion. But the reverse is equally truereligion forms our liturgy. Its the age-old chicken-and-egg question: which comes first? The answer depends on from which perspective were looking. From the perspective of leaders among Gods people who have given intentional considerations to these matters, religion forms liturgy. But for most Christians who have not thought much about itleaders and laity alikeliturgy has formed their religion without them even knowing it. I am convinced that a central solution to problems we face today in evangelical Christianity is to recover a lost understanding that worship involves more than simply expressing devotion to God through songs we enjoy; rather, worship forms the very core of who we are as Christians. China bans 1,000-member church in Beijing, demands members vow not to attend Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An influential house church in Beijing was shut down Saturday after 20 government and police officials raided Bible classes at two different locations, changed the locks and demanded congregants vow never to worship as a congregation again. Chinas crackdown against underground house churches continued last Saturday with the forced closure of Beijings Shouwang Church, according to the Chinese persecution watchdog organization China Aid. Shouwang Church is one of the most prominent among thousands of unregistered house churches in the city and is said to be attended by over 1,000 people. As the congregation has suffered through years of challenges and persecution at the hands of the government for refusing to join the state-sanctioned church, it was accused of refusing to register with the government as a social organization. But according to the nonprofit run by prominent Chinese human rights leader Bob Fu, the church had previously submitted an application to the Haidian District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau in 2006 but was rejected because founding Pastor Jin Tianming was not officially ordained by the state. Christians attending the Bible classes had planned to meet around 1 p.m. but instead were taken by policy to a nearby school where they were held for hours, questioned and told that the church had been shut down. The nonprofit NGO International Christian Concern reports that another group of Christians affiliated with the church were detained from another location and also taken to the school. Officials reportedly switched out the locks at both locations of the raids. The number of Christians detained by police for hours before being released is believed to be between 20 and 30, reports China Aid. According to ICC, officials read out a document formally banning Shouwang Church and demanded that those in attendance sign a letter vowing that they will no longer attend the church. However, the detainees reportedly refused. Additionally, authorities were said to have demanded that Pastor Zhang Xiaofeng sign a document admitting that the church conducted activities as an organization without registering with the government. The closing of Shouwang Church comes after authorities made headlines last September for banning Beijings largest house church, Zion Church, and confiscating illegal promotional materials. Zion Church had previously rejected requests from government authorities to install closed-circuit cameras. Officials in Beijing argued that the church had held events without registering. Shouwang Church in the past has been forced to meet in outdoor locations as government pressure made it difficult for the congregation to secure rented or purchased space. As previously reported, the churchs founding pastor was placed under house arrest in 2011 and many church members were arrested after the church began worshiping outdoors after its eviction from a building. Last July, at least 34 house churches in Beijing signed a joint statement to Chinas Communist Party officials decrying what they called an ongoing and worsening crackdown against believers. "The normal religious lives of believers have been violated and obstructed, causing serious emotional harm and damage to their sense of patriotism, as well as causing social conflict," the statement read, according to Radio Free Asia. Beijing churches are not alone in facing persecution as dozens upon dozens of members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu have been arrested for worshiping after government officials closed the church last December. China ranks as the 27th worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List. This ranking reflects the increasing implementation of regulations on religion in China that are now much harsher across the country. During his trip to Hong Kong earlier this month, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, said he believes the Chinese government is at war with faith. Its a war they will not win, Brownback declared during a speech at the Foreign Correspondents Club. The Chinese Communist Party must hear the cry of its people for religious freedom. The former Kansas governor and U.S. senator criticized the Chinese governments treatment of Christians as well as its imprisonment of as many as 1 million Uighur Muslims in internment camps. ICC Regional Manager Gina Goh stated in a press release that Chinas disregard of religious freedom is deplorable. Christians outside of the state-sanctioned churches can no longer worship without fearing of harassment, detention, or even imprisonment, Goh stressed. Even official churches face increasing pressure to exalt the Communist Party over God. The international community should continue to press China over its human rights abuses until it is willing to make positive change. China Aids Fu had previously warned members of Congress that religious freedom in China has reached the worst level that has not been seen since the beginning of the Cultural Revolution by Chairman Mao [Zedong] in the 1960s. He also warned about a five-year plan to make Christianity more compatible with socialism. That plan, he says, features a "rewrite" of the Bible to reflect Chinese ethics of Confucianism and socialism. Christian genocide in Nigeria: 5 facts you need to know Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hundreds of lives have been lost and hundreds of homes have been burned since the start of 2019, raising questions again about the truth behind the violence occurring between Fulani Muslim herdsmen and predominantly Christian farmers in Nigerias Middle Belt. While conflicts between nomadic herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt date back decades, theres been a noticeable increase in deadly massacres across several states in the Middle Belt of Nigeria since January 2018, where people were slaughtered and communities razed. In addition to the seemingly countless numbers of people killed, it has been estimated that as many as 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes by the communal violence. Whats happening in the Middle Belt of Nigeria can be confusing for onlookers outside the country because of the fact that there are competing narratives. One narrative labels the Fulani attacks against Christian farmers a genocide perpetrated by radicalized Islamic herders looking to drive out Christians from their homes. A second narrative paints the killings as being part of a years-old conflict exacerbated by several factors, including increased Fulani herdsmen migration due to the Boko Haram insurgency and the desertification in the north. In the following pages are five key facts you need to know about the Fulani conflict in Nigeria. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Bishop of Chester hands over safeguarding duties after jailing of retired priest The Bishop of Chester Peter Forster has passed his safeguarding duties over to another bishop after coming under criticism for his handling of an abuse case involving a retired priest who was jailed this month. Gordon Dickenson, 89, was sentenced to 27 months in prison by Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to eight counts of sexual activity with a child. The abuse occurred in 1974 while Mr Dickenson was vicar of Christ Church, Latchford. Bishop Forster has faced criticism over his handling of the case after the diocese failed to act on a letter it received from Mr Dickenson in 2009 in which he admitted he had been accused of abuse. After Mr Dickenson's sentencing, the Diocese of Chester offered an "unreserved apology to the survivor who has shown bravery and courage". "The diocese wishes to apologise for not acting on this information in 2009 and acknowledges that, had it done so, the police may have brought a prosecution against Gordon Dickenson sooner," it said. "An independent review will be conducted into the handling of the case to identify where any failures in procedures arose, and what lessons can be learned." In light of the case, Bishop Forster has now announced that he is handing over all safeguarding duties to the Bishop of Birkenhead Keith Sinclair "with immediate effect". In a statement, Bishop Forster said: "I have taken this decision in response to recent comment into my handling of the Gordon Dickenson case in 2009. "An independent review will seek to identify where any failures in procedures arose, and what lessons can be learned and I look forward to contributing to the review and to giving a full account of my actions in relation to this matter. "The Diocese of Chester takes seriously its safeguarding responsibilities at every level. Whilst an independent review into my actions takes place, I recognise that I should not continue to lead the safeguarding arrangements in the diocese." Moroccos King Mohammed VI of Morocco amazed the world as he shared his thoughts and beliefs on religious peace, tolerance, and coexistence in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. At the Hassan mosque plaza on Saturday, The Commander of Fithful, King Mohammed VI began his speech in Arabic, emphasizing that it was an exceptional day in Morocco for two reasons. It is exceptional because of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis. It is also exceptional because it reminds me of the historical visit the late Pope John Paul II paid to Morocco, said the King. In fluent Spanish, King Mohammed VI spoke about coexistence and the exceptional rich diversity underpinning Moroccan civilization. It is reflected by the mosques, churches, and synagogues which have coexisted in the cities of the Kingdom since time immemorial. King Mohammed VI received respect and applause from the attendees for his decision to convey words of tolerance and peace in four different languages. In English, the monarch called on interfaith dialogue between the three Abrahamic religions, which were not created to be tolerant of one another out of some unavoidable fate, or out of courtesy to one another, according to the King. The King concluded his speech in French, emphasizing that spirituality is not an end in itself. Our faith translates into concrete actions. It teaches us to love our fellow human beings and to help them. Pope Francis arrived in Morocco on Saturday for his first ever official visit in Morocco. King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, and Prince Moulay Rachid, received the pope. The Popes second day in Morocco has a busy schedule. The Pope will start his day by visiting the Center for Social Services in Temara, a city near Rabat. The Pope will then meet with religious men and women in Rabats cathedral. Before heading back to the Vatican, Pope Francis will celebrate the Catholic mass at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat. 1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. In a quiet town on the North Carolina coast in 1969, a young woman who survived alone in the marsh becomes a murder suspect. 2. Wolf Pack by C.J. Box. Wyoming game wardens Joe Pickett and Katelyn Hamm take on killers working for the Sinaloa cartel. 3. Cemetery Road by Greg Iles. Journalist Marshall McEwan returns to his hometown, which is shaken by two deaths and an economy on the brink. 4. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A fictional oral history charting the rise and fall of a 70s rock n roll band. 5. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. Theo Faber looks into the mystery of a famous painter who stops speaking after shooting her husband. 6. Silent Night by Danielle Steel. After tragedy strikes, a child TV star loses her memory and ability to speak. 7. The Chef by James Patterson with Max DiLallo. Caleb Rooney, a police detective and celebrity food truck chef, must clear his name of murder allegations. 8. The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin. A family crisis tests the bonds and ideals of a renowned poet and her siblings. 9. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. The friendship over many decades of two female divers from the Korean Island of Jeju is pushed to a breaking point. 10. The Border by Don Winslow. The third book in the Power of the Dog series. Art Kellers fight to keep drugs out of the country has taken a complicated turn. Nonfiction 1. Becoming by Michelle Obama. The former first lady describes her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House. 2. Educated by Tara Westover. The daughter of survivalists, who is kept out of school, educates herself enough to leave home for university. 3. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells. How climate-related crises may cause food shortages, refugee emergencies and other catastrophes. 4. Mamas Last Hug by Frans de Waal. The death of a chimpanzee matriarch frames a broader look into the world of animal and human emotions. 5. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. The rise and fall of Theranos, the biotech startup that failed to deliver on its promise to make blood testing more efficient. 6. The Threat by Andrew G. McCabe. The former deputy director of the FBI describes major events of his career and the ways the agency works to protect Americans. 7. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. A look at the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. 8. The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson. A defense stating that the current president adopted several traditional conservative positions. 9. Spearhead by Adam Makos. An American tank gunner faces enemies in Cologne, Germany, during World War II. 10. Grateful American by Gary Sinise with Marcus Brotherton. The Oscar-nominated actor describes how he has entertained troops and helped veterans. New York Times A 2-year-old was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition Saturday evening after being shot twice in southwest Houston, according to the Houston Police Department. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox Troy Finner, executive assistant chief of the Houston Police Department, said the shooting happened at about 5:25 p.m. at Haviland Park, located at 11600 Haviland St. A group was holding some type of a party at the park when a gray car pulled into the parking lot. Witnesses told police a man jumped out of the car and began shooting at a parked red car, hitting a 2-year-old boy who was inside. Finner said the boy was struck in the cheek and buttocks. Moments after the shooting began, some nearby began firing back at the suspect, who got back in his car and fled heading west on Minetta Street. The child is undergoing surgery at a local hospital. HPD's gang unit, tactical unit and multiple other departments are working to identify and arrest a suspect or suspects in the shooting, which Finner implied may have been due to a fight or gang-related activity. "We've been here before unfortunately on incidents like this but let me just say it one more time hands off our babies and our children in our city," Finner said. This is a developing story. Check Chron.com for updates. 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. Spring Festival season ushers in one of the most unique Texas festivals, the 2019 Tomball German Heritage Festival. The 19th annual festival celebrates the rich German heritage that influences Tomball. The three-day event kicked off on Friday, March 29, and wrapped up on Sunday in downtown Tomball. Galveston officials are seeking to identify a body found dead on a Galveston sidewalk Saturday morning. Police described the victim as a black male who they estimated to be about 50 years old. Galveston police, fire and ambulance authority personnel responded to a report of the body shortly after 7 a.m. Investigators were still on scene at the 3800 block of Avenue P 1/2 by Saturday afternoon. Officials asked anyone with a missing family member matching the victim's description to call 409-765-3778. 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. With equal amounts shock and pride, the 2019 Montgomery County Fair Queen stepped forward from a lineup of 16 other contestants all of them clasping hands in nervous excitement to claim the title thats now hers for the year. In the middle of the Woodforest Bank Arena in Conroe Saturday night, thousands of fans cheered as Grace Hoegemeyer, a 17-year-old from Willis High School, wore her crown for the first time. I was in utter shock, Hoegemeyer said after the crowning. I was so happy, it was overwhelming. Im just so excited to start this journey. Its been such a good build-up. Now is the first step in moving forward in a great year. As queen, shell be the ambassador for the fair during her reign. Its fitting, because she said when she was younger, she always looked up to the fair queens. She also cited the countys fair as helping her develop values such as morals, community, family and accountability. Im so thankful and grateful to everyone who has helped me. I want to inspire the younger generations; I think thats so cool. I want to inspire the little kids in our community, Hoegemeyer said. Hoegemeyers sponsor was Fullerton Orthodontics, and she received a $3,500 scholarship along with the crown and title. Outside of fair activities, shes involved in student council and the National Honor Society along with being a cheerleader at her high school. The countys outgoing 2018 Fair Queen, Kelley Anne Roland, a Conroe home-schooled student, addressed the crowd for the last time with emotion just before she gave her crown to Hoegemeyer. As I come to the end of my reign, I am overwhelmed by joy and gratitude for the past year. This has been an unforgettable journey that I will cherish for the rest of my life, Roland said. It has truly been an honor and privilege to serve as the ambassador for the county fair. Whats happening next? Here's the schedule for Sunday, March 31: 8 a.m. - Scramble Heifer Show - Lansdowne Moody Livestock Barn 9 a.m. - Breeding Beef Show - Lansdowne Moody Livestock Barn 1 p.m. - Ranch Rodeo - Woodforest National Bank Arena 1:30 p.m. - Adult Non-livestock Show - Montgomery County Fair Grounds - Exhibit Building 4 p.m. - Market Lamb Show - Lansdowne Moody Livestock See More Collapse As far as this year goes, if Hoegemeyer cannot fulfill her duties at any point, the runner-ups step in. Shelby Denton from Splendora High School, sponsored by the Hoppes Family, won first runner-up. Shell receive a $2,500 scholarship. Marie Yanchak, of Magnolia High School and sponsored by the Walling Family, won second runner-up and will receive a $1,500 scholarship. The Miss Congeniality award went to Claire Folwell, from The Woodlands College Park High School and sponsored by Harmony Complete Care LLC. Her peer contestants selected her to receive that title, for which shell also get a $1,000 scholarship. This was the final event in a many months-long process leading up to the crowning. The contestants had to submit their applications and essays last year, attend meetings and work together to build a float for the Go Texan Parade. Saturday, they began their day with breakfast with the judges, all of whom are from outside the county. The judges then held personal interviews with the contestants in addition to hearing their prepared speeches. Judges considered poise, personality and investment in and general knowledge of the Montgomery County Fair Association when selecting the Fair Queen and runner-ups. jane.stueckemann@chron.com (NC) If youre dreaming of a trip across the pond, dont let your budget hold you back there are plenty of ways to save big and keep costs down. Book for fall. Given that autumn is considered low season for travel to Europe compared to the summer, the cost of flights and accommodations are lower too. Plus, there wont be as many tourists and the weather will be beautiful and warm, but without the blistering heat of peak summer. Look for freebies. Europe prides itself on its rich cultural heritage, which means many publicly funded museums offer free admission to their regular collections. Others will have free or discounted days, such as the first Sunday of every month or every Wednesday evening. You can also search online for free or pay-what-you-can walking or bike tours. Try a package. Think that packages with flight, hotel, transfers and activities are only for Mexico or Caribbean destinations? With Air Canada Vacations, you can choose from packages that have been carefully curated by a team of experts that let you experience your destination like a local. Perhaps a guided tour island hopping through Greece or a flavours of Italy tour are right for you. Youll save by booking together and even more if you book early. Eat like a local. Avoid flashy spots near the top tourist attractions. Instead, check out a variety of neighbourhoods and see which restaurants the locals visit for after-work drinks or a quick bite. You can also stock up on fresh bread, cold cuts and fruit and enjoy a delicious picnic spread while you get the vibe of a local park. Find more information at aircanadavacations.com. Police on Saturday arrested two robbers who they say made off with more than $100,000 from a Houston bank. The robbers fled the scene and led police on a high-speed chase after officers responded to reports of a robbery at Compass Bank on Richmond Avenue shortly before 10 a.m. A federal judge in Alaska declared late Friday that President Donald Trump's order revoking a sweeping ban on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans is illegal, putting 128 million acres of federal waters off limits to energy exploration. The decision by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason is the third legal setback this week to Trump's energy and environmental policies. The judge, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2012, also blocked on Friday a land swap the Interior Department arranged that would pave the way for constructing a road through wilderness in a major National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, ruled that Interior's Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service illegally approved two gas drilling plans in western Colorado. The judge said officials did not adequately analyze wildlife and climate impacts in their plans - which were challenged by a coalition of environmental groups - to drill 171 wells in North Fork Valley, which provides key habitat for elk and mule deer. Trump's rollbacks of Obama-era conservation policies have suffered nearly two dozen setbacks in federal court, largely on procedural grounds. While the administration is appealing many of these decisions and holds an advantage if the cases reach the Supreme Court, the rulings have slowed the president's drive to expand fossil fuel production in the United States. Earlier this month, for example, a federal judge halted drilling on more than 300,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Wyoming. Friday's decision on offshore drilling could affect a five-year leasing plan the administration plans to issue in the summer, as well as block the six offshore lease sales it proposed to schedule in the Arctic Ocean starting as early as this year. Friday's decision applies to 98 percent of the Arctic Ocean, as well as undersea canyons in the Atlantic spanning a total of 3.8 million acres, stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to New England. "President Trump's lawlessness is catching up with him," Erik Grafe, the lead attorney from the environmental law organization Earthjustice who argued to reinstate Obama's leasing withdrawals in the Arctic and Atlantic, said in an interview Saturday. "The judge's ruling today shows that the president can not just trample on the constitution to do the bidding of his cronies in the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our oceans, wildlife, and climate." Industry officials, however, said the administration could forge ahead with its offshore drilling process as litigation continued. They also noted that the withdrawals did not cover the entire Eastern Seaboard. "While we disagree with the decision, our nation still has a significant opportunity before us in the development of the next offshore leasing plan to truly embrace our nation's energy potential and ensure American consumers and businesses continue to benefit from U.S. energy leadership," said Erik Milito, vice president of upstream and industry operations for the American Petroleum Institute. But Grafe noted that the five-year plan the administration plans to issue this year sets a schedule for lease sales, which is now barred in the areas designated by Obama. "I think they'd have a hard time scheduling a lease sale in a place that's now permanently off limits," he said. "The law of the land of the land today is no drilling in most of the Arctic Ocean, and in these important areas in the Atlantic. The Interior Department declined to comment Saturday. In her Friday ruling, Gleason wrote that the law in which Congress gave the president authority over offshore drilling - the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act - expressly allows for leasing withdrawals but does not state that a subsequent president can revoke those withdrawals without congressional approval. "As a result, the previous three withdrawals issued on January 27, 2015 and December 20, 2016 will remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked by Congress," she wrote. Rebecca Logan, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, said in an email that members of her oil and gas trade group did not see the decision as the final word. "Anything done by administrative action can be undone by administrative action," Logan said. "This question will work its way through the courts, and eventually I expect Judge Gleason's decision will be reversed." In a separate decision earlier in the day, Gleason found that then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke did not provide sufficient justification for reversing the government's stance on whether to allow a small, remote Alaska town to construct a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Residents of King Cove have argued for years that they need to bisect the refuge, which has been protected for decades and provides a critical rest stop for migratory waterfowl, for medical evacuations under rough weather. In a statement Friday, local leaders there vowed to continue their fight. "The people of King Cove deserve to have access to a higher level of care, especially when the unforgiving weather prevents them from traveling from their isolated community by air or boat," said Aleutians East Borough Mayor Alvin Osterback. "This land exchange would have accomplished that." Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also promised to continue pushing for building the road, which otherwise would be prohibited in a wilderness area. "I will never stop until this road is a reality and the nearly 1,000 residents of this isolated community have a lifeline for emergency medical care," she said. Opponents counter that the federal government has provided millions in funding to give town residents alternative forms of transport and warn that a road would fragment critical habitat. They also cite expert testimony that any road through the refuge would be impassable during snowstorms. "Here, the Secretary's failure to acknowledge the change in agency policy and his failure to provide a reasoned explanation for that change in policy are serious errors," Gleason wrote. More than 100 vendors, trades and suppliers are part of the reason the Chesmar Homes Benefit Homes Project home will be a successful fundraiser for two local charities. Chesmar is building their sixth Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA) Benefit home with commitments by local vendors and suppliers and trades to ensure the home is built at minimal cost. The home is for sale at market value and when sold, proceeds will be donated to Operation Finally Home and HomeAid Houston. This Benefit Home is being built in NorthGrove on a lot donated by Toll Brothers, the community developer. Chesmar Homes is constructing the 2,746-square-foot Mesquite Plan that is a two-story design featuring four bedrooms with a fifth bedroom/study option, three full baths, walk-in closets, a game room, an island kitchen and a two story open family room off the open style kitchen. What started with six members of San Antonio's City Council making a stand against an "anti-LGBTQ reputation," a vote last week approving new vendors at San Antonio International Airport that specifically rejected popular fast food joint Chick-fil-A continues to boil over into chicken-fried political theater. In a Facebook post on Saturday, the Republican Party of Texas called out the council saying its "leftist" actions discriminated against the restaurant. RELATED: Ted Cruz bashes San Antonio City Council for its airport Chick-fil-A ban The group said they support Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's newly opened investigation into the vote. They also encouraged followers to go to a Chick-fil-A and then post pictures of themselves eating there as a show of support. As of 3:30 p.m., no one had posted photos. A day following the vote, Senator Ted Cruz ridiculed the council's decision in a Twitter post calling the move "ridiculous." Paxton said in a letter to city officials Thursday that his office is now investigating if the council violated state law. Paxton called the vote a "discriminatory decision" because of the religious beliefs of the chain's owners. Earlier this week, mayoral candidate and councilman Greg Brockhouse sent an apology to Chick-Fil-A for the vote. SUBSCRIBER CONTENT: Nirenberg shies away from moral implications of Chick-fil-A vote Mayor Ron Nirenberg is steering clear of the moral implications of the vote. He told the Expres-News his support of the council's decision is due to Chick-Fil-A's operating hours. The chain closes every Sunday, and as a result, the city would lose 15 percent of its revenue from that location, according to Nirenberg. Councilman Roberto Trevino, the vote's standard bearer, stands firm behind the decision. "The work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion should not be undone so easily," Trevino told the Express-News earlier this week. We are here today to examine the issue of sexual harassment here in Albany, in the public sector, and in the private sector across the state. These simple words from state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi opened the state Legislatures first hearing on sexual harassment in 27 years. Just two months into her first term, Biaggi found herself presiding over this landmark hearing. She had prepared so much that she felt she may have been overprepared, to make sure she wouldnt let anyone down. Even so, Biaggi felt nervous as she began asking her first questions. But the moment passed quickly and she confidently plugged ahead. I dont have time to be nervous, Biaggi recalled thinking. As a survivor of sexual abuse, she recognized the seriousness of the issue and the responsibility she had to the victims. I have to do this. It wasnt the only recent effort by state government to address sexual harassment. Last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced several measures to increase protections for victims of sexual harassment that passed as part of the state budget, touting them as the most comprehensive in the nation. The main changes required all employers in the state to institute a sexual harassment policy and provide all employees with sexual harassment training, either their own or following models created by the state, and forbid confidentiality agreements unless it is the preference of the accuser. Despite the reforms, many lawmakers and advocates agreed that state policies on sexual harassment remained woefully inadequate. The harassment we had experienced, we dont think the laws that passed last year would have changed any of that. And thats a problem. Rita Pasarell, a co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group While Cuomos proposals were not opposed by advocates, the consensus among advocates at the time was that the bills largely missed the most pressing issues for victims of sexual harassment. Something that all of us in the (Sexual Harassment) Working Group thought was that those laws would not have improved our situations, Rita Pasarell, a co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, told City & State. Its members, Pasarell included, are former state legislative staffers who say they were victims of or have encountered sexual harassment or assault. None of the harassment we had experienced, none of the problems in the investigative process that we experienced, we dont think the laws that passed last year would have changed any of that. And thats a problem. Among advocates, there is widespread agreement that the first thing the state must do is change the burdensome standard by which sexual harassment claims are measured. While people are protected from sexual harassment under the federal Civil Rights Act and the state Human Rights Law as a form of discrimination, that harassment must be severe or pervasive in order for the behavior to fall under either law. The standard was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1986 case Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, in which a 19-year-old bank teller sued her employer for sexual harassment. This case marked the first time the court ruled that such harassment constituted discrimination on the basis of sex, and was therefore illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had previously issued guidelines in 1980 that Title VII included sexual harassment, but the 1986 decision codified those guidelines through precedent. For sexual harassment to be actionable, it must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of (the victims) employment and create an abusive working environment, Justice William Rehnquist wrote in the majority opinion, thus creating a broad definition for courts to follow. Courts in New York have long deferred to that standard as well, creating state precedent. New York State Senate Imagine showing up to work only to have a co-worker tell you to get breast implants, touch your butt while telling you to tighten up and tell you not to adjust your exposed underwear because he was enjoying himself. Or to be subjected to name-calling like dumb blonde, repeated remarks about your appearance and being swatted on the butt with papers by a supervisor. Or even to have a supervisor pull your hair, rub lubricant on your arms and tell you to buy sexual paraphernalia. We as lawyers (have to) tell people that, as painful and humiliating whatever they faced was, it probably isnt going to succeed because of the severe or pervasive standard. Miriam Clark, president of the National Employment Lawyers Associations New York chapter None of that behavior is hypothetical. Women described those and other actions taken against them in three separate sexual harassment cases in New York from 2012, 2015 and 2016. And in each one, the court ruled the behavior did not meet the severe or pervasive standard and, under the law, did not constitute a hostile work environment. These standards are so ridiculously high, said Miriam Clark, president of the National Employment Lawyers Associations New York chapter. We as lawyers are often in the position of having to tell people that, as painful and humiliating whatever they faced was, it probably isnt going to succeed because of the severe or pervasive standard. RELATED: 3 horrifying cases that didn't meet the standard Currently, several pieces of legislation in Albany would eliminate this standard. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic introduced one bill shortly before the sexual harassment hearing. Biaggi and Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas introduced similar legislation shortly after the hearing that the lawyers association helped draft. Cuomo also introduced a measure as part of his latest executive budget to eliminate the standard and lessen the burden on accusers. However, the Senate rejected Cuomos proposal in its budget resolution, stating sexual harassment legislation should pass outside of the budget to allow for robust discussion. None of the proposals would introduce a specific new standard into law; they would simply add language to the state Human Rights Law that the law applies to discriminatory harassment regardless of how severe or pervasive it is. They do, however, include language that allows employers to defend themselves in court if they can prove the behavior did not rise above petty slights or trivial inconveniences. The statutory change is to move it from severe or pervasive to a less well standard, Simotas said of the effect of the language change while warning against any language that would inadvertently narrow protections. So if you are treating somebody less well in their workplace than another person based on a protected class, then you are discriminating against them. The Gounardes and Rozic bill would, however, explicitly add sexual harassment to the Human Rights Law as unlawful discriminatory behavior, adding to statute what has already been established through the courts. RELATED: All the bills that aim to adress harassment Both the Gounardes and Rozic bill as well as the one from Biaggi and Simotas would eliminate what is known as the Faragher/Ellerth defense named after the two U.S. Supreme Court cases that set the precedent an aspect not included as part of Cuomos budget proposal. The defense allows employers to use a delay in reporting or a failure to follow a particular reporting procedure to avoid liability for a supervisors actions, or as a basis to deny claims of sexual harassment. The Biaggi and Simotas bill also includes provisions related to the allotment of punitive damages, which is currently not allowed under state law. Another key difference is that the Biaggi and Simotas bill would apply to all discriminatory behavior, while the Gounardes and Rozic bill specifically targets sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination only. Hans Pennink/AP/Shutterstock The definition of sexual harassment and the high burden of proof that falls on accusers obviously plays heavily not only in potential court cases, but in the reporting process people can go through with the state. Any changes to the severe or pervasive standard would entail changes in how those cases handled, a prospect that has largely not been addressed yet. At the state level, employees can file a sexual harassment complaint with the state Division of Human Rights. Theyll do an investigation, theyll find probable cause or not probable cause, theyll have a hearing, and that is all extrajudicial, Clark said. It is underfunded and no one (in government) pays much attention to it, and most lawyers dont go there. (The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics) testified that its totally legitimate to ask complainants about their prior sexual history and really interrogate them on that. state Sen. Andrew Gounardes Pasarell added that based on conversations that the Sexual Harassment Working Group has had, the Division of Human Rights is often not an effective route for victims, who may not know the agency is an option. At last months sexual harassment hearing, lawmakers did not hear oral testimony from the division since its commissioner was not available on short notice. But they did hear from the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which investigates and holds hearings on claims made against state government employees in a method comparable to how the Division of Human Rights investigates and holds hearings on sexual harassment and other discrimination complaints. Many were disturbed by what they heard. At one point, they testified that its totally legitimate to ask complainants about their prior sexual history and really interrogate them on that, Gounardes told City & State, expressing concern about a culture of victim shaming. Biaggi raised a similar concern. The questions that they asked (the accusers) ... indicated to me that not only are they ill-equipped, but the people who are there, who are claiming to be experts on this thing, are not trauma-informed, she said, adding that she had not been aware of the level of what she called the commissions incompetence in handling sexual harassment claims. We need to travel into uncomfortable territory and do it as often as possible. state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi While not every criticism of the commission could apply to the state Division of Human Rights, the two agencies share similar investigative powers when a person files a complaint. Shortcomings in how the Joint Commission on Public Ethics handles those investigations and hearings might naturally raise questions about the divisions process for complainants. The agencys written testimony offered little insight into its process beyond how many complaints it received and how many were found to have probable cause, describing its methods as efficient and effective investigation and adjudication. In 2017, the Division of Human Rights found that 143 out of 578 complaints had probable cause and referred the cases to a public hearing, noting that the number of complaints had increased during the #MeToo era. The absence of oral testimony from the division, and testimony from victims who had filed with the agency, leaves many unknowns about the impact of past and potential changes. Last months hearing made it clear as day that we need systematic reforms with the (Division of) Human Rights, Simotas told City & State. And we need to make sure the (Division of) Human Rights is more supportive to victims of this conduct. New York State Senate On May 9, 2018, advocates and lawmakers packed into the New York City Hall rotunda, the crowd extending up the rounding staircases. They came to celebrate a landmark package of 11 bills, each of which would offer new protections for victims of workplace sexual harassment, that Mayor Bill de Blasio would soon sign. Im proud to say with this legislation, New York City government is standing up, and were saying very, very clearly where we stand, what we believe, that we will not tolerate harassment or abuse of any kind, de Blasio said. Many advocates have pointed to the protections established in New York City that day as a good starting point for the state Legislature. Along with eliminating the severe or pervasive standard for cases before the city Commission on Human Rights or city courts, the new laws also expanded protections against gender-based harassment to all employers, regardless of size, and extended the statute of limitations for filing a gender-based sexual harassment claim from one year to three years. And though these laws passed last year, lawmakers are already looking at new ways to make them stronger. Soon after de Blasio signed the bills into law, City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal introduced legislation aimed at making it easier for a victim of harassment to prove their employer retaliated against them for reporting harassment or other discriminatory behavior. Under current law, the burden of proof lies completely on the accuser to show that a demotion, firing or other form of negative action taken was done so illegally as retribution. Rosenthals bill would shift some of that burden to the employer by requiring them to show good cause for the action. While she said that she is working with business interests to minimize any concerns they may have, Rosenthal asserted that this would not be overly burdensome to any employer that keeps good records. Its such a struggle, certainly in sexual harassment, but also in terms of racial discrimination, its so hard to prove it happened, so shifting the burden, I think, makes sense, Rosenthal told City & State. She added that other municipalities like Seattle have already enacted similar laws. Rosenthal also said that as the city nears the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the sexual harassment package, the City Council will be able to assess data collected by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services under new reporting measures for city agencies and government offices that will be able to better inform the next steps for lawmakers to continue strengthening protections for victims of sexual harassment. However, regardless of the various ways the legal standards or definitions of sexual harassment may change, the group Girls for Gender Equity, which focuses on sexual harassment and sexual assault among young people and students, asserts new policies should address how sexual harassment is broadly understood, beginning with young people. Ashley Sawyer, the organizations director of policy and government relations, said that steps to ensure victims are able to seek justice and perpetrators are punished are positive, but do little to prevent the behavior. Sawyer said a cultural shift must occur by teaching children about consent, sexual harassment and power dynamics beginning at a young age. Students dont even often have the language to define it, Sawyer said. I think there are very few conversations happening that help people understand that, and I think that is the work to help young people feel safe and to prevent adults from experiencing sexual violence. Sawyer said the state should pass comprehensive sex education policy so that young people can be taught about sexual harassment and assault. The Assembly currently has a bill that would create an educational program in schools to prevent sexual harassment, but it does not have a corresponding bill in the state Senate. The state Legislature has yet to introduce new sexual harassment bills based on testimony from last months hearing, but Biaggi told City & State that her staff is working on an internal report. She added that she and other lawmakers are committed to holding more hearings, which Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins also support. In order for us to do our jobs, Biaggi said, we need to travel into uncomfortable territory and do it often and as often as possible to be able to inform us to make policies and laws that protect the people in the state of New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers have reached a $175.5 billion budget deal. The final deal, announced early on Sunday morning, includes congestion pricing, a permanent cap on local property tax increases, bail reform and a plan for publicly-financed political campaigns, which had been the final hurdle. An approximately $1 billion increase in education funding, reforms to the MTA and a codification of parts of the Affordable Care Act also made it into the budget, though the legalization of recreational marijuana did not. While Democrats entered the year controlling both houses of the Legislature and the governors mansion for the first time in years, an on-time budget was hardly a given. The collapse of the Amazon HQ2 deal, differing revenue projections and policy disputes threatened to derail budget negotiations at times, but lawmakers and Cuomo were able to bridge their differences in time to meet the April 1 budget deadline, which will allow state lawmakers to keep their salary increase showing that Democrats can keep their campaign commitments and capitalize on their biggest legislative majorities in a century. Lawmakers voted to approve the various budget bills on Sunday in what Cuomo called the toughest budget season he has had in his three terms in office. The hard ones are the good ones by definition, Cuomo told reporters in a Sunday evening press conference. This is probably the broadest, most sweeping state plan that we have done. There are a number of national firsts and it really grapples with the tough issues that have been facing this state for a long time. While Cuomo ended up backtracking on some proposals such as cuts to Medicaid and reduced aid to localities, the governor achieved significant victories on the red lines he drew in the budget process: the 2 percent property tax cap, congestion pricing in Manhattan, criminal justice reforms and campaign finance reform. From the beginning, I said we will not do a budget that fails to address three major issues that have evaded this state for decades the permanent property tax cap, criminal justice reform and an MTA overhaul including Central Business District Tolling," Cuomo said in a statement sent after midnight that announced the budget deal. I also said this budget must be done right meaning it must be fiscally responsible and protect New York from the federal government's ongoing economic assault on our state. I am proud to announce that together, we got it done. This agreement accomplishes our goals and enacts the transformative policies of our 100-day Justice Agenda, while keeping spending at 2 percent for the ninth consecutive year, Cuomo added. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a suburban lawmaker whose conference won a commanding majority at the polls last fall, described the spending package as responsible, effective, and on-time. The 2019-2020 State Budget will provide an over $1 billion increase in state education aid, with a focus on struggling school districts, she said in a statement issued in the governors press release. The budget will also provide essential AIM funds for local governments, a permanent property tax cap, and tax relief for Middle Class New Yorkers. Additionally, we have taken historic steps to implement a public financing system, reform our criminal justice system, and ban single-use plastic bags. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie touted funding for the MTA and criminal justice reforms, but his statement did not mention public financing of elections, which his conference had balked at. The budget includes the creation of a public financing commission, which will have the binding power to develop a program of up to $100 million annually for legislative and statewide offices, with eligibility thresholds, public financing limits, and contribution limits to be decided in a report due by December 1, 2019. The recommendations would become law within 20 days unless amended by lawmakers. Importantly, we were able to secure landmark criminal justice reforms that will make a difference in the lives of New Yorkers, he said in a statement in the governors press release. Since I became speaker in 2015, it has been my personal mission to correct the tilted scales of justice for New Yorkers, and this year's budget agreement makes a giant leap toward realizing these goals: reforming our bail system, ensuring the right to a speedy trial, and making critical changes to New York's discovery process. Here is a rundown of the most notable measures included in the budget. Congestion pricing The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will implement a first-in-the-nation tolling program, although some details remain vague. The program will institute electronic tolling devices on the perimeter of a zone encompassing all of Manhattan south of 60th Street. A six-member review board will advise on tolls, exemptions, and credits, which will be variable and passenger vehicles will only be charged once per day. The tolls would not go into effect until 2021 at the earliest. People with disabilities would be exempt from the tolling and a traffic mobility review board could recommend additional credits, discounts and exemptions for other bridge and tunnel tolls, according to budget legislation. The MTA will also have to come up with an reorganization plan by June. Board members terms will also be realigned with the terms of the officials who appointed them and a congestion pricing plan will be enacted. Additional funding for the transit agency will be raised through an Internet sales tax and a 4.15 percent tax on the sale of properties valued at $25 million or above. Criminal justice Among the most contentious issues in the budget was bail reform. The budget deal will result in the elimination of cash bail for about 90 percent of cases, according to the governors press release. Deals were also reached on reforming the discovery process and ensuring that criminal trials happen faster. A key impediment to a deal had centered on whether judges could consider dangerousness as a reason to detain a criminal suspect pre-trial, a proposal that was taken out of the budget by Friday. Cuomo told reporters on Sunday night that additional changes to the bail system could be made in the coming months. Education funding A total of $27.9 billion will go to education in the coming fiscal year. Cuomo also secured new provisions that will require school districts to report more information to the state on how they allocate per-pupil spending at the school level. In the end, education funding increased by about 3.7 percent this year a small difference from the governors original budget proposal. While lawmakers secured about $620 million in additional Foundation Aid, that amount did not affect the overall total of education spending much largely due to a shifting of different funding sources. Activists had asked for a $1.2 billion increase in Foundation Aid. This years budget is one of dashed hopes and deferred dreams, said Jasmine Gripper, legislative director at the Alliance for Quality Education. This time we cannot blame the Republicans. State Sen. Shelley Mayer, chair of the Senate Education Committee, told City & State the the final budget would not include a proposal to consolidate different categories of expense-base aid. Lawmakers had been skeptical about this proposal from the governor and how it could have limited how school districts are reimbursed for expenses such as school buses and text books. Public Authorities Control Board Cuomo exacted a bit of revenge against state Senate Democrats by increasing the governors control of the Public Authorities Control Board. This obscure government entity was poised to have a potentially pivotal say in the Amazon HQ2 deal. By recommending that a leading opponent of the deal state Sen. Michael Gianaris represent the state Senate on the board, Stewart-Cousins added one more hurdle that apparently proved too much for Amazon, which subsequently gave up on plans to open a large satellite office in Long Island City, Queens. Cuomo had argued that the appointment was political. New language in a budget bill will ensure that a governor has full discretion to immediately remove a member of the board he or she finds to be acting, or threatening to act, beyond the scope of such members legal authority. Property tax cap A permanent 2 percent on local property tax increases was a top priority of Cuomo, and one that he said he would not sign the bill without. There had been some doubts, however, that the Assembly would go along with making the cap permanent, as the Senate voted to do earlier this session. In past years, an extension of the cap had been contingent on passing similar multi-year extensions of rent regulations. Some Assembly members had hoped that a similar deal could be struck this year as well, but Cuomo got what he wanted in the end. Public campaign finance The very last sticking point in the budget was concluded with mixed results for advocates of establishing a system of publicly-financed election campaigns statewide. The budget did authorize up to $100 million for such a system, but leaves it to a newly-established commission to figure out how it would work in practice. Similar to a controversial commission that determined legislative pay raises, the findings of the public finance commission will have the full force of law unless legislators vote otherwise. They would have 20 days to do that once the commission releases its report by Dec. 1, 2019. Reporters asked Cuomo on Sunday night why a commission rather than lawmakers will determine the details of the upcoming publicly-financed system. Because it is too complicated, Cuomo said. Its not a simple system to put in place. Its especially not simply statewide. What offices are eligible? How many candidates? How many parties? Whats the match? Is the match the same in Buffalo as it is in New York City? The commission will answer those questions. The most important thing on public financing was passing it, Cuomo said. Voting reforms Voters statewide will now have three hours of paid time off to vote on Election Day. Online voter registration, expanded upstate voting hours and $10 million to fund early voting were also in the budget as well as funding for the electronic poll books that are needed to make early voting feasible. Health care Numerous parts of the Affordable Care Act were codified in state law, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, essential health benefits, New York State of Health, and a prohibition on limiting annual and lifetime coverage. We have codified many of the protections of Obamacare, so regardless of what President Trump does, we know that we have a health care program in New York that will protect New Yorkers, Cuomo said on Sunday. Pre-existing conditions, the 10 essential health benefits, no cost sharing, codifying New York health insurance marketplace, etc. Insurance companies also must provide coverage for in-vitro fertilization and egg-freezing. The environment A ban on single-use plastic bags was included. Cities and counties can also choose to enact a five-cent fee on paper bags, with 40 percent of that revenue going to provide low- and fixed-income people with reusable bags. The rest will support programs in the state Environmental Protection Fund, which received a total of $300 million in the budget the same as last year. A total of $2.5 billion will support clear water infrastructure, a $500 million increase. Other measures Cuomos crackdown on limousine operators in response to a horrific crash in Schoharie last fall that killed 20 people made the cut, despite earlier worries that it had fallen out of the budget. This includes new safety standards, increased insurance requirements and a provision that makes it a class E felony if a driver causes the death of another person while knowingly operating an unsafe limo. The new budget also contains $27 million to implement the DREAM Act, which had already been passed by both houses, as well as tweaks that Cuomo had said were necessary to keep the legislation from being overly broad. Only $20 million was allocated for census outreach to undercounted populations, just half of what immigration advocates had requested. The final budget also contains provisions to ensure the right for workers to organize and collectively bargain. SUNY and CUNY students who families make up to $125,000 a year are now eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship Free Tuition Program. CLEVELAND, Ohio FirstEnergy Solutions says it wants to delay dismantling its four nuclear power plants including Perry and Davis-Besse for 60 years. The company a year ago told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission it would close its four nuclear plants by the end of 2021, starting with Davis-Besse in May 2020 and Perry in May 2021. It apparently still plans to do that if it cannot obtain a state or federal subsidy. Documents just released by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission show that FES has filed a 60-year nuclear reactor decommissioning plan -- the maximum amount of time allowed by law. That means the plants would be dead, but off-limits to any other development until about 2082. And by that time, the company if it survives would have spent a projected $1.1 billion at Perry alone. The projected cost of decommissioning and clean-up at Davis-Besse, near Toledo, is also a little over $1 billion. The long delay in decommissioning, called SAFSTOR by the NRC, allows for years of dormancy during which time the most expensive charges are for security. The plan would delay dismantling the most radioactive parts of each of its four reactors for about 50 years in order to give decommissioning funds ample time to grow. The plan assumes the conservatively managed funds would grow at 2 percent per year. The company would then spend the final 10 years dismantling the reactor itself and parts closest to it. Winning NRC approval of the decommissioning plans is one of three fronts on which FES is battling as the first anniversary of its bankruptcy filing approaches this weekend. The company also is talking to state lawmakers about a bailout for its nuclear plants. And its defending its restructuring plan in court to continue operating as a creditor-owned company when it emerges from bankruptcy. Heres how the Perry shutdown bill adds up: The decommissioning fund balance for Perry contained $541.9 million as of Jan. 31. When FES closes Perry in May 2021, it is projecting that the fund would stand at $563.8 million. Initial deconstruction of non-radioactive facilities would cost $46.9 million in 2021 and $99.9 million in 2022. In the following three years, annual expenditures would be kept at about $8.5 million, and by 2027 would fall to about $5 million a year through 2060 when the fund balance is projected to have grown to nearly $600 million. But what if FES doesnt make it as a business after emerging from bankruptcy later this year? Or cant even successfully get out of bankruptcy because its agreement with major creditors falls apart? Thats at the heart of the battle the company is waging right now before bankruptcy Judge Alan Koschik in Akron. State and federal agencies and environmental and consumer groups want FESs parent, FirstEnergy Corp., to remain responsible for cleanup costs. FE insists it is no longer responsible because of a deal it cut with FES -- in full view of creditors -- and approved last fall by the court. A hearing is set for Tuesday. Koschik earlier this month said he wasnt buying the conclusion that FE would have no future responsibility despite his approval of the settlement in which FE agreed to pay FES nearly $1 billion in cash and services to separate the two companies. And FE, despite its public announcements, continues to include language in its SEC filings saying it ultimately might be held responsible. One of the national environmental groups, the Midwest-based Environmental Law and Policy Center, took its opposition directly to the NRC a year ago. FES also is preparing a campaign to persuade lawmakers it must have a customer-paid bailout to keep the power plants running. Earlier this week the companys top lobbyist, David Griffing, told an Ohio House subcommittee the wholesale electric markets are flawed because they focus on the least expensive sources of power in the short term. While thats been good for consumers, he acknowledged, it means that many nuclear plants cannot recover all of their costs. FE has sought bailout legislation twice in the last two years that would have raised residential bills by about $5 a month for years. Opponents said the total cost of the nuclear surcharges would have been as much as $300 million per year for up to 16 years. Those proposals died in House and Senate committees. A new bailout plan is being written and could be unveiled as early as next week. Opponents are already organizing. Griffing had no details, but he told the House subcommittee that the company needs legislation approved by mid-year because it must decide whether to order fuel rod assemblies for a regularly-scheduled two-year refueling of Davis-Besse next year. Without that refueling, Davis-Besse would shut down in May 2020 as scheduled. We are looking at some time in June ... to make that [fuel order] decision. That is why time is of the essence, he said. Griffing said the companys creditors -- who would own the company if the bankruptcy court approves a proposed arrangement -- have agreed to continue to own and operate the FES reactors. We want to continue to be an independent power producer that has nuclear and fossil [coal] and retail assets [customer contracts] in the state of Ohio, Griffing said. He said however that without additional funding the company cannot guarantee the continued operation of the plants beyond the decommissioning dates it gave the NRC. ORANGE, Ohio -- Abandoned vehicle, missing person; Interstate 271: Coming upon a disabled cargo van along the left shoulder of the highway late on March 21, police found the ignition key on the seat, an empty gas tank and a noticeably strong odor of alcohol inside. The van is owned by a Pittsburgh-area limousine service. One of the sons, 26, had taken off without anyones consent. He was later tracked down in Aurora and returned to Pennsylvania for further evaluation. Damage to property, Orange Place: Police responded on March 25 to the University Hospitals-Chagrin Highlands campus, where a tractor-trailer had run through the roundabout flowerbed, destroying a landscaped tree and possibly damaging irrigation lines. The driver, a Tampa, Fla., man, 52, said he was getting a delivery from UH but didnt know where to park. His companys information was turned over to Pinecrest management. Disabled motor vehicle, fictitious plates; I-271: Police found an unoccupied blue 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on March 26 with plates registered to a maroon 2000 Dodge. It was not listed as stolen, but the tags had expired almost two years ago. A Euclid man, 45, arrived on the scene with a gas can and explained that he had bought the car from his cousin, a Euclid woman, 42, who said she had abandoned the car a year ago. Police did not cite the man, but towed the car and gave him a courtesy ride to the Warrensville Heights Get-Go, allowing him to take the cars radio console, which he said he had bought himself. Debris on street, Harvard Road: A garbage truck driver working for a private hauler was given a warning for littering at mid-morning on March 25 east of Brainard Road. Garbage had fallen out of the packer and the police chief wanted the incident documented. Unwanted guest, Chagrin Boulevard: Staff at the Shell True North reported trouble with a customer shortly after 6 a.m. March 24, after he was told they were not taking out-of-state I.D.'s for tobacco. This led to a disturbance in the store before the suspect fled the scene in a gray sedan with Massachusetts plates, prior to police arrival. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. CANTON, Ohio A 14-year-old girl was found shot dead early Saturday in Canton, police say. Few details about the incident have been released. First responders were called about 4 a.m. Saturday to the 100 block of Bieyl Court SW, just a few blocks south of Aultman Hospital. They found a teenager suffering from a gunshot wound to her head, a news release from the Canton Police Department says. The girl died at the scene, police say. The teenager has been publicly identified as Sylvia McGhee, the news release states. The investigation into Sylvias death is ongoing, police say. Officials have not said if any suspects have been identified or if any arrests have been made. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Canton Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-489-3144. If youd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio Two people have died after a two-vehicle crash in Shaker Heights, police say. The crash happened about 11 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of South Woodland and Warrensville Center roads, Shaker Heights police Commander John Cole said. The male driver of one of the vehicles was treated for injuries at an area hospital, Cole said. His two passengers died as a result of their injuries. The passengers identities have not been publicly released by police or the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office. The driver of the second vehicle, a 31-year-old Mayfield Heights man, was taken into custody in connection with the crash, Cole said. Its unclear if he will face any charges. This post will be updated if further information about the fatal crash is released Sunday. If youd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- While after a backlash, President Trump reversed his administrations call to cut government funding of Special Olympics, Hurricane Donald increased his push to cut disaster relief funding to Puerto Rico. He doesnt want another single dollar going to the island, a senior administration official told The Washington Post, which reported Trumps funding cuts demand. Trump not only wants to stop any new funding, he believes the funds that have been sent to the island devastated by Hurricane Maria, have been wasted. Without any evidence to prove it, Trump believes Puerto Rico has been using relief funds to pay down its debt. The interior of the island remains devastated. Puerto Ricos food stamp crisis worsened when Congress missed the deadline to reauthorize aide for the program used by 43 percent of Puerto Ricos residents, who are U.S. citizens, likely unbeknownst by President Trump, or forgotten. Even with bone spurs, Trump wins the gold medal for coldness. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Poor, poor Ploey. The lil plover cant fly and a tragedy in the family has left him separated from the flock. Theyre headed for Paradise Valley and Ploey seems headed for oblivion. The Icelandic winter is brutal and the feathers of a baby plover are too thin to survive the cold in this family-friendly Icelandic-Belgian animated co-production. In Icelandic folklore, you see, the appearance of the first plover in the country is a sure sign of spring. And their disappearance marks the arrival of dark, cold times. Ploey shares a vivid animation style weve seen before in Pixar features. Theres more darkness here than in most Pixars, however. Egads, check out that crazy falcon and that cranky cat yikes, predators! Ploey rolls out all sorts of brushes with disaster. Ah, but its also loaded with endearing critters that reach out to help the poor bird like that charming moose and that happy-go-lucky Italian mouse. It also boasts enough rich landscapes and animation magic to win over the kids in the theater. What: Directed by Arni Olafur Asgeirsson. (2018/Iceland-Belgium). 83 minutes. When: 4:30 p.m. Friday and 9:45 a.m. Sunday April 7 at Tower City Cinemas. 12:50 p.m. Saturday at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. CLEVELAND, Ohio Tres, dos, uno -- time is running out to nominate your favorite Mexican restaurant in Clevelands Best contest. In the past week we have received over 650 nominations featuring more than 70 different establishments. Northeast Ohio has no shortage of great Mexican food. You have until tonight at 6 p.m. to nominate your favorite eatery. All you have to do is submit the form below, which is quick and easy. Remember, we are looking for local restaurants that offer the whole experience. We want a great variety of authentic food, a refreshing margarita and a festive atmosphere. Although Taco Bell has received numerous nominations(!), it does not qualify for this contest. Check out the complete list of nominees as of Thursday. And, as always, were looking for independent restaurants, or chains from Ohio, with at least one location in our seven-county coverage area of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Portage, Geauga and Lake counties. COMING NEXT: ONLINE POLL AND VISITS TO FINALISTS Once we finalize list of nominees, readers will vote in an online poll to determine the finalists. Voting in the poll begins April 2. You may vote once each hour until the poll closes on Tuesday, April 9 at 9 a.m. Be sure to check back Tuesday and see if your nominated restaurant made the cut. Once readers have determined the finalists, Clevelands Best reporting team of Brenda Cain and Yadi Rodriguez will hit the road to visit your finalists April 16-May 13. They will take in the whole experience, everything from the atmosphere to the chips and salsa to the fajitas and flan. We will publish our opinions on the foods, along with lots of photos and video from each restaurant. We also will publish our schedule of visits in mid-April and youre invited to meet up with us at the restaurants to sample the food as well. In the end, we will name an ultimate winner and the Top 10. We will also have lots of delicious superlative winners such as Best Guacamoles, Best Margaritas, Best Chimichangas. WHERE SHOULD WE ALL CELEBRATE CINCO DE MAYO? Once the list of finalists is published around April 12, youll be voting in an another online poll to tell us where we should hold a Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 5. Youll vote, and, hopefully, will also join us at the party, either at the restaurant or by watching the fiesta on cleveland.coms Facebook page! In response to the article Teatime for Peace brews understanding with Muslim community, March 10, Ive attended three Teatimes for Peace and find them autocratic. Despite their religious outreach, the intent is political, one-sided and emotionally manipulative. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, civil rights organization and co-sponsor of Teatime, is rooted in anti-Israel rhetoric as expressed by its executive director, Nihad Awad. CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a 2007 terrorist financing trial. Not solid credentials for interfaith dialogue. Disagreement is deflected, ignored or convoluted, victimizing Islam. A question was posed, Does the persecution I experienced growing up in Communist Hungary compare to Muslims in America? The unsympathetic CAIR leader said he was more worried about his daughter who publicly wears a hijab. A Turkish man, when asked about his children marrying outside of Islam, responded, Males, yes; females, no. Is reading Islamic scripture encouraged? No, only religious leaders can interpret; we misunderstand translation from Arabic. Teatime sounds sweet and innocuous, but misinformation and deception are valued over truth and logic. Should your clergy invite them, set boundaries; defend your faith. Better yet, dont host a Teatime for CAIR. Jan Lukas, Brecksville BRENTWOOD, Tennessee -- While I currently live in Tennessee, I still have a strong affinity to the Buckeye state, as I was born and raised there. Ohio has a long and rich history in automotive manufacturing. Throughout the decades, the industry here has had to adapt to ever-changing customer demands and advances in automotive technology and design. Ohios workforce has risen to meet those demands every time. That is why the recent announcement by General Motors to end production at its Lordstown plant was such a devasting blow to the state. The Lordstown plant began manufacturing cars in 1966. When the plant was retooled years ago to begin production of the Chevy Cruze, the workers were ready to be successful. Now, if GM is preparing to move toward electric and zero-emissions vehicles, the workers at Lordstown and the people of Ohio are ready for that, too. Gary Garfield is the retired former CEO, president and chairman of Bridgestone Americas Inc. During the recent Detroit Auto Show, Volkswagen announced that it would be making an $800 million investment in a second facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee to focus on electric vehicles, including a seven-seater SUV. The facility will be home to more than 1,000 new jobs. Auto manufacturers are preparing for the electric-vehicle future and investing accordingly. Ohio should also be a target for that growth. Ohio is heavily invested in the portions of the auto industry that will see the greatest changes with a move toward more efficient vehicles, including internal combustion engines, transmissions, and drivetrain components. It is true that electrified transportation calls for a transformation in consumer behavior, utility grid infrastructure, and in workforce development. However, maintaining the status quo in vehicle technology comes with its own set of risks. A report from Synapse Energy Economics in partnership with the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University estimated that preserving the current focus on traditional internal combustion drivetrain systems alone would cost Ohio over $740 million in annual GDP by 2030, with the loss of 7,000 jobs and the associated $675 million in annual wages. If Ohio welcomes the electrification opportunity, the states auto industry could instead grow by 2,000 jobs and $135 million in annual wages, the report estimates. According to the Powering Ohio report series, converting Ohios auto manufacturing risk to economic opportunity requires the development of an in-state electric-vehicle (EV) component supply chain. If Ohio embraces new vehicle platforms and mobility paradigms, it can attract the factories and innovators that will produce them, along with their associated supply chains. Combining a robust EV supply chain with Ohios strength in power electronics could also position Ohio as a leader in battery storage, microgrids, and other technologies essential to the future of the electric power sector. As the Powering Ohio: A Path Forward report states, Ohio is Americas Number 3 state for auto manufacturing jobs. To date, however, it has not kept pace in EV and autonomous/connected vehicle jobs. With just over 1,000 of these jobs, Ohio ranks 13th in the country," added the report, citing an analysis from the BlueGreen Alliance. Ohio has the potential to be in the drivers seat of developing a modernized transportation economy and making the state as attractive as possible for companies like GM to continue their investment here. Otherwise, the state may watch as jobs in automotive and energy innovation are lost to international competition or even to my current home state of Tennessee. Failure to capture Ohios share of this growth could be a nearly irreversible lost opportunity for the state. General Motors plan to begin focusing on more efficient, lower-emissions, and electric vehicles should be a welcome announcement for everyone. It means reducing pollution and creating good American jobs at the same time in a region that lost approximately 40,000 manufacturing jobs in the 1980s after steel mill closures. This is the future. The only question is whether Ohio wants to grab the opportunity to be a part of that future. As John Maxwell said, Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. The challenge for Ohio is to do what it can to make sure those jobs stay in the state. Having served as president and CEO of Bridgestone Americas for nearly seven years, I strongly encourage Ohios new governor and other elected officials to make a commitment now to work together with auto companies and unions to seize this opportunity. Gary Garfield is the retired former executive vice president of Bridgestone Corp. and former president, CEO and chairman of Bridgestone Americas Inc. He was born and raised in Ohio but currently resides in Tennessee, where he is a consultant engaged in a number of civic activities. **************** Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Follow option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com. A groundbreaking black jurist who became the first Muslim woman to serve as a U.S. judge was found dead in New York's Hudson River on Wednesday, police said. Sheila Abdus-Salaam, a 65-year-old associate judge of New York's highest court, was found floating off Manhattan's west side at about 1:45 p.m. EDT (1545 GMT), a police spokesman said. Police pulled Abdus-Salaam's fully clothed body from the water and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family identified her and an autopsy would determine the cause of death, the spokesman said. Abdus-Salaam, a native of Washington, D.C., became the first African-American woman appointed to the Court of Appeals when Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo named her to the state's high court in 2013. "Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam was a trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all," Cuomo said in a statement. The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History said Abdus-Salaam was the first female Muslim to serve as a U.S. judge. Citing unidentified sources, the New York Post reported that Abdus-Salaam had been reported missing from her New York home earlier on Wednesday. Attempts to reach her family were unsuccessful. A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia Law School, Abdus-Salaam started her law career with East Brooklyn Legal Services and served as a New York state assistant attorney general, according to the Court of Appeals website. She held a series of judicial posts after being elected to a New York City judgeship in 1991. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo named Abdus-Salaam to the state's high court in 2013. Saudi Arabia accessed Jeff Bezos' phone and obtained private data belonging to the Amazon CEO, security specialist Gavin de Becker said in an article posted on The Daily Beast Saturday, laying out the findings of his investigation. Bezos had tasked de Becker, his security chief, with investigating how the National Enquirer had obtained and published intimate texts that the Amazon CEO had sent to his mistress, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. In a shocking post in February, Bezos alleged that National Enquirer publisher AMI blackmailed him by threatening to publish intimate photos if he did not publicly state that the tabloid's coverage of him was not politically motivated. AMI has maintained that it acted lawfully in its reporting on Bezos. De Becker said his investigation had concluded "with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone and gained private information." Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post, which has run critical coverage of the Trump administration and the Saudi government. In October, Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, sparking international outrage against Riyadh. "Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi's murder," de Becker said. De Becker went on to say that it is unclear if AMI was aware of the details, but pointed to what he called a close relationship between AMI chairman David Pecker and the Saudi government. The Saudis have previously denied having anything to do with the National Enquirer's coverage of Bezos. "This is something between the two parties, we have nothing to do with it," Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, told CBS' "Face the Nation" in February. The Saudi embassy could not be immediately reached for comment. De Becker said his investigation quickly identified Michael Sanchez, the estranged brother of Lauren Sanchez, as a paid source of the National Enquirer. AMI has said Michael Sanchez was the single source for the story. But de Becker suggested that "the initial information came from other channelsanother source or method." A spokesperson for AMI, in a statement to CNBC, maintained that Michael Sanchez was the single source for the National Enquirer story: "There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever," the company said. Here's the full statement from AMI: Despite the false and unsubstantiated claims of Mr. de Becker, American Media has, and continues to, refute the unsubstantiated claims that the materials for our report were acquired with the help of anyone other than the single source who first brought them to us. The fact of the matter is, it was Michael Sanchez who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation. His continued efforts to discuss and falsely represent our reporting, and his role in it, has waived any source confidentiality. There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever. De Becker said the findings of his investigation have been turned over to federal officials. Read the full article in The Daily Beast News that special counsel Robert Mueller ended his investigation without recommending criminal charges against President Donald Trump has had little effect on public opinion, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows. The proportion of Americans who say the investigation has not increased their doubts about the Trump administration rose by 10 points to 57 percent in the survey, while the proportion who say it has increased their doubts fell 12 points to 36 percent since February. But the president's job approval dropped by three points to 43 percent during the same period. Behind those offsetting results is the fact that Americans have not been nearly as attuned to news about the Mueller investigation as the political and media worlds have been. Just 39 percent said they had read or heard "a lot" of news coverage of the end of the probe. "It was not an event that captured the American public," said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the NBC/WSJ poll with his Democratic counterpart Peter Hart. So far, only Attorney General William Barr's four-page summary of Mueller's nearly 400-page report has been publicly released. Barr has promised to release the bulk for the report by mid April, but for now Americans are withholding definitive judgment. In the survey, 29 percent said they though Mueller had cleared Trump of wrongdoing, while a 40 percent plurality said he had not. Another 31 percent weren't sure. And Americans remain split on the prospect of impeachment proceedings. Sixteen percent of the public see enough evidence to begin impeachment hearings now, while another 33 percent say Congress should investigate before deciding the matter. Another 47 percent want Congress to eschew impeachment and allow Trump to complete his term. Should the president seek re-election to a second term, he'd begin with a solid base of support but a larger group of voters with misgivings about his candidacy. The poll showed 40 percent of Americans would feel enthusiastic or comfortable about supporting him, while 59 percent would have reservations or be very uncomfortable. Opinion divides more evenly on former Vice President Joe Biden. As he considers whether to enter the race, 47 percent say they'd feel enthusiastic or comfortable backing him, while 48 percent would not. The early profile of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on this measure, 37 percent vs. 58 percent, resembles Trump's. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has a similar standing at 30 percent vs. 51 percent. Democratic contenders Sen. Kamala Harris of California and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas remain less well known. Both discomfort four in 10 Americans at this stage, while roughly one in four feel positively about their candidacies. The telephone survey of 1,000 adults, conducted March 23-27, carries a margin for error of 3.1-percentage points. A traveler walks past an American Airlines Group Inc. aircraft at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, D.C. An American Airlines flight safely landed in Boston after hitting a flock of geese on Sunday morning. American Airlines flight 2163 took off from Boston Logan International Airport at 10:08 am eastern time, heading for LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The flight had 99 passengers and a crew of four. The plane returned to Boston after encountering a bird strike, according to a statement from the airline. The flight landed safely at 10:19 AM and taxied to the gate, American Airlines said. https://twitter.com/dmscott/status/1112371024451063808 Passengers boarded a replacement aircraft, which took off at 11:52 a.m. ET, said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein. The airline's maintenance team in Boston will evaluate the Embraer E190 aircraft. Presidential candidate Zuzana Caputova reacts as she takes a big lead after the first exit polls in her election's headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia on March 30, 2019. - Zuzana Caputova, a Slovak government critic who faces off against the ruling party's candidate in the second round of presidential elections, is a liberal lawyer hoping to become the EU member's first female head of state. Riding a wave of public fury over corruption, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova won Slovakia's presidential election on Saturday, bucking a trend that has seen populist, anti-European Union politicians make gains across the continent. Corruption and change in political style were the main themes ahead of the run-off vote, which took place a year after journalist Jan Kuciak, who investigated high-profile fraud cases, and his fiancee were murdered at their home. Caputova, a pro-EU political novice who will be the euro zone country's first female president, had 58.3 percent of the votes after results from 98.1 percent of voting districts were counted, ahead of European commissioner Maros Sefcovic who took 41.7 percent. Sefcovic, a respected diplomat who is also pro-EU, is backed by the ruling party Smer, the largest grouping in parliament that has dominated Slovak politics since 2006. Caputova, who was the front runner having won the first round more than 20 percentage points ahead of Sefcovic, campaigned to end what she calls the capture of the state "by people pulling strings from behind", a message that opinion polls show resonates with younger, educated voters. The 45-year old member of a liberal non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party which she pledged to leave if elected has been endorsed by opposition parties and a junior party in the ruling coalition that represents the ethnic Hungarian minority, as well as outgoing President Andrej Kiska. Caputova started her acceptance speech by thanking voters in Slovak, as well as in the Hungarian, Czech, Roma and Ruthenian languages, turning to all main minority groups. "I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary," she told a crowd of supporters. "This started in the local election last year, was confirmed in the presidential election, and I believe the European (parliamentary election in May) will confirm it as well." Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, speaking at the CNBC Healthy Returns Conference in New York on March 28th, 2018. For the last two years, Scott Gottlieb missed a lot of time with his wife and three daughters back-to-school nights, school plays and parent-teacher conferences. He loved his job running the Food and Drug Administration, but hated leaving his wife, Allyson, and his nine-year-old twins and five-year-old in Connecticut every Sunday to head to Washington, D.C. Leaving work on Fridays was also hard. Allyson would tease him about how he wouldn't want to leave D.C. at the end of the week but didn't want to leave his home in Westport, Connecticut, on Sundays either. For more on investing in health care innovation, click here to join us at our Healthy Returns Summit in New York City on May 21. Gottlieb said he was used to traveling for work every week when President Donald Trump tapped him to be his FDA commissioner in March 2017. The commute didn't bother him so much until late last year when he was on a call with a U.S. senator and his other line kept ringing. It was his wife; she was hit by a car while walking in a strip mall parking lot and slightly fractured her knee. He flew home that day, but there was no quick way to get to her between the flight and hour-long drive home from the airport. "It put a bigger weight on me in terms of feeling disconnected and far away and not being there," Gottlieb said, in an interview. "There was a fear that, God forbid, if something happened and I need to be home quickly, I just couldn't." Although he originally planned to stay at the agency through August, the accident helped put his priorities in order, he said. At the top of the list: spending the summer at home with his family. That's essentially what he told his staff when he resigned on March 5; he wanted to spend more time with his family. Usually, when an official of Gottlieb's stature resigns in Washington or Wall Street, "spending more time with my family" is rarely the real reason. And his unexpected departure, just two months after denying plans to step down, fanned speculation that he was at odds with the Trump administration and forced out like so many other top officials over the last two years. Not true, Gottlieb said in an interview at the agency's Silver Spring, Maryland, headquarters, where his office bookcase is filled with family photos. Befitting for the nation's top food regulator, who is also a medical doctor, the White House candy dish on his desk is covered with plastic wrap to guard against germs. The 46-year-old still has a full career in front of him. He's worked at the FDA multiple times, invested in health-care companies as a venture capitalist and written about health policy at the conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. He denied knowing what he's going to do next. In his nearly two years at the helm of the FDA, Gottlieb advanced sweeping initiatives like making cigarettes minimally or non-addictive and approving generic drugs faster. He published roughly 175 commissioner statements and gave countless media interviews, helping raise the FDA's stature and influence. Just two weeks before Allyson's accident, Gottlieb announced the FDA would seek to limit the sales of fruity flavored e-cigarettes. That is one of the biggest and most controversial issues of his tenure: curbing epidemic levels of teen vaping. He'll step down before the policy is finalized or implemented. It's one of several initiatives that he's leaving unfinished. He says he would have liked for the tobacco policies to be further along, though he says he's "confident" they will get out. Ned Sharpless, currently director of the National Cancer Institute, is filling in as acting FDA commissioner after Gottlieb's last day, which is Friday. Right now, there's only one future plan Gottlieb said he's sure of: going to Disney World for spring break. (He let his daughters pick the vacation.) "That last week is going to be hard. The first week after I announced, it was difficult," Gottlieb said. "I was very emotional because in some respects, I'm walking away from the best job I'll ever have. That's hard to do." The night before Gottlieb announced his resignation, he called his old boss and friend, former FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan. "He said, 'Just make sure you're ready to do this because there's nothing like this. You'll never have another job like this again,'" Gottlieb recalls him saying. "And I know that. I know enough to know that." He also called as many of his FDA colleagues as he could before announcing his resignation. When the Washington Post's story broke, Gottlieb was sitting with two of his senior advisors in his office at the Health and Human Services Department headquarters. Their phones immediately started ringing. Gottlieb said his predecessor Robert Califf warned him that it's going to feel weird when his phone stops ringing the day after he leaves. As for what comes next, Gottlieb said he has no idea. "It's the first time in my life I don't know what I'm doing next," he said. "I'm a doctor so I always had my next job planned out, but this is truly the first time I'm leaving a job and I do not have a job." The one job he said he's looking forward to? Being a dad again. WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Sunday doubled down on its threat to shut down the southern border with Mexico, a day after it cut aid to Central American countries which President Donald Trump blasted for deliberately sending migrants to the United States. Faced with a surge of asylum seekers from Central American countries who travel through Mexico, Trump said on Friday there was a "good likelihood" he would close the border this coming week if Mexico does not stop unauthorized immigrants from reaching the United States. He also accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Speaking to ABC's "This Week" show, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the president had few other options in the absence of any support from Democrats for more border security or legislative action to change the immigration law. "Faced with those limitations, the president will do everything he can. If closing the ports of entry means that, that's exactly what he intends to do," Mulvaney said. "We need border security and we're going to do the best we can with what we have," he added. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told "Fox News Sunday" that the situation at the border was at "melting point" and said the president was serious in his threat. "It certainly is not a bluff. You can take the president seriously." Neither Trump aide offered any specific details or timeline for the potential border shutdown. At a Saturday rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke denounced Trump's immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office. His latest threat had workers and students who frequently cross the border worried about the potential disruption to their lives. The government says it is struggling to deal with a surge in recent days of asylum seekers from countries in Central America who travel through Mexico and on Saturday cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Department of Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Howard Schneider; editing by Michelle Price and Lisa Shumaker) (Adds Erdogan comments, other clashes) ANKARA, March 31 (Reuters) - Turks voted on Sunday in local elections which President Tayyip Erdogan has described as a matter of survival for Turkey and which were tarnished by violence that left two party members dead in the country's southeast. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than 16 years thanks in part to strong economic growth, has become the country's most popular, yet also most divisive, leader in modern history. However, he could be dealt an electoral blow with polls indicating his ruling AK Party (AKP) may lose control of the capital Ankara, and even Istanbul, the country's largest city. With the economy contracting following a currency crisis last year in which the lira lost more than 30 percent of its value, some voters appeared ready to punish Erdogan, who has ruled with an increasingly uncompromising stance. "I was actually not going to vote today, but when I saw how much they (AKP) were flailing, I thought this might be time to land them a blow. Everyone is unhappy. Everyone is struggling," said 47-year-old Hakan after voting in Ankara. Voting started at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) in eastern Turkey and an hour later in the rest of the country. Polling stations close at 4 p.m. in the east and 5 p.m. in the west. Just over 57 million people are eligible to vote. A clear picture of the winners will probably emerge around midnight. This week, as authorities again scrambled to shore up the lira, Erdogan cast the country's economic woes as resulting from attacks by the West, saying Turkey would overcome its troubles following Sunday's vote and adding he was "the boss" of the economy. "The aim behind the increasing attacks towards our country ahead of the elections is to block the road of the big, strong Turkey," Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul on Saturday. Sunday's elections, in which Turks vote for mayors and other local officials across the country, are the first since Erdogan assumed sweeping presidential powers last year and will be a reckoning for his government, which has come under fire for its economic policies and record on human rights. VIOLENCE MARS VOTING The election was marred by violence in the southeast and Istanbul. Two members of the small Islamist Felicity Party, a polling station official and an election observer, were shot dead in Malatya province, a party spokesman said. Media reports said one person had been detained. After voting in Istanbul, Erdogan said he was saddened by the incident and that it was being thoroughly investigated. Some 553,000 police and security force members were on duty for the vote nationwide. In Diyarbakir, two people were hurt, one of them critically, after being stabbed in a dispute between candidates, a hospital source said. Dozens of people were hurt in other election-related clashes in the southeast, media reported. One person was stabbed as 15 people clashed in a row between candidates in Istanbul's Kadikoy district, a police source said. Defeat in Ankara or Istanbul would end nearly a quarter of a century of rule by Erdogan's AKP or its predecessors in those cities and deal a symbolic blow to Turkey's leader. Ahead of the vote, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Iyi (Good) Party formed an electoral alliance to rival that of the AKP and its nationalist MHP partners. The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), which Erdogan has accused of links to Kurdish militants, has not made an official alliance and is not fielding candidates for mayor in Istanbul or Ankara, which is likely to benefit the CHP. The HDP denies links to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. Two years ago, the state took control of about 100 municipalities from an HDP-affiliated party and some voters in the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir said services there had improved as a result. "Before, this city did not have the services I have now seen. I gave my vote to the AK Party for services to continue," said tradesman Haci Ahmet Beyaz, 43. In the days leading up to the vote, Erdogan held around 100 rallies across the country, speaking 14 times in different districts of Istanbul over the past two days alone. He has described the elections as an existential choice for Turkey, blasting his rivals as terrorist supporters aiming to topple the country. He has warned that if the opposition candidate wins in Ankara, residents would "pay a price". His opponents have denied the accusations and challenged his characterisation of the elections as a matter of survival, saying Erdogan had led the country to its current state. "What matter of survival? We're electing mayors. What does this have to do with the country's survival?" Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the CHP, told a rally in Eskisehir. With reference to Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu said: "If there is a survival issue in Turkey, it's because of you." (Additing reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans and Dale Hudson) President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the Van Andel Arena on March 28, 2019 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids was the final city Trump visited during his 2016 campaign. The Trump administration said Saturday that it intends to end foreign assistance programs for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a move that Democrats called "reckless" and "counterproductive" in addressing the problems that cause people to flee to the U.S. A State Department spokesperson said that "at the Secretary's instruction, we are carrying out the President's direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle," a term that refers to the three countries. The spokesperson said "we will be engaging Congress as part of this process," which could mean it needs Congress' approval to end funding. The aid affects nearly $500 million in 2018 funds and millions more left over from the previous fiscal year. The money was destined for Central America but had not been spent yet, the Washington Post reported. A senior Democratic aide involved in the discussions said they consider the cuts outside the law and unconstitutional and that they would need Congressional approval. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who is the top Democrat on the Republican-chaired Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called the decision "irresponsible" and "reckless" and he urged Democrats and Republicans to reject it. "U.S. foreign assistance is not charity; it advances our strategic interests and funds initiatives that protect American citizens," Menendez said. "This latest reported move shows the Administration still does not understand that the United States cuts foreign aid to Central America at our own peril." Crime and violence in the three Central American countries are seen as motivating thousands of people to flee and seek asylum in the United States. Some have advocated that more aid, not less, to the Central American countries would help ease the pressures on people to leave for Mexico and the United States. The senior Democratic aide said, "The Administration can propose rescissions, but implementation requires Congressional approval." Volodymyr Zelensky candidate for the post of President of Ukraine during the concert program of the studio 'Kvartal 95'. A comedian with a popular anti-corruption message but no political experience took the lead in the first round of Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, who plays a fictional president in a TV show, had consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Zelenskiy secured 30.6 percent of votes, compared with Poroshenko's 17.8 percent, according to an updated exit poll released at 2300 (2000 GMT), three hours after voting closed. No candidate is expected to receive more than half the votes, meaning the election would go to a runoff on April 21. Out of a crowded field of 39 candidates, none of the likely winners wants to move Ukraine back into Russia's orbit. At stake is the leadership of a country on the front line of the West's standoff with Russia after the 2014 Maidan street protests ejected Poroshenko's Kremlin-friendly predecessor and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Investors are watching to see if the next president will push reforms required to keep the country in an International Monetary Fund bailout program that has supported Ukraine through war, sharp recession and a currency plunge. "I would like to say 'thank you' to all the Ukrainians who did not vote just for fun," Zelenskiy told cheering supporters on Sunday evening. "It is only the beginning, we will not relax." In keeping with the relaxed style of his campaign, Zelenskiy's election night venue provided a bar with free alcohol, table football and table tennis games. Poroshenko called the result a "severe lesson," especially from younger voters and appealed for their support in the second round. "You see changes in the country, but want them to be quicker, deeper and of higher quality. I have understood the motives behind your protest," he said after the exit poll. Poroshenko, who said the elections had been fair and in line with international standards, sought to portray Zelenskiy as unfit to represent Ukraine abroad, especially in taking on Russian President Vladimir Putin in international talks. Putin "dreams of a soft, pliant, tender, giggling, inexperienced, weak, ideologically amorphous and politically undecided president of Ukraine. Are we really going to give him that opportunity?" Poroshenko said. He also played on a suspicion that Zelenskiy's campaign was masterminded by Ihor Kolomoisky, a tycoon whose channel airs Zelenskiy's shows. The two men deny colluding. "Fate decided to put me up against that Kolomoisky puppet in the second round. We won't give Kolomoisky any chance," Poroshenko said. Zelenskiy swiftly hit back by spotlighting Poroshenko's connections with another businessman. Tymoshenko, who won 14.2 percent of the votes, challenged the accuracy of the exit poll, saying her internal polling put her in second place behind Zelenskiy. She said at a news conference that she might contest the final result. Stuart Culverhouse, head of sovereign and fixed-income research at investment bank Exotix, said Zelenskiy had tried to present himself more professionally by meeting business leaders and talking of orthodox economic policies. "That said, if the exit polls are confirmed in the official vote count, we would expect Zelenskiy to be put under greater pressure in the run-up to the second round to flesh out his policy agenda," he said. Poroshenko has fought to integrate the country with the European Union and NATO, while strengthening the military that is fighting Kremlin-backed separatists in the east of the country. Voting around the country offered a snapshot of Ukraine's recent history. Soldiers lined up to vote in makeshift polling stations in the east. Voters formed long lines outside polling stations in neighboring EU member Poland, where between one and two million Ukrainians have moved, many in search of jobs and higher wages. Pushing the use of the Ukrainian language and instrumental in establishing a new independent Orthodox church, confectionary magnate Poroshenko, 53, has cast himself as the man to prevent Ukraine again becoming a Russian vassal state. But reforms crucial to keep foreign aid flowing have been patchy. Conflict in the eastern Donbass region has killed 13,000 people in five years and rumbles on despite Poroshenko's promise to end it within weeks. Frustration over low living standards and pervasive corruption has left the door open for Zelenskiy. The majority of voters in separatist-held eastern Ukraine and Crimea were unlikely to take part in the election as they need to undergo a special registration process on Ukraine-controlled territory. But Crimean residents who kept their Ukrainian citizenship after the Russian annexation five years ago crossed the land border to mainland Ukraine, from where buses took them to the nearest polling stations. Types of obituaries The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries family obituaries and life stories. A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Mays Cabinet close to collapse Theresa May will be warned today that her government faces total collapse unless she passes her Brexit deal as the prime ministers aides were at loggerheads over whether to accept a soft Brexit or call a general election this week. In an emergency conference call last night Brexiteer cabinet ministers agreed they would resign if May accepted a customs union or got Tory MPs to vote for the UK to take part in European elections in May. They will deliver their threat when the prime minister consults her cabinet today. More than half her Commons party, 170 MPs and ministers, have signed a letter telling May to pursue a no-deal departure from the EU rather than accept a soft Brexit. It also demands that the UK leave the EU by May 22. Prime Minister warned that accepting softer Brexit would break the Party Sunday Telegraph She faces huge pressure to quit next week Sun on Sunday Last stand of the Spartans as they warn of government collapse Mail on Sunday But May will face resignations from at least six cabinet ministers on the partys remain wing if she backs no-deal. Sunday Times Editorial: May is going, but her dilemma will remain Sunday Times MPs blocking the deal could scupper Brexit Sun on Sunday >Yesterday: ToryDiary: Three cheers for the Commons for the way it is conducting the necessary argument on Europe as Cox accuses Letwin of collusion with Brussels An extraordinary row broke out last night after the Governments top lawyer accused the Tory MP dubbed the Prime Minister for the Day of conspiring with Brussels to keep Britain in the EUs customs union. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has told fellow MPs he believes Oliver Letwin is co-ordinating his bid to wrestle control of Brexit negotiations directly with the European Commissions chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Eminent QC Mr Cox warned colleagues that he thinks Mr Letwin is attempting to engineer Britain staying tied to EU customs and tariff rules and is being helped by Brussels to do so. Old Etonian Mr Letwin has worked with Commons Speaker John Bercow to give MPs the whip hand over Downing Street on how to break the Brexit impasse through a series of indicative votes designed to water down the UKs exit or halt it all together. Mail on Sunday Remainer trap could bind UK to the EU permanently Sunday Express More: EU braces for wrecking ball Brexit Sunday Times Varadkar holds meetings with Merkel over Backstop 2.0 Sunday Telegraph Comment: Stop this power grab or chaos governs Richard Ekins and Stephen Laws, Sunday Times >Today: Greg Hands in Comment: Why wont my colleagues think it through? A Customs Union would be a disaster for British foreign policy. and the Prime Minister is warned against annihilation at an election T All-out civil war over kamikaze proposal Mail on Sunday Furious MPs say theyll prevent her going to the country The Observer All options lead to disaster for May Sunday Times Shock poll shows five-point Labour lead Mail on Sunday Watson says Labour can win election on second referendum promise The Observer heresa May must not be allowed to lead the Conservatives into a snap election, senior Tories have warned. A series of ministers and MPs have told The Telegraph the party would be annihilated at the polls if the Prime Minister insisted on fighting a campaign to face down Parliament over Brexit in the coming months. The warning came as it emerged that senior ministers have virtually given up any hope of the Democratic Unionist Party, which is propping up the Government, supporting Mrs Mays Brexit deal. Its MPs refusal to budge means she faces a growing likelihood that Parliament will legislate this week to force her into seeking a soft Brexit, if backbenchers can agree on a specific plan. Sunday Telegraph Comment: The only way to save Brexit is a general election Robert Tombs, Sunday Telegaph A Canute option to turn the Brexit tide Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times Mays failure jeopardises bid to improve peoples lot Katie Perrior, Sun on Sunday She played the worst of hands spectacularly badly Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer Johnson and Raab blamed for DUP not backing deal Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have been blamed by a senior cabinet minister for the decision by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) not to back Theresa Mays EU withdrawal agreement at the third time of asking. The DUPs support was seen as critical as it could have led to enough members of Jacob Rees-Moggs European Research Group (ERG) switching their vote on Friday to enable Mays deal to be passed. A cabinet minister sought to blame Johnson and Raab after both had met senior members of the DUP in recent weeks. The May ally said: The DUP interviewed Boris and Raab and decided they were not really unionists. Thats why they withheld their support for the deal. Another source said the Unionists were spooked when Johnson failed to assure them that he would strive to maintain regulatory alignment between Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit. Sunday Times Brexiteer u-turns too little, too late Sunday Telegraph Anger at M62 Labour MPs who wont back the deal Sun on Sunday More: Johnson and Gove under fire over Vote Leave lawbreaking The Observer Comment: History will favour those who respect the will of the people David Davis, Sun on Sunday A customs union would be the end of the line for May Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Mail on Sunday Deal was a betrayal, but our country and institutions can be renewed Steve Baker, Sunday Telegraph Labour is about to tell the working class their vote doesnt count John Mann, Sunday Times as May is accused of plotting to block the formers ambitions Raab says bullying claims are leadership smear Sunday Times McVey hints at joining race Sunday Express Theresa May has been accused of plotting to block Boris Johnsons leadership ambitions by dragging out the contest to succeed her until the Tory Party conference in October. Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis has told friends that if Mrs May survives the coming weeks, then Downing Street hopes to delay the final stages of the contest until the gathering in Manchester in the hope it will deprive Mr Johnson of an immediate Brexit bounce if Britain has left the EU. Allies of Mrs May believe that a long contest would offer the best chance for the leadership to skip a generation, allowing a dark horse candidate such as Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly or Mark Harper to surge through the ranks. Under the plan, the leadership contenders would parade their wares to the party faithful before a final vote by the Tory membership. It would also, they believe, allow Mrs May to be given a dignified send-off by the party. Mail on Sunday Interviews: Liz Truss Sunday Times Justine Greening Sunday Times Comment: Next leader should be someone who voted for Brexit Jacob Rees-Mogg, Sunday Telegraph Nobody wants a clown, Boris Andrew Gimson, Daily Mail Brexit has made us risk-averse, we must lead again Tobias Ellwood, Sunday Times >Today: ToryDiary: Next Tory Leader. Its Johnson first, Raab second and Gove third in our first survey since Mays pledge to quit. Eurosceptics support Grieve over no-confidence vote Conservative Brexiteers in parliament leapt to the unlikely defence of Dominic Grieve yesterday, the day after the pro-EU Tory MP lost a vote of no confidence held by his local party. The former attorney-general faces deselection after a former Ukip member tabled a motion that saw Grieve defeated by 182 to 131 votes. The result came after a combustive late-night meeting in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in which pro-Brexit members of the local Conservative Party called him a liar, traitor and disgusting and heckled him loudly. One compared his EU approach to Lord Halifax, who supported appeasement with Nazi Germany. Another responded to his opposition to a no-deal Brexit by crying: How f****** dare you? Those who joined a chorus of support for Grieve included leading Eurosceptics who remain adamantly opposed to his desire for a second referendum. Sunday Times Activists reject allegations of UKIP entryism Sunday Telegraph Osborne warns deselections would fracture party Sun on Sunday Comment: Forty years from Neaves death, we must treat MPs with respect Kemi Badenoch, Sunday Telegraph >Yesterday: New socially liberal grouping set up to offset the ERG Morgan, is seeking to influence any leadership contest by hosting hustings. Sunday Times They will challenge pro-Brexit leadership candidates The Observer Party splits into groups to search for its soul Sunday Telegraph Angry Tories turn on ERG as factions trade insults Sun on Sunday A new socially liberal group championing compassionate Conservatism has been launched to seize back the initiative from the partys Eurosceptic wing. Led by Amber Rudd, Damian Green, Nicky Morgan and Sir Nicholas Soames, the One Nation group will promote progressive Conservative values and seek to become a powerful counterweight to Jacob Rees-Moggs European Research Group. The group, which is already 50-strong, will seek to influence domestic policy and is united in its opposition to a no-deal Brexit. Other high-profile members include Greg Clark, the business secretary, David Gauke, the justice secretary, and David Mundell, the Scottish secretary. In recent weeks the group has been meeting daily amid fears the party is being hijacked by hardline Brexiteers. The group, whose board is co-chaired by Rudd and Comment: We agree on no deal, lets work on an alternative Caroline Spelman and Jack Dromey, Sunday Telegraph How Clark, Gauke, Hammond, and Rudd could put Corbyn in power Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday Lord Ashcroft: There is more than one gap in the current political market When I asked people how they would vote in an Election with these new entrants standing against the current players, the liberal New Party A did well, with 24 per cent of the vote, including nearly a third of 2017 Labour voters and nearly half of Lib Dems. But they were pipped at the post by the much more conservative New Party B, with 27 per cent, including more than four in ten 2017 Tories and nearly half of Leave voters. It is pretty fanciful to suppose that this could happen at the next Election, with the Conservatives and Labour reduced to third and fourth place. But it demonstrates that there is a real appetite for credible alternatives and that the gap in the political market is not only in the liberal centre. Mail on Sunday More than half of voters want a brand-new party Mail on Sunday Javid pledges everything Ive got to tackle knife crime Home Secretary under pressure over migrant crossings Sunday Times Home Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday vowed to give police all the backing they needed to curb the knife crime epidemic. He pledged that new stop-and-search powers given to seven of the worst-affected forces were just the start. Senior officers fear his changes do not go far enough and want them extending countrywide. But Mr Javid told The Sun on Sunday: Knife crime has shaken the country to its core. Ive been clear that Ill do everything in my power to help bring an end to the shocking acts of violence and senseless loss of life on our streets. This includes giving our brave police officers on the frontline the support they need. Stop-and-search was curtailed by PM Theresa May in 2014 when she was Home Secretary. But the surge in knife crime prompted Mr Javid to relax the controls in a breakthrough for our Beat the Blades campaign. Sun on Sunday More policy: Rudd unveils scheme to help single mums find work Sun on Sunday Comment: How I would set about tackling knife crime Dominic Raab, Sunday Telegraph McDonnell proposes huge, state-run Post Office bank Labours shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, will today unveil plans to transform post offices into branches of a new nationalised bank. A government led by Jeremy Corbyn would put 2.5bn into the Post Bank to save the high street and protect face-to-face banking. Britain has lost two-thirds of its bank and building society branches in the past 30 years. The Post Office has a sprawling but struggling network of more than 11,500 branches. The state-owned business faces pressure from online delivery services such as Amazon and the wider decline of the high street but made a profit of 35m last year, up from 13m in 2016-17 the first year that it had been in the black for 16 years. Ministers have been criticised for letting the Post Office shrink, with branch closures and the crippling loss of lucrative government contracts. Under McDonnells proposal, Post Bank would have the biggest network of all the high-street banks. Sunday Times 80% Website autoteam.pl uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 59291 bytes (57.90 kb uncompressed) and 11206 bytes (10.94 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-11-26, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 73% Website ponuky.sk uses latest and advanced technologies like: Asp.Net. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 26418 bytes (25.80 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-12-09, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 65% Website uzbek-dictionary.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 7634 bytes (7.46 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-07, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. KENT A town resident who has called Kent home for around 25 years might be forced to leave when a judge rules on his possible deportation on April 3. Tino Santiago is known by many in the community as a friend, always willing to help out those in need. But now, he faces possible deportation after he was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around 9 a.m. on Feb. 26. ICE agents picked up Tino Santiago as he was headed to Kent Center School to pick up his 14-year-old son, according to 19-year-old Jordan Santiago, one of Tino Santiagos sons. On Wednesday, a judge is set to decide Tino Santiagos fate during a hearing at 1 p.m. The hearing will be at the U.S. District Court in Hartford. That will be the final decision on whether he stays here, or theyll send him back to Mexico, said Jordan Santiago in an interview on Saturday. Lawyers representing Tino Santiago could not be reached for comment. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Public Affairs could not immediately be reached for comment. Tino Santiago is from Oaxaca, Mexico. He is married and has three sons ages 7, 14 and 19. Jordan Santiago said his family has been collecting documents to prove his father has paid his taxes. He said his father has held a steady job as a chef at a local restaurant for 25 years. He has a massive reputation around the community, Jordan Santiago said. Everybody loves him. Without him, it wouldnt be the same. Kent resident Susan Forbes said in an interview Saturday she has known Tino Santiago for about 25 years and has always been close with him and his family. She recalled when her husband died about a year ago and Tino Santiago helped her move out of her house into a condo. He does a low of work for the people in Kent and people around Kent, Forbes said. Tino Santiago has been detained since he was picked up in late February and is being held in a facility in Greenfield, Massachusetts, his son said. Jordan Santiago said his family believes his fathers two driving under the influence arrests, in 2008 and 2016, were possibly what caught the attention of ICE. Maybe they see the first one and let it go. Or maybe they didnt see it, he said. But then the second one comes up, and they decide to pick him up. Jordan Santiago said people in the community have been supporting his family. He said school counselors have been helping his two brothers. He said although the 14-year-old didnt see their father get detained, he has been been the one most impacted by it. Its especially taking a toll on him, Jordan Santiago said. He wakes up in the middle of the night scared, he thinks people are stalking him. Jordan Santiago, who has Type 1 diabetes, said he and his two brothers, who are autistic, were born in the United States. Jordan Santiago said the stress of what has happened with his father landed him in the hospital with a very low blood sugar one day. Its been very up and down because of all the stress right now, he said. He said since his father is the familys sole provider, they would all have to move with him if he gets sent back to Mexico. He said that terrifies him since he relies on medicine to keep his diabetes under control. Were a low-income family. Were unable to really afford a lot, Jordan Santiago said. If we go to Mexico and I cant get my insulin, I could pretty much just die. Forbes said the town has been rallying around the Santiago family. Im very fond of Tino, Forbes said. People in Kent know him, they like him. Hes friends with everybody. Were trying to do what we can. SOUTH END Pacific House will host a community food festival Thursday, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Sheraton Stamford Hotel, 700 Main St. The event, which will raise funds for homeless youth, will include tastings provided by local restaurants, bakeries, and chocolatiers. The Pacific House young adult program helps homeless youth find jobs and a place to live. Pacific House, formerly named Shelter for the Homeless, is the only regional mens emergency shelter, serving Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien and the rest of Fairfield County. Since 1982, the organization has served 1 million meals, provided over 850,000 beds at night, secured housing for 1,500 people, and secured employment for 3,700 clients. To learn more, or to make a donation, visit PacificHouse. org or call 203-406-0017. NORTH STAMFORD The Stamford Museum & Nature Center, 151 Scofieldtown Road, will host a food and drink event at the centers farmhouse April 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event, which is $70 for non-members and $60 for members, will include samplings of wines, custom craft beers from local breweries, and spirits from local distilleries. WESTOVER Temple Beth El will host an immigration forum Sunday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at 350 Roxbury Road in Stamford. The forum, entitled Immigration: Separating Fact from Fiction, will cover what is going on nationally as well as what is happening in Connecticut and Stamford, and how to support immigrants in the community. The two speakers are Catalina Horak, executive director of Building One Community in Stamford, and Aleksandr Troyb, an immigration lawyer with Benjamin, Gold & Troyb in Stamford. NORTH STAMFORD The Stamford Land Conservation Trust acquired its 57th property, a 1.2-acre open-space parcel at the intersection of Mill and Rock Rimmon roads in North Stamford. The parcel was donated by Jack Truman, on behalf of Mill Rd LLC. The Stamford Land Conservation Trust is thrilled to bring this beautiful meadow-like parcel into its portfolio of stewarded land in Stamford, said Harry Day, president of SLCT. The parcel contains wetlands that are a perfect habitat for birds and other native species. A benefit to placing the acreage under SLCT stewardship is that it ensures the acreage will be protected as open space in perpetuity. The Trust was founded in 1972 to preserve the benefits of open space in Stamford by acquiring and managing land preserves throughout the city. The SLCT currently protects over 57 preserves comprising over 450 acres. For more information on the SLCT, visit stamfordland.org . DOWNTOWN The First Congregational Church of Stamford will host a community Easter egg hunt April 20 at 10 a.m. on Latham Park, between Bedford and Prospect streets. Advanced registration is required. Register at fccstamford.org/events or call 203-323-0200. The event is for children ages 12 and under. WEST SIDE The Elks Lodge in Stamford will host an annual Easter egg hunt April 19 from noon to 3 p.m. The event is for children from the age of 3 to 12. CITYWIDE The United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien recently opened the application period for its annual essay contest and leadership award. Residents of Stamford, New Canaan or Darien between 10th and 12th grade are eligible for both awards. The $1,000 Helen S. and Isadore Mark Teen Leadership Award goes to one area teen who has demonstrated multiyear leadership for the local or worldwide Jewish and/or general community, and displays a commitment to Jewish Values, according to the application. The Rabbi Alex J. Goldman Memorial Essay has a three-tiered award with first place winning $1,000; second place $500; and third place $250. The contest was established in memory of Goldman, a beloved rabbi at Temple Beth El, according to the UJF. For more information, visit the organizations website, or contact Diane Sloyer at Dianesloyer@ujf.org. WASHINGTON - A record number of women are serving in U.S. Congress this year. But an exchange on the House floor last week highlighted the challenges female politicians still face. On Wednesday, freshman Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., contested an amendment that, she argued, watered down legislation aimed at eliminating the gender pay gap. Wild, a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act and a career litigator, said the amendment would make it easier for an employer to defend paying a female employee less in court. As Wild was speaking, the amendment's male sponsor interrupted her and questioned her understanding of the issue. "I was listening to the lady talk. I don't know that she's read my amendment," Rep. Bradley Bryne, R-Ala., said on the House floor. "Practitioners in this area like myself understand exactly what it means; it actually solves the problem proposed by the lady," he added. Wild said the impact of Bryne's questioning didn't fully register until she returned to her office to messages from colleagues commenting on how she'd been treated. "This isn't the 1st time someone has mansplained #EqualPay to me," she tweeted. Byrne's office did not respond to request for comment. In an interview a few days later, Wild said the exchange on the House floor reminded her of some of the challenges working women face. "Thirty years ago things were a lot different. It was not unusual to have men explain something or suggest I didn't know what I was talking about or reading," she said. "I've learned how to stand up for myself. I have developed strong coping skills for being in a male-dominated profession." Existing law permits disparities in pay if it's due to seniority, merit, quality or quantity of work, or a "factor other than sex." The Paycheck Fairness Act that Wild co-sponsored would have narrowed that fourth criteria by clarifying that the defense must be based on "a bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience." Bryne's amendment would have changed the definition to "bona fide business-related factor defense." Jennifer Lawless, a professor at the University of Virginia, said that the gender biases in politics are more subtle now but still exist. Men aren't explicitly sexist or discriminatory, she said, but they sometimes diminish or belittle women's accomplishments. "Regardless of his intent, there are gendered implications if this is a woman with these credentials," Lawless said. "What kind of message does that send to other women in Congress, other women who think about running for Congress or think about joining the political environment that (a congressman) is mansplaining and trying to undermine someone who is well credentialed." The moment was reminiscent of the Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when Trump explained Senate procedure to her and said he understood that she was "in a situation where it's not easy for her to talk right now." "Please don't characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting," Pelosi told the president. Reflecting on the House exchange several days later, Wild said she was concerned about the message Bryne sent to other women. "It really concerns me that a congressman with as much experience as he has - I'm a freshman congresswoman, so maybe he thought he'd get the upper hand and intimidate me," she said. " I don't take it personally, but I worry about a lot of younger women, my daughter and others, and I don't want to see them exposed that." Dear Bridgeport residents, This week, I will present my budget to the Bridgeport City Council. I will also deliver my State of the City Address to business and community leaders. My administration and the City Council have had to make difficult decisions to get the city budget back on track after inheriting a $20 million deficit in 2015. In each budget thereafter, we have held the line on taxes while trying to balance increasing costs and continued cuts in state aid, including state funding for our schools. Over the last three and a half years, we have worked diligently to cut discretionary spending, refinance and restructure the citys debt, work with unions to find savings in wages and health care costs, and reduce where possible the amount of non-emergency personnel throughout our city departments. On the revenue side, we are proud to see over $1 billion in economic development projects breaking ground across the city, including: Waterfront development at Steelpointe, $500 million; Renovations of the historic Poli and Majestic Theaters, $400 million; A new outdoor amphitheater concert venue, $20 million; and, The conversion of blighted factories along I-95 into housing and retail space, $250 million. Now, thanks to those and other great economic development projects happening in our city, we have seen a 5.2 percent increase in our grand list compared to last year, bringing the total grand list to over $6.3 billion. Because of this growth and our diligence in holding down costs, I am pleased to propose a budget that includes a property tax decrease the first the city has seen in over 12 years. For a home valued at $175,000, it will mean an approximate savings of $101; for a $250,000, a $140 savings, and for a $360,000 home, a $201 savings This tax cut represents an approximate average savings of $150 per household. While this may be modest relief, we understand that every bit counts towards lessening this burden and we do not take the hard-working residents of Bridgeport for granted. Of the 16 budgets I have presented to the city, 14 have held the line or decreased taxes. I am pleased that this years budget is included in that relief for our overburdened taxpayers. A look back will reveal that this record of cutting taxes is unmatched by any mayor going back at least 50 years of Bridgeports history. Although it is difficult to cut taxes in a city of our size while still providing essential services to our residents, we are committed to keeping costs low and will continue to fight for our fair share of much-needed state aid. As our city is experiencing an economic resurgence, we will continue to improve public safety. In 2015, I promised to prioritize public safety by hiring 100 new police officers. We exceeded that goal, and later this month we will hire an additional 30 officers. We are also recruiting brave men and women to join the Bridgeport Fire Department. Our communities cannot thrive without being safe places for our residents to live and work. We are also proud to kick-off our anti-blight and beautification program, Park City Pickin It Up. This city-wide initiative covers all communities by addressing blight, illegal dumping and littering. We invite engaged residents like you to do your part and join the Health Department and Public Facilities to beautify our city, one neighborhood at a time. It is evident that our work on development projects and city initiatives holds a brighter future for our city, and for you. As your mayor, I commit that we will continue to fight for the residents through balanced, responsible budgets, grand list growth, and for our citys share of state aid. The most prosperous days of Bridgeport are ahead of us. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in Bridgeports future. Joe Ganim is mayor of Bridgeport. In the words of Yogi Berra, it was like deja vu all over again. In 1962 when I was in my 20s and sported long hair and a bohemian look, I spent a few hours sitting in an upper row of a makeshift theatre on a set in Los Angeles, playing an audience member in Wild Guitar, a teen-idol/beach party movie starring Arch Hall Jr. I was instructed to make a frenzied run to the stage since I was portraying someone smitten by the leads performance as a budding rock star. It was a hoot, but since payment consisted of Cokes and burgers, I decided to stay with my day job in commercial mortgage banking. And Sunday, March 24th found me sitting in the top row at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center in North Hollywood, playing an audience member in The Perils of Perfume, a film by Lizzie Maxwell, longtime Culver City resident. This experience, too, was a total lark, with me grimacing, coughing, clapping, etc. in several reaction shots while in the company of fun, enthusiastic actors. Payment consisted of bottled water and protein and granola bars. (Maxwell did say this was a very low budget film.) Who knows, I may yet have a career as a seat filler. This latest adventure came about through my friend, Janet Hoult, Maxwells neighbor, who was invited to play an audience member. As seat fillers were still needed, I opted to unchain my inner actress and join in. This required committing to a four-hour shoot, from noon to 4 PM. For wardrobe we were instructed to think about what we would wear if going to an opera, as Maxwell was looking for a vintage feel and the more outrageous the person and the wardrobe, the better it is. We have some interesting and very creative souls in Culver City. Maxwell, who exudes warmth and vitality, certainly fits that description. No stranger to show business, her career began in her late teens when she was introduced to RAPT (Readers and Playwrights Theatre) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her plays received awards and she subsequently produced and hosted a comedy club called The Playhouse. With an educational background encompassing radio, TV and psychology, Maxwell headed west in 1984 to pursue her dream of acting, and has appeared in ER, LA Law, Unsolved Mysteries, General Hospital, and many TV movies, including her own films. In 2000 she wrote and published "Little Fish in a Big Pond - A Support Guide for Actors," and that segued her back to her earlier love of writing because I love acting but I dont need the applause anymore. What I need is to be creating characters on a page. The written word has always been my greater passion. It took me a while to realize that. She began producing theatrical pieces and films for others, realized she could produce her own as well, and in 2006 wrote and produced her play, Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl, to a full house every night in North Hollywood. Fixing Rhonda, a full-length feature film she wrote and produced, followed. And a few years ago her short comedy, Nothing as It Seems, did the film festival circuit, including the Culver City Film Festival. This year, motivated by her increasing sensitivity to fragrance, Maxwell decided to make another short, The Perils of Perfume, showcasing an audience reacting to smells around them. She hopes to spread awareness of the discomfort that one's fragrance can bring to an allergy sufferer, especially in closed quarters like a theatre. It will be released in May. At first Maxwell wanted to do it as a public service announcement because according to one survey, this problem affects about 30% of the population. However, she decided a short film might take it further. Planning for it to go viral, she will put it on her YouTube page, which has a few other films shes been involved with as well as many Alzheimers videos shes made to help people care for their loved ones. (Her mother has Alzheimers). The audience players in this film comprise a mixed bag, varying in age from 18 to 85 and include doctors plus people with lengthy careers in education as teachers and administrators who, after retiring, decided to give acting a shot. Lynne Moody, a beautiful, charming, and notable actress who was featured in the miniseries Roots and other series, sat a couple of seats over from me. Shes a real trouper, having accidentally dislodged a cap from a tooth the day before. Regardless, she somehow stuck it back on, showed up, and will be seeing her dentist shortly. Not only did I have a great time, even getting to wear a face mask in a pretty shade of blue that matched one of the colors in my outfit, but thanks to Maxwell I also learned a new definition for perennial. I was recently told by my 26-year-old partner, Ecem Senyuva, a Columbia Film School graduate who is the Director of Photography as well as the editor of this film, that I was a perennial, which is the adult opposite of millennial, she said. Perennials are the ageless generation that ignores the notion that same age equals same interests. Gina Pell, founder of The What (an email newsletter), defines perennials as ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know whats happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. We get involved, stay curious, mentor others, and are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded risk-takers who continue to push up against our growing edge and know how to hustle. Heres to Maxwell and the wonderful perennials in The Perils of Perfume. From what I observed during this shoot, I believe this comedy will make you want to avoid censure by using common sense about scents, hopefully encouraging the viewer to forego the flagrant application of fragrance. And to the chap reeking of after-shave or cologne who almost asphyxiated me and a few other riders on the No. 3 bus the other day, Im talking to YOU. This WWII vet wants to find, thank the girls who gave him a gift In meeting with clergy, men and women religious and members of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, Pope Francis emphasizes that "Jesus did not choose us and send us forth to become more numerous!" And that "the problem is not when we are few in number, but when we are insignificant" . The invitation to dialogue of charity with other Christians and with Muslims, Muslims and men of good will. In Morocco, conversion from Islam to another religion is prohibited. Visit to the Rural Center for Social Services. Rabat (AsiaNews) - Christians in Morocco "are few in number", but they are a "small amount of yeast" that with "compassion", dialogue and fraternal love, can "making present his kingdom". It is the direction for the present and for the future that Pope Francis gave today to the Catholic and Protestant Christians present in the country he is visiting, in his meeting today with the clergy, religious, and the Ecumenical Council of the Churches, gathered in the cathedral of Rabat. In fact, Christians in Morocco, although they have a history dating back to Roman times, are - according to the most optimistic statistics - at least 340 thousand. Of these, only 30,000 are Catholics, formed in the vast majority of Western expatriates and Sub-Saharan migrants. Among the Protestants there are also Moroccans converted from Islam, but they live in hiding because apostasy is forbidden in the country, although for some years the death penalty for apostasy has been lifted. In his speech, Francis emphasizes several times that "Jesus did not choose us and send us forth to become more numerous!" And that "the problem is not when we are few in number, but when we are insignificant". For this reason, he rejects "the paths of mission are not those of proselytism": "For being a Christian is not about adhering to a doctrine, or a temple or an ethnic group. Being Christian is about an encounter, an encounter with Jesus Christ. We are Christians because we have been loved and encountered, and not as the result of proselytism. Thus the Church must meet the world, living dialogue: "The Church has to enter into dialogue out of fidelity to her Lord and Master, who from the beginning, moved by love, wished to enter into dialogue as a friend and asks us to enter into friendship with him. This dialogue is above all "intercession": "Consecrated persons and priests bring to the altar and to their prayer the lives of all those around them; they keep alive, as if through a small window, the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. How beautiful it is to know that, in different parts of this land, through your voices, all creation can constantly pray: Our Father." It is a dialogue that builds "in the name of the human fraternity that embraces all human beings, unites them and renders them equal". The Pope quotes the document on human fraternity signed in Abu Dhabi, speaking of "this fraternity torn apart by the policies of extremism and division, by systems of unrestrained profit or by hateful ideological tendencies, that manipulate the actions and the future of men and women ". And he continues: "A prayer that does not distinguish, separate or marginalize, but embraces the life of our neighbour. A prayer of intercession that says to the Father, Thy kingdom come. Not by violence, not by hatred, not by ethnic, religious or economic supremacy, and so forth, but by the power of the compassion poured out on the cross for all mankind. This is the experience of the majority of you." "In this way, you will unmask and lay bare every attempt to exploit differences and ignorance in order to sow fear, hatred and conflict. For we know that fear and hatred, nurtured and manipulated, destabilize our communities and leave them spiritually defenceless". We need to build a "culture of encounter", promoting "ecumenism of charity" among Christians, which can involve "our Muslim brothers and sisters and all people of good will". Francis lists the areas: "wounded, tried, excluded"; "At the service of justice and peace, the education of children and young people, the protection and accompaniment of the elderly, the weak, the disabled and the oppressed". Thanking them for their "humble and discreet service" as missionaries , the pontiff thanked for all, the Superior of the present missionaries, Sister Ersilia Mantovani, 97 years old, an Italian Franciscan, who celebrated her 80 years on March 19 years of religious life. "Look to the future - he concluded - envisage the future where the Holy Spirit is sending you (Vita Consecrata, 110). In this way, you will continue to be living signs of that fraternity to which the Father has called us, without intransigence or passivity, but as believers who know that the Lord always goes before us and opens spaces of hope wherever something or someone appeared hopeless.. At the end of the event and after the recital of the Angelus, Francis was surrounded by elderly missionaries and some children, who came to greet him. Before going to the cathedral, the Pope had visited to the Rural Social Services Center "in Temara. The center is run by the Daughters of Charity and gathers together children and families who are assisted by the nuns (see photo). Dear Editor: Fifty years ago, I was drafted into the Army along with thousands of other Americans. Though I was drafted, Im proud of my service to my country. I spent 12 months with the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. After 40 years of working and having a wonderful family with my wife, Valerie, I began to have emotional problems related to my military experience. For 10 years, I have been going to the VA clinic in Kingston and the VA hospital in Albany. With the help of the Ulster County Veteran Services Agency and the great support of people I know in Kingston, I find myself lucky compared to most veterans I meet. For many years, I went to consultations with the Veterans Service Agency at the Alms House, which is now being considered for affordable housing by RUPCO. Many times I had asked, Where in Kingston or Ulster County are there apartments or living areas for Veterans? I was told the closest one is in Pittsfield, Mass. I learned that if the Alms House is used by RUPCO, 10 apartments would be made available to veterans. I think this is a good idea, and I know there is a controversy, but its the first time Ive heard that any housing would be made available with consideration of veterans in Kingston or Ulster County. Something tangible and realistic could be done for homeless veterans. Many need a place to live. Very few are loved. Dennis Connors Kingston, N.Y. Labours lazy fat bloke has also survived the years, with the words dangerous, confused and, like the Conservatives, untrustworthy though for the many and a picture of an ordinary family were also chosen. Pictured, Lord Ashcroft Ten years ago, when I was responsible for the Tories private polling as the partys Deputy Chairman, we often asked voters to choose from a selection of words and pictures those which they most associated with the main parties. The Conservative selection would invariably include a picture of an aristocratic family standing outside an enormous house, and other indications that the party was for the rich and out of touch with ordinary people. Labours often featured a fat man lazing on a sofa, usually signifying those who lived this way rather than going to work. Over the past month I repeated this exercise and if a week is a long time in politics, in terms of the party brands the past decade might as well not have happened. For the Tories, the posh family is still there, along with a shiny Jaguar, a pin-striped City worker and the words untrustworthy, for themselves and out of touch. Labours lazy fat bloke has also survived the years, with the words dangerous, confused and, like the Conservatives, untrustworthy though for the many and a picture of an ordinary family were also chosen. Not surprisingly, I found half of all voters saying they do not feel represented by any of the current parties. This has become a familiar refrain from anti-Brexit voters exasperated by Labours refusal to oppose leaving the EU. But despite complaints that Remain-supporting centrists have been abandoned, it is, in fact, Leave voters who are more likely to feel none of the parties really represents them. Not surprisingly, I found half of all voters saying they do not feel represented by any of the current parties. This has become a familiar refrain from anti-Brexit voters exasperated by Labours refusal to oppose leaving the EU Indeed, only half of those who think none of the parties stands for them say this is because Labour and the Tories have moved to the extremes; almost as many say they have become too alike. All of this suggests a huge opportunity to hoover up voters unimpressed with the choices currently on offer. To identify the most fertile political territory for such a venture, I asked 8,000 voters about issues including immigration, welfare, business regulation, tax, public services and international affairs, and compared the findings to peoples answers on how close they felt to any of the current parties. Ten years ago, when I was responsible for the Tories private polling as the partys Deputy Chairman, we often asked voters to choose from a selection of words and pictures those which they most associated with the main parties (file image) We found a large cluster of people of broadly liberal views, who had wanted to remain in the EU and who felt the main existing parties had become too extreme. But that was not the only gap. In the opposite corner was another group who had very different views on the issues but felt their opinions were not represented because the parties were all the same. In a further poll, I proposed two new parties with policies that might be expected to appeal to these two groups. New Party A would emphasise community and society, be happy with current or higher levels of immigration, want more action to tackle climate change, support aid to poorer countries, promote rehabilitation in the criminal justice system, strongly support rights for same-sex couples, and favour international co-operation, including the closest possible links with the EU after Brexit. New Party B would aim to reduce immigration, take a tougher line on law and order, spend the international aid budget in the UK instead, prefer the UK to act independently with few formal ties to the EU after Brexit, and argue that the threat of climate change had been exaggerated, that traditional values had been wrongly neglected and that the Government had become too much of a nanny state. When I asked people how they would vote in an Election with these new entrants standing against the current players, the liberal New Party A did well, with 24 per cent of the vote, including nearly a third of 2017 Labour voters and nearly half of Lib Dems. But they were pipped at the post by the much more conservative New Party B, with 27 per cent, including more than four in ten 2017 Tories and nearly half of Leave voters. It is pretty fanciful to suppose that this could happen at the next Election, with the Conservatives and Labour reduced to third and fourth place. But it demonstrates that there is a real appetite for credible alternatives and that the gap in the political market is not only in the liberal centre. BUT for a new movement, having the right policies is not even half the battle. Few had much faith in political promises before, but if sceptical voters have learned one thing from the Brexit debacle in which politicians have seemed unwilling or unable to enact the result of a referendum they pledged to heed it is that a manifesto is not worth the paper it is printed on. Indeed, when we asked what their ideal party would be like, the answers were words such as honest, accountable, trustworthy and realistic. While those who think the parties are too extreme are usually talking about policies, those who think they are too alike usually mean they are remote, divided, and never do what they say they will. Even the principled defectors of the Independent Group had committed the same old political sin: to be elected on a clear platform and then abandon it. Some think politics is failing because the wrong people are now in charge, pursuing the wrong policies on behalf of the wrong voters. But just as many believe that the problem is that the links between Parliament and the people, promise and delivery, what people want and what they get, have been all but lost. It is a tale that echoes across the Atlantic. Many of those who want to recast the political order fondly imagine being led by a synthesis of Chuka Umunna and Sarah Wollaston; they might just as easily see the rise of our own Donald Trump. Theresa May at Church on Sunday near her Maidenhead constituency The loss of a life to knife crime is horrific. It is senseless, destructive and a tragedy for the families, friends and communities of the victims. It is a terrible truth that, disproportionately, it is young people whose lives are being lost in this way. This cannot be allowed to continue. We must and will use every tool and tactic at our disposal to deter young people from carrying knives. We must treat the threat which knives pose to our society like a disease. So this week we are bringing together experts from many different disciplines for a serious youth violence summit at 10 Downing Street. The aim is to get people from right across society not just politicians and police officers, but figures from education, healthcare and social work, religious and community leaders, youth workers and more working side by side to spot young people at risk, flag their concerns, and make targeted interventions to steer them away from crime. Rather than having a complex web of different agencies and organisations working independently on different parts of the problem, we want to see everyone working together in what has been called a public health approach. Because youth violence is an issue that affects us all, and the only way to beat it is for us all to work together. Not just dealing with the tragic aftermath when someone has been stabbed, but intervening long before. Responding to the early signs of worrying behaviour or problems at home, or stopping teenagers being groomed by ruthless gangs, so that a young person doesnt pick up a knife in the first place. We are today launching a consultation into a legal duty that will underpin the multi-agency, public health approach, an approach that builds on work we are already doing to stop crime before it happens. For example, were putting an extra 100million into law enforcement in the worst-affected areas, getting more police on the frontline and setting up Violence Reduction Units. And our new 200million Youth Endowment Fund will provide long-term investment for programmes that steer young people away from becoming involved in violent crime or reoffending. This approach is not making excuses for criminals. Responsibility for knife crime lies with the perpetrators, and anyone even considering arming themselves with a blade should be under no illusions: if you carry a knife you will be caught, and you will be punished. The police are already catching and prosecuting more people who carry a knife and the courts are sending more of those convicted to prison for longer. Sajid Javid with Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Steve House during a visit to Angel underground station on Thursday to announce plans to allow more police officers enhanced stop and search powers Yesterday, we announced that we will be piloting changes to stop and search, which will initially apply in areas particularly affected by violent crime: London, the West Midlands, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Wales and Greater Manchester. Our new Offensive Weapons Bill will make it harder for criminals to arm themselves. And almost 1billion of extra police funding is being made available this year, so that local forces have the resources they need. But while strong, effective law enforcement has an obvious and vital role to play, we cannot try to simply arrest our way out of this situation, dealing with people only after they have broken the law. After all, were it an infectious disease killing our children, Mail readers would not expect the authorities to just focus on treating the symptoms you would rightly demand that we also do everything possible to prevent people getting ill at all. The families of those who have lost loved ones many of whom will be at the summit today deserve no less. Of course, nothing we say or do this week will bring back the children who were so cruelly taken from them. But we can promise that we will do whatever it takes to confront and defeat the scourge of youth violence. And that we will do everything in our power to stop more families suffering as they have suffered. A writer has launched a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to send a copy of a new book that explores how society overlooks women to every MP in the country. Tracy King, 43, from Woolwich, London, wants every politician to read Caroline Criado Perez's book, 'Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias In A World Designed For Men.' The non-fiction read focuses on how the world tends to be geared towards men, and how this means women can be at a disadvantage. 'There are 650 Members of Parliament, I would love to get a copy of Invisible Women to all of them,' said Tracy. 'For too long, women have been treated as second-class citizens. Let's educate those in power who represent us.' Writer Tracy King, from London, pictured, has started a crowdfunder to raise enough money to buy a copy of new book Invisible Women for every MP in the country For example, Criado Perez's book claims only 10.8 per cent of pages in a political science textbook references women, and that in health research, female bodies are often excluded from clinical trials. Now, Tracey has launched a campaign to 'educate' MPs on the women they represent who have been 'been treated as second-class citizens for too long.' So far she has raised just over half of the 6,750 goal to buy the books. Writing on her GoFundMe page, Tracy explained how because of her job as a writer and producer in Science, Technology, Education and Maths (STEM) and Medicine, she's been in Parliamentary Group meetings focusing on women. The book by Caroline Criado Perez, pictured at the Labour Party International Womens Conference in 2013, is about how society overlooks women 'In order for change to happen, our elected leaders must be educated about the gender gap,' she wrote. 'That's why I'm crowdfunding to send a copy of Invisible Women to every Member of Parliament, starting with those who sit on relevant committees.' She continued: 'Sure, MPs could buy their own copy of the book, but most won't, and the exposure and pressure this campaign will bring helps to ensure they read it. 'If women make enough noise, they can't ignore us.' Tracey told the i: 'This book will be bought by the public, their constituents, who are asking them to sit up and take notice of women and thats a powerful thing.' She also explained how the books will be supplied by Waterstones at half price, and she will buy low-cost packaging as well as making a covering letter. Tracy has already raised more than 3000 to buy the books, one pictured, and said she will buy packaging and write a cover letter with the money donated as well Criado Perez's book Invisible Women looks at everyday things, such as the size of smartphones and car seatbelts and explains why they're based around men. She writes about how the average phone screen is probably around 5.5 inch, so the average man can use it one-handed but the average woman cant. The writer also explained in an article for the Daily Mail that when a woman is involved in a car crash, she is 47 per cent more likely than a man to be seriously injured and 17 per cent more likely to die. 'This is partially because women tend to sit further forward when driving, as they're usually shorter,' she said. 'This, car-makers say, increases the risk of internal injury, as it is not the standard seating position.' 'The reason for this discrepancy is that crash test dummies are typically 1.77m tall and 76 kg, with male muscle mass and a male spinal column (womens vertebrae are spaced differently, among other things). 'Theres now a single European regulatory test that uses a female dummy but its only tested in the passenger seat and is really just a scaled-down male dummy.' A new dating trend called 'kondo-ing', sparked off the back of Marie Kondo's cleaning trend, could be the harshest one yet. Tidying-up sensation Marie Kondo has sweeped the nation, after she landed a hit Netflix show, and it led many of us to declutter our lives of rubbish. But could it also be applied to your relationships? According to dating website Plenty of Fish, the hottest trend in dating is 'Kondo-ing', which is ditching your partner as soon as they don't spark joy anymore. Inspired by the best-selling author - she encourages people to throw out things when they no longer 'spark joy'. The cleaning-themed dating trends don't stop with Kondo-ing though. Another is 'Hinch-ing', named after popular cleaning guru Mrs Hinch. According to dating website Plenty of Fish, the hottest trend in dating is 'Kondo-ing', which is ditching another as soon as they don't spark joy.Inspired by Marie Kondo (pictured at the Oscars) the best-selling author encourages people to throw out things when they no longer 'spark joy' Shannon Smith, relationship expert at Plenty of Fish explains: 'Brits are no longer just sweeping their love lives under the carpet. 'This spring, singles are taking action to spruce up their dates and relationships.' Marie Kondo first rose to global popularity with the publication of her 2011 book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. In 2015, she was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, and explains in her book how she's loved tidying since she was a toddler and read housewife magazines as a child. Shannon Smith, resident dating and relationship expert at Plenty of Fish explains: 'Brits are no longer just sweeping their love lives under the carpet. This Spring, singles are taking action to spruce up their dates and relationships (stock image) Her now world-famous system of organising is known as the KonMari method, and got a further boost earlier this year when she landed her own show on Netflix. While another cleaning based dating trend is 'Hinch-ing' according to the dating experts. The trend, inspired by Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchcliffe, involves turning your partner into a cleaning guru. Another trend is 'Hinch-ing' according to the dating experts. The trend, inspired by Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchcliffe (pictured) involves turning your partner into a cleaning guru Plenty of Fish also named four other terms, Brexit-ing, Easter ex-hunting, daffa-dilling, and blossoming. What are the biggest dating trends for spring 2019? 1. Kondo-ing: Re-organising your love life to set free those who don't 'spark joy' and find a new special someone this spring 2. Hinch-ing: Seeking inspiration from Mrs Hinch to turn your messy partner into a cleaning guru 3. Brexit-ing: Threatening to leave a relationship, then managing to renegotiate the terms and stay together at the last minute 4. Easter Ex-Hunting: Messaging an old flame to find someone to spend the Easter / bank holiday with 5. Daffa-dilling: When a love interest pops into your life at the same time every year for a short period of time occurs most often around spring as people look for new (or old!) beginnings 6. Blossoming: As cuffing season comes to an end and you manage to keep hold of your partner and get to the next stage in a relationship Source: Plenty of Fish Advertisement Inspired by the current political climate, Brexit-ing is apparently threatening to leave a relationship, then managing to renegotiate the terms and stay together at the last minute. The other three are perhaps more universal, with easter ex-hunting denoting the act of messaging an old flame to find someone to spend the Easter bank holiday with. Daffa-dilling is when a love interest pops into your life, at the same time every year for a short period, and blossoming is the term used for a relationship that carries on after cuffing season. The trends follow last years, where 'Grande-ing', 'vulturing' and 'you-turning' were all added to the dating dictionary. Inspired by Ariana Grande's hit song Thank U, Next, 'Grande-ing' refers to the act of expressing gratitude to an ex at the end of a failed relationship. While you might not be able to write a chart-topping song to celebrate your newfound singleton, the principle can be applied to everyday situations. The key is learning to reject negativity over what went wrong and instead moving forward with your life. Instagrandstanding was another trend, which involves curating your Instagram feed with one person in mind, and specifically posting pictures that will appeal to your crush. More than half of those surveyed by Plenty of Fish admitted they tailored their feed - as well as 69 per cent of 22 to 25 year olds. Line of Duty fans were shocked tonight when a huge twist came at the end of the first episode and it was revealed that 'balaclava' man wasn't who they thought he was. The first episode of the new series started tonight when a police van and car were ambushed by armed robbers with balaclavas down a country lane, and multiple police officers are killed. As we join the team at AC-12 we found out that the gang stole a lorry full of heroin, which had a street value of 10 million. Line of Duty started on BBC 1 for the fifth series and fans are shocked at the big twist at the end After a series of leads its revealed that the undercover officer is in fact Detective sergeant John Corbett. Following the armed gang and their leader John Corbett, aka balaclava man, everything points towards his co gang leader Lisa McQueen, to being an undercover officer. Barking orders 'balaclava' man tells her to shoot a police officer, but she bottles it. And after a series of leads its revealed that the 'balaclava' man is in fact undercover officer Detective sergeant John Corbett. The shocking moment prompted viewers to take to Twitter saying: 'There's only one thing worse than a bent copper, a bent copper that pretends they're not." Kids, this is called FORESHADOWING. #LineOfDuty.' And: 'WHAAAT! Stephen Graham is the undercover copper!?! HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!! Barking orders 'balaclava' man tells her to shoot a police officer, but she bottles it. And after a series of leads its revealed that the 'balaclava' man is in fact undercover officer Detective sergeant John Corbett Viewers took to Twitter to express their shock at undercover officer Detective sergeant John Earlier on in the episode the team, including PC Arnett, Hastings and Fleming, track down a possible suspect linked to the ambush. The man, inside of the police force, had been blackmailed into giving them information about the route the van would take before it was ambushed. PC Maneet Bindra (pictured) is the cousin of the suspect and after questioning her she she breaks down in tears admitting her involvement Following the armed gang and the leader John Corbett, aka balaclava man (pictured) everything points towards his co gang leader being an undercover officer. Everything points towards his co gang leader Lisa McQueen (pictured) to being an undercover officer As we join the team at AC-12 we found out that the gang stole a lorry full of heroin, which had a street value of 10 million Following the armed gang and their leader John Corbett, aka balaclava man, everything points towards his co gang leader Lisa McQueen, to being an undercover officer But after further investigation they realise that a colleague in their own office had links to the investigation too. PC Maneet Bindra is the cousin of the suspect and after questioning her she breaks down in tears admitting her involvement, but thought she was just helping out her cousin. Taking her off to the canal, PC Maneet Bindra is then killed in the second shocking twist of the nights episode Hastings immediately suspends her but she tries to help her cousin out, becoming involved with the gang - until they find a burner phone she has is being tracked by police. Taking her off to the canal, PC Maneet Bindra is then killed in the second shocking twist of the nights episode. Twitter users were shocked by this too, saying: 'Oh Maneet. Heartbreaking.' Another said: 'Maneet crying made me cry too. I wont say any more because in case folk didnt watch live, but I did shout Whaaaaaaattttttt!!!!???!?!? at the end there!!!' One tweeted: 'A revelation and death in the space of three minutes!' PC Maneet Bindra was questioned by the team at AC-12 after the suspect she is somehow involved As PC Maneet Bindra tries to help her cousin out, becoming involved with the gang, they find a burner phone is being tracked by police PC Arnett and Hastings interview suspects in tonight's episode of the new series of Line of Duty Characters John Corbett, aka balaclava man and Lisa McQueen who are part of a criminal gang Meanwhile as the team try to find out more about the undercover case they are told that the 'pear tree' operation has infiltrated a police officer into an organised crime group. Assuming it's Lisa McQueen who is the undercover officer, the detective then reveals that 'he' hasn't been in contact with them for months. Leaving the team shocked the when its revealed that 'balaclava' man is in fact the undercover detective. But is he simply just doing his job, or is he a bent copper? The first episode of the new series started tonight when a police van and car were ambushed by armed robbers with balaclavas down a country lane, and multiple police officers are killed AC-12 suspect one of their own and quiz PC Maneet Bindra about her involvement in the case With cold season upon us, Aldi Australia will launch a range of sleeping bag 'onesies' to keep you cozy in the great outdoors. Back by popular demand, the German retailer has offered a sneak peek of its upcoming 'Camping Sale' as part of its Special Buys. Set to go on sale on Saturday, April 6, shoppers can get their hands on the 'Sleeping Bag Onezees', retailed at $49.99, which comes complete with removable feet and elastic waistband for a flattering fit. With the cold season, Aldi Australia will launch a range of sleeping bag 'onesies' to keep you cozy in the great outdoors Back by popular demand, the German retailer has offered a sneak peek of its upcoming 'Camping Sale' as part of its Special Buys for Saturday, April 6 Available in sizes small, medium and large, there are four colours to choose from, including black, purple, blue and pink. The unique padded bodysuits proved to be a popular hit previous years, selling for $69.99 - but Aldi has promised to slash $20 off this year's range. Last year, the range was launched just in time for April Fool's Day - but the discount chain assured everyone the onezees were not a stitch up. Despite the timing of the launch, an Aldi Australia spokeswoman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that this year's sale will 'definitely go ahead and will be available soon'. The unique padded bodysuits proved to be a popular hit previous years, selling for $69.99 - but Aldi has promised to slash $20 off this year's range The catalogue sale also includes other outdoor equipment to choose from, including a portable fridge freezer, four-person tent, gazebos, sleeping bags, hiking gear and other camping essentials. 'Make sure you set an epic reminder for our camping sale... The essentials will have your camping holiday covered. All on sale for ridiculously low prices, so don't miss out,' the ad said. 'Despite our careful planning, we apologise if selected items may sell out on the first day due to unexpected high demand,' Aldi said on its website. 'In the event of unexpected high demand, reserves the right to limit purchases to reasonable quantities.' Stocks are limited and will vary between stores. The camping sale will be available at Aldi Australia on Saturday April 6, while stocks last. An Australian fine-dining restaurant is charging customers $8 for a single oyster. Otto Ristorante in Sydney's harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo, is selling Sydney's natural rock oysters, grown by Tathra Oysters in Nelson Lake on the south coast of New South Wales. Otto chef Richard Ptacnik told the Good Food the steep price was justified because the rare bivalve take between 'five to six years to produce in pristine national park waters and only have a short season'. 'Like all exceptional and rare ingredients, they come at a cost,' Mr Ptacnik said. Scroll down for video Sydney's fine-dining restaurant Otto Ristorante is charging customers $8 for a single oyster Daily Mail Australia has contacted Otto Ristorante for comment. According to the publication, the restaurant was charging customers $5 for an individual Sydney rock oyster over the last three years. This means that this is the first time a single oyster has retailed for $8. For an extra $25, Otto guests can have a spoonful of oscietra sturgeon caviar served with each oyster, potentially increasing the price of a half-dozen to $198. 'The saltiness of the caviar and the clean flavour of the oyster are an indulgent match,' Mr Ptacnik said. 'They take five to six years to produce in pristine national park waters and only have a short season. Like all exceptional and rare ingredients, they come at a cost,' Otto chef Richard Ptacnik said According to the publication before this, the price for Sydney rock oysters have managed to stay around $5 at fine-dining restaurants for the last three years 'It's the ultimate luxury combination of two highly prized ingredients.' Oysters are a delicacy loved by Australians but could this price be too expensive? In a segment on The Today Show one woman told the panel that she didn't think the price was at all justified. 'If you are paying that you have too much dough,' she said. The same Tathra oysters are on the menu at Rockpool Bar and Grill in the CBD, but are instead priced at $6.50 each. The glitz and glamour of the Riviera were recreated at last nights Rose Ball, as Monaco's royal family honoured the late Karl Lagerfeld's creation. The 'Riveria' concept was designed by late family friend of the family, Karl Lagerfeld, with this year marking the first time since his death that the event was hosted. The most glamorous of Monaco's royals attended the event, dripping in glamour and jewelry. Princess Caroline, who designed the concept of the event with the late fashion powerhouse, looked somber as she posed for pictures at the ball. The royals attend their first Rose Ball since late family friend Karl Lagerfeld died: (from l-r) Countess Beatrice Boromeo, Pierre Casiraghi, Princess Caroline of Hanover, Prince Albert II of Monaco, French actress Carole Bouquet, Dimitri Rassam, Charlotte Casiraghi, Tatiana Santo Domingo, Andrea Casiraghi and Princess Alexandra of Hanover arrive for the 'Bal de la Rose' Pierre Casiraghi and his wife countess Beatrice Boromeo pose as they arrive for the 'Bal de la Rose' Charlotte Casiraghi, 32, the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and the late Stefano Casiraghi, an Italian industrialist, lead the glamour in a sexy sequin bustier top. Pierre Casiraghi and his wife Countess Beatrice Borromeo joined the couple in their high glamour looks. Countess Beatrice wore a stunning nude sequined dress, and kept things traditional with her long satin gloves. The couple looked loved up as they arrived at the event, with Beatrice gazing up at her husband passionately. Host of the event Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Caroline of Hanover arrive for the Bal de la Rose in Monaco Princess Caroline, who designed the concept for the evening with the help of late family friend Karl Lagerfeld, looked somber as she arrived Tatiana Santo Domingo wore a bold red dress, paired with striking earrings, pictured here with Andrea Casiragh Socialite Tatiana Santo Domingo stood out in a bold red dress, and matched it was sparkly silver earrings and a silver clutch. Meanwhile Princess Caroline, arrived wearing a black dress, with pink ruffles and hold a bunch of flowers. Prince Albert II of Monaco was by her side in a smart tux. Guest Camilla de Bourbon-Deux-Siciles wore a bold green dress for the event, and carried an eye catching handbag featuring a face. Family friend Karl Lagerfeld designed this year's ball which was themed around the Riveria. Camilla de Bourbon-Deux-Siciles (right) and Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (left also joined the stars at the event, with Camilla carrying a decadent handbag Dimitri Rassam (left) Charlotte Casiraghi (second left) Pierre Casiraghi (second right)and his wife Countess Beatrice Borromeo (far right) arrive for the Bal de la Rose in Monaco A waiter finishes intricate table arrangements designed by late German Karl Lagerfeld. The tables featured minature replicas of famous buildings in the riviera Decor for the event is always decadent - and this years guests could pose in front of the Hotel De Paris It is the first time the Rose Ball has been thrown since his death in February, with the late fashion legend designing the event around the theme Riveria. The event featured a huge dance floor featuring the image of a woman emerging from a swimming pool. Stars posed in front of colourful backdrops, with bold scenes of the Riveria painted behind them. The event even featured a mint green hatchback in front of a replica of the legendary Hotel de Paris in Monaco A close up of the table settings: every detail had been thought of at the ball, which costs 800 a ticket One of the table decorations that featured at the event, designed by Karl Lagerfeld. Each decoration celebrated an aspect of Monte Carlo culture The huge mural 'pool' themed dance floor celebrated Monte Carlo's beach, and featured a huge image of a woman climbing out of a pool Beatrice Boromeo glittered in a plunging sequin nude dress, and kept her outfit high glamour with gorgeous long satin gloves (L-R) Countess Beatrice Boromeo, Pierre Casiraghi, Princess Caroline of Hanover, Prince Albert II of Monaco, French actress Carole Bouquet, Dimitri Rassam, Charlotte Casiraghi, Tatiana Santo Domingo, Andrea Casiraghi and Princess Alexandra of Hanover arrive for the 'Bal de la Rose' (Rose Ball), in Monaco, 30 March 2019. The Rose Ball is a traditional annual charity event in the Principality of Monaco. This year the theme is 'Riviera', designed by late German Karl Lagerfeld and Princess Caroline of Hanover The Rose Ball was first thrown in 1954 by Princess Grace of Monaco, the American actress who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The event is currently presided over by the Sovereign Prince Albert II and Princess Caroline of Hanover. The funds raised go towards the Princess Grace Foundation, which assists young artists by providing scholarships. Top-name performers delight the audience, who, each year, grace the event with their finest attire. It's named the Rose Ball as a nod to the late star's favourite flowers, and features 25 thousand roses decoreating the ball room. Camilla de Bourbon-Deux-Siciles (right) and Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (left) arrive for the 'Bal de la Rose' (Rose Ball), in Monaco There are always ravishing bouquets of thousands of roses decorating the Salle des Etoiles in the Sporting Monte-Carlo complex. Prince Albert and his sisters Stephanie and Caroline are said to personally oversee the guest list of around 1,000 high society figures who pay 800 euro per ticket. They make their own additions and approve the final version. It happens twice a year but the leap on the clock-face to mark the ushering in of summer continually confuses a nation. While night shift workers were celebrating watching British Summer Time (BST) kick in at midnight, thus shortening their shift by an hour, others took to social media to say they were utterly confused as to what the actual real time was. On Twitter, #Clocksgoforward and #Britishsummertime trended as people awoke on Mothering Sunday to find they hadn't in fact slept in, but been robbed of a lie-in instead. Scroll down for video Time travellers! The arrival of British Summer Time, always on the last Sunday in March, left many marvelling at their digital clocks as an hour was wiped from the dial The practice of changing the clocks twice a year, on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October, has been in place since the beginning of the 20th century, when people campaigned to make the hours of daylight longer. While many devices - including smartphones, FitBits and laptops, automatically note the change in time, more traditional clocks remain in winter time until they're manually altered. On Twitter, people shared their fascination for watching the hour at midnight disappear, as the hands of the clock flicked from midnight to 2am in a second. @OllieThorpe97 wrote: 'Im not saying my life is empty, but I just stayed up to watch the clocks go forward.' Others couldn't resist joking about what they might have done had they not been at the mercy of the age-old law. @pearlylondon wrote: 'Ironic that the hour we lost just so happened to be the one I was planning on doing the cleaning in.' @jenkin7NICK penned: 'Also it's a lot later than I want it to be. Curse this Clock business. Makes zero sense! #ClocksGoForward #clockchange #time #BritishSummerTime #clocks #hour #fail' @AbdiDuale_ added: 'Wondering why I got on the train at 12:30am and got off at 02:30am.' @Mike_Ollis36 wrote: 'Thought I had a lie-in this morning #clocksgoforward life is a lie.' Some revealed their pets had also been left disorientated by the change. The Duchess of Sussex's favourite charities have been inundated with donations after a Twitter campaign encouraged fans to support her causes. Fans of Meghan, 37, celebrated the upcoming birth of Baby Sussex with the hashtag #GlobalSussexBabyShower. They asked one another to share donations or other items with charities associated with the Duchess of Sussex. Charities including the Mayhew, an animal welfare charity, and CAMFED, which works to educate girls in rural Africa, were among those that received donations from the campaign. After the Twitter campaign took off CAMFED posted on social media to say they were 'floored' by the response to the campaign, writing: 'You made our year!' Meghan Markle, 37, met a Jack Russel dog during her visit to Mayhew, one of the charities that has been flooded with donations from the campaign Fans were keen to celebrate the upcoming birth of baby Sussex - The Duchess is said to be due in April Social media users were excited to join in with the hashtag in honour of the new royal baby. Charity CAMFED said they blown away by the response to the campaign The campaign, which was launched by a Meghan fan account, called for users to celebrate Mother's Day by donating to some of the Duchess' favourite charities. @Freepeeper posted on social media and said: 'We're kicking off a GLOBAL fundraiser on Sunday, 31st March in honour of #BabySussex and the compassion and altruism of The #DukeandDuchessofSussex. We've selected three charities to benefit in this effort. Tweet your donations and include the hashtag #GlobalSussexBabyShower'. Fans were overjoyed to take part in the campaign, and took to social media writing: 'My first online baby shower gift! Supporting (the other) MM and female education AND I don't have to play terrible shower games. Winning.' 'Proof that social media can be a positive place,' another wrote, 'Charities including @themayhew, @camfed and @WellChild have been receiving donations from Duchess Meghan fans around the world who started the hashtag #GlobalSussexBabyShower to celebrate Baby Sussex's impending arrival. Very cool.' The campaign, which was launched by a Meghan fan account, called for users to celebrate Mother's Day by donating to some of the Duchess' favourite charities Social media users shared their thoughts about the campaign as well as details of how much they'd donated and to which charity using the hashtag #globalsussexbabyshower The three charities featured are all close to the Duchess' heart, and she has made her support clear by visiting them over the past six months. Most recently Meghan joined a panel alongside Angie Murimirwa, executive director of Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) on International Women's Day in London. CAMFED posted on social media to say they were 'floored' by the response to the campaign, writing:'Ok all you amazing, warm hearted and generous people. 'You completely floored us today when you started sending your support and donations in response to @freepepper's #GlobalSussexBabyShower campaign. ' Meghan joined a panel on International Women's Day, including Camfed Regional Director Zimbabwe's Angeline Murimirwa (far right) Meghan visited the charity Mayhew in February, an animal welfare charity of which she is now patron. They said they were 'very grateful' to receive the donations from the Duchess' fans CAMFED wrote on Twitter that they'd been overwhelmed by donations, and called the royal fans 'amazing, warmhearted and generous people' Other charities included Mayhew, an animal welfare charity, said they were 'very grateful' for the influx of donations in honour of the Duchess of Sussex. The royal visited the charity in January, where she was snapped cuddling up to some four legged friends. Wellchild also recieved donations as part of the campaign, after the Duchess presented awards early in her pregnancy in September. Royal watchers were keen to point out that donations didn't have to be financial - and that donating old clothes or even just using the hashtag would help their cause. One wrote:'Reminder that you don't have to donate money to participate! You can donate clothes/items you no longer want or need.' Social media users were also keen to include those who may not be able to afford a financial donation, and encouraged people to use the hashtag She went on: 'You can donate your time at your local charity. Even retweeting or posting on IG/Tumbler etc. to get the word out is helping. Thanks everyone!' And fans seemed to take up her call on social media to celebrate their fundraising efforts, and encouraged others to do the same. One fan posted: 'Whether Meghan sees what we're doing (or not) it would be nice, it's the effort that counts.' 'Strangers all across the world coming together to show support to charities, making a difference in children, animals & young women's lifes. We should all be proud.' Fans encouraged one another to donate for the 'baby shower of the century', and were overjoyed to take part in the campaign Meghan was criticised by some for hosting a lavish baby shower in New York earlier in her pregnancy (pictured here, after the event) Another called it the 'baby shower of the century', and told other users the celebration would be 'lit'. The hashtag is a way for fans to celebrate the Duchess' pregnancy, after she drew sharp criticism of her private lavish parties. Meghan had an official baby shower in New York in February, and attracted criticism for it's rumoured lavish and over the top feel. Celebrities including Serena Williams and best friend Jessica Mulroney were in attendance for the swanky bash, which was said to cost over $200,000. She is also said to be planning another, smaller shower at her Buckingham Palace in London before she gives birth in April. Sweden's Princess set a playground alight yesterday when she was filmed performing viral dance move 'the floss' with hoards of children. Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, 41, was visiting Harjedalen on a hiking adventure, where she met local students and hiked with the general public. While meeting the youngsters, she impressed them with her 'flossing' dance moves. The children could be heard excitedly screeching as they all practiced the dance, which involve rhythmically moving your hips and arms side to side, with the royal. The Crown Princess Victoria was surrounded by children as she practiced the viral floss dance move The 41-year-old laughed and joked with the children she danced alongside, who seemed impressed by her moves The dance went viral last year after it was performed by The Backpack Kid, and became a global sensation, wracking up millions of views online and thousands of playground copy cats. It is not known whether Princess Victoria, who took the trip alone without husband Prince Daniel, learned the moves from her children, Princess Estelle, six, or Prince Oscar, two. Princess Victoria looked delighted to be in the area, for what would be her 18th hike through Sweden's countryside. She grinned as she danced, before the group dispersed and set off on their walk. Crown Princess Victoria, pictured earlier this month, is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and heir apparent to the Swedish throne The dancing took place as she met children before one of Princess Victoria's walks through the Swedish countryside The mother-of-two regularly takes walks with the Swedish public through the country's stunning landscapes. It's part of an effort to visit all 25 provinces, and take in their scenery. The Princess looked thoroughly prepared for the hike in a practical outfit. Victoria is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and heir apparent to the Swedish throne. The Crown princess and her daughter Estelle, pictured two weeks ago in Stockholm. It is unknown if the little princess taught her mother the popular viral dance For the hike The Crown Princess wrapped up warm in a light blue waterproof jacket and black waterproof trousers. She looked remarkably down to earth, with her hair swept back into a low ponytail, and makeup to a minimum for the hike. The 41-year-old began the day in Harjedalen with a visit to Vemdalen's school where she met students and seemingly warmed up for the hike with the help of a little dancing. After lunch, the Crown Princess began hiking the 7.5km trek with students and the general public. Later, waffles and hot chocolate were served in a hunting lodge, before the group continued their hike 3km downhill where the walk ended. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark cut an incongruous figure today as she swapped her usual high glamour for army fatigues as she was named captain of the Danish Home Guard. The Tasmanian-born 47-year-old royal marched swiftly at the base in Nymindegab, south-west Jutland, to receive the honour, as her mother-in-law Queen Margrethe looked on. The ceremony saw mother-of-four Crown Princess Mary with her hair tied neatly back and wearing a racing green beret as she watched troops parade before the honour was awarded. Left, right, left, right: Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at the Nymindegab base in south-west Jutland on Sunday. The royal was sworn in as captain of the Danish Home Guard Wearing army fatigues, the mother-of-four looked on proudly as she received the official title in front of Danish soldiers at the Home Guard camp Queen Margrethe, grinning broadly and wearing a warm woolen coat with a matching tweed hat and scarf, walked ahead of her daughter-in-law after watching the ceremony The Crown Princess was joined by some 500 troops for the anniversary which marks 70 years ago since the country's Home Guard was established. The royals enjoyed a parade before an official ceremony saw the 47-year-old wife of Prince Frederik officially receive the honour. It's been a busy few weeks for the royal. Earlier this month, the 47-year-old visited Ethiopia with the Danish development minister Ulla Trns. The royal used her trip to the African country to talk about gender equality, as well as the rights and opportunities of women and girls. Denmark's Crown Princess met with local female decision-makers, officials, business leaders and entrepreneurs during her two-day trip in the East African developing country. The visit takes place a year after Denmark launched its first national campaign in Ethiopia. The royals enjoyed a parade before an official ceremony saw the 47-year-old wife of Prince Frederik officially receive the honour Some 500 troops gathered to watch the ceremony in which Crown Princess Mary, recently returned from Ethopia, was given the accolade Princess Mary is particularly engaged with promoting the rights of women worldwide. Earlier in March, she attended an United Nations round-table in Copenhagen for International Women's Day on 8 March. UN Women Nordic tweeted after the event: 'Honoured to welcome HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark to the Gender Diversity Roundtable event to discuss diversity and improving Gender Equality in Denmark.' In January, Princess Mary announced her non-profit organisation the Mary Foundation would donate to Afghanistan womens crisis centre. The organisation donated $50,000 (37,800) to the centre, which was founded in 2003 by Mary Akrami and is part of the independent Afghan Women Skills Development Center. It was the countrys first womens crisis centre. The Mary Foundation also works to help victims of domestic violence, with the issue being one of their three major projects (alongside loneliness and bullying/well-being). WHAT'S NOW & HOW TO DO IT: HOT PINK LIPS 'Fuchsia lips are a great pick-me-up for a complexion that's not felt the sun in a while,' says make-up artist Daniel Sandler. CAN YOU USE CONCEALER AS FOUNDATION? Yes, you absolutely can, says make-up artist Val Garland, who is a judge on the BBC's make-up show Glow Up. 'Concealer has a higher coverage than foundation, but if you use the right amount of the right product, you don't need foundation. If you want a lighter coverage, you can always thin it down with a moisturiser,' she says. A whole host of new 'Maxi-Concealers' now make it possible to cover larger areas of your face, so you can skip foundation. Look for those with an extra-large applicator, such as L'Oreal Paris Infallible More Than Concealer (9.99, superdrug.com). Or try Makeup Obsession Mega Conceal (now 5.60, boots.com) its paddle-shaped bud is ideal for contours. 3 OF THE BEST: SUPER PRIMERS In your 50s BARRY M Unicorn Primer Drops Oil-free and packed with superfruits such as acai berry and tamarind to brighten, detoxify, hydrate and smooth skin. barrym.com Shop In your 60 FARSALI Unicorn Essence Helps protect skin from free radicals while creating a flawless base to prevent make-up creasing. cultbeauty.co.uk Shop In your 70s NIP+FAB Unicorn Essence Uses a radiance-boosting formula containing gold flakes to add a healthy glow and blush to dull, mature skin. superdrug.com Shop RACE YOU THERE! Aldi's sell-out range, Lacura Caviar Illumination, is returning but it won't stay on the shelves for long, so you'd best head there quickly! With prices under 10, highlights of the collection (in store and at aldi.co.uk) include an Anti-Age Eye Gel (4.99); the 3 Minute Mask (6.99) and the Anti-Wrinkle Intensive Illumination Serum (6.99, right). With anti-ageing ingredients such as snow algae and, of course, caviar, the super serum targets wrinkles and protects against moisture loss for a youthful complexion. THIS WORKS Cosmetics Miracle Water 3-in-1 Tonic Works as an anti-ageing treatment, a radiance booster and a micellar cleanser. Developed with plastic surgeons, it also helps serums and moisturisers work more efficiently. It's full of antioxidants, as well as anti-ageing collagen and hyaluronic acid. boots.com Shop ARIANA'S ICONIC EYES Ariana Grande is known for her signature eyeflick make-up look Pop princess Ariana Grande's signature feline eye flick comes courtesy of Irish beauty brand Carter Beauty by Marissa Carter (carterbeautycosmetics.com), her make-up artist Rokael Lizama has revealed. The go-to liner for the iconic look is jet-black Supreme Gel Liner, costing a budget-friendly 5.50 (at select Primark stores nationwide), which makes it a brilliant, guilt-free buy. So powerful is the endorsement that the brand has reportedly been selling one every eight minutes! SHAMLESS INDULGENCE At 29, Laura Lambert is the founder of Fenton & Co, selling design-your-own precious stone engagement rings online. She lives in West London. As a teenager, I'd spend hours in my bedroom browsing online, clicking from one shopping site to another. I wasn't spending money, I was doing my research. What fascinated me was what trends they revealed why one was a success and another wasn't. I couldn't code, but I was obsessed with getting under the hood of those sites and understanding the mechanics I found there. At 29, Laura Lambert is the founder of Fenton & Co, selling design-your-own precious stone engagement rings online. She lives in West London I read history at university, but soon got a series of digital retail jobs, including for the shopping mecca Bicester Village, where my dad is the deputy chairman. Realising that shopping sites often got sizing wrong, I worked on an algorithm that made online measurement charts more accurate. We launched on Stella McCartney's site, worked with Paul Smith, and featured in Vogue. I took the same forensic approach to engagement rings. I knew the trend for a big, blingy diamond ring, inspired by the likes of Kim Kardashian, put pressure on men to spend insane amounts of cash. Who can afford to spend 20,000 on a huge sparkler? There had to be a way for women to get the size without the price tag. So I dived into the jewellery industry and found women don't want the diamonds their mothers and grandmothers had. They want something pretty and unique that won't break the bank. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds are one-of-a-kind but still pricey. My light bulb moment came in India last year. Touring factories and mines, trying to unpick the global gemstone supply trade which is complex, unregulated and often unethical I realised we could cut out the middlemen just as online fashion retailers do. Laura's website offers customers rings that they can customise themselves If we bought direct and sold online, without shops or dealers, we could offer stunning gemstones for a fraction of the price. Buyers could even design their own ring using a drop-down menu. For as little as 950, you could get a ring to out-Insta even Kim. My business partner Kathrin Schoenke, formerly of De Beers and Tiffany's, and I have inspected every factory and know the gems are ethically sourced and bought. Launched last year, it's proved a big hit: women love the rings, and men love not having to agonise over endless trays of super-expensive jewellery. Win-win. Kitchen skills don't come naturally to everyone. And whether you are an amateur cook or a pro in the kitchen, we have all whipped up disappointing dishes after making a simple error. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, celebrity chef Adam Liaw has revealed the common mistakes home cooks make - and the five ingredients every kitchen should have. Celebrity chef Adam Liaw (pictured) has revealed the common mistakes home cooks make - and the five ingredients every kitchen should have Adam Liaw's top five ingredients every home should stock 1. High quality meat 2. Vinegar 3. Salt 4. Dried pasta 5. Stock Advertisement 1. Not heating your pan enough One of the biggest mistakes was cooking your food over a low-heat pan, the Australian MasterChef 2010 winner said. 'A frying pan should be really hot before you start, particularly when cooking steak. Heat the pan first, add oil, and then add your steak,' Liaw told Daily Mail Australia. 2. Overcrowding your pan Liaw - who recently teamed up with Australian Beef - said another error he sees is people overcrowding their pan when cooking. 'Home cooks often make the mistake of overcrowding the pan which can lead to your dish stewing instead of frying,' Liaw said. 'Instead of trying to fit that little bit extra in, I'd recommend using a second pan or cooking in batches which will give the moisture in your food more chance to escape and avoid everything going soggy.' 3. Forgetting to taste as you cook Another issue Liaw sees is many people will cook an entire meal and not taste test until it's on the table. 'Tasting and seasoning as you go will ensure you are on track and will avoid any nasty surprises at the end,' he said. Whether you are an amateur cook or a pro in the kitchen, we have all whipped up disappointing dishes after making a simple error (stock image) 4. Giving up after the first try Liaw said practice makes a perfect dish. 'The odds of a new dish turning out perfectly the first time you make it are actually pretty low. Don't lose heart if you try something new and it's not perfect,' he said. 'Try it again and every time it will get faster and taste better.' 5. Not being adventurous enough Surprisingly, Liaw said on average, Australian families only cook five different dishes. 'That's not even enough to see you through a week. Try something new once in a while and you'll soon find you're eating better, healthier and tastier food,' he said. Top five ingredients to stock up on Liaw said Australians should always cook with high quality meat. 'There's nothing simpler than having a good quality piece of meat and cooking it simply. Whether it's a steak, a roast or a stew, a good reliable dish doesn't need to take a lot of effort,' he said. The Australian MasterChef 2010 winner said one of the biggest mistakes was cooking your food over a low-heat pan He said vinegar was another perfect staple to have on hand when cooking. 'Vinegar can help to balance the taste of just about any dish. A dash of red wine vinegar into your roast gravy just before serving can really lift it,' he said. Surprisingly, Liaw said salt was another ingredient home cooks should own. 'It might sound obvious, but I've been to so many people's houses where they don't even have a grain of salt in their kitchen. I can't imagine cooking without it,' he said. Liaw said he always ensure he has dried pasta in his cupboard. 'It's a great fallback when you haven't had time to get to the supermarket. A packet of pasta can turn just about any ingredient into a meal,' he said. And finally, Liaw said stock is the key to good cooking. 'It's the backbone of any kitchen. I make my own stock every week, but if you don't feel confident doing that then a pre-made stock is totally fine,' he said. 'When it comes to ingredients to avoid, I'm a big believer in trying everything once. You never know if you like it if you don't try it.' Forced to give her up for adoption, Liz Wildes mother Valerie was told it would spell the end of her troubles as a fallen woman. But decades later, Liz would discover it was just the beginning of a lifetime of heartbreak Lizs birth mother Valerie in her 20s My birth mother Valerie was never meant to see me cradled in my adoptive mothers arms. This was very much against protocol. As agreed, at 2pm on Wednesday 26 February 1964, she had brought me to the London offices of the National Children Adoption Association to meet my new parents. I was dressed immaculately in one of the many outfits she had knitted for me. We could tell that you were loved, a friend of my adoptive mother told me many years later. The offices of the NCAA were minutes up the road from Harrods in Londons Knightsbridge and must have felt very grand to a young woman who had lived most of her life in Grimsby. A staff member well-practised in this delicate exchange ushered my mother into a side room and deftly lifted me from her arms. Were just going to show your baby to the parents in the room next door, she said. Through the wall my mother heard a squeal of delight. The adoption worker reappeared minutes later, no longer carrying me. You can go when youre ready, she told my mother, and left her alone. Liz aged around four with her adoptive mother At that moment, my mothers compliance cracked. As my adoptive mother held me in her own arms for the first time, Valerie burst into the room and attempted to reclaim me. My adoptive father remembered her being wrestled back through the door by embarrassed staff. My birth mother and I would never see each other again. That afternoon, I travelled by train with my new parents, Kathleen and Philip, to meet my two-year-old brother Stephen also adopted and begin life again in suburban Surrey. The local doctor generously offered to test me for syphilis free of charge (my mother was a fallen woman, after all). The doctor was less resourceful when it came to diagnosing my ongoing poor health. I vomited so often in the first year of my life that I slept in the kitchen, my cot surrounded by easy-to-mop vinyl flooring. The doctor got angry when I refused to gain weight. My mother got angry with him. But no one seemed to consider that I might be missing the woman who had nursed me for the first six weeks of my life. Forty years later, when I finally gained full access to my adoption file, I found a note from my birth mother to my new parents detailing the exact times and measurements of my daily feeds. Dominique loves to be wrapped tightly like a papoose at night in a cot sheet, she wrote, optimistically using the name she had given me which would immediately disappear into my file along with her note. My new parents never knew the routine that may have soothed my distress. Valerie had hoped to minimise her daughters disruption, but staff at the NCAA thought they knew best when they put my past and my birth mothers love firmly behind me. Liz in 1964, the year that she was adopted We had arrived at the NCAA offices by taxi that day from Brent House, a mother-and-baby hostel in Streatham, South London. Expectant mothers with nowhere else to go stayed until all arrangements for their babies adoption had been completed, a legal minimum of six weeks known as grieving time. House rules were strict. Beds must be stripped by 7.30am and expectant mothers back in bed by 8.30pm. Many of the women cried themselves to sleep at night. Each resident was required to pay 5 weekly for the privilege of being kept away from judgmental eyes. Unmarried motherhood carried a strong stigma in the 1960s, but a married womans illegitimate pregnancy was considered even less excusable. Unfortunately, this was my mothers fate aged 28 and abandoned by her husband, she had fallen in love and become pregnant by a married man. Liz today Moral welfare officers of the time told women like my mother that their babies would have a better life without them. If you love your daughter you will give her to a proper family, my mother was told. Keeping her is selfish, immature and inconsiderate to her needs. There was never any discussion about my mothers own needs or her fragile mental and emotional state. Nor was there any mention of the financial and housing support available that would have allowed her to keep me. She was simply expected to continue with her life as if nothing had happened; to forget her mistake and never speak of me again. But giving up her baby was not the conclusion of my mothers troubles as she had been promised, only the beginning. The conspiracy of silence forced on her significantly added to her grief and loneliness. The decision to give me up changed her for ever. Valerie had once been so full of promise. My uncle her younger brother Roger remembers a bright, shy girl with a fantastic sense of humour. She was a talented artist and won a scholarship to study at St Martins School of Art in London, but when she heard that her handsome boyfriend Robert was playing around, she was heartbroken and raced home to Grimsby to keep an eye on him. Men would continue to be a disappointment. After this relationship ended she began seeing James, another good-looking local boy. He was far too young to settle down, but when Valerie became pregnant at 22 they were forced by the convention of the day to get married. She enjoyed being a housewife and mother to their daughter, Mary, but James also had a roving eye, and when Mary was three years old he left Valerie for another woman. Liz with her birth mothers brother Roger in 2009 It was 1961, and my mothers parents, Peggie and Fred, had moved to Benidorm, then a small Spanish fishing village that was rapidly turning into a thriving package tour resort thanks to the towns mayor authorising the wearing of bikinis. They rented a bar and my mother and Mary joined them. There she met my father Mariano, a good-looking man who kept his glass eye almost permanently hidden behind dark sunglasses. Well-dressed and popular around town, he supplied iron girders for the many high-rise hotels being built along the coast and was on his way to becoming a wealthy man. He had left his wife in Zaragoza, northern Spain, and was now staying with his mother in Benidorm. A few months into their relationship, Mariano rented Valerie and Mary an apartment of their own. When she became pregnant a little over a year later, he moved them to Alicante, away from local gossip. Fearing a scandal, Valerie decided to come back to England to give birth, and her mother Peggie arranged for her to stay with a friend who managed an old peoples home until it was time to enter Brent House. Four-year-old Mary remained with her grandparents in Spain, unaware of the true reason for her mothers disappearance. There was never any suggestion that my birth father could obtain a divorce in 1960s Catholic Spain, and while Valerie was in England she made the decision to end their relationship. She was expected to continue with life as if nothing had happened and never speak of me I will never know why. My father sent her a letter soon after I was born: I have little to say as you do not write. There is nothing I can tell you except I remember you very much. She never saw or spoke to him again. Instead, she wrote to her parents pleading for their help and support so that she could keep her baby, but money was tight and they told her they could not afford to bring up another child. How I regret that letter, my grandmother told me near the end of her life. Valerie returned to Spain without me but, blaming her parents for her heartrending decision, she was soon back in England with Mary, living as an old ladys companion in Cleethorpes. The lady was a horrendous woman, my uncle Roger remembers. It was as though Valerie was doing penance. My adoption file during this time contains increasingly desperate letters from the NCAA requesting that my mother sign the form of consent to legal adoption so that my adoption order could be granted. Your daughter is indeed a lucky child to have found her way to this charming young couple, she was told. Valerie evaded the letters, later admitting: For six months Ive tried to think of a way to get my baby back, but Ive known all along its impossible. I cant even keep my other daughter properly. In one last act of defiance, she returned the form incorrectly signed. A fresh one was immediately dispatched. My adoption order was finally granted on 8 October 1964 more than seven months after my new parents had first taken me home. Mariano, Lizs biological father Five years later, in 1969, Valerie suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Scartho Road Hospital, Grimsby. It is likely that this is where she first encountered Valium, which she would take for the rest of her life. It is also where she met her second husband, Mark, who was a fellow patient. The troubled couple married a year later, and on their wedding night he hit her for the first time. Their daughter Laura was born in 1971 and a son, John, followed in 1975, but the violence escalated and, after concerned neighbours called the police one night, Valerie was granted a restraining order. On her own with small children, relations continued to be strained with my mothers family and visits were tense and infrequent. Valium ruined her, her brother Roger told me. It completely changed her personality. She didnt have a good life and was very bitter. The child she gave up was only ever mentioned once. Theres not a day goes by that I dont think of her, she told Roger. I cry for Dominique every day of my life. Valium dependency also took a physical toll, and her health declined. She was overweight, suffered with diabetes and rarely went out, with my half-sister Laura taking over the responsibility of shopping for food. In and out of hospital during the last six months of her life, my mother suffered a seizure at home and died at the age of 52. I, of course, knew nothing of her agony until years later. I had a happy life with my adoptive parents (who have now both died), but always felt that something was missing and yearned to see my birth mother again. After 11 years of searching, at the age of 29 I finally traced my natural family, just four years after my mothers death. Reunions are always complicated and mine was no exception. The first time I met my grandmother Peggie, she cried for 20 minutes while I sat uncomfortably in front of her. Not surprisingly, she remained reluctant to speak of my adoption for the rest of her life, although she once told me that my mother had never been the same after she gave me up. Peggie meant well, but for years I felt immense guilt for being the cause of my mothers tragic life. Liz as a two-year-old with her adoptive mother Kathleen (left), Peggie, Lizs grandmother, in Benidorm in the 60s My wonderful uncle Roger and his wife Pat have done their best to fill in the gaps of my mothers story, and have also made me feel very much a part of the family. The first time I met my half-brother John, he arrived with a framed photograph of our mother to give me, a gesture so generous it still takes my breath away, especially as he had learnt of my existence only a few days earlier. I am very pleased to say we continue to have a good relationship. Through all this, I have developed a fierce independence, especially financially. No one is ever going to have control over my destiny. But the greatest legacy of my mothers story is sorrow. She sacrificed her happiness to give me the chance of security and social status, which in those days was considered more worthy than mere maternal love. My one regret in life is that I was never able to thank her. Liz shares more of her adoption experience at lizwilde.co.uk. Some names have been changed Shame, stigma and lifelong guilt Liz outlines the UKs past adoption practices and what is being done to address their legacy It was the finale of a slow-brew romance. Lucy Sweet looks back at the ad that enchanted the nation. Anthony Head Back in 1987, when nouvelle cuisine and large dangly earrings were at their zenith, two people embodied the kind of sophisticated London elite that those in the sticks could only dream of: the couple on the Gold Blend adverts. Before then, instant coffee ads featured the somewhat offputting spectacle of actor Gareth Hunt shaking some beans, so you have to understand that these guys were dynamite. Anthony Head, pre-Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played a suave art dealer, and the sultry Sharon Maughan his neighbour, who popped round to borrow a jar of Gold Blend for a dinner party, igniting a spark that could boil every kettle within a ten-mile radius. OK, so their relationship seemed entirely based on the procurement of instant coffee, but their sizzling sexual chemistry had the nation in its grip for a staggering six years, as this caffeinated soap opera slowly unfolded in 30-second chunks in between Coronation Street. The idea was that, far from being freeze-dried rubbish, Gold Blend was something you could pass off to your snooty friends as proper cafetiere coffee. But that was soon eclipsed by the drama of their will they, wont they? relationship which was far from smooth. There was jealousy (who could forget Italian love rival Marino Mase?) and a break-up, before 30 million tuned in to watch Anthony tell Sharon that he loved her while sitting by a roaring fire one of Britains most-watched television moments. The Gold Blend relationship would go on to form the basis for bestselling book Love Over Gold (which promised to fill in all the background details) as well as a video compilation of the ads and two CDs. Best of all for Nestle, by the time the campaign ended, sales of Gold Blend had shot up by 50 per cent. Watch the ads here Also that month Whitney Houston Japanese cars are the most dependable motors on the market, and high-end Teslas are most likely to let their owners down. That's according to a keenly-watched reliability survey, which found that Suzuki along with four other Japanese brands were among the top six most robust, while the US electric car company has the shakiest track record. The What Car? Reliability Survey also listed the most and least dependable new models you can buy in showrooms today, based on the feedback of more than 18,000 motorists. Meanwhile, exclusive data released to This is Money and MailOnline also tells you which used cars you can rely on... and which ones you can't. Top of the charts: Suzuki has been named the most reliable car brand by a new poll of more than 18,000 drivers. The Sx4 S-Cross (pictured) was named the joint most dependable new car in the What Car? Reliability Survey 2018 The survey is one of the biggest of its kind in the UK, processing the feedback of 18,284 owners of some 159 models spanning 31 different brands. Suzuki, which mainly makes cheap and cheerful small cars and 4x4s, topped the overall manufacturer rankings for new cars up to four years old with a reliability score of 97.7 per cent, joined by Lexus, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Subaru in the top six. The only non-Japanese mark in the top order was Korean firm Kia, taking fourth spot, with sister brand Hyundai in ninth. At the opposite end of the spectrum it was American luxury electric-car giant Tesla that recorded the worst reliability track record. Despite the cheapest brand new Tesla setting buyers back more than 60,000, its reliability score of 57.3 per cent was by far the worst rating. Land Rover - which was second from bottom - scored at 76.5 per cent for reliability of cars between one and four years old. Elon Musk's Tesla came out bottom of the brand rankings with a lowly reliability score of just 57.3%. The 60,000 Model S (pictured) was also named the least reliable model Most (and least) reliable car brands 1. Suzuki - 97.7% 2. Lexus - 97.5% 3. Toyota - 96.8% =4. Kia - 95.8% =4. Mitsubishi - 95.8% =4. Subaru - 95.8% 7. Skoda - 95.6% 8. Alfa Romeo - 95.5% 9. Hyundai - 95.4% 10. Seat - 95.2% =11. Vauxhall - 94.6% =11. Mazda - 94.6% 13. Dacia - 94.1% 14. Fiat - 94.0% 15. Honda - 93.8% 16. BMW - 93.4% 17. Volkswagen - 92.9% 18. Ford - 92.7% 19. Renault - 91.7% =20. Audi - 91.5% =20. Volvo - 91.5% 22. Mini - 91.2% 23. Porsche - 90.9% 24. Peugeot - 89.4% 25. Citroen - 88.1% 26. Mercedes-Benz - 88.0% 27. Nissan - 87.1% 28. Jaguar - 84.9% 29. Jeep - 82.7% 30. Land Rover - 76.5% 31. Tesla - 57.3% Source: What Car? Reliability Survey 2018 The trend continued when the data revealed which specific models were most and least reliable. For newer cars it was the current Toyota Yaris and Suxuki SX4 S-Cross that led the table, both recording a staggering 100 per cent dependability record, according to their owners. The electric Nissan Leaf took third spot, ahead of the Toyota RAV4 and BMW 3 Series. The Toyota Yaris (left) was the model with the joint highest reliability score of 100%. The recently replaced Nissan Leaf (right) ranked at number 3, making it the most dependable electric car Most and least reliable new models MOST RELIABLE =1. Toyota Yaris (2011 - Present) - 100.0% =1. Suzuki Sx4 S-Cross (2013 - Present) - 100.0% 3. Nissan Leaf (2011 - 2017) - 99.7% 4. Toyota RAV 4X4 (2013 - 2018) - 99.6% 5. BMW 3 Series (2005 - 2014) - 99.5% Source: What Car? Reliability Survey 2018 LEAST RELIABLE 1. Tesla Model S (2013 - Present) - 50.9% 2. Range Rover (2013 - present) - 67.3% 3. Ford Edge Diesel (2016 - present) - 70.7% 4. Range Rover Evoque (2011 - present) - 73.2% 5. Land Rover Discovery Sport (2015 - present) - 74.7% Anchoring the standings was the Tesla Model S, which costs from 61,600 in the UK. Owners' reports of breakdowns and necessary repairs saw it gain a reliability score of just 50.9 per cent - almost half that of the most dependable Japanese cars. A spokesperson for Tesla branded the survey as 'statistically meaningless'. 'Only 28 Model S owners responded out of a total of 18,000 car owners surveyed by What Car?,' they said. 'Thats less than 0.3 per cent of UK Tesla owners, so this survey is statistically meaningless. 'The results of this survey are also at odds not only with our internal figures showing customer satisfaction scores for Model S and X at well over 90 per cent, but with statistically valid surveys like our Net Promotor Score and Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey, which weve topped every year since 2013, with 90 per cent of Tesla owners saying they would buy the same car again more than any other brand.' They continued: 'We are committed to making the worlds best cars, and in order to ensure the highest quality, we review every vehicle for even the smallest refinement before it leaves the factory. 'To the extent repairs are needed, the majority of work carried out on cars up to 4 years old is done under warranty and free of charge to the customer while they are supplied with a courtesy car. 'Unlike other manufacturers, Tesla repairs can also be carried out in a customers driveway or office by mobile service, or even via over-the-air updates, to minimise any disruption.' The results also didn't make favourable reading for Land Rover either, with three of its models - the Discovery Sport, Range Rover and Range Rover Evoque - among the top five models with the poorest owner ratings. Look away Land Rover: The British marque had three separate models in the list of the 5 most unreliable new cars. That included the 81,500 Range Rover (pictured) with a score of just 67.3% Overall, around 30 per cent of the respondents with cars less than four years old said their car had suffered at least one fault in the past 12 months. Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said: 'Reliability is a huge consideration for any prospective car buyer, as your car is likely to be your second biggest monthly expense after mortgage or rent payments. 'You want your car to last and you dont want to have to fork out huge amounts to fix faults and keep it running. 'Our annual survey has shown that it is Japanese models that continue to dominate the top of the reliability rankings, both for car model and brand rankings.' Used cars you can - and can't - count on This is Money has teamed up with What Car? to also reveal which older used cars you should and shouldn't consider buying on the second-hand market. This is based on the feedback from owners of cars that are between 4 and 12 years of age - so those built between 2014 and 2006. Here's are the most reliable five models, and the ones with the worst dependability score from their owners. Most reliable used cars 1. Toyota RAV4 (2013-2018) 100% reliability score The Toyota RAV4 was designed to be a robust offroader. Glowing owner feedback saw it score a remarkable 100% reliability rating One of the trim levels of this generation of RAV4 is 'Invincible'. It lives up to the name. No faults were reported on pre-2015 cars. 2. Skoda Citigo (2012-present) 99.3% reliability score The Citigo is Skoda's answer to cheap and cheerful motoring. It's also dependable, according to owners Only six per cent of Citigos had a problem. Brakes and braking systems were the only isues, though cars remained driveable and were fixed under warranty the same day. 3. Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2011-present) 99.1% reliability score The Yaris Hybrid was, for some time, one of the smallest cars on sale with a combination of petrol and electric power. It's as reliable as it is green Only eight per cent of cars had a problem, with those being minor like battery and automatic window wipers. All cars fixed in less than a day and repair bills didnt exceed 100. 4. BMW X5 (2013-present) - 98.9% reliability score WHile earlier versions of the X5 are remembered for being flaky when it comes to reliability, the current model is the complete opposite Only seven per cent of X5s had an issue, with exhausts being the only fault listed. All cars were fixed under warranty the same day. 5. Lexus CT (2011-present) - 98.8% reliability score Lexus has always had a very strong reliability track record, frequently topping these surveys. The CT hatchback is no different Just five per cent of Lexus' hybrid hatchback had to be repaired, with radio, sat nav and tyre pressure warning systems being minor headaches. All cars could still be driven and were repaired the same day under warranty. Least reliable used cars 1. Alfa Mito (2008-present) 27.7% reliability score It's no surprise to see an Alfa in the list. The Mito scored a woeful 27.7% reliability rating, based on owner feedback More than two in five cars had at least one fault. A quarter of owners reported suspension problems, while 21 per cent had gearbox and clutch issues. Around half remained driveable and most were repaired under warranty, but a small percentage of owners had to pay out more than 1,500 when billed by garages. 2. Range Rover (2002-2013) - 35.4% reliability score Land Rover just can't shake that poor reliability track record. For a car that's supposed to be able to handle mountains it seems to only be scaling service lifts in repair garages Some 56 per cent of cars had an issue. Most common of these problems was the battery (28 per cent) followed by repairs to the engine, engine electrics, exhaust, fuel system, suspension and wheels and tyres, all of which occurred on 11 per cent of cars. Most cars could still be driven, but more than half of owners paid out between 500 and 1,000. 3. Jaguar XJ (2010-present) 38.1% reliability score The Jaguar XJ is the British brand's answer to the popular German luxury saloon cars. Unfortunately, they're more problematic than premium Like the Range Rover, 56 per cent of cars had a fault. A quarter of these were engine electrics while 13 per cent of models had to have the brakes, engine or exterior lights repaired. Two-thirds of cars could still be driven, but lots of owners paid out 300 to 500. 4. Volkswagen Polo (2002-2009) 38.4% reliability score Many younger drivers might be tempted by a second-hand Polo like this, but What Car? readers say they often suffer from issues Two in five cars had a fault, of which 27 per cent were related to the brakes and 20 per cent linked to the suspension components. More than half couldnt be driven and took more than a day to fix, but most repair bills were below 200. 5. BMW 1 Series (2004-2011) 40.1% reliability score The first-generation 1 Series was a huge step into the hatchback market for BMW. It appears this original attempt isn't proving all that reliable Almost three in five cars (58 per cent) had problems. Some 16 per cent were battery and engine-related while 13 per cent were brake issues. Two-thirds of cars could still be driven, but some repair bills topped 1,500. We have lived in a housing association property with electric services since 1994. For much of this time I have received bills from British Gas addressed to 'The Occupier' and lately to 'South Northamptonshire Council'. At one stage, these bills were around 4,000 to 5,000 and were followed by letters accusing us of not paying. We became aware of a problem after six or seven years when we tried to buy the property and were told there had been a charge placed on it. I have been told by both British Gas and the council not to worry because I am not responsible for the bills. In December 2016, I asked to be connected to the gas supply and since then I've been receiving bills of about 50 per quarter for the gas I use. But it has added a disputed amount, pushing the bill to approximately 1,200. I. T., Northants. British Gas bills: At one stage, these bills were around 4,000 to 5,000 As you might expect from an issue that has gone on for years, your case is quite complex. The crux is that British Gas fitted a gas supply and meter to your home in October 2002, then treated it as a business account. When it did not hear from you or the local council, it began billing a 55p daily standing charge from October 14, 2011. It says you didn't respond to letters but if they were addressed to the council, you should not have opened them and you may have thrown away letters to 'The Occupier', assuming they were junk. British Gas visited the property on July 18, 2016 and confirmed no gas was being used. However, this changed when you were connected to the supply and sent a meter reading on March 8, 2017. For some reason, you were still being treated as a business customer. British Gas withdrew the 1,112.66 standing charges on October 21 last year, it says as a goodwill gesture but I cannot see where there is any goodwill if you weren't a customer! It also offered to price-match its standard residential tariff which it says has at times been its cheapest tariff. You told British Gas you would shop around and this is where things become more confusing. You say a new supplier will not take you because of the 'dispute' with British Gas but British Gas says there is no dispute. It says you have not made any payments for gas, but why should you if you were being billed in the wrong name and as a business? A bill at residential rates has now been issued, so I think the resolution is to pay what you owe and move to another supplier. Straight to the point I set up a direct debit to cover my Virgin credit card payments each month. At the start of July, I checked my online statement and noticed a 9 late payment fee and 116 in interest charges had been added to my balance because my direct debit had been cancelled. I didn't do this but both my bank and Virgin Money claim they didn't either. Meanwhile, the fees continue to accrue more interest. T. T., by email. When I contacted Virgin Money, it denied liability. But after closer inspection it admitted it had cancelled your direct debit in error. It has contacted you to apologise and agreed to refund the late payment fee and interest charges and pay you 300 in compensation for the inconvenience caused. It will also reinstate the 0 pc interest offer removed following the missed payment. Recently I found a three-year-old email from the National Lottery saying I had won a prize. I play online and the money automatically leaves my account but at 90, I don't check my emails often. Are prizes paid into my account automatically, or do I need to claim it? G. B., Telford. A spokesman for Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, says that prizes of up to 500 are paid into a player's online account automatically. For anything over that, you need to confirm where you want the prize money to be paid. The spokesman adds that if they do not hear from the winner after 60 days, they will try to contact them using the details they have on file. The onus is on the player to make sure these are up to date. When I taxed my vehicle via the DVLA website, I was charged for paying by credit card. I thought this practice was now banned. H. T., by email. A spokesman for DVLA says that it has not charged motorists to pay with a regular credit card since January 2018, when as you point out credit and debit card surcharges were banned. However, if you use a commercial or business credit card, you will be charged a 2.50 processing fee which is in line with the new legislation. There is no charge for debit cards. Is there any reason why I get only four weeks' state pension each month and then receive the balance with an extra month's payment later in the year? Since my bills demand equal payments throughout the year, this makes budgeting difficult. Presumably everyone who is paid monthly is treated the same way, which must mean the Government saves millions for the first part of the year. T. S., Huntingdon, Cambs. I understand your frustration but it is not quite as you paint it. The state pension is based on weekly, not monthly, payment. You are paid every four weeks in arrears, not every month. Therefore, the payment will edge a little further forward each month until in one month you will receive two payments, one at the start and one at the end. Malcolm McLean, of actuary Barnett Waddingham, explains: 'You can normally expect to receive 13 payments spread evenly over the course of a year.' If you are entitled to a 130 a week, that would give you 520 every four weeks or 6,760 over the course of the year. Mr McLean says that pensioners who were receiving their state pension prior to April 6, 2010 still have the right to be paid weekly in advance. From then on, payments changed to four-weekly in arrears for all new claimants. 'The Department for Work and Pensions stressed that moving to paying in arrears was not primarily a money-saving measure, while acknowledging that the system would save 10million a year by 2020,' he adds. Apparently it argued that 'paying in arrears will reduce the amount of money the department overpays and has difficulty recovering when a customer dies'. How thoughtful! Perhaps more thought should have been given to what was convenient for living 'customers'. I'm afraid the best thing I can suggest is that you look on the 13th payment as a bonus. I've got investments in an Isa with Cofunds this provides me with regular payments on which I heavily rely. Earlier this year, I was told that Cofunds had been taken over by Aegon then, in June, the payments stopped. I believe I'm owed more than 900. B. N., Hertfordshire. You're not the only one to have faced problems after Cofunds customers were transferred on May 8. According to our sister title This Is Money, around 400 customers faced issues logging on, buying and selling funds, and withdrawing money. When I spoke to Aegon, I was told the problems had been resolved. But your case shows there may still be issues. An Aegon spokesman says: 'We sincerely apologise for the delay, and can confirm that payment will reach his account before the weekend.' Write to Tony Hazell at Ask Tony, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email asktony@dailymail.co.uk please include your daytime phone number, postal address and a separate note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Tony Hazell. We regret we cannot reply to individual letters. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given. Court fight: Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch Deloitte has been dragged into the 3.8 billion High Court clash between British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and American IT giant HP. The Big Four accountancy firm audited Autonomy, Lynch's Cambridge-based software company, before it was sold to HP in 2011 for 8.5 billion most of which was later written off. HP is now accusing 53-year-old Lynch of cooking the books at Autonomy by carrying out a series of fraudulent deals to inflate quarterly revenues and make it look more valuable than it was. Deloitte's work has become a crucial pillar of Lynch's defence in the 3.8 billion damages claim. Lynch's lawyers say he has been made into a scapegoat for mismanagement by HP after it took over, and that many of the transactions now being highlighted as fraudulent were explicitly signed off by Deloitte at the time. 'The allegation that Dr Lynch knowingly falsified the published accounts and reports of Autonomy is groundless,' they said. 'But, in any event, Dr Lynch is not an accountant. It was not his job to make detailed, day-to-day accounting decisions. Rather, as he was entitled to do, he relied on others. 'The auditors, Deloitte, reviewed the company's revenue recognition and accounting decisions. Deloitte went through the annual and quarterly reports before they were published and ticked off every number.' Deloitte had originally been named as a defendant alongside Lynch, but no partners from the firm will take the stand to defend its auditing after it struck an out-of-court settlement with HP Enterprise, the HP spin-off which is pursuing Lynch in London's High Court. However, Deloitte is still being investigated by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for its work with Autonomy. Deloitte partners Richard Knights and Nigel Mercer are accused of failing to properly scrutinise the company's books and of failing to correct misleading statements it made to regulators. However, unlike in the ongoing High Court trial, sources say Deloitte is defending itself robustly against the FRC allegations. It declined to comment on the Autonomy trial. It comes as Deloitte is facing separate FRC probes into its work for outsourcer Mitie and construction materials specialist SIG. Australia is awash with 17,000 convicted paedophiles but there are not enough police to keep track of them all - let alone ensure our children are safe. Many of the registered child sex offenders are living near schools, daycare centres, public parks and swimming pools - right under the noses of unsuspecting parents. Disturbingly, only a fraction of the worst criminals are actively monitored as police resources are pushed to their absolute limits. In parts of New South Wales, one officer is responsible for trying to keep tabs on up to 100 convicted child sex offenders - even then it is often on an 'ad hoc, part-time basis'. There are more than 17,000 convicted paedophiles in Australia. Western Australia alone has more than 3,500 on its register for a population of less than 2.7 million. With almost half of convicted paedophiles reoffending within four years, police admit they have no idea where hundreds of those on the ever-growing list are living. Each year, dozens of dangerous offenders slip the net and have to be hunted down. With an increasing number of child sex offenders out on parole and thousands more soon to be released, there are calls for a public register and one mayor even declared his council a 'paedophile-free zone'. The problem is so bad that the NSW Police Union issued a desperate plea for additional officers to monitor the state's more than 4,000 registered offenders. Union president Tony King said there was often only one officer for every 100 cases when each officer could realistically only handle 30 at most. 'The child protection register is our way of keeping an eye on these grubs, to prevent reoffending, and to protect our kids,' he said. 'The officers who do this work day in and day out are stretched to capacity... we simply don't have enough police to do the job.' Mr King said police only had time to intensively monitor 67 convicted paedophiles a month and the whereabouts of 201 are unknown. Police say they are overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the convicted child sex offenders There are 62 whose DNA has never been tested, which could be matched to unidentified DNA samples in 80 cold cases. About 1,100 of NSW's paedophiles live in the north of the state, between the Central Coast and the border with Queensland. In those areas there were no officers keeping tabs on them full-time and it was instead done on a 'part-time, ad-hoc basis' on top of their regular duties. Police sources told Daily Mail Australia that paedophiles were taking advantage of thin police resources in regional NSW by moving out of Sydney to places like the Central Coast or inland towns. Electronic monitoring, usually with an ankle bracelet, helps keep track of offenders, but is only reserved for the worst ones - who still frequently escape. Worst of the worst: Half of the nation's convicted paedophiles re-offend within four years. Warren Hayter (left) abused disabled boys across several states, while the NSW government is fighting to keep Michael Guider in jail Thirty in South Australia wear them - 10 of which were locked up for breaching parole - and almost 100 in Victoria. While NSW is relatively forthcoming with its data, most states refuse to divulge any information about how many paedophiles are on their registers or where they live. However, the numbers sometimes leak to the public or are announced in government press releases. Australia's biggest paedophile hotspot is Western Australia, which has more than 3,500 on its register for a population of less than 2.7 million. The state's monitoring shortfalls were highlighted last year when a man was able to abuse two boys after being jailed for raping his stepson. Premier Mark McGowan admitted the system 'failed' and needed significant improvement to adequately monitor dangerous paedophiles. WA's huge list compared with 4,000 people in Victoria, which has a population of 6.36 million, and about 3,500 in Queensland. There are 379 on the Northern Territory's register, and about 300 on Tasmania's. Queensland was in 2016 closely monitoring 94 of its worst offenders, 67 living in Brisbane and 17 in Townsville, which only has a population of 190,000. Hundreds are said to be living on the Sunshine Coast, including 70 in Palmwoods-Woombye where Daniel Morcombe, 13, was raped and murdered in 2003. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in January proposed the state lists be combined into a semi-public national register. Paedophiles' names, dates of birth, photos, crimes, and a general location such as their postcode would be included. Mr Dutton said this would allow parents to better protect their children as they would know how many child sex offenders lived in their neighbourhood. 'It would have a strong deterrent effect on offenders and ensure parents are not in the dark about whether a registered sex offender has access to their children,' he said. Western Australia's register allows the public to search for dangerous and high-risk paedophiles living in surrounding suburbs. The Victorian opposition proposed a similar scheme last year before it lost the state election. One Sydney mayor wants to remove this issue altogether by declaring his council area a 'paedophile-free zone' in a letter to the NSW Government. 'Our city has more than 52 schools and is built on families I want it to be a paedophile-free zone,' Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone wrote. 'I demand this paedophile and any others in Fairfield are removed from this and other similar neighbourhoods.' Violent child rapist Joel Pregnell was arrested in February after being spotted near a school Mayor Carbone wrote the letter in response to serial child rapist Brian Alan Bowdidge, 58, being released on parole into the area. It is part of a growing backlash to paedophiles being released into the wider community. In February, violent child rapist Joel Pregnell was arrested after being spotted near a school in Victoria. The NSW government is currently fighting to keep Michael Guider in jail. Guider was serving a 16-year sentence imposed in 1996 for 60 offences against 11 children when police realised he was also responsible for one of Australia's most high-profile unsolved crimes - the death of nine-year-old schoolgirl Samantha Knight. He is due for release in June. Among the worst of the worst is Warren Hayter, who has a twisted fetish for abusing disabled boys as young as eight. His offences occurred across several states, including Queensland, NSW and South Australia. Victims of a random hammer attack that left a young man blind in one eye have hit out at a sentence that could see their tormentor back on the streets in under two years. Kearne Cannon was 20 when he was viciously assaulted by mindless thug Jackson Savage, 28, in Melbourne's east in a shocking case of mistaken identity. Mr Cannon, a roof plumber, had been out for lunch with his then girlfriend Sarah Davis, 19, at Eastland Shopping Centre in Ringwood when their lives were torn apart in a random act of mindless brutality. Jackson Savage went to his car and grabbed a hammer after mistakenly believing he'd seen a bloke who jumped him a year earlier. He pounded in the skull of Kearne Cannon, who had just been out to lunch with his then girlfriend Sarah Davis Kearne Cannon and Sarah Davis in hospital after their shocking ordeal. They had been together for four years at the time and remain great mates today In happier time: Kearne Cannon and Sarah Davis before the shocking attack at Eastland Shopping centre that left Mr cannon blind in one eye and Ms Davis forever mentally scarred Savage, who this month received five years in jail with a non-parole period of just three years, pounded Mr Cannon's head in after mistakenly believing he had been among a group of males who had attacked and robbed him a year earlier. He pounced from behind as the young couple returned to their cars on November 30 last year, shouting Im going to f**n kill you as you ran towards them. Horrific CCTV footage shows Savage smash Mr Kearne 16 times with such ferocity it cracked his skull open and left him blind in one eye. So horrific is the footage that the victims themselves have not been allowed to view it, with Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry again denying access to Daily Mail Australia. Ms Davis, who was threatened by the hammer wielding maniac as she tried to shield her boyfriend from the blows, condemned Justice Lasry for his lenient sentence. 'Three years is nothing compared to the injuries and trauma that have came from his actions,' Ms Davis told Daily Mail Australia. 'He got six months for what he did to me. It happened over a year ago and I wake up and go to sleep thinking about the attack and reliving it every day.' Kearne Cannon spent days in hospital and had to undergo surgery to repair his mangled face. The court heard his sustained permanent damage to his right eye which has left him blind Kearne Cannon was bashed all over his body. Pictured are the bruises on his legs administered by Jackson Savage during his mindless attack. He will likely walk free from jail in under two years So horrific was the attack that police initially charged Savage with attempted murder, but offered him a deal to plead guilty to lesser charges. He pleaded guilty in February to a charge of intentionally causing serious injury, possession of a prohibited weapon and assault with a weapon. Savage faced 20 years imprisonment, but with time served will likely walk free from jail in under two years. Ms Davis described the attack as the most 'horrific and traumatising event' of her life. Sarah Davis has been unable to return to her studies after the bloody attack on her and her former boyfriend. She feels let down by a justice system that wouldn't even allow her to see CCTV footage of the brutal attack Eastland Shopping Centre in Ringwood. Kearne Cannon and Sarah Davis had enjoyed lunch with friends before being set upon by Jackson Savage as they returned to their car 'It was such a weak and cowardly attack as he came up from behind us with a weapon and took us completely off guard,' she said. 'If I didn't see Savage at the last second Kearne would be dead as when he turned around he struck him in the eye instead of the back of his head.' 'His first swing was straight to Kearne's head and as he fell to the ground he hit him over 16 times with the hammer. I tried to help Kearne by standing over him to protect him and that's when he swung the hammer at me.' During his sentence, Justice Lasry claimed Savage's punishment would set an example to like-minded thugs. 'Such actions are akin to vigilantism, and require a clear message of condemnation from the court by the operation of general deterrence,' he said. Justice Lasry went onto say that he accepted Savage had never intended to kill his victim. 'Despite your exclamation as you attacked Mr Cannon, in my opinion, this was never likely to be a viable case of attempted murder,' he said. He further praised Savage for his supposedly 'good character'. 'You are effectively without prior convictions except unrelated traffic matters. I regard you as a person of good character,' he said. 'In your case, I am confident that you well understand the consequences of your actions, and I do not regard specific deterrence as being a particularly relevant sentencing consideration. I accept that you are genuinely shocked by your own conduct as you told police in the record of interview.' Mr Cannon suggested disappointment in the sentence when contacted by Daily Mail Australia and described Savage as a 'scumbag'. Ms Davis, who had been studying justice at the time, said she continued to struggle with post traumatic stress disorder. 'I live with the guilt of not protecting Kearne more than I did and I couldn't live with myself if he died that day. I still find it hard to deal with what damage it's done to him the most,' she said. 'I wish there was more awareness of what PTSD is and how people suffer in silence because it's not a physical injury it's a psychological one so people tend to think because you're not in a wheel chair or have a limb missing that there's nothing wrong with you.' Jackson Savage pounded in the skull of Kearne Cannon, who had just been out to lunch with his then girlfriend Sarah Davis. He was sentneced to five years in jail by Justice Lex Lasry Justice Lex Lasry's sentence of Jackson Savage has upset the victims, who claim Savage got off too lightly All Australian 'scumbag': Jackson Savage poses before the flag he disgraced with his mindless attack on Kearne Cannon Ms Davis said nothing could describe the feeling of watching someone try to kill your partner and not knowing whether he will live or die before your eyes. 'Knowing Jackson Savage can get out in under two years now seems an injustice and unfair since he tried to murder someone and the impact it's had on my life,' she said. 'He gets to walk free and move on with his life while Kearne and I have a life sentence of what we've been through due to Savage's actions. 'I wish people realised how much their actions can affect people's lives because not only did it affect Kearne and I, it affected the families involved along with everyone that helped us.' She said the experience has stripped their faith in the justice system. 'I'm hoping that it will get enough attention that some victims of crime lawyers will reach out to us as throughout this whole process we haven't been treated correctly and got no protection. The police will not even let me see the footage let alone have a copy of it,' she said. A 20-year-old anti-hunting protester claims he had his nose broken when he was 'punched in the face by a hunter' in front of a police officer. Regan Wilford, from Liverpool, said he was attacked after he brought a dead hare to the Middleton Hunt group with other protesters from Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs and Lincoln Hunt Saboteurs which had been mauled by dogs. After a hunter grabbed the dead animal in Birdsall, North Yorkshire, there was a scuffle and Wilford claimed he was 'punched' in the face. It is alleged that this happened right next to officers from North Yorkshire police. One of the hunters is claimed to have punched the 20-year-old protester in the face after a scuffle broke out next to North Yorkshire police officers In a shocking video posted online, a hunter comes towards Mr Wilford and snatches the blood-stained hare. 'Give it back! Give it back!' yells the joiner from Liverpool and other protesters as they chase the man. When a North Yorkshire policeman then gets involved to break up the scuffle, one of the hunters is claimed to have 'punched' Mr Wilford in the face. Video footage shows him fall to the ground and start breathing heavily. 'Have I got all my teeth?', he stammers to a friend, who says he just has a bloody nose and broken lip. North Yorkshire police did not make any arrests as they did not witness the attack, according to Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs The punched protester said he suffered a broken nose and ripped lip from the hunter's punch. (Pictured) Injuries sustained that led Mr Wilford to go to hospital 'Yeah, you haven't lost any,' his friend replies. 'You've got a bloody nose and a bust lip.' Mr Wilford told MailOnline he had to go to hospital, where he found out his nose was broken. It can't be fixed until the swelling goes down. He said the confrontation began after the dead hare was taken, and a hunter tried to take his hunting horn. 'I turned back round and he punched me in the face basically', said Mr Wilford. After the attack, a policeman took his details but did not make any arrests. A video uploaded by Lincoln Hunt Saboteurs showed a member of the force holding the dead hare as he talked to protesters. 'Please cool off,' he says. 'I've got people her, I've got more just coming', he said as he started to walk away. A protester then shouted: 'A man was just attacked by this coward! This f****** coward!' A policeman held the dead hare as he asked protesters to 'cool off' and said more officers were coming They then shout 'coward!' at a hunter, claiming he punched Mr Wilford, as he gets into a pickup truck to drive away. North Yorkshire police said they are investigating the attack that happened on Wednesday 27 March at 3pm, but have not made any arrests. Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs wrote in a post: 'Police weren't looking at the incident as it happened and didn't make any arrests. 'At this point, arguing between hunt support and sabs ensued (in front of the police). 'A large hunt supporter pulled our sabs horn from his chest harness and tried to run away with it, but with minimal force our sab managed to get the horn back. 'When turning around to walk away, our sab took an unexpected punch to the face from the thief, knocking him to the ground with a broken nose and cut lip.' North Yorkshire police said anyone with information should contact them on 101, quoting the incident number 12190055089. A spokesperson from the Middleton Hunt said: 'The Middleton Hunt fiercely condemns any form of violence, even in the event of extreme provocation from animal rights activists who carry equipment such as hunting horns to distract our hounds from their trail. 'The hunt acts lawfully within the confines of the Hunting Act 2004 and takes every measure to ensure good relationships with landowners and members of the public. 'We will of course assist the police where possible with any enquiries following this incident.' What's on offer, Scott? Prime Minister Morrison will be looking to woo voters with his Budget on Tuesday - as he is expected to call a federal election not long afterwards Cash handouts to cover the cost of electricity bills, tax cuts, billions poured into roads and rail - and, finally, a surplus. That's what voters can expect from the Federal Budget next Tuesday in what will be the first salvo of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's election campaign. Every Budget comes with surprises - last year's being the shock ban on Australians paying cash in sums greater than $10,000. But voters are unlikely to find too much that will turn them off this year, with the election expected in the early days of May. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will likely be keeping a few sweeteners up his sleeve for the Coalition to woo voters with over the next two months. No doubt a lot of emphasis will be on the fact Mr Frydenberg is expected to announce the first Budget surplus since Peter Costello's in 2007, just before the global financial crisis. Many details of the Budget, including the likely surplus, have already been made clear over the past few weeks and months. Here's what we know so far: TAX CUTS 'Whenever I get the opportunity to give Australians further tax relief, I never miss the opportunity.' Mr Morrison was hardly subtle when asked if his government's new Budget might feature tax cuts for the working class this past week. The prime minister is widely expected to bring forward tax relief the government legislated in its last Budget. The cuts were slated to kick in over the next seven years, beginning this financial year, and will be achieved by changing tax thresholds. Experts have suggested Mr Morrison will fast-forward plans to tweak the 32.5 per cent tax bracket threshold from $90,000 to $120,000. The change would provide voters in this income bracket and above with a tax cut of up to $1350 per year. It's widely expected the government will bring forward planned tax cuts, leaving more money in workers' pockets That's currently slated to happen in 2022, but may come sooner, under a re-elected Coalition government. Estimates suggest when the tax package has been implemented in full in 2024 - in two elections' time - someone on an average wage of $85,000 would save $540. At minimum, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said this Budget will not involve tax hikes. 'It will be about balancing the books, growing the economy with more jobs and guaranteeing the essential services of schools, hospitals and roads - all without increasing taxes,' Mr Frydenberg said. WINS FOR SMALL BUSINESS The instant access write off - a measure which lets small businesses deduct assets like cars, tools and office equipment - will be expanded The instant access write off - a measure which lets small businesses deduct assets like cars, tools and office equipment - will be expanded from $20,000 to $25,000. The government has extended the plan for another year, until June 30, 2020. Further tax cuts are expected in the coming years for small and medium enterprises (known as SMEs) which have a turnover of less than $50 million. $125 HANDOUTS FOR HIGH POWER PRICES Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced an estimated four million people will receive a cash handout from the government to cover rising power prices. Age pensioners, disability support pension recipients, veterans, carers and single parents will receive the 'Energy Assistance Payment'. But people on the dole and entirely reliant on self-managed super funds won't receive a cent. The $285 million program will see singles get $75 and couples $125. Labor will support the cash splash. Cash splash: A $285 million program will see singles get $75 and couples $125 Another big-ticket item for the government is its plan to plunge an extra $2 billion into its rebadged Climate Solutions Fund. Mr Morrison has also committed $1.4 billion to 'Snowy Hydro 2.0', an upgrade of the Snowy Mountains power scheme. The government claims the investment will support the take-off of the renewable energy industry and 'put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices'. The Coalition is investing $56 million in the initial stages of building a second electricity interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland. It would create 'more affordable and reliable' energy after being constructed along with new hydro-electric projects in the island state. 'Tasmania has the potential to be Australia's battery to keep the lights on and running costs down and we'll be there backing them to get there,' Mr Morrison said. Mr Morrison's government has also plunged $10 million into developing business cases for energy projects in north and central Queensland. It has cobbled together a short list of 12 future power plants which the government could underwrite, including one 'small' coal facility. BILLIONS FOR ROADS AND RAIL In the past year, the government has fired up a massive advertising campaign for its $75 billion infrastructure plan over 10 years. The Treasurer is likely to tout a series of programs on Tuesday that have already been announced. They include the development of a business case for a rail link from Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport to the city. The Victorian and Federal governments are planning to split the up to $13 billion cost. Construction is due to begin in 2022. More rail projects are on the agenda in this year's federal Budget The near-completed NorthConnex toll road, connecting Sydney's M1 and M2, may come up for a mention. It will be finished next year. Other infrastructure measures expected to be touted include the government's $3.5 billion commitment to a rail line connecting western Sydney's forthcoming airport to St Marys on the suburban line. Other supposedly 'congestion-busting' infrastructure deals are expected for Adelaide, Hobart, Townsville, Launceston, Darwin, south-east Queensland and Perth. The Budget will include a $2.2 billion road safety plan including black spot repair and new national office of road safety. On Monday morning, the government committed to injecting $1 billion into boosting freight networks across the country. The Australian newspaper reported a plan which includes highway upgrades between Queensland and Victoria. CHEAPER MEDICINES AND X-RAYS Breast and skin cancer patients are being offered access to two cheaper medicines, as the prime minister makes his final pitch ahead of Tuesday night's federal budget. Mr Morrison added two new drugs to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on Monday. 'The PBS, to me, spells H-O-P-E,' he told reporters in Canberra. 'We are in the war against cancer and the fight against cancer. What fuels our army on this is the strong economy and the strong budget. Without that, you're going into battle with nothing.' Some $200 million will be plunged into reducing out of pocket costs for medical scans, such as ultrasounds and X-rays. OTHER MEASURES The government has committed funding for a replica of Captain James Cook's endeavour to circumnavigate Australia (tall ship stock image above) In the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, we know the Budget will include a $600 million boost for financial regulators ASIC and APRA. A further $22.5 million will be plunged into establishing a National Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Airports will receive a $294 million security boost and the new Australian Space Agency, based in South Australia, will be funded. The cashless welfare card (or 'Basic' card) program will be expanded with a further $129 million investment to bring it to the entire Northern Territory and Cape York. Printed and ready to go: Budget papers awaiting delivery in Canberra late last week $78 million will go towards providing housing for women and children fleeing family violence. A $9 million sum will be invested to deal with 'yellow crazy ants' in North Queensland and $12 million dedicated to supporting the legacy of Captain James Cook. The funds will go towards the Cooktown 2020 festival and the circumnavigation of Australia by a replica of Captain Cook's famous ship, the 'Endeavour'. When Florida authorities shut down 10 massage spas last month and charged hundreds of men with buying sex, they broke a longstanding pattern of meting out minor charges and punishment for owners, letting patrons off scot-free and turning a mostly blind eye to signs of human trafficking. A review of state records over the past decade shows that while police officers and sheriff's deputies in Florida have investigated hundreds of individual massage parlors within their own counties for illegal sexual activity, it was usually low-level massage therapists who were arrested, while owners mostly were exempted or charged with misdemeanors resulting in fines and probation. Johns usually were not charged at all. In stark contrast, the investigation announced last month spanned several jurisdictions between Palm Beach and Orlando and focused heavily on the possibility of widespread human trafficking. Several spa owners, most of them women originally from China, were charged with felony racketeering and money laundering and could face years in prison. A review of state records shows that officers and deputies in Florida have investigated hundreds of massage parlors for illegal sexual activity for years, but the owners and employees usually get off with civil fines and misdemeanor charges Lei Wang, 39, the owner of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, was seen entering the court room on Thursday The tearful woman was seen in court cupping her face with her hands as she dabbed tears from her cheeks Authorities also charged 300 men accused of being patrons, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former Citigroup President John Havens. Authorities say Kraft was twice recorded on video engaging in and then paying for sex acts at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, located in a shopping center in Jupiter. Both men have denied wrongdoing. Florida has more than 8,600 licensed massage therapy establishments. It's difficult to know how many of them sell sex, based on the records. Nationwide, the anti-trafficking advocacy group Polaris estimates there are 9,000 massage establishments with therapists who are trafficked from other places and forced to provide sex acts. The Associated Press reviewed records from more than 150 Florida Department of Health cases involving massage parlors whose licenses had been revoked, suspended or voluntarily surrendered in the past decade. Robert Kraft's (pictured) attorney Jack Goldberger describes the incidents that were captured on hidden camera as consensual sex acts Of the spas that lost their licenses, almost 40 percent had massage therapists involved in sexual activity, the AP found. Sex cases were found statewide, in 26 of the state's 67 counties, with the tourism-heavy Orlando area having the most. Few of the cases resulted in charges of human trafficking, and those that did ended with only minor punishments. In 2017, Mi Cha Jones, owner of the Jee Jee spa in Miami Beach, was charged with two felony counts of human trafficking and one felony count of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. Jones was sentenced to only two years of probation after pleading guilty to the latter count in 2018. Nearly five years ago, investigators found clear evidence of prostitution and a potential sign of human trafficking - women living on the premises - at the O Asian Wellness Spa and Massage in Boca Raton. The spa's owner was facing a minimum of four years and maximum of 35 years in prison, but was sentenced to only nine months in jail and probation after a plea deal. None of the johns who patronized the parlor were charged at all. In 2013, an inspector found three rooms with beds, clothes, computers, cellphones, desks and a refrigerator full of food at Serenity Massage in Tampa. The owner admitted massage therapists were living there but was ultimately only fined. There was no indication any investigation into human trafficking was ever launched. Police surveyed the Day Spa in Florida, Jupiter, for several months believing it to be a front for human trafficking. In the past, owners were often given fines or just probation Florida Department of Health spokesman Brad Dalton said revoking a spa's license is the most severe punishment available to the department's Board of Massage Therapy. 'Any action above that would have to come from law enforcement,' Dalton said. A tougher stance is being championed by Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, whose agency spearheaded the current investigation after receiving a tip from a state health investigator. 'When I saw the videos of the women being used ... I began to change my whole thoughts and view of it,' said Snyder, a former state lawmaker who sponsored a 2012 bill that made human trafficking illegal in Florida. He was elected sheriff that same year. Still, it remains to be seen whether anything will truly change. Owners owners and employees were usually let off with civil fines and misdemeanor charges, even when there are signs of potential trafficking No one has yet been charged with human trafficking, something Snyder said can be difficult to prove, especially if women don't testify against their abusers. He said many of the women fear deportation, even though they could be eligible for a visa if they cooperated. They also fear traffickers will harm their families back home, he said. And while hundreds of men identified as johns have been accused, Kraft and others have been charged only with misdemeanors that prosecutors have offered to drop if they agree to participate in a diversion program. Jail time for johns, what Snyder sees as the 'holistic' answer to stemming human trafficking, looks highly unlikely. Still, the sheriff says he hopes the national spotlight that has shone on the Kraft case will make other potential clients think twice before risking a visit to an illicit massage parlor. 'I have come to understand that as long as there is a demand, there will be a supply,' he said. 'Even if the demand diminishes microscopically and a few women in some forlorn province in China are not enticed to come here under false pretenses and trafficked, it will all be worthwhile.' Sara Packer, 44, pleaded guilty Friday helping her boyfriend rape, murder, and dismember her 14-year-old daughter in 2016 The Pennsylvania mom who helped her boyfriend molest and dismember her 14-year-old adopted daughter has been sentenced to life in prison. Sara Packer, 44, avoided looking at Bucks County Judge Diane E. Gibbons as she pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, child rape and first-degree murder of her adopted daughter, Grace Packer, in addition to theft of government funds and abuse of the girl's corpse. 'There is no cure for people like you,' the judge blasted as she was sentenced. 'You didn't become this. This is who you are.' Packer, a former county adoption supervisor, cashed government checks meant for Grace's care even after helping to kill the girl in 2016. 'Yes, your honor,' Packer said softly as the judge asked if she understood the charges to which she was pleading guilty. When Packer refused to face Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub as he read a victim impact statement, Weintraub asked the judge to order the mom to look at him. 'For the first 14 years of her [daughter's] life, that woman ignored her and treated her as an inanimate object, as a paycheck,' Weintraub told the Allentown Morning Call after the hearing. 'I wanted her to listen and know Grace for the first time as people who truly loved her knew Grace.' Scroll down for video Grace Packer, 14, was kidnapped, raped, murdered, and dismembered by her adoptive mother's boyfriend in 2016 before her body was discarded in the woods in rural Pennsylvania Sara Packer (center) previously admitted wanting her daughter dead, saying she went along with her boyfriend's rape-murder fantasy, helping him to bound and gag the 14-year-old girl in an attic before raping, poisoning and choking her to death The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area (pictured) where hunters found it in October 2016, prosecutors said Jacob Sullivan, 46, was sentenced to death Thursday for his role in the rape and murder of Grace Packer Packer's boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, 46, was sentenced to death a day prior even though prosecutors had asked for him to be sentenced to life in prison, the Allentown Morning Call reported. 'The butchery in this case was beyond my ability to describe,' Gibbons said during his sentencing. Imposing the jury's sentence on Sullivan, she declared: 'You have no soul.' He previously confessed to taking Grace prisoner in the attic of the couple's rented home in Richland County, Pennsylvania as part of rape-murder fantasy he shared with Packer earlier. Packer admitted to the jury during her trial that she wanted her daughter dead. So she willfully obliged as Sullivan bound Sara's hands and feet with zip ties and stuffed a ball gag in her mouth before sexually assaulting the girl while her mother watched. Sullivan laughed on tape as he told investigators how Sara reached to her mother for help during the assault. Afterwards, the couple gave Sara what was supposed to be a fatal dose of sleeping pills before leaving her in their hot attic to die. But she didn't. Horrific: The helpless teen was drugged, bound and raped by predatory Sullivan while Packer watched on. When she tried to escape, she was strangled, dismembered and stored in cat litter before being dumped in the woods. Hunters found her remains in October 2016 They returned a day later to find Sara was still alive. So Sullivan choked the girl to death for two minutes as her mother looked on once again. Packer and Sullivan stored Grace's body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, authorities said. Packer's attorneys, Keith J. Williams and John Fioravanti, did their best to argue for leniency for their client who they said had been a standout student, a high school yearbook editor, and a sociology major at Randolph Macon Women's College before serving the public at several foster care and adoptions services agencies. Fioravanti said Packer would agree to being interviewed by mental health experts and academics while in prison so they could better understand her acts. Packer and her then-husband David Packer, had adopted Grace and Grace's younger brother in 2007. The couple cared for dozens of foster children before David Packer was sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter. Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children. But child welfare authorities did not remove Grace from the home, despite evidence of abuse. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace's murder, but its findings have not been made public. Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2015. There are 142 inmates on the state's death row. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted social media firms should be regulated more in a bid to take the burden of keeping web users safe off of digital companies. It follows a series of controversies for the social network, including the live-streaming of the Christchurch terror attack in New Zealand which was viewed 4,000 times before it was removed. The Facebook founder said governments and regulators needed to play a more active role in policing the web. Scroll down for video Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured in 2018) used a Washington Post op-ed to call for governments and regulators to update internet rules and be more active in policing the web In a statement published by The Washington Post, Mr Zuckerberg, 34, said: 'Every day, we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks. 'These are important for keeping our community safe. But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldn't ask companies to make these judgments alone,' he wrote. More regulation over what constitutes harmful content could 'set a baseline' for what is prohibited and require companies to 'build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum', he continued. Zuckerberg added that if governments and regulators played a more active role in policing the web, then 'by updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve whats best about it the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things while also protecting society from broader harms'. He wrote that the four main areas that are most in need of new regulations are 'harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability'. While citing the fact that Facebook 'continually' reviews its policies for deciding what constitutes terrorist propaganda, hate speech and other forms of harmful content, Zuckerberg acknowledged that 'we'll always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with'. Zuckerberg's op-ed comes in the wake of criticism directed at his company following the deadly New Zealand mosque shootings which were broadcast live on Facebook (pictured above in April 2018 while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill) That's why he believes that 'we shouldnt make so many important decisions about speech on our own,' which is why Facebook is putting together an independent body which would allow people to appeal decisions. It's also why they allowed French regulators to temporarily 'embed' themselves at Facebook HQs to see if there was a better way to go about removing certain types of content starting in January. Zuckerberg also touched upon the issues of protecting elections and how having stronger internet regulations would help companies be more effective at ensuring the identities of ad purchasers, especially when it's not immediately crystal clear whether or not an ad is actually a political one. He said privacy rules such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect in Europe last year, should be adopted elsewhere in the world. The GDPR's aim is 'to protect all EU citizens from privacy and data breaches in todays data-driven world' through a series of regulatory policies. Failure to adhere to the polices could result in heavy fines for web companies. Zuckerberg's op-ed comes days after Facebook was criticized following the March 15 shooting rampage at mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people and was broadcast live on Facebook. Facebook said Thursday it was extending a ban on hate speech to white nationalists and white separatists. Zuckerberg and others are 'beginning to realize the wild, wild West of the Internet of the past, those days are gone,' said Tim Bajarin, president of consultancy Creative Strategies. 'And the Internet and especially social media sites now need to be looked at closer by government entities.' 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 to address how Facebook used personal data in the wake of the 2018 political Cambridge Analytical data breach scandal. Earlier this month, Zuckerberg said he was shifting the company's focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Camp Lejeune is still a wreck more than six months after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Florence, shocking images show. The Marines say they need $3.6 billion to repair the camp but are yet to receive any money from the federal government, according to reports. And they are said to put part of the blame on the diversion of resources to the military mission at the U.S.-Mexico border. More than 900 buildings at Camp Lejeune and two others nearby have been left with moldy walls, missing roofs and structural damage following the storm. Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point were all badly damaged by flooding in the hurricane's aftermath. Damage can still be seen in several housing communities and government buildings across Camp Lejeune more than six months after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Florence Buildings remain covered in tarps and the Marines say they need $3.6 billion to repair the camp but are yet to receive any money from the federal government A view of the damages to the interior of building 63 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune four months after Hurricane Florence More than 900 buildings at Camp Lejeune and two other nearby have been left with moldy walls, missing roofs and structural damage following the storm Brig. Gen. Ben Watson, the commanding general for Camp Lejeune, said: 'We've done initial, you know, damage control surgery and triag. But we haven't got the funding yet to actually repair the buildings.' Sen. Richard Burr said it is 'unacceptable that Camp Lejeune and other North Carolina military bases are still waiting on disaster relief we first requested last fall', in a statement to NBC News. Sen. Thom Tillis added: 'Camp Lejeune suffered significant damage from Hurricane Florence and Senators Tillis and Burr are working with Congressional appropriators to secure additional federal relief to ensure training and readiness will not be impacted in the long-term and the base can make a complete recovery.' It comes as the commandant of the Marine Corps warned that deployments to the southern border have contributed to budget shortfalls that pose an 'unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency'. In memos addressed to acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan and Navy secretary Richard Spencer, General Robert Neller wrote that he had been forced to cancel or reduce exercises in five countries. Despite the devastation, Marines continue to use the work spaces and damaged buildings The commandant of the Marine Corps General Robert Neller warned that deployments to the southern border have contributed to budget shortfalls Neller said the situation was 'imposing unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency' Neller included a long list of factors that have contributed to budget shortfalls in his plea for more money for the Marine Corps, among which he included the border deployments and unscheduled budget transfers under President Donald Trump's border emergency declaration. He said Trump's emergency declaration to secure $6.7 billion from the Pentagon's 2019 budget for his wall meant the corps could not afford to rebuild hurricane-hit bases in North Carolina and Georgia. Neller said the situation was 'imposing unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency'. He called the situation in North Carolina critical, noting that hurricane season begins in June and Marines and sailors are working in 'compromised structures' that must be repaired quickly. Tony Sholar, deputy assistant chief of staff, Installations and Environment, Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune explains to local leaders how extensive the damage was to the Workforce Learning Center after Hurricane Florence Marine continues to carry out his daily mission inside of building 63 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, which sustained damage from Hurricane Florence Roofs at the camp were blown off and are currently covered with blue tarps The commissary at Camp Lejeune following Hurricane Florence is shown in a 2018 photo Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green visited multiple bases in North Carolina to check on the Marines and assess damage following Hurricane Florence in September last year Most of the roofs at the camp were blown off and are currently covered with blue tarps. Col. Brian Wolford said: 'We're here doing our work. But the conditions we're working under are just like when we were in Iraq or Afghanistan. 'Is this the way we want our Marines and civilian Marines to be working. In these kind of conditions?' Maj. Gen. Vincent Coglianese added: 'We've done all the due diligence that we [can] and we keep on waiting for further assistance. And there's different reasons why I guess we haven't got that. That's not for me to say. I'm just disappointed.' He is the BBC television star and celebrity auctioneer who as a patron of the Born Free Foundation has publicly campaigned to ban the sale of ivory. But antiques expert James Lewis a regular on Flog It! and Bargain Hunt is still selling items containing ivory at the auctioneers he owns. Yet in 2016, Lewis announced that he would voluntarily stop all ivory sales at his auction house while the Government was finalising its UK Ivory Bill. In what appears to be very much at odds with his stated views, his firm Bamfords Auctioneers & Valuers has listed 265 such objects for sale since he made the pledge. James Lewis is still selling items that contain ivory, despite pledging to stop all sales of items containing the material in 2016 Among the lots in the current sales catalogue is a 19th Century statuette of the Pied Piper of Hamelin in solid ivory, expected to make up to 1,000. Previous sales include a George III gold-mounted ivory toothpick-case for 80, and a carved Japanese ornament sold for 110. He had earlier said he had always appreciated the beauty in such objects but had realised that the antique ivory market was fuelling demand. The Ivory Act coming into force later this year will be one of the worlds toughest pieces of legislation protecting wildlife products. One of the five exemptions to the law relates to antiques containing less than ten per cent ivory. But some of Lewiss pieces are made of solid ivory and will not be exempt. A former staff member from Bamfords in Derby told The Mail on Sunday: James likes to present himself as a wildlife campaigner and animal-lover, but when it comes to a sale its difficult to turn anything away. Hes a businessman first and foremost. Its surprising to see him boasting about his work for Born Free and the expertise he brought to Parliament while they worked on the ivory ban. Tragic treasures: A miniature portrait and a small box - both made using ivory - were sold by Mr Lewis Awkward auction: An ivory-handled cane that was sold through his company Born Free reports that elephant populations have declined by almost one-third in the past decade and that about 20,000 are killed each year for their tusks. Last night Mr Lewis said: We sell around 1,000 lots a week so I cant recall every item. If some solid ivory has slipped through and into our catalogue, all I can do is say Im sorry and I would hate it to undermine everything I try to do to support the protection of elephants. Thats my passion, as anyone who knows me will tell you. He said he gave 40,000 to save-the-elephant charities in 2014 and continues to do everything he can to stop poaching, adding: If I have ever sold a solid ivory object since announcing my own voluntary ban in 2016, or some pieces have slipped through, and I hope that hasnt happened, I now feel deep regret. A spokesman for the Born Free Foundation said: We urge all dealers, auctioneers and members of the public to comply with both the letter and spirit of the Act by desisting from trading in ivory items. Caputova stood on a pro-EU platform and framed the debate in terms of good and evil Liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova has become Slovakia's first female president despite having almost no political experience. The environmental activist drew on themes of corruption, framing the election as a struggle between good and evil. Change in political style was also a main theme ahead of the run-off vote, which took place a year after journalist Jan Kuciak, who investigated high-profile fraud cases, and his fiancee were murdered at their home. The pro-EU political novice had 58.3 per cent of the votes after results from 98.1 per cent of voting districts were counted, ahead of European commissioner Maros Sefcovic who took 41.7 per cent. Sefcovic, a respected diplomat who is also pro-EU, is backed by the ruling party Smer, the largest grouping in parliament that has dominated Slovak politics since 2006. Caputova, who was the front runner having won the first round more than 20 percentage points ahead of Sefcovic, campaigned to end what she calls the capture of the state 'by people pulling strings from behind,' a message that opinion polls show resonates with younger, educated voters. The 45-year old member of a liberal non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party -- which she pledged to leave if elected -- has been endorsed by opposition parties and a junior party in the ruling coalition that represents the ethnic Hungarian minority, as well as outgoing President Andrej Kiska. Caputova beat rival candidate Maros Sefcovic (pictured) to become Slovakia's first female president after running on an anti-corruption ticket Caputova started her acceptance speech by thanking voters in Slovak, as well as in the Hungarian, Czech, Roma and Ruthenian languages, turning to all main minority groups. 'I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary,' she told a crowd of supporters. 'This started in the local election last year, was confirmed in the presidential election, and I believe the European (parliamentary election in May) will confirm it as well.' Slovakia's president wields little day-to-day power but appoints prime ministers and can veto appointments of senior prosecutors and judges. Five people have been charged with the murders of Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, including businessman Marian Kocner, who was investigated by Kuciak, and who has become a symbol of perceived impunity after more than a decade of rule by Smer. Kocner denies any wrongdoing. The killings ignited the biggest protests in Slovakia's post-communist history and forced the resignation of Smer leader Robert Fico as prime minister last year. The pro-European Union, liberal lawyer (pictured addressing supporters in acknowledgment of the second round's results) is Slovakia's first female president Caputova had waged a 14-year fight with a company Kocner represented that wanted to build an illegal landfill in her home town. She eventually won the case, earning her the nickname 'Slovakia's Erin Brockovich,' after the American environmentalist portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 film. Caputova's victory complicates Fico's plan to leave politics by becoming head of the Constitutional Court - a position vetted by the president. It may give a boost to opposition parties looking to replace Smer, still the most popular party, in next year's general election. But political analysts have said a socially liberal president will also mobilize Smer and anti-system voters, a fight already foreshadowed by Fico this week when he called liberals 'people without values.' Fico's Smer is a social democrat party but has also taken socially conservative positions. A row with the president could make Fico push the country closer to eurosceptic and socially conservative leaders in neighboring Hungary and Poland. There was an indication of that this week when Smer teamed up with the center-right Slovak National party, the far-right People's Party-Our Slovakia and the populist We Are Family movement to halt ratification of a European treaty designed to combat violence against women. A Brooklyn bodega owner took matters into his own hands after a mob attempted to steal a teenager's moped from under him in broad daylight. Surveillance video captured the attack which showed the unidentified 17-year-old riding his moped along the sidewalk when all of a sudden he was confronted by five youths. One of the men hit the teen across the face with a metal pipe causing him to jump off the moped and run inside the store. One of the assailants then hopped on the moped and speeds off. The attack left the victim with a laceration on his head. Police said a group of five men threatened a 17-year-old at knifepoint as he sat on his gas-powered moped. The teen can be seen scrambling inside a nearby store A brave store owner, Vincent Millan, came out to challenge the mob and used a bike seat to try and ward them off despite being outnumbered 4-1 The brave store owner, Vincent Millan, came out to see what all the commotion was and holding a bike seat in his hand threatened the teens while other shop workers and customers ran to the door in order to prevent the mob from getting inside the store. The attackers furiously kicked and smashed at the front entrance, but it was no use. 'I figured the door isn't going to hold for much longer so I came outside and said, 'What the f*** are you guys doing?' Millan told The New York Daily News. 'And right away, they started circling me. I had my bike seat in my hands. They're breaking bats over my head, my face, hitting me in my face with I don't know how many objects.' Millan was so enraged he even smashed the windshield of one of the suspect's cars, while he knocked another down on the sidewalk during the scuffle. One person has been arrested in connection with the robbery in Bushwick on Thursday: Ramon Garcia-Disla, 26, was charged with robbery, gang assault and assault. A 16-year-old boy was also charged with robbery, possession of stolen property, possession of marijuana and driving violations Despite being outnumbered five to one including challenging one man wielding a knife, Millan was determined to prevent any harm from coming to the teen. 'I had to stop these guys from dragging this kid out,' he explained. 'How could I live with myself if I just let them?' He told the paper that he thought about an eerily similar attack in the Bronx last June that saw Lesandro (Junior) Guzman-Feliz's murder as he tried to escape from a gang before being stabbed to death. A video of the brutal killing showed Junior being pulled the bodega and being hacked and slashed. 'That flashed in my head when it happened,' Millan told the News. 'I said, 'Nah, you're not coming in here to do what you did up in the Bronx.'' The brutal mugging of the teenager took place in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn The Brooklyn attack brought back memories of a similar killing in the Bronx last June of Lesandro (Junior) Guzman-Feliz, 15, who was murdered as he tried to escape from a gang before being stabbed to death Other workers at the store also thought exactly the same. Jones Garcia, 20, said he had a flashback to the Bronx execution of Junior. 'The first moment the teen came into the store, that's when it came into my mind it's like what happened in the Bronx,' said Garcia. 'If he didn't run into the store he would have been really injured. Or maybe dead.' Shop owner Denisse Castillo, 32, echoed those thoughts. 'When I saw the knife and stuff and the way they were trying to get in the store, I thought, 'This is something,' she recalled. 'It's not just the stealing the bike. It was the same thing that happened to Junior.' A 16-year-old boy who sped off on the moped was arrested 15 minutes later after slamming into a car. He was charged with assault, possession of stolen property, possession of marijuana and driving the wrong way. A second suspect, 26-year-old Ramon Garcia-Disla of Brooklyn, was caught and charged with robbery, gang assault and assault. Judge Jeanine Pirro did not make a scheduled appearance on Sean Hannity's show on Friday night because of a 'serious family emergency', the Fox host revealed. Pirro's show, Justice with Jeanine, has been bumped for two weeks after she made remarks suggesting that Rep Ilhan Omar's hijab meant that she subscribes to Sharia law. Viewers expected to see her on Hannity's Friday 9pm show but he didn't explain why she was missing until the end of the slot. Scroll down for videos Judge Jeanine Pirro was missing from Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Friday night Judge Jeanine Pirro (pictured) 'Before I go, I had promoted yesterday and on my radio show today that Judge Jeanine Pirro would be joining us tonight on the program,' he said. 'She had a really serious family emergency come up, couldn't be with us. I don't know the nature of it. We always pray for her.' Hannity said that Pirro will be returning to her normally scheduled time slot at 9pm on Saturday. Her return was suggested after Trump told Hannity that he hoped Pirro would be 'back soon'. Pirro's program did not air on March 16 or March 23. The March 16th show was replaced by the documentary Scandalous: The Trial of William Kennedy Smith. During the opening monologue of her show (pictured) on March 9, Pirro claimed that Omar's hijab was a sign that she was committed to the religious law which originates from the Quran, adding that it was 'antithetical' to the constitution Fox did not confirm a suspension ahead of the first swap, with a spokesperson, telling The Hollywood Reporter: 'We are not commenting on internal scheduling matters.' Pirro's show being sidelined came after she suggested that Omar's hijab meant that she subscribes to Sharia law. During the opening monologue of her show on March 9, Pirro claimed that Omar's hijab was a sign that she was committed to the religious law which originates from the Quran, adding that it was 'antithetical' to the constitution. The former district attorney from New York's Westchester County said: 'Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?' Omar has been embroiled in an antisemitism scandal in recent weeks after making a number of controversial comments about Israel. The Minnesota member of congress previously said that she wanted to discuss 'the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country'. Omar also drew ire from both sides of the political spectrum after claiming that Israel's relationship with the US was 'all about the Benjamins' last month, before later apologizing. In the segment which landed Pirro in hot water, she suggested that the Omar was not getting her 'anti-Israel sentiment doctrine' from the Democratic party. She said: 'Think about this. She's not getting this anti-Israel sentiment doctrine from the Democrat party So if it's not rooted in the party, where is she getting it from? 'Think about it. Omar wears a hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won't get molested.' Fox News 'strongly' condemned the views expressed by Pirro, saying: 'They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.' Despite the rebuke, Pirro released her own statement, in which she refused to apologize In a tweet, Omar thanked Fox for the statement, saying: 'No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth.' Despite the rebuke, Pirro released her own statement, in which she refused to apologize. She said: 'I've seen a lot of comments about my opening statement from Saturday night's show and I did not call Rep. Omar un-American. 'My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution. 'I invite Rep Omar to come on my show any time to discuss all of the important issues facing America today.' Pirro was called out on Twitter by a fellow Fox News Channel employee who is Muslim. The employee, Hufia Kumal, works on Bret Baier's news show. She wrote: 'Can you stop spreading this false narrative that somehow Muslims hate America or women who wear a hijab aren't American enough? You have Muslims working at the same network you do, including myself.' At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro. Trump tweeted on March 17 that the 'Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country'. At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro after her weekly show was replaced by a documentary In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor' And in a third tweet, Trump called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine' 'They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well,' he added. In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor'. 'Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don't give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die!' Trump said. In a third tweet, Trump referenced Tucker Carlson, and called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine'. 'Your competitors are jealous - they all want what you've got - NUMBER ONE. Don't hand it to them on a silver platter. They can't beat you, you can only beat yourselves!' Trump tweeted. Disney has not put her name on credits for books or films produced since then Ms Aberson let the copyright on her book lapse in 1968 without telling anyone She was given $1,000 after selling rights to a publisher who sold them to Disney With its state-of-the-art special effects and all-star cast, Tim Burton's remake of Dumbo has already enthralled thousands of families since its release on Friday. Disney's 1941 classic movie, the tale of a baby elephant with enormous ears, has been reimagined for a modern audience and features a host of Hollywood luminaries including Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito. Yet behind the touching Dumbo story is a real-life tale which is equally as emotive. Author Helen Aberson never recovered from losing her much-loved story for such a measly sum, according to her son. She died heartbroken in 1999, aged 91, after failing to gain recognition for her creation For despite the huge success the cartoon brought to Disney apparently saving it from closure the studio paid the author of the book on which the film was based just $1,000. Author Helen Aberson was 30 when she wrote a children's story featuring the little elephant in 1938. She based her idea on her experience of growing up in poverty and facing discrimination as the daughter of Jewish immigrants to America from Russia. She sold the rights to a publisher, which in turn sold them to Disney for $400. However, when the film became a hit, she tried to negotiate a better deal but was unable to get more. Her son has revealed she never recovered from losing her much-loved story for such a measly sum. Journalist Andrew Mayer, 72, told The Mail on Sunday that his mother died heartbroken in 1999, aged 91, after failing to gain recognition for her creation. Burton's live-action remake is set to be this Easter's smash-hit family movie, despite mixed reviews. One critic described it as a 'clunker' which loses the 'charm and heartbreak' of the original He added that the experience 'haunted' her and thinking back to the original deal made her feel 'humiliated'. 'She felt that she had been left out,' he said. 'It left her feeling depressed, especially when year after year Dumbo would turn up as a character on TV and in books. 'It was her baby, but it really wasn't her baby any more. She never believed she got her just dues in terms of the way things played out. 'Sometimes she'd get emotional, but she didn't like to discuss it.' Andrew said that when the copyright came up for renewal in 1968, his mother could not bear revisiting the painful episode and let it lapse without telling anyone. As a result, Disney has not been obliged to mention her name in the credits to any films or books produced since then and has refused to pay her any more money. Even the remake will not bring royalties, despite it expecting to bring in 38 million in its first week alone. It has left a bitter taste knowing that the family's lives could have been very different. 'Later on I wondered whether I should have tried to write something about it,' Mr Mayer said. Despite the huge success the cartoon brought to Disney apparently saving it from closure the studio paid the author of the book on which the film was based just $1,000 'Then again, when Walt Disney was alive you had to be careful because they might have sued you for libel. You're going up against Goliath.' Burton's live-action remake is set to be this Easter's smash-hit family movie, despite mixed reviews. One critic described it as a 'clunker' which loses the 'charm and heartbreak' of the original. It would, no doubt, have further frustrated his mother, Mr Mayer said. Speaking from his home in Staten Island, New York, Mr Mayer described how even the first film was a huge departure from her original idea. Disney's movie tells the tale of an elephant, Jumbo Jnr, born inside a circus troupe with comically large ears. Teased by a group of children and cruelly nicknamed Dumbo, his mother flies into a rage in his defence and is locked up by the circus masters. Three further Dumbo books were released, and a puppet-based TV series, Dumbo's Circus, ran during the 1980s. Dumbo The Flying Elephant features as a popular ride across Disney's theme parks, pictured above Dumbo's humiliation ends when he discovers his ears allow him to fly turning him into one of the circus's greatest assets. This poignant theme of resurrection was inspired by Helen's own life. The working-class Aberson family had come from what is now Odessa in Ukraine but settled in Syracuse, New York, in the late 1890s. At one point, Helen lived in Manhattan, selling apples on the streets to make ends meet. But in 1932, aged 24, she became a radio talk show host, a pioneering role for a woman at the time. Dumbo, written several years later, was illustrated by her first husband, Hal Pearl, and together they sold the rights to Syracuse-based publisher Everett Whitmyre. They took it to Walt Disney Productions, which had recently released Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Helen later found herself being flown out to California as a consultant on the film without pay but became disillusioned after major parts of the storyline were changed. In her original story, Dumbo's mother was Mother Ella instead of Mrs Jumbo, and Dumbo's helper was a robin called Red instead of a mouse called Timothy. Mr Mayer said: 'She was so unhappy with the changes and how the movie was displayed.' The $1,000 fee Helen received marked both the beginning and end of her career in the movies, and she resumed her life working as a clerk in the War Department. The family struggled and their lives were far from extravagant. Although Helen did carry on writing children's books including one called Otto The Otter they did not capture the attention of publishers. It has left a bitter taste knowing that the family's lives could have been very different. Mr Mayer said: 'Then again, when Walt Disney was alive you had to be careful because they might have sued you for libel. You're going up against Goliath' Disney's fortunes, meanwhile, were transformed by the success of Dumbo, making up for the heavy losses suffered from its previous film, Fantasia. It left the studio able to embark on hits such as Bambi, Cinderella and Alice In Wonderland. Last year, the company recorded revenues of 45.4 billion. Three further Dumbo books were released, and a puppet-based TV series, Dumbo's Circus, ran during the 1980s. Dumbo The Flying Elephant features as a popular ride across Disney's theme parks. Helen's family twice attempted to recoup royalties but, because there was no copyright, Disney insisted it owed them nothing. Mr Mayer said: 'We wanted them to recognise my mother made a mistake. The answer was always no.' Last night Disney failed to respond to requests for comment. According to Mr Mayer, whenever Dumbo was shown, Helen felt a 'sense of pride' but it was tempered with sadness. She was particularly careful to check her name featured on the credits. Today, however, Mr Mayer is not even sure he will see the updated movie out of respect for his mother, whose emotions he knows would be hugely conflicted. He said wryly: 'We're not going to cry tears if it doesn't make multi millions.' An exclusive report in The Mail on Sunday that British Special Forces have been wounded while fighting on the same side as child soldiers in Yemen has triggered a United Nations investigation. Our devastating expose last week told how Special Boat Service commandos had been wounded during top-secret operations in the conflict that has left millions facing starvation. The report sparked furious questions in the Commons over Britains complicity in its support for Saudi Arabia, which is allied to the Yemeni government fighting rebels backed by Iran in the four-year civil war. An exclusive report in the Mail on Sunday that British Special forces have been wounded while fighting on the same side as child soldiers in Yemen has triggered a United Nations investigation. Above: taken on the front line in December, the first harrowing pictures of child soldiers, their faces etched with the horrors they have seen Charities say Yemeni children of 13 are considered old enough to fight by elders. The MoS report casts doubt over the veracity of the Governments often-repeated claim that the UK is not a party to the war. There have been repeated claims that Saudi-backed forces have committed war crimes in attacks on the Houthi rebels. Just days ago, a hospital was hit by a suspected Saudi air strike on a gas station near a hospital, resulting in the death of at least seven people, including four children. The Ministry of Defence has previously been forced to defend its support for Saudi Arabia after it emerged that RAF engineers are being used to repair Saudi combat aircraft and, as the MoS previously revealed, British infantry soldiers are training Saudi troops before they deploy to Yemen. The UK also has military liaison officers embedded in the kingdoms military headquarters. Following our article last week we received a request for information by the United Nations official panel of experts on Yemen which advises the UNs security council on the state of the conflict. We have agreed to pass on evidence about child soldiers provided by our sources to the UN. We are also publishing for the first time today pictures understood to be of Yemeni child soldiers taken in late 2018. Last Tuesday, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry asked a Foreign Office Minister whether British Forces are providing support to local militia forces in Yemen who send children aged as young as 13 into battle. Mark Field MP responded: We still hold the firm view that we are not a party to the conflict. Clearly we are supportive of Saudi Arabia which has been a long-standing ally. The Mail on Sunday makes some very serious allegations and I am keen we get to the bottom of them. MPs also submitted written questions to Ministers about the MoS story. Former Foreign Minister Andrew Mitchell, who has accused the UK Government of being shamefully complicit in Saudi Arabias role in Yemen, asked: What recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of operations involving British Armed Forces in Yemen in the last six months? Defence Minister Mark Lancaster replied: None. Another image obtained by The Mail on Sunday. A source last night told this newspaper the boys in the pictures seemed far older as they handled AK47 rifles and pistols. Their ages are unknown, with no formal records of birth in tribal areas Officially, the Government does not comment on the whereabouts or actions of UK Special Forces, even in response to parliamentary questions. But the MoS has confirmed that around ten to 15 SBS personnel are deployed inside Yemen. The SBS force includes medics, interpreters and intelligence officers and their mission is to advise official Saudi and Yemeni government troops. It is understood that while these commandos are not deployed in an offensive role they are permitted to return fire to protect themselves. Yemens four-year civil war began in March 2015 when Iranian-backed Houthi gunmen forced the countrys president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of power and into exile. Saudi Arabia and its allies including the United Arab Emirates, then began a hugely controversial bombing campaign which has seen hospitals and schools destroyed. Did Saudis use a British service jet to bomb children's hospital? Saudi Arabia was blamed last week for an air strike in which at least four children were killed in a hospital. It is speculated the missile blast in Yemen may have had the unwitting involvement of RAF personnel, who service Saudi aircraft. The strike on a gas station left a total of at least seven people dead in the nearby hospital, which is supported by the charity Save The Children. Saudi Arabia was blamed last week for an air strike on in which at least four children were killed in a hospital. The strike on a gas station left at least seven people dead in the nearby hospital, which is supported by the charity Save The Children. By servicing the aircraft, it is speculated that RAF personnel may have had involvement The atrocity was internationally condemned, with the State Department of the US Saudi Arabias ally calling for an investigation into the awful incident. The missile is presumed to have been air-launched but it is not known by which aircraft and no one has claimed responsibility. The coalition of Saudi Arabia and its allies has been repeatedly accused by human rights groups of targeting civilians claims the coalition denies. It was revealed earlier this year that RAF personnel are servicing Saudi warplanes. The British forces staff are seconded to BAE systems, which sells arms to the kingdoms regime. RAF personnel service Tornadoes used by the Saudi Air Force. Advertisement As many as 60,000 people have died in the fighting while three million Yemenis have been internally displaced and eight million Yemenis rely on international aid agencies for food. Tomorrow evening a documentary by Channel 4 Dispatches on Yemen called Britains Hidden War will challenge more of the UKs claims about its support for the Saudi military campaign. The programme includes an interview with a former US diplomatic advisor who spent more than a year at the Saudi military command centre in Riyadh. Larry Lewis questions the role of US and UK military advisers and suggests they are removed from the decision making process. He also claims Saudi pilots neglect to check no strike lists, intended to protect civilians, before dropping their bombs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been asked if his budget handout to help millions of struggling Australians with their power bills might come off 'a little desperate'. Mr Frydenberg vowed a one-off handout of $125 as a 'gift' to four million Australians to help ease the cost of living. The budget is set to be announced on Tuesday at 7.30pm, when Australians will find out how they will benefit or lose - which could sway the way the population votes in the federal election. 'This budget will build a stronger economy and secure a better future for all Australians,' Mr Frydenberg said on the Today show on Sunday. The budget will be announced on Tuesday 7:30pm - which could sway how the population votes (stock) 'It's going to ease the cost of living pressures, it's going to fund infrastructure that is going to bust congestion in our cities, and unlock the potential of our regions.' The Energy Assistance Payment - $75 for singles and $125 for couples - will be paid into the bank accounts of 3.9 million veterans, carers, single parents, aged pensioners and people receiving the disability support pension before July. 'You are going to be sending out cheques in the mail to help with the power prices. Isn't that looking a little desperate?' Channel Nine political editor Chris Uhlmann asked the treasurer. My Frydenberg denied the payment roll-out is 'desperate' and 'not a cash splash', insisting it will benefit Australians who are struggling. 'This is a time for responsible spending, targeted spending into key areas that lift the productive capacity of the economy,' he said. 'This is money that is going to go into people's pockets to help meet the cost of their next power bill.' 'This is money that is going to go into people's pockets to help meet the cost of their next power bill,' Mr Frydenberg said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Energy Assistance Payment would go a long way to lift the burden for many people across the different states (stock image) The treasurer also promised a surplus for the 2019/20 financial year, but pushed back criticism that the surplus was due to the under spending of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). 'It is a demand-driven program and as of the end of last year there were 250,000 people who were in the NDIS, 78,000 of whom hadn't received disability support before, and it is going to 460,000,' Mr Frydenberg said. 'Everybody who is in the NDIS is fully funded through this government and through this budget. We will meet every cent of our commitment to the NDIS.' Mr Frydenberg also argued that wages, which have stagnated in recent years, are picking up compared to this point last year. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the coalition had over-estimated wage growth in every single budget it had handed down But shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the coalition had over-estimated wage growth in every single budget it had handed down. 'The treasurer changes from budget to budget, it seems. But the fact that they don't meet their wages forecast doesn't change,' Mr Bowen told ABC's Insiders. Mr Bowen said if Labor wins the May federal election the party will do its own version of the budget shortly afterwards. 'If we win, we will bring down a major economic statement in the third quarter of the year, which will in effect be the first budget of a Shorten Labor government,' he said. 'We need to reset the economic settings. We need to update the forecasts with the new government in place.' A spokesman for Sarah Ferguson said she is 'open to collaborating with Will.i.am', who will turn her poetry into music Her varied and controversial career has included spells as an author, television presenter and charity fundraiser. Now Sarah Ferguson plans to dazzle as a poet and musical collaborator. The Duchess of York is embarking on a new venture by teaming up with rap artist Will.i.am, 44, who will put her words to music. According to sources close to the former wife of Prince Andrew, the Duchess who has published more than 40 books has started writing poetry and has been telling friends how much she is enjoying learning a new skill. The 59-year-old is also said to be planning to write poetry with Chickenshed, the London-based charity and theatre group which is supported by celebrities including David Walliams, Emma Bunton and Cliff Richard. A spokesperson for the Duchess told The Mail on Sunday: Fergie is open to collaborating with Will.i.am. She has been writing poems. The collaboration comes after The Voice judge real name William Adams said he wanted to put some of the Duchesss sonnets to music during an interview to promote the ITV talent show. I want to do a project with Fergie. I want to do her poetry over my beats, he said. Royal Fergie does poetry, right? Imagine her reciting poetry over my beats. The partnership may seem unlikely, but the chart-topping musician is friendly with Sarah, Prince Andrew, 59, and their elder daughter, Beatrice, 30. Sarah reportedly introduced Will.i.am to Andrew, whom she divorced amicably in 1996, when they visited the musicians charity in his home neighbourhood of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles. With his former Black Eyed Peas bandmate Stacy Ferguson also using the nickname Fergie, Will.i.am is said to refer to Sarah as the real Fergie. Will.i.am is said to refer to Sarah as the real Fergie after his former Black Eyed Peas bandmate Stacy Ferguson went by the same name Shes my home girl. We do tea all the time and stuff, he revealed. She came to my ghetto Royal Fergie and Prince Andrew came to my ghetto to mentor the kids at my school. I love Fergie. And her daughter Beatrice is the coolest, I love her eyes. While her ability as a poet is so far unknown, the Duchess has previously written for both children and adults. After penning autobiographies and weight-loss plans for her adult readers, her popular childrens stories include Little Red and Tea For Ruby, which topped the New York Times bestseller list on its debut. The Duchess has also been involved in other creative projects: she was a producer on the 2009 film The Young Victoria, which starred Emily Blunt, and had a cameo role in the hit US sitcom Friends. Despite her willingness to support herself through a variety of business ventures, the Duchesss money problems have been well documented. At one point, her overdraft at the Queens bank Coutts stood at 5 million. After her divorce, Fergie admitted she had little understanding of money thanks to her lavish but restrictive life as a member of the Royal Family. She raised eyebrows within royal circles when she decided to take on speaking engagements and signed a multi-million-pound ambassador contract with Weight Watchers in the US. Fergie told Harpers Bazaar in 2007 that she had chosen a small divorce settlement in order to stay on good terms with the Queen and added that her decision to divorce was a financial one. I wanted to work, she said. Its not right for a princess of the Royal House to be commercial, so Andrew and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job. A Pennsylvania woman who gave birth in a restroom at her work and left the baby boy partially submerged in the toilet has pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment. Emmanuella Osei had denied her pregnancy to her friends, family and co-workers. She left behind a two-year-old daughter in Ghana when she moved to the US to live with her uncle last May. The 23-year-old entered her plea in front of Judge Margaret C. Miller during a court hearing Tuesday. Emmanuella Osei, 23, gave birth in a restroom at her Pennsylvania job in January. Osei faces up to 10 years in prison on the second-degree felony charge when she's sentenced later this year after pleading guilty Tuesday The Lancaster District Attorney's office says Osei was working at a group home on Parkside Lane in Warwick Township January 16 when she told colleagues she felt ill. After asking her supervisor for to relieve her she went to a restroom and phoned her manager, asking them to call 911. Police say she never mentioned that she'd given birth but when they entered the restroom they found what appeared to be an umbilical cord. Northern Lancaster County Regional police officers noted the door was partially open and she was surrounded by a large amount of blood. They performed CPR on the newborn who was cold and unresponsive and believed to have been submerged for 10 to 15 minutes. Osei didnt attempt to help save the babys life. Osei didnt attempt to help save the babys life. She is seen above in her mugshot The baby was hospitalized in critical condition but has since recovered. He was placed in a foster home. 'The quick thinking and actions of Corporal Ochs almost certainly saved this childs life,' District Attorney Craig Stedman said. 'This is a reminder of how much our men and women in uniform do for us.' At the time of her law enforcement interview Osei admitted having visited the emergency room on January 4. Osei remained locked up at Lancaster County Prison without bail after her arrest at Reading hospital in January. She was not given bond because she could flee to Ghana where police said. The Reading woman faces up to 10 years in prison on the second-degree felony charge when she's sentenced later this year after a background investigation. A woman in her 40s is in a 'critical condition' after she was stabbed in the back by a six-foot man. She was rushed to an east London hospital after being attacked on Aberdeen Road, Edmonton, just after 7pm yesterday evening. It is the third knife attack in the capital in as many days after a man in his 40s was stabbed to death through a car window and another was killed near a London mosque. A woman in her 40s is in a 'critical condition' in hospital after she was stabbed in the back by a six-foot man on a north London street She was stabbed on Aberdeen Road, Edmonton, just after 7pm yesterday Metropolitan Police described the attacker as a black man, approximately 6ft 3inches tall, of skinny build and wearing dark clothing, possibly a hooded top. No arrests have been made and a crime scene remains in place. Anyone with information relating to the attack is asked to call 101 or tweet @MetCC, quoting CAD6471/30Mar. Alternatively, they can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. On Friday, a man in his 40s named locally as Gavin Garraway, was stabbed through the window of his black VW polo by three men. Police were called to Clapham Park Road, south-west London, at around 2.30pm where the victim had driven into a lamp post as he desperately tried to escape. Police shield a body outside the Belle Vue pub next to Clapham Common tube station after a 40 year man was stabbed to death on Friday According to witnesses, the thugs approached the victim's vehicle and - after trying to smash the window open with a pair of crutches - stabbed him through a gap Before it happened, according to witnesses, the thugs approached his vehicle and - after trying to smash the window open with a pair of crutches - stabbed him through the gap. The trio were then reportedly seen 'laughing' as they fled the scene, with the victim left bleeding out with his foot on the accelerator. On Thursday Zahir Visiter, 25, was stabbed to death by criminals that then ran into London Central Mosque near Regent's Park. They reportedly 'washed their hands and faces' to blend in with worshippers and pretended to be arriving for prayers before changing clothes in a toilet and disappearing. Police have said the incident is not terror-related and the killers are not linked to the mosque. The victim is thought to have lived in a nearby estate. A security guard at the mosque said the men, who were both white with long hair, washed their faces and feet to appear as if they were arriving for prayers. Witnesses say two knifemen ran into London Central Mosque (pictured) near Regent's Park last night to escape the police Friday's death was the 31st murder in London so far this year - and the 14th in March Filming for the latest series of hit BBC show Line of Duty almost sparked a major police incident, its star has revealed. Actor Stephen Graham, 45, who plays the leader of a 'ruthless gang of violent criminals', has revealed shock details about last year's filming in Belfast. He recalled one scene in which he and fellow cast members drove through the city wearing balaclavas and carrying machine guns. Actor Stephen Graham, 45, who plays the leader of a 'ruthless gang of violent criminals', has revealed shock details about last year's filming in Belfast The new series, which starts tonight, will see Graham play John Corbett, a character with some connection to the so-called balaclava men (pictured in a still from the new series) 'There was one bit when we'd just committed a robbery and we shot off, and we were actually driving through the streets of Belfast with our balaclavas and machine guns in the car and we realised we better get back to set,' he said. 'So that was quite funny, but wouldn't have been too funny if people had seen. It was all a lot of fun.' The new series, which starts tonight, will see Graham play John Corbett, a character with some connection to the so-called balaclava men. The show centres around a tight trio who form part of AC-12, a secretive internal police department that investigates corrupt coppers. When three police officers are shot dead during the hijack of a seized drugs transport, AC-12 move in to investigate possible police collusion. Graham, who has previously starred in Taboo and This Is England, will join series regulars Adrian Dunbar, Martin Compston and Vicky McClure. Its creator Jed Mercurio, who also wrote the hit BBC One drama, Bodyguard, has promised 'more action scenes' this year. Newbies: Series five's newcomers Stephen Graham and Rochenda Sandall pictured in a still from the show Graham, who has previously starred in Taboo and This Is England, will join series regulars Adrian Dunbar (right), Martin Compston (centre) and Vicky McClure (left) He said: 'In this series of Line of Duty we enter brand new territory, what we see is criminal activity on a large scale and were actually inside the planning and execution of that. 'So rather than the aftermath being investigated by AC-12, we are actually with the criminals as they commit their offences. 'That means that there is high jeopardy and big action sequences, in fact probably more action sequences over the first few episodes of the series than were ever done before.' Season five will show the inner workings of a criminal gang, something the series hasn't done before. And will follow the so called balaclava men, an organised criminal group whove been featured on and off through the preceding four seasons. Star-studded: The full cast will return for Line Of Duty on 31 March Describing Graham's character, Mercurio said: 'John Corbett is probably our most dangerous and villainous character that weve ever featured as an antagonist. 'Hes involved in serious criminal offences, hes the leader of a ruthless gang of violent criminals and I would say that he presents probably the biggest ever challenge to AC-12.' He recalled how Graham was 'an absolute pleasure' to work with, and how his has 'admired his work for years'. He said: 'He works incredibly hard on the naturalism of the scenes so that when you do a take it feels like its live, feels like it is real.' Accused Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant has filed a formal complaint claiming he is being denied his basic rights behind bars. Australian-born Tarrant, 28, has been jailed at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo since he was charged with murder for allegedly gunning down 50 Muslim worshippers at two mosques on March 15. Tarrant has reportedly lodged a complaint with the Department of Corrections to contest his situation in prison where he currently is not permitted visitors, phone calls, or access to television or newspapers, Stuff reported. Accused gunman Brenton Tarrant has filed a complaint with the New Zealand Department of Corrections claiming he is being denied his basic rights behind bars Australian-born Tarrant, 28, has been jailed at Auckland Prison (pictured) since he was charged with murder, and currently is not permitted access to visitors, phone calls, or newspapers 'He's under constant observation and isolation. He doesn't get the usual minimum entitlements. So no phone calls and no visits,' a prison source told the publication. According to New Zealand's Corrections Act, inmates are entitled to making outgoing phone calls, sending or receiving mail, medical treatment, bedding, food and drink, access to visitors, access to information and education, among other things. The law also states a prisoner can be denied these rights if there is an emergency in the prison, the security of the prison is threatened, or the health or safety of any person is threatened. It is unknown if Tarrant has fallen under these exceptions. A legal expert told the publication that Tarrant's complaint could be well founded as the 'rule of the law applies' to all prisoners. Tarrant is currently under the watchful eye of prison guards and CCTV for 24 hours a day as he is kept in his cell segregated from other inmates. The gunman is accused of opening fire on two Christchurch mosques and killing 50 Muslim worshippers on March 15 He is allowed access to small yard, made up of concrete walls and floors, connected to his cell for one hour a day, the source said. He has been described as 'unlike anyone else we've got'in the jail, but has been 'compliant.' The suspected gunman was charged with one count of murder on March 16 but is expected to face additional charges when he returns to court on April 5. He will appear through an audio-visual link, and will represent himself. Channel 4 was last night forced to issue a grovelling apology after its veteran presenter Jon Snow said he had never seen so many white people in one place while reporting on a pro-Brexit rally. The 71-year-old broadcaster made the inflammatory remark as he described a crowd of Leave supporters demonstrating in Westminster on Friday evening. Speaking from outside the Houses of Parliament, he said: Its been the most extraordinary day. A day which has seen I have never seen so many white people in one place, its an extraordinary story. There are people everywhere, there are crowds everywhere. His comments provoked a furious reaction on social media. Channel 4 has been forced to apologise after news anchor Jon Snow, 71, said he had never seen so many white people in one place while reporting on a pro-Brexit rally Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of the Michaela Community School in Wembley, North London, said: The reason Jon Snows words are offensive to us all and not just to whites is because they judge us by the colour of our skin and not the content of our character. Ryan Wills, a father-of-two who was caught up in the crowds in Westminster, took to Twitter to dispute Snows reporting. I happened to be in Westminster after work. The white comment couldnt be further from the truth. I witnessed a diverse crowd all there for different reasons, supporting the same cause, he wrote. Another shocked Twitter user, Martin Webb, asked: Did Jon Snow really say hes never seen so many white people in one place? Inciting racial discrimination in the most multicultural city in our country? In a statement, Channel 4 described Mr Snows remarks as an unscripted observation at the very end of a long week of fast-moving Brexit developments. It added: Jon has covered major events such as this over a long career and this was a spontaneous comment reflecting his observation that in a London demonstration of that size, ethnic minorities seemed to be significantly under-represented. We regret any offence caused by his comment. A spokesman for Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, said: We will assess any complaints we do receive before deciding whether or not to investigate. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage described Mr Snow as an appalling man and accused Channel 4 News of being blatantly biased. Nigel Farage said Mr Snow was an appalling man and accused Channel 4 News of being blatantly biased The newscaster is no stranger to controversy and has been accused of Left-wing bias at various points during his career. The son of a bishop, he claims to have rejected an approach by the security services to spy on Left-wing people in the TV industry in 1976 when he was starting out as a reporter with ITN. Two years ago, he was photographed at Glastonbury. The picture was tweeted by another festival-goer, who said: Boss place that Glasto. Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dream are made of. Mr Snow failed to deny the claim, saying only: After a day at Glastonbury I can honestly say I have no recollection of what was chanted, sung or who I took over 1,000 selfies with. At the time, a Channel 4 spokesman said he had been warned about future conduct and his responsibilities around due impartiality. Mr Snow famously refuses to wear a poppy while presenting the news on Remembrance Day and brands criticism of him for doing so poppy fascism. However, he does wear a poppy off-air. The broadcaster has also been accused of being openly pro-Remain and of regularly tweeting apparently anti-Brexit statements. Fellow broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer described Mr Snows comments on Friday as unbelievably shocking. She tweeted mockingly: God knows what Jon Snow made of the Hay literary festival, where he spoke last year. Another shocked Twitter user said: I cant watch this without feeling seething anger. What a disgrace. Do I have to apologise for attending a rally which supports the majority in the referendum because I am white? Thousands of Eurostar passengers endured misery yesterday after a pro-Brexit protester with a St Georges flag clambered on to a viaduct near St Pancras Station in London. The incident came as police chiefs are said to be increasingly uneasy about the potential for protests and demonstrations over the Brexit deadlock. The demonstration on the viaduct, used by Eurostar trains, began shortly before 7pm on Friday and forced power to the overhead lines to be switched off, leaving trains unable to enter or depart from the station. The demonstration was on a viaduct near London St Pancras which is used by Eurostar trains It led to thousands of passengers being stranded at the station, after 13 services were cancelled Eurostar, which runs trains between London, Paris and Brussels, cancelled 13 services, disrupting the journeys of up to 9,700 passengers. A group of 40 American tourists from Colorado who had been due to catch a train to Paris at 7.55am yesterday were stranded in London until 6pm after their train was cancelled. Kristen Nabers, 41, and Payson Schwin, 38, from Georgia, USA, were due to visit the French capital for a five-day trip with their two children. Ms Nabers said: Were not opposed to peoples right to protest, but when Ive protested, Ive made sure not to disrupt anyone. Eurostar services resumed at 11am yesterday but delays to London-bound trains continued throughout the day. A 44-year-old man was arrested yesterday morning for trespass and obstruction of the railway. Small groups of protesters gathered in Central London again yesterday, stopping traffic on Westminster Bridge. Chris Hobbs, a retired Metropolitan Police special branch officer, told The Mail on Sunday: Its likely that we will see more, probably fairly isolated, outbreaks of civil disobedience. Police generally feel uneasy over the whole Brexit issue. Earlier this month, lorry drivers caused a five-mile tailback on the A30 in Cornwall after driving in a so-called Brexit blockade. Meghan Markle is reportedly poised to defy four years of Royal tradition by snubbing the Lindo Wing where the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana both gave birth. Instead, sources claim the Duchess of Sussex will opt for a maternity unit near to her and Prince Harry's home in Windsor - Frogmore Cottage - to avoid the 'stress' of the massive global interest in her pregnancy. And Meghan's decision to rebuff St Mary's Hospital's famous wing is also reportedly so the mother-to-be is not seen to be 'copying' Kate. The Duchess of Sussex will opt for a maternity unit near to her and Prince Harry's home in Windsor 'Harry and Meghan realise there is intense public interest but this baby is not a direct heir to the throne and they want the birth to be as private as possible', the source told the Sun. 'Meghan is nervous about complications such as an emergency Caesarean and doesn't want the pressure of having to look immaculate on the hospital steps just hours later.' Both Princess Diana and the Duchess of Cambridge posed on the steps of Paddington's Lindo Wing after delivering their respective Royals. The source said that the Duchess of Sussex did not want to be 'primped and blow-dried to within an inch of her life' immediately after giving birth but wanted to spent the precious time with her newborn. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (pictured holding Louis) posed on the steps of Paddington's Lindo Wing after delivering their three children Princess Anne was the first Royal to give birth in the Lindo Wing when her son Peter Phillips was born there in 1977. The revelations of Meghan's shunning of the hospital comes after Kensington Palace were forced to deny a flurry of reports that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were going to bring up their child 'with a fluid approach to gender'. And stories of an ongoing rift between the Cambridges and the Sussexes - the so-called 'fab four' - are continuing to make headlines. MailOnline approached Kensington Palace for a comment. Ziya (pictured) is the only known child in Australia to have the genetic condition, and is thought to be just one of 11 children worldwide to suffer from it A devastated mother has described her turmoil at discovering her baby girl had a terminal condition and is unlikely to live past ten years old. Preeti Raghwani's life changed forever when doctors diagnosed her baby daughter Ziya with a form of mitochondrial disease known as KARS in October 2018. The genetic condition is so rare Ziya, from Perth, is the only known child in Australia to have it - and she's believed to be just one of 11 worldwide to suffer from it. Despite the severity of the condition, Preeti, who has taken indefinite leave from her job as a physiotherapist to act as Ziya's full-time carer, said she had no ill-signs during her pregnancy. But at just two and a half months old, Ziya began suffering a series of severe seizures which led to a six month long investigation to figure out what was wrong with her. 'I woke up one night and she was shaking and shivering. It's like I had a premonition that made me wake up and check on her cot,' Preeti told Daily Mail Australia. 'We took her to the hospital and it escalated quickly. We were surrounded by doctors who warned us we might lose her. 'They said they couldn't give her anymore medication, and the best thing to do was to put her in an induced coma. Preeti Raghwani (pictured left), from Perth, had her life changed forever in October 2018 when doctors diagnosed her baby daughter Ziya (pictured right) with a form of mitochondrial disease Preeti says the toughest part of being in and out of hospital was the not knowing what was wrong with Ziya (pictured right) 'It was surreal and so scary. It felt like something you see in the movies. But I had to try and keep it together, my husband Janesh was beside himself,' Preeti said. Thankfully Ziya, who also suffers from profound hearing loss, pulled through and was eventually allowed home. But the seizures persisted and poor Ziya spent months in and out of hospital, while doctors remained flummoxed as to what could be causing the seizures. Ziya (pictured left, with her mother Preeti right) spent months in and out of hospital, while doctors remained flummoxed as to what could be causing the seizures 'Ziya's spent almost half her life in hospital,' Preeti said. 'We were in hospital every week, it got to the point where we made sure always to have our bags packed incase Ziya had a seizure and we had to go to the hospital. 'Even now we have our bags packed,' she added. Although the family were under tremendous pressure with the frequent hospital visits, Preeti said the not knowing was the hardest part. 'I felt like I was in a hole. And I wanted to come out of this hole. The worst thing for a parent is the not knowing. 'You know what the doctor is going to tell you isn't going to be nice, but you almost what to hear it because the not knowing is gut-wrenching,' she said. 'The doctors were unrelenting in their efforts to figure out what was wrong, but I think at one point they almost gave up.' But in October last year, the Genetic services of Western Australia rang Preeti to say they had found an isolated a gene that could be the possible cause of Ziya's condition. In October last year, the Genetic services of Western Australia rang Preeti to say they had found an isolated a gene that could be the possible cause of Ziya's (pictured) condition Preeti (pictured left) said the severe side effects of the condition has caused Ziya (pictured right) to start losing skills And a biopsy conducted a short while later confirmed that Ziya was one of the very few people in the world to suffer with KARS. Recounting the tragic moment she found out her daughter's life would be cut short Preeti said she was 'heartbroken'. 'I felt devestated, absolutely heartbroken. When you hold a baby in your arms for the first time you vision their whole life. I felt robbed of that. I was robbed of that. It's the most devastating thing,' she said. 'The only thing we can do now is make each and every day count, and raise awareness for this condition. We want Ziya to be able to leave behind a legacy. Preeti also has another daughter, three-yea-old Mahi (pictured right) who has been 'amazing and resilient' in the situation - will need to have the treatment one day (Ziya pictured left) 'For now all we can do is enjoy the good moments. As long as she's fighting I'll be fighting with her.' Preeti said the severe side effects of the condition has sadly caused Ziya to start regressing. Yet at just two and a half months old Ziya (pictured) began suffering a series of severe seizures 'She had this massive seizure and it's like it reset her to zero, she's not changed since. Its life limiting and she won't live past ten or 11 years old,' she said. 'Every day is a challenge and she's often in a lot of pain and there's nothing you can do about it.' 'She can't do any normal stuff, she's basically stuck. She's loosing skills, she's regressing. 'She' takes medication every day and she's fighting for her life every day.' Preeti has now dedicated her life to raising awareness for Mitochondrial diseases and the potential preventative steps the government can take to help put a stop the condition. 'There is a is a breakthrough IVF technique called Mitochondrial donation which allows people with gene mutations like Ziya to have healthy children without this condition stopping the next generation from having it. Preeti has now dedicated herself to raising awareness for Mitochondrial diseases and the potential preventative steps the government can take to help 'We hope that Ziya's story helps inspire the government to act on this and legalise it as it has been done in the UK. What is mitochondrial disease? Mitochondrial disease is a debilitating genetic disorder It robs the body's cells of energy, causing multiple organ dysfunction or failure and potentially death Mitochondrial disease affects 1 in 5000 people It is the second most commonly diagnosed, serious genetic disease after cystic fibrosis One Australian child born each week will develop a severe or life-threatening form of mitochondrial disease There are many forms of mitochondrial disease; it is highly complex and can affect anyone of any age Mitochondrial disease can cause any symptom in any organ at any age Source: Mito Foundation Advertisement 'If my Ziya can contribute to that she will have accomplished more than I had ever dreamt of the day I held her in my arms for the first time,' Preeti said. Preeti also has another daughter, three-year-old Mahi who has been 'amazing and resilient' in the situation - and said she will need to have the treatment one day. Preeti is also taking on the Bloody Long Walk in Perth in September, in order to raise funds for further research into mitochondrial donation. 'I urge anyone to walk with me. We need numbers to attract the attention from the government and raise awareness,' she said. 'Anyone in Perth or in Australia please come and stand in solidarity with me so we can get Mitochondrial donation legalised,' she concluded. More than 120,000 Australians may carry genetic changes that put them at risk of developing mitochondrial disease or other related symptoms including diabetes, deafness or seizures during their lifetimes. More than a thousand miles of roads could be resurfaced as 200million is pumped in to filling in Britain's potholes. The Department for Transport (DfT) will give local authorities a pot of 50million to share between them for pothole repairs. And 151million will be handed out to reward examples of best practice. The Department for Transport (DfT) will give local authorities a pot of 50million to share between them for pothole repairs The DfT calculated that the money could resurface more than 1,000 miles of road. It said the investment comes from the 6.6 billion the Government is providing for local road improvements in the six years to 2021. The DfT is also funding research to develop ways of preventing potholes through new road surface materials or repair techniques such as 3D printing. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'Every motorist knows that potholes have been a problem in the last few years. That is why the Government is continuing to step up its funding to local authorities to address this. 'It is now up to highways authorities to innovate and use new technologies to solve the problem.' A report published last week warned that councils in England and Wales would need to spend nearly 10 billion over a decade to bring all their roads up to scratch. The study by the Asphalt Industry Alliance found that the number of potholes repaired by local authorities rose by more than a fifth last year, roughly in line with an increase in highway maintenance budgets. A report published last week warned that councils in England and Wales would need to spend nearly 10 billion over a decade to bring all their roads up to scratch AA president Edmund King said: 'Recent increases in funding means that the country is beginning to find its way out of the road rut. 'This 201 million road repair fund and a milder winter presents an opportunity to begin to catch up on the backlog. 'But this funding needs to be sustained to make meaningful inroads to improve the condition of our highways.' Martin Tett, the Local Government Association's transport spokesman, said: 'Potholes are the scourge of all road users and this funding is good news to help councils repair them and pioneer innovative ways to stop them forming in the first place. 'While innovation will help councils who are fixing a pothole every 17 seconds, funding challenges remain for local authorities to deal with long-term maintenance of their local roads and address a backlog of road repairs which has risen to nearly 10 billion to provide better roads that are safer and more resilient to constant use. 'This is why we have called on the Government to also invest the equivalent of 2p of existing fuel duty to bring our roads up to scratch. 'Long-term funding will help to avoid more costly short-term repairs. The Government needs to address this in the forthcoming Spending Review.' This is the moment two women come to blows on a Massachusetts highway Friday. State police said that they received two calls from people who witnessed the two women drivers fighting on Route 128 in Danvers at about 10am. The fight, which stopped traffic in multiple lanes, was apparently initiated by one of the women rear-ending the other woman. Two Massachusetts women were caught on camera stopping traffic as they fought on the highway during a case of Friday morning road rage In one of the videos of the incident that surfaced, the brown coat-wearing driver of a station wagon can be seen standing in front of the driver's side door of a four-door car, remonstrating with its red coat-wearing driver, who falls out of her car. It then appears as if the minivan driver pulls the car door open further, resulting in the red coat-wearing woman tumbling out onto the highway. She quickly regains her footing and immediately starts trying to hit the other woman in the face. The two women then proceed to slap at each other, scream into each other's faces and otherwise wrestle. They don't stop until a third woman exits her car and intercedes. The minivan driver then gets into her car and speeds off. In a second video of the incident, one of the women can be heard screaming, 'Get the f**k off of me!' The women were seen screaming, as well as slapping and trying to hit each other They only stopped fighting when a third woman (in black) exited her own car to intervene The woman who recorded the video as she drove by can also be heard shouting that she is sending the video to the police, a claim which she apparently followed through on. State police told CBS Boston that by the time they arrived at the scene, both woman involved in the altercation were gone After the videos of the incident hit the internet, police said that one of the women came forward. They were able to track down the second woman from her license plate which was visible in one of the videos. Authorities have not yet released the names of the women involved in the fight, however they said that the driver of the Subaru Outback was a 33-year-old woman from Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the driver of the Nissan Altima was a 64-year-old woman from Beverly, Massachusetts. It is unclear if either woman will face any charges stemming from the incident. It has already been labelled a white elephant and condemned as an environmental blight. Now there are fears that HS2 could also cause a drought. Campaigners have accused project managers of taking an insane gamble by planning to build a two-mile viaduct that risks contaminating water and cutting off supplies for hundreds of thousands of people. The viaduct, which will span the Colne Valley Regional Park in West London, will require several hundred concrete piles to be drilled deep into chalk ground which holds huge amounts of water and supplies more than one billion litres each day. An architect's vision of the viaduct spanning the Colne Valley Regional Park in West London, which could contaminate water boreholes. It will require several hundred concrete piles to be drilled deep into chalk ground which holds huge amounts of water Affinity Water, one of the UKs biggest water firms, supplying 3.5 million customers across the Home Counties, draws 60 per cent of its water from the source, known as the Chiltern aquifer, via a series of boreholes. The HS2 rail line between London and Birmingham will pass close to six boreholes, including three in the Colne Valley Regional Park. Affinity warned Parliament six years ago that construction of the 56 billion railway could lead to pollution, causing the water supply to be entirely jeopardised. HS2 has paid Affinity 55 million to modify five treatment sites and two boreholes in a bid to protect water quality, but the Government has admitted that fully mitigating the risk is not possible due to the unpredictable nature of impacts on the aquifer. The first piles are scheduled to be sunk later this year and the Governments worst-case scenario is that three boreholes are destroyed, forcing Affinity to build new ones and divert emergency supplies from elsewhere in the country for a year at a cost of 77 million. Astonishingly, Ministers have agreed that taxpayers will foot the bill should supplies be disrupted. The first piles are scheduled to be sunk later this year and the Government's worst-case scenario is that three boreholes are destroyed, forcing Affinity to build new ones and divert emergency supplies from elsewhere in the country for a year at a cost of 77million (Above: artist's impression) Joe Rukin, campaign manager for Stop HS2, said: HS2 are taking an insane gamble with the water supply to hundreds of thousands of people. The problem with the Chiltern aquifer is that no one knows exactly how it works. When you start messing about with it, you simply do not know how much damage it is going to cause. And Tory MP Cheryl Gillan, through whose Buckinghamshire constituency the line will run, said: The potential contamination and interruption of our water supplies from HS2 construction cannot be underestimated. A spokesman for Affinity Water said: We will ensure customer supplies are maintained. HS2 said: We have worked for several years with the Environment Agency and Affinity Water on a range of a measures designed to ensure the continuity of water supply and the protection of the wider water environment. A double murderer who was one of only 70 prisoners in Britain told they would never be released has died of cancer in jail aged 52. Royston Jackson strangled teenager Stephen Raven to death in Essex in 1989. Mr Raven, who was 16, had his clothes taken off before his death - with his underpants put on inside out and back to front. Brutal: Turkey catcher Royston Jackson strangled teenager Stephen Raven in Essex in 1989 Turkey catcher Jackson was also convicted of murdering sex offender Gordon Boon. Jackson strangled Boon, 73, after the pair met at a probation hostel in Norwich. He murdered him then dumped his body down a country lane two years after being released from prison for murdering Mr Raven. Walkers found Boon's naked body in October 2008, dumped near the Bernard Matthews headquarters in Norfolk. He also killed Gordon Boon, a convicted sex offender, in 2008 after the pair met at a probation hostel in Norwich, 19 years after his first murder The pensioner had been to prison himself, for sex offences against a 13-year-old girl and another aged eight. At first, police thought Boon's death was a vigilante killing, until they linked him to Jackson. Both of Jackson's victims had been strangled and disposed of the same way and had a 'sexual overtone'. He has died at the age of 52 in HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire and was one of only 70 criminals told they would never be released from prison The killer was convicted of Boon's death in 2010 at Norwich Crown Court. A Prison Service spokesman said today: 'HMP Whitemoor prisoner Royston Jackson died in prison on 10 March 2019. 'As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.' Barclay Littlewood, right, pictured with wiufe Neve, has defended his firm UK Essays amid accusations he is helping students cheat by selling them academic work written by others As a born-again Christian, Barclay Littlewood likes to boast that his essay mills company operates by godly principles. But the millionaire businessman has been rebuked by the Church of England, which says such firms are unethical and dishonest. Mr Littlewood is the man behind UK Essays, one of a number of companies accused of helping students to cheat by selling them academic work written by others. Writing on his blog, Mr Littlewood says he is blessed to be the owner of UK Essays and its parent company, All Answers Ltd. The company is based on a few key tenements [sic] of life and business, these being honesty, respect and excellence, he says. You can read more about how I run my businesses by godly principles here. Turning to his critics, the former barrister, who appears in a photograph with his wife Neve, writes: Type Barclay Littlewood into Google and theres a little about me on the internet. Its mostly written by people with a heavily vested self-interest in portraying me a certain way, and almost always inaccurate. Ive made many mistakes in my life. Im not perfect, and I never will be. But the Church of England has announced its support for a Government drive to stamp out the growing problem of essay writing services. A Church spokesman said: In most instances, it is clear that these services facilitate submission of work which is not the students own, which is both unethical and dishonest, and can result in penalty action including expulsion. Essay mills hire graduates to complete assignments to a students required grade. Basic pieces cost as little as 60, while dissertations can cost thousands of pounds. Mr Littlewood said he website, pictured, is based on 'honesty, respect and excellence' Amid mounting concern, 46 university chiefs have called on the Government to introduce an outright ban. Professor Karen Stanton, chairman of the Cathedrals Group of 16 universities, said the essays industry undermines the integrity of university education. Last night a spokesman for UK Essays said: We hold our clients to ethical and honest standards and make sure theyre aware that by misusing our service, the penalties are severe. The deaths of two Japanese boys whose bodies were pulled out of a Queensland lake have puzzled authorities, who say it is 'unimaginable' how they could've drowned there. The two 16 year olds were found in Lake McKenzie in Fraser Island at about 8.20am on Saturday after they were reported missing from a school tourist group just after 5pm the previous day. The island's Mayor George Seymour expressed his shock at the tragedy saying the lake is a popular tourist destination where situations such as this are rare, 7News reported. The 16-year-old Japanese nationals were found in the water at Lake McKenzie (pictured) on Queensland's idyllic Fraser Island about 8.20am on Saturday 'It's really unimaginable how somebody, let alone two people, could drown there,' he said. 'It's a calm lake in the middle of an island whatever has happened is highly unusual.' Inspector Tony Clowes said it is unknown whether or not the boys knew how to swim but warned swimmers to 'know your abilities' when entering any body of water. Police are currently working with the Japanese consulate and will prepare at report for the coroner. Officials are also investigating the children's supervision as they did not travel with their families. The two teens were staying at the Kingfisher Bay Resort and staff have released a statement saying they are 'deeply saddened' by the incident. Authorities conducted a search and rescue operation on Friday with both water police and helicopters called in to help local police find the teenagers. Swift-water rescue crews, State Emergency Service officer and the Rural Fire Service were also called in to aid the search. Maryborough Patrol Group Inspector Tony Clowes called the deaths a 'tragedy' at a press conference on Saturday afternoon but said police continue to investigate. 'It's very early days in the investigation. This is a tragic event, no doubt about that,' he said. 'Certainly it would be confronting for all persons involved, including emergency services who responded.' A search and rescue operation was immediately commenced, with both water police and helicopters called in to help local police find the teenagers Police confirmed the two boys were on a school trip and were known to each other, but weren't related. Inspector Clowes said a full investigation is underway: 'We'll be speaking to all the witnesses available and putting together a full picture of exactly what occurred, the events, and the timing of the events.' 'We're also working very closely with the Japanese consulate in relation to this matter and providing any assistance we can in these tragic circumstances,' Inspector Clowes said. The two 16-year-old boys' next of kin has been notified and police will prepare a report for the coroner. Jeff Ellison from SeaLink Travel Group, who own Kingfisher Bay resort, confirmed the boys were on a group tour with guides and interpreters, the ABC reported. Mr Ellison said his staff members are cooperating with police in the investigation. 'Our whole team up there is deeply saddened about this tragic event and at the moment out thoughts are with the families and friends.' Some Bronx residents are claiming that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has abandoned them and aren't representing their interests while she's busy fighting for her Green New Deal. Ocasio-Cortez has been making national headlines for her efforts on behalf of the environmentally-friendly Green New Deal her first piece of legislation since she submitted it February 7, just over a month after she was sworn into office. Residents of Ocasio-Cortez's 14th district in her New York City hometown told the New York Post that since she took office, they haven't been unable to get the US Representative to pay attention to pertinent local issues including cleaning up parks and sorting out mail delivery issues. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire from some of her constituents in the Bronx who claim that she is not paying enough attention to local issues now that she's in office Local activist Roxanne Delgado, of the Bronx, said that she had been calling Ocasio-Cortez's Washington DC and Queens offices in hopes of enlisting the newly-minted Democratic representative's help in trying to clean up local parks and save an animal shelter in the district. Delgado said that the calls, as well as a series of tweets directed at the 29-year-old's popular personal Twitter handle, have gone unanswered and claimed that Ocasio-Cortez's DC office phone line goes unanswered and that the voicemail was full. Another of Ocasio-Cortez's constituents, Bronx-resident Anthony Vitaliano, told the Post that he is hoping to get Ocasio-Cortez to throw her weight behind the community's efforts to get Amtrak to remove graffiti from some of the rail company's property in the neighborhood. And, during a community meeting in February, Vitaliano said that Ocasio-Cortez should attend a sitdown meeting with USPS official as they work to solve issues being had with mail delivery in the area. The constituents claim that she is too focused on national issues than ones in her district On March 1, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she was 'Calling the @USPS to figure out why my Morris Park [a Bronx neighborhood] constituents are only getting mail once every 2-3 days!' She then updated her constituents in a second tweet, noting that '@USPS is on it!' and that 'Were fixing mail! Solving problems! If youre in the Bronx, you know how big a deal the mail issue is here. This is big stuff people!!' Bronx activist Roxanne Delgado (pictured) said that she was unsuccessful in her attempts to reach Ocasio-Cortez for help with saving an animal shelter When a constituent tweeted at Ocasio-Cortez to add Bronx neighborhood Parkchester's post office to her list, she responded by saying that she was looking into that particular location. Vitaliano, however, said that despite Ocasio-Cortez's mail tweets and the fact that a representative from her office went to look at the Amtrak graffiti, he is still having problems with mail delivery and the graffiti is still there. Delgado, meanwhile, noted that the animal shelter was ultimately saved, but that it was only due to intervention from the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio's office. 'I thought AOC would be our savior, but thats not the case,' Delgado said. Vitaliano told the New York Post that Ocasio-Cortez's predecessors were much more attentive to local issues than she has been so far. 'She has to address these local issues,' Vitaliano told the New York Post. 'Her district is everywhere else in the US. Her heart is not in The Bronx.' Ocasio-Cortez opened her Queens office on March 4, but does not yet have an office in the Bronx, supposedly due to an inability to find a suitable location. She previously told the New York Post that was 'taking baby steps' and 'adapting according to community feedback' regarding instituting more and regular office hours in the city. Ocasio-Cortez recently spoke out about how she and her office have been receiving increasing numbers of death threats, which she believes correlates to disparaging statements lobbed against her by right-wing media organizations. 'Theres clearly a correlation between the intensity of Fox News and Breitbart and all those folks and the amount of threats that we get,' Ocasio-Cortez said on March 21, according to the New York Daily News, which reported that her Washington, DC-based staff recently had to receive risk-assessment training from Capitol Police. A man wearing a MAGA cap attacked another man with a sword outside a San Francisco roller-skating rink Friday night, police say. The victim is said to have grabbed the assailant's red 'Make America Great Again' hat during the bloody confrontation before being stabbed in his hand. He is said to have been approached by the suspect in the MAGA hat and a row broke out. In shocking images posted online the red hat - a symbol of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign - can be seen laying on the sidewalk surrounded by blood. Eyewitness David Miles said: 'I came outside. The guy was cut, he was bleeding like you wouldn't believe. He was just gushing blood, so we got the first aid kit from inside and tried to stop the bleeding.' Miles posted a shocking image of the aftermath of the incident on Facebook. It showed the red hat near a pool of blood. Other images show the cap left on the floor after the victim, who has not been named, is said to have chased his attacker before realizing the extent of his injuries. Shocking images posted online show the red hat - a symbol of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign - on the sidewalk surrounded by blood after a man was slashed with a sword Police say a man wearing a MAGA cap attacked another man outside a roller-skating rink Miles added: 'This is the last thing you think is going to happen. I'm very, very, very concerned. I don't really know what to think.' Scott Sweeney, 24, said he heard the attacker shouting homophobic slurs. He added: 'In my mind I didnt think it was a real sword until we came out later and police were on the scene and there was blood and the hat on ground.' Police had originally said the victim, who was stabbed in the hand, was wearing the hat, but later changed their statement. They are now said to be hunting for the sword-wielding assailant after he fled the scene and are searching security footage from the night after they were called to the scene around 9:50 p.m. to reports of a stabbing. The victim is said to have chased his attacker before realizing the extent of his injuries and being rushed to hospital The man was attacked Friday night outside the Church of 8 Wheels in San Francisco, police say Officer Robert Rueca told The San Francisco Chronicle that the unnamed victim, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was approached by another man and the two got into an argument. MAGA (Make America Great Again) was the slogan of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign but the hats have become the subject of increasing controversy in recent months. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators on 415-575-4444. A manhunt is underway for a thug who chased an American tourist through a carpark before knocking him unconscious and taunting him during the assault. CCTV footage shows the 32-year-old victim being followed after getting off a tram at the intersection of Bell Street and Plenty Road, in Preston, just outside Melbourne's CBD, about 11.22pm on Wednesday. He was seen walking through a car park when the man who was following him began yelling at him. The 32-year-old victim (left) was brutally bashed by an unknown man on Wednesday night The victim was then chased around the car park by the unidentified man before he was knocked unconscious. The attacker then continuously struck the victim, who suffered a brain bleed and a broken jaw in the vicious assault. As the bloodied victim lay on the floor, the perpetrator appeared to tower over him as he taunted him. The victim was knocked unconscious onto the ground and the perpetrator towered over him, taunting him He had lay there for 25 minutes before gaining strength and made his way to a main street where a passerby saw him and called emergency services. Detective Senior Constable Matthew Coleiro described the incident as 'a terrifying assault... incredibly disturbing.' He was rushed to Austin Hospital and underwent emergency brain surgery. Another surgery followed for his broken jaw. The attacker continuously struck the victim who suffered suffered a brain bleed and his jaw was broken in the vicious assault The victim had been holidaying in Australia for six weeks, and was scheduled to fly home on Saturday, but has been forced to delay returning home due to the injury. 'His family has been notified, but he just wants to go home,' Det. Snr. Const. Coleiro said. 'We're still trying to piece together the puzzle.' Police are searching for the attacker who is believed to be in his early 30s with a slim build and appears to be balding with short dark hair and a dark beard. At the time of the assault he was wearing a t-shirt with a white motif along the front and knee length cargo shorts. He was carrying a large backpack. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Australian couples are spending $20,000 to choose the eye colour and sex of their 'designer babies' at an overseas clinic. But critics have slammed the practice, claiming it is reminiscent of 'what the Nazis wanted to do'. The Fertility Institutes, which has clinics across the United States, Mexico, and India, revealed on Saturday it has helped 370 Australian couples choose their child's gender. The practice is banned in Australia. In addition to choosing the gender of their baby, 14 couples paid the controversial clinic to select their child's eye colour, with blue being the most requested. Aussie couples are spending $20,000 on 'designer babies' at overseas clinics operated by The Fertility Institutes (stock) Couples are using the service to choose the gender and eye colour of their babies. The practice has been banned in Australia since 2017 In 2009, the clinic attempted to introduce a service to choose not only the gender and eye colour, but also skin and hair colour. The practice was abolished within weeks amid public scrutiny, but the clinic continued offering the tests for gender and eye colour. The Brisbane geneticist who helped draw up the 2017 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) ban on using IVF to choose a baby's gender or appearance has spoken out against the practice. Professor David Coman labelled eye-colour selection as 'eugenics' and 'grossly inappropriate in the Australian culture.' 'This is what the Nazis were wanting to do this is eugenics,' he told The Sunday Mail. The Fertility Institutes (pictured is one of its website pages) has clinics in the United States, Mexico, and India Dr Gino Pecoraro, a Brisbane obstetrician, said he was 'very alarmed' that anyone would offer eye colour selection through IVF and that it contains frightening implications. The Fertility Institutes labelled the critics as 'out of line and clearly out of touch', and called the criticism 'juvenile and uninformed', in a statement to the Sunday Mail. 'One should be very, very careful before assigning any aspect of science to Nazism,' it said. The clinic said choosing a baby's eye colour is important to those selecting, and adds that it has a 90 to 95 per cent success rate in doing so for parents who are pre-screened to carry the correct 'genetic codes.' The clinic also said its nurses assist patients in finding medicos in Australia who can help them start the treatment. Professor David Coman (pictured), a geneticist from Brisbane, labelled the practices 'eugenics' and 'grossly inappropriate in the Australian culture' Eye colour selection is done by testing the parents and selecting embryos created through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and due to high demand has an 18-month wait. The NRMRC warned on Saturday that it would be illegal for Australian doctors to co-operate with any foreign clinics offering eye colour or gender selection. But, according to The Age, Australian clinics are actively involved in 'sending' clients to America. The United States is one of the few places in the world where gender selection is not prohibited at IVF clinics and it has a fertility industry - worth $5.8billion in 2018 - which remains largely unregulated. Saturday Night Live poked fun at the Jussie Smollett case this weekend after all charges against the Empire star were dropped. The evenings host Sandra Oh was joined by Chris Redd, playing Smollett, in a red MAGA hat as he tried to explain his lateness to his bosses on the show. After turning up late to a meeting discussing his future on Empire Redds Smollett says: 'Guys, you're not going to believe what just happened to me. 'I know what you're thinking but it's not that. I got attacked again.' In the new sketch executives, played by Kate McKinnon, Ego Nwodim and Mickey Day, reply: 'That's exactly what we were thinking, Jussie.' Redds Smollett replies: 'Oh, good, so you believe me.' He goes onto claim he is 'still the gay Tupac' who was able to fight off his attackers because he is 'the gay Mike Tyson'. At a sold-out concert in West Hollywood, California, in February the real Smollett announced that he fought back against his attackers, calling himself 'the gay Tupac'. Saturday Night Live poked fun at the Jussie Smollett case this weekend with Chris Redd reprising his role at the actor, far right Chris Redd, playing Smollett, was joined by the evenings host Sandra Oh, playing his manager When Oh's manager fires her client he leaves the office before returning, this time wearing a neck brace and sunglasses Playing his manager Oh replies: 'Nobody know what's that means. You know why this story is hard to believe, right?' Redds Smollett then takes out a bag of clues he says was left by his attacker containing Crest White Strips, a Teletubby, and the letters KKK. He says: 'The killer left me a bunch of clues.' The exasperated execs reply: 'What killer? You're still alive, Jussie.' Redds Smollett goes on: 'Let's see what's in here first. Crest whitestrips, what do you think that means? There's more. A K. Another K. Three Ks. Like what do you think that means? 'Hang on, there's more stuff. Oh, a receipt, I need that. Car keys, definitely need those. Oh, a teletubby. And it's the gay one.' When the show producers suggest calling the police over his attack, character Jussie replies: 'No, no, no, no, they said I can never call again. That's part of the deal.' Smollett maintains that he is innocent after all charges against him were dropped And when told he is about to be fired he goes onto claim: 'What? You can't fire me. I made this show, man! I aim the gay Lee Daniels.' Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, played by Kenan Thompson, replies: 'Jussie, I'm the gay Lee Daniels.' When Oh's manager also fires her client he leaves the office before returning, this time wearing a neck brace and sunglasses. He says: 'You're not going to believe what happened to me this time.' Soon after Smollett's charges were dropped on Tuesday morning, Fox issued a statement to say it was 'gratified' by the outcome. He was excluded from the final two episodes of the show's current season which were filmed after his arrest. Meanwhile, the very prosecutors who dropped the case have spoken out to say they believe Smollett, 36, is guilty and the city's mayor has billed him for $130,000 - the amount that was spent on police overtime investigating the January 29 attack. Redds Smollett then takes out a bag of clues he says was left by his attacker containing Crest White Strips, a Teletubby, and the letters KKK The executives, played by Kate McKinnon, Ego Nwodim and Mickey Day, fire Jussie in the sketch after he claims to have been attacked again When he claims to be 'the gay Lee Daniels' Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, played by Kenan Thompson, pictured, replies: 'Jussie, I'm the gay Lee Daniels' Smollett maintains that he is innocent and said in a press conference at the courthouse after the hearing: 'I would not be my mothers son if I was capable of one drop of what Ive been accused. 'I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldnt.' On Thursday morning, Smollett's lawyer Tina Glandian went on Good Morning America and suggested that the reason he told police his attackers were white was because they might have been wearing make-up. A family of six has been left devastated after losing all their belongings in a horrific fire that burnt their house to the ground. The family returned home after a meal at a local restaurant when they saw the property was surrounded by firefighters spraying the Adelaide house. Neighbours of the Munno Para Street property raised the alarm - attempted to rescue two dogs stuck inside the property. The dogs were pulled out from the bellowing house fire, and emergency services attempted CPR on one. It didn't survive. 'We've got the clothes on our back and that's it,' Lee Morris told Nine News. The family was out for dinner, and upon returning to their home they noticed their property was surrounded by fire brigades 'We've got the clothes on our back and that's it,' Lee Morris (pictured) told Nine News Mr Morris thanked his neighbours and emergency services for doing what they could to save his home of the last 30 years. An investigation then found the fire was possibly caused by a combustion heater which was left on inside the home. Families are warned to be wary of combustion heaters as the weather begins to cool down. Judge Jeanine Pirro made her return to the Fox News Channel on Saturday night after being off the air for three weeks and called for President Trumps enemies to get behind the bars justice. A day after Fox News colleague Sean Hannity said the former Westchester County district attorney had a family emergency that prevented her from appearing on his Friday television show, Pirro returned to the airwaves to her usual 9pm slot on Saturday. She was absent the past two Saturdays after she accused House Rep. Ilhan Omar of wearing a hijab to show her adherence to Sharia law rather than the United States Constitution. Dont be satisfied with the Mueller report. This is bound to happen again b/c these arrogant, condescending, lying, leaking haters of you,me & the America that doesnt have power, will do it again. And the only way to stop them is with justice. True justice- behind bars justice. pic.twitter.com/72aPr7ozmR Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 31, 2019 Judge Jeanine Pirro made her return to the Fox News Channel on Saturday night after being off the air for three weeks and called for President Trumps enemies to get behind the bars justice. The outrage ignited by her remarks prompted the Fox News Channel to keep Pirro off the air for 21 days. Pirro on Saturday returned to blast swamp scum and the traitorous, treasonous group that promoted Russiagate. Unless we make an example of the traitorous, treasonous group that accused Donald Trump of being an agent of the Russian government and as they spewed their hate I want to know who the unmasking, who did the leaking and if we dont have a consequence of the highest level of government are not held responsible for this then it is a blueprint for a future effort to overthrow the government, Pirro said. Dont be satisfied with the Mueller report. This is bound to happen again because these arrogant, condescending, leaking lying haters of you and me and the America that doesnt have power will do it again unless we stop them in the only way to stop them is with justice, true justice and that is behind the bars justice. With this justice. Pirro was reacting to this week's big news - Attorney General William Barr's four-page summary of the Mueller report which found there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Pirro returned to Fox News on Saturday one day after Hannity said she would be absent for a second week. Hannity on Wednesday claimed during an interview with that she would be back. Viewers expected to see her on Hannity's Friday 9pm show but he didn't explain why she was missing until the end of the slot. Scroll down for videos Judge Jeanine Pirro was missing from Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Friday night. Hannity is seen speaking at a rally in support of President Trump (left) in Missouri on November 5 Judge Jeanine Pirro (left) was kept off the air for three weeks after outrage over comments about House Rep. Ilhan Omar's (right) hijab 'Before I go, I had promoted yesterday and on my radio show today that Judge Jeanine Pirro would be joining us tonight on the program,' he said. 'She had a really serious family emergency come up, couldn't be with us. I don't know the nature of it. We always pray for her.' Hannity said that Pirro will be returning to her normally scheduled time slot at 9pm on Saturday. Her return was suggested after Trump told Hannity that he hoped Pirro would be 'back soon'. Pirro's program did not air on March 16 or March 23. The March 16th show was replaced by the documentary Scandalous: The Trial of William Kennedy Smith. During the opening monologue of her show (pictured) on March 9, Pirro claimed that Omar's hijab was a sign that she was committed to the religious law which originates from the Quran, adding that it was 'antithetical' to the constitution Fox did not confirm a suspension ahead of the first swap, with a spokesperson, telling The Hollywood Reporter: 'We are not commenting on internal scheduling matters.' Pirro's show being sidelined came after she suggested that Omar's hijab meant that she subscribes to Sharia law. During the opening monologue of her show on March 9, Pirro claimed that Omar's hijab was a sign that she was committed to the religious law which originates from the Quran, adding that it was 'antithetical' to the constitution. The former district attorney from New York's Westchester County said: 'Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?' Omar has been embroiled in an antisemitism scandal in recent weeks after making a number of controversial comments about Israel. The Minnesota member of congress previously said that she wanted to discuss 'the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country'. Omar also drew ire from both sides of the political spectrum after claiming that Israel's relationship with the US was 'all about the Benjamins' last month, before later apologizing. In the segment which landed Pirro in hot water, she suggested that the Omar was not getting her 'anti-Israel sentiment doctrine' from the Democratic party. She said: 'Think about this. She's not getting this anti-Israel sentiment doctrine from the Democrat party So if it's not rooted in the party, where is she getting it from? 'Think about it. Omar wears a hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won't get molested.' Fox News 'strongly' condemned the views expressed by Pirro, saying: 'They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.' Despite the rebuke, Pirro released her own statement, in which she refused to apologize In a tweet, Omar thanked Fox for the statement, saying: 'No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth.' Despite the rebuke, Pirro released her own statement, in which she refused to apologize. She said: 'I've seen a lot of comments about my opening statement from Saturday night's show and I did not call Rep. Omar un-American. 'My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution. 'I invite Rep Omar to come on my show any time to discuss all of the important issues facing America today.' Pirro was called out on Twitter by a fellow Fox News Channel employee who is Muslim. The employee, Hufia Kumal, works on Bret Baier's news show. She wrote: 'Can you stop spreading this false narrative that somehow Muslims hate America or women who wear a hijab aren't American enough? You have Muslims working at the same network you do, including myself.' At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro. Trump tweeted on March 17 that the 'Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country'. At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro after her weekly show was replaced by a documentary In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor' And in a third tweet, Trump called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine' 'They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well,' he added. In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor'. 'Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don't give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die!' Trump said. In a third tweet, Trump referenced Tucker Carlson, and called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine'. 'Your competitors are jealous - they all want what you've got - NUMBER ONE. Don't hand it to them on a silver platter. They can't beat you, you can only beat yourselves!' Trump tweeted. A desperate plea has been made to rehome 10 adorable border collies after two experts reportedly recommended the RSPCA euthanize the dogs. The dogs were seized from a 'cruel' puppy farm in South Australia after allegedly showing signs of chronic behavioural issues and mental suffering. Once they were in the custody of the RSPCA, the 10 pregnant border collies gave birth to 27 puppies, who will be rehomed, a WISH Animal Rescue said. However, two reports from an independent behaviourist recommended the mothers be euthanized due to mental trauma, according to the Sunday Mail. An RSPCA spokeswoman told the publication staff have worked hard to help the dogs overcome their issues and are awaiting a third report from a second expert. A desperate plea has been made to rehome 10 adorable border collies after two experts reportedly recommended the RSPCA euthanize the dogs (pictured) The breeders, Colin Ross and Kerrie Fitzpatrick, have been charged with 17 offences for the alleged ill-treatment of the dogs. The pair were only allowed 100 dogs on the property, but allegedly housed almost 300 other dogs in small and overcrowded cages, according to the publication. Appearing in the Supreme Court on Friday, the couple appealed for the return of their dogs but it was denied. Animal activists have called for anyone willing to rehome any of the dogs to come forward More than 50,000 people have signed a petition to help relocate and release the animals to WISH Animal Rescue in West Australia. Animal welfare advocate Mark Aldridge, who has been campaigning for their release, said he had a vet access the dogs and determined that they were in good condition. 'We all believe that they could all still have a chance at life, if they are given a chance,' he said. 'The general health of them is above average,' he said. 'There is enough hands up for them it is ridiculous.' Animal welfare advocate Mark Aldridge, who has been campaigning for their release, said he had a vet access the dogs and determined that they were in good condition Animal rights activist Debra Tranter said the animals should be housed with rescue groups able to properly care for them. 'An assessment of their behaviour should not be done any puppy farm dog until it has been in a foster care home for at least two weeks,' Ms Tranter said to the Sunday Mail. 'The RSPCA has its own foster care network and these dogs should be placed immediately in foster homes.' A pre-trial conference for Ross and Fitzpatrick will be held in the Murray Bridge Magistrates Court in May. Recovering ice addict Harriet Wran is reportedly facing fraud charges just days after she was arrested for allegedly possessing drugs and stolen goods. The daughter of the late former New South Wales Labor premier Neville Wran will appear in court this week after she was arrested at a service station in North Wyong on the New South Wales Central Coast early Wednesday morning Police found allegedly stolen credit cards, several laptops and unopened mail from addresses in Hornsby and Newcastle in the back seat of a Holden Colarado ute Wran was allegedly driving. Drug paraphernalia and a small amount of ice were also allegedly found in Wran's possession. The 30-year-old was charged possession of a prohibited drug, goods in custody and not displaying P-plates, but police are reportedly considering filing new fraud charges against Wran relating to any alleged use of the credit cards, according to The Daily Telegraph. The daughter of a former NSW Premier, Harriet Wran, (pictured) could face fraud charges on top of being allegedly in possession of drugs and stolen goods Wran, 30, was granted bail after facing the Wyong Local Court on Wednesday. The latest alleged incident comes two-and-a-half years after Wran was released from prison. She was jailed for two years for her role in a robbery, which led to the murder of drug dealer Daniel McNulty in August 2014. Wran (pictured) spent two years behind bars for her role in the death of Daniel McNulty in 2014 Wran was with her ex-boyfriend Michael Lee and his friend Lloyd Haines when they spontaneously robbed Mr McNulty at his squalid inner-Sydney housing commission flat. A struggle broke out and 37-year-old Lee stabbed Mr McNulty to death. Lee was sentenced to at least 13 years for the 'senseless' stabbing murder. Harriet Warn was pulled over by police at a service station (pictured) on the NSW Central Coast Haines, 31, who knew Lee had a knife but did not think he would use it, was jailed for at least 11 years. Wran was arrested after a sleepless six-day ice bender. She said she thought the men would only rob Mr McNulty, not kill him. Wran was convicted of being an accessory after the fact. When she was released in 2016, she said: 'It's going to be a long process and it's going to be hard.' Wran is pictured leaving custody after she was granted bail to appear in court on Wednesday 'I won't pick up drugs again,' she said. 'I never thought in a million years I'd end up in jail, let alone for murder. I've never intended for anyone to get hurt in my life; it was almost not real to begin with.' In November, photos posted to Wran's social media accounts showed her riding horses in between working on her mother Jill's 50-hectare farm. She has been studying an agribusiness degree at the University of New England while recovering at the $2million Ravensdale property. Her father Neville Wran was the Premier of NSW from 1976 to 1986. He died in April 2014, aged . He was known for his 1978 campaign slogan Wran's Our Man. Wran (right with her mother Jill in 2016), 30, was jailed for her role in a robbery which led to the murder of drug dealer Daniel McNulty in August 2014 A baby-faced British ISIS recruit from Coventry has become the first person to be executed by the terror group as a spy. Mohammed Ismail, who was nicknamed Osama bin Bieber, after the Canadian pop star because of his youthful appearance, fled the UK to join the terror cult when he was 18-years-old. But Ismail, who was reported missing by his parents in March 2014, is thought to have been killed after giving away the movements of Nasser Muthana, a noted ISIS propagandist, as reported by The Sunday Times. Mohammed Ismail, (pictured) who was nicknamed Osama bin Bieber, after the Canadian pop star because his youthful appearance, fled the UK to join the terror cult when he was 18-years-old Recruitment: Isis posted a video showing British men urging others to take up arms and join them. Pictured centre Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan, pictured left Muthana, an aspiring doctor from Cardiff, was killed by a drone strike in Mosul in 2016. He travelled to Syria five months earlier and appeared in an ISIS recruitment video with Reyaad Khan, another Cardiff resident. ISIS investigators believe Ismail, known as Osama bin Bieber, may have started talking to intelligence officers in late 2015 or early 2016 through some sort of intermediary Nasser had taken 100 from his father to go on an Islamic seminar in Shrewsbury in November, but instead went to Syria. Three months later his brother Aseel, 17, left the house saying he was going to a friends for the night, but the following evening it transpired that Aseel had obtained a second passport by lying about his age and was in Cyprus, travelling to Syria. Khan is thought to have been killed by an RAF drone strike in August 2015, it is not clear where Aseel is at present. According to one account, Ismail was killed in Raqqa, and the execution was filmed. A source told the newspaper: 'He (Ismail) got captured in Raqqa. 'They did have an interrogation with him. He confessed everything and then they killed him.' It is not clear how he was executed, but it was thought to have taken place in late 2016, a few months after Muthana was killed. Soon after arriving in Syria, Ismail is thought to have been badly injured in battle, and after that became an ISIS police officer. ISIS investigators believe Ismail may have started talking to intelligence officers in late 2015 or early 2016 through some sort of intermediary. MI6 'not interrogating ISIS suspects' MI6 are not interrogating British ISIS suspects in Syria, amid fears any contact could strengthen their case for returning home, it has been claimed. Suspects in Syria are instead being interrogated by the CIA, who are then passing on information obtained, as reported by The Sunday Telegraph British suspects abroad include the notorious 'Beatles' El Shafee El Sheikh and Alexanda Kotey. British suspects abroad include the notorious 'Beatles' El Shafee El Sheikh and Alexanda Kotey. Advertisement Ismail is of Iraqi Kurdish extraction and was said to have been radicalised by extremist clerics at a madrassa (religious school) in the city and travelled to the Middle east with three other men. Ismail previously posted pictures of himself on Instagram holding guns, and posted tweets claiming to be in Syria with Dawla, another name for ISIS. His parents are believed to have reported him missing to police back in March 2014. The Sun On Sunday spoke to Mahir Hadi, 38, the father of the teenager when he went missing in 2014. He said: 'We can't talk about it - I don't know anything about it. The police know better than me.' It comes not long after Shamima Begum, now 19, left East London's with two friends to travel to Syria to join ISIS in 2015, resurfaced at a refugee camp in Syria. Advertisement A Second World War Hurricane fighter plane has been unearthed nearly 80 years since crashing near the Thames Estuary - and there are now hopes it could be rebuilt and take to the skies once again. The plane went down over Essex during the Battle of Britain on August 26, 1940, when piloted by 21-year-old Paddy Hemingway, of No.85 Squadron in Croydon. With his aircraft plunging 17,000ft as he was hit from behind, Mr Hemingway - now aged 99 and who lives in Ireland - bailed out of the plane and landed safely. Following decades spent trying to locate the crash site between Basildon and the River Thames, modern imaging was used to discover the plane and it was finally removed on Saturday with a specialist excavator used to created a 35ft deep hole. Following decades spent trying to locate the crash site between Basildon and the River Thames, modern imaging was used to discover the plane and it was finally removed on Saturday with a specialist excavator used to created a 35ft deep hole Gareth Jones, one of the excavation organisers, told Sky News: 'Of all the Battle of Britain digs, this is one of a handful remaining. It's quite unique to find one in these ground conditions where it's almost all still there.' The parts unearthed included a Browning machine gun and some of the Merlin engine - with the Rolls Royce plate still in place - as well as the control panel with the gun switch still set to 'fire'. The Hurricane, one of the last 1940s war planes, will now be carefully cleaned and restored, in the hopes it could be rebuilt. Aviation historian Simon Parry said: 'In the skies above the Thames was a dog fight. Paddy in his Hurricane flew high to try and attack a big group of Messerschmitts, but he was hit from behind.' The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the RAF defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. Among the parts discovered was the steering wheel for the aircraft (pictured), which still featured the button for the gun switch set to 'fire' The parts unearthed also included a Browning machine gun and some of the Merlin engine - with the Rolls Royce plate (pictured) still in place Pilot Officer Paddy Hemingway (pictured left during the war, and right, now), of No.85 Squadron, from Dublin, who was flying the Hurricane when it was shot down over Essex during the Battle of Britain A Hurricane pictured at the Duxford Autumn Airshow. The planes were used during the Battle of Britain in World War II It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces, with nearly a 3,000-strong aircrew being dispatched throughout the operation. Many of the men were still teenagers or in their early 20s when they repelled Hitler's Luftwaffe in what may be the most important battle this country has ever fought. The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians do not accept this subdivision and regard the battle as a single campaign lasting from July 1940 to June 1941, including the Blitz. Workmen search the muddy service following the excavation to gather the aircraft's parts. Gareth Jones, one of the excavation organisers, said: 'Of all the Battle of Britain digs, this is one of a handful remaining. It's quite unique to find one in these ground conditions where it's almost all still there.' The Hurricane, one of the last 1940s war planes, will now be carefully cleaned and restored, in the hopes it could be rebuilt Pilots seen running to their Hurricanes in Yorkshire in April 1941. The plane, the first in RAF service to pass the 300mph barrier, was solid and tough in combat The Penrith Panthers have become embroiled in more off-field drama after Tyrone Phillips was charged with mid-range drink driving early Sunday. The club has confirmed it's aware of an alleged incident involving the Fijian international, 25, after he was stopped by police in Cranebrook in western Sydney on Sunday morning. Police will allege Phillips returned a breath alcohol content reading of 0.103, more than twice the legal limit. His licence suspended and Phillips will appear in Penrith Local Court on April 16. The matter has been referred to the NRL integrity unit. Tyrone Phillips (right) was arrested and charged with mid range drink driving early Sunday 'Panthers Group chief executive Brian Fletcher has confirmed Panthers was today made aware that player Tyrone Phillips was last night charged with a mid-range drink driving offence,' a club statement released on Sunday night read. 'The matter has been reported to the NRL integrity unit. 'The NRL integrity unit has advised the club to allow the matter to go through the court process. 'Panthers will be making no further comment at this time.' Tyrone Phillips (left) will appear in Penrith Local Court in April on drink driving charges The alleged incident occurred after Phillips played in Penrith's 26-24 Canterbury Cup win over St George at Panthers Stadium on Saturday. It's understood he will continue to play to for the club, with any punishment to be determined after the conclusion of his court case. Phillips has played 15 NRL first grade games since 2015, including six games for the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2015-16. He joined the Panthers in 2018, where he has played another nine NRL games. He has also represented Fiji on four occasions. It's the latest in a series of off-field incidents involving Penrith players in early 2019. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler refused to see Jewish people being led into death camps and destroyed the paperwork that connected him to the Holocaust, a new documentary will reveal. On one occasion, the German dictator even pulled down a blind on his train carriage so he could not see genocide victims passing by. It is believed Hitler never once visited a concentration camp where six million Jews were slaughter before and during the Second World War, and millions more were visibly affected by it for the rest of their lives. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler refused to visit any concentration camps during the Holocaust, and even pulled down a blind on his train window when passing Jewish prisoners being led into camps The new details of the Nazi leader's life have emerged in a new documentary series called Private Lives, which will be aired on the Yesterday channel on Monday night. The show will also document Hitler's abusive childhood, artistic aspirations and relationships with several younger women. It is presented by Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, Dr Tracy Borman, who traveled to Germany to research to well-known despotic figure. The show is presented by Dr Tracy Borman, who is Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces 'While atrocities were being carried out in his name he never visited an extermination camp,' said presenter Tracy Borman. 'When a train carrying Jews to the camps stopped on an adjacent platform to his train he pulled down the blind. 'Hitler never wanted to be confronted with the brutal reality of what was going on. He just wanted to know it was being done.' Dr Borman traveled to Germany to research the programme, and uncovered new material from Hitler's personal valet and conversation transcripts During a lunch with his deputy Heinrich Himmler, who organised the Holocaust, he indicated he was 'extremely merciful to the Jews' but in the same sentence said the 'only solution was extermination'. The documentary suggests a transcript of this conversation is the only written link between Hitler and systematic mass murder, as he usually opted to dictate policy to staff in meetings. It is believed the only Jew that Hitler saved was a doctor called Eduard Bloch, who had treated his mother for breast cancer, even helping him to emigrate to America in 1940. Private Lives will air on the Yesterday channel on Monday at 8pm The programme also looks more closely at the dictator's life, using the records of his personal valet. Files show he enjoyed an unusual breakfast of two cups of lukewarm milk, up to 10 Leibniz biscuits and a third to half a bar of chocolate, that he would consume standing up. The many women in Hitler's life also fall under the spotlight, looking at several of his closest relationships, including with his own niece. Private Lives will air on the Yesterday channel on Monday at 8pm. 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. Hubert Chesshyre (pictured) kept his honour despite being exposed as a paedophile in a trial of facts The honours system is facing scrutiny after it emerged that a paedophile kept his award three years after he was revealed to be a child abuser. Hubert Chesshyre was recognised for services to the Queen after holding multiple senior positions in the royal household. The 78-year-old expert on heraldry and genealogy held the highest order in British chivalry as secretary of the most noble order of the garter. He held the Queen's Silver and Golden Jubilee Medals and the Royal Victorian Order (CVO). But the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse exposed him as a paedophile in 2015. He abused a teenage chorister in the 1990s but his abuse remained little-known because Chesshyre's case did not result in a criminal conviction, the Observer reports. The inquiry heard that Chesshyre 'was found to have committed the acts in question' during a trial of facts. A trial of facts is held when somebody facing accusations is unfit to stand trial, which Chesshyre was deemed to be after having a stroke. He was also believed to be suffering from dementia and was given absolute discharge. His name was misspelled throughout the trial, making it difficult to connect him to the case in legal databases despite police efforts to correct the error. The choirboy he abused believes that Chessyre may have abused other youngsters. The victim - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said: 'I know of other boys from the choir where their parents became concerned and stopped Mr Chesshyre from having anything more to do with them.' Chessyre's case has similarities to that of Lord Janner. The Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2015 that there was sufficient evidence to mount a prosecution against the Labour peer. But it deemed that it was not in the public interest to pursue it as he was suffering from dementia. A review overturned that decision and a trial on the facts was scheduled for 2016. The trial was abandoned due to the fact that Lord Janner had died the previous year. In October that year, Chesshyre's victim wrote to the secretary of the Royal Victorian Order, Sir Alan Reid, asking him to forfeit the honour. Sir Alan wrote back that it would be wrong to do so because there was no conviction and Chesshyre had been given an absolute discharge. Lord Janner (pictured) faced a similar trial of the facts when he was suffering from dementia The Heraldry Society responded with in an email that it had no plans to scrap his fellowship. The Society of Antiquaries of London said that it would not raise the question of his removal to fellows of the society. The Bach Choir replied that it was 'not incumbent' on the group to take further action because Chessyre, an associate member, no longer had involvement with it. And the Corporation of London emailed the victim to say it did not have the power to scrap his status as a Freeman of the City of London. Chesshyre is still listed as a vice-president at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. The honour was only forfeited after the victim contacted his MP. The abuse survivor only learned of the action in October 2018. This was five months after the honour was removed and three years after Chesshyre's trial. A Cabinet Office email informed him that the forfeiture would not be published in the London Gazette, despite such notifications being standard procedure. As late as Saturday night, Chesshyre's Wikipedia page made no mention of his trial and various societies of which he is a member told the paper they would not be disassociating from him. This morning his Wikipedia page had been amended to include details of his sex abuse. Nine people, including five children, have been injured after a bus crashed into two parked cars on Sunday. The crash between a Queensland Translink passenger bus and two sedans resulted in a woman in her 20s suffering injuries to her arm and hip. She was rushed to hospital with three babies. A primary school girl, a teenager and a man aged in his 50s were also taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined but the driver did take a breath test Two other people were assessed by Queensland Ambulance Service, however, they refused transport, according to a spokesperson who spoke to the Gold Coast Bulletin. Police have said they are still investigating the situation and have yet to determine the cause of the accident. The driver was given a breath test at the scene. The bus crashed into a parked Ford Falcon(pictured) Owners of classic cars have been exploiting a loophole in the technology used by some car parks which can't identify vintage number plates. The software used is called automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and is installed into hi-tech cameras in car parks to recognise when cars arrive and leave so they can be charged accordingly. ANPR is also used by police to track down potential criminals. Owners of classic cars have been exploiting a loophole in the technology used by some car parks which can't identify vintage number plates. Pictured is a modern number plate which is easily identifiable by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) Old number plates are usually silver or black and aren't reflective, meaning that the camera software struggles to detect that a car has driven past at all Thanks to number plate law reforms in 2015, classic cars made before 1975 are allowed to use vintage number plates - which are much harder to detect using ANPR. Old number plates are usually silver or black and aren't reflective, meaning that the camera software struggles to detect that a car has driven past at all. While the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) admitted that vintage number plates are harder to detect using ANPR they claim that classic cars are much less likely to be used in a crime because they are easily detectable in other ways. The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs told the Telegraph that 20 of its members had recently admitted to using the loophole. A spokesman said: 'In the cases of supermarkets you wouldn't be challenged at all because the system simply wouldn't recognise you had ever been there'. The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs said that 20 of its members had recently admitted to using the loophole While some classic car drivers reap the benefits of the technology glitch, others have lamented the fact that they get stuck in some car parks which use barriers that are activated by ANPR. The British Parking Association told the Telegraph said that ANPR was '99 per cent effective'. An NPCC spokesperson said: 'Classic car number plates can be problematic to read by some cameras, this doesn't mean that they cannot be seen at all, but can result in misinterpretation or a failure to fully capture by some cameras at certain times. 'Classic cars are rarely involved in criminality and due to their distinctiveness they are easily identifiable by other means. 'We are always reviewing technology available to effectively police UK roads.' A millionaire medicinal cannabis entrepreneur issued a legal threat which led a couple to believe that their horses would be removed from a lavish venue and destroyed. Dr Geoffrey Guy, nicknamed Dr Pot after making his fortune from cannabis-based drugs, fell out with Alo and Andrew Brake last November. The Brakes were Dr Guys former employees at Axnoller farm in Beaminster, Dorset, a luxury wedding venue where the actor Sean Bean married his fifth wife, Ashley Moore, in 2017. But they have stayed on in their accommodation at the property with their son and groom, despite their employment being terminated. The five-month legal dispute between Dr Guy, 64, and the Brakes has apparently become so acrimonious that couples planning weddings at the venue have felt forced to look for alternatives. Dr Guy (pictured, right) allegedly threatened to kill a horse to force Alo Brakes (pictured, left) out of the lavish home Court documents show the Brakes were sent a letter in December giving 96 hours to remove their six horses from the stables. Otherwise, they were warned Axnoller Events, of which Dr Guy is a director, could dispose of the animals by way of sale, destruction or another way at the clients discretion. Yeovil County Court District Judge Davis called this statement frankly rather concerning, and issued an injunction preventing the horses removal in December. Axnoller Events denied making any threat to kill the horses, and a spokesman told the Sunday Times: The companys solicitor simply used the language of the relevant statutein its efforts to persuade the Brakes to remove the horses. The firms spokesman later said it simply wanted the horses removed and had no plans to kill them. Sean Bean and his wife Ashley (pictured on their wedding day) are among the couple to have used the estate Dr Guy is estimated to be worth 100million after founding GW pharmaceuticals, which is known for its multiple sclerosis treatment derived from the cannabis plant. It is understood he bought Axnoller Events and the farm in 2017 for 7million. The Brakes had previously managed the property, turning it into a wedding venue. Set in 100 acres of countryside, its website describes it as a place lost in time. The Brakes also installed the stables before they were declared bankrupt in 2015. The couple claimed Dr Guy promised they could live in the main building for five years but, following an argument on November 8, he sacked them and served a notice asking them to leave. The pair were told to move into a neighbouring cottage but have refused to leave Axnoller house. Axnoller Events said the Brakes were only meant to stay at the house during weddings while working there. The dispute has meant that Dr Guy hosted a wedding at his own house, the neighbouring Chedlington Court, a Grade II listed Jacobean-style property last weekend. His companys spokesman said he bought the property because he wanted to establish an elite equestrian team training facility there, rather than use it as a wedding venue. The Brakes could not be reached for comment. An aide to Jeremy Corbyn tried to block the suspension of an activist later arrested on suspicion of anti-Semitism offences, it was claimed today. The Sunday Times reported Patricia Sheerin, 72, was among three people questioned by officers earlier this month 'publishing or distributing material likely to stir up racial hatred'. The paper published details of emails sent by Corbyn aide Laura Murray in March last year in response to questions from Labour HQ about suspending Ms Sheerin. Details of emails sent by Corbyn aide Laura Murray (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn) in March last year in response to questions from Labour HQ about suspending Patricia Sheerin Party officials recommended a suspension of Ms Sheerin over allegedly anti-Semitic posts online. In an email sent on March 23 2018, Murray said: 'Could we please see evidence from the report?' Three days later, Murray responded further: 'LOTO [Leader of the Opposition] recommendations are that ... you investigate but without suspension, as although her tweets are drawing upon conspiracy theories, they are about Israel and no mention of Jews or Jewishness etc.' Other senior aides to Mr Corbyn - including his communications director Seumas Milne and his office manager Karie Murphy - were copied into the exchange, as was Jennie Formby, who was about to be appointed party general secretary. The recommendation from Ms Murray led to Ms Sheerin being placed under investigation but not suspended from Labour. She was later suspended and voluntarily resigned from the party over a separate complaint, the Sunday Times said. Labour said Jennie Formby stopped consultations with Mr Corbyn's office over anti-Semitism when she took over as general secretary last April A Labour spokesman said: 'Party staff in the leader's office did not attempt to intervene in any cases and did not overrule suspension. 'They gave their suggestions when asked, which was to suspend in every other case, and when Jennie Formby became general secretary she stopped this advice being sought. 'The material that was sent to the leader's office is different from the material that went to NEC in July, and different from the material that may have been reviewed by the police. 'There is therefore no comparison to be drawn between these emails and later action taken by the party and possibly the police against this individual, which was on the basis of more serious material.' Ms Sheerin declined to comment when contacted by the Sunday Times. An Australian woman has died on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne. The 34-year-old woman from Sunshine West, Melbourne, was assisted by two doctors in the air. Paramedics were on the scene when the flight arrived at Tullamarine Airport about 9am Sunday, but she could not be saved. An Australian woman has died on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne The exact cause of the woman's death is not known, police are awaiting the results of an autopsy. Qantas confirmed doctors on board the flight had desperately tried to save the woman's life before the plane had touched down. 'We are very grateful for their assistance,' a Qantas spokesman said. 'Medical services met the aircraft upon arrival in Melbourne.' One of the passengers on board the flight shared the traumatic experience to social media, explaining to her followers there had been a death. 'Someone actually died on my flight home,' she wrote on Snapchat. 'So sad!' Senior Labour figures hinted the party was prepared to push harder for a second referendum today as Brexit entered its endgame. Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said there was a 'strong argument' for a new public vote. She lashed Theresa May as 'out of control' and accused her of ignoring Parliament's three votes against her deal. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson went even further and claimed a new referendum was the only way out of the impasse. Labour policy is to keep a second referendum on the table - but Jeremy Corbyn has angered activists by refusing to give the idea full-throated support. Mrs May is planning to bring back the plan for a fourth vote despite MPs' refusal to accept it and a hard-core of Tory Brexiteers defeating it again on Friday. Theresa May is 'out of control' and the 'time may come' when Labour makes a second attempt to smash her Government, Emily Thornberry (pictured today on Sky News) claimed today The shadow foreign secretary accused the Prime Minister (pictured today at church in Maidenhead) of 'not listening' to Parliament after it crushed her Brexit deal three times Ms Thornberry said it is 'likely' Britain would leave the EU under a Labour government, although there was a strong case for a second referendum - but admitted she still wanted to Remain in the EU. 'I think that we are likely to leave the EU but I think it is something we need to agree ourselves and I think that there is a strong argument for asking the people to have a final say on this. 'I think that it is quite difficult for us to leave the European Union, most of us campaigned for Remain. 'I think in our hearts we want to remain, but the difficulty is that we have to square that with democracy. We are democrats above everything else.' Asked if he is in favour of a second referendum under all circumstances, Mr Watson replied: 'I think that's the only way we can bring the country back together now.' Pressed on whether a second referendum would be in Labour's election manifesto, Mr Watson said he does not write it but noted 'it seems to me inconceivable' that a 'People's Vote' would not be in the manifesto if a general election was called. Ms Thornberry said it was possible Labour could call a new vote of No Confidence in the Government within days. Labour called and lost a motion of no confidence in the Government in January but could make a second attempt in days. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson (pictured today on the Marr show) went even further and claimed a new referendum was the only way out of the impasse Losing would start a two-week countdown to a General Election being called unless an alternative government could be formed. But Labour and Opposition MPs can only win a vote if some Conservative MPs switch sides and vote against their own party. Some Brexiteer Tories have hinted they could do so to block the deal, while Remain Tories have warned they might to avoid No Deal. Ms Thornberry said told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday the Prime Minster was 'out of control'. She said: 'Even with just days to go she is just saying 'It is my deal or no deal'. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. 'That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything. 'No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. 'I think her judgment has been undermined.' Labour Jeremy Corbyn (pictured yesterday in Newport) called and lost a motion of no confidence in the Government in January but could make a second attempt in days Were an election to be called, Mr Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found. After weeks of conflict in the Conservative Party, public support for Labour stands at 41 per cent, five points clear of the Tories on 36. If repeated at an Election, Labour would be on course to win 307 seats, while the Conservatives would claim just 264. Although Mr Corbyn would be 19 seats short of a majority, it would leave him in pole position to enter No 10 if he could strike an deal with the Scottish Nationalists. When the 11-strong Independent Group of Labour and Tory MPs is included in the poll choices, Labour is still ahead, on 35 per cent, with the Tories on 32 per cent and the new group now called Change UK on nine per cent. Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May called a General Election, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found The findings by Deltapoll represent a sharp turnaround for Mr Corbyn from last month's MoS poll when the Tories enjoyed a seven-point cushion. The new poll also shows that Boris Johnson enjoys a clear lead among the electorate in the race to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader, with more than twice the level of support of his closest rival, Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Environment Secretary Michael Gove is the next most popular, followed by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss. The results will be seized upon by supporters of Mr Johnson. He has traditionally been more popular in the country than he is among the Tory MPs who would determine the final two candidates for a run-off among party members. It will also embolden him in his battle with Mrs May's allies in No 10 and at Tory HQ who have been plotting to sabotage his bid to take over the reins of power. The first and only woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup has opened up about her former disgraced trainer who was recently banned from horse racing. Michelle Payne made history when she rode the Darren Weir trained Prince of Penzance to victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup at $101 odds. Payne parted ways with Weir long before taser-like devices known as 'jiggers' were found at his Victorian property in January, which saw one of Australia's most successful horse trainers banned from the sport for four years. Payne spoke about Weir during an interview on The Project aired on Sunday night to talk about the new Australian film Ride Like a Girl, which is based on her life. Rachel Griffiths (left) was keen to tell Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne's (right) story through film It's the first feature film directed by Australian actress Rachel Griffiths, who expressed fears Weir's downfall may tarnish Payne's legacy being cemented as 'one of the world's most extraordinary athletes.' 'He's gone from building this huge empire to it's all gone. I hope he's OK because I don't speak to Darren anymore,' Payne told The Project's Lisa Wilkinson. When asked whether she'd seen any sign of horses doing' unnaturally well', Payne replied: 'It's hard to know. There have been rumours for years but there have been rumours about all trainers.' Trainer Darren Weir and Michelle Payne after winning the 2015 Melbourne Cup. Weir was banned from horse racing for four years earlier this year Griffiths hopes Payne's success isn't hijacked by the stories around Weir's choices in 'another part of his life'. 'The truth is that he kept a woman on a horse in a Melbourne Cup, which has only happened a handful of times. And I'm not going to shy away for that,' she said. The heartwarming interview is the first time Payne has spoken about Weir since she released a statement in January distancing herself from the controversy several days after his arrest. 'I haven't been part of the stable for the past 18 months since taking out my training licence and going separate ways from Darren Weir stables,' Payne said in a statement at the time. 'I never witnessed or was aware of any illegal practices.' Horse trainer Darren Weir (right) was banned after taser-like devices known as 'jiggers' were found on his property Melbourne Cup winning strapper Stevie Payne, pictured with his sister plays himself in the film Described by Griffiths as a female coming of age story, Ride Like a Girl has been a three-year project in the making. Griffiths was so keen to tell Payne's often heartbreaking life story through film that she waited in a long queue of fans to personally approach her. Teresa Palmer stars in the film as Payne, while Sam Neill plays her father Paddy, who raised 10 children on his own following the death of his wife when their youngest child Michelle was a baby. But just like on Melbourne Cup day after the win, the star of the film is Payne's brother and best friend Stevie, who has Down's Syndrome. He was Payne's strapper on that historic day and plays himself in the film. A British skier has revealed how she was raped in the French Alps after being abducted by three men before being dumped at the roadside in the snow. Law graduate Hannah Power, 26, became lost while trying to head back to a friend's chalet after a night out at a club in Morzine, France. Three men in a car pulled over and said they knew her friend and that they would give her a ride back to where she needed to go. But instead of taking her home, the men took her to a secluded spot, where the driver raped her. She told The Mirror: 'I think all three were planning to do it. The driver turned around and raped me on the back seat. I was fighting and kicking him. Law graduate Hannah Power, 26, became lost while trying to head back to a friend's chalet after a night out at a club in Morzine, France Three men in a car pulled over and said they knew her friend and that they would give Hannah (pictured) a ride back to where she needed to go Hannah Power has spoken out after her rape ordeal while she was staying in Morzine, France (pictured) 'There was this voice in my head that said everything was going to be okay, keep fighting. 'It would have been heavily unpleasant for him, how much I was kicking and punching. 'I think they decided, 'This isn't as easy as we thought let's get rid of her'.' The 26-year-old had left the club and became lost while trying to get to her friend's chalet. She was walking for around 40 minutes when she was approached by the three men and accepted a lift, but soon realised something was wrong and 'started to scream and beg, 'Let me out' and was 'begging for my life.' The 26-year-old from Fareham, Surrey, suffered from PTSD after the attack in March 2016 Hannah Power used her skills as a brand specialist to launch a jewelery range, that includes a Karma necklace - with 30 from each sale will go to the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre After the attack she was driven back to town and the attackers took her phone before throwing her out of the car. Hannah was taken to hospital but said police showed a lack of understanding about her case, and it was dropped only four months after the attack in March 2016. She added: 'There was no big plea for witnesses. It was like a crime that went away.' The 26-year-old from Fareham, Surrey, who suffered from PTSD after the attack, has bravely waived her anonymity and is now helping others who have been attacked. Miss Power, who works in marketing, said: Ive helped people who reached out to me. One was attacked abroad shortly after me. I knew how shed be feeling. One thing that makes you feel most alone is when even those who love you dont know what to say. Remove the stigma and we remove the loneliness. She added: Im not going to have my life ruined by this. Im going to talk about it. Im going to listen to sad songs and cry. The quicker I can let the pain in, the quicker it will leave. The brand specialist has also launched a jewelery range, that includes a Karma necklace - with 30 from each sale will go to the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre. In a video she recorded to share her experiences, Hannah said: 'I feel a sense of duty now to share my story and to be a voice for people who aren't yet ready to talk about it themselves.' To purchase a necklace visit this website here. A network of fraudsters stole billions of pounds from taxpayers in a 20-year crime spree on an industrial scale, funneling tens of millions to terrorists including Osama Bin Laden, according to police and intelligence files. An investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed how a sprawling gang of British Asians infiltrated government departments, associated with Abu Hamza and one of the 7/7 bombers, bought Ferraris with personalised plates and cosied up to politicians including Tony Blair - all while keeping their operations so secretive investigators had to resort to tying a camera to a dog to glean intelligence from inside one of their factories. The files show four HMRC investigators pleaded with bosses to prosecute the crimelords but were rebuffed - and one claims he was prevented from sharing HMRC data with MI5 because the Revenue wanted to maintain the confidentiality of the terror suspects' tax records. A cross-check of the massive fraud with secret intelligence files showed some of the money was diverted to Osama Bin Laden The Khyber Pass. Abandoned Al Qaeda laptops found in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan linked the UK fraud network to the Islamist terror cell The compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama Bin Laden spent his last five years, and where he was killed by US special forces in 2011. Some of the money stolen from UK taxpayers ended up here, according to intelligence reports HMRC told MailOnline it 'can, has always, and does' pass information on to intelligence agencies 'within minutes if necessary' and that confidentiality 'doesn't come into it'. An estimated 8bn was stolen from the taxpayer through scams including benefit fraud and a massive VAT swindle. The sum, equivalent to the GDP of Kyrgystan or Kosovo, is three times as much as the Government spends on MI5, MI6 and GCHQ each year. The gang is alleged to have sent one per cent of the money - 80 million - to al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it was spent on madrasas and terrorist training camps. MI5 sources say prior to his death in 2011 some of the money had reached Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The true scale of the gang's profits, augmented by mortgage fraud, credit card fraud, and investments of the stolen cash, is unknown. Some members of the syndicate have received and in some cases even finished jail terms - of a combined 100 years for frauds worth 100m - since the crimes first came to light in 1995, but the public has been prevented from hearing about the case or the identities of the wrongdoers by court orders. The Crown Prosecution Service insists reporting might prejudice potential trials of the gang's ringleaders - despite the fact the kingpins fled the country years ago and are believed to be in hiding in the Middle East. Last night Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the public accounts committee, told the Sunday Times said she would consider launching a parliamentary inquiry and would question Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and national security adviser to the prime minister, tomorrow. Shehzad Tanweer, one of the suicide bombers who hit London on July 7, 2005. Two years previously the HMRC investigation - not shared with MI5 - identified associates of his 52 people were killed in the 7/7 bombings, the worst loss of life in a terror attack on the British mainland since Lockerbie Years before he became well-known as an Al Qaeda recruiter and hate cleric, Abu Hamza recruited young British Muslims to help with the fraudulent schemes How to steal a billion pounds: Carousel fraud The UK gang infiltrated government agencies and funneled money to Islamist terror cells, according to police and intelligence files. One method was said to be so-called 'carousel fraud': 1. Gang controls firms in UK and EU 2. Company A (in EU) sells goods VAT-free to Company B (in UK) 3. Company B adds VAT at 20% and sells goods to company C (in UK). Company B should pay that VAT to the taxman, but instead it disappears, owing vast sums. 4. Company C sells goods to Company D (in EU) and [because it has not sold the goods to an end-consumer] Company C 'legally' reclaims all the VAT from HMRC. 5. Repeat: Company D (in EU) sells goods VAT-free to Company E (in UK). Profits, laundered via money brokers and disgraced Caribbean bank First Curacao International, go into trusts to buy commercial property; 1 per cent is diverted to terrorism. Advertisement Authorities first became aware of the schemes in 1995 when an English rural force heard from an extremely frightened' source that gang members were perpetrating mortgage fraud with 'carrier bags full of cash' using false identities, with the help of corrupt bankers. A four-year investigation by the Inland Revenue pooled intelligence from tax, customs, police, immigration and trading standards and put suspects under surveillance. It concluded that the gang was using a network of factories and companies and exploiting their workers for identity and benefit frauds, the sale of counterfeit goods, car crash scams and mortgage and credit card frauds. HMRC found the gang used 'hijacked or altered national insurance numbers to create false records' and exploited 'illegal immigrant labour' before laundering the cash 'through bogus offshore companies'. An undercover HMRC officer reported that hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza recruited young Muslims to work for the crime syndicate in the late 1990s, years before he became infamous as an al-Qaeda recruiter. A source said the factories which employed those workers Hamza recruited had extra staff who 'were ghosts claiming benefits and having car crashes'. The source added: 'A factory of 180 workers only had 120 physical workers. The rest were identity frauds with all proceeds going back to the owners of the companies. This generated around 20,000 a week in benefit claims alone.' But the gang proved extremely difficult to penetrate, the report says. Undercover agents eventually resorted to attaching a camera to a dog and encouraging it to run around inside one of the network's factories just to find out how many people actually worked there. The gang's biggest money-maker was so-called 'carousel fraud', a complex and industrial-scale swindle in which four companies, two in the UK and two in the EU, 'sell' goods to each other with some of the firms 'reclaiming' VAT from the British government, while others never pay the VAT bill they rack up (see box). One HMRC investigator was 'ready to meet with the security services' but his request was refused, according to the report, because HMRC was worried about preserving the taxpayer confidentiality of the terror suspects. Pictured: MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross A spokesman for HMRC said: 'HMRC can, has always, and does pass information (within minutes if necessary) to other law enforcement agencies and the intelligence services when dealing with serious crime or terrorism taxpayer confidentiality doesn't come into it' Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, (left) told the Sunday Times she would be asking questions of Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, (right) tomorrow How to steal a billion pounds: Illicit goods This fraud was prolonged and well-financed, and included real factories employing hundreds of staff making thousands of real products. 1. Real factories obtain contracts to make clothes for famous brands 2. They produce perhaps 200,000 garments for the client plus an extra 40,000 to sell in markets at half price 3. Family members then visit stores with half-price items, and exchange them for other full-price goods. Advertisement Investigators concluded the gang had gained more than 1 billion from illegitimate VAT rebates in a single postcode area. A major break in the case came in the months after 9/11 when, on abandoned laptops found by the CIA in mountains on the Afghan/Pakistan border, intelligence officers discovered al-Qaeda's money was coming in part from an accountant in an English town. He was a major player in the network, which afforded its ringleaders UK properties and supercars with personalised plates, all at the taxpayer's expense. For years HMRC and other agencies did little to disrupt the network, taking almost no formal enforcement action. The files show that at least four rank-and-file HMRC intelligence officers implored their bosses to launch prosecutions. Their requests were rejected 'due to their complicated nature and a lack of resources'. When the 9/11 attacks occurred in 2001, one official warned HMRC chiefs that he had 'basic information' that would be of great interest to MI5. Internal files seen by The Sunday Times show the officer said he was 'ready to meet someone from the intelligence services' with the 'mountains of information available to us' that had 'taken on a whole new significance' after the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. 'Officers and, increasingly, their direct management have become frustrated at the lack of action,' wrote the officer. His request was refused because HMRC was worried about preserving the taxpayer confidentiality of the terror suspects. An HMRC spokesman told MailOnline today: 'HMRC can, has always, and does pass information (within minutes if necessary) to other law enforcement agencies and the intelligence services when dealing with serious crime or terrorism taxpayer confidentiality doesn't come into it. 'HMRC takes its critical role in the fight against serious organised crime and terrorism very seriously. We work side-by-side with the intelligence services, law enforcement partners, and across Government, to break up criminal gangs and disrupt terror funding. 'In 2017-18 alone, we collected and protected more than 3.3 billion through our work fighting organised crime, and have brought more than 880 organised criminals to justice since 2010.' The report found widespread infiltration of government agencies, to obtain false identities and 'sensitive information'. From one company investigators found '20 potential internal fraud cases including [gang] members in government agencies', one intelligence summary said. Another said two Post Office employees seemed to be helping falsify documents, concluding: 'infiltration is widespread'. An HMRC investigator reported: 'I myself have seen one [gang] member shoulder to shoulder with Tony Blair on at least two occasions following the war in Iraq' How to steal a billion pounds: Identity fraud, benefit fraud, mortgage fraud and credit card fraud The gang also engaged in identity fraud, and then profited from those fake IDs to rip off credit card firms, banks, the taxman and the NHS. ID fraud 1. Gang member infiltrates benefits agency 2. Obtains NI numbers issued to children 3. Passes to factory owner to create 'ghost' workers Benefit fraud The fictional person - the 'ghost' - alleged to be working in the factory can then claim: working tax credit to top up part-time earnings; housing benefit; and once they have obtained an NHS number can sell it to foreigners needing care. Mortgage fraud The 'ghost' can buy a house and have a corrupt valuer increase its value, perhaps after falsified 'renovations'. then the criminals obtain a 95 per cent loan against the property in the name of the ghost, using a corrupt agent. After the ghost fails to make payments, the property is repossessed and auctioned. Repeat. Credit card fraud With access to an empty property, the criminals used false identities to submit multiple credit card application at once. When the cards arrived, they spent up to the limit, sold on the goods they bought, and never paid the bills. Advertisement Thousands were given by the gang to the then-ruling Labour Party. An internal HMRC report said: 'There are numerous [gang] members involved in think tanks and business forums which bring them into contact with senior British politicians. 'I myself have seen one member shoulder to shoulder with Tony Blair on at least two occasions following the war in Iraq.' The files also show that the gang enjoyed links with a top politician in Pakistan. There is no suggestion that Blair was aware of the alleged crimes. HMRC intelligence officers also identified the gang's links to Shehzad Tanweer, a terrorist involved in the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 which killed 52 people, at least two years before the attack. Associates of Tanweer, who who detonated a bomb while travelling eastbound on the Circle Line between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, killing himself and seven others., were suspected of 'multi-identity fraud, phoenix trading, tax evasion, tax credit fraud and money laundering', according to the files. Many suspects identified by the 1990s investigation were prosecuted, with second-tier members of the gang charged with carousel fraud and money laundering. In the course of cross-checking HMRC files with secret MI5 intelligence, the CPS found the 'jaw-dropping' link, a source told the paper; that 'MI5 had information that the ultimate destination for some of the money was Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad.' However, senior HMRC officials declined to use the intelligence to mount prosecutions and take the gang out of operation until after the bombings. A mother who died while shielding her one-month-old twins from harm was the last British civilian to be killed by the Luftwaffe, it has been revealed. Maud Howard, 34, was fatally wounded in a hail of shrapnel which hit her in the back as she held her baby twins Joseph and Thomas on March 17, 1945. She has been revealed as the final casualty of a 'maverick' attack in Hull, East Yorkshire - the last by manned German aircraft to claim civilian lives in the second world war. There were a handful more Home Front deaths in the closing months of the war but they were all victims of unmanned V1 flying bombs. Hull had been a significant target for the German air force throughout the war (pictured: Hull, July 1941) Maud Howard, 34, was not included in the death toll from the city's final raid near the Savoy Cinema, so her name does not appear on the memorial plaque commemorating the victims The official death toll from the so-called 'Last Raid' was 12 Hull residents - whose deaths were recorded on a memorial plaque - but local historian Mike Covell, while writing a book about the tragedy, discovered Mrs Howard was the 13th victim of the 'maverick' raid. When the bombs started to fall near the Savoy Cinema Mrs Howard - whose husband Thomas was serving as a cook-steward with the merchant navy - was home at 5 Morley Villas resting with her baby twins. 'She had been confined to the bed, so when the bombs began to drop she rose to her feet, grabbed her sons, and made for the door of the bedroom to make their way downstairs,' Mr Covell said. 'She had a child in each arm, and when shrapnel flew through the window it hit her in the back. Mrs Howard was severely injured when the SD10 fragmentation bombs started to drop near the Savoy Cinema (pictured), blasting out craters in the road 'Her name wasn't included in the death toll from that raid and as such she does not appear on the memorial plaque.' Mrs Howard died four days later in a casualty clearing station but the authorities did not realise she was one of the 22 wounded in the Savoy attack. She had been found trapped behind the bedroom door by 12-year-old Margaret, a daughter from a previous marriage. Reliving the night, Margaret said: 'It was not a pretty sight. I could not get the bedroom door open. 'We lived with our grandparents and grandma was downstairs, and granddad was in bed. 'I shouted for granddad to come and help, it was ages and ages before we could get any help because of the chaos.' Mrs Howard was rushed through the bombed out streets to Sutton Base Hospital where she died on March 21, 1945. Margaret said the twins were taken to a home as they were being breast fed and the family could not feed them and her step-father was away fighting the war. Margaret later lost touch with her half siblings until 2009 when the surviving twin tracked her down and telephoned her. It is feared the casualties of the Luftwaffe's last raid may have been more severe because by this time they were regarded as a spent force. A single bomber was responsible for inflicting what the official record states were 'the last civilian casualties of World War Two in Britain caused by piloted enemy aircraft'. Local historian Mike Covell, who discovered Mrs Howard was the 13th victim of the Hull raid Local historian Ron Fairfax had previously told the BBC: 'There is no trace in the German archives of the attack and anecdotal evidence suggests it was a maverick crew intent on revenge for the devastation wrought by an Allied air raid on Dresden a few weeks earlier'. The bomber entered Hull airspace unopposed as RAF squadrons had already been transferred and anti-aircraft installations were moved south as Germany's defeat seemed inevitable. 'The story of the raid has since been told and retold, so much so that much of the facts have been lost,' Mr Covell said. 'But new research suggests that one of the major facts has been overlooked - that Maud was the last victim of manned enemy air raids over Great Britain.' When the air raid warning was sounded at 9.35pm that Saturday, people poured into the street, but there was no sense of panic. 'Morale at the time was considered to be good and as the end of hostilities seemed to be on the horizon no one feared an air raid at that point,' Mr Covell said. 'As such those who were present in the nearby pubs and clubs poured out into the street in a calm, orderly manner.' It was only when the SD10 fragmentation bombs began scooping out craters and filling the air with deadly shrapnel that people began to duck and dive for dear life. The smoke cleared to reveal the remains of Walter Coggle, Stanley Duncan, William Greenacre, Lillian Martin, George Martin, James Ollerenshaw, John McCloud, John Reed, Steels, Pam Winter and brothers Brian and Ernest Wells. Mr Covell was unaware of the 13th victim until he began researching his book, called The Last Raid. He was stunned when he came across Maud's death notice in the local paper saying she had been 'killed by enemy action'. He said: 'I was going over my notes when I began searching both the press reports and the civilian war dead index cards at the Hull History Centre. 'I noted that her name cropped up on the casualty lists at the local hospital, but then later on the war dead lists, and the obituaries. 'I cross referenced the information I had on her, and it matched. This meant that Maud had been left off the plaque. 'She had been left out of the initial newspaper reports, but despite this she was the final person killed in Great Britain during WWII from a piloted enemy aircraft. 'Now we can finally remember Maud Howard - the last victim.' Theresa May is braced for mass resignations from her Cabinet whichever way she goes on Brexit, as her Justice Secretary today warned he would quit if the PM opts for No Deal. David Gauke, a leading Remainer minister, said a customs union with the EU was not his preferred option but was better than No Deal, saying he would resign if Number 10 sought a cliff-edge Brexit. But the PM faces resignations from Brexiteers such as Andrea Leadsom or Michael Gove if she gives into the Remain wing and chooses a soft Brexit. Tonight Downing Street fired back at Mr Gauke, saying its Brexit plans 'do not include membership of the customs union'. MPs are voting on their preferred alternatives to Brexit tomorrow night before Mrs May is expected to have one final go at passing her deal on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mrs May must resolve Britain's Brexit position in one direction or the other before an emergency EU summit on April 10 that will lock in either a No Deal or long delay. After the PM's deal was crushed three times by MPs, the Commons may back an alternative plan of a permanent UK-EU customs union tomorrow. However, Brexiteer Cabinet ministers including Michael Gove and Penny Mordaunt signed a letter on Friday warning the PM against a soft Brexit. The showdown comes as Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly admitted the party was engaged in 'sensible and pragmatic planning' for a snap general election, after the PM warned MPs darkly on Friday, when her deal was voted down for a third time: 'I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house.' She has repeatedly sworn she will not negotiate for a Brexit which contradicts her 2017 election manifesto. But with an opinion poll last night putting Labour up five points on 41 per cent and the Conservatives down seven to 36 per cent, the government chief whip Julian Smith said he was opposing plans for a snap poll with 'every sinew in his body. Ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major warned Mrs May against calling an election to end the impasse and said the country may need a time-limited 'national government' including both Tory and Labour politicians. Mr Gauke said Mrs May (pictured today at church in Maidenhead) must consider tearing up the Tory party manifesto to get an orderly Brexit through Parliament if necessary Amid the impasse - less than two weeks before Britain faces crashing out with No Deal - Mr Gauke told the BBC's Andrew Marr 'we would have to consider very closely what parliament decides to do'. He said: 'I would rather leave the customs union but we also have to recognise that my party does not have the votes to get the manifesto commitment through the Commons. 'Sometimes you have to accept your second or third choice.' Mr Gauke explicitly blamed Tory rebels, telling Marr Britain was in this situation because 'too many colleagues' were not backing the deal. Mr Gauke's (pictured today on Marr) warning comes ahead of a second round of 'indicative votes' tomorrow night on alternatives to Mrs May's Brexit deal. A customs union was a leading contender in the first round last week - but was still defeated by a majority Amid claims he would resign if Mrs May ignored Parliament and switched to No Deal, Mr Gauke added: 'I just don't think the British people would thank us if we left without a deal and we said we were just following the referendum result.' Mr Gauke's intervention comes amid claims Mrs May faces mass resignations from her Cabinet whichever course she takes. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Business Secretary Greg Clark are all urging Mrs May to accept a customs union with the implicit threat that they will resign if she does not. But Cabinet Brexiteers, orchestrated by Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, are implacably opposed and are likely to quit if Mrs May starts to negotiate membership of a customs union with the EU. The pressure has been ramped up by the letter sent by 170 Brexit-supporting Conservatives demanding the UK leaves the EU on April 12 with or without a deal. There are reports the letter was signed by Cabinet Ministers including Andrea Laadsom, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove. There are just days to resolve the impasse with No Deal currently due on April 12. A long extension to Brexit could be agreed by the EU at an emergency summit on April 10 - but it will only happen if Britain agrees to hold EU elections and has a clear plan. Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May (pictured today at church in Maidenhead) called a General Election, a Mail on Sunday poll found Although Mr Corbyn would be 19 seats short of a majority, it would leave him in pole position to enter No 10 if he could strike an deal with the Scottish Nationalists As Tories acknowledged they were preparing for the possibility of a general election, a poll gave Labour a five point lead. If repeated at an election, Labour would be on course to win 307 seats, while the Conservatives would claim just 264. Although Mr Corbyn would be 19 seats short of a majority, it would leave him in pole position to enter No 10 if he could strike an deal with the Scottish Nationalists. When the 11-strong Independent Group of Labour and Tory MPs is included in the poll choices, Labour is still ahead, on 35 per cent, with the Tories on 32 per cent and the new group now called Change UK on nine per cent. But one Labour MP told MailOnline that talk of an election was 'going down like a bucket of cold sick' on both sides of the house. The MP said only a handful of Labour MPs close to the leader welcomed a general election. Former Brexit Secretaries Boris Johnson, left, and Dominic Raab, right, are contenders for the Premiership when Theresa May stands down Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May called a General Election, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found Tory leadership hopefuls are also jockeying ever more publicly to replace Mrs May, who announced her intention last week to step down once this phase of Brexit is complete. Boris Johnson, sporting a tidier haircut and significant weight loss, called on the PM to quit this week after she lost another meaningful vote and his fellow former Brexit Secretary Dominc Raab today hit back at 'smears' claiming he had bullied officials. Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, set out her stall for the top job with an interview in which she called for Tories to use the 'vast majority' of a 27bn Brexit war chest to 'slash taxes'. A Mail on Sunday poll shows Boris enjoys a clear lead among the electorate in the race to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader, with more than twice the level of support of his closest rival, Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Environment Secretary Michael Gove is the next most popular, followed by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Dominic Raab, and Liz Truss. But Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis has told friends that if Mrs May survives the coming weeks, then Downing Street hopes to delay the final stages of the contest until the gathering in Manchester in the hope it will deprive Mr Johnson of an immediate Brexit bounce if Britain has left the EU. Allies of Mrs May believe that a long contest would offer the best chance for the leadership to skip a generation, allowing a dark horse candidate such as Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly or Mark Harper to surge through the ranks. The shadow foreign Secretary accused Theresa May of being 'out of control', warning the 'time may come' when Labour makes a second attempt to force a general election. Emily Thornberry said the Prime Minister was 'not listening' to Parliament after reports she is planning to bring her vote back to the Commons yet again, despite its third rout on Friday. Ms Thorberry said: 'Even with just days to go she is just saying 'It is my deal or no deal'. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. 'That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything. 'No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. 'I think her judgment has been undermined.' Labour called and lost a motion of no confidence in the Government in January but could make a second attempt in days. Losing would start a two-week countdown to a General Election unless an alternative government could be formed. But Labour and Opposition MPs can only win a vote if some Conservative MPs switch sides and vote against their own party. Some Brexiteer Tories have hinted they could do so to block the deal, while Remain Tories have warned they might to avoid No Deal. Ex-PM Sir John Major said this morning the situation should be taken over by a national government to resolve the crisis. He told Andrew Marr: 'We may be driven to a national government.' Sir John added that 'whomsoever is Prime Minister' would invite figures in from other parties to form a 'time-limited unity Government'. Outlining how to approach the Brexit issues, Sir John told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: 'If we have a general election in the autumn, which I think is possible not certain, and we don't get a government with a clear majority then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that we're seeing in Parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected.' Asked for his advice to Mrs May about whether or not she should call an election this week, Sir John replied: 'Don't. I mean don't for a whole range of reasons. 'The Prime Minister is blocked in on every side, I utterly can empathise with her frustration but I think a general election will solve nothing at this moment.' He advocated a 'national leader not a factional leader'. Psychologist Dr Kate Godfrey-Faussett, who is a lead figure in the Stop RSE campaign, is under investigation by the Health and Care Professions Council over her views on homosexuality A psychologist, who has continuously opposed LGBT lessons in schools, is to be investigated over her opposition to homosexuality. Dr Kate Godfrey-Faussett, who is a lead figure in the Stop RSE campaign and converted to Islam 25 years ago, is now under investigation by the Health and Care Professions Council over her views, The Guardian has reported. The campaign group, which was set up in 2018, is strongly opposed to what it deems 'secular liberal sexual ideologies' being taught to children in schools. An investigation carried by the Observer earlier this year found that the National Secular Society (NSS) had written to the Health and Care Professions Council, the governing body for Godfrey-Faussett's profession, over whether her role is compatible with the ethical standards of her professional body. In a letter seen by the paper, dated on February 18, the NSS warned that the campaign group had 'promoted material which says the punishment for homosexuality is death.' In February the health professional was filmed delivering a talk as part of an RSE workshop in Birmingham Her investigation comes after parents and pupils staged protests outside Parkfield community school in Birmingham, demanding LGBT lessons are banned According to The Guardian, the society went on to write: 'Our research has found that downloadable resources which were available on Stop RSEs website as recently as last week (since withdrawn) included a book which endorses lashing and killing gay people.' There is no suggestion that Godfrey-Faussett herself endorses such material. Following the claim it is understood that the health body has launched an inquiry and is gathering relevant information. In February, the health professional was filmed delivering a talk titled 'Relationship and Sex Education in Schools' as part of an RSE workshop in Birmingham. During the talk, Godfrey-Faussett said: 'The danger with RSE is not in the minimal guidelines, it's the fact that actually it's an open doorway or an open gateway for sex ed organisations and the LGBT lobby groups, their resources, and their sexuality education to our schools. 'That is a danger and that is the crux of the point that people don't always understand.' Describing how young children were not able to understand the concepts of LGBT education she added: 'The LGBT lobby groups, the sex ed organisations are going to schools, they are already actually in a lot of our schools, and pushing their agenda's and their ideologies and nobody is monitoring this. Pictured: Muslim parents and pupils protest against the No Outsiders programme outside Parkfield community school Pictured : A child holds a sign as parents and pupils protest try and stop LGBT lessons being taught in school 'There's a real risk because of this that our children will become sexualised.' The psychologist has also been behind the petition, which has already gathered 115,615 signatures, to give parents the right to opt their child out of sex education in schools. A spokesman for the Health and Care Professions Council, which regulates Godfrey-Faussett, told the Observer: 'We are aware of concerns about Kate Godfrey-Faussett and are looking into what action, if any, we need to take. We have a duty of confidentiality to all parties involved and it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.' Godfrey-Faussett said she had not been told about the details of the complaint. She told the Observer: 'I have simply tried to warn people of the underlying liberal secular agenda of RSE and the harm that it may cause children and is, in fact, already causing based on reports I am receiving from parents. 'It is well known that if you speak out against the secular narrative they will silence you.' An investigation into the psychologist comes at the same time Parkfield Community School in Alum Rock, Birmingham, finds itself embroiled in a row over its No Outsiders programme, developed by Andrew Moffat. The programme, which focused on teaching LGBT rights in classes, was halted after Muslim parents staged protests against the lessons. A HCPC spokesperson said: 'We are aware of concerns about Kate Godfrey-Faussett and are looking into what action, if any, we need to take. 'During this early stage of the initial investigation, no decision has been made regarding the merits of the concern. 'We have a duty of confidentiality to all parties involved and it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on this particular matter.' A spokesman for the National Secular Society said: 'The efforts to shut down teaching about LGBT people are well-coordinated and rooted in faith-based homophobia. 'Those behind them are undermining legitimate, age-appropriate education which introduces children to issues and people they will inevitably encounter in a healthy, pluralistic society. 'The demand to impose religious conservatism on state schools is unreasonable and needs to be resisted. 'Parents do not have the right to demand that schools teach their children in a way that reinforces their worldview, particularly when their worldview is exclusionary. And those spreading myths must not be allowed to influence the way schools teach.' The Tories are making contingency plans for a snap election if though they do not want one, the party's deputy chairman admitted today. James Cleverly said it was an 'inevitable possibility' Theresa May could be forced to lead the party through a snap election despite promising to resign. The admission comes amid a Tory civil war over a 'kamikaze' plan endorsed by some No 10 aides to go to the country in response to the repeated defeat of Mrs May's Brexit deal. In theory Mrs May could ask Parliament to pass a motion for an early election that could be held as soon as late May - but she would likely face a revolt in her party. Her alternative could be to tear up the Tory manifesto and accept a Brexit based on a permanent UK-EU customs union if Parliament endorses the idea - despite it ruling out new trade deals after Brexit. The Tories are making contingency plans for a snap election if though they do not want one, the party's deputy chairman James Cleverly (pictured today on Sky News) admitted James Cleverly (pictured today on Sophy Ridge on Sunday) said it was an 'inevitable possibility' Theresa May could be forced to lead the party through a snap election despite promising to resign Mr Cleverly told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday: 'I don't think an election would solve anything. Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver. 'We don't want to add any more unnecessary delay.' Despite his claim, Mr Cleverly acknowledged that 'sensible and pragmatic' contingency planning was taking place in case Theresa May was forced to go to the country early. 'We have got a minority Government in a turbulent time,' he said. In such circumstances, he said it was an 'inevitable possibility' that Mrs May would lead the party into the election. Mrs May is today weighing up what one ally describes as 'a menu of equally unpalatable options' any one of which could lead to the swift collapse of her stricken Government. Her exhausted Downing Street operation is staring at an invidious choice if her deal is voted down again this week: either accept the likely bidding of MPs and keep the UK in a customs union thus splitting her party down the middle or turn her face against the Commons by calling a 'kamikaze' Election. A further option leaving the EU with No Deal was heavily defeated when the Commons voted on it earlier this month. Calls for the Prime Minister to trigger an Election immediately have been led by Mrs May's Political Secretary Stephen Parkinson, who has argued that 'events will lead to one anyway so we might as well be on the front foot'. Opposition to a snap poll is being orchestrated by Chief Whip Julian Smith, who has said he is fighting it with 'every sinew in his body'. Theresa May is today weighing up what one ally describes as 'a menu of equally unpalatable options' - including triggering an election. Pictured: Mrs May on the steps of Downing Street on April 18, 2017 - the last time she called a General Election Labour is also ready to table a vote of no-confidence this week in Mrs May's Government if it senses that Tory arch-Brexiteers will vote to bring down the Prime Minister Even those advisers who lean towards calling an Election cannot decide if Mrs May should lead the campaign, or whether a leadership contest should be compressed into a few days and decided only by MPs at Westminster. The Cabinet is equally divided, with Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Business Secretary Greg Clark all urging Mrs May to accept a customs union with the implicit threat that they will resign if she does not. But Cabinet Brexiteers, orchestrated by Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, are implacably opposed and are likely to quit if Mrs May starts to negotiate membership of a customs union with the EU. Ms Leadsom's 'pizza club' which she founded last year to discuss Brexit strategy over takeaways in her Commons room agreed yesterday to block efforts to join a customs union. A senior Government source said: 'Theresa is trapped between aides and Ministers, all urging her with equal passion to do different things.' The pressure has been ramped up by the letter sent by 170 Brexit-supporting Conservatives demanding the UK leaves the EU on April 12 'with or without a deal', and asking for assurances that Mrs May will not commit the country to a long extension or participating in the European Parliament elections on May 23. Last night, there were reports that the letter was organised by Ms Leadsom, and also signed by other Cabinet Ministers including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove. A source close to one of the letter's signatories said last night: 'The letter reaffirmed our commitment to the manifesto, and to the PM's own determination to seek a short extension to Article 50 that avoids the EU elections.' The Cabinet is equally divided, with Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Business Secretary Greg Clark all urging Mrs May to accept a customs union. Pictured: Oliver Letwin, who organised indicative votes earlier this week Will she really risk it? The four options Option 1 - May calls Election this week After her 2017 Election disaster that saw Jeremy Corbyn wipe out her majority, the PM would be incredibly wary about going to the country again. But she knows that without a change to the numbers, the House of Commons will remain deadlocked. Option 2 - Confidence vote sparks Election If disgruntled Tories side with Labour in a vote of no confidence and Jeremy Corbyn is unable to form a government within 14 days, the country will be plunged into an Election anyway. Given that it looks inevitable, No 10 is split on whether to jump first. Option 3 - PM accepts customs fudge If Parliament orders the UK to stay in the customs union, Mrs May could be forced to abandon a cherished 'red line'. Accepting it would blow up her party as hundreds of Tory MPs loathe the idea, including six Cabinet Ministers. Option 4 - Delay Brexit, change leader If Mrs May's deal is defeated a fourth time, her political capital will be utterly spent and she will face a chorus of calls to quit. Brexit could be delayed for a new leader to be chosen and the Tories will go to the country with a fresh face in charge. Advertisement The Chief Whip's opposition to an Election which is shared by No 10 Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell increased after he was briefed about Mr Corbyn's plans to hit Mrs May with a 'decapitation strategy' if an Election is called. Tory whips say Labour has drawn up plans to target a string of the party's biggest stars including Boris Johnson, Ms Rudd and ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith and will pour thousands of activists into Tory seats in London and the South that are 'vulnerable'. One senior Tory MP in the South-East was overheard admitting at Westminster last week that 'we've all had it' if an Election was called soon. Labour is also ready to table a vote of no-confidence this week in Mrs May's Government if it senses that Tory arch-Brexiteers will vote to bring down the Prime Minister. However, Labour's battle plan was last night dismissed as 'bravado' by one of its own Shadow Ministers, who claimed the party was simply not ready to fight an Election. And party insiders also warn that Labour could lose all seven of its Scottish seats, effectively destroying any hopes Mr Corbyn has of getting a Commons majority. Mrs May's Election threats have sent a shiver down the spine of many Tory MPs in the South-East defending thin or vulnerable majorities. Top of Mr Corbyn's attack list is Ms Rudd's Hastings and Rye seat, where she is defending a wafer-thin 346 majority over Labour. Her role as Work and Pensions Secretary makes her doubly vulnerable, say Corbyn strategists. Mrs May is also considering delaying Brexit and stepping down, with Boris Johnson the favourite to replace her But Labour boasts it can also claim the scalp of would-be party leader Mr Johnson in his Uxbridge seat in West London. He is defending a 5,034 majority but Labour's vote locally has soared in recent years. Also in the Labour firing line are former Education Secretary Justine Greening in Putney (majority just 1,554 over Labour) and Mr Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader. He is defending a majority of only 2,438 in Chingford and Woodford Green. One senior Labour MP said last night: 'London is basically a Labour city and the enthusiasm for Corbyn is still running very high. All those top Tories are going to struggle to cling on if Mrs May does fire the Election starting gun any time soon.' The party is also aiming to eject Labour defectors in the new Change UK independent group, including Chuka Umunna in Streatham, South London. Some Labour figures scoffed at the 'decapitation' claims, with one warning any gains in the South would be 'cancelled out' by losses in the North. One said: 'Now we've started openly backing a second referendum much more than before, we're really losing Brexiteer votes in the North. 'When and if the Election comes, it really will be a case of holding on to what we have rather than making gains.' Labour has 245 seats against the Tories' 314. The Labour plans emerged as Mr Corbyn declared it was time for 'the sensible people' to take over talks with the EU even though he sparked fury from many Brexit voters last week by ordering his MPs to vote down Mrs May's deal. Mr Corbyn also refused to say whether he would offer an option to remain in the EU during a second round of indicative votes in the Commons tomorrow. Speaking in Newport, South Wales, ahead of this week's by-election, he accused Mrs May of 'bullying and threatening people'. Yago Riedijk, a 27-year-old jihadist from the Netherlands, has been placed on an exclusion list and is currently being held in a cell in northern Syria The husband of ISIS bride Shamima Begum, 19, has been banned from entering Britain because he poses a national security risk. Yago Riedijk, a 27-year-old jihadist from the Netherlands, has been placed on an exclusion list and is currently being held in a cell in northern Syria. Home Secretary Sajid Javid imposed the ban just weeks after Begum, who is currently living in a Syrian refugee camp, lost her British citizenship. The ban of Riedijk, who was jailed for six years last year in his home country the Netherlands for membership of a terrorist organisation, has been praised by Conservative MP Philip Hollobone. He told the Sun it was 'very welcome news'. He said: 'We need to see more of this. There is going to be the threat of thousands of these fighters returning to Europe over the next few months. 'We have to make it clear they're not welcome in this country.' Riedijk married Begum in Syria in 2015 when she was just 15, days after she ran away from her family home in East London The couple had three children who all died, the most recent of which was three-week-old Jerrah - named after a 'jihadi warlord' Shamima Begum, 19 (pictured before she left the country four years ago) Riedijk married Begum in Syria in 2015 when she was just 15, days after she ran away from her family home in East London. The couple had three children who all died, the most recent of which was three-week-old Jerrah - named after a 'jihadi warlord'. Begum pleaded with the British Government last month to be allowed to return to the UK after fleeing to Syria in 2015 to join ISIS. She said she deserved sympathy and should be given a second chance. Riedijk spoke about his love for his wife in an interview with The Times yesterday. He said: 'We got very close very quickly. The perfect wife. She was so young and innocent'. Guidelines show that bans can be imposed on those who might advance an ideological cause that may endanger another person's life. An American military veteran has offered a rare insight into the mind of an accused terrorist who allegedly massacred 50 people in a Christchurch mosque, admitting that he once came dangerously close to blowing up a place of worship. After returning home from deployment, Richard McKinney said he worked tirelessly to create a home made bomb with the hope of killing a mass amount of Muslims. He hoped to detonate the bomb at the Muncie Islamic Centre, in Indiana, and 'watch the show' from across the street, he told The Project in a revealing interview on Sunday. After returning home from deployment, Richard McKinney (pictured) said he worked tirelessly to create a home made bomb with the hope of killing a mass amount of Muslims He hoped to detonate the bomb at the Muncie Islamic Centre (pictured), in Indiana, and 'watch the show' from across the street His goal was to kill or maim at least 200 Islamic worshippers. 'I saw an opportunity to do one last thing for my country. My hatred of Islam was the only thing keeping me alive,' Mr McKinney said. Instead, he decided to give the religion 'one final chance', and visited the very mosque he had planned to attack. He told The Project he was immediately greeted by another worshipper, who gave him a Quran and was willing to answer McKinney's questions about his faith. Within eight weeks, McKinney had converted to Islam, and hasn't looked back. Within eight weeks of researching Islam, McKinney (pictured) had converted, and hasn't looked back Tarrant has been charged with murder over the March 15 attack at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, where 50 worshippers were mercilessly gunned down He said his experiences have given him a unique perspective on the alleged actions of the accused Christchurch terrorist, Brentan Tarrant. Tarrant has been charged with murder over the March 15 attack at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, where 50 worshippers were mercilessly gunned down. 'The person who commit the crime, who murdered innocent people, children that was me. We were the same people,' Mr McKinney confessed. However, the former military man said there was one stark difference between the pair. Mr McKinney (pictured) worked tirelessly to create a home made bomb after returning from deployment, with the hope of killing a mass amount of Muslims He said his experiences have given him a unique perspective on the accused Christchurch terrorist, Brentan Tarrant (pictured) Tarrant is accused of live-streaming the vicious assault online. In the footage that was shared, the shooter was welcomed into the mosque before he began firing 'When he was greeted at the door, he didn't stop to think. When I walked into my centre and I saw that guy with his smile, it automatically warmed me up a little bit. It made me open and I started listening.' Tarrant is accused of live-streaming the vicious assault online. In footage of the attack, a worshipper can be heard welcoming the alleged gunman as he entered, even calling him 'brother'. Mr McKinney is now the president of the facility he once hoped to destroy. He said the only way to freeze out the hatred of Muslims is to eliminate fear of the religion within communities. 'There needs to be activism, we need to fight to show our beliefs. I say fight, but our mouths are our weapon. We can't stay scared. We can't stay quiet,' he said. Sir John Major said a national government may be needed to solve the Brexit impasse today as he renewed calls for a second referendum. The ex-Prime Minister said there needed to be a way to end the 'chaos' in Parliament by finding a way to build a stable majority. While urging the PM not to call a snap election this week, he predicted a new poll could happen by this autumn. But if a new election fails to hand one party decisive control of the nation there should be a 'cross-party government' to take decisions in the 'national interest'. Sir John Major (pictured today on the Marr show) said a national government may be needed to solve the Brexit impasse today as he renewed calls for a second referendum While urging the PM (pictured today in Maidenhead) not to call a snap election this week, he predicted a new poll could happen by this autumn Outlining how to approach the Brexit issues, Sir John told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: 'If we have a general election in the autumn, which I think is possible not certain, and we don't get a government with a clear majority then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that we're seeing in Parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected.' Asked for his advice to Mrs May about whether or not she should call an election this week, Sir John replied: 'Don't. I mean don't for a whole range of reasons. 'The Prime Minister is blocked in on every side, I utterly can empathise with her frustration but I think a general election will solve nothing at this moment.' Sir John added: 'When feelings are running high, I think a general election is pretty much the very last thing we need. 'We might be driven to it later but now is certainly not the moment.' What is a national government? A so-called national government is very rare in British politics. It brings together two or more of the major political parties inside a single government - instead of the traditional two-sided contest in Parliament. The idea is to govern with consensus across most of the Commons. There were all-party coalitions during both the two world wars. It would be dramatically different to the Tory-Lib Dem coalition formed in 2010, which left the Labour Party in the traditional role of Opposition. Advertisement He said he suspects MPs may add 'something relating to the customs union and alignment to the single market' to Mrs May's deal, noting: 'If they add that to her deal, it's not perfect, it's far from perfect... I think it could go through and it might be the least bad option in the circumstances we're in other than reversing the whole thing.' Sir John said the best way forward is 'not to wreck the British economy', the country's international reputation or constitutional relationships via a no-deal Brexit, adding the customs union and single market additions are the potential compromise. He went on: 'I think if you did that, it'd be very wise in the long-term to put that to the nation so they can decide whether or not they wish that, or whether they're prepared for something else. 'Let me make it clear: whatever choices the Prime Minister and the Cabinet make, a lot of people are going to be upset about it and it is a time for people to try and restore the sort of civilised debate and exchanges that were symptomatic of the House of Commons and more recently have not been.' The warning came as Justice Secretary David Gauke admitted Britain is in a 'national crisis' and Theresa May must consider a 'second or third choice' Brexit including a customs union if MPs back it On those Conservative MPs outlining their leadership ambitions, Sir John said: 'I think they should concentrate on the decision we should make next week, not who is going to be prime minister at some future stage. How could an early election happen? Because of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act passed by the coalition, the Prime Minister can no longer simply ask the Queen to dissolve the Commons and call an election. There are two procedures instead. First - and this is what happened in 2017 - the Government can table a motion in the Commons calling for an early election. Crucially, this can only pass with a two-thirds majority of MPs - meaning either of the main parties can block it. Second an election is called if the Government loses a vote of no confidence and no new administration can be built within 14 days. In practice, this is can only happen if Tory rebels vote with Mr Corbyn - a move that would end the career of any Conservative MP who took the step. An election takes a bare minimum of five weeks from start to finish and it would take a week or two to get to the shut down of Parliament, known as dissolution - putting the earliest possible polling day around mid to late May. If the Tories hold a leadership election first it probably pushes any election out to late June at the earliest. Advertisement 'I find it extraordinarily odd that there are people who decided that the Prime Minister's deal was going to turn us into a vassal state and they voted against it. Once it is apparent there's going to be a leadership election and one of them might become prime minister, the question of a vassal state disappears and they support it. 'I think the public will be very cynical about that. 'I don't know when the Prime Minister will go and nobody can be certain... but when we elect a new prime minister I think it has to be someone who can be a national leader, not a factional leader and I think that does disqualify a number of candidates.' Sir John also said the UK will always have a centre-right party and a centre-left party, adding: 'Whether that's exactly the same Conservative Party as we have now or not, I can't be certain - but that there will be a Conservative Party on the centre-right of politics, but it needs to be at the centre-right if it wishes to win, not the far-right.' The warning came as a senior minister admitted Britain is in a 'national crisis' and Theresa May must consider a 'second or third choice' Brexit including a customs union if MPs back it. Justice Secretary David Gauke, a leading Remainer, blamed Brexit hardliners for plunging Britain into chaos. And he said Mrs May must consider tearing up the Tory party manifesto to get an orderly Brexit through Parliament if necessary. Mr Gauke's warning comes ahead of a second round of 'indicative votes' tomorrow night on alternatives to Mrs May's Brexit deal. A customs union was a leading contender in the first round last week - but was still defeated by a majority. It comes after the PM's deal was defeated for a third time on Friday as 28 hardline Brexiteers and the DUP continued to vote against it. The Justice Secretary is among a group insisting on compromise to avoid a No Deal Brexit. He is joined by Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd. But accepting a customs union could see Brexiteer ministers including Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom walk out. There are just days to resolve the impasse with No Deal currently due on April 12. A long extension to Brexit could be agreed by the EU at an emergency summit on April 10 - but it will only happen if Britain agrees to hold EU elections and has a clear plan. A female spy with a wooden leg dubbed 'the most dangerous of all' by the Gestapo, helped win World War II by getting prostitutes to infect Nazis with syphilis and gonorrhea. Virginia Hall, worked for Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive, a forerunner of MI6 and slipped back and forth between London and France, wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. Hall, who had a wooden leg, was considered such a top level operative that Gestapo chief Hermann Goring put out Wanted posters offering a reward for the capture of the woman he viewed as the most dangerous spy in war-torn France. She was based in Lyon, a key part of the French resistance, and became adept at recruiting potential allies, as revealed in a new book called A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell. Virginia Hall worked for Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive, a forerunner of MI6 and slipped back and forth between London and France, wreaking havoc behind enemy lines One of the adept spy's key lieutenants was Germaine Guerin, a brothel owner who ran an establishment popular with German officers and government officials. The 37-year-old made parts of her brothel into flats available for safe houses, encouraged her girls to spike their clients drinks and got some clients addicted to heroin to make them incapable of fighting. Germaine, then introduced Virginia to Dr Jean Rousset, a gynaecologist, who let her use the clinic to help injured agents. In addition, Dr Rousset, would trick German soldiers into thinking a brothel girl was free from sexual diseases by giving out special white cards to those girls free of infection. But the girls were not free from infection and would then spread possible syphilis or gonorrhea to the enemy, thereby incapacitating them. The resourceful spy also managed to get a hairdresser to help disguise members of the resistance, used her extensive network of contacts to hide and feed British airmen who were shot down and recruited the owner of an underwear shop to sot Virginia Hall receiving the Distinguished Service Cross in 1945 Miss Hall, was fluent in French, Italian and German when she went to work for the US foreign service before World War II but was invalided out of the service after a hunting accident in Turkey. Her shotgun slipped from her grasp and as she grabbed it, it fired, blasting away her foot. By the time she got to a hospital, gangrene had set in. To save her life, the surgeon had to amputate her left leg below the knee. Always able to see the funny side of things, Miss Hall immediately named her wooden leg Cuthbert. She was in Paris when war broke out in 1939 and joined the ambulance service. When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, she fled to London, and with her language skills, was soon recruited by the SOE. After training in the clandestine arts of killing, communications and security, she went to Vichy France to set up resistance networks under the cover of being a reporter for the New York Post. After the November, 1942, North Africa invasion, German troops flooded into her area and things became too hot even for her. She hiked on her artificial leg across the Pyrenees in the dead of winter to Spain. During the journey she radioed London saying she was okay but Cuthbert was giving her trouble. Forgetting this was her artificial leg, and knowing her value to the Allied cause, her commanders radioed back: 'If Cuthbert troublesome eliminate him.' She later returned to London, but headed back to France in 1944 to set up a series of resistance fighters to target Nazi communications and blow up bridges. After the war, Miss Hall married one of the men she'd fought with in France, French-born OSS agent, Paul Goilott, and continued to work for the CIA. She later received the Distiguished Service Cross in 1945. Woman Of No Importance by Sonia Purnell (Virago Press, 20), is released in April in hardback. Saturday night was a big one for Judge Jeanine Pirro as the embattled Fox News host's return to her program after a three week absence was followed by a merciless mockery on SNL. Pirro had been absent from her show Judge Jeanine for the past two Saturdays after making Islamaphobic comments about House Rep Ilhan Omar. SNL's Cecily Strong welcomed Pirro back on air by reprising her exaggerated impression of the Fox personality in a Weekend Update segment that left host Colin Jost in tears. 'I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro, and it's up to you to decide just what my whole deal is,' Strong's Pirro declares after being introduced by Jost. Explaining her return to prime-time TV, she says: 'This Mueller report completely exonerated the president and therefore everybody on the Trump train. Woo woo! 'So somebody at Fox News said my name into a bathroom mirror three times and here I am.' Strong's Pirro then thanks her biggest fans - 'mean, horny men laying on in-home hospital beds' and 'white prison gangs who control the remote on Saturdays' - for tuning in. Scroll down for video SNL's Cecily Strong reprised her role as Judge Jeanine Pirro during a brutal Weekend Update segment Saturday night, hours after the embattled Fox News host returned to her own show Both real-life Pirro (left) and Strong's spot-on impersonation (right) responded to the Mueller report during their respective appearances on Saturday night. The former had been off the air for three weeks after having made an Islamaphobic comment about Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar Weekend Update host Colin Jost struggled to keep his composure during Strong's loud, exaggerated performance, during which she called President Donald Trump 'a USDA-certified sex machine who can wax that a** from dusk until dawn' Jost then reminds his guest that she doesn't need to shout, to which replies: 'Can't do it pal, mama's got one volume, and its three Chardonnays deep at a crowded party.' Moving on to the Mueller report, which the real Pirro celebrated in her own show hours earlier, Jost asks: 'So you really think that this report totally exonerates the president? Because the Attorney General's letter made it sound a little murky.' Strong's Pirro exclaims: 'It's crystal clear! No collusion, no obstruction.' Growing increasingly animated, she adds: 'The report concludes that the president is 35 years old and 175 pounds. He's got the rugged good looks of Bradley Cooper and he smells like steak and complementary bathroom cologne. 'And he's a USDA-certified sex machine who can wax that a** from dusk until dawn.' Strong's Pirro excitedly declared: 'This Mueller report completely exonerated the president and therefore everybody on the Trump train. Woo woo!' Jost chooses not to probe any deeper into Pirro's questionable claims, but asks: 'How can you be so sure of what's in the Mueller report if no one has actually read it?' Pirro replies: 'No one should read it! Tonight I am asking Attorney General William Barr to tell the world that President Trump is innocent, and then burn that report for all of eternity. Referencing the 1984 cult classic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Pirro says: 'Just "Kali Ma" it into the Temple of Doom. And sorry Short Ground' - Indiana's 11-year-old Chinese sidekick in the movie - 'you ain't stopping Dr Jones this time.' Jost warns Pirro that 'that's the type of comment that maybe got you in trouble' with Rep Oman, to which she says: 'Sorry Colin! After this Mueller report, we in Trump Nation can do anything we want.' Jost says: 'That's right, I heard Trump say this week that he might just completely close the border with Mexico.' 'What?!' Pirro exclaims as she falls out of her chair, legs in the air. Strong's Pirro fell out of her chair with excitement after Jost suggested that Trump could close the US-Mexico border and is considering investigating Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton After falling out of her chair, Strong's Pirro told Jost: 'Oh, I just get so damn excited about Trump unleashed. Whoa mama!' Jost, who has struggled throughout the segment to keep a straight face, leans on the desk with his head in his hand as he tries to stop laughing uncontrollably. Pirro pulls herself up and says shakily: 'Oh, I just get so damn excited about Trump unleashed. Whoa mama! 'He's getting rid of Jussie Smollett and he's bringing back Roseanne. She's going to have her own show called The Barrs. It's going to be Roseanne and William Barr and the dirtiest couch you've ever seen. They're going to be calling them like they see 'em and taking all the damn Ambien they want, period.' Jost says: 'I'm not sure that's happening, but I don't know if you heard Trump did say he's hoping to launch an investigation into both Obama and Hillary Clinton' - a comment which sends Pirro flying out of her chair with excitement a second time. Dont be satisfied with the Mueller report. This is bound to happen again b/c these arrogant, condescending, lying, leaking haters of you,me & the America that doesnt have power, will do it again. And the only way to stop them is with justice. True justice- behind bars justice. pic.twitter.com/72aPr7ozmR Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 31, 2019 Judge Jeanine Pirro returned to her show on Saturday night after being off the air for three weeks and called for President Trumps enemies to get 'behind-the-bars justice' Hours before Strong delivered her Pirro impression, the Judge returned to her usual 9pm slot on Fox News and offered her reaction to Attorney General Barr's four-page summary of the Mueller report, which found there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Pirro blasted the 'swamp scum' that promoted Russiagate, saying that 'unless we make an example of the traitorous, treasonous group that accused Donald Trump of being an agent of the Russian government ... [this will become] a blueprint for a future effort to overthrow the government.' The host continued: 'Don't be satisfied with the Mueller report. This is bound to happen again because these arrogant, condescending, leaking lying haters of you and me and the America that doesn't have power will do it again unless we stop them in the only way to stop them is with justice, true justice and that is behind-the-bars justice.' Pirro's show was sidelined by Fox News after she suggested during a March 9 episode that Rep Omar's hijab meant that she subscribes to Sharia law and does not support the constitution Pirro's show was sidelined by Fox following a March 9 episode in which the host suggested that Omar's hijab meant that she subscribes to Sharia law. During the opening monologue of that show, Pirro claimed that Omar's hijab was a sign that she was committed to the religious law which originates from the Quran, adding that it was 'antithetical' to the constitution. The former district attorney from New York's Westchester County said: 'Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?' Omar has been embroiled in an antisemitism scandal in recent weeks after making a number of controversial comments about Israel. The Minnesota congresswoman previously said that she wanted to discuss 'the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country'. Omar also drew ire from both sides of the political spectrum after claiming that Israel's relationship with the US was 'all about the Benjamins' last month, before later apologizing. In the segment which landed Pirro in hot water, she suggested that the Omar was not getting her 'anti-Israel sentiment doctrine' from the Democratic party. Pirro refused to apologize for her statements about Omar, claiming that she never called the congresswoman un-American She said: 'Think about this. She's not getting this anti-Israel sentiment doctrine from the Democrat party So if it's not rooted in the party, where is she getting it from? 'Think about it. Omar wears a hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won't get molested.' Fox News 'strongly' condemned the views expressed by Pirro, saying: 'They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.' In a tweet, Omar thanked Fox for the statement, saying: 'No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth.' Despite the rebuke, Pirro released her own statement, in which she refused to apologize. She said: 'I've seen a lot of comments about my opening statement from Saturday night's show and I did not call Rep. Omar un-American. 'My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution. 'I invite Rep Omar to come on my show any time to discuss all of the important issues facing America today.' Pirro was called out on Twitter by a fellow Fox News Channel employee who is Muslim. The employee, Hufia Kumal, works on Bret Baier's news show. She wrote: 'Can you stop spreading this false narrative that somehow Muslims hate America or women who wear a hijab aren't American enough? You have Muslims working at the same network you do, including myself.' At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro after her weekly show was replaced by a documentary In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor' And in a third tweet, Trump called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine' At the time, Trump called on Fox News to 'bring back' Pirro. Trump tweeted on March 17 that the 'Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country'. 'They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well,' he added. In a second tweet, the president said that 'Fox must stay strong and fight back with vigor'. 'Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don't give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die!' Trump said. In a third tweet, Trump referenced Tucker Carlson, and called on Fox News to 'stay true to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine'. 'Your competitors are jealous - they all want what you've got - NUMBER ONE. Don't hand it to them on a silver platter. They can't beat you, you can only beat yourselves!' Trump tweeted. The former long-time partner of a sadistic killer lashed out and accused him of cheating on her when she found another woman's identification cards in his possession. But Daniel James Holdom assured Hazel Passmore he was not having an affair, and shockingly confessed to raping and murdering his former lover Karlie Pearce-Stevenson before killing her daughter and stealing the 20-year-old's identity. Holdom was charged for his crimes in 2015 - more than seven years after he dumped the body of Ms Pearce-Stevenson in NSW's Belanglo State Forest and tossed the remains of her two-year-old child, Khandalyce, on the side of a South Australian highway in a suitcase. Ms Passmore later relayed her former partner's confession to police and helped convict Holdom, despite initially standing by him - something she claims to have done out of fear. Details of her statement to police have since emerged, revealing graphic details about the extent of her knowledge of Holdom's crimes, 60 Minutes reported. Hazel Passmore (pictured) later relayed her former partner's confession to police and helped convict Holdom Daniel Holdom (pictured) was serving a four year sentence for the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl when he was charged with the 2008 murder of his ex-girlfriend Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her two-year-old daughter Mother and daughter duo Karlie Pearce-Stevenson (left) and two-year-old Khandalyce Pearce (right) were murdered in 2008 Ms Passmore told officers she confronted Holdom after finding Ms Pearce-Stevenson's pension and Medicare card, as well as Khandalyce's birth certificate, in his car. She said she believed Holdom had struck up a secret relationship. 'I was yelling and screaming "What the f--- is this s---?"... I was going off my nut and he pulled me inside, literally by the scruff of the neck.' 'He threw the chair he starts shaking me and he's like, "She's disappeared, she's gone, she's gone." And I'm like, "What do you mean she's gone?" And he like, "She's dead, she's dead",' she told officers. Reports suggest young Khandalyce was likely suffocated before her body was stuffed in the black suitcase that her remains were found in almost seven years later, in July of 2015 She said he confessed to sexually assaulting Ms Pearce-Stevenson with a bottle, before he 'stomped on her throat and crushed her windpipe.' Holdom also allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting Khandalyce before suffocating her to death and stuffing the two-year-old's body in a suitcase. He also often pressed her to share details of her own experiences of sexual assault as a child. She said the confession was not startling, and that over the course of their relationship Holdom had expressed interest in child abuse material. After their murders, the 41-year-old assumed Ms Pearce-Stevenson's identity to avoid raising suspicion. While Ms Pearce-Stevenson was still deemed a missing person, her bank card was being regularly used, with almost $72,000 taken from her account. Holdom (pictured) also allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting Khandalyce before suffocating her to death and stuffing the two-year-old's body in a suitcase In 2010, Ms Passmore came across an SD card containing horrific images of Ms Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce's murders. A judge later ruled the sickening images as 'a trophy of sorts'. The persistence of Karlie's friend Tanya Webber eventually allowed police to unravel the convoluted case, after she made a crucial phone call to Crime Stoppers. Ms Webber told 60 Minutes she had always had a 'bad feeling' about Holdom - and a number of Ms Pearce-Stevenson's other friends felt the same way. But it wasn't until she saw police appealing for information on the news after they discovered the bones of a small child abandoned on the side of the road and stuffed into a suitcase that she began to really panic. 'It wasn't until they released some clothing and for some reason it got my interest again, and my husband walked through the door and I said 'this could be Khandles' with tears in my eyes,' Ms Webber said. She called Crime Stoppers and offered them a name, and the South Australian police immediately began piecing together the fate of both Khandalyce, and her mother. The persistence of Karlie's friend Tanya Webber (pictured) eventually allowed police to unravel the convoluted case, after she made a crucial phone call to Crime Stoppers 'It wasn't until they released some clothing and for some reason it got my interest again, and my husband walked through the door and I said 'this could be Khandles' with tears in my eyes,' Ms Webber said Police had no trouble finding Holdom, who was serving a four-year prison sentence for the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl. He initially pleaded not guilty to the murders, but changed his tune a week before his trial was poised to begin in 2018. Ms Passmore and Holdom had an extensive history together. In 2008, only months before whisking Ms Pearce-Stevenson from her home, he was responsible for a serious car accident with Ms Passmore and her two children. Both of the children died, and Ms Passmore was left wheelchair bound. Khandalyce remains were discovered off the Karoonda Highway in South Australia, some 1200km away from that of her mothers A former lover and devoted member of Charles Manson family has opened up in an Australian television interview about her time with the crazed Californian cult leader. This year marks the 50th anniversary since Manson and several followers shocked the world when they went on a deadly rampage in Los Angeles, killing nine people at four locations across the city in July and August 1969, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate. While Manson died behind bars in 2017 aged 83, the three surviving Manson Family killers still imprisoned hope to be released, with one set to walk free within weeks. Crazed cult leader Charles Manson (pictured in 1969) died in prison in 2017 aged 83 Among those who believe the surviving murderers should be released is former follower and Manson's one time lover, Catherine Share. She was a vulnerable and lonely 26-year-old woman when she sought solace in the Manson Family in 1969, where their cult leader was regarded as God-like figure. 'I thought he was the closest thing to Jesus,' she told 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown. 'He just seemed like he knew everything. So we listened to everything he said like it was gospel.' One time lover and former Manson Family member Catherine Share (pictured) regarded cult leader and killer Charles Manson as a God-like figure when she joined in 1969 aged 26 While she served five years in prison for unrelated crimes, Ms Share insisted she was never asked to take part in the shocking murders and doesn't believe she would have agreed to participate even if she had been. 'I probably would have died first. If I had said 'no', I might have been killed,' she said. When asked what she meant, Ms Share replied: 'I would have been willing to be killed rather than do it. But that doesn't make me better than anyone else. It's just that I was older and more of a human and less susceptible' She has called for the surviving 'Manson Family Killers' who remain incarcerated to be released, including Leslie Van Houten, now 69, who could become the first member of the cult family to walk free within weeks after her bid for parole was recently granted. Surviving Manson killer Leslie Van Houten (pictured) could be freed within weeks Charles Manson (pictured) was described by a former lover as a damaged human being 'They're just not the same people they were when they were 20 and 18 at all. 'It's time,' Ms Share said. Involved in the stabbing murder of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary when she was just 19, Van Houten is currently the second longest serving female prisoner in California. The couple were murdered a day after other Manson followers killed film director Roman Polanski's pregnant actress wife Sharon Tate and four others in Los Angeles. The state's longest-serving female prisoner is Patricia Krenwinkel, now 71, another of the surviving Manson Family killers. Krenwinkel and Charles 'Tex' Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009. Catherine Share (pictured in 1970) says she was never asked to take part in the murders In 2016, Van Houten, who launched her first parole attempt in 1979 and has applied for parole 20 times, recounted her part in the killing of the La Biancas. She went into graphic detail about how she held down Rosemary La Bianca and secured a pillow with a lamp cord while another member of the Manson family stabbed her repeatedly. Her husband, Leno, was also stabbed to death before carving the word 'WAR' in his stomach. Van Houten said: 'I don't let myself off the hook. I don't find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself.' Manson Family killers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten in 1971 The Governor of California is yet to decide to approve the parole board's decision regarding Van Houten. She hopes it will be third time lucky, having had the parole board's decision overturned at the last hurdle twice previously. Her lawyer, Rich Pfeiffer, is confident of her chances and believes she's no longer a danger to public safety. Ms Share said she is glad Manson never got another taste of freedom, describing him as a damaged human being. 'There are just some people who are unsafe to be out.' A housing company has been slammed for creating 'Britain's most pointless footpath' - measuring just 15 inches wide. Two tracks - just wide enough to fit both feet on - have been ridiculed by residents in Felixstowe, Suffolk, for their 'utterly ridiculous' size, being compared to 'one of those things police make you walk along to check whether you're drunk'. The paths were built on either side of a road in the Walton Gate development by Barratt Homes - who said the strips were not designed as walkways, but to house utility services along their lengths. But residents took to social media to express their thoughts on the 'pointless' design. The path has been ridiculed by residents in Felixstowe, Suffolk, for its 'utterly ridiculous' size The tracks, built by Barratt Homes, have been positioned on either side of a road in the Walton Gate development Elvita Branch, from Felixstowe, Suffolk said: 'This is Britain's most pointless pathway. 'The pathways is just for one person to walk on, no way two people could walk on it or either a mother pushing her pram.' Resident Ken Knights said there is 'actually no safe way to leave your home unless you drive'. A photo of the path was posted on the FelixstoweNews Facebook page with the hashtag #pathgate and the question: 'When is a path not a path?' Tessa Aston wrote: 'Ridiculous! Really pedestrian friendly - maybe it's enforced tightrope walking training!?' Angela Ashford also wrote: 'That's not a path at all, it's a wide curb..... dangerous for any users....once the hedge has grown it will be non existent...quite pathetic.' Developers said the strips were not designed as walkways, but to house utility services along their lengths The house-building firm said most of the roads on the 190-property Walton Gate development did have footpaths for pedestrian use And Lynn Morrissey said: 'Ridiculous, no brains.' The house-building firm said most of the roads on the 190-property Walton Gate development did have footpaths for pedestrian use. A spokesperson for Barratt Homes Eastern Counties said: 'Service margins are installed for Shared Surface Roads, where footpaths are not required in line with the Suffolk Design Guide for Residential Areas. 'We have designed and constructed the roads at Walton Gate in line with Suffolk Highways Estate Road Specifications and they have been vetted and approved by Suffolk Highways, who will be adopting the road network once the development is complete.' Russians have operated surveillance flights over Area 51 in southern Nevada. Last week, a Tu-154M aircraft was captured flying over several military installations in the western US, reported The Drive. The move is legal under the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows countries to monitor each other to collect data on military forces and activities. Russians have operated surveillance flights over several military installations, including Area 51 in southern Nevada. Pictured: Radar shows the flight's pattern It's legal under the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows countries to monitor each other to collect data on military forces and activities. Pictured: The aircraft flying over Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County California The flight took place on Thursday, March 28, and occurred within 3,000 miles of its base at an airport in Great Falls Montana. Pictured: The aircraft flying to Fort Irwin National Training Center in San Bernardino County, California According to The Drive, the flight took place on Thursday, March 28, and began at Travis Air Force Base in northern California. The plane next flew over Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County California; Fort Irwin National Training Center in San Bernardino County, California; and Creech Air Force Base in Clark County Nevada, data from FlightRadar24 showed. Next, the aircraft flew near Yucca Flat, which is one of four major nuclear test regions, and other areas of the Nevada Test Site. Then, the flight went past an area near Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, as well as the Dugway Proving Ground, which tests biological and chemical weapons. The Drive reported that it is unclear if, during the last leg of its journey if the aircraft was capturing any photos or video. Data shows that the TU-154 flew at an altitude of 14,000 to 15,000 feet at the beginning of its trip before reaching a cruising altitude of around 30,000 feet. It then headed back to its base, which is at an international airport in Great Falls Montana, reported KRTV. Under the treaty, Russians are allowed to fly anywhere within 3,000 miles of the base. This is the first Open Skies missions Russians have conducted in the US this year. Pictured: A Russian Tu-154M aircraft Meanwhile, the US conducted three Open Skies flights in Russia in February after a year-and-a-half of being at an impasse. Pictured: Radar shows the aircraft's flight pattern Aata shows that the TU-154 flew at an altitude of 14,000 to 15,000 feet at the beginning of its trip before reaching a cruising altitude of around 30,000 feet. Pictured: Radar shows the flight pattern Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon told the station that aircraft is inspected before the flight, and that the flight is monitored by the US to make sure Russians are complying with the treaty. According to The Drive, this is the first Open Skies missions Russians have conducted in the US this year. Meanwhile, the US conducted three Open Skies flights in Russia in February after a year-and-a-half of being at an impasse, reported Air Force Magazine. The Treaty on Open Skies went into effect on January 1, 2002 and currently has 34 party states. The treaty was in question after the US accused Russia of not allowing all members of the agreement to fly over Russia. Additionally, in September, the US refused to certify equipment on board the Tu-214 aircraft for use in Open Skies missions before changing its mind after a week. A soldier who says she was discriminated against for being Muslim when she was forced to remove her hijab in front of her colleagues plans on suing the Army. Cesilia Valdovinos, 26, claims her command sergeant major, pulled her out of rank during a suicide-prevention briefing in Ft. Carson, Colorado, and made her take off her hijab in front of her colleagues, according to Yahoo Lifestyle. She filed an official complaint with the Military Equal Opportunity Office on March 7 with the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), but the Army found it to be 'unsubstantiated' and dismissed her claim. Col. David Zinn, granted approval for her to wear her hijab with her uniform in June of last year, but Valdovinos says that since then her religious headgear has sparked 'extremely hateful' behavior and harassment. Cesilia Valdovinos, 26, a Muslim serving in the Army claims she was discriminated against when she was forced to remove her hijab in front of colleagues and routinely faced bigotry and harassment while wearing her religious garment. Valdovinos now intends to sue Fort Carson, Colorado, where Valdovinos is stationed, issued a statement that says they found her complaints of discrimination to be unsubstantiated 'I got called a 'terrorist.' I got called 'ISIS.' I hear comments that I'm the reason why 9/11 happened,' Valdovinos said. 'There's a lot of anger and animosity.' After allegedly being forced to take down her hijab in front of others, the soldier told the MRFF that she felt 'religiously raped in a sense.' 'My religious preference is only to unveil in front of my husband in the comfort of my own home,' said Valdovinos. Mikey Weinstein of the MRFF said the Muslim sergeant was embarrassed on multiple occasions by Command Sgt. Maj. Kerstin Montoya. 'This is nothing more than the worst type of Muslim bigotry, prejudice, and harassment,' Weinstein told Fox 21. Army policy began accommodating religious headgear and facial hair in 2017, including a hijab or head scarf as illustrated in Army Directive 2017-03 Montoya allegedly accused Valdovinos of wearing her hair down under the hijab in violation of Army regulation. 'She must have x-ray vision because she can see under the hijab and see her hair if it was down, but it was perfectly up,' said Weinstein. 'A commander's inquiry found allegations against a senior non-commissioned officer were unsubstantiated regarding discriminating against Sgt. Cesilia Valdovinos,' Fort Carson said in a statement responding to the allegations. 'The inquiry concluded that the senior non-commissioned officer acted appropriately by enforcing the proper wear of the hijab, in compliance with Army Regulations.' Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is representing Valdovinos who plans on suing the Army 'Our leaders are committed to supporting Soldiers' freedom of religious expression. I have, and will continue to, take all reports of Soldiers disrespecting religious beliefs, observances, or traditions very seriously,' added Col. Zinn. 'I will ensure our unit continues to place a high value on the rights of our Soldiers to observe the tenets of their respective religions or to observe no religion at all.' The Army policy toward religious garments such as turbans and hijabs was updated in 2017 expressly accommodating them with certain requirements. After her complaint was dismissed, Valdovinos says she was demoted from sergeant to specialist, which also came with a substantial cut in her pay. She says that the incident has also made her and her 7-year-old daughter targets of increased harassment. The MRFF plans to file the federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army on behalf of Valdovinos, for what it calls the 'blatant Islamophobic harassment, bigotry and prejudice of the worst type.' Valdovinos says she intends on continuing her military career, despite her accusations of discrimination, and hopes to inspire other her fellow active-duty Muslims that 'it's okay to stand up for what you believe.' Australian tourists on-board the Viking Sky cruise ship as it was lashed with wild weather and massive waves have opened up about the harrowing experience after finally returning home. More than 400 of the 1,373 passengers and crew were airlifted to safety from the stricken cruise ship after it suffered engine trouble off the Norwegian coast on March 23. Nautical expert and former cruise captain Michael Lloyd said the emergency could have easily become one of the worst maritime disasters in history. Australian tourists caught up in the Viking Sky cruise ship emergency have opened up about the harrowing experience after finally returning home John Porter, who was on-board with is wife Jan Porter, (pictured together) spoke of powerful waves smashing through the ship's doors Speaking with Sunday Night, a handful of Australian couples holidaying on the ship recalled the moment they knew they were in trouble. Couple Steven and Judith Metcalf were hoping for an amazing getaway in the North Sea to enjoy the Northern Lights, but never expected they would find themselves in the midst of a potential nautical disaster. 'The swell started to increase Saturday morning, and very windy, we also had a lot of frozen rain and hail, we were really going up and riding the waves and then coming back down so it was very very wild choppy weather,' Mr Metcalf said. Shocking videos filmed by passengers on-board show the ship rolling to an almost 45-degree angle, with plant pots and furniture sliding across the floor, plus water flowing through communal areas in the ship. John Porter, who was on the cruise ship with is wife Jan Porter, said powerful waves smashed through the ship's doors as it sat broadside to the swell with all four engines out of power. 'There was a very large body of water which was sloshing backwards and forwards with the rolling of the ship and it eventually smashed a door in,' Mr Porter said. He said the passengers had absolutely no control over the situation and were 'entitled to be very very frightened'. As soon as everyone on-board was ordered to get their life jackets on and start the emergency protocols, Mr Porter said he knew things had become very serious. John Porter, who was on the cruise ship with is wife Jan Porter, said powerful waves smashed through the ship's doors as it sat broadside to the swell with all four engines out of power (pictures is the ship) Couple Steven and Judith Metcalf (pictured) spoke about the ordeal aboard the Viking Sky A retired cruise ship captain, Michael Lloyd, told the program the Viking Sky could have easily become the new Titanic if the emergency had not been averted. 'You could have ended up with a thousand dead. It would be described as being of Titanic, almost, proportions,' he said. Reports indicate the ship came within 100 metres of striking nearby rock, which Captain Lloyd said would have resulted in the deaths of most of the passengers on board. Thankfully, emergency helicopters were able to begin evacuating passengers 10 at a time. They managed to evacuate 400 passengers before the weather calmed enough for the cruise ship to be towed back into harbour with the rest of the passengers on board. Another couple on board, Susan, 68, and Malcom Smith, 71, said they weren't aware right away how dangerous the situation was. The Smith's had been on their way to lunch when they realised the conditions were far more serious than they had thought. Water flowed through broken windows as the almost 1400 passengers waited to be evacuated from the Viking Sky Passengers gathered in the theatre of the Viking Sky awaiting evacuation Norway's Accident Investigations Board launched an investigation as to why the cruise ship set sail despite the 'high risk' conditions and storm warnings 'Things were going all over the state room and then the alarm sounded. That was scary,' Mrs Smith told 9 News. The Smith's weren't one of the 480 odd passengers who were rescued by helicopter and instead suffered the entire ordeal from beginning to end. 'Twenty hours were had our life vests on for. The toilets were filling up. We didn't have a seat, we had to sit on the floor,' Mrs Smith said. Norway's Accident Investigations Board launched an investigation as to why the cruise ship set sail despite the 'high risk' conditions and storm warnings. Reports indicate the ship came within 100 metres of striking nearby rock 'Our conclusion is that the engine failure was directly caused by low oil pressure', the Norwegian Maritime Authority said in a statement. 'The level of lubricating oil in the tanks was within set limits, however relatively low, when the vessel started to cross Hustadvika,' it added, referring to the stretch of water where the incident happened. A Viking Cruises spokeswoman said the company welcomed a full investigation into the harrowing incident. 'We welcome the prompt and efficient investigation carried out by the Norwegian Maritime Authority and we fully understand and acknowledge their findings,' the spokeswoman said in a statement. 'We have inspected the levels on all our sister ships and are now revising our procedures to ensure that this issue could not be repeated. We will continue to work with our partners and the regulatory bodies in supporting them with the ongoing investigations.' One of the thugs suspected of murdering Stephen Lawrence in a racist killing that rocked Britain has been spotted enjoying his freedom following his jail release. Neil Acourt was seen just two miles from where the teenager was stabbed to death in 1993. The 43-year-old donned a flat cap on his shaven head as a friend picked him up from home in a white van. Acourt (pictured) was spotted just two miles away from the spot where Stephen was stabbed to death Neil Acourt, one of five youths charged but never convicted of the murder of black London teenager Stephen Lawrence leaves the inquiry in on June 29, 1998 He helped his friend load tools into the vehicle before the pair headed off together in pictured revealed by the Mirror Online. Acourt (pictured) was released last week One of five people accused of stabbing the 18-year-old to death, he was let out of jail last week. Police suspected Acourt led the gang that murdered the youngster at a bus stop in Eltham, South East London. The bungled initial investigation into his death was beset by claims of racism, corruption and incompetence. It took nearly 20 years for two of Stephen's five or six killers finally to be brought to justice, after double-jeopardy rules were amended to allow new evidence to be presented at a later trail. Acourt was serving time for his role in a 4million cannabis plot. He served two years of a six-year sentence. A person who saw him getting into the van commented: 'Youd never guess hed just got out of prison. He looked like any other white van man and theyre 10 a penny round here.' In 1997 after an inquest into Stephen's death, the Daily Mail ran a dramatic front-page publicly accusing five men of his murder - including Acourt and his brother Jamie, who was jailed in December 2018 for nine years on drugs charges. Neil Acourt (police mugshot left), one of five men suspected of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 (pictured right), walked free from prison last week Neil Acourt goaded onlookers as he left the Old Bailey after giving evidence at the public inquiry into the racist murder It took reform of the UK's double jeopardy law for Gary Dobson, 41, left, to be convicted of Stephens murder. David Norris, right, was jailed for 14 years for the murder Now with Britain in the grip of a knife-crime epidemic which has taken 27 lives already this year, Acourt - who was once filmed threatening to 'chop up n***ers' while miming a stabbing action with a kitchen knife is free from jail. He spent a year on remand before his trial, and is being freed on licence after two years of his sentence. The Daily Mail accuses Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight and David Norris of the murder of black teenager, Stephen Lawrence Officers suspected that Acourt was the leader of the gang that stabbed Stephen to death at a bus stop. He has always denied having any involvement in the killing but covert filming exposed him as a vile and dangerous racist. The father-of-one was accused of Stephen's murder but charges were dropped because of lack of evidence in 1993. The following year, police uncovered a video of him miming a stabbing motion as he said: 'I reckon every n***** should be chopped up, mate, and should be left with nothing but f****** stumps.' Acourt, his brother Jamie, Gary Dobson, Luke Knight, and David Norris hit out at crowds during an inquiry into the Met's handling of the case in 1998. Dobson and Norris were convicted of Stephen's murder in 2012 when fresh forensic evidence bound them to the killing. The inquiry into the police's handling of the original case, led by high court judge William Macpherson, accused the force of 'institutional racism'. It made 70 recommendations including greater oversight of the police, greater powers to discipline officers, and the definition of a racist incident to be extended to 'any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person'. A search is underway for a woman, 20, and two young girls who went missing last week, The young woman and the children, aged four and five, were last seen in the Deception Bay area, north of Brisbane, on Tuesday. Police said they are concerned for their welfare and have asked the woman to come forward. The young woman and the children, aged four and five, (pictured) were last seen in the Deception Bay area, north of Brisbane, on Tuesday The woman is described as having a slim appearance and long, dark hair. The children also have brown hair. 'Police and family hold concern for their safety and well-being and are urging the woman, or anyone who may know their current whereabouts, to contact police,' Queensland Police said in a statement. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers. An 84-year-old woman has been attacked by masked robbers in her home who threatened to kill her before tearing sentimental jewellery off her arms and sprayed her with bleach. The woman was watching television at her home in Glasgow when three men broke into the house just before 9.30pm by smashing the conservatory door. The thugs, who covered their faces during the brutal attack, tore gold bracelets from the frail pensioner's wrists, leaving them severely bruised. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the elderly woman said: 'I thought I was going to die. An 84-year-old pensioner was attacked by masked robbers who sprayed bleach on her and tore jewellery off her arms The three masked robbers entered the house by smashing the woman's conservatory door 'He said if I screamed he was going to kill me. 'He began pulling my gold bracelets, given to me by my mother, from my hands and he then dug his nails into one hand. 'He sprayed me with a bleach bottle so I couldn't see but I noticed he was white with blue eyes. 'He locked me in the bathroom and I managed to get out but they had gone.' The distraught woman, who suffers from a number of health problems after beating breast cancer in 2001, alerted her neighbours who called 999 after the attack on Tuesday. She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment after enduring swollen and bruised hands and wrists, a bruised back, and shock during the petrifying assault. The thugs sprayed bleach on all of her clothing and stole her house keys, as well as cash and thousands of pounds worth of precious family jewellery. The victim's son, who gave his name only as Kawa, believed the attack was targeted - and said he felt fortunate his mother did not suffer a heart attack during the ordeal. The robbers sprayed household cleaner at the woman and on her clothes while they took her possessions The pensioners clothes were sprayed with bleach by the robbers who stole sentimental jewellery Kawa, 48, said: 'I'd gone out that night and I believe these men knew exactly what they were going to do and had been waiting. 'My mum was sitting watching TV, that's what she usually does around that time at night, when she heard the conservatory door smash and three men appeared in front of her. 'She stood up as one of the men appeared, a white guy with blue eyes, and they all had balaclavas. 'She said two of the men jumped upstairs while the other guy grabbed her in a violent hug, picked her up and threw her into the bathroom. 'My mum doesn't speak much English but he made a sign to her as if cutting his own throat and said to her "I'm going to kill to kill you if you shout anything". 'She was absolutely terrified, she might not understand much English but she knew what his threat meant.' Police are trying to trace an Audi seen in the area at the time, and have said the suspects are all white and male. Kawa added: 'All I can say about these men is that they are animals. 'Both of us haven't slept a wink since it happened and my mum can't stop crying. The distraught woman said: 'He began pulling my gold bracelets, given to me by my mother, from my hands and he then dug his nails into one hand' 'We haven't had a problem for 14 years and this happens when my mum is 84 years old. 'I thank God that my mum isn't dead, she could have had a heart attack from the fright. 'I hope the police catch whoever did this before it happens to anyone else.' Detective Inspector Clark Hill said: 'This has been a very frightening experience for an elderly lady in her own home. 'She has sustained an injury in the incident and has lost items of jewellery which are extremely precious to her. 'I am appealing to anyone who was in the area around the time of the incident to think back and consider if they saw anything which seemed a little suspicious. 'Did you see the Audi car, did you notice three men hanging around the area? 'Any small piece of information could prove vital and help us identify the men responsible for this despicable crime.' Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday defended his years of what he called 'expressions of affection' and claimed he 'not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately.' 'In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully,' he said in a statement. 'But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.' Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his years of what he called 'expressions of affection' Biden, who is expected to enter the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in the next month, is known for giving hugs, kisses, and demonstrating affection in public. It was often the subject of jokes about his love of women while others labeled him 'Creepy Uncle Joe.' He's now fighting that longtime reputation in the wake of allegations from a Nevada politician that he gave her an unwanted kiss to the back of her head. Biden vowed to remain a strong advocate for women. 'I will also remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women. I will fight to build on the work I've done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve,' he said. 'I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won,' he noted. The talk of Biden presidential bid has been overshadowed by the accusation from Lucy Flores, a former Nevada politician who claims he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head as he helped campaign for her in 2014. Flores, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Nevada the year in question, recalled in a bombshell essay on Friday that Biden crossed the line with her physically as they worked together, leaving her feeling 'gross and confused'. 'I'm glad that he's willing to listen,' Flores told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday morning of Biden's response to her accusation. 'If he is saying he never believed that was inappropriate frankly I believe that's a little bit of a disconnection. And a sense of not being aware,' she noted. 'I just can't imagine that there was never a situation where someone said to him, Mr. Vice president, you probably should stop doing that. You should probably stop touching women in that way, you should probably keep your hands to yourself.' 'I want him to change his behavior and I want him to acknowledge this was wrong,' she said. Biden's statement on Sunday marked his first public remarks on the accusation. And Flores said this statement was better than one his spokesperson issued earlier. Biden's spokesman said on Friday that the possible Democrat presidential contender didn't recall the interaction, but said he 'respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best.' 'Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes,' Biden spokesman Bill Russo said in a statement. Russo said Biden 'believes Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it's a change for the better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so.' Flores said on Friday in a personal essay that Biden planted a 'big slow kiss' on the back of her head before she went on stage at a rally for her campaign on November 1, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Flores and Biden pictured above at that event) Before the event: Flores pictured with Biden and actress Eva Longoria prior to the alleged awkward kiss at the 2014 campaign event As Flores, then 35, and Biden, then 72, were at a rally for her campaign, Biden allegedly grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and kissed her hair. 'Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job,' Flores wrote in a personal essay for The Cut. 'Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused,' she added. She recalled that before she went on stage to speak, Biden approached her and gave her the awkward, unwarranted kiss. 'I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?' Flores recalled. 'I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, 'I didn't wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f**k?' 'He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused,' she added. Biden pictured above at the November 1, 2014 rally before introducing Lucy Flores, the candidate for lieutenant governor in Nevada, to the podium Biden introduces Flores at a get-out-the-vote rally at a union hall on November 1, 2014. Flores has written an essay saying Biden's behavior at the event left her feeling 'gross' 'He made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused,' Flores recalled on the awkward moment where Biden grabbed her shoulders and kissed the back of her hair Former Nevada politician Lucy Flores has come forward saying former Vice President Joe Biden kissed her on the back of her head without her consent as they campaigned together in 2014. She was 35 at the time and Biden, then 72, was Vice President She compared her feeling of shock and immobility to a Spanish phrase, 'tragame tierra' which means 'earth, swallow me whole'. 'I couldn't move and I couldn't say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience,' Flores said. Flores noted that the contact wasn't violent nor overtly sexual - but she found the uncalled for contact 'demeaning and disrespectful'. She went on to say that as a young Latina woman working in the white male dominated field of politics, she was used to feeling uncomfortable, but this awkward kiss crossed the line. Biden, center, kisses a niece of incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Biden has been criticized over the years for getting too close to women. Pictured above nuzzling the next of U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's wife Stephanie on February 17, 2015 Biden sparked shock in 2017 when he kissed Senator Chuck Grassley's wife Barbara on the lips. The tweet above mistakenly said it was Grassley's mother 'I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before,' she said. 'The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners and I felt powerless to do anything about it,' she said. She didn't report the incident, thinking that it didn't rise to the level of sexual assault. Instead she did 'what most women do' and moved on with her life and work. She noted that over the years she heard allegations and seen pictures of Biden crossing the line with other women. In one instance Biden was caught nuzzling the neck of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's wife, kissing Sen. Chuck Grassley's wife on the lips, and getting too close to female constituents. Biden places his hands on the shoulders of Ashton Carter's wife Stephanie as he was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Defense Biden embraces family members of American Foreign Service Association members who died while serving overseas during a ceremony at the U.S. State Department May 3, 2013 Biden leans in to say something to Maggie Coons, next to her father Sen. Chris Coons Eva Longoria, co-founder of the Latino Victory PAC, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden embrace after speaking at a get-out-the-vote rally at a union hall on November 1, 2014 'And yet despite the steady stream of pictures and the occasional article, Biden retained his title of America's Favorite Uncle,' Flores said. Flores revealed she was fearful to come forward about her encounter with Biden, but she decided to speak out after hearing of Biden's potential presidential campaign. 'For years I feared my experience would be dismissed. Biden will be Biden. Boys will be boys. I worried about the doubts, the threats, the insults, and the minimization,' she noted. 'But hearing Biden's potential candidacy for president discussed without much talk about his troubling past as it relates to women became too much to keep bottled up any longer,' she added. 'I'm not suggesting that Biden broke any laws, but the transgressions that society deems minor (or doesn't even see as transgressions) often feel considerable to the person on the receiving end. That imbalance of power and attention is the whole point and the whole problem,' Flores said. Rinae Hedgecock, nine, contracted meningitis at five years old and lost both legs, her left arm below the elbow and the fingers and thumbs on her right hand A brave nine-year-old girl who had three of her limbs amputated is dreaming of getting a 10,000 bionic 'hero' arm so she can dress herself. Rinae Hedgecock, from Eccles, Greater Manchester, contracted a deadly strain of meningitis as a five-year-old and lost both legs, her left arm below the elbow and the fingers and thumbs on her right hand. After showing unbelievable courage in her recovery, Rinae now dreams of one day having a bionic arm - made by Bristol-based company Open Bionics - to help her grasp objects, dress herself, and achieve a level of independence. However, despite the British-made technology being recently made available in France, Rinae cannot currently receive it on the NHS. The bionic 'hero arms' are the first medically approved prosthesis of their kind in Britain and allow for precise and delicate movements that other prosthetic hands cannot achieve. According to Open Bionics, the cost for the limited, bulky, and heavy NHS option is approximately the same as the hero arm. A Just Giving page to crowdfund the 10,000 prosthesis has so far raised more than 800 through 44 supporters. Single father and bricklayer John Hedgecock, 39, is asking the NHS to allow his daughter Rinae and others in the UK to be given access to the technology which would 'change her life'. He said: 'Rinae just wants to be independent. 'She is getting to that age where she wants to be able to dress herself and she can't with what the NHS have provided. 'She has adapted incredibly to her circumstances but the technology is there which is clearly better than what is on offer by our health service. Rinae's father John, 39 (both pictured), is asking the NHS to allow his daughter and others in the UK to be given access to bionic 'hero' arms The bionic arms allow for precise and delicate movements that other prosthetic hands cannot achieve (pictured is Tilly Lockey, 13, an ambassador for Open Bionics, with her hero arms) 'The government should let children in the same position as my daughter have access to the best available. 'It would be completely life-changing for Rinae.' The little girl, who was 'fit and healthy' before being diagnosed with the horrific condition in 2015, was given just 24 hours to live after being rushed to hospital - after complaining she 'was aching' while playing with friends on her trampoline. Despite the bleak outlook from doctors, Rinae fought the condition and, four years on, she has completed enough sessions of physiotherapy to allow her to use a prosthetic arm. However, the NHS have provided Rinae with a 'plastic arm' which has no functionality and was likened to a 'mannequin's limb' by her father. A 12-year-old boy, Oxandre Peckeu, became the first person in France to benefit from the life-changing bionic prosthetic while Rinae has been left struggling with a 'heavy and bulky' plastic NHS arm. Rinae has completed enough sessions of physiotherapy to allow her to use prosthetic limbs Mr Hedgecock has started fundraising the 10k needed to pay for the 'bionic arm' from Open Bionics (pictured: A Star Wars BB-8-inspired version of the hero arm) Tilly Lockey, 13, is an ambassador for Open Bionics and has trialled their technology for two years. Her mother Sarah said it has 'always been a mission' of her family to get the arms available on the NHS, adding: 'It's great for France but I really wish England had been the first to introduce the Hero Arm onto our health service, considering Open Bionics are a UK based company we need our UK kids to benefit. 'Hopefully England will follow up now.' Mr Hedgecock has started fundraising the 10k needed to pay for the 'bionic arm' from Open Bionics. Rinae was playing with friends at her home in April 2015 when she started to feel like her body was 'aching'. Naturally, Mr Hedgecock believed this was down to the activity and Rinae went to bed as usual, but the next morning she woke up with an extreme temperature and her father spotted blood blisters appearing on her skin. The Health Service provided Rinae with a 'plastic arm' (pictured) which has no functionality According to Open Bionics, the cost for the limited, bulky, and heavy NHS option is approximately the same as the Hero Arm (pictured) Rinae's prosthetic arm is very unpractical as none of the fingers move, so the fingers cannot support her when she writes. Rinae can only write without the rigid arm Mr Hedgecock said: 'My nephew has had meningitis in the past so I saw the warning signs straight away. 'The alarm bells screamed out in my mind.' Rinae was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital for initial tests before worried doctors transferred her to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. Once arriving, Mr Hedgecock was given the devastating news she had contracted meningitis and was given just 24 hours to live. Mr Hedgecock added: 'I remember the exact moment. I thought I was living in some kind of dream, I couldn't believe it.' Rinae, who has a twin brother Rico and older sister Chelsea, 16, was in intensive care for six months while she battled the condition and recovered from multiple life-saving surgeries. Rinae has undergone years of physiotherapy to allow her to use prosthetic legs (pictured: Mr Hedgecock helps Rinae put on her prosthetic legs) The bionic arms (pictured) are the first medically approved prosthesis of their kind in Britain She was hooked up to three machines pumping fresh blood round her body while she made her incredible recovery. Rinae has since undergone years of physiotherapy to allow her to use prosthetic legs and was last month given a 'plastic arm' by the NHS. Despite being given the prosthesis, Rinae sees it as a distraction due to the lack of functionality and dreams to be able to have her own 'hero arm' like other children she has seen on the news. Mr Hedgecock added: 'All she wants is for a bit of independence. The main thing she misses is being able to grip onto things. 'She has adapted so well with what she has got but this would change her life and allow her to do everything any other child can do.' Samantha Payne, COO and co-founder of Open Bionics, said the company 'would love' to see the NHS offer the technology. Single father Mr Hedgecock, a bricklayer, has started fundraising the 10k needed to pay for the 'bionic arm' (pictured: Rinae's current prosthetic arms) Samantha Payne, COO and co-founder of Open Bionics, said the company 'would love' to see the NHS offer the technology (pictured: A man uses the hero arm to grip an apple) She said: 'We've worked really hard to achieve a price point for the device that is acceptable for existing NHS budgets for prosthetic provision. 'We have engaged with the NHS since the beginning of our development and clinicians have been incredibly supportive. 'Unfortunately, NHS policy change is not currently keeping pace with technological improvements.' Rinae's father said she wants to be able to dress herself but she can't with what the NHS have provided (pictured: Rinae with her prosthetic legs) Samantha said the company is launching in the US next month and arms are currently available on the French health care system. She added: 'We fully support Rinae and her family in their fundraising efforts. 'We know of a few children who have successfully crowd-funded their bionic hands and have been fitted through private healthcare in the UK. 'We very much hope the NHS sees how helpful these devices are and will begin offering them to the people who need them, just like France. 'We've been collecting data through our private healthcare users to help the NHS gather evidence for the device's clinical validation. 'We are also engaged in a clinical trial with the NHS. 'We have a wait-list of amputees who cannot afford private healthcare waiting for the device to be available via the NHS and we're excited to supply them with a Hero Arm in the future.' UN special envoy criticizes the government: "Ticking boxes and boosting numbers, not the lives of Laotians". 80% of Laotians live on less than $ 2.5 a day. Over 20% of children are underweight, 9% suffer from malnutrition and a third are rickety. Vientiane (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The massive Chinese projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (Bri) and the vast concessions to exploit land and resources generate few jobs and too many debts: the current strategy of the Lao socialist regime favors a wealthy elite and increases economic inequalities with the poorest sections of the population. This is according to Philip Alston, special envoy of the United Nations (UN) for poverty and human rights. According to the Australian expert, Vientiane should focus less on Beijing-funded projects - such as dams and railways - and devote more resources to children and the marginalized. Alston released these statements two days ago, in a video-broadcast press conference from the Laotian capital. The UN official closed an 11-day mission (18-28 March) in various regions of the country. The visit touched Vientiane and the provinces of Champasack, Xienkuang, Houaphanh and Attapeu, where a dam burst last year. Alston met with government officials of various levels, village leaders, workers, farmers and traders, to gather information about their daily lives. Nestled between Thailand, China, Myanmar and Cambodia, the economy of small Laos has grown rapidly in recent years. However, the benefits of this growth have not reached the entire, largely rural, population. It is estimated that 80% of Laotians live on less than 2.5 US dollars a day and are at risk of poverty. While acknowledging the country's economic progress, Alston criticizes the government of "simply ticking boxes and boosting numbers, rather than ensuring significant changes to the lives of Laotians". The special envoy points out that many infrastructure and plantation projects take land away from local residents, forcing their resettlement. Most initiatives generate "few jobs and too many debts," he says. These concessions potentially cover something like 40% of the national territory and many, if not most, have produced very few returns on the national budget; real revenues that can be spent for the well-being of the Laotian people . Alston notes that women in Laos are largely excluded from the decision-making process and that ethnic minorities - which make up nearly half of the population - are "severely deprived" of almost all development measures, with low incomes and less access to education and health care. Over a fifth of Laotian children are underweight, 9% suffer from "debilitating" or severe malnutrition and a third are rickety. Less than half have been vaccinated. "You may not have any interest in children, but all you need to know is that they are the economic future - he concludes -. You will not have a large workforce if those statistics are your starting point." Sheriff Anthony 'Tony' Wolf, 44, was arrested for a second time on felony theft charges A sheriff who was already charged with felony theft last year has been arrested for a second time. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took 44-year-old Geary County Sheriff Anthony 'Tony' Wolf into custody on Friday at the sheriff's office in Junction City, Kansas, according to Kansas.com. Wolf was booked into the Geary County Jail on the suspicion of two counts of felony theft. 'The charge alleges Wolf used county funds to purchase items that were then sold for personal profit, or maintained for personal use,' KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood stated in a release. Wolf had appeared at a pre-trial conference on Friday morning for charges stemming from his arrest in October of last year. He was released from jail on bond at the time. The charges from his previous arrest were for felony theft, allegedly giving a county-owned firearm as a gift and the misuse of public funds. Wolf was arrested at the Geary County Sheriff's Office, shown here, before he was booked into the county jail Sheriff Wolf's previous arrest last year was for felony theft, allegedly giving a county-owned firearm as a gift and the misuse of public funds The bureau of investigations had initiated an investigation into him back in August. The sheriff has been on administrative leave since that first arrest, and a special prosecutor has been appointed for the case. A GoFundMe for Wolf's legal defense allegedly put up by friends of the troubled law enforcement officer looks to raise $10,000. A GoFundMe campaign was launched by alleged friends of Tony Wolf attempting to raise $10,000 for his legal defense Wolf is a native of Geary County who was elected to sheriff back in 2012 'Yes, Tony made a mistake. But that is and has always been, trusting the wrong people,' the fundraising campaign states. 'The real truth will come out. But it has to go through the process for that to happen.' Tony Wolf is a native of Geary County who began his career in law enforcement in 1995, and was elected sheriff in 2012. He also has two sons, according to the sheriff's website. A gunman is at large following a shooting in east London early this morning, police have warned. Police were called at around 2.50am on March 31 to Penrhyn Avenue in Walthamstow, to reports of a man suffering a gunshot injury. The victim, a 22-year-old man, was found to have been shot twice, and remains in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the Metropolitan Police said. Police were called to Penrhyn Avenue at around 2.50am this morning following reports of a shooting. A 22-year-old was taken to hospital after suffering two gunshot wounds but his injuries are not believed to be critical A police cordon is still in place at the corner of Penrhyn Avenue and Penrhyn Crescent. Scotland Yard confirmed no arrests have yet been made. Enquiries are ongoing by officers from the North East Command Unit CID. The incident happened around three miles east of Edmonton, which saw four stabbings overnight. Police are continuing their search for a man who is believed to have knife the four victims in a series of unprovoked attacks. Two of the victims are still in a critical condition in hospital, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said. The public have been warned to be on their guard following the stabbings. The knifeman is described as a tall, skinny, black man, wearing a hooded top and dark clothing. He approached all of the victims from behind in what police said were random attacks not linked to terrorism. Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Smillie says the victims 'appear to have been selected at random' because they were alone and vulnerable. Officers are warning there will be increased police activity in the Edmonton area of north London after the four attacks, which occurred over 15 hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Congresswoman Maxine Waters called for President Donald Trump to be impeached at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday night. During her acceptance speech of the Chairman's Award, Waters took aim at the commander-in-chief and Attorney General William Barr for 'holding' Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report about Russia's involvement during the 2016 election. '[I] haven't forgotten about 45. He's appointed an attorney general who thinks he can hold the Special Counsel's report from the American people,' she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 'I still think he needs to be impeached.' Congresswoman Maxine Waters called for President Donald Trump to be impeached at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday night. Pictured: Water at the NAACP Image Awards She called out Trump (pictured, March 2019) and Attorney General William Barr for 'holding' Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report about Russia's involvement during the 2016 election The public feud between Waters and Trump has been a slew of name-calling and questioning the other's intelligence. In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, she called Trump a 'bully, an egotistical maniac, a liar and someone who did not need to be president'. Then, in an appearance on MSNBC, Waters referred to him as 'the most deplorable person' she has met. Meanwhile, in response Trump has called Waters at several of his campaign events 'a low IQ individual.' However, Mueller's report found that no members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. According to a summary written by Barr, the report does not recommend obstruction charges against Trump, but, 'it also does not exonerate him'. Waters, the US Representative for California's 43rd congressional district, addressed 'ultra-right wing white supremacists' and 'haters who have threatened to kill me and my family and my staff during her speech. She proclaimed to cheers from the audience: 'I've gotten four of them convicted. If you come for me, I'm coming for you.' Waters was honored with the Chairman's Award, which honors those have used their platforms for social change. Pictured: Waters giving her acceptance speech The congresswoman called out 'haters who have threatened to kill me and my family and my staff' during her speech and listed some of her accomplishments during her nearly 30-year-career in Washington Despite Waters's calls for impeachment, Mueller's report found that no members of Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Pictured: Trump, March 2019 Waters then turned her attention towards her accomplishments during her nearly 30-year-career in Washington, according to The Hollywood Reporter. ''After a long career journey, tonight I stand before you as the first woman and the first African American to chair the powerful US House Financial Services Committee,' she said. 'And it is indeed an honor to hold the chairwoman's gavel and yes, I got the gavel and I'm not afraid to use it.' The Hollywood Reporter stated that Waters also spoke about her ability to connect with constituents across the nation. 'I have the honor of being adopted by millennials as their Auntie Maxine and I'm so proud of their growing influence and presentation,' Waters said. 'It's a growing day in America. Women, people of color, LGBTQ Americans and millennials have growing power and my committee is a testament to it.' The Chairman's Award is given 'to individuals and organizations who have used their distinct platforms to be agents of change,' according to the NAACP. It was first awarded to Janet Jackson in 1992 and was presented intermittently. Since 2002, it has been awarded annually. Waters received the award once before, along with radio-talk show host Joseph Madison, at the 1997 awards. During that time, she was chaired the Congressional Black Caucus was representing California's 35th district. Past recipients of the Chairman's Award include former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Al Gore, Harry Belafonte, Tyler Perry, Forest Whitaker and Jussie Smollett. Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf's three orphaned children have been found alive in a refugee camp in Syria. Zaynab, 17, Hoda, 16, and Hamza, eight, left the ISIS stronghold of Baghouz only a week before Kurdish forces took control over the region. They are now staying in the Al-Hawl refugee camp, home to about 70,000 refugees in northeast Syria. The Sharrouf children are listed as members of the camp on Kurdish administrative documents seen by The Australian. Hoda (left), Zaynab (right) and Humzeh (centre) are alive and in the camp. Abdullah (second from left) and Zarqawi (second from right) are believed to have died in airstrikes Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf's three orphaned children have been tracked down to a Syrian refugee camp after they fled the last ISIS stronghold. Pictured: Sharrouf with his sons, two of whom died in an airstrike Zaynab, who was married to her father's best friend in Syria aged 13, is with her two children Ayesha, three, and Fatima, two. She is seven months pregnant and her health is deteriorating, according to her maternal grandmother. 'Zaynab is seven-and-a-half months pregnant, she's feeling very fatigued,' Karen Nettleton told the ABC as she begged for the Australian government to help bring the children home. 'Hodeh's got a foot injury, she has no feeling in her foot so it's very difficult for her to get around,' she added. Khaled Sharrouf (pictured) became Australia's most notorious home grown terrorist after images circulated of him and his two sons in 2014 embracing their new lifestyle The family is believed to be one of nine families from Australia in the camp. Khaled Sharrouf became Australia's most notorious home grown terrorist after images circulated of him and his two sons in 2014 embracing their new lifestyle. In one of the photos, his son Abdullah, then nine, posed with a severed head of a soldier. Their Sydney-based mother, Tara Nettleton, smuggled the children out of Australia after her husband had already left to join the caliphate. Khaled Sharrouf's children Daughter Zaynab, 17 - Alive Daughter Hoda, 16 - Alive Son Abdullah - Died aged 12 in 2017 Son Zarqawi - Died aged 11 in 2017 Son Humzeh, eight - Alive Advertisement In 2015, reports emerged that the eldest daughter Zaynab had married her father's best friend, Mohamed Elomar. Elomar is believed to have died in an airstrike in 2015, and reports from the Al-Hawl camp indicate Zaynab has two daughters, aged three and one, living with her in the camp. Nettleton is believed to have died from complications with an illness in 2016, while Sharrouf and his two eldest sons were believed to have been killed in a targeted airstrike in 2017 near Raqqa. Among the nine Australian ISIS families, there are 19 children; five of which are under the age of two and another 12 under the age of 10. There are fears the sheer amount of young children may lead to pressure on the government to repatriate the families for the sake of the children. Zaynab (top left), Hoda (top right), and Humzeh (bottom, middle) are in the Al-Howl camp Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has indicated his desire to keep terrorists off Australian soil. 'Australian officials cannot facilitate the safe passage of people out of the conflict zones,' a spokesman for the government said. 'Anyone fighting with or providing support or associating with ISIS or other terrorist groups has committed a serious crime and will face the consequences should they return to Australia. 'However, the Morrison government is determined to deal with these people as far from our shores as possible and ensure that any who do return do so with forewarning and into the hands of the appropriate agencies.' Australian women Janai Safar and Zehra Duman have also been identified in the camp. An American man attempted to steal part of the historic rail tracks at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland. The 37-year-old was charged with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance, according to Malgorzata Jurecka, a police spokeswoman in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim. The railroad tracks were where German Schutzstaffel (SS) would unload prisoners and sort them between forced labor and the gas chambers. An American man attempted to steal part of the rail tracks at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland. Pictured: A man crosses the rails leading to the camp in July 2016 Police charged him with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance. He could face up to 10 years in prison. Pictured: Some of the few surviving prisoners of Auschwitz in 1945 Pawel Sawicki, a spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum, said the memorial museum's security team became aware that the man was trying to remove the metal element on the rail tracks and then alerted police. Jurecka told The Associated Press that the man admitted his guilt, but has been released as he awaits further steps. The crime is punishable by to 10 years in prison. The memorial site has faced multiple attempts of theft and vandalism in recent years. In 2015, two teenage British boys, ages 17 and 18, were on a tour with their school when they were caught with items that once belonged to Holocaust victims inside their book bags, reported The Guardian. They received a year's probation, were suspended from school for three years and were forced to pay a 1,000 zloty ($262) fine. Last year, two Hungarian visitors were detained after they were spotted stealing bricks from the ruins of a crematorium. According to Polish news agency PAP, the 30-year-old woman and 36-year-old man were forced to pay a $405 fine each and and handed a one-year prison sentence, suspended for probation. Auschwitz was made up of three camps and is perhaps the most infamous of Nazi Germany's death camps. Birkenau was where the gas chambers were located. Pictured: Visitors walk past the entrance gate and original railway tracks Nearly 1.1 million of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz were killed between 1940 and 1945. Pictured: Hungarian women who have been selected to work at Auschwitz-Birkenau in June 1944 with shaved heads to control the lice that spreads typhus Perhaps the most dramatic case was the 2009 theft of the sign with the Nazi slogan 'Arbeit Macht Frei' ('Work Will Set You Free') at the death camp's main gate. It was found cut into pieces and was eventually repaired and stored in a safe place. A replica is now in its place. Auschwitz was made up of three camps and is perhaps the most infamous of Nazi Germany's death camps. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Birkenau was only one section of the whole complex, and was where the gas chambers were located. An estimated 1.1 million people of the 1.3 million deported to Auschwitz died at the camp between 1940 and 1945. Most of the victims were Jews but many Poles, Roma (gypsies), Soviet prisoners-of-wars and others were also killed there. Chris Rock made jabs at Jussie Smollett just moments before he presented the award for the outstanding comedy series to ABC's 'black-ish' at the 50th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday. Smollett, who lost to 'Grey's Anatomy' star Jessie Williams in the supporting actor in a drama series category, did not attend the awards. 'They said no Jussie Smollett jokes,' Rock said. 'Yeah, I know, but what a waste of light skin. Do you know what I could do with that light skin? Scroll down for video Chris Rock made jabs at Jussie Smollett just moments before he presented the award for the outstanding comedy series to ABC's 'black-ish' at the 50th NAACP Image Awards 'That curly hair, my career would be out of here. I would be running Hollywood. What the hell was he thinking?' Rock said. 'You are known as "Jessie" for now on. You don't even get the "u" anymore. That "u" was for respect. 'You ain't getting no respect from me,' Rock added. In response to Rock's jokes, 'black-ish' star Yara Shahidi made her stance in the Smollett controversy obvious. 'I stand with Jussie,' Shahidi said before she handed the microphone to Marcus Scribner and ducked into her crowd of castmates including Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. It has been a tumultuous week for the 'Empire' star after a felony case against him was dropped in Chicago. The handling of the case, which accused Smollett of falsely reporting to police that he was assaulted by two men in downtown Chicago on January 29, has drawn widespread condemnation. On Friday, State's Attorney Kim Foxx, penned an explosive op-ed in which she insisted there's nothing to hide in the prosecution's decision to suddenly drop all 16 felony charges against Smollett last Tuesday. 'That curly hair, my career would be out of here. I would be running Hollywood. What the hell was he thinking?' Rock said. 'You are known as "Jessie" for now on. You don't even get the "u" anymore. That "u" was for respect. You ain't getting no respect from me,' Rock added Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Foxx insists theres nothing to hide, dismissed the public outcry surrounding her team's methods and said only the people 'in the weeds' of the justice system would understand that 'alternative prosecution' is common practice and has happened thousands of times before. Foxx was lambasted this week after suggesting Smollett didnt receive special legal treatment, but instead was subjected to alternative prosecution, following negotiations between her legal team and Smolletts defense lawyers. Smollett, 36, was accused last month of staging a racist and homophobic attack in a believed bid to advance his on-screen career. He was subsequently charged but the charges against him were dropped after he completed 16 hours of community service at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and forfeited $10,000. A man turned heads on a Texas highway by strolling along the shoulder in his birthday suit. Bizarre footage recorded by a man in a passing car shows the unidentified pedestrian making his way down a six-lane highway in San Antonio without a single article of clothing on Thursday. 'What the heck?' the man says from behind the camera as someone else in the car tells him to call 911 on the naked nature-walker. All of the passengers in the car erupt in a fit of laughter as they process what they've just seen. Bizarre video shows a naked man walking along the shoulder of a six-lane highway in San Antonio, Texas, in broad daylight on Thursday A man in a passing car captured a video of the pedestrian without a single piece of clothing Circumstances surrounding the nude nature walk are unclear as the man was not identified A similar sighting was reported earlier this month in Florida, where a nude woman was seen calmly crossing a busy Interstate 95 near Flagler Beach on March 22. Passing driver Richard Griffin recorded a video of the unusual incident in which he can be heard saying: 'Oh my god the s*** that goes on here. Freakin' on 95,' before honking his horn. The nude woman can be seen checking for any on coming vehicles before crossing the road. After making it half way across, a pickup truck speeds right past her and before she skips across the highway back to her car. 'The peculiar thing was the lady was pretty calm about the whole thing when she was walking across the street, even though there were vehicles going by,' Griffin told local news outlet WESH. Footage captured by Richard Griffin, on Friday, show the nude woman strolling onto the busy road from the middle dividing lane and back to her car parked on the busy Interstate 95 highway near Flagler Beach, in Florida Despite being behind the wheel, Griffin drove slowly and made sure to capture a recording of the bizarre moment to ensure he had evidence of the unbelievable sight. 'Oh my god the s*** that goes on here. Freakin' on 95,' he can be heard say in the clip Following behind the bare woman was a fully clothed man, seen carrying a dog. 'People do love their animals so I do understand that, I just don't know if people unclothe themselves before attempting to save their animals,' Griffin said. Griffin added that the naked woman and the dressed man made it safely to their car with their dog, before driving away. He took to his Facebook and shared the eye-catching clip with his friends. One joked in the comments: 'Only in Florida.' While another wrote: 'Surprised there weren't any reported accidents in the vicinity.' A California man has been arrested in Colombia's second-largest city after allegedly offering cash over Facebook to girls as young as 13 in exchange for sexual acts. The chief prosecutor's office released Sunday a video showing Thomas Renno being handcuffed after arriving to the city of Medellin from San Francisco. He was making his seventh trip to Colombia since 2017, during which time he is alleged to have victimized several minors, authorities said. Thomas Renno (center), a US citizen from California, was met by Colombian police on Thursday on accusations he was looking to pay girls as young as 13-year-old for sexual acts According to investigators, Renno allegedly used three Facebook profiles to contact girls and offer them up to $100 in return for his propositions. He also used the social network to share explicit photos and pornographic material. Phone messages left at what is believed to be Renno's home in Fairfax, California were not returned. Renno had legal residency in Colombia. Renno was allegedly making his seventh trip to Colombia since 2017, during which time he is believed to have victimized several minors Archivists are seeking photographs taken by a cult photographer who fled Nazi Germany and dedicated his life to documenting rural Scotland. Aristocrat Dr Werner Kissling moved to Scotland in response to the rise of the Nazi Party, and was called a 'traitor' by Adolf Hitler during a phone call after resigning from a diplomatic post. He was born into a millionaire family, but was fascinated by the lives of crofters, blacksmiths and fishermen on the Western Isles and Scottish Borders. Aristocrat Dr Werner Kissling moved to Scotland in response to the rise of the Nazi Party, and was called a 'traitor' by Adolf Hitler during a phone call after resigning from a diplomatic post. He moved to Scotland where he started taking photographs of crofters, blacksmiths and fishermen Dr Kissling left Germany in 1931 to take up a position in the British Embassy in London, and never returned Dr Kissling left Germany in 1931 to take up a position in the British Embassy in London, and never returned. After resigning from the post in 1933, he was called a 'traitor' during a heated phone call with Hitler, and moved to Cambridge, before sailing to the Western Isles fearing the dictator's secret police were following him. Travelling around Eriskay and the Outer Hebrides, Dr Kissling was captivated by rural Scots architecture and painstakingly documented the lives of rural populations. In 1938 he travelled to New Zealand to take photographs of the Maori communities, but returning to Britain was imprisoned in the Tower of London, for being a former German diplomat. He was then moved to a camp on the Isle of Man, before returning to Cambridge. In 1944, his brother Georg Conrad Kissling, who had become an officer in the German army, took his own life before he could be arrested for his involvement in the failed plot to assassinate Hitler. Dr Kissling (pictured) managed to have his mother, Johanna, smuggled out of Germany and she came to live with him in Scotland where they ran a hotel in the Scottish Borders Dr Kissling managed to have his mother, Johanna, smuggled out of Germany and she came to live with him in Scotland where they ran a hotel in the Scottish Borders. He became a well-known figure in the area, driving around in a battered old van, until his death in a Dumfries care home in 1988. A community-funded headstone commemorates Dr Kissling as a 'soldier, diplomat, scholar, gentleman'. Many of his possessions, including a leather suitcase, books and photographs, have been acquired by Dumfries Museum, which is seeking more information about the snaps he took in the region, many of which date from the 1950s to the 1980s. Councillor Andy Ferguson, chair of communities at Dumfries and Galloway Council, said: 'Dr Kissling's photographs are a valuable record of the recent history of our region. 'It is vital that these photographs are preserved in the museum, alongside memories of Dr Kissling as a photographer and as a member of the community.' Councillor John Martin, vice-chair of communities, said: 'Collaborative approaches to preserving local history demonstrates the important relationship between the museum and the contributions of the local community.' Anyone with memories of Dr Kissling, or who may have information about the photographs he took around Dumfries and Galloway, is asked to contact the museum. Many of his possessions, including a leather suitcase, books and photographs, have been acquired by Dumfries Museum, which is seeking more information about the snaps he took in the region, many of which date from the 1950s to the 1980s Authorities are hunting for a brazen robber accused of stealing $17,000-worth of jewelry from a Florida store after asking to see a ring set outside in natural light and walking off with it when an employee turned her back. Surveillance video from outside McCaskill & Company jewelry store in Miramar Beach captured the moment a man took off with a pricey engagement ring and wedding band set on the morning of March 22. The Walton County Sheriff's Office said the suspect was checking out the potential purchase when he asked a female employee if he could step outside to see the rings in the sunlight. Florida authorities are hunting for a brazen robber accused of stealing $17,000-worth of jewelry from McCaskill & Company in Miramar Beach on March 22. Surveillance video shows the suspect and a female employee looking at an engagement ring and wedding band set outside the store after the customer asked to see them in natural light As they turned to go inside, the suspect told the employee he needed to get his wallet CCTV footage shows the customer examining the rings outside the store alongside the employee. When they turn to go back into the store, the suspect is suddenly walks away calmly with the $16,000 engagement ring and $1,000 wedding band in hand. He had allegedly told the employee that he needed to go get his wallet, according to a police report. Investigators with the WCSO have asked for the public's help in identifying the suspect. He is described as a white male in his 30s standing at 5'10" with brown hair and a full beard. The WCSO said he drove away in a gray Toyota Yaris with no license plate and multiple stickers covering the trunk and back bumper of the vehicle. The suspect calmly walked away with the rings in hand when the woman turned her back Luis Arroyo, 41 (pictured), was sentenced to 99 years in prison after he escaped from the Bexar County Jail in March 2018 An inmate was sentenced to 99 years in prison after he escaped from a Texas jail for one hour last year. Luis Arroyo, 41, who is suspected of murder, fled with two other prisoners from the Bexar County Jail in March 2018. Although escaping from jail usually comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years, the district attorney's office said it extended the sentence for Arroyo due to his lengthy criminal history, reported KSAT. On the day of the prison break, Arroyo, along with Jacob Brownson and Eric Trevino, climbed up the jail's recreational area, which is about 20 feet high, according to the San Antonio Express News. From there, they cut through the mesh wiring and scaled down from the roof using bedsheets. Authorities told the newspaper that Arroyo's mother, who is Trevino's ex-girlfriend, helped the men escape. She, Brownson and Trevino have all also been charged. One hour later, the three men were found at a Sonic on the 2300 block of Blanco Road, just 3.5 miles away. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Jeremiah Garza testified that when the inmates saw that police were on their trail, they fled to a nearby home, reported KSAT. On the day of the prison break, Arroyo, along with Jacob Brownson and Eric Trevino, climbed up the jail's recreational area, which is about 20 feet high. Pictured: The three men escaping From there, they cut through the mesh wiring and scaled down from the roof using bedsheets (pictured). One hour later, they were found at a Sonic on the 2300 block of Blanco Road, just 3.5 miles away 'They were trying to get into that home, there, to take cover,' Garza said on the stand. Brownson and Trevino ran in one direction and Arroyo ran in another. Garza went after Arroyo. According to DPS Trooper Jesse Perez, he and Garza drew their pistols on Arroyo. 'We took him at gunpoint with a tackle technique, and I was able to secure him with handcuffs,' Perez said, according to KSAT. 'I asked him his name, and he responded by saying: "You got me." And then he told me his name was Luis Arroyo.' Following his escape, Arroyo was tried on capital murder charges, which ended in a mistrial in July 2018. The maximum sentence for jail escape is usually 10 years, but prosecutor said they extended the sentence due to Arroyo's lengthy criminal history. Arroyo (left and right) was tried on capital murder charges after his escape, which ended in a mistrial in July 2018 He allegedly stabbed Tandlyn Jackson in the shoulder after an argument about a pack of cigarettes at her apartment in July 2016. Following the stabbing, Arroyo allegedly shot Arroyo's daughter and another man to death in another room. Pictured: The crime scene Last week, Tandlyn Jackson testified about the night Arroyo allegedly murdered her daughter and another man, reported KSAT. Jackson said Arroyo stabbed her in the shoulder after an argument about a pack of cigarettes at her apartment in July 2016. Following the stabbing, Arroyo allegedly shot the two victims to death in another room. He could be retried on those charges later this year. Democratic presidential contender Amy Klobuchar said she had 'no reason' not to believe Joe Biden's accuser while Sen. Bernie Sanders said the incident doesn't disqualify the former vice president from running in 2020. 'I have not read her interview, but I know the vice president addressed it there in that statement and he will continue to address it if he decides to get into this race,' Klobuchar said of Lucy Flores' accusation. 'I have no reason not to believe her,' she noted on ABC's 'This Week.' Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she had 'no reason' not to believe Joe Biden's accuser Sen. Bernie Sanders said the incident doesn't disqualify Biden from running 'I think we know from campaigns and from politics that people raise issues and they have to address them and that's what he will have to do with voters if he gets into the race,' the Democratic senator from Minnesota added. As Biden is dealing with the fallout from the allegations, his 2020 rivals are getting asked their opinion on the matter as the accusation overshadows the race for the Democratic nomination. Sanders said he's not convinced Biden is disqualified from the presidency from 'one incident.' 'I'm not sure that one incident alone disqualifies anybody, but her point is absolutely right. This is an issue not just for Democrats or Republicans, but the entire country has got to take seriously. It is not acceptable that when woman goes to work or is in any kind of environment that she feels anything less than comfortable and safe. And this is an issue the entire country has got to work on,' he said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' 'I have no reason not to believe Lucy, and I think what this speaks to is the need to fundamentally change the culture of this country and to create environments where women feel comfortable and feel safe. That's something we have got to do,' the Independent senator from Vermont said. Sanders had to deal with accusations from women who worked on his 2016 campaign who claimed they were sexually harassed by aides and paid less than their male counterparts. He apologized for their treatment in January. And he said on Sunday he had practices in place to keep it from happening again. 'We have established the strongest protocol to prevent this from happening of any campaign in history,' he said. Biden is dealing with a #MeToo moment of his own ahead of his expected declaration for the White House next month. Many of his 2020 Democratic competition have said they believe his accuser without bashing the former vice president. No one has yet called for him not to run for the nomination. Campaigning in Iowa this weekend, Elizabeth Warren said 'I believe Lucy Flores and Joe Biden needs to give an answer.' Asked if she thinks Biden should reconsider his bid for the presidency, Warren replied: 'That's for Joe Biden to decide.' The Democratic senator from Massachusetts was the first to address the allegations, opening the gate for her 2020 rivals to speak. Democrat Elizabeth Warren became the first 2020 presidential candidate to address the accusations saying 'believe Lucy Flores and Joe Biden needs to give an answer' Former Vice President Joe Biden defended his years of what he called 'expressions of affection' Biden on Sunday defended his years of what he called 'expressions of affection' and claimed he 'not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately.' 'In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully,' he said in a statement. 'But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.' Biden, who is expected to enter the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in the next month, is known for giving hugs, kisses, and demonstrating affection in public. It was often the subject of jokes about his love of women while others labeled him 'Creepy Uncle Joe.' He's now fighting that longtime reputation in the wake of allegations from a Nevada politician that he gave her an unwanted kiss to the back of her head. The talk of Biden presidential bid has been overshadowed by the accusation from Lucy Flores, a former Nevada politician who claims he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head as he helped campaign for her in 2014. Flores, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Nevada the year in question, recalled in a bombshell essay on Friday that Biden crossed the line with her physically as they worked together, leaving her feeling 'gross and confused'. 'I'm glad that he's willing to listen,' Flores told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday morning of Biden's response to her accusation. 'If he is saying he never believed that was inappropriate frankly I believe that's a little bit of a disconnection. And a sense of not being aware,' she noted. 'I just can't imagine that there was never a situation where someone said to him, Mr. Vice president, you probably should stop doing that. You should probably stop touching women in that way, you should probably keep your hands to yourself.' 'I want him to change his behavior and I want him to acknowledge this was wrong,' she said. Flores said on Friday in a personal essay that Biden planted a 'big slow kiss' on the back of her head before she went on stage at a rally for her campaign on November 1, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Flores and Biden pictured above at that event) Before the event: Flores pictured with Biden and actress Eva Longoria prior to the alleged awkward kiss at the 2014 campaign event As Flores, then 35, and Biden, then 72, were at a rally for her campaign, Biden allegedly grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and kissed her hair. 'Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job,' Flores wrote in a personal essay for The Cut. 'Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused,' she added. She recalled that before she went on stage to speak, Biden approached her and gave her the awkward, unwarranted kiss. 'I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?' Flores recalled. 'I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, 'I didn't wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f**k?' 'He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused,' she added. Fox News is being ridiculed on social media after one of its graphics referred to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as 'three Mexican countries'. The network has since apologized for the errant headline featured on a Sunday Fox & Friends segment about President Trump's plan to cut aid to the Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle. While the graphic was only on screen for about 30 seconds, that was plenty of time for Twitter users to seize on the embarrassing error. A screenshot of the headline was originally shared by the account @BadFoxGraphics and was quickly picked up by other journalists. Fox News is being ridiculed on social media after the network referred to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as 'three Mexican countries' in a Fox & Friends graphic on Sunday A screenshot of the headline has gone viral on Twitter after being shared by @BadFoxGraphics Chief media correspondent for CNN Brian Stetler and Florida radio host Grant Stern were among the dozens of journalists and other Twitter users reacting to the Fox flub CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stetler shared a photo of the graphic with the caption: 'This is an actual banner from "Fox & Friends Weekend." 6:03am today. I double checked because I didn't believe it at first.' Florida radio host Grant Stern tweeted: 'Is Fox News staffed by fourth graders?' Edward Isaac Dovere, a staff writer for the Atlantic, tweeted: 'So many Mexican countries to choose from.' Actor Ron Perlman wrote: 'I guess we should thank God its only three Mexican countries. Amd not all of them. (sic)' Atlantic writer Edward-Isaac Dovere, actor Ron Perlman and filmmaker Alex Gibney also called the network out for its embarrassing headline error Fox & Friends later issued an on-air correction and apology, making it clear that the network is aware that there is only one 'Mexican country' - Mexico. 'Now we want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show,' co-host Ed Henry said. 'We had an inaccurate graphic on screen while talking about this very story. 'We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries. We apologize for the error. It never should have happened.' The errant headline was featured on a Fox & Friends segment about President Trump's plan to cut aid to the Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle (file photo) A woman who suffered burns over nearly 70 percent of her body after being caught in a gas leak explosion in her home at the age of 10 has competed in the Mrs. Colorado America pageant. Danette Haag, 48, strutted her stuff on stage at the Denver Center of Performing Arts on Saturday, with family and loved ones cheering her on. The motivational speaker, mother and wife competed as Mrs. Windsor, Colorado among 34 other hopefuls for a change to to be crowned Mrs. Colorado America 2019. Although Haag didn't take home the top prize, she fulfilled a lifelong dream when she took the stage among a field of contestants who stunned with both their accomplishments and appearance. Scroll down for video Danette Haag, 48 (right), who suffered burns over nearly 70 percent of her body in a gas leak explosion in her home at the age of 10 (near that age at left), competed in the Mrs. Colorado America pageant in Denver on Saturday The Mrs. Windsor, Colorado title holder fulfilled a lifelong dream by joining 34 women, stunning in both their appearance and accomplishments, on the state at the Denver Center of Performing Arts on Saturday Haag's sister, Danette Cheney, told CBS how Haag felt at a young age that she might never become the pageant participant she'd always wanted to be. 'It was a big deal in our family to watch the Miss America pageant every year, Cheney said. 'So, when she first watched it after the fire happened, she remembers feeling like a little girl who was crushed.' Haag's sister, Danette Cheney, told CBS how Haag felt at a young age that she might never become the pageant participant she'd always wanted to be She didn't take home the top prize, but the motivational speaker has now added one more achievement to her life story Now, 38 years after the tragic accident that led to so much pain, surgeries, and physical and emotional scars, Haag was able to share what she has come to realize about true beauty with everyone in attendance at the Mrs. Colorado pageant. 'We are all flawed. We are all imperfect,,' Haag said in February, speaking to a crowd hanging on her every word during one of her motivational talks. Her sister expanded on that sentiment, noting of Haag, 'She wants everybody to know that beauty comes from within, not from the outside.' 'We are all flawed. We are all imperfect,,' Haag said in February, speaking to a crowd hanging on her every word during one of her motivational talks Her sister, Denise Cheney (pictured), expanded on that sentiment, noting of Haag, 'She wants everybody to know that beauty comes from within, not from the outside.' In addition to her sister, her father, who also survived the fire, and her husband and children were there on Saturday to cheer her on. Haag is pictured with he children Haag had plenty of support on Saturday. In addition to her sister, her father, who also survived the fire, and her husband and children were there to cheer her on. 'We came here as a family, and as a husband, to support her as much as we can,' Michael Haag, Danette's husband said. The Mrs. Colorado crown went to Mrs. Denver County Rachael Preslar. Advertisement Month after month the Prime Minister has donned the same blue 825 detachable coat. But this morning Theresa May made a drastic change to her wardrobe as she swapped it for a black quilted jacket. Attending a service near her Maidenhead constituency Mrs May looked in bright spirits in another jacket from her favourite designer, Italian company Herno, worth 350, first worn by the PM in 2017. She has previously worn the same 825 coat to Brexit meetings in Strasbourg, Brussels, Downing Street and Westminster. A total change: Prime Minister Theresa May swapped the blue Herno detachable coat she has been seen in for months for a more casual black puffer jacket as she attended a church service near her Maidenhead constituency this morning But as Mrs May left the light blue double layered wool blend coat behind she seemed also to leave a sense of the stress of planning Brexit with it. Smiling alongside her husband Philip, Mrs May seemed positively cheerful as she entered the church, teaming her black coat with leopard print pumps and a black handbag. The original black quilted shell with cropped sleeves has been praised as 'a great choice for spring' by Laura Emily Dunn, the founder of Political Style. She told MailOnline: 'I think this is a really stylish coat from the same brand that the Prime Minister clearly loves. The Prime Minister seemed in bright spirits this morning. The change in wardrobe has sparked questions over a potential change in Brexit negotiations amid what has been deemed a 'national crisis' 'It's a great choice for spring - lighter layers and the cropped sleeves make it a perfect choice for the cooler temperatures - and for a great casual outfit.' The wardrobe swap has sparked questions over a potential change in Brexit negotiations amid what has been deemed a 'national crisis'. Justice Secretary David Gauke today warned he would leave his position if Number 10 sought a cliff edge Brexit as Mrs May braces for another round of mass resignations. Theresa May has previously attended church in the blue detachable Herno coat, worth 825. Mrs May first donned her blue coat in January last year and quickly earned the approval of Laura Emily Dunn. The style guru previously said: 'Whats so cool about this jacket is that you can zip out the (detachable) sleeves and front section, leaving you with a shorter-length sleeve and the wool coat if desired' The company who created her blue coat, Herno, began making men's raincoats in 1948 to suit the humid climate around Lake Maggiore, Italy. And May's model features a detachable quilted shell trim meaning she can remove the inner layer in favour of the lighter short sleeved wool coat. Mrs May first donned her blue coat in January last year and quickly earned the approval of Laura Emily Dunn. The style guru previously said: 'Whats so cool about this jacket is that you can zip out the (detachable) sleeves and front section, leaving you with a shorter-length sleeve and the wool coat if desired.' Kate McCann is spending her 12th Mother's Day without missing daughter Madeleine as doubt is cast on whether police investigation to find the youngster will continue after today. The heartbroken mother, who is today expected to be attending a special church service with husband Gerry and their twins, 'has no idea' whether 12m probe, Operation Grange will be shelved. Last October 150,000 Home Office funding was given to the operation to allow its four detectives to work on the investigation until today, the end of the tax year. The Metropolitan Police is thought to have applied for a further 300,000 funding to keep the investigation running until March 2020 - but no decision has been made on whether it will be awarded. Kate McCann is spending her 12th Mother's Day without missing daughter Madeleine as doubt is cast on whether police investigation to find the youngster will continue after today The Home Office confirmed it had received a request to extend funding for Operation Grange and was in talks with the Met. A Home Office spokesperson told The Sun Online: 'We have received and are considering a request from the Metropolitan Police Service to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2020. 'The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.' He said the cost of Operation Grange has been met through Special Grant funding. He added: 'That funding is usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs.' Madeleine was three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve as her parents, Gerry and Kate, dined with friends at a nearby restaurant. Portuguese police shelved their investigation in 2008 but Scotland Yard launched its own inquiry in 2011. Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese resort in May 2007 Scotland Yard's hunt for Madeleine is understood to have no 'earth-shattering leads' A Scotland Yard spokesperson said 'the work on Operation Grange in ongoing' adding: 'It is a very high profile investigation' and closing it would be a 'massive decision'. He said 'It is being kept open for a reason because there is still important work to do and focused lines of inquiry to pursue. It has not reached a conclusion.' The spokesman would not confirm if funding has been granted for the investigation which is run from a Met Police branch station in Putney, South West London. A well-placed source said the remaining handful of detectives have been carrying out 'grunt work' which includes tracking down and eliminating known sex offenders and finding possible witnesses rather than pursuing hard leads. 'Most of what Operation Grange is doing is having things set up to knock down and rule out, rather than pursuing a particular fantastic lead that could unlock it all,' the source said. 'I'm not aware of any earth-shattering lead or breakthrough imminently.' Operation Grange has so far cost 11.75 million, including more than 10 million on salaries, over 440,000 on overtime and about 287,000 on travel costs. The inquiry is led by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall. Her team comprises a detective sergeant and three detective constables A McCann family spokesperson said: 'If and when the Met Police investigation comes to an end, Kate and Gerry remain incredibly grateful for all the work that has been carried out over the past years. 'They know it can't go on forever. They appreciate everything the authorities have done to try and get a resolution after all this time.' He added that the McCanns would consider using cash from the Find Maddie Fund, which currently stands at 1million, to fund private investigators if police funding is not granted. The McCanns are believed to be attending the Mother's Day service at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where traditionally children hand their mothers a symbolic spring flower after the final hymn is sung. A friend of the family said: 'It's even more poignant this year because she doesn't yet know if the investigation into her daughter's disappearance will carry on or be shelved.' Operation Grange has so far cost 11.75 million, including more than 10 million on salaries, over 440,000 on overtime and about 287,000 on travel costs. At its height it had 31 detectives working for it. The inquiry is led by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall. Her team comprises a detective sergeant and three detective constables. Much of the work on the operation is thought to take place in London. In 2017-18 detectives made only two flights to Portugal - involving five return flights costing 1,240. They usually stay at the upmarket Estrela da Luz hotel but a bar manager there said: 'I haven't seen any police here for nearly a year, probably last May.' Sources say that the focus of the investigation has shifted to Eastern Europe where detectives believe she could have been involve in a child trafficking investigation. A 'Brexit Express' steam train which was meant to celebrate Britain's reak from Brussels faced delays of its own today. The vintage rolling stock set off from York on a seven-hour journey to Bristol today with Brexiteers David Davis and Steve Baker greeting it on its way. But trainspotters waiting to see it in Stalybridge had to wait as the train passed through more than 15 minutes late. Another Brexit delay: The 'Brexit Express' - meant to celebrate Britain's originally scheduled departure from the EU - passes Stalybridge station 16 minutes late Mr Baker, a hardline member of the Brexiteer European Research Group, said he was 'delighted to join the Brexit Express'. 'There is a mood of cheery resolve,' he said. According to tracking website Realtime Trains, the locomotive set off from York this morning, travelling via Stalybridge, Stockport, Crewe and Shrewsbury before reaching Bristol. The tracking data showed it more than half an hour behind schedule when it passed Heaton Lodge Junction in Yorkshire. However it had apparently recovered later in its journey and arrived in Bristol three minutes early. On the first leg of its journey yesterday it had criss-crossed Britain again on a trip from Swansea to Sunderland, before it headed to York. The locomotive, which was pulling several carriages, had British and European flags attached to its front. Attraction: Rail enthusiasts take pictures from the platform as the Brexit Express passes through Stalybridge in Greater Manchester on Sunday Nameplate: The 1950s locomotive - which once carried King George VI's funeral train to London - bore the name 'Brexit Express' today Organisers had hoped the train would celebrate Britain's first full day outside the EU after the scheduled March 29 departure date. But the deadlock in Parliament has forced Theresa May to ask for a delay until at least April 12 and possibly months or even years longer. The railway ride was backed by businessman Jeremy Hosking who set up the lobby group Brexit Express. Pulling the train today was the locomotive 70000 Britannia, with a nameplate reading 'Brexit Express' fixed to the front. The steam locomotive was built in 1951 and worked trains in East Anglia, including King George VI's funeral train from Sandringham in 1952. It was retired by British Rail in 1966 but has remained in action as a preserved locomotive. In 2012 it pulled a royal train carrying Prince Charles. Long journey: The Brexit Express (pictured at Stalybridge today) travelled from York to Bristol on Sunday after a journey from Swansea to Sunderland on Saturday Boris Johnson has announced he is rapidly speeding up the UK's coronavirus booster jab rollout as he warned the country: 'There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming'. The Prime Minister delivered an address to the nation this evening as he said he is bringing forward his end of January target for every adult to be offered a jab by one month. It means that everyone eligible aged 18 and over will have the chance to get their booster before the New Year, with Mr Johnson urging people to 'get boosted now'. Mr Johnson said the UK is 'now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant' and 'we must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection to keep our friends and loved ones safe'. The address to the nation came after the UK Covid alert level was raised following a rapid increase in the number of Omicron cases being recorded. The country's four chief medical officers and NHS England's national medical director recommended to ministers that the UK go up to Level 4 from Level 3 after a further 1,239 confirmed cases of the mutant strain were recorded across the country as of Sunday. On the morning of March 25, 1851, a 6,000-strong crowd gathered outside Chelmsford jail where gallows had been erected on the flat roof of the prison gatehouse. Standing on the scaffold, awaiting the hangmans noose, was a woman called Sarah Chesham. Her crime? Her nickname answers that question: Sally Arsenic. A depiction of Sarah Chesham's hanging. At the time of her death, the farmers wife known as 'Sally Arsenic' was as notorious as Rose West In her day, the 41-year old farmers wife from Essex was as notorious as, say, Myra Hindley or Rose West; among her victims was her own husband, and she was also suspected of killing her two young sons and another infant. So, when a hood was finally placed over her head and the trap door swung open shortly after 9am, the country took gruesome delight in her demise. An illustrated verse recounting her final moments was even distributed. One stanza read: Wicked, base, deceitful wife/Barbarous and cruel mother/Doomed to die in the prime of life. Sarah Chesham protested her innocence to the last. Now, more than 160 years later, it seems she may have been telling the truth. In all probability, Sally Arsenic suffered a terrible miscarriage of justice. Small traces of arsenic, found in her supposed victims, are not uncommon in the human body, we now know, and experts who reviewed the case for the BBC documentary Murder, Mystery And My Family, to be screened on Wednesday, found that tests carried out at the time were inconclusive. In other words, her victims most likely died from natural causes. Descendant of Sarah Chesham, Rosalind and Stephen Powell (pictured), pay their respects at her gravesite as her conviction is revisited A distant cousin of Sarahs, Roz Powell, had approached the programme-makers to ask them to re-examine the crime. We had a gut feeling we had enough evidence to get an unsafe verdict, explains Roz from Lee-on-the Solent, Hampshire. She has written to Justice Secretary David Gauke asking for Sarahs name be cleared posthumously. One of the researchers, retired judge David Radford ruled that the original verdict cannot stand as it was affected by prejudice and unproven allegations. Indeed, mid-19th-century Britain was consumed by a poisoning panic when hundreds of people, rightly or wrongly, were accused of murder or attempted murder. Arsenic was the deadly toxin of choice. It has no taste or colour, and in its powdered form, could be passed off as sugar, flour or baking powder. The symptoms, though agonising for the recipient (like a ball of flame in our stomach, according to one report), were similar to those of dysentery, gastritis and other potentially fatal ailments, so the chances of detection were small. Moreover, arsenic was cheap and widely available. Householders used it to wage a constant battle against rats, mice, fleas, cockroaches and bed bugs that threatened to overrun their homes. Doctors also prescribed arsenic for everything from asthma to typhus, malaria, period pain, worms anaemia, syphilis, neuralgia and as a general pick-me-up because sub-toxic doses pass quite safely through the body. In such a climate, paranoia found fertile ground. If you feel a deadly sensation within and grow gradually weaker, how do you not know you are not poisoned? asked one publication. If your hands tingle, do you not fancy it is arsenic. And it was women who were most to be feared; they were by nature scheming and duplicitous, so the thinking went. This was the world Sarah Chesham inhabited. Born Sarah Parker, she had married farmer Richard Chesham when she was 19 and pregnant with their first child, a daughter; she would give birth to five more children, all boys, over the next decade. But two of their sons, James and Joseph, aged eight and ten, died from cholera in 1845. Or so everyone thought until Sarah was linked to the death of a third youngster the following year. His name was Solomon Taylor, the baby son of her husbands ex-girlfriend who lived in the same village in Clavering, Essex. Sarah Chesham was hanged in Chelmsford for poisoning her husband in 1851 with arsenic. A stock picture of arsenic is pictured. One day, Sarah appeared on her doorstep with rice pudding and apple turnover for Solomon. After a couple of spoonfuls of pudding, Solomon fell ill. His mother noticed something white and slimy on his lips and immediately tossed the dessert into the bin. Sarah insisted it was only sugar but Solomon died shortly afterwards. Suspicions had been aroused. The corpses of Sarahs two sons were exhumed and found to contain arsenic and (in 1847) she was put on trial for their murder. Although it is not known if Sarah and Richard had insured their sons, the advent of the life-insurance industry had brought a new motive for child murders. Poor families could enrol their children in burial clubs for a halfpenny a week, and when a child died the club could contribute as much as 5 towards the funeral expenses, leaving a surplus. There was an old saying among the poorer districts of Britain that a burial club baby was unlikely to thrive. But the act of poisoning is notoriously hard to prove; there was a lack of arsenic in Solomons stomach and Sarah Chesham was cleared of killing the three boys. The acquittals caused anger in the local community. She was put to death in a public execution on March 25 in 1851 at Chelmsford jail after being found guilty of attempting to murder her husband Richard. (Pictured) Clavering church in Essex where she was buried The Times newspaper commented that Sarah was an accepted and reputed murderess who walked abroad in the village unchallenged and un-accused, and all the inhabitants had seen her children buried without remark or outcry, though they were clearly convinced that there had been foul play. But it was not the end of this extraordinary saga. Then, in 1850, Sarahs husband died aged 43. Richard Chesham had lung disease but he had also suffered various bouts of stomach pain and sickness. The police ordered an autopsy which revealed traces of arsenic in his stomach. Sarah was arrested, the family home searched and a bag of rice was sent away for analysis. Both the rice and the contents of Richard Cheshams stomach were found to contain arsenic. The police also interviewed a friend of Sarahs who told them of a conversation she had with her about her own unhappy marriage and Sarahs suggestion for ending it arsenic. At her trial, at Essex Lent Assizes in March 1851, a witness gave evidence that Sarah had fed Richard with milk thickened with flour or rice and she would not allow anyone else to feed him during his illness. Was this the behaviour of a caring, loving wife or a cold-blooded murderer? Her descendants insist the former. The fact traces of arsenic could be found in most human bodies (thanks to asthma treatments, rat poisons and so on) was not appreciated at the time, according to the documentary. The episode of Murder, Mystery and My Family which looks at 'Sally Arsenic' and the poison panic will air on BBC One this Wednesday This, coupled with the fact that local gossip was already insisting Sarah was guilty points to an unsafe conviction. We believed it was a miscarriage of justice as the expert at the time was firmly of the view Richard Chesham died as a result of arsenic poisoning, said Jeremy Dein, QC, who reviewed the evidence. Sarahs relative, Roz Powell, was told of the verdict during filming. She said: I felt overwhelmed by it and I feel emotional. Id like to think she is up there thinking: Im glad you did this because I am not a poisoner. The case left one final legacy. On March 24, 1851 the day before Sarah Chesham was hanged an amendment was slipped into the Sale of Arsenic Regulation Bill as it was passing into law, banning women from buying or possessing arsenic. A doctor whose newborn daughter nearly died from an undiagnosed heart defect is developing technology which could revolutionise ultrasound scans and help hundreds of babies a year. Professor Reza Razavi was inspired to lead his research team to produce unprecedented 3D images of unborn babies hearts following the birth of his daughter Poppy. Routine scans had failed to pick up that she had a major defect which meant she had to have a series of life-saving operations and treatments in the first month of her life. Professor Reza Razavi was inspired to produce unprecedented 3D images of unborn babies' hearts following the birth of his daughter, Poppy, who nearly died from an undiagnosed heart defect Doctors tested the new scanning method on the unborn Violet-Vienna and found she had a narrowing of the main artery from the heart the aorta as well as two holes in the vital organ. Despite suffering a cardiac arrest and being kept alive by a machine, Poppy, now 14, made a good recovery. Now, her father, who is a consultant paediatric cardiologist, hopes the 3D model software will allow specialists to diagnose accurately hundreds of babies with congenital heart disease every year during standard pregnancy scans. It will mean doctors can fully prepare for the emergency care the newborns will need and reduce the chance of complications while the babies are still in the womb. Expectant mothers undergo a scan at 20 weeks to check the baby is growing properly and to look for any congenital abnormalities. But current ultrasounds only pick up between 20 and 50 per cent of major heart abnormalities that will require surgery after birth. This is because the size of the foetal heart, quick heartbeat and baby moving make some defects difficult to detect. Professor Razavi said: My experiences with Poppy strongly motivated me to think look, we need to take away the postcode lottery that some babies get picked up and some dont. Its nobodys fault, its just hard to do and we have 600,000 babies being scanned every year so the question was: can we develop technology to improve it? Violet-Vienna Pettitt's heart defect was discovered by a team from King's College London. They were able to prepare necessary treatment using scans of the foetus while she was in the womb and operate shortly after birth The professors team, from Kings College London and Guys and St Thomas Hospital in London, has developed methods that use 2D pictures taken from different angles to build 3D computer models of the heart and blood vessels. Trials using MRI scans and the sophisticated computer software on 200 pregnant women have been found to be far more effective at showing up abnormalities. Researchers hope this could be used as part of the standard anomaly scan in future. Professor Razavi added: Suddenly we were able to clearly see in each of these patients, what the problem was. This helps the parents because as doctors we were able to explain exactly what was going on theres no uncertainty. We can say for sure that they [the babies] were going to have an operation or that it was going to be OK. It also meant that after birth, we were able to plan the treatment straight away without having to do more tests and basically improve the outcome for patients. This way it ensures the children are in the best possible form for the operation. Despite suffering a cardiac arrest and being kept alive by a machine, Poppy, now 14, made a good recovery The technology, which uses artificial intelligence, is now in use at Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust, where specialists can send patients when heart problems have been picked up on ultrasounds. Kirbi-Lea Pettitt, 30, from Erith, south-east London, was referred there after her 20-week scan suggested her baby could have serious heart defects. Doctors tested the new scanning method on the unborn Violet-Vienna and found she had a narrowing of the main artery from the heart the aorta as well as two holes in the vital organ. Professor Razavi said her early diagnosis meant she received the best care, adding: We planned ahead and operated on her a few days later. Mrs Pettitt said Violet-Vienna, who turns one on April 15, is now thriving thanks to the amazing treatment. She added: We owe the doctors a lot. Researchers expect the scans to be introduced nationally within the next year, potentially helping 750 babies annually. Kidnapped Former Minister of State, Emmanuel Ngafeeson, released. Facebook The former Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice in charge of Penitentiary Administration, Ngafeeson Emmanuel, is now with his family, after he was kidnapped some 11 days ago, by separatists in Bamenda. Reports say he was released late Saturday March 30, and has been reunited with family at his Ntabessi neighbourhood, in Bamenda. It is still not clear if a ransom was paid or not Dr. Ngafeeson was kidnapped late Tuesday March 19, 2019 while he was traveling in his vehicle, from his residence in Ntabessi. After his kidnap, Police in Bamenda spotted his vehicle, with some two men. The men said to be part of the kidnappers, where using the vehicle of the victim in town but were ambushed and captured by Police. The vehicle was seized and packed at the judicial police in Old Town, Bamenda. Human Rights Watch group has condemned series of kidnappings, perpetrated by separatists in the North West and South West on the heels of the Anglophone crisis. Some of the victims returned safe and unharmed, while others were killed in the process of torture. Separatists on their part have rejected some kidnapping claims, stating a fake group of Amba boys (as they are locally called), are carrying out the attack, in the guise of freedom fighters. A claim rejected by observers ,following witnesses obtained on the ground. Else where, there are reports of a fire incident at the Muyuka district hospital, Fako Division of the South West region. The vaccination centre of the hospital as well as its consultation centre was razed down in the fire. Police is yet to settle on the real cause of the fire. This incident comes few weeks , after the Kumba district hospital was attacked and burnt down by suspected separatists, although they denied the claims and rather accused government forces. The White House has defended President Donald Trump's decision to cut off aid to three small Central American countries, insisting they weren't doing enough to stop the flow of migrants to the United States. Trump announced the aid cut-off to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala last week and threatened once again to close the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the migrant surge. White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended the decision on Sunday, telling CNN's State of the Union: 'If we're going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more.' The aid has gone to fund programs to combat gangs and foster development in the three countries, with the aim of addressing the root causes of the mass migration. Trump announced the aid cut-off to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala last week and threatened once again to close the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the migrant surge 'If it's working so well, why are the people still coming? Why are these historic numbers - again, 100,000 people will cross the border this month alone,' Mulvaney said. 'It's not working well enough to help us solve our border crisis. And that's what the president's focused on.' Critics warned, however, that U.S. funding cuts are likely to worsen conditions, possibly adding to the migrant flow. They said Trump's threat to close the border with Mexico, if carried out, would hurt the U.S. economy. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, dismissed the threat to close the border as 'a totally unrealistic boast' by Trump. 'We need to focus on what's happening in Central America where three countries are disassembling before our eyes and people are desperately coming to the United States. The president cutting off aid to these countries will not solve this problem,' he said on NBC's Meet the Press. Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. and White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney wait for U.S. President Donald Trump to speak at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 28, 2019. Mulvaney told CNN's State of the Union: 'If we're going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more' President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk along the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, speaking on 'Fox News Sunday,' insisted Trump's threat to close the border 'certainly isn't a bluff.' On Saturday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that, at the president's direction, the State Department was ending its foreign assistance programs for the three Central American countries for 2017 and 2018. The State Department did not say how much unspent money was involved in the step, which could be largely symbolic. In comments to reporters Friday, Trump suggested as much as $500 million is at stake. 'We were giving them $500 million. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and we're not paying them anymore because they haven't done a thing.' In response to the aid cuts, Honduras proposed Sunday that it, Guatemala and El Salvador consider undertaking joint initiatives 'to ensure the sovereignty and dignity of each nation' in light of 'the contradictory policies of the United States.' The former head of surgery at a New York City hospital has been portrayed in a harassment lawsuit as a sex-crazed predator who brushed up against female colleagues during operations and sent them inappropriate text messages. Dr Brian Gilchrist resigned from Bronx-Lebanon Hospital last year after he was accused of harassing female residents, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Bronx Supreme Court. The women behind the suit, Dr Prava Thapa and Dr Sushant Remersu, claimed that Gilchrist sent one resident a photo of himself wearing nothing but a towel and texted another about 'spanking' her. Thapa and Remersu have now accused Bronx-Lebanon of firing them from the hospital's residency program in retaliation for complaining about Gilchrist's conduct. The lawsuit claims that 63-year-old Gilchrist initially took an interest in Thapa, 35, but later turned his affections toward another resident in her 20s in 2017. The surgeon allegedly emailed the unnamed woman: 'My love for you is deep ... and yes, I crave you' and would 'deliberately' make contact with her breasts during surgery. The resident brought her complaints about Gilchrist to Thapa and Remersu, telling him that he had made her feel 'extremely uncomfortable'. Dr Brian Gilchrist, a 63-year-old former head of surgery at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York City, has been accused of sexually harassing female residents in a new lawsuit Court filings say Gilchrist resigned days after the woman and Thapa reported his alleged harassment to hospital officials. The hospital later sent a letter to Thapa and Remersu which said: 'The majority of your allegations were well-founded.' However, they were soon fired over what the suit describes as false allegations of improperly prescribing medications. Gilchrist has denied the allegations against him in legal papers, calling them 'false and without foundation' and 'an effort to distract attention from [the accusers'] own conduct', according to the New York Post. He maintained that his emails to one of the women were 'not unwelcome'. A lawyer for Bronx-Lebanon Hospital 'vigorously denied the allegations', the Post reported. Gilchrist joined New York University Winthrop Hospital in Mineola as chief of pediatric surgery last summer. Former Lebanon-Bronx residents Dr Prava Thapa and Dr Sushant Remersu claim in a lawsuit that the hospital (above) fired them in retaliation for their allegations against Gilchrist This is the second harassment lawsuit against Gilchrist, who was sued in 2015 by a California surgeon he was previously in a romantic relationship with. Dr Jean Gillon accused Gilchrist of begging her to loan him money after she learned that she had a large insurance settlement headed her way. Gillon claimed that Gilchrist lied and said he needed cash to buy a co-op 'for us' and promised that if she gave him $250,000 he would use it to get her son into a New York City medical school. Gillon said refused to join in on the scheme but ultimately lent Gilchrist $500,000. She filed her lawsuit to get that money back, claiming in court filings that he had told her: 'If you were a male I would take you out back and thrash you.' The suit was settled under a confidentiality agreement, and Gilchrist later said it had 'involved a financial transaction which was resolved amicably'. Authorities say a police officer fatally shot a man who showed a gun while being chased in woods in Atlanta. Atlanta Police told news outlets the officer was flagged down by someone who heard gunshots around the Goldrush Showbar strip club about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to WSB-TV. Police say the officer found the man, who ran into the woods through a gap in the chain link fence near Exit 77 on Interstate 85 in southwest Atlanta. An Atlanta police officer was flagged down by the Goldrush Showbar by someone reporting gunshots behind the club early Sunday morning The cop spotted a man who ran off into the woods through a gap in the chain link fence near Exit 77 on Interstate 85 when at some point the suspect allegedly showed a gun and the officer fired his weapon killing him 'At some point during the foot chase, the suspect produced a handgun, our officer fired, hit he suspect and killed the suspect,' said Atlanta Deputy Chief Jeff Glazier. Glazier went on to say that the firearm was recovered at the scene, but it was unclear if the suspect had fired it during the incident. The identities of the man killed and the officer have not been released. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be looking into the 26th officer-involved shooting already this year. Bryce McIntosh, 32, who has been charged with murder in the death of his eight-year-old son, bought gloves, acid and drain cleaner two days after the boy's mother said she last saw him, police said A Southern California man charged with the murder of his eight-year-old son allegedly bought gloves, acid and drain cleaner two days after the boy's mother says she last saw him. Bryce McIntosh, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture for the suspected killing of his son Noah, who went missing earlier this month in Riverside County, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said on Thursday. Corona Police Chief George Johnstone said detectives have found traces of evidence that 'leave no doubt that Noah is the victim of a homicide' even though the boy's body still hasn't been found. 'It is unfortunate and with a heavy heart that I must let the community know that the missing child investigation regarding Noah McIntosh has now been escalated to a homicide case,' Johnstone said. Authorities have released very few details about Noah's disappearance earlier this month so as to protect the integrity of the investigation. Bryce McIntosh, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture for the suspected killing of his son Noah (pictured), who went missing earlier this month in Riverside County McIntosh and Noah's mother Jillian Godfrey, 36, who live separately in Corona, were arrested and charged with felony child endangerment on March 13, just over a week after the boy was last seen on March 5, after investigators served a search warrant at McIntosh's home. Corona police Detective Mario Hernandez wrote in a declaration filed on Thursday that McIntosh bought two pairs of long cuffed gloves, 24-inch bolt cutters, four gallons of muriatic acid, and a bottle of drain opener from a Home Depot store on March 4. He also is said to have searched on his cellphone that day for 'normal heart rate for 8 year old' and 'exactly how sodium hydroxide works.' Sodium hydroxide is a corrosive chemical that can dissolve flesh. McIntosh (right) and Noah's mother Jillian Godfrey, 36 (left), who live separately in Corona, were arrested and charged with felony child endangerment on March 13, just over a week after the boy was last seen on March 5, after investigators served a search warrant at McIntosh's home. Only McIntosh was charged with the additional murder and torture charge Further information extracted from McIntosh's cell phone led authorities to the unincorporated area of Aguanga, which showed up as one of McIntosh's previous locations, documents obtained by KTLA showed. There, authorities noted finding purple latex gloves, a plastic bag with residue that is believed to be blood, parts to a Ninja blender, empty bottles of drain cleaner, empty cans of oven cleaner, blankets and towels. Police say Godfrey initially told police she saw her son March 4, but she later said it actually was two days earlier. Godgrey said she observed McIntosh taking the boy into the bathroom on March 2, and heard her son ask his father why he was hurting him. Authorities interviewed McIntosh's daughter, who said she was aware Noah was missing 'because her daddy told her.' Police say the daughter described instances of physical abuse being inflicted upon Noah to investigators, including the use of handcuffs to keep the child in a bathtub with cold water. Handcuffs were found when police searched McIntosh's home. The daughter also described 'helping her daddy at times by holding Noah's legs down,' according to documents. Noah had been living at his father's home with his 11-year-old sister when he went missing. Police have urged anyone who saw the boy or his parents between mid-February and mid-March to contact investigators Godfrey said she saw McIntosh take Noah into a bathroom on March 2, and heard the child ask the father why he was hurting him, the detective wrote. She said that when she left McIntosh's home that day, the child was still in the bathroom, the report said. Godfrey had contacted police to report that McIntosh was refusing to let her see her son, who was living with his father and 11-year-old sister at the time. The mother asked officers to perform a welfare check on Noah at around 7pm on March 12. McIntosh allegedly told Godfrey that Noah had been missing since March 6, though it's not clear when he is said to have told her that. Notes in Godfrey's phone showed she was documenting instances of abuse against Noah by McIntosh, authorities included in the report. Godfrey was not hit with any additional charges when McIntosh was charged with murder. Both defendants are being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside. McIntosh's bail has been set at $1million and Godfrey's is set at $500,000. They are scheduled to enter pleas in court on April 8. Police have asked anyone who saw the boy or his parents between mid-February and mid-March to contact Senior Detective Mario Hernandez at 951-279-3659 or at mario.hernandez@coronaca.gov. Perhaps he was keen to burnish his credentials as a political heavyweight. Dominic Raab appeared for a BBC interview with what appeared to be a carefully curated selection of books in the background, including the autobiography of Austrian bodybuilder-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and biographies of US Presidents Regan and Nixon. The pile of books also contained a primer on economics from the Economist magazine, in what may have been an attempt to prove his ability to run Britain's economy. Tory MP Dominic Raab appeared for a BBC interview with what appeared to be a carefully curated selection of books in the background And it did not take long for people to take to social media to mock Mr Raab for trying to appear well-read with the awkwardly placed stack of books. Dan Barker posted a witheringly sarcastic put-down which questioned the positioning of the MP's collection. He tweeted: 'Sad that Dominic Raab cannot afford bookshelves, and is forced to place small stacks of politically relevant either side of his head in a way that looks really inconvenient in terms of opening those blinds.' One mocker, Guy Pedliham from London, put it rather more bluntly and said: 'That contrived placing of books in the background. You're fooling none of your constituents.' It did not take long for people to take to social media to mock Mr Raab for trying to appear well-read with the awkwardly placed stack of books What books did Dominic Raab choose for the background of his BBC interview? Virtual History | Niall Ferguson Nixon | Jonathan Aitken The Reagan Diaries | Ronald Reagan An American Life | Ronald Reagan King Hussein | Roland Dallas Total Recall | Arnold Schwarzenegger The Hugo Young Papers | Hugo Young Economics | Matthew Bishop Advertisement Garrie Coleman, from Teesside, also weighed in on the former Brexit Secretary's odd positioning of his books but suggested that, for someone reportedly vying to be the next prime minister, he did not come across as 'in touch'. He posted: 'Here's man-of-the-people Tory MP Dominic Raab doing what most ordinary folk do with their collection of books - keeps them on a sodding window sill.' And one hilarious tweet even constructed a fake scenario in which the Tory MP asked his secretary to fetch him some intellectual books from the shops so he could come across well-read to the BBC audience. Johnny Starling, from Tees Valley tweeted: Dominic Raab to his assistant - 'Im going to be on the telly, run down to Waterstones and buy some books to make me look clever.' Labour's Jess Phillips, a parliamentary colleague of Mr Raab's, also put the boot in and wrote: 'This is an amazing insight into a very fragile ego.' Mark Lewis (pictured), 40, was arrested last week for allegedly killing his two-week-old son by punching him in the head because he became frustrated at having no help An Arkansas man has been accused of killing his newborn son by punching him in the head. Mark Lewis was arrested last Wednesday in connection to the death of his two-year-old son who was found dead in a Prairie Grove apartment. Authorities said Lewis, 40, was home alone with the baby on March 26, while the infant's mother was still in the hospital following birth complications. Lewis told police that he didn't have anyone to help him with the child and did not possess a cell phone, so he punched the baby out of frustration, according to KFSM. The baby died shortly after being struck. Lewis then packed a bag and fled the scene. Two days later, the mother returned to the apartment where she found her son dead, according to police. Lewis was pulled over by officers for a traffic warrant. While in custody, Lewis told police about his son's death, according to the station. The baby was healthy and hadn't been sick nor did he have any other injury, according to Lewis. Lewis was charged with first-degree murder. He's being held at the Washington County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. His next court appearance is set for April 26. Knife crime must be treated like an infectious disease killing our children, Theresa May and Sajid Javid say today. Unveiling a radical shift in policy, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary will hand hospitals, schools and social services a legal duty to protect youngsters. Casualty staff and GPs will be obliged to flag up knife wounds or other suspicious injuries so children can be referred to violence reduction units. Mentoring and education will be used to stop them being dragged into crime and the gang culture. Teachers and social workers will also be obliged to report danger signs such as truancy and serious misbehaviour. The aim is to intervene long before young people ever pick up a weapon. The move comes amid intense public concern over knife crime. Ten separate stabbing incidents have been reported in the past few days, including one in which a hooded attacker knifed four victims at random during a 12-hour rampage in London. Scroll for video Knives uncovered in a stop and search of a car in West Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has launched new Stop and Search powers which will let police in seven regions carry out checks without needing to prove 'reasonable grounds' Police and emergency workers attend to the Brettenham Road stab victim - the last of four stabbings in Edmonton, London Police were hunting for the knifeman after four people were stabbed in random attacks during a 12-hour north London rampage Forensic teams work at the scene of the stabbing in Edmonton, London, following a spate of knife attacks Police on the scene near Fore Street, Edmonton, London, near where a person was stabbed just a short distance from where a middle aged woman was knifed Blood stains the pavement at the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton as a manhunt was underway for a hooded knifeman The stabbings come after the 31st murder in London so far this year on Friday - and the 14th in March Today, the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary will host a major Downing Street youth violence summit with experts, police chiefs and victims families. In a joint article for the Mail, they say that the loss of lives is horrific, senseless and destructive. This cannot be allowed to continue, they write. We must and will use every tool and tactic at our disposal to deter young people from carrying knives. We must treat the threat which knives pose to our society like a disease. The new public health approach will see Mr Javid launch a consultation today that would impose legal duties on public bodies such as schools and hospitals. It would be very similar to the system in Glasgow, formerly the knife crime capital of Europe, where stab wounds have halved in 12 years. It also mirrors the anti-terrorism Prevent strategy, set up in 2006, which is used to identify youngsters at risk of being sucked into extremism. Under the Glasgow model, gang members and those at risk of joining gangs are referred to violence reduction units. There, they are offered mentoring by someone with similar experiences of violence or given opportunities to further their education. How one city halved the toll of knife attacks The new public health strategy will closely model the example set by Glasgow where serious knife wounds have more than halved in 12 years. Its success has been attributed to a violence reduction unit set up by Strathclyde Police in 2005. Doctors, nurses, teachers and social workers are expected to refer youngsters who they suspect are involved in gangs or at risk of falling into gangs. They are told to be alert to suspicious behaviour, such as truanting, as well as to knife injuries. The unit tries to divert children and teenagers away from gangs by pairing them up with mentors who have experience of violence themselves. They are encouraged to stay in school or enrol in college if they have already dropped out of education. One former gang member, who was arrested aged 15 for carrying a machete, is now studying for a masters degree in community youth work. Kevin Martin, 24, was referred to the unit after his arrest. He is one of a number of former gang members who are helping to mentor youngsters in similar situations. The Glasgow strategy also sees doctors going into schools to shock children with graphic images of knife crime injury. The city which used to be the knife crime capital of Europe has seen hospital admissions for knife injuries fall by 65 per cent since 2005. Advertisement Under the Glasgow model, gang members and those at risk of joining gangs are referred to violence reduction units where they are offered mentoring by someone with similar experiences (stock image) Doctors are invited into schools to show graphic images of knife wounds and pupils are also taught about the tough sentences for violent crimes. A consultation on the new strategy will run for eight weeks and establish exactly how the system should work in England. It will decide how doctors, teachers and social workers would report at-risk pupils and how to impose a legal duty on them to do so. Violence reduction units already operate in London and the West Midlands but are expected to be expanded there and elsewhere. In their article for the Mail. the Prime Minister and Home Secretary insist the new approach isnt about making excuses for criminals and anyone caught with a knife will be punished. Theresa May at Church yesterday near her Maidenhead constituency But they say the crisis cannot be dealt with by the criminal justice system alone: We cannot try to simply arrest our way out of this situation, dealing with people only after they have broken the law. After all, were it an infectious disease killing our children, you would not expect the authorities to just focus on treating the symptoms you would rightly demand that we also do everything possible to prevent people getting ill at all. The families of those who have lost loved ones many of whom will be at the summit today deserve no less. The loss of a life to knife crime is horrific. It is senseless, destructive and a tragedy for the families, friends and communities of the victims. It is a terrible truth that, disproportionately, it is young people whose lives are being lost in this way. Todays serious youth violence summit will be attended by more than 100 experts including Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, the head of the NHS Simon Stevens and Baroness Newlove, the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales. Her husband Garry was beaten to death by a gang vandalising his car in 2007. Figures last month showed that the number of under-16s taken to A&E with stab wounds had doubled in five years, to 347 admissions in 2017/18 up from 180 in 2012/13. As part of the new strategy, Mr Javid this weekend announced that police would be given new stop and search powers to tackle the rise in knife crime. Sajid Javid with Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Steve House during a visit to Angel underground station on Thursday to announce plans to allow more police officers enhanced stop and search powers Pupils of 12 most likely to be caught with weapons Children aged just 12 are the most likely to be caught taking knives into school amid an epidemic of weapon smuggling. Figures from Britains largest police force show a 35 per cent rise in pupils caught with knives over the past three years, with the most prolific being pre-teens. The Metropolitan Police figures cover Greater London and account for just under half of all such incidents across the country. Separate data from police forces elsewhere in England and Wales also shows a sharp rise with a doubling of weapon confiscations in schools. Head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh said the findings were shocking, adding: It is an epidemic. If you are an inner-city teacher, you are used to knives. Miss Birbalsingh, who leads the Michaela Community School in Wembley, added: Theres too much of a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to the raising of children. For children who are not focused on their futures, life becomes cheap and carrying a knife is all that matters. The figures for Londons schools were contained obtained by the Daily Mail under the Freedom of Information Act. They showed that 350 youngsters aged between ten and 18 were charged by police for having knives in school over the past three years. Of these, 73 were 12 years old. Advertisement Officers in seven force areas including London and the West Midlands will be allowed to carry out checks without needing to prove they have reasonable grounds. Mr Javid added: Violent crime is like a disease rotting our society and its essential that all public bodies work together to treat the root causes. Figures obtained by Channel 4s Dispatches last month showed that the number of child knife killers had risen 77 per cent in two years with teenage knife robberies up by 50 per cent. We need a new way to treat the sickness of knife violence, write THERESA MAY and SAJID JAVID by Theresa May and Sajid Javid The loss of a life to knife crime is horrific. It is senseless, destructive and a tragedy for the families, friends and communities of the victims. It is a terrible truth that, disproportionately, it is young people whose lives are being lost in this way. This cannot be allowed to continue. We must and will use every tool and tactic at our disposal to deter young people from carrying knives. We must treat the threat which knives pose to our society like a disease. So this week we are bringing together experts from many different disciplines for a serious youth violence summit at 10 Downing Street. The aim is to get people from right across society not just politicians and police officers, but figures from education, healthcare and social work, religious and community leaders, youth workers and more working side by side to spot young people at risk, flag their concerns, and make targeted interventions to steer them away from crime. Rather than having a complex web of different agencies and organisations working independently on different parts of the problem, we want to see everyone working together in what has been called a public health approach. Because youth violence is an issue that affects us all, and the only way to beat it is for us all to work together. Not just dealing with the tragic aftermath when someone has been stabbed, but intervening long before. Responding to the early signs of worrying behaviour or problems at home, or stopping teenagers being groomed by ruthless gangs, so that a young person doesnt pick up a knife in the first place. We are today launching a consultation into a legal duty that will underpin the multi-agency, public health approach, an approach that builds on work we are already doing to stop crime before it happens. For example, were putting an extra 100million into law enforcement in the worst-affected areas, getting more police on the frontline and setting up Violence Reduction Units. And our new 200million Youth Endowment Fund will provide long-term investment for programmes that steer young people away from becoming involved in violent crime or reoffending. This approach is not making excuses for criminals. Responsibility for knife crime lies with the perpetrators, and anyone even considering arming themselves with a blade should be under no illusions: if you carry a knife you will be caught, and you will be punished. The police are already catching and prosecuting more people who carry a knife and the courts are sending more of those convicted to prison for longer. Yesterday, we announced that we will be piloting changes to stop and search, which will initially apply in areas particularly affected by violent crime: London, the West Midlands, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Wales and Greater Manchester. Our new Offensive Weapons Bill will make it harder for criminals to arm themselves. And almost 1billion of extra police funding is being made available this year, so that local forces have the resources they need. But while strong, effective law enforcement has an obvious and vital role to play, we cannot try to simply arrest our way out of this situation, dealing with people only after they have broken the law. After all, were it an infectious disease killing our children, Mail readers would not expect the authorities to just focus on treating the symptoms you would rightly demand that we also do everything possible to prevent people getting ill at all. The families of those who have lost loved ones many of whom will be at the summit today deserve no less. Of course, nothing we say or do this week will bring back the children who were so cruelly taken from them. But we can promise that we will do whatever it takes to confront and defeat the scourge of youth violence. And that we will do everything in our power to stop more families suffering as they have suffered. President Donald Trump on Sunday called for an investigation into how the special counsel probe against him and his campaign began, continuing a drum beat against Robert Mueller's look into collusion and obstruction of justice. 'Everybody is asking how the phony and fraudulent investigation of the No Collusion, No Obstruction Trump Campaign began. We need to know for future generations to understand. This Hoax should never be allowed to happen to another President or Administration again!,' he wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Trump has railed against the investigation since it ended and cleared him and his campaign of any collusion with Russia in the 2016 election. President Donald Trump called for an investigation into how the special counsel probe against him and his campaign began Trump has railed against special counsel Robert Mueller's probe ended Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday it was important to find out what went wrong around Mueller's investigation and the media reports of the past 22 months. 'We need to figure out what went wrong with the Mueller report, why - in all fairness to your network, why the media got it so wrong for so long,' he told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday. 'How did the media get it so wrong? I think the president is just venting the same frustration a lot of people had when the Mueller report came out, and it turned out exactly like he said that it would,' he said. He said the White House has not read the full report, merely Attorney General William Barr's summary that went to lawmakers. 'I have read the Barr summary, which is what everybody else has read,' Mulvaney said. Trump said on Friday he is on board with Barr's decision to release the nearly 400-page Mueller report minus several categories of redactions that are already drawing scrutiny. 'I have great confidence in the new attorney general, if that's what he'd like to do,' Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club. 'I have nothing to hide,' the president said. Then Trump went off on yet another attack against the Mueller probe, the product of which Barr would be releasing following a redaction process, according to a new letter from the attorney general. 'This was a hoax. This was a witch hunt. I have absolutely nothing to hide. And I think a lot of things are coming out with respect to the other side,' Trump said. The comment was a veiled reference to Democrats and other critics who have been set back by summary findings that Mueller did not find evidence that his campaign conspired with the Russian government. 'I have nothing to hide,' President Trump said Friday. He was speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago alongside outgoing Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon By Friday evening, Trump took his attacks on Mueller online, casting the prosecutor who Trump earlier bragged 'totally exonerated' him as a partisan idolized by the 'Radical Left.' 'Robert Mueller was a Hero to the Radical Left Democrats, until he ruled that there was No Collusion with Russia (so ridiculous to even say!). After more than two years since the 'insurance policy' statement was made by a dirty cop, I got the answers I wanted ...' Trump wrote, referencing an FBI email uncovered through an Inspector General's investigation 'The problem is,' Trump followed up in another tweet, 'no matter what the Radical Left Democrats get, no matter what we give them, it will never be enough. Just watch, they will Harass & Complain & Resist (the theme of their movement). So maybe we should just take our victory and say NO, weve got a Country to run!' he wrote. Earlier Friday afternoon, Barr told the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that he expects to release Mueller's final report in the next two weeks, and that he will testify publicly about it in early May. Mueller completed his investigation on March 22. The event that sparked the $25 million, 22-month probe was a concern from federal officials that there was a tie between Trump's campaign and hacked emails from Democrats that appeared on Wikileaks. The kickoff began when WikiLeaks released hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign manager John Podesta in July 2016. After that event, an Australian diplomat based in London tipped off American authorities that a Trump campaign official, George Papadopoulos, had told him a few months earlier that the Russians had the stolen emails. Concerned the Trump's campaign had been infiltrated by foreign agents, the FBI began its probe, allegedly securing the help of a Cambridge professor to meet with some of Trump's advisers. The Justice Department secured warrants from a secret court that handles foreign intelligence cases, giving it permission to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page past the point of the November election. President Donald Trump Attorney General William Barr (left) and Special Counsel Robert Mueller (right) A turning point came when President Trump fired FBI James Comey on May 9, 2017. He later asked a friend to leak details from his memos of meetings with Trump, to a friendly reporter, in the hope that it would lead to the appointment of a special counsel. Democrats were outraged and started a special counsel drumbeat. With Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the sidelines because he had been a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, his deputy Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller to the job eight days later. Mueller's investigation was the subject of numerous news reports, which depicted a colorful cast of characters who wormed their way into Trump's campaign and put the new administration on the defensive. In the end, Mueller concluded that neither President Trump nor his campaign colluded with Russians in order to improve his chances of beating Democrat Hilary Clinton. The special counsel did not draw a conclusion 'one way or the other' on whether the president obstructed justice, according to the findings, but left that decision to Attorney General William Barr, who decided not to pursue them. Jetstar is raking in a fortune from travellers in baggage fees, with the budget airline admitting it often charges more for a shorter flight than a longer one. Flights do not come with check-in baggage as standard, and customers are given the option to upgrade their ticket with a 'bundle' after choosing a flight, with individual baggage upgrades available in a secondary window. A 'flex' bundle, the cheapest option, is often at least $40 and includes an extra 3kg of carry-on luggage, the ability to choose a seat, no charge for changing your flight - provided you leave on the same day - and a credit voucher if you need to cancel. But clicking to the next page of options, adding the extra 3kg can be less than $15, and for a further $20, travellers can add 20kg of check-in luggage. These prices fluctuate depending on where you are flying, and further research shows shorter flights are likely to attract larger fees than longer ones. Jetstar is slugging passengers more for extra baggage on short flights than on longer ones (stock image) Adding 15 kilograms of luggage to a flight from Brisbane to Cairns, for instance, will attract a fee of $26, while adding the same amount of baggage to a flight from Sydney to Cairns will cost only $18. Carry-on luggage is the same. Including the three-kilogram add-on to the flight from Brisbane costs $21, while it's only $15 to add more weight to the same flight from Sydney. In the last six months, about 300,000 Jetstar passengers had coughed up nearly $50 to join 'Club Jetstar', which entitles them to 20 per cent off the cost of adding baggage and choosing a seat. Adding baggage to a flight from Sydney to Cairns costs significantly less than adding the same weight on a flight from Brisbane Brisbane is about 800 kilometres closer to Cairns than Sydney, and the flight is about an hour shorter COST OF EXTRA BAGGAGE: SYDNEY vs BRISBANE TO CAIRNS BRISBANE TO CAIRNS - 2hrs 15mins Flex or Plus bundle - $40 15kg of luggage - $26 20kg of luggage - $28 3kg of carry-on - $21 SYDNEY TO CAIRNS- 3hrs 10mins Flex or Plus bundle - $40 15kg of luggage - $18 20kg of luggage - $20 3kg of carry-on - $15 Advertisement The 2019 Half Year Results published in February by Qantas, Jetstar's parent company, claimed the company had an 11 per cent rise in 'ancillary revenue', which was 'driven by the successful launch of "Plus 3kg" carry on'. A spokesman for Jetstar told Daily Mail Australia 300,000 people had added the extra carry-on luggage to their ticket in the past six months. They said the airline takes 'a number of factors into consideration' when deciding the prices of add-on luggage and bundles. 'These include the length of the route, destination, demand for that product on the route, as well as the competitive environment,' the spokesman said. Accused Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant may have fair ground to complain about being denied basic rights behind bars, according to a legal expert. The 28-year-old Australian has been in custody at Auckland Prison since he was charged with murder for allegedly gunning down 50 Muslims at two mosques on March 15. Tarrant last week lodged a complaint with the Department of Corrections claiming he has not been allowed visitors, phone calls, or access to television and newspapers. Accused gunman Brenton Tarrant (centre in court) has filed a complaint with the New Zealand Department of Corrections claiming he is being denied his basic rights behind bars Australian-born Tarrant, 28, has been jailed at Auckland Prison (pictured) since he was charged with murder, and currently is not permitted access to visitors, phone calls, or newspapers Auckland Prison (pictured) is a prison facility consisting of medium security and maximum security compounds in Paremoremo, Auckland, New Zealand According to New Zealand's Corrections Act, inmates are entitled to make outgoing phone calls, send or receive mail, medical treatment, bedding, food and drink, access to visitors, access to information and education, among other things. The law also states a prisoner can be denied these rights if there is an emergency in the prison, the security of the prison is threatened, or the health or safety of any person is threatened. It is unknown if Tarrant has fallen under these exceptions - but Massey University law professor Chris Gallavin said he may have fair cause to complain. 'He has entitlements under legislation and they can be limited, and there is criteria for limiting them, but I would hope the Department of Corrections have secure ground for those limitations. 'If they don't then his claim will and should be upheld,' Gallavin told the New Zealand Herald. Talking about why Tarrant deserves basic rights, he said of alleged murderers: 'We show them dignity and respect that each in their own may have not shown to their victims - but that's the price we pay for being a principled society.' The lawyer also predicted Tarrant would fiercely defend himself until the end. The gunman is accused of opening fire on two Christchurch mosques and killing 50 Muslim worshippers on March 15 Prison sources previously told Stuff that Tarrant is being watched around the clock. 'He's under constant observation and isolation. He doesn't get the usual minimum entitlements. So no phone calls and no visits,' a source said. Tarrant is currently under the watchful eye of prison guards and CCTV for 24 hours a day as he is kept in his cell segregated from other inmates. He is allowed access to small yard, made up of concrete walls and floors, connected to his cell for one hour a day, according to sources. He has been described as 'unlike anyone else we've got'in the jail, but has been 'compliant.' The suspected gunman was charged with one count of murder on March 16 but is expected to face additional charges when he returns to court on April 5. He will appear through an audio-visual link, and will represent himself. Benito Mussolinis granddaughter has slammed Jim Carrey after he tweeted a drawing of the dead bodies of Italy's wartime fascist leader and his mistress. Italian politician Alessandra Mussolini hit back at the star on Twitter on Saturday, branding him a b*****d for drawing a sketch of her grandfather and his lover hanging upside down from a rafter. Ms Mussolini, 56, is a member of the European Parliament for the center-right Forza Italia political party and is the niece of Sophia Loren as well as a former actress and model. Carreys art is based on the real life deaths of Mussolini and his mistress Petacci who were captured by communist partisan fighters and executed by firing squad on April 28, 1945. Benito Mussolinis granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini (right) has slammed Jim Carrey (left) after he tweeted a drawing of the hanging of Italy's wartime fascist and his mistress Carrey, whose drawings have been harshly critical of Trump, tweeted a caption which read: If youre wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta. Carreys drawing is based on the real life deaths of Mussolini (pictured second from the left) and Claretta Petacci (centre). In April 1945, Italian Communists shot and executed Mussolini, Petacci, and other key figures in the Italian fascist leadership. A day later, their bodies were hung in a public square in Milan (above) The couple - along with other key figures in the Italian fascist leadership - were travelling through Italy and planning to head to the border of Switzerland, a neutral country in the Second World War. Here it is thought they would have flown to their ally Francoist Spain had they not been intercepted. Following their deaths, the bodies of Mussolini, Petacci, and other fascists were hung upside down in front of a gas station in Milans Piazzale Loreto as a large crowd vented their anger. The Canadian-American actor, whose drawings have been harshly critical of Trump, expressed his views on fascism by sharing the drawing with the caption: If youre wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta. His tweet generated more than 57,000 likes and 15,000 retweets but was slammed by Ms Mussolini who replied to Carreys sketch, writing: You are a b*****d. Alessandra Mussolini replied to Carreys sketch, writing: You are a b*****d. Mussolini posted a number of angry tweets in response to Carrey, saying that he should draw images of Americas troubled past. She posted an image of Native Americans standing in front of Mount Rushmore Mussolini also posted a photo of Rosa Parks, the black civil rights activist who refused to sit in the back of the bus in the segregated south of the 1950s Mussolini also retweeted a link to a news article about the famous photo taken of frightened and naked Vietnamese villagers fleeing as American planes bombed from overhead Benito Mussolini (left) and his mistress Claretta Petacci (right) were travelling through Italy and planning to head to the border of Switzerland, a neutral country in the Second World War Ms Mussolini posted a number of angry tweets in response to Carrey, saying that he should draw images of Americas troubled past. She also shared an image of Native Americans standing in front of Mount Rushmore as well as a photo of Rosa Parks, the black civil rights activist who refused to sit in the back of the bus in the segregated south of the 1950s. She then tweeted a photo of a mushroom cloud, presumably as a criticism of the American use of atomic bombs on Japan during World War Two. Ms Mussolini also retweeted a link to a news article about the famous photo taken of frightened and naked Vietnamese villagers fleeing as American planes bombed from overhead. Ms Mussolini, 56, is a member of the European Parliament for the center-right Forza Italia political party as well as a former actress and model Meanwhile, Carrey, who did not respond to the MEP's comment, has been posting his political cartoon drawings since August 2017 Carrey has also painted unflattering pictures of Sarah Sanders (left) and Ivanka Trump (right) However, a number of Twitter users pointed out to Ms Mussolini that while Carrey is a Hollywood star, he is originally from Canada. Carrey, who did not respond to the MEP's comment, has been posting his political cartoon drawings since August 2017. Mussolini established a dictatorship of Italy in 1925 and was put in charge of a regime in northern Italy by Adolf Hitler in 1943. Who is Alessandra Mussolini? Alessandra Mussolini in November 2018 Alessandra Mussolini is the granddaughter of Italy's wartime fascist Benito Mussolini and the niece of the renowned actress Sophia Loren. Her parents wed in 1962, with Benito's son Romano marrying Alessandras mother, Maria Scicolone, the sister of Hollywood siren Loren. Yet the marriage didn't last as Maria and Sophia had been illegitimate and the Mussolinis felt they weren't good enough for 'Il Duce's - 'The Leader's' - son. Before going into politics, the 56-year-old spent the 1980s modelling, acting in a string of films and even released an LP in Japan, which has now become a collectors' item. At the height of her modelling career, the glamorous granddaughter of the fascist dictator featured on the cover of Italian Playboy in 1983. Her aunt took her favourite niece under her wing, but Ms Mussolini failed to make it in Hollywood, complaining that producers judged her only on her appearance, telling her she was too beautiful, too ugly, too tall, too short. At the height of her modelling career, the glamorous granddaughter of the fascist dictator featured on the cover of Italian Playboy (left in 1983) as well as various other magazines (right in 1992) Ms Mussolini started studying medicine instead but before completing her studies in 1992, she had already been elected as an MP, which she immediately celebrated as an act of love for my grandfather. She has since carved out for herself a formidable career in right-wing politics, as a fervent advocate for traditional family values and womens rights. The out-spoken politician is now a member of the European Parliament for the center-right Forza Italia political party While her Benito died in 1945 - 17 years before Alessandra was born, her political career has been almost in his honour as she defended fascism. She once claimed she has a bust of him in her bedroom and she married her husband Mauro Floriani in her grandfather's birthplace in 1989. Advertisement Elon Musk has released a bizarre rap song about Harambe, a slain gorilla made famous by the internet in 2016. The Tesla billionaire surprised Twitter on Saturday night when he shared a link to the heavily auto-tuned track titled 'RIP Harambe' on Soundcloud. The bizarre song features lyrics such as 'We love you Harambe' and 'Sipping on some Bombay'. Harambe became a pop culture phenomenon in 2016 when the gorilla was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo officials after a three-year-old boy climbed into his enclosure. Elon Musk has apparently released a rap song about the internet-famous dead gorilla Harambe The killing sparked thousands of memes and parody videos, which resurface every year on the anniversary of the ape's death. But Twitter users were quick to point out that the track comes three years late and just two days before April Fools' Day. Musk tweeted a link to the song, as well as the so-called album art featuring a photo of the gorilla and the fictitious name of his record label 'Emo G Records'. 'I'm disappointed that my record label failed,' he later tweeted. The two-minute song features a digitally-modified voice which starts the track by saying: 'All y'all gorillas, we love you.' The lyrics include: 'RIP Harambe, sipping on some Bombay/We on our way to heaven, Amen, Amen/RIP Harambe, smoking on some strong, aye/In gorilla zoo and we thinking about you.' The rapper featured on the track was local LA artist Yung Jake. Musk is not thought to be featured on the track, although Twitter users speculated he could be heard on some of the song's ad-libs. Musk tweeted a link to the song, as well as the so-called album art featuring a photo of the gorilla and the fictitious name of his record label 'Emo G Records' Musk raised eyebrows when he appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience in September, where he accepted a marijuana blunt from the host and then puffed on it The song was played half a million times in its first 48 hours. By late Sunday night it had 778,000 listens. Musk is dating Canadian musician Grimes. Their relationship made headlines in September last year after Musk was sued by the SEC for tweeting that he was taking Tesla private for $420-a-share - a move that regulators dubbed fraudulent and misleading. After the privatization scandal, rapper Azaelia Banks claimed to have been in Musk's home when he posted the tweet. Banks, who said she was there to record a duet with Grimes, alleged that Musk was high on drugs at the time. Musk went on to settle with the SEC by stepping down as the company's chairman and agreeing, along with Tesla, to pay $20 million each in fines. Advertisement Theresa May would 'destroy' the Tory party and put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10 if she gives in to demands to adopt a soft Brexit, senior ministers warned MPs are staging a vote tonight on whether to try to force the Prime Minister to shift to a customs union or Norway-style soft Brexit. No10 is braced for a possible Cabinet walkout as early as tomorrow when ministers debate whether to accept Parliament's demands. If she were to give way to a softer Brexit, Mrs May would provoke a furious reaction from Brexiteers, with International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling among the ministers reportedly ready to resign. More than 170 Tory MPs, including ten Cabinet ministers, have already signed a blunt, two-paragraph letter to Mrs May reminding her of the party's manifesto commitment to take Britain out of both the customs union and the single market. The letter urges her to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on April 12 if she cannot get her own deal through Parliament in the coming days. Today Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss warned the PM against lurching towards a customs union deal because 'it's not clear that going softer is the way to command support' - but ruled out quitting. She added: 'I don't have any fear of No Deal - what would be worse is if we don't Brexit at all. I think the answer lies in modifications to the Prime Minister's deal to be able to get that to have support'. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said today: 'One thing is clear: We have to leave the European Union in good order. Parliament won't vote for No Deal. No Deal is bad for our economy and bad for our union'. Theresa May (left) has been warned she will 'destroy' the Tory party if she caves in to calls for a soft Brexit while Boris Johnson (right) urged Conservative MPs to 'get brexit done' Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove leaves his home for a morning jog as MPs prepare to grab control of Brexit. Meanwhile Chancellor Philip Hammond and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt were called in to No 10 for more talks Theresa May's deputy David Lidington looked happy as he entered No 10 for another cabinet meeting today And last night, two Cabinet ministers told the Daily Mail that shifting to a soft Brexit could lead to a collapse of the Government and usher in a Labour regime led by Mr Corbyn. Timetable for four days of Westminster turmoil Today: MPs led by Tory Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour's Yvette Cooper will vote tonight on whether to adopt a soft Brexit option, such as a customs union or membership of the single market, possibly accompanied by a second referendum. Last week, MPs rejected all eight Brexit options put to them in a series of 'indicative votes', but supporters of a soft Brexit from both the Tory and Labour benches believe they have a better chance tonight following the third defeat for Theresa May's deal. Tomorrow: The Cabinet will meet to discuss a response to the votes. If MPs have backed a customs union, Mrs May will have to decide whether to accept a policy opposed by the vast majority of Tory MPs. If she agrees, the issue could tear the party apart. If she refuses, it would result in a constitutional stand-off that could spark an election. Downing Street fears that she could face a Cabinet walkout regardless of what she decides. Wednesday: Sir Oliver Letwin has indicated he will try to seize control of the Commons agenda again to pursue his soft Brexit plan. If Monday's votes were inconclusive, they could be held again, possibly using preferential voting to reduce the options to one. If Monday night's vote produced a solution, but Mrs May refused to adopt it, Parliament could legislate in a bid to force her hand. Thursday: Allies of the PM have the day pencilled in for a possible fourth attempt to get her deal through the Commons. They believe that, with the majority against her coming down from 230 to 149 then to 58 last week, they have momentum on their side. Ministers are considering an unprecedented parliamentary 'run off' pitting Mrs May's deal against the soft Brexit option chosen by MPs in the hope of focusing the minds of Tory eurosceptics. Advertisement One said: 'If forced to choose I would favour a general election over a customs union, but it's like a choice between being stabbed in the left hand and stabbed in the right. Either one could take us to a Corbyn government. 'The Conservative Party cannot accept a customs union, and at least half the Cabinet won't accept it. It would destroy the party and it would lead to an election anyway, which we would then lose. 'The only route we can possibly survive is to go for No Deal. At least we would then enter an election in the right political place, having delivered Brexit.' Another Cabinet minister said: 'We cannot go for a customs union there would be no government left. And if we go for an election then Corbyn will be likely to win and we would end up with a customs union anyway.' Justice Secretary David Gauke infuriated Eurosceptic MPs yesterday when he declared that Mrs May would have to 'look closely' at adopting a customs union if Parliament votes for it. Meanwhile Boris Johnson urged the Tories to 'believe in Britain' and 'get Brexit done'. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: 'We should really come out with no deal now looking by far the best option. 'But if we cannot achieve that, then we need to get out, now, with an interim solution that most closely resembles what the people voted for, in the knowledge that following the Prime Minister's decision to step down we have at least the chance to fix it in the second phase of the negotiations.' Mr Gauke and fellow Remainers Greg Clark, Amber Rudd, Philip Hammond and David Lidington are urging Mrs May to push for a softer Brexit if it avoids No Deal. Last night, members of the group were privately encouraging Remainer Tories to back the option in tonight's vote. But Downing Street slapped down Mr Gauke, saying Mrs May was committed to delivering a Brexit deal 'which does not include membership of the custom union'. However, a pro-Remain Cabinet source said Mrs May would have to accept the will of Parliament, adding: 'Something is going to have to give this week she is finally going to have to pick a side, and that is going to leave one half of the Cabinet very unhappy. But if the majority in Parliament comes out for a customs union then that will be very hard to resist.' The eight Brexit alternatives that MPs will vote on tonight These are the results of last week's indicative votes on Brexit, in order of preference. It shows that while MPs can't find a consensus they lean heavily towards a softer Brexit or second referendum MPs are expected to take part in the second stage of the Brexit indicative vote process on Monday. None of the eight alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May's deal were approved last week after Parliament seized control of the Commons agenda. Many of the ideas have returned for a second attempt, with Speaker John Bercow the person responsible for selecting which ones can be put to a vote. - Motion A: Unilateral right of exit from the backstop. Tory backbenchers, led by John Baron, want the UK to leave the EU on May 22 2019 with the Withdrawal Agreement amended to allow the UK unilaterally to exit the controversial Northern Ireland backstop. - Motion B: No deal in the absence of a Withdrawal Agreement. Another proposal from Mr Baron, which calls for a no-deal Brexit on April 12 if no Withdrawal Agreement can be agreed by the Commons. - Motion C: Customs union. Tory former chancellor Ken Clarke's customs union plan requires any Brexit deal to include, as a minimum, a commitment to negotiate a 'permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union with the EU'. This was defeated by the smallest margin in the first round, falling just six votes short. - Motion D: Common market 2.0. Tabled by Conservatives Nick Boles, Robert Halfon and Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour's Stephen Kinnock, Lucy Powell plus the SNP's Stewart Hosie. The motion proposes UK membership of the European Free Trade Association and European Economic Area. It allows continued participation in the single market and a 'comprehensive customs arrangement' with the EU after Brexit - including a 'UK say' on future EU trade deals - would remain in place until the agreement of a wider trade deal which guarantees frictionless movement of goods and an open border in Ireland. - Motion E: Confirmatory public vote. It has been drawn up by Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson. This motion would require a public vote to confirm any Brexit deal passed by Parliament before its ratification. This option, tabled last time by Labour former minister Dame Margaret Beckett, polled the highest number of votes although was defeated by 295 votes to 268. - Motion F: Public vote to prevent no deal. Moved by Labour's Graham Jones and Tory former minister Dominic Grieve, this proposal would require a referendum, if necessary, to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal. Motion G: Parliamentary supremacy. SNP MP Joanna Cherry joins with Mr Grieve and MPs from other parties with this plan to seek an extension to the Brexit process, and if this is not possible then Parliament will choose between either no-deal or revoking Article 50. An inquiry would follow to assess the future relationship likely to be acceptable to Brussels and have majority support in the UK. Motion H: Efta and EEA. A motion tabled by Conservative MP George Eustice - who quit as agriculture minister to fight for Brexit - proposes rejoining the European Free Trade Association (Efta) at the 'earliest opportunity', agree a short extension to the UK's membership of the EU to conclude accession to Efta and negotiate with the EU additional protocols relating to the Northern Ireland border and agri-food trade. Advertisement Ahead of another dramatic week: Government sources said Mrs May would try to bring her deal back to the Commons for a fourth time this week, despite hopes fading that the DUP will ever support it. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said: 'We have had a lot of patience with our British friends over Brexit but patience runs out.' Former Tory prime minister Sir John Major called for a 'government of national unity' to push through a soft Brexit or second referendum. Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly warned that Mrs May could lead the party into a snap general election if the Brexit deadlock continues, despite opposition from Tory MPs and a poll putting Labour five points ahead. Work and Pensions Secretary Mrs Rudd set up a new group of moderate Tories designed to block hard Brexiteers such as Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson succeeding Mrs May as PM. Labour shifted decisively behind a second referendum, with Tom Watson saying it was 'inconceivable' the party would not back the idea and Emily Thornberry declaring: 'In my heart I want to stay.' Former Middle East minister Alistair Burt said the Brexit deadlock was putting the UK 'in peril', adding: 'I've spent enough time in conflict areas over the last few years to know how fragile peace and security is.' Whitehall sources said Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill had convinced Mrs May to drop the idea of leaving the EU without a deal after warning her it would lead to the break-up of the UK. Parliament will hold a second round of 'indicative votes' tonight in a process led by Tory grandee Sir Oliver Letwin designed to identify a soft Brexit alternative to Mrs May's deal. A customs union option was narrowly defeated last week and last night there were indications that Mr Corbyn could order his MPs to back a super-soft 'Common Market 2.0' option, which would keep the UK in the single market and make it impossible to end free movement. Privately, some allies of Mrs May believe Sir Oliver could do her a favour by crystallising the choice for Eurosceptic MPs into a risk that her deal might lead to a customs union against the certainty of being locked in one. Mr Gauke said Mrs May (pictured yesterday at church in Maidenhead) must consider tearing up the Tory party manifesto to get an orderly Brexit through Parliament if necessary Theresa May's Commons enforcer has criticised the Government's approach to leaving the EU and said his party should have made it clear a 'softer Brexit' was 'inevitable' after the 2017 election. In an extraordinary interview Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip, also and attacked Cabinet members over the 'worst example of ill-discipline in British political history'. He said ministers have been 'sitting around the Cabinet table trying to destabilise her (Mrs May)', revealing the battle the Prime Minister has with both Brexiteer and remainers in her Cabinet. It came as MPs are set to take back control of the Brexit agenda in a fresh attempt to find an alternative to Theresa May's deal that Parliament can support. The Commons will stage a second round of 'indicative' votes on Monday on a series of rival proposals tabled by backbenchers to see if any can command a majority. The move comes as Mrs May struggles to contain the rising tensions with her Cabinet as the clock counts down to the latest EU deadline on April 12. If she were to give way to a softer Brexit, she would provoke a furious reaction from Brexiteers, with International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling among the ministers reportedly ready to resign. Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip, has said Theresa May's government should have said that a softer Brexit was inevitable after it lost its majority in a 2017 election Mr Smith spoke out to suggest ministers had pursued the wrong strategy after the Prime Minister lost the Conservatives' Commons majority in the 2017 snap election. He said the result of the poll meant that Mrs May simply did not have enough MPs to back a harder version of Brexit. The comments were published by the BBC amid speculation that Parliament may force the PM to seek membership of a customs union with Brussels in order to pass her deal, which would mean ripping up one of her key red lines. 'The thing that people forget is that the Conservative Party went to get a majority in order to deliver Brexit (and) failed to get a majority,' the chief whip said. 'The Government as a whole probably should just have been clearer on the consequences of that. The parliamentary arithmetic would mean that this would be inevitably a softer type of Brexit.' While the strategy was apparently misjudged, Mr Smith said he was 'frustrated' by MPs who 'don't see the light as clearly as I do'. Mrs May's deal has now fallen three times in the Commons, with Tory MPs among those who voted against it on each occasion. However Mr Smith highlighted that a lack of discipline extended all the way to the Cabinet, with ministers 'sitting around the Cabinet table ... trying to destabilise her (Mrs May)'. 'This is I think the worst example of ill-discipline in Cabinet in British political history,' he said. MPs will launch a fresh attempt to force Theresa May into a soft Brexit tonight by holding votes on alternatives to her deal. Ministers believe as many as 70 Tory MPs could back a proposal to remain in the EU customs union, which could lead to it winning over a majority of MPs. Justice Secretary David Gauke (pictured) infuriated Eurosceptic MPs when he declared that Mrs May would have to 'look closely' at adopting a customs union if Parliament votes for it Backbenchers led by Sir Oliver Letwin have taken control of the Commons timetable to stage a second round of indicative votes after none of the eight options put to MPs last week won enough support. If a majority emerges for one of the alternatives tonight, the rebels plan to put down legislation on Wednesday that would force ministers to act. Former Cabinet minister Ken Clarke, who drew up the customs union plan defeated by just six votes last week, has said he is 'reasonably confident' it will get over the line this time. Meanwhile, supporters of a so-called 'Common Market 2.0' proposal that would keep Britain in the customs union and the single market have been seeking to win over DUP and SNP MPs who all abstained when it was voted on last week. Staying in the single market would involve continued freedom of movement and making contributions to the EU budget, while being in a customs union would prevent Britain from striking its own trade deals. Nick Boles, the Tory ex-minister behind Common Market 2.0 rejected by 283 votes to 188 last week declared last night that it was 'alive and squawking'. 'The only reason it scored fewer votes overall was that Labour didn't whip for it. Tomorrow that might change,' he said. Tory George Freeman, who backs the idea, said: 'Only Common Market 2.0 looks like winning support from all parties.' The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said his party's 35 MPs would not back Mr Clarke's plan as it would end freedom of movement, but signalled that they could back Common Market 2.0 because they want single-market membership. It is thought that Labour will order its MPs to back the Boles plan this time, even though continued freedom of movement would go down badly with voters in the party's Leave-supporting constituencies. The Conservatives are expected to repeat last week's tactic, when junior ministers and backbenchers were given a free vote but Mrs May and the 28 ministers who attend Cabinet abstained. MPs have put forward eight options for tonight's vote removing the Irish backstop in Mrs May's deal, No Deal on April 12, a permanent customs union, Common Market 2.0, revoking Article 50, single market membership and two variations on a second referendum. This afternoon Speaker John Bercow is expected to select three or four alternatives to go on a ballot paper, with the votes scheduled to take place at 8pm. Downing Street is considering offering a run-off between Mrs May's deal and the frontrunner from the indicative votes. Despite three previous rejections, No10 believes her deal could still prevail because in the first round of the indicative votes on Friday it did better than any alternative. In an article for Conservative Home, Tory ex-minister Greg Hands yesterday warned that staying in the customs union would be a 'serious mistake' and 'in the medium term be democratically unsustainable'. PM 'will not quit and may lead Tories into snap poll' Theresa May could lead the Tories into a snap election despite her pledge to quit, the party's deputy chairman said yesterday. James Cleverly insisted the Conservatives do not want an election, but acknowledged the party was now preparing for the possibility following months of Brexit deadlock. Tory backbenchers yesterday warned they could try to block a general election if Mrs May attempted to call one. It came as a poll suggested Tory infighting over Brexit had put Jeremy Corbyn on course for Downing Street. The Deltapoll survey for the Mail on Sunday put Labour on 41 per cent five points ahead of the Tories on 36. This would translate into Labour winning 307 seats 19 short of a majority with the Conservatives on 264. Mr Cleverly said his party had started 'sensible, pragmatic planning' for an election. Tory MPs fear that Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on Saturday) could win a general election if Theresa May caves in over a customs union Asked whether they were prepared, he told Sky News: 'Look, I'll be completely straight with you. We have got a minority government in a turbulent time so just in terms of sensible, pragmatic planning, but we are not seeking or preparing in that sort of sense.' Cross-party 'unity government' could resolve crisis, says ex-PM John Major Britain may be 'driven to a national government' of unity to resolve the crisis, Sir John Major said yesterday. The former Tory prime minister, who supports a second referendum, said the UK was facing a 'constitutional and political [Brexit] crisis' that a minority Conservative government may be unable to tackle alone. He suggested politicians might have to create the first 'government of national unity' since the Second World War. This could involve senior Labour politicians being given roles in the Cabinet to try to drive through a compromise. Tory advocates of the idea have said they could never work with Jeremy Corbyn, but believe his deputy Tom Watson and senior figures such as Yvette Cooper might be persuaded to sign up in the national interest. However, Mr Watson yesterday said he was not interested, saying: 'I don't want a national unity government, I want a Labour government that negotiates a better Brexit deal that allows the people to have their say on that and then transforms the economy of Britain to benefit the many not the few.' Sir John, an outspoken critic of Brexit, acknowledged that the current upheaval could lead to an election. But he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: 'If we don't get a government with a clear majority, then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that we're seeing in Parliament at the moment.' Centrist Tories have also made similar proposals in recent days. George Freeman, a former policy adviser to Theresa May, has said: 'We need a Brexit war cabinet.' Advertisement Mrs May told Tory MPs last week that she was prepared to step aside next month if her Brexit deal finally gets through Parliament. But she was silent on what would happen if it failed and the country was plunged into a long Brexit delay that could spark an election. Mr Cleverly suggested that a Tory leadership contest might not be possible if a snap election were called, as the process 'takes a period of time'. Asked whether Mrs May could lead the Tories into another election, he said: 'Well, that is the inevitable possibility.' One Cabinet minister also predicted Mrs May could try to cling on in the event of a snap poll, saying: 'No one wants an election and, if we do end up in one, no one wants her to lead us into it. But if it came at short notice, and she wanted to do it, how could we stop her? Draw lots in the Cabinet?' Under the rules of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act a prime minister can no longer call a snap election without the approval of Parliament. However, an election could come about if Mrs May loses a formal confidence vote in the Commons. She could also call an early election if she can secure a two-thirds majority for it in the Commons. But yesterday a string of MPs on both sides of the party suggested they would try to vote down any attempt by Mrs May to go the country early. Former Tory Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood said: 'Conservative MPs will not vote for an early general election.' Fellow Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen said: 'We are not going to allow her to call an election unless we have left the EU we would be wiped out.' Pro-Remain Tory Antoinette Sandbach also rejected the idea, saying: 'The answer is not a general election, and I would vote against it.' Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said his party was 'gearing up for an election'. He told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: 'I've spoken to Jeremy [Corbyn] last night. He's putting us on election footing. 'I'm going to be talking to our NEC [National Executive Committee] members later today, because obviously we need to reselect our sitting MPs ready for a general election.' Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May called a General Election, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found Is he joking? Tom Watson says a second referendum on Brexit will UNITE the country as he vows to offer one in Labour's next manifesto Tom Watson yesterday declared that a second referendum was the only way to unite the country. The deputy leader of Labour said it would be inconceivable to not promise another vote in the next election manifesto. And he said his party had experienced a boost in the polls thanks to its support for the idea. 'We need to move beyond Brexit but it seems to me the only way we can do that is to have a people's vote,' he told the BBC. Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson, pictured on Sunday, said a second Brexit referendum was 'the only way we can bring the country back together now' Asked on the Andrew Marr Show whether he was in favour of a second referendum under all circumstances, he replied: 'That's the only way we can bring the country back together now.' Theresa could save Remainer Grieve from deselection as MP Theresa May could intervene to stop the deselection of Dominic Grieve MP, a minister suggested yesterday. The former attorney general faces being removed as the Tory candidate in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, over his support for a second referendum. At a meeting of his local constituency association on Friday, Mr Grieve was heckled by party members who called him 'liar', 'traitor' and 'disgusting'. Dominic Grieve (pictured) faces removal as the Tory candidate in his constituency The association passed a motion of no-confidence in their MP by 182 votes to 131 after it was tabled by former Ukip member Jon Conway. But Home Office minister Victoria Atkins yesterday hinted the Prime Minister might step in to ensure the Remain MP keeps his seat. She told Pienaar's Politics on BBC 5 Live: 'The Prime Minister's been very clear about this. Dominic has given years and years of service to the parliamentary party, to the country ... It's not a binding motion, is my understanding.' She added: 'We are a broad church and we will not stand for that sort of behaviour. We want to, we have to, reflect the broad range of opinion across the country... Dominic is a very, very good MP and someone I am close to in the party. We want to treat colleagues with respect and courtesy and kindness.' Since Friday's meeting, a number of senior party figures have rallied around Mr Grieve, including Boris Johnson who tweeted: 'We disagree about EU but he is a good man and a true Conservative.' Advertisement Mr Watson admitted that he was not responsible for writing Labour's manifesto and was just 'one bloke around a table'. But he added: 'It seems to me to be inconceivable that if there was a general election tomorrow and we hope there will be, we have been calling for one for months that a people's vote won't be in the manifesto.' Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry yesterday said that 'in her heart' she still wanted to stay in the EU. She told Sky News: 'We are likely to leave the EU but it is something we need to agree ourselves and I think that there is a strong argument for asking the people to have a final say on this. I think that it is quite difficult for us to leave the European Union, most of us campaigned for Remain. I think in our hearts we want to remain, but the difficulty is that we have to square that with democracy. We are democrats above everything else.' Miss Thornberry said Theresa May was out of control following the third rejection of her Brexit plan by the Commons. She added: 'Even with just days to go she is just saying 'It is my deal or no deal'. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything'. No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined.' The comments came as a poll found Labour has taken a five-point lead over the Conservatives. The Deltapoll survey for the Mail on Sunday forecast that Mr Corbyn would win 307 seats in a general election 13 short of a working majority while the Tories would claim 264. A Labour Party spokesman said: 'We will continue to seek a majority in Parliament for a close economic relationship with the EU to break the deadlock or a public vote to avoid a damaging Tory Brexit or a No Deal outcome. 'Our manifesto will be decided through our party's democratic policy-making processes in the usual way.' A diagram showing Theresa May's options ahead of another chaotic week at Westminster The NHS is failing dementia patients across huge swathes of Britain, official figures reveal. Nearly half of Englands health boards offer poor standards of care, according to Ofsted-style scores. The figures suggest hundreds of thousands of people are not even diagnosed. And many who do get a diagnosis have to wait for more than a year between their care assessments. An estimated 850,000 people in the UK have dementia but the number is predicted to soar to two million by 2050. Experts last night said that Government promises to transform care have been kicked into the long grass after a brief flirtation with the problem. Others warned that in some areas NHS officials view dementia care as little more than a tick-box exercise. A Mail analysis of the data shows that 47 per cent of NHS Englands clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were rated inadequate or requires improvement for dementia care last year. On average, 30 per cent of patients with dementia in each area had not been officially diagnosed. This leaves them in the dark about why they are confused or suffering from memory problems, and they could be missing out on treatments. NHS guidelines say that everyone diagnosed with dementia should have a face-to-face care review at least once a year, but the figures show that an average 22 per cent are seen less often. Professor Clive Ballard, a dementia specialist at the University of Exeter, said: In 2012 David Cameron made a commitment to tackling dementia. The current figures show no subsequent progress it feels very much like these pledges have been kicked into the long grass. It felt like no one believed I could have it Tracey Lane, 52, was told by doctors for four years there was nothing wrong with her When Tracey Lane started losing her memory, she knew it wasnt down to simply being forgetful. The school administrator, 52, found she could no longer recognise faces or remember names and became increasingly confused. But for four years doctors insisted there was nothing wrong with her. At first I was told it could be depression, but the anti-depressants didnt work, she said. Then I was told it was most likely the menopause but hormone replacement therapy also didnt work. Even when she was referred to a neurologist, they told her it was probably just stress. I felt like due to my age, nobody believed me, said Mrs Lane, who lives with husband Mike, 57, in Clevedon, Somerset. I started to feel unreliable. This wasnt just forgetfulness. I knew it wasnt. Finally, in April last year, Mrs Lane, who has two adult sons, was diagnosed with dementia after a brain scan. She said: In many ways when they finally told me I had dementia it was a relief it was the not knowing that was the worst part. Advertisement The Prime Ministers promises translated to a short-term flirtation with dementia. Ofsted-style transparency ratings for dementia care quality began in 2016 under then-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Figures on the My NHS website show that in 2017-18, 19 CCGs were rated as inadequate 66 as requires improvement, 43 as good and 52 outstanding. There is also a stark postcode lottery, with best and worst diagnosis rates varying from 91 per cent in Camden, north London, to 52 per cent in Kernow, Cornwall. The overall ratings were judged on multiple factors, including success rate at achieving annual reviews, which also showed major variations. Fiona Carragher, of the Alzheimers Society, said: Its deeply worrying that the postcode lottery of care is continuing. People tell us they have to wait years for a diagnosis and have to fight the system to access support, advice and treatments. Some say their care plan is little more than a tick-box exercise. Separate figures show that at more than one in ten English hospitals, at least half of the carers for people with dementia did not agree that the standard of NHS care was very good or excellent. At the worst-scoring hospital, St Marys on the Isle of Wight, just 8.7 per cent agreed. NHS chiefs stress that they are meeting a national goal of diagnosing 67 per cent of patients. Professor Alistair Burns, NHS Englands dementia specialist, said: The NHS Long Term Plan prioritises further improvements, with GPs being given additional support to spot the tell-tale signs. Still hailed as the king of the jungle, the lion species has seen an alarming rapid decline in their genetic fitness from their ancestors who lived more than 100 years ago. Following a study conducted by researchers at the Zoological Society of London, the impact of hunting the big cats has seen a worrying decline in their genetic status. According to the research, the decline in their physical strength over the course of a century is likely to have been impacted by hunting of the wild animals in Africa. The study, titled 'A century of decline: Loss of genetic diversity in a southern African lionconservation stronghol', aimed to analyse 'the change in genetic diversity over a defined spatial area' and shed light on the decline of the lion population. The lion species has seen an alarming rapid decline in their genetic fitness from their ancestors who lived more than 100 years ago in Africa Lead author and conservation biologist at the Zoological Society of London Simon Dures worked with a team of researches to carry out the study In order to analyse a decline, the team of animals experts compared the samples of historical and modern lions from the KavangoZambezi region. Lead author and conservation biologist at the Zoological Society of London Simon Dures said: 'Our analysis demonstrates that over the past century, the lion population of the KavangoZambezi region has lost genetic diversity.' In addition to collecting the DNA from wild lions in the Kavango-Zambezi conservation area, researchers also collected samples of skin and bone from lions that had been killed between the years of 1879-1935 and sent to the Natural History Museum. The team found the onset of the species' decline began as the first European colonialists and hunters arrived in areas of Africa in the 19th century and started to persecute the animals. However Mr Dures added that while the evidence relating to the timing of their genetic decline and European settlement was 'compelling', the evidence was not 'conclusive'. Pictured: David Farrar and Dana Andrews stand over the slain carcass of a lion in a scene from 'Duel in the Jungle' in 1954 According to the research, as the first European colonialists and hunters arrived in Africa in the 19th century, the species began to experience a decline in their physical strength The team collected the DNA from wild lions in the Kavango-Zambezi conservation area and samples of skin and bone from lions kept in the Natural History Museum In the report Mr Dures added: 'The rapid decline observed in allelic richness and the highest levels of genetic differentiation coincide with the arrival of the first western settlers in 1890 and the subsequent rise of the colonial presence in the region after the end of the Matabele Wars in 1897. 'Furthermore, modern firearms became more prevalent following European settlement and predators were often persecuted as vermin, which likely contributed to the earlier decline of lions in the study region. 'While the timing of genetic decline and colonial settlement is compelling enough to suggest causation, the evidence is not conclusive.' The new study provides further evidence on the importance of protecting the species from hunters and the effects of climate change. Advertisement The world's most beautiful beaches have been revealed by 'beach inspectors' who have spent three years studying over 1,500 strips of sand. The experts from new online platform Beach-Inspector.com have been visiting beaches around the globe examining everything from water quality to development and how child friendly they are - 120 criteria points in total. And now they have revealed which are the best in the world for partying, water sports, 'special ambiance', a 'classic holiday' and for simply looking stunning - the 'wow' beaches. The professional beach testers of Berlin-based Beach-Inspector.com assessed all beaches directly on-site. They spent one or two days on every beach, recorded their own video footage for each one and took up to 100 photos before deciding which coastlines would make the cut. Kai Michael Schafer, CEO and co-founder of beach-inspector.com, said: 'Our assessment produces clear results, substantiated by facts. Where other providers stick to the evaluation of likes by users, we carried out an objective evaluation.' Scroll down to see the winners in the 'wow category', from Cornwall to Australia.... Porthcurno Beach in Cornwall in the far south west of England, which boasts white sand surrounded by majestic rocks with lush greenery Whitehaven Beach in the Australian Whitsunday Islands is only reachable by boat or seaplane but it is worth the journey. The experts say that the white sand of the beach is so fine that it could not even scratch sun glasses Koh Nang Yuan Beach in Thailand boasts three islands surrounded by turquoise water and connected by two sandbanks Manda Bay in Kenya, pictured, is often dubbed the jewel in the crown of the Kenyan coastline thanks to its white sand and deep blue waters Another Kenyan beach, Diani beach, is one of the most famous in Africa. The inspectors say the bright white sand alone is enough to dazzle visitors Sardinia's most beautiful beach and tourist magnet, Cala Mariolu, can only be reached by boat. The water is turquoise and the cliffs sit majestically above the white pebble bay The strong current means swimming is not advised on Playa de Cofete beach in Fuerteventura. But the inspectors say the 11 kilometre stretch is definitely worth a visit The inspectors say that the view from the water to Pai Plong Beach can almost be described as a jungle feeling. The beach is completely enclosed by steep rocks with magnificent vegetation Canto de la Playa in Dominican Republic has white sand, countless beautifully curved palm trees and enchanting turquoise water. The beach is especially popular for weddings The water at Formenteras Playa de ses Illetes in Spain offers more shades of blue than many a colour palette in art lessons, say the experts. They added: 'Together with the view of the Isla de Espalmador and the endless expanse of the beach, Playa de Ses Illetes is a real beauty' Trou aux Biches Beach in Mauritius is described as a dream beach through and through and even more beautiful than its tough competition elsewhere on the island by the inspectors Dolphin Reef Beach in Israel is described as looking like an oasis with tree houses . The inspectors say it would be a real eye-catcher even without its popular dolphins No beach chairs, sunshades or souvenir vendors, the Semeti Beach on Lombok in Indonesia is described as a barely known and completely natural jewel Nui Beach in Thailand can be reached quickly from the island of Koh Phi Phi by boat and is described as being a secret beach Playa de los Muertos on the Costa de Almeria in Spain literally means 'beach of the dead'. But despite its name is often referred to as one of the most beautiful in the country Praia de Joao de Arens in Portugal's Algarve is a remote and spectacular rock bay meaning not too many tourists come to this picturesque beach According to the experts, Cala Conta in western Ibiza offers a pure island feeling. It has a view of the island of Illa des Bosc in front of it and the light and fine sand Ibiza is known for, plus bright blue water as far as the eye can see Playa Punta Uva is one of the best known beaches in Costa Rica. The experts say that the palm trees slope almost to the water and snorkeling in the water is a top experience Playa de las Conchas in Lanzarote is described as a true natural spectacle thanks to its yellow sand, red rocks and blue sea The Blue Lagoon beach in Cyprus was made famous when Sir David Attenborough filmed here and legend has it that Greek deities fell in love right on this beach Victoria was once again embroiled in political drama on Sunday night, as Her Majesty was torn between her safety and the love of her people. As her vow to stand against the unruly Charterists puts her at odds with Albert, a shock twist thanks to the ever-scheming Lord Palmerston leaves the royal couple at breaking point. And as Her Majesty welcomed her sixth child, her so-called 'loving sister' Princess Feodora remains a thorn in her side, a fan-favourite couple finally ties the knot, and a very young heir suffers an existential crisis. Drama: Victoria was once again embroiled in political drama on Sunday night, as Her Majesty was torn between her safety and the love of her people Picking up from the heart-stopping cliffhanger, Victorias screams of labour are inter-cut with the Chartists, but their target - King Louis - is unawares as he gambles below stairs. Sadly the French King becomes more of a burden as the episode goes on, and eventually leaves the Palace after spooking the royal children with guillotine-led tales. Luckily baby number six is born safely - and in a hilarious dig at her sister - Victoria names the tot after Alberts mother Louise. Conflict: As her vow to stand against the unruly Charterists puts her at odds with Albert, a shock twist thanks to the ever-scheming Lord Palmerston leaves the royal couple at breaking point But the Chartists' anger remains, and as they demand to present their Charter to Parliament, the Prime Minister - and Lord Palmerston - demand troops be placed on Waterloo Bridge to prevent their passing. At first the queen refuses, as she seems more focused on her reputation that her safety, but Albert insists they leave the Palace for the Isle Of Wight. But her mind takes a surprise turn - not once but twice this episode - as she agrees for the troops to be dispersed, after boxes of rifles were found in the Charterists headquarters. Proud mother: Victoria's sixth child is born safely - and in a hilarious dig at her sister - Victoria names the tot after Alberts mother Louise In an unexpected twist, the weapons were planted by an undercover police agent - with a very convincing Irish accent - who seemed to be working with the government and particularly Lord Palmerston. In a haunting scene as the Queen leaves the Palace for Osborne House, and is greeted by row after row of soldiers, she demands the Charterists be allowed to hand in their Charter peacefully, which they do to almost no surprise. But the Royal Family continue their Isle Of Wight voyage, and in a poke at modern interests, we see Albert hint at admiring a rude painting as he enjoys some time in the bath. Protest: But the Chartists' anger remains, and they demand to present their Charter to Parliament Halt: However the Prime Minister - and Lord Palmerston - demand troops be placed on Waterloo Bridge to prevent their passing But the intimate moment is short-lived, as Her Majesty is left enraged to hear the Charterists handed in their Order without her presence, ending the episode on a sombre note. Meanwhile, after hearing that his future would consist of a similar fear for life and general royal circumstance, Victorias son Bertie - joining sister Vicky in a surprise speaking role - is left fearing for his future as the sole heir, though a heart-to-heart with his mother seems to offer clarity for both of them. Meanwhile the stunning Duchess of Monmouth grows closer to that ever-present Lord Palmerston - still played well by a charming Laurence Fox - as he saves her carriage from being torn to shreds by irate protesters. Here she comes: As the Queen leaves the Palace for Osborne House, and is greeted by row after row of soldiers, she demands the Charterists be allowed to hand in their Charter peacefully It was a welcome spot of flattery for the Duchess - or Sophie - as she is belittled for being childish and snivelling by an ever-ignorant husband. And Feodora continues to worm her way into the Queens life, as she sides with Albert regarding the Charterists, hinting more and more of an ulterior motive for her arrival in England. But a lighter moment came as Nancy and Mr Francatelli finally - and I mean finally - tied the knot in a secret ceremony only attended by their footman friend Archibald, planning their lives together running a hotel. It already seems the tension between Victoria and Albert - which had been teased repeatedly by Jenna Coleman ahead of the series premiere - will play heavily throughout the series, and this clash may only be the start. Victoria continues on Sunday 7th April at 9pm on ITV. PR guru Roxy Jacenko previously represented successful fashion designer and former best friend, Rachel Gilbert. But after quitting the Sweaty Betty agency in 2014 - which reportedly soured the friendship - the 37 year-old couturier has hired the publicity services of Roxy's ex-assistant, Montarna Pitt. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Montarna, 29 made the announcement that the designer was joining her brand, The Audience Agency, writing 'Welcome to the TAA family @rachelgilbertau.' Another blow! Roxy Jacenko's former best friend, designer Rachel Gilbert hires PR guru's ex-assistant Montarna Pitt as new publicist...after Sweaty Betty boss loses two longtime employees Gilbert is a favourite among the fashion elite, boasting clients including Karlie Kloss, Julie Bishop and actress Isobel Lucas. The embarrassing snub comes after Roxy, 38 and Rachel both served as bridesmaids at each other's 2012 weddings. But according to Sydney Morning Herald's Emerald City, the pair 'have not been seen together since 2014.' Competition: Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Montarna, 29 (pictured) made the announcement that the designer was joining her brand, The Audience Agency, writing 'Welcome to the TAA family @rachelgilbertau' It follows reports the Sweaty Betty founder lost another two employees. Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald's Emerald City reported Grace Garrick finished two weeks ago, along with Daniel Goldstein who started as an intern. And the publication suggests Grace's announcement on Instagram of having left the company did not sit well with Roxy, 38. What happened? The embarrassing snub comes after Roxy, 38 and Rachel both served as bridesmaids at each other's 2012 weddings. But according to Sydney Morning Herald's Emerald City , the pair 'have not been seen together since 2014. They're pictured together with designer Peter Morrissey in 2012 What went wrong? Daniel Goldstein and Grace Garrick (both pictured) have left Roxy's Sweaty Betty PR firm 'Nobody can leave on good terms,' a former employee reportedly told the publication. 'The moment you leave, she blocks you on Instagram and things turn nasty.' Daniel, who is believed to have also left the firm on the same day, has not commented on his departure. Roxy no longer follows Grace and Daniel on social media. It comes after Gemma Oldfield and Holly Asser also left the firm in 2018. In response, Roxy told Daily Mail Australia last week that the resignations are just 'part of any business.' Here's one simple way to make a proper nana of yourself... grab a fruit, stick it in your ear, pull a funny face and post the film on social media. Bizarrely, A-list actress Julia Roberts, 51, stars in an Instagram movie in which she picks up a fruit phone... again and again. Why? Well, in the wake of popular boomerang loop videos that keep repeating a single scene, Julia and her children have invented the Faux Boom, prompting her to post the clip with the message Hello? Happy Faux Boom Friday. Julia Roberts, pictured, has been posting bizarre images on Instagram of her making phone calls with pieces of fruit as a part of a game with her children As Line OF Dutys Superintendent Ted Hastings, actor Adrian Dunbar is stern and strict. But I can reveal his 32-year-old daughter Madeleine is a foul-mouthed rap star with the stage name Minx. Shes going to New York where shes going into the studio with a couple of rappers, Adrian, 60, revealed yesterday. His little Minxs lyrics include charming lines like Baby Im the b**** with the big b*******. Gary Barlow fuels feud with Simon Cowell Gary Barlow has reignited his old feud with Simon Cowell, this time putting the boot into pub karaoke X Factor contestants. Gary, a judge on the show from 2011 to 2013, said reality stars dont put the hard work in so their success is never going to feel as deserved. Take That veteran Gary, 48, said online: I put the graft in. But when I was on X Factor, someone who sang at a pub karaoke night came onstage and suddenly they needed a record contract. Cowell once weighed up suing Barlow, right, for allegedly copying ITVs X Factor with BBC talent show Let It Shine. HBO has released the first trailer for their upcoming series Euphoria, offering a first look at Zendaya and her character Rue. The 34 second trailer (courtesy of Euphoria YouTube) doesn't offer much more than several random shots featuring Zendaya's Rue and other various characters. Others seen in the trailer are Alexis Demie's Maddy, Sydney Sweeney's Cassie, Austin Abrams' Ethan and many more. Euphoria trailer: HBO has released the first trailer for their series Euphoria, starring Zendaya The trailer begins with a shot of Zendaya's Rue with a heavy red filter, before the letter E comes on the screen. This is followed by other random shots of different characters, each with a different letter that spells out the title Euphoria. Each of these shots have different colored filter including green, blue and red, featuring various shots of the young cast engaged in various forms of revelry. Cast: This is followed by other random shots of different characters, each with a different letter that spells out the title Euphoria Revelry: Each of these shots have different colored filter including green, blue and red, featuring various shots of the young cast engaged in various forms of revelry The trailer features several quick shots of other various characters, including two different couples in bed, another girl putting on a mask and another girl falling off her bike. The trailer ends with Zendaya's Rue walking down the street at night, looking up at the stars. 'This is the feeling I have been searching for my entire life,' Rue says as the trailer comes to an end. Mask: The trailer features several quick shots of other various characters, including two different couples in bed, another girl putting on a mask and another girl falling off her bike Zendaya: The trailer ends with Zendaya's Rue walking down the street at night, looking up at the stars Feeling: 'This is the feeling I have been searching for my entire life,' Rue says as the trailer comes to an end. The series is based on the Israeli show of the same name, with Sam Levinson (Assassination Nation) writing all 10 episodes of the first season. The cast also includes Maude Apatow as Lexi, Brian 'Astro' Bradley as McKay, Angus Cloud as Fezco, Eric Dane as Cal, Jacob Elordi as Nate, Barbie Ferreira as Kat, Nika King as Leslie, Storm Reid as Gia and Hunter Schafer as Jules. Levinson also serves as an executive producer alongside music superstar Drake and his manager Future the Prince. Series creator: The series is based on the Israeli show of the same name, with Sam Levinson (Assassination Nation) writing all 10 episodes of the first season Series stars: The cast also includes Maude Apatow as Lexi, Brian 'Astro' Bradley as McKay, Angus Cloud as Fezco, Eric Dane as Cal, Jacob Elordi as Nate, Barbie Ferreira as Kat, Nika King as Leslie, Storm Reid as Gia and Hunter Schafer as Jules Executive producers: Levinson also serves as an executive producer alongside music superstar Drake and his manager Future the Prince HBO issued a 10-episode series order for Euphoria back in July 2018, with the series following, 'a group of high school students as they navigate drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship.' The series is produced by indie film company A24, who also have 2 Dope Queens and a Jerrod Carmichael special for HBO. The show was also featured in HBO's coming soon trailers, showcasing programs debuting in 2019, though there has still not been a series premiere date given yet. New show: HBO issued a 10-episode series order for Euphoria back in July 2018, with the series following, 'a group of high school students as they navigate drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship' Sunday, March 31, 2019 at 5:30PM There might be a chance for some Google-powered devices to get Apple Music support. 9to5Google discovered multiple lines of code in the Apple Musics Android app that suggests it could get Chromecast support. Some of these lines of code were added through recent updates. While there is no guarantee this would be a feature, it is a possibility. Apple has previously said it wants its services to be as widely available as possible, so perhaps this is a step in that direction. She's just returned from sunning herself in Tenerife. And Gemma Collins made an unlikely appearance as she joined Liam Gallagher at his daughter Molly Moorish's 21st birthday at The Groucho Club in London on Saturday. The former TOWIE star, 38, showed off her dazzling tan and her eye-popping cleavage as she clad her figure in a sparkling black minidress complete with glittering net sleeves. New circle: Gemma Collins made an unlikely appearance as she joined Liam Gallagher at his daughter Molly Moorish's 21st birthday at The Groucho Club in London on Saturday She paired the ensemble with black sandals and stunning dangling earrings. Never one to shy away from the glamour, the GC opted for lashings of heavy eyeliner and dramatic mascara. She framed her face with her blonde locks worn in a sleek do around her face. Celebrating: Liam, 46, put on an unimpressed display as he left his car ahead of the party Style: The former TOWIE star, 38, showed off her dazzling tan and her eye-popping cleavage as she clad her figure in a sparkling black minidress complete with glittering net sleeves In good spirits: Gemma couldn't help but smile as she left the party Good pals: Gemma was seen leaving the party with her friend Naughty Boy While Liam, 46, didn't seem too impressed by the attention he was receiving as he passed waiting fans outside the venue. Despite the celebratory occassion the Songbird hitmaker was dressed in his habitual black hoody and jeans. The Oasis frontman added a dash of colour to his ensemble with yellow trainers. Glamorous: The blonde beauty styled her hair in a sleek, straight style with a middle parting Sun-kissed: Gemma's bronzed skin glowed against her black ensemble Fashionista: She paired the ensemble with black sandals and stunning dangling earrings True to herself: Never one to shy away from the glamour, the GC opted for lashings of heavy eyeliner and dramatic mascara Keeping it casual: Meanwhile despite the celebratory occassion the Songbird hitmaker was dressed in his habitual black hoody and jeans Meanwhile, Molly was reunited with her estranged dad Liam for the first time in 19 years last May. He revealed that while he is happy to have rekindled his relationship with his daughter, he is also worried that she'll get sick of him. The Oasis rocker explained to the BBC: 'I hope she doesn't get sick of me, you know what I mean.' Family: Also at the party was Gene Gallagher who followed his father's lead with a casual ensemble Night out: The son of Nicole Appleton, 17, showed off his funny side as he wrote his sister a card addressed to 'Smolly' Stepping out: Guests donned their best outfits for the star-studded party Liam shared the happy news with a candid black and white photograph standing arm-in-arm with Molly whom he shares with his former flame Lisa Moorish. The father and daughter were joined by Liam's two sons Lennon, 19, and Gene, 17, backstage at Liam's gig where he supported The Rolling Stones. Speaking about their support, he said: 'It was amazing, and they all looked beautiful and it was cool. Molly was there ... first time ... I met her before.' Ian 'Dicko' Dickson was accused of 'fat shaming' Paulini Curuenavuli when she took to the stage in the 2003 season of Australian Idol in a figure-hugging gold frock. And now 16 years on, Marcia Hines has reflected on the incident, as she teams up with the songstress in Australian musical Saturday Night Fever. The 65-year-old told the Herald Sun that her fellow judge's harsh words still play on her mind. 'Body image is such a big thing': Marcia Hines [left], 65, reflected on Paulini Curuenavuli's infamous 'fat shaming' incident on Australian Idol back in 2003, as the pair reunite for Saturday Night Fever. Paulini, 36, is pictured on the right in 2019 'Body image is such a big thing,' Marcia told the paper. 'And we're all different shapes and sizes, that's what makes us.' Marcia was referring to an episode in the 2003 season of Australian Idol where judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson came under fire for commenting on a then 21-year-old Paulini's unique dress. 'You should choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds,' he offered. Infamous: Marcia's comments to the Herald Sun were in relation to an episode in the 2003 season of Australian Idol, where judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson came under fire for commenting on a then 21-year-old Paulini's unique dress Harsh critique: 'You should choose more appropriate clothes or shed some pounds,' Ian [pictured] said at the time Paulini had taken to the stage in a metallic gold frock that stretched over her curves. Paulini, now 36, told Woman's Day magazine in 2014 that Ian's words affected her a lot. '[It] really hurt my confidence,' she said. 'I went backstage and started sobbing.' In July 2017, Ian finally showed regret, saying on breakfast radio: 'I was trying to be nice at the time, can you believe, but I'm glad that you've gone on to do such great things.' Ready for her debut: Marcia's reflection on the 'fat shaming' incident comes as she prepares to take to the stage with Paulini for the Australian premiere of Saturday Night Fever. Marcia is pictured at the Sydney media call on Thursday Marcia's reflection on the 'fat shaming' incident comes as she prepares to take to the stage with Paulini for the Australian premiere of Saturday Night Fever. The musical sees Marcia play the role of The Diva of Disco at the club where John Travolta's character took to the dance floor in the 1977 film of the same name. Paulini plays one of the star vocalists who sings the Bee Gees hits. Saturday Night Fever premieres at Sydney's Lyric Theatre on Tuesday night. A trip to the airport usually isn't a fun proposition, but Angelina Jolie looked to be in high spirits as she arrived to catch a flight. The 43-year-old star flashed a winning smile as she strolled up to New York's JFK airport on Saturday. She flashed her winning smile while showing off an elegant beige trench coat from one of her favorite brands Everlane. Traveling in style: Angelina Jolie, 43, flashed a winning smile as she strolled up to New York's JFK airport on Saturday The 5ft7in beauty paired her coat with a black sweater and a slim pair of dark jeans. She rocked a knee-length pair of black leather boots and wore a long camel-colored linen scarf. The Changeling star carried along a large beige bag with a striking red strap as her carry-on. Jet set: The 5ft7in beauty paired her chic Everlane trench coat with a black sweater and a slim pair of dark jeans. She rocked a knee-length pair of black leather boots and wore a long camel-colored linen scarf Star power: Though Angelina has focused more on directing recently, she might return to her roots with another big budget project. The daughter of Jon Voight is currently in talks to star in an upcoming Marvel Studios adaptation of The Eternals, according to The Hollywood Reporter Though Angelina has focused more on directing than acting recently, she might return to her roots with another big budget project. The daughter of Jon Voight is currently in talks to star in an upcoming Marvel Studios adaptation of The Eternals, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series, which has been sporadically produced since the mid-1970s, depicts a race of super-powered and long-lived humanoids who are tasked with protecting the human race. It's not clear who she would play or what the story might be, but Chloe Zhao is already attached to direct. She directed the 2018 low-budget feature The Rider, which ended on many critics' best of the year lists. Revival: The series, which has been sporadically produced since the mid-1970s, depicts a race of super-powered and long-lived humanoids who are tasked with protecting the human race Dire warning: She was in New York on March 22 to delivery an address to the United Nations in her capacity as a special envoy for the UN refugee agency, in which she warned that women's equality was necessary to end global bloodshed Though she has renewed her focus on film, Angelina's commitment to bettering the lives of the underprivileged around the globe is as strong as ever. She was in New York on March 22 to delivery an address to the United Nations in her capacity as a special envoy for the UN refugee agency. In her speech, she warned that the current waves of violence and bloodshed throughout the world would continue as long as the rights of women are not protected. Despite the numbers of successful women in many countries, 'women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war' and 'the vast majority' of victims of sexual violence. Women also make up more than half of all global refugees. The whole gang: Absent from her New York trip were her six children: Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and Knox and Vivienne, both 10; pictured February 25 Absent from her New York trip were her six children, which she shares with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, 55. The former couple share three adopted children, Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, and Zahara, 14. They also have tree biological children, 12-year-old Shiloh and 10-year-old twins, Knox and Vivienne. Though she planned to adopt the oldest, Maddox, with her then-husband Billy Bob Thornton, the Wanted actress ended up adopting him a single parent. Brad later adopted all their children during their relationship. The couple began dating in 2005 following their collaboration in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the dissolution of the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star's marriage to Jennifer Aniston. The finally married in 2014, before ultimately divorcing in 2016. Ant McPartlin has revealed that he 'constantly relives' his drink-drive crash and is trying to become a better man in the wake of the shocking incident. The 43-year-old TV presenter said that he is aware how differently the smash could have turned out as he realises how serious it could have been. During a joint interview with The Guardian, Ant and the other half of his presenting double act Declan Donnelly discussed the last 12 months since the crash. Self-improvement: Ant McPartlin has revealed that he 'constantly relives' his drink-drive crash and is trying to become a better man in the wake of the shocking incident Ant was twice over the legal drink-drive limit when he completed a breathalyser test following the collision, which led to him being 86,000 as well as being handed a 20 month driving ban. Ant then took a year out from his presenting partnership with Dec to focus on getting help for his addictions. Reflecting on the smash, Ant told the publication: 'I've constantly relived the incident. I know how serious that could have been and I am doing things on a daily basis to be a better man.' Reflection: During a joint interview with The Guardian , Ant and the other half of his presenting double act Declan Donnelly discussed the last 12 months since the crash He added: 'I thank God every night that nobody was seriously hurt. I constantly think about it.' Declan, who revealed that he sought therapy following the event, suggested that their friendship was put to the test for the first time after the crash. He admitted that he felt a mixture of emotions after the head-on smash, he explained: I wanted to punch him and hug him at the same time and I didnt know which one I wanted to do first. Its indefensible. The Geordie presenters return together for Britains Got Talent, which starts next week. They have already filmed the prerecorded auditions. And, Dec said in an interview with The Guardians Weekend magazine, they are happier than ever working together. Comeback: Dec then quipped about his 'one-night-stand/one series', however they promised the star would be back on screens for the next series (pictured in 2014) March has been quite the month for Ant with the new Britain's Got Talent 2019 trailer dropping two weeks ago, ahead of the show airing in April. BGT is just the start of the presenter's comeback after he stepped down from all his TV commitments for a year after a difficult few months. The presenter was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience when he returned to filming for Britain's Got Talent last month. A source told MailOnline at the time: 'Going back on stage was really emotional for Ant. Hes delighted to be back with Dec and excited for the BGT series ahead. Back in the day: In August, it was revealed ITV hit show Saturday Night Takeaway, presented by Ant and Dec pair since 2002, has been cancelled until 2020 (the duo pictured in 2001) 'The reaction from the crowd today was extremely positive. They gave him a standing ovation.' Ant's personal issues which saw him develop a painkiller addiction, end his marriage to Lisa Armstrong and commit a drink-driving offence saw him sit out the last few episodes of BGT 2018, as well as Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, last spring. In August, it was revealed ITV hit show Saturday Night Takeaway, presented by Ant and Dec pair since 2002, has been cancelled until 2020. ITV were recently forced to deny claims that the show is set to be axed after 15 successful series and assured fans the hit programme would return to screens next year. She has been dealing with rumours of her husband Dan Osborne's cheating scandal. But former EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa remained defiant in her relationship with Dan Osborne as she held up her wedding ring while leaving a bar in London on Saturday. The mother-of-two, 26, looked glamorous in a pink satin polka dot shirt which she paired with a black embroidered mini skirt. Defiant: Eastenders actress Jacqueline Jossa remained defiant in her relationship with Dan Osborne as she held up her wedding ring while leaving a bar in London on Saturday. Relationship woes: It comes after their relationship was rocked when images emerged of Dan leaving a Manchester nightclub last week with Love Island star Alexandra Cane amid claims they locked lips The actress flashed her sparkling wedding ring as she strutted her stuff in knee high boots which accentuated her bronzed pins. The star had spent the evening in Blend Bar & Grill in Bexleyheath with a small group of friends to celebrate Mother's Day. It comes after their marriage was rocked when images emerged of the ex-TOWIE star Dan leaving a Manchester nightclub last week with Love Island star Alexandra Cane amid claims they locked lips - which he denied. In the days following it was claimed that Jacqueline dumped the star and threw him out of the family home after he was accused of kissing Alexandra. Stunning: She flashed her sparkling wedding ring as she strutted her stuff in knee high boots which accentuated her pins And Dan and Alexandra, 27, had hit back at claims they kissed openly in a nightclub, behind Jacqueline's back. Dan and Jacqueline are reportedly sleeping in separate beds following shock cheating claims in their marriage. Insiders claimed to The Sun: 'They're arguing constantly and theyre sleeping in separate bedrooms', just weeks after he was hit with claims of a dalliance with Love Island beauty Alexandra Cane following a Manchester night out. Glam: The mother-of-two looked glamorous in a pink satin polkdadot shirt which she paired with a black embroidered mini skirt Hitting back: Dan and Love Island's Alexandra both strongly deny the kissing claims Jacqueline and Dan married in 2017 and live Jacqueline's Kent house. Despite the claims, which Dan staunchly denied, the duo seemed to make things up - yet they are said to still be in trouble in their relationship. Insiders tell the publication: 'Dan and Jacqueline wanted to fix their relationship, but its been really tough. It's not looking good right now, they're arguing constantly and theyre sleeping in separate bedrooms... 'Hes moaning about it, saying if it wasnt for the kids he wouldnt be there at all. They've been putting on a brave face in public but Dan can't stand it because he says it's a really negative environment to be in... 'They dont want it to affect the kids, so he isnt moving out right now.' It comes as Gabby Allen revealed she had cut ties with with her former pal and CBB housemate Dan, following reports he had kissed Alexandra. Gorgeous: The star had spent the evening in Blend Bar & Grill in Bexleyheath with a small group of friends to celebrate Mother's Day Tribute: Dan Osborne has now added to his collection with a huge tattoo of his nine-month-old daughter Mia's face, alongside the images of her brother and sister The Love Island star, 27, described the situation as a 'mess' and said she hoped for the sake of both Dan and his partner that the allegations were false. The accusations come a year after Gabby was accused of cheating with the hunk during a holiday in Marbella - which both stars strenuously denied. Revealing they hadn't spoken since then, she told The Sun: 'Jacq and her family are much more important than me and Dan being mates.' Cut ties: Describing Dan as a 'nice guy', Gabby said she hoped for the sake of Dan and Jacqueline's relationship that the allegations were false Describing Dan as a 'nice guy', Gabby said she hoped for the sake of Dan and Jacqueline's relationship that the allegations were false. She elaborated: 'I just think - I really hope it didn't happen because it's so s**t to have that hanging over your head and people thinking that you're a homewrecker when you didn't do anything. I hope for both their sake's it didn't happen. And for Jossa's sake.' Gabby added that her former housemate had a knack for getting himself into difficult situations before adding if the allegations were true that was no excuse. She added: 'It is hard for everyone because if he didn't do it - he's being told he did and that's s**t for him.' MailOnline has contacted Jacqueline's representatives for comment. As Us heads into its second weekend in theaters, after its astounding $71.1 million debut, Nicole Richie has revealed her rather creepy connection to the movie. While Richie does not star in Us, she did star in a commercial for the 1986 charitable event Hands Across America, which ties into the film. '#TBT to my, and my Tethers first television appearance,' Richie said on Instagram, adding the hashtag #HandsAcrossAmerica and tagging the @UsMovie Instagram. WARNING SPOILERS BELOW Tethered: Nicole Richie shares her creepy connection to the Jordan Peele thriller Us The film Us begins with a commercial for Hands Across America, where over 6.5 million people held hands to form a chain across America. Richie's reference to 'my Tethers' refers to the films villains, known as The Tethered, who she included in another photo on Instagram, all holding hands. The post drew out a number of her famous friends, with Jennifer Garner responding in the comments of her post, stating, 'No ma'am.' Hands Across America: While Richie does not star in Us, she did star in a commercial for the 1986 charitable event Hands Across America, which ties into the film '#TBT to my, and my Tethers first television appearance,' Richie said on Instagram, adding the hashtag #HandsAcrossAmerica and tagging the @UsMovie Instagram The Tethered: Richie's reference to 'my Tethers' refers to the films villains, known as The Tethered, who she included in another photo on Instagram, all holding hands Lauren Paul, the wife of Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, responded with, 'Omgggggggggggggggg.' Jess Seinfeld, the wife of comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld, responded with a coffin emoji. In an interview with Uproxx, Peele spoke about how he 'stumbled' upon a commercial for Hands Across America on YouTube, and it 'scared' 'him. No ma'am: The post drew out a number of her famous friends, with Jennifer Garner responding in the comments of her post, stating, 'No ma'am' Lauren's response: Lauren Paul, the wife of Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, responded with, 'Omgggggggggggggggg' Jess' response: Jess Seinfeld, the wife of comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld, responded with a coffin emoji 'It like "happy days again," except its in the 80s and we are going to send teachers up into outer space and everything is going to be fine,' Peele said. 'And that pit in the stomach, that Im sure you have, too, just virtue of being that time I was seven you were ten vulnerable as children,' he added. Peele added that the Hands Across America commercial lead him, 'down this path to really think about this movie in terms of this country and the idea of demonstration or protest, or even performance art, and to imagine what the evil doppleganger version of what Hands Across America would be.' Tethered: In an interview with Uproxx , Peele spoke about how he 'stumbled' upon a commercial for Hands Across America on YouTube, and it 'scared' 'him 'The tethered red, the idea was to kind of create this mythology for this family that is scary and dark,' he added. 'But then when you look at it in the context of the other side, the side we live in. It sort of reveals how weird our side of it is,' said the director. Peele has yet to respond to Richie's Instagram post publicly. She's recently spoken out about her new romance with 'normal' boyfriend Scott. And Scarlett Moffatt glowed with love as she attended Sink The Pink in London on Saturday in a stand out ensemble. The former Gogglebox star, 29, clad her figure in a pair of PVC-style shorts with a black vest tucked in. Picture perfect: Scarlett Moffatt glowed with love as she attended Sink The Pink x Wildcat Gin event in London on Saturday in a stand out ensemble She paired the number with a shimmering silver blazer while adding height to her frame with strappy black sandals. Never one to forgo on the glamour Scarlett added bright pink eyeshadow to her lids and plenty of heavy mascara to frame her face. The brunette beauty showed off her freshly dyed locks which she wore in loose waves across her shoulders. Inside the event, a star-studded panel judged the annual Miss Sink the Pink competition held at alternative club night Sink The Pink x Wildcat Gin. Style: The former Gogglebox star, 29, clad her figure in a pair of PVC-style shorts with a black vest tucked in before adding a a shimmering silver blazer Rocking: Adam Garcia was also present at the event in an all black ensemble Stylish: Adam (L) and Bloc Party's Kele Okereke showed off their differing styles with one in full trousers and a jacket and the other in shorts More than 3,000 partygoers attended the Troxy in London to watch the legendary drag collective, where the dress code was When I Grow Up. Earlier in the week Scarlett spoke to Lorraine for the first time about her relationship with Scott: 'It's so embarrassing, he is very lovely, my mam is so happy I keep saying he's so normal. 'My mam is ecstatic I'm with a normal person, he's just a nice person there's no drama as well. 'Sometimes you have BF's and you go out, and come back and have loads of stories, we just go out have a nice time and go watch the telly.' Party time: Never one to forgo on the glamour Scarlett added bright pink eyeshadow to her lids and plenty of heavy mascara to frame her face Stepping out: Henry Holland showed off his designer style by layering a printed black and white shirt over a white tee Earlier in the month it was reported that Scarlett had found love with policeman Scott, after the pair met in her hometown of Durham. A source told The Sun at the time: 'Scott seems like a really stand-up guy. He could be good for her. The pair met through a mutual friend and hit it off straight away.' The I'm A Celebrity 2016 winner had dated personal trainer Lee until April 2018, when the star branded him a 'cheating pathological liar' in a scathing social media post. Her romance with Lee followed a long-term relationship with hairdresser Luke Crodden, who left her heartbroken when he broke up with her on her birthday. Loved-up: It was first reported last week that Scarlett had found love with police constable Scott, after the pair met in her hometown of Durham On the town: Scarlett was seen arriving at the event in her leggy leather shorts Girls' night out: Celebrating Mother's Day early, Mum Betty (right) joined Scarlett for the night out They were sensationally axed from The Only Way Is Essex earlier this year. But Kady McDermott and Myles Barnett looked in good spirits as they attended the - The Vault Bar and Club Stevenage rebrand launch event in Stevenage on Saturday. The Love Island star, 23, and her reality star beau, 25, were happier than ever as they posed up arm-in-arm at the event. TOWIE axe: Kady McDermott and Myles Barnett looked in good spirits as they attended the - The Vault Bar and Club Stevenage rebrand launch event in Stevenage on Saturday Kady flashed her ample bust in a bondage-style black lace top, which showcased her bronzed decolletage as she posed. She revealed her lithe legs in a denim mini skirt cinched in with a black Gucci belt and boosted her height with mesh heels. Kady's caramel flecked brunette tresses were styled in beachy waves while her pretty features were enhanced with a rich palette of make-up. Myles showed off his hunky frame in a black top and matching jeans. Wow factor: Kady flashed her ample bust in a bondage-style black lace top, which showcased her bronzed decolletage as she posed The appearance comes as Myles' ex Courtney reignited the feud with the couple as she revealed she was 'happy' they had been dumped from the show. Kady had previously branded Courtney 'bitter' on social media after she publicly celebrated the couple being axed in the mass cull. But Courtney insisted she was finally free to be completely herself while filming out with the cast in Thailand without Myles and Kady lurking on set. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline ahead of the new series' debut on Sunday night, the petite brunette said she felt liberated, explaining: Its completely different. I feel like I can be myself. I dont have to constantly think about him, which was horrible. Its so nice for me to be in a series where Im not going to have drama with an ex-boyfriend. I completely lost myself when I was with him, I feel like people can see me for me, Ive got my personality back. The down-to-earth star dismissed Kady calling her bitter and she insisted its just a throwaway jibe. Anything I say, theyll say Im bitter, she scoffed. Im not, this is a boy who cheated on me multiple times and humiliated me on national television. I have every right to say what I want to say. Viewers will remember Myles emotionally manipulating Courtney and yelling abuse at her in the street in one particularly shocking scene. Kady and Myles leaving the show was part of a mass cull, with a host of series regulars departing and new blood being introduced, including veteran TOWIE star Chloe Sims younger sister Demi. Katie Labbett, 26, who is married to The Chase's Mark Labbett, 53, has reportedly been cheating on her husband for more than a year with a 28-year-old man. According to The Sun, Katie has allegedly enjoyed romantic holidays with her lover and drinks at his local pub with him and his pals as part of her 'double life'. Quizmaster Mark - known as The Beast on the show hosted by Bradley Walsh - married his second cousin Katie in 2014 but apparently didn't know they were related when they first met. Shock: Katie Labbett, 26, who is married to The Chase's Mark Labbett, 53, has reportedly been cheating on her husband for more than a year with a 28-year-old man (pictured in January 2017 at the NTAs) However according to sources at the publication, Katie has been seeing her alleged boyfriend Scott since 2017 and often hangs out with him and his friends. A source claimed that Scott sees Katie as his 'girlfriend' and the alleged couple have taken trips together, which were revealed in now-deleted Facebook pictures. The insider claimed that after introducing Katie to his friends later that year it took them a while to realise who she was and that she was married to another man. Affair: According to The Sun , Katie has allegedly enjoyed romantic holidays with her lover and drinks at his local pub with him and his pals as part of her 'double life' (pictured in 2017) They said: 'It took a while for people to realise who she was and that she was married. Then one of Scott's friends confronted her and she got angry about it. 'She appeared on Loose Women with Mark and people started sending a clip around when they twigged who she was. 'People don't think it's right and think her behaviour is unfair on Mark and Scott.' In now-deleted Facebook pictures obtained by The Sun, Scott and Katie appeared cosy during several days out together including beer tasting and at a waterfall. Married: Quizmaster Mark - known as The Beast on the show hosted by Bradley Walsh - married his second cousin Katie in 2014 but apparently didn't know they were related when they first met (pictured in November 2017 at the ITV Gala) These images were shared on Scott's social media profile, meanwhile Katie's presence online showed no sign of her relationship with the metal firm worker. The insider revealed that 'wrongly' Scott sees Katie as his girlfriend and the people around him believe that he should call it a day with married Katie. However they added that this is unlikely to happen because Scott is apparently blindly in love with Katie. When approached by the Sun, Scott said: 'I don't want to comment. You will have to speak to her about it.' Mark's representatives have been contacted for comment. Mark originally from Tiverton, Devon, previously described his unusual union with Katie as 'one of those things' and confessed he was still struggling to adjust to married life during an appearance on ITV's Loose Women. When questioned about being related to his wife by panelist Andrea McLean Mark said: 'It wasn't something we were aware of at the time its just one of those things that happened.' Double life: However according to sources at the publication, Katie has been seeing her alleged boyfriend Scott since 2017 and often hangs out with him and his friends (pictured in August 2017) TV appearance: Mark originally from Tiverton, Devon, previously described his unusual union with Katie as 'one of those things' and confessed he was still struggling to adjust to married life during an appearance on ITV's Loose Women The daytime TV star added that he was struggling to say goodbye to his old bachelor lifestyle. He continued: 'I'd been a single man for a long while so I was getting used to the idea of being on my own. 'A bachelor can be pretty selfish, you get used to doing what you wanna do all the time. The Team: Anne Hegarty, Shaun Wallace, Jenny Ryan, Mark and Paul Sinha all star as 'The Chasers' on the ITV gameshow 'As a couple of my friends pointed out the big challenge for me was learning to adapt to being with someone else, some would say I'm still struggling with that but I'm trying my best.' Despite his mean alter-ego on-screen, Katie, who was with Mark a year before they married, described her husband as actually a 'big softie'. The couple revealed that their relationship actually came from a 'misunderstanding'. Katie said: 'It came from a mistake, Mark misunderstood something I said. Then it came from that.' Mark agreed, joking that their unlikely meeting had been a 'good mistake'. Audiences are set to fall for lovable Angie Kent when she debuts as The Bachelorette later this year. But the hugely popular ex-Gogglebox star, 29 is no stranger to controversy, following a series of eyebrow-raising incidents over the years. From claiming she'd be 'dreadful' as the new Bachelorette to describing Dave 'Hughesy' Hughes as 'one of the ugliest people she's ever seen', Daily Mail Australia reveals the blonde's most controversial moments. Raising eyebrows: New Bachelortte, Angie Kent (pictured), has had a series of controversial moments over the years During an episode of Gogglebox in February 2018, Angie mocked comedian Dave, 48, while watching his Channel Ten show Hughesy, We Have A Problem. The stinging remark prompted the funnyman to hit back on his show. 'There's two women in their lounge room eating nachos. One of them goes, 'Dave Hughes, he's one of the ugliest guys I've ever seen', Dave said referring to Angie and her Gogglebox co-star Yvie Jones. 'I just thought, 'How mean and judgmental can you be, you skanky moll?' Trouble: The hugely popular ex-Gogglebox star, 29 (right) is no stranger to controversy after branding Dave Hughes (left) 'one of the ugliest people she's ever seen' Soon after, Angie revealed on Twitter that she felt 'terrible' and later told Who magazine's Binge List podcast that she made a 'dreadful mistake.' 'I made a dreadful mistake that keeps being brought up. I called someone something that I shouldn't have,' she said. Meanwhile, speaking to TV Week in 2017, Angie said she'd be 'bloody dreadful' as the next Bachelorette. Yvie said neither she nor Angie have had much luck finding love, but that Angie would make the perfect Bachelorette. Angie replied: 'She [Yvie] thinks I'll be great... I'd be bloody dreadful!' Eek! Meanwhile, speaking to TV Week in 2017, Angie (L) said she'd be 'bloody dreadful' as the next Bachelorette. Pictured with Gogglebox co-star Yvie (R) 'I'd never want men carrying on like that around me, especially since I know most if them want to be on the show just so they can pick up chicks once they get the boot.' Another controversial moment took place in February this year when both Angie and Yvie were blacklisted by Foxtel after signing up for Channel 10's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and making disparaging comments about their salaries. Foxtel's Executive Director of Television Brian Walsh told TV Tonight that the network has now banned them from appearing on Gogglebox ever again. 'You will not see a review of them on Gogglebox,' Walsh said. 'From a promotional point of view, the issue that upsets Foxtel is the exploitation of the Gogglebox brand to market and sell another program.' Oh no! Another controversial moment took place in February this year when both Angie and Yvie were blacklisted by Foxtel after signing up for Channel 10's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and making disparaging comments about their salaries It is understood Foxtel likes to keep Gogglebox contestants away from the spotlight so they maintain 'authenticity' as pop culture critics. But things became tricky when Angie and Yvie appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, becoming bona fide reality TV stars in the process. According to TV Tonight, their decision 'caused some friction behind the scenes'. The situation is more complex due to Gogglebox airing on both Foxtel and Channel 10 as part of a unique agreement between the two broadcasters. Walsh added that Foxtel management were also 'incredibly disappointed' when the two women publicly criticised their appearance fees. Blurring the lines: It is understood Foxtel likes to keep Gogglebox contestants away from the showbusiness spotlight so they maintain 'authenticity' as pop culture critics In August 2018, Angie told Who magazine that 'everyone [in the Gogglebox cast] still has to work' because of their relatively low salaries. 'Oh God, otherwise we'd be on the streets!' she added. Walsh said of the revelation: 'I was incredibly disappointed that they were critical of Foxtel and the appearance fee money we paid them to do Gogglebox. I thought that was unfair, unnecessary and unwarranted.' And Angie and Yvie took another public hit when the funny duo debuted a small brown box on Gogglebox early last year. Persona non grata: According to TV Tonight, Angie and Yvie's decision to sign up for I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! 'caused some friction behind the scenes' The container controversially turned to be an urn for their late dog, Leonardo Avocado. The episode initially began with Yvie lovingly petting the wooden box and talking to it in a soft voice. 'Remember he used to sleep like this?' she said to Angie, who replied strangely by saying 'in his nappy.' 'He was such a little d***head,' Angie replied. The golden-sealed package was then placed on the coffee table in front of them as they happily continued their night by watching some reality TV. The adorable Pomeranian died before the new season began, with the pair posting a collage of their 'main man' on Twitter. 'It's a new season and this season we have to do it without one of our main men, Leonardo Avocado,' they wrote on their joint account at the time. 'Remember he used to sleep like this?': Angie and Yvie took another public hit when she debuted a small brown box during her time on Gogglebox - which turned to be an urn for their late dog, Leonardo Avocado Channel Ten confirmed Angie as the new Bachelorette via Instagram on Friday afternoon, sharing the first official photo of Angie holding a red rose. 'Introducing our lovable Bachelorette for 2019, Angie. From the couch to the jungle, she's ready to find love,' said a network spokesperson. The blonde is reportedly scheduled to begin filming the show in Sydney within 'a matter of weeks'. Last month, Angie addressed the rumours telling Yahoo Lifestyle that she was open to being 'on the other side of the couch' after quitting Gogglebox. 'I'm definitely open to finding somebody. I just turned 29 so I'm not getting any younger! So, for sure,' she said, adding that she'd be an 'alright Bachelorette'. Married At First Sight's 'hot brother' Rhyce Power has taken to Instagram to announce he's single. The sibling of Jessika Power shared a photo of himself and his now-ex Vanessa Sierra, embracing and holding onto their passports. The 29-year-old told his followers that the couple have decided to part ways, with the model relocating to the United Kingdom for work. Look out, ladies! Married At First Sight's 'hot brother' Rhyce Power, 29, announced to Instagram on Sunday that he's split from model girlfriend Vanessa Sierra, 24 'So proud of this girl, she's moving to the UK to follow her career after this trip [to Thailand] and I'll be busy with exciting ventures in aus!' Rhyce wrote in the picture's caption. 'We both have decided it's best if we don't have a long distance relationship and instead if we focus on our own stuff. 3 more weeks left together. She's still my best friend and my number one travel buddy [sic],' he continued. In the photo taken in Phuket, Thailand, Rhyce sported a black T-shirt and bit onto his Australian passport. Over: The heavily-inked sibling of Jessika Power, told his fans that Vanessa [pictured in Thailand] is moving to the United Kingdom in three weeks time for work The gym enthusiast wrapped one arm around Vanessa, who showed off her cleavage in a skimpy red ensemble. Vanessa, 24, had her brunette locks styled out, held onto her French passport, and pouted for the camera. The split announcement comes just hours after Rhyce put on a sensual display for his Instagram followers. Very much amicable: Rhyce maintained on Instagram that the pair will remain best friends On Saturday, the social media star shared a slow-motion video in which he wore nothing but a white bath towel. Taken during his trip to Thailand with ex Vanessa, Rhyce was filmed as he walked from the bathroom and out into the communal area of his hotel room, nude. As he got closer towards the camera, he began to slowly remove his towel, exposing more of his heavily tattooed, near-naked body. At the end of the clip, the model held just a small portion of the towel against his crotch, threatening to reveal a little too much. Paris Jackson and her boyfriend Gabriel Glenn arrived for their band The Soundflowers' gig in Los Angeles on Saturday. The 20-year-old Jackson and her boyfriend and bandmate Glenn were spotted arriving at The Mint club, days after the star ended up in hospital when she cut herself with kitchen scissors during a wild night of partying. Jackson's mother Debbie Rowe was also seen arriving at The Mint to support her daughter along with her brother Prince, 22, and pal Macaulay Culkin. Singing: Paris Jackson took to the stage with her boyfriend Gabriel Glenn arrived for their band The Soundflowers' gig in Los Angeles on Saturday Despite her tumultuous past month, Jackson looked happy and relaxed as she arrived to the venue with Gabriel. The American beauty wore a white halter top with a multi-colored scarf wrapped around her neck along, purple sunglasses and red flared trousers, while Glenn rocked a white button-down shirt with a number of beaded necklaces. Paris' family turned up to show their support to the troubled singer, who reportedly cut herself with kitchen scissors during a wild night of partying in the wake of Leaving Neverland documentary airing but didn't attempt suicide. Support: Jackson's mother Debbie Rowe was also seen arriving at The Mint with former X-Factor finalist and Stone Temple Pilots front man Jeff Gutt Supportive: Prince showed his support to Paris at the gig, which comes following reports she tried to take her own life in the wake of the monstrous accusations against her father Entrance: Jackson was wearing a white halter top with a multi-coloured scarf wrapped around her neck along with a number of beaded necklaces New gig: She was also carrying a multi-colored sweater wrapped around one of her arms as she headed inside to the venue Friends: Paris was also seen with her arm around another friend who was carrying a camera as they walked into the venue Paris arrives: Paris arrived at her gig for her band The Soundflowers with her boyfriend Gabriel Hard: Prince's outing is the first time he has been seen since the Leaving Neverland documentary aired, which exposed child sexual abuse allegations against his late father Michael Jackson Paris' mom: Debbie was seen in an all-black ensemble and appeared immensely proud of her daughter Couple: Gabriel provided backing vocals as Paris sang while playing the guitar Songstress: While Prince watched on from the audience, Paris proved she had her father's flair for music as she took to the stage Her mother, Debbie, rocked an all-black ensemble and beamed with pride as her daughter performed with the band, while Gutt was seen wearing a short-sleeved grey shirt with blue jeans and black shoes, while carrying a black coat. Meanwhile, Paris' older brother Prince was seen for the first time since the controversial Leaving Neverland documentary aired earlier this month. The film saw Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse the King Of Pop of sexual assault, after they both formed friendships with the musician at a young age. Following the film's original premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the Jackson estate released a joint statement denouncing the claims. Peace: Jackson was also seen flashing a peace sign as she went into the venue Paris' extended family have claimed Michael was 'naive' about children but wasn't an abuser. The songstress' gig comes following reports she tried to take her own life in the wake of the monstrous accusations against her father. Close friends revealed to DailyMail.com that she cut herself with kitchen scissors during a wild night of partying but she didn't attempt suicide. Paris was said to then have been taken to the hospital where she apparently continued to 'act wildly' and medical staff wanted to keep her for three days. Second child: Paris was the second child of pop icon Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, a nurse who agreed to bear his children after his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley Natural: Paris appeared to be in her element as she took to the stage Heading in: Paris was also wearing a pair of purple sunglasses and red pants with brown boots, with a purse slung over her shoulder According to sources, however, her people convinced the hospital they would take Paris to rehab and managed to get her released. Paris told everyone she was fine and was seen out on a date with her boyfriend Gabriel and at the premiere of the new Motley Crue movie over the next few days. She has since confided in friends she accidentally cut her arm with kitchen scissors during a 'crazy night' but did not try to kill herself. Los Angeles police confirmed that they attended an attempted suicide call at Paris' house. A 911 call dispatch call revealed how officers attended the scene to deal with a 'psychiatric incident'. Number one fan: The eldest Jackson sibling appeared immensely proud of Paris as she took to the stage with the band, cheering her on from the sidelines Arrival: Gutt was seen wearing a short-sleeved grey shirt with blue jeans and black shoes, while carrying a black coat However, friends of Paris told DailyMail.com they do not believe she is suicidal and the call out got confused. 'The problem with Paris is that the way she has been brought up makes her very mysterious even to close friends who speak to her every day,' a source said. 'She lives by this mantra that her dad told her which is ''truth is fantasy and fantasy is truth''. 'Michael always told her to keep things private and keep people guessing. Low-key: Prince cut a casual figure in a navy slogan band t-shirt and denim jeans and draped a black hoodie over his shoulders Paris' longtime pal Macaulay Culkin was also spotted in the audience with partner Brenda Song Her girl: Debbie beamed as she watched Paris sing Famous face: Chris Brown was also spotted in the audience 'So she has intentionally not been clear about what happened on the night. 'But nobody in her inner circle is worried that she is suicidal they all think this is typical Paris just partying a little too hard.' Paris was the second child of pop icon Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, a nurse who agreed to bear his children after his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley. After Michael's death in 2009, Rowe reached a settlement with Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson, Paris and her brother Prince's guardian, which gave Rowe supervised visitations. Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Kendall Jenner left little to the imagination while heading to lunch with good friend Fai Khadra on Saturday afternoon. The 23 year old model was all smiles while grabbing lunch in West Hollywood with her good friend Khadra. The supermodel snacked on chips and guacamole while catching up with her friend over the weekend. Out to lunch: Kendall Jenner rocks a sheer tank top while heading to lunch with Fai Khadra in West Hollywood on Saturday afternoon Jenner was spotted wearing a see through white tank top with no bra along with brown khaki pants and white shoes. She was also wearing a pair of black sunglasses while carrying a brown leather purse on her way into lunch. Khadra was wearing a grey printed t-shirt with light tan khaki pants with neon green stripes up the legs and multi-colored shoes. Lunch date: Jenner was spotted wearing a see through white tank top with no bra along with brown khaki pants and white shoes Jenner's lunch date came on the same date as her alleged stalker, a 38 year old Canadian named John Ford, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ford entered the United States a year ago on a visa that only allowed him to be in America for six months. 'This timely arrest could very well have prevented a violent crime,' HSI El Paso special agent in charge, Jack P. Staton said. Catching up: The supermodel snacked on chips and guacamole while catching up with her friend over the weekend The entire Jenner-Kardashian family issued a statement of gratitude after this dangerous man was taken into custody. 'We are extremely appreciative of the hard work by the Los Angeles Police Dept. and ICE, whose swift response and professionalism led to this man's apprehension,' the statement began. 'His actions have not only had a severe impact on Kendall's life, but the entire family's sense of security, causing us to fear for Kendall's safety as well as our own. Knowing this individual is in custody gives us peace of mind,' the statement concluded. Bikini: Jenner also took to Instagram on Saturday to share a pair of bikini-clad pics, one of which featured her in the kitchen with mother Kris doing some cooking 'Learning moms recipe,' Jenner said in the post, which featured another shot where she was wading in shallow water while holding a champagne glass Jenner also took to Instagram on Saturday to share a pair of bikini-clad pics, one of which featured her in the kitchen with mother Kris doing some cooking. 'Learning moms recipe,' Jenner said in the post, which featured another shot where she was wading in shallow water while holding a champagne glass. She also shared another snap of her in a door-less white car, which she captioned, 'Happy Kagers.' Sandra Oh reached a milestone as she hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. The Killing Eve star shared the 30 Rockefeller stage in New York City with musical guest Tame Impala. And Jordan Peele's horror film Us was parodied in a Discover commercial as a customer service rep is the 'tethered' doppelganger of a concerned card holder. Milestone: Sandra Oh reached a milestone as she hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time The comedy sketch show began with a take on the Robert Mueller investigation as Robert De Niro played the government official. As Mueller read his report, acting Attorney General William Barr (played by Aidy Bryant) gave his interpretation which lead to Donald Trump (played by Alec Baldwin) tweeting out his take. Hilarity ensued as Kate McKinnon played Rudy Guilliani who said a team of goblins line in his head and 'Oh in Korean mean "huh"'' Its hard for me to accept compliments cause im Canadian' Parody: Jordan Peele's horror film Us was parodied in a Discover commercial as a customer service rep is the 'tethered' doppelganger of a concerned card holder Tethered: Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson played the 'tethered' Leslie Jones came out on stage to help Sandra accept compliments which made the Grey's Anatomy star scream: 'I'm Sandra Oh and I'm hosting Saturday Night Live!' A parody of the hit horror film Us by Jordan Peele was revealed in a Discover credit card commercial with Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson. A sketch involving the scandal with Jussie Smollet took place in a conference room of his Fox show Empire. Star power: The comedy sketch show began with a take on the Robert Mueller investigation as Robert De Niro played the government official Presidential: As Mueller read his report, acting Attorney General William Barr (played by Aidy Bryant) gave his interpretation which lead to Donald Trump (played by Alec Baldwin) tweeting out his take The actor was accused of lying about being the victim of a hate crime recently and in the sketch, Jussie Smollett (played by Chris Redd) pretends to be late for the meeting after another 'hate crime'. A period piece sketch involved a Victorian era duel over a woman's affections as the fighting beaus accidentally shot the woman. Each bullet would ricochet off the stone fencing and hit the woman as she continually forgave the men for injuring her. Mikey Day played a dorky adolescent trying to become muscular and popular as his future self appears in the mirror to reassure him he will get all he wishes. Timely: A sketch involving the scandal with Jussie Smollet took place in a conference room of his Fox show Empire Accused: The actor was accused of lying about being the victim of a hate crime recently and in the sketch, Jussie Smollett (played by Chris Redd) pretends to be late for the meeting after another 'hate crime' Dork: Mikey Day played a dorky adolescent trying to become muscular and popular as his future self appears in the mirror to reassure him he will get all he wishes Then Sandra Oh appears as his girlfriend Tishy - who is a 47-year-old eccentric women with a broken arm and can of 4 Loko. The teenager can't wrap his head around why he is in love with Tishy after he finds out she treats him terribly like burning down his house. But he soon discovers out in the end that Tishy owns Samsung and is a billionaire. Freaked out: Then Sandra Oh appears as his girlfriend Tishy - who is a 47-year-old eccentric women with a broken arm and can of 4 Loko Period piece: A period piece sketch involved a Victorian era duel over a woman's affections as the fighting beaus accidentally shot the woman Bullseye: Each bullet would ricochet off the stone fencing and hit the woman as she continually forgave the men for injuring her Beck Bennett played Vladir Putin who has a meeting with his staff to figure out why Trump loves him so, as Kim Jong Il enters with Sandra Oh playing his translator. The 'Glorious Leader' doubts Putin is truly a 'villian' after Trump was not blackmailed by him and Putin seemed to be 'soft'. Weekend Update roasted Trump after the Mueller report found no collusion between his campaign and the Russian election interference. Despots: Beck Bennett played Vladir Putin who has a meeting with his staff to figure out why Trump loves him so, as Kim Jong Il enters with Sandra Oh playing his translator Going soft: The 'Glorious Leader' doubts Putin is truly a 'villian' after Trump was not blackmailed by him and Putin seemed to be 'soft' Cecily Strong portrayed Jeanine Pirro who screamed thanks to her fans which are old men on their hospital beds and white nationalists in jail. She goes into a tirade about how the Mueller report states Trump is '37-year-old and is a USDA-certified sex machine'. 'He's getting rid of Jussie Smollett and bringing back Roseanne Barr.' Sound off: Musical guest Tame Impala rocked the stage Office birthday: An office coffee room meeting turns into a birthday celebration for the 85-year-old administration assistant named Luoise who's only wish is for her co-workers to kiss NO way: 'I'm not cheating on my husband for Louise's birthday' An office coffee room meeting turns into a birthday celebration for the 85-year-old administration assistant named Luoise who's only wish is for her co-workers to kiss. 'I'm not cheating on my husband for Louise's birthday'. After two of them eventually agree to kiss, Louise doesn't think it's 'hot enough'. Amber Heard was seen out in Los Angeles Saturday with Andy Muschietti, who directed the 2017 film of Stephen King's evil clown book It. The 32-year-old actress, who is rumored to be dating the hunky Argentine filmmaker, went for a casual look including a white tank top and faded jeans. Meanwhile, the dashing 45-year-old slipped into a skintight pair of black jeans that matched his T-shirt and his glinting leather shoes. On the go: Amber Heard was seen out in Los Angeles Saturday with Andy Muschietti, who directed the 2017 film of Stephen King's evil clown book It Amber was snapped this month kissing Andy, supporting rumors she has split from art gallery owner Vito Schnabel, the son of Julian Schnabel and ex of Heidi Klum. A day before that kiss, Vito had been seen getting cozy with a model called Denise Schaefer outside a posh Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. Amber's life has been quite eventful lately, as her ex-husband Johnny Depp - whom she has accused of abuse - has turned around and alleged that she abused him. Johnny, who has consistently denied Amber's allegations that he physically abused her, is now suing her for defamation to the tune of $50 million. The look: The 32-year-old actress, who is rumored to be dating the hunky Argentine filmmaker, went for a casual look including a white tank top and faded jeans He claims that Amber punched him 'twice in the face' in 2016, and this month The Blast ran the photo of his bruised complexion that he is using in the case. Johnny contends that Amber cooked up 'false allegations' of his abusive behavior to 'advance her career,' The Blast quoted his suit. Amber, whose dating record includes Elon Musk and photographer Tasya van Ree, tied the knot with Johnny in 2015, beginning her first marriage and his second. The following May 23, she filed for divorce, and within a week won a restraining order against him, claiming he had verbally and physically abused her. Meanwhile: The dashing 45-year-old slipped into a skintight pair of black jeans that matched his T-shirt and his glinting leather shoes Through a representative, Johnny dismissed the accusations as 'salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life.' That August, he and Amber agreed that she would scrap the restraining order and get a $7 million divorce settlement, which she would give to charity. Johnny decided to give the money directly to the groups of her choice, Children's Hospital and the ACLU, according to TMZ. It was not lost on Amber's team that this meant he'd get the tax deduction, and they told TMZ Johnny ought to correct for this by doubling the $7 million to $14 million. The way they were: Amber (left) has appeared to confirm rumors that she has broken up with art gallery owner Vito Schnabel (right), the son of Julian Schnabel and ex of Heidi Klum 'If Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honor the full amount by donating $14M to charity, which after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his $7M payment obligation to Amber,' said they. As Johnny's plan was to give the $7 million in increments, Amber's team 'would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years.' Amber's divorce from the Donnie Brasco star was finalized in January 2017, at which time the settlement remained at $7 million, TMZ reported. Married At First Sight's Jessika Power returned home to Perth on Sunday night, before her final vows ceremony with Dan Webb. And the 27-year-old was seen wheeling her luggage through what looked like her front door, however the property is not actually hers. Daily Mail Australia can reveal the house on screen is actually a $185 per night Airbnb rental, and not 'Jessika's home' as described in a voice over. That's not her house! MAFS' Jessika Power was filmed returning 'home' on Sunday ahead of her final vow ceremony, but the house used is actually a $185 per night Airbnb During her 'homestay' with Mick Gould on March 10, show bosses first rented the two-story three-bedroom home for Jessika to use. The owner of the home, a woman named Beverly, lives there full-time, but rents it out to guests. The official Airbnb listing describes it as a 'beautifully presented modern home. Fully self contained kitchen. Private courtyard, spacious and immaculate throughout.' Rent me! During her 'homestay' with Mick Gould on March 10, show bosses first rented the two-story three-bedroom home for Jessika to use and pretend was hers Not hers! Jessika was filmed hauling her luggage through the front door on Sunday That's good promotion! The owner of the home, a woman named Beverly, lives there full-time, but rents it out to guests Married At First Sight 'homestays' are supposed to offer a glimpse into the stars' daily lives and it is assumed that filming takes place in their actual homes. But as soon as Jessika's homestay episode aired, MAFS viewers flocked to Twitter to speculate about whether it really belonged to the aspiring model or not. One person Tweeted: 'Anyone find Jess' house on Airbnb yet?' Another fan felt the same way, writing: 'Could they make it any more obvious that Mick and Jess are in an Airbnb?' Others questioned how Jessika afforded the large home considering her age and employment. Do you live here? Viewers weren't convinced that the somewhat opulent abode being shown on TV was the 27-year-old's actual home during the homestay episode Someone watching at home Tweeted: 'How can Jessika afford that house being a 27-year-old admin officer?' Another asked: 'Does anyone think that's Jessika's actual house?' The large house featured two floors and was furnished with mature brown and grey tones. It also appeared to have multiple bedrooms, with Jessika leaving Mick to sleep in his own private room. She announced she's expecting her third child over the weekend, just ten months after welcoming her second son Hart. And Miranda Kerr displayed her pregnancy glow as she was pictured for the first time since announcing the happy news at the Gruner&Jahr Spa Awards ceremony, held at Brenners Park-Hotel in Baden-Baden, Germany, on Saturday evening. The catwalk queen, 35, looked sensational as she cradled her blossoming baby bump in a light pink fishtail gown, embellished with a trendy cape. She's expecting! Miranda Kerr was pictured for the first time since announcing her pregnancy at the Gruner&Jahr Spa Awards ceremony in Germany on Saturday Accentuating her phenomenal figure, the model's elegant ensemble was complete with a Grecian-inspired bodice and a clingy lower feature. The pregnant star ensured all eyes were on her as she boosted her towering frame in a pair of silver platform heels. Miranda exuded glamour with her choice of accessories as she donned sparkling diamond dangle earrings and her flashy wedding band. Yummy mummy: The catwalk queen, 35, looked sensational as she cradled her blossoming baby bump in a light pink fishtail gown, embellished with a trendy cape Baby joy! The entrepreneur confirmed her pregnancy to Daily Mail Australia earlier that day, with the child being her second with Snapchat CEO and founder husband, Evan Spiegel, 28,(pictured together in February last year) Commanding attention: The model's elegant ensemble was complete with a Grecian-inspired bodice and a clingy lower feature Impressive: Miranda appeared to be in her element at the ceremony as she was awarded the Beauty Idol prize for her role as founder of natural skincare brand Kora Organics High spirits: The brunette beauty beamed with delight as she held onto her bronze trophy Former Victoria's Secret Angel Miranda styled her glossy brunette locks into Old Hollywood-inspired waves, and accentuated her striking beauty with light sweeps of mascara, blush-swept cheeks and a dewy red lipstick for the perfect pout. Miranda appeared to be in her element at the ceremony as she was awarded the Beauty Idol prize for her role as founder of natural skincare brand Kora Organics. The event celebrated the spread of groundbreaking developments in the wellness and beauty market. The entrepreneur confirmed her pregnancy to Daily Mail Australia earlier that day, with the child being her second with Snapchat CEO and founder husband, Evan Spiegel, 28. Standing tall: The pregnant star ensured all eyes were on her as she boosted her towering frame in a pair of silver platform heels (pictured with GALA's Editor-In-Chief Anne Meyer-Minnemann) Flashy: Miranda exuded glamour with her choice of accessories as she donned sparkling diamond dangle earrings and her wedding band (pictured with Victoria Swarovski and Princess Lilly zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg) Radiant: Former Victoria's Secret Angel Miranda styled her glossy brunette locks into Old Hollywood-inspired waves Business savvy: The event celebrated the spread of groundbreaking developments in the wellness and beauty market In good company: She posed with fellow award winners (L-R) Thomas Kochs, Hans-Peter Veit, Maren Speckmann-Munz, Nicoline Woehrle, Kerstin Unger, Anne, Barbara Schoeneberger, Guenther Bonin, Johannes Scheer and Audrey de Saint Priest In a statement, her representative said: 'Miranda, Evan, Flynn and Hart are looking forward to welcoming the newest member to their family.' The pregnancy news comes after Miranda welcomed son Hart, ten months, with Evan in May last year. Miranda is also mother to son Flynn, eight, who she shares with ex-husband, Orlando Bloom. She and Evan married in May 2017 at Evan's home in Brentwood, California, with Miranda stunning in a custom white Dior wedding dress at their 'small but lavish' ceremony. Family first: Miranda welcomed son Hart, ten months, with Evan in May last year (pictured in November 2016) Love is in the air: Her pregnancy announcement comes just five weeks after ex Orlando, 42, revealed his engagement to girlfriend Katy Perry, 34 The ex files: Miranda and Evan wed in May 2017, four years after the end of her three-year marriage to actor Orlando (pictured together in 2010) Miranda and Evan stepped out in public together as a couple in June 2015, after first meeting at a Louis Vuitton dinner in New York City in 2014. Previously speaking to E! News, she gushed over their romance and claimed she knew he was The One, saying: 'He's just a really kind personvery genuine, very authentic.' 'I really appreciate that about him. And also, he's very intelligent. We started out as friends, and eventually, it developed into more.' So happy! Previously speaking to E! News, she gushed over her and Evan's romance and knowing he is The One, saying: 'He's just a really kind personvery genuine, very authentic' Shortly after the birth of Hart meanwhile, the former Victoria's Secret model gushed about being in 'baby bliss'. Taking to Instagram at the time, Miranda wrote to her fans: 'Thank you so much for all of your warm wishes. Evan, Flynn and I have been in baby bliss for the last 17 days with our new arrival, baby boy Hart. We feel so very blessed.' At the end of last year, the Kora Organics founder spoke about motherhood and said how women should not feel any pressure to 'snap into shape after a baby'. Sweet: Shortly after the birth of Hart meanwhile, the former Victoria's Secret model gushed about being in 'baby bliss' Speaking to Marie Claire Australia, the brunette beauty said women should be positive when thinking about their bodies. 'It's really important as women that we're gentle with ourselves and don't feel like we have to snap into shape after a baby,' Miranda told the publication. She added: 'I took nine months - well, 10 months - to grow a beautiful child and it might take 10 months to feel good in a swimsuit again. Or longer. Or never.' Miranda also said how much she adored motherhood, saying: 'I love being a mum. It's just the most rewarding thing.' Married At First Sight's Dan Webb vowed to spend the rest of his life with Jessika Power during their final vows ceremony on Sunday night. The Gold Coast car broker, 35, presented the Perth beauty, 27, with a commitment ring and she revealed her hopes for a wedding and a baby one day. 'The future for me and Dan is a quick coastal move for me, marriage, kids and a house,' she excitedly declared. 'You will make the most amazing mother one day' MAFS' Dan Webb presented Jessika Power with a diamond ring during their final vows ceremony on Sunday Before Dan presented the commitment ring, Jessika read her emotional vows during their ceremony in Sydney's Blue Mountains. 'Dan, I feel as if mine and your meeting was a beautiful gift to us from fate. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to get to know you more,' said Jessika. 'Our first conversation sparked a connection that grew so deep, I don't think either of us could have comprehended it at the time. My attraction to your vibrant lease of life had me opening up to you and ripping down walls that not even I knew existed. 'You are a soul so rare and precious to this world that I find myself pinching my arm at times, to wake up from what seems like a dream. You challenge me to be stronger and a better version of myself. You make me have faith in myself, and us.' 'I'd love for nothing more than for you to wear this ring as a symbol of commitment towards me': Dan presented Jessika with a promise ring 'You are a soul so rare and precious to this world': Before Dan, 35, presented the commitment ring, Jessika, 27, read her emotional vows during their ceremony in Sydney's Blue Mountains 'I know I can't be your first love, but this week I have been preparing myself to be your last': Jessika gushed to Dan that he is the love of her life, and that she can't see a future without him Looking to the future, Jessika continued: 'I know you're a man that I can build with, smile with and grow old with. You've proved to me that it's never too late to start loving somebody unconditionally. 'I know I can't be your first love, but this week I have been preparing myself to be your last. I am so wholeheartedly, unconditionally, head over heels in love with you. 'I am so damn excited to open up and start writing our next chapter together. I will always be blessed as long as I have you in my life and in my future.' 'You have exceeded all of my expectations of what I was hoping to find in a partner': Dan's vows were equally as heartfelt In the past! Dan referenced the couple's controversial start to their romance, while discussing exes Mick Gould and Tamara Joy, who they 'cheated' on Dan's vows were equally as heartfelt: 'I came to this experiment looking for love and I had really low hopes I could ever find the person who would ever truly challenge me, make me laugh and make me love again. 'When I started this experiment with another wife, all my feelings of doubts came to light and I was crushed. I didn't get the butterflies and sparks I was chasing to find. Then I met you at the first dinner party.' The father-of-one then discussed their controversial path to becoming a couple, while 'cheating' on exes Tamara Joy and Mick Gould. 'I don't regret anything, because if I had done anything it might not have led me to you - and a future without you is too much to bare,' added Dan. She said yes! As Jessika then accepted the commitment ring, the couple discussed the beauty's immediate moved to Queensland Dan continued: 'You have exceeded all of my expectations of what I was hoping to find in a partner. I think you will make the most amazing mother one day, and you will be the most amazing step mother to my son and I can't wait to introduce you to him. 'I'd love for nothing more than for you to wear this ring as a symbol of commitment towards me.' As Jessika accepted the ring, the couple discussed the beauty's immediate moved to Queensland. 'The future for me and Dan is a quick coastal move for me, marriage, kids and a house,' concluded Jessika. 'The future for me and Dan is a quick coastal move for me, marriage, kids and a house,' concluded Perth-based Jessika, who discussed her immediate move to Queensland Prince Jackson supported his sister Paris as she took to the stage with The Soundflowers at The Mint Club in Los Angeles on Saturday. The 22-year-old was seen for the first time since the controversial Leaving Neverland documentary aired earlier this month. Jackson's mother Debbie Rowe also arrived for the show alongside pal Macaulay Culkin and Paris' boyfriend Gabriel Glenn, with the family throwing their support behind the 20-year-old. Supporting his sister: Prince Jackson was seen for the first time since the controversial Leaving Neverland documentary aired on Saturday Prince's outing is the first time he has been seen since the Leaving Neverland documentary aired, which exposed child sexual abuse allegations against his late father Michael Jackson. The eldest Jackson sibling appeared immensely proud of Paris as she took to the stage with the band and was spotted cheering her on from the sidelines. Prince cut a casual figure in a navy slogan band t-shirt and denim jeans and draped a black hoodie over his shoulders. Family: The 22-year-old was spotted in the audience at his sister Paris' gig with The Soundflowers at The Mint Club in Los Angeles Low-key: Prince cut a casual figure in a navy slogan band t-shirt and denim jeans and draped a black hoodie over his shoulders Number one fan: The eldest Jackson sibling appeared immensely proud of Paris as she took to the stage with the band, cheering her on from the sidelines Songstress: While Prince watched on from the audience, Paris proved she had her father's flair for music as she took to the stage While Prince watched on from the audience, Paris proved she had her father's flair for music as she took to the stage in quirky red flared trousers and a white crochet crop top. Debbie Rowe meanwhile, rocked an all-black ensemble and beamed with pride as her daughter performed with the band. The family outing comes amid the controversy surrounding the late Michael Jackson, following the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland earlier this month. The film saw Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse the King Of Pop of sexual assault, after they both formed friendships with the musician at a young age. Hard: Prince's outing is the first time he has been seen since the Leaving Neverland documentary aired, which exposed child sexual abuse allegations against his late father Michael Jackson Stylish: Joined by boyfriend Gabriel, Paris showed off her sartorial flair in quirky red flared trousers and a white crochet crop top Hippy chic: She wrapped a multi-colored scarf wrapped around her neck along with a number of beaded necklaces Following the film's original premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the Jackson estate released a joint statement denouncing the claims. Prince's extended family have claimed Michael was 'naive' about children but wasn't an abuser. The late King of Pop's siblings, Tito, Marlon and Jackie Jackson, and his nephew Taj spoke out on CBS This Morning. Singing her heart out: Paris appeared in her element as she spoke on stage at the intimate gig Couple: Gabriel provided backing vocals as Paris sang while playing the guitar Supportive: Prince showed his support to Paris at the gig, which comes following reports she tried to take her own life in the wake of the monstrous accusations against her father 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. Prince was the first child of pop icon Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, a nurse who agreed to bear his children after his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley. After Michael's death in 2009, Rowe reached a settlement with Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson, Paris and her brother Prince's guardian, which gave Rowe supervised visitations. Smiling: Paris looked happy and healthy as she left the gig with Gabriel And Prince showed his support to Paris at the gig, which comes following reports she tried to take her own life in the wake of the monstrous accusations against her father. Close friends revealed to DailyMail.com that she cut herself with kitchen scissors during a wild night of partying but she didn't attempt suicide. Paris was said to then have been taken to the hospital where she apparently continued to 'act wildly' and medical staff wanted to keep her for three days. Support: Jackson's mother Debbie Rowe was also seen arriving at The Mint with former X-Factor finalist and Stone Temple Pilots front man Jeff Gutt. According to sources, however, her people convinced the hospital they would take Paris to rehab and managed to get her released. Paris told everyone she was fine and was seen out on a date with her boyfriend Gabriel and at the premiere of the new Motley Crue movie over the next few days. She has since confided in friends she accidentally cut her arm with kitchen scissors during a 'crazy night' but did not try to kill herself. Los Angeles police confirmed that they attended an attempted suicide call at Paris' house. A 911 call dispatch call revealed how officers attended the scene to deal with a 'psychiatric incident'. Friends: Paris' longtime pal Macaulay Culkin was also spotted in the audience with partner Brenda Song However, friends of Paris told DailyMail.com they do not believe she is suicidal and the call out got confused. 'The problem with Paris is that the way she has been brought up makes her very mysterious even to close friends who speak to her every day,' a source said. 'She lives by this mantra that her dad told her which is ''truth is fantasy and fantasy is truth''. 'Michael always told her to keep things private and keep people guessing. 'So she has intentionally not been clear about what happened on the night. 'But nobody in her inner circle is worried that she is suicidal they all think this is typical Paris just partying a little too hard.' She's the Instagram superstar who made headlines when she split from speedy athlete Usain Bolt. And on Friday, Holly Young was hard at work on her craft, posing for a photo shoot at Burns Beach in Perth, Western Australia. The 25-year-old turned heads in a skimpy white bikini which highlighted her sizable cleavage. She's all white! Instagram sensation and former girlfriend of Usain Bolt Holly Young (pictured) wore skimpy outfits for a photo shoot in Perth on Friday The swimwear featured a tropical motif, with graphics showing palm trees across the bust. She paired the top with a tiny pair of cut-off denim shorts which showed off her trim pins. The beauty went barefoot as she walked alongside the beach, holding her smart phone in her hand. Off to work: Holly was hard at work on her craft, posing for a photo shoot at Burns Beach in Perth, Western Australia Looking good! The 25-year-old turned heads in a skimpy white bikini which highlighted her sizable cleavage as she walked down to the beach to pose Helpers: The model walked along with an entourage consisting of a photography crew No shoes! The beauty went barefoot, holding her smart phone in her hand Ready! Wearing a full face of makeup, the model opted for a lined eye and a pale pink lipstick Wearing a full face of makeup, the model opted for a lined eye and a pale pink lipstick. Her hair was worn in a half-up do, brunette tendrils floating gently around her face in the sea breeze. Once down on the sand, the Perth local was seen striking a series of elaborate poses, her arms in the air. Racy: Once down on the sand, the Perth local changed into a revealing white dress Sheer: She appeared to be topless under the see-through, textured garment Go girl: Holly was seen striking a series of elaborate poses, her arms in the air Fit and slender: The beauty flaunted her figure as she posed with her leg forward Peek: At one point, the Australian model lifted the garment to reveal her shapley behind, which was clad in g-string bikini bottoms Careful! She risked a wardrobe malfunction as she showed off an eyeful of side-boob Holly, who has 67,000 Instagram, followers, wore a loose-fitting dress made of a revealing, textured fabric, and she appeared to be topless underneath. At one point, the Australian model lifted the garment to reveal her shapley behind, which was clad in g-string bikini bottoms. The stunner made headlines worldwide when she was pictured with the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, on nights out in Munich in 2017. Pensive: As the team worked hard around her, Holly was a consummate professional Who is calling? The brunette stopped to check her phone multiple times during the shoot Holly, who flaunts her extravagant lifestyle on Instagram, ended her 12-month relationship with the Olympian last year. Usain and Holly fell head-over-heels after meeting in the lobby of Crown Melbourne in April 2017 and the inseparable pair spent four days together. She is since believed to have moved on with an unnamed Manchester United player. Alex Jones has detailed her secret heartache as she revealed she hosted The One Show just an hour after learning she'd suffered a miscarriage in 2017. The 42-year-old presenter discovered she was expecting a child while in New Zealand, but was given the devastating news the baby had 'stopped developing' as she underwent a private ultrasound scan after returning to the UK. In a candid interview with The Telegraph, the Welsh host, who is currently seven months pregnant with her second child, recalled: 'The baby had stopped developing at about nine weeks. That was really hard. It hit us like a ton of bricks.' Heartache: Alex Jones revealed she hosted The One Show just an hour after learning she'd suffered a miscarriage in 2017 (pictured earlier this month) The BBC star elaborated: 'We learnt the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I was around 14 weeks, which is a decent amount of time. 'It's really odd. You're in that room looking for answers that you're never going to get. You're thinking, Have I done something wrong? What did I do differently? Was it because we flew a long way? Was I too stressed? Was I putting too much pressure on myself?' Alex, who shares son Teddy, two, with husband Charlie Thomson, confided in her boss, who told her to take time off but she insisted on going back on air that evening. Tragic: The 42-year-old presenter discovered she was expecting a child while in New Zealand, but was given the devastating news the baby had 'stopped developing' as she underwent a private ultrasound scan after returning to the UK (pictured with co-host Matt Baker) Worry: Last month, Alex admitted fears over her child's decreased movement had led her to seek medical attention, but has since confirmed the little one was 'doing well' She added: 'I said, "What else am I going to do?" It's a horrible feeling because it is so empty. There's nothing to say. It's done."' Six months after her miscarriage, the Welsh presenter fell pregnant again but she admitted she 'couldn't enjoy' it for a long time and hasn't been able to 'relax' in case something goes wrong again. Alex has previously documented her struggle to conceive for a second time, as she told The Sun: 'I suppose Im older now, but we took it for granted that it would be OK. But you dont really know until you start trying how its going to go, do you? Family first: Alex, who shares son Teddy, two, with husband Charlie Thomson (pictured), is seven months pregnant with her second child Together: The loved-up couple celebrated their third wedding anniversary in January this year 'The majority of couples I know have had something, not always IVF, but some problem that needs to be sorted out. 'Suddenly you see someone pregnant or with a newborn and you dont really hark back to what happened before because everyones just delighted theres a baby.' Last month, Alex admitted fears over her child's decreased movement had led her to seek medical attention. The brunette shared a candid snap of herself in a hospital bed with a foetal heart rate monitor attached to her growing stomach on Instagram. Devastating: 'The baby had stopped developing at about nine weeks. That was really hard. It hit us like a ton of bricks', the BBC star recalled She wrote: 'Hadn't felt much movement from the baby for a few days so lying here being monitored. If in doubt mammas ALWAYS check! So reassuring to hear the heartbeat.' The pregnant star later shared a post reassuring fans the little one was doing well. Alex wrote: 'All was fine at the hospital. His or hers little heartbeat was going like the clappers but good to check. Thanks for the messages.' Just a few hours later, the former Tumble presenter was back at work, hosting The One Show alongside Matt Baker. The host is in her third trimester and admitted that she would be taking an extra month of maternity leave this time around, having felt three and a half was too short. Last year, Alex released her book Winging It, which details her experience with motherhood. For support with the loss of a child contact The Miscarriage Association on 01924 200 799 or www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk. He's the quick-witted Australian comedian who is known for ruffling feathers with his cutting gags. But Joel Creasey got on the wrong side of royalty when he had something of a run-in with Meghan Markle. Appearing on The Sunday Project, the 28-year-old said that he was introduced to the duchess at an event, after having hosted the Royal wedding TV coverage on Australia's SBS network. 'I met her and we did not get on at all': Comedian Joel Creasey revealed om The Sunday Project that he is in a 'feud' with Meghan Markle. Pictured on The Sunday Project Late last year, Meghan had been on a whirlwind tour Down Under with husband Prince Harry when she encountered the stand-up comedian. 'I got introduced to her. She came over and was planted in front of me. The governor of Victoria's husband said to Meghan, "Oh Meghan, Joel hosted your wedding,"' he began. Joel went on: 'I think he was going to say, "Joel hosted your wedding on TV." Run-in: Late last year, Meghan had been on a whirlwind tour Down Under with husband Prince Harry when she encountered the stand-up comedian 'But before he could say that, Meghan cut him off and went, "Uh, I don't remember you being there."' Joel's impression of Meghan made it appear she was annoyed when she made the statement. The studio audience then reacted with shock, to which Joel replied, 'Right?' Who? Joel said due to a mix-up, the duchess had mistaken him for one of her wedding guests, but told him that she did not remember him. Meghan is pictured in 2019 Joel concluded: 'So I fired back with, "Because you didn't invite me!" It went rapidly downhill from there.' Megan is pictured in 2019 He concluded: 'So I fired back with, "Because you didn't invite me!" It went rapidly downhill from there.' The comedian is saving the rest of the story for his upcoming stand-up tour. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Meghan Markle for comment. It comes after Joel revealed he may soon become a father as he's hoping to have children with model boyfriend of two years, Jack Stratton-Smith. 'I totally want kids. I want an army,' the host of Take Me Out told Daily Mail Australia late last year. 'I need to have some Angelina Jolie-style family at some point'. They have faced intense public scrutiny surrounding their marriage in recent months. And Phoebe Burgess all but confirmed she has reconciled with her NRL star husband Sam, while attending the South Sydney Rabbitohs game against the Gold Coast Titans at ANZ Stadium on Sunday. The glamorous WAG flashed her diamond wedding ring while cradling the couple's three-month-old son, Billy Mark, in the stands. Supporting her man! Phoebe Burgess all but confirmed she has reconciled with her NRL star husband Sam, while attending the South Sydney Rabbitohs match against the Gold Coast Titans at ANZ Stadium on Sunday Dressed in black jeans and an off-the-shoulder top, the mother-of-two beamed alongside fellow WAGs as they dutifully cheered on their men. Sam led the Rabbithos in a 28-20 win against the Titans. The couple's united front comes after Sam split from his wife of three years in December, three weeks after the birth of baby Billy. WAG life: Dressed in black jeans and an off-the-shoulder top, the mother-of-two beamed alongside fellow WAGs as they dutifully cheered on their men Victory! NRL star Sam led the Rabbithos in a 28-20 win against the Titans The breakup came months after Sam, who also shares two-year-old Poppy Alice with Phoebe, was cleared of any wrongdoing by his South Sydney club after he was embroiled in a sexting scandal. At the time, it was widely reported that the couple's marriage split was 'messy'. A close friend told The Daily Telegraph 'things [had] been bad for a while' before Sam and Phoebe decided to part ways. Happy: Phoebe appeared to be in high spirits three months after her brief split from Sam Happy: The former journalist beamed as she watched her hubby on the field In February, the footy star reportedly moved out of celebrity accountant, Anthony Bell's, $11.5 million Dover Heights mansion and back into the $3.8 million Maroubra home he shares with Phoebe. An insider told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time, that they are 'working on things' for the sake of their young children. Whirlwind romance: Phoebe and Sam tied the knot in 2015, after one year of dating, at her parents' sprawling Southern Highlands estate Things are going swimmingly! Earlier this month, the couple (right) were spotted together at Gordon's Bay High spirits: Phoebe put on an animated display days after Sam moved back into the family home Earlier this month, the couple, who married in 2015 after one year of dating, were spotted together at Gordon's Bay. An onlooker told Daily Mail Australia that Sam and phoebe 'looked loved-up and very much back together'. Married At First Sight's Dan Webb gave Jessika Power a commitment ring during their final vows ceremony on Sunday night. But the ring the car broker, 35, presented the Perth beauty, 27, has been mocked by fans as 'fake'. Many flooded Twitter to poke fun at the sparkler, which is made by jewellery chain Secrets Shhh. 'That ring is as genuine as they are': Fans flooded Twitter to mock the diamond sparkler Married at First Sight's Dan Webb (right) gave Jessika Power(left) at their final commitment ceremony on Sunday night The company is known for their high-end accessories, and their website proclaims they are the 'home of the diamond alternative'. The ring Dan gave Jessika appears to be the brand's 'decorative stone set celebration band' in rose gold. Listed in the wedding bands section, it features synthetic diamonds, 10ct gold and retails for $399. Fancy! The ring Dan gave Jessika is made by jewellery chain Secrets Shhh. Their website proclaims they are the 'home of the diamond alternative' Nice! It appears to be the brand's 'decorative stone set celebration band' in rose gold. Listed in the wedding bands section, it features synthetic diamonds, 10ct gold and retails for $399 While the accessory looked beautiful on the blonde's finger, some fans were not impressed, and mocked Dan for what they deemed was a 'fake' diamond. One person Tweeted: 'That ring is as genuine as they are'. Another chimed in: 'This relationship is even more fake than her laboratory-grown synthetic diamond ring.' Not pleased? While the accessory looked beautiful on the blonde's finger, some fans were not impressed, and mocked Dan for what they deemed was a 'fake' diamond They added: 'Hold on to it though Jess, Dan will probably hock it at cash converters once filming wraps'. Yet another chimed in: 'This fake diamond ring symbolises our relationship.' Some fans were less than impressed by the dainty bauble's size, with one writing: 'Dan/Jessika commitment ring, the only thing smaller than that ring is a VB ring pull.' Loved up! Things are going well for the couple however as Dan vowed to spend the rest of his life with Jessika during their final vows ceremony on Sunday night Things are going well for the couple however as Dan vowed to spend the rest of his life with Jessika during their final vows ceremony on Sunday night. 'The future for me and Dan is a quick coastal move for me, marriage, kids and a house,' Jessika excitedly declared. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for Comment. She's the smitten mother of Paul, three, and Rosie, one. And Sam Faiers looked all parts the proud parent as she left the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair, London with her children and partner Paul Knightley on Mother's Day. The TOWIE star, 28, cut an effortlessly glamorous figure in a pair of lightwash skinny jeans as she headed towards a black SUV with her daughter on her hip on Sunday. Mother's Day: Sam Faiers looked all parts the proud parent as she left the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair, London with her children and partner Paul Knightley on Mother's Day She paired her casual ensemble with a white cropped blouse and heeled Fendi slides and wore her brunette locks smooth for the occasion. And the Celebrity Big Brother star completed her look with a matching Fendi cross-body bag and a pair of statement gold earrings. Sam wore a light layer of makeup and a classic nude lip as she headed out with her family on the special day. Stepping out: The TOWIE star, 28, cut an effortlessly glamorous figure in a pair of lightwash skinny jeans as she headed towards a black SUV with her daughter on her hip on Sunday It comes after the mother-of-two joked that her sister Billie's 'raucous' wedding led to the group of guests changing their 'WhatsApp group chat name to Southend On Tour.' Billie's wedding to Greg Shepherd was marred with controversy after they were accused of ruining a host of fellow holidaymakers' trips due to their guests' raucous behaviour. And, speaking to Fabulous magazine, the Mummy Diaries star said: 'It was just the maddest thing. The island staff were so lovely and they didn't come to us once with a bad or negative vibe.' Family affair: She paired the casual ensemble with a white cropped blouse and heeled Fendi slides and wore her brunette locks smooth for the occasion Billie and Greg tied the knot in an idyllic ceremony earlier this month in the Maladives and enjoyed their honeymoon on the island of Medhufaru. She continued: 'Everything was done as a group the pool party day, Indian night, the boys' fishing trip and the night of the wedding because we didn't want to disturb the other guests.' Attesting that they 'were all happy' so 'some noise and excitement' is to be expected from a group of 100 people, while she set the record straight on some claims saying guests threw stones at fish. Candid: Sam Faiers set the record straight on sister Billie and Greg Shepherd's 'raucous' wedding on Saturday... and said she won't be getting engaged to Paul Knightley any time soon Not yet: Sam went on to discuss her relationship with boyfriend Paul Knightley, as she said that getting married wasn't her top priority Sam went on to discuss her relationship with her boyfriend Paul, who she shares children Paul and Rosie with. When asked about whether the rings she wore at her sister's wedding meant that she was engaged, Sam denied that was the case. And while she admitted that she wouldn't 'keep it a secret' if they were to tie the knot, it wasn't her highest priority as she saw her children and business were a 'big commitment.' Focus: While she admitted that she wouldn't 'keep it a secret' if they were to tie the knot, it wasn't her highest priority as she saw her children and business were a 'big commitment' But, Sam was also quick to add that while she doesn't feel it's necessary for her to get hitched, she'd love to start planning her nuptials. She explained: 'I don't really feel like I have to get married. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to start planning my wedding because I have so many lovely ideas. But I feel like I'm focused on work and the kids so it's not on my list of priorities.' And the former TOWIE star made the cheeky confession that while her son shares the bed with her and Paul, it hasn't impacted the couple's sex life as they 'find time for' themselves. Jamie Dornan and Amelia Warner have welcomed their third child. The Fifty Shades of Grey star's, 36, wife made the announcement on Mother's Day by taking to Instagram to share a sweet snap of three pairs of baby shoes on Sunday. To avoid any doubt that she had welcomed another child in secret, Amelia, 36, then added that she was proud to be a mother of 'three glorious girls'. New parents: Jamie Dornan and Amelia Warner have welcomed their third child. The Fifty Shades of Grey star's wife made the announcement on Mother's Day (pictured in February 2018) She penned: 'So proud of these three glorious girls, it's an honour being their mummy... Feeling incredibly lucky today #happymothersday (sic)' As well as their newborn, whose name is yet to be announced, the couple are also parents to Dulcie, five, and Elva, three. News that the couple were expecting their third child together broke in October. Three shoes for three babies: To avoid any doubt that she had welcomed another child in secret, Amelia then added that she was proud to be a mother of 'three glorious girls' The notoriously private couple confirmed their engagement after two years of romance in November 2012 and they married in an intimate Somerset ceremony in 2013. Their daughter Dulcie was born at the end of that year, before the pair confirmed they were expecting again in October 2015. It was not until March 2016 when Amelia was pictured walking with a stroller in Notting Hill that the arrival of second child Elva was confirmed. Jamie subsequently said that he wanted to keep having children with his wife 'until we can't do it anymore'. One big family: Jamie is now a father to three daughters: a newborn, a three-year-old and a five-year-old (couple pictured in February 2017) The candid interview about his family and wanting to spend more time with his little ones came during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in late 2018. 'Part of me feels like to put a cork in it after this,' the Irish actor admitted. 'But then, alternatively, I feel like we make really great kids. 'Maybe we'll just if my wife's willing do it until we can't do it anymore. It's all up to her. I do the fun bit'. Jamie also confessed that he plans to spend more time at home once baby number three arrives, after being tied to his Fifty Shades schedule for the birth of his first two children. Being around: Jamie said he was conscious about being around for Amelia and the newborn straight after the third birth (here in February 2017) Dornan told the talk show host: 'I think for this one, I'm going to have a lot more control... The first two, I was sort of at the mercy of Fifty Shades' schedule, 'The first one we had in Canada, and I started filming three days after she was born. 'The second one we had in London, and I flew to Canada ten days later and started filming the second.' The movie star also revealed that he would right by his wife's side throughout the pregnancy, even when it comes time to deliver the little one. 'I've never missed a birth I couldn't live with myself if I missed the birth,' he said. 'But this time, I'm trying to take proper time off for a few months after, as well,' Dornan added, quipping that those involved in film production 'couldn't care less' about paternity leave. Kelly Brook's fans were left stunned at how similar she looks to her mother after she posted a gorgeous Instagram snap on Saturday. The photo, which was captioned 'Happy Mothers Day to my Mama', shows the brunette beauty looking wistfully into the distance as she wears a straw hat adorned with blush pink roses. In the snap, the mother looks stunning as she as she reclines on a cushion in dappled rays of sunlight wearing a purple bandeau top over a floral bikini and simple gold hoop earrings. Identical: Kelly Brook's fans were left stunned at how similar she looks to her mother as she posted a gorgeous Instagram snap on Saturday In the snap her short brunette locks fall effortlessly around her face which are styled in effortless waves - similar to Kelly, 39. And it appears the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Kelly's mother even has the same puckered pout and striking eyes. Fans were quick to jump into the comments on Kelly's post of her mother, to remark on their similarities. Stunning brunette: It appears the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Kelly's mother even has the same puckered pout and striking eyes Comments to the tune of 'You are identical!' and 'You both look the same!' came cropping up. Another raved: 'Wow, you're the double of her. I had to look twice'. One fan wrote: 'That's your mum? You look like her twin!' Wow: Kelly Brook jetted off to Portugal to celebrate her four year anniversary with beau Jeremy Parisi in Portugal The post comes after Kelly jetted off to Portugal to celebrate her four year anniversary with beau Jeremy Parisi in Portugal. the model celebrated the occasion in style as she shared an Instagram story drinking Aperol Spritz in the sun. She wrote: 'It's officially our 4 year anniversary of being consciously coupled'. Cheers! Kelly was in Portugal and celebrated four years with her boyfriend in style as she shared an Instagram story drinking Aperol Spritz in the sun The model and TV personality has been dating the French-Italian martial arts instructor, 33, after kicking off their relationship by flirting via direct message on Instagram. Kelly previously revealed she initially feared she was being 'catfished' by the hunk until they came face-to-face in real life. Speaking as she co-hosted Heart Drivetime on Tuesday, the radio presenter said: 'I met him on Instagram! It's the way forward. I saw a video of him and I thought, "Oh I wonder if hes on Instagram". Social media romance: Kelly Brook has revealed she pursued boyfriend Jeremy Parisi for six months by 'slipping into his DMs' on Instagram before they met in person 'Obviously he was, as everyone is, and I started following him and I saw he followed me back, so I just slipped in to the DMs and I was like, "Ohhh thank you for the follow".' Kelly reportedly 'proved seriously popular' when she made her debut on the radio airwaves at the end of 2018. The model recently said that life is more settled now that she has a permanent job and steady boyfriend. Loved up: The model recently said that life is more settled now that she has a permanent job and steady boyfriend 'It definitely feels like a whole chapter of my life is over,' Kelly told The Sun's Fabulous magazine last month. 'Like, that person is dead. The girl who didnt have a lot of control over what was going on doesnt exist any more. Those times have gone.' Kelly previously revealed how she is unsure whether she and partner Jeremy Parisi will ever have children. She detailed the struggle of suffering a miscarriage six months into her pregnancy with rugby player Thom Evans in 2011. In an interview with Fabulous she said: 'You can feel a failure if you go through miscarriage or feel that its quite unfair, but as much as it was a real loss and a difficult time, I got through it.' She's been packing on the PDA with her beau Josh Ritchie in recent snaps. But Charlotte Crosby was every-inch the doting daughter as she dedicated Sunday to her mother while hosting her own Mother's Day party at the BonBar in Newcastle. The Geordie Shore star, 28, was joined by pals Sophie Kasaei and Lauren Causer as the trio treated their mums to a boozy afternoon complete with naked butlers. Family: Charlotte Crosby was every-inch the doting daughter as she dedicated Sunday to her mother while hosting her own Mother's Day party at the BonBar in Newcastle Charlotte showed off her sensational figure as she donned a cropped pink and white jumper which showed off her toned abs to perfection. She clad her bottom half in jeans while adding glitz in a pair of studded wedge sandals. The brunette sensation left her long locks loose around her face and sported plenty of her signature glowing makeup. Celebrating: The Geordie Shore star, 28, treated her mum to a boozy afternoon complete with naked butlers Partying: She was joined by pals Sophie Kasaei and Lauren Causer for the party which saw the ladies dressed in their best numbers While her mum Letitia worked the monochrome look in a quilted black top, white blazer and jeans. The reality star documented the day on her Instagram account joking that the 'mams are happy' as they were surrounded by scantily clad waiters. Her outing comes after reports surfaced the reality star was set to reunite with some of her Geordie Shore cast mates including Chloe Ferry on a new Googlebox style spin-off show. Style queen:Charlotte showed off her sensational figure as she donned a cropped pink and white jumper which showed off her toned abs to perfection Mum's day: She clad her bottom half in jeans while adding glitz in a pair of studded wedge sandals The outspoken TV personality, who made a name for herself on the reality show Geordie Shore also has her own reality shows, The Charlotte Show and Just Tattoo Of Us. Scenes that recently aired from her show proved that Charlotte's life is still plenty full of drama, after she was left screaming in pain as she broke her nose in a horror accident whilst holidaying in Cape Town. The star, suffered the accident back in November, and shared pictures of her bruised and bloodied face on Instagram. Racy: The reality star documented the day on her Instagram account joking that the 'mams are happy' as they were surrounded by scantily clad waiters Shocking scenes: The exact moment she cracked the bone was revealed to fans when the incident aired on The Charlotte Show Yet the exact moment she cracked the bone was revealed to fans when the incident aired on an episode of The Charlotte Show earlier this month. Charlotte was seen standing by the pool with pal Lauren Causer when the duo were pushed in by Josh Richie and Glen Hargrave. Unfortunately, Charlotte fell awkwardly and faceplanted the back of Lauren's head, breaking her nose in three places. Emerging from the water screaming and in tears, Charlotte sobbed 'I'm going to faint', before being hauled out of the pool by boyfriend Joshua. Bad boy Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You was his breakthrough role. And as the film celebrates its 20th year anniversary, director Gil Junger has opened up about being immediately intrigued by the late Heath Ledger's audition and his 'palpable sexuality.' Speaking with the New York Times on Sunday, the 64-year-old revealed that as long as Ledger could read, he knew by just his energy he'd be the lead. He just knew! 10 Things I Hate About You director Gil Junger revealed on Sunday that he knew he would be casting Heath Ledger immediately by the energy and 'palpable sexuality' he had during the audition 'Heath walked in, and I thought to myself, if this guy can read, I'm going to cast him,' he recalled. 'There was an energy to him, a sexuality that was palpable.' The director added that he got Heath to read the first page and stopped him midway to try some improvising with him instead. Remembering Heath: The film's director Gil Junger has opened up about being immediately intrigued by the late Heath Ledger's audition and his 'palpable sexuality' Cast: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Andrew Keegan, Gabrielle Union, David Krumholtz and Susan May Pratt all starred in the 20-year-old teen flick 'I just wanted to see how fast his mind would adapt, comedically. After 35 seconds, I said, 'OK. Fantastic.' But I could tell he was nervous that he blew it, because the audition was so quick, and I said, 'No, no. You're a very talented guy, and I appreciate you coming in.' And just like that, the Australian heartthrob had secured the role, with Gil also adding to the publication he said: 'The instant the door closed, I turned to the women in the room and said, "Ladies, I have never wanted to sleep with a man, but if I had to sleep with a man, that would be the man. Please cast him immediately".' Earlier in the month, Heath's co-star Andrew Keegan told a hilarious anecdote of their first encounter during a cast reunion in Los Angeles. 'We were in this hotel in Tacoma, Washington, I think we were coming back from rehearsals because he came late,' he said. 'At that time there was no internet, I didn't really look, I think I probably had seen a head-shot. I was getting on the elevator and right as the doors were closing, one of those classic moments, and the door just stops. He got the job! 'The instant the door closed, I turned to the women in the room and said, "Ladies, I have never wanted to sleep with a man, but if I had to sleep with a man, that would be the man. Please cast him immediately",' said Gil 'This guy gets on and he's got a Didgeridoo. I could just remember I was in character too and I was like, "This f***ing guy. Really? Long hair, Didgeridoo, Australian accent." And that's the memory of meeting him.' He added: 'He was absolutely such an epic part of this project ... We love Heath.' Heath passed away at the age of 28 on January 22, 2008, after consuming a fatal mix of prescription drugs. The stars of the movie, which include Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt - which was a loose modernization of William Shakespeare's late-16th century comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting - explained that they remember filming the '90s romcom like it was yesterday. Gordon-Levitt, 38, (who played new student Cameron in the movie), credited the bond between the cast both on and off screen for making filming different than any movie he has worked on. 'Genuinely, I don't remember rehearsing,' he told the audience at the charity event at the Wisdome in downtown L.A. Beginnings: The late Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles starred together in 10 Things I Hate About You Star: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (left) said he had fond memories of working on the film 'But what I do remember is that we all spent basically every day and every night together and that's really rare, ' he continued. 'Normally when you shoot a movie you come together, and you work and then you go back home and we were all I think because of our age or because we were not in our hometown and because maybe in Tacoma there wasn't a lot for us, being underage, there wasn't a lot for us to do. 'We all just hung out so much. I think we all just kind of fell in love with each other like we all just really loved hanging out genuinely and I think that's, if I had to guess, I think that's why the movie turned out so good and why people like it so much is because we really, really liked hanging out together and that kind of thing doesn't actually always happen. 'This is, of all the movies that I've done, probably the most outstanding example of that. Of a whole cast all like actually liking each other and hanging out with each other all the time. And that kind of thing shows through.' Rumours have swirled for weeks that Martha Kalifatidis and Michael Brunelli's picture perfect romance is falling apart behind the scenes. And according to NW magazine on Monday, the Bondi-based makeup artist has secretly been meeting up with another contestant, Samuel Ball, 'for months'. Martha was previously spotted on a 'date' with Sam in Byron Bay back in December, and they have reportedly been seeing each other regularly ever since. 'They were being really affectionate': Married At First Sight's Sam Ball and Martha Kalifatidis have been 'secretly meeting up for months', according to NW magazine. Pictured together in Byron Bay in late December A source told the publication that Sam, 26, and Martha, 30, 'only had eyes for each other' as they enjoyed cosy drinks in Byron Bay. Another eyewitness claimed they'd spotted the pair meeting up for a second date in Sydney two months later, in February. 'Even though they were doing their best to fly under the radar, at one point Martha got up and sat on Sam's lap,' said the onlooker. 'They were being really affectionate with one another.' Getting cosy: The pair were spotted on what appeared to be a romantic date in Byron Bay in December. At the time, MAFS had finished production but the cast had yet to film the reunion While Sam did not confirm or deny he was dating Martha, he heaped praise on his co-star during an interview with NW. The tradesman, who was originally paired with Elizabeth Sobinoff on MAFS, even suggested that he should have been matched Martha instead. 'She's attractive and she knows what she wants. I love how confident she is in her own skin. Not to the point where Elizabeth was [which was] an arrogant way... but in a beautiful way,' he said. Ouch! While Sam did not confirm or deny he was dating Martha, he heaped praise on his co-star during an interview with NW. The tradesman, who was originally paired with Elizabeth Sobinoff (left) on MAFS, even suggested that he should have been matched Martha instead After the photos of Martha and Sam in Byron Bay were first published late last year, the part-time actor addressed speculation they were secretly dating. 'I think Martha is a beautiful person, but, you know, she's quite happy in her relationship, and I wouldn't want to intrude on that,' he told E! News in February. 'I thought a couple of the girls looked good, but I would never intrude on anyone, especially Michael [Brunelli] and Martha's relationship.' Hmm! Interestingly, Sam and Martha were featured together in promotional photos for Married At First Sight, despite being paired with other people on the show Meanwhile, New Idea reported on Monday that Michael and Martha are 'still going strong' - which conflicts with NW's suggestion they have parted ways. A source told the magazine: 'They are truly one of the show's success stories and they're really in love'. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Samuel Ball and Martha Kalifatidis for comment. She was announced as Australia's new Bachelorette last week. And Angie Kent couldn't wipe the smile off her face on Monday as she began her media duties with a visit to The Kyle and Jackie O Show. The former Gogglebox star, 29, looked in happy spirits as she arrived at KIIS FM's headquarters in North Ryde, Sydney before 6am. Scroll down for video Her smile says it all! New Bachelorette Angie Kent looked in happy spirits as she arrived for an interview with Kyle and Jackie O on Monday. Pictured at KIIS FM's HQ in North Ryde, Sydney Angie, who was accompanied by a Channel 10 publicist, wore a sparkly low cut dress and styled her blonde hair in loose waves. She opted for a glamorous makeup palette and seemed to be in confident spirits ahead of a busy day of interviews. During her chat with Kyle and Jackie O, Angie effortlessly answered questions about her dating history in a breezy and lighthearted manner. Simply stunning! Angie, who was accompanied by a Channel 10 publicist, wore a sparkly low cut dress and styled her blonde hair in loose waves Thanks for coming! After her interview, Angie was walked out of the KIIS FM building by Kyle and Jackie O Show producer Jaimee Hassos (right) It was a stark contrast to Ali Oetjen's first interview with the same radio program this time last year, which was an absolute car crash. Shortly after being announced as The Bachelorette in April 2018, Ali stumbled over Kyle and Jackie O's questions and offered some frankly bizarre answers. But Angie was a consummate professional by comparison, laughing off radio host Kyle Sandilands' suggestion that she'd had many lovers during her eight years as a single woman. She's glowing! Angie wore glamorous makeup for the occasion and seemed to be in confident spirits ahead of a busy day of interviews and photo shoots Like a pro! During her interview with Kyle and Jackie O, Angie effortlessly answered questions about her dating history in a breezy and lighthearted manner And we're off! Angie was whisked away by a chauffeur-driven car following her interview with The Kyle and Jackie O Show Buckle up! The former Gogglebox star, 29, was announced as the new Bachelorette last week 'I've been happily single for the past eight years, I don't need a man to define me,' Angie said, to which Kyle replied: 'Have you not had sex for eight years?' When the former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star replied that she had not been celibate during this period, Kyle said: 'Oh, you've had heaps of sex!' She responded with a laugh: 'You just keep putting words in my mouth!' Confident: 'I've been happily single for the past eight years, I don't need a man to define me,' Angie said on Kyle and Jackie O No vow of celibacy here! Radio host Kyle Sandilands (left) jokingly suggested that Angie has had 'heaps of sex' during her eight years of singledom Elsewhere in the interview, Angie said 'doesn't have a type' but wants to find a man with a similar sense of humour. 'They have to be funny,' she said. 'Like, you need to be a bit quirky, a bit nuts. In a good way! I want to have a laugh. That's my big thing.' Angie added that a man's occupation or bank balance doesn't matter to her and she's willing to date a 'toilet cleaner if there's a connection there'. It's official! Angie Kent was confirmed as the new Bachelorette on Friday afternoon She's proud mum to sons Bobby, four, and Cole, two, with her husband Justin Scott. And Kimberley Walsh was every-inch the doting parent as she posted an adorable snap to her Instagram on Sunday to mark Mother's Day. The former Girls Aloud star, 37, held her two boys tight as the trio flashed their widest grins while sitting on the stairs. Adoring: Kimberley Walsh, 37, was every-inch the doting parent as she posted an adorable snap to her Instagram on Sunday to mark Mother's Day She also paid homage to her own mother, as earlier in the day Kimberley posted a throwback picture of her and her auntie Helen, with a heartfelt caption: 'A little throw back for my mum (left) and my auntie Helen (right) on Mothers Day. Two of the the most special women in this [world] and the best role models a girl could wish for . 'Love this pic of them so much its just how I remember them when I was a kid. Can we all take a moment to appreciate the fact that my mum is rocking a crop top at almost 40 and after 4 children. Grateful: She also paid homage to her own mother, as earlier in the day Kimberley posted a throwback picture of her and her auntie Helen, with a heartfelt caption Family: Kimberley shares her two sons with husband Justin in June 2016 'Happy Mothers Day to all and the biggest heartfelt cyber hug to anyone struggling today. I know its not an easy day for everyone '. As her post racked up the likes, many of Kimberely's followers took to the comment section to gush over her snap. Pal Lisa Snowdon told the singer she has 'gorgeous boys', a statement echoed by an fan. Adoration: As her post racked up the likes, many of Kimberely's followers took to the comment section to gush over her snap While others told her: 'Oh Kimberley, this is such a beautiful picture, you can see how much love you have for the boys and they have for you, melts my heart. Hope you have had the best day'. Another wrote: 'There's nothing [more] adorable than this is there? Kim, your smile just says it all. Yep I'd be proud too'. Kimberley recently shared a paparazzi shot taken of her on the beach on her Instagram where she spoke about how pregnancy changed her body. Candid: Kimberley recently spoke about how pregnancy changed her body saying she prefers to 'focus on the humans she's created' She said: 'I have to say the post pregnancy bikini shot was not my finest hour but I put things into perspective and focused on the human I had created. 'I even remember thinking... if any other mums find comfort in this then Ill take one for the team. Anyway the long and short of it is. We make humans. We are superwomen. 'Body confidence and happiness comes from inside and I was pretty happy with my new found bundle of joy.' The snap, which has amassed over 45,000 likes, hit a chord with other mothers and had them commenting in their droves. British Bond Girl Tania Mallet has died at the age of 77. The actress best known for playing Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger, alongside Sean Connery, was mourned by James Bond fans and bosses on Sunday evening. News of her passing was confirmed by the Official James Bond Twitter account, with a message of condolence for her family. Beloved: British actress Tania Mallet, best known for her Bond Girl role in Goldfinger, has died at the age of 77 (here in 2005) The tweet read: 'We are very sorry to hear that Tania Mallet who played Tilly Masterson in GOLDFINGER has passed away. 'Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.' Tania is the first cousin of fellow British actress Helen Mirren, who recently said her 'dream role' would be a James Bond villain. Tania started working as a model in 1957, aged just 16, and became one of the most recognisable models of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With sadness: A tweet from the 007 account confirmed that Tania had passed away Fan favourite: Messages of condolence confirmed that the Tilly Masterson star is one of the all-time favourite Bond Girls And even though her only noteworthy acting credit was 1964's Goldfinger, Tania made quite the impression on Bond fans. Bond Girl Tilly sets out to avenge her sister's death but ultimately becomes one of Oddjob's unwitting victims. After starring in the third Bond film, Tania made the conscious decision to return the 'lucrative' and 'comfortable' world of modelling. She once said: 'Filming had been an interesting experience but I was always more comfortable in a small studio with just the photographer and his assistant. Remembered: The actress was the first cousin of fellow British actress Helen Mirren 'Besides which, the restrictions placed on me for the duration of the filming grated were dreadful and I could not anticipate living my life like that. 'For instance, being forbidden to ride in case I had an accident, not being allowed to go abroad etc.' It was one of Tania's modelling shots that first got her an audition for a Bond film, when producer Cubby Broccoli came across a picture of the model laying on rocks. She was reportedly called in for a screen test for 1957's From Russia With Love, yet the role of Tatiana Romanova ultimately went to Italian beauty Daniela Bianchi. The return to modelling: Tania became one of the best-known faces in modelling, and returned permanently to photoshoots after her first foray into film Beloved: It was one of Tania's modelling shots that first got her an audition for a Bond film (pictured in 2013) Nevertheless, the announcement of Tania's death this weekend was met with a wave of sadness, as she proved to be one of the most popular Bond Girls of all time. Only one day ago, prolific James Bond actor Shane Rimmer passed away at the age of 89. He starred in You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and The Spy Who Loved Me, making him one of the most featured actors in the franchise. A sad day: Tributes poured in for the actress from across the internet It comes one year after the death of Eunice Gayson, the first Bond girl in the James Bond movies. Eunice, who passed away in June 2018, starred alongside Connery in the role of Sylvia Trench. The actress played the role twice, first in 1962 film Dr. No and again in the 1963 sequel From Russia With Love. A sad week for Bond: Fellow Bond actor Shane Rimmer also passed away this week Prolific star: The actor appeared in three James Bond films in the Sixties The new US ambassador has declared his nation Australia's most important economic partner. In his first major speech since arriving in the country, Arthur Culvahouse said this relationship was often taken for granted. "It is such a part of the fabric of your experience and ours that the depth and scope of our economic partnership has faded into the background and become somewhat unremarkable," he said in Perth on Friday. "We take it for granted because it seems that it's always been there, and because it seems that it has always been there, we have lost sight of just how remarkable it truly is." The US is widely viewed as Australia's closest security ally and China its most important trading partner. But addressing the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Mr Culvahouse has challenged this narrative. While China is Australia's largest export market, he pointed out US investment into Australia dwarfed any other country. "Being the largest investor in Australia translates into the United States being the largest international employer and wage-payer," the ambassador said. "The scale of US investment in Australia also means that US companies pay far more tax than businesses from any other country." Mr Culvahouse also sought to allay fears about US president Donald Trump's protectionism. "The United States remains one of the most open trading markets in the world," he said. A prisoner is in hospital following a stabbing at the same Perth prison where an inmate was fatally bashed a month earlier. The stabbed prisoner, who is in a stable condition, was one of two inmates injured during an incident at Hakea Prison on Saturday. Another prisoner who was also stabbed has since returned to jail. Western Australia Police and prison authorities are investigating the stabbing, the Department of Justice said on Sunday. Saturday's incident follows the death of prisoner Alf Eades earlier in March, weeks after he was found alone and critically injured in his cell at Hakea Prison. Three surviving children of terrorist Khaled Sharrouf are reportedly being held at a Syrian refugee camp after leaving Islamic's State's last stronghold in Baghouz before it was overrun by Kurdish fighters. Sharrouf's daughters - Zaynab, 17, who is pregnant, and Hoda, 16 - and son Hamza, eight, are in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Hawl camp alongside eight other Australian women and their children, including Zaynab's two daughters, aged three and two, the ABC reported on Monday. His two sons, Abdullah and Zarqawi, are believed to have died aged nine and eight, respectively, alongside their father in a US air strike as they travelled in a car near Raqqa in 2017. The children's mother Tara Nettleton is believed to have died of a medical condition in 2015, a year after she followed Sharrouf to Syria from Sydney. Her mother, Karen Nettleton, has called on the federal government to help her surviving grandchildren return to Australia. "They're with other Australian and foreign fighters (in the camps) and they shouldn't be in amongst all of that," she told the ABC. Yameen, who jailed many of his opponents during his tenure, was arrested last month A Maldivian court Sunday ordered the authorities to lift a freeze on former strongman president Abdulla Yameen's bank accounts holding about $6.5 million but said a money laundering case against him would proceed. The High Court overturned the Criminal Court's earlier decision to freeze the eight accounts over allegations that Yameen had received illicit payments just before he lost his re-election bid in September. Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, was arrested last month on a charge of trying to bribe witnesses in his money laundering trial, but was released from custody on Thursday. The move came ahead of April 6 parliamentary elections contested by his Progressive Party of Maldives. Since Yameen's shock election defeat, all dissidents have returned to the Indian Ocean archipelago and most have had their convictions overturned. During his five-year tenure, Yameen relied heavily on China for political and financial support as he came under international criticism over his dismal human rights record. The nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims is now heavily in debt to Beijing. Authorities believe millions of dollars allegedly siphoned off by Yameen could be stashed abroad, and have said that talks are underway with foreign entities to repatriate any cash found. Yameen's chief lawyer and former justice minister Azima Shakoor is also facing charges of embezzlement and helping her boss to launder money. The Maldives was on the verge of being slapped with Western-led sanctions before opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won an unexpected landslide in last year's election, campaigning on a pledge to end corruption in the country otherwise known for its luxury tourism. Anti-government protests like this one on March 18, 2019 have rocked Sudan for more than three months Sudanese security forces fired tear gas Sunday at scores of protesters as they defied a nationwide state of emergency to demonstrate in Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, witnesses said. Protests and deadly clashes have rocked Sudan for more than three months, fanned by accusations that government mismanagement of the economy has caused food prices to soar and created shortages of fuel and foreign currency. Chanting the protest movement's catchcry "freedom, peace, justice", protesters rallied in downtown Omdurman and in another district of the city witnesses said, adding that they were swiftly confronted by riot police with tear gas. Protesters also demonstrated in Khartoum's eastern district of Burri, a site of regular anti-government gatherings, and at a vegetable market in a southern area of the capital, according to onlookers. Riot police deployed in force in Burri to curb the protest there, a witness said on condition of anonymity, adding that demonstrators waving Sudanese flags marched along several roads in the district. Late on Sunday police said it did disperse "illegal gatherings" in Khartoum and other towns with tear gas. "Some of those who participated in these gatherings have been detained and cases have been filed against them," police spokesman General Hashim Abdelrahim told the official SUNA news agency. "Some citizens and policemen have been wounded" during Sunday's protests, he added. Protests first erupted in Sudan on December 19 in the central town of Atbara following a government decision to triple the price of bread. They swiftly escalated into nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to the rule of President Omar al-Bashir, who swept to power in a 1989 coup. Bashir has remained defiant and, after an initial crackdown failed to end the protests, imposed a year-long state of emergency which parliament later cut to six months. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, but Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 51, including children and medics. Several demonstrators have been jailed by special courts set up to investigate violations of the state of emergency. Since the new measures came into effect, the scale and intensity of protests have shrunk. Protest organisers have called for major nationwide rallies on April 6, including a march on the army headquarters in Khartoum. The protest movement, seen by analysts as the biggest challenge to Bashir's three-decade rule, was initially led by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA). Several political parties have since then joined the SPA to form an umbrella group called the Alliance for Freedom and Change to push for the demonstrations. Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Masako, who has explained she sacrificed her career to "make myself useful in this new path." Japan's incoming emperor Crown Prince Naruhito faces the delicate task of balancing tradition within the world's oldest monarchy and his own modern values, including protecting his family from the palace's rigid rules. The 59-year-old heir has not been shy about criticising the sometimes stifling lifestyle imposed on royals, particularly as his wife Masako has struggled to adapt to imperial life. And like his popular father Akihito, he has warned of the need to remember World War II "correctly," without downplaying Japan's early 20th-century militarism. Born on February 23, 1960, Naruhito was the first Japanese prince to grow up under the same roof as his parents and siblings -- royal children were previously raised by nannies and teachers. He studied for two years at Oxford University in the 1980s after graduating with a history degree in Japan, and reportedly adorned his residence with a poster of American actress Brooke Shields. In Britain, he was able to shed some of the strictures of royal life in Japan, mingling with other students as well as the British royal family, and he has spoken fondly of that period. In 1993, he wed Masako Owada, who will become empress when Naruhito assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne in May. The daughter of a diplomatic family and educated at Harvard and Oxford, Masako left behind a promising diplomatic career of her own to marry into the royal family. - 'New royal duties' - Naruhito promised to "protect her at any cost" as she made the transition, and Masako explained she had sacrificed her career to "make myself useful in this new path". But she struggled to adjust to cloistered life inside the family, punctuated by occasional and highly choreographed public appearances. She also came under enormous pressure to bear a son because Japan's imperial succession excludes women. This scrutiny only intensified after she gave birth to her daughter Princess Aiko in 2001 -- the couple's only child. In 2004, Naruhito accused palace minders of stifling his wife's personality, in unprecedented public remarks. "To me, Masako seems worn out in her efforts to adjust herself to life as a royal over the past 10 years... It is also true that there was something that amounted to a denial of Masako's former career," he said. He described Masako as "anguished that she was hardly allowed to visit foreign countries although she left her job as a diplomat". The same year, the palace disclosed that Masako had been undergoing treatment for stress-induced "adjustment disorder" for almost her entire marriage. Naruhito later apologised for his remarks, but he has called for "new royal duties" to fit modern times. The pressure on Masako eased somewhat when her sister-in-law gave birth in 2006 to a son, the now 12-year-old Prince Hisahito. - 'Close to the people' - Naruhito has also followed his father's lead by hitting back against revisionism on Japan's role in World War II, with remarks seen by some as a rebuke of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nationalism. "Today when memories of war are set to fade, I reckon it is important to look back on our past with modesty and pass down correctly the miserable experience and the historic path Japan took from the generation who know the war to the generation who don't," he said in 2015. Naruhito and Masako are expected to pursue the role of comforters-in-chief crafted by the current imperial couple, who have won public support for their appearances alongside the victims of natural disasters. They "will probably follow the current style of standing side-by-side with the public -- visiting disaster-hit areas and praying for peace while mourning the war dead", said Hideya Kawanishi, an associate professor at Nagoya University and Japanese history expert. In February, Naruhito said he hoped as emperor to "be always close to the people and share the joys as well as the sorrows". But the couple "will not be able to do the same amount of activities as the current imperial couple do" given Masako's health, Kawanishi told AFP. In a statement released on her birthday in December, Masako pledged to do her best despite feeling "insecure" about becoming empress. In the candid statement, she said she was recovering and could "perform more duties than before", crediting the "powerful support" of the public. Doctors have warned however that she will need to continue treatment and is susceptible to fatigue. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Plus Que Parfait went to the lead in the stretch and won the $2.5 million UAE Derby on Saturday. The win was worth 100 Kentucky Derby standings points for Plus Que Parfait. That would be more than enough to get him into the May 4 race at Churchill Downs if his connections choose to ship in for the start of the Triple Crown season. The winning jockey was Jose Ortiz, who was riding at Gulfstream Park earlier in the week and passed up opportunities for Saturday's Florida Derby. The 2017 Eclipse Award winner found himself behind a pack of four other horses as the field settled into the stretch. Ortiz guided Plus Que Parfait between them, then ran away in the final strides to get to the line ahead of Gray Magician and Manguzi. Heavily favored Divine Image, a filly who went off at 9-5, was never a factor. Plus Que Parfait returned $19.60, $7 and $6.40. Gray Magician paid $8 and $6.80, and longshot Manguzi showed at $16.40. Jockey Jose Ortiz and connections react after winning with Coal Front the $1.5 million Group 2 Godolphin Mile over 1600m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 30, 2019. (AP/Martin Dokoupil) The UAE Derby capped a big day Ortiz, who rode Coal Front to victory in the earlier $1.5 million Godolphin Mile. Jockey Jose Ortiz reacts after winning with Plus Que Parfait the $2.5 million Group 2 UAE Derby over 1900m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil) Plus Que Parfait with jockey Jose Ortiz wins the $2.5 million Group 2 UAE Derby over 1900m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil) Jockey Jose Ortiz reacts after winning with Plus Que Parfait the $2.5 million Group 2 UAE Derby over 1900m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil) HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) - Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syria's civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from home. He was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited, paid and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. There, he found himself thrown into one of the war's bloodiest front lines, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest") before each mortar blast. Iran ran an extensive drive to bring Shiites from across the region and create a network of militias to help save Assad from the uprising against his rule - not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistan's impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning to their homeland, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehran's influence amid Afghanistan's unending conflicts. "Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists," said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He spoke on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He wouldn't meet The Associated Press at home or in public - only in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighborhood. Even there, Mehdi kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, photo, Afghans return to Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in the western Herat Province. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen burst into Herat's Jawadia Shiite mosque, opening fire and setting off their suicide belt explosives among worshippers, killing 38 people. Just knowing people who fought in Syria can land someone in jail, said a local elder in a village near Herat. He spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. Eight men from his village were killed fighting in Syria, but there are no graves for them here. All were buried in Iran, he said. Iran intensified its role in Syria when Assad appeared to be losing the fight against rebels in 2013 and 2014. Tehran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops and began bringing in allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanon's Hezbollah. But the largest was the force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, tens of thousands of Afghans likely trained and fought in it. Most of them are from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority, who are among the country's poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry who is familiar with government intelligence. The official was not authorized to brief reporters and so spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more to assert its influence in Afghanistan, particularly as the United States accelerates its efforts to end its nearly 18-year military intervention. "Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point," warned Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the U.S. war on terror. "Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure and expertise." Afghanistan is already tormented by an overabundance of armed groups, many divided on ethnic lines. They include militias loyal to several warlords, who are aligned with the government but often at odds with each other. There are also the Sunni militants: Taliban insurgents rule in nearly half the country, and the Islamic State affiliate has proven to be a stubborn enemy, even in the face of relentless U.S. bombing raids. All those factions could turn their massive arsenals on each other after a U.S. and NATO withdrawal. It has happened before. In the early 1990s, factions of the U.S.-backed mujahedeen who took power after the Soviet withdrawal turned on each other in fighting that leveled large parts of the capital, Kabul, and killed an estimated 50,000 people. Iran will likely seize on any turmoil to mobilize the Fatimiyoun with the very real pretext that Afghan Shiites need a defender, said Michael Kugelman, Asia Program deputy director at the Washington-based Wilson Center. If Afghanistan is plunged into more unrest, "the Iranians would have a strong motivation to help a Shia force that would face intensified threats from the Taliban and especially ISIS," he said, using an alternate abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Iran is already supporting Syria war veterans living in Kabul and in central Afghanistan's Hazara-dominated region of Bamiyan, said the Interior Ministry official. He said Afghan intelligence agencies have identified senior Iranian government officials who are "managing the activities" of returning fighters, including providing them arms and money and building a structure for quick re-mobilization if needed. Afghan warlord Abdul Gani Alipur, an ethnic Hazara, is also implicated in aiding Iran, he said. Alipur was arrested late last year on charges of having an illegal militia, but he was released after thousands of Hazaras protested. Most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade were driven by hopelessness and poverty, not loyalty to Iran, said Reza Kasimi, a researcher with the independent Kabul-based research group, Afghanistan Analysts Network. "The first thing is that most of these people don't see a future for themselves in Afghanistan," he said. When Mehdi went to Iran in 2015, he worked, mostly on construction sites, to earn enough money to make a run for Europe. But by the time he did, Europe's borders had closed. "I was very disappointed. I had come to Iran to go to Europe, to study, to have a better life, but I was still there, with nothing," Mehdi said. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of $900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely $150 a month. "I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river," Mehdi said. "I decided, 'Live or die, I'll go.'" They reported to a recruitment center in Tehran. There, officials gathered his personal details - the names of his parents and relatives and the street where he lived in Herat. "I understood they wanted all that information if I died," he said. He and other Afghan recruits were flown the next day to Iran's southern Yazd province, where they underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard. Mehdi's marksmanship impressed the trainers, and he was made a sniper. When it was over, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salary would be deposited. They were taken to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. There, Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war - a campaign that began in the spring of 2016 against Islamic militant factions, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, over the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppo's edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian government troops, Iranian soldiers, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes - all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months and it is estimated hundreds on both sides were killed or wounded. On a single day, militants killed an estimated 80 pro-government fighters, including at least 13 Iranians and dozens of Afghans, Iraqis and Lebanese. In the end, the militants held Khan Toman, as they do to this day. Mehdi described terrifying bloodshed. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and only 200 returned alive and unwounded. "Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies." he said. "For the first couple of days I was very scared. The explosions were so loud." Another Afghan veteran of the same battle, Abdullah, said he still has nightmares of the dead, their limbs missing. He said the Afghans were sent as cannon fodder. "I saw Afghan fighters rolled over by tanks the way someone steps on ants," he told the AP in Kabul. "Dead bodies were scattered everywhere." Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago, and his life has changed little from when he left. He remains poor and unable to find a job. After nearly 18 years and more than $1 trillion spent by the United States, Afghans are only getting poorer. According to a 2016-17 Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey, co-sponsored by the European Union, 55 percent of Afghans live below the poverty level, compared to 38 percent in 2011-12. Mehdi spoke bitterly of his lack of options. He's considering re-enlisting for Syria. The brigade is still operating there, and some Afghan veterans stayed in Syria to find jobs, mostly in construction. "I don't know what my future brings," he said. "Maybe I become a thief or maybe I go back to Syria." ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report. In this Feb. 20, 2019 photo, Afghans return to Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in the western Herat Province. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 17, 2019 photo, a village elder speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself. Just knowing people who fought in Syria can land someone in jail, said the elder. He spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. Eight men from his village were killed fighting in Syria, but there are no graves for them here. All were buried in Iran, he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 20, 2019 photo, an Afghan boy walks past the Jawadia Shiite mosque that was targeted by by Islamic State gunmen last May, killing 38 people, in Herat, western Afghanistan. Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal IS in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In This Feb. 21, 2019 photo, Reza Kasimi, a researcher with the independent Kabul-based research group, Afghanistan Analysts Network, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at his office in Herat, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria. Most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade were driven by hopelessness and poverty, not loyalty to Iran, said Kasimi. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 photo, Mohammad Bakhsh, an ethnic Hazara bicycle repairman speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Herat, Afghanistan. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Most were impoverished members of the minority Hazara community unable to find jobs. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. "We don't like that they go but at least in Syria they earn money," he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 photo, Abdullah, a former Afghan fighter in Syria with the Fatimiyoun Brigade, wears a mask to hid his identity during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) - An impoverished teenager, Mehdi, joined the wave of Afghans who left their homeland, dreaming of reaching Europe to find work. Where he ended up was entirely different: On the battlefields of Syria's civil war, in a militia created by Iran. Mehdi was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Syria, he was thrown into one of the war's bloodiest battles, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of "Allahu akbar" before each mortar blast. Iran created a network of militias made up of Shiites from across the region and used it to save Assad from the uprising against his rule - not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistan's impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning home, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehran's influence amid Afghanistan's unending conflicts. "Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists," said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He was terrified, speaking on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He met The Associated in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighborhood, and even there kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. The returning veterans are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that see them as traitors. They face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen attacked a Shiite mosque in Herat, killing 38 people. In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 photo, Mohammad Bakhsh, an ethnic Hazara bicycle repairman speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Herat, Afghanistan. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Most were impoverished members of the minority Hazara community unable to find jobs. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. "We don't like that they go but at least in Syria they earn money," he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) To back Assad, Iran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria and brought in a number of allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanon's Hezbollah. But the largest was a force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, several tens of thousands of Afghans trained and fought in it, most from the ethnic Hazara minority, who are among Afghanistan's poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more, especially if the country's many armed factions turn on each other in escalated warfare after U.S. and NATO troops withdraw. Iran could use the chaos to deploy the brigade, with the very real pretext that the vulnerable Shiite minority needs a defender. "Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point," said Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the U.S. war on terror. "Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure, and expertise." Like most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade, Mehdi was driven by poverty, not ideology or loyalty to Iran. Too poor to afford books for school, Mehdi had just turned 17 when he left Afghanistan in 2015. He went to Iran and worked in Tehran for months, saving money for the next leg of the trip to Europe. But Europe's borders closed, and Mehdi was stranded in Tehran. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of $900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely $150 a month. "I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river," Mehdi said. "I decided, 'Live or die, I'll go'." He and other Afghans underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard at a base in Iran's southern Yazd province. Afterward, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salaries would be deposited. They went to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war - a 2016 campaign against Islamic militant factions for control of the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppo's edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian and Iranian troops, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes - all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months, killing and wounding hundreds on both sides. "Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies." Mehdi said. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and all but 200 were either killed or wounded. Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago. He remains dirt poor, and unable to find a job. He spoke bitterly of his lack of options. He noted that the Fatimiyoun Brigade remains in Syria, and some Afghan veterans stayed there after their service to work. "I don't know what my future brings," he said. "Maybe I become a thief - or maybe I go back to Syria." ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report. In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 photo, Abdullah, a former Afghan fighter in Syria with the Fatimiyoun Brigade, wears a mask to hid his identity during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 26, 2019 photo, Abdullah, a former Afghan fighter in Syria with the Fatimiyoun Brigade, wears a mask to hid his identity during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 17, 2019 photo, a village elder speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself. Just knowing people who fought in Syria can land someone in jail, said the elder. He spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. Eight men from his village were killed fighting in Syria, but there are no graves for them here. All were buried in Iran, he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 20, 2019 photo, an Afghan boy walks past the Jawadia Shiite mosque that was targeted by by Islamic State gunmen last May, killing 38 people, in Herat, western Afghanistan. Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal IS in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, photo, Afghans return to Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in the western Herat Province. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Feb. 20, 2019 photo, Afghans return to Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in the western Herat Province. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Returning home as Syria's war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Located on the east coast of New Zealands South Island, Christchurch is an English heritage city. It is known for its quiet, picturesque bicycle tracks, gondola rides, street art, innovative projects, and more, making Christchurch a great tourist attraction. Before the first Europeans settled here in the late 1800s, it had been a dwelling place of several native indigenous tribes for centuries. This beautiful city of about 4,00,000 residents the third-most populous city of New Zealand has seen its share of misery and destruction in recent past. First, it was rocked by a series of earthquakes between 2010-2012 that saw large-scale devastation, including damage to many of its heritage buildings. This was followed by a major wildfire of 2017. But what happened in the early afternoon of Friday, March 24, 2019, is not anything anyone would have imagined. The people of New Zealand condemned the mosque shooting incident and stood up in solidarity. (Source: Reuters) It started like any other Friday at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton. The faithful had gathered there for the routine afternoon prayer. Suddenly, at about 1:40 pm, a shooter started indiscriminate firing at the congregation. By the time the ordeal was over, there were 50 dead and several others wounded. The perpetrator a white supremacist was arrested and charged with murder. There was widespread condemnation of this ghastly attack, and rightfully so. This was a premeditated murder in cold blood, based on hatred and bigotry towards followers of the Muslim faith. The perpetrator belonged to the white supremacist ideology and that ideology was condemned in no uncertain terms. Leaders across the globe joined in condemning and calling out the hateful ideology behind it. Social media feeds trended hash-tags in sympathy. Op-eds were written by all major world media. In New Zealand, a week after the incident, the Muslim call to prayer was made across the nation on the day of mourning on March 22. The Islamic headscarf or Hijab became the symbol of solidarity the world over. Barely a month prior to this terrorist attack, February 14, 2019, to be precise, there was another terror attack, in the picturesque Kashmir valley in India. A terrorist owing allegiance to the Islamic jihadist terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (the Army of Mohammad) based in Pakistan had rammed his car full of explosives into a bus. The bus was carrying members of paramilitary troops. 40 jawans died while others were left grievously wounded. The sharply anti-Hindu nature of the Pulwama attack was hardly talked about in international media. (Source: Reuters) The perpetrator had released a suicide video. Besides political rhetoric, the video had purported references from the Quran. It also had specific reference to impure and polytheistic Hindus. Reference to cow urine drinkers were also made. In short, it was full of unambiguous hatred towards Hindus. But, while Indians were trying to come to terms with the situation after all, it wasnt the first time they were subjected to such barbaric treatment the worlds reaction, I felt, was far from what was desired. The world press reported the attack. However, it was very tentative in writing on the incident, especially if you compare it to the reporting of the terrorist attack in New Zealand. In his brilliant analysis of the headlines and coverage specific to the US-based newspaper The New York Times (NYT), Vamsee Juluri of the University of San Francisco highlights the apparent bias in reportage. According to Juluri, These stories convey some of the major events of the conflict, such as the attack, the Indian response (accusing Pakistan), the Pakistani counter-response (offering to cooperate in an investigation), the Indian airstrike, and the subsequent episode with the capture and release of an Indian Air Force pilot, all of these interspersed with editorials and opinion pieces on war, militarism in media and social media, and the agony of the Kashmiri writer. However, there were no sympathetic stories of the struggles of Indians who have been at the receiving end of Islamic terrorism for decades. I looked at New York Times headlines on India since #PulwamaTerroristAttack closely and this is what I found. https://t.co/Dlee257jbA Vamsee Juluri (@VamseeJuluri) March 11, 2019 Other international media outlets also presented a biased report of the event. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the anti-Hindu nature of the attack was entirely absent from international reportage. The following conclusion made by Juluri with regards to the NYT is also largely applicable to the rest of the world media: By spinning the mass slaughter of 40 Indians by a Hindu-hating suicide bomber into a vague discourse that hopped from India-smearing to outright marketing pleas for arms dealers the Times has inadvertently raised some interesting questions indeed about what sort of path supposedly independent journalism is headed towards. Most world leaders were also not forthcoming in their condemnation of this terror attack as a targeted hate crime despite all clear indications pointing towards it. A quick look at the Twitter timeline of these leaders will prove that. On the contrary, the Christchurch attack was condemned by one and all as an attack on the entire Muslim community. Similarly, we did not see a call for a Hindu prayer. Other than some protest marches and vigils by diaspora groups across the world, there were hardly any non-Indian groups who came forward in solidarity. On the contrary, such vigils in some quarters were painted as reactions from Hindu fundamentalist groups. In one such incident, a US professor (coincidentally of Indian origin) at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, complained in a letter to the editor about a vigil by one of the registered student organisations. The 'hijab' became a symbol of solidarity. But after Pulwama, there was no mass application of 'tilak', for instance. (Source: Reuters) There wasnt any call for a mass application of tilak or sindoor either. Nor did we see people rush to wear mangalsutras or angawastrams. Now contrast this to the mass emotions with women across the globe, especially in New Zealand and the West, wearing Hijab in solidarity with the Muslims. Hashtag #Hinduphobia did not trend on social media either. Indians have been persecuted for several hundred years now. They have been persecuted for their beliefs that dont conform to the predominant Abrahamic or Semitic belief system. They have been persecuted for moorti puja (idolatry), so-called polytheism, and their class structure. Yet, they are probably the only ancient indigenous civilisation to have survived the onslaught. And they continue to be the subject of scorn, devoid of any recognition and sympathy for their struggle and perseverance. Also read: Hey New York Times, Pulwama was not an explosion, just like 9/11 wasnt 'a plane crash' In the November of 1984, when we finally went back to school, we had difficulty meeting each others eyes. There was a sense of collective shame at the obscene dance of death we had witnessed together. In a bid to make sense of that horror, we told each other jokes sick, black humour type of jokes. By Day 3, we found out that a boy from our school was also among those killed. He had a younger sister, also from our school. Someone had the bright idea that we should complete her notes and class work, so that she would not have any problems when she returned to school. The stomach-churning realisation that her books must have burnt down with her house was resolutely swept under the carpet. Volunteers came in droves in the crazy, shifting world around us, it was something tangible to do. As gestures go, it was a pretty futile one. She never came back to school, and I do not know if those notes ever reached her. What if they had? Would they have helped her? However, they did help us. Those note-books helped us proclaim that we were on her side and had no truck with the murderous mobs that had taken over our streets. As I watched the school kids in New Zealand now performing the haka the traditional war dance my heart went out to them. I knew the confusion and shock they were trying to process. All tragedies require rituals to dress their wounds senseless, cruel acts like the one perpetrated in Christchurch demand grand gestures. And then, the women of New Zealand came up with the grandest of all gestures wearing hijab: that most controversial of all garments for a day in solidarity with Muslim women. From Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi ritually and publically casting off her veil in 1923, to Egypts Minister of Education giving in after protests by Egyptian students and allowing schoolgirls to don the hijab even without parental consent in 1994 the Islamic veil has a long and complex history. Feminist scholars are increasingly revisiting the positioning of the veil within the feminist discourse, but that is the subject of another debate. Suffice to say that for a large part of the 20th century, most Muslim countries actively discouraged veiling. Turkey and Iran actually banned it leading to wide-spread protests. In Iran, several women confined themselves to their homes for years together, because they refused to step out without their veils. Those who did wear veils in public had to face humiliation, fines or imprisonment. As far as we know, the damage to patriarchy was minimal. The grandest of gestures by New Zealand women in solidarity with Muslim women and a direct attack on Islamophobia. (Photo: Reuters) Today, Iranian women are protesting the law on compulsory hijab. Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. There is nothing more patriarchal than an insecure state afraid of all kinds of dissent. Iranian women today risk their lives and liberties to win the right to remove their head-scarves just as their grandmothers had risked theirs to wear chadors an all-enveloping veil which became a symbol of resistance during the Islamic revolution. Iranian women know and have experienced that patriarchy does not lie in a garment. It lies in the state and by extension, men deciding what women should or should not wear. Western women, who wear headscarves when in Iran are indeed giving legitimacy to this law and therefore betraying their Iranian sisters. But New Zealand does not compel women to cover their heads. Women in New Zealand are free to make a choice with regards to their headgear. The trope of the veiled Muslim woman has long been used to justify imperialist projects: oppressed Muslim women and the need to rescue them validate bombing their cities or killing their men. It is no coincidence that images of burqa-clad Afghani women flooded American media just as US armies invaded their country. Or that images of burqa-clad Indian women accompanied debates on the criminalization of Triple Talaq. It is this garment so loaded with political and social stigma which the women of New Zealand chose to own and make mainstream. To my mind, not only was this an act of immense courage and compassion, but it was also a direct attack on the very foundations of Islamophobia. Kudos to Jacinda Ardern and the women of New Zealand for a gesture so powerful and so not futile. Also read: Christchurch terror attack: Why hate is the easiest emotion to embrace 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. AKITA Drilling Ltd. provides provides contract drilling services in Canada and the United States. The company is involved in the drilling of oil and gas wells; other forms of drilling related to potash mining; and development of storage caverns. It specializes in pad and other purpose-built drilling rigs; and conventional, directional, horizontal, and underbalanced drilling, as well as provides specialized drilling services. As of December 31, 2018, the company had 17 wholly owned and operated drilling rigs in Canada; and 17 drilling rigs in the United States. It serves independent and multinational oil and gas companies. AKITA Drilling Ltd. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More Ferguson plc distributes plumbing and heating products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Central Europe. It offers plumbing and heating solutions to customers in the residential, municipal, civil and industrial markets, and commercial sectors for repair, maintenance, and improvement (RMI), as well as new construction markets. The company also distributes pipes, valves, fittings, hydrants, meters, and related water management products, as well as offers related services, such as water line tapping and pipe fusion services. In addition, it distributes heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration equipment, and parts and supplies to specialist contractors in the residential and commercial markets for repair and replacement; and PVF products to industrial customers. Further, the company fabricates and supplies fire protection systems and bespoke fabrication services to commercial contractors for new construction and renovation projects, as well as offers products, services, and solutions to enable maintenance of facilities across various RMI markets. Additionally, it offers supply chain management solutions for PVF; and industrial maintenance, repair, and operations specializing in delivering automation, instrumentation, engineered products, and turn-key solutions. The company also sells its home improvement products directly to consumers, as well as through a network of online stores. In addition, it operates its B2B business primarily under the Ferguson brand; and B2C business under the Build.com brand. Further, the company provides products and services for maintenance of multi-family properties, government agencies, hospitality, education, healthcare, and other facilities. It operates a network of 2,194 branches and 19 distribution centers. Ferguson plc was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Wokingham, the United Kingdom. Read More Conifex Timber Inc. primarily manufactures and sells lumber products in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, and internationally. It is involved in the timber harvesting, reforestation, and forest management activities; manufacture of finished softwood lumber from spruce, pine, and fir logs; manufacture, sale, and distribution of dimension lumber; processing logs into lumber and wood chips, as well as by-products or residues, such as trim blocks, sawdust, shavings, and barks; and providing value added lumber finishing services. The company also develops bioenergy and bio products; and operates a 36 megawatt biomass power generation plant, which produces renewable energy for commercial sale. The company was formerly known as West Fourth Capital Inc. and changed its name to Conifex Timber Inc. in June 2010. Conifex Timber Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Exchange Income Corporation engages in aerospace and aviation services and equipment, and manufacturing businesses worldwide. It operates through two segments, Aerospace & Aviation, and Manufacturing. The Aerospace & Aviation segment offers scheduled airline and charter services, and emergency medical services to communities located in Manitoba, Ontario, and Nunavut, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It also provides after-market aircraft, engines, and component parts to regional airline operators; designs, modifies, maintains, and operates custom sensor equipped aircraft; and offers maritime surveillance and support services in Canada, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. In addition, this segment provides pilot flight training services. The Manufacturing segment manufactures window wall systems primarily used in high-rise multi-family residential projects; stainless steel tanks, vessels, and processing equipment; heavy duty pressure washing and steam systems, commercial water recycling systems, and custom tanks for the transportation of oil, gasoline, and water products; precision parts and components primarily used in the aerospace and defense sector; electrical and control systems integrator focused on the agricultural material handling; and precision sheet metal and tubular products. This segment also focuses on the engineering, design, manufacture, and construction of communication infrastructure, as well as provision of technical services. Exchange Income Corporation is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. Read More Infineon Technologies AG designs, develops, manufactures, and markets semiconductors and related system solutions worldwide. Its Automotive segment offers automotive microcontrollers; 3D ToF, magnetic, and pressure sensors; discrete power semiconductors; IGBT modules; industrial microcontrollers; power and radar sensor integrated circuits (ICs); transceivers; silicon carbide diodes, MOSEFTs, and modules; and voltage regulators for use in assistance and safety systems, comfort electronics, infotainment, powertrain, and security products. The company's Industrial Power Control segment provides bare dies, discrete IGBTs, driver ICs, SIC diodes, and IGBT modules and stacks for home appliances, industrial drives, industrial power supplies, industrial robotics, industrial vehicles, and traction, as well as for energy generation, storage, and transmission. Its Power & Sensor Systems segment offers gas sensors, MEMS microphones, and pressure sensors chips; discrete low-voltage, mid-voltage, and high-voltage power MOSFETs; control ICs; customized chips; GaN power switches; GPS low-noise amplifiers; low-voltage and high-voltage driver ICs; radar sensor ICs; RF antenna switches and power transistors; transient voltage suppressor diodes; and USB controllers for use in audio amplifiers, automotive electronics, BLDC motors, cellular communications infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations, human machine interaction, high-reliability components, Internet of Things, LED and conventional lighting systems, mobile devices, and power management applications. The company's Connected Secure Systems segment provides connectivity solutions, embedded security controllers, microcontrollers, and security controllers for authentication, automotive, consumer electronics, government identification document, Internet of Things, mobile communication, payment system, ticketing, access control, and trusted computing applications. Infineon Technologies AG is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Read More 4 hours ago Are These 3 Old-School Companies Worth A Fresh Look? In the flurry of newly public companies posting big price gains, its easy to overlook long-established companies like Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT), and Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) that are flashing technical and fundamental strength. Its true that companies that went public within the past 15 years are often among the markets biggest gainers. Read Article Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF's stock was trading at $37.30 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, VWO stock has increased by 34.7% and is now trading at $50.23. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Cantel Medical Corp. provides infection prevention and control products and services for the healthcare market. The company's Medical segment offers automated endoscope reprocessing systems; disinfectants and sterilants; detergents; leak testing and manual cleaning products; storage cabinets and transport systems; manual cleaning products; endoscope process tracking products; other consumables, accessories, and supplies for use in disinfect rigid endoscopes, flexible endoscopes, and other instrumentation; and technical maintenance services. Its Life Sciences segment provides dialysis water purification and bicarbonate mixing systems; hollow fiber filters, and other filtration and separation products; liquid disinfectants and cold sterilization products; dry fog products; room temperature sterilization equipment and services; and clean-room certification and decontamination services for the dialysis and other healthcare, research laboratories, food and beverage, and commercial industrial customers, as well as microbiological testing services. The company's Dental segment offers hand and powered dental instruments, instrument reprocessing and sterility assurance products, towels, bibs, tray liners, sponges, nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation equipment and related single-use disposable nasal masks, face masks, and shields. It also provides hand sanitizers, germicidal wipes, disinfectants, surface disinfectants, waterline treatment products, saliva ejectors, evacuator tips, plastic cups, prophy angles, and prophy paste. The company's Dialysis segment provides hemodialysis concentrates and other ancillary supplies; medical device reprocessing systems; and sterilants and disinfectants. The company sells its products through its direct distribution network in the United States; and directly or under various third-party distribution agreements internationally. Cantel Medical Corp. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Little Falls, New Jersey. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Becton, Dickinson and: (Bard Istanbul Healthcare Limited Company), Accuri Cytometers, Accuri Cytometers Inc., Adaptec Manufacturing Singapore, Alverix, Alverix Inc., Atto Bioscience, BD Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., BD Infection Prevention BV, BD Kiestra BV, BD Kiestra Total Lab Automation, BD Rapid Diagnostic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., BD San Luis Potosi S.A. de C.V., BD Switzerland Sarl, BD Ventures LLC, BD West Africa Limited, BDX INO LLC, Bard (Thailand) Limited, Bard ASDI Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc., Bard Acquisition Sub Inc., Bard Australia Pty. Limited, Bard Benelux N.V., Bard Brachytherapy Inc., Bard Brasil Industria e Comercio de Produtos Para a Saude Ltda., Bard Canada Inc., Bard Chile S.p.A., Bard Czech Republic s.r.o., Bard Devices Inc., Bard Dublin ITC Limited, Bard EMEA Finance Center Sp.z o.o., Bard European Distribution Center N.V., Bard Finance B.V. & Co. KG., Bard Financial Services Ltd., Bard Finland OY, Bard France S.A.S., Bard Global Holdings I LLC, Bard Global Holdings II LLC, Bard Global Holdings III LLC, Bard Healthcare Inc., Bard Healthcare Science (Shanghai) Limited, Bard Hellas S.A., Bard Holding SAS, Bard Holdings Limited, Bard Holdings Netherlands B.V., Bard Hong Kong Limited, Bard IP Holdings Inc., Bard India Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Bard International Holdings B.V., Bard International Inc., Bard Korea Ltd., Bard Limited, Bard MRL Acquisition Corp., Bard Malaysia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd., Bard Medica SA, Bard Medical Devices (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical SA (Proprietary) Limited, Bard Mexico Realty S. de R.L. de C.V., Bard Norden AB, Bard Norway AS, Bard Pacific Health Care Company Ltd., Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., Bard Poland Sp. z.o.o., Bard Productos Plasticos e Medicos Ltda., Bard Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Bard S.r.l., Bard Sdn. Bhd., Bard Shannon Limited, Bard Singapore Private Limited, Bard Sourcing Office Singapore Pte. Ltd., Bard Sweden AB, Bard UK Newco Limited, Bard de Espana S.A., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Management Limited, Becton Dickinson (Mauritius) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Pty) Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Thailand) Limited, Becton Dickinson A.G., Becton Dickinson A/S, Becton Dickinson Argentina S.R.L., Becton Dickinson Asia Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Asia Limited, Becton Dickinson Austria GmbH, Becton Dickinson Austria Holdings GmbH, Becton Dickinson B.V., Becton Dickinson B.V. Saudi Limited Company, Becton Dickinson Benelux N.V., Becton Dickinson Biosciences Systems and Reagents Inc., Becton Dickinson Canada Inc., Becton Dickinson Caribe Ltd., Becton Dickinson Croatia d.o.o., Becton Dickinson Czechia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Dispensing Belgium BVBA, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Denmark A/S, Becton Dickinson Dispensing France SAS, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Norway, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Spain S.L.U., Becton Dickinson Dispensing UK Ltd., Becton Dickinson Distribution Center N.V., Becton Dickinson East Africa Ltd., Becton Dickinson Euro Finance Sarl, Becton Dickinson Europe Holdings S.A.S., Becton Dickinson France S.A.S., Becton Dickinson GSA Beteilgungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings I Inc., Becton Dickinson Global Holdings II LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings IV LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings V LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VIII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Services Centre Sdn. Bhd, Becton Dickinson GmbH, Becton Dickinson Guatemala S.A., Becton Dickinson Hellas S.A., Becton Dickinson Holdings Limited, Becton Dickinson Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Hungary Kft., Becton Dickinson India Private Limited, Becton Dickinson Industrias Cirurgicas Ltda., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy AB, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Holdings UK Limited, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc. S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy UK, Becton Dickinson Insulin Syringe Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings II Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings III Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Israel Ltd., Becton Dickinson Italia S.p.A., Becton Dickinson Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi, Becton Dickinson Korea Holding Inc., Becton Dickinson Korea Ltd., Becton Dickinson Ltd., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Global Holdings Sarl, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings II S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings III S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings V S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Malaysia Inc., Becton Dickinson Management GmbH & Co. KG, Becton Dickinson Matrex Holdings Inc., Becton Dickinson Medical (S) Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Products Pte. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Technology (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Global Holdings II C.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings B.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings II B.V., Becton Dickinson Norway AS, Becton Dickinson O.Y., Becton Dickinson Overseas Services Ltd., Becton Dickinson Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., Becton Dickinson Penel Limited, Becton Dickinson Philippines Inc., Becton Dickinson Polska Sp.z.o.o., Becton Dickinson Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Becton Dickinson Pty. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Research Centre Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Rowa Germany GmbH, Becton Dickinson Rowa Italy Srl, Becton Dickinson S.A., Becton Dickinson Sample Collection GmbH, Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.L.P., Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.P., Becton Dickinson Sdn. Bhd., Becton Dickinson Slovakia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Sweden AB, Becton Dickinson Sweden Holdings AB, Becton Dickinson Switzerland Global Holdings SarL, Becton Dickinson Technology Campus India, Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing I Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing II Limited, Becton Dickinson Venezuela C.A., Becton Dickinson Venture LLC, Becton Dickinson Verwaltungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Vostok LLC, Becton Dickinson Worldwide Investments Sa.r.L., Becton Dickinson Zambia Limited, Becton Dickinson and Company Ltd., Becton Dickinson de Colombia Ltda., Becton Dickinson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson del Uruguay S.A., Benex Ltd., Biometric Imaging, Bridger Biomed Inc., C. R. Bard, C. R. Bard (Portugal) - Produtos e Artigos Medicos e Farmaceuticos, C. R. Bard Do Brasil Productos Medicos Ltda., C. R. Bard GmbH, C. R. Bard Inc., C. R. Bard Netherlands Sales B.V., CME America LLC, CME Ltd., CME Medical (UK) Limited, CME UK (Holdings) Limited, CRISI Medical Systems, CRISI Medical Systems Inc., Caesarea Medical Electronics, Cardal II LLC, Care Fusion Development Private Limited, CareFusion, CareFusion (Barbados) SrL, CareFusion (Shanghai) Commercial and Trading Co. Limited, CareFusion 213 LLC, CareFusion 2200 Inc., CareFusion 2201 Inc., CareFusion 302 LLC, CareFusion 303 Inc., CareFusion Asia (HK) Limited, CareFusion BH 335 d.o.o. 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In his first speech in Rabat Francis speaks of brotherhood between Christians and Muslims. "Itis vital to foster the culture of dialogue and adhere to it unfailingly, to adopt mutual cooperation as our code of conduct and reciprocal understanding as our method and standard". "A change in disposition towards migrants, that affirms them as people". Rabat (AsiaNews) - Dialogue between Christians and Muslims to affirm coexistence and reject intolerance and violence in the name of God, openness towards and protection of those forced to leave their land and also the defense of nature. These are the objectives that Pope Francis is proposing in his visit to Morocco, which began today, voiced at the first meeting of Francis with King Mohammed VI, the country's authorities, representatives of civil society, the diplomatic corps accredited in the country and the Moroccan people. The welcome ceremony took place on the esplanade of the Tour Hassan in Rabat. The Pope, who arrived shortly after 2 pm, was greeted at the airport by an unusual rainfall, as well as by King Mohammed VI. The welcome ceremony, with hymns, military honors and presentation of the delegations took place shortly afterwards in the city. The second Pope to visit Morocco, 34 years after the historic speech of John Paul II in Casablanca, Francis naturally brought interreligious dialogue to the fore, also with express references to the Document on human fraternity, which he signed in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019 together with the rector of the University of Al-Azhar, Muhammad Ahmad al-Tayyib, considered the most authoritative exponent of Sunni Islam. The king himself, however, in his greeting affirmed the need for dialogue, tolerance and respect between people of different faiths. Francis, who defined Morocco as a "natural bridge between Africa and Europe", said that to build a more solidary world ", it is vital to foster the culture of dialogue and adhere to it unfailingly, to adopt mutual cooperation as our code of conduct and reciprocal understanding as our method and standard (cf. Document on Human Fraternity, Abu Dhabi, 4 February 2019). We are called to pursue this path tirelessly, in the effort to help each other overcome tensions and misunderstandings, cliches and stereotypes that generate fear and opposition. In this way, we will encourage the growth of a fruitful and respectful spirit of cooperation. It is likewise essential that fanaticism and extremism be countered by solidarity on the part of all believers, grounded in the lofty shared values that inspire our actions. For this reason, I am happy that I will shortly visit the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates. Established by Your Majesty, the Institute seeks to provide effective and sound training to combat all forms of extremism, which so often lead to violence and terrorism, and which, in any event, constitute an offense against religion and against God himself. Authentic dialogue, then, makes us appreciate more fully the importance of religion for building bridges between people and successfully meeting the challenges that I mentioned above. While respecting our differences, faith in God leads us to acknowledge the eminent dignity of each human being, as well as his or her inalienable rights. We believe that God created human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and he calls them to live as brothers and sisters and to spread the values of goodness, love and peace. That is why freedom of conscience and religious freedom which is not limited to freedom of worship alone, but allows all to live in accordance with their religious convictions are inseparably linked to human dignity. In this regard, there is a constant need to progress beyond mere tolerance to respect and esteem for others. This entails encountering and accepting others in their distinctive religious beliefs and enriching one another through our diversity, in a relationship marked by good will and by the pursuit of ways we can work together. Understood in this way, creating bridges between people from the point of view of interreligious dialogue calls for a spirit of mutual regard, friendship and indeed fraternity. Francis, who this morning met two families of Moroccan emigrants at the Vatican, recalled in the Rabat speech that the Intergovernmental Conference on the World Pact was held in Morocco for a safe, orderly and regular migration that adopted a document intended to serve as a point of reference for the entire international community. At the same time, much still remains to be done, especially in passing from the commitments undertaken there, at least in principle, to concrete actions, and, more particularly, to a change of attitude towards migrants, one that sees them as persons, not numbers, and acknowledges their rights and dignity in daily life and in political decisions. The last theme addressed by the Pope was the protection of nature.The genuine dialogue we want to encourage also leads to a consideration of the world in which we live, our common home. The International Conference on Climate Change, COP 22, also held here in Morocco, once more demonstrated that many nations are conscious of the need to protect this planet where God has placed us to live and to contribute to a true ecological conversion for the sake of integral human development. I express my appreciation for the progress being made in this area and I am gratified by the growth of authentic solidarity between nations and peoples in the effort to find just and lasting solutions to the scourges that threaten our common home and the very survival of the human family. Only together, in patient, judicious, candid and sincere dialogue, can we hope to devise adequate solutions for reversing the trend of global warming and to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty (cf. Laudato Si, 175). SEACOR Marine Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of offshore marine business. It offers global marine and support transportation services to offshore oil & gas exploration, development, and production facilities. It operates its fleet in five principal geographic regions: the United States, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico; Africa, primarily in West Africa; the Middle East and Asia; Latin America, primarily in Mexico, Brazil and Guyana; and Europe, primarily in the North Sea. The company involves in the operation of support and specialty vessels for and among independent oil, gas exploration, production, and emerging independent companies. It operates through the following segments: Time Charter and Bareboat Charters. The Time Charter segment offers vessels to customers based upon daily rates of hire. The Bareboat Charter segment is the support of vessels among customers where the customer assumes responsibility for all operating expenses and all risk of operation. The company was founded on December 15, 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. 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KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. 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Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH. The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point LNG LP, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dairy RNG NY LLC, Dairy RNG NY-Curtin LLC, Dairy RNG OH LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SRFI LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 201 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and Yemassee Solar LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Franklin Resources: AdvisorEngine, AdvisorEngine Inc., Alumcreek Holdings LLC, Athena Capital Advisors, Balanced Equity Management, Balanced Equity Management Pty. Limited, Benefit Street Partners, Bissett & Associates Investment Management, Brandywine Global Investment Management Europe Limited, CCPF GP Holdco No.2 Limited, CCPF No.2 (GP) Limited, CCPF No.2 LP, CP Industrial Management LLC, CP Intermediate Holdco Inc., CRM Software LLC, Clarion Gramercy (Deutschland) GmbH, Clarion Gramercy (UK) Limited, Clarion Gramercy Limited, Clarion Partners Europe Ltd., Clarion Partners Holdings LLC, Clarion Partners LLC, Clarion Partners Securities LLC, Clarion REIM South America Holdings LLC, Clarion REIM South America Invsetimentos Imobiliarios Ltda, ClearBridge RARE Infrastructure (North America) Pty Limited, ClearBridge RARE Infrastructure International Pty Limited, Darby - Hana Infrastructure Fund Management Co. Ltd., Edinburgh Partners, FT FinTech Holdings LLC, FT Opportunistic Distressed Fund Ltd., FTC Investor Services Inc., FTCI (Cayman) Ltd., FTPE Advisers LLC, Fiduciary International Holding Inc., Fiduciary Investment Management International Inc., Fiduciary Trust (International) Sarl, Fiduciary Trust Company International, Fiduciary Trust Company International of Pennsylvania, Fiduciary Trust Company of Canada, Fiduciary Trust International LLC, Fiduciary Trust International of California, Fiduciary Trust International of Delaware, Fiduciary Trust International of the South, Franklin Advisers GP LLC, Franklin Advisers Inc., Franklin Advisory Services LLC, Franklin Marketplace Loan GP LLC, Franklin Mutual Advisers LLC, Franklin SystematiQ Advisers LLC, Franklin Templeton Alternative Investments (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, Franklin Templeton Austria GmbH, Franklin Templeton Capital Holdings Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Chile SpA. V., Franklin Templeton Companies LLC, Franklin Templeton Digital Advisory Services GmbH, Franklin Templeton Fund Management Limited, Franklin Templeton GSC Asset Management Sdn. Bhd., Franklin Templeton Global Investors Limited, Franklin Templeton Holding Limited, Franklin Templeton International Services (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton International Services S.a r.l., Franklin Templeton Investment Management (Shanghai) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited, Franklin Templeton Investment Services GmbH, Franklin Templeton Investment Services Mexico S. de R.L., Franklin Templeton Investment Trust Management Co. Ltd., Franklin Templeton Investments (Asia) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Australia Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Corp., Franklin Templeton Investments Japan Limited, Franklin Templeton Investments Poland sp. z o.o., Franklin Templeton Investments South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Franklin Templeton Investor Services LLC, Franklin Templeton Investimentos (Brasil) Ltda., Franklin Templeton Luxembourg S.A., Franklin Templeton Magyarorszag Kft., Franklin Templeton Management Luxembourg S.A., Franklin Templeton Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Franklin Templeton Private Equity LLC, Franklin Templeton Services (India) Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Services LLC, Franklin Templeton Servicios de Asesoria Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Franklin Templeton Slovakia s.r.o., Franklin Templeton Social Infrastructure GP S.a r.l., Franklin Templeton Strategic Investments Ltd., Franklin Templeton Switzerland Ltd., Franklin Templeton Trustee Services Private Limited, Franklin Templeton Turkey Advisory Services A.S., Franklin Templeton Uruguay S.A., Franklin Venture Partners (Talos Cayman GP) LLC, Franklin Venture Partners LLC, Franklin/Templeton Distributors Inc., ITI Capital Markets Limited, K2 Advisors, LM (BVI) Limited, LM Holdings 2 Limited, LM Holdings Limited, LM International Holding LP, Legg Mason & Co (UK) Limited, Legg Mason & Co. LLC, Legg Mason (Chile) Inversiones Holdings Limitada, Legg Mason Asset Management Australia Limited, Legg Mason Asset Management Hong Kong Limited, Legg Mason Asset Management Singapore Pte. Limited, Legg Mason Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Legg Mason Holding (Switzerland) GmbH, Legg Mason Inc., Legg Mason Investment Funds Limited, Legg Mason Investments (Europe) Limited, Legg Mason Investments (Switzerland) GmbH, Legg Mason Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor LLC, Legg Mason Royce Holdings LLC, Onsa Inc., RARE IP Trust, RARE Infrastructure Limited, REDROSE Caesar S.a r.l., Random Forest Capital, Random Forest Capital LLC, Rensburg Sheppards plc, Riva Financial Systems Limited, Royce & Associates GP LLC, Royce & Associates LP, Royce Fund Services LLC, Royce Management Company LLC, TSEMF III (Jersey) Limited, TSEMF IV (Jersey) Limited, Templeton Asset Management (Labuan) Limited, Templeton Asset Management (Poland) TFI S.A., Templeton Asset Management Ltd., Templeton Global Advisors Limited, Templeton Global Holdings Ltd., Templeton International Inc., Templeton Investment Counsel LLC, Templeton Restructured Investments III Ltd., Templeton Restructured Investments IV Ltd., Templeton Restructured Investments L.L.C., Templeton Turkey Fund GP Ltd., Templeton Worldwide Inc., Templeton do Brasil Ltda., Templeton/Franklin Investment Services Inc., WHITEROSE Caesar S.a r.l., Western Asset Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Western Asset Management (Brazil) Holdings Limitada, Western Asset Management (Cayman) Holdings Limited, Western Asset Management Company Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliarios Limitada, Western Asset Management Company LLC, Western Asset Management Company Limited, Western Asset Management Company Pte Ltd., Western Asset Management Company Pty Ltd, and Winfield & Company. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. is an insurance and financial services company. The company provides life insurance, group and employee benefits, automobile and homeowners insurance and business insurance, as well as investment products, annuities, mutual funds, and college savings plans. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, Property & Casualty Other Operations, Group Benefits and Hartford Funds. The Commercial Lines segment provides workers compensation, property, automobile, liability and umbrella coverage under several different products, primarily throughout the U.S., within its standard commercial lines, which consists of The Hartford's small commercial and middle market lines of business. The Personal Lines segment includes automobile, homeowners and home-based business coverage to individuals across the U.S. The Property & Casualty Other Operations segment includes certain property and casualty operations, currently managed by the company, that have discontinued writing new business and substantially all of the company's asbestos and environmental exposures. The Group Benefits segment offers group life, accident and disabi Read More Netlinkz Limited provides cloud network solutions in Australia, New Zealand, and China. The company provides Virtual Invisible Network based software that allows organizations to connect over a mesh-network. It also provides secure networking consulting services to its resellers, partners and customers; and design and execution of secure network migration and deployment services. In addition, the company engages in the sale, licensing, and support of network security solutions. It sells its products through reseller primarily in Wuxi. The company was formerly known as iWebGate Limited and changed its name to Netlinkz Limited in October 2016. Netlinkz Limited was founded in 2004 and is based in Darlinghurst, Australia. Read More The Williams Cos., Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico; Northeast G&P; and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment comprises of interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco and Northwest Pipeline, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment includes midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, and the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Permian basins. The company was founded by David Williams and Miller Williams in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Read More John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management and Analytic Investors, LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector. The fund primarily invests in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks of companies which have dividends that qualify for a more favorable long-term capital gains tax rate. It invests in stocks of companies across diversified market capitalizations. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against a composite benchmark comprised of 55% Bank of America Merrill Lynch Preferred Stock DRD Eligible Index and 45% S&P 500 Utilities Index. John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund was formed on February 27, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South 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PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. 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Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC. 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 There is not enough analysis data for MFS Municipal Income Trust. 4.8 Community Rank Outperform Votes MFS Municipal Income Trust has received 172 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes MFS Municipal Income Trust has received 65 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment MFS Municipal Income Trust has received 72.57% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about MFS Municipal Income Trust and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe MFM will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe MFM will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment comprises individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuation thr Read More SAdzucker AG produces and sells sugar products in Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Sugar, Special Products, CropEnergies, and Fruit. The Sugar segment produces and sells sugar, sugar specialty products, molasses, and animal feed to food industry, retailers, and agriculture markets, as well as offers by-products of sugar. The Special Products segment produces functional food ingredients, including inulin, oligofructose, Isomalt, and Palatinose, as well as rice starches, rice flours, rice proteins, and wheat proteins for food, animal feed, non-food, and pharmaceutical sectors. This segment also offers frozen and chilled pizzas, frozen pasta dishes and snacks, baguette, and sauces and dressings; starches, sweeteners, animal feed; and portion packed foods and non-food products to hotels, caterers, and restaurants. The CropEnergies segment produces fuel-grade ethanol, rectified spirits, protein-based food and animal feed, and liquid CO2 to oil and pharmaceutical companies, food and animal feed producers, and beverage and cosmetics producers. The Fruit segment produces fruit preparations for the dairy, ice cream, bakery, and food service industry; and fruit juice concentrates, pure juices and purees, fruit wines, natural aromas, and beverage bases for beverage industry. It is also involved in agricultural activities; and cultivation of wheat, sugar beet, corn, chicory, rapeseed, soybean, and other products. The company was founded in 1837 and is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany. SAdzucker AG is a subsidiary of SAddeutsche ZuckerrAbenverwertungs-Genossenschaft eG. Read More There is not enough analysis data for Wilmcote Holdings plc (WCH.L). 3.9 Community Rank Outperform Votes Wilmcote Holdings plc (WCH.L) has received 28 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Wilmcote Holdings plc (WCH.L) has received 20 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Wilmcote Holdings plc (WCH.L) has received 58.33% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Wilmcote Holdings plc (WCH.L) and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe WCH will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe WCH will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. 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A 15 minute explanation versus three words. Thats what the arguments for and against recent development in downtown Royal Oak come down to. A small but vocal and well-funded group has taken the city commissions Democratic majority to task over private development of property the city has sold. Some of them have in the past been aligned with Republicans who once controlled City Hall. In a guest opinion written for the Tribune, former city attorney and one-time commissioner Chuck Semchena has called on Mayor Michael Fournier and a bloc that has awarded what he deems to be no-bid contracts to resign. No-bid contract. Anyone with an interest in raising the dander of taxpayers can pretty much consider use of that three-word phrase as mission accomplished. Fournier and the others dont see it that way but, to borrow a phrase often applied to relationships on social media, concede the best way to describe these dealings is its complicated. The issue has led to lawsuits filed by a consortium of local businesses known as the Take Back Royal Oak Coalition, including Dixie Moon Saloon, LLC, The Nash Family Ltd. Partnership, M&R Realty, 111 South Main, LLC, Sullivan Investment Group Limited Partnership, Third Street Properties Inc., Corp One Inc., Group 225 Inc. Corp One Property Company LLC, One Hundred Seven South Main LLC, and R&M Realty LLC. A chief objection of the property and business owners is the citys sale for $1 of a surface parking lot in front of City Hall and a $5.5 million incentive payout to developer Ron Boji to construct a building there. They say this violated the city charter and has had a bad impact on businesses and customers that used the parking lot. The two core questions in the debate are whether city Dems are providing favors to political pals and a broader concern about what the future of downtown Royal Oak will be. So far, the answer to the former appears to be no as the lawsuits have struck out in both Oakland County Circuit Court and the Michigan Court of Appeals. The group is now appealing the matter to the Michigan Supreme Court. Those actions have been led publicly by Semchena and Donald Nahat, a Royal Oak developer. Nahats downtown development interests, including owning the former Daily Tribune building across from city hall along with other properties, are also relevant. Fournier and Commissioner Patricia Paruch, in a recent interview, offered that Nahats disdain for the projects began about the time he was frozen out of the deals. Weve bid out every single contract, Fournier said. He and other members of the commission majority have said the exclusivity agreements signed for downtown sites are not no-bid contracts and do conform with the requirements of the city charter. The broader question of the downtowns future is in the eye of the beholder. Some vendors and business owners have theorized the moves will lead to the extinction of one of downtowns anchors, the Farmers Market. Fournier and Paruch, for this piece, said officials have no desire for that to happen and acknowledge the facilitys treasured place in the city. As for the future of downtown, it would appear the developments are part of an evolution. In the past 25 years, downtown has gone from a place where you could shoot a cannon and not hit anyone to a thriving restaurant and bar destination that draws people from around the region. While this is great for the few mostly corporate-owned establishments that can afford to pay the outrageous rents buildings along and adjoining Main Street command, the development of spaces for work and shopping would appear to position the downtown to compete with fast-growing places in south Oakland County and Detroit. Along the way, this will give city residents more reason to both make and spend their dollars in their own city. Jeff Payne, a Royal Oak resident, is local news editor of the Royal Oak Tribune and The Macomb Daily. About Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said a revival plan has been prepared for the national carrier that focuses on various aspects, including a comprehensive financial package and transferring non-core debt and assets to a special purpose vehicle. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Efficient operations and financial performance are individual responsibilities of carriers, and the government cannot interfere in their day-to-day operations, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said amid Jet Airways crisis and turbulent times of the domestic airline industry. In view of intense competition, rising costs, shortage of pilots and grounding of planes hurting many domestic carriers, the minister also said the government has been constantly responding to industry conditions and cited measures taken, including reduction in central excise duty on jet fuel to 11 per cent from 14 per cent. Cash-strapped Jet Airways has been forced to ground planes, cancel flights and delay payments, including salaries to pilots, while Air India continues to grapple with financial woes. On March 25, the board of ailing Jet Airways cleared a debt resolution plan whereby lenders would take control of the carrier. Against this backdrop, Prabhu said that each airline prepares its own business plan on the basis of its own market assessment and financial resources. "Based on its business plan, the efficient operations and financial performance are the responsibilities of each individual airline and its shareholders. "However, the government has constantly been responding to industry conditions and undertaking specific measures to facilitate and enable growth of the sector," he told PTI. In written replies to PTI queries, Prabhu said the airline industry is a dynamic industry which requires continuous adjustment according to global and domestic needs. "It is our endeavour to support the industry, however, as stated we cannot interfere in day to-day operations of the airlines," he noted. About Air India, the minister said a revival plan has been prepared for the national carrier that focuses on various aspects, including a comprehensive financial package and transferring non-core debt and assets to a special purpose vehicle. The revival plan also focuses on higher level of operational efficiency by strengthening management and implementing best practice business processes and robust organisational and governance reforms, he added. Debt-laden Air India is staying afloat on taxpayers' money and an effort for its strategic disinvestment did not take off in May 2018. A meeting with migrants concluded the first day of Francis in Morocco. The principles expressed in the words "welcome, protect, promot and integrate" must be applied to those who are forced to leave their land. Rabat (AsiaNews) - Before those who emigrate "the face we want to give to our society and about the value of each human life" is at stake, because "the progress of our peoples cannot be measured by technological or economic advances alone. It depends above all on our openness to being touched and moved by those who knock at our door. The attention of the Church towards migrants was reaffirmed today by Pope Francis who dedicated the last appointment of the first day of his trip to Morocco to them. In fact, at the headquarters of the Diocesan Caritas of Rabat, Francis met about a hundred migrants. Among them also five children in colorful costumes who performed a dance that greatly amused Francis. In the words he addressed to the migrants, the Pope was inspired by the memory of the Conference that recently ratified the adoption of the World Pact for a secure, orderly and regular migration in Marrakech that "represents an important step forward for the international community, which now, in the context of the United Nations, has for the first time dealt on a multilateral level with this theme in a document of such importance". "This Compact helps us to see that it is not just about migrants (cf. Theme of the 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees), as if their lives and experiences were completely unrelated to the rest of society, or their status as persons with rights was somehow on hold because of their current situation. The side of the border on which a migrant stands does not make him or her more or less human. Francis then reaffirmed that the principles expressed in the verbs "to accept, protect, promote and integrate" must be applied to those who are forced to leave his land. "Welcoming means, above all, offering broader options for migrants and refugees to enter destination countries safely and legally (Message for the 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees). Indeed, expanding regular migration channels is one of the main objectives of the Global Compact. This shared commitment is needed in order to avoid presenting new opportunities to those merchants of human flesh who exploit the dreams and needs of migrants." "Protecting means defending the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, independent of their legal status. "Here too, it seems necessary to pay particular attention to migrants in situations of great vulnerability: to the many unaccompanied minors and to women. It is essential that everyone be guaranteed the right to the medical, psychological and social assistance." "Promoting means ensuring that everyone, migrants and local residents alike, can enjoy a safe environment in which they can develop all their gifts. This promotion begins with the recognition that no human being is worthy of being discarded, but rather should be seen as a potential source of personal, cultural and professional enrichment in whatever place they find themselves. "Integrating means engaging in a process that enhances both the cultural heritage of the welcoming community and that of migrants, thus building an open and intercultural society. We know that it is not easy for those who arrive and for those who receive them to encounter a foreign culture, to put ourselves in the shoes of people quite different from ourselves, to understand their thoughts and their experiences. As a result, we often refuse to encounter the other and raise barriers to defend ourselves ". "Integrating therefore requires not to be conditioned by fear and ignorance". The official said these accredited investors, which can include trusts, individuals, family member of a startup and unlisted companies, may get exemption from angel tax under Section 56(2)(vii b) of Income Tax Act, 1961, beyond the Rs 25 crore limit. New Delhi: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working on a definition of 'accredited investors', who could be provided tax incentives for investments in startups, an official said. DPIIT which works under the commerce and industry ministry, has already prepared a draft definition and is now seeking views of stakeholders. The official said these accredited investors, which can include trusts, individuals, family member of a startup and unlisted companies, may get exemption from angel tax under Section 56(2)(vii b) of Income Tax Act, 1961, beyond the Rs 25 crore limit. Currently, the government allows startups to avail full angel tax concession on investments up to Rs 25 crore. Besides this, three categories of investors with specified limit of turnover and net worth -- listed companies, non residents and alternate investments funds category I like venture capital funds -- also get exemption from angel tax on investment beyond Rs 25 crore. Section 56(2)(vii b) of Income Tax Act provides that the amount raised by a startup 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. Startups also enjoy income tax benefit for three out of seven consecutive assessment years under section 80-IAC of the Act. To get this benefit, they need to seek the exemption from an inter-ministerial board. An angel investor is the one who put funds in a startup when it is taking steps to establish itself in the competitive market. Normally about 300-400 startups get angel funding in an year. Their investment in a unit ranges between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 4 crore. "We are seeking views of stakeholders on the definition of accredited investors. They will be exempted from section 56 (2) (vii b). We will define it as a separate category like listed companies," the official said. Earlier this month, the DPIIT has also held consultations with startups, investors, and officials of Central Board of Direct Taxes and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to discuss ways to increase flow of funds to budding businesses. "There is a need to incentivise investments in startups and the government is committed to remove all impediments," as per the official. As many countries provide tax and other incentives to angel investments into startups, the government is also looking at those. MS Sahoo, who is at the helm of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), noted that the code does not rule out recovery, but it must be incidental to reorganisation. New Delhi: Asserting that the insolvency law's objectives are reorganisation and resolution of a defaulting company, IBBI Chairperson MS Sahoo said that if creditors recover their dues one after another or simultaneously, the company would bleed to death. Significant amounts of recoveries have been made from defaulting firms since the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) which provides a robust framework for market-driven and time-bound resolution process. MS Sahoo, who is at the helm of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), noted that the code does not rule out recovery, but it must be incidental to reorganisation. "Recovery should happen ideally from future earnings of the reorganised firm," he told PTI in an interview. As per various estimates, more than Rs 5 lakh crore has been the direct and indirect realisation on account of the IBC. Out of the total estimated amount, around Rs 2 lakh crore has been recovered before the cases were admitted for resolution under the code, while recovery through resolution plans is pegged at over Rs 1 lakh crore. Sahoo emphasised that the code is for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of a defaulting firm. "The objective is reorganisation and not recovery. If the creditors, one after another or simultaneously, recover their dues, the firm will bleed to death. "The question is, does recovery facilitate reorganisation? If not, it is not contemplated in the IBC," he said. Around 12,000 cases have been filed since the implementation of the code and setting up of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Under the code, cases can be taken up for resolution only after approval from the tribunal. Sahoo said that the committee of creditors (CoC) of a company undergoing insolvency proceedings should be guided by feasibility and viability of the plan and not how much the creditors are realising under the resolution plan or how the realisation is shared among different categories of creditors. The code specifically tells what shall be considered while approving a resolution plan, he said, adding that to him, the key job of the CoC is to distinguish between a viable and an unviable firm. "If it is a viable (company), it must be rescued, and it is the duty of the CoC to rescue it. If it is not viable, the CoC should allow its closure. If you rescue an unviable firm or close a viable firm, it is dangerous for the economy. The law expects the CoC, as an institution of public trust, to rescue a viable firm and allow closure of unviable one," he said. British model turned Indian actress, Amy Jackson, who made her debut in Kollywood in director Vijays Madarasapattinam and went on to become a popular actress in Bollywood took to her Instagram handle on Sunday to make the big announcement of her pregnancy. She said she is expecting the arrival of her first child with her fiance George Panayiotou to whom she got engaged earlier this year when the couple were holidaying in Zambia. Flaunting her baby bump, Amy posted an adorable picture with George and wrote, Ive been waiting to shout it from the roof tops, and today, being Mothers Day, it couldnt be a more perfect time... I already love you more than anything in this world, the purest most honest love. We cant wait to meet you our little Libra one. The predicted star sign clearly suggests Amy should be a little over three months pregnant and the couples first baby will be expected to be born between September end and October end. Earlier, reports revealed that the 2.O star and George want to tie knot in early 2020 in a Greek wedding. Panayiotou, the son of British property tycoon Andreas Panayiotou, is the founder of The Ability Group and owns several luxury hotels, including Hilton, Park Plaza and Double Tree. Amy and George reportedly began dating sometime last year. Malayalam actress Nivetha Thomas look from the forthcoming film seems to have taken many by surprise. Buzz is that the first look of the actress, who was so far only be seen as a girl next door, from the film Brochevarevarura, reveals that her role will be that of a classical dancer. However, whether shes playing a dancer in the film or the poster is just part of her role is something to be seen. Nonetheless, the netizens couldnt stop raving about Nivethas new role. The film, which will be directed by Vivek Athreya, will also feature the actors Sree Vishnu, Satya Dev and Nivetha Pethuraj in the lead cast. Nivetha Thomas A few days back the first look was launched which featured Sree Vishnu along with comedian Priyadarshi and Rahul Ramakrishna. Ever since, the film seems to be garnering curiosity for the interesting portrayal of the actors. Highlighting the resemblance between African sculpture and some of Picasso's work, many art critics see the symbolism and imagery of Africa as one of his sources of inspiration. (Photo: AFP) Johannesburg: "I'm sure! I tell you, he came. I saw him!" insists Soro Navaghi, keen to extinguish any doubts about Picasso's visit to a small Ivorian village famed for its painted textiles. Whether in tourist brochures or online, it is not unusual to find references to Picasso's reputed visit to Fakaha, a remote village in northern Ivory Coast, some 650 kilometres (400 miles) from Abidjan, the economic capital. French travel guide Petit Fute describes Fakaha as "internationally renowned" for its hand-spun cotton cloth which is painted by the Senufo people and that once "charmed a certain Picasso as he paid a discreet visit to the region at the turn of the century." A whole mythology has grown up around the question of Africa and Picasso, who never spoke of having been to Fakaha. For the artist who once provocatively brushed off the subject, saying: "Negro art? Don't know it" was also an ardent admirer and passionate collector of African art, who built up an impressive private collection. Highlighting the resemblance between African sculpture and some of Picasso's work, many art critics see the symbolism and imagery of Africa as one of his sources of inspiration. One often-cited example is the striking similarity between an African Grebo mask and one of the faces in his 1907 work "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". "Whenever someone emphasised the influence of African art on the development of his own work, he would shrug his shoulders, annoyed at being reduced to that: although it is certain he was influenced by it from 1906 when he experienced his first (African) sculptures," says Gilles Plazy, one of his biographers. "Picasso used everything that came through his door and integrated it into the constant evolution of his artistic process," he told AFP. For the several hundred residents of Fakaha, there is no question about where the celebrated Andalusian artist and sculptor found his inspiration, after stumbling upon their village some 15 km from the main road to Korhogo. For decades, these local artists have been hard at work in open huts around a sandy track, where they can be found smearing earth-based pigments onto canvas. Their dexterity is fascinating, their moves precise. Working with knives or sticks, they plunge their tools into the bowls of colour, quickly transforming the white cotton into a work of art covered with animal motifs and figures in masks. And there is an element of Picasso in it, with a definite similarity between his works and those of the artists of Fakaha. But is this just a random resemblance or creative coincidence? Or did Pablo Picasso actually see or even own one of the Fakaha canvases? "I tell you, he came here. He was inspired by us," repeats Soro Navaghi, aged in his 60s. Picasso apparently broke down while driving to Korhogo, but set off on foot and eventually turned up in the village "bare chested and without shoes", Navaghi says. The artist stayed there for several days and even gave the villagers some advice, they say. "It was him who taught us to use sponges and toothbrushes to be quicker and more precise," says Silue Naganki, one of the artists who takes his inspiration from long-dead ancestors. "Before him, we never used the frames either. It was him who advised us to paint the frames." Ducking into his house, Soro Navaghi comes up with the "ultimate proof", a cotton canvas featuring Picasso himself. Cane and bamboo craft acts as a catalyst in generating employment in the state. (Photo: ANI) Imphal: Bamboo and cane products of northeast India are well known around the world and are highly praised for their intricate design. In Manipur too, the use of cane and bamboo craft is an integral part of their daily lifestyle. Bamboo craft-making forms an essential part of the northeast Indian economy. The intricately designed bamboo crafts highlight the rich tradition of the region and over the years has received global appreciation. In fact, the skillful hands of artisans can transform a dull, drab piece of bamboo or cane into an artistic masterpiece. Likewise, the state of Manipur is popular for its expertise in handicraft products. Since time immemorial, people of Manipur have practiced cane and bamboo craft extensively, making various handicraft products of different designs and motifs for many purposes. There are many such dexterous craft makers who churn out amazing bamboo products. Konsam Diban hailing from Khurai Kongpal Sajor Leikai is one such craftsman. When I was a little younger, after seeing one of my friends work, I found it amazing and beautiful. So, I felt that I could do it too. And slowly I developed how to make it better, said Diban. Diban started his craftsmanship without any proper training. However, his craze and interest in crafts had somehow given a breakthrough in making Titanic ship and Eiffel Tower. Another famous craft like Pakhangba is the supreme God, a man who can change his body to any form. Jesus, Mother Teresa, Kangla Gate, and other wood carving works add to its creativity. Creating crafts of Kangla Fort, Taj Mahal take a lot of time. However, Kangla fort takes more time as you need a lot of mini ads. It takes around 4-5 days to complete, said Diban. Many craft makers of the region are of the view that bamboo craft, which is an integral part of villagers, is diminishing gradually due to lack of preservation and patronage in the state and thus they want to fully focus on the craft. To make this craft I have to get up early as my work requires a lot of last-minute finishing touch. It is time-consuming which is one of the most challenging parts, said Diban. Though cane and bamboo craft was not considered a good profession a year back due to limited costumes, it has now been a thriving business in Manipur. It also acts as a catalyst in generating employment in the state. ADILABAD: Fake cotton seeds have penetrated the interior villages of Telangana state from Nandyal (Andhra Pradesh) and Gujarat. The police has seized 33 quintals of fake cotton seeds in 147 gunny bags with Rs 70 lakh and arrested 13 members of the inter-state fake seeds gang in the Mancherial area. The police has identified some of the gang members as residents of Mandamarri and Bellampalli who had moved there from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The police has identified that these gangs were formed with the intent of making a profit by selling fake cotton seeds to gullible farmers. These gangs were also selling the banned weeding pesticide Glyphosate. These persons were bringing fake seeds from Guntur, Kurnool and Nandyal in AP and from Gujarat and selling them in Mancherial district. The police claims that the use of fake seeds and glyphosate are affecting soil fertility and yield. The Ramagundam police, along with agriculture department officials, seized fake seeds which were stocked at various places under the police station limits of Mancherial, Ramakri-shnapur, Mandamarri, and Kannepalli. The Ramagundam police claimed that they have prepared a list of fake cotton seeds and weeding pesticide sellers and said that action under the Preventive Detention Act would be initiated against them. The police have identified nearly 20 such persons who were indulging in the illegal sale of fake seeds and Glyphosate. Ramagundam police commissioner V. Satyanarayana said that many farmers had suffered major losses due to the low yield of cotton owing to the reduction in soil fertility caused by the use of fake cotton seeds and glyphosate. Chennai: Holding that an employee cannot be kept under suspension for years together without any progress in departmental disciplinary proceedings, the Madras high court came to the rescue of an employee, who was under suspension for over 10 years. The court quashed an order of the Chennai Corporation dated April 24, 2008, suspending him from service for allegedly demanding and accepting bribe. Allowing the petition filed by the employee R. Velmurugan, Justice S.M. Subramaniam directed the Chennai Corporation to reinstate him in service. The Chennai Corporation is directed to post the petitioner in any one of non-sensitive posts till the conclusion of the departmental disciplinary proceedings as well as the criminal case registered against the petitioner, the judge added. Challenging the criminal case registered against the petitioner by the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, the counsel for the petitioner stated that the said criminal case was still pending and the trial was in progress. However, keeping the petitioner under suspension for an unspecified period was bad in law, he added. Counsel for the Chennai Corporation submitted that the petitioner was trapped and arrested for the allegation of demand and acceptance of bribe. Therefore, no leniency can be shown and the petition was liable to be rejected, she added. The judge said prolonged suspension was bad in law. On initiation of disciplinary proceedings undoubtedly an employee shall be placed under suspension by the competent authority. However, competent authorities must ensure that departmental disciplinary proceedings initiated against the employee were concluded within a reasonable period of time. In the event of an enormous delay in concluding the departmental disciplinary proceedings, then the competent authorities must review the order of suspension for its revocation. If it was not possible for the authorities to conclude the departmental disciplinary proceedings, then the order of suspension can be revoked and the employees shall be reinstated into service and posted in any non-sensitive post till the conclusion of the departmental disciplinary proceedings as well as the criminal case registered against him, the judge added. The judge said disposal of the criminal case may take long years by the competent court of law. However, there was no bar for the disciplinary authorities to continue the departmental disciplinary proceedings even during the pendency of the criminal case. If the files, materials and other records were available with the authorities, then they were at liberty to continue the departmental disciplinary proceedings, conclude the same and pass final orders pending disposal of the criminal case, the judge added. The judge said if an employee, after departmental disciplinary proceedings, was convicted by the competent court of law, then further actions shall be taken or the earlier orders shall be reviewed for issuing appropriate orders based on the conviction. There was no impediment for the authorities on initiation of fresh proceedings, if a public servant was convicted in criminal case by the competent court of law. This being the legal principles settled by the Constitutional Courts, the authorities need not keep an employee under suspension for an unspecified period. Keeping an employee under suspension for long years and paying subsistence allowance for an unspecified period was causing financial loss to the state exchequer. Payment of subsistence allowance without extracting work was a financial loss to the state exchequer. Thus, the authorities must be vigilant and review the order of suspension periodically and if there was no impediment, conclude the disciplinary proceedings and pass final orders, the judge added. The judge said in the case on hand, the order of suspension was issued long back and the petitioner was under continuous suspension without any progress in the departmental disciplinary proceedings as well as the criminal case. This being the factum of the case, this court is of an opinion that there is no useful purpose would be served in keeping the petitioner under suspension for further period, the judge added. Former Congress MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi as he joined the BJP on Sunday. Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and former AICC secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy resigned from the party on Sunday and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi ahead of joining the BJP. His term in the Legislative Council as a Congress member ended on Friday. He is the second prominent Congress leader in Telangana state to join the BJP after former MLA D.K. Aruna. In his resignation letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, he alleged that Congress leaders in Telangana state sold tickets in the Assembly elections, MLC elections and for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In his letter, he stated that he was 'politically born' in the Congress and had worked in various wings of the party for almost 40 years, from his student days. Unfortunately the traditions and values of the Congress have changed contrary to the principles of party. Money influence has increased in allocation of tickets in Telangana Assembly elections of 2018, MLC election and Lok Sabha elections of 2019, he wrote. He said it was shocking that crores of rupees was sought for allocation of party tickets. This kind of commercialisation of ticket allocation in Indian National Congress forced me to think about leaving the party. He said the reason for corrupt and bad practices was the failure of the state leadership. I tried my best to convey the situation, but the high command is not receptive due to middlemen, he said in the letter. Mr Sudhakar Reddy said that since the party has failed to understand the sentiments of the people, he felt that it was not ideal to continue working with the middlemen and irresponsible persons in the Congress. Mr Reddy said he was disappointed by the resp-onse of the Congress to the post-Pulwama airstri-ke. The stand of party leaders on the issue of terrorism and national security had been inconsistent, he said. New Delhi: The Congress formally announced that party president Rahul Gandhi would contest from Wayanad in Kerala in addition to the family pocket borough of Amethi, drawing intense criticism from the Left. The CPM and the CPI accused the Congress of fighting the Left instead of the BJP. CPM politburo member Prakash Karat said told reporters: Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress national commitment to fight the BJP, as in Kerala its the LDF which is the main force fighting the BJP there. The party will oppose the move, he added. To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against the Left means that the Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election, we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, Mr Karat said. The CPI has fielded Mr P.P. Suneer from Wayanad as part of the Left alliance. CPI secretary D. Raja criticised the move, saying it made no sense. He said, I dont understand what politics the Congress is playing here. here is no BJP to fight in Kerala, it is the Left versus the Congress-led UDF. BJP chief Amit Shah also took a sharp dig at Mr Gandhi contesting from two seats. Congress' votebank politics has worked on playing with the security of the country. BJP chief Amit Shah also took a sharp dig at Mr Gandhi contesting from two seats, at a rally in Uttar Pradesh. "Congress' votebank politics has worked on playing with the security of the country. It is the result of this that Rahul Gandhi has left Amethi and run away to Kerala because he knows that voters will seek account from him in Amethi this time, he said. Congress sources said that the decision was taken keeping the importance of the South in the partys rejuvenation. While this is the first time that Mr Gandhi is contesting from a second seat, and also the first time he is contesting from the south, his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in her first election had trounced Union minister Sushma Swaraj in Karnatakas Ballari in 1999 in addition to fighting from Amethi. Parallels were also drawn with his grandmother Indira Gandhi who had contested from Raebareli and Medak currently in Telangana in 1980. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Photo: Contributed CMHA Vernons Tami Muhlert, Tasha Berkholtz and Lenai Schmidt are certified Living Life to the Full program facilitators. The Canadian Mental Health Association wants everyone to feel happier, with less worry and more confidence. The Vernon and District branch is offering Living Life to the Full classes to help community members make a positive difference in their lives. Through interactive sessions, participants learn to understand their feelings, thoughts and behaviours, as well as discover new ways of dealing with the myriad of challenging situations encountered in life. Living Life to the Full is suitable for individuals experiencing low mood and mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Classes would benefit those who feel like they are being less social and are experiencing a decline in the quality of their relationships, said Julia Payson, CMHA Vernon executive director. The course is not recommended for people who have been diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. In those circumstances, a more intensive approach would need to be taken, said Payson. Each session is moderated by a trained facilitator and includes a booklet, handouts, exercises and discussions. CMHA Vernon has three certified facilitators with a combined 10 years experience in leading the course. The next Living Life to the Full course takes place Tuesdays from 10 -11:30 a.m. April 9 to May 28 at the CMHA Vernon Conference Centre, 3100 28 Avenue. Cost is $225 per person with subsidized rates available. Pre-registration is required as space is limited. For more information or to register, contact Tasha at 250-275-8062 ext. 4. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congressmen in Kerala have heaved a sigh of relief with party president Rahul Gandhi ending his dithering over Wayanad and deciding to fight it out from there. Senior leader A. K. Antony announced the happiest news at a press meet in New Delhi on Sunday saying that his candidature will boost the Congress prospects in the three states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as Wayand is a tri-junction. Rahul may file his nomination on Wednesday, a day before the deadline ends. Rahul Gandhi, 48, will contest from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh as well. Earlier, Antony, K. C. Venugopal, Ahmed Patel and AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Mukul Wasnik held closed-door talks at AICC headquarters and decided not to convey any negative sentiments against the Left, but only target the BJP. "For the last one week, there were requests and demands from the Congress workers and party leaders that Rahul Gandhi should contest from South India. We urged Rahul that it is not fair to ignore the unanimous request from southern states," said Antony. A top AICC leader told DC that there were discussions about the pros and cons of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad. "The Congress is contesting from 16 seats and the allies from four. Antony, Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik held surveys about Rahul Gandhis candidature," he said. They felt that if he contests from Wayanad, the UDF may win 17-18 seats. If not, the number may be 12 - 13. This led Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to decide on Wayanad sidelining Karnataka as the Congress is looking forward to getting maximum seats from south. This is a surgical strike enacted by the top AICC leadership to prevent the CPM from winning more seats. The AICC feels that if the Left manages to get less than five seats, its recognition as a national party will be cancelled. There will be any alliance only if the Congress gets more seats, he said. The AICC is expected to release the election manifesto on Tuesday. AICCs chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was a message to the southern states that they are deeply valued and respected. Rahul Gandhi will represent Amethi and the southern states as they are an important part of India's way of life, he said. On BJP's criticism that Rahul Gandhi is running away for fear of a setback in Amethi, Surjewala said: "Why doesn't BJP say why Modiji left Gujarat and went to Varanasi? Does that mean that his condition was bad in Gujarat? Instead of discussing these things, they should discuss key political issues. Why is BJP so scared?" he asked. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Hyderabad: The loose use of the term biryani through out this election campaign is staining the delicacy which has achieved international recognition and is also a sign of festivity and celebrations. The manner in which the phrases biryani kha ke so gae and biryani khilaya terrorists ko being used on election podia are a disrespect to the delicacy. With mass appeal becoming the call of the day during electioneering, dragging the popular biryani into the equation is the new low in populist politics. History professor Salma Farooqui from MANUU University said, There is no serious thought being given while using the term biryani in the election campaign. It is merely a populist measure but they fail to understand that they are disrespecting the dish which has earned India international recognition. It is a wrong simile that they are using. The term biryani was used during the Assembly elections of Telangana state in 2018 and its use has continued in the Parliamentary elections of 2019 with different people using it to troll their opponents. Mr Asaduddin Owaisi used the term to hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Amit Shah used the term in Uttar Pradesh to hit out at the Congress. Even Ms Priyanka Gandhi took a dig at Mr Modi, saying that he went to Pakistan to have biryani. With social media activity at its peak in the country in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the manner in which the term biryani is being thrown around is portraying the delicacy in a bad light, said food expert Vijay Marur. Biryani is a dish meant for happy times. It is not every day that one eats biryani. This is for the first time that the dish is getting caught between various political parties who are trying to score a point. With social media activity peaking, the negative image for the delicacy is distressing. Biryani is the pride of Indian cuisine and is prepared using different styles and flavours in different parts of India. The most famous types are Awadh biryani and Hyderabadi biryani. Biryani came to India during the Mughal era. The idea and recipe traveled through various parts of India, where biryani got its various local flavours and distinct preparation styles from. Apart from Awadh and Hyderabadi biryanis, even the Punjabi, Kolkata, and Dindigul biryanis are quite famous. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. It was an unprecedented devastation and 40 lakh coconut trees were uprooted in the cyclone that hit the areas on November 15 and 16. THANJAVUR: With Pattukottai, Peravurani and Mannargudi Assembly constituencies, affected by Gaja cyclone last year, coming under Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency, devastation caused by Gaja and its aftermath has become a poll issue in the constituency. Many coconut farmers complain that they have not received any relief. While ruling party members are harping on the relief reached to people, amount put in the bank accounts of coconut farmers by government, opposition parties highlight that relief had not reached fully to all. S.S.Palanimanickam, former union minister who is the DMK candidate for Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency, who frequently visited Gaja affected Pattukottai and Peravurani at the time of cyclone, assures people that he would take long-term measures to sustain the growth of planted new seedlings besides arranging for new seedlings in places where they have not been planted. On the other hand, N.R.Nadarajan, TMC (Moopanar) candidate for the constituency, who belongs to Pattukottai says, his family, his brother N.R. Rangarajan, fromer MLA of Pattukottai and others in his family arranged relief measures to people at the time of Gaja cyclone. "We, ourselves being coconut farmers were affected in the cyclone. Yet, we arranged relief camps for people affected in Gaja cyclone and constructed houses for them," he said. One independent candidate Ms. Samanta, a PG doing Ph.D has entered into the fray highlighting Gaja issue and assuring rehabilitation for farmers. It was an unprecedented devastation and 40 lakh coconut trees were uprooted in the cyclone that hit the areas on November 15 and 16. "Most of us have lost our livelihood. Slowly we are trying to come out of the loss and damage. It will take another ten or 15 years to recover fully. Parties which assure livelihood and rehabilitation measures will be preferred by the farmers," said Devasenan, a farmer from Pattukottai. Fishermen in coastal areas have also been affected due to Gaja cyclone. Large number of boats and fishing nets were damaged. Though government announced relief for repairing old boats damaged in cyclone and purchase of new boats, fishermen of Adhirampattinam and Mallipattinam complain that relief had not reached all fishermen. Tajudeen, state secretary of 'Tamil Nadu Meenavar Peravai' said though four-and-a half months had gone by after Gaja struck Pattukottai and Peravurani areas, relief had reached only for a few damaged boats. Many fishermen who lost their boats have not received the relief, "In Sethubavachathiram, 188 boats were damaged, but relief given only to 58 boats," Tajudeen said, adding, prawn exports have been hit consequently. Yet another environment issue is approval given by central government for proposed hydrocarbon projects. People say that this issue affecting entire Cauvery delta, if ignored by the political parties, will be at their own peril. The children were presented before the child welfare committee and sent to shelter homes, where they go to school, according to a release. Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police as part of its Operation Smile has rescued 61 boys and 30 girls in the last two months. Of these, 10 children were handed over to their parents. Twelve cases were registered against persons using children for labour. The children were presented before the child welfare committee and sent to shelter homes, where they go to school, according to a release. The Cyberabad police has Operation Smile Teams in its three zones which work throughout the year to rescue children from labour, begging, ragpicking and also runaway and vulnerable children. Cyberabad deputy commissioner of police C. Anasuya said in one case the teams had rescued 20 children from a brick kiln at Kacharam, Shamshabad, where they were being forced to work along with their parents. In another case, seven children were rescued from a brick kiln at Jukal, Shamshabad. Cyberabad police rescued 20 persons aged above 60 years as part of Operation Aasra, which aims to rescue destitutes from the streets. They were sent for rehabilitation to Anand Ashram run by the prisons department. The Cyberabad police has launched a Whatsapp number, 7901115474, for reporting on child labour and destitutes found begging or in a helpless condition, the statement said. CHENNAI: The 161-year old University of Madras is on the verge of financial collapse. The senate of the university was informed on Saturday that the university will seek a bailout package from the state government to tide over the current financial crisis. The university could not pay any retirement benefits to staff members retired last year. If the help does not arrive in two or three months, the world famous university which has produced six former Presidents and two Nobel Laureates and many other distinguished alumni will struggle to even pay the salary for the faculty members. The university has presented Rs 203 crore budget for 2019-20 with the deficit of Rs 84.92 crore. The deficit is largely due to the increased financial burden after implementing seventh pay commission scales of pay for teaching, non-teaching staff, pensioners. Due to the implementation of seventh pay commission, our expenditures increased by about Rs 3 crore per month which resulted in a huge deficit in universitys non-plan account, P.Duraisamy, vice-chancellor of Madras University, informed members of senate on Saturday. We will seek financial support from the state government for payment of pension and retirement benefits of our staff in the old pension scheme, the vice-chancellor added. Members of the senate appreciated vice-chancellor Duraisamy for managing the financial crisis successfully so far. They also urged him to take measures to receive full salary grant from the state government. CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tour Tamil Nadu for two days on April 12 and 13 to campaign for the AIADMK-led combine candidates for the April 18 Lok Sabha election. The Prime Minister will address rallies at Coimbatore and Theni. The meeting will be attended by the leaders of the AIADMK combine. Already, ahead of the notification of the Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister had visited Tirupur in February and Kanniyakumari on March 1. Later, he also addressed a public meeting in the city on March 6 and kick-started the campaign on behalf of the AIADMK-led alliance. Meanwhile, BJP national chief Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Sivaganga, Coimbatore and Thoothukudi to campaign for the BJP candidates contesting from these constituencies. Bengaluru: As discontent continues to simmer among their workers over the seat sharing for the Lok Sabha poll, the JD(S) and Congress are preparing to launch a joint election campaign at a mega rally on the outskirts of the city in the presence of Congress president, Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) patriarch, H. D. Deve Gowda on Sunday. The 'Parivartana Samavesha' will be the first such rally of the two parties after the combine came to power in the state in May last year. Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, who visited the BIEC ground near Nelamanagala, where the rally will be held to inspect the arrangements, called it a "historic event." "This will be the first joint campaign by the Congress and JD(S). Sunday's meeting will be historic as it will send a clear message to the people of the country from Karnataka for the Lok Sabha polls," he said. KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao too explained that the rally was intended to send a strong message of unity to leaders and workers of both parties. This will be a memorable event. Both parties expect around five lakh workers to attend it, he added, clarifying in response to a question that no leader of the Mahaghatbandan at the national level had been invited. Going by sources, besides Congress and JD(S) ministers and MLAs, Sundays rally will be attended by lakhs of workers of both parties from Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Bengaluru rural and urban districts. The show of unity at the rally could be crucial for the success of the coalition partners in the coming poll as the Congress and JD(S) have been facing rebellion among their party workers over the sharing of constituencies. With the parties having fought each other in the May 2018 assembly polls their workers are finding it hard to reconcile to the present reality that requires them to bury their differences. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an open debate to explain to the people what his BJP-led government at the Centre has done for them and what it has done for development of Telangana state. Addressing a meeting at Mahbubnagar, Mr Rao reacted to the criticism Mr Modi had levelled against him and also the social media campaign of the BJP against the TRS and said that it was not proper for a Prime Minister to stoop to the level of a village Sarpanch and tell blatant lies about him (Mr Rao) and his rule in the state. Releasing video clippings of the Prime Ministers speech when he visited Mahbubnagar in 2014, Mr Rao recalled that Mr Modi had promised financial support for the Palamuru Lift Irrigation Project, but in his five years of rule, Mr Modi had failed to keep his promise. He said though the Niti Ayog recommended `24,000 crore financial support for Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, the Prime Minister did not sanction even `24. He accused the BJP of carrying out a vicious campaign against the TRS. The BJP claims that it contributed Rs 800 in the Rs 1000 pension scheme of the state government, but that is a blatant lie, Mr Rao said. The the TS government gave pension of Rs 1,000 each to 47,88,070 people in the state while the BJP gave `200 each to 6,66,533 pensioners. Mr Rao said the state government spent Rs 11,843 crore on its Rs 1,000 pension scheme, whereas the Centre has spent only Rs 203 crore. He dared the Prime Minister and the BJP leaders of the state to debate with him on the pension scheme. He urged the people to pull up BJP leaders and social media campaigners for this propaganda and throw them out from the state. Reacting to the comments of BJP state president K. Lakshman that they would take Mr Rao to task after coming to power, the Chief Minister said that Mr Lakshman was day dreaming of coming to power and once the results were out the TRS would take Mr Lakshman and the BJP to task. Ridiculing the BJP for trying to milk votes in the name of surgical strikes, Mr Rao said such surgical strikes had taken place even during the UPA government when he was in the Cabinet, but they were never disclosed. It was unfortunate that the BJP was making it a political issue, he said. Referring to the Prime Ministers comment of astrologers rule in Telangana state, Mr Rao said, I believe in astrology. Why is the PM bothering about it? Shall we perform marriages and offer prayers with the consent of the BJP? Mr Rao asked. They (the BJP) are political Hindus; we are real Hindus. We never use our religion for votes and we never divide people in the name of religion for the sake of garnering votes. We are peace-loving and affectionate people and we never spread hatred, Mr Rao said. He questioned why the Prime Minister was shying away from asking people to vote for him by explaining what he had done in his five years and instead asking for votes in the name of Ram Janmabhoomi and Hindu rashtra. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami campaigns for his party's candidate for Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency S. Aasimani at Kumbakonam on Sunday. (DC) CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has accused DMK chief M. K. Stalin of failing to take note of the turnaround brought by the AIADMK government in ensuring development in the State but merely harps on corruption, which is not there. The state has made rapid progress on the development front and the effective functioning of the Ministers has helped the government to receive awards in agriculture, health, transport and other departments. But Stalin merely harps on corruption, which is not at all there in Tamil Nadu, Mr Palaniswami said while campaigning for his party's candidate for Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency S. Aasimani at Kumbakonam on Sunday. The visibly piqued CM said he was prepared to prove Stalin wrong on the corruption issue. He had no locus standi to talk about corruption as the DMK government was dismissed on corruption charges in the past. The CM also claimed that Stalin was uttering whatever came to his mind due to fear of defeat at the hustings. He is afraid of the victory prospects of the AIADMK combine which will win all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Mr Palaniswami said. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Vijayawada: Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP government led by Narendra Modi has divided India into two countries, one for the rich and wealthy, and other for farmers, the poor and common people. He said 20 per cent of the people in the country are unable to earn a decent livelihood with meagre earnings of less than Rs 12,000 a month and so the Congress party will transfer Rs 6,000 per month directly into their bank accounts, which would benefit 25 crore people. Mr Modi is working for the rich such as the Ambanis, and ignoring the welfare of the common people, he said. Mr Gandhi was in Vijayawada on Sunday to address his first public meeting in the city in the MBP mini stadium. He maintained a positive note in his speech, explaining the schemes his party will implement and did not level any allegations against the Telugu Desam or Jana Sena, but YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy he called a corrupt person. Borrowing the terminology of his arch rival, Mr Gandhi said the Congress is going to do surgical strikes against poverty with the NYAY scheme, which puts money directly into the hands of the poorest families. He promised to put his signature on the Special Category Status file immediately after becoming PM and further promised to implement Rs 2 lakh agriculture loan waiver scheme within two days of coming to power. He said that the UPA government had moved 14 crore people out of poverty during the 10 years of its rule. Unemployment is the burning issue in the country, he said, and hence the Congress has decided to promote the unemployed as businessmen under a scheme that will offer bank loans and no requirement of a licence for three years. Mr Gandhi said that PM Manmohan Singh had given an assurance at the time of the states bifurcation that the residuary AP State will get special category status (SCS), but prime minister Modi did not fulfil that obligation. He stated that the AP government failed to pressurise the BJP government into giving it SCS and fulfil other assurances made at the time. Mismanagement has prevailed in the state which has been a hurdle for development. He further said that you know about the corruption cases against Jagan Reddy. He said the BJP had assured creation of crores of jobs but had not delivered. GST and demonetisation had destroyed small and medium traders and Mr Modi had dismantled many things during the past five years. He alleged that Mr Modi destroyed MGNREGA and food security, introduced by the Congress-led government for the welfare of the public. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Photo: Contributed The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen will be awarding a $35,000-plus contract to a helicopter company for services to combat nuisance mosquito populations in the region. At Thursday's meeting, the board will choose from two companies that will provide key services to the Mosquito Control Program which has been in place since 1974. "The majority of the treatments are carried out on foot by the Mosquito Control staff ,however there are locations of prime mosquito breeding areas that can only be reached by helicopter," reads a report by RDOS staff. "In 2018, there were five helicopter flights carried out due to the higher groundwater and flooding levels." The board will decide between Valhalla Helicopters, which would be an estimated $38,500 cost, and Eclipse Helicopters, at an estimated $35,000 cost. District staff has recommended choosing Eclipse Helicopters. "Eclipse Helicopter will also provide a base of operations, including pesticide storage, in Penticton as requested. Valhalla Helicopters will be transporting the pesticide from their base in West Kelowna in a trailer," reads the report. "Eclipse Helicopters also has worked with the Mosquito Control crew for many years and the pilot is familiar with all of the areas requiring treatment." The board will be awarding a five year contract, with the option to extend for a further two years. Kerala Congress leader A K Antony on Sunday morning confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has given his consent to contest from two seats -- Wayand and Amethi. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) Kerala: Ending all the speculations, Kerala Congress leader A K Antony on Sunday morning confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has given his consent to contest from Wayand, Kerala besides Amethi. Addressing media, A K Antony said, "Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala." Earlier, the BJP has scoffed at Gandhis plan and interpreted it as a sign of nervousness and an attempt to move away from Amethi, where the saffron party has pitched Union Minister Smriti Irani against him for the second time. Slamming the accusations from the ruling government about whether Rahul Gandhi not confident in Amethi so contesting on two seat, Randeep Surjewala said, "Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. She (Smriti Irani) will complete a hat-trick of losses." The decision to contest from the second seat emerged after the Congress Working Committee met for discussions. According to party leaders, they feel Rahuls candidacy would increase Congresss prospects in that region. Even DMK leader MK Stalin requested Gandhi to contest in Tamil Nadu. Kerala and Karnataka are seen as the strongest options for Rahul Gandhi for now. Some leaders said the Wayanad seat was offered to Congress chief after senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy could not come to an agreement on who should be fielded from there. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Tumakuru: In a show of unity, leaders of JD (S) and Congress plan to address a series of rallies to drum up support for former prime minister H D Deve Gowda beginning April 4. For Mr Deve Gowda, Tumakuru will be the new turf after he passed on his traditional bastion, Hassan, to his grandson, R Prajwal, son of PWD minister H D Revanna. In this constituency, he is pitted against Mr G S Basavaraju of BJP. According to the itinerary, leaders of JD (S) and Congress would hold closed door meetings from April 1 to 3 in all Assembly seats with party workers and goad them to work for Mr Gowdas success. Similar meetings would be held in all major towns of the constituency beginning Monday. Along with Mr Deve Gowda, Congress leaders -Dr G Parameshwara and others would be part of the campaign while JD (S) leader and minister Srinivas would also tag along. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah would campaign for Mr Deve Gowda in Tumakuru on April 4 and April 5. Tumakuru Congress president Ramakrishna told Deccan Chronicle on Saturday that differences among party workers in Congress on the candidature of Mr Deve Gowda have been ironed out. Mr Deve Gowda himself would hit the campaign trail in Tumakuru beginning April 4 and cover Turuvekere, Tiptur, Gubbi and Chikkanayakana halli, and resume the campaign on April 8 and 9. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. In a turn up for the books, Congress and BJP workers campaign at the same spot for Mandya independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya on Saturday. (Photo: DC) Mandya: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Sanjiv Kumar, has ordered an inquiry into complaints that the Mandya Deputy Commissioner and District Returning Officer (DRO), N Manjushree, has been partisan in handling the nomination papers of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, who has been fielded by the JD(S) from Mandya this Lok Sabha poll. The CEO paid a surprise visit to Mandya on Saturday on receiving complaints from independent candidate, Sumalatha Ambareesh, that the DRO was allowing Mr Nikhil to fill the blank portions of his affidavit after he had filed the original along with his nomination papers. Mr Sanjiv Kumar said an inquiry would be held against the District Returning Officer to see if she had given a one sided ruling on Mr Nikhil's nomination papers despite the strong objection raised by Mr M Madan Kumar, an agent of Ms Sumalatha Ambareesh. "I have ordered an inquiry to see whether there were any administrative lapses on the part of the DRO and if she gave a one- sided ruling on the errors in Mr Nikhil's nomination papers, he said. Asked about Ms Sumalatha's contention that the DRO did not reject the JD(S) candidate despite the errors in his nomination papers, the CEO said the scrutiny of the papers was a closed chapter and the only option she had was to move the court in the matter. The issue has become a source of embarrassment for the Congress-JD(S) coalition, which has been accused of misusing government machinery to ensure the victory of Mr Nikhil from Mandya. Ms Sumalatha has claimed that Mr Nikhil had left blanks in his affidavit, which has to be mandatorily filled when filing a nomination for the poll. While acknowledging that Mr Nikhil had not filled certain columns in the affidavit, the DRO, however, said he was allowed to make the corrections in accordance with poll rules. As the JD(S) candidate had submitted a fresh affidavit before the scrutiny of all poll documents, his nomination paperswere in order, she had maintained. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. The web series compares various welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with that of the TMC government in West Bengal. (Photo: Screengrab) Kolkata: Ahead of Lok Sabha poll in the state, the Trinamool Congress Friday launched a web series christened 'Pradhan Mantri Hisab Do' comparing various welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with that of the TMC government in West Bengal. The first episode of the web series began with a short film comparing two schemes Bengal governments Sabooj Sathi and the Central governments Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. Under the Sabooj Sathi scheme of West Bengal bicycles are given to girl students of class 9 to 12 studying in government-run and government-aided schools and madrashas of the state. The video shows two girls one living in Rewari, Haryana and the other in Hoogly district of West Bengal. A girl of Rewari in the video is seen speaking about how she had to leave her school as it is 14-15 km away from his home and there is not a single school in her village. In the next scene, a housewife from Hooghly, tells how the bicycle her daughter got from the West Bengal government as part of the Sabooj Sathi scheme, conceived by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is enabling her to attend school regularly, even though its quite a distance away. The TMC and BJP are engaged in a bitter fight in West Bengal with TMC giving the call to oust the BJP government at the Center and the BJP setting a target of winning 23 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Mandya: Even as the coalition partners are getting ready to launch their joint campaign in Karnataka on Sunday, to their embarassment Congress workers in Mandya continue to campaign for Ms Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of the later actor/politician, M H Ambareesh, who is contesting as an independent from the constituency this Lok Sabha poll. The suspension of a few Congress leaders has had no impact on them and more and more workers are defiantly campaigning for Ms Sumalatha holding Congress flags much to the anger of local JD(S) leaders, who had expected them to back their candidate, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as part of the poll alliance between the two parties. The latest to come out in support of Ms Sumalatha was a former Congress MLA Ramu of Keragodu, who accompanied her in her campaign in the district on Saturday. Other die-hard supporters of the late Ambareesh, who had represented Mandya for years, are also reportedly working for her victory against the Chief Minister's son as they believe the Congress should have fielded her from the constituency instead of giving it up for its coalition partner. So adamant are they in their stand that a meeting in Mandya to chalk out a programme for a joint campaign by the Congress and JD(S) saw noisy scenes with many Congress workers openly supporting Ms Sumalatha and the district Congress president reportedly appearing helpless to stop them. One district leader believes the state party leadership failed to understand the ground reality when it chose to enter a poll agreement with the JD(S) without consulting the local workers. "This has angered them and they have all decided to work for Ms Sumalatha. You can take action against one or two, but can you suspend thousands of workers? If you do, the party will be wiped out, he pointed out. Notice served on me, illegal: Sumalatha Ambareesh Justifying her statement on misuse of official machinery by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, whose son Nikhil has entered the electoral contest as Janata Dal (S) candidate in Mandya parliament constituency, independent candidate Mrs Sumalatha Ambareesh, described the notice served on her by the deputy commissioner as 'illegal'. Replying to a notice served on her by deputy commissioner and returning officer N Manjushree under Sec 189 of IPC, Mrs Sumalatha said "I was forced to share my feelings with the media after having observed the behavior of you (DRO) and your staff from the beginning but not insulted any officer or staff members. Speculation has been rife in the coastal state since then that Manohar Parrikar's sons -- Utpal (left) and Abhijat (right) -- might take the political plunge in the Lok Sabha polls or the Panaji bypoll necessitated by the death of their father. (Photo: PTI) Panaji: Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar's sons released a statement on Saturday hinting they could enter politics to "continue the legacy" of their father's "dedication to the state and the nation". Manohar Parrikar, 63, died on March 17 after a prolonged battle with a pancreatic ailment. Speculation has been rife in the coastal state since then that Manohar Parrikar's sons -- Utpal and Abhijat -- might take the political plunge in the Lok Sabha polls or the Panaji bypoll necessitated by the death of their father. Quoting former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, the sons' statement said, "It is said the legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and inheritance of a great example." "We will honour his life by continuing his legacy of service and dedication to the state and the nation," it added. "My father lived everyday with vigour, a strong will and desire to serve the nation and the state. Till the very last, he was occupied with issues concerning the state," the statement said praising Manohar Parrikar. The statement lamented that Manohar Parrikar's death had "snatched" the "central part" of their family and left a huge void. "However, the sheer number of people, messages and letters we have received has made us feel we are part of a much bigger family that he has left behind," the statement said. It also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his unstinting support during Manohar Parrikar's illness. Utpal Parrikar and Abhijat Parrikar also thanked the armed forces for the military funeral their father received at Miramar Beach on March 18. They called it "a moving ceremony" and thanked the Prime Minister, Union ministers and other dignitaries who attended it and provided support and solace. Earlier, on Friday, Utpal Parrikar said he would take a decision, on entering politics, at the right time. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to fight the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, which he has represented three times, is smart strategy. The decision was clothed in concern for the southern states as the message has been around for some time that this government at the Centre has treated the South Indian states unfairly (in the context of Central allocations and the GST formula for producing states). This may be worthy of debate, but in choosing to stand from the nation's southernmost state, Mr Gandhi is evidently attempting to confirm the impression of having become an all-India public figure, at home in all parts of the country. This is an important message, whatever the overall outcome of the coming Lok Sabha polls. Wayanad in north Kerala is a point where Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu meet. Mr Gandhi won Amethi by well over one lakh votes in 2014 at the height of the Narendra Modi wave, although this was a big drop from earlier times. Since Smriti Irani tasted defeat at Amethi (but was still made a Union minister with major portfolios), she has redoubled her efforts in nursing the constituency and many believe that Mr Gandhi will have a tougher battle on his hands this time around. The picture is likely to be complicated for the Congress if in this constituency there is sabotage from elements within the BSP and SP alliance, the Mahagathbandhan parties, though they have said they would not be fielding candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli (Sonia Gandhi's constituency). The BJP says that in fighting from a relatively safe seat for the Congress in Kerala, Mr Gandhi is "running away" from UP out of fear. For now, this may be treated as overblown poll-time propaganda. But the Congress' Wayanad decision has upset the Left, whose top leaders have said that while Mr Gandhi proclaims that his principal fight is against the BJP, in Kerala he would be pitted against the Left. But this appears to be an overstated position. In Kerala, the Left Front has always been pitted against the Congress-led United Democratic Front, and the Left has lost Wayanad to the Congress two elections running, although by a narrow vote in 2014. Besides, seen from the Congress' perspective, the party's president contesting in Wayanad is likely to impart special energy to Congress candidates in the nearby areas of Kasargod, Kannur and Pathmapitha (where the Sabarimala shrine is located) and help shore up the party across Kerala, besides the adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The way the political ding-dong battle has evolved in India since 2014, it has been evident to all, except perhaps the Left, that the BJP treats the Congress, even in its present depleted condition, as its primary ideological and political foe. The pride India feels in becoming a member of the so-called Star Wars club in its newfound capability of shooting down satellites in low orbit should now be tempered by the fact that the timing of this feat seems a little odd. Within six days of the DRDO launch of a missile from the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast to shoot down its 700-kg MicroSAT-R satellite, Isro will be launch with its reliable PSLV workhorse a new surveillance satellite, among others, to put 29 satellites in three different orbits. Isro will maintain extra vigil of debris floating in space before the Monday launch. The timing of the mission to kill in one stroke the low orbit satellite was questioned not only by Opposition leaders, who saw it juxtaposed with the election narrative, but also by top scientists who also expressed scepticism. There are millions of pieces of debris floating in space providing sci-fi screenwriters with scare scenarios for carry movie plots. India may have put just under 300 pieces of debris. But every satellite launch also leads to debris like bolts and heat shields, that separate from their payload and move into perennial orbits. There is always risk of space launches running into debris, but that doesn't absolve India in its timing - of a missile launch just before a scheduled multi-satellite launch, a part of Isro's business around the year. The odds of a collision with space debris are astronomical, and yet must be computed given the prohibitive cost of space failures. There is no doubt of Isro's professionalism, but even so placing an additional burden in low-orbit debris was avoidable with better timing, even if all of India remains hugely proud of Mission Shakti! The neutrality of the Election Commission (EC) should never be allowed to be questioned. If too many queries are flying around on events that may seem to favour one party over any other it is the credibility of free and fair elections that will be at stake. Not only is it the job of the Election Commission of India to present a level playing ground for all parties, including the ruling group and the major Opposition parties, but must also be pro-active in securing that level playing field. The role of the current Chief Election Commissioner and his team has been somewhat suspect in this regard as a trail of events and allegations seem to suggest. Rulings in tricky issues, like whether official machinery was used in any way in the announcement of the anti-satellite missile launch or the frequent conduct of income tax raids on politicians and their aides are either peremptorily arrived at, or skirted altogether. Over time, all institutions may progressively fall from high standards like the ones set by a few heading them, such as T.N. Seshan. His nickname of Alsatian fit his role as the watchdog of fair polls making the correct use of sweeping powers of an independent EC. The apprehension now is about the panel becoming a pet dog of ruling forces rather than standing up as a neutral umpire facilitating fair play. The objection to greater use of the voter-verified paper audit trail, or VVPAT, may be based on logistical difficulties leading to delay in the counting process. However, should the EC not have expanded the VVPAT slip verification process to cover a far greater percentage of polling segments in order to be seen as fair and to satisfy doubting minds? If the standalone electronic voting machines (EVMs) are a pride of the nation with their tamper-proof image, then it stands to reason that they would pass with flying colours any test of their functioning even in a real poll situation rather than an experiment in hacking them. Considering the efficacy of raids every day all over the country, the panel may be doing its job in keeping a check over inducements in the form of cash, gold, liquor, narcotics, petrol coupons, and so on. These, however, only constitute proper groundwork towards fair polls. The panel has also been served a contempt notice by the top court for not following its order on candidates declaring their criminal antecedents. Where the panel is seen to be falling short is also in its opposition to VVPAT. A common failing among political parties is their tendency to blame the EVMs when they lose and not talk about their efficiency when they win. The verifiable paper trail in, say, 10 per cent of the polling booths would help emphasise the fairness of our democracy. As Joseph Stalin cheekily said, Its not the people who vote that count. Its the people who count the votes. In a free India, we would like to believe our vote counters are beyond reproach. Zen is the purest form of meditation better to use the original Sanskrit word, dhyana. When Gautama Buddha started teaching meditation, he used the Pali language word, jhana. Many centuries later, Bodhidharma, an enlightened mystic travelled to China, and jhana became chan. Later, when chan reached Japan, it became Zen. Often the people of different countries pronounce the same word differently in their local language. Since the last century, Zen has become very famous all over the world, but it is the same Sanskrit word, dhyana, though Zen is the distilled form of it. Dhyana in India got corrupted, but in Japan it went through a total transformation. The whole credit goes to the long tradition of Zen Masters. In hundreds of his discourses, Osho spoke on such wonderful Zen Masters and their unique contributions. In one of his books, Notes of a Mad Man, Osho talks about this journey of transformation and also in his book titled: The Search. Osho says: There is an ancient story, the famous Zen story, The Ten Bulls of Zen. It is a pictorial story with ten picture cards, each card containing a phase of man and his evolution. The original pack consisted of only nine cards; and the tenth was added by a madman like me. Everybody opposed him and everybody denounced him. He had to leave his country. He added the tenth picture, and the tenth picture is the most beautiful, the very culmination the culmination of culmination itself. In the first picture, the bull is lost and the owner is searching for it. In the second, he is looking everywhere and he cannot find it. In the third, far, far away he can infer: Perhaps that is my bull. In the fourth, he has actually seen the bull not the whole bull but just its tail. In the fifth, he has seen the whole bull. In the sixth, he has caught hold of the bull by its tail. In the seventh the man has learned a lesson; he is holding the bull by the horns. In the eighth, he is riding on the bull. In the ninth, they have arrived home. The ninth has no picture, neither the bull nor its owner. That was the old pack. A madman like me added the tenth to those nine cards. In the tenth the man is seen in the marketplace not only seen but with a bottle of wine. Now, no Buddhist can forgive it! Nobody thinking himself religious can forgive it! Osho adds: That madman was thrown out of his country, but miraculously the tenth card has remained. Whatsoever is done by men like me you may throw them out, you may kill them, you may crucify them, but what they do remains. You cannot destroy it. The man nobody even knows his name, they even erased his name from the books; nobody knows who he was, but he has done a tremendous service to humanity. This unique journey is the process of ones own transformation through meditation and then celebration coming back to the world. Photo: Facebook Daniel Joseph The former president of the Kelowna-Lake Country electoral district association for the upstart People's Party of Canada has resigned over what he claims are racist and bigoted views of party members. Daniel Joseph was elected president in November, but on Friday resigned his position. Joseph says when he took on the role, the party had just started out at the local level, "and I felt like I had a real opportunity to influence the tone of the party, even from our one EDA. "Unfortunately, with newly appointed executives in charge very vocal officials with utterly hateful views and policy positions I no longer feel like there is a place for me in this party. "I hope that by publicly disavowing the party, they are able to restructure and remove people with hateful, racist, homophobic and xenophobic views." His post has garnered thousands of views. Joseph said he can no longer support the party founded by former Tory MP and cabinet minister Maxime Bernier. "I believe we can do politics differently. I believe in giving a voice to the silent majority, rather than a speaker phone to vocal pockets of dissent and hate. Unfortunately, this party that shouted from the rooftops it was different, has proven to me that it isn't different at all. They are allowing racist, xenophobic, homophobic and downright hateful people into positions of authority and influence." Joseph said he still believes there is still hope for the party, but that it will require a drastic change in structure. "I hope that Maxime Bernier isn't just all talk, and that he's willing to build a party of all Canadians, not just the ones shouting loudly." Castanet has reached out to the party executive for comment. Such issues like farmer suicides and agrarian distress do not mean anything to most of us because we have no real contact with that reality. In a few months, my term as the head of a large non-governmental organisation comes to an end. I thought I should write about the sector and inform readers of the things that I learned and discovered in my four years doing the work. The first thing is about the quality of people who work in what is called civil society, meaning the groups that are linked by common interests. They are called activists and their organisations often called NGOs. I have found that some of the brightest Indian people are attracted to this line of work and we should all be proud that this is the case. The salaries offered in the sector are nowhere near the corporate world and that makes it all the more remarkable that bright young people are to be found in large numbers in this field. The second thing is about the nature of the work that they do. You have people who have worked for decades on such issues as manual scavenging or physical disabilities or primary education. Of course this is noble and meaningful work. But the other aspect of this is that such people carry with them expertise and understanding which is absent elsewhere, including in the government. This brings me to the third point and that is that in India it is not easy for such individuals and institutions to work with the government. The state in India, meaning the bureaucratic and political apparatus, is quite closed-minded and often arrogant. There is a master-servant relationship with the citizen, even if the citizen has worked on the issue for much longer than the bureaucrat that she is engaging with. Because I work for an organisation that is also global, I can report that in other democracies, particularly in those of Europe, the relationship of the state with civil society is much closer than it is in India. There is respect for the work done by the activists in those nations, whereas in our country these individuals and groups are usually considered to be a nuisance. The fourth thing that people may not know or have not considered is the value that these activists and NGOs bring when the government actually engages with them. The United Progressive Alliance set up a group of people from civil society and called this group the National Advisory Council (NAC). Most of the people in this group were activists and NGO-wallahs. They told the government to legislate such laws as the Right to Information, MNREGA and so on. If these laws have remained and if they are thought to be still popular, it is because they were the result of the sort of thinking that the government is not capable of. There is no question to my mind that things like the Right to Information are transformative. Along with her vote, the RTI is the most powerful tool in the hands of the common woman. The fifth thing is that these activists and NGOs bridge the chasm that exists between our middle class and the poor. The middle class finds it easy to roll the window up at the beggar on the traffic signal and we work in environments that are secluded. Such issues like farmer suicides and agrarian distress do not mean anything to most of us because we have no real contact with that reality. It is the members of the middle class like activists and NGOs who have personal and sustained contact with these non-middle class issues that are able to connect us to other Indians. The sixth thing is that on issues that most Indians have made up their minds, it is the activists and NGOs who have subtlety and nuance. Because of the nature of our mainstream media, the information that we receive on adivasi rights or dalit rights is limited. We have only one side of the story when it comes to Kashmir. Our understanding of violence in the Northeast and its causes is poor. However, the activists and the NGOs have engaged with this at much deeper levels than most of us. Here is an example that you might not be aware of: In 2012, an NGO called EEVFAM moved the Supreme Court saying that the armed forces encounters in Manipur were fake. The court ordered some judges to inquire into this and found that the NGO was right. Because of this the number of encounters and killings in Manipur fell from about 200 to only a handful, because the armed forces knew they were being watched. You will not get this information from the regular media. It is the presence of the NGO and the activist that has safeguarded constitutional rights. A democratic state needs the presence of large numbers of activists and organisations that work on things that affect society as a whole. Most of us individuals are not interested in things that do not concern us directly. We should be supportive of those who work on things for all of us, even if we sometimes disagree with some of the things that they say. Jet falling into SBIs lap for eventual sale has drawn more attention to the reappointment of Ashwani Lohani as chairman and managing director (CMD) of Air India and continues to be talked about in babu circles. Mr Lohani had already served as CMD of Air India before being appointed as chairman of the railway board, an ex-officio post of principal secretary. So why did Mr Lohani accept the Air India post, which is of the additional secretary-level post and that too for a mere year? It is after all uncharacteristic of the Modi sarkar to effect this post-retirement reappointment when it always tries to convey its belief in the stability of an administration. Some babu observers believe that Mr Lohani has been brought back to complete the disinvestment process in Air India, in case the NDA government returns to power after the general elections. It is said that employee unions were still a roadblock to the divestment of Air India, slowing down the winding up process. However, since Mr Lohani is widely known to enjoy the respect and confidence of Air India employees, it is likely that the government is looking at him to help smoothening the mammoth task of divestment. Cop vs cop in Punjab In Punjab, all babus have their attention glued to the Chandigarh branch of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which is hearing a plea challenging the appointment of Dinkar Gupta as the director general of police, Punjab. The tribunal has issued notices to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Punjab government, DGP Dinkar Gupta, former DGP Suresh Arora and others. Mr Guptas appointment has been challenged by DGP-rank officer, Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, who is the second senior Punjab Police officer to have opposed the appointment. Earlier, DGP rank officer, Mohammad Mustafa had moved the tribunal against the decision. Mr Chattopadhyaya has claimed that former DGP Arora had a vested interest in Mr Guptas appointment as the names of both surfaced in a report filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court on the nexus between drug traffickers and law enforcement agencies in Punjab. Mr Chattopadhyaya has requested CAT to quash the February 7 order which appointed Mr Gupta as the DGP of Punjab. Once the hearings begin in April, babu-watchers expect a lot of dirty linen to be washed in public! The cracks within up bureaucracy Barely months before the general elections, Uttar Pradesh is witnessing yet another round of a babu turf war which is likely to affect not just the functioning of the Yogi Adityanath government, but also cause problems during election duty. Alleging that they are victims of apartheid and discrimination, the promotee IAS officers have broken away from the state IAS Association and formed their own group called Promotee IAS Officers Forum, according to Umesh Pratap Singh, general secretary and convener of the forum. The forum now plans to approach the chief minister with their grievances against the direct hire IAS officers. This is not the only occasion when a turf war among various cadres of the Central and state services has been witnessed in the state. In 2017, the state witnessed a confrontation between the IAS and the IPS, when SPs in districts refused to follow orders of DMs in transfers and postings of SHOs. The IPS saw it as an attempt to usurp their administrative powers. While the IAS Association denies that there is any discrimination against promotee officers and is willing to address their grievances, it seems unlikely that the rift can be healed anytime soon. A close confidante of the Congress first family and head of the Indian Overseas Congress, Sam PItroda says that the Minimum Income Guarantee being promised by his party could be an economic game changer. He claims that the economists who are questioning the scheme are trained in the Western model which looks at the economy only through numbers. In an interview to Sreeparna Chakrabarty, he says that building a country is different from building a company. Mr Pitroda, who has worked with both Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, says that while the former was more of a tinkerer, the son is a thinker. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has just unveiled the Minimum Income Guarantee Programme or the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) that would be the chief component of the partys manifesto. You think this can be the political game changer in the coming elections? To me this is something that has been in the air for quite some time, nationally as well as globally. People have been talking about Minimum Income Guarantee for the poor everywhere. Some have experimented in advanced countries. In India, we have had conversations on this for some 50 years. I think we have come to a point where we have a fairly robust economy. We have created many billionaires in the last decade. It is time to really do something special for the poorest of the poor. It is our moral responsibility. If we can give $1,000 a year to 50 million people, it comes to $50 billion. That is not much. For an economy of our size, this is nothing. I think it comes at the right time. It is a fairly bold initiative. There is enough money in the system for it. While economists have questioned the finances, the Congress is saying that the fiscal repercussions have been worked out and this will remonetise the economy and bring it back on its feet? Absolutely... During demonetisation, with a big vacuum cleaner we sucked the cash out of the system. Now we need to do exactly the opposite, and that is to put cash back into the system. The problem with economists is that many of them are trained in Western concepts. They look at GDP, GNP, per capita income and balance of payments. It is more sort of a corporate financial system. But building a nation is very different from building a company. A lot of these economic ideas are still based out of Western thinking. Our poor need to satisfy their basic needs and this money will come back into the system anyway. There is a different way of looking at it. The economy is not just about money and numbers, and there is a lot more to it vis-a-vis social justice. The Congress has been accused of falling back on welfare economics to win elections. The issue is really that our approach to economics is Gandhian which is bottom-up and not top-down. A lot of the critics look at the top-down approach. You build refineries, big ports or a huge factory and then say that my states GDP has gone up. What has really happened is that three guys have become billionaires. But it hasnt helped a large number of people in the state. The people who will get money under Nyay are not going to spend outside but within the system. All the money will go into the local economy, which will create jobs. The ultimate goal is to create local jobs. Part of the problem across the world is that in the name of globalisation, we have ignored localisation. We need to think through this economic model differently. If I say this, people say you are not an economist. Of course I am not an economist and that is my advantage. I can ask complicated questions as I have not been trained. Ignorance is a great asset if you know how to use it. Your comments on the Balakot strike created much controversy. The Prime Minister of the country lied about what I had said. How can he get away with it? Because I dont get that (media) coverage? The Prime Minister said Mr Pitroda has said about Pakistan but I havent said anything about Pakistan. I think our media is not fair today. I was literally flabbergasted that my interview forced the PM of the country to send four tweets and the head of the party call a press conference. What do you make of the PMs recent announcement on national television of India launching the A-Sat missile? It was silly. The Prime Minister of a country according to me had no need to take credit for it. Credit should have gone to the scientists. We are proud of them. This wasnt Narendra Modis idea. It had been in the works for long. This shows they are panicky and they are desperate. You (the BJP) have lost sight of your job. Your job is to run the country. People elected you to run the country not spend public money in promoting yourself. The Congress president has been touring abroad and meeting the Indian diaspora quite a bit. You, as head of the Indian Overseas Congress, have been at the core of it. What has been the response? We have seen a very good response. In Dubai, we had 50,000 people who had come to listen to Rahul Gandhi. We have 25 million people of Indian origin abroad. The NRI contribution of this country has been huge. Whenever we go out, we meet with the head of state, the business community, students and with the community at large. You have worked with both father and son Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. What differences or similarities have you seen in them? First of all, times are very different. India then was very different from India now. Then privatisation was a bad word. Liberalisation and deregulation was very unusual for people to accept. Now it is fine. That world was very simple. The world today is complex. Now aspirations are very high. The tools are also very different. His (Rahul Gandhis) tools are different from Rajiv Gandhis. Rajiv was more of a tinkerer, this guy is more of a thinker. Everyone is different in their style of functioning. But his (Rahul Gandhis) heart is in the right place. Do you think Priyanka Gandhis entry into politics would make a difference to the Congress fortunes in Uttar Pradesh? It is hard to say right now. We have a tough battle in UP. But we will see. If we can get 10 seats in UP, that would be good. Can she contest against Mr Modi in Varanasi? Would that be prudent? This is media-created stuff. But if it happened it will get more media coverage. It will get the global media there If you lose you lose. Nokia said Daimler was seeking to side-step taking out licenses. German carmaker Daimler has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Nokia patents essential to car communications, a move underlining the tensions between tech companies and the car industry on the use of key technologies. Tech companies and mobile telecoms providers are playing an increasingly important role in the auto industry, with their technologies used in navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and self-driving cars. Daimler confirmed that it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Nokia. We want clarification on how essential patents for telecommunications standards are to be licensed in the automotive industry, the car maker said in a statement on Saturday. Fair and non-discriminatory access to these standards for all users of the essential patents for telecommunications standards is a key prerequisite for the development of new products and services for connected driving. The European Commission confirmed receipt of Daimlers complaint. Nokia said Daimler was seeking to side-step taking out licenses. Though we offer a wide range of options for automakers, including through their tier 1 suppliers, Daimler has resisted taking a license to the Nokia inventions it is already using, Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said. Daimlers allegations in its complaint to the EU are simply the latest in a long series of actions to avoid taking a license, he said. Nokia has a highly profitable patent business, a legacy of its history as the market-leading mobile phone maker. Patent disputes between Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and others have triggered mutual lawsuits worldwide in the last decade, with analysts saying the patent war could next move to the auto industry. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Analysts had forecast a steeper decline on account of the higher base a year earlier due to a T$66 billion disposal gain from sale of Sharps special shares. Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn reported a smaller than expected fall in quarterly profit, despite warning signs from key customers including Apple Inc that demand for tech electronics is softening. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, reported net profit of T$62.61 billion ($2.03 billion) for the final three months of 2018 on Friday. That was 12.6 percent below the year-earlier results, the company said in a statement. The result beat a mean estimate of T$36.64 billion ($1.19 billion) from eight analysts, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv. It was also the biggest quarterly profit the company has posted for 2018. Analysts had forecast a steeper decline on account of the higher base a year earlier due to a T$66 billion disposal gain from sale of Sharps special shares, as well as sluggish iPhone demand amid a tepid smartphone market. But a company official said on Friday that the better-than-expected profit was driven by revenue growth. He did not elaborate. Foxconn acquired control of Japans Sharp in 2016 to try to boost the Taiwanese companys advanced screen technology. For 2018 as a whole, Foxconns net profit totalled T$129.1 billion, down 6.9 percent from 2017, the company said. Lewis Liao, an analyst at Fubon Research in Taipei, said ahead of the results that investors are now looking to a possible recovery of iPhone sales in the second half, which could boost profits for Taiwanese manufacturers including Foxconn. The prolonged downturn in global tech demand is likely to hit profits for the islands many technology manufacturers this year. United Microelectronics Corp, Taiwans second-biggest contract chipmaker, said February sales fell about 12 percent on-year. Foxconn Technology said in February it will build a factory in Wisconsin after the companys chairman Terry Gou spoke to US President Donald Trump, following a Reuters report that the Taiwanese company was reconsidering its plans. Shares of Foxconn rose 2.4 percent on Friday ahead of the results, beating the benchmark share price index. They are up 2.9 percent this year after falling 30 percent last year. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The gang, based in London, Bucking-hamshire, Birmingham, north-west England and Scotland, is alleged to have sent 1 per cent of its gains from their elaborate tax fraud to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghan-istan, where it funded madrasas, training camps and other terrorist activities, according to the leaked files seen by The Sunday Times. London: A British Asian gang of fraudsters may have been involved in misusing billions of pounds of British taxpayers money to fund terrorist networks in Pakistan and Afgha-nistan, claims a UK media probe based on police and intelligence files. The gang, based in London, Bucking-hamshire, Birmingham, north-west England and Scotland, is alleged to have sent 1 per cent of its gains from their elaborate tax fraud to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghan-istan, where it funded madrasas, training camps and other terrorist activities, according to the leaked files seen by The Sunday Times. An estimated 80 million is believed to have been funnelled out by the fraudsters as part of an elaborate VAT and benefits fraud against the UKs revenue department over the past two decades, with further gains made through mortgage and credit card fraud targeting banks and individuals. Secret intelligence held by MI5 states that some of the money reached the Pakistani compound that housed the Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden before US forces stormed it in 2011, the newspaper reports as part of a two-year investigation. The gang, made up of British men of Asian-origin who cannot be named due to court orders, reportedly infiltrated multiple UK government agencies and even corrupted local politicians. Mid-ranking gang members have been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for fraud and money laundering in a series of linked trials. Their crimes have reportedly cost the UK taxpayer an estimated 100 million pounds. Reporting restrictions imposed at the start of the first trial prevent the identification of any of the gang because several kingpins fled the UK before they could be arrested and are now thought to be based in the Middle East. The UKs Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insists that details cannot be reported until the masterminds have been returned to the UK to face trial. According to evidence pieced together so far, the gang was using a network of factories and companies and exploiting their workers for identity and benefit frauds, the sale of counterfeit goods, car crash scams and mortgage and credit card frauds. Her Majestys Revenue and Customs inquiries found the gang used hijacked National Insurance numbers to create false records and exploited illegal immigrant labour before laundering cash through bogus offshore firms. Those involved in the investigation say the gang was extremely difficult to penetrate. Presidential candidate Zuzana Caputova thanks her election team and supporters prior the results of the first exit polls in her elections headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia on Saturday. (AFP) Bratislava: Vocal government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova will become Slovakias first female president after provisional results showed her winning Saturdays run-off election. Environmental lawyer Caputova got 58.40 per cent of the ballot while EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic garnered 41.59, the Slovak Statistics Office said. Official results are due on Sunday at noon. Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests, Caputova said after her victory. The 45-year-old added that the outcome was a sign that you can win without attacking your opponents. I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year. Sefcovic, the 52-year-old ruling party candidate, called Caputova to congratulate her and planned to also send flowers. The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet, he said. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who belongs to the governing Smer-SD party, said he expected constructive cooperation. Outgoing president Andrej Kiska said that Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova. Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency. Political novice Capu-tova, who ran on a slogan of Stand up to evil had earlier called the last few weeks extremely challenging and an intense journey. No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. More recently, she took to the streets of the central European country of 5.4 million along with tens of thousands of other anti-government protesters after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was gunned down alongside his fiancee in February 2018. He had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia. The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of the current premier. Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders. The European Parlia-ment has urged Slovakia to look into any possible political links to the crimes. MEPs voiced concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakias circles of power. Speaking to AFP on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence. Raising doubts over the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing in south Kashmirs Pulwama district that killed 40 CRPF soldiers, regional National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday asked why didnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit the families of slain jawans? Many Indian soldiers were killed in Chhattisgarh, but Modi ji never went to meet their families. And when 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives he raised a storm over it. I have my doubts about that as well, Abdullah chief said without clarifying the nature of his doubts. Speaking at a party conference in Srinagar, the NC president while taking a jibe at Modi said, The Mission Shakti shot down a live satellite as the Lok Sabha elections are around the corner but a similar button crashed a helicopter and killed six IAF personnel in Budgam. Questioning the Budgam crash, Abdullah said, "Today, when there is an election, he (Modi) pressed the button to show as if (Hindu deity) Hanuman ji has come himself. A similar button was pressed, which made a helicopter crash and killed six of our jawans. All the credit is due to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the successful launch of A-SAT missile. It was Manmohan ji who successfully launched the anti-Satellite Missile, but he never took credit for it, Abdullah, also a three-time chief minister of J&K, said. He also lashed at the PM for failing to create jobs for the people. PM Modi had promised that he will give two crore jobs to the youth in a year, which makes 10 crore in five years. Where are those jobs? PM had also promised to reduce the price of petrol, diesel and, LPG but nothing happened, he rued. Abdullah also said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which once had the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as its main issue, has forgotten about it after the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan. They bid goodbye to the world long back, but DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and AIADMKs longest-serving general secretary J Jayalalithaa still dominate the political discourse, more so during this election season in Tamil Nadu. Not a day goes without the two parties taking the name of the stalwarts who took the party to greater heights in the politically-crucial state that sends 39 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In fact, DMK President M K Stalin has made his father Karunanidhi the centrepiece of his campaign for the April 18 elections. Both had controlled the political landscape of Tamil Nadu for decades together and even forcing the national parties to piggyback on them to win a few seats in the state. Positioning himself as Karunanidhis son rather than DMK President, Stalin seeks to send a strong message to his cadre that the party would continue to be run with principles propagated by the five-time chief minister, though he is no more. At the end of the DMK manifesto, our leader Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) would write sonnadhai seivom, seivathaithaan solvom (We will implement what we promise; we will promise only what we can implement). Likewise, Stalin as Karunanidhis son will only make promises that can be fulfilled, Stalin told a public meeting in Sivakasi on Friday. Not just this, Stalin keeps referring to himself as Karunanidhis son numerous times in his speech at every public meeting he addresses two in a day ever since he began his campaign on March 20 from his fathers birthplace of Tiruvarur. One surprising element in Stalins speech is his continuous reference to Jayalalithaa and assuring her true followers and cadre that the mystery in her death would be solved once the DMK came to power in fact, he says, that would be the first job of his government. With the AIADMK split into two, the DMK and Stalin feel they can benefit further by talking about Jayalalithaas death and her hospitalisation which was a hot topic in the state due to less information on her health. But Jayalalithaas legacy has two inheritors for now the AIADMK and the AMMK launched by rebel T T V Dhinakaran, the nephew of V K Sasikala. The AIADMKs Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam call their administration Amma Government and list the achievements of the dispensation which they claim is being guided by Jayalalithaas soul. Amma took numerous steps to improve quality of education in Tamil Nadu and my government which is being guided by her soul will continue the efforts, Palaniswami told an election rally in backward Tiruvannamalai district. While the AIADMK claims their government was following the path shown by Jayalalithaa, rebel Dhinakaran says the exact opposite he tells people that the EPS-OPS duo have sold AIADMK to BJP and the party can be restored to its past glory only when it is retrieved from them. Political commentator Bernard D Sami told DH that Stalin, Edappadi, OPS and TTV have no other choice than invoking the legacies of their late leaders since none of them would measure up to their stature. Both Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa were trained in the school of adversity and were giants in politics. They had seen the heights of politics and also its lows. There is a very big gap and the gap will be very very difficult to fill, D Sami, Professor of History at the prestigious Loyola College, said. Though appropriation of the legacies of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa are on, nobody is anywhere close to them as of now, the professor said. Apparently wary of a split in her core vote bank, BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday dubbed Scheduled Caste (SC) leader and Bhim Army president Chandrashekhar alias Ravan as BJP's "agent". Mayawati asked her supporters to "beware of" the efforts by the BJP to split their votes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections through people like Chandrashekhar. She tweeted saying that the BJP had propped up Chandrashekhar. "The BJP is behind Chandrashekhar's decision to contest from Varanasi Lok Seat against Prime Minister Narendra Modi... The BJP wants to split the Dalit votes to benefit Modi," Mayawati said. The BSP leader also claimed that the Bhim Army had been formed on the direction of the BJP. "The BJP tried to get Chandrashekhar included into the BSP but they failed," she said. Mayawati's remarks came a day after Chandrashekhar held a roadshow in Varanasi and declared that he would contest against Modi. Chandrashekhar shot into limelight after he led protest rallies of the SC community in Saharanpur following killing of two SC members allegedly by the 'Thakurs' during a procession last year. He had been arrested and the BJP government in the state had slapped the National Security Act (NSA). It, however, took everyone by surprise by releasing him a few days ago. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had a few days back met Chandrashekhar at a hospital in Meerut, where he had been admitted after complaint of chest pain. Mayawati apparently fears that the SC leader, who has pockets of influence over the community in Saharanpur and the adjoining regions, may make a dent into her core vote bank. Getting nostalgic about parliamentary elections, a 93-year-old politician and founder member of the Congress Socialist Party said that switching sides and opportunism is the biggest threat to Indian democracy. Pandit Ramkishan, former parliamentarian and four-time MLA from Bharatpur (Rajasthan), reminisced the political scenario of India over the past nine decades during an interaction on Elections Now and Then. "The way political parties take credits for the hard work done by armed forces is not acceptable at all. There has been a decline in values and operation of political parties in India. He said that those who fail to fulfill promises made in the party manifesto and forget them without any consequences should be prosecuted. Fondly known as Pandit Ji in the political circuits, Ramkishan has witnessed elections since the first one in 1952. Ramkishan pointed out how the massive expenditure in elections is making it impossible for a candidate like him and the poor to contest elections. While recalling his active political days he remembered how his opponent helped him with the depositing of money. "In 1967, I was short of money and it is strange and unbelievable in present times but the then district Congress committee treasurer, who was my opponent, gave me money. Later he lost and I won but we never have been disrespectful to each other." Narrating another instance from the old days, which he considered were less malicious, he added, "Nowadays I see how politicians become disrespectful to each other. They call each other by names. I still remember my opponent and I delivered a lecture from a common stage". When asked what are the key issues of upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Ramkishan said, "Unemployment and agrarian crises are the major issues. However, polarisation on the basis of caste and religion cannot to looked upon because nowadays people do not vote on the basis of manifestos neither on development". Ramkishan the only surviving founder member of the Socialist Party, which was formed post Independence, has campaigned three elections on his cycle and used the car and jeep in the fourth Assembly elections. PHILADELPHIA A shake-up in the leadership of Delaware County Women Against Rape has led to a federal discrimination lawsuit against the organization and its board by founder Barbara Joyce Dale. Dale is alleging claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law for her unceremonious removal as executive director of the private non-profit agency in August. She is also alleging claims for retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Delores M. Troiani in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in February, describes more than a year of building tensions between Dale and board President Juan Salcedo, as well as other board members named as defendants. Delco WAR states on its website that it has a primary mission of providing comprehensive direct services to victims of rape and other sexual assaults who live in the county, or who may have been victimized in the county. The agency also provides education programs to schools and community groups, as well as training for police, emergency responders, and medical personnel. Dale, who founded Delco WAR in 1974 and had served as executive director since that time, says she returned from a five-week sick leave in the spring of 2017 and was met with hostility during a June 2017 board meeting. Salcedo allegedly shouted at Dale for several minutes during the meeting, slammed his hands on the table in a threatening manner, and demanded When are you going to retire?' Dale, who is identified as being over 40 years old in the complaint, claims the question was a violation of the ADEA. Her exact age is not specified in the lawsuit. Following that meeting, Dale alleges the other board members engaged in pervasive behaviors that altered her employment contract and created a hostile work environment, eventually resulting in her termination. The complaint claims Dale was directed to execute a sole-source contract with the significant other of a board member, which she viewed as a conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duty. Dale says the defendants retaliated against her for raising legal compliance issues, berated her at meetings, denied her a $1,000 bonus given to other staff, and that the board held clandestine meetings behind her back. At one point in the summer of 2017, the complaint says Salcedo and board members Rita Vassallo and Jeanne Fritz resigned in a fit over a disagreement concerning an information technology audit, with Salcedo allegedly screaming that Dale was a b- before storming out. The board later declined to accept their resignations and they returned to the board, despite WARs bylaws having no mechanism in place for that to occur, according to the complaint. The harassment continued through the winter of 2017 and spring of 2018 at board meetings and through emails, according to the complaint. Dale says she complained to board members in person, through emails and by telephone, and expressed concerns about whether to file a report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The board took no remedial action in response to Dales complaints, according to the suit. By June 2018, she claims Salcedo and Vassallo had redrafted the organizations bylaws to exempt employees from being board members, a move Dale says was clearly designed to eliminate her from the board. During a July 30, 2018, meeting, Dale says she was dismissed from the board under a vote of no confidence, effective Aug. 31, 2018, with three board members either abstaining or voting no. (Dale) was retaliated against for complaining of age discrimination, harassment, and a hostile working environment, the complaint says. (Dale) was also retaliated against for refusing to follow board directives that would have violated federal law regarding the sole sourcing of contracts, and for raising issues of board conflicts of interest as well as board failures to properly govern according to Pennsylvania Non-Profit Corporation Law. Dale filed an EEOC claim the same day the vote of no confidence was taken, prompting further retaliation and the removal of her dissents from meeting minutes, the complaint says. The EEOC issued her a right to sue letter Nov. 20, according to the complaint. This is the founder a lady who has done an immense amount for this organization, and for her to be subjected to the abuse as outlined in that complaint is a disgrace, said Troiani Friday. I would hope that whoever is representing these people would recognize that and bring this to a swift conclusion. Denise Maher, an attorney representing the board and organization in the suit, issued the following statement: We do not believe the plaintiff has any viable legal claims and categorically deny the allegations. We plan to vigorously defend against the allegations and are confident the facts will show that there is no basis for liability on the part of our organization or the individuals who have been named in the lawsuit. Because this is a personnel matter and due to the pendency of litigation, we cannot discuss the details. Finally, while we address this matter, we will not let it distract us from continuing to work tirelessly on our primary and important mission to provide comprehensive services to victims of rape and other sexual assaults. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has announced roughly 218 highway and bridge projects anticipated to begin or continue across the five-county Philadelphia region during this construction season. The investments highlighted today demonstrate our continued commitment to improving travel and safety throughout southeast Pennsylvania, Secretary Richards said. Governor Tom Wolf knows infrastructure is so integral to our state that he has proposed Restore Pennsylvania, which will benefit all communities. PennDOT anticipates rehabilitating, reconstructing and resurfacing more than 275 miles of state highways and improving 39 bridges in Engineering District 6 that includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, according to the announcement. Notable projects in Delaware County include the Route 252 bridge replacement over Springton Reservoir in Delaware County at a projected costs of $12.8 million; bridge replacement for Darby Paoli Road over Darby Creek, at an estimated cost of $3.8 million; and MacDade Boulevard intersection improvements at an estimated cost of $6 million. * The Wolf Administration has also announced that construction is scheduled to begin this week on a safety improvement project to install 138 Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps at 47 intersections across Chester and Delaware counties as part of the regions capital transportation improvement program. Our goal is to improve and maintain safety for pedestrians and motorists alike, Governor Tom Wolf said in a release. The construction of these facilities represents PennDOTs ongoing commitment to upgrading and enhancing access and mobility for our citizens. The following streets and intersections are slated to receive the upgrades: Swarthmore * Chester Road and Fairview Road; Ridley * MacDade Boulevard and Bullens Lane; Valley Road; Fairview Road; Woodcrest Road; School Lane; Morris Avenue; Kossuth Avenue; Buchanan Avenue; Forrest Avenue; Ohio Avenue; Milmont Avenue; Baltimore Avenue; Virginia Avenue; Arlington Avenue; Belmont Avenue; Haverford Road/Morton Avenue; Rio Vista Avenue; Monta Vista Avenue; Pathmark Drive; Willowbrook Drive; Edgewood Avenue; Hazel Avenue; and Fernwood Avenue. * Motorists should also keep these projects in mind this week: Marple * West Chester Pike, closures between the Interstate 476 Interchange and New Ardmore Avenue, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. April 4 for construction activities. Motorists will be directed to use Springfield Road, Sproul Road and Lawrence Road. Radnor * Lancaster Avenue and Chester Pike, lane restrictions with flagging 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1 through late May for gas main installations. Darby * Chester Pike, lane restrictions with flagging between MacDade Boulevard and Laurel Road, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1, through late June for gas main installations. Upper Providence * Media Bypass, single lane closure northbound and southbound between Ridley Creek Road and Interstate 476, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1 through April 5 for tree trimming operations. Prospect Park, Essington * Interstate 95, left lane closure southbound between the Bartram Avenue/Essington Avenue and Essington/Prospect Park interchanges, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 3 and 4 for debris removal operations. Ridley Township and Ridley Park * Sellers Avenue, closed weekdays between Chester Pike and Industrial Highway from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. beginning March 27 for water main extension. Weather permitting, the closure will be in place weekdays through the end of May. Upper Darby * Garrett Road, lane restrictions between Burnley Lane and Sycamore Avenue, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. through April 4 for bridge repair. Upper Providence and Marple * Palmers Mill Road, continued bridge work between Lakeview Drive and Newtown Street Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the summer as crews continue work to expand a bridge over the Springton Reservoir. Haverford * Ardmore Avenue, weekday lane restrictions with flagging between Morris Road and Lancaster Avenue, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through early May for utility installation. Upper Chichester * Bethel Avenue, weekday closures between Conchester Highway and Dutton Street, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the end of April for utility installation. * For information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those made possible by or accelerated by Act 89, or those on the departments Four and Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 860 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website. For PennDOT information, visit www.penndot.gov. Follow local PennDOT information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPhilly, and follow the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennsylvaniadepartmentoftransportation and Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot. By Susan L. Serbin Times Correspondent UPPER PROVIDENCE >>One day less than a full year, architect Bob Linn was back before township planners with a proposed hotel project. It was the same, but decidedly different. Although no action was required by the planning board, they, and at least five dozen residents, received a comprehensive account of the 58-room, three-story hotel. It is on State Road at the site of the former Little Inn, and subsequent restaurants, all of which were closed by 2015. We started at his site three years ago. The first interest was a medical office building, but determined the size was too large for the location, said Linn. A year ago we were here with a hotel, but there was no flag yet. The flag refers to a corporate entity which might have several different brands as part of the group. Linn said three companies were in the mix for the developer. Coming to no decision within the time clock to move forward, the township was required to deny the project. The developer, to this point, has chosen to be represented by Linn, attorney Tim Sullivan, other project professionals, and the flag itself. The hotel choice will put the township on the cutting edge of a new venture by InterContinental Hotel Group, a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Their brands include the high end InterContinental Hotel, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza and many other. The proposed hotel will be an avid, the newest concept in a contemporary design with pops of color, according to the images shared by Alex Moeckel, Director of Development for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The hotel will feature a fitness room, breakfast area, 24-hour coffee station and casual gathering area in the reception area. There will not be a pool or restaurant. Linn said the design calls for 10 rooms on the first floor and 24 each on a second and third floor, with a choice of a king or double queen size. The style is minimalist with clean and efficient amenities-leaving out ruffles and flourishes; leaving in a 55-inch flat screen TV for each room. Linn and his project engineer Adam Powell addressed site issues, many of interest to residents. The impervious surface will be substantially reduced; storm water management systems will be installed-there are currently none of the site; landscape buffering and potential fencing is planned and being discussed directly with those adjacent neighbors most impacted. The single family house to the rear of the property will remain and likely be a rental. Any zoning and engineering issues will continue to be discussed between applicant and township professionals. Among the 10 or so questions from the audience were those concerning operations. Moeckel said the hotel would be a franchise, approved by a corporate board, with a 20-year agreement. IHG would have constant oversight in terms of standards. Traffic seemed less of a concern since the existing access onto Spring Street would be emergency use only. The sole access onto State Road may have some directional signage, but is under PennDOT jurisdiction. One question taking planners a bit by surprise was not exactly their field. A Post House Lane resident wanted to know, essentially, what financially was in it for the township. Those involved with the project cited the $6-7 million price tag, with property tax being adjusted on completion. Resident Ellen Morfei commented on the meeting and project which seemed to be better received by the public than a year ago. I strongly support this proposal. It seems like a great opportunity and is predominantly positive overall, said Morfei. The project returns to planners for preliminary approval, not before May or slightly later, Linn said. To the Times: Apparently, Pennsylvanias founder and Philadelphias favorite son would not be welcome in the Pennsylvania Legislature. William Penn and Benjamin Franklin epitomized our nations most sacrosanct creed: the tolerance of all religions. But the recent brouhaha in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives regrettably illustrates how far our nation has retreated from the idea that while we may not agree that another persons God is the right one for us, they have every right to display their personal beliefs in the public forum. Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of Philadelphia, the first female Muslim in the Pennsylvania House, said that the sessions opening prayer, conducted by Republican Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, an associate pastors wife from central Pennsylvania, was offensive and labeled Borowicz a racist Islamophobe. In her prayer, Borowicz used the phrase at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Ironically, even the Islamic religion recognizes Jesus as a holy prophet, but Johnson-Harrel accused Borowicz of using him as a political weapon. Another Muslim lawmaker, Rep. Jason Dawkins, opened Tuesdays session by reading from the Quran. His invocation was followed by applause. William Penn left England and founded Pennsylvania because his Quaker religion put him at odds with Englands Anglican Church. He implemented a democratic system with full freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives of the people in power, and a separation of powers ideas that would later form the basis of the American constitution. Benjamin Franklin once proposed a place of worship here in Philadelphia where everyone was welcome to worship as they pleased, and encouraged the citys citizens to listen with an open mind and accepting heart. In his autobiography, Franklin wrote Both House and Ground (are) expressly for the use of any Preacher of any religious Persuasion who might desire to say something to the People of Philadelphia, so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a Missionary to preach Mahometanism to us, he would find a Pulpit at his Service. Our country is unique throughout history in its religious and racial diversity. Tolerance need not be blind agreement. There is a fatal danger to abandoning our most sacred principle to the voices of political correctness. In the days since the Mueller report was concluded and found no collusion between President Donald Trump and Russia, the attention has turned to the press and its perceived hyperfocus on the two-year-long investigation. Questions about whether outlets like The New York Times, MSNBC or CNN, where I work, spent too much time speculating about the findings or wanting a certain outcome have abounded, and not just from Trump himself. The RNC complained about what it believes is an imbalance of coverage in an email blast, citing lopsided reporting on the investigation versus the renegotiation of NAFTA, "the Trump admin's successful implementation of middle class tax cuts," and the war against ISIS. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has gone so far as to say the press owes the president an apology. But it's not just Republicans. The press coverage of the Mueller investigation is being questioned by some members of the media as well. Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi wrote, "WMD damaged the media's reputation. Russiagate may have just destroyed it." Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept has been vocally and consistently critical of the media's focus on Russia for years. Michael Tracey catalogued similar grievances in the Daily News. Self-reflection and an open audit of the way we cover this administration and all other things is always a good idea. It's inarguable that some journalists too many did what they weren't supposed to do, and openly rooted for an outcome in the Mueller investigation. That is exceedingly damaging to public trust. It also helps cement Trump's dangerous, false narrative, that the press is the enemy of the people. Among many, many others, however, there was a healthy probing of what might lay behind what to any reasonable observer were a series of puzzling interactions with Russia, a boatload of lies from the president's campaign and administration about those interactions, and consistent displays of affection toward Putin by Trump, who has very few nice things to say about almost anyone else. But there's another way to view the relationship between Trump and the media. And maybe the question isn't whether the press has been too adversarial to this administration. Namely: Why wasn't the press just as adversarial to all the others? The most glaring example is also the most recent. Despite having a slim record of accomplishments upon ascending to the White House, President Obama earned the quick adoration of many in the media. But, with some exceptions, had the press been as systemically suspicious of Obama as it is of Trump, we might not have needed to rely on whistleblowers to expose illegal drone wars, mass data collection or shoddy defense contracts, not to mention an inadequate response to a drug abuse crisis that's now killing tens of thousands of people. From the Truman administration to the Kennedy administration, a more adversarial press may have uncovered the full level of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War years earlier. And as openly disapproving of George W. Bush as many in the media were, even that administration received the benefit of the doubt on far too many occasions for far too long, from the passing of the Patriot Act to the justification for the Iraq War. No modern president, save perhaps Richard Nixon, who waged an outright war on the press, earned the scorn and suspicion that Trump has since the day he took office. Let's be crystal clear: Trump deserves scorn and suspicion. He is a liar and a huckster. But so too does every person in a position of immense power, because power is inherently corrupting, and because the decisions presidents make impact so many people's lives. So, yes, let's learn some lessons from this episode not just to be better at covering this president, but all future presidents. In fact, we can start right now, by bringing the same level of suspicion the Trump treatment, as it were to each of the Democratic candidates for president. WASHINGTON Ask yourself this simple question: When you heard the news that special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that President Donald Trump had not engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia, were you relieved or disappointed? Be honest. If the answer is the latter, then it's time for a little introspection. Every American should be thankful that, as Attorney General William Barr explained in his letter to Congress, "the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government ... despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign." It would have been devastating for our country if the president of the United States had engaged in a criminal conspiracy with a foreign power to undermine our democracy. Mueller's finding that he didn't should be cause for celebration by Trump supporters and opponents alike. You do not have to believe Trump is a good president to know that it is good that the president did not betray the country. But the sad truth is that many Democratic presidential wannabes were hoping Mueller would find evidence the president had conspired with Russia. Some were almost salivating in anticipation of the Mueller report. In February, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., crowed that "by the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not even be president. In fact, he may not even be a free person." Last month, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., tweeted, "A campaign for President of the United States should never be in the business of scheming with foreign adversaries to tamper with our elections." And just last Saturday (one day after Mueller delivered his report exonerating Trump!), Beto O'Rourke assured us that "you have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections." No, he didn't. As Barr notes, the special counsel "issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses." Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy or even coordination with Russia. Thank God. It is understandable that Trump believes the Mueller investigation should never have happened. But the probe may end up being the best thing that ever happened to him. If even career prosecutors in his own Justice Department had cleared Trump of conspiracy charges, Democrats would never have accepted their conclusions. But after embracing Mueller even launching a campaign to pass legislation "protecting" him from being fired by Trump Democrats now will look ridiculous if they refuse to accept his determination that there was no Trump-Russia conspiracy. Moreover, keep in mind that Mueller was not simply investigating Trump; he was also investigating the Russian government. He exonerated Trump but not Vladimir Putin. Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies on charges of conspiracy and identity theft. There was a conspiracy to influence the 2016 elections. Trump just wasn't a part of it. With the collusion fallacy behind us, Republicans and Democrats should be working together to address that ongoing threat. As the U.S. intelligence community declared in a January 2017 report, "We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States." But instead of focusing on countering those efforts, Democrats seem to want to continue spending their time on Trump. On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., stood by his claim that there is "significant evidence of collusion" and said he plans more hearings. Those who continue to push the false collusion narrative are the ones inadvertently assisting Russia. The intelligence community report noted that Russia's objectives in 2016 included undermining "public faith in the U.S. democratic process ... faith in the US Government and fuel(ing) political protest." In this sense, it worked like a charm. Instead of helping Russia further divide us, we should be uniting to push back against Moscow's continued efforts to interfere in our democratic process as the 2020 elections approach. For the past two years, the Mueller probe has hung like a cloud over Trump's presidency. Instead of the presumption of innocence, Democrats and many in the media have presumed his guilt. Trump said more than 200 times that there was "no collusion." He was mocked. But it turns out he was right the whole time. And if you don't think that's good news, you are part of the problem. Whatever becomes of Sen. Marco Rubios recently introduced paid family leave legislation, his hope is undeniably correct: the best policies come from a competition of ideas. Rubio joins a growing list of Republican lawmakers who see a need for a national policy on paid benefits when parents receive a new child. That may come as an odd development given the proclivity for Democrats to call for similar programs, often citing the tired statistic that the U.S. is the only developed country in the world without some form of paid maternity leave. Thats changing as Republicans, spurred by the passion of special adviser to the president Ivanka Trump, have churned out multiple proposals to help parents balance work, child care and personal health. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, unveiled their own legislation earlier this month that would allow parents to make early withdrawals from the Social Security fund to pay for up to three months of leave following the arrival of a new child. Parents then prolong retirement by double the time they took as leave. Rubios plan functions similarly, although it would allow parents more flexibility to work while using the funds for child care. Utahs Sen. Mitt Romney signed on to Rubios plan. And Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., reportedly has a separate plan he will release soon. The developments are healthy, not only because supporting families in a rapidly shifting labor market is important, but because the more ideas flow, the closer the country comes to a policy tailor-made for America. Too often, the best policy gets confused with the easiest policy to pass. One-sided legislation can sail through a congressional majority, but that doesnt mean its good, or even close to helpful, for Americans. On the other hand, good policy requires deliberation and a trove of ideas from which to pull. Lawmakers must understand this principle before key battles reach their climax in the near future. Health care is the most salient of these. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump surprised even some in the White House by declaring an ongoing fight to strike down the Affordable Care Act, ensuring health care and what to do about the addled insurance market will remain a selling point for 2020 presidential candidates. Following Rubios principle, the best solution for fixing the countrys health care system is to simply talk about it and entertain solutions from lawmakers as well as those outside of Washington. On such issues, here is one point of caution: The best proposals also stay grounded in the best logic. A marketplace of ideas can quickly turn into a frenzy of who can offer the most benefits, the greatest windfall or the grandest promises. Here, the adage is accurate if its too good to be true, it probably is. Nevertheless, to see Republican lawmakers take the unconventional move to join the paid parental leave discussion is a good sign that a helpful policy is on its way. Learning to talk and listen would be the right action for Congress right now. SALT LAKE CITY Writer Amor Towles wants to make one thing clear: While he too is a fan of the Humphrey Bogart classic "Casablanca," loves a rich bouillabaisse and played word games with his children when they were young, no one should mistake him for Count Alexander Rostov, the titular character of Towles' best-seller "A Gentleman in Moscow." "I am definitely not the count, (although) my wife wishes I was," Towles, who is coming to Salt Lake's Larimer Center for the Performing Arts on April 2, said in a recent phone interview. Count Rostov is an elegant courtly gentleman (as the title indicates) sentenced to house arrest at Moscow's glamorous Hotel Metropol in revolutionary Russia for the crime of being an aristocrat. (In a literary nod, it is poetry that saves him from a Siberian gulag or worse.) For the next 30 some years, Rostov finds a career, a family, an enemy in short, a full life all within the hotel's walls. Towles came upon the idea for the book while traveling for his first career as an investment analyst. Each year, he would stay in the same hotel in Switzerland for a conference, and "year after year, I recognized people in the lobby from the year before," he recalled. "And that's where I thought, 'Oh, it's as if these people never left.'" From there, Towles imagined a scenario where someone didn't indeed, couldn't leave a hotel. That idea quickly took him to Russia, which has a long history of placing people under house arrest, and to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and beyond. As Rostov matured and grew in Towles mind, the writer found that the count's voice became increasingly distinct and, sometimes, even wise. But although Towles shares some commonalities with Rostov, he points out that the character's insights are all his own. "When (readers) highlight some human observation from the book that resonated with them a little bit of philosophy or observation about life 95 percent of them I never would have had myself. They never would have occurred to me," Towles said. In fact, he admitted, he is just as often enlightened by his characters' ideas as are his readers. "(These thoughts are) almost always the product of imagining I am this person who I am not the count and putting him in a situation that I have never been in and then kind of listening," Towles said. " It kind of comes as this thing that is presented to me by the third party. So not only am I not the count, I am very conscious of the fact that in taking on the personality of the count or the experiences of the count, the observations (he) has in that book are really (his) own." A best-seller when it came out in 2016, "A Gentleman in Moscow" has been described by critics as a "winning, stylish novel that keeps things easy," (NPR) and Rostov a "character so capable, so witty and at ease in the world" (New York Times) that readers might overlook the time period's dangers outside the hotel's gilded doors. With most of the book's narration in third person limited from the count's view-point, Towles decided as he began outlining the story to include a secondary voice to counterbalance Rostov's "intrinsic optimism." Initially, this second voice provided a window into life outside the hotel showing readers the "more acute realities of Soviet life, whether that is the risk of arrest, or the shortages, or possible execution. (He detailed the) oppressive governance and all those various elements of Soviet life," Towles said. And unlike the Count, this other character was "more cynical, more sarcastic (and) clearly (had) a more direct experience with some of the worst aspects of the Soviet era," Towles said. But the deeper Towles got into the story, he found that this secondary voice was becoming problematic he still needed that voice, but he didn't need another character with a back story. And so that character, with his knowledge of the realities and horrors of the new Soviet world, became the voice of the book's footnotes. Readers of "A Gentleman in Moscow" will recognize his sharp observations and sometimes arch tone, but not his own tale. While this fictional character ended up being cut down, Towles did have a host of real-life people he could have put in the count's story. The Hotel Metropol, which opened in 1905, saw many of the 20th century's most notable figures pass through its doors. When Towles finally stayed in the Metropol for a week after he had completed the book's first draft, he took with him a stack of first-hand accounts from John Steinbeck, Lillian Hellman, e. e. cummings and others about their stay in the hotel. They provided him with important details, even if most of these famous people didn't make it into his final story. But there was one real-life person who Towles couldn't help but include. "As a kid I threw a bottle in the ocean off the coast of Massachusetts and the managing editor of the New York Times, Harrison Salisbury, found it and we corresponded from the time I was 8 to the time I was 18," Towles said. Salisbury, who wrote a memoir about his experiences as the Times' Moscow bureau chief from the end of the Second World War through the early years of the Cold War, not only appears in Towles' book, he inadvertently assists the count in an important moment. "It was kind of fun for me, having this strange personal relationship with Salisbury," he said, "to bring it into the book and to share some of his memories of Moscow at that time through the narrative." And that is largely what Towles aims to do: Write books that are interesting, well-written and enjoyable for him to work on. He wrote his first book, the 2012 hit "Rules of Civility" in his off hours with none of the pressures attached to writing a best-seller. While he's grateful that book allowed him to turn to writing full time, Towles did his best to pursue his second book with much the same mentality "as something that I just did for myself," he said. " I certainly didn't (write 'A Gentleman in Moscow') with the assumption that it would become a best-seller because, you know, the premise 'guy gets trapped in hotel in Russia for 30 years' was not an idea that was engineered for popularity." If you go What: Amor Towles' book signing and reading from "A Gentleman in Moscow" When: April 2, 7 p.m. Where: Rowland Hall's Larimer Center for the Performing Arts, 843 Lincoln St. How much: The event is currently sold out, but the King's English website states: There may be a limited number of first-come, first-serve $20.00 seats available the night of the event. Please be in line at Rowland Hall by 6:30 p.m. to be eligible. Web: kingsenglish.com A family in North Salt Lake has been under siege lately by someone who keeps calling service providers and ordering work on its behalf. This stalking on steroids, as a police sergeant called it, has gone as far as sending drug dealers and prostitutes to the house at all hours. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City police police responded to a false report that someone was shooting people inside a house. This tactic, known as swatting because it often results in a SWAT team responding to the call, endangers unwitting residents inside the house whose innocent actions might be misinterpreted as threatening. Police have little choice but to take such calls seriously. Both incidents might be filed under the title, Life can be hard in the 21st century, and then forgotten. But they deserve more attention than that. The answer may lie in beefing up detection technologies to trace the origins of calls, although tech-savvy criminals are good at masking phone numbers and playing geographic sleight of hand. A Fox 13 news report said the swatting caller used a disconnected cell phone that cant be tracked. In stalking incidents, governments may want to consider establishing a clearinghouse for victims. Someone being harassed by a stalker could register his or her phone number with an online database that service providers would routinely check before responding to a call. We hesitate to seek a government solution, but sometimes this is the only answer to criminal activity. Its clear the North Salt Lake incident has been costly to more than just the family. As the Deseret News reported, an environmental cleanup company in Provo was called and told the house was flooding. Four crews were assembled and responded before learning they had been scammed, at a cost of about $4,000. Other providers have been called from as far away as Idaho. Pizzas have been sent. Police have been called to the home more than 80 times over four months. The costs keep piling up. The victim complains that it feels as if the perpetrator is constantly on his front doorstep, even though he may be thousands of miles away. The homeowner has put a sign on his lawn warning providers they probably are being pranked. Such is the reach of modern technology. Most of what it provides is positive. We may legitimately order items and have them delivered within hours. We can connect with friends and family, or even with doctors, through video calls. But every technological breakthrough also provides criminals with easier ways to do their jobs. Just ask any retailer whose credit card system has been compromised, or any consumer who has had his or her identity stolen. Amid all of this, it is sobering to consider how Utah lawmakers just approved the initial steps to allow for electronic driver licenses that could be used as identification. This idea may have merit, but the state must consider possible criminal uses and how to prevent them before proceeding. Police say the stalker of the North Salt Lake family may reside in Hawaii. Officials are using voice recognition technology to try to build a case. This is further evidence of how complicated harassment has become in the modern age, where multiple jurisdictions need to cooperate in order to protect the public. It is important to note that police do take these crimes seriously. As the Deseret News reported recently, a Clearfield man was arrested and charged in connection with a swatting incident last summer. The challenges of modern life will grow as technology advances and more and more common interactions, and financial transactions, occur in cyberspace. The trick is for government and law enforcement to keep up with the bad guys, and for taxpayers to provide the resources necessary. We can affirm that most Utahns are sane, commonsense people who are exhausted by the Mueller investigation. Theyre also tired of the never-ending fight over SB54 and Count My Vote. We contribute to the fatigue by exploring, one more time, the impact of these issues on our state. Last week, Gov. Gary Herbert vetoed SB123, which gave party delegates control over naming candidates to run in a special election to fill a congressional vacancy. This is a continuation of the fight over SB54 and whether all voters, or just delegates, choose candidates. Will the governor's veto be upheld, or will the Legislature override the governor, putting power in the hands of party delegates? Pignanelli: "My friends, no matter how rough the road, we can and we will, never surrender to what is right. Dan Quayle The idiom "bad penny" describes an unpleasant or unwanted thing which repeatedly appears at inopportune times. The convention/delegate process and the furor surrounding SB54 is a "bad penny" despised by thousands. Herbert understands this and it explains the veto. Legislators balance between the minority of loud protestors opposed to the election changes and the majority of residents who want the signature option for the primary. Lawmakers left SB54 untouched since passage in 2014, but threw small change (another penny metaphor) this year at the activists with SB123. Deep fatigue suffered by Capitol Hill politicos combined with the Supreme Court decision creates an incentive to sustain the veto. Veto survival benefits lawmakers and the rest the population by eliminating those annoying pennies. Webb: Herberts veto was courageous and correct. It should be upheld. Utah voters overwhelmingly want a say in choosing party nominees, even in special elections. The dual-track nomination system empowers all voters, not just party activists. The process has worked very well and the governor is right to insist the SB54 statutory process be followed in special elections. I predict the governor prevails. A key factor in the future of the Republican Party will be the election of a new state chair at the party organizing convention in early May. Current chair Rob Anderson declined to seek re-election after long and bitter fights with the right wing of the party. What is the current state of the GOP and potential impact on the 2020 elections? Pignanelli: The Utah GOP Convention will be of crucial importance to the party, and the state. Should delegates choose a new chairman that continues the battle on SB54, the party will sink into irrelevancy, jeopardizing organizational and fundraising activities. Further, future growth is questioned as Millennial and Generation Z voters are unwilling to embrace a process that is alien to their technological prowess. However, if delegates select a mainstream leader willing to heal wounds, then Utahns will believe that the majority party is serious about rational public policy on matters that really concern them. Webb: Utah Republicans should feel lucky they are so dominant in the state. Otherwise, party dysfunction and chaos would hurt GOP candidates. Party activists spend most of their time bickering over arcane party rules and what constitutes a purist Republican, rather than raising money for candidates and organizing at the neighborhood level. Some county Republican parties even snub candidates who dont go through the caucus/convention system. So much for Ronald Reagans big tent. GOP candidates know they get very little help from the party, so they do everything themselves. Many prominent Republicans have given up on the party and have formed a totally independent group, the Reagan Roundtable, to raise money and support sensible candidates. Of the candidates running for GOP chair, Derek Brown, an attorney and former legislator who has worked for senators Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, has the best chance of restoring some semblance of order and respect to the party. But it will be very difficult. What impact does the results of the Mueller investigation report have on local politics and the 2020 elections? Pignanelli: Mueller's analysis is Twitter fodder for the president. He will tweet frequently about the report exonerating him, while strident detractors obnoxiously nitpick various details. Thus, it becomes background noise for most voters unless another investigation reveals something truly noteworthy. Democrats will gain more traction by highlighting the weaknesses on tariffs and healthcare. Webb: Its very good news for Republicans to have the collusion illusion behind them. If Trump will focus on mainstream issues and the economy, and not digress in weird directions (good luck with that!) Republicans have the potential to have a good 2020 election year. Trump was, no doubt, a drag on Mia Love in 2018, helping deliver a win to Democrat Ben McAdams in the 4th Congressional District. But if the economy is rolling, Trump stays under control, national Democrats chase leftist policies, Republicans nominate a solid, mainstream candidate, and if they can get the vote out in Utah County (a lot to ask!), then 2020 could be a tough election for McAdams. Editor's note: This commentary by Brigham Young University-Hawaii President John S. Tanner is part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought. Only a short while ago, I awoke to the horrific news that 49 people had been killed in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, with more in hospital. Since then, another has died. The victims were gunned down in cold blood as they gathered to pray, by a shooter filled with rage and hatred for Muslims and immigrants. I felt sickened by the news. I wept that morning as I prayed for the victims and for a world where, as prophesied, the love of many was waxing cold. Now, New Zealanders have gathered to bury the dead. My heart welled with emotion again, but this time with tenderness as I saw images of a country coming together in love and solidarity to mourn with those that mourn. New Zealanders of every persuasion observed a Muslim call to prayer. This was followed by two minutes of silence. Many non-Muslim women, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, donned the hijab in solidarity with those who had been targeted for their religion, ethnicity and immigrant roots. Ardern quoted the prophet Muhammed and then concluded by reaffirming, as she has all week, We are one. Indeed, we are. This is a message that Jesus taught and that we strive to put into practice. Jesus, too, lived in a time and place riven by ethnic and religious hatred and strife. Jews hated Samaritans, Samaritans hated Jews, and both despised their Roman colonizers as well as any who collaborated with them, like the publicans. In this environment, Jesus called on his disciples to love their neighbors as themselves. A cynical lawyer, willing to justify himself, asked the master, And who is my neighbor? His question was about limits, boundaries and labels. He wanted to know who can legitimately be excluded from his circle of love. Who stands outside, beyond the pale of those to whom we are obligated to show kindness, equity and mercy? Jesus answers with the parable of the good Samaritan, which recasts the question altogether. The lawyer wants to know where to draw the line; who is neighbor and who is not. To this, Jesus poses a different, better question: Which of these was neighbor? meaning who acted as neighbor. Jesus invites us to examine the lines we draw not only in our neighborhoods but in our hearts. This is the proper way to think about neighborly love. Not who is worthy of it, but how well we practice it. The lawyer wants to know how to label others: as neighbor or stranger. Instead, Jesus reminds him to reflect on how he loves others. In order to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must understand them as we do ourselves. This is one reason for learning about the history, literature, culture and religion of our neighbors. Some years ago, I was responsible for preparing a group of BYU students in London to visit Israel. I asked them to learn about Judaism and about Islam. To learn about the latter, I had them read a surah from the Quran each day for a week. I asked them to visit one of the local mosques on their own. I had them memorize the Five Pillars of Islam and learn about its history, especially its origin and subsequent division into Sunni and Shia. There is a French expression tout comprendre cest tout pardonner, meaning to understand all is to forgive all. I dont go quite this far, as the saying seems to erase the very notion of evil. To understand a mass murderer is not necessarily to forgive him. But certainly, understanding is prelude to compassion. Today we have been reminded by events in New Zealand that we are one. This is a good day to celebrate our diversity and our unity a good day to resolve anew to love our neighbors as ourselves. SALT LAKE CITY Apple introduced a new credit card, called Apple Card, to the world during its event last week, and it could change the way that modern cards are built. Apple announced at its event last week that it has teamed up with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard for the launch of the card, according to The Associated Press. The card offers 3 percent cash back on products you buy from Apple. The Apple Card, which is a new physical credit card from Apple, comes with a few perks that traditional credit cards dont have. For example, the card doesnt have late fees or over-the-limit fees, which traditional credit cards are known to have. Security: But the card lacks one other thing that might change the way all credit cards operate a credit card number. Craig Vosburg, president of North America for MasterCard, told Bloomberg Television recently that Apple Cards lack of credit card numbers could lead other banks to do the same. Credit card numbers, after all, wind up in the hands of thieves on multiple occasions. We want security to be at the highest level possible across the ecosystem, and we want to do that in ways that dont introduce friction and make payments inconvenient for consumers, he said. Similar: As BGR notes, the lack of credit card numbers could influence all credit cards in the same way that getting rid of signatures led to the increase in chips and chip readers. Getting rid of card numbers follows in the same vein as payment networks slowly moving away from the signature requirement, which they started to do when things like the implementation of chips in credit cards made signatures less necessary to ask for. And its not just Apple. U.S. banks like Capital One are also already starting to experiment with limited-use card numbers, assigned to retailers as needed. Bigger picture: Apples move into the credit card space didnt impress all experts, The Associated Press reported. SALT LAKE CITY Lawmakers have often looked at raising the age for smoking from 19 to 21, only to have efforts snuffed out without a floor vote. But when Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB324 this past week, Utah became the eighth state to further restrict access to tobacco products. What changed? HB324 succeeded, its sponsor says, thanks in no small part to the rise in vaping. "Health groups didnt want to support the bill without that in it," according to Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy. In Utah, which has lower teen smoking rates than many states, health department reports show recent use of e-cigs by 11.1 percent of teens surveyed in eighth, 10th and 12th grades a number that doubled in the last five years. Fewer than 3 percent reported using actual cigarettes. This is the third year Eliason has run a bill to raise the minimum age for using tobacco products, and at least the sixth year the Utah Legislature discussed the issue. It is the first time it made it out of committee. Eliason said a main change he made was to include e-cigarettes. That move garnered the support of the Heart Association, the Huntsman Cancer Institute and tobacco companies. "The fact that the tobacco companies came out and supported federal tobacco 21 legislation was huge, and this is the first year the retailers association didnt oppose it," Eliason said. Growing effort Utah will be joining more than 400 cities and counties and seven other states California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Hawaii, Maine and Virginia that enforce a smoking age set at 21. Federal law sets the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products at 18, which most states still follow. Utah lowered the smoking age from 21 to 19 in 1963, and as of September 2018, was one of only three states with the age set at 19. Eliason said he introduced the bill because health department officials told him it was the most important thing he could do for public health. According to his research, some of the cities and states that raised the smoking age saw more than a 50 percent reduction in youth tobacco rates. Juan Bravo, of the Utah Vapor Business Association, said the group backed the bill because it doesn't want its products to be used by minors. "I think it's important to remember that these are adult products for adult smokers, so as such we're all for taking any steps that would keep these products out of the hands of kids," Bravo said. He said any impact from the change will be mitigated by the age being raised incrementally. In July 2020, only those 20 and older will be able to buy tobacco or vape products in Utah. In July 2021, the age rises to 21. "That way we dont have consumers who are of legal vaping age this year all of a sudden not be able to legally purchase the product," Bravo said. Another factor for the bill's success may have been pressure from cities wanting to create their own age limit. Lehi and Cedar Hills in Utah County both passed ordinances raising the age for purchase to 21 earlier this year, and Provo passed a resolution in support of the bill. Marc Watterson with the American Heart Association said the move by Lehi and Cedar Hills "helped pave the way" for the Legislature to advance the bill. He said this was the sixth year he has advocated on the issue in Utah. "Were really grateful for the leadership in Lehi and Cedar Hills for their efforts to stand out and recognize this as a community need," Watterson said. Some detractors Near the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network spoke out against the bill. Brook Carlisle, government relations director, said group members "still don't like it" because of punishments for youth offenders. She said the group favored a "minor tweak" during the legislative process that took out the misdemeanor charge for teens, but it still penalizes minors for possessing and purchasing tobacco. Those penalties are part of the language that was already in Utah code. Carlisle also voiced concern with the exemption for members of the military and their spouses and dependents. "If you look at the tobacco use rates among active duty military and even among veterans, they are significantly higher than the general population. We know the military is doing their best to reduce tobacco use among their ranks," Carlisle said. She said the exemption doesn't align with the goals of the Department of Defense, or help keep military members healthy. Eliason noted the new law strengthens the military exemption in Utah code, which allowed members of the military to purchase tobacco at 18 but not possess it. He said the Department of Defense contacted him and asked for the change so military would not be cited for possession of tobacco when off the base. Eliason agreed that he wants soldiers to be healthy, but "the biochemistry of addiction really has nothing to do with defending your country," he said, adding that the transient nature of military service is another reason for the exemption. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network also spoke out against the pre-emption clause, which prevents cities from enforcing different age limits but brought support from tobacco retailers. Dave Davis, president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association, said it was key that an age limit be statewide. "If youre a convenience store and youre operating in many different jurisdictions it becomes administratively problematic to have multiple different ages depending on where they are," Davis said. He acknowledged it would cut down the amount of tobacco products sold because the law decreases the number of people who can legally buy tobacco. Room to improve Ryan Bartlett of the Utah Department of Health said the main benefit is the law will create a barrier between 18-year-olds and those who can purchase tobacco, which will help keep vape products out of high schools. "Just as in the rest of the country, weve seen a significant rise in the use of vape products in high schools and among youth in Utah over the past few years, and thats something were very concerned about," Bartlett said. Watterson, of the heart association, said people under 21 account for about 2 percent of tobacco sales, but supply most of the tobacco to underage teens. "Our hope is that by increasing the age that well be able to better prevent youth from starting to use tobacco products, which will help set them up for a lifetime free of these potential addictions," Watterson said. But he noted there is still room to improve Utah's tobacco laws. "We see this as not necessarily a silver bullet but just one of the many different things that states and local municipalities can do to curtail the epidemic rates of tobacco usage that we see," Watterson said. Carlisle agreed, saying Utah has strong indoor clean air laws, but the state's tobacco control program is not funded at recommended levels and Utah hasn't increased the tobacco tax, which is below the national average, in a decade. "We know high tobacco taxes reduce tobacco use, not only high taxes, but taxes that are increased at regular intervals," Carlisle said. Two other bills aimed to address youth vaping passed through the House but did not make it to the Senate floor. HB252 was meant to raise the tax on vaping products to match the tax on other tobacco products and HB274 would have limited where flavored vaping products could be sold. 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. SHENZHEN, China Chinese tech giant Huawei's deputy chairman defended its commitment to security Friday after a stinging British government report added to Western pressure on the company by accusing it of failing to repair dangerous flaws in its telecom technology. Guo Ping's comments came as Huawei Technologies Ltd., the biggest global maker of network equipment for phone and internet companies, announced last year's sales surpassed $100 billion despite U.S. pressure on American allies to shun it as a security threat. Accusations that Huawei, China's first global tech brand, might facilitate Beijing's spying threaten to hamper its access to global carriers that are preparing to invest billions of dollars in next-generation technology. Britain's National Cyber Security Center added criticism Thursday on a different front, accusing Huawei of "poor software engineering." The agency said in a report British researchers saw no sign that was due to Chinese government interference, but it said Huawei had not repaired flaws that might make its systems vulnerable to cyberattacks. Guo didn't respond directly to the British report's criticisms but said Huawei will work with regulators to improve security. He noted the company has promised to invest $2 billion over five years to improve its software engineering and expressed confidence British regulators will "increase their confidence" in Huawei over time. "We prioritize cybersecurity and privacy protection even above our commercial targets," Guo said at a news conference. He said the British report showed Huawei products had no "backdoors" to permit eavesdropping. Huawei is, along with Sweden's LM Ericsson and Nokia Corp. of Finland, a global leader in developing fifth-generation, or 5G, telecoms. The technology is intended to vastly expand mobile networks to support self-driving cars, medical devices and factory equipment, but that makes it more politically sensitive. Huawei is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology and accusations of cyber-spying and violating trade sanctions on Iran. The company's chief financial officer was arrested in December in Canada on U.S. charges of lying to banks about dealings with Iran. Beijing has detained two Canadians and blocked imports of canola from Canada in what is widely seen as an attempt to compel her release. Huawei's U.S. market evaporated after a 2012 congressional report labeled the company a security threat, but sales elsewhere grew rapidly. Huawei passed Apple last year as the No. 2 global smartphone brand behind Samsung and earlier passed Ericsson as the No. 1 network gear seller. Australia, Japan and Taiwan have imposed curbs on use of Huawei technology, but Germany, France and other governments are balking at U.S. demands to exclude it from 5G networks. Carriers complain that would reduce competition, raise prices and delay the rollout of 5G service. Huawei has opened testing centers in Britain, Germany and Belgium for regulators to examine its products. "We welcome the European Union's attitude," said Guo. "They do not discriminate against vendors from any country." Chinese officials and some industry analysts have suggested the Trump administration might be exaggerating security concerns to hinder a competitor to U.S. tech brands. Earlier this month, Premier Li Keqiang promised at a nationally televised news conference that Beijing never would tell Chinese tech companies to spy on foreign countries. Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, told reporters earlier this year the latest U.S. criticism had yet to hurt sales. But Guo said Friday the company has to spend more time talking to potential customers "to address their concerns." Despite that, Huawei's sales last year rose 19.5 percent over 2017 to 721.2 billion ($105.2 billion), according to Guo. That was driven by double-digit gains for its consumer and enterprise units, while sales of network gear to phone and internet carriers were unchanged at 294 billion yuan ($62.3 billion). Profit rose 25.1 percent to 59.3 billion yuan ($8.6 billion). Guo blamed weak network gear sales on a temporary lull in investment by carriers. He expressed confidence 5G sales will take off this year. Huawei denies U.S. accusations it is controlled by China's ruling Communist Party and says it is owned by about half the members of its 180,000-strong workforce. The company has no publicly traded shares but started issuing annual financial reports a decade ago in an attempt to appear more open and mollify Western security concerns. Guo said global sales for the first two months of 2019 rose by more than 30 percent from a year earlier. Ren, the company founder, said earlier this year's revenue target is $125 billion. Huawei has announced sales of 5G networks to a handful of carriers and contracts with major carriers in Germany and other countries for field testing. The company says it already has shipped more than 40,000 5G base stations to customers. Huawei is asking a U.S. federal court in a lawsuit filed this month to throw out a law that bars the Trump administration and government contractors from using its equipment. The company says that improperly punishes the company without giving it away to defend itself. The company's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said he had no updates on the lawsuit. "We believe the U.S. court will give us a fair judgment," said Song at the news conference with Guo. SALT LAKE CITY Even though a broad proposal to improve campus safety in Utah was just signed by the governor, one state lawmaker is already exploring how to close specific gaps revealed by the death of college student Lauren McCluskey. "We can't bring Lauren back, but we certainly should be doing everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Rep. Lee Perry, a Republican from the northern Utah town of Perry. McCluskey, a senior at the University of Utah, was shot and killed in October 2018 by a 37-year-old parolee who had harassed her after she learned he was a sex offender and more than a decade older than her and broke off their brief relationship. The track and field athlete and communication major would have graduated in May. The wide-ranging SB134, which Gov. Gary Herbert signed Friday, requires colleges to publicize the steps they are taking to better help victims and would force bystander training for more students. It faced no public opposition at the Legislature. "This is a good bill," said S. Daniel Carter, a campus safety expert who helped craft a 2013 federal campus safety law. "My concern is that this bill is not specifically tied to the gaps that were identified in the Lauren McCluskey case." For example, the measure does not address the failures of university police to assess the risk McCluskey faced or uncover the parole status of sex offender Melvin Rowland. The school has since acknowledged its investigation was not timely and has announced a series of improvements. But lawmakers could also move to prevent such a tragedy in the future. One possible solution: making sure criminal background information is easily accessible to each police department in the state. When an officer checked Rowland's background using his driver's license, the system failed to flag his parole status, but U. officers also generally didn't understand how to navigate the system, according to an outside review commissioned by the university. Perry, the chairman of Utah's House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice committee, said the lapses may require a legislative fix. He plans to ask Utah's campus police forces and neighboring law enforcement agencies to meet with the panel later this year. "We want people to be able to get rehabilitated and move on, but if they're in the system through (Adult Probation and Parole), we need to make sure law enforcement on the campuses and in the surrounding community are aware of it," he said. Lawmakers also may consider requiring police to use questionnaires that determine a person's risk of relationship violence when responding to certain reports, Perry said. The protocol already is used by several police forces in Utah, and the U. has announced its police will receive the training as part of the overhaul. Other approaches may not require the Legislature's intervention, Perry said. For example, college departments could enter into agreements with neighboring agencies that allow them to receive help when their caseload piles up. The review of the McCluskey case found U. police were understaffed. "I just want to build this relationship and say, 'It's OK to cross boundaries and help each other out," said Perry, who is also a section commander with the Utah Highway Patrol. The measure approved by the Legislature this year requires Utah's public colleges to give yearly updates to lawmakers on their plans to combat stalking, sexual assault and relationship violence. The annual reports would include the steps they've taken in the last 18 months and the ones they plan to make in the next two years. The first progress reports will be due July 1. The measure would also mandate bystander training for each student group and clarify where students can get help and report the crimes. Lauren's father, Matt McCluskey, urged Perry and others on the legislative panel to support the bill at a hearing at the state Capitol earlier this month. He told the Deseret News that the new law is a good start. "The bill itself is in essence the Legislature speaking to the universities, and I think they will probably listen. But it's true, there are not any real teeth in case a university decided to drag its feet. The bill would have to be implemented in good faith by administrators, and if that's done, then it will have a positive effect," he said. Matt McCluskey said he does not have a prescription in mind for further legislative efforts. The university, however, has not shown it has held any employees accountable in his daughter's death, he said, calling it "a glaring omission that no individual has been sanctioned to my knowledge." The bill on Gov. Herbert's desk is "not perfect, but it's a step," said its sponsor, Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Holladay. While she had McCluskey in mind, Iwamoto has sought to improve campus safety for some time, she said. After the colleges make their first yearly report to lawmakers, Iwamoto said, she plans to identify other areas to improve a college's response to sexual and relationship violence. "I think you have to hit this at all angles," she said. "There's so much to do, and it's so prevalent." Help for those in abusive relationships can be found through the confidential Utah Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465) or online at udvc.org. Apple says that the AirPower has been cancelled because of its inability to meet the companys high standards. After months of teasing the AirPower Wireless Charger, Apple has gone ahead and announced that the device stands cancelled and will not be launched after all. First announced alongside the iPhone X in September 2017, the launch of the Apple AirPower Wireless Charging Mat had been long awaited by users. Apple promised that the device would wirelessly charge iPhones, AirPods and Apple Watch all at the same time. Now, in a statement to TechCrunch, Apple has said that the device did not meet the companys high standards and therefore the project stands cancelled. After much effort, weve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Dan Riccio, tolf TechCrunch. Contrary to traditional wireless chargers that can charge multiple devices at the same time, Apples AirPower Wireless Charging Mat was considerably compact given it was supposed to have three coils embedded within it. With all three devices placed on the mat - the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods - the charging status of all the devices was to be displayed on the iPhones screen. While it sounded pretty nifty, looks like Apple could not achieve this vision in the end. Multiple reports in the past indicated that the AirPower Wireless Charging Mat was set to launch later this year and some even claimed that the device had gone into mass production. Although Apple has not officially cited a reason why the device did not meet its high standards, TechCrunch notes that the company faced multiple engineering challenges and that the device ran hot because of the close proximity of the charging coils. It seems Apples decision to pull the plug on AirPower was very recent given that the materials provided in the box of the new AirPods mention the device. Theres also a picture of it on the box of the new AirPod cases. Alas, the AirPower was not meant to be and Apple is sorry for the same. This is the second time this week that the company had to apologise to its users. The company recently apologised for the faulty design of its Butterfly keyboard on the MacBooks. The Motorola One Vision is expected to be an Android One smartphone powered by the Exynos 9610 SoC. It could feature a 48MP camera. Highlights: Moto One Vision appears on Google ARCore website. The phone could launch soon. It is expected to be an Android One smartphone with Exynos 9610, a 48MP camera. Lenovo-owned Motorola could launch the long rumoured Motorola One Vision soon. The smartphone has appeared in several leaks in the past and its imminent launch is now hinted by a listing on Googles ARCore website. The ARCore lister by Google notes the names of all smartphones which bring support for the companys Augmented Reality platform. The Motorola One Vision is a new entrant to that list, confirming the phone will indeed carry the One Vision moniker. Besides listing the name of the upcoming Android One-powered Moto One Vision, Googles listing does not give out any more details. However, specs of the smartphone have leaked in the past. The Motorola One Vision is expected to be powered by the Samsung Exynos 9610 SoC . The SoC is manufactured on Samsungs 10nm FinFET process. Besides this, the device is expected to house the now popular 48MP camera sensor, which is a big upgrade over the Moto One and Moto One Power. The size of the display is unconfirmed, however, a wallpaper from the smartphone has 2520x1080 pixels resolution. This suggests that the device has a tall display offering an aspect ratio of 21:9, which is seen in the Sony Xperia 10 and 10 Plus devices. Reportedly, the CAD renders of the Motorola P40 (the Chinese Motorola One Vision) suggest itll have a 6.2-inch display. The phone is said to have a punch-hole display. It is reported to be available in 3/4GB RAM models with 32/64/128GB of storage. It is said that the Motorola One Vision will have a 3,500mAh battery. 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. In the next two weeks, British Prime Minister Theresa May will lead the U.K. through domestic and international negotiations that will decide the fate of Brexit and determine the future of generations. Her task, as it's been for almost three years, is to bridge the increasingly bitter divide that separates those who want to sever links with the EU and those who want to keep the ties that have bound Britain to the bloc for almost 50 years. In light of Betsy DeVos comments on the benefits of large class sizes and hiring fewer teachers In fact, students may be better served by being in larger classes, if by hiring fewer teachers, a district or state can better compensate those who have demonstrated high ability and outstanding results I wanted to share the following statistics from the school Betsy attended as a young woman, Holland Christian School Average class size: High school, 19.5 Middle school, 23.2 Elementary school, 17.3 Teacher to Student Ratio, 1 : 12.5 From Holland to Detroit By way of comparison, the teachers contract in the Detroit Public Schools Community District (the school system that Ms. DeVos suggested should simply be dissolved) stipulates the following class sizes: In grades K-3, the class size is supposed to range from 17-25 students. In grades 4-5, the maximum is 30. And in grades 6-12, the max is 35 students. HOWEVER: Across the district, 14 out of the districts 115 schools have oversize classes many of them with multiple classes that are too large. According to fall class data provided by the district: Nearly every K-8 class at Palmer Park is teeming with students. A third-grade class has 40 students, a sixth-grade class has 44 and a second-grade class has 39. The schools overall numbers have increased even more since fall. An eighth-grade class at Noble Elementary-Middle School has 52 students. A third-grade class at Bow Elementary-Middle School has 48 students. An eighth-grade class has 47 students. A fourth-grade class at Dixon Elementary-Middle School has 49 students, while a fifth-grade class has 43 students. A fourth-grade class at Mason Elementary has 45 students. Evidently, large class sizes are good for kids in underfunded urban public schools that Ms. DeVos believes should be shut down completely, while smaller class sizes are better for the children of families who attend schools like the one Ms. DeVos went to. I guess the devil really is in the details. Its time for Betsy DeVos to resign. By Clara Chaisson Photographer Terry Evans has been piecing together prairies for more than 40 years. After she first encountered the plant life growing in these iconic midwestern habitats in 1978, Evans memorized their "names like poems": the silverleaf scurfpea, a dark-violet wildflower; the prickly pink catclaw sensitive briar; the white orchid known as nodding lady's tresses; and green antelopehorn, a milkweed that serves as a nursery to monarch butterflies. "I felt embarrassed when I came across one whose name I'd forgotten or hadn't yet learned," Evans said. "It was like slighting a friend." Today Evans is continuing her education by breaking down these grassland ecosystems into their component parts. Each large-scale image from her new series, Ancient Prairies, is made up of a patchwork of individual photographs hinting at the ecological complexity that underlies the prairie landscape. Terry Evans's Ancient Prairies project Landscape photography was not part of Evans's original plan during her years at the University of Kansas, where she received a BFA in painting. For years the Missouri-born artist drew inspiration from the relationships between people. But a decade after Evans graduated, a friend asked her to capture some images of a virgin prairie not far from Evans's home in Salinas, Kansas. She agreed, and the friendly favor forever changed the trajectory of her career. "Suddenly I began to see the ground," Evans wrote of the experience. "The realization came that I could stand in one spot and look at the ground for at least an hour and still not see everything happening at my feet ... There was a whole cosmology there, and that was fascinating to me." The artist's depictions of prairies have traveled far beyond the habitat's natural range in the middle of our continent. Her work has brought the American prairie to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and more. Terry Evans's Ancient Prairies project Even when people are not directly in the frame, Evans's photography still captures the kinds of intricate human relationships that originally caught her eye as an artist only instead of studying how people interact with each other, she now explores how people engage with the land. Each composite image in Ancient Prairies takes Evans about a month to complete. At the outset, the artist has no idea what the composition will ultimately look like. She draws on her education as a painter to structure the piece. Only 1 to 4 percent of the tallgrass prairie that once covered 170 million acres of North America still exists today; settlers plowed the vast majority to make way for the eventual vast monocultures of wheat and corn. While pockets of native prairie remain, Evans said they "would not exist without human care." Some, like her first love, Fent's Prairie, thrive as a result of intensive preservation efforts. Others have been painstakingly restored with prescribed burns, invasive species removal and native plantings. Terry Evans's Ancient Prairies project Evans's interest in humanity's influence on the environment has also led her to industrial landscapes. Working alongside writer Elizabeth Farnsworth earlier this decade, she documented activists fighting to ban petcoke on the Southeast Side of Chicago, the city where she now lives and works. But after spending years working on projects such as Petcoke vs. Grassroots, Fractured: North Dakota's Oil Boom and Steel Work, Evans said, "I started having this longing to see some undisturbed prairie again . . . Beauty matters for our spirit." When she returned to Fent's Prairie, though, she found that something had changed within her. "I was no longer satisfied with making single images," Evans said. "It seemed like there's so much rich information and wisdom in an untouched or restored ecosystem." Terry Evans's Ancient Prairies project The name of the series, Ancient Prairies, isn't intended to consign its subject matter to the past. "It's not about nostalgia, and they're not a eulogy of something that's gone," Evans said. "Rather, they're a celebration of life that can still inform us. We need these places as an archive of what an undisturbed ecosystem looks like." Five images from Ancient Prairies are featured in the winter issue of Orion magazine. Reposted with permission from our media associate onEarth. The commandos flew over 2,500 miles from Israel to Uganda to attempt the daring operation. Yonatan Netanyahu was the sole Israeli military casualty in the raid on Entebbe. Three Israeli hostages were killed along with all seven of the hijackers. AK Party wins box Meral Aksener voted in Binali Yldrm gets the majority of votes in the ballot box in which IYI Party leader cast her vote. Turkeys ruling Justice and Development (AK) Partys mayoral candidate for Istanbul, Binali Yldrm, won the majority of ballots from the box in which IYI Party leader Meral Aksener cast her vote, according to unofficial results on Sunday. The counting of votes in the ballot box at Hac Sabanc Anatolian High School, where Aksener cast her ballot, was completed. Some 146 of the votes were in favor of Binali Yldrm, while main opposition CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu received 143 votes. Saadet (Felicity) Partys candidate, Necdet Gokcnar got four votes and Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)s candidate, Zehra Guner Karaoglu got one vote. CHP candidate Imamoglu wins his own ballot box Main opposition mayoral candidate in Turkey's most populous metropolis wins the majority in the box where he cast his vote. Turkeys main opposition mayoral candidate for Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, won the majority of ballots from the box where he cast his vote, according to unofficial results on Sunday. The counting of votes in the ballot box at Haldun Taner Elementary School was completed in the district of Beylikduzu, where the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Imamoglu cast his ballot. Four ballots were invalid. The major competing parties are the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Good (IYI) Party, and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). CHP leader Klcdaroglu votes in local polls I hope our citizens will make their decisions without any negative incident, says Republican People's Party leader. Kemal Klcdaroglu, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader, cast his ballot in Ankara on Sunday's local elections. "HOPEFULLY THE END OF MARCH WILL BE SPRING" Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, Klcdaroglu said: I hope our citizens will make their decisions without any negative incident. Hopefully the end of March will be spring, Klcdaroglu added, one of his party's election slogans. Sundays polls mark the first local elections in Turkey under the new presidential system of government, adopted in the April 2017 referendum. Voting started at 7 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will continue through 4 p.m. local time (1300GMT) in 32 out of Turkeys 81 provinces. In the remaining provinces, polling stations have opened at 8 a.m. local time (0050GMT) and will close at 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT). Turkish plane carrying more aid reaches Mozambique The combined death toll from the cyclone in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe stands at over 740. Turkey's second cargo plane, carrying humanitarian aid for people affected by the deadly hurricane Idai, reached Mozambique on Saturday. GREAT SUPPORT FROM TURKEY The humanitarian aid includes 100 tents, 650 personal hygiene packs and 200 food parcels. Idai made landfall in Mozambique's port city of Beira on March 14 with winds of up to 110 miles (177 kilometers) per hour, killing at least 534 people in Mozambique, according to local media. The combined death toll in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe now stands at over 740, according to media reports. UN has said the cyclone had displaced about 110,000 people, forcing them to take shelter in camps across central Mozambique. More than 17,500 houses were damaged by the cyclone. Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), National Medical Search Team (UMKE) and Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) have been providing support and distributing humanitarian aid in the region. The cyclone has washed away crops and roads have been damaged across the three South African countries. Many areas in Mozambique remain without electricity, and almost all networks have been severely damaged, according to the UN. Venezuelan FM to visit Turkey to discuss bilateral relations Jorge Arreaza to discuss bilateral relations, as well as current regional and international issues. Venezuela's foreign minister will visit Turkey on Monday, according to the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sunday. INTERNATIONAL ISSUES WILL BE DISCUSSED The statement said Jorge Arreaza will discuss bilateral relations between Turkey and Venezuela as well as current regional and international issues. Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10 when President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition. Tensions escalated when Juan Guaido, who heads Venezuelas National Assembly, declared himself acting president on Jan. 23, a move supported by the US and many European and Latin American countries. Turkey, Russia, Iran, Cuba, China and Bolivia threw their weight behind Maduro. ATLANTA -- A chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets the protein mesothelin showed no evidence of major toxicity and had antitumor activity in patients with malignant pleural disease from mesothelioma, according to results from a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3. "Patients with advanced-stage solid tumors, such as mesothelioma, and lung and breast cancers, that are metastatic to the chest cavity have poor outcomes despite treatment," said Prasad S. Adusumilli, MD, deputy chief of thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). "Treatment with CAR T cells results in dramatic successes in blood cancers; however, results have been disappointing to date for solid tumors." Adusumilli, senior author of the study Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, and colleagues engineered the mesothelin-targeted CAR T cells called IcasM28z using completely human components, which includes the Icaspase-9 safety "suicide" switch that can be activated to kill all CAR T cells in a patient's body in case of an unexpected toxicity. "The novelty of our study is that the CAR T cells target the cancer cell-surface protein, mesothelin, which is expressed on the majority of cancer cells, and they are delivered directly to the tumor site using regional delivery techniques," Adusumilli said. "If this approach is successful, 2 million patients with mesothelin-expressing solid tumors per year in the United States will be eligible for this treatment." The investigators recruited 21 patients with malignant pleural disease (19 with malignant pleural mesothelioma, one with metastatic lung cancer, and one with metastatic breast cancer); 40 percent of them had received three or more lines of prior therapy. After cyclophosphamide preconditioning, IcasM28z CAR T cells were injected directly into the pleural cavity using an interventional radiology procedure. The investigators evaluated multiple clinical, radiological, and laboratory parameters in the patients who received the CAR T cells and found no evidence of toxicity at the doses tested. CAR T cells were found to be persistent in the peripheral blood of 13 patients during the 38-week evaluation, and their presence was associated with more than 50 percent decrease in the levels of a mesothelin-related peptide in the blood and evidence of tumor regression on imaging studies. One patient with mesothelioma underwent curative-intent surgery followed by radiation therapy to the chest. "Twenty months from diagnosis, the patient is doing well, with no further treatment," Adusumilli noted. Fourteen patients went on to receive anti-PD1 checkpoint blockade agents. In preclinical studies, the researchers found that in large tumors, the CAR T cells became functionally exhausted even while residing in the tumor. Treatment with anti-PD-1 agents could reactivate the exhausted CAR T cells and eradicate the tumors in a proportion of mice. "On the basis of these published observations, in some patients who received CAR T cells, we administered anti-PD-1 agents off-protocol as next line of therapy," Adusumilli said. After up to 21 cycles of treatment with an anti-PD1 agent, two patients had complete metabolic response on PET scans at 60 and 32 weeks, respectively, and these responses are ongoing at the time of this reporting; five patients had partial response; and four had stable disease. "Combining rationally developed strategies--such as interventional radiology, T-cell genetic engineering, and newer immunotherapy agents--has produced encouraging results and provides rationale to further investigate this approach in aggressive, therapy-resistant cancers such as mesothelioma, for which the currently available treatment options are not optimal," Adusumilli noted. A limitation to the study is that this is a phase I trial, and the long-term efficacy of this approach has not yet been established, Adusumilli noted. ### Preclinical research leading to this clinical trial and the clinical trial are partly supported by awards from the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defense, a Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)-Cancer Research Institute Cancer Immunology Dream Team grant (the AACR is the Scientific Partner of SU2C), and Baker Street Foundation. MSK has licensed mesothelin CARs to Atara Biotherapeutics. MSK has received license fees and has the potential to receive royalties under the license. Adusumilli and Sadelain are inventors and will receive a share of the license income. Adusumilli's and Sadelain's labs receive sponsored research funding from Atara Biotherapeutics. ORLANDO, Fla., March 31, 2019 -- As current antibiotics dwindle in effectiveness against multidrug-resistant pathogens, researchers are seeking potential replacements in some unlikely places. Now a team has identified bacteria with promising antibiotic activity against known pathogens -- even dangerous organisms, such as the microbe that causes MRSA infections -- in the protective mucus that coats young fish. The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics. "For us, any microbe in the marine environment that could provide a new compound is worth exploring," says Sandra Loesgen, Ph.D., the group's principal investigator. According to Loesgen, who is at Oregon State University, while novel chemical reagents have been found in the human microbiome, the marine equivalent remains relatively unstudied. One potential goldmine of microbes is the mucus that coats the surfaces of fish. This viscous substance protects fish from bacteria, fungi, and viruses in their environment, trapping the microbes before they can cause infections. The slime is also rich in polysaccharides and peptides known to have antibacterial activity. "Fish mucus is really interesting because the environment the fish live in is complex," says Molly Austin, an undergraduate chemistry student in Loesgen's laboratory, who conducted some of the studies. "They are in contact with their environment all the time with many pathogenic viruses." According to Austin, it would be interesting to figure out if anything in the mucus, which protects the fish, could actually help protect humans. Collaborator Erin (Misty) Paig-Tran, Ph.D., who is at California State University, Fullerton, supplied the mucus, swabbed from juvenile deep-sea and surface-dwelling fish caught off the Southern California coast. The team examined young fish because they have a less-developed immune system and more mucus on the outside of their scales that could contain a greater concentration of active bacteria than adult fish. Loesgen, Austin and graduate student Paige Mandelare isolated and screened 47 different strains of bacteria from the slime. Five bacterial extracts strongly inhibited methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and three inhibited Candida albicans, a fungus pathogenic to humans. A bacteria from mucus derived from a particular Pacific pink perch showed strong activity against MRSA and against a colon carcinoma cell line. Austin is now focusing her work on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacteria derived from that fish, to study the many potentially interesting phenazine natural products and antibiotics that this bacteria makes. While the team members are interested in new sources for antibiotics to help humans, they are also looking at other ways to apply this knowledge. For example, the study of fish mucus could also help reduce the use of antibiotics in fish farming by leading to better antibiotics specifically targeted to the microbes clinging to certain types of fish. But first, the researchers want to understand more fundamental questions. For example, "We don't even know what a healthy microbiome is," Loesgen says. She explains that it's unclear whether the bacteria they studied in the fish slime were typical of their microbiomes and are protecting their hosts, or if these bacteria just happened to hitch a ride on these individual fish. Learning more about healthy fish microbiomes and how environmental factors in the Pacific can affect them could help inform conservation efforts, the researchers say. ### A press conference on this topic will be held Monday, April 1, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Orange County Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room W231B, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_Orlando2019 ("ACSLive_Orlando2019" is case sensitive). To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account. The researchers acknowledge support and funding from the Oregon State University Startup Funds and California State University, Fullerton support for this research. The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org. Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Follow us: Twitter | Facebook Title Diving into the Pacific fish microbiome: Exploration of antibiotics in a unique ecosystem Abstract With the rise of drug resistant pathogens (i.e. multi drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), currently prescribed antibiotics are rendered ineffective, driving a need for novel drugs. In our exploration for new antibiotics, bacteria derived from the mucous of Pacific fish were isolated and their potential to produce antibiotics tested. The oceanic environment is a complex and biodiverse environment where fish cohabitate with a multitude of bacteria and viruses but often resist deadly infections. Protection of the juvenile fish may come from bacteria species within their exterior microbiome. Mucous swabs from juvenile fish were sampled and 47 different microbial strains were isolated. Bacterial strains were grown and extracted with organic solvent to obtain a chemical extract. Extracts were tested in antimicrobial microbroth assays against S. aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans at 125 g/mL. Extracts yielded a variety of potent inhibitory activity with five extracts exhibiting strong inhibition of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (ATCC BAA-41). A particularly potent extract from a bacterium identified as a Pseudomonas sp., exhibited strong inhibitory activity against methicillin resistant S. aureus and colon carcinoma (HCT-116). Multiple phenazine analogues were characterized and exhibited antibiotic activity. A quinolinedione metabolite was also isolated, identified, and shown to have moderate cytotoxic activity. This strain and many more showcase an abundant variety of antimicrobial and cytotoxic metabolites found within the Pacific fish microbiome, revealing a potentially untapped source for antibiotic discovery. ORLANDO, Fla., March 31, 2019 -- Aiming a laser beam at an aircraft isn't a harmless prank: The sudden flash of bright light can incapacitate the pilot, risking the lives of passengers and crew. But because attacks can happen with different colored lasers, such as red, green or even blue, scientists have had a difficult time developing a single method to impede all wavelengths of laser light. Today, researchers report liquid crystals that could someday be incorporated into aircraft windshields to block any color of bright, focused light. The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, 6,754 laser strikes on aircraft were reported in 2017. "We were approached by collaborators in the aviation department at our university about the growing problem happening at airports across the world, where people were shooting lasers at planes during takeoff and landing, the critical phases of flight," says Jason Keleher, Ph.D., the project's principal investigator. Such attacks, which cause bright flashes of light in the cockpit, can distract pilots or inflict temporary or permanent visual damage, depending on the wavelength and intensity of the laser. "We wanted to come up with a solution that didn't require us to completely re-engineer an aircraft's windshield, but instead adds a layer to the glass that harnesses the existing power system for windshield defrosting," says Daniel Maurer, an undergraduate student. Keleher and Maurer are at Lewis University. Rather than being integrated into the windshield, previous approaches have included pull-down windscreens or goggles that pilots don during takeoff and landing. However, these can be inconvenient because they require the flight crew to take these precautions whether or not they are actually being targeted. An even bigger problem is that these strategies work only for specific wavelengths of laser light. "They don't block everything," Maurer says. "They're usually targeted toward green lasers because those are used for the majority of the attacks." To develop their new approach, the researchers took advantage of liquid crystals -- materials with properties between those of liquids and solid crystals that make them useful in electronic displays. The team placed a solution of liquid crystals called N-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA) between two 1-inch-square panes of glass. MBBA has a transparent liquid phase and an opaque crystalline phase that scatters light. By applying a voltage to the apparatus, the researchers caused the crystals to align with the electrical field and undergo a phase change to the more solid crystalline state. The aligned crystals blocked up to 95 percent of red, blue and green beams, through a combination of light scattering, absorption of the laser's energy and cross-polarization. The liquid crystals could block lasers of different powers, simulating various distances of illumination, as well as light shone at different angles onto the glass. In addition, the system was fully automatic: A photoresistor detected laser light and then triggered the power system to apply the voltage. When the beam was removed, the system turned off the power, and the liquid crystals returned to their transparent, liquid state. "We only want to block the spot where the laser is hitting the windshield and then have it quickly go back to normal after the laser is gone," Keleher notes. The rest of the windshield, which was not hit by the laser, would remain transparent at all times. Now that the researchers have shown that their approach works, they plan to scale it up from 1-inch squares to the size of an entire aircraft windshield. Initial results have shown that a sensor grid pattern on 2-inch squares of glass will respond only to the section of glass that is illuminated. The team is also testing different types of liquid crystals to find even more efficient and versatile ones that return to the transparent state more quickly once the laser is removed. ### A press conference on this topic will be held Monday, April 1, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time in the Orange County Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room W231B, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_Orlando2019 ("ACSLive_Orlando2019" is case-sensitive). To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account. The researchers acknowledge support and funding from Southwest Airlines, the Aviation and Transportation Department at Lewis University and the Colonel Stephen S. and Lyla Doherty Center for Aviation and Health Research. The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org. Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Follow us: Twitter | Facebook Title Analyzing molecular structure of liquid crystals to develop wavelength independent films to mitigate laser attacks on aircraft Abstract Laser attacks on aircraft have become a prevalent occurrence over recent years, and present significant challenges to pilots of commercial, military and private aircraft during critical stages of flight. These attacks are seen as a distraction, cause flash blindness, or result in permanent eye damage, endangering the lives of the pilot and crew. Previous work has shown to provide incomplete performance as wavelength dependencies limit the effectiveness of the system. In an effort to move past a wavelength dependent solution, this work focused on taking advantage of the polarization and absorbance properties of liquid crystal (LC) technologies to block intruding laser light. In the creation of a cell, the surface of Indium tin oxide was prepared via controlled polishing, influencing the LC to align in a planar orientation when applied voltage creates an electric field within the cell. As laser light permeates the LC, its power is reduced via the following dissipation pathways; absorption of the laser's energy, scattering of the laser light when in crystal phase, and an interaction with linearly polarized light. If polarization of the laser and LC are parallel, the LC relies on the ability to reflect light in crystal phase. If these polarizations are perpendicular, roughly 90% of the lasers power is blocked regardless of wavelength. The only observable wavelength dependencies are more efficient blocking against wavelengths the respective LC absorbs. This study seeks to analyze how blocking efficiency is impacted by the molecular structure of varying LC's. ORLANDO, Fla., March 31, 2019 -- The sugar maple tree yields autumn foliage, maple syrup and Tennessee whiskey. Wood from the tree is chopped into planks, stacked in piles and burned to form charcoal. Freshly distilled, un-aged whiskey is filtered over the charcoal in a mysterious, but necessary step known as the Lincoln County Process (LCP). By law, a product cannot be called Tennessee whiskey without it. Researchers now say they have some clues as to what the process imparts to the final product. The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics. "Although Tennessee whiskey and traditional bourbon both have to be made from 51 percent corn and aged in charred oak barrels, the distinction is really this filtration step," says graduate student Trenton Kerley, who performed the work. Even in this modern age, whiskey making is still a bit of an art form. Distillers currently adjust their product empirically at the end of a long process of brewing, filtering and aging. They blend different batches to achieve a certain flavor. But until now, no one has systematically studied the effects of the LCP step, so named for the county where the original Jack Daniel's distillery was located. John Munafo, Ph.D., leader of the study at the University of Tennessee, says that by probing the fundamental chemistry of this process, his team could help distilleries achieve the flavor profile they desire and reduce product variability. Munafo's group partnered with the Sugarlands Distilling Company in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to figure out how LCP affected the flavor of their Roaming Man Tennessee whiskey. To do that, the researchers first established baseline values for its flavor. They began with unfiltered whiskey provided by the distillery. They identified all of the aroma-active molecules (odorants) of the beverage using a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-olfactometry, a technique by which a scientist can smell the individual components of a sample as they are separated. They then determined which of these compounds was important to the whiskey's flavor with a technique called aroma extract dilution analysis, in which aroma-active compounds are diluted until they no longer be smelled. Finally, the key odorants were quantitated by stable isotope dilution assays. After identifying the compounds that contributed to the unfiltered whiskey's flavor, they exposed it to sugar maple charcoal also obtained from Sugarlands. Based on a procedure established by the distiller, they left the whiskey soaking in the charcoal from one to five days. Afterward, they analyzed samples by spiking them with known quantities of the odorants previously identified so they could quantify how much of each compound was removed by the LCP step. Kerley says that based on the whiskey's smell before and after filtration, he was not surprised by the change in chemical composition, but he was surprised by how much some of the levels changed. "I was expecting it to have an effect, but I wasn't expecting as large of an effect as we saw in some of the compounds. For example, levels of some compounds declined by up to 30 percent after LCP," he says. Now that Munafo and his student better understand how LCP changes whiskey chemically, they want to adjust some of the parameters of the filtration process. Munafo says they will run a series of experiments varying the time the unfiltered whiskey is in contact with the charcoal, and another in which the whiskey-to-charcoal ratio is systematically altered. He also wants to investigate the sensory impact of combinations of compounds that are present. "There are some 'strong' flavor compounds present in low concentrations, but then there are 'weaker' aroma-active compounds such as branched alcohols that are present at high concentrations," Munafo says. "Even though they might not be potent aroma-active compounds, they could have an effect like a perception of burning that our senses pick up." Down the road, the data Munafo and his students collect could be used to advise distillers on exactly what changes to make to their whiskey to produce the best flavor for their unique brand. "We want to give them levers to pull so they are not blindly trying to get the flavor target they want," Munafo says. ### The researchers acknowledge support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and funding through the Food Science Department and start-up funds from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org. Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Follow us: Twitter | Facebook Title Changes in key odorants by the Lincoln County Process (Tennessee Whiskey) Abstract Bourbon whiskey is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by using yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to ferment a mixture of at least 51% corn and other grains such as rye or malted barley, which is distilled and then aged in a charred oak barrel. Tennessee whiskey is a classification of bourbon whiskey that, in addition to being made in the state of Tennessee, is defined by an additional production step called the Lincoln County Process (LCP). The LCP, a filtration of the fresh distillate through a bed of charcoal produced from the wood from the sugar maple tree (Acer Saccharum), takes place immediately after distillation. It is believed to impart a smoother flavor to the distillate; however, no studies have yet been published fully characterizing the process. The present investigation had three objectives: 1) to isolate volatiles in corn distillate by solvent assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE), 2) to identify the key odorants using aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), and 3) to use stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) to quantify odorants before (bLCP) and after (aLCP), having been subjected to the LCP for five days (120 hours). Among others, several key odorants were quantitated using isotopically labelled standards, such as the branched alcohols, including 3-methylbutanol and 2-methylpropanol, and ethyl esters, including ethyl hexanoate and ethyl octanoate. The results of this investigation have set the groundwork for further study of the LCP and may be drawn upon for recommendations to whiskey manufacturers to optimize the production process. This poster will highlight the effects that the LCP has on the odorants present in freshly prepared corn distillate. A combination of two common immunotherapy drugs shrinks rare, aggressive neuroendocrine tumors, according to new research results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019, held March 29-April 3 in Atlanta. Results from the SWOG Cancer Research Network trial known as DART, short for Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors, show a significant clinical benefit for patients with high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma, a cancer of the neuroendocrine cells that often forms tumors in the lungs and along the digestive tract. This cancer is rare - about 12,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed each year - but the general prevalence of the disease grew six-fold between 1973 and 2012. Patients with the high-grade, or rapidly growing, form have few treatment options. "We saw a benefit in patients with high-grade carcinoma, which is the population that really needs an effective treatment option," said Sandip Patel, MD, the DART clinical study chair, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, and a medical oncologist with Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. "These early results are really encouraging - and intriguing," Patel said. "We found a clear difference in response to treatment between the high-grade and low-grade forms of this cancer type. So tumor biology makes a difference. We don't yet know why, but we've opened another treatment arm of the trial to patients with just high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma to see if we see the same response to the immunotherapy combination." The DART trial, also known as S1609, is managed by SWOG, the cancer clinical trials group that is part of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). DART features an innovative "basket" design which allows the testing of a single drug or drug combination in a variety of tumor types. DART currently tests the immunotherapy combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab in patients with 37 types of rare cancers, which together make up almost a quarter of all cancers diagnosed worldwide. Results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019 represent one of the 37 cohorts of DART, in which researchers enrolled 33 patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Of those 33 patients, 19 had high-grade disease. Most patients' tumors were located in the gastrointestinal tract or the lungs. All patients received doses of ipilimumab every six weeks and doses of nivolumab every two weeks, and continue on the treatment for as long as their bodies respond to the drugs. Results showed that 42 percent of patients with the high-grade form of neuroendocrine carcinomas saw their tumors shrink partially or completely after treatment, while none of the low-grade patients did. For all patients, 70 percent saw their cancer spread within six months. Patients survived a median of at least 11 months after treatment. Some patients are alive more than a year after treatment, and doctors continue to track their progress on the study drugs. DART has enrolled over 550 patients since it opened in 2017 - an uncommon success for a rare cancers trial. The trial is open at over 800 hospitals, cancer centers, and community clinics across the U.S., widespread availability that is a unique feature of trials run through the NCTN and the NCI's Community Oncology Research Program. "There's a myth that you can't successfully complete clinical trials in rare cancers," Patel said. "Researchers think it's too hard to find patients. But DART shows us that we can run rare cancer trials, and enroll patients quickly and learn if therapies are effective in rare diseases. Through the NCTN, we can also offer investigational drugs to patients right in their communities. They don't necessarily need to travel to a cancer center to get enrolled in a clinical trial." ### DART is funded by the National Institutes of Health through National Cancer Institute grant awards CA180888, CA180819, CA180821, and CA180820 and in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb. The DART team includes Megan Othus, PhD, of SWOG and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Young Kwang Chae, MD, of Northwestern University; Francis Giles, MD, formerly of Northwestern University and now at NEOMED Therapeutics; Donna Hansel, MD, of UCSD Moores Cancer Center; Preet Singh, MD, of Springfield Clinic; Annette Fontaine, MD, of New Mexico Cancer Center; Manisha Shah, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; Anup Kasi, MD, MPH, of the University of Kansas Cancer Center; Tareq Al Baghdadi. MD, of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital; Marc Matrana, MD, of Ochsner Clinic Foundation; Zoran Gatalica, MD, DSc, of Caris Life Sciences; W. Michael Korn, MD, of Caris Life Sciences and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center; Jourdain Hayward of the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center; Christine McLeod of the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center; Helen X. Chen, MD, of the National Cancer Institute; Elad Sharon, MD, of the National Cancer Institute; Edward Mayerson, MS, of the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center; Christopher Ryan, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University; Melissa Plets, MS, of the SWOG Statistics and Data Management Center; Charles D. Blanke, MD, of the SWOG Group Chair's Office; and Razelle Kurzrock, MD, of UCSD Moores Cancer Center. SWOG Cancer Research Network is part of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, and is part of the oldest and largest publicly-funded cancer research network in the nation. SWOG has nearly 12,000 members in 46 states and six foreign countries who design and conduct clinical trials to improve the lives of people with cancer. SWOG trials have led to the approval of 14 cancer drugs, changed more than 100 standards of cancer care, and saved more than 3 million years of human life. Learn more at swog.org. (PHILADELPHIA) - Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of primary brain cancer, one with a prognosis of 11-15 months with standard treatment. Results from a phase 1b clinical trial of a new experimental glioblastoma vaccine developed by Jefferson and Imvax, show the treatment was tolerated well by patients, slowed tumor recurrence, and prolonged patient survival. The research was presented at an oral session of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting on March 31st in Atlanta, Georgia. Researchers treated 33 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme with the novel cancer vaccine (IGV-001) in a prospective phase 1b clinical study and compared outcomes to a historical comparator group of 35 patients treated with standard of care at the same institution. The results showed patients treated with the vaccine had improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared to the control group treated with standard of care alone. "The response we see in some patients is very encouraging," says David Andrews, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery at the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience -- Jefferson Health and co-founder, Chief Medical Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of Imvax. "We look forward to initiating a phase II trial later this year to confirm these phase 1b results." The vaccine is created from the patient's own tumor cells sampled during surgical removal of the primary brain tumor. Researchers first take the cancer cells, treat them with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS-ODN) against IGF-R1, a receptor shown to drive tumor growth and metastasis, and load them with additional AS-ODN into diffusion chambers. Then the dime-sized chambers and their contents are irradiated and implanted under the skin of the patient's abdomen. "As a consequence of the combined effects of the IGF-1R antisense and irradiation, our evidence shows that the chambered tumor cells release antigens, which together with the immunomodulatory AS-ODN, diffuse out of the chamber into the patient's body and activate the immune system against brain tumor cells," says immunologist D. Craig Hooper, PhD, a Professor of Cancer Biology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health and a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Imvax. As a nationally renowned neurosurgeon treating glioblastoma patients for decades, Dr. Andrews was frustrated with the poor options for treatment in glioblastoma. He was interested in using antisense molecules, ones that render glioblastoma cells more susceptible to conventional radiotherapy. However, preclinical experiments and an early clinical study of the effect of implantation of diffusion chambers containing glioblastoma cells showed there was radiographic evidence of delayed tumor shrinkage. This delay suggested that a systemic, possibly immune response may be at play. To better understand the observations, Dr. Andrews reached out to Dr. Hooper, who has an extensive background in studying immune regulation and particular expertise in neuroimmunity. Over the course of fifteen years, translational research led by Dr. Hooper and clinical studies led by Dr. Andrews refined the diffusion chamber combination product used in the current phase 1b trial. "This is an incredibly important advance emerging from leading investigators from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. We are enthusiastic about the potential for this intervention, and as is befitting for an NCI designated Cancer Center, were proud to have provided the initial seed funds to develop the bold new idea," says Karen E Knudsen, PhD, EVP of Oncology Services and Enterprise Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. The phase 1b clinical trial builds on earlier work showing that standard-of-care treatment for glioblastoma damages the immune system and suggesting that the vaccine would be more effective in patients whose immune systems had not been compromised by prior therapy. The phase 1b trial only enrolled patients who were scheduled to have surgery, prior to the start of standard-of-care adjuvant therapy. The study enrolled 33 patients between September 2015 and March 2018. The study participants were divided into four groups treated at various doses of vaccine, ranging from 10 chambers for 24 hours at the minimum dose, to a maximum of 20 chambers for 48 hours. Patients were followed for a median of 13 months (ranging from four to 39 months). The results showed that patients who received the Imvax glioblastoma vaccine had longer progression-free survival and overall survival - two common measures of cancer treatment success - than the control group. The researchers saw no vaccine-related adverse events. The median prognosis, or overall survival, for patients treated with the highest dose of the vaccine was 21.9 months, compared to 14.6 months for standard of care. Median progression-free survival was 10.4 months for the highest dose vaccine, significantly higher than the 6.9 and 5.4 months in published standard of care studies. "This is creative collaboration at its best. We have physicians challenged with the limitations of medicine who therefore reach out to basic researchers in order to brainstorm potential solutions," says Robert Rosenwasser, MD,MBA, President and CEO of the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience. "This is the reason academic medical centers like Jefferson excel with innovations that improve lives. The depth of cellular and molecular knowledge in bench science generates the design of treatments that are most likely to succeed. When basic laboratory science and clinical research come together with a passionate need to improve the lives of our patients and families, we develop incredible advances in treatment paradigms." ### For patient information call: 1-800-JEFF-NOW (800-533-3669) Contact for Media Only: Gianna DeMedio, 215-955-5507, Gianna.DeMedio@jefferson.edu GBP/USD 5-DAY FORECAST UPDATE #3: After retaking the $1.31 level earlier in Monday's session, the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate tumbled back towards $1.302 as Parliamentarians in the UK failed to find consensus over a single Brexit alternative. A post-slump bounce before trading flat through the Asian session gave way to a further decline in the GBP in early Tuesday trading with the Cable last seen at $1.30396. Data-wise, the latest UK construction PMI is due. Monday's manufacturing figure printed well above expectations although Wednesday's service-sector figure, being the dominant sector, is likely to hold the most market impact. For the US, core and non-core durable goods orders numbers are due with core goods expected to rebound to a positive 0.3% change (m/m) while non-core demand is expected to have declined by 1.1%. Brexit remains a critical factor for the cross with focus turning to how the UK government proceeds without a lack of backing for any Brexit options and, in turn, the EU's response. GBP/USD 5-DAY FORECAST UPDATE #2: The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate opened this weeks session on strong footing, climbing to a high of $1.3115 amidst rising Brexit optimism. This comes ahead of another round of indicative votes taking place on Monday evening, with speculation that MPs could back a customs union with the EU. Further lifting Sterling was also the release of the UKs latest manufacturing PMI earlier in the session, which revealed the UKs factory sector expanded at its faster pace in over a year in March. GBP/USD 5-DAY FORECAST UPDATE: The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate edged higher into Monday's European session with the cross last seen trading at $1.30607, ahead of a data-heavy and Brexit-critical week. Monday's data for the US will include the latest retail sales figures with consumer spending expected remain positive. The latest manufacturing PMI is also due. While manufacturing activity in other developed nations has slid amid slowing demand, the US figure has held up strongly over recent months. However, some analysts expect this to change in the months ahead. Danske head of fixed income research, Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, wrote "ISM manufacturing for March is due out, which, given the regional PMIs, may increase marginally. US manufacturing is not immune to what happens in the rest of the world and we expect it to move lower over the next 3M." Meanwhile for the GBP, focus remains on Brexit with MPs set to hold a series of indicative votes in a bid to break the current impasse. Senior global investment strategist, Seema Shah, of Principal Global Investors commented that "Monday will be another interesting day in parliament, adding "If MPs are able to form a majority around a few of the motions - most likely the permanent customs union motion or a peoples vote on the agreed deal, we could see sterling re-strengthen on revived hopes of a soft Brexit. RECAP: The Pound began last week weakened as Prime Minister Theresa May came under increasing pressure from MPs to resign so that she could succeed with her Brexit deal through Parliament. However, concerns were increasingly rising whether a third meaningful vote would go ahead at all. Tuesday, meanwhile, saw Sterling benefit from the Chair of the European Research Group (ERG), Jacob Rees-Mogg, announce his essential but conditional backing of Theresa Mays Brexit deal, seeing it as better than not leaving at all. Wednesday saw MPs undertake an indicative vote on 8 alternative options for Brexit, however all of them were rejected, leaving the UK in a further state of political uncertainty. The Speaker at the House of Commons, John Bercow, continued to rule out the possibility of a third meaningful vote on Thursday, standing by his words that it would require substantial changes. Sterling was further weakened by comments from the DUP spokesman that the party would refuse to back Mrs Mays deal over issues relating to the Irish backstop. Friday, however, saw the Pound plummet following a vote on Theresa Mays withdrawal agreement which makes up a half of the entire Brexit deal which was once again rejected, this time by a majority of 58. The Pound finished the week down against many of its competitors, as the UK now faces the possibility of a no-deal Brexit or a long delay of Article 50, depending on the EUs final decision on the matter. USD/GBP Exchange Rate: Rises as US-China Trade Talks Conclude The US Dollar (USD) generally benefited against a weaker Pound last week, and with President Donald Trump effectively being exonerated of Russian collusion claims relating to his 2016 election campaign, this left some Greenback traders feeling optimistic. Meanwhile the US Chicago Fed National Activity Index figures for February fell further on Monday, weakening some of the US Dollars gains. Tuesday saw the former Chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, express a hint of surprising optimism regarding the US economy, despite recent Fed dovishness about the future of the US economy. Yellen said: I dont see a recession in the US as particularly likely. The US is certainly experiencing a slowing of growth and that is something that was long expected. Later in the week saw Donald Trump ride his wave of success after the House failed to vote down his veto for funding of $1bn from the Pentagon for the building of the controversial Mexican border wall. Friday, meanwhile, saw the US Dollar strengthen after US-China trade talks ended positively in Beijing. GBP/USD Exchange Rate Forecast: Sterling Could Plummet on Signs of No-Deal Pound traders will be awaiting the outcome of Mondays second-round of indicative votes which will potentially break the Brexit deadlock, providing Theresa May with possible alternatives for a third meaningful vote. Monday will also see the release of the US ISM Manufacturing PMI figures for March, which are expected to increase and potentially buoying the Greenback further. Later in the week, on Friday, will see the US Nonfarm Payrolls figures for March which will be in the spotlight for many USD traders. The GBP/USD exchange rate will remain dictated by Brexit developments for the week ahead, and with any signs of a possible no-deal Brexit being imminent on 12 April, this would see Sterling plummet. Bexar Countys public hospital district is spending $170 million to update its health information technology an investment that administrators say could save the system millions of dollars and improve patient care. University Health System relies on its computer software for everything from billing to ordering lab tests to keeping accurate patient records. The brand-new electronic health record (EHR) system developed by Epic Systems Corp. is being deployed over a three-year period. It promises to help the public hospital run more efficiently, increase patient safety for example, it checks a patients medication list for adverse drug interactions and improve patients experience, allowing them to message their doctor with questions on their smartphone. Epic Systems already handles patient records for 72 percent of Americans, and most medical schools are teaching its students on its system. UHS, a $1.8-billion agency in the South Texas Medical Center and the teaching hospital for UT Health San Antonio, which is already using Epic. The new patient record system should be fully implemented by May 2020, said hospital administrator Bill Phillips. He estimates the reduction in the number of current applications alone will save $12 million annually . UT Health San Antonio, which relies on University as its teaching hospital, already uses Epic. UHS, an $1.8-billion agency located in the South Texas Medical Center, is moving off of an outdated EHR system that periodically requires 24 hours of downtime for updates. Phillips, who has been working at University for more than 30 years, said the hospital was an early adopter of electronic health records. The facility, he added, was first in the country to use EHR in the intensive care unit. While employees are looking forward to the switch to Epic, Phillips said, some are also a little nervous, especially those who regularly toggle between programs at different facilities. Epics EHR software is intended to connect seamlessly with other medical record software programs. However, not every organization can afford to switch to one of the major vendors. For many hospitals and medical providers, changing electronic medical record software isnt like moving from Sprint to Verizon for cellphone service. Each system needs to be adjusted to work for the particular needs of that institution or specialty, and the cost can be substantial. Were so used to our Amazon and our Netflix (but) the technology in health care leaves a lot to be desired, said Dr. Ogechika Alozie, an infectious disease specialist in El Paso. Epic Systems is one of more than 700 federally-certified vendors competing for a hospital or medical practices business. An investigation titled Death By A Thousand Clicks: Where Electronic Health Records Went Wrong, published March 18 by Fortune magazine and Kaiser Health News, reveals how the federal governments rush to push medical providers into adopting digital medical records helped create a bunch of competing systems that cant share patient information. Health IT companies dont have real incentives to play well with each other. The government has sunk more than $36 billion into the effort over the past decade with little to show for its investment, according to the report. Some of the EHR systems are also plagued with glitches. These developers just threw anything at the wall to get some of that money, Alozie said, adding that the idea was they could fix the bugs later. Alozie, who serves as vice chairman of the Texas Medical Associations health information technology committee, said change probably wont happen unless lawmakers demand it. Mandates are going to have to play a role, he said. How do you tell a billion-dollar company to change? Doctors have long bemoaned how difficult or buggy some of these patient record-keeping systems can be and how this burden adds to their workloads and their frustrations. One way practices are combatting technology overload is by hiring scribes actual people who input patient notes into the electronic medical record system. University Hospital, for one, uses them in the ER. A survey of physicians conducted last year by the Texas Medical Association found 11 percent of its members use scribes. The transition for paper record keeping to the current EHR system is like going from a horse to an automobile. Dr. Robert Leverence, a primary care physician with 30 years experience, says a more accurate description would be shifting from walking barefoot to using a car. As chief medical officer of UT Health Physicians, which is the clinical practice of the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, he has seen how dramatically his profession has changed because of advances in technology. Early in his career, the practice he worked at used 5-inch-by-8-inch note cards for patient documentation. That was in 1993. That was the standard. He said the Death By A Thousand Clicks article downplays just how technological advancements have improved health care. My experience is truly the opposite, he said. I would say we have a very elegant version of Epic, he said, referring to the electronic health record system the UT Health practice has used since 2006. Since then, UT Health Physicians has invested more than $100 million in upgrades and advancements to improve the technology that manages up to 250-million patient records. Leverence said the responsibility for making sure electronic medical record systems work falls on administrators like himself to push for collaboration between users and the people who install the software. More training opportunities couldnt hurt either. UT Health Physicians employs 850 doctors and supervises another 700 medical residents in San Antonio. Andrew Krecek, clinical information officer at UT Health Physicians, said his design team includes just as many registered nurses and clinicians as it does computer engineers and programmers. I dont know why health-care has been so behind the curve in terms of technology, he said. The prevailing thought in the industry is that the problems with health information technology are not actually tech problems. Some hospitals in San Antonio, for example, will not share its patient information with their practice or anybody, Krecek said. A proposed change in federal law could prevent hospitals and other healthcare entities from blocking access to patient information. On Tuesday, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate health committee, said hed support regulations to make it easier for patients to more quickly access, use and understand their personal medical information. Currently, a patients health data is seen as a commodity, said Phil Beckett, CEO of Healthcare Access San Antonio, or HASA, a nonprofit health information organization. We dont listen enough to what the data consumer needs. Beckett started his career as a medical researcher and transitioned to the health IT after he founded a startup that interfaced with an EHR system. Health information exchanges work as a third-party curating or filtering data from different electronic health record systems in a way that gives multiple providers access. Most hospitals in San Antonio are part of the exchange, with the exception of Baptist Healthcare System, Nix and Southwest General hospitals. But for cash-strapped health-care providers and smaller practices paying for a subscription to a health information exchange might not be financially feasible. Beckett, sipping coffee at a high table in one of the Medical Centers Starbucks, said he would be naive to say that he has all the answers, but he said organizations like HASA are a piece of the puzzle. Everybodys trying to do the right thing, but its hard, he said. Health data is a lot more complicated than dollars and cents. On the other hand, that shouldnt stop us. Laura Garcia covers the healthcare industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura She had pulled over a truck and was outside her car about 12:20 p.m., inspecting the truck on the shoulder of the road, when another semitractor-trailer hit her, along with her squad car and the truck shed stopped, state police said. Both trucks erupted in flames. The driver of the truck that hit Jones-Story was ticketed and taken into custody, and no one else was injured, authorities said. Within a few hours, blank sheets of paper taped to the wall of the Guadalupe Community Center on San Antonios West Side were covered with red ink each line of text representing a migrant family in limbo. Migrant families filled the center Saturday morning as volunteers and employees of Catholic Charities of San Antonio scrambled to provide them with food, clean clothes and added them to a list of people needing bus or plane tickets to friends and relatives in other cities. The migrant families are among hundreds who arrived unannounced at San Antonios bus station over the last few days without plans for shelter. Catholic Charities cannot do all this, said Antonio Fernandez, head of the nonprofit that has been working to temporarily house families. I have volunteers working at 5 oclock a.m.; I have an employee who worked until 3 oclock in the morning Thursday night. When immigration authorities released migrant families in the past, they would usually tell charities workers how many people were arriving and when. But a recent surge of migrants has left immigration officials overwhelmed and detention facilities out of space, spurring the release of thousands of migrants who were given notices to appear later in immigration court. An estimated 51,500 migrants have been released along the South Texas border and in San Antonio since late December alone. On Friday, between 200 and 300 people were dropped off at San Antonios bus station, forcing Fernandez and other volunteers to work overtime to shuttle families to shelters and hotels. On Saturday morning, they bused the families to the community center, which had been converted into an intake room to link them with resources and transportation out of San Antonio. Most of them are seeking asylum, he said. The center smelled of donuts, coffee and newborn babies. Toddlers giggled, playing with toy cars and books provided by volunteers. Parents wiped chocolate icing from their childrens faces. They sipped orange juice, milk and coffee, waiting for their names to be called by volunteers who would arrange bus or plane tickets out of San Antonio, to cities like Houston, New York, Orlando and Baltimore. Volunteers hurriedly typed on the centers four computers, their screens lit up with the Greyhound bus website. Yensi Romero, a mother of three, was one of the people waiting. Romero, her common-law husband and their children, ranging from ages 5 to 10, left Honduras on Dec. 10, she said in Spanish through a translator. They traveled through Guatemala and Mexico before entering the U.S., then spent 12 days in a detention facility. On March 29, her family arrived in San Antonio. But despite their long and exhausting journey, her children are all right, she said. Her two sons, 5 and 6, played with toy cars and makeshift maracas, fashioned out of plastic easter eggs, spoons and tape. On Saturday morning, children made up roughly half of the 50 people who received help. While directing volunteers, Fernandez balanced a toddler on his hip, her curly hair tied back with a headband. His charity doesnt have enough resources to accommodate all the families, he said. But he expects more to arrive over the coming days and has no idea when the influx will stop. I truly dont know what the government is doing, he said. Marina Riker is a staff writer at the San Antonio Express-News. | marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf Until her senior year, Melissa Padron, 27, had been using a white cane to navigate through life tapping it in front of her as she attended classes at Texas A&M in College Station. That was great and all, but I wanted an increase in my independence. I didnt want to keep bumping along into things, she said. And then obviously theres the companionship. You can talk to your dog when you cant talk to, you know, a cane. So, six years ago, she applied for a dog through Guide Dogs for the Blind, a national nonprofit that breeds guide dogs and pairs them with visually impaired people for free. The San Antonio native was matched with Cameo, a sweet, young Labrador-Golden Retriever mix, who was been with her ever since. This weekend, the San Antonio native - Cameo by her side - attended the nonprofits Texas Fun Day. The first time its been hosted in San Antonio, 160 puppies-in-training and about 500 people converged at Madison High School to share tricks on how to train soon-to-be guide dogs and run through puppy obstacle courses. The weekend gathering with people across the state, and even some from across the country, also reunited those who use a guide dog with the puppy raisers or volunteers who trained them. Madison High School is one of only three high schools in Texas that has a Guide Dogs for the Blind club, said Janell McMullan, the schools club leader and agriscience teacher. About 36 students are voluntarily training 36 puppies that were bred in the nonprofits California location to become guide dogs, she said. The dogs are given to the volunteers - known as puppy raisers - at around 8 weeks old and returned to headquarters at 15 or 16 months old, ready for the next step in their training. College, if you will, McMullan joked. The dogs who are successful go on to be paired with a person in need, for free. Guide Dogs for the Blind takes care of the travel expenses for owners to pick up their dog, and for veterinarian costs - even after the dog has retired from its guide duties and becomes a regular house pet. (Guide dogs usually retire between 8 and 10 years old.) Guiding the blind is considered one of the most if not the most sophisticated levels of service a dog can provide. In addition to obeying their owner, guide dogs must know when to override them to save their owners life. A guide dog has to make independent decisions and be able to say No when given a command, said Christine Benninger, CEO of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Were asking dogs to make an independent decision, and disobey. The nonprofit has its own geneticist, and partners with University of California-Davis to breed their dogs specifically for guide work. They only use labs, golden retrievers, and mixes between the two. Were trying to get the best of nature and the best of nurture, Benninger said. Cameo has grown up with Padron. She dressed in cap and gown with her when she graduated. She was there when Padron got her job as assistant manager for the childrens program at the Lighthouse for the Blind. And she guided her when Padron was pregnant, and still guides Padron now with her two kids, who are 1 and 4 years old. She can read me so well, and I can read her, Padron said. This Christmas, her family sent out a family photo of them wearing red plaid Christmas pajamas including Cameo, in her matching doggie PJs. Padron said shell always remember the day when she let go of her white cane and held on instead to her new guide dog. The feeling I felt the second I held the handle and gave her the forward command, it was like flying, Padron said. Freeing. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Joe Venecia can finally cross it off his bucket list: He marched through the streets of San Antonio commemorating one of his heroes: the late civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez. Saturday marked the first time the 57-year-old participated in the Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice, something that the New Braunfels native had always wanted. The march, which winds from San Antonios West Side to Hemisfair Park, near the John Wood Federal Courthouse, was founded 23 years ago to honor the labor rights champion and his devotion to underpaid and exploited workers. Held on a Saturday morning each spring, the event now attracts hundreds of activists, community leaders and local residents such as Venecia. I was a migrant worker, I picked cabbage (in the late 1970s), said Venecia, who now lives in northeast San Antonio. Man, the wages were bad, the conditions were bad from sunrise to sunset. This years theme was Voices and Votes for Education, Social Justice and Equality, a message chosen to promote civic engagement and spur marchers to rally around political issues such as health care, immigration and school finance, said Ernest Martinez, who is chairman of the Cesar E. Chavez Legacy and Educational Foundation. This is the second year that Martinez has overseen the march without the help of his late father, Jaime, a local activist and Chavez ally who started the event after the labor rights leader died in 1993. What started with fewer than 100 people in the 1990s now attracts people of all ages and backgrounds, from mothers pushing their infants in strollers to groups of local labor organizers to city officials. Chavezs descendents also are involved; this year, one of his grandsons served as the marchs grand marshal. When it comes to recognizing its heroes, we do it better than most cities in the country, said Martinez. Carrying handmade signs with messages such as, Time for change is now, vote! and Fight ignorance, not migrants, the crowd gathered outside the Guadalupe Theater on the West Side just before 10 a.m. Many of them wearing T-shirts plastered with Chavezs photograph or labor union messages shouted Si, Si Puede, the motto made famous by the United Farm Workers of America as they fought for labor rights in the 1970s. Chavez and California activist Dolores Huerta founded that organization in 1962. As the crowd waited to launch the march, city officials and community leaders released 17 doves, in remembrance of the 17 teenagers and teachers killed last year by a gunman who opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Fla. As the doves soared over the crowd, city leaders addressed the marchers, telling them that the struggle for fairness and equity still continues today. I am so grateful to you all, said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Despite some of the things that are happening outside of our community the politics and the division we always look to a brighter future because we know we can achieve it when we work together . Marina Riker is a staff writer at the San Antonio Express-News. | marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf A police spokeswoman said the investigating officers were not able to locate or interview any witnesses. It is not known how long the man was in the alley before police arrived and found him. When the charter bus rolled to a stop Saturday afternoon outside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Satsuki Ina felt a kinship with mothers and children in the facility, seeking asylum in the U.S. As a survivor of the World War II Crystal City Family Internment Camp, Ina said she understood what it meant to be locked up and for children to be traumatized. In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which said Americans of Japanese descent living in West Coast cities would be relocated to internment camps until the end of World War II. Ina was a 2-year-old when she arrived with her family at the small town. Ina recalled how Japanese-Americans disappeared from jobs and classrooms without any outrage from neighbors. Nobody stood up for us, Ina said. We had never committed a crime except to have the face of the enemy. But I feel empowered today that we can use our voices, voices that we didnt have then to speak out against injustice and inhumane treatment of innocent human beings. Ina was one of six internment survivors who traveled from across the country for a pilgrimage from Crystal City to the detention center, where more than 1,000 women and children are being detained. The group was among more than 100 protesters who crowded along the barbed-wire fence with one message: Stop repeating history. The Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee, Grassroots Leadership and Crystal City Independent School District sponsored the event. From 1942 to 1948, the Crystal City Internment Camp was one of three government camps in Texas that detained U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. At the height of World War II, about 4,000 Japanese-Americans, Italians and Germans were interned at Crystal City. A total of 120,000 Japanese-Americans were interned at camps operated by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Before the protesters arrived at the center, Buddhist and Christian leaders led them in a memorial service at the remnants of the camps swimming pool. Descendants of internment camp detainees and supporters surrounded Ina and her five fellow survivors as chimes and chants rang out across the cracked, concrete slabs that were once the shallow end of the pool. The members of One World Taiko beat large drums, sending booming rhythms across land where Victory Huts and guard towers once stood. The Rev. Ronald Kobata said that though they were not welcome, they were willing to be welcoming to strangers. Instead of being filled with hate, he said to the survivors, you are filled with compassion for others. Koz Naganuma one of the six survivors sitting in the front row, was 20 months old when he arrived at the camp, after his family was forced to leave Peru at gunpoint. They came by way of a cargo ship through the Panama Canal and a train from New Orleans to Crystal City. When Japanese internees greeted his mother at the camp, she thought they had been taken to Japan. Naganuma said it is important to continue getting the word out about what is happening in border towns and detention camps. Its unthinkable at this day and age, he said, that over 75 years later this is still happening. Across the two-lane road outside the center, the protesters hung thousands of hand-folded paper cranes on the fence. Supporters from Japanese communities across the country made the colorful cranes, considered the Japanese symbol of healing, hope and peace. Ross Juricek, 36, stood in a scrum of photographers near the edge of the asphalt road, with his wife, Ashley, and their 6-year-old daughter, Elliot. The youngster clapped when the speakers on the bluff urged the crowd to raise their voices so the families in the center could hear their support. Families and children take heart, the Rev. Kobata said. We have not forgotten you. Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis Recently, 59 gravesites were vandalized with anti-Semitic symbols and language at a Jewish cemetery in Fall River, Mass. Sadly, this is only the most recent example of the kinds of intolerable acts that have been committed over and over the past few years by those full of hate and bigotry. Why do they keep happening? It is imperative that we keep asking: Is President Donald Trump at least partially accountable for this anti-Semitic and racist behavior? Its a question I asked as recently as August in an op-ed that went viral when it was shared by Dan Rather, a journalist known well to Texans and readers of this page. Some claim that Trumps racist discourse and constant appeals to fear and division are unrelated to the behavior we saw in Fall River. Or the behavior we saw in Christchurch, New Zealand. Or Charlottesville, Va. Or even in Houston, when vandals scrawled swastikas and Trumps name on a statue and a section of the Berlin Wall at Rice University. But this position that Trump isnt at least partially accountable fails to be aware of the capacity of rhetoric to empower and embolden despicable people to come out of the shadows, to make it safe for them to act on their prejudice and anger. For more than 40 years, Ive studied and taught courses in rhetoric and communication at the University of Texas at Austin. The focus of much of my research has been on the persuasive influence of political discourse; this work documents the ability of language, whether by design or effect, to inflame emotions and either directly or indirectly trigger and incite behavior behavior that often goes against established norms. Let me be clear: There have always been anti-Semites and racists in the U.S. There always will be. This is tied to the inherent nature of the human condition. So, it would be silly to assert that Trump somehow created these attitudes or caused these acts. But we must acknowledge that they have increased dramatically during his time as a candidate and during his administration. As a recent study reported by the Washington Post documented, counties that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent increase in hate crimes. This cannot be dismissed as purely a random matter. Dont get me wrong. I am not saying that the president himself is an anti-Semite or racist. That misses the point. Even if he is, continually saying so is not only counterproductive, but it obscures the more legitimate worry that Trumps rhetoric has the power to encourage anti-Semitic and racist people those who normally are afraid to act on their hatred to commit bad deeds. As I wrote in 2018, we have a moral obligation to expose this connective tissue between Trumps rhetoric and violent acts. Republicans, most of whom are good and decent people, must do what they havent: speak out forcefully against Trumps racist discourse. They must stop normalizing, protecting and enabling the president just because they fear political repercussions. Cowardice is no excuse for allowing unethical behavior; not reprimanding Trump is tantamount to agreeing with him, if not giving him permission. And whether we believe the president is the cause of the problem, we can admit that he could be part of the solution. How? By forcefully denouncing white supremacists, making clear he refuses to receive support from them and declaring that white nationalism not the border is a national emergency. But he probably wont. Trump surely knows that taking these steps potentially would erode his base and lessen the likelihood of his re-election in 2020. As a result, I fear he will continue, at minimum, to exploit racism and anti-Semitism for political purposes and I worry that the Republicans in Congress will not have the courage to act on what they know is morally right by stopping him. Richard Cherwitz is the Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor in the Moody College of Communication and founder of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin. A fundamental element of the American experiment in democracy is that the voters have the right to choose the people who will represent them. For statewide offices, such as governor or U.S. senator, this is fairly simple because there are no districts. For all other offices U.S. House of Representatives and all seats in the Texas Senate and House the state is carved into districts. This process of creating legislative districts has, unfortunately, become distorted so that elected officials choose their voters instead of the voters choosing their elected officials. This is gerrymandering. This is not fair, and it is not right. The U.S. Constitution requires a national census every 10 years, which is then used to allocate the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the various states according to population. Once each state knows how many U.S. representatives it will have, the state must divide into congressional districts that are roughly equal in population to protect the constitutional requirement of one person, one-vote. What could and should be a nonpartisan process that creates compact districts with voters in areas of common interest has, instead, been turned into a hyperpartisan and protect the incumbent system. This has happened when both Democrats and Republicans have been the majority party in Texas. The result is that congressional districts are packed with such a high percentage of eligible voters from one party or the other that there is no real contest of ideas between the candidates. The outcome is predetermined, and it is unfair to the voters. The process is even worse for Texas Senate and House districts. Incumbent legislators are, literally, drawing the lines to benefit their own re-election. Talk about a conflict of interest! When voters from one party or the other believe their votes do not matter in a particular district, they disengage from the political process. This leads to voter apathy and, eventually, a small handful of voters actually decide policy positions that affect the entire population of a district. While it is true that voters have a responsibility to stay involved, it is not difficult to understand why they might give up if the system is rigged by gerrymandering. Several Texas legislative sessions back, Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth proposed a nonpartisan independent redistricting commission. The bill had a committee hearing but died in the Republican-controlled Senate. Last session, similar bills were proposed by Democrats in the House. The Republican-controlled committee did not even schedule a public hearing on the bills. The politicians seem to believe that their incumbency is more important than the voters right to fair and open elections. The pendulum has swung back and forth between the Republicans and Democrats. The manner of selecting our representatives should not be so erratic. Texans deserve a fair, nonpartisan, independent method of creating election districts. Currently, eight states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana and Washington -- have independent redistricting commissions. Fair Maps Texas, a nonpartisan group, is working to get legislation passed now so Texas will be ready for redistricting after the 2020 census. Three bills currently assigned to the House Committee on Redistricting (HJR 123, HB 3928, HB 3421) and two to the Senate Committee on State Affairs (SJR 52, SB 1537) call for an independent redistricting commission. The next step is to get hearings set for these bills. Please contact your state senator and state representative now and ask them to support hearings on the bills for the creation of a nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission this session. You can also sign the petition at www.fairmapstexas.org. Scott Lyford is a retired construction attorney living in San Antonio. We need to tolerate one another. And as a general rule society agrees. But many in San Antonio are faced with the conundrum, how do I tolerate the intolerant? The question has surprisingly robust philosophical underpinnings. Karl Popper, a political philosopher during World War II first popularized the question. For him, Nazism embodied intolerance. But he noticed a paradox of tolerance. If he was tolerant as a counteragent to Nazism, he would need to tolerate Nazism, which would ultimately lead to the defeat of tolerance. He wrote, If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant then the tolerant will be destroyed. To Popper, intolerance looked like concentration camps and genocide. And in response to this level of violence, the paradox of tolerance makes sense. If you tolerate people killing those they disagree with, they will eventually kill you, too. Today, most people of good faith have extended the idea of tolerance beyond genocide to all violence, silencings or doxings, defamation, or losing jobs or housing. But others extend the paradox of tolerance so far that it breaks. Thats what happened recently in San Antonio. The San Antonio City Council recently relied on the tolerance paradox in a vote that has gotten national attention. Council members objected to Chick-fil-A as an airport vendor because of a recent report that it donated to groups with anti-LGBT+ policies. Roberto Trevino, District 1 councilman, explained, We do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior. Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport. This is a pretty simple example of the tolerance paradox. San Antonio wont tolerate Chick-fil-A, because Chick-fil-A is intolerant. But what did Chick-fil-A do that was intolerant? Did it go after LGBT+ rights activists and threaten to end their careers? Did it promote violence? No. According to Trevino, what it did was make people feel unwelcome. How? By donating to the Salvation Army. In essence, San Antonio told the world, Everyone has a place here, except Chick-fil-A, evangelical Christians and those who have donated to the Salvation Army. That likely sounds as far away from tolerance as can be. But thats because the council misapplied the tolerance paradox to a situation wildly outside the genocidal violence under which it was originally imagined. Trevino imagines that tolerance means that everyone always feels welcome. In fact, tolerance requires the opposite. We are too diverse of a city. Our values, lifestyles, worldviews and philosophies will and should rub each other the wrong way. And a fundamental part of that tolerance is allowing people to start organizations that support those worldviews, like the Salvation Army. If San Antonio insists that it does not tolerate groups that make people feel unwelcome, we are saying that we refuse to tolerate anyone who has any strong beliefs. We should expect that the Vegan Society will make people who eat meat uncomfortable. We should expect them to only hire vegans, or lobby their lawmakers for anti-meat-eating laws. Steamrolling our diversity so that everyone always feels comfortable would require not tolerating anything but anodyne speech or behavior. And if your idea of tolerance is so shallow that you cant tolerate people advocating for ideas that dont make you comfortable, then your idea of tolerance is pretty worthless The Southern Poverty Law Center found itself in this exact same conundrum. While creating its anti-Muslim extremists list, it added Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Maajid Nawaz, who advocated for Muslims to be more tolerant, because that made some Muslims uncomfortable. They took the list down. As Popper noticed, if you extend tolerance too far, it can end up defeating itself. But as the San Antonio City Council proved, you can also extend tolerance so far it ends up becoming the very threat it tried to stop. Christopher Cunningham is a senior religion writer at Patheos.com. He lives in San Antonio. Millennials saddled with student debt and facing rising housing costs and tighter lending rules have largely put off buying homes. But lenders say a certain subset of millennials, encompassing those born from 1981 to 1996, are increasingly flouting that trend: active-duty military members and veterans. The number of young adults taking out mortgages backed by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs through Missouri-based Veterans United Home Loans more than doubled in Texas from 2015 to 2018, according to data provided by the lender. In San Antonio, that number tripled in that same time period. This is a group that believes in homeownership, said Chris Birk, director of education for Veterans United Home Loans. Millennials eligible for veterans benefits made up 14 percent of San Antonio-based USAAs membership but accounted for 21 percent of all mortgages issued last year, said Ed Robinson, USAAs senior vice president of real estate lending. Were definitely seeing millennials becoming our biggest borrowing cohort, Robinson said. On ExpressNews.com: Why are high-income San Antonio residents increasingly renting their homes? Unlike their civilian peers, younger service members face fewer barriers to homeownership. Typically, service members have drastically less student debt a millstone for the millennial generation at large owing to their GI Bill benefits. Millennials looking to buy homes have said saving for a down payment is their top concern. But service members can tap home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs that dont require a down payment or mortgage insurance and have more flexible and forgiving credit guidelines. Veterans and service members have increasingly sought VA home loans since the 2007 housing crisis as lending rules tightened on conventional home financing. Before the crisis, VA mortgages made up 30 percent of all mortgages taken out by first-time home-buying service members, according to figures released in March by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In 2016, that share stood at 78 percent. For veterans, homeownership can mark the end of the years-long nomadic lifestyle associated with military service. Retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Hernandez, 39, bought his first home a four-bedroom house on the citys North Side inside Loop 1604 last year after completing six combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like many military families, Hernandezs family had moved multiple times over the years and wanted to establish roots to try to keep the kids in one place so they can grow up, Hernandez said. He was eager to spend time with his 19-year-old son and his two daughters, ages 16 and 9. I just was missing out on my family, Hernandez said. I had my two little ones grow up. I have the youngest one now is nine and was missing out on things as well with her. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio apartment market showed signs of slowdown last year but downtown developments bring bright spots Asha Kin, a 29-year-old retired Air Force staff sergeant who now works at USAA, scoured the neighborhoods near USAAs headquarters on the Northwest Side last year for a home but couldnt find one in her price range. Kin, who has two daughters, found a three-bedroom home on the citys Far West Side near Lackland Air Force Base for $134,000 positioning her to rent the home on a short-term basis to families visiting airmen graduating from basic training at Lackland. Without the VA loan, its unlikely Kin would have been able to afford a down payment on the home, she said. Honestly, I wanted to have an investment, something that I could give to my girls one day, Kin said. Active-duty military members often use VA loans to buy a home even if they know they will be reassigned elsewhere, renting their homes to other military families when they relocate. Air Force Maj. Alexis Johnson, a 37-year-old civil engineer, put down about $5,000 on a $400,000, three-bedroom home just north of Alamo Heights last year. She was drawn to the houses proximity to San Antonio International Airport and North Star Mall and easy access to the Pearl mixed-use development. But Johnson expects to be re-stationed within the next year and a half. Then, she expects to rent the home to another military family or sell it. You know that when families come here, theyre going to be here for a couple of years, not just six months, Johnson said. Often, millennial service members beat their civilian friends to homeownership. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sam Fallon bought his first home in his early 20s when he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, wowing his friends from his hometown in Williamsburg, Va., he said. Fallon and his wife Lacy, a 25-year-old who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bought their second home a four-bedroom house on Bexar Countys far West Side in April 2018. His sister, 33, and her husband are now hunting for their first house, Fallon said. Most of my friends that I know back home, they definitely want to own a home, Fallon said. Now, theyre just starting to roll into that time of their lives. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio City Council OKs $1 million policy for low-income families facing rising housing costs, eviction Millennials are less likely own homes than previous generations. About 37 percent of people aged 25 to 34 owned their home in 2015, according to a study published last year by the Urban Institute. Thats compared to about 45 percent of Gen Xers and baby boomers when those generations fell into that age range. Homeownership among young people living in San Antonio has never been high, even before the financial crisis. San Antonio residents under the age of 35 accounted for 13.1 percent of all 265,000-plus of the citys homeowners in 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau. That figure dropped to 10.1 percent in 2017. Millennials low homeownership stems from a number of factors. They took on record levels of student debt in the wake of the financial crisis, preventing them from saving for down payments necessary to secure mortgages. Millennials also tend to cluster in urban areas with rising home values and declining availability of affordable entry-level homes, driving them to rent apartments and single-family homes. The 2007 housing market crash largely turned millennials off of homeownership, Robinson of USAA said. But now that some millennials are starting to pay off their student debt, theyre beginning to reconsider those attitudes. They were not about to go get a bunch of cars and a bunch of homes and saddle that debt burden even further because they werent seeing the benefits out of what they already spent their money on, Robinson said. What youre starting to see now is that shift. The risk of foreclosure looms large in the minds of millennials who came of age during the housing crisis. But foreclosure rates on VA loans have consistently ranked lower than that of conventional mortgages and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration since 2007, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Its not just about millennial veterans getting into homes, Birk said. Its that theyre getting into sustainable financial positions. Theyre not doing it in a way that somehow jeopardizes their financial futures. Joshua Fechter is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering retail and tourism. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports TRIP REPORT INDEX Written by Tomislav Ivanovic After an intense week in Piedmonte, touring local wineries, it was time to return to Belgrade. This is a period when wine writers and journalists get most active... Spring time is the period when major European wine fairs and festivals take place, whilst lots of wineries and wine regions organise press trips and visits... After an intense week in Piedmonte, touring local wineries, it was time to return to Belgrade. This is a period when wine writers and journalists get most active... Spring time is the period when major European wine fairs and festivals take place, whilst lots of wineries and wine regions organise press trips and visits... I arrived at Malpensa Airport slightly after 8 am. I was expecting a much bigger crowd at the airport, but it seemed quiet. Air Serbia flight JU541 on 28th March was already announced for check-in at their usual counters in section 8. Three check-in counters were open, and just a couple of passengers in front of them. The Italian staff at the counter are quite friendly and talkative since there is no queue, so I took the opportunity to ask how many passengers there will be onboard the plane. She gave me the window seat and replied that there will be 98 passengers so she would give me an empty row. I often fly from Malpensa (given that Italy is one of the major wine destinations in Europe), so sometimes it happens that security check gets jammed, and the queue extends significantly. However, this time I waited only 10-15 minutes to pass the security check, and then continued slowly towards terminal B... The same situation followed at the passport control. Just about 15 people in the line for non-EU passengers. The policeman seemed indifferent, just scanned the passport, uttered with a semi-loud voice "Buon viaggio" and stamped the passport. Altogether, quite smooth and quick passage through Malpensa. Meanwhile, I checked the screen with departures. Flight to Belgrade was already announced at gate B3. Since I had enough time, I stopped for a drink at the nearby cafeteria. Exactly half an hour before departure time, they started boarding. Firstly, business class and Etihad premium passengers, then all others. Whilst boarding the plane, I noticed the entire waterpolo team of Jug from Dubrovnik. Hm, I know that they had a match the day before against BPM Sport Management in Busto Arsizio (Lombardy), but I was surprised to see them flying to Belgrade (knowing that flights to Dubrovnik haven't started yet). Boarding was completed, however, captain Zivanovic informed us that we were waiting for permission to taxi to the runway. After 15 minutes' delay, we finally departed. The flight was rather uneventful. Smooth journey, without turbulence. Sunny weather outside and a great view of the Croatian coast.. I had perfect conditions to start writing my new article about Italian wines for my wine blog - Vinopedia.rs. I spotted a special offer (a cup of coffee and a croissant for just 300 dinars in total), so ordered it in addition to regular 15 salty fish-shaped crackers and a bottle of water. I always check what kind of wine is served onboard a plane when I fly. Air Serbia is offering red and white wines from Aleksic Winery in Vranje (South Serbia), whilst the sparkling is a French J.P. Chenet. I have to say that here I would always choose Serbian wine, as the quality/price ratio is much better than for the French mass-produced sparkling wine from lower supermarket shelves. We arrived in Belgrade with 15 minutes' delay. Again, smooth passage through Nikola Tesla Airport. No queuing in front of passport control, the luggage arrived quite quickly. I noticed that those waterpolo players from Dubrovnik stayed in the transit zone, so it could be that they were continuing the trip to Tivat with Air Serbia (and then some bus shuttle to Dubrovnik, I guess)... Even the customs officers were not stalking passengers as they usually do. Altogether, quite a pleasant trip without much hassle. And back in Belgrade for 3 days, just in time to prepare for oncoming trip to Bordeaux next week. ORANGE An Ansonia man allegedly caused a power outage while fleeing police around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. According to police, officers responded to the area of Orange Center Road at the intersection of Derby Avenue for a report of an evading motor vehicle accident. Officers reporedly located a registration plate left behind on the scene and allegedly discovered that the fleeing vehicle struck a pole, which caused a power outage in the area. Police said the vehicle was recovered a short time later occupied by Joseph A. Petrozola, 37, of Ansonia. Subsequently, he was taken into custody and charged evading responsibility and failure to stay in the proper lane. He posted a $50 cash bond and is scheduled to appear in court April 9. When youre hot, youre hot. Following his debut success with Get Out (2017), Jordan Peeles new horror thriller has already grossed $70 million, tripling its $20 million budget. In 1986 at Californias Santa Cruz beachside amusement park, young Adelaide (Madison Curry), clutching a candied apple, has a terrifying experience after wandering into an eerie funhouse of mirrors. Its so traumatic that shes never discussed it with anyone. Cut to the present, when vacationing Adelaide (Lupita Nyongo), her husband Gabe Wilson (Winston Duke), teenage daughter Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and young son Jason (Evan Alex) wind up at the same beachside amusement park. Back home that night, a menacing family of four, clad in red jumpsuits and carrying huge scissors, suddenly appear in their driveway, trapping the Wilsons inside. It turns out theyre the Wilsons zombie-like, tethered doppelgangers. Adelaides covetous twin has lived a life of surreal misery, so she and the others have come to un-tether themselves. Fleeing to the home of friends/neighbors (Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker) only causes more brutal carnage. The twists and turns continue to an ultimate reveal, the creepiness enhanced as the line between music and sound effects gets blurred. Fond of sinister Biblical references, Peele features a homeless man holding a sign: Jeremiah 11:11, referring to an Old Testament passage about a covenant between God and the people of Israel, perhaps connecting to the clones that reside in tunnels underneath Earths surface. Inspired by the suspenseful Mirror Image episode of the Twilight Zone TV series, writer/director/producer Jordan Peele notes, I realized Id never seen a horror picture where theres an African-American family at the center, and its not about race. After you get over the initial realization that youre watching a black family, youre just watching people. I feel like it proves a very valid and different point than Get Out, which is: not everything is about race, Peele goes on. Get Out proved that everything is about race. Now, Ive proved both points! On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Us is an insidious, unsettling 8. Its nightmarish. Susan Granger has been an on-air television and radio commentator and entertainment critic for more than 25 years. Raised in Hollywood, Granger appeared as a child actress in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Lassie. She currently resides in Westport. A 25-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman also were taken to Stroger. The man had been shot in the right thigh and police said he was in good condition; the woman was shot in the chest and the pelvis and was in serious condition, police said. The Board of Finance held a public comment session last Saturday, giving residents an opportunity to comment on the recently proposed fiscal year 2019-2020 annual town budget, with student and senior citizens among their top concerns. Feedback from our residents is a very important part of the budget process, said First Selectman Michael Tetreau. The Saturday morning forum by the Board of Finance has become one of our community traditions during budget season. New this year, the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance held two separate budget hearings. The Town of Fairfields budget process begins in January and ends in May. Held in the Fairfield Ludlowe High School auditorium, dozens of concerned residents lined up to the microphone to have their voices heard; each was allowed a max of two minutes. Several senior citizen advocates spoke of concerns related to the elder population, as did residents with school-children with education concerns, including a fourth grade student speaking about education cuts. Im speaking as a representative of Fairfield senior advocates, there are at least 9,000 of us, said Beverly Silverman. We live here, we pay taxes and we feel we are being ignored. I ask that we will be in your consideration for next years budget. We face several ongoing challenges, said Tetreau. Municipal aid was reduced by $4 million over the last several years, including a $2.5 million reduction in Educational Cost Sharing funds. Our tax revenue is still short the almost $2 million from the sale of the GE property to tax exempt Sacred Heart University. These funds are not coming back. Our goal is to mitigate the ongoing impact of this revenue loses on our residents. Tetreau noted an additional challenge being the Trump tax plan. On March 13, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved Tetreaus recommended budget of $317.5 million, an increase of $12.5 million from the current year, which also called for a $700,000 reduction in the BOEs request. School employees salaries are expected to cost the town approximately $112.7 million. The Representative Town Meeting approved $2.6 million in school capital projects, expected to improve district wide infrastructure. The first selectmans recommended budget includes on the town side a recommendation of $136.1 million - an increase of 3.54 percent over last year. Also recommended is a Board of Education budget of $181.7 million - a 4.6 percent increase over last year. This is a $700,000 reduction in the original BOE request of $182.3, a 5 percent increase over the current fiscal year. The BOE budget represents 57 percent of the towns total budget and is the largest driver for the total tax increase. State Representative Cristin Vahey McCarthy said, First Selectman Tetreau has done a tremendous job navigating the challenge of the past years budgets while optimizing the strengths of our community. Marina and channel dredging concerns, senior center infrastructure, public libraries, special education, paving and sidewalk concerns were also heard. I am so appreciative and grateful to our town finance leaders in listening to the priorities and concerns of the Fairfield community, said State Sen. Tony Hwang. Public service should be all about representing our constituents. We represent all the priorities of the 60,000 residents in Fairfield, said Board of Finance chairman Tom Flynn. Our job is to balance those priorities and to help decide what we can afford, what we can pay for. Hearing from you and having these discussions is very helpful. We take the budget as a whole, look at it completely and then make our determinations based on the facts to move the town forward and protect us as much as we possibly can. As we look out over the next number of years, lets talk about the things that are going to hit the town, said Flynn. The continued state fiscal crisis, education deductions, federal tax law changes (SALT tax) which is going to hurt our citizens in a very direct way, contracts with labor unions which were just settled largely in arrears and will be back up for renewal, contractual costs (as voiced by resident Bud Morten), binding arbitration, and we also have something we havent talked about, a dirty little secret right now and its going to impact us all - the revaluation of all our properties that comes in 2020. Is anybody paying attention to what the real estate prices in Greenfield Hill have been? Revaluation is a fancy way of saying redistribution - theres going to be a redistribution of this tax burden after 2020 to the rest of the town as Greenfield Hill property values slump because of the overall state of the economy and because of the change in where people want to live, closer to the center of town. Now, heres the dirty little secret - the upside, the new commercial development, the sales and remodeling down at the beach has all been factored into our tax base. What hasnt been factored in is the depression of values where houses havent sold yet or their neighbors houses have sold at 60 percent of the value. Those are all coming our way. We need to have honest discussions about the fiscal pressures that are pushing down on the town of Fairfield and are squeezing out the much needed services (education, seniors). We need to worry about tomorrow, what our priorities are, why Ive been advocating for the strategic plan for so long, the decisions today reflect that opportunity, our priorities and our risks. Dave McKenzie, resident for more than 40 years and RTM member said, I accept that almost 65 percent of the towns budget goes to education, while only 30 percent of the families have children in the schools. I recognize the importance of investing in Fairfields children and providing them with a quality education. What I dont understand is why the BOE budget has increased 17 percent in the last five years, 10 percent faster than the cost of living, despite our student population going down by 5 percent in the same time period. Any town resident knows that Connecticut is in dire financial straits and despite annual tax increases will remain a fiscal disaster for years to come. In the past five years house values have dropped significantly and there are multiple for sale signs on every street, some have been there for years. Yet our BOE is still asking for a 4.6 percent budget increase in the face of the shrinking student population, what are they thinking? Do they have a total disregard for the fiscal problem that were in, dont they recognize that significant budget cuts can be realized by eliminating redundancy, without having to dilute the educational benefits for students? Due to a projected tax sale, said Tetreau, use of certain reserve accounts and grand list growth of almost 1 percent, the projected mill rate for this budget is 26.95 (2.24 percent increase). It was noted by DeWitt, We do not put together this budget, our CFO and his staff put together this budget. The BOF is expected to vote on the budget April 3. The Representative Town Meeting will hold budget hearings throughout the month of April and is scheduled to vote May 6. 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 HELENA -- Conrad Superintendent Sharyl Allen said, about two years ago, she received countless letters, phone calls and emails demanding she quit her job. We had people calling for my resignation saying how dare I challenge their kids like this. Parents and community members were protesting a new educational system Conrad High School implemented in the Fall of 2017. Allen calls it proficiency-based or personalized learning. Too many kids have their eyes rolled in the back of their heads because we keep teaching them the same stuff or saying you all need this, she said. But what were really trying to say is, what is the student passion that drives our curriculum? We think thats what the future looks like. Allen said all students have their strengths and their weaknesses, but its redundant to teach students what they already know; a proficiency-based model allows students to move at their own pace. By not having a set class time for specific courses, students can excel in their strengths by going further on their own, but also have their weaknesses covered by getting extra help from teachers. This structure allows students to have an open schedule, one they can fill with opportunities outside of the classroom, like, the three students Conrad High School has enrolled in John Deere University, an online teaching program used to train John Deere employees. The students are getting elective credits and taking class time to learn skills for a job in their community. Allen said these students will have high paying jobs right after high school, somewhere between $15 to $20 an hour for starting wage. State Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, took about 25 lawmakers during the interim and showed them the school and its system. We know in the state we have a huge shortage in the workforce. We have a hole, both in meeting our workforce needs and in servicing our students, Jones said. We have about 12,000 kids graduate per year. About 7,000 of them go onto a four-year college and we have good four year programs but 5,000 are where? We cant tell you. Schools cant tell you. Lawmakers are moving legislation aiming to remove barriers in the public school system in order to encourage students to seek professional opportunities while theyre in school and to fill community worker needs. About 10 bills were introduced during the 2019 legislative session with the goal of spreading this education model statewide. Those bills do things like giving workers compensation insurance to students and helping the state track the kinds of jobs students are getting after high school. Jones bill, House Bill 387, which passed the Senate 33-16 last week, wraps together the legislative push. The bill would help students pay for what Jones calls advanced opportunities. That could be helping a student take dual-enrollment credits, or pay for welding equipment for an apprenticeship. The proposed law gives discretion to individual school districts on what is considered an advanced opportunity in order to fill community needs. Jones said students often dont know these opportunities even exist, but its up to the schools to encourage each student onto successful paths. If we are not, through our counselors and through our systems, providing a students of a vision of all opportunities. Then, in a truth, were failing that student, he said. Jones said these bills dont discourage students from higher education, but rather open up the opportunities that are right for each student. Lawmakers are working with the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education to open career and technical education options for two- and four-year higher education by retraining counselors to encourage career and technical paths. These bills arent just trying to encourage a re-structure of Montana's educational system, but theyre also attempting to fill a statewide labor shortage. According to the state Department of Labor, Montanas unemployment rate is at 3.8 percent. Barb Wagner, whos the chief economist at the department, said having such a low unemployment rate shows a shortage of workers across the state. So theres lots of benefits to a worker shortage. Theres lots of job opportunities. Wage growth is typically fairly fast, particularly among jobs that are low wage to begin with, Wagner said. The flip side of that, is that business have a really hard time finding workers. And if you cant find workers to produce your product, you cant meet the demand for your product. Not only is there a workforce shortage, but Wagner said Montana will lose 100,000 workers to retirement in the next 10 years. Thats about one-fifth of Montanas workforce, she said. But, Wagner also said about 70 percent of jobs in Montana only require a high school education. That doesnt necessarily mean they dont need credentials, right? she said. For example, a plumber is categorized as an occupation that only needs a high school diploma, but in order to be a plumber in Montana, you would need to have completed our apprenticeship program and have that certification. Representative Jones said education and the workforce are coupled, but the current cells and bells school system is outdated. He said in order to prepare students for a shifting and dynamic workforce, learning has to be done outside of the walls of a school. The world has evolved. The biggest tool of a technician is no longer the wrench, its the laptop. And these set of rules which once created the structure and success to deal with the world as it was, now, at least in some scenarios, has become the barrier. Its hard to do an internship for an afternoon if you can only spend 50 minutes a day at it, Jones said. Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton is working with Jones and other legislators on these bills. Bedey said the strategy is to fund schools that are willing to adopt the system. House Bill 351, co-sponsored by Bedey, would give additional funding to schools with proficiency-based education and appropriate about $7.7 million in state funding over the next four years. That bill passed the Senate 43-6 last week. We cant command changes in culture. What theyre going to do is demonstrate success. Other districts will pick up on this. Over time, we see the potential for transforming things, Bedey said. In order to further career and technical education in Montana into what lawmakers envision, more work needs to be done next legislative session. Bedey said during the next interim, legislators will try to figure out a way to restructure community college funding away from full-time model. There are more barriers in K-12 schools too, like getting credits for opportunities outside of school other than electives. Bedey said changing the way schools operate is a huge undertaking, and he doesnt expect it to happen overnight. In Conrad, Allen said people in her community began to adopt the new model after they saw what proficiency-based learning looked like in practice. Bedey said hes optimistic local communities are willing to change. The price you pay is you dont get it instantly. But Id rather get it over time than not at all, he said. Other bills in the package include: HB 61, HB 171, HB 218, HB 295, HB 619, HB 657, HB 732Tim Pierce is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Greater Montana Foundation and the Montana Newspaper Association. Fairfield, MT (59436) Today Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this morning. High 37F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 26F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Despite his continuingly favourable reputation, Singapore's Heng Swee Keat faces some onerous challenges ahead and slips one place this year to third in the FinanceAsia finance minister rankings The 57-year old is expected to be named prime minister within the next three years after he was elected first assistant secretary-general by the ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP) in November Barring shock events, this all but anoints him to succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is nearly 67 and has said that he intends to step down before he turns 70 Heng is knowledgeable about the commercial, industrial and financial sectors... Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda, the main architect of the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK, submitted a report on national security to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi New Delhi: Lt Gen (Retd) DS Hooda, the main architect of the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK, Sunday submitted a report on national security to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, over a month after he was tasked by the party to come out with a vision document. The former northern Army commander was made the head of a 'task force on national security', set up by Gandhi in February to prepare the vision paper for the country. "Lt General (Retd) D S Hooda & his team have put together a comprehensive report on India's National Security, that he presented to me today. This exhaustive report will at first be discussed & debated within the Congress party," Gandhi tweeted. Lt. General (Retd.) D S Hooda & his team have put together a comprehensive report on India's National Security, that he presented to me today. This exhaustive report will at first be discussed & debated within the Congress party. I thank him & the team for their effort. pic.twitter.com/ZebbSh3Dvj Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 31, 2019 The Congress chief thanked Hooda and his team for their effort. The retired Army officer headed the panel set up by the party and prepared the paper in consultation with a select group of experts. After meeting Gandhi, Hooda said, "The Congress president had constituted a task force on national security headed by me. I prepared a national security strategy document and today submitted it to him." On 29 September, 2016, the Army had carried out the strikes on seven terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in retaliation of an attack on its base in Uri earlier that month. Last December, responding to a question during a panel discussion at the Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh, Hooda had said that in hindsight, it would have been better had "we done it (surgical strikes) secretly". He had also said the initial euphoria about the success of the surgical strikes was natural but the constant maintenance of the hype around the military operation was unwarranted. There are multibillion-dollar plans to develop Lincoln Yards in Lincoln Park and Bucktown and the site west of Soldier Field and McCormick Place. Intended or not, these will perpetuate the pattern. Now that Chicago's suburbs are welcoming to all, based not on the color of skin but the content of character, black Chicagoans are fleeing the city in record numbers. Where is thought given, where are plans made, to deal with the emptying out of neighborhoods like Austin, which has lost 25,000 residents since its heyday not so long ago as the city's most populous neighborhood? The court martial proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the 2017 'human shield' controversy, have been completed and he may face reduction in seniority New Delhi: The court martial proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the 2017 'human shield' controversy, have been completed and he may face reduction in seniority as a punishment for "fraternising" with a local woman in Srinagar last year, officials said. The court martial process against his driver Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, was also completed recently in the Kashmir valley and he is likely to be given a "severe reprimand". Malla was recruited in the Territorial Army in 2017 and he was posted with 53 sector of Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. After completion of Summary of Evidence against Major Gogoi and his driver in early February followed by the initiation of court martial proceedings, the two men have been held guilty on two counts - "fraternising" with a local in spite of instructions to the contrary and "being away from the place of duty while in operational area", the officials said. Statements of the accused as well as other witnesses were recorded by the Army court and the punishment, which will be vetted by the Army headquarters, has been given, they added. The Army Court of Inquiry (CoI) had recommended disciplinary action against Major Gogoi after it indicted him as well as his driver for the Srinagar hotel incident on 23 May last year. Major Gogoi was detained by police following an altercation with the hotel staff when he was allegedly trying to enter inside with an 18-year-old woman. The woman had expressed her unwillingness to depose during the court martial proceedings and informed the Army authorities that she had given a statement before a magistrate and the same should be treated as her final stand. The woman had also stated that she had gone out with Major Gogoi of her own will, besides disclosing that she had become a friend of the Army officer through his fake Facebook profile, where he had named himself Ubaid Arman. Immediately after the incident came to light last year, Army chief Bipin Rawat had said that exemplary punishment would be given to Major Gogoi if he was found guilty of "any offence". "If any officer of the Indian Army is found guilty of any offence, we will take strictest possible action," General Rawat had said. Major Gogoi hit the headlines after he tied a man to a jeep purportedly as a shield against stone pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election on 9 April, 2017. Today's top stories: Congress-JD(S) to hold joint rally in Karnataka, Narendra Modi to address BJP workers in 500 locations through video conference today, and more Congress-JD(S) to hold joint rally in Karnataka today The ruling alliance in Karnataka will launch their joint Lok Sabha polls campaign on Sunday with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda addressing a mega rally on the outskirts of the Bengaluru. Entitled 'Parivartana Samavesha', this will be the first rally jointly organised by the Congress and JD(S) after the combine came to power. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who visited BIEC ground near Nelamanagala to inspect the arrangements being made, said the event would be "historic." "This will be the first joint campaign by Congress and JD(S)... tomorrow's meeting is historic as it will send a clear message to people of the country from Karnataka for Lok Sabha polls," Kumaraswamy told reporters. Congress and JD(S) ministers, MLAs and leaders will be part of the event. Sunday evening's rally will also be attended by lakhs of workers of both parties from Tumkur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru urban districts, PTI reported. Following this, state leaders of both parties would organise similar joint meetings at several places across Karnataka, the report quoted party sources as saying. According to seat sharing arrangements, the Congress and JD(S) have decided to contest in 21 and 7 seats respectively. Narendra Modi to address party workers in 500 locations through video conference Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will address BJP workers and leaders in almost all Lok Sabha constituencies through video conference on Sunday. The interaction is scheduled to start at 5 pm, and senior party leaders including party president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj are scheduled to participate in the event along with workers, MPs, and others. Modi will also answer questions after his address, reports said. On Saturday, the prime minister held rallies in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam as part of the BJP's campaign for the Lok Sabha election. He said Assam and the rest of the Northeast were suffering from infiltration due to the policies of the Congress and asserted that he, as the 'chowkidar', was committed to resolve the issue, according to a PTI report. He also said it was the erstwhile Jana Sangh and tall leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had raised their voice in support of Bangladesh during the neighbouring country's independence movement, and not as the Opposition usually portrayed it. "Congress has always cheated the people of Assam and if Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel and (first Assam chief minister) Gopinath Bordoloi had not taken a strong stand at the time of Partition, then Assam's identity would not have been what it is today," Modi said while addressing the second of the two election rallies at Gohpur in Assam. Jet crisis deepens Jet Airways has expressed inability to clear salary dues of its pilots, saying it can pay only the balance 87.50 percent of December pay, amid the looming threat of halting of operations from 1 April. Meanwhile, the airline's pilots body, the National Aviators Guild (NAG), has called an 'open house' of its members in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday. The pilots, who along with engineers and senior staff have not been paid for almost four months now, have said they will not fly from April if dues were not cleared and a roadmap on future payment was not provided by 31 March. "The board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. RCB look for first win of IPL 2019 at Hyderabad Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will eye the 11th match of IPL 2019 against Sunrisers Hyderabad as an opportunity to collect their first points in the current season. RCB have lost their both matches so far in the tournament, against Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who won their last match against Rajasthan Royals by five wickets, would look to continue their momentum. Kidambi Srikanth meets Viktor Axelsen in yet another final Two former champions Kidambi Srikanth and Viktor Axelsen face off against each other in a repeat of 2015 final at the India Open. Srikanth survived a scare against Huang Yuxiang in the last four, while the lanky Dane cruised past Parupalli Kashyap in straight games to enter the final. Global True Wireless earphones market Reaches 12.5 million units in Q4 2018 A Counterpoint Research has pointed out that in the last quarter of 2018, at least 12.5 million truly wireless earphones were shipped. North America had the highest market share with 24 percent market share with Apple's AirPods having a total market share of 60 percent. Apart from the AirPods, Jabra Elite Active 65t, Samsung Gear IconX, and Bose SoundSport Free were some of the premium models in the top 10 best-selling list. AK Antony said Rahuls candidature at Wayanad will have a ripple effect in all the 20 seats in the state. Lok Sabha Election 2019: Rahul Gandhi's entry in Wayanad may force LDF, NDA to redraw their strategies Senior Congress leaders, including Congress Working Committee (CWC) member AK Antony, said Rahuls candidature at Wayanad will have a ripple effect in all the 20 seats in the state and in many seats in the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Antony has exuded confidence that the presence of the prime ministerial candidate in the state will help the UDF win all 20 seats in Kerala. The pre-poll surveys had predicted 14 to 16 seats for the UDF in the state. The Matrix turns 20: A look back at the everlasting legacy of The Wachowskis' seminal sci-fi action film The Matrix, which released 20 years ago today, certainly wasnt shy about framing its protagonist Thomas Anderson aka Neo (Keanu Reeves) in Catholic terms (if Christ were also a hacker and jiu-jitsu expert, that is). In fact, the film, directed by The Wachowskis (trans women Lana and Lilly, then known as the Wachowski Brothers, Larry and Andy), wast bashful about any of the pop culture biggies it channelised. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan gives impetus to BMC's solid waste management efforts; Mumbaikars laud scheme Mumbais size, diversity, and burgeoning population together present their own challenges in implementing waste-to-energy initiatives which are being tried out in other areas. According to data provided by BMCs ERS report 2017-18, solid waste generated daily is around 7,200-7,500 metric tonnes. Around 5369 vehicles have been deployed to take waste to the dumping grounds. In the Deonar and Mulund landfills, the garbage is simply dumped and levelled whereas at Kanjurmarg, it is treated using bio-methanation. Russia's rush of affection for Pakistan could rejig South Asia equation, will discomfit New Delhi Now, Pakistan foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua has come up with a so-called seven-point roadmap for further strengthening ties between Pakistan and Russia, underlining what she felt Russias changing position on India-Pakistan military tension. She said shedding baggage of Cold War history, Pakistan and Russia have been brought into closer orbit of improved communication, better understanding and strategic coordination. In 'Run From These Slave Traders', Ramanand Sagar writes on women without a country belonged to a group of young writers, who were deeply influenced by the Partition and wanted to keep alive the spirit of secularism, along with Ibrahim Jalees, Shamsher Singh Narula and others. The recipient of a gold medal in Sanskrit and Persian from the University of Punjab, he was also the editor of the popular newspaper Daily Milap. An Indian man died and his wife sustained injuries, after they were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich in Germany, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, said on Saturday. New Delhi: An Indian man died and his wife sustained injuries, after they were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich in Germany, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, said on Saturday. "Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family," Swaraj tweeted. Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. /1 Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 30, 2019 Emb is making all possible efforts for early return of Indian workers of J&P company. India in SaudiArabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) March 31, 2019 The external affairs minister said she has asked Indian mission in Munich to take care of the couple's two children. Further details of the incident and the couple were not immediately known. Meanwhile, asked by a Twitter user why she, the "most sensible" BJP leader, had added the 'chowkidar' prefix to her name on the microblogging site, Swaraj tweeted, "Because I am doing Chowkidari of Indian interests and Indian nationals abroad." Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the "Main Bhi Chowkidar" (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt the Congress's "Chowkidar Chor Hai" (the watchman is a thief) jibe at him. He prefixed his Twitter name with 'chowkidar' and almost all BJP leaders and Union ministers including Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman followed suit. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been targeting Modi over alleged irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal. He has often used the "Chowkidar Chor Hai" slogan while accusing the prime minister of wrongdoings in the deal. Narendra Modi said if Pakistan accepts India's airstrike in Balakot, it will put Islamabad in a dilemma as this admission will be confirmation of the presence of terrorist camps across the border New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said if Pakistan accepts India's airstrike in Balakot, it will put Islamabad in a dilemma as this admission will be confirmation of the presence of terrorist camps across the border. "Pakistan is in big trouble. If they say something happened in Balakot, it would mean that have to accept that terrorist camps were being operated from there. They keep telling the world that there is nothing here. We attacked at such a place that they cannot hide," said Prime Minister Modi said, while speaking at Main Bhi Chowkidar programme. "We have been suffering from terrorism for the past 40 years. They came and carried out killings in Mumbai and Uri. We know who is responsible for this. I thought that for how long will all this go on? Then, I decided - Yeh Jahan Se Control Hota Hai, Khel Wahin Khela Jaayega (This has to be executed in the same place where it is controlled from)," he said in response to a question about air strikes at terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 26 February. The Prime Minister further said, "After one and a half months, they did not allow anyone to go there. Some people tell us they are reconstructing that area. They (Pakistan) are saying that there is a school functioning so that they can tell the world that terrorist camps never existed there." "The attack was targeted at such a place which proves that terrorist camps used to operate from there. Pakistan does not have a problem with how many were killed but with the stamp which said that terrorist camps used to be there," he said. Speaking further on the Balakot air strike, the Prime Minister said, "I have not done Balakot strikes but jawans did this. We salute them. I was able to take that decision because I have complete trust in our armed forces. I have trust in their ability and discipline and what they can achieve." Giriraj Singh, who is contesting from Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency, was addressing NDA leaders and workers yesterday while sharing the stage with Verma. Begusarai: Union minister Giriraj Singh has come under the spotlight for sharing the stage with former Bihar minister Manju Verma who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case in Begusarai on Saturday. Giriraj, who is contesting from Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency, was addressing NDA leaders and workers yesterday while sharing the stage with Verma. The Patna High Court on 12 March granted bail to Verma in connection with a case about possession of illegal ammunition which is related to the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. While speaking at the event, the Union minister indirectly took a jibe at his rival Kanhaiya Kumar who is a CPI candidate from Begusarai constituency. Giriraj said that his fight is against "anti-nationals". "I am sure that people of Begusarai will not only defeat them but also give them a befitting reply," he added "My fight in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls is not against any party or an individual but against the anti-nationals," Giriraj further stated. Not only that, he also slammed Kanhaiya for seeking proof of air strike and stated that those leaders who are asking the Centre to give proof of India's airstrike in Pakistan are not connected with the ground realities. Starting from 11 April, Bihar will go to polls for 40 Lok Sabha seats in seven phases. The main contenders in the state are BJP, Lok Janshakti Party, Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal. This is the fifth in an eight-part series on Urdu fiction by contemporary Indian writers. Rakhshanda Jalil is the curator and translator for this series. Part I: In 'The Crocodile', Gulzar tells a story of smoke and fire Part II: In 'Those Without Graves', Joginder Paul blurs the lines between the living and dead Part III: In 'The Rape of an Abandoned House', Deepak Budki lays bare the hunger of scavengers Part IV: 'I Have Done My Bhartiya-karan', Kanhaiyalal Kapoor asks what it takes to become Indian *** RAMANAND SAGAR (1917-2005) belonged to a group of young writers, who were deeply influenced by the Partition and wanted to keep alive the spirit of secularism, along with Ibrahim Jalees, Shamsher Singh Narula and others. The recipient of a gold medal in Sanskrit and Persian from the University of Punjab, he was also the editor of the popular newspaper Daily Milap. Active in the Bombay branch of the Progressive Writers Association, he wrote stories, poems, and plays. After doing an assortment of varied jobs, including that of a spot boy and assistant director, he began to write screenplays of hugely popular Hindi films such as Barsaat, before going on to produce and direct many films. He is best known for producing the hugely successful television series Ramayana, followed by Krishna and Luv-Kush. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000. *** Ramanand Sagar | Run From These Slave Traders The Muslims attacked our village early in the morning. I was collecting dry twigs along the riverbank. Because there was no harvest this year, there was no stubble to burn as fuel either. Our village is on raised ground near the river. The riverbank is beautiful on our side with a row of tall sumbul trees stretching far into the distance. When I was young, I used to climb up to the highest branches of these trees and feel happy as I looked down upon the glittering waves in the river. And I used to swim in the river a great deal too. By the time I was 14 years old, I could cross the breadth of the river in one breath. She was adding fragments of several seemingly unconnected thoughts as though she was mumbling to herself in the middle of a sweet dream. To Anand, she looked like a little girl at that moment, swaying like a tender creeper amid the pointed red flowers of the stately sumbul trees growing in rows beside the twisting-turning-sparkling river. It seemed to Anand as though he could see that entire scene through her eyes. And he was also watching the drama unfolding in those eyes... till the girl too realised it, and the spell broke. The girl splintered and scattered in the dust. She stepped out of those dreaming eyes and began to scrape off the dirt of harsh reality. The Muslims had come in boats from the other side of the river to attack our village. I had reached the edge of the river in my search for firewood. My husband was intent on the same task some distance away. I didnt see the boats row across the water. I only heard some voices: Subhan Allah! What a delightful young girl! Its a good beginning. I turned around to see three or four sturdy Muslims holding pick-axes coming towards me. More were getting off the boats and, behind them, several more boats were coming in our direction. A scream escaped me. I threw my bundle of twigs and, calling out to my husband, ran towards him. But then I realised my husband had begun to run long before me, and by now, he was far away. 'Perhaps he had seen them getting off the boats before I had spotted them. And instead of attempting to save me, he had fled to save his life. I too ran with all my might but... And she stopped for a few moments. When she started speaking again, her voice had become faint. Like me, several other women from my village had fallen in their hands. I saw the dead bodies of several elderly people and some young men that I recognised, but there was no one from my family among them. And then my husbands running away seemed like an intelligent move. He had saved himself and my little Prem, whom he had taken along. There were some women among us who had the corpses of their husbands still lying in their houses the very houses where they were now living as slaves of other men. I was happy that my husband was alive... And it seemed as though her throat had choked up with happiness. Our village was in their control. For a month, we lived as slaves in our own homes under the control of these men. Then one day we overheard them talking; the villages on this side of the border had come under India. The next day, they got news of the imminent arrival of God-knows-which army. So they quickly collected all the women, put them in boats and took them across the river to their own village. Ten to fifteen men sat around each woman. The few goods that remained in our homes had already been sent across to their village. We were the only commodity left, and now they were carrying us away too. I dont know why I was not as sad about going to their village as I was pleased that my village was being freed from their clutches. Perhaps buried in that layer of happiness was the hope that my husband and child would return to their home and village, and I would be able to see their village that was just across the river on the other bank. In fact, the other bank that I have been watching since the day I have come here. The waters of the Ravi were rising. Its breadth was increasing by the day. Yet the other shore seemed to be coming closer to my eyes. With every day that passed, my sight sharpened and things on the furthering shore kept getting clearer, and clearer and ... She tried to stop for a moment, but at this stage of her narration perhaps it wasnt possible for her to stop. And then one day I did indeed see my Prem playing beside the river. He was alone. He hadnt yet learnt to walk properly he would barely take two steps and tumble down. His father was possibly collecting firewood somewhere close by, but I was very angry with him. The waves in the river were dancing furiously. A flood seemed imminent. Yet he had left my Prem alone to play beside the river. Should he not have looked after my boy better till I returned? I became restless. I wanted to go across just to tell him not to leave Prem alone beside the river till I got back. But it wasnt possible to go back even for a short while. Like all the other women, I was in the clutches of these barbarians. Illustration Sharath Ravishankar for Firstpost She got up and drank some water. Yet, when she started speaking again it seemed as though her throat was parched. Anand sat like a statue and listened to her. And she kept speaking as though there was no one else beside her. Suddenly it occurred that perhaps Prem was looking for me. There he was, roaming around the same sumbul tree at the very place where I had been collecting firewood that day. The waters of the Ravi lapped nearby. Could it be that he had told my son that the Muslims had abducted me from this spot? The thought made me even sadder... He had barely learnt to speak properly. One day, when he will weave together many sharp, hurtful comments in that one word Musalman and say it in his lisping voice, what answer will I give him? What would he be thinking right now? Where else would he be looking for his mother besides the sturdy trunk of the sumbul tree? Oh, how he must be calling out to me: Ma! Ma! May the mother lay down her life for her darling child! the words escaped from my lips quite without my volition. But my voice did not reach him, and I became increasingly more restless. Suddenly, all hell broke loose as he, stumbling and tottering in his attempt to walk, fell down beside the river. The waves lapped close by and I could contain myself no longer. In the blink of an eye, I jumped out of the second-floor window from where I had been watching this spectacle, on to the single-storey house next door. Where that straw thatch broke and where I slid and slipped, I have no recollection. All I can recall now is that the spot where I landed on the ground was full of mud and filth. But I didnt have the time to stop. Without a second thought, I ran towards the river. I was swimming with all my strength. My eyes were trained to that spot on the other bank when I saw him come running to pick up Prem in his arms. Finally, I drew a long breath. Now I could feel my exhaustion. At the same time, I could hear a lot of commotion on the bank I had left behind. I turned my head around and saw that all the Muslims of the village had gathered at the shore. Some were pulling out a boat. I could hear different voices. It was then I realised what I had done and that if I were to be caught now what the consequences could be for me. Everyone had their eyes trained on me. I stopped swimming. I began to duck under the water. Then I dived deep under the waves to give them the impression that I was drowning. In the middle of all this, when I briefly raised my head above the water, I saw Prem on his way home, being carried by his father in his arms. How I longed to call out to them: Stop! I am coming too! We will go back together from the very spot where you had lost me one day. But then I was reminded of the Muslims on the other shore and I began to duck and dive under the water, flailing my arms and pretending to drown. After doing this for a couple of times, when I began to swim in real earnest, I realised I hadnt eaten a full meal for the past several days. I didnt have the strength anymore. By now I had reached the middle of the river. I had sustained several injuries when I had jumped from that house which the cold water was now enhancing. But once again, I was reminded of Prem. I thought of him and I imagined how he would see me and cling to my breasts and begin to glug away at the milk from my breasts. And it began to seem to me that I was no longer swimming by the strength of my arms, but my breasts! Evening had fallen by the time I reached the other shore. My village was at some distance above the river. The moment I set foot on the riverbank, all my fatigue and all my worries slipped away. I was finally free. I had reached the soil of my Hindustan. My soul trembled. I cannot describe the state of my feelings at that moment. All I could feel was as though someone had crept into my heart and was now dancing with joy. Despite the weight of my wet clothes, I ran towards my village. My wet clothes were clinging to each other. My feet were falling awkwardly on the uneven ground. Yet I didnt stumble even once. I didnt slip. I just kept running on and on. Several lamps were lit in our village, as though a garland of lamps was ready in anticipation of my return. Above and beyond them, I could see the light in our two-storey house. Ours was the only two-storey house in the village. My in-laws had been moneylenders for the past several generations. And everyone from all the neighbouring villages knew them. As I was approaching my home, I thought about how tomorrow people from all around would come to congratulate them, for their daughter-in-law had escaped from the clutches of the tyrants. Everyone would talk about my courage and bravery. Women from far and near would come to see me I who had, all on my own, crossed that river of blood and escaped alive. And Prem? He would fill several questions in that one word and ask: Muslaman? I had resolved to pick a quarrel with my husband tonight itself: Why had he told this child everything? Why could he not have said that I had gone to my mothers? But then he would have said: How could I have said that? Your mother had come here looking for you. She had sat here for a long time, crying, with Prem in her lap. And I thought how happy my mother would be to see me alive. She would cry yet again, but this time, her tears would be of joy. She always cries when I leave her home for my in-laws home. Yet she never lets me stay with her too long. She always says: Theres no place for a daughter in her mothers house after she has got married. Her good fortune lies at her husbands feet in his home. These thoughts were going around in my head and I did not realise when I had reached the door of my house. I spotted him closing the main door and pulling up the latch. A mischief entered my heart: Here he was closing the door of his house when it was actually time for him to open the door of his heart. I wanted to knock on the door and, each time he asked Whos there? I would hide. And keep doing this several times till, finally, he would get fed up and open the door and come looking for the thief till this clump of bushes where I would be hiding and... But it so happened that the first time I knocked, he asked, Whos there? And I stayed silent. Again, his voice came, Whos there?... But the door did not open the door. I understood that the fear of recent incidents weighed on his mind. Clearly he would not open the door. I felt sorry for him. I, too, could not remain silent after hearing his voice. Quickly, I answered, Nirmala! I dont know why my voice was so low as though I was whispering in someones ear. But he heard me and in a voice laden with surprise, he said, You and then there was an utter silence. It was so quiet as though the blood pulsing through all the arteries all over the world had stopped. And even that moment, that completely silent moment, passed in what seemed like an eon. And the next moment passed in a similar fashion. But the door did not open. Perhaps he could not believe his ears. I had heard that people are known to faint when they come in the grip of an unexpected happiness and some have been known to even die! I began to slap on the door loudly... Open the door... Open the door... It is I, Nirmala... Nirmala... 'Finally the door opened and I saw it wasnt my husband And she fell silent suddenly, as though she was scared. She looked at Anand as though she had never seen him before. The story had reached this point where it had given him such a severe jolt that he sat up straight. Who was it then? he asked anxiously. It wasnt my husband, Without any especial inflection in her voice, she simply repeated the sentence. He who had held my hand in front of all the assembled guests, he who had taken all sorts of vows amidst the chanting of sacred verses, and made all sorts of promises he looked like that man but... I dont know what had happened to him at that moment. At first, he pretended as though he didnt recognise me. Then, in an extremely cold voice, he asked me why I had come back. It seemed as though someone had plunged a dagger made out of ice into my heart. My blood turned into cubes of ice and blocked my veins. And my tongue began to jab like a piece of dried wood. What could I say in reply? How could I tell him what I had come to do? Suddenly I heard the clack of my father-in-laws wooden clogs. He entered the courtyard clad, as always, in a shawl imprinted with the name of Ram. I stepped forward and touched his feet but he did not even bless me. He looked at his son questioningly and then at me. He simply uttered, Ram Ram! as though he was seeking refuge from my impure touch in the name of Ram. Illustration Sharath Ravishankar for Firstpost And then a deathly silence spread over us. The three of us avoided looking directly at each other. A sense of guilt was sweeping over me, till finally it seemed to me in the midst of this fearful silence as though someone had branded every part of my body with the stigma of shame flaming stigma that had been scorched in a raging fire. From under my wet clothes, I could see each and every part of my body naked and burning. Finally, the sense that I was wearing any clothes at all left me and I began to feel that I was standing stark naked before my father-in-law. I dont know what came over me; I reached out and plucked the shawl from his shoulders, the one that carried the name of Ram. I covered my body with it. But I was still naked. The poor thing has gone mad, my father-in-law said in a pitying tone. Yes, shes mad, my husband agreed, Or else why would she come here like this. I havent gone mad all this while; but I will go mad now, I screamed. Hush! my father-in-law tried to shush me in a low whisper. People will wake up. They think you are dead... Its a lie... Everyone knows they abducted the girls from our village, I had finally found my tongue. Its true that everyone says that their daughter jumped in the river to save her honour. So will none of them now accept their daughters back? Who keeps the ghosts of the dead in their homes? O dear Lord, such injustice! And I began to cry. It isnt injustice; it is simply the way of the world. No one can stay here without their honour intact, my father-in-law was explaining to me with the utmost calm. You used to read the Ramayana every day. Had Bhagwan Ram himself not turned away Sita for the sake of upholding his familys honour? And then Mother Sita was a sati, chaste... Mother Sita was a sati with these words he placed a taunting ember on my body, due to which all the other scars began to smoulder once again. I cursed the saints and hermits who had written the Ramayana. Is this why they had written the Ramayana? Is this why Hindu women are instructed to read the Ramayana every day? Is this why these sages had made every husband into a Lord, so that all their cruelties gain the testimonial of tradition? And my customary Lord was standing there quietly and listening to everything. I felt no anger for him. The man who watches his wife surrounded by other men and runs away like a coward... What else can be expected from him but to see me destroyed for the sake of upholding his familys name and honour? As I was leaving that house, my father-in-law applauded me: You have shown great wisdom in coming here in the darkness of the night. Or else the honour of this great family would have been trampled in the dust. As I was coming away he said to me, as though to offer me comfort, Theres no need to feel sad; we have extracted a full vengeance. We have taken more women from them compared to the women they abducted from our village. We have brought them to our village and settled them in our homes. Annoyed, I said. Yes, of course it is a matter of great pride to keep them in your home. My father-in-laws chest looked as though it would burst with pride. Gesturing towards the inner quarters of the house, he said: We have two of them. I could hear no more. I began to feel as though I was still caught in the snare of the pimps who abducted and sold women as slaves. I ran and kept on running. I was running and I was wondering where I would go. I could see exactly the same fate awaiting the chaste women in Hindustan that was their lot in Pakistan. Both countries belonged to those men who had torn aside the false veils of civility and, showing their true colours, begun to dance around the naked bodies of women. There was no place for women in both countries. Like land, they had divided our bodies but no one wanted to take a woman who was a mother in their lot. I was thinking of all this as I was running. I could find no refuge. Everywhere I could only see the land of Hindustan, and on it, I could see the stains of blood of those women who had been raped jointly by Hindustan and Pakistan. The two had come together for this bestiality. I wanted to go somewhere far away from the reach of both of them. In front of me was the Ravi, and she too seemed hemmed in by Pakistan, like I was. India was holding her from one side and Pakistan from the other. And yet her pure waters were running away in a bid to save their honour and sanctity. I had found my companion. I thought she would save me and take me along. I was tired and I couldnt run alone any longer. And so I put myself in her lap but... she left me behind. Perhaps because I wasnt pure like her. I had been robbed of my honour... *** Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, critic and literary historian. Her recent works include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu (OUP, 2014); a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan, A Rebel and her Cause (Women Unlimited, 2014); a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain's seminal novel on Karachi (Harper Collins, 2015) and Krishan Chandar's partition novel Ghaddar (Westland, 2017); an edited volume of critical writings on Ismat called An Uncivil Woman (Oxford University Press, 2017); and in the past year a literary biography of the Urdu poet Shahryar for Harper Collins; The Great War: Indian Writings on the First World War (Bloomsbury); Preeto & Other Stories: The Male Gaze in Urdu (Niyogi), and most recently, Kaifiyat, a translation of Kaifi Azmis poems for Penguin Random House. She runs an organisation called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularisation of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture. The Opposition has offered the public the option of choosing between caste and Hindutva. It will be a fallacy to judge the popular pull of secularism or, more appropriately, the idea of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. That is because Opposition has largely refrained from ideologically challenging Hindutvas anti-minority prejudices or mobilising people against its policy of impairing Hindu-Muslim relations. With Hindu-Muslim unity not offered as an alternative imagination to Hindutva, secularism cannot even be said to be an electoral issue in 2019. The Opposition has, instead, offered the public the option of choosing between caste and Hindutva. This choice has emerged out of the Oppositions strategy of building state-based alliances to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the proponent of Hindtuva. A state-based alliance, typically, aggregates each of its constituents support among different castes to create a social base that matches the BJPs in the Hindi heartland. From this perspective, the anti-BJP alliances have deployed the rhetoric of caste to contest the Hindutva philosophy. In addition, the Congress has evolved a two-step strategy to take on the BJP. The first of these involves borrowing Hindutvas benign elements, which is precisely why the Congress has harped on the Hindu identity of its leaders. The second step focuses on governance issues, such as falling farm income, rising unemployment, a sluggish economy and corruption, to criticise the BJPs rule. Yet, neither of these strategies explain why Hindu-Muslim unity has a civilisational value and is, therefore, a politically desirable goal. Neither has tried to imagine for the electorate the destructive consequences of communal amity being shattered. Neither has vociferously critiqued Hindutva from the perspective of humanism and mobilised people against the violent actions of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs affiliates. When anti-BJP formations havent cared to reconfigure composite nationalism as an ideological alternative to Hindutva, when they cannot take to the streets to thwart RSS affiliates from directing their wrath against religious minorities, it is not wrong to conclude that the electorate hasnt been asked to choose between Hindutva and secularism. That is why it would be impossible to quantify secularisms direct contribution to anti-BJPs votes. The Oppositions strategy of countering Hindutva is best demonstrated in Uttar Pradesh, the principal playground of Hindutva politics. After receiving a drubbing in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) realised that their only hope of trumping the BJP in 2019 was to pool their resources. They had a good reason to do so: Despite the BJPs mammoth victory of 2014, the BSP and the SPs combined vote-share of 42.12 percent was only marginally behind the BJPs 42.63 percent. In the main, they represent 21 percent Dalits, 19 percent Muslims and 10 percent of Yadavs. This social reality prompted the SP and the BSP to combine and win the bypolls in Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana constituencies last year. But even after these victories, their criticism of Hindutva was largely from the perspective of forward-backward caste or elite-subaltern binaries. There is nothing wrong in that. But it is certainly a case of ideological confusion that they should mistake caste-based challenge to Hindutva for secularism. It was as if they did not wish to interrogate Hindutvas anti-minority prejudices lest it incurred them the hostility of increasingly Hinduised social groups which they represent. This is why the BSP and the SP did not think of popular mobilisation against Hindutva even in the fifth year of the BJP rule. As for the Congress, it did not have even have a base to build an anti-BJP phalanx at the grassroots, although political scientists would testify that scripting a popular movement is the surest way of reinvigorating a moribund organisation. The Congress emphasis on its Hinduness reflects its lack of certitude to take on Hindutva on its own terms. The use of caste arithmetic to trump Hindutva is most vividly illustrated in Muzaffarnagar, where the horrific violence of 2013 triggered a state-wide communal polarisation in 2014. It is to Muzaffarnagar that Ajit Singh, the leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, has shifted from his old constituency of Baghpat to contest the 2019 elections. In an interview to The Hindu, Ajit claimed that the thought of working for communal amity struck him on his visit to Muzaffarnagar on 13 February, the day after his birthday. He said, "I [had] completed 79 years. So I said, the 80th year I will spend on getting rid of that communal divide [created by the 2013 riots]. I called it bhaichara [brotherhood]. And for the last one year, I have been to at least 10 districts, two or three times and stayed there overnight, talking to different groups." Ajit's noble intentions happily coincided with west Uttar Pradeshs caste configuration becoming favourable to him. His own caste of Jats, who were at the forefront of the 2013 communal riot and overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in 2014, became disenchanted with the BJP because of agrarian distress. The riots also snapped the symbiotic Jat-Muslim relationship: Muslim labourers migrated or were unwilling to work on the farms of Jats. These factors might have assured Ajit that his talk on bhaichara could get a hearing from Jats. But the more important reason for Ajit suddenly discovering his secular convictions was that the RLD was on its way to become a part of the BSP-SP alliance, as has happened. The alliance must have come as an assurance that speaking of communal harmony will not have a negative electoral impact. For instance, in his constituency of Muzaffarnagar, 6.07 lakh Muslims, 2.07 lakh Dalits and 1.52 lakh Jats provide him a potential base of 9.68 lakh, nearly half the constituencys electorate of nearly 17 lakh. Ajits belated attempt to bridge the communal divide should have us wonder why he did not think of dispelling the fascination of Jats for Hindutva in the past four years. This is not to scoff at his efforts to work for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. There can be gains from it, which was eloquently explained by Ajits son, Jayant Chaudhry, who is contesting from Baghpat, It is a great opportunity [the forging of the BSP-SP-RLD alliance] for us to build social cohesion. When people vote together, they start thinking together, they start working together. Chaudhrys prescription is for the future. For the present, though, the Oppositions doubts about opposing Hindutva at the grassroots have seen political parties squander opportunities to repair broken community relations. Late last year, for instance, Babri village in Shamli district, just 40 kilometres away from Muzaffarnagar, found pork in a mosque and beef in a temple. Local Jat leaders rushed to check the volatile situation from spiraling out of control. They tied rakhis around the wrists of Muslims to symbolise their resolve to protect them from Hindutva assailants. Muslims reciprocated by establishing welcome stalls for kanwariya pilgrims. Yet, astonishingly, none of the parties thought it was worth their while to turn Babri village into a shining example of communitarian camaraderie. The Oppositions failure to evolve a socio-cultural response to Hindutva has only widened the Hindu-Muslim chasm. This is best illustrated by the experience of Harsh Mander, the writer-activist who takes Karwan-e-Mohabbat, or Caravan of Love, to visit families of victims of hate politics. Mander has made 27 such visits in 15 states. About his impression of the families of victims, Mander wrote, They feel alone and abandoned as they battle loss and the hate of their neighbours or strangers who attacked their loved one Often, families in distant parts say that we are the first people who reached out to them. When neighbours cannot even be moved by the death of the innocent, then it has to be a case of political stupidity to think that secularism or the idea of Hindu-Muslim unity can contribute to anti-BJP votes. Caste politics cannot be mistaken for secularism. The sad fact is that secularism, unlike Hindutva, does not have a large constituency of its own, of which the most eloquent symbol is the battle for Muzaffarnagar. Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, said he decided to go with the Congress as it was a national party in the true sense New Delhi: Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, on Sunday said he decided to go with the Congress as it was a national party in the "true sense" and family friend Lalu Prasad also advised him to do so. He said leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, wanted him to join their respective parties, but he had made it clear that whatever be the situation, the constituency he would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib. The actor-turned-politician, who has been criticising the Modi government for long, said it was "painful" for him to leave the BJP with which he has had such a long association, but was disturbed at the treatment meted out by the party to its stalwarts such as L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha. The BJP has not fielded party veterans Advani and Joshi in the Lok Sabha polls. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Sinha said he had won from Patna Sahib in 2014 on his own merit, without support from the BJP and feels that this time he could break his "previous records in terms of victory". He slammed the BJP's leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah saying earlier there was "lokshahi" (democracy) and now there is "tanashahi" (dictatorship) in the party. "There used to be collective decision during Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji's time. There was democracy in the true sense. But now, there is the case of one-man show and two-man army," said the 73-year-old leader, who is in Muscat where he is being honoured as a cinematic legend. Asked why he decided to go with the Congress, Sinha said there were several reasons such as it is the grand old party which has had great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The party also has a great contribution in the country's freedom movement, the sitting MP from Patna Sahib said, adding another reason was that it is a national party in "true sense". "Our family friend (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad also suggested 'you go there (to the Congress). We are there with you and will be together politically also'. It was done with his (Lalu Prasad's) permission and in agreement with him," said Sinha, who won the Patna Sahib seat back to back in 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls. He said an important factor is that the Patna Sahib seat has gone to the Congress quota in the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) seat sharing and he had said that whatever be the situation, the constituency for him to fight the polls would be the same. "Many people like (TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee, (SP president) Akhilesh Yadav, and (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal among others, wanted me to be in their party. But I had to come to this place because I had said that whatever be the situation, the location will be the same," Sinha said, adding that the Congress was a great party. On claims by BJP leaders that he got votes in Patna due to the party, the former Union minister said, "I would like to say that in the last election it was not just Modi 'leher' (wave) but Modi 'qahar' (destruction) on certain seats like we saw Shahnawaz Hussain losing from Bhagalpur. Arun Jaitley had a humiliating defeat." Sinha said he purposely did not call top BJP leaders such as "friend, philosopher, guide" Advani, Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh in the 2014 polls for campaigning. "I did not even call my own daughter Sonakshi Sinha so that people don't get to say things. I won on merit, on principles, without anybody's support or help. They (the BJP) did not give me the help they were giving to other candidates, they did not give me any help," he alleged. "Despite the Modi leher or qahar in the entire country, by the grace of the people of Patna, in my victory, I had the highest vote share percentage in the country," Sinha said. Asked how he sees the impending clash with senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Patna Sahib seat, Sinha said the Union minister is like a family friend and he has respect for him. Asserting that he doesn't want to comment on personalities as he has only spoken about issues, Sinha said, "For Ravi Shankar Prasad I can only convey my best wishes. After all, the people of Patna will decide. We will accept the verdict. I have a feeling that by the grace of God and with great support from the people, I could break my previous records also in terms of victory." His remarks came after daughter Sonakshi Sinha on Friday said he should have "moved on" from BJP long back as he did not get the respect he deserved. Sonakshi said joining Congress is his choice and she believes the veteran actor will be able to do good work with the party. Shatrughan Sinha also hailed Rahul Gandhi's leadership qualities, saying the Congress president is a man to be watched for his vision and dynamism. "The way he has taken up issues boldly, he has proved himself and in one year as as Congress president he has won three states despite EVMs and many hurdles. He is the originator of the most popular slogan - 'chowkidar chor hai'," Sinha said. On whether Gandhi could be the next prime minister, he said it all depends on the blessings of the people the number of seats Congress gets. "Rahul Gandhi has all the capabilities," Sinha added. Sinha met Rahul Gandhi here last week and is set to formally join the Congress on 6 April. The Congress' announcement that party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest from Keralas Wayanad besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right New Delhi: The Congress' announcement that party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh evoked sharp reactions on Sunday from the Left and Right of the political spectrum. While the CPM and CPI said the move signalled that the Congress wanted to take on the Left which would work towards defeating him in the elections from Wayanad, the BJP said Gandhi "fled" to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of the work done by him and his party over the years. Veteran Congress leader from Kerala and former defence minister AK Antony made the announcement that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi at a press conference, saying Gandhi had consented to fighting from the constituency in Kerala following requests from the party's state unit. The decision is seen as an attempt by the Congress to consolidate its electoral base in south India, especially Kerala which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and Karnataka has 28. Reacting to the development, CPM politbureau member Prakash Karat said the decision of the Congress shows that the party wants to take on the Left in Kerala. "Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight the BJP, as in Kerala it is the LDF which is the main force fighting the BJP there," he told reporters. The CPM ex-general secretary said his party will work to ensure Gandhi's defeat in Wayanad. BJP chief Amit Shah also took a sharp dig at Gandhi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh for contesting from two seats. Shah, while speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, said, "Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him." CPI leader D Raja also questioned the decision of the Congress, saying it made no sense. "I don't understand what politics the Congress is playing here. There is no BJP to fight in Kerala, it is the Left versus the Congress-led UDF. By choosing a constituency in Kerala for Rahul Gandhi, what message is the Congress conveying to the country," Raja asked. "The primary objective is to defeat the BJP, how does this move help in that? We are not going to withdraw our candidate from the seat. Rahul Gandhi has to answer to the people of this country," he said. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who is in Thiruvananthapuram to campaign for the elections, said deciding on candidates was the internal matter of a political party and no other party needed to intervene in that. "The priority of the CPM is to oust Narendra Modi from power," he said, adding that the LDF would register a thumping win in Kerala. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Gandhi contesting from Wayanad could only be seen as a move to fight the Left parties and not the BJP, and asserted that the LDF would defeat him in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, the Congress' Amethi unit said the UP district is family for Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi has been thrice elected to Parliament from Amethi, considered the Congress bastion in 2004, 2009 and 2014. "He has decided to fight from Wayanad in Kerala in keeping with the demand and emotions of the party workers. Amethi is family and a family is forever," Congress's Amethi unit president Yogendra Mishra said. Following the announcement, celebrations broke out in the hilly constituency of Wayanad and the rest of Kerala as Congress cadres burst crackers, distributed sweets and raised slogans praising Gandhi. On BJP's criticism that Gandhi's is "not very strong" in Amethi, Surjewala, at the press conference, earlier said, "Why doesn't the BJP answer why Modi ji left Gujarat and went to Varanasi. Does that mean that his condition was bad in Gujarat. Instead of discussing these type of immature things, they should discuss key political issues. Why is the BJP so scared?" In a swipe at Union minister Smriti Irani who is contesting against Gandhi in Amethi, he said, "Pehle Delhi mein Chandni Chowk ne haraya, phir Amethi ne bhagaya. Jis mantri mahoyadaya ki charcha kar rahe hain, jinko ticket di hai, ab haar ki hat-trick ka mahaul bana hai (First lost from Chandni Chowk, then Amethi. And now, for the minister in question there is an atmosphere of a hat-trick of defeats)". Surjewala said Wayanad has a unique geographical feature as it links Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri and Karnataka's Mysore, and has the geographical and cultural representation of the three states. Senior Congress leader Antony said Wayanad is situated in Kerala, but is also surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. "In a way it'll satisfy the requests of three southern states," he said. Apparently, I am supposed to be embarrassed now. That, at least, is my interpretation of a few strange tweets and emails that have come my way in the week since Attorney General William Barr issued his summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller 's report on Donald Trump . One individual wrote: "I noticed that you've released your bite on Trump's ankle now that Mueller couldn't recommend and (sic) indictment." Another, apparently unable to rise to that level of verbal sophistication, simply sent a bunch of LOLs. The funny thing is, I've actually written very little about the probe into Trump's ties with Russia -- and certainly nothing longing for or anticipating its outcome. But the attempt of a few facts-challenged Trump fans -- a tautology, I know -- to taunt me over Mueller's reported inability to prove Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election is just part of a larger narrative that has emerged in the past few days. It holds that journalism laid an egg here, producing an epic fail that will haunt it for years. The charge was leveled, not surprisingly, by Trump, who tweeted that "The Fake News Media has lost tremendous credibility ..." He was echoed by his spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said, "... the liberal media owe the president and they owe the American people an apology." He was also echoed by his puppy, Sean Hannity, who promised to "hold the corrupt media accountable for years of misleading the American people!" If all of that was predictable, many of us were surprised to hear Matt Taibbi, a liberal journalist who has been no friend to the Trump regime, join the chorus, calling this "a death blow for the reputation of the American news media." Beg pardon, but: Huh? What in the sainted name of Walter Cronkite is he talking about? I know media failure. I've seen media failure. Uncritically swallowing false WMD claims, that was failure. Giving candidate Trump free air time, that was failure. This was not. Yes, the coverage produced a few ill-considered chyrons and headlines. Most coverage does. And yes, too, the constant cable news drumbeat of turning points that didn't turn and breaking points that didn't break grew numbing. But let's get real. Would anyone really argue that in a situation where: a) American intelligence reports a hostile foreign power interfered in a U.S. election to benefit one candidate; b) that candidate publicly implores the hostile power for help; c) his campaign is found to have met with agents of that power; d) the candidate dictates a lie to explain away the meeting; e) the FBI is concerned enough to open a counterintelligence probe, that news media should not investigate as aggressively as possible? The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 didn't produce that much smoke. Failure to investigate would have been journalistic malpractice. Yet reporters are expected to hang their heads now because an attorney general whose skepticism about the Mueller probe is a matter of public record issues a four-page summary of a 300-plus-page report claiming Mueller found no evidence of collusion? No. If -- and it's a big if -- that proves true, so be it. But if it doesn't -- or if any of the dozen-plus other investigations still swirling about Trump produces superfluous evidence of his malfeasance -- thank God for a free and mostly fearless news media to report on it. That is our sacred charge and, yes, there have been times we failed to live up to it. This, however, is not one of them. (Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.) (c) 2019 THE MIAMI HERALD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC. Rahul Gandhis decision to contest a second seat in Wayanad has changed the electoral scene in Kerala. Congress president Rahul Gandhis decision to contest a second seat in Wayanad has changed the electoral scene in Kerala, where the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is fighting for its existence as a national party and the Bharatiya Janata Party for opening its account in south India in the Lok Sabha. Though pre-poll surveys had found the Sabarimala issue, played up by the Sangh Parivar for electoral gains of the BJP, benefitting the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), the revival of the infighting in the state unit of the Congress over the selection of candidates had cast shadows over the partys electoral prospects. The infighting was at its worst in Wayanad, where T Siddique, a nominee of the group led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy, was fielded initially. The move to bring Rahul to the constituency was initiated after the rival group led by opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala led an open revolt against Siddique. The Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest constituent of Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is contesting the Wayanad seat, was hoping to capitalise on the feud in Congress. However, Rahuls entry has upset its calculations as it has forced the warring factions in the party to end their factional fights and mount a united fight in the constituency. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran has sought to put up a brave front, saying that Rahuls candidature would not affect the prospect of his party candidate P Suneer. The fight in Kerala is political. Individuals do not matter. Suneer will take on Rahul, said Kanam, ruling out any change in the candidature in view of the Congress leaders foray into the state. Senior UDF leaders claim that Rahul will win the seat hands down. He needs only to file his nomination. We will see to it that he will win the seat by a record margin, said PK Kunhalikutty, national general secretary of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the party candidate in the neighbouring Malappuram constituency. Wayanad had favoured the Congress ever since it was constituted in 2009 by carving out Nilambur, Ernad and Vandoor constituencies from Malappuram district, Mananthavady, Kalpetta and Sulthan Bathery from Wayanad district and Thiruvambady from Kozhikode district. Congress leader MI Shanawaz had won the seat in the first election by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes. He retained the seat in 2014, but with a much lesser margin of over 20,000 votes. However, four of the seven Assembly segments favoured the LDF in the 2016 Assembly elections. Senior Congress leaders, including Congress Working Committee (CWC) member AK Antony, said Rahuls candidature at Wayanad will have a ripple effect in all the 20 seats in the state and in many seats in the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Antony has exuded confidence that the presence of the prime ministerial candidate in the state will help the UDF win all 20 seats in Kerala. The pre-poll surveys had predicted 14 to 16 seats for the UDF in the state. However, senior LDF leaders have pooh poohed the Congress claims, pointing out that the party had lost power at the Centre when late Indira Gandhi had contested polls from Chikmangalore in 1977 and Sonia Gandhi from Bellary in 1999. LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan said the party will meet the same fate this time. Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (AIADMK) together had swept Tamil Nadu in 1977 by winning 34 out of 39 seats and Karnataka by winning 26 out of 28 seats. The Congress and its allies had won 13 seats in Tamil Nadu and 18 seats in Karnataka in 1999, when Sonia Gandhi contested from the South. Congress had drawn a blank in previous two elections in 1996 and 1998 while it won five and nine seats in Karnataka in the two elections. In Kerala, the Congress-led coalition, which also included the CPI, had won 19 out of 20 seats in 1977 and 11 seats in 1999. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Rahuls contest from Wayanad will not make any significant impact on the outcome this time. On the contrary, it would send a wrong message to the electorate across the country and it may even prove detrimental to the party nationally, he said. The fight in Kerala is between the LDF and the UDF. With his move to contest the poll from Wayanad, Rahul is sending out a message that it is not the BJP that the Congress is fighting, but the LDF. The party needs to think what kind of the message they are trying to send out to the nation, Vijayan said. Congress shot back, saying that Wayanad was ideal to represent the south as it was a tri-junction of three southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. BJP has described Rahul's decision to contest from Wayanad as an escape from Amethi due to fear of defeat against Union minister Smriti Irani. State BJP chief PS Sreedharan Pillai said they will not allow Rahul to have an easy victory in Wayanad. We have requested our national leadership to put up a candidate with a national stature in the constituency. The Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), which was allotted the seat, has already given its consent to withdraw their candidate in the wake of the declaration of Rahul Gandhis candidature, he added. He said that Wayanad was selected by Rahul as it had more than 60 percent minorities, majority of them Muslims. His candidature in Wayanad is a total surrender to the IUML, which has been vocal in the demand for Rahuls entry in the fray in Wayanad, he said. Rahuls entry in Wayanad may force the LDF and the NDA to redraw their strategies to face the resurgent UDF. Political observers feel that the presence of Rahul, a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the fray in Kerala will rob the LDF of one of its major poll planks secret pact between Congress and the BJP. The CPM and its allies have been spreading the propaganda to woo minorities, who constitute 46 percent of the population in the state. Jacob George, a Thiruvananthapuram-based political analyst, said that the entry of Rahul may compel the BJP to rethink its strategy to bank on the Sabarimala issue. He says that Rahuls candidature may force the saffron party to counter the Congress leaders charges against Modi and his government. The five southern states and one union territory is crucial for BJP to retain power at the Centre. The party is eyeing 50-60 of the 130 seats from the south to compensate for the loss being anticipated by the NDA in the Hindi heartland in the Lok Sabha polls. The saffron party and its allies had won 211 out of 245 seats in the ten states in the Hindi heartland and Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, leaving only 34 seats to its opponents. Poll pundits feel the saffron tally could plummet by 70 percent in the Hindi heartland this time. The party was expecting at least four seats from Kerala in 2019. Jacob believes that the party may have to wait even for the lotus to bloom in the state if Rahuls candidature fuels a wave as predicted by the Congress leaders. Election Campaign 2019 LIVE Updates: Narendra Modi criticises former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, 'After Independence, the Indian struggle for development should have continued. The former finance minister said during a budget speech in 2014 that India should be proud that it stood at 11th position as World's largest economy.' Auto refresh feeds Titled 'Parivartana Samavesha', this will be the first rally jointly organised by the Congress and JD(S) after the combine came to power. The ruling alliance in Karnataka will launch their joint Lok Sabha polls campaign on Sunday with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda addressing a mega rally on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Congress and JD(S) ministers, MLAs and leaders will be part of the event. Sunday evening's rally will also be attended by lakhs of workers of both parties from Tumkur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru urban districts, Congress and JDS sources said. "This will be the first joint campaign by Congress and JD(S)...tomorrow's meeting is historic as it will send a clear message to people of the country from Karnataka for Lok Sabha polls," Kumaraswamy told reporters. Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who visited BIEC ground near Nelamanagala to inspect the arrangements being made for the Congress-JD(S) alliance's mega rally on Sunday, said the event will be "historic." Both parties that had fought against each other ahead of May 2018 assembly polls joined hands to form an alliance as the election threw up a hung verdict. Karnataka will go to the polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on 18 and 23 April. However, dissidence over seat sharing among workers of both parties, who have been arch rivals for decades, has caused worry for coalition leaders. According to a PTI report, organising the joint campaign is aimed at addressing this disgruntlement and send out a message that both the alliance partners are together. According to seat sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha election, the Congress and JD(S) have decided to contest in 21 and 7 seats respectively. For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to the JD(S) and vice-versa. The income of Shah's wife more than doubled in a year as her 2016-17 ITR placed her annual income at Rs 1.05 crore. Shah's income as per his 2016-17 ITR was Rs 43.68 lakh. In Saturday's affidavit, Shah has mentioned that he and his wife's annual incomes, as per ITR of 2017-18, stood at Rs 2.84 crore, which comprised Rs 53.90 lakh for Shah and Rs 2.30 crore for Sonalben. The affidavit filed on Saturday by BJP chief Amit Shah while submitting his nomination papers for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat showed that his assets had grown over three times in the last seven years. According to the affidavit, the movable and immovable properties of Shah and his wife stood at Rs 38.81 crore, up from Rs 11.79 crore in 2012. Former Bihar minister Manju Verma who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case seen on stage during Union Minister and NDA candidate Giriraj Singh's rally in Begusarai on Saturday. Verma had been arrested under arms act linked to the Muzaffarpur case. Whats the issue? Whose order is it. Send me to jail if you have to do something. This is my vehicle and you cannot seize it, says Choubey to an official who in turn informs him that ECs order is to confiscate the vehicles and not the individual and they will look into it. In a video of the incident that occurred on Saturday night, Choubey, sitting on the front seat of a vehicle can be seen furiously reacting to the official who attempts to apprise the Union Minister about election commissions order. Union Minister Ashwini Choubey was caught on camera while having a verbal altercation with a Sub-District Magistrate (SDM) in Bihar's Buxar after the official had stopped his convoy for allegedly violating the model code of conduct (MCC). A formal announcement is likely today. Dikshit had, in a letter to Rahul and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, warned the top leadership an alliance with AAP would "hurt the Congress in the long run". Congress president Rahul Gandhi has decided that the party will not be forming an alliance with AAP for the crucial Lok Sabha elections. His decision has been conveyed to Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit by party leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal, NDTV reported . Congress leader AK Anthony and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Sunday announced that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will also contest Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad. Rahul will be contesting the crucial general elections from two seats, Amethi and Wayanad. Congress leader AK Antony, in a press conference on Sunday said, "Rahulji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala." Surjewala also said, "Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. She (Smriti Irani) will complete a hat-trick of losses (in Amethi)." He added that the decision also stemmed from the "attack on the social fabric" of India. Surjewala asserted that both Amethi and Wayanad were special for the Congress president. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Sunday, while announcing party president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad along with the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, said that the move was an attempt to "bridge the North-South divide". His (Rahuls) arrival in Kerala, I believe, is not going to have a major impact in the electoral battle. But, with this move, the Congress would be sending out a message that it is not the BJP they are fighting, but the LDF. Congress needs to think what is the message they are trying to send out to the nation," the chief minister added. In Uttar Pradesh, SP-BSP alliance is unarguably the main political force, whereas in Kerala it is the LDF. Gandhi is not coming to fight the BJP here, but the LDF, Vijayan had told reporters. The Kerala unit of the Congress, which is in opposition against the Left Democratic Front government in the state, had urged Rahul to contest from the seat. On 23 March, Kerala chief minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan asked the Congress to clarify about the message it was sending out by asking party president Rahul Gandhi to contest Lok Sabha polls from the state's Wayanad district. He added, "To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose & in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad." Prakash Karat, former CPM general secretary reacted to the Congress' announcement of party president Rahul Gandhi also contesting Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad constituency. Karat said, "Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there." Kerala chief minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan, in response to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad, said, "He's fighting in one of the 20 constituencies (in Kerala) and doesn't need to be seen as any different. We'll fight him. He should have contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting, it's nothing but a fight against Left." He added, "Mr Modi has been prime minister for 5 years and he has not fulfilled this commitment and frankly I am surprised that the parties in Andhra Pradesh aren't aggressively pushing for Mr Modi to give Andhra what it has been promised." In a rally as part of the Congress' campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada, party president Rahul Gandhi said that the "commitment" had been made by the Congress and former prime minister Manmohan Singh. "It's a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. It's our commitment that we'll give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi." He added, "Congress party and I will deliver the NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme like we delivered MGNREGA, White Revolution and Green Revolution." In a rally in Andhra Pradesh' Wayanad, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "... Rs 72,000 a year....I'm not Mr Modi, I don't lie. He said he'll give you Rs 15 Lakh, that was a lie...Government of India cannot give you Rs 15 Lakh in a bank account but Government of India can give Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest people in India. The BJP released a list of four candidates in Gujarat for the Lok Sabha election on Sunday. One candidate has also been announced for the by-election in the Talala assembly constituency. ANI tweeted visuals of the preparations in Vishakhapatnam where TDP will be holding a public rally on Sunday. The rally is also likely to be attended by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said, "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for, in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation." "On one hand he supports Hinduism, on the other hand he chooses to contest from a minoity-strong constituency," Prasad concluded. The BJP leader also said that Rahul's "roots" in Amethi "are crumbling". "Rahul Gandhi stands exposed today. If you like South India so much, why didn't you choose any other constituency?" Prasad questioned. "We did some research to find out why the Congress president chose Wayanad and saw that the constituency has only eight percent Hindus, rest are all minorities. The story of Rahul Gandhi's escape to Wayanad is in the composition of the constituency." The law minister said the "truth" about Rahul's Hinduism has been revealed because Kerala's Wayanad is a constituency with "only 8 percent" Hindus, and the rest are minorities. "Some people are Hindus in thought and actions, and some are Hindus only before an election. They start going to temples only before the elections. The truth about the web of lies Rahul Gandhi has spun has been revealed." Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his decision to contest Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad along with Amethi. Yechury also said that "removing" the BJP was the party's priority. "We are very clear, this election is an important one, that will decide whether a secular democracy will survive or not. Removing BJP is our priority." CPM chief Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that it's important for the Congress to clarify what the party means by fielding party president Rahul Gandhi from Kerala's Wayanad. "What message is being conveyed by coming here and fighting against the LDF, the Congress has to decide. Any party can decide which candidate will contest from which seat but what's the message they want to convey, they'll have to explain to people." "Some people have limited thinking capabilities, and for them the image of a Chowkidar is someone who wears a cap or whistle, but Chowkidar is a spirit," said the prime minsiter. Narendra Modi criticises former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, "After Independence, the Indian struggle for development should have continued. The former finance minister said during a budget speech in 2014 that India should be proud that it stood at 11th position as World's largest economy. India has everything, every citizen has to dream. I did not say anything, we are now at 6th spot in 2019. India also now falls under elite space club." Taking a jibe at fugitive Vijay Mallya, Modi said "Some people are complaining that they won't return to India because the jails here are in bad condition... shall I give them jails better than the one where Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned? Narendra Modi hailed the recent Anti Satellite (A-SAT) launch and said that India now belonged to the elite space club. Modi said, "Mission Shakti has nothing to do with elections... what we have achieved is unique." Pakistan could not divide India on religious lines in 70 years, Modi-Shah did it in 5 years: Arvind Kejriwal at Visakhapatnam rally At Mai Bhi Chowkidar event in Delhi, the prime minister said, "For me, chowkidar is representative of Mahatma Gandhi's concept of trusteeship." Narendra Modi criticises former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, "After Independence, the Indian struggle for development should have continued. The former finance minister said during a budget speech in 2014 that India should be proud that it stood at 11th position as World's largest economy. India has everything, every citizen has to dream. I did not say anything, we are now at 6th spot in 2019. India also now falls under elite space club." Taking a jibe at fugitive Vijay Mallya, Modi said "Some people are complaining that they won't return to India because the jails here are in bad condition... shall I give them jails better than the one where Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned? Narendra Modi hailed the recent Anti Satellite (A-SAT) launch and said that India now belonged to the elite space club. Modi said, "Mission Shakti has nothing to do with elections... what we have achieved is unique." Narendra Modi accused the Congress of habitually spreading lies. The prime minister said, "Congress' lies are seasonal... they change their lies according to seasons." "In the coming five years we will eradicate corruption and poverty, won't spare economic offenders, fulfill aspirations and will address the dreams of every citizens," said Modi while talking about the poll agenda if the BJP comes to power in 2019. PM Modi at 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' program in Delhi: Every first time voter should realise that they have reached a stage where they can have a say in country's decision making process. pic.twitter.com/yl8X5zS3VT Taking a jibe at the Congress for its newly-launched NYAY scheme, Modi said: "Those who are making promises, check their track record. They repeat the same things, but don't do anything. They could not remove poverty. The responsibility of the first-time voter is to recognise such people." Every first time voter should realise they have a say in country's decision making process: Modi while speaking at Delhi "They have been saying that there are no terror camps. Now they have to hide it. They are not allowing anybody to go there. We've been told Balakot area is being reconstructed by Pakistan to show that a school is being run there, so that people can be taken there and shown that no terror camp existed there," he said. Addressing a 'Main bhi Chowkidar' event, he said Pakistan was in a fix because if it acknowledges the air strikes, it will have to accept that there were terror camps there. Took decision as game must be played from where terror is controlled: Narendra Modi on Balakot air strikes Pakistan could not divide India on religious lines in 70 years, Modi-Shah did it in 5 years: Arvind Kejriwal at Visakhapatnam rally I quoted the Balakot figures from what I saw on our media channels, I did not watch or refer to foreign media reports: @AmitShah tells @18RahulJoshi on #News18AgendaIndia forum @EbixInc @OfficialJioTV pic.twitter.com/EB44joMFRw Amit Shah says he quoted Balakot figures from what he saw on media channels Election Campaign 2019 LATEST updates: Narendra Modi criticises former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, "After Independence, the Indian struggle for development should have continued. The former finance minister said during a budget speech in 2014 that India should be proud that it stood at 11th position as World's largest economy. India has everything, every citizen has to dream. I did not say anything, we are now at 6th spot in 2019. India also now falls under elite space club." "In the year 2013-14, I was the new face for the prime minister. My critics made me popular," said Narendra Modi in Delhi. "Five years has gone by but current the Prime Minister of India has not kept the promises he made. There should be no confusion (on special status), as soon as our party comes to power in 2019, one of the first decision will be to give special status to Andhra Pradesh, " Rahul said. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister accused Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of insulting Hindus for not going to Ram janmabhoomi during her Ayodhya visit. "She said it is disputed land, so she didn't. She didn't go there as this would have upset a particular community," Adityanath said. CPM chief Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that it's important for the Congress to clarify what the party means by fielding party president Rahul Gandhi from Kerala's Wayanad. "What message is being conveyed by coming here and fighting against the LDF, the Congress has to decide. Any party can decide which candidate will contest from which seat but what's the message they want to convey, they'll have to explain to people." Yechury also said that "removing" the BJP was the party's priority. "We are very clear, this election is an important one, that will decide whether a secular democracy will survive or not. Removing BJP is our priority." Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his decision to contest Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad along with Amethi. The law minister said the "truth" about Rahul's Hinduism has been revealed because Kerala's Wayanad is a constituency with "only 8 percent" Hindus, and the rest are minorities. "Some people are Hindus in thought and actions, and some are Hindus only before an election. They start going to temples only before the elections. The truth about the web of lies Rahul Gandhi has spun has been revealed." "We did some research to find out why the Congress president chose Wayanad and saw that the constituency has only eight percent Hindus, rest are all minorities. The story of Rahul Gandhi's escape to Wayanad is in the composition of the constituency. The BJP leader also said that Rahul's "roots" in Amethi "are crumbling". "Rahul Gandhi stands exposed today. If you like South India so much, why didn't you choose any other constituency?" Prasad questioned. "On one hand he supports Hinduism, on the other hand he chooses to contest from a minoity-strong constituency," Prasad concluded. BJP president Amit Shah, in a rally in Uttar Pradesh' Nagina on Sunday reacted to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest Lok Sabha election from Kerala's Wayanad. He said, "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for, in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation." In a rally as part of the Congress' campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada, party president Rahul Gandhi said that the "commitment" had been made by the Congress and former prime minister Manmohan Singh. "It's a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. It's our commitment that we'll give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi." He added, "Mr Modi has been prime minister for 5 years and he has not fulfilled this commitment and frankly I am surprised that the parties in Andhra Pradesh aren't aggressively pushing for Mr Modi to give Andhra what it has been promised." Kerala chief minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan, in response to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad, said, "He's fighting in one of the 20 constituencies (in Kerala) and doesn't need to be seen as any different. We'll fight him. He should have contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting, it's nothing but a fight against Left." Congress leader AK Anthony and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Sunday announced that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will also contest Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad. Rahul will be contesting the crucial general elections from two seats, Amethi and Wayanad. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has decided that the party will not be forming an alliance with AAP for the crucial Lok Sabha elections. His decision has been conveyed to Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit by party leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal, NDTV reported. A formal announcement is likely today. Dikshit had, in a letter to Rahul and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, warned the top leadership an alliance with AAP would "hurt the Congress in the long run". The ruling alliance in Karnataka will launch their joint Lok Sabha polls campaign Sunday with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda addressing a mega rally on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Titled 'Parivartana Samavesha', this will be the first rally jointly organised by the Congress and JD(S) after the combine came to power. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who visited BIEC ground near Nelamanagala to inspect the arrangements being made, said the event would be "historic." "This will be the first joint campaign by Congress and JD(S)... tomorrow's meeting is historic as it will send a clear message to people of the country from Karnataka for Lok Sabha polls," Kumaraswamy told reporters. Congress and JD(S) ministers, MLAs and leaders will be part of the event. Sunday evening's rally will also be attended by lakhs of workers of both parties from Tumkur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru urban districts, Congress and JDS sources said. Following this, state leaders of both parties would organise similar joint meetings at several places across Karnataka, they said. According to seat sharing arrangements, the Congress and JD(S) have decided to contest in 21 and 7 seats respectively. For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to the JD(S) and vice-versa. However, dissidence over seat sharing among workers of both parties, who have been arch rivals for decades, has caused worry to coalition leaders. According to the sources, organising the joint campaign is aimed at addressing this disgruntlement and send out a message that both the alliance partners are together. Both parties that had fought against each other ahead of May 2018 assembly polls joined hands to form an alliance as the election threw up a hung verdict. Karnataka will go to the polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on 18 and 23 April. BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday spoke on several issues at News18's Agenda India forum ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday spoke on several issues at News18's Agenda India forum ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "The elections should be fought on the basis of nationalism," said Amit Shah. "What is wrong with politics of nationalism?" he added. The BJP chief was in conversation with Network 18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi. Shah also said that vote bank politics was on the decline now. "The days of vote banks being owned by a person are over. Now, the voter is the boss of his own vote," he said. Shah also spoke on terrorism and said that the central government had done a lot to curb terrorism in Kashmir. "Whoever messes with our security forces will not be spared. We have banned organisations and plugged terror funding," he told News18. "It is under our government that we have neutralised the maximum number of terrorists and we will continue to do this," he said. On the issue of Balakot air strikes, Shah said, "I quoted the Balakot figures from what I saw on our media channels, I did not watch or refer to foreign media reports." Shah also said that the amount of black money in the economy had gone down. " Amount of black money has gone down, there are people in England who are feeling uncomfortable because of the actions we took," he said. The BJP president lashed out at Congress' promise of minimum income. "Why didn't Congress bring NYAY in its ten years of rule?" he said. He also said Priyanka Gandhi becoming politically active in Uttar Pradesh was nothing new. "For 12 years, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been in politics. Her so-called entry into politics is nothing new," he said. "Amethi is going to be tough for Rahul Gandhi now. Smritiji has gone to Amethi more often in the last five years than Rahul Gandhi," he added. Shah said he was confident that the Modi wave was still intact. "In by-elections, people choose MPs, not the prime minister. But in the general elections, people choose a prime minister. The Opposition has not even been able to come up with a prime ministerial candidate till now," he said. On the issue of Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, Shah said, "The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance is not based on greed. It is based on common ideologies. BJP and Shiv Sena are natural allies." The election campaign of Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate supported by the BJP, is assuming the shape of a thunderstorm in the Mandya seat. The election campaign of Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate supported by the BJP, is assuming the shape of a thunderstorm in the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka, threatening to torpedo the winning chances of the newest star of the states 'first family'. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamys son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy (29), was chosen to contest from Mandya, in what was supposed to be a perfect launch to his political career from a safe constituency. But the entry of Sumalatha into the electoral fray after the death of her hugely popular actor-politician husband Ambareesh last November has rattled the Gowda family so badly that they have resorted to several insensitive remarks against her to lower her self-esteem. But the dignity and poise with which Sumalatha has handled those insults and the deft manner in which she is riding on Ambareeshs lingering popularity in the region seem to be turning into a wave of sympathy in her favour. If the enthusiastic crowds joining her campaign each day are any indication, she is going to give a serious run for the Gowda scions money, influence and power. While Ambareesh is a cult figure in Mandya, whom fellow Vokkaligas worship, Sumalatha has her own standing as a multi-lingual actress of yesteryears, who has acted in over 200 films. Ambareesh was a three-term MP, and a former minister both at the Centre and the State. Speaking to this correspondent on campaign trail, Sumalatha said, I was very depressed after Ambareeshs death. I had no plans (of contesting election). But, when I went round Mandya, people showered so much love and asked me to stand for election. I felt they were looking to fill the void Ambareesh had left behind through meBy contesting from Mandya, I have taken on a mammoth opposition. It (winning the seat) will be very difficult, but not impossible. Though Sumalathas plea for a Congress ticket was not accepted because of the coalitions compulsions, what has emboldened her is that the Congress cadre resenting the party leaders decision to cede Mandya to JD(S) has largely shifted its loyalty to her. The BJP, whose candidate polled 2.7 lakh votes in the recent by-election, has declared its support to Sumalatha, indirectly hinting that she may join BJP later if she gets elected. On this issue, she said, The BJP did not approach me directly, but sent feelers through some common friends. When I consulted the people, the overwhelming feeling was that I should contest as an independent. I want to do something good for the people of Mandya and fulfill the dreams Ambareesh had for them. I will take a decision (on joining the BJP), when the time comes, after consulting the people. How the plays went awry A little over six months ago, when HD Kumaraswamy zeroed in on Mandya Lok Sabha constituency for launching his son Nikhil Kumaraswamys political career, it seemed the place and the timing of the decision were near perfect for the political arangetram for the newest member of the Gowda family. After all, though the Janata Dal (Secular) had won only 37 seats in the Assembly, the stars had conspired to catapult Kumaraswamy to the chief ministers post for the second time, the Congress had pledged its support to him for five years, and Mandya the heartland of Vokkaliga politics had elected JD(S) MLAs from all seven Assembly segments. With an eye on giving Nikhil, a fledgling actor, an image boost, Kumaraswamy reportedly spent Rs 40 crore on quickly making and releasing Nikhils second film Sreenivasa Kalyana, which had free screening for the people of Mandya. In November, the sudden and unexpected death of popular actor-politician, MH Ambareesh, who hailed from Mandya, seemed to create a political vacuum which Nikhil could fill perfectly. Kumaraswamy, as chief minister, took a lot of care to ensure a fitting farewell to Ambareesh to please his fans, which some critics saw as an attempt to earn their goodwill ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Once the Lok Sabha elections were announced, the JD(S) put pressure on its coalition partner, the Congress, for 10-12 seats, with Mandya and Hassan, the two family bastions, being non-negotiable. Family patriarch HD Deve Gowda vacated Hassan for his younger grandson Prajwal Revanna. Shivarame Gowda of the JD(S), who had won by an impressive margin of 2.7 lakh in the by-election from Mandya, made way for Nikhil Kumaraswamy to make his electoral debut. Apart from Sumalathas challenge, the JD(S) seems to have completely miscalculated the peoples mood as far as the support for the Gowda family is concerned. Deve Gowda is still the tallest Vokkaliga leader in the state, but the fact that three members of the family including Deve Gowda himself have all entered the fray at the same time seems to have triggered a massive backlash which they perhaps did not anticipate. A cross section of people this correspondent spoke to in Mandya including JD(S) party workers felt that the Gowda family was trying to grab everything for itself. Ramegowda, an agriculturist, said, This (family politics) is too much. Mandya is not Hassan. Why do they have to impose Nikhil on us, as if there is no one else in Mandya good enough to be a candidate? Shivarame Gowda had only five months as MP; why wasnt he put up again? Why was IRS officer Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda, who was promised a ticket earlier, completely sidelined? The fact that the Kumaraswamy governments much-touted loan waiver scheme has largely failed to reach the people has also led to much anger and resentment among the farming community. But it has become a matter of prestige for Kumaraswamy to get Nikhil elected and he can be expected to use all the resources at his command to ensure that his sons electoral debut does not end up in a fiasco. As for Sumalatha, reaching the victory podium will be a stupendous task: No independent candidate has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka since DD Dattatrey did so from Kanara constituency in 1967, a good 52 years ago. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged BJP's sister organisations to not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Visakhapatnam: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged BJP's sister organisations to not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party chief Amit Shah during the national polls. Addressing an election rally in Visakhapatnam organised by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, Banerjee said the BJP won't get a single seat in West Bengal and the party won't cross the 125-mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "BJP has sister organisations, I would like to request them that if you love the country, please don't support Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the West Bengal chief minister said. "This is a special election. There are not many people to fight for the country, please vote for Chandrababu Naidu. Modi and Shah bully everyone," she added. Taking on the BJP, the Trinamool Congress chief said the BJP will not get a single seat in Bengal. "In 2014, Modi got 21 out of 191 seats in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha, that was your best time," Banerjee said, adding that the BJP will not get more than 125 seats in this election. "In UP, he got 73 seats when the Samajwadi Party and the BSP fought alone. Now they have come together. In Odisha too, they won't get any seats," she said. Banerjee also challenged Modi for an open debate and attacked the prime minister for not addressing any press conference during his tenure. "Modi didn't address a presser in five years. He reads from tele-prompter and says he has a 56-inch chest," the TMC supremo quipped. She said the country needs a prime minister who doesn't differentiate between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. "Modi said demonetisation would curb terrorism, but it is maximum under his government," she said. Supporting Arvind Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi, Banerjee said the issue needs to be resolved. Dikshit and the working presidents have urged the Congress chief not to have an alliance with the AAP, saying it will harm the party in the long run,' said a Delhi Congress leader. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi turned down an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in New Delhi, NDTV reported. Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit was informed of Rahul's decision in the wee hours of Saturday by party leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal, as per the report. The formal announcement will be made by Dikshit later Sunday. The decision comes after weeks of uncertainty in New Delhi about an alliance between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. In a letter written last week to Rahul, Dikshit and working presidents Haroon Yusuf, Devender Yadav and Rajesh Lilothia protested a recent phone survey to gauge workers' mood on the alliance and warned against it. "Dikshit and the working presidents have urged the Congress chief not to have an alliance with the AAP, saying it will harm the party in the long run," said a Delhi Congress leader. The leader said they have also expressed reservation over the phone survey, being carried out through Shakti app of the party, which was undertaken by PC Chacko, the AICC in-charge of Delhi Congress. The survey sought views of around 52,000 Delhi Congress workers on whether they supported the party's alliance with the AAP in Delhi or not. Chacko had said earlier that a report of the survey would be submitted to Rahul, who would take a final call on the issue. Dikshit had opposed the survey, saying it was "overriding" Rahul's decision that the Delhi Congress was against the alliance. Earlier in March, Dikshit, after meeting Rahul, had claimed that there was unanimity in the party against an alliance with the AAP. Farmers contesting from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in Telangana will launch their election campaign Monday even as they decided to choose one candidate from among them and seek support Hyderabad: A large number of farmers contesting the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in Telangana over demands to ensure remunerative price for their produce will launch their election campaign Monday even as they decided to choose one candidate from among them and seek support. A decision to launch the poll campaign was taken by the farmers at a meeting organised in Armoor town of the district Saturday. As part of the campaign, two farmers' teams will undertake a bus yatra and padayatra in different parts of the district and explain to the people the reasons for filing nominations for the coming Parliament polls and seek their support. "At the meeting it was also decided that one candidate's name will be chosen after the campaigning to whom support will be sought from the people. The candidate's name will be declared shortly," one of the contesting candidates, who attended the meeting, told PTI over phone. Over 170 farmers are in the fray for Nizamabad constituency from where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election. They chose to contest the elections to protest the TRS government's alleged failure to ensure remunerative prices for turmeric and red jowar (sorghum) produce and establishing the turmeric board. With 185 candidates, including the farmers, in the fray for the 11 April elections in the state, the Election Commission will use ballot papers instead of EVMs in the constituency. Symbols have been allocated to all the contesting candidates and efforts are on to print ballot papers and arrange special ballot boxes. The independent candidates, (farmers) have been allocated symbols of different fruits and vegetables, besides electronic gadgets, among others. Farmers have been seeking Minimum Support Price of Rs 15,000 per quintal for turmeric and Rs 3,500 MSP per quintal of red jowar, besides setting up of turmeric board. Telangana, with 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, goes to the polls in the first phase on 11 April. Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad is similar to Sonia Gandhi's decision in 1999 to contest from Bellary, and to Indira Gandhi's decision to contest from Medak. Whatever argument spin doctors of the Congress party may put forward regarding party president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest a second seat from Wayanad, Kerala, it would fall flat in the face of the general belief that this is evidence of rising nervousness that he may not emerge unscathed from Amethi, a seat he has represented for three consecutive terms. Despite the party leadership depicting the decision as a move to buoy Congress' fortunes in the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, most people in crucial northern states are likely to interpret the step as Gandhi's fallback option to ensure he continues being a member of Lok Sabha. There are two reason for Gandhi being unable to escape the impression that Wayanad is his Plan B. First, the contention that this constituency in north-east Kerala has been chosen because it would shore up the party's fortunes in 87 Lok Sabha constituencies of the three states would have appeared plausible if he had chosen a seat from Karnataka, because a contest from that state would have meant taking the Bharatiya Janata Party bull by its horns. Nationally, Gandhi's principal contest is with the BJP, personal as well as political, and if he had to contest a second seat, it should have been from a region where the saffron party was a significant force. Wayanad certainly is not one of them. Rahul would have appeared politically confident if he had at least opted for one of the urban seats in Karnataka to set up a dare with the BJP. His decision to contest from Wayanad is little different from Sonia Gandhi's decision in 1999 to contest a second seat from Bellary, and even from Indira Gandhi's decision in 1980 to contest from Medak, Andra Pradesh in addition to Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. It must be recalled that in the 1977 polls, not only had Indira Gandhi lost her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat to maverick Raj Narain, but her party had also drawn a blank in Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, the Congress had won 41 of the 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh and she chose a safe rural seat because of uncertainty over wining Rae Bareli back. Eventually, she won both but vacated the Uttar Pradesh seat for Arun Nehru. Likewise, the 1999 election was Sonia Gandhi's electoral debut and her Italian roots were still mentioned ad nauseam by BJP leaders. She was therefore uncertain of defeating Sanjay Singh, who had won the seat as a BJP nominee in 1998. Congress leaders have argued that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested two seats in 2014. It does not, however, require immense political clarity to conclude that while his decision to contest from Varanasi was an audacious move aimed to galvanise party cadre in a state where stakes were high, numerically and politically, Rahul's Wayanad foray is essentially an attempt at playing safe. Moreover, by choosing a constituency where almost 50 percent of voters are from the religious minorities (estimated at 28.65 Muslims and 21.24 Christians, according to the 2011 district census), Rahul has once again opened his party to accusations from the BJP that the Congress appeases religious minorities, especially Muslims. The demographic characteristics of Wayanad would certainly be publicised by the BJP through its campaign network and are likely to be mentioned by senior BJP leaders in those states and seats where they hope religious polarisation would benefit the party. Second, the contest with a Left Front nominee, despite former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat's declaration that his party would strive its best to defeat Rahul, would be seen as a 'friendly contest' in the Hindi heartland. Rahul's decision to contest from Wayanad would provide further opportunity for Modi to argue that he is up against a 'milawati' or adulterated alliance. Although the Congress and the Left Front are not in alliance anywhere in the country, they were in talks for a long period in West Bengal and even in Bihar for the lone Begusarai seat where the CPI candidate, former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar is in the fray. Out of 245 seats in the Hindi-speaking states (for convenience, this includes Jammu and Kashmir in the north and Jharkhand in the east), the Congress is either in direct contest with the BJP or its allies, or at least is a significant political force, with the sole exception being Uttar Pradesh, where the current standing of the party is questionable. The BJP had won as many as 196 of these and its allies bagged another 15 seats. In contrast, the Congress won just 10 seats, and this is the terrain where the grand old party has to stage a comeback if it wishes to play a major role after the elections. Unless the party has a yet-undisclosed Plan B, Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad would dampen spirits of even the cadre in other Hindi-speaking states besides Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi dropped a veiled hint that she may well enter the electoral fray, and that too from Varanasi. But this has to be first announced, and only subsequently can it be assessed if the move will have a major impact in shoring up the Congress' fortunes. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi after she avoided visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine during her Ayodhya trip Noida: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Sunday hit out at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after she avoided visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine during her Ayodhya trip recently, terming it an "insult" for Hindus and asking the party to clarify its stand. Addressing an election rally here in support of BJP candidate and Union minister Mahesh Sharma, Adityanath said the country and the world see Ayodhya as Ram Janmbhoomi and there is no dispute on it after the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement on it. "When she was asked as to why she did not visit the Ram Janmnbhoomi, she said it was a disputed site hence she did not go there. Vadra's remark on the Ayodhya site is an insult to any Hindu living in any part of the world," the monk-turned-politician declared to the gathering. "Brothers and sisters, there can be no bigger insult for us. Last time they (Congress) had won 44 seats, this time they will get only four seats and get finished," he added. Priyanka Gandhi visited Ayodhya on 29 March and offered prayers at the popular Hanuman Garhi temple there but kept away from the Ram Lalla shrine. Adityanath said, "I want to ask you (Priyanka Gandhi) that you did not go to the site thinking that people from a particular community would get angry? You went to Ram bhakt Hanuman's temple. You made a controversial statement about the Ram Janmbhoomi." The chief minister also referred to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra, saying they are "out on bail". "You must clarify this. You make controversial statements when you have three people in your home who are out on bail. Why making such unnecessary controversial statements? Congress must clarify its stance," he said. He alleged that the Congress was behind the delay in the verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, saying a battery of lawyers belonging to the party argue for deferring the matter every time the Supreme Court takes it up. "The Congress, SP and the BSP, they all are the biggest hurdles in getting this matter resolved. We don't consider it a disputed site. These people deliberately play with your sentiments," he told the gathering. Adityanath also accused the Congress and its allies of coining the phrase "Hindu terrorism" in the wake of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that had killed 68, mostly Muslims, and said Hindus have been known for peace but the party had "linked them to terror". He also alleged that the previous Congress-led government at the Centre wanted the Ram Setu also destroyed. "In 2019, we have to decide the roadmap ahead. Should those encouraging and revering terror be elected or (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, who has worked for security, prosperity and happiness, be reelected?" he asked. He described the Congress as a "burden" on the country. "Sometimes I think Rahul Gandhi ji has risen to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi's dream. Gandhiji had said the Congress should be dissolved after independence, but its leaders of the day did not listen to him. Now it appears that Rahulji has come to fulfil that dream of Gandhi ji. " Similar is the situation for the SP-BSP in the state, Adityanath said, adding the "alliance of corruption" has failed completely. "They are scared even to step out for campaigning. What are the issues they want to take to the people? What achievements they have to show to the people, especially in western UP?" he added. He said BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav had considered Noida and Greater Noida a "jinx" and avoided visiting there as chief ministers ignoring the development of the region. "I have broken that myth. The BJP breaks all myths," he said, citing his multiple visits to the region for several development projects. The UP chief minister also trained guns at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, claiming he was the "biggest hurdle" in development of the national capital. Referring to Uttar Pradesh bagging the project to build an international airport at Jewar here, Adityanath said Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were also interested in getting it. He credited Sharma for it. "I think it is also about how good your elected representatives are... Delhi CM himself is the biggest obstacle in Delhi's development. He has become a problem unto himself... Whenever the central government plans a development project for Delhi, he goes on a dharna," Adityanath said. Gautam Buddh Nagar goes to polls on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phase elections. tech2 News Staff Motorola's upcoming Android One smartphone, touted to be called the One Vision, has been doing the internet round off late and now there's more evidence to suggest that it may launch very soon. While the major talking point about the phone has been its leaked specifications so far, the phone has now been spotted listed on Googles ARCore website. Spotted first by MySmartprice, this may be seen as a key indicator of its imminent launch. The Motorola One Vision is rumoured to launch as Motorola P40 with a custom ZUI skin. Talking about the device, previous leaks suggest the One Vision will feature a glossy finish body with curved edges. On the front, we will be looking at a 6.2-inch display with a punch-hole and an aspect ratio of 21:9 (similar to the Sony Xperia 1). Interestingly, the phone could also be the first ever Motorola smartphone to feature a Samsung Exynos chipset. There have been reports which suggest that the One Vision will be powered by a 10 nm Exynos 9610 octa-core processor. The recently launched Samsung Galaxy A50 also came with the same Exynos chipset. In addition, the Motorola One Vision is tipped to run Android 9.0 Pie OS and also feature a 48 MP primary rear-facing camera, supported by a 5 MP depth sensor. The phone will likely come in 3 GB/4 GB RAM variants with either 32 GB/64 GB or 128 GB of internal storage. It is also expected to feature a 3,500 mAh battery. The Motorola One Vision, in addition to China, is speculated to release in other international markets including India, Brasil and Latin America. When? Well, we don't know that yet. By Julio-Cesar Chavez EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Workers and students who frequently cross the U.S. border with Mexico worried over the weekend about the impact on their lives if President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to shut entry points used by hundreds of thousands of people every day. By Julio-Cesar Chavez EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - Workers and students who frequently cross the U.S. border with Mexico worried over the weekend about the impact on their lives if President Donald Trump follows through on a threat to shut entry points used by hundreds of thousands of people every day. Faced with a surge of asylum seekers from Central American countries who travel through Mexico, Trump said on Friday that there was a "good likelihood" he would close the border this coming week if Mexico does not stop unauthorized immigrants from reaching the United States. Shutting the southern frontier completely would disrupt billions of dollars in trade and millions of legal border crossings, including those made by U.S. citizen Andrea Torres. The 22-year-old student spends weekdays with her aunt in El Paso, where she attends the local campus of the University of Texas, and weekends with her mother in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. On the border bridge linking the two cities, so many students cross every day that authorities have assigned them their own pedestrian lane. "Right now, it's better for me to stay in El Paso because I need to finish school," Torres, who is studying art history, said on Friday as she headed to Juarez for the weekend. That would mean missing her mom. "It would be really hard," Torres said. "I'm really close to her." Gerardo Pozas, a 38-year-old mechanic, moved to El Paso from Juarez in 1997 to attend high school and later became a U.S. citizen. He has always retained strong ties with his birthplace. He worried what he would do if Trump closed the border. "My family, my church and my girlfriend are (in Juarez). I wouldn't be able to go," Pozas said. "But if I stay there, in Ciudad Juarez, I wouldn't be able to come to my house." Department of Homeland Security officials had already warned traffic with Mexico could slow as the agency shifts personnel from ports of entry to help process asylum seekers. Delays were already being felt on Friday, with waiting times longer than usual on the Mexican side of the crossing between Juarez and El Paso, and hours-long lines for trucks carrying goods from Mexican factories into the United States. Trade between the United States and its third-largest trading partner totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the border during his two years in office but has not followed through. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. On Friday its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country does not act on the basis of threats. (Additional reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez and Julia Love in Mexico City; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and James Dalgleish) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. CHALLHUAHUACHO, Peru (Reuters) - The recently-freed leader of an indigenous community that has cut off access to a major copper mine in Peru said on Saturday that he was open to talks with the government, the first sign of a potential breakthrough in a dispute that has halted the mine's exports. Gregorio Rojas, the president of the Quechua-speaking community Fuerabamba, said by phone from Lima that he hoped to talk with government officials to negotiate an end to the community's blockades of roads used by Chinese miner MMG Ltd 'soon,' potentially within a week. Fuerabamba had initially sought compensation from MMG for using a road that crosses the community's farmland to transport copper to market from its Las Bambas mine. CHALLHUAHUACHO, Peru (Reuters) - The recently-freed leader of an indigenous community that has cut off access to a major copper mine in Peru said on Saturday that he was open to talks with the government, the first sign of a potential breakthrough in a dispute that has halted the mine's exports. Gregorio Rojas, the president of the Quechua-speaking community Fuerabamba, said by phone from Lima that he hoped to talk with government officials to negotiate an end to the community's blockades of roads used by Chinese miner MMG Ltd "soon," potentially within a week. Fuerabamba had initially sought compensation from MMG for using a road that crosses the community's farmland to transport copper to market from its Las Bambas mine. But the arrest of Rojas and three of the Fuerabamba's lawyers on charges they tried to extort MMG last week thwarted talks and triggered an outcry from local leaders in Peru's southern copper belt. Rojas was freed on Friday with no charges, while the lawyers remained in jail under investigation. Prime Minister Salvador del Solar said late on Friday that he hoped talks with Fuerabamba could be established now that the community has a valid representative. But protesters on Saturday continued to occupy an entry road to Las Bambas in the highland town of Challhuahuacho, demanding the community's three lawyers be released from jail as well. Rojas said he would not demand the lawyers be freed from jail before engaging in talks, but added that he would not immediately call for Fuerabamba protesters to end the road blockades either. "Villagers have their demands. I can't tell them what to do," Rojas said. "But hopefully with dialogue we can reach a solution to end the road blockades soon." It was unclear if the government would demand - as it did before the arrest of Rojas - that Fuerabamba end its road blockades before discussing the community's demands in-depth. The government of President Martin Vizcarra did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The blockades have put the mine, responsible for 2 percent of global copper output, on the verge of halting production, the company said on Friday. They have already cut off the mine's exports from Las Bambas, forcing it to declare force majeure. Rojas added that he was "worried" about the arrest late on Friday of Fuerabamba's vice president, who was accused of wounding two police officers while driving drunk. But Rojas said he thought the situation could be cleared up in talks with the government. (Reporting By Mitra Taj, Editing by Franklin Paul) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Sohail Mahmood was appointed as high commissioner to India in August 2017. He was serving as ambassador to Turkey when sent to India. Islamabad: Pakistan's High Commissioner to India and seasoned diplomat Sohail Mahmood will be the country's new foreign secretary, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced Sunday. Qureshi, while talking to reporters in Multan, said that the decision to appoint Mahmood as foreign secretary had been made following discussions with Prime Minister Imran Khan. "Sohail Mahmood is being appointed as new foreign secretary," he said. Incumbent Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua will retire on 16 April. It was so far not clear who will replace Mahmood in India. Qureshi said that he talked with Mahmood on the telephone on Saturday and congratulated him over his new appointment. "He is a seasoned diplomatEven now, after the Pulwama incident took place, he came to the headquarters for consultations and I benefited from his experience," Qureshi said. Qureshi expressed confidence that Mahmood would fulfil his responsibilities as foreign secretary. Mahmood was appointed as high commissioner to India in August 2017. He was serving as ambassador to Turkey when sent to India. He previously also served at Washington and New York in addition to other posting in his long career. Qureshi also thanked Janjua for her services. "She always handled things with courage, bravery, clarity, and with a smile," he said. By Philip Pullella and Ahmed Eljechtimi RABAT (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that problems of migration would never be resolved by physical barriers but instead required social justice and correcting the world's economic imbalances. Francis, starting a two-day visit to Morocco, also backed Moroccan King Mohammed VI's efforts to spread a moderate form of Islam that promotes inter-religious dialogue and rejects any form of terrorism or violence in God's name. In recent months, migration has again risen to the fore of national political debates in a number of North African and European countries and the United States By Philip Pullella and Ahmed Eljechtimi RABAT (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that problems of migration would never be resolved by physical barriers but instead required social justice and correcting the world's economic imbalances. Francis, starting a two-day visit to Morocco, also backed Moroccan King Mohammed VI's efforts to spread a moderate form of Islam that promotes inter-religious dialogue and rejects any form of terrorism or violence in God's name. In recent months, migration has again risen to the fore of national political debates in a number of North African and European countries and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump, has vowed to fulfil his campaign pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico and on Friday threatened to close the border next week if Mexico did not stop immigrants reaching the United States. "The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families," Francis said at the welcoming ceremony. "We know too that the consolidation of true peace comes through the pursuit of social justice, which is indispensable for correcting the economic imbalances and political unrest that have always had a major role in generating conflicts and threatening the whole of humanity," he said. Morocco has become a key departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe after crackdowns that closed or limited routes elsewhere. Italy's anti-immigrant interior minister has closed ports to rescue ships run by charity groups. Francis, who has made defence of migrants and refugees a key part of his preaching, said he was concerned about their "frequently grim fate" and receiving countries must acknowledge that migrants are forced to leave their homes because of poverty and political upheaval. From the airport to the city centre, Francis, 82, was driven in a white popemobile on a drizzly day as the 55-year-old king rode beside him standing in a separate vehicle, a vintage black 1969 open-top Mercedes 600 Pullman. At one point, a man rushed towards the king's car but was stopped and detained by guards as the motorcade continued along the street lined with bystanders. Police said he was a 17-year-old Moroccan who wanted to seek help from the king for his sick parents. After the arrival ceremony Francis and the king visited an institute the monarch founded in 2015 for the training of imams and male and female preachers of Islam. Morocco, which is nearly 100 percent Muslim, has marketed itself as an oasis of religious tolerance in a region torn by militancy. It has offered training to Muslim preachers from Africa and Europe on what it describes as moderate Islam. Francis, making the first papal visit to Morocco in 34 years, praised the monarch for providing "sound training to combat all forms of extremism, which so often lead to violence and terrorism, and which, in any event, constitute an offence against religion and against God himself". The king said learning was the only way to combat religious extremism. "To tackle radicalism, the solution is neither military no financial; that solution has but one name: education," the king said. "What all terrorists have in common is not religion, but rather ignorance of religion." (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Edmund Blair and Marie-Louise Gumuchian) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has clearly stated the purpose of the 'specialists' it has sent to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, dismissing U.S. concerns about their presence MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has clearly stated the purpose of the "specialists" it has sent to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, dismissing U.S. concerns about their presence. "The Russian side clearly stated the purpose of the arrival of its specialists to Caracas. This is not about any 'military contingents'," Zakharova said in a statement. "Thus, the speculations about the conduct of certain 'military operations' by Russia in Venezuela are absolutely groundless." Russia has said its "specialists" pose no threat to regional stability, brushing aside a call from the United States to remove all its military personnel from Venezuela. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Catherine Evans) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. It will now become much easier for both militaries to learn from each other in an institutionalised manner Pakistans deepening relationship with Russia has been a matter of intense strategic deliberations in New Delhi. This relationship is particularly underpinned by frequent summit-level interactions, growing military ties and strategic coordination for Afghan reconciliation. Now, Pakistan foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua has come up with a so-called seven-point roadmap for further strengthening ties between Pakistan and Russia, underlining what she felt Russias changing position on India-Pakistan military tension. She said shedding baggage of Cold War history, Pakistan and Russia have been brought into closer orbit of improved communication, better understanding and strategic coordination. While praising Russia for playing a positive role in de-escalation between India and Pakistan after military tensions flared up when India took punitive action against terrorist safe havens in Pakistans Balakot, she pointed out that in a sign of changed configuration of our relations Russia adopted a more nuanced policy for South Asia. During recent stand-off with India, Russia offered to mediate, which was welcomed by Pakistan. It is a well-known fact that India has been absolutely opposed to a third party mediation in its disputes with Pakistan, reasoning that any third party involvement would be tantamount to legitimising the use of terrorism by Pakistans security establishment for the past three decades. Pakistan has traditionally been perceived negatively in Russia due to its involvement in the Afghan conflict and support to various jihadist elements. On the other hand, India has been viewed as a friendly partner in Russia ever since Soviet times. But Janjua is correct in claiming that Russias position in relations between India and Pakistan has been undergoing a marked change for some time as alliances and partnerships involving major regional and international powers are in a state of constant flux. Pakistans continued deterioration of its relationship with America, coupled with consolidation of ties between India and the US is contributing to Islamabads closeness with Moscow. The points Janjua has discussed and therefore deserve special attention in New Delhi include deepening strategic understanding, increase in defense relations and Russias potential participation in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, what makes the study of Pakistan-Russia ties particularly interesting is that both seem to be learning from each other as far as the use of proxies against technologically and economically superior adversaries. It is often believed, and rightly so, that Pakistan has begun to learn a great deal from Russia on how to wage hybrid warfare via social media as Kremlin seems to have taken the art of information warfare and propaganda to an entirely new level. Having successfully implemented its information warfare strategy in the 2016 American presidential election, Russia has since been using similar tactics in various West European countries in an attempt to polarise the political atmosphere while increasing the trust deficit between governments and citizens. Pakistans deep state employed vastly similar information warfare tactics very skillfully after India carried out airstrikes in Balakot and also during the capture of an Indian pilot by Pakistani authorities. Concerted attempts were made to twist the political and social narrative in India through various social media platforms so that measures aimed at inflicting punishment against Pakistan becomes a challenge for Indias political leadership. However, the point that needs to be understood here is that Kremlin may also be learning from Pakistans strategic toolbox on how to carry out proxy warfare activities that are amenable to non-attribution and plausible deniability against America; Moscow is painfully aware that it is incapable of paying the consequences that it would encounter if it advances its interests by means of a full-fledged military encounter with Washington. A little background is in order: As failure of the Pakistani military in its wars in 1965 and 1971 prompted its megalomaniac rulers to conceive and implement a strategy of thousand cuts against India, this strategy effectively came to depend upon the use of proxies in both Afghanistan and Kashmir. In fact, the Russians were themselves victims of this proxy warfare during their decade-long occupation of Afghanistan when Pakistani military, with enthusiastic support from America and Saudi Arabia, armed, funded and trained the mujahideen against the Soviets in the anti-communist jihad. Later on, Pakistan used this hybrid strategy against India in Kashmir and elsewhere, which still shows no sign of abating. Thus, Pakistani security establishments major force multipliers over the past three decades are various terrorist groups focused on India, such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). This strategy essentially believes in the dictum of Pakistans former dictator General Zia-ul- Haq who once remarked that it was necessary for Pakistan to keep the pot boiling in conflict zones. This background can help us understand how the appeal of warfare on the cheap may have proved an irresistible strategic allure for Russian president Vladimir Putin in his countrys strategic competition with the United States. As Pakistans security establishment has successfully maneuvered to secure large amount of American dollars for its support in the global war on terror since 2001 without terminating its not-so-secret ties with terrorist organisations, the Russians seems to have become admirers of Pakistans talent in using proxies to fulfil its agenda. A bloody military encounter in Syria, which did not receive much attention in Indias strategic circles, may throw some light on the dangerous dimension of mutual learning processes between the generals in Rawalpindi and the Kremlin. According to some media accounts well as sources in American military, a firefight on 7 February, 2018, was one such incident which gives a considerable insight on how the Putin regime used proxies against the US in the Syrian war. As per a media report, a pro-government militia force loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad attempted to overpower American troops on the eastern side of the Euphrates River near Syrias city of Deir ez-Zor. The US military detected the advancing militia and reportedly confronted its Russian counterpart about the disturbing development. However, when Russia refused any such connection, the US troops went on to crush the attack successfully. Though there is dispute about the number of fighters killed, it is in the range of 300 to 500. Russia publicly refused any involvement in the above military encounter as it denied the presence of its citizens among the fighters. The Pentagon also decided not to confront Russia publicly and allowed the issue to fade from public memory as the immediate concern was to demonstrate unity of purpose in defeating the Islamic State. However, American military and intelligence officials are convinced that almost all the killed militia were actually Russian mercenaries along with their Russian-made T-72 tanks and other military vehicles. In informal discussions, they strongly believe that these mercenaries were most likely the members of the Wagner Group, which is considered extremely close to Putin and known for undertaking missions that Russian government does not want to be directly associated with. It is believed that group officially runs its operations out of Hong Kong as such businesses are not legal in Russia. It reportedly recruits from retired military personnel from Russia and some former Soviet republics primarily through word of mouth. These pro-Moscow mercenaries have reportedly fought alongside pro-Russian separatists in many parts of the conflict zones, including Eastern Ukraine. As per reports, the Wagner group has its members in Syria to seize oil and gas fields, and provide protection on behalf of the Assad regime. It would not be an exaggeration if the Wagner group is compared with the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, the LeT and the JeM, which are also carrying out objectives that their sponsoring State Pakistan cannot do publicly. American military sources also disclosed that when the bodies of Russian militia killed in the encounter with the US troops were returned to their homes, their families were silenced with cash and intimidation. Sounds familiar? In fact, this pattern of ensuring no media publicity closely resembles what Pakistans intelligence-jihadist combine has been doing when Pakistan-based, anti-India militants are killed in operations against Indian forces. As the Trump administration announced that Pakistani military participation in its premier training institutions would be discontinued, Moscow immediately sensed the opportunity and lost no time in signing a pact with Islamabad, welcoming Pakistani military personnel at top Russian military academies. This meant a total turnaround in Russias Pakistan policy as well as a new era of Pakistans military diplomacy. Moreover, the two countries have begun to conduct regular training exercises between their armed forces. Seen against the backdrop of Pakistani military personnel being trained in Russian military academies, it will now become much easier for both militaries to learn from each other in an institutionalised manner and perform better in hybrid warfare. TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian authorities have detained a U.N. official involved in monitoring an international arms embargo on Libya as part of an investigation by an anti-terrorism unit, state news agency TAP said on Saturday TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian authorities have detained a U.N. official involved in monitoring an international arms embargo on Libya as part of an investigation by an anti-terrorism unit, state news agency TAP said on Saturday. It was the first time Tunisia had confirmed the arrest of the official, Tunisian national Moncef Kartas, who a U.N. spokesman said on Friday had been detained earlier in the week at Tunis airport despite having diplomatic immunity. A spokesman for a Tunisian anti-terrorism judiciary unit told TAP the detained official had travelled in a private capacity on his Tunisian passport, meaning he was not entitled to diplomatic immunity and could be arrested. The U.N. spokesman had also called on Tunisia to clarify the reason for his arrest. Saturday's TAP report said it was linked to a probe by the special judiciary unit, but gave no further details. On Friday, the interior ministry said two unnamed Tunisians had been arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of spying. It did not say if Kartas was one of the two. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Mohamed Argoubi; Editing by Helen Popper) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. RTHK: North Korea hits out at embassy raid North Korea on Sunday described the February raid on its embassy in Madrid by a dissident group as a "grave terrorist attack" and urged an investigation into the perpetrators. A group of armed men burst into Pyongyang's Spanish embassy last month and roughed up employees before fleeing with documents and computers. The incident came just days before a high-stakes nuclear summit in Hanoi between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that ultimately failed to reach an accord. In its first official comment on the raid, North Korea suggested the possible involvement of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and called on Spanish authorities to bring the "terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice". "A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain," a spokesman for the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the North's official name. "We are following the rumours of all hues now in the air that FBI of the United States and the small fry of anti-DPRK 'body' were involved in the terror incident," it added. "We expect that the authorities concerned in Spain... carry out an investigation into the incident to the last in a responsible manner." An investigation into the raid is already underway in Madrid. On Wednesday, a Spanish court named Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang as leader of the group who contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault" with information related to the incident in the embassy. According to investigating judge Jose de la Mata, two of the assailants took the embassy's commercial attache to an underground room and urged him to defect, which he refused. Speculation over the identity and motive of the assailants has swirled in the media since the murky raid, with some suggesting links to the US Central Intelligence Agency and FBI. Hours after the court statement, the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) -- a dissident group believed to include high-profile North Korean defectors -- claimed responsibility for the raid. It said the raid had no links to the Hanoi summit -- which ended abruptly with no agreement -- and that no other governments were involved until after the event. "The organisation shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI in the United States, under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality," the CCD said in a statement posted on its website last week. The group -- which offers to assist people attempting to defect from North Korea -- emerged in 2017 when it posted an online video of the son of the North Korean leader's assassinated brother, saying it had guaranteed his safety. Last month the group declared itself a government-in-exile for the North called "Free Joseon", using an old name for Korea. The CCD has identified itself as a group of defectors around the world but it is still unclear who is behind the shadowy organisation -- although some speculate it has links to South Korea's spy agency. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The average dividend yield of stocks in the S&P 500 is less than 2%. Most investors would consider anything over 4% to be a high dividend yield. Some stocks, however, go well above and beyond that level. Two such ultra-high-yielders are midstream companies Tallgrass Energy (NYSE:TGE) and Oasis Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:OMP), which both currently yield more than 8%. While there's a bit more risk with those higher yields, they're compelling enough that income-seekers will want to at least put them on their watchlists. A monster yield with even bigger upside potential Tallgrass Energy currently yields an eye-catching 8.4%. The company supports that payout with very stable cash flow as customers pay fees backed by long-term contracts for capacity on its pipelines and other energy infrastructure assets. Last year, Tallgrass paid out about 80% of its cash flow in dividends, which is a comfortable level for a pipeline company. It reinvested the remaining cash into expansion projects, supplementing its funding needs with a solid balance sheet. Tallgrass Energy currently has several large-scale expansion projects in development, which position it to grow cash flow at a high rate over the next few years. The company is working on developing an integrated "wellhead-to-water" system to move oil produced in the Rockies to refineries and export facilities on the Louisiana coast. It has taken several steps over the past few months to make this vision a reality. Last fall, the company expanded its joint venture with Silver Creek Midstream to create a large-scale oil gathering pipeline system in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming to move oil from newly drilled wells to its regional hub in the state. It followed that up earlier this year by teaming up with energy infrastructure giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) to increase oil transportation capacity out of the Rockies region. This joint venture would combine new and existing pipelines to move more oil from its hub in Wyoming to Kinder Morgan's storage complex in Oklahoma. From there oil could flow on Tallgrass Energy's proposed Seahorse Pipeline to the coast of Louisiana where the company is developing the Plaquemines Liquids Terminal to export crude to global markets. It's an ambitious plan that could significantly increase Tallgrass Energy's cash flow in the coming years, which it could use to boost its already lucrative dividend. That upside potential makes it a compelling high-yield stock to watch. A high-yield with a high-octane growth rate Oasis Midstream Partners currently offers an even higher yield at 8.9%. The company also supports that payout with predictable cash flow from long-term contracts, primarily to support the operations of oil producer Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) in North Dakota's Bakken Shale. While the company paid out more than 80% of its cash flow last year via its ultra-high-yield distribution, that number should meaningfully improve this year. That's due in part to spending $250 million to buy additional midstream assets from Oasis Petroleum late last year, which will provide a meaningful boost to cash flow in 2019. Add that to the expectation for significant organic growth as additional volumes from Oasis and third-parties flow through its system, and Oasis Midstream believes its payout ratio could fall to as low as 50% this year even as it expects to increase its distribution by 20%. The company believes it can maintain that 20% annual distribution growth rate through at least the end of 2021, fueled by rising volumes from Oasis. One of the concerns, however, with Oasis Midstream is that it's relying heavily on one customer (Oasis Petroleum) and one region (the Bakken) to fuel growth. That makes it riskier than its more diversified peers. While the reward of a fast growing high yield distribution might be worth it for some income-seekers, others might want to put it on their watchlist until Oasis Midstream adds more third-party customers to its existing network and diversifies into another region such as the Permian Basin where Oasis also operates. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for Tallgrass Energy and Oasis Midstream Partners. Big-time yields to keep an eye on Both Tallgrass Energy and Oasis Midstream Partners offer enticing ultra-high-yielding dividends. However, with that extra reward comes some additional risk. That's why investors should consider watching them for a while, keeping a close eye on moves they make to reduce their risk profiles. I've been a Chipotle Mexican Grill ( CMG -0.07% ) fan and shareholder for nearly a decade. I love the company's food and the investor in me has long believed in the concept's growth potential. My bullishness caused me to hold on to all my stock throughout the food safety crisis. I even added to my position on the way down. While I still think long-term optimism is warranted, I have decided to sell some of my stock. Here's why. 1. Big catalysts are in the rearview mirror Chipotle's stock has been a rocket ship ever since Brian Niccol was brought in as the new CEO. Niccol has made some great moves in his first year in the corner office. He has brought back chorizo and permanently expanded the chain's vegan options. He struck up a delivery partnership with DoorDash and he has placed a needed renewed emphasis on digital channels. Niccol is also experimenting with drive-thru pickup options and finally launched a loyalty program. He even set a goal to reduce the company's food waste. Early signs show that these no-brainer moves appear to be working. Store-level traffic is heading in the right direction, albeit at a modest pace. Wall Street has significantly bid up the stock in response. The downside for investors is that the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. The company has already executed on its list of obvious changes that would drum up excitement for the business (except for adding breakfast). 2. Future optionality is gone A lot of my bullishness for Chipotle used to hinge on former CEO Steve Ells' belief that the company's model could be applied to other types of food. The company started a pizza chain called Pizzeria Locale, an Asian-cuisine chain called ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, and a burger joint called Tasty Made that all sought to play off Chipotle's strengths. I love it when a company is willing to make small bets like this. If they work, it can add another avenue of growth and drive years of outperformance. If they fail, it doesn't cost the company all that much. Unfortunately, Chipotle has admitted defeat on both ShopHouse and Tasty Made. Pizzeria Locale is still alive but the company shuttered five locations in 2018. It is unclear whether Chipotle will ever put the resources behind Pizzeria Locale to allow it to drive needle-moving growth. Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Chipotle Mexican Grill. 3. The price is right Chipotle's stock has been a monster winner over the past year. With shares currently hovering around $700, the stock is trading for 45 times next year's earnings estimates. I think that valuation is pricing in a lot of good news. I'm optimistic that the recovery will continue, but I'm not sure that it will happen at the pace that Wall Street currently expects. If the company slips up or has any other food safety issues, the share price could get hit hard. In other words, Chipotle stock just isn't as attractive to me at $700 in the same way that it was at just over $250 a little over a year ago. 4. Better places for the money Figuring out when to sell a stock is always hard. However, since Chipotle currently accounts for more than 4% of my portfolio and I've got other stocks that I'd like to buy, I think that trimming some of my position makes sense. Where am I going to reinvest my profits? Here are five stocks that I'd happily buy more of today: I'm still a bull I want to stress that I'm still optimistic about Chipotle's stock moving forward. I'm hopeful that the company's recent actions will continue to drive same-store sales growth and operating leverage that will lead to outsize gains on the bottom line. That's why my plan is to just trim my position, not exit it completely. So as soon as The Motley Fool's trading rules allow, I'll be selling off some of my Chipotle stock and will reinvest the proceeds elsewhere. The marijuana movement in North America has come an incredibly long way in a relatively short amount of time. Looking back to 1995, not a single U.S. state had given the green light to medical marijuana, medical cannabis was still illegal to our north and south, and a mere 25% of surveyed adults by Gallup favored legalizing recreational weed. The idea of legalizing adult-use marijuana in the U.S. would have probably been met with laughter, rather than serious debate. Today, 33 U.S. states have legalized medical cannabis, 10 of which also allow adult-use of the drug. Further, Canada is one of only two countries worldwide to have legalized recreational weed, while Mexico gave the OK to medical pot in June 2017. According to Gallup's October 2018 poll, an all-time record two out of three Americans wants to see marijuana legalized nationally. Marijuana's Schedule I classification is a buzzkill Yet in spite of this momentum, the federal government has stood firm on its classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug. As a Schedule I substance, cannabis is placed side by side with LSD and heroin as being entirely illicit, is not recognized as having any medical benefits, and is considered to be highly prone to abuse. Of course, this Schedule I classification has impacts that extend far beyond the drug's simply being illegal. For example, businesses that sell federally illicit controlled substances aren't allowed to take normal corporate income tax deductions per Section 280E of the U.S. tax code, save for cost of goods sold, which is often only a small percentage of sales. For profitable pot-based companies, this can lead to an effective tax rate of as high as 90%. With little leftover capital, it can be difficult for even the most successful weed-based companies to reorder product, expand, or hire new employees. Furthermore, U.S. businesses involved in the cannabis industry often have limited or no access to basic financial services. Even with some states adding lengthy protections for financial institutions, banks simply don't want anything to do with the weed industry, leaving marijuana companies reliant on cash, which is both a growth restrictor and a security risk. Recent surveys would appear to suggest that the American public wants change, and House Democrats might just give them what they want. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for the companies we cover. House Democrats aim to pass major cannabis reforms As reported by cannabis-focused online publication Marijuana Moment on Wednesday, March 27, the Democrat-controlled House Rules Committee, and the broader House, are expected to take up discussion and bring up legislation for vote within the next several weeks that would protect legal states from federal intervention. House Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), chair of the Rules Committee, had this to say in a recent interview on Boston Herald Radio (discussion on cannabis reform begins at the 15:32 mark): I can tell you in the House we will move on this issue [cannabis banking reform] in the next few weeks. It will come to the Rules Committee, which I'm the chair of, and we will guide it to the House floor for a vote. I think it will pass with an overwhelming vote -- Democrats and a lot of Republicans as well. The previous chair of the Rules Committee [Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)] blocked everything cannabis related, and we're in a new day. We need to make sure that our federal laws don't obstruct what states are doing, especially with regard to banking issues where everything is being done in cash. ... We need to make sure that the federal laws respect what the states are doing. [A]nd I think that there's bipartisan support in the Senate on this as well, and whether it's the Warren-Gardner bill or another configuration I would expect something would happen this year. I think if we have a strong bipartisan vote [in the House] that'll increase the pressure on the Senate to do something. Although McGovern's comments primarily revolve around getting cannabis businesses access to basic banking services, the broader implication of his stance and discussion with Boston Herald Radio suggest that House Democrats aim to draw a line in the sand whereby the federal government no longer imposes any controlled substance restrictions on states that have legalized marijuana. Easier said than done As much as this might seem like a turning point for cannabis in the United States, even something as simple as banking reforms that protect state-level banking laws concerning the cannabis industry could be tough to pass. The hurdles with marijuana reform break down into three categories. First, there's the problem that Republicans have a markedly more negative view of cannabis than Democrats and independents. Although Gallup's 2018 survey did show that a slight majority of self-identified Republicans now favor legalization, the Republican-controlled Senate has been pretty clear that cannabis reform isn't a priority. Previous attempts to attach banking reform legislation as a rider to a bill coming up for vote have been blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Thus, even with a bipartisan House vote, Senate Republicans may balk at the measure. Second, folks have to realize that marijuana, while popular among enthusiasts, isn't a polarizing enough issue among voters to merit change as of yet. An April 2018 poll from the independent Quinnipiac University asked respondents whether they would still vote for a political candidate who they had a lot in common with, but differed on their view of cannabis. All told, 82% said yes, with just one in eight respondents saying no. This suggests that politicians aren't in any real danger of losing their elected seats over taking a minority stance on cannabis. Third and finally, it's a money issue. If federal prohibition ends, Section 280E of the U.S. tax code would no longer apply. This would be fantastic news for cannabis companies operating in the United States, but it would actually reduce federal revenue by about $5 billion over the next 10 years. Essentially, not being able to charge a high effective tax rate, and thereby allowing normal corporate income tax deductions, would mean less taxable revenue collected by Washington. There's no doubt that the U.S. could easily become the most lucrative marijuana market in the world if the federal government stepped out of the way. I'm just not optimistic that we'll see that happen anytime soon. Only six marijuana stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). CannTrust Holdings (OTC:CNTTQ) is the newest addition to the NYSE, while Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR) was the first marijuana stock to list on the Big Board in December 2016. CannTrust has been the bigger winner of the two if you include the period its shares traded on Canadian stock exchanges before listing on the NYSE. However, if we only look at performance on the NYSE, Innovative Industrial Properties (IIP) has delivered a much stronger performance than CannTrust. But none of that matters in determining which of these two marijuana stocks is the better pick for investors now. What's important are the growth prospects for each company and how well the companies are positioned to capitalize on those opportunities. Here's how CannTrust and Innovative Industrial Properties compare on these key criteria. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for Innovative Industrial Properties and other companies we cover. The case for CannTrust CannTrust's primary focus right now is on the Canadian recreational marijuana market. This market could reach close to $5 billion annually by 2022, according to projections from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics. There's an even greater opportunity, though, in international medical cannabis markets, especially in Europe. Cannabis market research company Brightfield Group thinks that the European medical cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) markets should approach $10 billion by 2023. There are two keys to capturing significant shares in these markets: capacity and distribution channels. CannTrust appears to be in pretty good shape in both areas. The company's annualized production run rate is around 50,000 kilograms now that the phase 2 expansion of CannTrust's Perpetual Harvest Facility is completed. CannTrust CEO Peter Aceto said in the company's Q4 conference call that its phase 3 facility should boost annual production capacity to 100,000 kilograms by the second half of 2020. That could be just the start, though. CannTrust plans to grow cannabis outdoors on around 200 acres of land it has secured. Aceto projected that the company's outdoor expansion could add another 100,000 to 200,000 kilograms of cannabis in 2020. As for distribution channels, CannTrust has supply agreements for the recreational marijuana markets in nine Canadian provinces. The company partnered with Breakthru Beverage Group, a leading alcoholic beverage distributor in Canada, to distribute its recreational marijuana products. In addition, CannTrust is teaming up with National Access Cannabis, which plans to launch more than 200 retail cannabis stores across Canada. On the international front, CannTrust formed a joint venture with Stenocare to distribute medical cannabis products in Denmark. The company also is partnering with CannTrek to distribute medical cannabis products in Australia and owns a 19.8% stake in the Australia company. Aceto also said in CannTrust's conference call that the company is working with Canadian generic-drug maker Apotex to develop three products that will be distributed internationally. The case for Innovative Industrial Properties Innovative Industrial Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on developing and leasing medical cannabis properties in the United States. Thirty-three U.S. states have already legalized medical cannabis and more could be on the way. The U.S. medical cannabis market could top $8 billion by 2024, according to market researcher Global Markets Insight. Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics project that the total U.S. marijuana market, including both medical and recreational products, will exceed $23 billion by 2022. How can Innovative Industrial Properties capitalize on the U.S. opportunity? The company currently owns medical cannabis properties in 13 states. All of the properties are leased to medical cannabis operators. Several of the states in which IIP owns properties have fast-growing cannabis markets, including Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. The company's business model is to use the money it makes from leasing its current properties and reinvest into developing additional properties. IIP recently acquired new properties in California and Ohio. The company was able to immediately lease the properties. IIP continues to post strong revenue and earnings growth. As a REIT, IIP must distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders as dividends. It recently increased its dividend by 29%, with the yield now just over 2%. Better marijuana stock CannTrust and Innovative Industrial Properties have similar market caps. But CannTrust remains unprofitable while IIP has been consistently profitable for quite a while and pays a nice dividend to boot. In my view, Innovative Industrial Properties is the better pick because of its stronger financial position. I also like IIP's growth prospects with its "rinse-and-repeat" approach. The company should be able to continue to invest in new properties and quickly lease them out. There are risks for IIP, including the fact that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. However, I think the potential long-term returns for the stock outweigh the risks. The Pentagon's annual budget request is a shopping list featuring some of the most sophisticated, cutting-edge technologies available on the planet. But one item that stood out in this year's request was the military's embrace of a 1960s-era fighter jet that the Air Force said it intends to acquire in significant quantities in the years to come. The Air Force has proposed buying up to 80 Boeing (NYSE:BA) F-15 fighters at a total cost of nearly $8 billion over the next five years. The F-15 was developed by eventual Boeing acquisition target McDonnell Douglas in the late 1960s but has not been purchased by the U.S. military for nearly 20 years. To be clear, this is not just 1960s technology. Through the years, Boeing has continued to modernize the design; in 2015, it unveiled upgraded electronics and other improvements that the company says should keep the fighter relevant through 2040. But given the Pentagon's many options, the F-15 request is a surprise, especially since the Air Force also wants to keep the pace of buying the newer and more advanced Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) F-35 flat. There's a lot of palace intrigue surrounding the decision, and it's difficult to predict whether this request will eventually be funded by Congress. But some of the commentary about the decision by military officials provides valuable insight into the way the Pentagon operates, and it helps lay out the bull case for investing in defense stocks. Check out the latest earnings call transcripts for Lockheed Martin and other companies we cover. Finding the right tool for the job At face value, the F-15 decision came down to the Pentagon wanting to squeeze as much military might as possible from limited funding. The Pentagon's explanation, as contained in its budget acquisition summary, is that the F-35 and the smaller F-22 Raptor are too valuable and too expensive to operate against certain lesser threats. The purchase, according to the Pentagon report, "reflects the Department's strategy to layer capability to address different threat situations." The government is buying F-35s "to address advance technology aircraft being deployed by Russia and China," the report says. But to defeat lower-technology platforms, it wants to use older designs "which nominally have lower operating costs when compared to 5th generation combat jets such as the F-22 and the F-35." But if affordability is a key concern, an older Lockheed Martin model, the F-16, would seem to be a more logical choice. The F-16, introduced around the same time as the F-15, usually carries a cheaper per-plane cost. And because it is a single-engine model, it is less expensive to operate. Critics of the F-15 push, including the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have suggested the surprise request was influenced by Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who before joining the Pentagon worked at Boeing for 30 years. The Pentagon has vigorously denied those allegations, saying Shanahan is not a part of any procurement discussions involving Boeing. But the accusations have led military leaders to open up about the F-15 decision, and their comments should be of great interest to defense investors. It's all about the base The choice to go with the F-15 was strongly influenced by the Pentagon's desire to make sure at least two American companies continue to make fighter jets into the next decade, according to an unnamed senior Pentagon official who held a briefing with reporters last week. Lockheed Martin has won every major fighter competition held over the last two decades and is the lead contractor on both the F-35 and the F-22. It's not clear when there will be a new competition because the F-35 program is relatively young, and the government is not ready to commit to its replacement; plus, progress is being made with autonomous planes that could one day work with fighters. So the Pentagon is worried that when the time comes for another competition for a defense contract, Lockheed could be the only domestic candidate. The deliberation over the F-15 "turned into a conversation of, for the future of the Department of Defense, it's going to be good to have multiple providers in the tactical aircraft portfolio, and that's what led our way into the F-15X decision," the senior official reportedly said. Concerns about the industrial base are not just limited to fighter jets. The Navy, for example, has seen 14 defense-related new-construction shipyards close over the past 60 years, leaving the service reliant on just seven yards owned by four contractors. For some programs, like aircraft carriers, there is only one contractor, and for most major warships, the Navy must deal with a duopoly of Huntington Ingalls (NYSE:HII) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD). The service has identified preserving and building that industrial base as a priority and has suggested it will be a factor in future ship-buying decisions. Invest with confidence The good news for defense investors is that the Pentagon, in justifying the F-15 decision, has all but declared that it is department policy to backstop major defense contractors. There are risks to owning any stock, but if a contractor can avoid fraud and manufacture a competent product, the primary customer is willing to make sure there's at least enough incoming business to keep the operation strong. The bad news: In a world where everyone is a winner, it is harder to pinpoint the true outperformers. I favor Lockheed Martin based on the broad strength of its diverse portfolio, and General Dynamics on the hope that an underperforming commercial unit will soon soar again. But these stocks tend to ebb and flow relative to each other based on recent wins and what programs the Pentagon is emphasizing at the moment. It's still too soon to say how many, if any, F-15s the Air Force will eventually buy. Regardless of what Congress authorizes, a small shift in Pentagon spending on its own is no reason to buy Boeing or sell Lockheed Martin. But long-term holders of these companies and their peers should rest easy knowing that the government is committed to making sure none of them will run short of business anytime soon. Its a tragedy, but Im also proud to be a part of the Aurora response, and the takeaway for me after all of this is that the community came together, he said. It was traumatic for the individuals and the Pratt Company, but also for the rest of us. I was in Lincoln Elementary School when this happened, which is only about a half-mile away as the crow flies. But I also feel with the second-largest population in the state, things can happen here with that many people. While Barnett doesnt want to move, he said he has been looking for another location in Waukegan that will satisfy the city, he said. The restaurant recently celebrated two years at its current location, which Barnett said is a good one that hes invested in, emotionally and financially. The Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation (MDLF) is looking for Hoosier innovators and leaders for its 2019-20 Fellows Program. MDLF is a year-long program designed to help Fellows explore ways to positively impact the state, with a focus on education, health, culture and the economy. Monthly meetups and quarterly AimHigher speaker events will be held throughout the program as well as mentoring by community leaders within the MDLF network. Up to 20 Fellows will be chosen and notified by May 1. Application deadline is April 10. Applications are at www.MDLFIndiana.org. 27th March 2019 NASA ordered to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024 U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has ordered NASA to fly Americans to the Moon within five years, using government or private carriers. Credit: NASA The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Tuesday's announcement by Vice President Mike Pence at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council about putting American astronauts back on the Moon in the next five years: Today, I joined leaders from across the country as Vice President Mike Pence chaired the fifth meeting of the National Space Council. Vice President Pence lauded President Donald J. Trumps bold vision for space exploration and spoke to NASAs progress on key elements to accomplish the Presidents Space Policy Directives. Among the many topics discussed during our meeting at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was to accelerate our return to the Moon: NASA is charged to get American astronauts to the Moon in the next five years. We are tasked with landing on the Moons South Pole by 2024. Stay on schedule for flying Exploration Mission-1 with Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket next year, and for sending the first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity by 2022. NASA will continue to use all means necessary to ensure mission success in moving us forward to the Moon. It is the right time for this challenge, and I assured the Vice President that we, the people of NASA, are up to the challenge. We will take action in the days and weeks ahead to accomplish these goals. We have laid out a clear plan for NASAs exploration campaign that cuts across three strategic areas: low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars and deeper into space. Space Launch System's Block 1 configuration, which is the version scheduled to fly on the rocket's first mission, designated Exploration Mission-1. Credit: NASA I have already directed a new alignment within NASA to ensure we effectively support this effort, which includes establishing a new mission directorate to focus on the formulation and execution of exploration development activities. We are calling it the Moon to Mars Mission Directorate. Earlier today I was also at Marshall Space Flight Center for an all-hands to reinforce our commitment to SLS with the workforce. We discussed my recent announcement that NASA would consider all options to fly Orion around the Moon on schedule. I shared the analysis we conducted to assess flying the Orion on different commercial options. While some of these alternative vehicles could work, none was capable of achieving our goals to orbit around the Moon for Exploration Mission-1 within our timeline and on budget. The results of this two-week study reaffirmed our commitment to the SLS. More details will be released in the future. Theres a lot of excitement about our plans and also a lot of hard work and challenges ahead, but I know the NASA workforce and our partners are up to it. We are now looking at creative approaches to advance SLS manufacturing and testing to ensure Exploration Mission-1 launches in 2020. We will work to ensure we have a safe and reliable launch system that keeps its promise to the American people. I know NASA is ready for the challenge of moving forward to the Moon, this time to stay. Credit: NASA Comments Galveston, TX (77553) Today Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 71F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Areas of patchy fog. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. China will conduct a random inspection among provincial regions that are prone to illegal steel production activities this year, an official said Saturday. The move will be part of the country's efforts to maintain high pressure on overcapacity in the sector, said Lyu Guixin, an inspector with the raw material department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Methods such as satellite remote sensing and electricity use monitoring will be used to check unwanted steel production, he said at an industry forum. As a result of slashed capacity in the past years, the steel market has recovered and rendered high profits for producers, prompting some companies to attempt to expand their capacity, according to Lyu. China's steel industry reported profits of 470.4 billion yuan (around 70 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, surging 39.3 percent year on year, while crude steel output grew 6.6 percent to 928.26 million tons, a record high, official data showed. Lyu said whether the government ban on new capacity can be strictly enforced is key to consolidating the achievements of the supply-side structural reform in the steel sector. The country fulfilled its goal of reducing the steel industry's capacity by 100 million-150 million tonnes from 2016 to 2020 ahead of schedule. By the end of 2017, steel overcapacity had already been slashed by over 115 million tonnes. What goes on off the coast of the Western Cape in South Africa? Since the beginning of May 2017, great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) began to wash up on the beaches of the Gansbaai Harbour. These specimens all had one thing in common: they were found partially eaten and most notably without their liver. The latest shark to have washed up was just this summer. According to the team from the Dyer Island Conservation Trust who examined the animal, it was a male measuring 4.1 meters long. The autopsy revealed that its liver, as well as its testicles and stomach, were missing. The carcass may be a few days old but it seems relatively fresh and bled out massively, explained DICT biologist Alison Towner on the Marine Dynamics Blog, a society that provides a shark cage diving experience. The Gansbaai harbour is a reputable destination for this due to its large shark population. No one was around during the last moments of the four sharks that were discovered dead, but the wounds on their bodies suggest that the culprit was orcas (Orcinus orca). These animals are known for being dangerous predators and although great whites are not their usual prey, its not unprecedented. Like great white sharks, orcas live just of the west coast of South Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Although Andrew Nosal, a specialist at Saint Katherine College in San Marcos (California), interviewed by LiveScience, has never heard of a shark being attacked by Orcas in this area, he does know that it happens in other regions. In 2014 for example, a group of Orcas was filmed violently attacking a tiger shark. These marine animals are also known for hunting smaller sharks like the broad nose seven-gill shark, whose livers they often eat which isnt just a random organ. Big and fatty Sharks have a relatively large liver. As Andrew Nosal explains Bony fishes have a swim bladder that they can fill with gases and those gases provide buoyancy for the fish. Sharks do not have a swim bladder. Instead, they have a very large liver. Meaning this, therefore, is organ that allows the sharks to float. In addition to being rich in fats, a sharks liver is very energy- and nutrient-rich. So its not surprising that killer whales attack them. They have a high metabolism, and they have a lot of nutrient needs, and so those fats might really help them out, added Nosal. According to the Marine Dynamics Blog, a pair of orcas was effectively spotted off the coast of Danger Point during the morning of the day where the fourth shark washed up in the harbour. Similarly, there were no great white sharks spotted underwater during all the dives that were done that same day. The question now is whether the killer whales are really behind the shark's death. Killed or just eaten? With no witnesses or video proof, it is difficult to know if the orcas had actually killed the sharks before eating them or if they had just attacked sharks that were already injured or even dead. However, Andrew Nosal dismisses the theory that great whites may have been involved in a boat collision. These sharks are certainly common at the surface, and so a boat strike is possible, he told LiveScience. However, because three sharks washed up around the same time, three boat strikes are unlikely. Beijing Municipality has set up an investment fund worth billions of dollars for developing its sub-center of Tongzhou District, according to the fund's major investor. Beijing Investment Group Co. Ltd. (BIG), a cornerstone investor of the fund, said the fund is going to reach no less than 100 billion yuan (14.88 billion U.S. dollars). BIG said it raised 14.41 billion yuan during the first round, which is 44 percent more than planned. The fund will be used in fields including environmental protection, smart city construction, underground space development, infrastructure and high-end industries in the sub-center, according to Li Changli, chairman of BIG. Beijing is shifting some of its administrative functions out of the city center into Tongzhou to help address problems including traffic congestion and air pollution. Sitting in the east of the capital, the sub-center aims to accommodate 1.3 million permanent residents by 2035. NEW ORLEANS, March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits: Astec Industries, Inc. (ASTE) Class Period: 7/26/2016 - 10/22/2018 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 2, 2019 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-aste/ . Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (MHLD) Class Period: 3/4/2014 - 11/9/2018 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 12, 2019 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-mhld/ . Conagra Brands, Inc. (CAG) Class Period: 6/27/2018 - 12/19/2018; shares issued either in or after the October 2018 public offering. Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 23, 2019 SECURITIES FRAUD, MISLEADING PROSPECTUS To learn more, visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-cag/ . CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) Class Period: 5/10/2018 - 3/4/2019 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: May 6, 2019 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-ctl/ . If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner, Lewis Kahn, toll-free at 1-877-515-1850, via email (Lewis.Kahn@KSFcounsel.com), or via the case links above. If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, whose partners include the former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com . Contact: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com 1-877-515-1850 1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200 New Orleans, LA 70163 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX: SGQ, HK: 1878) (SouthGobi or the Company) announces that, further to its press release dated December 15, 2018, the special committee of independent non-executive directors of the Company (the Special Committee) has concluded its formal internal investigation (the Formal Investigation) into the past conduct engaged in by former senior executive officers and employees of the Company (the Former Management and Employees) which raised suspicions of serious fraud, misappropriation of Company assets and other criminals acts by the Former Management and Employees (the Suspicious Transactions). The Special Committee has delivered a final report summarizing its key findings to the board of directors of the Company (the Board), which was adopted and approved at a meeting held on March 30, 2019. A summary of the actions taken by the Company and the Special Committee to date with respect to the Suspicious Transactions, as well as the material findings of the Special Committee in respect of the Suspicious Transactions that were investigated pursuant to the Formal Investigation, is set forth below. Actions taken by the Company and the Special Committee to date To date, the Company and the Special Committee have completed the following actions to address the issues and concerns raised by the Suspicious Transactions: the Company expanded the mandate of the Special Committee to conduct a formal investigation into the conduct of the Suspicious Transactions, the implicated Former Management and Employees, and their impact, if any, on the business and affairs of the Company. The Formal Investigation concentrated on the following areas of focus (the Areas of Focus): (i) the arrangements of the Suspicious Transactions; (ii) the relationships between the Former Management and Employees and certain coal trading and transportation companies; (iii) any unidentified questionable transactions relating to the Former Management and Employees; and (iv) the potential impact of (i), (ii) and (iii) on the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries; during the course of the Formal Investigation, certain incomplete accounting/operational records of one of the Companies Under Investigation (as defined below) (Company A) were identified in Company employee computers. As a result, the Special Committee expanded the scope of the Area of Focus of the Formal Investigation to include: (i) a fund flow analysis of Company A; and (ii) a price analysis of the difference between Company As purchase prices from the Company and selling prices to downstream customers; the Company filed a report with local police authorities in China in respect of certain of the Suspicious Transactions; the Special Committee engaged Ernst & Young (China) Advisory Limited (the Forensic Accountant), as forensic investigators, to oversee the forensic investigation. The Special Committee also engaged Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes), as independent Canadian legal counsel, and Zhong Lun Law Firm (Zhong Lun), as independent Chinese legal counsel, to assist in the Formal Investigation; Blakes and Zhong Lun conducted a review of the Companys applicable policies and procedures from the perspectives of both Canadian and PRC law; the Forensic Accountant submitted to the Special Committee a final investigation report on March 26, 2019; and as disclosed above, the Special Committee concluded the Formal Investigation and has delivered a final report summarizing its key findings to the Board, which was adopted and approved at a meeting held on March 30, 2019. Material findings of the Formal Investigation Based on the Areas of Focus, the Special Committee examined and made findings in respect of a number of matters in connection with the Formal Investigation, including the following: (i) allegations that Mr. Aminbuhe, the Companys former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, controlled certain companies with which the Company had business dealings; (ii) uncollectable receivables from certain former customers and suppliers of the Company; (iii) the impact of the lawsuit filed by Jiayuguan Xiyuan Trading Co., Ltd. (Xiyuan); and (iv) allegations of misconduct by the Former Management and Employees, including: (I) the grant of a RMB5 million loan; (II) embezzlement of bank acceptance bills of RMB12 million; (III) endorsement of commercial acceptance bills of RMB71 million which were not supported by genuine commercial transactions; (IV) prepayments of RMB8.5 million for coal transportation services which were never received by the Company; and (V) prepayment of RMB16.4 million for coal transportation services which were never received by the Company. Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Special Committee has concluded that four matters examined in connection with the Formal Investigation, having an aggregate value of approximately RMB41 million, involved improper conduct, fraud or misappropriation of assets (the Fraudulent Transactions) and that one matter examined in connection with the Formal Investigation, having an aggregate value of approximately RMB71 million, involved an accounting reclassification error. From an accounting perspective, the Company does not anticipate that the Fraudulent Transactions will have any impact on its financial statements (the Financial Statements) in the future as the Company has already recorded the appropriate provisions in the Financial Statements as at December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 and for the years then ended. Based on the key findings of and information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Company has considered the resulting financial impact on the Financial Statements and determined that a restatement of prior period financial information is required. The restatements reflect the impact of the Fraudulent Transactions as well as the reclassification of certain balances of assets in the prior years. In particular, certain prepaid contracts recognized in 2016 were fictitious as the services were never to be received by the Company and accordingly no assets should have been recognized. Further, in 2016 there was embezzlement of bank acceptances. Consequently, in these financial statements there is no impairment related to these assets to be recorded in 2017. The net effect was an increase in the net comprehensive loss of 2016 of $4.8 million and decrease of the net comprehensive loss of $2.1 million in 2017. A summary of the requisite adjustments on the Financial Statements for the years ended 2016 and 2017 is set forth in the table below. Summary of Adjustments (in millions of USD$) Year ended December 31, 2016 Year ended December 31, 2017 Statement of Comprehensive Income Increase / (Decrease) of Net Comprehensive Loss before Tax 4.8 (2.1 ) Statement of Financial Position (Decrease) of Total Assets (4.8 ) (7.1 ) (Decrease) of Total Liabilities - (4.4 ) Increase of Deficiency in Assets 4.8 2.7 A summary of the material findings of the Special Committee in respect of the Suspicious Transactions that were investigated pursuant to the Formal Investigation is as follows: (i) Companies allegedly controlled by the Companys former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer In December 2018, the Company learned of allegations that Mr. Aminbuhe, the Companys former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, controlled five different companies, four of which had business dealings with the Company (the Companies Under Investigation). While no written or definitive evidence supports the conclusion that Mr. Aminbuhe controlled the Companies Under Investigation, information obtained from the Formal Investigation prevents the Special Committee from dismissing this allegation entirely. Moreover, as set out in greater detail below, numerous transactions between the Company and the Companies Under Investigation were noted and have given rise to uncollectable receivables, further calling into question whether the Companys affairs were structured by parties internal to the Company in such a way as to advance the interests of Mr. Aminbuhe (through such companies). Given the Forensic Accountants extensive investigation into this issue as well as the potentially elusive nature of any linkages with Mr. Aminbuhe, the Special Committee has determined that further inquiry into this matter will not yield a more definitive conclusion. The accounting impact of the transactions between the Company and the Companies Under Investigation on the Company are discussed in further detail below in respect of uncollectable receivables; however, the Companys accounting records indicate that the Company has ceased business activities with the Companies Under Investigation since May 2018. The Special Committee believes this cessation of business activities with the Companies Under Investigation serves as a significant protection, which ensures that the best interests of the Company remain protected from such conflicts of interest. (ii) Uncollectable receivables As of June 30, 2018, the Company has determined that it had an aggregate of RMB149 million of uncollectable receivables (after accounting for the impact of the restatement relating to the RMB71 million of commercial acceptance bills described below) related to Company A, one of the other Companies Under Investigation (Company B) and six other coal trading companies (the Six Coal Trading Companies), of which Company A owed an aggregate net amount of RMB51 million and Company B owed an aggregate amount of RMB7.5 million. Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Special Committee did not find conclusive evidence that the Companys arrangements with Company A were contrary to Companys best interests, or that they were entered into partially or entirely with a view to benefitting Company A and its owners; however, the Special Committee has significant concerns regarding the fact that the net accounts receivable of a single customer (Company A) were allowed to reach a net aggregate of RMB51 million (after accounting for the impact of the restatement relating to the RMB71 million of commercial acceptance bills described below). As to Company B, the Special Committee has determined that prepayments made to Company B were made for the benefit of Mr. Aminbuhe and others (through a corporate vehicle) and has serious suspicions that the transactions with Company B were not structured with a view to the best interests of the Company. From the perspective of internal controls, the Special Committee concluded that the transactions involving Company A, Company B and the Six Coal Trading Companies did not always comply with the Companys internal control policies and procedures, giving rise to a need to further strengthen the Companys policies and adherence thereto. From an accounting perspective, the Company has decided to provide an allowance for the accounts receivable balances with Company A and the Six Coal Trading Companies; however, the Company has determined that these allowances do not require any restatement of the Financial Statements, as the write-offs have been accurately recorded in the Financial Statements for the years ended December 31, 2018. The uncollectable receivables owing from Company B, however, required an overall USD$1.1 million restatement to be made in the Financial Statements, comprised of a USD$0.7 million increase in the losses recorded on the 2016 income statement and a USD$0.4 million increase in the losses recorded on the 2017 income statement. (iii) Xiyuan lawsuit On September 13, 2018, Xiyuan filed a lawsuit against IMSGE in relation to a dispute over certain coal sales contracts. In the lawsuit, Xiyuan alleged a connection between Company A and the Company, specifically that Company A acted as the Companys representative in collecting prepayments from Xiyuan and one of the Six Coal Trading Companies, being an affiliate of Xiyuan. Xiyuan withdrew its legal action against IMSGE on January 24, 2019 owing to a lack of evidence. Given the withdrawal of the lawsuit (notably for lack of evidence), the Special Committee has concluded that the allegations raised in the Xiyuan lawsuit about a connection between Company A and the Company do not strengthen any suggestion that the Company and the Companies Under Investigation (such as Company A) were linked during Mr. Aminbuhes tenure or otherwise. The Special Committee takes the view that the allegations of a third party intending to further its own commercial interests should not materially impact the analysis of the relationship between Mr. Aminbuhe, the Companies Under Investigation and the Company. (iv) Alleged other misconduct by Former Management and Employees (I) Grant of RMB5 million loan The Companys accounting records indicate that, in February 2018, IMSGE advanced a loan in the aggregate amount of RMB5 million to Xiyuan. This RMB5 million loan has not been repaid by Xiyuan as of the date hereof. The Special Committee has determined that there was neither a loan agreement entered into between IMSGE and Xiyuan for this loan nor any clear business rationale supporting the loan, and that the loan does not appear to have been properly documented, in derogation of Company policy. The RMB5 million loan was written off in the Financial Statements for the third quarter of 2018. (II) Alleged embezzlement of bank acceptance bills of RMB12 million The Company learned of allegations that certain Former Management and Employees entered into a fraudulent coal transportation agreement in the amount of RMB12 million with one of the Six Coal Trading Companies (Company C), being a vendor of IMSGE. Specifically, it was alleged that, after an employee of IMSGE presented bank acceptance bills in the aggregate amount of RMB12 million to Company C as a form of prepayment for certain transportation services, such employee, under the instruction of two members of the Former Management and Employees, took back possession of these bank acceptance bills from Company C and discounted them for uses unrelated to the coal transportation agreement. Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Special Committee is of the view that it is reasonable to conclude that the prepayment to Company C was fraudulent and amounted to misconduct. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that local PRC law enforcement authorities appear to be pursuing this matter. The Company has determined that this prepayment recorded should be considered uncollectable from the time of occurrence and a restatement of the Financial Statements is required, comprised of a USD$1.8 million increase in the losses recorded on the 2016 income statement. (III) Endorsement of commercial acceptance bills of RMB71 million which are not supported by genuine commercial transactions Company A is alleged to have endorsed commercial acceptance bills in the aggregate amount of RMB71 million to IMSGE, purportedly for the settlement of certain trade payables owing by Company A to IMSGE. However, these commercial acceptance bills were ultimately rejected by the original issuer of the bills because these bills were not supported by any underlying coal trading transactions. The Special Committee acknowledges that the accounting treatment of these commercial acceptance bills was ultimately incorrect and will require a restatement of the Financial Statements, comprised of a USD$10.6 million decrease of notes receivables, a USD$5.3 million increase of trade and other receivables and a USD$5.6 million decrease of deferred revenue recorded on the 2017 balance sheet, as well as a USD$0.3 million decrease of finance costs recorded on the 2017 income statement. However, the Special Committee does not have sufficient information to conclude whether this business arrangement was an intentional falsification of records for nefarious purposes or a situation where a simple accounting error was made. By virtue of this situation, the endorsement of commercial acceptance bills will be reclassified to trade and other receivables as opposed to notes receivables. (IV) Prepayment of RMB8.5 million for coal transportation services which were never received by the Company In January 2017, IMSGE made prepayments totaling RMB8.5 million to one of the Companies Under Investigation (Company D) for certain coal transportation services. The Company learned of allegations that Company D has not provided these coal transportation services to IMSGE, nor has Company D refunded the amount of the prepayments to IMSGE. Company D is the sole shareholder of Company A. In December 2017, IMSGE signed tripartite agreements with the sole shareholder of one of the Six Coal Trading Companies (Company E) and another third party company which provided for an offset of the amounts owed by IMSGE to Company E and such third party company in the aggregate amount of RMB7.7 million against the prepayment of RMB8.5 million made to Company D. However, in July 2018, the parties were in disagreement about the arrangement and the counterparties to the tripartite agreements asked to be paid for the services they had provided to IMSGE, alleging that the tripartite agreements were fraudulent. Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation and advice from legal counsel in China, the Special Committee takes the view that the tripartite agreements are legally enforceable and that under the agreements IMSGE is entitled to offset the aggregate amount of RMB7.7 million against the trade payables which it owed to the counterparties and Company D is not obligated to repay such amount to IMSGE. As a result, the Company does not intend to settle the amounts to either of the counterparties as requested. (V) Prepayment of RMB16.4 million for coal transportation services which were never received by the Company Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Special Committee learned that the Company made a prepayment to another company (Company F) in the amount of RMB16.4 million allegedly for transportation services. The Forensic Accountant requested but was not able to obtain any records to suggest that transportation services have been rendered by Company F to the Company as of the date hereof. Based on the information obtained from the Formal Investigation, the Special Committee has concluded that the Companys financial records were inaccurate related to this matter, contrary to the best interests of the Company and to the benefit of parties other than the Company. A restatement of the Financial Statements was required as a result of this payment, comprised of a USD$2.4 million increase in the losses recorded on the 2016 income statement and a USD$2.5 million decrease in the losses recorded on the 2017 income statement. Remedial Actions Since the appointment of the new senior management team in June 2018, the Company has taken proactive steps to address the issues which gave rise to the Suspicious Transactions. The senior management team has been fully cooperative throughout the Formal Investigation process and is committed to making every effort to prevent any similar issues from arising in the future. The Special Committee, with the assistance of its professional advisors, is in the process of assessing the potential remedial actions and preventative measures available to the Company to address the issues which caused the trading suspension, which will include amendments to the Companys existing system of internal controls and risk management policies and procedures to improve and strengthen the Companys commitment to a culture of honesty, integrity and accountability and compliance with the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct, and such other actions as the Special Committee may consider necessary or appropriate to protect the Companys interests. Trading Resumption Plan Based on the key findings of and information obtained from the Formal Investigation and with the advice of its professional advisors, the Board has approved the principal actions, together with the related dates of completion or anticipated completion, set forth in the table below (collectively, the Resumption Plan) in order to address the issues which caused the trading suspension, re-comply with the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges listing rules and allow trading of the Companys common shares to resume trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange: Action Item Date of Completion or Anticipated Completion The Company completes a forensic investigation into the Suspicious Transactions The Forensic Accountant completed the forensic investigation and submitted its final investigation report to the Special Committee on March 26, 2019 The Special Committee concludes its formal investigation and, with the assistance of its professional advisors, completes its final report summarizing the key findings of the formal investigation and submits the same to the Board for consideration The Special Committee delivered its final report to the Board on March 27, 2019 The Board meets to consider and, if deemed appropriate, approve the Special Committees final report and the Resumption Plan The Board adopted and approved the Special Committees final report and the key findings set out therein on March 30, 2019 The Company announces the material findings of the Special Committee in respect of the Suspicious Transactions that were investigated pursuant to the Formal Investigation and the Resumption Plan The Company announced the material findings of the Special Committee in respect of the Suspicious Transactions and the Resumption Plan on March 30, 2019 The Company announces its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 The Company anticipates announcing its 2018 fiscal year results on March 31, 2019, which will address the financial impact of the Suspicious Transactions The Special Committee, with the assistance of its professional advisors, completes its assessment of the potential remedial actions and preventative measures available to the Company to address the issues which caused the trading suspension and prepares a report on its conclusions and recommendations for the Board. The Board considers the recommendations of the Special Committee and formalizes and approves a set of remedial actions and preventative measures The Special Committee expects to deliver its report and recommendations to the Board, and the Board anticipates that it will be in a position to approve specific remedial actions and preventative measures, on or before April 30, 2019 The Company applies to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange for trading in the Companys common shares to resume The Company anticipates submitting an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange as soon as practicable after the Board has formally approved a set of remedial actions and preventative measures The Company announces the remedial actions and preventative measures approved by the Board and the resumption of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange As soon as practicable after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange accepts the Companys application for trading resumption The Resumption Plan set forth above has been approved by the Board based on the information and advice received to date and may be subject to change. In accordance with Rule 13.24A of the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges listing rules, the Company will announce details of any material changes to the Resumption Plan (including any delays thereof) as and when necessary. Continued Suspension of Trading in the Shares Trading in the common shares of the Company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange has been suspended since December 17, 2018, and will remain suspended until further notice. Pursuant to Rule 6.01A(1) of the Listing Rules, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may cancel the listing of any securities that have been suspended from trading for a continuous period of 18 months. In the case of the Company, this 18-month period expires on June 16, 2020. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has advised that unless the Company (1) remedies the issues causing the trading suspension; (2) fully complies with the Listing Rules to the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges satisfaction; and (3) resumes trading of its common shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by June 16, 2020, the Listing Department of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will recommend that the Companys listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange be cancelled. Pursuant to Listing Rules 6.01 and 6.10, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange also has the right to impose a shorter specific remedial period, where appropriate. The Company will make additional announcements if and when there are further material developments in relation to the Resumption Plan, and, in any event, every three months until the Hong Kong Stock Exchange either permits resumption of trading in the Companys common shares or cancels the Companys listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (whichever is earlier). Forward-Looking Statements Certain information included in this news release that is not current or historical factual information constitutes forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, forward-looking statements), including information about timing with respect to the announcement of the Companys financial results for its 2018 fiscal year, the completion by the Special Committees assessment of the potential remedial actions and preventative measures available to the Company to address the issues which caused the trading suspension, approval of specific remedial actions and preventative measures by the Board, applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange for trading in the Companys common shares to resume and the resumption of trading of the Companys common shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, "could", "should", "seek", "likely", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions including, among other things, the Special Committees ability to its assessment of the potential remedial actions and preventative measures available to the Company in a timely manner, the Companys ability to satisfy the Hong Kong Stock Exchanges resumption guidance conditions, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange accepting the Companys application for trading resumption and other similar factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from what the Company currently expects. Actual results may vary from the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue importance on forward-looking statements, which speaks only as of the date of this disclosure, and not to rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it is under no obligation and does not undertake to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, further events or otherwise at any particular time, except as required by law. Additional information concerning factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those in such forward-looking statements is contained in the Companys filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and can be found under the Companys profile on SEDAR at (www.sedar.com). About SouthGobi SouthGobi, listed on the Toronto and Hong Kong stock exchanges, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi Region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China. English French MONTREAL, March 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today that new tentative collective agreements have been reached between Unifor Council 4000 and CN. Three collective agreements cover over 2,150 CN employees in Canada including all clerks and intermodal workers, excavator-operators, as well as conductors and locomotive engineers working on the SAR internal shortline in northern Alberta. A fourth agreement covers approximately 1,000 owner-operator truck drivers of Canadian National Transportation Limited (CNTL). These tentative agreements were reached prior to their expiration. I am very pleased to announce these tentative agreements, that were reached prior to their expiration, covering over 3,100 of our unionized team members in Canada, said JJ Ruest, president and chief executive officer CN. I look forward to the ratification of these agreements as we continue to negotiate longer term collective agreements with our union partners, securing labour stability for our customers, employees and shareholders. No details of the tentative agreements will be released publicly until the agreements are ratified. CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the companys website at www.cn.ca . Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States TORONTO, March 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aguia Resources Limited (ASX: AGR, TSXV: AGRL) (Aguia or Company) is pleased to announce that it has closed a private placement financing for gross proceeds of C$874,708.44. These funds were raised in connection with the issuance of 7,289,237 Ordinary Shares (the Ordinary Shares) via a non-brokered private placement to sophisticated and institutional investors at a price of C$0.12 per Ordinary Share (the Placement). The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Placement as follows: Ongoing exploration of the Rio Grande Copper prospects; Finalization of environmental permitting for the Tres Estradas phosphate deposit; Previously announced payments for acquisition of copper and phosphate properties; Strengthening the balance sheet; and Lease maintenance and general working capital purposes. Each Ordinary Share issued will rank equally with existing Ordinary Shares. All Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to the Placement are fully tradeable and listed on the ASX or TSX Venture Exchange. The Ordinary Shares issued in connection with the Placement that are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange will be subject to a 4 month hold period from the date of issue. The hold period does not apply to ASX Ordinary Shares. Closing of the Placement remains subject to customary closing conditions including, but not limited to, the final approval of securities regulatory authorities, the Australian Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange. The issue of the Ordinary Shares has been completed in accordance with the Companys existing placement capacity pursuant to the ASX Listing Rule 7.1. The Company expects that the new shares to be issued will be allotted on or before April 5, 2019. The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. In addition to the Placement, Aguia also announces that certain Directors and Officers of the Company (the Lenders) have agreed to provide non-interest bearing, unsecured loans to the Company totalling C$200,000 (the Loans). Aguia has the option to repay the Loans in cash or in Ordinary Shares of the Company. The Loans will mature at the earlier of the next meeting of Aguia Shareholders or December 31, 2019. Subject to receipt of shareholder approval at the Companys next Shareholder meeting, the Loans will be convertible to Ordinary Shares at a conversion price which will be the greater of i) C$0.12 or, ii) 5-day VWAP of Aguias shares at the date shareholder approval is obtained. Directors and Officers providing the loan include Managing Director Justin Reid, Executive Chairman Paul Pint, Chief Commercial Officer Catherine Stretch and VP Investor Relations Spyros Karellas. Proceeds from the loans will be used for general working capital purposes. Managing Director Justin Reid commented, We are very pleased with the outcome of this private placement. Due to strong demand, the shares being issued through the placement are priced at C$0.12 which represents a 50% premium to the closing price of AGRL on the TSX Venture Exchange prior to the launch of the private placement. Funds from the private placement will be used to realize key milestones over the next few months including finalisation of the environmental permit for Tres Estradas and advancing a potential spinout of our new Rio Grande copper discovery. In addition to the proceeds from the placement, members of senior management including myself will be providing additional funding to the Company through a loan facility which will be convertible to shares once shareholder approval has been obtained. 2019 is off to a great start for Aguia and we look forward to reporting back to shareholders on our progress over coming weeks and months. For fu r t h e r i nf o r m a t i o n , p l e a s e c o n t a c t : Spyros Karellas, Investor Relations North America E: spyros@pinnaclecapitalmarkets.ca T: +1 416-433-5696 Released through: Ben Jarvis, Six Degrees Investor Relations: +61 413 150 448 Follow Aguia on Twitter: @ Aguia_Resources A b o u t A gu ia : Aguia Resources Limited, (Aguia) is an ASX and TSX Venture listed company whose primary focus is on the exploration and development of mineral resource projects in Brazil. Aguia has an established and highly experienced in-country team based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil with corporate offices in Sydney, Australia. Aguias key projects are located in Rio Grande do Sul, a prime farming area which is 100% dependent on phosphate imports. The Rio Grande phosphate deposits exhibit high quality and low cost production characteristics, and are ideally located with proximity to road, rail, and port infrastructure. Aguias experienced management team has a proven track record of advancing high quality mining assets to production in Brazil. Cautionary Language: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and Australian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation; the use of proceeds of the Placement, the anticipated timetable, permitting, forecast financial information, bankable feasibility study and ability to finance the project, and the prospectivity of Aguias projects. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks inherent in the mining industry and risks described in the public disclosure of the Company which is available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com , on the ASX website at www.asx.com.au and on the Company's website at www.aguiaresouces.com.au. These risks should be considered carefully. Although 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. Persons reading this news release are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and 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. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, estimates, options, future events, results or otherwise and does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. NEITHER THE AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE, TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR THEIR 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. China is moving to promote a package of breast cancer prevention and treatment standards across the country, hoping to further prolong patients' survival time and narrow the diagnosis and treatment gap between urban and rural areas. A series of guidelines covering breast cancer screening, early diagnosis and treatment and rational drug use to follow-up treatment and management of concomitant diseases were released Saturday at an ongoing cancer and health conference jointly held by the National Cancer Center (NCC), Cancer Foundation of China, Beijing Breast Disease Society and other related institutions. Data released by the NCC in March 2018 showed that the mortality rate of breast cancer in China accounted for 16.5 percent of all cancers in females. As breast cancer continues to lay claim to top incidence rates both at home and abroad, its cure rate has been improving steadily in China, with the five-year survival rate reaching 83.2 percent between 2010 and 2014, up by 7.3 percent since 2000. As survival time has been significantly prolonged, more patients have entered a chronic disease period, according to the guidelines for breast cancer follow-up and overall management of concomitant diseases, the first situation of its kind in China, by the NCC. Common concomitant diseases of breast cancer include cardiovascular diseases, abnormal bone metabolism and depression. "Among elder patients, cardiovascular diseases have caused even more deaths than cancer itself," said Ma Fei, executive chairman of the conference and expert from the NCC. Under the dual effects of ovarian dysfunction and drugs, postmenopausal patients suffer a distinct drop in estrogen levels, which often results in an abnormal lipid amount in the blood and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, Ma explained. In addition, a large number of patients will continue to receive endocrine therapy for five to 10 years after cancer treatment, which is often accompanied by abnormal bone metabolism, osteoporosis and even fractures. The guidelines clearly require doctors, through interdisciplinary collaborations, to take into consideration a patient's blood lipid level and bone density before giving endocrine therapy. It also suggests that doctors intervene to help patients quit smoking and drinking alcohol as well as avoid tumbles and serious body impacts according to the evaluation of their overall health conditions. Xu Binghe, a professor at the NCC who has been focusing on breast cancer treatment for more than three decades, noted that the guidelines, by standardizing the follow-up visits and examinations, would bring the prevention of possible concomitant diseases earlier than before and extend health care to survivors over their entire lifetime. "It will certainly assist the patients in returning to their family and society in a better state," Xu said. Ma Fei regarded the guidelines as an important step to change the disease-centered diagnosis and treatment model into a patient-centered one. "The patients should not only live longer but also live well," he said. China issued the blueprint for health care development "Healthy China 2030" in 2016, aiming to raise the whole five-year cancer survival rate by 15 percentage points by 2030. As for breast cancer, the five-year survival rate varies a lot among different areas. The eastern coastal cities report a survival rate of 90 percent, roughly the same level as in developed Western countries, while the inland and rural area rates are lower at 70 to 80 percent. Moreover, the incidence of breast cancer in China is still growing by 3 to 4 percent annually, which is higher than the global average. "To further improve the cure rate of breast cancer in China, early diagnosis and treatment are very important. So far, no more than 20 percent of breast cancer cases are detected at an early stage, and less than 5 percent are found by screening," Ma said. China has started to promote free breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings among rural women since 2009. But how to select among different screening techniques, especially when targeting different age groups, there are yet no unified standards. The lack of screening professionals has also resulted in high rates of false or missed diagnosis. The NCC also released the guidelines for screening and early diagnosis and treatment at the conference, which defines the screening targets and methods as well as early diagnosis and treatment paths. While European and American countries recommend mammography as the major screening method, these guidelines suggest the best option for Chinese patients is to combine mammography with ultrasound examination. "We cannot just copy the international guidelines. For example, Western women usually have larger breasts with more fat, very suitable for mammography, but Chinese women often have smaller breasts with higher density, better for ultrasound equipment," Ma explained. "Covering healthy people and paying particular attention to high-risk groups, the guidelines will help increase early detection of breast cancer," he said. A consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of young patients who want to retain normal fertility was also issued during the conference. According to Ma, the peak incidence age of breast cancer in China is 10 to 15 years earlier than that in western countries, with many patients younger than 35 years old. Most of these patients do not give birth yet and desire to have babies. It is almost impossible for young patients to avoid chemotherapy, which usually contains cyclophosphamide (CTX) that is harmful to the reproductive system. The endocrine therapy is also likely to cause sterility due to its impact on the uterus and ovary, Ma said. A research reveals that although more than half of the patients in China are worried about the procreation problem, very few ask to adjust their treatment plans. The consensus suggests that young patients should all receive genetic counseling regardless of their family history and doctors think over the CTX adverse effects for young patients who desire pregnancy. "The consensus fills in the gap in helping protect the reproductive health of cancer patients and provides practical operational instructions for medical institutions at all levels, marking a new step toward establishing an overall management system for breast cancer in China," Ma said. The need for social services has reached an all-time high. This article takes a look at how the social good sector can learn from the private sectors adoption of technology and data to help serve the most critical needs of our communities. (TNS) - As spring flooding continued to wreak havoc across the Midwest, water isn't the only thing pouring in.Soon after the South Dakota Army National Guard spent three days delivering water on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, AT&T announced a $10,000 donation toward relief efforts there. Wells Fargo also announced a $325,000 donation to the American Red Cross to help with flood relief across the region.Families across the reservation have been left stranded in their homes, the roads and driveways impassable or homes surrounded by water. The Oglala Sioux Tribes emergency management team, along with help from volunteers and the Rapid City Fire Department, conducted swift water evacuations and delivered food and supplies to stranded families.Nonprofits like Salvation Army and American Red Cross mobilized to help, and private citizens coordinated efforts to help friends and neighbors, some even delivering supplies by boat or horseback to stranded residents.When flooding damaged a major waterline and left more than 8,000 residents on the reservation without water, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced on March 22 she was sending 13 members of the South Dakota Army National Guard to help deliver drinkable water.According to a news release from the South Dakota National Guard, within 24 hours, soldiers from the Watertown-based Company A, 139th Brigade Support Battalion, were providing water to people in Red Shirt, Manderson, Porcupine, Evergreen and Wounded Knee.By day two, the communities of Kyle and Sharps Corner also needed water.The soldiers deployed with five vehicles equipped with compatible water tank racks, or "hippos," which each can distribute up to 2,000 gallons of potable water. They distributed water from a central location in each community until the waterline was fixed on the third day. In those three days, soldiers distributed nearly 9,500 gallons of water, according to the release."A lot of the people are just so happy the Guard came to help us out with our water situation," Jim Miller, of Porcupine, said in the release. "A lot of the people here can't use their bathrooms, can't shower. Especially for our elderly and people who live off road. We are really grateful for the Guard coming and doing their part."Residents took in bottles, containers, coolers even water tanks. Lt. Col. Lew Weber, a South Dakota Army National Guard support operations officer, said soldiers filled up to 200-gallon tanks for people.He said many people picked up water for others who couldn't make it to the distribution points."We've seen neighbors helping neighbors, families helping families everyone is coming together," said Weber, of Rapid City. "We've seen people come here and take water out to people who can't get out of their homes themselves.""The emergency management people here are doing a fantastic job and they have been great to work with. We are just happy we can be an enabler to help them complete their mission," he said.Soldiers said the community appreciated the help, and were quick to collaborate."The community has been overwhelming with thank yous, 'we're glad you're here, and keep up the good work,'" Spc. Tracy Lennick, 139th water distribution specialist, of Rapid City. "It feels great to be down here. A remote location such as this is why I believe the Guard definitely has its place. They absolutely needed us. They called, we came."Private businesses want to help, too.AT&T said Thursday in a news release its $10,000 donation would go to the Salvation Army, Western Division to aid in its flooding and disaster relief efforts on the reservation.The company is also collecting donations of cleaning supplies for flood relief and restoration. Donations can be dropped at its locations in Rapid City (1325 Eglin St., Suite 200) or Spearfish (935 E. Colorado Blvd.) until April 3.Donated items, along with bottled water and food purchased by AT&T, will be delivered to the reservation.Salvation Army, Western Division officers, staff and volunteers have been springing into action this week across the divisions three-state geographical area, working alongside first responders and authorities to provide relief to victims of the widespread flooding in the region. To support flood relief efforts in this area, donate now.To donate to the Salvation Army's flood relief efforts, visit bit.ly/2JQl2l0.On Tuesday, Wells Fargo announced in a news release it would donate $325,000 to the American Red Cross, and another $75,000 will be distributed to local nonprofits to help with recovery efforts.The company also said customers hurt by flooding can contact Wells Fargo Customer Support at the number on their credit cards, debit cards or statements to discuss their options, or visit their nearest Wells Fargo branch.To support the American Red Cross relief efforts for Midwest tornadoes and floods, Wells Fargo customers may donate through Wells Fargo ATMs in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin through April 3. They can also donate any available Go Far Rewards through April 4.There is no fee for ATM donations, and 100 percent of contributions will be sent to the American Red Cross.Contact Candy DenOuden at candy.denouden@rapidcityjournal.com2019 Rapid City Journal, S.D.Visit Rapid City Journal, S.D. at http://www.rapidcityjournal.com Colorado water district hit with ransomware The Details: Feb. 11, employees of the Fort Collins Loveland Water District and South Fort Collins Sanitation District were locked out of technical and engineering data and drawings stored on their computers. This appears to be the second time in two years for the districts. The ransom demand and payment options were not disclosed, but district officials said they would not pay. Data was recovered approximately three weeks after attack without payment. The Bottom Line: Ransomware targeting ICS and utility organizations seems to be a growing trend over recent weeks and months. LockerGoga was used in the American chemical companies attack, mentioned in this Weekly Update, and the recent attack on Norwegian aluminum manufacturer Norsk Hydro. There is no indication that any of these attacks are intended for anything else other than financial gain, however, in the case of Norsk Hydro, industrial operations were affected. Small and medium-sized utilities like Fort Collins Loveland Water District are particularly vulnerable as manpower and resources can be a challenge. Dave Weinstein of ICS security firm Claroty, "Small mom-and-pop operators, I've visited a number of those sites. A lot of them are being held together by Scotch tape and bubble gum," Weinstein said. "It's pretty precarious." Five snow leopards were captured in rare video footage in Qilian Mountain National Park in northwest China's Qinghai Province, according to the park administration. The video clip was recorded in May 2018 on a monitoring camera used for an investigation on the species in the park and was only discovered by the park staff recently. "It is rare to see five snow leopards together in a video," said Han Qiang, an official with the park administration. Experts say the footage is proof that the leopards have formed a relatively stable population in the national park. The leopard investigation was launched in May 2017. A total of 735 cameras were set up in an area of around 4,000 square kilometers, and have captured 1,200 pictures and videos of snow leopards over a period of more than 600 days. Apart from snow leopards, researchers also found other rare wild animals including lynxes, manuls and Chinese mountain cats. China has been continuously strengthening wildlife protection efforts in recent years. The snow leopard is a class-A protected animal in China and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies it as endangered-to-vulnerable. The Qilian Mountain National Park, one of the pilot national parks, runs 50,200 square kilometers, including 34,400 square kilometers in Gansu Province and 15,800 square kilometers in Qinghai. One of the Connecticut priests accused of sexual abuse was also sentenced to prison for helping a teen build a pipe bomb. Father Paul Gotta, who pleaded guilty in 2016 on explosives and firearms charges, was one of the 36 priests the Archdiocese of Hartford named earlier this year as being credibly accused of abuse since 1953. Most of these accusations involved children. Gotta served in New Haven, Hamden, East Windsor and several other Connecticut towns, the Republican-American reported. He was a sacramental minister at Southern Connecticut State University and a part-time chaplain at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, among other positions in the Catholic church, according to the Republican-American. He was suspended from the priesthood in 2013 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor, according to the Associated Press. The arrest warrant accused Gotta of telling the teenage boy who did odd jobs at East Windsors St. Philip Church and St. Catherine Church that he would not get paid unless the boy stripped naked, according to the Journal Inquirer. Gotta also performed sexual acts on the teen and forced him to illegally purchase a gun, the outlet reported the arrest warrant as saying. The abuse occurred between January 2012 and February 2013. Gotta was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2017 after prosecutors said he helped a teen buy thousands of rounds of handgun ammunition and gave him two pounds of explosives powder, according to the Associated Press. The charges that Gotta sexually assaulted a minor were dropped as part of a deal where Gotta pleaded guilty to breach of peace and received no jail time. On April 5, 1841, two men on horseback galloped up at sunrise to Vice President John Tyler's home in Williamsburg, Virginia. They were there to deliver startling news: President William Henry Harrison had died of pneumonia after only a month in office. Tyler rushed to Washington, arriving at 4 a.m. the next day. At noon, Tyler was sworn in as Harrison's successor at Brown's Indian Queen Hotel. But was Tyler really the president? The 68-year-old Harrison, a military hero nicknamed "Old Tippecanoe" after one of his battles against the Indians, was the first commander-in-chief to die in office in U.S. history. Nobody was sure how succession was supposed to work. The Constitution stated that "in case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President." But it didn't say the vice president would become president. Many people believed Tyler was only the "acting president." One congressman proposed calling him "the Vice-President, on whom, by the death of the late President, the powers and duties of the office of President have devolved." The public gave Tyler another name: "His Accidency." The only reason the Whig Party had picked the former Virginia senator as Harrison's running mate in the 1840 election was to woo Southern voters. They ran on a ticket known as "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" - a slogan so catchy that it is still remembered 170 years later. Harrison lived in Ohio, though he grew up a few miles down the road from Tyler in Charles City County, Virginia, near Williamsburg. Nobody expected that Tyler, a 51-year-old slave owner, would ever become president, according to former president John Quincy Adams. Tyler, Adams said, was a man "with talents not above mediocrity, and a spirit incapable of expansion to the dimensions of the station on which he has been cast by the hand of Providence." Tyler, courtly but strong-minded, insisted he was president without reservation. At his first Cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Daniel Webster told Tyler that Harrison and Cabinet members had voted on decisions, and Harrison went with the majority. "I beg your pardon," Tyler politely responded. "I am the president, and I shall be responsible for my administration." That June, after vigorous debate, Congress confirmed that Tyler was president with the title and powers of the office. And his ascension to the Oval Office created what was known as the "Tyler Precedent," which would continue as the de facto law of the land for the next 125 years. President Tyler soon ran into big problems with the Whig-controlled Congress. As one observer noted, "There was more rhyme than reason" to the famous campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." Tyler had only recently switched to the Whig Party but didn't share many of its views. He vetoed so many bills that the Whigs kicked him out of their party, and his entire Cabinet resigned except for Webster. Whigs protested outside the White House and hanged Tyler in effigy. One Virginia congressman proposed impeaching the "acting" president. The move failed, thus avoiding another succession crisis since Tyler never had a vice president. Tyler briefly campaigned for another term as an independent in 1844 but dropped out. He left office in early 1845 after Democrat James K. Polk was elected. Tyler's main accomplishment was paving the way for the Republic of Texas to be annexed as a slave state in 1845. The town of Tyler, Texas, was named in his honor. Tyler and his young wife, Julia, moved their family to a slave plantation in Charles City County. Since the Whigs considered him to be an outlaw like Robin Hood, Tyler named the plantation Sherwood Forest. When the Civil War broke out, Tyler sided with the South. He was a member of the Confederate House of Representatives when he died at a Richmond hotel in 1862 at age 71. The New York Times obituary described Tyler as "the most unpopular public man that had ever held any office in the United States." But the "Tyler Precedent" lived on. When President Zachary Taylor died of food poisoning in 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore became president without controversy. The precedent was invoked six more times for presidents Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson. After President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Democratic Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana led an effort to amend the Constitution to clarify succession as well as how a president can be removed from office. Congress passed the 25th Amendment in 1965. After ratification by the states, the amendment came into play in 1973 when Richard Nixon resigned and Vice President Gerald Ford became president. The 25th Amendment codified the precedent for presidential succession that began in 1841. All because John Tyler insisted that he wouldn't be called anything else but "Mr. President." --- Shafer is a freelance writer in Williamsburg, Virginia, and author of "The Carnival Campaign. How The Rollicking 1840 Campaign of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Changed Presidential Elections Forever." Building on a highly successful 2018, Huawei came into the new year with a bang. Earlier this week the company officially unveiled its brand new P series flagships in Paris. The new phones offer refinements across the board compared to last years models and are yet again attempting to revolutionize mobile photography. As one of the forerunners in the race to 5G, Huawei surprisingly didnt announce any upcoming 5G devices during the event but we managed to get some insights on the companys approach going forward. Sure, the new P30 and P30 Pro are not the perfect smartphones for everyone but as an overall package they are arguably class-leading. Huawei has been polishing its flagships year over year and the P30 series devices offer the best hardware and feature in the manufacturers lineup yet. After the keynote, we joined other members of the media for a press meeting with Huawei's CEO Richard Yu to hear his thoughts on the P30 series cameras, the state of foldable phones, 5G deployment, AI functionality, and the competition. You put a lot of emphasis on the optical zoom capabilities of the new phones can you talk a bit more about it? Also, your selfie camera does not support autofocus, it's just fixed so can you talk a bit more about that? The new 5x zoom is very meaningful. If you want to take photos at a distance it's always handy. I think the zoom feature is definitely in strong demand and we are proud to introduce it to our flagships. As for the front camera, you usually take photos from a fixed position when your arm is extended so you dont need autofocus for that. It's more important to use the best sensor possible as we did. Our 32 MP sensor will help you take good photos even in low light and other difficult environments. It's not meaningful to include autofocus for the front camera. We care more about the real world consumers experience. Also if we had autofocus in the front camera, the notch would have to be larger and we did not want that as the design would be compromised. The P30 Pro does not have the option to record 4k at 60fps, what is the reason behind that? There are two main reasons for this. First of all the benefits of 4K can only be seen on a very large screen and it makes little sense to have it on your phone. Secondly, it takes up a lot of storage to record in 4K so you will quickly run out of space and that's a nightmare for consumers. We recommend users to leave the video recording resolution to FullHD, it's more than enough. Last year you showed us with the P20 series that your cameras are some of the best in mobile devices, do you still think it is necessary to compare yourselves so strongly with Apple and Samsung live on stage? Our camera is the best but [still] many people dont know that and that's why we had the comparison [on stage]. We want more people to know that if they want the best they should select Huawei. It's our confidence, so we can say we are the best. Yesterday Apple introduced its video streaming service, do you think that services and not products are the future of tech companies? Do you have any plans to introduce your own streaming service? I think its a good move for Apple, I think it's difficult for them to compete with us on the hardware front and of course services will bring in cash flow and revenue so it's a good choice. What Apple is doing is good and it's the right thing for them, of course, they will have to compete with Netflix and all the other video streaming services and it really depends how good they can compete with them. For us, we are not planning to compete in the streaming service sector outside of China. We have partnerships with video companies and we prefer to give the consumer a choice to select their own streaming service. I think that Apple is lacking in terms of product hardware innovation and that is why they are venturing into services. You also introduced the digital car key functionality, and for now, its an Audi exclusive, what are the next car brands we can expect to feature the key-less entry? Its a work in progress, well have BMW, Volkswagen, and all the other big companies. We hope it will be available soon on current generation cars but it depends if they support NFC. We are ready on our part and we hope with time all car models will be supported (at least middle-tier to high tier). Looking at foldable devices in general and the Mate X in particular, what market share do you see for foldable devices compared to other form factors (can you give us a percentage)? Well, currently, folding phones are just in the beginning and the market share is small, they cost a lot and it's very expensive to produce such devices. As times fly, the costs will reduce, I think in two years foldable phones will have a similar price to current flagship phones. Still some people will prefer normal smartphones and others will prefer foldable ones. Would you say half of your devices in a few years will be foldable? Its difficult to say, I think that on a flagship level in two years, half of our devices could be foldable. I really enjoy using the Mate X. I use it for work all the time, it's really useful having the larger screen when reading charts and graphs or just for browsing the web. Is the Mate X your primary phone right now? And in the future do you think youll have smaller foldable devices, maybe half the size of a regular phone? For sure, as I said I really enjoy using the Mate X for work, and the P30 Pro for everything else, especially the camera its really good. In the future we can make a foldable phone sized in half of this one [P30 Pro], we have plans for a smaller foldable phone. Is Huawei planning to add its own voice assistant at some point? So, for now, we have our voice assistant (Xiaoyi) for the Chinese market but we rely on Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa in other markets because of the ecosystem. In the future, we plan on adding our own voice assistant. For now, Google and Amazon are doing better than us outside of China and we should give the best experience to the consumers. Nobody doubts Huawei is one of the best manufacturers in terms of artificial intelligence, what's the next step in AI for mobile phones? What kind of AI capabilities will you introduce in new Huawei devices? I think AI is a general purpose feature, with our phones we provide this AI processing power to all app developers to support their ideas. For example, we have third party app developers creating apps for autonomous driving and for visually and hearing impaired people. We use AI to enhance the performance and photography of our phones. We are not trying to do everything by ourselves, we are trying to leverage out AI processing capabilities for app developers to bring amazing new features. We are trying to leave AI in the imagination of the developers while improving the performance of our phones. Switching over to 5G, the European Union decided not to ban Huawei from building 5G networks so when can we expect to see Huaweis first 5G devices in Europe? Of course, the US government is trying to limit us but we have the best 5G technology so the carriers still trust Huawei. Our 5G technology is far ahead of the others, maybe Im not being humble but I can say Huawei is at least one and a half years ahead of the closest competitor. I think everyone wants 5G so I have confidence that more and more carriers in more and more countries will choose Huaweis 5G solutions. Commercial 5G will be available in the middle of 2019, around May-June. Our first devices will be the foldable Mate X and the 5G variant of the Mate 20 X and they will begin shipping from June. This fall, alongside the leading carries, we will be able to see the global 5G launch specifically in China, South Korea, and some European countries. Nowadays every single company claims that they have a bezel-less smartphone but we can clearly see that most of them have thicker chins, do you have any solutions to this problem? If you take a look at the P30 you can already see the bottom bezel is really small. In fact, the P30 bottom bezel is even smaller than that of the P30 Pro. We can make the chin shorter but it wont be comfortable to use the phone that way. The reason why we havent completely removed the bottom bezel is because of accidental touches. If there was no chin, every time you swipe from the bottom there would be inadvertent presses and that's not convenient. What we are focusing and we believe is more important is to shrink the side bezels. There should definitely be some space on the bottom of the screen so that you can use your device more confidently. In the last year we have seen impressive growth of your Consumer Business Group, do you think you can repeat the growth rate this year? For sure! Our fiscal year is the same as the calendar year. In January and February, we have an even stronger growth compared to last year. Can you guess our growth speed this year's January and February? Our growth speed is already more than 50% compared to last year! Disclaimer: We attended a group interview with fellow media and industry analysts in the same room so not all the questions answered in the text came from GSMArena. Ever since the return of Nokia under HMD Global ownership in the beginning of 2017, everyones been asking where the proper flagship is. The Nokia 8 was sort of that, but it failed to impress, and then the Nokia 8 Sirocco missed the mark too, if it was even going for it at all. In comes the Nokia 9 PureView. PureView is more than a brand the moniker holds an iconic status among Nokia loyalists thanks to phones like the Nokia 808 and the Lumia 1020 that were unmatched in their camera prowess back in their days. The Nokia 9 PureView has big shoes to fill then, and it certainly packs a ton of hardware to try and do just that. As soon as we took the Nokia 9 out of its box, its the cameras that we stared for a good while. We wondered just how tough a decision it must have been to fit 5 modules with the same focal length when all the competitors are doing ultra wides and telephotos. Ah, but dynamic range must be awesome on the PureView and imagine how detailed of a depth map it can do for those blurry background shots, being able to see the same scene with all five cameras. Well see about all that as the review progresses and we get to take some samples and compare against rivals. We did get some initial impressions from the fingerprint reader, and its not looking good at first glance. Enrollment is slow, unlocking is picky, and theres the occasional bug that shows the homescreen for a few seconds, before asking for authentication. It could be us doing something wrong, so we wont read too much into it until we spend more time with the 9 PureView. The 6-inch OLED display did look pretty great right from the start showing some impressive brightness. Theres proper testing to be done there as well, but the good news is that its no Sirocco we have less than fond memories of that ones blue curved edges. One area of concern is battery life - the 3,320mAh power pack is looking smallish in 2019. Then again, its not a 2019 chipset that ticks inside the Nokia 9 PureView, its last years Snapdragon 845, which is the other bit thats makes us wonder if this is going to be another Sirocco. Well go into more detail on these and other topics in the full review, coming soon. PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- People from around Jackson County arrived to Beach Park in Pascagoula early Saturday morning to enjoy and participate in the annual heart walk hosted by the American Heart Association. The organizations goal is to raise awareness about issues concerning heart disease and strokes. Both are the #1 and #4 killers in the U.S., per the AHA. According to Laura Koury, Jackson County Heart Walk Director, Saturdays walk was a culmination of hard work, with a fulfilling result. We were thrilled with the turnout this year and are so grateful for great weather and great support from the community," Koury said. "Our chairs, Dr. Washington and Dr. Noblin, did a fantastic job along with the Executive Leadership Committee in building a great Heart Walk this year. We thank the leadership and the tremendous sponsors in the community who make this event the success it is. Its great to see so many people on the MS Gulf Coast who are embracing the healthy for good lifestyle and taking charge of their heart health. Haiti - Agriculture : Towards the use of Blockchain technology in agribusiness Within the framework of the Business and Investment Development Project (PDAI), implemented since 2013 and financed by the World Bank to the tune of 20 million dollars, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MCI) intends to boost the agribusiness in the country, using Blockchain technology to provide an innovative solution to the actors of the agricultural chain. Mango, avocado and pineapple from the departments of Artibonite, Center, Nippes and NorthEast are the sectors identified for this first pilot phase of the project. Following a call for tenders launched by the Ministry, AgriLedger is the firm that has been selected to deploy and pilot a blockchain solution that will facilitate payments and traceability of fresh fruit value chains. The implementation of such a system for the Haitian government, will allow farmers to sell directly in efficient markets, where the price is determined by supply and demand and not by the bargaining power. Michel Ange Pantal, PDAI Coordinator explains "With the Blockhain system, crops and payments are tracked and give farmers assurance of future payment while also ensuring buyers the expected quality of the products. This unpublished monitoring continues until the final consumer, who can then verify the identity of the farmer, the origin of the product (via GPS location) and even the evaluation parameters for each part of the value chain (transparent pricing)". According to Genevieve Leveille, CEO of AgriLedger "There are so many different actors : farmers, logistics providers, distributors and grocery stores, involved in agriculture that the current centralized systems simply do not work. With the support of the World Bank, we will help Haitian farmers get the best possible price for their products while giving end consumers the assurance that what they consume is both safe and fresh." Through this project, the MCI proposes to subsidize training, technical assistance and common services currently missing in value chains in order to promote the export of fresh fruit, clothing and processed products towards the United States and the blockchain will be used in support of these three operations. Thus, with this system the different exchange operations can be performed safely, transparently and instantaneously. Learn more about Blockchain technology : "Blockchain" or chain of blocks, is a technology of storage and transmission of information without control organ. Technically, it works like a distributed database, where user-generated information and internal links to the database are checked and grouped at regular time intervals into blocks, forming a chain of secure blocks by encryption. By extension, a blockchain is thus a distributed database, which maintains a list of records protected from falsification or modification and thus acts as a distributed and secure record of all transactions made since the start of a system distributed. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24091-haiti-economy-blockchain-technology-serving-agribusiness.html HL/ S/ HaitiLibre Published on 2019/03/31 | Source A graduate looks at a job bulletin board at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul on Feb. 21, 2019. Koreans in their 20s are increasingly finding their viciously competitive years of education hardly worth the insanely long hours they put into it in the face of the desperate reality that awaits them at the end. Advertisement The Chosun Ilbo asked 60 university students or jobseekers over last two months, and the message was clear: "Hard work alone doesn't guarantee success any more". Parents who went through the financial crisis in 1997 raised their children determined to give them the best possible start in life, and the luxuries of yesteryear, like English-speaking kindergartens or study abroad, became commonplace among the middle classes. Now a whole generation have more impressive resumes than any previous generation, but the reality they face is grimmer than ever with a deteriorating job market. Still, many people said parental support matters more now that it takes longer to land a job after graduation, and everything depends whether parents are willing to support their children financially through the years of looking for the perfect job, and even beyond. One 24-year-old woman who now works in a major conglomerate, still the great desideratum among young Korean people, can afford to put all of her salary, which is nearly W3 million, into regular savings account because her doctor father and pharmacist mother still give her a W700,000 allowance (US$1=W1,135). "A stable life in my opinion is living like my parents, but if you have to survive on your earnings alone, then I think moving up the ladder is impossible", she said. Some resent these privileges. A 26-year-old woman who works in a community welfare center had to give up further study to become a licensed social worker. She could no longer depend on her father, who is a driver, and mother who works in a supermarket. "If only my parents could have supported further study", she said. "I don't want to blame my parents because I know how hard they worked. I'm just sorry that I couldn't meet their expectations". One 26-year-old jobseeker grew up with a father who worked for 30 years in a public company in a provincial town. She graduated from a respectable university in Seoul, and is currently preparing to take an exam to get a media job in Seoul with a monthly allowance from her parents. "I thought my father was an ordinary man, but now I realize how hard it is to live even an ordinary life. I wonder if I'll be so lucky". A 25-year-old student who wants to find a job in a public company, said, "I'm skeptical that I can earn as much as my father. I'm worried whether I'll even be able to get a job". Some parents view their children's generation with sympathy, but others criticize them for being spoiled or lack of ambition and do not understand why they complain when they grew up with so much more than the previous generation. The phenomenon of downwardly mobile millennials is global. The Pew Research Center in the U.S. defines millennials as people born between 1981 and 1996. They have a strong desire to express themselves, are fluent in social media, and have more university degrees than any other generation. Yet they have ever less to express and are likely to become the first generation who learned more but earn less than their parents. The U.K.'s Resolution Foundation in 2016 claimed that the millennials will earn 8,000 pounds less than the previous generation in their 20s. Torsten Bell at the foundation said at the time, "We've taken it for granted that each generation will do much better than the last -- earning more and enjoying a higher standard of living. But that approach risks looking complacent given the realities of recent years and prospects for the future". Some experts said that the malaise all started with the global financial crisis in 2008 as it has since dragged down the economy and cost many quality jobs, but in fact it started much earlier and has deep structural reasons. Published on 2019/03/31 | Source Lim Ju-kyung The author of popular webtoon "The Secret of Angel" on Korea's largest portal Naver became one of the most searched keyword after her picture was released in celebration the series' first anniversary on Tuesday. Advertisement Naver published an interview with Lim Ju-kyung, who uses the pen name Yaongyi (kitten). Her pretty looks surprised many readers, and reactions included a fan gushing, "An angel is drawing an angel". The romantic webtoon is about a girl transforming herself with the help of makeup and has been updated every Tuesday since April last year. It is often one of the most-watched webtoons on Tuesdays. But nothing known about the author other than that she was born in 1991. "I dreamed of becoming a cartoonist because I loved drawing from an early age", Lim said. "I did a lot of different things before committing myself to cartoons, and my experience in modelling helped me a lot with 'The Secret of Angel.'" Read this article in Korean Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, sent congratulatory messages respectively to the opening ceremony of 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, which was held Saturday in Wellington. In his message, Li said tourism is an important area of China-New Zealand cooperation and a driving force for the two peoples' mutual understanding and friendly ties. Last year, there were around 600,000 visits between the two countries, Li said, adding that China remains New Zealand's second largest overseas tourist market. The China-New Zealand Year of Tourism presents a new opportunity for the two countries to deepen tourism cooperation and enhance people-to-people communication, he said. The two governments and their respective tourism authorities should enhance services to ensure better experiences for tourists from China and New Zealand, Li said. More people-to-people contact between China and New Zealand will increase their mutual understanding, which are central to growing popular support for bilateral relations, the Chinese premier said. Published on 2019/03/31 | Source Lotte has become the first Korean duty-free store chain to launch outlets Down Under, celebrating its entry with the opening of a store at Brisbane Airport in Australia on Monday. Advertisement Lotte signed a contract with Australia's JR Duty Free to acquire four stores in Australia and one in New Zealand in August last year. The 2,795 sq.m shop at Brisbane Airport, the biggest of the five stores, sells about 600 brands of cosmetics, liquor, watches and other goods. According to the World Tourism Organization, Australia attracted 9.1 million tourists in 2017, and its duty-free market is worth 14 billion Australian dollars (W11.25 trillion). Lotte expects to post more than W200 billion in sales there this year. French, German and Swiss companies along with JR Duty Free account for 80 percent of the market there. Published on 2019/03/31 | Source King Philippe (right) and Queen Mathilde of Belgium pose for a photo at a museum in Seoul on Monday. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium are on a four-day trip to Korea that took in the Korea Furniture Museum in northern Seoul on Monday that contains 10 traditional Korean houses or hanok. Advertisement Queen Mathilde took a stroll in the courtyard whose floor is paved in rammed earth and was told that the material amplifies footsteps and served as an alarm against intruders in the past. She was quoted as saying the principles of hanok construction were "very interesting and smart". She also said she would "cherish for life" the breathtaking scenery of Seoul that could be seen from the museum. The museum opened in 2008 and contains around 2,000 pieces of traditional furniture from the Chosun Dynasty. CNN has described it as the most beautiful museum in Seoul. Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign leaders have also visited the museum. The Belgian royals meet President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday and attend a banquet. They are accompanied by scores of businesspeople and also plan to attend a business forum. By Panos Kotzathanasis | Published on 2019/03/30 For his feature debut, Lee Chang-dong's assistant Park Jung-bum decided to direct, write and star in a film that was inspired Jeon Seung-cheol, a North Korean refugee he met while attending Yonsei University; Jeon was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died in 2008, less than 6 years after he defected to South Korea. His effort paid off with "The Journals of Musan" netting 17 awards from major film festivals around the world. Advertisement In the film, Seung-cheol is is a North Korean refugee who struggles to adjust to life in Seoul, both financially and socially. He is sharing a small apartment with his dog and fellow defector Kyung-cheol, a broker who helps refugees send remittances to their families in North Korea, although the two of them are radically different characters. Seung-cheol is a timid introvert who has decided to stay low in order to be part of his new country, while Kyung-cheol is anything but, as we watch him steal and con in order to earn his living. Both approaches prove futile, however, as life and past come crashing onto them. Park Jung-bum directs a no-nonsense film that focuses on realism, to the point that it frequently acts as a documentary regarding the life of North Korean defectors. There is no "American Dream" here, as Seung-cheol and the people around him are highly unremarkable, with no exceptional skills or appearances, trying to survive in a world that does not seem to want them there. We watch the protagonist hired to do jobs for very little money, like pasting posters on the wall or working the nightshift on a karaoke parlor, only to be verbally abused, beaten, and kicked out for things that are not his fault. In this setting, his desperate effort to do his best and the right thing seems tragic, particularly since even the few moments of happiness and success are always followed by tragedy, with the finale being the apogee of this tactic. His attitude and fate draw sympathy, but Park seems to not want even that, since a confession in the church that seems to be his only solace, reveals another, shocking side of Seung-cheol, while, along with his "explosion", highlights the fact that the survival for the lowest "castes" is inevitably connected with violence. As an actor, Park Jung-bum highlights the aforementioned struggles and fate with a measured realism, without many words, but more with his stance and look, in a rather impactful performance. Jin Yong-wook as Kyeong-cheol is also quite good in an almost opposite kind of performance, with the difference in the way the two actors and subsequently, characters conduct themselves forming one of the main axes of the film as much as highlighting their chemistry. Kim Jong-sun's cinematography also implements this documentary-like realism, through his use of handheld cameras that occasionally seem to chase after the protagonist, while the bleak colors that dominate the image match the events and the psychology of the characters quite fittingly. His tactic of frequently focusing on Seung-cheol back, particularly in the moments he experiences something bad, is also fitting, as it highlights the fact that the protagonist feels shame. Jo Hyun-joo's editing implements a diverse pace, occasionally fast occasionally slow, which moves somewhere between the arthouse and the documentary. "The Journals of Musan" is a very rewarding film that manages to shed a realistic light to the lives of North Korean refugees, and that is where its true value lies. Review by Panos Kotzathanasis Facebook "The Journals of Musan" is directed by Park Jung-bum, and features Park Jung-bum, Jin Yong-wook, Kang Eun-jin and Park Young-Duk. Available on DVD from YESASIA DVD (En Sub) By William Schwartz | Published on 2019/03/30 In the promising opening to "The King of the Border" Yoo-jin (played by Kim Sae-byuk) get off an airplane in Poland and then proceeds to ignore people. There's a lot of great dark travel comedy here. A person like Yoo-jin, when she goes to another country, does so because she specifically does not want to talk to people from her own country anymore. The escalating sequences that follow are amazing, as we see Yoo-jin forced to become more blunt about how she wants to be left alone. Advertisement Then Yoo-jin abruptly leaves the movie. While she does eventually come back, the circumstances are not promising. In the interim writer/director Lim Jung-hwan tells a very peculiar story wherein the characters Yoo-jin has already met spend their days playing board games and taking strange drug treatments and generally doing nothing particularly interesting. A weird setpiece on a train ensues, then Yoo-jin's character returns and "The King of the Border" just becomes its own meta-commentary. The story, or what little story "The King of the Border" ever had to start out with, ends when the title card comes up somewhere around the halfway mark. Then we find out that while inspired by true events, everything we had seen up until that point was actually fictional embellishment. Of course, "The King of the Border" is a movie, so we already knew all that. Maybe this was supposed to be clever, but in practice the point is just belabored and uninteresting. One of the few strong points of "The King of the Border" is the setting. Come see scenic Poland, where it's always cold, and the architecture is intimidating, and also no one likes to talk to each other. First thing I thought upon hearing about the premise to this film was, why would anyone want to go to Poland? Oddly enough I did feel like the characters we see are exactly the kind of people who would go to Poland, less because Poland is all that special and more because it's such an unusual place to want to go. Which is to say, they want to seem like interesting people more than they want to actually be interesting. Observe how Dong-cheol (played by Cho Hyun-chul) is playing Pokemon Go. Not even a good Pokemon game, with any kind of depth. Just boring old Pokemon Go. Dong-cheol can't explain why he plays it, especially in social contexts where doing so is obviously extremely rude. But then that's where the characters of this film are at their finest, is when they're demonstrating generally pathetic quirks. Alas, such a gimmick is only good for an hour or maybe ninety minutes at best. "The King of the Border" clocks in at two hours and is in dire need of editing, in addition to other technical challenges. The static camera is aggressively minimalistic, and the sound design is also quite poor. Entire sequences are difficult to understand because it sounds like there's a problem with the boom mike. But then, even with the proper amount of polish "The King of the Border" is at best an acquired taste. Review by William Schwartz "he King of the Border" is directed by Lim Jung-hwan, and features Cho Hyun-chul, Kim Sae-byuk, Jeong Hyeok-gi and Lee Yoo-jin-II. IT is best-known for providing pies and pastries to almost every high street in the country but bakery chain Greggs is now a beacon for inclusivity too. Fresh from introducing a vegan sausage roll in January, company chief executive Roger Whiteside has received an OBE for services to women and equality. The 60-year-old from Crazies Hill was named in the New Years Honours list and collected his medal from the Queen at Windsor Castle on Friday. He says he is proud to be honoured for his work promoting women in business but there is still much to do. Mr Whiteside, who used to run Marks & Spencers food business and then co-founded Ocado, took over at Greggs in 2013. Since then he has worked hard to promote women in the business. Greggs is currently ranked number 10 on the FTSE 250 for female representation at boardroom level and it has started a female career development programme. In 2016, Mr Whiteside joined the Womens Business Council, which was set up in 2012 by Theresa May to tackle the barriers to womens progression in business and works with other equality forums. Mr Whiteside, who is responsible for more than 22,000 staff at 1,700 Greggs outlets across the country, says his focus on the issue starts at work. He said: From my perspective, I have the most influence in one place, which is Greggs. Thats an area I can have a very direct influence but Im also seeking to promote the progression of women in business generally. Womens representation on boards has risen over the last 10 years, which is good to see, but theres still a long way to go. Greggs hit the headlines earlier this year when it announced the launch of a new sausage roll with a Quorn filling instead of meat. This was in response to what it said was demand from customers. While not all of the publicity surrounding the new snack was positive, Mr Whiteside says it is more evidence of the companys aim to serve people from all walks of life. He said: Greggs has a long-standing tradition of trying to do business in the right way. Our support for work in the community is well-known and things like this and some of the things we are doing around the types of food we sell are all ways of people learning that Greggs is trying to be a good citizen as well as a good business. Mr Whiteside was accompanied at Fridays presentation by his wife Sarah, daughter Louise and father Ronald and was delighted to receive his honour from the Queen personally. He said: I wasnt told who was actually giving the ceremony so it was fantastic to see the Queen herself was doing it. She was stood up for a whole hour and had a short conversation with everyone who was receiving an award. I had a brief conversation with her about my work on womens progression and equality. She has got a natural warmth and shows a real interest. In a matter of a few seconds she demonstrates interest in what you are there for. The family celebrated with a lunch in Windsor after the ceremony and Mr Whiteside says he is now looking forward to seeing pictures from the day. He said: It was all gone in a blur so it will be nice to look back on it. A PUB landlord helped deliver his baby daughter while on the phone to the ambulance service. Simon Duffy, who runs the Perch and Pike in South Stoke with his partner Sofie Hjelte, was surprised when she began having contractions at about 12.45am on Sunday. He packed an overnight bag and was preparing to drive 33-year-old Ms Hjelte to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading when her contractions intensified. Mr Duffy called 999 and paramedics were dispatched to oversee a home birth. However, the baby arrived at about 1.10am while he was still on the phone to the operator, who guided him through the process. The ambulance arrived 20 minutes later and the crew let Mr Duffy cut the umbilical cord with a surgical tool before taking mother and child to hospital. Ms Hjelte and the baby are expected to return to the couples home above the pub in the next few days. Chloe, who weighed just over 4kg, will then be able to meet her two-year-old sister Phoebe for the first time. Mr Duffy, 43, said: Theres absolutely no doubt that I was petrified. Im probably the worst person to be stuck in that situation with because Im squeamish around blood or anything medical really. But when youre thrown into that situation, I think instinct takes over as youve got no choice but to get on with it. He and Ms Hjelte, who grew up in Sweden and has lived in Britain for about 15 years, have run the Brakspear pub since 2016. They met when she was working at the former Dog and Duck pub in Highmoor. They were initially friends but got together shortly after Miss Hjelte joined his team at the Rising Sun in Witheridge Hill before they moved to the Perch and Pike. Chloe had been 12 days overdue so Ms Hjelte was scheduled to be induced on Sunday morning. She went to bed early on Saturday night, leaving her partner to run the pub and close up before joining her. Mr Duffy had only just got into bed when she nudged him to say the contractions had started. He called his mother Linda, who lives in Wargrave, and she began driving over to look after Phoebe. Mr Duffy said: I phoned the hospital to warn them the baby was coming and thought Id be able to drive her there so I packed a bag with all the usual items a mum and baby would need. However, the contractions were getting quicker and quicker and Sofie said she wasnt even going to make it to the car. I called for an ambulance and still assumed theyd be the ones to deliver her. But then Sofie said she could feel everything moving so I relayed that to the operator and realised I was going to have to deal with it. It was probably the most surreal experience of my life. It was a conventional birth in many ways but, without going into too much detail, I had to do all the things that a midwife would do. It wasnt just a case of standing around giving instructions, put it that way! The operator was telling me what to do and I was doing my best to listen to them but part of me was panicking and not really listening at all. The adrenaline was going and I didnt have time to think about how unusual it was until Sofie and Chloe were en route to the hospital and I was following in the car. The pub opened as normal the next day and the village network has been working overtime to spread the news. I think a lot of people are talking about it. Im very proud of myself because I wouldnt have thought I was capable but Im far more proud of Sofie for being such a strong person. It must have been very difficult going through that with only a muppet like me for support and none of the pain relief like gas and air that women usually have access to. She deserves all the credit for this. Flash Three African teenagers rescued at sea have been charged with hijacking a commercial tanker to force it to change course to Malta. The Turkish tanker, the El Hiblu 1 was seized by a group of migrants of a larger group of 108 whom it rescued at the sea within Libya's search and rescue zone on Wednesday. The migrants reportedly threatened the crew and forced it to change direction once they realized that they were going to be returned to Libya. The three youths, aged 15, 16 and 19 appeared in court on Saturday to face charges of having unlawfully seized control of the ship, a crime which under Maltese law is punishable by a jail term between seven and 30 years. Two of the teenagers are from Guinea and a third from Cote d'Ivoire. All three said in court that they were students. Bail was denied as they have no ties to the island. Flash The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned the United States against further interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs and stirring up speculations about Russia conducting military operations in the South American country. "We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing it towards civil war, which is in open violation of international law," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. She reiterated that Russia is not intentionally building up its military presence in Venezuela, despite such accusations by the West including Washington. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela on March 23, carrying nearly 100 troops and 35 tons of materials, according to media reports. Moscow has repeatedly said that the existence of Russian troops in Venezuela is in line with the bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation. "The speculations about the conduct of certain 'military operations' by Russia in Venezuela are absolutely groundless," Zakharova said. Meanwhile, the diplomat said that U.S. attempts to scare Russia with sanctions for its legitimate cooperation with Venezuela look ridiculous. She ascribed U.S. "nervousness" about Russian presence in Venezuela to Washington's failure to impeach incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. Nevertheless, Russia will make efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, Zakharova added. "We call on all Venezuelan political forces, which place the interests of their homeland above their own ambitions, to engage in dialogue. We are ready to promote it in every possible way," she said. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since late January when the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Flash At least four Palestinians were killed and 316 injured on Saturday during day-long clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said. Gaza's health ministry said in a statement that Bilal al-Najjar, 17, was critically wounded earlier on Saturday and succumbed to his sustained wounds later at night. Al-Najjar joined the protests and rallies in the east of Kahn Younis town, close to the border with Israel in southern Gaza Strip. Ashraf al-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, said earlier said that Tammer Abu Al-Kheir, 17, was killed by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in his chest east of Khan Younis town in southern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel. "Four were killed and 316 injured, including 64 injured by live gunshots, 16 by rubber bullets and the rest by tear gas," said al-Qedra, adding that nine paramedics and four journalists were among the injuries. The fierce clashes marked the first anniversary of the rallies, better known as the "Great March of Return," and also 43 years for the Palestinian "Land Day." They waved Palestinian flags, chanted slogans against Israel and clashed with the Israeli soldiers, who were stationed on the border to prevent the masses of demonstrators from approaching the fence. The event's goal, according to the members of the High Commission of the "Great March of Return," is to end an Israeli blockade that had been imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas' violent takeover of the enclave in 2007. 'So much we want the public to know': Meritus COVID cases surge again Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sent ripples across the political spectrum, when on being asked by party workers to contest from her mother Sonia Gandhis constituency of Rae Bareli, she said, Why not Varanasi? The riposte came while she was interacting with party workers on March 28. A day later, when asked to clarify if she was keen on fighting from Varanasi, she said, If the party wants, I am ready to contest from anywhere. Priyanka Gandhi may or may not contest a seat, but she must certainly not contest from Varanasi. Why not, many would ask. Taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the ultimate battle, the best talking point of the 2019 poll exercise but is that what Priyanka would want? To be pitted against a powerful opponent in a direct contest? Lets be clear: Priyanka has been taking him on in every meeting; every rally. She has criticised Modi for his numerous foreign trips, called out the promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in accounts of citizens as a jumla and even asked if Modi ate biryani in Pakistan. In short, she has been relentless in her attack on Modi. Priyanka has the ability to give back as good as she gets. She proved the ability even before her formal entry into politics this year. Her riposte to Modis RSVP (Rahul, Sonia, Vadra, Priyanka) barb in 2014 comes to mind immediately. You are not teaching in a primary school, you are addressing the nation. Dont teach people the English alphabets like RSVP or ABCD, Priyanka had said then. Politics, however, is not just about smart quips and ripostes. If Priyanka has formally entered the political arena for good she took her own time agreeing despite fervent calls from her party in the past she has to earn her spurs and not be tempted by the prospect of a high-decibel contest that will make Modi spend more time in Varanasi than he ordinarily would. But would she be able to defeat him? Many, including me, would not bet our money on this. Priyanka draws attention from political rivals and the media for being a Gandhi but apart from her extensive campaigns in the family constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli, she still has to prove her political acumen. In 2012, during the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, she promised a score of ten out of ten for the assembly constituencies out of the family borough but ended up with a mere two out of ten. Sonia Gandhi took on Sushma Swaraj in Bellary in 1999, when she made her political debut, and won, but a Modi-Priyanka battle is unlikely to have the same outcome. As the general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka has her work cut out for her. She will first have to make sure that the party revives its fortunes in the state where it only managed to win the two family boroughs. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, it won 22 seats but it cannot be sure of its tally this time, given the alliance that Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav have stitched up. The Congress is looking at forming a government in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 is what party chief Rahul Gandhi had said when his sister took the political plunge. It would be pragmatic for her to not make 2019, and especially a Varanasi contest, her political marker. More than five years ago, an unprecedented deluge, estimated to have been over 440% above normal, caused massive devastation in Uttarakhand. These rains led to glacial lakes bursting, resulting in flash floods and landslides. The governments estimate of human loss was 800 but this may be too conservative; other estimates pegged human casualties at 6,000, along with 9,200 livestock loss (affecting livelihoods), and 3,320 houses and property damaged in the floods. At first glance, the culprit seems to be the heavy rainfall but experts agree that the magnitude of the disaster increased manifold because of illegal construction along the floodplains and burgeoning hydropower infrastructure. Although Uttarakhand is known to be a disaster-prone state, it was not prepared for this scale of event. These types of weather anomalies seem to have become more frequent and extreme in recent times. In 2016, many southern states faced the worst drought in 40 years. In 2017, almost half of India, including the food bowl states of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, faced drought-like conditions. More recently, the effects of excess rain were evident in the flooding in Kerala in 2018. In response to these extreme weather events, states have now begun incorporating climate impacts into their budgets, programmes and policies. This integration of climate information into policies, programmes, and plans is known as mainstreaming. It has several co-benefits, including protecting important development gains from being undermined by climate change and ensuring that future development succeeds despite climate change impacts. Some states and ministries have been leading the way in integrating climate considerations into their daily functioning. In 2013, Madhya Pradesh (MP) published its first State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) with the theme Integrating Concerns Converging Possibilities. The process of developing this SAPCC was highly collaborative; it created sectoral and interdepartmental working groups and engaged a range of stakeholders. One of the by-products of this process was that the Department of Animal Husbandry became increasingly aware of the impacts of extreme heat on the livestock and the milk supply of the state. Since 2010, the department had been witnessing a decrease in milk production; the SAPCC process linked them with experts that established the connection between this decrease in production and increasing temperatures. They began phasing out the existing stock of exotic cow species, which had formed the bulk of the livestock in MP because they tend to provide higher milk yields, and replacing them with indigenous species which generally produce lower yields than imported species but continue to produce yield even in high temperatures. They also developed and invested in climate-resilient breeding programmes, improving fodder quality and availability, and research and training on breed improvement and disease identification. The floods were also a wake-up call for Uttarakhand, and in 2014, the state developed its SAPCC entitled Transforming Crisis Into Opportunity. The forest department partnered with others to pilot an initiative focusing on increasing the climate resilience of forest-dependent communities. The project increased water storage and access for communities and helped diversify their crops and cropping methods. It also initiated efforts to regenerate forests, including interventions such as increasing forest cover density and soil control measures. However, the scale at which such efforts are occurring is too small. There are means by which states and sectors can better incorporate climate considerations into their work more quickly. These include using existing funding streams to intentionally support adaptation, as the department of animal husbandry did in MP, and building capacity and institutional memory to enable implementation and sustained action, as the forest department in Uttarakhand did by involving gram panchayats and van panchayats at all stages of the project. Although states have been leading efforts on mainstreaming, state governments and sectoral ministries need to be better prepared for these events. They have an opportunity to better integrate adaptation rapidly and at scale through the revisions of the SAPCCs that are currently underway. The MP and Uttarakhand examples showcase the importance of the SAPCCs in terms of both the process as well as the final plans in facilitating mainstreaming. However, mainstreaming can be incentivised from both bottom-up as well as top-down. The Centre can play a stronger role in encouraging sectors to collaborate to contend with climate impacts, create institutions that can support sectoral and state-Centre collaborations, and provide financing for efforts to integrate climate change into the daily functioning of states and sectors. Ayesha Dinshaw is manager, Climate Resilience Practice, WRI India The views expressed are personal Actor Rajkummar Rao is happy that he is able to entertain audiences globally. The actor also said he is honoured to win Performer of the Year award at the Filmfare Middle East Awards 2019 ceremony held in Oman. Its a great honour to receive this award. I also feel gratified in a way to know that my films not only entertain audiences in India but globally, Rajkummar said in a statement. Ive had very distinguished films in 2018 and this win certifies that the audiences are also open to experimentation and watching something new and interesting, he added. At the function in Oman, Rajkummar also performed to his hit song Kamariya from Stree with Nora Fatehi. Tweeting about his win and sharing a picture, he wrote: Won the #FilmfareMiddleEast performer of the year award in Oman last night for my work in #Stree and #Omerta. GRATITUDE. A couple of days back he had tweeted about Kangana Ranaut and their upcoming film Mental Hai Kya. He had written: Just watched #Manikarnika. An amazing film that chronicles the life of the queen of Jhansi. Kangana,as always, was phenomenol as Rani Laxmi bai. Now cant wait for you guys to watch #MentalHaiKya. He was obviously impressed with her work in Manikarnika. Also read: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singhs crackling chemistry sets the mood for their first ad as a married couple. Watch video Just watched #Manikarnika. An amazing film that chronicles the life of the queen of Jhansi. Kangana,as always, was phenomenol as Rani Laxmi bai. Now cant wait for you guys to watch #MentalHaiKya. Rajkummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) March 27, 2019 The Stree actor is looking forward to this years anticipated films, including Mental Hai Kya, Turram Khan, Imli and Made In China. (With HT Inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more Even as it tries to stave-off a proposed mass leave by a section of pilots, Jet Airways on Saturday said it has the requisite number of aviators to man its fleet currently under operation. Operations on Monday are unlikely to be impacted, an official said. We have taken a note of the advisory sent by a section of the pilots. We are engaged with them and hope to receive their complete support, a senior airline official told IANS. Their dues will be paid. However, there is a delay due to the March fiscal end, severely compounded by the weekend. The dues might be delayed for some days but everyone will be paid. According to the official, the airline currently has enough pilots to support its current level of operations. We have other categories of pilots to man our fleet. Operations on Monday are unlikely to be impacted, the official said. In a statement, the airline said that it remained committed to honour its obligations towards all its employees, including pilots and engineers. The Board along with our lenders, are working continuously towards a strong turnaround plan, which will enable the airline to restore normalcy to its operations, the statement said. Jet Airways remains grateful to its pilots, engineers and members of its senior management for their patience and understanding during these trying times. The call to non-cooperation was given by members belonging to the Jet Airways pilots union who decided to refrain from operating flights if their dues and clarity on the companys resolution plan were not given by March 31. Accordingly, the over 1,000 member group of pilots affiliated to the pilots body may chose to refrain from flying duties if they are not provided with proper information on the companys financial resolution plan. About 1,100 unionised pilots of Jet Airways (India) Ltd have deferred by a fortnight a plan to abstain from work from Monday in a relief to the troubled carrier, as well as its passengers. The pilots union, National Aviators Guild (NAG), took the decision after the airline management paid the remaining 12.5% of their December salary on Saturday. The pilots had earlier received 87.5% of their salaries for December. The NAG members who organized an open house on Sunday afternoon have now asked the management to clear their unpaid salaries by April 15, said a Mumbai-based Jet Airways pilot. The pilot, who is also a union member, spoke to Mint after the conclusion of an open house meeting of the NAG to discuss the situation at the airline. The decision made by the pilots union is expected to convey to Jet Airlines chief executive Vinay Dube soon, the pilot said, requesting anonymity. A spokesperson for Jet Airways didnt immediately respond to queries. Cash-strapped Jet Airways hasnt paid salaries to a section of its staff since the past three months. There are an estimated 1,600 pilots at Jet Airways, of which about 1,100 are unionised. Simran Kaur Reel, 24, is interning with the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) womens wing; Sahil M Parsekar, 22, is working as a volunteer with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital. While the two have different political affiliations, what they have in common is the fact that both have got formal training in politics. Parsekar attended a masters programme in political leadership and government at the MIT School of Government (MITSOG) last year and Reel completed a post graduate programme in leadership, politics, and governance at the Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL) this February. Her convocation is scheduled to be held in Delhi in May, when she will get her certificate. In fact, they are among hundreds of young aspiring politicians who believe that politics, like any other occupation, requires formal training. And catering to them are a host of private institutes that offer certificate, diploma and degree courses in electoral politics and governance, whose duration ranges from one to two years, and fee from 3 lakh to a whopping 16 lakh. There are a few, cheaper online courses, too, whose curriculum covers topics such as identifying the social cause to make your profile, creating a lobbying plan, media management and political oratory, among others. These days, politics, especially electoral politics, is more complex and competitive than it used to be. And like any other profession, one needs the training to succeed. I want to contest elections in a few years, and the course has prepared me for that by providing me with both practical and theoretical knowledge of the subject, says Reel. As an intern with the BJP Mahila Morchas national office, she says, she helps the president of the womens wing with speeches, goes on poll campaigns and makes campaign reports. Post 2014, electoral politics have changed completely. The general elections have become more like the American presidential elections in style and require a whole new kind of marketing and management. The course has equipped me with the requisite tools and training, says Parsekar. So far, 50 students, including Reel, have completed the programme at the Mumbai-based IIDL, which was launched two years ago. Her batch had 18 students in the age group of 22 to 30 years, with Reel being one of the only three women in the course. In the first year itself, our programme got 800 applications and almost the same number in the second year. Students have to write a statement of purpose and appear for an interview, which helps us gauge the applicants thoughts, ideology, commitment and leadership qualities. Most of them are young, aspiring politicians from different backgrounds, including engineering and management, says Ravi Pokharna, the deputy dean of IIDL. Some of these youngsters, who are socially and politically aware, quit their well-paying jobs with multinational companies to join the course. The IIDLs curriculum includes basic political concepts, media management, constituency management, public speaking and nationalism, among others. The idea behind the course, Pokharna says, is to help those without any political background and connections to break into politics by giving them the required knowledge, exposure and practical skills. Today, the youth is aware, highly motivated and wants to play a proactive role in the democratic process. Political parties, too, are looking for young talent. We wish to produce trained and responsible leaders for a new India, says Pokharna. Classroom lectures for the one-year residential programme are conducted at the IIDLs 14-acre campus on the outskirts of Mumbai by academics, subject and domain experts, policy makers, elected representatives, politicians, administrators, journalists and activists. From next year, our diploma will be recognised by the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, he says. The MITSOG, Pune, is vigorously promoting its two-year programme MA in political leadership and government. The institute derives its name not from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but from a private university called MIT World Peace University, which issues the masters degree to MITSOG students. A total of 36 students are currently attending the two-year degree course at the MITSOG, which claims to have 400 alumni in politics and government. Until last year, the institute offered a one-year programme in the subject. We felt the subject of politics and governance is too deep and wide. Politics has become very competitive, the average age of politicians has been decreasing and peoples expectations from their leaders and elected representatives are increasing. Hence, we need trained political leaders more than ever before. Our students come from all over the country, including states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, says prof Parimal Sudhakar, head, MITSOG. At least 50% of the content of the course, which costs 2.5 lakh, he says, is about election procedure and covers topics such as election management techniques, conducting pre-poll surveys and analysing social media for election strategy. The course combines classroom teaching and practical exposure that includes trips to offices of political parties, government offices and other organisations. That also helps them get access to the top political leadership in the country, which otherwise might take years. In fact, access, and an opportunity to network are some of the most important parts of this programme, says Sudhakar. Many of those who have attended these courses say the training has also given them a rare insight into politics and politicians. I come from a very conservative family of traders, which has nothing to do with politics. But personally I have always felt strongly about issues of governance and politics, says Prashant Herekar, an IIDL alumnus, who is currently interning with a Lok Sabha candidate in the Secunderabad constituency. The course has given me an inside knowledge of how party politics work, frictions within a party and how voters respond to a candidate. I am prepared to take a plunge into politics, says the 23-year-old, who quit his job with a multinational company last year to attend the course. These political training institutes have a uniform for their studentskurta-pajamas and jackets, which they are required to wear not just at the institute but also during study trips. But should new age leaders be wearing something associated with old, traditional politics? This is a symbol of Indianness; besides, we do not want our students to hide their political ambitions, says Sudhakar. The Institute of Political Leadership, Delhi, charges a whopping 16 lakh for its one-year complete leadership course for aspiring Members of Parliament, and 8 lakh for a similar course for aspiring MLAs. Shahnawaz Chaudhary, the director of the institute, says the institute has a strict admission criteria which includes a psychometric test. A new batch of 30 students started Friday at the Institutes office in central Delhi. Those attending the courses are mostly aspiring as well practising politicians in the age group of 25 to 40 years. Some of them are as young as 18 years. We teach them both old and new ways of election management. Our ultimate objective is to improve the quality of political leadership in the country, says Chaudhary, who taught management at private management colleges and also to civil services aspirants before he got into political training. Chaudhary, whose YouTube channel refers to him as Indias first political trainer, was unwilling to discuss the content of his 16 lakh course and also did not agree to HTs request to attend one of his classes, saying, The media is not allowed in the classroom. Since his institute wishes to produce better leaders, what, according to him, is the biggest problem as far as the current crop of politicians is concerned? There is a huge gap in what they say and what they do. Very few fulfil their promises. We need electoral reforms. Our elected representatives should be held accountable for not fulfilling promises made in their manifestos, which is a breach of trust and a fraud perpetrated on voters, says Chaudhary. For those who dont have time to attend classes, there are institutes in Delhi that offer online certificate courses too. Take for example Delhi-based Indian Academy of Law and Management, which offers a certificate course in professional politics. The 10-module, six-month course, costs 8,500 and covers topics such as identifying social causes to profile yourself, leveraging print media, creating a lobbying plan and managing political campaign, among others. Our courses have PPT, PDF and video lectures. We take an online test after completion of every module and the certificate is also issued online. About 200 people are currently enrolled in the course, says Prerna Rawat, a counsellor with the institute. After BJP, the Delhi unit of the Congress on Saturday filed a complaint against chief minister and AAP head Arvind Kejriwal alleging misuse of government machinery by sending letters to voters. Calling it a violation of the model code of conduct, members of the Congress legal cell submitted a complaint to the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) around 4pm. CM Kejriwal has grossly violated the poll code by misusing his office for getting lakhs of letters printed and distributed among voters highlighting his governments achievements, the complaint stated. Election officials said they have received a complaint and will be looking into it. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj and Lok Sabha candidate Raghav Chadha refused comment on the matter. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modis office (PMO) for 85% reservation for Delhi voters in jobs and colleges, but the PMO did not agree. Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the AAP, however, did not specify exactly when he had written to the PMO even as he elaborated his governments longstanding tussle with the BJP-led Centre, while addressing a public gathering in northeast Delhis Gokulpur. We had written to Modiji about 85% reservation in jobs and colleges for Delhi voters but he did not agree to it... Last time (2014) you had cast your vote to elect a PM. Did Modiji help you get jobs? Did Modiji help you with your childs college admission? said Kejriwal as he pitched for full statehood for Delhi, AAPs primary poll plank. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly, said, He is lying to the people of Delhi. He should say when he sent the proposal. If such a proposal was sent, then why was it not tabled in the Assembly? If the AAP is so serious about reservations in colleges, then why does it not implement it in colleges run by the Delhi government? Delhi goes to the polls on May 12. So far, AAP is the only party to have announced candidates in all seven Lok Sabha seats. Dilip Pandey is the partys candidate from Northeast Delhi. In his speech, the CM asserted the BJP and Congress governments could not bring about as much development in any state in India as much as the AAP had in Delhi over the past four years. While elaborating on the demand for full statehood for Delhi, Kejriwal said being a state in its own right can lead to better health-care, education, jobs, law and order, housing and infrastructure, among other things, over which the Delhi government does not have absolute control as of now. He also attacked the Congress and the BJP for promising full statehood in their earlier poll manifestos and later betraying Delhi voters. He accused the Centre of not letting his government function and pointed out several areas including notifying 200,000 job openings in the government to full CCTV coverage of Delhi. He also attacked the Congress. Some people ask me if Sheila Dikshit could work without full statehood why cant you? Now I ask them if the Congress under Sheila Dikshit was working good, why were government hospitals and schools in Delhi in such a bad shape? That is the reason why people voted for the AAP in 2015. While the BJP won three seats despite there being the Modi wave, the Congress won none, he said. Protests by political activists are nothing new to Tamil Nadu, but this one was notable for the venue where it was staged an IndiGo flight headed from Chennai to Madurai. Twelve men who staged the protest inside the airborne plane were detained by Madurai police after the flight, 6E 7195, landed on Saturday. The flight left Chennai airport at noon, and before it reached Madurai, the 12 stood from their seats to raise slogans. As we received a complaint from the Airport Authority of India and IndiGo flight officials, we have held the 12 people who protested inside the flight, an inquiry officer with the Madurai District Police administration said on condition of anonymity. The protesters, who belonged to a Thevar caste group, were demanding that the Madurai airport be renamed after U Muthuramalinga Thevar, an icon of the community and a member of Parliament from All India Forward Block (AIFB), who died in 1963. According to Madurai Police, the 12 were associated with the Bharatiya Forward Block, a splinter of the AIFB led by Muruganji , who was present during the protest. Additional superintendent of police Narasimma Varman confirmed that the incident had take n place but said he did not have more details because he was on election duty. The demand for renaming Maurai international airport is not new. In February, Thevar groups including the All India Forward Block and the Mukkulathu Puligal, among others, led a rail blockade protest in Madurai over the demand. Parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy of the Bharatiya Janata Party, too, has raised the issue in parliament in the past. Swamy hails from Madurai districts Sholavandhan, where a large number of people from the Thevar community reside. I have tried my best to name Madurai airport after Thevar. However, the state government is not ready, Swamy told journalists last week. All 12 protesters were later let off by the police. The Millennium City Expressways Private Limited (MCEPL), the contractor for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the concessionaire of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, on Sunday, finished cutting 158 full-grown trees along the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway to widen the 11 entry and exit points at five places. The trees are being cut to widen the entry and exit points so that traffic jams can be reduced, an MCEPL contractor, cutting trees at Sector 31 exit, said. He added that since some land would also be taken from the green belts maintained by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, they would also take permission to fell trees from the civic agency. Asked about the planned width of the entry and exits, the contractor said they have not been given any specifics and they would widen it as much as they can. The work is being done on behalf of the NHAI, which got permission to fell trees in March this year after it stated that widening the exits was a necessity given the traffic congestion at these points entry and exit points at Jharsa Chowk, Sector 31, IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk, and just the entry point at Udyog Vihar. The NHAI first got permission for the work in 2016, but sought an extension after MCEPL could not fell trees within the allotted time frame. As per the MoU signed with MCEPL in the Delhi high court, the trees are being felled for widening the entry and exit points to ease congestion in the five areas, NHAI project director Ashok Sharma said. Deepak Nanda, district forest officer could not be reached for comment. The move, however, has not gone down well with traffic experts and environmentalists who said the felling was unnecessary as the exits were wide enough. At all the 11 points, service lanes are wide enough for managing the existing volume of traffic. Authorities need to realise that widening roads is not a solution for traffic management anyway. Instead, they need to focus on introducing traffic lights and letting intersections remain the same instead of replacing them with u-turns. Trees were felled unnecessarily, programme coordinator, Haryana Vision Zero, Sarika Panda Bhatt said. Gurugram has lost more than 15,000 trees in the past two years to various infrastructure projects. The (state) forest laws are extremely weak. Felling of trees hence needs to be done very cautiously, environmentalist Vaishali Rana Chandra said. Mihir Kohli, a resident of DLF 5, said, I havent seen any congestion on any of the exit and entry points. It is a surprise that they are widening the road. The development comes close on heels of an RTI response revealing that the state forest department has no plan in place for mandatory reforestation needed to offset the tree felling done to build the Sohna road elevated corridor9,650 trees and 4,000 plants. A traffic police constable in Guwahati became a social media star on Sunday for exemplary dedication to duty amid a thunder shower that lashed Assams capital around noon. Mithun Das, who was manning the busy Basistha traffic intersection, stood amid heavy rain without a raincoat in an uncovered podium directing traffic without thinking twice about running for cover. My duty hours were from 7 am to 12 pm. The storm started around 5 minutes before noon, but since my replacement hadnt come, I continued my job in the rain for nearly 20 minutes, Das said. It could be a bit scary with the heavy rain, wind and lightning to stand on an uncovered podium. But for us duty comes first, added the constable from Karbi Anglong district who joined Assam Police in 2015. Videos of Das clicked by motorists and bystanders have gone viral on Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media platforms lauding the constable for his act. Traffic gets more congested during rains and Das who was responsible for managing the busy Basistha intersection showed that no matter what the circumstances are, duty comes first, said Guwahati police commissioner Deepak Kumar. We are very pleased with Dass exemplary act and will soon award him, he added. The Assam Polices Twitter handle praised the constable as well. Dedication is thy name. We salute Constable Mithun Das (Basistha PS) for his exceptional devotion towards duty and showing us how dedication can turn a storm into a sprinkle. Sundays thunder showers accompanied by lightning led to three deaths in separate locations in the state. Investigative agencies are actively looking into the roles of some ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in awarding favourable air traffic rights to some West Asian airlines in 2008-09 that damaged the interests of the state-run Air India, government officials said, echoing a statement issued by the Enforcement Directorate. Agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the income tax departments, are processing vital clues in this regard, provided by lobbyist Deepak Talwar, currently in judicial custody, the officials added, requesting anonymity. It has been revealed that accused Deepak Talwar illegally engaged in liasoning/lobbying with politicians, ministers, other public servants and officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation for airlines such as Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways for securing undue benefits for them. He illegally managed to secure favourable traffic rights for these airlines during 2008-09 at the cost of National carrier, Air India, ED said in a statement on Saturday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel was the civil aviation minister at the time in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Patel did not respond to HTs phone call, SMS and WhatsApp message. ED on Saturday filed a prosecution complaint before special judge Santosh Snehi Mann against Talwar for causing a huge loss to Air India by favouring the foreign airlines. The matter will be considered by the court on April 15. The court on Saturday also extended Talwars judicial custody till the next hearing. According to ED, the foreign carriers paid Rs 272 crore to Talwar in 2008-09 in lieu of securing favourable traffic rights. On Saturday, ED attached Holiday Inn, a hotel in Aerocity, New Delhi, in a money laundering case against Talwar. The provisionally attached property is valued at around Rs 120.20 crore, the agency said. The hotel is owned by Wave Hospitality, a company beneficially controlled by Talwar and his family, according to ED. According to Registrar of Company filings, the company was incorporated in April 2009 with U55101DL2009PTC189886. Talwar fled India in 2017 to avoid agencies, but he was deported by the immigration authority of Dubai on January 31, 2019, and was subsequently arrested by ED. Talwar is being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED since August 2017 on the basis of a first information report (FIR) registered by CBI against officials of the civil aviation ministry, National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), Air India and unknown private persons, the statement said. Reacting to Saturdays development, Talwars counsel Tanveer Ahmed said: The ED has said that due to my clients action Air India has incurred huge losses. However, I would like to tell you that ED has till date not called a single person from the ministry of civil aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation [DGCA], or any other department for questioning. ED has also not made any query to the officials of Air Arabia, Qatar Airways and Emirates to ask whether they had given any money to Talwar. Then how can ED come to such a conclusion. Today, even the court did not take cognisance of the complaint filed by ED and has kept it for April 15. It has also passed an order where it has said that the complaint would not be made public till the court has not perused it. The hotel in question is made of legitimate money and from Foreign Direct Investment [FDI] which has been duly cleared by the Reserve Bank of India. Hence, the conclusion of the agency are malafide and there is no verification of the allegations made, he added. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, it its Report No 18 of 2011, Performance Audit of Civil Aviation in India of Union Government, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said that the ministrys move of massive expansion of bilateral entitlements hampered the state-owned Air India. As an illustrative case of the liberalisation of bilateral entitlements, the sequence of events relating to the Dubai sector, covering the period from May 2007 to March 5, 2010, [when the seat capacity was increased from 18,400 seats/week to 54,200 seats/week and points of call in India were increased from 10 to 14] clearly demonstrates the one-sided nature of benefits to Emirates/ Dubai [through enhancement of entitlements and additional points of call in India], the CAG report said, adding that the then governments decision evoked repeated protests from Air India. According to ED counsel Nitesh Rana, the investigation against Talwar and other people involved in the case is on and the agency will file a supplementary charge sheet later. According to EDs investigation, Talwar created a web of entities owned by him and his family members in India and international offshore havens, to launder the proceeds of crime, which is about Rs 272 crore, paid by foreign airlines. Part of these payments were made to a bank account in Bank of Singapore, belonging to a company M/s Asiafield Limited registered in the British Virgin Islands and beneficially owned by Deepak Talwar, the agency said in its statement. These proceeds of crime were layered through a series of international money transfers, to finally integrate in India in Wave Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a company beneficially owned and controlled by Talwar and his family members in the name of his son, Aditya Talwar. These proceeds of crime were then utilised in the construction of Hotel Holiday Inn in Aerocity, New Delhi, it said. The Centre plans to challenge the Delhi high courts March 20 order staying the Union health ministrys ban on the sale, manufacturing, distribution, trade, import and advertisements of e-cigarettes and vapes in India. Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes or vapes, are becoming popular. E-cigarettes do not burn or use tobacco leaves, but instead vaporise a solution a user then inhales. The government took a decision to regulate the sale of any form of electronic nicotine delivery devices in the country because its benefits are still debatable. These products could not be sold and distributed without special permission from the drug controller. The ministry will soon approach the court to have the stay lifted, said a Union health ministry official on condition of anonymity. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation on February 22 ordered drug controllers across the country to ensure ENDS are not sold, manufactured, distributed, traded, imported and advertised. In August, the health ministry issued an advisory to all states. Delhis additional health services director, Dr SK Arora said the number of tobacco users has gone down with the implementation of current regulations on tobacco products. Why add one more to the mix? The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested a 50-year-old assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Delhi traffic police and his accomplice on charges of shooting dead a betrothed couple at the Sai Upvan temple complex in Ghaziabad on March 25 morning. The two suspects were identified as ASI Dinesh Kumar, who is posted at Seemapuri circle in Delhis northeast district and is a resident of Pilakhuwa and Pintu Sharma, 33, whose Maruti Swift car was used in the crime. Sharma is a resident of Shahdara The police said the ASI, the woman victims relative, had developed relations with her and was angry when he saw her with another man. Victims Priti, 32, and Annu Chauhan, 26, had got engaged on March 10 and were to marry in May. Both were residents of Vijay Nagar locality. According to police, ASI Kumar is married and has four children. He was furious with Priti as she, two days before the murders, had snapped all relations with Kumar. Police said ASI Kumar was on duty the night before the murders. But he skipped his duty and, March 25 morning, he tailed Priti from her house in Sharmas car. Kumar is a relative of the woman and a frequent visitor to her house. They had developed a relationship and when Priti snapped ties with Kumar, he was enraged. The suspects arrived outside the womans hous around 7am on March 25 and started following her. They saw her getting on the two-wheeler of her fiance, Upendra Kumar Agrawal, deputy inspector general, said. Both Priti and Chauhan went to the Sai Upvan temple, opposite River Hindon Metro station. When they were getting out of the temple, Kumar allegedly shot them dead with his service pistol. Before shooting them, Kumar asked Priti to come with him but she refused. Enraged, Kumar fired four shots at her. When Chauhan tried to come to Pritis rescue, Kumar shot him thrice, and he, too, died on the spot. Kumar was in his uniform and a jacket. After firing seven shots, he fled the spot in Sharmas car and continued with his work as usual, Agrawal added. Based on electronic surveillance and information gathering, police zeroed in on Kumar who allegedly admitted to the crime. The police said both Kumar and Sharma were arrested and booked for murder, destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.The police will also write to Delhi Police about ASIs arrest . The police have recovered the service pistol and three live cartridges. Syed Ata Hasnain, former general-officer-commanding of the Indian armys Srinagarbased 15 Corps, wants the government to balance its hard approach in Jammu and Kashmir with adequate doses of soft power, without pulling back from its ground operations. Lt General (Retd) Hasnain told officials, diplomats and researchers at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) that Pakistans proxy hybrid war in the state could not be met only by conventional force or a counter-terror response. The situation, he said, needs a comprehensive all-of-government response that includes the political, social, economic and psychological domains, not only military. India also needs what he called a mature information strategy to counter Pakistan. According to him, Pakistans Inter Services Public Relations has developed a cogent information strategy, mixing doses of radicalisation and creating alienation among the Kashmiri people. With radicalisation rife, more IEDs and suicide bombings in Kashmir can be expected, he warned. Shabir Choudhry of the United Kashmir Peoples National Party, who is also one of the founders and former president of the recently-banned Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, wants India and Pakistan to focus on conflict resolution, rather than a conflict management strategy. No party to the dispute could impose a solution, it has to be negotiated, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be made part of that process, Choudhry told the event titled Civil society in Jammu and Kashmir: democracy versus terrorism last week. Strategic analyst Nitin Gokhale believed that the recent Balakot air-strike was the manifestation of Indias new approach, by which the Narendra Modi government has decided to respond militarily to an outrageous or spectacular terrorist attack. The event was chaired by Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, senior fellow for South Asia at IISS, who noted that a coordinated focus on governance, radicalisation, separatism, terrorism and the media provides an opportunity to look forward, not backwards, and towards political and regional stability. A week after it banned, Yasin Maliks Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) as an unlawful association, the Centre on Friday set up a tribunal that will adjudicate whether sufficient grounds exist for such a move against the militant group and the J&K chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal will comprise justice Chander Shekhar of the Delhi high court. An official notification said the tribunal had been formed for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause of declaring the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Jammu and Kashmir, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Mohd. Yasin Malik faction) (JKLF-Y), as unlawful association. JeIs J&K unit was banned on February 28 in a crackdown following the February 14 suicide car bombing in Pulwama that left at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers dead. The ban on JKLF followed on March 22. After a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS),the highest decision-making body on security issues, Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba said the JKLF had been banned for funneling funds into militancy and fomenting terrorism. The Jammu and Kashmir police and other enforcement agencies have named the JKLF in as many as 37 first information reports, the Centre said. At around 7:30 pm on an unusually cold March day, a group of students sat on stone blocks at the Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys (JNU) iconic Ganga dhaba and discussed issues that will impact their voting choices in the upcoming general elections. Who would like to be known as anti-national? said 23-year-old Sandeep, an M Phil student who goes by his first name. We received A++ in the national assessment and accreditation council (NAAC) last December. We are constantly contributing for the intellectual development of the country. How can we be anti-nationals then? Sitting next to him, Jhinuk Basu, who hails from a village in West Bengal, shared an incident from last month when she visited a hospital in Vasant Kunj. The nurse asked me why the JNU students want to break the nation and why we dont study and make better use of taxpayers money. I was shocked. I had no answer. The discussion went on for another hour over hot paranthas and numerous cups of tea before the students left for their hostel rooms, announcing their plans to go and cast votes in their respective hometowns. We cant make any change by just discussing and debating these things, said one of them. With the 2019 Lok Sabha election round the corner, the JNU campus, traditionally known for its culture of political activism, is buzzing with fierce debates and discussions. The students wings active on the campus are also busy mobilising students to vote for their parent parties. While most sessions and protests organised by the left student groups All India Students Association (AISA), Students Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students Federation (DSF) and All India Students Federation (AISF) revolve around the criticisms of Narendra Modis government, such as lack of jobs, privatisation of public education, and farmer suicides, those organised by the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidhayarthi Parishad (ABVP) highlight nationalism, the surgical strike, thePulwama terror attack, and the success of Modi government policies. After anti-national event JNU sprang to national attention in 2016 when various police complaints were filed alleging that during a protest organised at the campus on February 9 against the execution of Afzal Guru, the mastermind of 2001 parliament attacks who was hanged in 2013, anti-national slogans were raised. Three studentsKanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirbhan Bhattacharyawere arrested under sedition charges. Since then JNU has become enmeshed with raging debates on nationalism vs. freedom of dissent. After almost three years, the Delhi police in January filed a chargesheet against former students union president Kumar, 32, and nine others. However, the police are yet to get a sanction from the Delhi government to prosecute the case. JNU students have been at the receiving end ever since this [central] government came to power, said Shehla Rashid, 30, a PhD student at JNU who was also named in the February 2016 incident charge sheet. Students these days feel suffocated because of the political repression. If one tries to express dissent then the person will be charged with an FIR. And this is going to matter a lot when they vote this time, she added. Many students at the university believe that the campus still feels the heat of the February 2016 row. N Sai Balaji, president of JNU students union (JNUSU) and a member of AISA, said that the university has been targeted every single day after February 2016. We have been attacked in an organised manner for being a traditionally critical lot of students in the country. We dont accept things blindly. How can we buy the governments claims that it has improved education when scholars are struggling for basic necessities, and youth are not getting jobs? SFI member and JNU students union general secretary Aejaz Rather said that the university has undergone a series of changes post 2016. One of the most regressive changes JNU has witnessed was the scrapping of deprivation points. That was the first step of making the university inaccessible for those at the margins. In this election students will keep in mind under which government that has happened. Kumar is now a CPI Lok Sabha candidate from Begusarai in Bihar. And Rashid has joined former Indian Administrative Officer Shah Faesals Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement. New rules and regulations After the February 2016 controversy, the university administration also introduced many rules and regulations aimed at what it said was an effort to inculcate discipline among students and teachers. This included banning protests within 100 meter range of the administrative block popularly known as freedom square compulsory attendance system for students, regular filming of student protests and gatherings, closing down of 24*7 dhabas, and regular checking at hostels to make sure no outsider is staying there. A senior official in the university administration said that the changes were made after following the due process. We have taken every possible decision that was good to bring discipline at the campus in democratic ways. Nothing has been imposed on students or teachers, said the official who asked not to be named. ABVP member and the main complainant in the February 2016 incident, Saurabh Sharma, added that the university has changed for good. The left students groups are scared after their anti-national faces were uncovered. ABVPs constant rise at the campus also bothers them a lot. Things are perfectly fine at JNU, he said. On 5 March the JNU unit of ABVP hosted a talk on rise of anti-national sentiments a threat to national unity and integrity and invited suspended Aam Aadmi Party member Kapil Mishra as a speaker. In February, a police complaint was filed against Mishra for circulating a highly incendiary video provoking people to attack those against the nation including Shehla Rashid. When JNU students will go for voting this time they will remember who protected their campus from anti-national forces, Saurabh Sharma said. Without boundaries The university was established in 1966 through the JNU Act with the idea to create a space where there are no boundaries or hierarchy in the process of learning, said Harjit Singh, who has spent 45 years of his life at JNU as student, teacher and administrative officer before he retired in 2017. Singh said JNU managed to stand out among all Indian universities because of the way it decided to celebrate diversity. When I had joined the university in 1969 professor Moonis Raza, JNUs first dean of students, did not allow me and my friend to stay in a same hostel room. He said no two roommates in this university should belong to same region, same religion and same subject.Thats the philosophy of this university, he said. JNU has been known as a left-dominated campus right from its initial days. Sachidanand Sinha, a professor, attributed this to JNUs unique admission criteria of providing deprivation points that facilitated entry of students from backward regions. They (these students)started questioning and expressing dissent against inequality. They started inclining towards left ideology, he said. The university scrapped the deprivation points in 2017. Left vs. Right Initially, the two strong left parties on campus were theCPI (M)s student wing SFI and the CPI (ML)s AISF. Students who were not associated with either of them were known as free thinkers. Its much after 1983 that other left parties including AISA emerged at the campus. ABVP also started making its presence felt by then, Sinha said. The ABVP won presidential post for the first time in 2001. It hasnt won since. It was only in 2015 that the ABVPs Saurabh Sharma won the joint secretarys post in JNUSU. Post February 2016, though, the left student groups that used to contest against each other in the students union polls started to team up. In the 2016 elections, AISA and SFI joined hands. The following year, the DSF joined them. And finally in 2018, all four left parties including AISF stood together in the student union elections and won all four posts in the central panel. The ABVP, meanwhile, claims to have emerged as the dominant party in terms of vote share. The presidential candidate of the Left Unity received 41.8% of total votes whereas ABVPs candidate received 18.9%. Four left groups had to come together to defeat us last year. Though we lost, we managed to get a stronghold in JNU campus that was always known as a left bastion. It clearly depicts where the support lies, said ABVPs JNU unit president Vijay Kumar. Left students groups disagreed. Around 30 students groups and youth organisations from across the country have joined hands to form a young India charter. We are personally meeting students and young voters to make them aware of their rights, said Balaji. In February, the members of this young India charter took out a rally in Delhi demanding better education for students and jobs for youth. Together, we will defeat the fascist forces, said Balaji. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Opposition parties, attempting to present a united front against the BJP-led ruling coalition, pointing out to prime ministerial ambition of rival leaders. PM Modi said, When I was made a prime ministerial candidate, there was a queue for the PMs post in 2014. Many wanted to become prime minister. The queue has got a bit longer now in 2019. Modi was referring to differing voices in the Opposition camp over who could be the PM if the BJP-led ruling coalition is defeated in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in April-May. Watch: Chowkidar is a spirit, it is a feeling: PM Narendra Modi During campaign for the assembly election in Karnataka last year, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said if the party secures majority in the national election, he is ready to become the prime minister. Recently, his sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that Rahul Gandhi could be the PM if the party emerges victorious in the parliamentary elections. At different point of time, names of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati have been projected by supporters as potential PM candidates. Mamata Banerjee is believed to be in the lead as a non-BJP non-Congress prime ministerial candidate. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, in January this year, said Banerjee has all the qualities to be the PM. Banerjee, on her part, has evaded a clear answer to the question on Rahul Gandhis prime ministerial candidature fueling speculation about her political ambition. This has led to BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, taking a swipe at Opposition unity. Shah, in his rallies, has been mocking at the Opposition saying if they win there will be a prime minister for each day of the week. Chowkidar not a system but spirit PM Modi, in his comeback at the Congress, turned philosophical to counter chowkidar campaign. During his interaction with supporters of BJPs main bhi chowkidar drive, he said the ruling partys campaign is an extension of Mahatma Gandhis vision of trusteeship. Addressing people across 500 locations, PM Modi said, I have tried to fulfil my responsibility as a chowkidar in the last five yearsPeople pay taxes to the government and the poor have right over this money. I had promised I would not let anyone lay their hands on it. But there are some people who have limited intellect. It is their problem that they cant think beyond. Chowkidar is not a system. Chowkidar is not limited to any frame. Chowkidar is a spirit. It is a feeling, PM Modi told around 5,000 supporters of BJPs main bhi chowkidar drive, launched to counter the Congresss chowkidar chor hai campaign. Follow live updates The Congress launched its campaign to attack PM Modi alleging malfeasance in Rafale deal, a defence agreement signed between India and France. Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged the PM Modi scrapped the Rafale deal being negotiated during the UPA regime to benefit businessman Anil Ambani, whose Reliance Defence is an offset partner of Dassault Aviation, the French company which has got the contract to supply 36 fighter jets to India. Nation loves chowkidar, doesnt want kings On Sunday, PM Modi countered the Congresss campaign saying, If everyone becomes chowkidar, will there be any thief to loot resources of the country? I believe that the people of the nation love chowkidar. They dont want raja and maharaja (kings and emperors) now. The prime minister launched his counter campaign on March 16. A day later, PM Modi and all the ministers in his cabinet and party members changed their Twitter handle by adding prefix chowkidar to support BJPs poll campaign. On March 20, PM Modi addressed over 25 lakh chowkidars from across the country. The word chowkidar (watchman) entered political lexicon of India in 2014, when Modi as prime ministerial candidate of the BJP used this at an election rally. In his inaugural speech ahead of main bhi chowkidar interaction, PM Modi explained why he used the word in his election campaign. I was new in 2014. I had some identity as a chief minister. My fame was mostly due to my critics. Their criticism created inquisitiveness about me. Around this time, the BJP made me its prime ministerial candidate. Against this backdrop in 2014, I had said I would be a chowkidar not the prime minister, said PM Modi. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has begun scouting for a formidable candidate to pitch against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in north Keralas Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader AK Antony had announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from north Keralas Wayanad constituency apart from his current seat Amethi. The BJP has a seat sharing deal with its ally the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a political outfit of the backward Ezhava community. As part of that seat sharing deal, the BJP has given the Wayanad constituency to the BDJS. However, the BDJS has said that in case the Congress president contests from Wayanad, it will vacate the seat for the BJP to field its own candidate to contest against Rahul Gandhi. I am in touch with the national leaders. We will take a decision by evening, said BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai. Earlier there were speculations Union Minister Smriti Irani will contest from Wayanad also but the party leaders later denied it. Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad in north Kerala because of fear imminent defeat in Amethi. Addressing the media, Prasad, who is also the Union minister for information technology and law, said, Rahul Gandhi is going to contest from Wayanad because his roots in Amethi have begun shaking. He said that the reason behind Rahul Gandhis move to contest from Wayanad was because of the constituencys demographic make up. The reality of Rahul Gandhis extraordinary escape from Amethi is evident because of the ethnic profile of Wayanad where 49.4 per cent of the population is Hindu and the rest are all minorities. The seven assembly seats within Wayanad are all minorities. If Rahul Gandhi has so much love for South India, he should have chosen some other seat, Prasad said. Also read | Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi, announces Congress Hinting that the Congress presidents candidature from Wayanad was because the party was worried that he may lose from Amethi, Pillai said that the BJP would ensure a tough fight for Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is running around for a safe seat fearing defeat in Amethi. We will not ensure an easy victory for him here, he said The BJP will field a strong candidate in Wayanad, Pillai said. The BJP is likely to announce its candidate from Wayanad later in the evening on Sunday. So far, the party sources have ruled out the entry of Union minister Smriti Irani in Wayanad. A final decision will be taken by the national leadership, sources within the party said. Meanwhile, the BDJS candidate from Wayanad will be shifted, said its leader Thushar Vellapally. Also read | Left unhappy with Rahul Gandhis Wayanad outing, says will ensure defeat West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee endorsed Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for another term on Sunday saying the state is known across the world only because of him while insisting that Prime Minister Narenda Modi has to be ejected in the general elections. Andhra Pradesh will go ahead only because of Naidu. He is showing a path to the entire country, she said at an election rally at Visakhapatnam. Banerjee who was among a galaxy of opposition leaders who addressed the rally, said, If there is anybody who can take the country forward, it is Chandrabbau Naidu. If Naidu rules Aandhra Pradesh, he can do a lot in Delhi. Nadius TDP is facing a stiff challenge from Jagan Mohan Reddys YSR Congress. The TMC chief said there was no dearth of leaders to fight for the country and that Prime Minister Modi has to be shown the door. She also took a swipe at Modi for questioning who will be the Oppositions Prime Ministerial candidate. Who is Modi to ask about our PM candidate? We know how to elect our leader. There will be somebody who will lead the country. She accused Modi of threatening leaders of Opposition-ruled states with raids by the CBI, Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate. He (Modi) is threatening every (opposition-ruled) state, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal or AP. From chaiwala he became chowkidar. He is not chowidar of people, but of rich, corrupt and scamsters. In his regime, lot of farmers committed suicide and unemployment increased. Major Leetul Gogoi, who hit the headlines in April 2017 for tying a Kashmiri civilian to his jeep, is likely to lose seniority by six months after a military court found him guilty of fraternising with a local woman in Srinagar last year in violation of rules, according to people aware of the development. The loss of seniority means Gogoi would be unable to get further promotions, the people added. An army inquiry last August found the conduct of Gogoi, who was detained by the police at a Srinagar hotel along with the woman in May 2018, violated the armys rules as the officer was involved with her in a counter-insurgency zone. HT reported in August that the inquiry found he had left his location without permission. Days after the incident, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had promised that exemplary punishment would be given to anyone found guilty of violating army rules. Gogoi had earlier tied Farooq Dar, the Kashmiri civilian, as a human shield to the front of his jeep apparently to prevent stone-throwing protesters from targeting his convoy on the day by-elections were being held to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat on April 9, 2017. The army stood firmly behind Gogoi in the face of outrage over the issue. He was later awarded the chief of Army staffs commendation card for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations even as the incident sparked protests in the Kashmir. Gogoi, who qualified to become an officer in 2008 years after joining the army, was detained at the Srinagar hotel in 2018 after an altercation with the owner who had refused to allow a woman to enter the hotel to meet Gogoi. Gogoi, who had booked the room online in his name, was shifted out of his unit immediately afterwards. He had initially maintained that he was meeting locals to gather intelligence. However, he did not take the same plea during the inquiry. Gogois driver, Sameer Malla, who helped the officer contact the woman, also faced the court-martial proceedings along with the officer. Malla, too, is likely to face a serious reprimand, said an army officer. Union minister Prakash Javadekar hit out at Congress leader PC Chacko for describing the Gandhi family as the first family of India. At a press conference in Jaipur, Javadekar said the Gandhi family had no familiarity with the family of Mahatma Gandhi and Chackos statement reflects nothing but the sycophancy culture prevailing in the Congress. For the BJP, poor family is the first family of the country...Dynasty is Congress culture, Javadekar, who is the state election incharge, said. Earlier on Saturday, Chacko told reporters in New Delhi that PM has a negative opinion about the first family of India and that the country is obliged to them. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who on Sunday addressed a political meeting in Greater Noidas Bisada area, said that there will not be another Bisada type incident in his regime. Bisada village, located near Dadri in Gautam Budh Nagar, shot into the limelight in September 2015, after Mohammad Ikhlaq, 55, was lynched by a mob on suspicion of slaughtering a cow and storing its meat for consumption. Ikhlaqs son Danish was also brutally beaten up in the incident on September 28, 2015. Ikhlaqs family now stays in Delhi. The Congress ruled for 55 years and the opposition compares 55 months of PMs (Modis) regime with that. The PMs work is far better than that of the Congress regimes on all fronts. The BSP and the SP worked for their families and looted the state. The BSP and the SP broke communal harmony and sheltered those, who indulged in rioting. Everybody knows what happened in Bisada. There will not be another Bisada in my regime, said the CM. The BJP had organised a rally here in 2014 general elections and also during 2017 UP assembly elections. The BSP-SP had sympathy when Pakistan cried after the Balakot airstrike in revenge of the Pulwama attack. The BSP, SP and the Congress are showing sympathy with Pakistan because these parties want to appease a particular vote bank, said Adityanath, while addressing around 25,000 people here on Sunday. Adityanath also accused Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi of insulting Hindus by not going to the makeshift Ram Temple during her visit to Ayodhya. He said: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra insulted Hindus by saying that she did not visit Ram Janmabhoomi as the matter was in court. Three members of her family are on bail. I want to ask Srimati Vadra does she meet them or not? Adityanath referred to her mother and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi who are out on bail in the National Herald case and her husband Robert Vadra out on bail in a money laundering case. The remark came two days after Priyanka, during her visit to the temple town of Ayodhya, said she wont be visiting the Ram Janmabhoomi site as the matter was subjudice. Adityanath also accused the Congress of disrupting the process of construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. Adityanath has visited Noida seven times since he came to power but he addressed a rally first time in Bisada. In his 50-minute speech, he assured people of better governance, safety to women, corruption free system and development in this region. He said when he came into power in 2017, funds to build 3 lakh homes for poor was lying in the state but the SP government never disbursed that fund. We have disbursed funds to 1 lakh families to build houses for poor. And the remaining funds are being disbursed. The BSP, the SP and the Congress offer biryani to terrorists and we pump bullets into their chest. We crush terrorism while the SP-BSP has sympathy with terrorists, said the CM, who claimed the BJP will win 74 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Attacking Congress, Yogi said, The Congress created Hindu terrorism propaganda and doubted the existence of Ram Setu while fighting a case in the Supreme Court. The SP, BSP and the Congress want to appease a certain section and the BJP wants to work for all communities without any appeasement. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday tweeted that a blueprint of what may form the Congresss policy for national security is ready. A team of experts led by Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda, who oversaw 2016 surgical strike across the Line of Control in the aftermath of the Uri terror attack, has prepared the document. Lt. General (Retd.) DS Hooda & his team have put together a comprehensive report on Indias National Security that he presented to me today. This exhaustive report will at first be discussed & debated within the Congress party, Gandhi wrote on Twitter. This comes days ahead of the first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections on April 11. The issue of national security has been a bone of contention between the Narendra Modi government and the Opposition with each side accusing the other of compromising it. The Opposition has singled out major terrorist attacks including those at Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama to target the Modi government. The BJP-led ruling coalition has accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of going soft on anti-national forces. Also Read | Jaitley tips his hat to Gen Hooda and then takes a swipe at Congress The issue is being debated in the election campaign with both the BJP and the Congress claiming to be better at according top priority to national security. The BJP has claimed that he doctrine of national security has been evolved under the Modi government. The party has cited the surgical strike and recent Balakot air strike to boost its claim. Meanwhile, the Congress roped in former chief of the armys northern command Lt Gen DS Hooda (retired) to head a task force on national security. Lt Gen Hooda was the main architect of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army on September 29, 2016. Special commandos of the Indian Army targeted terror launch pads across the LoC days after terrorists attacked army base at Uri. Nineteen jawans were killed in the terror attack. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said there is emergency-like situation in the country since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014. He said PM Modi has made one community fight with another. Pakistan has been trying to create divisions among Indians. They failed in their attempt. But in the last five years, the pair of PM Modi and Amit Shah has succeeded in doing what Pakistan could not in achieve in 70 years, I have come here in Andhra Pradesh from Delhi to make an appeal to you, vote Modi out in 2019 election to save the country and democracy. If the BJP wins this election, India will not survive. They will change constitution and end democracy, said Kejriwal at an election rally in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam. Launching a scathing attack at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Kejriwal said, Some people ask me if not Modi whoMy reply to those people is simple, if you develop tumour in your body, will you remove it or ask if not tumour who? The AAP chief alleged that the Modi government is using central agencies against all Opposition parties but not ready to probe its own corruption. This is the most corrupt government in 70 yearsDemonetisation is the biggest scam in 70 years, Kejriwal said. He also claimed that BJPs Lok Sabha MP Sakshi Maharaj has said that if the BJP wins in 2019, this will be the last election. Kejriwal said BJP president Amit Shah also said that if the BJP wins 2019 election, no one can defeat it till 2050. How do they know? This shows they want to change constitution like Hitler did it in Germany, he said. Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed the election rally seeking vote for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam Party in the state. Incidentally, it was at the same venue, the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium of Visakhapatnam, that Naidu had organised a rally for BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2014. PM Modi and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan too had addressed the joint rally seeking vote for the BJP-led coalition in the last Lok Sabha elections. Naidu pulled out of the NDA in March last year over the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh. He has been at the frontline in trying to bring Opposition parties together in the Lok Sabha polls to challenge the BJP-led NDA. The Opposition parties previously held two rallies, one each in Kolkata and New Delhi in January and February respectively. Those two rallies saw bigger participation of the Opposition parties with the Congress leaders also attending them. Sundays rally was meant to be yet another show of opposition unity. Naidu had invited Janata Dal-Secular president HD Deve Gowda, DMK chief MK Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah among others. But these leaders did not attend the rally. Abdullah had, though, recently addressed a rally in support of Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJPs Main bhi Chowkidar (I too am chowkidar) campaign at Delhis Talkatora stadium, opposition leaders in Visakhapatnam held a joint rally seeking the formers ouster. Andhra Pradesh CM and Telugu Desam party chief Chandrababu Naidu, along with Delhi CM chief Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, launched a blistering counter attack on the Prime Minister accusing him of being a chowkidar of criminals and corrupt. He is protecting scamsters He doesnt do what he tells and doesnt tell what he does, alleged Naidu. Recalling the special status promised to the state by PM Modi, Naidu underlined how peoples trust on the issue was betrayed by the former. What did Modi say in the same city five years ago? He promised to fulfil promises made to state. He betrayed Andhra Pradesh people on special status, said Naidu. However, the TDP chief maintained that despite lack of assistance from the Centre the development has not stopped in the state. Didnt Vizag improve as a beautiful city after Hudhud Cyclone? Modi is worried that Vizag would be more beautiful than Ahmedabad. He is jealous of us. That is why, he is causing hurdles to us, said Naidu. The Election Commission on Sunday decided to conduct elections to the Nizamabad parliamentary constituency in Telangana using jumbo-sized Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in place of ballot papers. The EC sent instructions to this effect to Telangana chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar, who had earlier made the same recommendation, as 185 contestants were in fray for this particular seat. According to an official release, the EC asked the state authorities to procure M-3 sized EVMs for the polling instead of ballot papers. It directed the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) for immediate supply of 26,820 ballot units (BUs), 2240 control units (CUs) and 2600 VVPATs of M3 make for the elections. Out of 185 contestants, as many as 178 farmers filed nominations to highlight their demand for remunerative prices for turmeric and red jowar crops. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Raos daughter K Kavitha is seeking a second term from Nizamabad. Each EVM can accommodate only 16 names and the control unit can record the voting of only four such EVMs linked together, which means, each control unit can register a maximum of 64 candidates. In all, Nizamabad has a total number of 1.5 million voters. In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections in Nalgonda constituency, a record number of 480 candidates filed their nominations in protest against lack of safe drinking water for the fluoride affected villages of the district. The EC had to conduct the elections with a jumbo-sized ballot paper, instead of EVMs. . People will pack you and send you back to Gujarat: Chandrababu Naidu He is troubling Kejriwal and Mamata and in AP, he is troubling me. Mr Modi, we are all experienced than you. People will pack you and send you back to Gujarat Modi doesnt do what he tells and doesnt tell what he does: Chandrababu Naidu He is a chowkidar of criminals, corrupt. He is protecting scamsters. He is a split personality. He doesnt do what he tells and doesnt tell what he does.: Chandrababu Naidu Modi is worried Vizag would be more beautiful than Ahmedabad: Chandrababu Naidu Why did you ban 500, 1000 notes and introduced 2000 note? Only to promote black money by BJP leaders. Development has not stopped despite lack of assistance from Centre. Didnt Vizag improve as a beautiful city after Hudhud Cyclone? Modi is worried that Vizag would be more beautiful than Ahmedabad. He is jealous of us. That is why, he is causing hurdles to us.: Chandrababu Naidu What have you given to AP?: Chandrababu Naidu He is a crook. He doesnt have any right to come here. He is coming here and making tall claims again and again? Will people vote for Modi. You wont get votes even to match the money spent on your votes. What have you given to AP?: Chandrababu Naidu Why did he cheat us?: Chandrababu Naidu hits out at PM When there was Hudhud Cyclone, Modi came here and promised 1,000 crore as initial assistance, but gave only 650 crore. We fought for Vizag railway zone for five years. Only recently, he announced a zone without Waltair division which is high revenue generating division. Why did he cheat us?: Chandrababu Naidu Chandrababu Naidu begins address Mamata told us a good news -- that Modi-Shah will go: Chandrababu Naidu . What did Modi say in the same city five years ago? He promised to fulfil promises made to state. He betrayed Andhra Pradesh people on special status, capital construction: Chandrababu Naidu Who is Narendra Modi to ask about our PM candidate: Mamata Who is Narendra Modi to ask about our PM candidate? Dont worry, Mr Modi, We know what to do for the people. We know how to elect our leader. There will be somebody who will lead the country: Mamata Banerjee at opposition rally in Andhra Pradesh He is a liar, he speaks lies day in and day out: Mamata attacks PM Modi is threatening every state, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal or AP. He became from Chaiwala to Chowkidar. He is not chowidar of people, but of rich, corrupt and scamsters. In his regime, lot of farmers committed suicide, unemployment increased. He doesnt care about the media, he has not addressed any press conferences. He is a liar, he speaks lies day in and day out: Mamata Modi not suitable to be block president, forget PM: Mamata Banerjee Modi not suitable to be block president, forget PM: Mamata Banerjee Modi has to be shown the door: Mamata If there is anybody who can take the country forward, it is Chandrababu Naidu. If Naidu rules AP, he can do a lot in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal can develop Delhi, he can develop the country. There is no dearth of leaders to fight for the country. Modi has to be shown the door: Mamata This is a special election, you have to think and vote carefully: Mamata Mamata Banerjee begins address. She says, This is a special election, you have to think and vote carefully. You have both assembly and LS elections. People come and give big lectures. AP is known across the world due to Chandrababu Naidu. AP will go ahead only because of Naidu: Mamata The BJP is like a tumour that will destroy the entire body: Arvind Kejriwal Please save the country, save constitution, save democracy. If you have a tumour, you will ask the doctor to cut the tumour. The BJP is like a tumour that will destroy the entire body. No need to worry about who will be the next PM. Our first duty is to defeat the BJP: Arvind Kejriwal In 2019, if Modi and Shah win, they will change the countrys constitution: Kejriwal In 2019, if Modi and Shah win, they will change the countrys constitution like Hitler did in Germany. If the Modi-Shah duo win again, they will completely change the country into Hindu nation. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj himself said this will be the last elections in the country. He said there would no elections till 2050: Kejriwal What Pak could not do in 70 years, Modi had done in 5 : Kejriwal What Pakistan could not do in last 70 years, Modi had done in the last five years. He divided people in the name of religion and caste. He destroyed democratic institutions: Arvind Kejriwal Modi listens to only one person, Amit Shah: Kejriwal Modi will not listen.. He doesnt listen to officials. He listens to only one person, Amit Shah. He implemented Demonetisation without consulting anybody. It was a big scam. Every businessman, middle class, poor suffered. He divided people in the name of religion, caste, creed: Kejriwal Modi govt is most corrupt in 70 years: Kejriwal India is facing an emergency-like situation. In the last five years, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah duo has destroyed Indian democracy. Modi govt is most corrupt in 70 years. India facing Emergency like situation: Kejriwal at oppn rally The 2019 elections are both important for the Andhra and the nation. Make Chandrababu Naidu CM again. After the partition of AP, with the creation of Telangana. There was a big challenge, Naidu ji overcame the challenge Next 5 years will be to address the ambitions, aspirations: PM Modi In the last 5 years I put all my strength to do away with what was lacking, to fulfil the necessities from toilets, electricity, roads, trains to buses, and next 5 years will be to address the ambitions and aspirations. Will give them same jail that housed Mahatma Gandhi: PM Modi PM Modi said some people in foreign courts complain that Indian jails are not fit to live in. PM countered that view by saying that how is it that such thieves expect that I will give them a palace. He said he is giving them the very same jail that housed Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunate some politicians are helping Pak with their comments: PM PM Modi emphasised that Pakistan has started opening their airspace after more than a month. The Prime Minister said that India struck at a place and proved that terrorist camps were running in Pakistan. It is unfortunate that some politicians in our country are helping Pakistan with their comments: PM Modi For me, country is paramount, says PM Modi If one were to focus on ones political future, there was no need for Modi. For me, country is paramount, says PM Modi. The Prime Minister pointed out that when world leaders shake hands or hug Modi, they acknowledge the majority vote that this government has the mandate: PM Modi I didnt carry out the strikes, our armed forces did, said PM Modi Replying to question on the IAF strike at Balakot, PM Modi saluted the armed forces. I didnt carry out the strikes, our armed forces did, said PM Modi PM Modi lauds youth of the country for thinking about the future Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauds the youth of the country for thinking about the future. When I would take oath it would not be me only but 130 crore Indians who will take oath, the PM said. Okay to have aspirations and dreams... but country above all: PM Modi It is okay to have aspirations and dreams, and one should have them, but the country is above all of that: PM Modi India loves chowkidar, not kings, says PM Modi Everyone is out there for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the electorate is watching keenly. Desh ki janta chowkidaar pasand karti hai, they do not need kings.. I am happy that spirit of chowkidar is spreading: PM Modi Being Chowkidar is a spirit, a feeling: PM Modi I will not let public money be looted. As a chowkidar, I will do my job...Some people due to limited mental ability cannot think beyond the literal meaning of the term chowkidar: PM Modi My critics made me popular in 2014, says PM Modi I was new in 2014. I had some identity as a chief minister. My fame was mostly due to my critics. Their criticism created inquisitiveness about me. Around this time, the BJP made me its PM candidate. Against this backdrop in 2014, I had said I would be a chowkidar not the prime minister. Five years have gone by and the current PM has not fulfilled the promise: Rahul Gandhi Five years have gone by and the current prime minister of India has not fulfilled the promise that the Indian people have made to the people of Andhra Pradesh and it is sad that neither of the two parties in Andhra Pradesh have put pressure on the prime minister .... The TDP was in alliance with Narendra Modi and they should have put pressure on Narendra Modi to give special status: Rahul Gandhi Andhra was promised special status: Rahul Gandhi In 2014, Mr Narendra Modi became prime minister of India and sometime before that Manmohan ji had made certain commitments to the people of AP. You had been promised that youd be given special status, a special place among states so that you could develop fast. A number of projects were promised to the people of AP and these commitments were not just of Manmohan Singh but they were of the Prime Minister of India... The Prime Ministers commitment is made on behalf of the country. What was promised to Andhra was promised by the people of India, not just PM: Rahul Gandhi Relationship of the heart with people of Andhra Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi My family has had a long history with Andhra Pradesh and it is not just a political relationship but also a relationship of the heart : Rahul Gandhi at public meeting in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Will still back our son, Rahul: Amethi voters Unfazed by their MP Rahul Gandhis decision to contest from Keralas Wayanad seat as well in the Lok Sabha elections, voters in Amethi say they will support the son of their VIP constituency. Amethi goes to polls on May 6. The Congress on Sunday announced Congress Presidents decision to contest from two seats -- Amethi and Wayanad. Gandhi has represented Amethi undefeated since 2004, but faces a stiff competition from BJPs Smriti Irani this time. His winning margin narrowed to just over one lakh votes against Irani in 2014. Asked if the voters in Amethi will support Gandhi after his new decision, Congress District Chief Yogendra Mishra was quick to bring in the son versus the outsider analogy in his party leaders support. You wont be able to defeat BJP: Shah targets SP-BSP alliance in UP A different coalition has happened in UP, bua-bhatija & dada have come together. Isnt Ajit Singh at an age where he should be a grandfather or a great-grandfather? They think they can defeat BJP, include Rahul baba and Priyanka Vadra too, you wont be able to defeat BJP, said Amit Shah. Priyankas statement over Ayodhya is an insult to Hindus: UP CM Priyanka Vadras statement yesterday, over Ayodhya is an insult to Hindus everywhere. She was asked why did she not to go Ram janmbhoomi when she went to Ayodhya? She said it is disputed land, so she didnt. She didnt go there as this would have upset a particular community, said UP CM Yogi Aditynath as reported by news agency ANI. Rahul Gandhi fled to Kerala as he fears Amethi will seek account of work: Shah BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday ridiculed Congress president Rahul Gandhis decision to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, saying he has fled to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years, reported news agency PTI. Shah was speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, where voting will be held on April 11. The saffron party had won all eight Lok Sabha seats in the region in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him, the BJP chief said. Shah also said, The Congress had given clean chit to Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in Samjhauta Express bomb blast case, sent Swami Aseemanand and other innocent persons to jail, and had put a tag of terrorism on Hindus. Preparations begin for TDPs mega rally Earlier visuals of preparation from Vishakhapatnam where TDP is holding a public rally today which will also be attended by WB CM&Delhi CM. TDP Spokesperson Lanka Dinakar says, Well show voice of Andhra especially the betrayal of Narendra Modi led Union govt. Hindus cant be terrorists, says Amit Shah on Samjhauta blast verdict Hindus cant be terrorists, said Amit Shah on Samjhauta blast verdict while addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh. Congress workers in Wayanad celebrate Rahuls candidature Workers hit the streets. Braving the scorching sun, they took out rallies at many places in the constituency. They bursted crackers and distributed sweets. Udf convener Benny behnan asks CPM to withdraw its candidate and support Rahul Sitaram Yechury criticises Rahul Gandhis candidature from Wayanad Sitaram Yechury criticised Rahul Gandhis candidature from Wayanad. It will give a wrong message to secular democratic forces, he said. BJP search on for suitable candidate to take on Rahul in Wayanad BJPs search for a suitable candidate to take on Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad is on. MP and actor Suresh Gopis name is among the many names doing rounds. BJP is likely to announce its candidate from Wayanad late in the evening. Party sources have ruled out the entry of Union minister Smriti Irani. A final decision will be taken by national leadership. Rahul running for safe seat fearing defeat in Amethi: Kerala BJP president BJP will field a strong candidate in Wayanad, said BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai. It is sad congress succumbed to Muslim League pressure, he said He is running around for a safe seat fearing defeat in Amethi. We will not ensure an easy victory for him here, he added. This country not personal property of one man, one organisation: Rahul This country is not personal property of one man, one organisation, says Rahul Gandhi in Vijaywada. PM Narendra Modi dismantled everything the UPA government had done: Rahul Gandhi PM Narendra Modi dismantled everything the UPA government had done. He destroyed the pillars of MGNREGA and Food Security Act, said Rahul Gandhi while addressing a public meeting in Vijaywada. Govt schemes will reward people who will create jobs: Rahul Gandhi Govt schemes will reward people who will create jobs, said Rahul Gandhi. NYAY is our non-violent weapon against poverty: Rahul Gandhi NYAY is our non-violent weapon against poverty. We will give NYAY to the people of India. The poor people of India will get 72,000 annually directly in their bank account, said Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi slams demonetisation, GST First he (PM Modi) brought demonetisation and then brought Gabbar Singh Tax that further worsened the lives of small businessmen, said Rahul Gandhi while addressing a public meeting in Andhra Pradeshs Vijaywada. If voted to power, will give special status to Andhra: Rahul Gandhi It is not only a commitment made by Congress&Manmohan Singh ji, its a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. Its our commitment that well give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi, said Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Vijaywada. Nothing but fight against Left: Kerala CM on Rahuls Wayanad seat Hes fighting in one of the 20 constituencies(in Kerala) and doesnt need to be seen as any different. Well fight him.He shouldve contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting,its nothing but a fight against Left, Kerala CM P Vijayan on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad. Priority now to fight against Left in Kerala: Prakash Karat on Rahul contesting from Wayanad Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala its LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there, said Prakash Karat, CPI(M) ex-general secretary, reported news agency ANI Rahul Gandhi to address rally in Andhra Pradesh Congress president will shortly address a public meeting in Andhra Pradeshs Vijaywada. Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi, asks Randeep Surjewala Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. She(Smriti Irani) will complete a hattrick of losses, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala when asked whether Rahul Gandhi not confident in Amethi so contesting on 2 seats. Fight against those who seek to divide India on basis of colour, language: Surjewala This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of South India. This is a fight to give a befitting reply to those forces that attack cultures, languages, way of life and also the deep connect between North and South India between which BJP has created a division, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad, Amethi Congress president Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi, announces senior leader AK Antony. We work with commitment, not confusion: PM Modi Our vision and priorities are clear. We work with commitment, and not confusion, said PM Narendra Modi while addressing a media conclave. Until 5 years back, India was a follower, now a leader: PM Modi Until 5 years back, all other nations would make rules and India used to follow, now India is a leader, said PM Narendra Modi at a media conclave. Ballots attract tourists as India goes to vote Being promoted as the Kumbh Mela of elections, international and national tourism firms are hoping to cash-in on the worlds largest polling exercise -- the Indian General Elections 2019 -- to give a boost to their businesses. Accordingly, everyone from tour operators, online sales agents and niche guide-touring firms are promoting the electoral process as a theme-based holiday package. I think the process in itself is amazing. Just the sheer number of people voting. We have customers travelling in India at the moment and they have been following the polls, Nicholas Wood, Director of the London-based firm Political Tours told IANS. Mamata, Kejriwal to attend TDPs mega rally in Visakhapatnam West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will campaign for Telugu Desam Party headed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at a mega rally in the port town of Visakhapatnam on Sunday evening. Though a galaxy of other leaders from the proposed mahagathbhandhan (grand alliance) of anti-BJP parties including Janatal Dal (S) president Deve Gowda, DMK president M K Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdulla were also invited the rally to showcase the opposition unity, they are not able to make it due to hectic campaigning in their respective states, a TDP leader familiar with the development said. Rahul Gandhi to address coalition rally in Karnataka Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to kick off in earnest the campaign of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in the state on Sunday by addressing a joint rally of the partners on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Gandhi has already addressed rallies in Kalaburagi and held a meeting with entrepreneurs in Bengaluru. However, these were exclusively Congress events. Sundays rally is set to be a projection of coalition strength and all senior leaders from the state, including former prime minister HD Deve Gowda will be present. PM Modi set to address Main bhi Chowkidar programme PM Narendra Modi is on Sunday scheduled to address the nation from over 500 locations across the country. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday made a strong pitch for the minimum income guarantee scheme that the party has promised to implement if it is elected to power in the Lok Sabha elections in April-May. He said the income guarantee plan is a revolutionary idea not implemented anywhere in the world. We have been thinking how to fix the damage Mr Narendra Modi has done in last five yearsAnd we have come out with a revolutionary ideaan idea that will change the face of India, said Gandhi at a public rally in Andhra Pradeshs Anantapur. He said minimum income guarantee scheme is an idea that will wipe out poverty from this country forever. Named as NYAY (standing for Nyuntam Aay Yojana) meaning justice, the promised scheme aims at providing cash support to poorest 20 per cent households of the country. The scheme was announced by Gandhi last week in New Delhi. In Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress is contesting against ruling Telugu Desam Party with which it has aligned at the national level to challenge the BJP-led ruling coalition, Gandhi said, We have to identify the 5 crore poorest families in the country and once we identify the poorest 5 crore families, we will simply give them 72,000 per year. Twenty-five crore people will benefit from our scheme. The Congress president also promised to deliver farm loan waiver to the farmers of Andhra and special category status to the state if the party is voted to power in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, Gandhi, at another election rally in Vijayawada, declared that if the Congress was voted to power at the Centre, he would carry out real surgical strike on poverty through NYAY. He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared a war on the poor and the downtrodden, the Congress would carry out a war on poverty. We shall give justice to the poor through NYAY. This is our non-violent weapon against poverty, he said. We promise to pay 3.60 lakh to every poor family in the next five years. I dont lie like Modi does. He said he would get 15 lakh deposited in the account of every poor person. It was a lie. The Modi government could not fufill the promise. I dont want to make that promise, but I assure you I will give 72,000 to the poorest in the country, he said. He said the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments had brought 14 crore people out of poverty line and provided employment to lakhs of people through employment guarantee schemes like NREGA. Also read: PM Modi gave idea for Nyay: Rahul Gandhi We delivered what we had promised. We ensured food security to the poor, gave our children meals in schools, created new law to protect lands of farmers, tribals and Dalits, he said. The BJP had earlier mocked his poverty alleviation announcement and pointed out that his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had coined the slogan Garibi Hatao but the Congress government did not eradicate poverty from the country. The Congress leader alleged that Modi had looted the poor and paid to Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya. Vijay Mallaya stole Rs.10,000 crore and before leaving the country. He spoke to the Finance Minister. He was allowed to run away. Mehul Choksi gave money to Finance Ministers daughter, he charged. He said the Modi government had ruined the countrys economy and trade by undertaking demonetization that hit the middle class and the poor very hard. He also took a swipe at Modi government for the way the Goods and Services tax (GST) was introduced. The Gabbar Singh Tax complicated the life of the small and mid-size businessmen, he said. Also read: Lok Sabha elections 2019: States will have to share cost of Nyay, says Congress The Congress president promised to waive crop loans in Andhra Pradesh within two days of coming to power, as it had done in the case of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. And I reiterate my commitment to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh, as promised by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Rajya Sabha while passing the AP Reorganisation Act, he said. Gandhi, however, did not make any direct attack on the Telugu Desam Party government in Andhra Pradesh. He, however, found fault with AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and other parties for not taking up aggressively the demand for special category status. The Congress is facing a very a tough fight in Andhra Pradesh where it failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat in 2014. The state will go to polls on April 11. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad seat in Kerala apart from Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress announced on Sunday. All southern states requested the Congress president to contest from their states. After enough deliberations he decided to contest from Wayanad, which shares its borders with two other states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, said senior Congress leader AK Antony at a press conference in New Delhi. Here are 12 things to know about Wayanad, Rahul Gandhis second seat in Kerala 1. North Kerala seat is a Congress bastion. 450 km north of Thiruvananthapuram 2. It was carved out during restructuring of constituencies in 2008 3. In 2009 and 2014 elections, Congresss late M I Shanavas won 4. It is a bordering district with Karnataka. Sizeable SC/ST population 5. Congress feels Rahul Gandhis presence will also help in other southern states 6. It feels his presence can check BJP which is riding on Sabarimala wave 7. With Left losing grounds in the state, BJP is vigorously trying to take its space 8. The hilly district is known for its spices and a favourite getaway 9. Its pepper Malabar garbled and un-garbled are world famous 10. This district is also Maoist infested. A top leader was killed in encounter last month 11. Farmers key. Price crash of cash crops one of the planks 12. 30% forest land in least populous district in the state Wayanad fact file Hindus: 49.48% Muslims: 28.65 Christians: 21.34 Others: 0.53 Total number of voters: 13, 25, 788 Female: 6,70,002 Male: 6,55,786 Seven assembly constituencies- Manathawady, Sulthan Bathery, Nilambur, Wandoor, Eranad, Thiruvambady, Kalpetta Click here for live updates on Lok Sabha elections 2019 Kicking off the Lok Sabha campaign for the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in the state on Sunday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi urged the leaders of both parties to support each others candidates in the 28 seats in the state. As part of the coalitions seat-sharing agreement, the Congress will contest 21 of the 28 seats in the state and the JD(S) seven. Sundays rally on the outskirts of the state capital, attended by around one lakh persons according to the police, came in the backdrop of discontent in the ranks of both parties over the decision to contest together, especially in the southern Old Mysuru region where the two parties are bitter rivals. PM Modi waived Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 capitalists. But when farmers ask for waiver, then Arun Jaitley says thats not our policy, alleged Rahul Gandhi. The Congress chief said that the Congress deliberated on its Nyuntam Aay Yojana or NYAY for six months. The scheme promises Rs 72,000 annually to over 20% of the poorest families. If PM Modi can give money to the rich then we can give it to the poor. You do what you feel is right and we will do what we feel is right, said Gandhi. Elaborating on the plan, the Congress chief said, In 5 years we will put 3.6 lakh crore in the accounts of the poor. This is our surgical strike on poverty. Twenty five crore people will benefit and 5 crore families will get money deposited in the account. In five years, you wont find any family with less than Rs 12000 per month. We will make it the poverty line. Hailing the joint rally of the two coalition partners, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy said it was a historic day. On May 23, 2018, this coalition government was formed with the intention of ensuring the defeat of the BJP. I want to tell the people that under the leadership of the Congress the regional parties, with an eye on development, must come together, said Kumaraswamy. Seconding the CMs views, Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah said, Where there is a JD(S) candidate, the Congress workers must join hands and ensure victory and vice versa. We must win in all 28 seats. Siddaramaiah alleged that PM Modi is the chowkidar of the rich not the poor, farmers or minorities. JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister Deve Gowda said the Congress and the JD(S) decided to come together under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi to bring about a change in the country. Recalling the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka CM and his son HD Kumaraswamy on May 23 last year, Gowda underlined that it was the first time in the country that all regional leaders had come together. He said the exercise was to prove to the country that it can never be a Hindu Rashtra, which the RSS is working for. Responding to Gandhis speech, state BJP spokesperson S Prakash said the event was an exercise in futility. Rahul Gandhi has become an ATM of lies. He is promising the sky knowing full well that he will not come to power, he said. Regarding the coalition rally, Prakash said the aim was to project unity among the leaders and send a message to their workers then they failed spectacularly. All they managed to do by only speaking about the prime minister was to give him more publicity, Prakash added. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Sunday took a potshot at Rahul Gandhi for deciding to contest Wayanad seat in Kerala, claiming that the Congress chief is feeling uncomfortable, insecured and helpless in Amethi, his Lok Sabha constituency for three terms in a row. Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi, and Amethi are considered as his familys pocket borough, but he is so scared that he fled to a place far away in south India, Prasad told reporters here. The Congress Sunday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi is feeling uncomfortable, insecured and helpless in Amethi. So he chose to contest Wayanad seat considering it as safe because of its ethnic profile, the senior BJP leader said. The captain ran away after noticing that the ship is sinking and landed in the sanctuary of Wayanad where 49.48 per cent people are Hindus and the rest minorities, he said. Rahul Gandhi had never cultivated his image as a Hindu but recently he is going temple hopping, showing off his Janeu (sacred thread) and flaunting his Gotra, the minister said asserting that he suddenly decided to contest a minority dominated seat feeling insecured. When pointed out that Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate in 2014 elections had contested from two seats - Gandhi Nagar and Varanasi, Prasad said it was because the people of Gujarat had requested Modi, who was the chief minister of the state for 12 years, to do it. Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala made a statement that Gandhi will contest Wayanad to safeguard the cultural tradition of south India. On this, the BJP leader said it is an ugly cruel joke as senior leaders of the Congress and other parities such as P V Narasimha Rao, NT Rama Rao, M G Ramchandran, Jayalalitha, and Devraj Arsh were treated badly by the party. Since you have gone to Kerala supposedly to safeguard the cultural tradition of south India, please tell us what is your take on Sabarimala (temple issue). We know the stand of the Left and our stand is also known to the public, he said. The Sabarimala temple was out of bounds women between 10 and 50 years of age. The Supreme Court on September 28 last year allowed all women, including those in the menstruating age, to offer prayers at the shrine. While the BJP opposed the verdict, the ruling Left parties supported it. Rahul Gandhi initially welcomed the ruling but later backtracked saying he will leave it to the people of Kerala to decide on the matter. On Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, Prasad said there is no grand alliance in UP and West Bengal, and he is not sure how long it would survive in Bihar. The grand alliance in Bihar consists of the RJD, the Congress and some other parties. Mahagathbandhan has no programme, no policy, no commitment and no leadership, he said asserting that the BJP and NDA would get decisive mandate in the elections as it is a battle between hope and opportunities, aspirations and despair. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.) The Assam Rifles ground in Mizorams capital Aizawl looked deserted on Republic Day. A boycott call by prominent NGOs and civil society groups made many stay away, forcing governor K Rajasekharan address a near-empty ground. The boycott was to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 (CAB), which proposes to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. CAB was passed by Lok Sabha in January and was to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha in February in the last session of Parliament ahead of the general election. But stiff resistance in Assam and other states of the Northeast by student bodies, indigenous groups and even by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies deterred the government from tabling the legislation, which is now set to lapse. The Centres decision was hailed as a historic win and victory of the people, but subsequent assertions by BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders about the partys plan to reintroduce the legislation, if voted to power, turned the brief celebrations into dismay and anger. Fear of the outsider is a dominant theme in the Northeasts socio-political discourse. The region has seen mass movements against illegal immigrants, the most prominent being the six-year-long Assam Agitation, which claimed 855 lives and ended with signing of the Assam Accord in 1985. The protests against the CAB stemmed from the dread of foreigners outnumbering locals. And the BJP, which strongly favours the CAB, may see its poll calculations being upset in the coming Lok Sabha election. From an also-ran, the BJP emerged as the biggest party in the region in the past three years. It heads governments in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura and is part of coalitions headed by allies in Nagaland and Meghalaya. The transformation took place as BJP managed to shed its hardline Hindutva stance and forge friendships through the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)a platform for parties in the region opposed to the Congress, which had been the biggest national player in the region until a few years ago. But the goodwill and votes garnered by projecting the party as the true friend of the region could now backfire as theres fear that the BJP could use the CAB to secure the votes of Hindu Bangladeshissomething that could sideline indigenous voters who see a threat to their language, culture, land rights and identity. The issue will hurt the BJP very much. Everyone, especially people in the small tribal states, are wary of the CAB as they wont be able to bear the burden of migrants, said Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times. ALLIANCE WORRIES With the CAB not getting tabled in the Rajya Sabha last month and protests across the region subsiding, the BJP was able to mend some of the broken fences with its alliance partners. Earlier this month, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav announced tie-ups with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), National Peoples Party (NPP), Indigenous Peoples Front Tripura (IPFT), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Bodo Peoples Front (BPF) and Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), and expressed confidence that it would win at least 22 of the 25 seats in the region. While the NDPP heads the government in Nagaland, the NPP is the single largest party in the Meghalaya assembly and governs the state in a coalition (of which the BJP is part).The BPF is a coalition partner of the BJP in Assam, as was the AGP, before it exited the alliance two months ago over CAB.The party has since come back to the NEDA fold. But cracks soon started appearing. In Sikkim, the SKM decided to contest polls alone, NPP fielded its own candidates across the Northeast and the IPFT and BJP have separate candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats in Tripura. While the BJP top brass has denied it would have any impact, the development has come as a breather for the Congress. In 2014, Congress had won eight of the 25 seats in the region, the same number as the BJP. This time the party is banking on the CAB and other local issues to improve its tally BJPs allies have seen that the party ,contrary to its statements, is not a true friend of Northeast. This will help us win at least 16 seats this time, said Arunachal Pradesh Congress president Takam Sanjoy. The CAB united not just regional parties in Northeast, but protests across Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and other states showed that students bodies and other civil society groups are also opposed to it. That will definitely impact the BJP negatively. Despite the partys claims that the bill will not lead to influx of foreigners, not many believe that, said J. Doungel, a professor at Mizoram University: COUNTER MEASURES The protests against the CAB were most widespread in Assam, where over 100 organisations comprising students and indigenous groups took to the streets, seeking withdrawal of the legislation. The states biggest regional party, the AGP, which was born in 1985 after the signing of the Assam Accord, quit the BJP-led coalition in January in protest against the bill, though it returned to the alliance in March. Since then, a number of senior leaders of the regional party, including founder and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, have criticised the alliance. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, a former student leader who was also in AGP before switching to BJP, has vociferously defended the bill and said its provisions are being misinterpreted and instead of hurting indigenous populations, it will secure their rights. With 14 LS seats, the highest among all NE states, Assam will be crucial to the BJPs plans. In 2014, the party had won seven seats. Unlike in the Brahmaputra Valley, where the opposition to the CAB is more vociferous, the bill has the support of Bengali-speaking majority in the Barak Valley, which has two seats. Following the outrage against the BJP, the Centre tried to douse the situation by initiating a slew of measures. This included accepting a longstanding demand by six communities in Assam seeking scheduled tribe (ST) status, a high-level committee to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord that seeks to protect the rights of Assamese people, more power to autonomous district councils and conferring the Bharat Ratna posthumously on Bhupen Hazarika, the biggest cultural icon from the state. Significantly, despite the protests, the BJP emerged as the biggest party in the panchayat polls held in December and the party and its allies won elections to autonomous councils and town committees across the state. In Arunachal Pradesh, another state under BJP rule, chief minister Pema Khandu attempted to allay fears by stressing that the state would not come under the purview of the bill as the provision of inner line permit (ILP), which keeps tab on those from outside the state, is in operation. The CAB controversy will have no impact in Arunachal Pradesh as we are protected by constitutional provisions which keeps tab on entry of outsiders, said BJP state unit chief Tapir Gao. CHANGE OF SCENARIO Arunachal has two LS seats, one of them is represented by union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, while the other is held by the Congress. The state will also elect a new legislature simultaneously. Politics in no other state in the Northeast is as unpredictable as in Arunachal Pradesh. Voters in the easternmost state elected a Congress government to power in 2014. But in the next few years, the state saw four different chief ministers and also a brief period of Presidents Rule. Incumbent chief minister Pema Khandu took oath in July 2016 as a Congress legislator after the Supreme Court intervened and forced his predecessor to quit. But within two months, he switched sides and joined the Peoples Party of Arunachal along with a majority of MLAs. In less than four months, on the last day of 2016, Khandu and his supporters joined the BJP. The past two years witnessed relative stability and BJP was expecting another term in office without much of a problem. But the scenario changed towards the end of February when protests against the granting of permanent citizenship certificates (PRCs) to nearly 30,000 people from six communities led to widespread violence and claimed three lives. In Mizoram, sensing the public sentiment against the bill, chief minister Zoramthanga expressed his displeasure and has even threatened to pull out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at Centre if it is brought back. Though his party, the Mizo National Front, is also part of NEDA, it managed to secure a comfortable majority on its own in the assembly polls held last year and kept BJP, which won one seat, at a distance. In Tripura, both the Lok Sabha seats are held by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). But given the partys loss to the BJP last year, it could be difficult for the CPI(M) to retain them. In Manipur, chief minister N Biren Singh, who heads the BJP-led coalition government, has opposed the bill in its present form unless it has clauses to protect indigenous populations of the region. The BJPs allies in Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the party is a minor partner in government, have also expressed reservations about the bill. Known for his abrasive remarks, BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh once again courted controversy on Sunday by sharing stage in Begusarai with Bihars former social welfare minister Manju Verma, currently on bail in a case related to Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal. Verma was present at a public meeting, organized by Singh to kick off his election campaign at Begusarai, where he launched a scathing attack on CPI nominee Kanaihya Kumar saying meri ladai jail aur bail walon se hai (my fight is with those in jail or on bail). As the NDA candidate from Begusarai trained guns on his opponents, Manju Verma, who is a legislator from Cheria Bariarpur could barely restrain herself from laughing. She was on the dais as the leader of alliance partner JD (U), despite her brush with jail and bail. Verma had been lodged in Begusarai jail since November after 50 cartridges were seized during CBI raids from her in-laws place last August in the ongoing efforts to nab her husband Chandeshwar Verma, whose name cropped up in the infamous shelter home case after main accused Brajesh Thakur took his name. She resigned as social welfare minister in August and evaded arrest along with her husband for three months before surrendering on November 20 in a local court in Begusarai. The Patna High Court granted her bail on March 12. The pictures of Verma on the dais went viral on social media evoking sharp reactions from netizens, who took to Twitter to express their strong reservation. This is beyond disgust, @BJP4India, tweeted one, while another suggested that BJP should keep such people aside, in response to ANIs tweet on the matter. RJD national vice president Shivanad Tiwary was more direct. Giriraj ki naiyya doobne wali hai, isliye we keechad mein phase hain (Girirajs boat is about to sink, therefore he is stuck in mud), Tiwary said. Rajya Sabha member and RJD nominee for Patliputra Lok Sabha seat Misa Bharti said aise logon ko janata dekh rahi hai (public is watching such persons). Giriraj Singh who had been sulking over being shifted from Nawada to Begusarai, is locked in a triangular contest with former JNU students union leader and CPI candidate Kaniahya Kumar and RJD nominee Tanveer Hasan. This is not the first time, Singh has found himself in the thick of controversy. He has asked people, who question Prime Minster Narendra Modi, to go to Pakistan and more recently said that those not attending PM Modis March 3 rally in the state capital would be viewed as Pakistanis. Incidentally, he had failed to turn up at the rally himself. After eight days of intense suspense and drama it is official now. Besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will also contest in a second seat from north Keralas Wayanad, senior Congress leader AK Antony said in Delhi on Sunday. All southern states have requested the Congress president to contest from their states. After enough deliberations he has decided to contest from Wayanad, which shares its borders with two other states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, said Antony while announcing this. Glued to television sets for the last five days, upbeat party workers greeted the Congress presidents candidature from the north Kerala constituency by bursting crackers, distributing sweets and taking out rallies in different parts of the state. Braving the sweltering sun in Wayanad, workers came out into the streets in large numbers to express their joy. Confusion and uncertainty had reigned supreme since last Saturday after former chief minister Oommen Chandy and opposition leaders Ramesh Chennithala had hinted about Rahul Gandhis possible candidature from the Karnataka seat. It is an honor for the state. We will ensure record margin to him, said DCC president IC Balakrishnan. PCC president Mullapally Ramachandran, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former CM Oommen Chandy said it was a big honor for the state. Come here only for filing nominations. Rest is assured. Your presence will be needed in other parts of the country. It is our duty to ensure a historic win from Kerala, read a poster that appeared in Kalpetta, the headquarters of the hilly district. Also read | 12 things to know about Keralas Wayanad, Rahul Gandhis second seat Click here for live updates on Lok Sabha elections 2019 A party bastion, Wayanad (450 kms north of the state capital) shares the borders with two states- Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - and Congress leaders here feel that Gandhis presence will lift Congresss prospects in the two neighboring states also. A relatively new seat, it was carved out from Malappuram and Kozhikkode during the delimitation exercise of 2008. In the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress candidate late MI Shanavas had emerged victorious from here. In 2009, his victory margin was 1,53, 439 but in 2014 it came down to just 20,870. The seat is vacant now after Shanavas died six months ago. A favourite getaway, it is also famous for its spices, especially black pepper. The constituency has seven assembly seats and has a sizeable number of SC/ST and minority community voters. Party leader T Siddique, who was a front-runner for the seat, had announced his withdrawal, ceding what is considered a game-changer in the state politics. While party circles are ecstatic, gloom prevailed in the Left camp. The ruling Left Democratic Front has fielded CPIs PP Suneer and in NDA the seat has been given to the BDJS (Bhartiya Dharma Jana Sangam), an outfit being floated by the backward Ezhava community). BDJS has already announced that it will give the seat to the BJP if the Congress president contests. Facing inclement weather, Left parties are really worried over Rahul Gandhis unexpected entry in Kerala. While coming to Kerala he gives an impression that Left parties are the main rivals of the Congress, not the BJP, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Senior Left leaders also admitted that his foray his put the Left in a piquant situation. But Congress leaders asked them to withdraw their candidate against him as the Samajwadi Party and BSP did in Amethi and Rae Bareily in Uttar Pradesh. Also read | Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi, announces Congress Congress president Rahul Gandhis candidature from Keralas Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency has riled the Left parties. They believe that it is a ploy by the party to queer the pitch for the Left in the upcoming elections. Former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said that the partys decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows that their priority now is to fight the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala its LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there. To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against the Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, Karat said. Earlier in the day, at a press conference organised in New Delhi, senior Congress leader AK Antony had announced that apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress president would also contest from the north Kerala seat of Wayanad. This comes in the wake of demands from party workers in the southern state for the Congress president to contest from the Wayanad seat. Wayanad is a Congress bastion and the party has assured the central leadership that all that the Congress president needs to do is file his nominations and that the party would ensure his victory. Also read | Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi, announces Congress Reacting to news of Rahul Gandhis candidature from Wayanad, Kerala chief minister Pinnarayi Vijayan said that he should have picked a seat from where the BJP was contesting. Hes fighting in one of the 20 constituencies (in Kerala) and doesnt need to be seen as any different. Well fight him. He shouldve contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting, its nothing but a fight against Left, Vijayan said. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded CPIs PP Suneer from the seat. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has given the Wayanad seat to its ally Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sangam (BDJS) as part of its seat sharing deal. The BDJS has, however, said that if Rahul Gandhi contests from Wayanad, it will vacate the seat for the BJP. The NDA has started scouting for a formidable candidate to pit against the Congress president. I am in touch with the national leaders. We will take a decision by evening, said BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai. Earlier there were speculations that Union Minister Smriti Irani, who is contesting against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, may contest from Wayanad also but the party had later denied it. Also read | Just file nominations, elated Congress workers certain of Rahul Gandhis victory from Wayanad Click here for live updates on Lok Sabha elections 2019 West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will campaign for Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam Party at a mega rally in the port town of Visakhapatnam on Sunday evening. Though many other leaders from the proposed grand alliance of anti-BJP parties including Janata Dal (Secular) president Deve Gowda, DMK chief M K Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdulla were invited to the rally they were unable to make it due to hectic campaigning in their respective states, a TDP leader familiar with the development said. Farooq Abdullah did address a series of rallies in Andhra Pradeshs Rayalaseema region while Kejriwal attended the TDP rally at Vijayawada last week. Deve Gowda will join the campaign for the TDP next week. More leaders are expected to participate in various rallies to express their solidarity with the TDP, the party leader said. The three-hour rally of the TDP will commence at Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Grounds at 5.30 pm. After the rally, all the three chief ministers will stay back in Visakhapatnam to discuss the national scenario and work out strategies in the coming days. Like Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam is a cosmopolitan city with a large number of people from West Bengal, Odisha and northeastern states settling there for education, employment and business activities. We are hoping that Mamatas campaign would help garner their votes, the TDP leader said. Congress though is staying away from the Visakhapatnam rally because the party is fighting the elections independently in all 175 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also addressing a rally in Vijayawada in the afternoon, before proceeding to Bangalore. Chandrababu Naidu had pulled his TDP out of the NDA in March 2018 alleging injustice being meted out to the state by the Narendra Modi government. Since then, he has been in the forefront of the proposed grand alliance (mahagathbandhan), trying to get together all opposition parties, including the Congress. With infighting and rebellion threatening to damage Congresss prospects in Maharashtra a crucial state with 48 Lok Sabha (LS) seats a three-member team appointed by the party leadership on Saturday urged state Congress leaders to work together and appointed senior leaders in-charge of each district to sort out issues. The central committee, headed by All India Congress Committee general secretary and state in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and central electoral observer Madhusudan Mistry met top state leaders on Saturday. The committee asked the state leaders to put up a united front as Maharashtra is one of the important states for the Congress. Senior leaders were appointed in-charge of each district in the state to sort out local issues and ensure the party units work together. All the leaders have promised to keep aside their differences as our main aim is to make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister. Both the parties [Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)] will put up a united fight, Kharge said. A Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said the central observers were emphatic that all the issues will be taken up after the LS polls. Anyone defying the party will have to face the music, he said. Ahead of the LS elections, the Congress has been struggling to keep its house in order in Maharashtra, thanks to infighting, defections and rebellion involving several senior leaders. Senior leader and leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has been allegedly busy helping his son Sujay, who is contesting the election on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Ahmednagar constituency. There have also been instances of rebellion in several constituencies with the party scouring for better options instead of repeating candidates who lost elections in the past. Former MP Bhausaheb Wakchaure has threatened to contest as a rebel from Shirdi constituency where Congress has fielded a legislator, Bhausaheb Kamble. In Aurangabad constituency, the partys senior legislator, Abdul Sattar, has announced he will contest as an independent against the partys official candidate. A veteran tribal leader of the party, Manikrao Gavit, who was a Union minister, has also threatened to quit the party as the candidature in Nandurbar was not given to his son. In Chandrapur, a faction led by former MP Naresh Puglia has objected to Balu Dhanorkars candidature. Dhanorkar is a Shiv Sena legislator who quit the party to contest on a Congress ticket. The party also had to change its Mumbai unit president due to infighting. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to address campaign rallies in Maharashtra on April 5. A 43-year old businessman from Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) was conned of 41,000 by a cyber fraudster when he tried to purchase a VVIP mobile phone number. The BKC police have registered a first information report (FIR) and are attempting to trace the accused. According to the police, the complainant wanted a VVIP number which was easy to memorise and would help him in his business. On March 8, he received an SMS featuring the logo of a popular mobile network brand. It claimed that the company was offering VIP and VVIP numbers like 8800000000 and 9100000000 at a discounted price. The complainant called the number mentioned in the SMS. The accused asked for his email id and sent him an email featuring the mobile networks logo. The complainant was asked to transfer 41,000 to a bank account following which he could pick up the SIM card for the number of his choice from the brands gallery in a few days. On March 12, the complainant went to the mobile network brand gallery to find out that he had been scammed. He then approached the police. President Donald Trump, after threatening to shut down the border with Mexico, has ordered the state department to cut millions of dollars in aid to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the central American countries that he has accused of failing to cut the flow of migrants into the US. We are carrying out the Presidents direction and ending FY (fiscal year) 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement late Friday, referring to the three central American countries by the name they are called as a region. At stake is nearly $500 million from the 2018 and some more from previous fiscals; in all $700 million, according to one estimate. According to the state department $2.6 billion in foreign assistance was provided by the US to the three countries over the course of 2015-2018. Ive ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador, Trump told reporters Friday. No money goes there anymore. On Thursday, the American president had announced he planned to shut the border with Mexico the coming week accusing the southern neighbour of not doing enough to prevent migrants caravans, as he calls them from reaching the border with the United States. The Trump administration is calling the situation at the southern border a crisis, and border enforcement is at the point of collapse. Border patrol officials have said the number of apprehensions of those trying to cross into the US illegally would be more than 100,000 in March, the highest monthly total in more than a decade, and most of them were between legal ports of entry. But critics have said people are fleeing Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala because conditions there are really bad, and cutting aid could worsen the situation and lead to a further surge in the numbers headed for the US. Mexico, in fact, was hoping to put together an aid package with the United States before Trump announced these severe measures. There are skeptics who have said that the president is talking about a crisis when there isnt one, because it appeals to his base. An Indian former Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl in the US, according to a media report. John Praveen, 38, pleaded guilty in February to sexually touching a 13-year-old girl in the Rapid City church, South Dakota over her clothes last year, Rapid City Journal newspaper reported. Judge Steven Mandel handed down the sentence on Friday after prosecutors asked for the maximum of one year in prison. Mandel said that was not adequate for Praveens crime, the report said. He sentenced Praveen to six years in prison, minus 178 days of time served, and said he would be eligible for parole after three years. The sentencing came after Praveen pleaded guilty to one count of having sexual contact with a child under the age of 16, a crime that carries a maximum 15-year punishment, the report said. Mandel said if Praveen is granted parole, the parole board could ask Homeland Security to immediately deport him to Hyderabad or have him first serve parole in any state, the report added. Praveen had joined the Rapid City Diocese for a 10-year assignment in December 2017. He apologised and told the court he wishes he could take back what he did. I send my sincere apologies to the family and the victim about what I have done, Praveen said through tears in court Friday. He said he knows saying sorry isnt enough, and that he wishes he could take back what he did. He promised to never hurt anyone again. I send my sincere apologies to the family and the victim about what I have done, Praveen said through tears in court Friday. He said he knows saying sorry isnt enough, and that he wishes he could take back what he did. He promised to never hurt anyone again. In an emailed statement, Rapid City Bishop Robert Gruss apologised to the victim and her family on behalf of the Diocese of Rapid City, calling Praveens actions sinful, traumatic and a betrayal. I am deeply sorry that they had to experience these sinful actions at the hands of a priest, Gruss said. The pain and suffering of this family have been great. Only those who have been victims of abuse of any kind can understand the trauma. The experience of betrayal is great. Crimes of sexual abuse can never be tolerated, most especially among priests. Members of the Saudi team that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi received training in the United States, the Washington Post has reported, revealing other new elements in the death of the newspapers former contributor. A critic of the Saudi regime, Khashoggi was killed and dismembered October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has never been recovered. After having denied the murder, Saudi Arabia said the operation was carried out by agents who were out of control. A trial of 11 suspects opened earlier this year in Saudi Arabia. But much of the case remains shrouded, beginning with the role of Saudi Arabias powerful crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. The US Senate, after a closed-door briefing by the CIA, adopted a resolution naming the crown prince as responsible for the murder, while President Donald Trump has refused to publicly take a stand. According to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, a Saudi who closely read the transcript of a recording from a bug placed in the consulate by Turkish intelligence said it indicates the plan was to kidnap Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for detention and interrogation. A note in the transcript says an injection was administered to Khashoggi, which the Saudi source said was probably a powerful sedative. A bag was then placed over his head, and Khashoggi screamed: I cant breathe, I have asthma. Dont do this. According to the Post, he died soon after. The transcript describes a buzzing noise, perhaps an electric saw used to dismember the journalist. According to Ignatius, who said he interviewed more than a dozen American and Saudi sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, some members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group received training in the United States. The CIA has cautioned other government agencies that some of this special-operations training might have been conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company, under a State Department license, he said. The training occurred before the Khashoggi incident, as part of ongoing liaison with the Saudis, and it hasnt been resumed. He said several other US-Saudi security exchange programs also have been suspended. Over 674 million Indians are likely to breathe highly polluted air in 2030, even if the country were to comply with its existing pollution control policies and regulations, according to a study. The study, released by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) in New Delhi, shows that only about 833 million citizens would be living in areas that meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in 2030. Indian citizens are likely to breathe air with high concentrations of PM2.5 in 2030, even if India were to comply with its existing pollution control policies and regulations, the report said. The study also found that the Indo-Gangetic plain, covering parts of states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, has the highest population exposure to significant PM2.5 concentrations. This is mainly due to the high density of polluting sources and reduced ventilation by the obstructing presence of the Himalayas. Citizens living in parts of Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha are also exposed to high levels of PM2.5. However, aligning sustainable development policies to the implementation of advanced emission control technologies could provide NAAQS-compliant air quality to about 85 per cent of the Indian population. In 2015, more than half the Indian population about 670 million citizens were exposed to PM2.5 concentrations that did not comply with Indias NAAQS for PM2.5 (40 migrogrammes per cubic metre). Further, less than one per cent enjoyed air quality that met the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark limit of 10 migrogrammes per cubic metre. A significant share of emissions still originates from sources associated with poverty and underdevelopment such as solid fuel use in households and waste management practices, said Markus Amann, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program director at IIASA. In January 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), a five-year action plan to curb air pollution, build a pan-India air quality monitoring network, and improve citizen awareness. The programme focuses on 102 polluted Indian cities and aims to reduce PM2.5 levels by 20-30 per cent over the next five years. The analysis conducted by researchers from IIASA and CEEW however suggests that NCAP needs to be backed by a legal mandate to ensure successful ground-level implementation of emission control measures. In the long-term, NCAP also needs to be scaled-up significantly to ensure that rapid economic growth and meeting NAAQs are aligned. 7:32pm: Porzingis is denying the accusations through his attorney, Roland G. Riopelle, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. We made a formal referral to federal law enforcement based on the accusers extortionate demands, Riopelle said. 7:11pm: New York police have received what they consider to be a credible rape accusation against former Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis, according to Tina Moore of The New York Post. The incident reportedly happened on February 7, 2018, hours after Porzingis suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. An unidentified woman who lived in the same building alleges that Porzingis visited her around 2 a.m. and invited her to come to his apartment. She claims that when she got there, he held her down and raped her. The case is being investigated by the NYPDs Special Victims Division. The woman said she waited more than a year to come forward because Porzingis promised to pay $68K to cover her brothers college tuition if she agreed to keep quiet. She said he eventually reneged on that agreement, and police arent sure if she ever received any money. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who traded for Porzingis in late January, confirmed that police informed him about the accusation. We have been instructed by federal authorities not to comment, Cuban wrote in an email. Representatives for Porzingis also declined comment, saying they have not seen the police report. Contacted about the case, a Knicks spokesman replied, This is Kristaps personal matter and not related to the Knicks. Beyond any legal repercussions Porzingis might face, he could also be subject to a league suspension if he is convicted of a crime. Kristaps Porzingis's attorney is addressing accusations that his client raped a woman in New York City over a year ago. According to a report published by the New York Post, the accuser's yearlong wait to report the crime rested on the shoulders of a hush money package she was hoping to garner from the former Knicks forward, believed to be close somewhere in the range of $68,000. Christian Petersen/Getty Images "We are aware of the complaint that was made against Mr. Porzingis on Friday and unequivocally deny the allegations," Porzingis' attorney Roland Riopelle told the press. "We made a formal referral to federal law enforcement on Dec. 20, 2018, based on the accuser's extortionate demands. We also alerted the National Basketball Association months ago, and they are aware of the ongoing investigation of the accuser by federal law enforcement." According to the police report filed the woman, both she and Porzingis lived in the same building when the alleged attack took place. Apparently, Porzingis had invited her to his apartment, literally just a few hours after coming down with his debilitating ACL injury. The New York Knicks are believed to have informed the Dallas Mavericks of the rape allegations before they consented to their trade on January 31st. The decision to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett came with its fair share of scrutiny for Kim Foxx. The Cook County State's Attorney, who's also the prosecutor on R. Kelly's criminal trial, shared an op-ed yesterday explaining her decision and inviting another investigation of the incident. However, her decision came with a price and now, she's reportedly feeling the pressure in R. Kelly's case. https://www.instagram.com/p/BFaCd54hNu1 According to The Blast, sources close to the State's Attorney office said that Kim Foxx is feeling the public pressure after making the controversial move to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett. Despite the negative press, the people close to her believe she'll handle R. Kelly's case properly. Kim Foxx has received backlash from not only everyday citizens but also from the highest levels of office. Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, held a press conference after the decision was made to dismiss Smollett's charges, criticizing Foxx for letting the actor go without repercussions. Additionally, President Donald Trump called for an FBI investigation of Smollett's claims, in hopes to see him go to trial. The National District Attorneys Association also blasted her after news broke that she allegedly spoke to Michelle Obama's former aide about Smollett's case. They said that she should not take advice from politically connected friends of the accused. While Foxx may have had some sort of leniency towards Smollett, she's been adamant about pursuing a case against R. Kelly. I saw thousands of wildflowers in bloom this week while driving to Austin to check on the Legislature. It was a beautiful day, and my outlook was sunny when I left Houston. The House was preparing to take up the general appropriations bill for the biennium, and I was looking forward to being on the floor for part of the debate. The chamber itself is chilly; the Capitol, built in the 1880s, has a surprisingly efficient HVAC system. Women shiver in silence, for the most part, as men make up 114 of the bodys 150 members. However, everyone who chooses to get embroiled in state politics has to be stoic about certain things, and in terms of its political climate, at least, the 86th Legislature has thus far been relatively temperate. Its too early too relax, of course; the states legislative sessions typically dont devolve into outright chaos right off the bat. Also, legislators looking to make mischief always have an opportunity to do so when the House takes up the budget. This year, for example, more than 300 amendments had been filed. Some of them were seemingly designed to provoke a ruckus. Others were likely to elicit one; state Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, for example, had suggested requiring the governors office to evaluate the domestic terrorist threats posed by white supremacists. While there was a risk that the budget debate would take a fractious turn, House leaders were clearly determined to prevent that, and their efforts were successful. Some of the right-wing provocateurs in the House are nervous about their prospects of being re-elected after narrowly escaping defeat in last years midterm. And all of them have been effectively reined in since Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, announced that he would be the next speaker of the House. Bonnen has never been particularly interested in fringe issues or sympathetic to the legislators who prioritize them, even if they are, like him, Republicans. The debate dragged on for hours. Shortly after midnight, a $251 billion budget unanimously passed. Since Republicans control the chamber, they had the final say on matters. An amendment proposing that Texas expand Medicaid, for example, was rejected on a party-line vote. Still, advocates and stakeholders on both sides were content with the Houses budget. Since the state economy is in relatively good health, the House Appropriations Committee hadnt been compelled to suggest aggressive cuts to core public services. In fact, members of the committee proposed allocating more funding for public education, among other items. That caused some consternation among the right-wing activists associated with groups such as Empower Texans and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, especially since the Houses budget writers were much stingier when it came to making provision for their pet causes. Just after midnight, the Texas House voted 149-0 to advance a budget that grows the size of government by nearly 16 percent and provides only a meager whisper of property tax relief, Cary Cheshire, vice president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, wrote on social media. The House budget allocated an additional $3 billion to property tax relief, contingent on the passage of a property tax reform plan. Thats a huge chunk of money that likely could have been better invested into public education. But, overall, the budget plan is solid, and House leaders kept the debate focused, rather than being derailed by hard-liners amendments. erica.grieder@chron.com When Bessie Swindle spoke to the Houston Public Library over a decade ago, the longtime Sunnyside community activist and volunteer said she hoped her work wouldnt end with her generation. If I have to look back 10 years from now and see, all I want is, what Ive laid down Id like for somebody to keep it going, she said. It has not been easy but Id like to see it keep growing. Swindle passed away on Thursday at the age of 79, but her wish is materializing through community members holding on to her passion for giving back. From the moment I met u u pushed me 2 prove I was committed 2 public service, Jolanda Jones, a Houston Independent School District board member, tweeted Thursday night. I'm proud 2 have earned your support & 2 have learned from u! Your legacy is etched in herstory! Swindle moved to Houston from Louisiana in the 1950s, settling in the south Houston, predominantly African American neighborhood of Sunnyside. She quickly got involved in the community, eventually becoming president of the Cloverland Civic Club, which represented homeowners, and then of the Southeast Coalition of Civic Clubs, a non-profit, non-partisan union of various civilian groups. More Information Bessie Swindle Funeral Arrangments Wake Service open to the public Date: Thursday, April 4, 2019 Time: 6:30-8:30 PM Location: Greater Grace Outreach Church, 10800 Scott St, Houston, TX 77047 A private funeral service will be held for immediate family and friends. See More Collapse When she first moved to Sunnyside, Swindle recalled in her 2008 interview, the neighborhood had a small library and no building. Years later, the neighborhood not only built the Sunnyside police storefront, but also saw the opening of Houston Community Colleges South Campus and the Johnson Neighborhood Library. Its a lot of work, volunteering. You dont get paid for it, Swindle said. But when you look at the results, its very, very beautiful. On top of her activist work, Swindle served as community liaison for former Precinct 7 Constable Michael Butler and then as outreach coordinator for Congressman Al Green. Ms. Swindle was a powerful woman that walked in her faith daily by being a voice for the voiceless, the underserved, the elderly, the impoverished, and anyone she felt was in need of a helping hand in the Sunnyside community of Houston, Texas, for over 50 years, Green stated in a press release. Swindle championed and supported multiple initiatives to improve the quality of life in Sunnyside. She was involved in a 2006 project that studied the racial disparities in children who end up in the custody of Child and Protective Services, which disproportionately affected black residents in Sunnyside. In 2002, she organized 2,000 community members who were opposed to Southern Crushed Concrete opening a plant in their neighborhood because of environmental health concerns. After years of pushing the City of Houston to address crumbling parks in Sunnyside, Swindle brought home yet another win when the city announced it would allocate around $1 million to upgrade and renovate Cloverland Park in 2004, which was 50 years old at the time. We lost a true servant-leader with the passing of Ms. Bessie Swindle, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis wrote on Twitter. She worked tirelessly to lift up & strengthen the Southeast Houston community, especially in Cloverland & Sunnyside. When she was asked to reflect on Sunnyside, a wide smile spread across Swindles face. When I think about Sunnyside I think of how far it has come, she said. Im just hoping that young people will come back and give something of their time to where they got their their roots, because Sunnyside is truly special. massarah.mikati@chron.com In a Houston courtroom in 2014, an ExxonMobil employee testified that, after unauthorized emissions events, he routinely checked yes on forms to state regulators claiming the company should get a pass on penalties because it met 11 requirements, including that the release was unavoidable and nobody was exposed. In fact, the employee admitted, he didnt even check if the company met the requirements. The testimony is part of the evidence that led a federal judge to order ExxonMobil to pay nearly $20 million for belching millions of pounds of excess pollution from its Houston-area facilities. Its a damning example of how Texas broken regulatory system relies too heavily on polluters to police themselves. Routinely accepting companies excuses for unauthorized pollution makes it easy for them to skirt state laws, avoid sanctions and endanger Texans health without us ever knowing. Pretty much the only time Texas polluters are held seriously accountable is when the harm theyve caused is so obvious, so egregious, its written in the sky quite literally in the case of the recent ITC chemical fires. They spewed a black plume that sailed like a giant distress signal for days, alerting everybody in Houston to the danger. Even state officials in Austin got the memo. It has been refreshing to see Gov. Greg Abbott vowing on Twitter, polluters will be punished, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suing the Intercontinental Terminals Company for allegedly violating the Texas Clean Air Act through unauthorized air pollution, outdoor burning and visible emissions. The sudden vigilance is confounding as well. Why did they wait for a disaster to demand compliance from the company, whose repeated violations through the years earned only wrist slaps by state regulators? Why do they not routinely demand that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strongly enforce Texas clean air laws, which can help prevent disasters waiting to happen? This is a state where industrial facilities in 2017 reported releasing more than 63 million pounds of unauthorized air pollution including chemicals linked to cancer, heart attacks and respiratory problems, according to a report by Environment Texas. Yet, in the past seven years, TCEQ issued fines in less than 3 percent of such events. As the Chronicles Matt Dempsey reported, ITC violated the federal Clean Water Act nine of the last 12 quarters, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. Among state violations: The TCEQ fined ITC $18,300 in July 2017 for releasing cyanide 10 times the permitted levels into the San Jacinto River basin. The grand total of civil penalties issued by federal, state and county regulators for ITCs numerous violations of clean air, clean water and risk management rules for the past decade? Around $65,000. The grand total of loss and harm after the disastrous ITC fires? Were still counting. There were school closures, missed recess and after school activities across Houston, shelter-in-place orders that confined Deer Park residents. The Houston Ship Channel was shut down and slowed for days, potentially costing the regions oil and gas and petrochemical sectors $1 billion in lost revenues and added expenses, according to Maria Burns, director of the University of Houstons logistics and transportation program. Some argue those delays wont hurt industry long term. But what about the black eye for the already-bruised image of the petrochemical industry, some of which actually follows the law? What about yet another blemish for Houstons long-suffering image? The ultimate harm to public health and the environment may never be fully known. Texans should be encouraged by the tough talk of our governor and attorney general, but we should demand that it actually lead somewhere. No company can be allowed to disrupt lives and put public health and safety at risk, Paxton said in a statement. Hes right. And his words should extend to all companies not just those whose misdeeds make the front page. We know that past disasters in Texas including fatal ones did not prompt systemic change. What was the response to West? Arkema? Magellan and Valero after Harvey? said Elena Craft, Environmental Defense Funds senior director for climate and health. Nothing really changed. Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, has praised Paxtons prompt response. But will it lead to lasting change? I wish I could say yes, but not really, he told the editorial board. My fear is that the states going to try to make an example out of ITC with this suit. And theyll leave it at that. Texans, we cant let polluters return to business as usual. Lawmakers should ask tough questions at a joint House hearing April 5 on the ITC fire. They should pass bills strengthening regulations and close loopholes. . And Texas officials demanding compliance from polluters now shouldnt look the other way when the smoke clears. It was 65 years ago that President Dwight Eisenhower started our Food for Peace program. Eisenhower understood war, but he also realized how you can win peace. Feeding the hungry was essential for building peace. Today, the Central African Republic demonstrates how vital Ikes idea is and why we need more of it. Years of internal conflict between the government and armed groups has left the country in ruins. The fighting has caused extreme food shortages. The United Nations World Food Program says more than 2 million people, half the population, are suffering in hunger. But the WFP and other relief agencies dont have enough funding to meet the challenge of hunger. The WFP needs $87 million for the rest of this years mission in the Central African Republic. We could help provide this by increasing funding for Food for Peace, a critical donor to the WFP. Hunger and conflict causes instability. The chaos also gives cover for extremist groups to thrive. We should never ignore a hunger crisis just because its thousands of miles away. We can save lives by making food for all a priority. The Central African Republic is most in need. NBC News recently reported on the Central African Republic and how malnutrition can kill small children. A packet of PlumpyNut, a nutritious peanut paste, can save these children. Rhode Island-based Edesia recently shipped some of this life-saving food to the Central African Republic. With more funding for UNICEF and other aid groups, we can bring even more PlumpyNut to children. There also has to be safe access for aid groups, a major challenge in a war zone. The Central African Republic has a ray of hope as the government and 14 nonstate armed groups signed a peace agreement in February, with the help of the African Union and the UN. But how can we expect this peace to evolve if people are hungry and poor? This is where Food for Peace comes in. We must provide the Central African Republic with food support so peace has a chance. Food to prevent malnutrition in infants is critical. Another great program is the school feeding run by the WFP. We know, from our own history after World War II, how essential school feeding is to a nations recovery from conflict. The school feeding programs we supported in Europe and Asia after the war did wonders for children. WFPs Cathy Diop says they are running emergency school feeding in crisis areas of Central African Republic. This program feeds the hungry children of conflict-affected areas and also improves their attendance in school. Parents will send their children to school if they know food is there. Another facet of the WFP program is home-grown school feeding. In more stable areas of the country, small farmers are able to supply the food for the schools. With enough support, local farmers can become the main source. Ultimately, you would want a national school lunch program supported by Central African Republic farmers. Food for Peace has donated to emergency school feeding in the Central African Republic. If we can increase Food for Peace funds, we could do even more. President Donald Trump, in his budget released in March, is calling for more reductions in food aid. This is wrong. The charity Save the Children says it condemns the presidents third consecutive budget request seeking to make deep cuts to international development, diplomatic, and humanitarian assistance. We need to encourage Congress to reject Trumps budget cut proposals on humanitarian aid. Funding should be increased for Food for Peace and other programs that relief agencies count on to feed the hungry. As Eisenhower warned, we cant expect children who are hungry and desperate to become apostles of peace. But food can bring life and hope to children. That is the power we have in helping the Central African Republic win its long overdue peace. Lambers partnered with the UN World Food Program and Catholic Relief Services on the book Ending World Hunger. Its now been a year since I took David from Houston to Mexico to the assisted living facility where he spent the last six months of his life before dying of a heart attack. Sometimes it feels like its been forever; sometimes it feels like it all just happened. One day he was a brilliant intellectual property attorney with a Ph.D. in microbiology. Then the changes began in late 2016. Memory. Mood. Subtle, at first, then more obvious, until the changes were so obvious I could no longer explain them away. And neither could he. The diagnosis came in July 2017. Early-onset dementia. He was 56 years old. And it progressed so fast. By August, he said, I feel my brain melting away. There was his lack of understanding about what was happening during the days of rain from Hurricane Harvey. Then the out-of-control paranoia and mood swings even melatonin couldnt control, what doctors told us was called sundowning. And then that afternoon when I took him for a walk, and he grew infuriated and shoved me in the chest with his walker. And there was his heartbreakingly sweet innocence as he watched Pawn Stars and My 600-lb Life hour after hour in his old, increasingly faded leatherette chair. The chair that still sits in the middle of the room. By the time I took him to Mexico, about nine months after his diagnosis, he could no longer remember how to use the remote control. Its now been six months since he passed. Within days of his death certificate being filed, I was receiving letters and calls and texts from well-meaning Realtors offering to take the house off my hands, so that I would not have to go through the ordeal of probate. How very thoughtful of them. Since nearly everything had been under his name, there was a seemingly never-ending stream of paperwork: Utilities, the deed to the house, bank accounts, IRAs, homeowners insurance and phone service all had to be switched over to my name, all with varying amounts of bureaucracy to get through. And always, just when I thought I was done, there was more. Probate court was more than Id bargained for. The questioning in front of the judge with my attorney (Is this Davids signature on the will?) went fine. But just as we finished, before the next case was called, the judge looked at me oddly. Are you the gentleman who wrote those articles for the Houston Chronicle? My first reaction was terror was she going to question Davids competence to sign his will? Um, yes, Your Honor, I said. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am, she said, her eyes slightly tearing up. Thank you, I replied. My eyes were doing the same. Im now catching up on things around the house. Getting the cracks in the ceiling repaired. Getting the front yard cleared out of at least two years of neglect, much to the relief of my neighbors. Tossing and donating and purging. Changing out the 6-cup coffee maker for a single cup, the 6-quart slow cooker for a 2-quart. Downsizing. Finishing up my new book. Making plans to go to New York City to see Glenda Jackson in King Lear. Ive even gone on a date or two. Slowly but surely. Last weekend seemed to mark not only the anniversary of Davids departure, but the end of a chapter. His twin brother and sister-in-law came to visit and collect their family furniture, china and photos. Its OK. Its their family legacy, not mine. I was fine with giving it back. But the house now feels oddly empty. All of it the piano, china cabinet, folding desk, gramophone, antique photos of family members nobody remembers, framed stock certificates for now-defunct mines and china I never liked but took out for holidays, anyway had been in the house, in our house, since we lived in New Orleans. That part of my life is over. When they left in the U-Haul, it occurred to me that there was a good chance Id never see any of Davids family again. That part of my life is most likely over, as well. I feel lonely at times. Or maybe its that I feel alone. I sense and feel theres a difference, but its one I cant quite put my finger on. But its fine. Its my life now. I can buy new furniture. I have good friends. I can write. I can travel. I can date and maybe even fall in love. Its up to me to write the next chapter. I am, after all, a writer. Editor's note: Abrams has been chronicling his experience dealing with Davids dementia and death since 2017. To read his previous essays, visit HoustonChronicle.com/WatchingDavidDisappear. 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. Laura Kittross from BRPC presented the data on Monday. PreviousNext Berkshires Drop A Spot In County Health Rankings Kim Kelly of Berkshire Health Systems detailed the Community Health Initiative aimed to turn around the poor rankings seen in the data. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Berkshire County has dropped a spot in the county health rankings. The annual rankings measure in two categories health outcomes and health factors. The county ranks 13 out of 14 counties in Massachusetts in the former and 11 out of 14 for the latter. Neighboring Hampden County was dead last in both categories. The report was released by local health officials on Monday and will serve as the basis for efforts to improve the well-being of residents throughout the county. The data used was garnered largely between 2015 and 2017. "Our overall rank is not where we'd like it to be. Berkshire County currently ranks 13th out of the 14 counties in Massachusetts. We were hovering around 11th for a number of years, fell to 12th last year, and this year fell to 13th," Public Health Program Manager for Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Laura Kittross said. However, Kittross was quick to point out that while the county may be low in the state's rankings, Massachusetts as a state is toward the top nationally. "Ranking near the bottom in Massachusetts still means we are ranking very well compared to a lot of the United States," she said. Health outcomes are a particular issue with Berkshire County. It is partly measured by years of potential life lost before the age of 75, for which the county is last in the state. Kittross noticed a big difference between race and ethnicities when digging into the data. "The lowest life expectancy in Berkshire County is the Morningside neighborhood here in Pittsfield at 71 years. The highest is in New Marlborough at 87.5 years. But even just a couple miles away from Morningside is Lanesborough, we see a life expectancy of 86.6 years," Kitross said. The national average is 79.1 years. She said even in Pittsfield there is a 12.5-year difference in life span between those who live in Morningside and those residing in the southeast neighborhoods. Kittross called on health officials to look even closer at the data to determine issues in those neighborhoods to help "level the playing field." The other factor in outcomes is the quality of life. The county is slightly better there while being ranked at 11. Kittross pointed out a measure of those reporting themselves to be in poor or fair health is on par with the rest of the state but the number of days people have self-reported as being poor physical or mental health days are above average. She said those measurements are good indicators of health. In the second broad category, health factors, the Berkshires are 11th. This category measures health behaviors and that, Kittross said, is what local officials can specifically address to help change outcomes. "We are trending in the right direction on smoking. We are still in the lower half as far as the state goes but we have been steadily moving up [in the ranking]," she said. About 15 percent of Berkshire adults smoke compared to 14 percent statewide; the percentage was 19 in the 2012 health rankings for the Berkshires. Kittross credits the decrease in smoking to efforts such as municipalities banning smoking from parks and the raising of the smoking age to 21. The county is "doing great" when it comes to alcohol usage. The Berkshires ranks at the top of the list for the lowest percentage of people who reported binge drinking in the last 30 days. Overall, though, about a fifth of Massachusetts residents reported binge drinking. However, Kittross said it is a mixed bag. While the binge-drinking numbers are down, about a quarter of the motor vehicle deaths in the last five years were because of alcohol. That is twice the rate of the best performers in the United States. "Our obesity rates have typically been below the U.S. as well as Massachusetts. We are trending up, however, which is the wrong direction. We are now just slightly above the Massachusetts average. That is an indication of limited access to healthy food," Kittross said. The county is toward the bottom on the number of days residents have reported as feeling unwell mentally or physically. The report also shows that the county lacks access to recreational facilities, even though the Berkshires is considered a prime natural recreational area. "We're actually doing really well on sexually transmitted infections, we are third, which is good. We are doing less well on teen birth rate though this is another one where we see the trend upward, we are ranking better than where we ranked a couple of years ago," Kitross said. The county isn't doing so well with motor vehicle crash deaths. Kittross said fatal accidents related to alcohol are in the"middle of the pack" but the overall fatal motor-vehicle crash rate is the worst in the state. She said that is another area to focus on is it the quality of the roads, the distance of travel, or what? Access to care is another strength, which may be a surprise to many. The Berkshires are 5th in the state when it comes to access to primary care physicians, 6th for dentists, and 3rd for mental health. "We rate extremely well in this measure but there is at least a perception that we don't have enough primary-care providers and dentists," Kitross said. The quality of care also ranked high. Kittross said that measurement is the rate of hospital stays for things that could have been treated as outpatient care, which is another indicator that access to primary-care doctors is doing well. However, "this is only based on Medicare data so only people 65 and older so we may be missing trends in younger people," she said. In preventive care, Kittross said the data is somewhat deceptive as well because such things as vaccinations are taken into account through Medicare data but locally there are strong pushes to make sure younger generations are vaccinated. Plus, "preventative care is an area Massachusetts does really well," she said. The county ranks 11th in social and economic factors. That takes into account such things as unemployment, which has been linked to higher mortality rates, unhealthy behavior, and a lack of access to health care because of insurance coverage. Kittress highlighted the number of children in poverty as another stark inequity. "This is a place we see huge inequities. Only 11 percent of the white children in Berkshire County are living in poverty and 51 percent of black children and 36 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty in Berkshire County," Kitross said. The county is also doing poorly in the rate of those who attend any type of postsecondary education. Kittross said those with more education tend not to smoke, are more likely to exercise, are more likely to earn more, and live a life with less stress. Only 64 percent of the county has some post-secondary education whereas the top performer, Norfolk, is at 82 percent. "We're not doing too poorly on high school education. We are at the Massachusetts mean. But where we are not doing as well is with people without any postsecondary education," Kitross said. Kittross added another area the county is doing well in is housing. Local health officials gather Monday afternoon to discuss strategies and priorities toward improving the areas in which the coutny does poorly. While the report seems bad for the county overall, there are some bright spots. And for the negative areas, county organizations are prepared to roll out a strategic plan for change. "Our goal is to improve the health status of Berkshire County by fostering a healthy lifestyle environment and our vision, and this is a pretty amazing vision, is to become the healthiest county in Massachusetts and the nation. We have some ways to go in Massachusetts," said Kim Kelly, who is heading the Community Health Initiative. The CHI, as it is called, has been in existence since 2015 and has been growing. The membership now includes the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, the Pittsfield Health Department, South County Rural Health Network, Berkshire Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative, BRPC, Tri-town Health, Fairview Hospital, Berkshire Public Health Alliance, Berkshire County Boards of Health Association, Volunteers in Medicine, and Berkshire Health Systems. Kelly, who is the director of community health and public health initiatives for Berkshire Health Systems, said the group plans to create and implement a county health improvement plan to address the target areas in which the county is performing poorly. The process restarts now as the now larger group readdresses the priority areas identified in 2015. Then the group will identify best practices and support initiatives to drive those changes. "We have many strengths in our community, many strengths that you folks work on, and we have some opportunities," Kelly told the audience at the Zion Lutheran Church on Monday when the health data was presented. BRPC streamed the event live, which is can be watched in its entirety below. iciHaiti - Security : A foreign assaulted and shot dead On Thursday, Philippe Fernandez, an engineer of Portuguese nationality, was killed by two bullets in front of the premises of Jean-Baptiste High School in Pointe du sable, Saint-Marc on RN1, where he was in charge of the construction of buldings to house the new high school. The engineer was coming back from the bank when he had just withdrawn a large sum of money, probably to pay the wages of his workers, when he was attacked, stripped of his money, and shot dead by unidentified armed individuals riding motorcycles, who after their escape have fled. Philippe Fernandez was rushed to the hospital where he died despite all the efforts of the doctors. TB/ iciHaiti 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 Imperial Valley News Center TransCanada Keystone Pipeline Presidential Permit Washington, DC - By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, I hereby grant permission, subject to the conditions herein set forth, to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (hereinafter referred to as the permittee), to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada at Phillips County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada to the United States. The permittee is a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, owned by affiliates of TransCanada Corporation, a Canadian public company organized under the laws of Canada. This permit supersedes the Presidential permit issued to the permittee, dated March 23, 2017. For the avoidance of doubt, I hereby revoke that March 23, 2017, permit. Furthermore, this permit grants the permission described in the previous paragraph and revokes the March 23, 2017, permit notwithstanding Executive Order 13337 of April 30, 2004 (Issuance of Permits With Respect to Certain Energy-Related Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings on the International Boundaries of the United States) and the Presidential Memorandum of January 24, 2017 (Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline). The term Facilities, as used in this permit, means the portion in the United States of the international pipeline project associated with the permittees application for a Presidential permit filed on May 4, 2012, and resubmitted on January 26, 2017, and any land, structures, installations, or equipment appurtenant thereto. The term Border facilities, as used in this permit, means those parts of the Facilities consisting of a 36-inch diameter pipeline extending from the international border between the United States and Canada at a point in Phillips County, Montana, to and including the first mainline shut-off valve in the United States located approximately 1.2 miles from the international border, and any land, structures, installations, or equipment appurtenant thereto. This permit is subject to the following conditions: Article 1. (1) The Border facilities herein described, and all aspects of their operation, shall be subject to all the conditions, provisions, and requirements of this permit and any subsequent Presidential amendment to it. This permit may be terminated, revoked, or amended at any time at the sole discretion of the President of the United States (the President), with or without advice provided by any executive department or agency (agency). The permittee shall make no substantial change in the Border facilities, in the location of the Border facilities, or in the operation authorized by this permit until the permittee has notified the President or his designee of such change and the President has approved the change. (2) The construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Facilities (not including the route) shall be, in all material respects and as consistent with applicable law, as described in the permittees application for a Presidential permit filed on May 4, 2012, and resubmitted on January 26, 2017. Article 2. The standards for, and the manner of, construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of the Border facilities shall be subject to inspection by the representatives of appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies. Officers and employees of such agencies who are duly authorized and performing their official duties shall be granted free and unrestricted access to the Border facilities by the permittee. Consistent with Article 10, this permit shall remain in effect until terminated, revoked, or amended by the President. Article 3. Upon the termination, revocation, or surrender of this permit, unless otherwise decided by the President, the permittee, at its own expense, shall remove the Border facilities within such time as the President may specify. If the permittee fails to comply with an order to remove, or to take such other appropriate action with respect to, the Border facilities, the President may direct that possession of such Border facilities be taken or that they be removed or that other action be taken at the expense of the permittee. The permittee shall have no claim for damages caused by any such possession, removal, or other action. Article 4. When, in the judgment of the President, ensuring the national security of the United States requires entering upon and taking possession of any of the Border facilities or parts thereof, and retaining possession, management, or control thereof for such a length of time as the President may deem necessary, the United States shall have the right to do so, provided that the President or his designee has given due notice to the permittee. The United States shall also have the right thereafter to restore possession and control to the permittee. In the event that the United States shall exercise the rights described in this article, it shall pay to the permittee just and fair compensation for the use of such Border facilities, upon the basis of a reasonable profit in normal conditions, and shall bear the cost of restoring Border facilities to their previous condition, less the reasonable value of any improvements that may have been made by the United States. Article 5. Any transfer of ownership or control of the Border facilities, or any part thereof, shall be immediately communicated in writing to the President or his designee, and shall include information identifying the transferee. Notwithstanding any transfer of ownership or control of the Border facilities, or any part thereof, this permit shall remain in force subject to all of its conditions, permissions, and requirements, and any amendments thereto, unless subsequently terminated, revoked, or amended by the President. Article 6. (1) The permittee is responsible for acquiring any right-of-way grants or easements, permits, and other authorizations as may become necessary or appropriate. (2) The permittee shall hold harmless and indemnify the United States from any claimed or adjudged liability arising out of construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of the Facilities, including environmental contamination from the release, threatened release, or discharge of hazardous substances or hazardous waste. (3) To ensure the safe operation of the Border facilities, the permittee shall maintain them and every part of them in a condition of good repair and in compliance with applicable law. Article 7. The permittee shall file with the President or his designee, and with appropriate agencies, such sworn statements or reports with respect to the Border facilities, or the permittees activities and operations in connection therewith, as are now, or may hereafter, be required under any law or regulation of the United States Government or its agencies. These reporting obligations do not alter the intent that this permit be operative as a directive issued by the President alone. Article 8. Upon request, the permittee shall provide appropriate information to the President or his designee with regard to the Border facilities. Such requests could include, for example, information concerning current conditions or anticipated changes in ownership or control, construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of the Border facilities. Article 9. The permittee shall provide written notice to the President or his designee at the time that the construction authorized by this permit begins, at such time as such construction is completed, interrupted, or discontinued, and at other times as may be requested by the President. Article 10. This permit shall expire 5 years from the date of its issuance if the permittee has not commenced construction of the Border facilities by that date. Article 11. This permit is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees or agents, or any other person. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, have hereunto set my hand this twenty ninth day of March, 2019, in the City of Washington, District of Columbia. DONALD J. TRUMP Imperial Valley News Center President Trump in Meeting with SBA Administrator Linda McMahon Washington, DC - Remarks by President Trump in Meeting with SBA Administrator Linda McMahon: THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. Linda McMahon has done an incredible job as the head of the Small Business Administration. She has been a superstar. The fact is that Ive known her for a long time. I knew she was good, but I didnt know she was that good. She has been one of our all-time favorites. It was just so smooth. Shes helped so many people in the world of small business. And shell be leaving. Shes going to go and help us with a very, very important year and a half that we have coming up. And the reelection, as they call it. And we look forward to that. And were going to be working very strongly. Shes going to be doing a fantastic job. So shes going to be leaving. Well be making the new nomination and appointment in the very short distance. And that will be in consultation with Linda. But I just have to say that this is an outstanding woman whos done an outstanding job. And, Linda, I want to thank you very much. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Thank you very much, sir. I really appreciate that. THE PRESIDENT: Id like to know what has been your highlight and what are some of the great things youve done, just so they all know so that we can put it right on the record. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Well, the highlight has certainly been the fact that you asked me to take on this position. It has been an honor to serve the country in your Cabinet, and to serve the administration and the people of the United States and small businesses. You have 30 million small businesses; 99 percent of the businesses in this country are small businesses. So weve been able to help them at SBA. Weve reimagined the SBA with the great team I have there. Theyve just been awesome in helping us do everything. Weve had great outreach to the community of small businesses. I have traveled all over the country. Ive been to all 50 states. Ive been to 68 district offices. Met with over 800 business people, toured businesses. So Ive really gotten a feel. When you talk about that optimism thats out there THE PRESIDENT: Right, right. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: it is there. Its palpable. Businesses are happy. Theyre taking their tax cut money. Theyre expanding. Theyre hiring more people. Theyre giving wage increases. Its incredibly powerful when youre out feeling it and talking to the businesses. And so weve had great outreach. More outreach to women entrepreneurs through a project that Ive been working on with Ivanka. THE PRESIDENT: Thats right. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: A learning platform. We took your salary, that you donated, and weve developed a pilot program for our vets. THE PRESIDENT: Good. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: And weve been working really closely with Sonny Perdue and USDA to go out to the Rural Prosperity order that you that you put in place. And I can tell you one thing that not many people know about SBA is how we move in when there is a natural disaster. And I want to thank you for letting me go with you to Houston and Puerto Rico and my hometown of New Bern, North Carolina, and I got to see firsthand what its like when the Commander-in-Chief is on the ground and the folks know that they that youre attending to them. And so, I want to thank you again for serving. Its been an honor and a privilege. And I thank my great team at SBA because they are awesome. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Linda. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Thank you, sir. THE PRESIDENT: I do have to say that I witnessed, firsthand, during the hurricanes because we had numerous hurricanes, and they were big, and tornadoes. We had some vicious ones. And we just left Alabama. And Ive watched Linda and her people, the great job theyve done helping people that really needed help, and they needed it quickly. And you have just been outstanding. So and were very, very thrilled at the great job youve done ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Thank you, sir. THE PRESIDENT: and at the job youre going to be doing. Were staying together. Very importantly, were staying together. And well be announcing the next administrator in the very near future. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Right. THE PRESIDENT: And we pretty much know who thats going to be. So well be putting it out there pretty soon. Okay? Q Give us a clue. THE PRESIDENT: Somebody thats really good. ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: (Laughs.) THE PRESIDENT: Somebody that we know very well. And somebody that will fit in beautifully. And, really, I think, somebody youre going to be very happy with. Q Mr. President, the Attorney General said today that he intends to release the Mueller report in full to Congress and then the public. Do you agree with that decision? And do you want the White House to take a look over it for privilege (inaudible)? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have great confidence in the Attorney General. And if thats what hed like to do, I have nothing to hide. This was a hoax. This was a witch hunt. I have absolutely nothing to hide. And I think a lot of things are coming out with respect to the other side. But I have a lot of confidence in the Attorney General. Q Mr. President, are you going to be talking to President Putin about Venezuela? THE PRESIDENT: We will probably be talking at some point. Were looking at Venezuela. Venezuela right now is a big, fat mess. The electricity is gone. Power is gone. Fuel is gone. Gasoline for cars is gone. They have a lot of electric cars. Thats all gone because they have no elec- they have nothing. What a job. When we talk about socialism, take a look at Venezuela. So Ill be talking about a lot of to a lot of people. Perhaps President Putin. Perhaps President Xi of China. My people right now are in China. Were negotiating the trade deal. Well see what happens. But were doing very well. Q How did that round of talks go? THE PRESIDENT: I think its going very well. I mean, the trade deal is going very well. Well see what happens. But its going very well. Theyre in China right now, the highest level of our people meeting with their people. Then theyll be coming back here for another round. Its a very comprehensive to use a word that some people like, some people dont like. I think its okay. But it is a very comprehensive, very detailed in listing of problems that weve had with China over the years. And its going to have to be a great deal. If its not a great deal, we cant do it. We cant do it. Q Do you plan to name a new Defense Secretary soon? THE PRESIDENT: Im very happy with Pat Shanahan. I think hes done a really great job. We knocked out the caliphate. We have now if you look at Syria, what happened in a very, very short period of time far shorter than people said it was even possible. Were working together very well on the wall and on the border. Im very upset with Mexico. I think Mexico is doing a lot of talking. They have the strongest immigration laws anywhere anywhere in the world. They probably have the strongest. And we have the worst. We have the weakest, the most pathetic, the most laughed-at immigration laws anywhere in the world. Theyre the Democrats laws, and I got stuck with them. And I hope Congress is going to change them rapidly. They have a lot of opposition from Democrats not because the Democrats dont think theyd be right in changing them; just because they dont want to make anybody look good. They want no victories. They dont care if the country suffers; they dont want any victories. We have two brand new caravans coming up, if you can believe it. Two big ones. And theyre coming up. And Mexico could stop them very easily. Mexico has a trade surplus with the United States, for many years, of $100 billion a year, at least. And this is for many years. Mexico has taken a big portion of our car business. Mexico is doing very well because of the United States. And, frankly, they have to stop the illegal immigration. Weve run out of room. We have this ridiculous catch and release program, where you catch them and then youre supposed to release them. And you release them into our country. And weve been very, very tough. And the Border Patrol has been incredible, I have to tell you. The people in the Border Patrol, the job they do is unbelievable. ICE the same thing. And law enforcement. But Mexico is going to have to do something; otherwise, Im closing the border. Ill just close the border. And with a deficit like we have with Mexico and have had for many years, closing the border will be a profit-making operation. When you close the border, also you will stop a lot of the drugs from coming in. Because we take in tremendous drugs from Mexico, as you know as well as I do. So you close up the border and you watch the drugs go way down too. But I will close the border if Mexico doesnt get with it, if Mexico doesnt stop it. They come in from Guatemala. They come in from El Salvador. They come in from Honduras. They come in from all over. And they come in from Mexico. And were working very hard to stop it. Were building the wall. But until the wall is completed and its really moving along well. In fact, were going to have a news conference very shortly, over the next couple of weeks, at the wall, as its being completed and going up at sections of the wall. Its moving along rapidly, but still we have a current crisis. We have a crisis. I know that you can go back 30 years and you go back 40 years, but I cant imagine it being any worse than it is right now. Q Sir, on that note, two children died around December in U.S. custody migrant children. Do you believe, given the rising numbers of migrant families and children at the border, your administration is equipped to handle that in a way that it tries to ensure that children are not dying and being harmed? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that its been very well stated that weve done a fantastic job. One of the children the father gave the child no water for a long period of time. He actually admitted blame. The other one was being brought to the hospital in an emergency on an emergency basis. It is a very tough situation. And that trek up is a long, hard trek. And you see whats happening to women. You see whats happening to children. Its a horrible situation. And Mexico could stop it right at their southern border. They have a southern border, and they could and they have a border that could be very well structured. Its very easy for them to stop people from coming up. And they dont choose to do it. Well, were not going to give them hundreds of billions of dollars and tell them that theyre not going to use their strong immigration laws to help the United States. So theres a very good likelihood that Ill be closing the border next week, and thatll be just fine with me. Q Mr. President, can you tell us why you overturned those North Korea-related sanctions? THE PRESIDENT: I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. Hes somebody that I get along with very well. We understand each other. They are suffering greatly in North Korea. Theyre having a hard time in North Korea. And I just didnt think additional sanctions at this time were necessary. It doesnt mean I dont put them on later, but I dont I didnt think that additional sanctions at this time were necessary. They are suffering greatly. Theyre having a very hard time in North Korea. And I think, because of the relationship relationship being a good thing, not a bad thing I think its very important that you maintain that relationship at least as long as you can. But we get along very well. We have a good understanding. So I didnt think that those sanctions were necessary at this time. Q Have you spoken to Chairman Kim since, at all, sir? THE PRESIDENT: No, I have not. Q Were you upset that your Treasury Department put those sanctions in place? Did they run those past you first? THE PRESIDENT: Not at all. Because they were intended to go. People thought that they would go at that time. They had the right to do that. I just decided that I would not let it happen. In a certain way, its like the Special Olympics. For many years, it hasnt been approved, and then at some point it gets negotiated out in Congress. Well, I went out and I said were going to have funding for the Special Olympics. So thats why I approved that. Its a little bit of a similar situation with different parties, to put it mildly. So I just want to again, I want to thank the job youve done. Ill tell you what: Linda has been so great. And when somebody does that good a job, Id rather do it this way than just say bye-bye. And so Im doing it this way. And Ill tell you, Linda McMahon is a very special person. And now shes going to be working with me very hard so that we keep this miracle that weve built. You saw what happened last night in Michigan. We had if they would really report it many, many thousands of people outside of the arena. And the arena was packed. That arena was absolutely packed last night, and there was tremendous love in that arena. And you look at whats happening with Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida so many places. North Carolina, South Carolina. You look at whats going on. Iowa. Wait until you see whats going on in Iowa. So many different places. New Hampshire. I have tremendous reports of something we did up in New Hampshire. Our country is doing really well. Were the hottest country in the world, economically. And its going to stay that way for a long time to come. Thank you all very much. And, Linda, thank you very much. Enhancing Americas Preparedness for Space Weather Events Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump has taken decisive action to reinvigorate American space leadership and return our explorers to the Moon and beyond. With a renewed focus on space policy, the Administration is also enhancing Americas preparedness for space weather events, like solar storms and flares. Throughout history, weve seen the dangerous impact these storms can have on Earth. In 1859, the largest solar storm on record created a dangerously powerful electromagnetic pulse event, or EMP, that short-circuited telegraph wires and started fires. In 1989, the Earth again experienced a major space weather event, resulting in a nine-hour power outage in Quebec and causing damage to power grid components in the United States. More recently, in Sweden, space weather events in 2003 and 2015 resulted in electric power blackouts, rerouting of commercial flights, and closure of Swedish airspace for more than an hour. Thats why the Trump Administration released a new National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan to better prepare our Nations critical infrastructure and security for the next space weather event. This Plan will improve our Nations preparedness through targeted actions that support three main objectives: Enhancing the Protection of National Security, Homeland Security, and Commercial Assets and Operations. In order to protect against space weather events, we must first understand how these events might affect critical infrastructure and national security assets. This understanding can inform the development and deployment of technologies and other approaches to limit the consequences of these events. Activities to increase the resilience of homeland and national security critical assets and systems are key to protecting the Nation from the most potentially devastating effects of space weather. Developing and Disseminating Accurate and Timely Space Weather Characterization and Forecasts. Improving the ability to forecast and characterize space weather events is another important way of enabling an effective response. Forecasting includes the ability to provide advanced warning of impending events, and characterization means describing the events location, intensity, and other key characteristics. It is essential that those who collect and produce this information are prepared to convey it in ways that allow owners and operators of critical infrastructure and national security assets to understand its meaning and take appropriate action. Timely and accurate characterization and forecasting of space weather events will help enhance the security and resilience of critical infrastructure and improve our ability to protect national security assets. Establishing Procedures for Responding to and Recovering from Space Weather Events. Much like the response plans for hurricanes or tornados, establishing, exercising, and improving operational space weather plans and procedures will help to mitigate the worst effects and save lives. Thanks to coordination across the Federal Government, academia, the private sector, and international partners, the United States has made significant progress in predicting and preparing for space weather events. The Administrations new plan builds upon these efforts and reflects the whole of government commitment to enhancing our Nations resiliency. In particular, earlier this week the President signed an Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses, including those created by space weather. The National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan provides a collaborative and coordinated roadmap for ensuring a space weather-ready Nation. Implementing this plan, in concert with the new Executive Order on EMP, will help the United States to better prepare for, predict, and deal with space weather hazards, and in so doing will contribute to Americas overall resilience and leadership in space. National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton on Venezuela Washington, DC - The Administration condemns Nicolas Maduros continued use of foreign military personnel in his attempt to remain in power, including the introduction of Russian military personnel and equipment into Venezuela. Maduro will only use this military support to further repress the people of Venezuela; perpetuate the economic crisis that has destroyed Venezuelas economy; and endanger regional stability. We call on the Venezuelan military to uphold its constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Venezuela. We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations. We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. We will continue to defend and protect the interests of the United States, and those of our partners in the Western Hemisphere, which are rooted in a shared respect for liberty, security, and the rule of law. Memorandum on Extension of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians Washington, DC - Since March 1991, certain Liberian nationals and persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia (collectively, Liberians) have been eligible for either Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), allowing them to remain in the United States despite being otherwise removable. In a memorandum dated March 27, 2018, I determined that, although conditions in Liberia had improved and did not warrant a further extension of DED, the foreign policy interests of the United States warranted affording an orderly transition (wind-down) period to Liberian DED beneficiaries. At that time, I determined that a 12-month wind-down period was appropriate; that wind-down period expires on March 31, 2019. Upon further reflection and review, I have decided that it is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to extend the wind-down period for an additional 12 months, through March 30, 2020. The overall situation in West Africa remains concerning, and Liberia is an important regional partner for the United States. The reintegration of DED beneficiaries into Liberian civil and political life will be a complex task, and an unsuccessful transition could strain United States-Liberian relations and undermine Liberias post-civil war strides toward democracy and political stability. Further, I understand that there are efforts underway by Members of Congress to provide relief for the small population of Liberian DED beneficiaries who remain in the United States. Extending the wind-down period will preserve the status quo while the Congress considers remedial legislation. The relationship between the United States and Liberia is unique. Former African-American slaves were among those who founded the modern state of Liberia in 1847. Since that time, the United States has sought to honor, through a strong bilateral diplomatic partnership, the sacrifices of individuals who were determined to build a modern democracy in Africa with representative political institutions similar to those of the United States. Pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate measures to accomplish the following: (1) The termination of DED for all Liberian beneficiaries effective March 31, 2020; (2) A continuation of the winddown period through March 30, 2020, during which current Liberian DED beneficiaries who satisfy the description below may remain in the United States; and (3) As part of that wind-down, continued authorization for employment through March 30, 2020, for current Liberian DED beneficiaries who satisfy the description below. The 12-month wind-down period and 12-month continued authorization for employment shall apply to any current Liberian DED beneficiary who has continuously resided in the United States since October 1, 2002, but shall not apply to Liberians in the following categories: (1) Individuals who are ineligible for TPS for reasons set forth in section 244(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B)); (2) Individuals whose removal the Secretary of Homeland Security determines to be in the interest of the United States; (3) Individuals whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States; (4) Individuals who have voluntarily returned to Liberia or their country of last habitual residence outside the United States; (5) Individuals who were deported, excluded, or removed before the date of this memorandum; or (6) Individuals who are subject to extradition. The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. DONALD J. TRUMP Theres a scene in the new series of Phoebe Waller-Bridges dark comedy Fleabag that stands out. In the middle of an awkward family dinner, the heroines sister Claire (Sian Clifford) rushes to the bathroom. Waller-Bridges Fleabag follows, offering her a wad of tissue, assuming its a heavy period. It isnt. Its a miscarriage. For journalist and author Elizabeth Day, it struck a particular chord. It was her own restaurant miscarriage that inspired it although mine was over brunch not dinner, the 40-year-old tells me, in an airy bookshop cafe in central London. Phoebes a good friend, she explains. She called me months ago to say shed just written an episode and unwittingly put something in it that Id told her. To some, the thought of having an experience youd lived through turned into television would induce an avalanche of anxiety especially one as traumatic as this. But Day was more than happy for the Killing Eve writer to use her story. Firstly, it was incredibly respectful of Waller-Bridge to call first, she says, but it was also an opportunity to raise awareness for an under-discussed and common issue. The more that is shown about this, the better, Day says, pointing out how little screen time is given to womens health problems. We almost never see menstrual blood, but look at how much blood from violence there is. The topic that Day and I are actually here to discuss is failure. In 2018, she launched How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, the podcast where guests discuss three of their biggest failures. Ironically, its been a huge success. Now, shes written a book on the subject: How to Fail: Everything Ive Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong, a memoir-slash-life-guide based on failing, at everything from family and relationships to sport and being Gwyneth Paltrow. It includes quotes from previous podcast episodes guests have included Lily Allen and Alastair Campbell but the majority of it is written in Days voice. This is a woman who graduated from Cambridge with a double first, has won multiple awards for her journalism, and written a best-selling novel called The Party, a gripping thriller with shades of The Talented Mr Ripley. Shes supremely gifted, yet failure has somehow become her thing. 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. You can look at people and think they have everything, Day says, glossy-haired and clad in a white polo-neck with gold jewellery. But to hear them say theyve failed is an incredibly democratising thing. Opening up to that shows vulnerability, and connecting to what makes us most vulnerable is what makes us human. Im still not convinced Day or her roster of high-profile guests are suitable spokespeople for failure, so I press her on it. You never really know how someones feeling inside, she says. I have an extremely wonderful life and Im incredibly privileged. But that doesnt mean there werent phases of my life that werent really tough to live through. Day was her own podcast guest last year and, like her predecessors, picked three failures to unpack. One was her failure to conceive, in a society that places that stamp on women who make it past 35 without children. Its something she gets asked about a lot. I always thought Id follow the conventional narrative of getting married and having children. But it didnt work out that way and I will never tire of talking about it until the stigma attached to that is addressed, she says, her speech quickening. Theres an overwhelming weight placed on women to become mothers, and if they dont, the failure is [seen as] theirs. Even if its not a medical failure, its perceived that youre not maternal enough or that you must be slightly weird or obsessed with your career. Recommended How Flebeag has opened up a whole new dimension in storytelling Days difficulty was, in fact, primarily medical. She went through two cycles of in-vitro fertilisation during her three-year-long marriage to BBC journalist Kamal Ahmed. Neither worked. Then, to her surprise, she became pregnant naturally but miscarried after three months. Its been a long journey for me and it has been really sad, but Im now at peace with the fact that its highly unlikely Ill have my own biological child. Her tone is breezy. Im extremely open to adoption and Im also lucky that I have godchildren and nieces in my life. That is a real gift. In 2019, this attitude shouldnt seem progressive. But apparently it is. After we meet, a newspaper runs an extract from Days book online, with a headline that skews her optimism: Elizabeth Day opens up about the agony of her childlessness. Day quickly posted a screenshot on Instagram urging her followers to please ignore the publications wording. Two months after Day miscarried one of the most gruelling nights of my life she and Ahmed got divorced. She doesnt name him in the book or during our conversation today, and recounts the details of their split carefully, revealing that it was her decision and little else. I write about him as a fact, she says, explaining that she was keen not to describe him extensively, so as to keep the focus of that chapter on her own trajectory. After the divorce, Day found herself single for the first time in 17 years, aged 36. What followed was a series of hilariously bad dates with men she met on apps and through friends, including one who came to her flat with a camp bed because hers was inconveniently sized. She soon fell in love with a younger man. After two years together, he broke up with her out of the blue. It was three weeks before Days 39th birthday. She recalls her feelings at this time in a chapter entitled Anger, because what was initially extreme sadness soon spiralled into something far more jagged and uncomfortable: it was anger. I was so f**king angry. Fleabag series 2 trailer Day explains how she was angry at herself for pretending a nine-year age difference didnt matter, and at him for not being ready to have kids yet, and having the biological luxury to say so. You think women are magically ready for babies at the precise time their ovaries kick into gear? Looking back on it all, though, Day sees her relationship failures as the biggest learning experiences of all. Because every time one ended I felt so devastated, then I realised I was strong enough to deal with it. After a break-up you realise you have all this latent strength that needs firing up, and once its fired up, no one can ever f**king take advantage of you again. Even when speaking heatedly, Day forms sentences that flow fluidly from start to finish, like a car purring through the countryside. I suspect this is because shes an experienced interviewer, and has well-oiled responses to questions she wouldve asked herself in this scenario. But when I ask whether any of the exes she writes about extensively in the book have read it, that fluency hits a slight bump. No. Its the first time Day has given me a one-word answer. She pauses, looks elsewhere, and contemplates a response to the single question I gather she might not have anticipated. She smiles and resumes. They dont know theyre in it, but I dont see this as settling scores. My story is my story and I will tell it how I want to tell it. Im actually sick of being told that Im not allowed that. Womens stories have been marginalised for too long. Its not acceptable any more. Its time to reclaim the narrative in whatever way we can. This is the second time in our hour-long conversation that I resist an urge to high-five Day the first was when she told me she genuinely loves an aubergine and I passionately concurred. We move on to discuss whats next on the agenda: live shows for the podcast, a return to novel writing and a trip to California with her boyfriend (a wonderful man with three exceptional children), whom she met on a dating app last year. Sometimes the things that are best for you wont come in the package that you anticipated, Day says. But you have to allow that to happen, and give opportunities the space to flourish. Theres no point living your life according to your projected self. I used to be someone with a five-year plan. Now I feel so much more present and content when Im just open to possibilities as they arise. How to Fail: Everything Ive Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong is published by 4th Estate on 4 April. Elizabeth will be performing How to Fail Live with a special guest at the Bridge Theatre on 5 May. Tickets: http://faneproductions.com/howtofail A few months after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Maria was waiting to see a doctor at a London hospital when an elderly English woman told her to go back to her native Romania. You are a foreigner, Maria, who was heavily pregnant at the time, recalls the woman saying. Your place is not here.Maria was stunned. Until that moment, she had never faced direct abuse over her nationality in her 10 years in the country. But ever since the 2016 Brexit campaign when some Leave supporters said they wanted Britain to take more control of immigration Maria said hostility towards EU nationals such as her has come into the open. The 31-year-old, who asked to use just her first name, said she was now preparing to leave Britain later this year with her husband and two children, fed up with what she described as xenophobia, as well as the rising cost of living in London. After Brexit we could all feel the obvious feeling that we are not wanted here, Maria said. I dont want my kids to grow up in this sort of environment. She worries about her children being bullied at school. Last year her Romanian nanny and two-year-old daughter were playing in a park when a woman publicly accused them of being thieves. Huge uncertainty still hangs over Brexit with politicians torn between a range of options, including calling the whole thing off. But many Europeans are already voting with their feet and choosing to move. Maria came to Britain in 2008 to work in a care home and was hoping she would earn enough to buy a car. She initially planned to stay for a year but then met her Romanian husband and decided to stay longer. On a good month from their work at a removal company, they can save about 500, enough for them to buy a house back home in Romania. They live frugally in a tiny studio apartment in Hampstead, London, with their two daughters. They share with their elder daughter a large double bed which takes up most of the flat. There is a small table in the corner of the room where they eat their meals. It is very difficult because if one of the children is crying they will wake up the other one, she said. You cant socialise with many people because it is very small. Maria said she was initially following all the news about Brexit, but now finds it perplexing. I think Brexit is madness, she said. I dont think they needed to come out of the EU. It is very sad that Brexit is destroying the UK. We have been affected by this uncertainty. There is so much uncertainty and we just wanted to go home. Words by Andrew MacAskall, Reuters A Dutch inventor has developed a cow toilet he says will stop pollution from cow urine at its source and avoid damaging the environment. Using the device, Henk Hanskamp claims he could cut half the ammonia produced by cows urinating onto pastures. It has already proved successful in small-scale tests, in which Mr Hanskamp and his team have trained cattle to respond to their urinals. In doing so, he said they are tackling the problem at the source and helping prevent the damage chemicals in urine cause to the climate and water systems. A cow is never going to be completely clean but you can teach them to go to the toilet, Mr Hanskamp told AFP. "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Show all 38 1 /38 "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Magdeburg, Germany on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in New York on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Madrid on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Quezon City, Philippines on March 15 Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Vienna on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Dublin on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on march 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Erfurt, Germany on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Zagreb, Croatia on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lisbon on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Florence, Italy on March 15 Sign reads: there is no future without a planet, let's not sell it for money EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Vienna on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Brighton on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cambridge on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Students protest in Bangalore, India on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Students protest in Bangalore, India on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change A student protests in Lucerne, Switzerland on 15 March EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Milan, Italy on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 AFP/Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lund, Sweden on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change A poster with Greta Thunberg, who began the current children's movement at the protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh Getty The urinal consists of a simple box placed behind the cow while it is at its feeding trough. After the animal has finished eating, a robot arm will stimulate a nerve near the udders that triggers a need to urinate in the cows. Tests are underway on a farm near the town of Doetinchem in the Netherlands, where seven of its 58 cows have learned to urinate when presented with the box, without the need for stimulation. So far Mr Hanskamp has collected thousands of litres of urine in this manner, stored in tanks separately from manure. He said he intends to find start-ups willing to put these potentially useful raw materials to use. Urine can produce large amounts of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide after spilling onto the ground, soaking into soils and mixing with manure. Ammonia in the urine can also contribute directly to pollution and drive the creation of harmful algal blooms when it enters water systems. The Dutch government is introducing stricter rules on the ammonia emissions of its dairy sector, which is a crucial component in the nations economy. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Preventing urine entering the environment can avoid a lot of this damage by stopping its components breaking down and reacting to produce more harmful substances. Following the success of his early trials, Mr Hanskamp intends to continue developing his cow toilets and have them ready for the market by 2020. Agriculture as a whole is a major contributor to climate change, and is responsible for 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK alone. However, cow urine is only one component in these emissions, with CO2 as well as methane and nitrous oxide from livestock and fertilisers contributing significant chunks as well. Close WWF encourages people around the world to turn off lights for Earth Hour 2019 Lights at landmarks, businesses and homes were switched off for Earth Hour on Saturday. The annual event aims to highlight the impact humans have on the planet due to climate change, pollution, plastic and food production. Over 7,000 cities in more than 170 countries took part in 2019. Organisers at conservation charity WWF said they hoped the event would send a message to international leaders that protecting the Earth should be top of their agenda. Proceedings kicked off this year in the Pacific island nation of Samoa at 8:30pm local time. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe The event has since swept across Australia, Asia and Europe. Earth Hour events have spread to more than 180 countries since the movement started in 2007. Activists at events on Saturday called for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gasses and lead to global warming. WWF said that people living today were the first generation to experience the effects of climate change, and the last to be able to change it, while the planet is also suffering plastic pollution and deforestation. The charity encouraged people to pledge personal actions as part of this years Earth Hour, such as turning the washing machine down to 30C, avoiding single-use plastics, planning a staycation or holiday nearer to home, changing the way they eat or helping restore nature in their local area. If you would like to see how Earth Hour 2019 unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below: Tiny frogs found in the depths of the Brazilian rainforest have an unusual characteristic fluorescent skeletons that may help them communicate with each other. Scientists think pumpkin toadlets are using their glowing bodies either to signal to fellow toadlets or to warn predators they are poisonous to eat. They made the surprising discovery while investigating how the frogs interact during mating season, and deciding to shine a UV light on their backs. They are the latest creatures to have their fluorescence revealed by researchers, with spiders, chameleons and birds sharing similar abilities. The fluorescent patterns are only visible to the human eye under a UV lamp, said Dr Sandra Goutte, a researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe In nature, if they were visible to other animals, they could be used as intra-specific communication signals [with other pumpkin toadlets] or as reinforcement of their aposematic coloration, warning potential predators of their toxicity. However, more research on the behaviour of these frogs and their predators is needed to pinpoint the potential function of this unique luminescence. The toadlets turned out to have entirely fluorescent skeletons, although this was only visible on parts of their body where bony plates sat underneath very thin skin. At these sites, the lack of dark pigment cells allowed light to travel easily through the skin, meaning the bones fluorescence reflected back and appeared as bluish-white patches. Recommended Puffins have fluorescent beaks that may help them attract mates The scientist compared the fluorescence with other closely related species to demonstrate their bones gave off a comparatively bright light. As the toadlets are active during the day, the scientists think the UV of sunlight likely creates a glow that is visible to some animals. In parrots and spiders, similar glowing patches have been shown to play a role in sexual communication. Last year scientists found that the puffins brightly coloured beak also glows under UV light, and suggested this too may play a role in attracting the opposite sex. The new research was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Praised as a humble Christian who wanted to help the less fortunate, diplomat Brenda Muntemba was a leading public figure in Zambia. A former police officer, Muntemba, rose through the ranks to become her countrys ambassador to Kenya. Born in the town of Kitwe to Bradley Chesters Muntemba and Hilary Kalenga, Brenda Chipowe Muntemba was the second of three girls. Her father was an officer in the Zambia Police Service, serving as commanding officer for the countrys Central province. Her mother was a member of the Mungomba Constitution Commission, which in 2001 replaced the Mwanakatwe Commission of 1996 and was charged with writing a new constitution for the country. Muntemba, who grew up in the Zambian capital Lusaka, graduated from the University of Zambia with a BA in French and economics in 1993. Upon graduation, she worked as a high school teacher for two years before following in her fathers footsteps to join the police service in 1996. She would later gain a masters in translation from the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg. She also studied leadership under schemes run by both the American and British governments. Muntemba was the Zambian Police spokesperson from 2002 to 2006, during which time the British satirist Roy Clarke was arrested and nearly deported after calling the countrys then president, Levy Mwanawasa an elephant. In 2004, she talked to the BBC World Service about domestic violence across the African continent; she saw economic empowerment as key to improving womens lives. At the time 80 per cent of Zambians lived below the poverty line, with a life expectancy of just 35 years and one in 10 of the population living with HIV. Today, 60 per cent are below the poverty line, while HIV affects 14.3 per cent of adults). During her time as police spokesperson, Unicef appointed Muntemba as a role model for the education of girls. Muntemba was passionate about womens rights and published four motivational books: Off Duty (2011), a collection of poetry and philosophical musings; In Retrospect (2013) and Secrets Unveiled (2016) which set out to empower women and girls; and The Architect, which celebrates her relationship with God. Muntemba published four motivational books intended to empower young women (YouTube/Faith Expressions) Explaining her ethos, she once said: We are each unique, as ordinary as some may think themselves to be We each have the task to unleash our full potential before we reach the finish line. We must give life our all. In 2011, Muntemba ,was appointed police commissioner for Zambias Southern province. A year later, she spent a short time as Commissioner of Operations before transferring to the cabinet office of president Michael Sata. At the ministry of education she became Zambias chief programmes officer for Unesco. In 2015, Muntemba joined the foreign service, becoming Zambias high commissioner to Kenya in April of that year. She was also permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Nairobi, with a jurisdiction covering the republic of South Sudan, the State of Eritrea and the Republic of Seychelles. Meeting Danny Faure, president of the Seychelles, in 2017, Muntemba said of the relationship between their two countries: When you have peace, you dont keep it to yourself, you spread it. Muntemba married the Reverend Sulanji Andrew Sichilembe in 2006. Church was a big part of Muntembas life and she herself was ordained as a pastor in 2012. In her spare time, she enjoyed singing she recorded and made videos of a number of songs and was a part-time radio presenter for Christian Voice and Radio Phoenix. Returning to Nairobi from a meeting on 26 February, Muntembas car was involved in a head on collision with a trailer on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. She died weeks later aged 49. Muntemba is survived by her husband, who has announced a foundation to be set up in her honour, and her children Mwango Kondolo and Lukundo Nachilembe. Brenda Muntemba, diplomat and author, born 2 July 1970, died 19 March 2019 The US military is turning to fish and other sea life to help them monitor the activity of their enemies in the oceans. Marine creatures are well adapted to their environment, and scientists want to employ their sensory abilities to pick up signals that might be missed by conventional technology. This could mean anything from monitoring fluctuations in schools of sea bass to microbes responding to the magnetic signatures emitted by submarines. The Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) programme will make use of this information to transform these creatures into self-sustaining populations of underwater spies. The US Navys current approach to detecting and monitoring underwater vehicles is hardware-centric and resource intensive, said programme manager Dr Lori Adornato as the initiative was launched last year. Underwater Photographer of the Year Show all 45 1 /45 Underwater Photographer of the Year Underwater Photographer of the Year South Fakarava, French Polynesia Winner: Behaviour and overall winner. "I worry that this image will refuel the public's imbalanced perception of sharks but as an image capturing behaviour it has drama, adrenaline, grace, beauty and finality. That's a very rare combination in one image." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Richard Barnden/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Reunion Island Winner: Wide Angle. "The first moment I viewed this image I knew it would be a strong contender. For me it's the symmetry of the Humpback and the balance between the diver and calf. Everything about it is in perfect alignment. The shape of the tail in relation to the four corners of the frame, not to mention the position of the free diver and calf. Superb imagery at its very best. Many congratulations Francois." - Martin Edge (Judge) Francois Baelen/UPY 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year Trieste Gulf, Italy Winner: Macro. "Fabios use of long exposure and panning has turned a classic portrait of a Sepiola into an unforgettable one. The sharp and ghosted images of the bobtail squid balance pleasingly in the frame and combined with the outstretched tentacles give the feeling of the cephalopod lunging for its prey. An innovative and most deserving category winner." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Fabio Iardino/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Azores Islands "It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to have experienced such a large scale natural spectacle as this but this image, perfectly composed and timed, gets close." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Mike Korostelev/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Scotland Winner: British Waters Macro. "A mantra of mine is 'It's not what it is. It's where it is' and this long clawed Squat lobster is in a perfect position to make a memorable image. The author, instead of 'blasting' it with light, has gone in the opposite direction by restricting the strobe into a snooted spotlight in order to illuminate just the features of the lobster and the dainty sea loch anemones. It's an example of 'Isolation lighting' at its very best. A great deal of uw photographers invest their time in what they want to illuminate. This is an example which in my opinion illustrates features that they do not want to illuminate, hence the punchy black background and the soft delicate hues of dark sand, facial features topped off by the sea loch anemones." - Martin Edge (Judge) Arthur Kingdon/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Tenerife, Canary Islands Winner: Marine Conservation. "The problems of plastic pollution and ghost fishing are both illustrated by this struggling loggerhead turtle. I am happy to learn this individual was lucky enough to survive this deathtrap thanks to the photographer" - Alex Mustard (Judge) Eduardo Acevedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Sado Island, Japan "What a chin, what a forehead, what a character. This picture has portrait written all over it, and such a fascinating species ideally suited to this close focus wide angle approach." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Fabrice Dudenhofer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Stratoni, Greece Winner: Portrait. "Superb impact from the very first moment it was presented. Perfect composition within the image frame and the understated colours. To top it off the authors comments above say it all... a Smiling Happy Angel's Face. One of my favourites from the entire competition." - Martin Edge (Judge) Nicholas Samaras/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year South Fakarava, French Polynesia Winner: Up & Coming. "Beautiful split shot with both a perfect under and over split. A very strong favourite with all the judges and one of the best examples I have seen of this type of image for some time. Just Superb!" - Martin Edge (Judge) Taeyup Kim/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isla Espiritu Santo, Mexico Winner: Black & White. "It must be 11 out of 10 for this groundbreaking image. Conception, interpretation and perseverance coupled with black and whites ability to concentrate on the key elements. It gets better with each viewing." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Henley Spiers/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK "Grey seals are a perennial favourite in UPY as one of the UK's star wildlife attractions. This upside-down portrait is quirky and cute and easily won the affections of the judging panel. Great to see an overseas photographer coming to the UK to show us how it's done!" - Alex Mustard (Judge) Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Ambon, Indonesia Winner: Compact. "This image was a very popular choice between the panel. Ideal for a split rendition. What makes this a winner for me, not withstanding the double exposure is the sympathetic balance of light & colour connected between the top half and bottom of the image frame." - Martin Edge (Judge) Enrico Somogyi/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK Winner: British Waters Compact. "Does British diving get any better than a fun encounter with a grey seal pup? This youngsters relaxed and curious face is captured perfectly by Martin, making us all want to be there too." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Martin Edser/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year St. Ives Harbour, Cornwall Winner: British Waters Living Together. "Images tell stories but well thought out and executed ones speak volumes. This is such an example which feeds the eye with tales of the seaside on summer days, lively marine spectacles and excited human interaction." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Victoria Walker/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isles of Scilly, UK Winner: British Waters Wide Angle. "Photographers often feel competition shots must be packed with new tricks to win. At UPY we always appreciate classic technique when it raises the bar of what has been done before. Rob's full technicolour wide angle scenic reveals the richness of UK seas with an elegant simplicity that is incredibly challenging to pull off in British conditions." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Robert Bailey/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Malin Head, Ireland Winner: Wrecks. "So simple yet so powerful; the additional lighting of the turret and the main diver perfectly positioned. This was a very strong category this year with a deserved winner and it's refreshing to read the acknowledgement to Leigh Bishop's pioneering work." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Rene B. Andersen/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "The iconic silhouette of a seahorse is a graphically powerful picture. Here Zarina has raised that to another level with the addition of a red filter to her snooted strobe, reminiscent of a rim-lit animal at sunset." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Zarina Staller/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Muncar, Indonesia "All the judges found this to be probably the most distressing image to view but its uncompromising message must be seen by as many people as possible." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Joao Rodrigues/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "As a subject we have seen our fair share of these colourful characters but this one shone through and the eggs almost look as if they have been individually lit!" - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Igor Bogachenko/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Nottinghamshire "Superb image with a perfect line across the split. Good exposure both above and below the water line and such an ideal subject to cap it all off. Excellent work." - Martin Edge (Judge) Jack Perks/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Belgium "This is an excellent example for this category. It takes a tried and trusted angle but completely lifts it by using the fabric. It becomes more than an image; a concept, a transition, a rebirth." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Martin Gerard/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Isles of Scilly, UK "This image stood out on many levels. Composition, colour vibrancy and contrast combined with an unusual angle kept us coming back to it and helped it rise in the rankings with each viewing." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Malcolm Nimmo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Indonesia "Perfect control of angle, light and focus. This was always up there with all of the judges. A clear favourite just like Nick Parks genius creations." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) ManBD/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Lembeh, Indonesia "I've seen many images of eel and shrimp around Indonesia, however you have taken this two steps forward. 1) With your excellent idea to snoot the eye and 2) with your backlight on the shrimp. You can expect many photographers to practice your technique in the months to come. Congratulations for your vision. Very well thought out and executed." - Martin Edge (Judge) Fu Liang/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Bristol, UK "Its not what youve got, its what you do with it. The split may have been elusive but well worth the effort. This is a deceptively subtle excellent delivery." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Ian Michael Wade/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Vavau, Tonga "I have witnessed this behaviour from the surface with its high velocity 'testosterone and tonnage' and I remember thinking how happy I was to be in the boat. To have the presence of mind to time this shot whilst one's senses are being bombarded is heroic in my view." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Scott Portelli/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Fakarva, French Polynesia "What an amazing moment. From the expression on the face of the unicornfish fleeing for its life, to the hunting pack of sharks, especially the leader with its mouth snapping open that fan out diagonally across this composition. And that is without considering what a great challenge it is to shoot these images of split second action, in the dead of night, underwater." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Red Sea, Egypt "There is so much energy in this image. If you look at it long enough you can begin to see just a hint of movement of all the fish around the coral. The colours are realistic and this top down shot works well." - Martin Edge (Judge) Emily Irving-Swift/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Moorea Lagoon, French Polynesia "A jaw-dropping wide angle scene with sharks, rays and mountains. A winning combination in the Up & Coming category." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Remuna Beca/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Loch Long, Argyll and Bute "This is a subtle image with light and detail that are a delight to explore. The sunset, trees and underwater scene combine to create a wonderful feeling of the place. We particularly like how the composition allows the line of the shore to be continued underwater by the seaweeds." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Mark Kirkland/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Stoney Cove, Leicestershire "Photographing pike underwater is one thing but finding your own underwater artistic stamp is quite another matter. With this particular image the author has done just that! By using a slow shutter speed of 1/8th sec and a panning technique from right to left gives the impression of movement whilst the pike is pin sharp." - Martin Edge (Judge) Nicholas More/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Scotland "Arthurs image scores with both its foreground and background. The deadmans fingers soft coral make an attractive foreground, enhanced by the crab sheltering within, and the striking sunbeams create beauty and atmosphere in the background. I also love the feeling of depth created by the legs of the jetty reaching up for the surface." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Arthur Kingdon/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Swange Pier, Dorset "In recent UPY competitions UK macro images have lacked their overseas counterpart's flair and imagination but this magnificent shot raises the bar for everyone else to follow. World class from the UK at last." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Paul Pettitt/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Island Solta, Croatia "Memorable photographs of people underwater are deceptively difficult and require both the photographer and model to be at the top of their game. The simplicity of the composition works to highlight the delicious details in the girl's pose." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Matej Bergoc/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Eden's Rock, Grand Cayman "This is a timeless scene that communicates a detailed story. The cavern, the silversides sheltering, the tarpon hunting and the diver kneeling reverentially, taking it all in. It is a fabulous use of black and white to tell this story of shadows and light." - Alex Mustard (Judge) Ken Kiefer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Cabo Douglas, Galapagos Islands "Sometimes it is the small detail which contributes so much. The white of the eye and the row of teeth in what could be construed as a smile convey mischief and menace in equal measures." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Bruce Sudweeks/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Abu Nuhas, Egypt "Once again Tobias you have succeeded in capturing one of the most photographed wrecks in the Red Sea and photographing it in a completely different way. You push the boundaries of wreck photography and I congratulate you for your vision and forward thinking of new ideas." - Martin Edge (Judge) Tobias Friedrich/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Anilao, Phillippines "Perfect composition and framed against the stark black background. However it's the contrast of white on black which attracts the eye again and again every time this particular image popped up to greet us. The colour of the nudibranch was sufficiently bright enough to raise our senses again and again as it proceeded through the competition. The soft delicate treatment of the snooted flash is also very well managed." - Martin Edge (Judge) Flavio Vailati/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Pleneau Bay, Antarctica "This shot puts you right in the picture and records a special encounter in a very special place. Every element contributes and the lucky or intended curve of the split creates great spatial depth." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Jessica Farrer/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Farne Islands, UK "Symmetry, graphic simplicity and for once in UK waters a black background which contributes to a positive outer worldly delivery. A mould breaker." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Kirsty Andrews/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Adams River, Canada "I see and judge many images of the sockeye salmon but this is one of the best. The alignment of the two salmon not to mention the composition within the frame. The surgy peak of the action is in perfect symmetry with the window which provides the viewer with topside influences of the trees against a vivid blue sky. There is so much image depth in this example." - Martin Edge (Judge) Yung-Sen Wu/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Los Gigantes, Tenerife "Such a delicate image yet so full of emotion. There are times when there are no more words needed." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Acevedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Minamata, Japan "UPY loves seahorse photos! Especially when they capture a fleeting behaviour, such as this. But we hadn't realised during judging that this was a new species of seahorse, nor did with know the incredible backstory behind this picture, we just loved the moment." - Alex Mustard (Judge) K.Zhang/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Salento, Italy "Whether or not you like fashion photography underwater you would be hard pressed to see a more beautiful combination of complimentary colours and a very elegant pose. A very well executed image." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Virginia Salzedo/UPY 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year Tulamben, Indonesia "A portrait must leave you in no doubt. Simple lighting, illuminating all that is needed, captures this character." - Peter Rowlands (Judge) Fu Liang/UPY 2019 As a result, the capability is mostly used at the tactical level to protect high-value assets like aircraft carriers, and less so at the broader strategic level. If we can tap into the innate sensing capabilities of living organisms that are ubiquitous in the oceans, we can extend our ability to track adversary activity and do so discreetly, on a persistent basis, and with enough precision to characterise the size and type of adversary vehicles. A total of $45m (35m) has now been distributed to five research teams, each of which is working on a particular organism and developing technologies to monitor them and beam information back to the scientists. One team is analysing the booms made by territorial fish known as goliath groupers, which they think could provide information about approaching drones or submarines. Another is examining the noises made by snapping shrimp, 200-decibel pops that could work as a natural form of sonar. It has the potential to detect even the quietest vehicles that might be there, project leader Dr Alison Laferriere of Raytheon BBN Technologies told Scientific American. Findings from these studies are expected to be published across the next few years, and should contribute to basic research into animal behaviour as well as its military uses. Recommended US military to develop genetically modified plants to use as spies The programme is administered by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), and it is not their only initiative involved living creatures. One project is creating genetically modified plants that, like fish in the PALS programme, are capable of acting as environmental sensors. Another project being developed by the agency involves using insects loaded with synthetic viruses to spread genetic changes to plants growing in fields. That initiative, dubbed Insect Allies, has faced controversy as scientists raised concerns that instead of being used in agriculture it could lead to the development of a new class of biological weapon. A north London man seen with a St Georges flag on top of St Pancras station has been charged by police after disrupting Eurostar trains at the weekend. Terry Maher, 44, from Camden, will appear before magistrates on Monday after being charged with obstructing the railway and causing a public nuisance, British Transport Police (BTP) said. Eyewitnesses at St Pancras said they spotted a protester on the tracks, shouting about Brexit and waving an England flag, on Friday evening. The man was detained around 8.30am on Saturday after he was found to have spent the night on the roof of the station. The 12-hour incident caused travel disruption for thousands of passengers between London and Paris after Eurostar suspended services. Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA A BTP spokesman said: The charges relate to an incident where a man was on top of railway infrastructure, resulting in a number of rail services from St Pancras International needing to be suspended as a safety precaution. He was remanded in custody to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday. Assistant Chief Constable Sean OCallaghan said: Friday evening's incident was extremely challenging and I would like to thank the public for their patience whilst a number of specialist teams responded. This was a fast-paced inquiry and I am pleased that a man has now been charged in connection. Several services on the route had to be scrapped following the incident, which began on Friday evening and ended when a suspect was arrested around 12 hours later. The incident began on the day the UK was originally due to leave the EU, and followed a day of pro-Brexit protests in Westminster. The Metropolitan Police said five people were arrested at the demonstrations, including two for assault, one for drunk and disorderly, one for assaulting a police officer, and one who was identified as wanted for an offence in Hertfordshire. A man from Coventry who joined Isis as a teenager is reportedly the first British citizen to have been executed as a spy by the terrorist group. Mohammed Ismail, who left the UK for Syria in 2014 when he was only 18, earned the nickname Osama bin Bieber there because of his youthful appearance. He was killed in 2016 after he was suspected of disclosing the location of leading Isis recruiter Nasser Muthana to western intelligence services, according to The Sunday Times. An unnamed member of Isis security apparatus claimed Ismail admitted to the betrayal after Muthana originally from Cardiff was killed in a US drone strike in Mosul. They did an interrogation with him, the source told the newspaper. He confessed everything. And then they killed him. Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the citys entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syrias Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent Ismail is believed to have been wounded while fighting in Syria before being given a role as an Isis police officer. The source said the Briton was interrogated and killed in Raqqa, but the method of execution is not known. It comes as the first British Isis fighters are identified after the fall of Baghouz, the groups last stronghold, earlier this month. Hamza Parvez, who is now in Kurdish custody in northern Syria, told the BBC on Sunday that he spent five years as a jihadist recruit. Expressing some regret, the former police cadet from west London said: Most of the foreign fighters when you do talk to them, the first thing theyll say to you is that, We would have never ever come if we had known the realities of Isis. A Syrian Defence Forces flag flies over a destroyed Isis camp in Baghouz (Getty) A separate report on Sunday claimed that MI6 intelligence officers are choosing not to interrogate British Isis fighters captured and detained in northern Syria. The agency was worried about the legal risks involved in speaking to them, according to The Sunday Telegraph. The concerns are believed to relate to the possibility that any detainee interviewed by British officials could have a stronger case for returning to the UK. MI6 is also thought to fear legal liability if any detainees claim to have been tortured while held by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria. Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said: How can Sajid Javid tell the country he is doing everything to keep the country safe while MI6 says it does not even seek evidence from people who know the most about (Isis) from having lived in their midst? Firefighters revealed a list of their strangest 999 calls including a child with their head stuck in a potty as they urged the public to use a little bit of common sense. The London Fire Brigade said they had responded to 659 incidents of people getting locked in toilets and 59 relating to dogs and cats trapped in unusual places in the last three years. Seventeen calls were about children with their heads stuck in toilet seats. The fire brigade was also called out to a woman stuck up a tree while trying to retrieve a cat, a pet snake trapped in a ring, a pigeon lodged in a chimney, a cat stuck in a gutter after jumping out of a skylight and a hamster wedged between a toilet and a wall. Deputy commissioner Tom George said: No matter how strange a call may seem, we will always attend if there is a genuine emergency but you should always think carefully about how to use our resources. Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Show all 11 1 /11 Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Stringy theory The BBC's 1957 Panorama programme about harvesting spaghetti from trees in Switzerland showed women carefully plucking the strands from trees and laying them in the sun to dry. It has gone down in history as one of the most believable April hoaxes. It was presented by the very believable Richard Dimbleby, after all. Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Left-handed whopper Burger King launched a marketing campaign for its 'Left-handed whopper' on April 1 1998. A press release sent out at the time estimated that nearly 11 million left-handed customers visited the fast food outlet in the UK each year. A spokesperson from the Left Handed Club is quoted as saying: "We are delighted that Burger King has recognised the difficulties of holding a hamburger in your left hand that has a natural right bias to it. We urge all left handed hamburger lovers to visit their nearest Burger King and taste the difference for themselves." Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Alarming underwiring In 1982 the Daily Mail reported a series of signal interferences in fire and burglar alarms, television and radio broadcasts due, it claimed, to the manufacture and sale of bras containing extremely conductive copper underwire. The report claimed that the combination of body heat and nylon caused the copper to produce static electricity which interfered with signals. Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Licking it The Sun made newspaper history with the world's first flavoured page. On page 17 a white square carries the words "Lick here" and an arrow advises viewers where to place their tongues to experience the flavour. It carries the warning "May contain nuts." The report reads: "Our ink-redible printing breakthrough comes after we teamed up with Brit boffins. It means that readers can lick this page to reveal a hidden taste. The revolution follows TV chef Heston Blumenthal, 43, unveiling lickable wallpaper." Sadly it doesn't work online. Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes The magic of colour TV In 1962 colour TV seemed like a magical thing in Sweden. So when its one television channel broadcast an advisory by the station's technical expert Kjell Stensson telling viewers that they could manually convert their black and white sets into colour by covering the screen in a nylon stocking, thousands of people gave it a try. His technical explanation for the peculiar activity was that the fine mesh of the material would cause a reconfiguration of the light particles emanating from the screen. Viewers were advised to tilt their heads from side to side to help with the readjustment process. Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Sighing over Gordon "He thrilled them with his constitutional reform statement in 2007, he made them sigh at the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference, he made them clap at the St Paul's Institute," reported The Times this morning, revealing the much anticipated news that a collection of PM Gordon Brown's speeches is soon to be available in all good bookshops. "The Change We Choose; Speeches 2007-2009 contains the Prime Minister's most exciting speeches from the past three years. Those who seek inspiration in the oratory of Gladstone, Disraeli and Churchill will now be able to turn to Mr Brown's discussion of the Millennium Development Goals, his appeal for global solutions to global problems and his promise of a points based immigration system." Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Wife not? Wikipedia is widely regarded as the font of all knowledge for journalists, students and, well, pretty much anyone who's ever used the internet. Shocking then for the feminists among us to discover that the comprehensive encyclopaedia condones wife selling. A recent entry states: "The English custom of wife selling was a way of ending an unsatisfactory marriage by mutual agreement that began in the late 17th century, when divorce was a practical impossibility for all but the very wealthiest. After parading his wife with a halter around her neck, arm, or waist, a husband would publicly auction her to the highest bidder. Wife selling provides the backdrop for Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, in which the central character sells his wife at the beginning of the story, an act that haunts him for the rest of his life and ultimately destroys him." Wikipedia Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Star turn Well-known television astronomer and national treasure Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 on April fool's in 1976 that due to an unusual alignment of planets, known as the Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect, Earth would have a temporary reduction in the gravitational pull. He urged listeners to jump at exactly 9.47am to experience weightlessness. Thousands called in to say they'd felt the decrease in gravity and one woman even claimed that she and eleven friends "wafted from their chairs and orbited gently around the room." Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Just my type On April 1 1977 The Guardian published a seven-page supplement on the semi colon-shaped islands of San Serriffe, situated somewhere in the Indian Ocean. The two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse and the editorial was littered with other puns and plays on words relating to typography. The islands were used for subsequent hoaxes in 1978, 1980 and 1999 and they often turn up in the paper's cryptic crossword. Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Less fun for blondes... Stuffy global agencies aren't known for their jokes. Which made it all the more believable in April 2002 when the World Health Organization released a report claiming that natural blondes were likely to be extinct within 200 years. It said that due to the proliferation of dyed blondes and a genetic weakness, the last natural blonde would probably be born in 2202. The study was revealed to be a hoax and the WHO denied conducting the research. Getty Images Best historic April Fool's hoaxes Pinana colada? One April 1st Waitrose supermarket announced it was stocking an exotic new fruit: the Pinana, a hybrid combination of a pineapple and a banana. The advert read: "Fresh in today and exclusive to Waitrose. If you find that all Waitrose pinanas have sold out, don't worry, there's 50% off our essential Waitrose strawberries." A number of the more unusual calls we attend involve children or animals so we would always urge Londoners to keep an eye on their youngsters or pets to ensure they arent getting themselves into sticky situations which could be avoided. With April Fools Day looming, the fire brigade also asked the public not to make hoax or unnecessary calls. The emergency service has received received more than 32,000 hoax calls since 2014, according to statistics released earlier this month under the Freedom of Information Act. While the figures have fallen by 40 per cent over that period, firefighters still received 5,410 hoax calls last year. Of those, 4,201 were challenged and rejected by control officers and 1,209 turned out to be false alarms when crews responded. With the help of our control officers challenging calls, we have been able to reduce the number of hoax calls we receive and this enables us to be available for when there is a genuine emergency, said Mr George. Conservative MPs are reportedly preparing to block any attempt by Theresa May to call a general election in a bid to resolve the Brexit crisis. The prime minister and some of her closest advisers are believed to be considering a snap poll if her withdrawal agreement is put forward and voted down for a fourth time this week. Yet senior Conservatives have said that an election would be a disaster, fearing their bitterly divided party would be wiped out at the ballot box. Some are adamant Ms May should not lead the Tories in any election in the months ahead, with one telling The Sunday Telegraph the party would be annihilated. Theresa May cannot call an election, she cannot be the leader who would lead us into it. The party would not tolerate it, Nigel Evans, executive secretary of the 1922 committee, told The Observer. Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA One cabinet minister told the same newspaper that Tory MPs would vote down any effort to call a general election, since Ms May would need a two-thirds majority in the Commons to secure it. If we have a general election before Brexit is resolved, it will only make things worse, said Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan. There is no one in the cabinet who thinks she should lead us into a general election, one cabinet member said. Reports suggest the cabinet is at risk of imminent collapse, with Ms May facing resignations from senior ministers on both sides of the Brexit divide depending on what course she takes next. At least six members of her cabinet will resign if she heads for a no-deal Brexit, according to The Sunday Times, yet Brexiteer members have apparently made clear they would resign if she backed a customs union or sought another delay. The newspaper said a possible run-off vote could take place in parliament on Tuesday between Ms Mays deal and whatever alternative emerges as the most popular from indicative voting by MPs on Monday. It means, in theory, an attempt to call a general election could be made as early as Wednesday. Pro-Brexit supporters rally outside Parliament Tory MPs are worried about a shift towards Labour in the poll. A new Deltapoll survey for The Mail on Sunday shows Labour on 41 points, five points ahead of the Tories on 36. Only last month Deltapoll gave the Tories a seven point lead. A fresh Opinium poll for The Observer, meanwhile, shows Ms Mays lead over Jeremy Corbyn on who would make the best prime minister has fallen from 15 points to 7 points in the past month. The poll also reveals Boris Johnson as the only Tory with a lead over the Labour leader. On Saturday Nicky Morgan suggested a national unity government may soon be required to end the Brexit crisis. If the government refused and Theresa May felt she could not implement what parliament had identified as a way of leaving the EU, then I think we would have to think very hard about whether a cross-party coalition ... Could do that in order to make sure that the UK does leave the EU in an orderly fashion, the former education secretary told BBC News. The DUP has always been a Eurosceptic party, campaigning against common market membership in the 1970s. The partys founder Ian Paisley felt the European Union was part of a conspiracy to create a Catholic superstate controlled by the Vatican, once even claiming that seat number 666 at the European parliament was reserved for the Antichrist. The party went on to enjoy the best of both worlds, remaining deeply critical of the EU while taking seats in its parliament and welcoming the money it directs to Northern Ireland. EU support for Northern Ireland, particularly after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, plays a key role in peacekeeping and economic prosperity. But the DUP has a very conservative, imperialist vision for Britain, free from the reins of Europe, and dominant on the world stage as a solo entity. This is the common ground it shares with the Conservative European Research Group, and even Ukip. So, when the referendum on EU membership came up in 2016, the partys leaders attempted to have their cake and eat it: they would get behind this nationalist campaign for Brexit, safe in the knowledge that it would probably never happen. Except it did. Conservative divisions over Brexit have deepened ahead of a string of key votes as cabinet ministers warned Theresa May to change course. The prime minister is being pressured on all sides ahead of another momentous week, with speculation mounting that she would call a snap general election if her fourth attempt to pass her Brexit deal fails. Cabinet minister David Gauke said the UK was facing a national crisis. He warned Ms May she could not ignore the will of parliament if MPs unite around a customs union during the second round of indicative votes on Monday. But some 170 Brexiteers, including 10 ministers, were piling the pressure on Ms May over the weekend to leave the EU within weeks with or without a deal. Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA And at least half a dozen Tory MPs were also preparing to row in behind a confirmatory referendum plan. This option secured the backing of the highest number of MPs during the indicative votes on Wednesday. Downing Street has made it clear that Ms May will bring her Brexit deal back to the Commons for last-ditch attempt, despite her third attempt ending in humiliation on Friday. But with little hope of winning over core Brexiteers or the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ms May now faces calls to either leave without a deal, call an election or unite MPs behind a much softer exit. Justice Secretary Mr Gauke said Ms May must consider a plan by veteran Tory Ken Clarke for a customs union which came closest to securing a majority in the last ballot. I think she would need to look very closely at that, he told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show. If parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I dont think its sustainable to ignore parliaments position and therefore leave without a deal. Mr Gauke said Brexit had become a national crisis and warned Tory MPs that they may have to accept a second or third choice as the party does not have the numbers to push its manifesto pledges through parliament. Mr Gauke also restated his commitment to resign if the prime minister pursued a no-deal Brexit. Defence minister Tobias Ellwood also signalled he would support some kind of customs union plan in the votes tomorrow. He told BBC Radio 4s The World This Weekend: Realistically, the Oliver Letwin machine comes back into play on Monday and that will probably tilt towards a customs arrangement or customs union support. Mr Ellwood went on: I agree with supporting the PM but in the absence of the PMs deal not getting through and if you want to honour the referendum result, then yes I would be supporting something along those lines. Five ministers voted for the customs union option last week. Cabinet ministers were ordered to abstain but big-hitters such as Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd are understood to be sympathetic to it. No 10 hopes that pressure will lead to more Brexiteers reluctantly backing Ms Mays deal after it cut the majority against it from 230 and 149 in the first two votes to 58 on Friday. Recommended Theresa May must give the people a Final Say on the deal now But Eurosceptic Tories delivered a show of force, signing a letter organised by Commons leader Andrea Leadsom to demand the UK leaves the EU before the end of May, even if no deal is signed. A source involved told The Independent: The letter reaffirmed our commitment to the manifesto and to the PMs own determination to seek a short extension to Article 50 that avoids the EU elections. Elsewhere, efforts to secure a Final Say vote were bolstered by the suggestion another handful of Tories could back it, including former ministers Richard Harrington and Steve Brine, who both resigned last week. Sources say several Labour MPs who voted against the proposal last week are also saying they are ready to back this new compromise. Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP behind a revised plan to cancel Brexit if a no-deal scenario seems inevitable, said she had been approached by many Labour MPs who want to back it. MPs will hold a debate on revoking Article 50 on Monday, after the record-breaking petition hit 6 million signatures on Sunday. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Senior Tories have warned Ms May against calling a snap election, amid fears that the bitterly divided party would be wiped out at the ballot box. Deputy chair James Cleverly said the party was engaged in sensible and pragmatic planning for a snap election but added his voice to a chorus of senior figures pleading with Ms May not to trigger one. Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry signalled Labour could also try to trigger an election by mounting a fresh vote of confidence in the government but she could not say when the challenge would take place. A new Deltapoll survey for The Mail on Sunday shows Labour on 41 points, five points ahead of the Tories on 36. The same pollster gave the Conservatives a seven-point lead last month. The chair of the Food and Drink Federation has said he is absolutely terrified about the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, which he fears could lead to a spike in food prices. Ian Wright warned of massive disruption to the industry if the government applies tariffs to food imports from the EU in the event of no deal. Speaking on BBC1s Breakfast, he said: The real problem here is that the disruption that we would have from no deal would very quickly lead to empty shelves, it would lead to more expensive products, and it would lead to a real diminution of choice particularly for people in poorer areas and at the end of distribution chains. He added: Im absolutely terrified of the prospects for our economy and our food and drink industry by the prospect of tariffs. It will cause enormous amounts of disruption and enormous amounts of difficulty. Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Show all 15 1 /15 Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Pork There will be tariffs on pork in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cheese There will be tariffs in place on some cheeses including 22.10/100kg of cheddar, 19.10/100kg of processed cheese and 18.60/100kg on some blue cheeses Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Milk There will be no tariffs in place on milk Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Car Parts There will be no tariffs on car parts imported from Europe PA Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cars However finished cars will face tariffs of 10.6% Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Alcoholic drinks There will be no tariffs on alcoholic drinks - except on some rums due to ingredients used in their distilling process Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Beef There will be tariffs on beef in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fish There will be no tariffs on many types of fish including cod, haddock, salmon and sea bass Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fruit and vegetables There will be no tariffs on almost all fruit and vegetables Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Chocolate There will be no tariffs on chocolate or other cocoa products Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Poultry There will be tariffs on poultry in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Ceramics There will be some tariffs in place on ceramis Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Steel There will be no tariffs on steel Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Coal There will be no tariffs on coal Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Lamb/Mutton There will be tariffs on the meat of sheep in order to protect British farmers Getty In February, environment secretary Michael Gove promised that the government will apply tariffs to food imports to protect British farmers in the event of a no-deal Brexit. One thing I can reassure you it will not be the case that we will have zero-rate tariffs on products, there will be protections for sensitive sections of agriculture and food production, Mr Gove told the annual National Farmers Union conference. Alongside the Food and Drink Federation, some of the UKs biggest retailers, including Asda, Marks & Spencer and Sainsburys, have also warned that a no-deal Brexit would undermine the food industrys complex supply chain and threaten the countrys food security. In February more than 30 trade association within Britains food industry threatened to break off cooperation with the government because of the risk of a no-deal Brexit. They told Michael Gove that they cannot respond to non-Brexit-related policy consultations or initiatives, arguing all energies must be focused on the crash-out risk. However, Brexit-supporting Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin highlighted that leaving the EU will allow the UK to lift existing tariffs on trade with countries outside the bloc. Well have far less tariffs on New Zealand wine, on rice, on oranges, on bananas, he told the BBC. If we leave the EU without a deal the number of tariffs will be vastly reduced. Additional reporting by PA The petition urging the government to revoke Article 50 and halt Brexit has attracted more than 6 million signatures. Despite slowing in growth over recent days, the online petition is the most popular ever submitted to the parliamentary website. Launched at the end of February, a huge spike in support came after Theresa Mays widely criticised speech blaming MPs for the failure of her deal in the Commons on 20 March. At one point, nearly 2,000 people were signing up every minute, and its popularity caused the e-petitions website to crash several times. The success of the petition means its demand for Article 50 to be revoked is to be debated by MPs at 4.30pm on 1 April, the House of Commons Petitions Committee has said. Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Show all 50 1 /50 Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A cheerful reminder Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest I will always love EU EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Naughty Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Bridget Jones vox populi Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Anyone fancy a spot of birdwatching? Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Not the only one EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest 800sqm banner of a David Davis quote in Parliament Square Led By Donkeys/PA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Does anyone? Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Prime concern Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Managing well to keep their wigs on Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Name a more moronic duo. I'll wait EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Is telekinetic intervention the only way out of the Brexit mess? Tom Bell Best signs from the Put It To The People protest The sane voice of youth Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Needs must Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest The scarier sequel Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest 'Tis only a flesh wound EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Put the kettle on Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest What's scarier - a shark attack or Brexit? EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest An artistic take Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A cryptic one Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest As a matter of fact EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A windy one Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A pioneering solution Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Analogies EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A joyful image EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Generation Z priorities Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest You're never too young to march for change PA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest A cheesy line PA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest The number one single Getty Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Quite the point Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Do you? Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Allegedly Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Let's be considerate PA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Something smells foul Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Stuck in the middle with EU Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Decked out Angela Christofilou / The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Is it too late? Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Ikea's set the bar high Getty Best signs from the Put It To The People protest This picture puzzle is pretty darn clear Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Witty wordplay EPA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Wonder Woman's battle cry for unity Reuters Best signs from the Put It To The People protest No one can question the wisdom of Spock PA Best signs from the Put It To The People protest The younger generation has spoken AP Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Throw us a bone here AP Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Canine stay in the EU? AP Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest Angela Christofilou/The Independent Best signs from the Put It To The People protest AP Politicians will also debate a petition calling for a second EU referendum, which has received more than 160,000 signatures, and another signed by more than 165,000 demanding that parliament honour the referendum result. A government minister will be required to respond to the petition during the debate, but there will be no vote on the action it demands. Ms May has already dismissed the petition, with a government spokesperson saying that a failure to deliver Brexit would cause potentially irreparable damage to public trust. The official response stated: The government acknowledges the considerable number of people who have signed this petition. However, close to three-quarters of the electorate took part in the 2016 referendum, trusting that the result would be respected. Some cynics circulated conspiracy theories the petition had been hijacked by bots. Yet the official Commons petitions committee said that 96 per cent of the signatures were listed as from the UK. It explained on Twitter that various tools were used to identify and block signatures from bots, disposable email addresses and other sources that showed signs of fraudulent activity. EU president Donald Tusk warns against 'betraying' Remain voters who are 'not represented by UK parliament' A heat map of the record-breaking petition created by Unboxed shows the areas where it has greatest support. Strong backing comes from cities such as London, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge, mirroring the Remain-Leave split at the 2016 referendum. The second most popular parliamentary e-petition was posted in 2016, demanding a second EU referendum if the Remain or Leave vote was less than 60 per cent. It gathered just over 4.15m signatures. The third most popular in history was a petition to prevent Donald Trump from making a state visit to the UK, with nearly 1.9m signatures. Pro-Brexit protesters blocked the roads around Parliament on Saturday as activists launched a second consecutive day of demonstrations at Westminster. Hundreds of people donned yellow vests and waved Union Jacks and UKIP flags to share their frustration over the UKs delayed exit from the EU. One group sat down in the middle of the road at Westminster Bridge for around 15 minutes, forcing Transport for London (TfL) to divert seven buses in the area. Traffic was also diverted around Whitehall after a public disturbance between Horse Guards Avenue and Trafalgar Square, according to TfL. The Metropolitan Police said two men had been arrested for affray fighting in a public place and were taken to a central London police station. Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA It follows much larger rallies held by Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson outside Parliament on Friday the day Britain was scheduled to leave the EU under Article 50. Police made five arrests, including two for assault, while two opposition MPs leaving the Commons were subjected to public abuse by Brexiteers calling them traitors. Journalists from Channel 4 News and CNN were also harassed by several of the demonstrators. Pro-Brexit supporters rally outside Parliament Earlier today police announced that a 44-year-old man draped in St George flag been arrested after he was found on the roof of St Pancras station. All Eurostar trains from London were suspended until 9.45am on Saturday after the man was spotted in a precarious position over the high-speed lines late Friday evening. The company said a reduced timetable was implemented, with customers being told they could exchange their ticket or apply for a refund. Yellow vest activists with impromptu sit down protest at Westminster Bridge (Reuters) The Metropolitan Police said several officers had been engaging with a roaming protest on Saturday afternoon, as the yellow vest activists moved around the Westminster area without any clear plan of action. A spokesman for the force said: Two men have been arrested at the demonstrations in central London for affray. Both have been taken to a central London police station. Theresa May could be forced to accept a soft Brexit in order to end the deadlock if MPs unite around proposals for a customs union, a cabinet minister has warned. David Gauke, the justice secretary, said the country had been plunged into national crisis and fired off a warning to Tory Brexiteers that the party may have to accept a second or third choice as it does not have the numbers to push its manifesto pledges through parliament. As MPs prepared to seize control of the Commons agenda for a fresh round of indicative votes, Mr Gauke said the prime minister would have to look very closely if parliament voted in favour of a customs union. The prime minister is facing pressure from all sides heading into another momentous week, with speculation mounting that she could be driven to call a snap general election if she fails in her fourth attempt to get her Brexit deal signed off by MPs. Recommended Theresa May warned against snap general election by senior Tories Downing Street has made clear that she intends to bring it back to the Commons for a fourth vote possibly on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mr Gauke said her deal was still the best option but Ms May must consider a plan by veteran Tory Ken Clarke for a customs union which came closest to securing a majority in the last round of votes if MPs back it. I think she would need to look very closely at that, he told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show. If parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I dont think its sustainable to ignore parliaments position and therefore leave without a deal. His comments are likely to infuriate Brexiteers, who believe a customs union does not deliver on the promise of the referendum. Ms May has also repeatedly rejected the idea. Mr Gauke said: I think we also have to recognise that my party does not have the votes to get its manifesto position through the House of Commons at the moment. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events I think the prime ministers deal does reflect the manifesto position but we, as you say, have been defeated three times. So we do then need to come back and use our judgement as to what is the best way forward. Consider what the options are and I do think were in an environment where its not about just going for your first choice, sometimes you do have to accept your second or third choice in order to avoid an outcome that you consider to be even worse and MPs are entitled to use their judgement as to what the real choices are available for us as a country and come to what they consider to be the best conclusion. Mr Gauke restated his opposition to a no-deal exit, saying he could no longer remain part of a government that pursued such a strategy. His comments set him at odds with many on the Brexiteer wing, with some 170 Tories, including several cabinet ministers writing to the prime minister to urge her to take the UK out of the EU as soon as possible. Conservative Party deputy chairman James Cleverly insisted the party was not gearing up for a snap general election to resolve the Brexit deadlock but admitted it was doing some sensible and pragmatic planning. I dont think an election would solve anything. Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver. We dont want to add any more unnecessary delay, he told Sky Newss Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme. We have got a minority government in a turbulent time, he added. He said it was an inevitable possibility that Ms May would lead the party into a snap election, despite a raft of blatant leadership bids from senior Tories such as Dominic Raab and Liz Truss. Meanwhile, former Tory prime minister Sir John Major warned that if parliament was unable to agree a way forward there could come a point where there would have to be a government of national unity. I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that were seeing in parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected, he told the BBC. The former chair of Vote Leave has sidestepped calls to apologise for the campaign breaking electoral law over spending limits during the EU referendum. Gisela Stuart, a former Labour MP, told the BBCs Andrew Marr show that the official Brexit campaign's legal advice ruled their activities compliant, but regulators had found otherwise at a later date. She added that Vote Leave had been outspent by Remain and that it had "destroyed some of the evidential basis people are asking for" after deleting its data. Key figures from the campaign, including Conservative leadership candidates Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, are facing growing calls to account for illegal behaviour by Vote Leave. It comes after the Electoral Commission confirmed on Friday that Vote Leave had dropped its appeal against a 61,000 fine for electoral spending offences during the EU referendum. Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA Asked why Vote Leave had withdrawn its appeal, Ms Stuart told the Andrew Marr Show: "I think what it shows is we have been outspent at every stage of this process whether it was before the referendum started and the government spent 9.4 million on a leaflet, during the campaign...collectively the Remain side spent more, and going to appeals costs money too." When asked whether she would apologise for the organisation breaking electoral law, Ms Stuart said: It was in relation of one particular donation where the Electoral Commission interpreted the rules as that being acting in concert, which we had got legal advice which said it wasn't. "So the key question is if anybody wants a second referendum then the referendum legislation as it stands, and the way the Electoral Commission and Information Commissioner interprets them, needs rewriting." Recommended Vote Leave drops appeal against fine for breaking electoral law Asked whether Vote Leave stood by its previous dismissal of the allegations against the campaign, Ms Stuart said: "Our biggest problem in the end was that we destroyed all our data, and therefore some of the evidential basis which people are asking for." She added that at every stage the campaign did its "level best to be in compliance with the rules". "If they were interpreted afterwards in a way which was different from the advice we got at that time, then so be it," she said. "The regulator always has the final word." Since the Electoral Commission announced that Vote Leave had dropped its appeal, a number of politicians have urged other key figures to apologise on behalf of the campaign. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson called on Boris Johnson to recognise that the campaign acted illegally. Im sure the man who seeks to be your prime minister will acknowledge Vote Leave broke the law, he said on Twitter. Independent Group MP Anna Soubry told the Guardian that Mr Johnson and Mr Gove should "provide a full and proper explanation" after the appeal was dropped. She said that the idea that it had been withdrawn for lack of funds was "ludicrous". Labour MP David Lammy has also called for an update on a police investigation into the Vote Leave campaign. "Vote Leave broke electoral law during the 2016 referendum. They want this news to be buried. Do not let them get away with it," he wrote on Twitter. Vote Leave was fined in July after the Electoral Commission concluded it broke legal spending limits by donating hundreds of thousands to pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave days before the EU referendum in 2016. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The electoral watchdog's report found evidence that BeLeave spent more than 675,000 on the data analytics and voter targeting firm AggreateIQ, that should have been declared by Vote Leave. Vote Leave initially appealed against the fine, claiming that its donation to BeLeave had been signed off by the commission and its findings were politically motivated. Additional reporting by PA Beto ORourkewho announced his White House bid last weeksaid if he were to win the Democratic nomination for president, he would pick a woman as a vice presidential running mate. The 46-year-old Democrat, who ran an unsuccessful Texas Senate campaign against incumbent Ted Cruz last year, was in Iowa for a campaign stop over the weekend when a voter asked if he would pick a female running mate. Its hard for me to think of a reason that I would not do that ... that would be my preference, Mr ORourke replied. However, the El Paso, Texas native said it is too early to start mulling over a vice presidential pick. Talking about who I would pick as vice president just feels really premature, he added. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is still considering whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto ORourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he has been thinking about running for presidency, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor with a net worth of around $50bn has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in the next month or so whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is ready to do this and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a 50 per cent chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesnt think he will run for president, but never say never. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin The question over selecting a female running mate prompted reporters to ask Mr ORourke similar enquiries. The 2020 presidential candidate had a similar answer. It would be very difficult not to select a woman with so many extraordinary women who are running right now, Mr ORourke said, referring to the long list of female presidential candidates including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar.But first I would have to win and theres you know, this is as open as it has ever been. Mr ORourke is not the only presidential candidate expressing their preference for a female running mate. Senator Cory Booker, another candidate vying for the White House in 2020, said last month he would be looking to women first. The Democratic presidential candidate received backlash last week for what some people considered to be a sexist, or insensitive, remark regarding his wife Amy. On Friday, Mr ORourke joked that his wife is raising their three children sometimes with my help to a crowd in Iowa. While audience members laughed, some critics online pointed out that female candidates might have been scrutinised for doing little to raise their kids. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The Texas Democrat quickly apologised for his remark, calling it ham-handed and promised to be more thoughtful about the privileges he obtains as a white man. Its absolutely valid criticism, and its constructive criticism it has already made me a better candidate, Mr ORourke said, referring to the backlash for his quip. Not only will I not say that again, but Ill be much more thoughtful going forward in the way I talk about our marriage and also the way in which I acknowledge the truth of the criticism that I have enjoyed white privilege. Former vice president Joe Biden a man who would start as favourite among Democratic presidential candidates has denied kissing a political activist without her consent, an accusation that could create problems for him if he enters the 2020 race. Two days after Lucy Flores, a Democratic activist and elected politician from Nevada, claimed Mr Biden had kissed her on the head at an event in 2014 and made her feel uncomfortable, he said he did not believe he had ever once acted inappropriately. Yet, he also admitted his memory may be different to that of others. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear, he said in a statement on Sunday morning. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will. Mr Biden, 76, has said he has 95 per cent decided he will contest for the Democratic presidential nomination for 2020, and some reports suggest he will formally announce some time in April. If he does run, it would be his third attempt. An average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics puts Mr Biden a clear eight points ahead of his nearest Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, who in turn is eleven points clear of Kamala Harris. Beto ORourke is in fourth position, and Elizabeth Warren is in fifth. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is still considering whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto ORourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he has been thinking about running for presidency, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor with a net worth of around $50bn has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in the next month or so whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is ready to do this and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a 50 per cent chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesnt think he will run for president, but never say never. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin But while Mr Biden tops such polls, commentators have pointed out that after almost four decades in political life, the man who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and has long seen himself as a champion of the working class, has considerable baggage. Ms Flores, a member of the Nevada state assembly and an activist with Mr Sanders Our Revolution group, said the vice president had inhaled her hair and kissed the back of her head just before she went on stage. The event was being held for him to endorse her Democratic candidacy. In an article published in The Cut, Ms Flores said: I was mortified. I thought to myself, I didnt wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f***? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair? This is not the first time Mr Biden faced criticism over seminally awkward or inappropriate interactions with women in public. In 2015, the Washington Posts comedy writer Alexandra Petri wrote an article titled What are we going to do about Creepy Uncle Joe Biden?. The name has stuck. Joe Biden: 'Our leadership is giving license to this prejudice' Speaking to CNN, Ms Flores has stood by her accusation. What I am saying is that its completely inappropriate, that it does not belong in any kind of a professional setting, much less in politics, she said. The reason why were having these conversations about vice president Joe Biden is because hes considering running for president. Also on Sunday, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, took an opportunity to attack Mr Biden. In an interview on Fox News, Ms Conway said Ms Flores, was very bold to come forward against someone in her own political party and wondered why Mr Biden had not apologised to her. Mr Biden also faces questions about his age and his questionable record on race relations. While commentators say some African Americans especially older ones could back his candidacy because of the support he provided to Barack Obamas presidency, they also point to his support of the controversial 1994 crime bill that discriminated against minority communities, and his disrespectful questioning of Anita Hill when she testified against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. In recent weeks, Mr Biden met with Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid to win the governorship of Georgia last year. Reports have suggested Mr Bidens advisers have been considering the option of him announcing with a declared running mate, and that they would love Ms Abrams, an African American and a rising star within the party, to be on the ticket with him. On television, in Congress and before a crowd of thousands, President Donald Trump and Republicans are mounting a ferocious revenge campaign against one Democrat representative Adam Schiff. Moments after taking the stage at a Michigan campaign rally on Thursday night, Mr Trump mocked the California lawmaker as "little pencil-neck Adam Schiff." House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, compared Mr Schiff to communist scaremonger Joseph McCarthy. And House whip Steve Scalise, R-La, used a colloquy on the House floor to press majority leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, to remove Mr Schiff as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "There has to be accountability, because it's all lies," Mr Trump said to a crowd booing the mention of Mr Schiff's name. "And they know it's lies they know it." Together, the attacks levelled in the week since special counsel Robert Mueller III delivered his findings represent an unusually coordinated assault against the leading Democratic voice questioning whether Mr Trump and his associates had conspired with Russia to throw the 2016 election in his favour. Mr Mueller had been Mr Trump's villain for nearly two years, with the president lashing out at the "conflicted prosecutor" and his "angry Dems" investigators engaged in a "phony witch hunt." 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range Show all 6 1 /6 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The mug 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The can cooler 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The tee 'WITCH HUNT!' Trump cashes in on Mueller report with merchandise range The can cooler Now, with attorney general William Barr's four-page summary of Mr Mueller's report indicating no conclusion of a criminal conspiracy, Mr Trump and Republicans have a new target for their vitriol. The Trump campaign circulated a memo to TV producers on Monday questioning Mr Schiff's credibility, citing a litany of pronouncements that it claimed had been rebutted by Mr Mueller. Mr Trump on Thursday called for Mr Schiff to resign his House seat, accusing him of "knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking," and the nine GOP members of the Intelligence panel signed a letter demanding he step down as chairman, questioning whether he was abusing his position and damaging the panel's integrity. Mr Schiff has stood resolute amid the attacks, maintaining that there is public evidence of collusion such as Mr Trump's public July 2016 plea to Russia to hack Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's emails even if Mr Mueller determined that evidence does not amount to a crime. When Republicans confronted Mr Schiff at an Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, he struck back. "You might think that's OK I don't," Mr Schiff said repeatedly as he recounted a litany of interactions between Trump associates and Russia. "I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. I think it's unpatriotic. And, yes, I think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion." He has won uniform backing from House Democratic leaders, including speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, who called Republicans "scaredy-cats" for attacking Mr Schiff before the Mueller report is publicly released. "What is the president afraid of? Is he afraid of the truth, that he would go after a member ... a respected chairman of a committee in the Congress?" she asked. "They just don't know what to do, so they have to make an attack." The GOP's outsize attention on Mr Schiff reflects his two years of omnipresence on Sunday talk shows and weekday cable news programmes. The congressman who represents Hollywood has long been ribbed by Republicans and privately, even by some Democrats for his frequent appearances. When Democrats were the minority party in the House, that tactic was intentional. Television was a "tool," Mr Schiff said last year, for "exposing what the majority's doing and often exposing what the majority's not doing." Since taking over as chairman, he has scaled back his appearances, but he has not pulled any punches when it comes to voicing his belief that Trump subordinates' contacts with Russians, their clandestine finances, and the lies they told to lawmakers and federal law enforcement are evidence of likely wrongdoing, even if they do not rise to the level of a crime. That caught Mr Trump's attention, making him a target of presidential derision with jeering nicknames like "liddle," "sleazy," and "Adam Schitt."In recent days, the president tried out the "pencil neck" insult at a White House meeting with House Republicans before using it at Thursday's rally, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. "He's got the smallest, thinnest neck I've ever seen," Mr Trump said. "He is not a long-ball hitter." The official Trump campaign on Friday rolled out a T-shirt with an image of Mr Schiff with a pencil for a neck and a red ball on his nose. 'These people are sick' Trump fires furious broadside at perceived enemies in Michigan rally For Republicans, the attacks on Mr Schiff are at least partial payback for months of Democratic attacks on the previous committee chairman, representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif, who oversaw a circumscribed probe of Russian ties to the Trump campaign and instead focused on Obama administration decisions that prompted the Justice Department probe. "Important context is what happened to Devin Nunes," representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, said this week, pointing to Democratic pressure in 2017 after lawmakers found out that Mr Nunes made a late-night visit to the Trump White House to view classified materials pertaining to the Russia investigation. When Mr Nunes publicly alleged that Mr Trump's affiliates may have been picked up in a federal wiretap, that prompted allegations that Mr Nunes had disclosed secret surveillance reports, spurring an Ethics Committee investigation that ultimately cleared him. But as the cloud grew, Mr Nunes said in April 2017 that he would recuse himself from the committee's Trump-Russia probe. Later, Democrats accused Mr Nunes of destroying the credibility of the Intelligence panel and trying to use his subpoena power to undermine federal law enforcement as he sought to publicise the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. Mr Schiff said this week it was imperative that lawmakers be able to determine whether Mr Mueller weighed all the evidence they are looking into, especially regarding money laundering and Mr Trump's plans to build a tower in Moscow during his presidential campaign. But for the GOP, the matter is settled and what goes around comes around. "Here you have Mr Schiff, who essentially spent 22 months lying to the country," Mr Gaetz said. "I don't know how he's going to have credibility with the intelligence community." Mr Nunes himself has been largely quiet about Mr Schiff, but his fellow Republicans have not been shy about raising the Democratic attacks on Mr Nunes. "Didn't the Mueller report justify exactly what chairman Nunes has said?" Mr McCarthy asked on Thursday amid his attacks on Mr Schiff. "I think chairman Nunes comes out on top. The concerns that he had with what was being said, what was being done was just proven correct." He added, referring to Mr Schiff and Mr Nunes respectively, "One member lied to the American public; one member told the truth and was attacked for it." Mr Schiff knows as well as anyone the political perils of assuming a role as a presidential inquisitor: He won his seat in 2000 by ousting representative James Rogan, R-Calif, who was among the House managers of President Bill Clinton's 1999 impeachment trial. Mr Schiff capitalised on Democratic outrage to raise millions of dollars from donors across the country eager to exact revenge. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham, R-SC, speaking in a Fox News interview this week, compared Mr Schiff to Jim Garrison, the New Orleans prosecutor who spent decades pursuing an unproven conspiracy to assassinate President John F Kennedy. "Adam Schiff has got to make a decision about his political future," he said. "Does he want to be the guy that won't let it go when the authority of the investigation, Mr. Mueller, has concluded there was no collusion?" But there is no indication Mr Schiff's pursuit of Mr Trump has caused him any political trouble in a district that preferred Ms Clinton by 50 percentage points in 2016 and re-elected him to a 10th term last year with 78 per cent of the vote. Mr Schiff, in fact, has emerged as one of the Democratic Party's most talented fundraisers, with $4.7m (3.6m) in his campaign account more than any other sitting House member. This week, he was named a national finance chair for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, aimed at holding the party's new majority. House Democrats are not in full agreement about how forcefully they want to continue to pursue the Russia matter now Mr Mueller has completed his report. But they are unanimous in their defence of Mr Schiff and their insistence that Mr Trump is not in the clear until they can see the full extent of the special counsel's findings. As Mr Scalise pressed Democrats to remove Mr Schiff a decision under the sole control of Ms Pelosi Mr Hoyer made clear on Thursday he was not going anywhere. "Let me assure the gentleman, there is not a person on my side of the aisle that believes that Mr Schiff has done anything but act in the highest interest of our government, of the Intelligence Committee, and of full knowledge for the American people," he said. The Washington Post Bernie Sanders has claimed thousands of people could die if Donald Trump is successful in scrapping Barack Obamas signature Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Last week, the Trump administration said in a court filing it supported scrapping Obamacare in its entirety, having taken to the courts to try and dismantle the act having failed to do so via Congress. Mr Sanders, 77, who is leading the polls of Democratic presidential candidates who have formally declared they are running, said the move by the government would have a disastrous affect of the cost of health insurance for people. If Trump gets his way, the cost of health insurancewill be so high that many people literally will not be able to afford it. Thousands of people will literally die. Thats Trumps health insurance plan, said the Vermont senator. Speaking to CBS News, he added: My plan is just a little bit different. I think we should join the result of the industrialised world, guarantee health care to all people as a right. Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown Show all 3 1 /3 Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama.jpg Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama2.jpg Faces of Obamacare: The health scheme at the centre of the shutdown obama3.jpg Mr Sanders, who is seeing the partys nomination for the second time, was an early proponent of Medicare for All a proposal to extend the national health programme that currently provides insurance to those aged 65 and older and some people who are disabled, to everyone It has emerged as one of the key planks of many of those seeking the Democratic nomination, and is supported by progressive Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 1989 interview shows Bernie Sanders warning of global ecological disaster Mr Sanders said on Sunday he would introduce his latest proposal before Congress within the next couple of weeks. When we do that, what we understand is that it is just not acceptable that 30m Americans have no health insurance and even more are underinsured with high deductibles and high co-payments, he said. He also said if elected he would reduce the cost of medicines something Mr Trump vowed to do but has so far failed to make any progress on. If I am elected president, Im going to cut prescription drug costs in this country by 50 percent so that we are not paying any more than other major countries are paying, he said. Maybe we can do better than that. A plant explosion in China's Jiangsu province has killed seven people, authorities said on Sunday. It was the second deadly blast in the province this month as Beijing begins a nationwide industrial safety inspection campaign. The explosion on Sunday involved a container of scrap metal that exploded in the outdoor yard of a metal-moulding plant, causing the plant to catch fire, in the city of Kunshan, according to local government. The cause of the blast, which killed seven people and injured five others, is being investigated, local government said. One of the injured people is reported to be severely hurt. Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Show all 10 1 /10 Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Smoke billows from behind a building damaged in the fire at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China Reuters Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Smoke billows from the fire at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China Reuters Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Firefighters work to extinguish the flames at a chemical plant in Yangcheng, China AFP/Getty Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Firefighters work to extinguish the flames at a chemical plant in Yangcheng, China Reuters Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire rises following an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China AP Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire rises following an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China AFP/Getty Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire rises following an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China Reuters Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire and smoke rises following an explosion at a chemical plant in Yangcheng, China AFP/Getty Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Firefighters work to extinguish the flames at a chemical plant in Yangcheng, China Reuters Fire rages after explosion at chemical factory in Yancheng, China Fire spreads after an explosion at a chemical plant in China AFP/Getty The plants owner Kunshan Waffer Technology Corp Ltd, a Taiwan-based maker of magnesium alloy injection moulding products and aluminium alloy die castings, was not immediately available for comment. The company was fined last May by the Kunshan environmental protection bureau for violating water pollution rules, according to state-owned newspaper The Beijing News. Kunshan, about 70km (43 miles) west of Shanghai, is home to more than 1,000 technology companies and manufacturers, including many Taiwanese firms. Recommended At least six dead after Chinese factory blast which caused earthquake Sunday's incident follows a deadly blast on 21 March at a chemical park in the city of Yancheng, also in Jiangsu province, that killed 78 people and focused attention on safety at small chemical firms. Last week, Beijing officials said they will launch a month-long, nationwide inspection campaign into hazardous chemicals, mines, transportation and fire safety, adding that authorities needed to absorb lessons from the Yancheng disaster. China has a history of major work safety accidents which often trigger inspection campaigns, aimed at rooting out violations and punishing officials for cutting corners or shirking their supervisory duties. The country has clamped down on scrap metal imports as part of an environmental campaign against "foreign garbage", tightening supply sources for metal producers, as it aims to cut solid waste imports by the end of 2020. Reuters An American tourist was caught trying to steal part of the rail tracks at the former Auschwitz death camp in Poland, according to officials. The 37-year-old man faces up to ten years in prison after being charged with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance from the Holocaust memorial site. He is said to have tried to take a metal part of the tracks where prisoners were unloaded during World War Two. The man admitted his guilt, according to Malgorzata Jurecka, a police spokeswoman in the town of Oswiecim. Earlier this month visitors to Auschwitz were asked to stop posing for photos while balancing on its infamous railway tracks. 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 It follows a series of thefts and incidents of vandalism at the site where more than 1.1 million Jews were killed. In 2009 the famous 16ft-wide sign bearing the Nazi slogan Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Will Set You Free) was stolen from the front gate. Recommended Auschwitz visitors told to stop posing for disrespectful photos It was later found cut into pieces and a former Swedish neo-Nazi was jailed for more than two years for masterminding the theft. Two British schoolboys were caught stealing artefacts from Auschwitz, including buttons and a razor, in 2015. They were later fined 400 each. And last year an Israeli teenager was fined for urinating on a memorial commemorating the victims of the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Details of the latest theft emerged as 700 Holocaust artefacts were transported to New York for an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The exhibits include a vintage German train car like those used to transport men, women and children to Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps. Additional reporting by Associated Press Pope Francis has criticised political leaders who seek to build barriers to keep out migrants, saying they will become prisoners of the walls they build. In response to a questions about immigration in general, and Donald Trumps threat to shut down the US-Mexico border, the Pope said he could not understand in his head or his heart, how a government could be so cruel to erect razor wire concertina-wired fences to keep out migrants, or prevent migrant rescue boats from docking in ports something he said he had been told was happening in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. This is not the way to resolve the serious problem of immigration. I understand a government has a hot potato in its hands, he said, according to Reuters. But it has to resolve it in other ways, humanely. Speaking to reporters as he returned to the Vatican from a trip to Morocco, he visited with the north African nations small Catholic community, he added: Builders of walls, be they made of razor wire or bricks, will end up becoming prisoners of the walls they build. The Pope spoke after Mr Trump last week threatened again to shut the US-Mexico if authorities in Mexico did not do more to halt the number of asylum-seekers and migrants from Central America passing through its country and heading to the USs southern border. Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Show all 55 1 /55 Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives at Phoenix Park for a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home in Tuam. The vigil coincides with the Phoenix park mass which is taking place in Dublin held by Pope Francis. Excavations at the site in 2017 revealed underground structures which held babies bodies with ages ranging from 35 weeks to three years old with most of the dead buried in the 1950s when the facility was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a Catholic religious order of nuns who received unmarried pregnant women to give birth Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Children queue for communion during Pope Francis' closing Mass PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures The Stand4Truth rally gathers outside a former Magdalene laundry in Dublin as part of the demonstrations against clerical sex abuse PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures The names of the victims are read out as a vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A member of the clergy carries a bowl of incense PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Members of the public pray as they watch Pope Francis deliver a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis attends the closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park in Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis passes by a banner of a protester as he leaves St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis speaks during his visit to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on Christchurch PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on College Green PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Members of the public wave at Pope Francis as he travels through the city Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis laughs as he leaves St Mary's Pro Cathedral during his visit to Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Two boys wave flags after climbing a post as they wait for Pope Francis Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pairs of baby shoes are hung from black ribbons on Gardiner Street in Dublin in memory of the children who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis memorabilia on sale on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral during his visit to Ireland to attend the 2018 World Meeting of Families AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis addresses the congragation at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Stephen O'Brien selling bottles of holy water from the St Mary's Pro Cathedral PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis prays inside St Mary's Pro Cathedral Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A man waves a rainbow flag behind a model of a pope which stands in the window above a bar Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures People hold a banner against Pope Francis on the way to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Nuns wait by the side of the road for Pope Francis Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A model of a pope is placed in the window above a bar as crowds wait for Pope Francis to travel through the city Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street, Dublin waiting to see Pope Francis as he travels in the Popemobile PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to wellwishers as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures His visit, the first by a Pope since John Paul II's in 1979 is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis talks to journalists aboard a plane flying from Fiumicino aiport to Dublin AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures LGBT protestors from Dublin Pride and We Are Church with flags and umbrellas on Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin to remember the victims of clerical sex abuse ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis disembarks from the aircraft as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Woman wait for Pope Francis to drive past, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivers a speech watched by Pope Francis in St. Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Protesters hold banners during a demonstration against clerical sex abuse, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis plants a tree during a meeting with Irish President Michael D Higgins, at Aras an Uachtarain PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis walks with the President of Ireland Michael Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis, center, is flanked by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, right, as they arrive to meet authorities, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Protestors wearing baby shoes, to signify the children who died in mother and baby homes in Ireland, protest in Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Franci PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis speaks with President Michael D Higgins in his study during a visit to Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park, Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Navy band march prior to the arrival of Pope Francis at the Presidential residence in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Eddie McGuinness from Dublin LGBTQ Pride carries a rainbow flag across Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A message left by Pope Francis in the visitors book at Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park PA If they dont stop them, we are closing the border, Mr Trump said. We will close it and keep it closed for a long time. Im not playing games. Data shows the number of illegal or undocumented migrants entering the US has been steadily dropping for several years. In recent months, however, there has been a leap in the number of asylum-seekers presenting themselves to officials and trying to apply for asylum. The Associated Press said US border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of an effort to address the swelling numbers. 'I beg the Lords forgiveness' for child abuse 'betrayal' says Pope Francis at a service in Knock, Ireland The Popes comments were not the first time he has appeared to criticise the US presidents policies, even if he has not named him He did not mention Mr Trump by name on Sunday. However he said: With fear, we will not move forward, with walls, we will remain closed within these walls. On Saturday, the Pope had discussed the issue of immigration more generally. It is a major issue for a number of north African nations. Addressing Moroccan leaders, he said the problems of migration would never be resolved by physical barriers but instead required social justice and correcting the worlds economic imbalances. He said he had wept after a Spanish journalist showed him a piece of concertina wire from the border at Spains North African enclave of Ceuta. Comedian and showman Volodymyr Zelensky has dominated voting in the first round of Ukraines presidential elections. The first official exit polls released at the end of voting projected Mr Zelensky to finish on 30.4 per cent, a full 12 percentage points ahead of incumbent Petro Poroshenko (17.8 per cent) and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko (14.2 per cent). But the real drama of Sundays election was the closer than expected margin between second and third places, which apparently eliminates Ms Tymoshenko from the second round on 21 April. The difference of less than 4 per cent raised the prospect of prolonged protests and legal disputes. At an event at her campaign headquarters after the exit polls were announced, Ms Tymoshenko refused to admit defeat. Instead, she claimed her own figures showed she had finished in second place with 20.9 per cent of the vote, and urged Ukrainians to wait for full and final results. Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Show all 26 1 /26 Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Volodymyr Zelenskiy, centre right, and his wife Olena Zelenska, greet supporters after exit polling gave the comedian a commanding lead AP Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Outgoing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko raises his hand with his wife Maryna at his party headquarters in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of the first exit poll REUTERS Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Comedian and leading Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy plays ping pong with a journalist at his election night gathering in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21 Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Election officials count ballots at a polling station in Kiev during the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures People walk in front of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev during Ukraine's presidential election AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian servicemen sit in a truck to head to a polling station, near the front line with pro-Russian separatists, near Butivka, Donetsk region AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishke AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian citizens living in Kyrgyzstan vote in Ukraine's presidential election at a polling station in the Ukrainian embassy in Bishkek AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A young girl casts the ballot of a man at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, on. Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 2 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky waves in front of voting booths at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko speaks with the media after casting her ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky casts his ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky gestures in front of voting booths at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian comic actor, showman and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky walks with his ballot at a polling station during Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev AFP/Getty Images Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A view of the building of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission in Kiev during Ukraine's presidential election. AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) casts his ballot at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, The 53-year-old president has positioned himself during the political campaign as the only person able to stand up to the Kremlin and has promised to return Crimea to Ukraine if he is re-elected. AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A voter emerges from the voting booth after filling out her ballot for Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21. Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian president Petro O. Poroshenko (C), running for re-election, receives his ballot in Ukraine's presidential election on in Kiev, Ukraine. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second-round election on April 21 Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A woman holds her ballot as she leaves a voting booth at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election. - Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 21 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures A young girl casts the ballot of a man at a polling station in Kiev on the first round of Ukraine's presidential election. Exit polls are expected when voting stations close at 8 pm local time (1700 GMT). First preliminary results are expected several hours after. Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a run-off will be held on April 21 AFP/Getty Ukraine Elections 2019 in pictures Ukrainian servicemen queue to cast their ballots at a polling station near the front line line with pro-Russian separatists near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, during the first round of Ukraine's presidential election AFP/Getty If Poroshenko wins it will be the death of Ukrainian democracy, she said She said that she would dispute the results, but also stopped short of calling her supporters on the streets. The traumatic mood in Ms Tymoshenko campaign headquarters at one point she seemed close to tears contrasted with jubilant scenes at Mr Zelenskys hub across town on the banks of the Dnieper river. There, in a business centre originally designed for disgraced former president Viktor Yanukovych, but now decked out in Mr Zelenskys campaign colours of lime green, the champagne had been flowing since the early afternoon. The first-round winner talked with journalists between games of table tennis. The projected result made him a bit nervous, he said, but had left him with a sense of responsibility. He claimed to be unconcerned who he would compete against in the second round. Mr Zelenskys short and savvy campaign was short on policy specifics, but successfully focused on voter dissatisfaction and a youth agenda. Initial results suggested youngsters turned out in numbers to support him. There were several unconventional and original aspects to his presidential pitch. As an actor who plays the lead role of teacher-turned-president in a comedy drama show, he is the first candidate to have tried out his presidency on voters in fiction form first. And his novel use of television drama and the internet contrasted with many cruder technologies employed by the other two leading candidates. Mr Poroshenko in particular was accused of using government money to pay for thousands of agitators. The president also signed off on a pension and social bonuses that meant 15 million people received unscheduled payments in the very month of elections. It is unclear if either method was illegal, but it certainly pushed the spirit of Ukrainian law to the extreme. Those tactics may have added 5 per cent to his vote, says the independent expert Volodymyr Fesenko, and will likely be stepped up in the second round. We should also expect measures that will look to limit Mr Zelenskys youth vote, such as free concerts out of town and so on, he said. These are tried and tested methods in Ukrainian politics. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Election violations on the day seem limited. Several hundred election crimes were were reported across the country, but most were of minor nature. One involved a family spat between a man and wife serving as election monitors. Vita Dumanska, coordinator of Chesno, an independent election monitoring watchdog, said the elections were largely clean. She was unaware of violations that would significantly affect the final election results, she said. Already experts were dissecting the apparent failure of Ms Tymoshenkos campaign, her third and almost certainly final stab at the presidency. According to the reformist MP Sergii Leschenko, Ms Tymoshenko had made a tactical mistake by starting the campaign too early: She peaked too soon. By the end of the campaign, she had nothing to say and no new aces to bring out. Mr Fesenko suggested her campaign failed on message. Mr Poroshenkos focus on the military and religion and Mr Zelenskys focus on youth and the future proved more enduring to the Ukrainian voter than Ms Tymoshenkos brand of economic populism. The expert predicted that the former prime minister would take her dispute to the end, exhausting all legal avenues to prove Mr Poroshenko cheated, before switching to matters of revenge. That, almost certainly, will include backing Mr Zelensky in the second round. Most of the other opposition candidates will also probably join her, meaning the comic showman is now odds-on favourite. But having apparently scraped through by the skin of his teeth a feat predicted by no opinion poll at the start of the month Mr Poroshenko will also be fancying his chances. Leaders of major Middle Eastern countries were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies which they say are biased towards Israel at the annual Arab League summit. However, they were divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria, at the meeting in Tunisia on Sunday. This years summit comes against a backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow league members. Algerias president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudans president Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contended with mass protests against their long reigns. Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria aim to jointly condemn Donald Trumps recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and Mr Trumps decision last year to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights Show all 7 1 /7 Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights An Israeli soldier stands next to signs pointing out distances to different cities on Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights Reuters Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights Druze people take part in a rally in Majdal Shams near the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria Reuters Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights Israeli Druzes sit together watching the Syrian side of the Israel-Syria border on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights Reuters Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights A European member of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) using binoculars to look towards the Syrian side of the Golan Heights AFP/Getty Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights A file photo taken on October 19, 1973 shows Israeli Defence Minister General Moshe Dayan (R) looking towards the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, four days after the beginning of the Yom Kippur War AFP/Getty Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights A file photo taken on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on September 5, 2014 shows members of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone (UNDOF) using binoculars to look towards the Syrian side of the Golan Heights AFP/Getty Trump backs Israels annexation of Golan Heights Members of the United Nations peacekeepers standing on a watch tower during a visit by the Israeli Defence Minister in 2018 AFP/Getty At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said that interferences by regional rivals Iran and Turkey have worsened some crises and created new problems. One of the few things that has united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israels occupation of the Golan Heights as well as East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Mr Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the American embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognising Israels 1981 annexation of the strategic Golan plateau earlier this month. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia are expected to issue a statement condemning those moves. Mahmoud Khemiri, a spokesperson of the summit, said there will be a strong resolution on Golan. But the leaders are unlikely to take any further action. That is in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both countries face western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemens Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. Lebanons foreign minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Mr Trumps Golan move violates the UN Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force. Israel-Gaza conflict: UN urges restraint after violence escalates between warring factions In Syria, small protests against Mr Trumps Golan move were held in different parts of the country and state media criticised the Arab summit. The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done, the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the US and Israel. The Arab League is expected to consider readmitting Syria, a founding member that was expelled in the early days of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back anytime soon. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Mr Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. Some countries were represented by their heads of state on Sunday, while others sent lower-level delegations. The UAE sent the lesser-known Fujairah ruler Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi rather than the powerful Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed or Dubais ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. In a rare sign of easing tensions, King Salman and Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sat at the same sprawling table at Sundays opening session. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Dohas ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. However, Qatars emir left the summit after the opening session and did not attend the closed-door meeting later in the day, according to Qatars state-run news agency. It did not give a reason for his early departure. Associated Press 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 honour 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 towards 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 doesnt matter. What happened is wrong, and it has to change. Earlier this month, Kohistani was gunned down by unknown assailants in the streets of Abbottabad, 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, our grim, late-night conversation over untouched tea came flooding back. I had been incredulous at first, because even in Pakistan, where honour 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: Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Show all 5 1 /5 Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Human rights activist Gulalai Ismail was apprehended by Pakistan officials upon landing in Islamabad after a flight from London Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan Forgotten Women: The sisters fighting for human rights in Pakistan 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 Kohistanis petitions for an investigation, telling him he was dishonouring sacred tradition by challenging tribal decisions. No one in my district or my province has ever spoken against honour killing, he said, leaning forwards 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 dont even consider it a crime. I was impressed by Kohistans sincerity and determination, but it wasnt 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 judges 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 burnt off in a kitchen fire. I had written about honour 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 honour. I had tried to interview local officials, one of whom complained that I would bring dishonour to the town. I had thought a lot about the word honour, 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 modernising world. Photos of similar-looking girls were used in efforts to determine whether five girls had been murdered and replaced by others when officials came to investigate (The Washington Post) 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 honour 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 burnt, allegedly by a wealthy neighbour in a dispute over a property line. Kohistani explained that the man was the boys father and had come to court seeking justice, but had no idea what to do. He looked at the photos of the burnt boy and smiled reassuringly at the father. I thought, he said, that maybe I could help. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Washington Post A Saudi humanitarian worker has been under enforced disappearance for a year and has reportedly been subject to severe torture by the authorities, his sister has said. Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, 35, was detained without reason in Riyadh in March 2018, Areej al-Sadhan said. Ms Sadhan, who lives in the US, said her family had heard nothing from her brother since. Mr Sadhan, a graduate of Notre De Namur University in California, was detained without an arrest warrant at the Red Crescent offices where he worked, his sister said. She said he had not been granted access to a lawyer, all requests to visit him had been denied and the family still did not know why he had been jailed or if he had been charged. He was taken to an unknown place, she told The Independent. We only found out he was detained when we did not hear from him. We started to panic after a few days. I would imagine he is in solitary confinement if they do not allow him to contact us. Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Show all 10 1 /10 Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Street protests greeted Mohammed Bin Salman during his visit to Tunisia AFP/Getty Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A mural depicting Mohammed Bin Salman washing his hands of blood Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A protester holds a banner accusing Mohammed Bin Salman of being a war criminal AP Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A Tunisian man holds up a cartoon that depicts Donald Trump assisting Mohammed Bin Salman in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi AP Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit A poster depicting a war ravaged Yemeni child Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters hold up saws in reference to the reportedly gruesome manner in which Jamal Khashoggi was disposed of AFP/Getty Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters chant slogans as they move down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Reuters Tunisians protest against Saudi Crown Prince's visit Protesters pass down Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis Simon Speakman Cordall She added: We have only heard from other detainees and they say he has been subjected to severe torture. We have heard from families of other detainees who have seen him in the prison that he might he die from torture. That was when I freaked out and starting calling human rights agencies. We heard this claim twice first in April and then in October after the Khashoggi killing. The other detainees cant speak much because they are monitored but they were sending a warning message to say, Hey this guy needs help he is in danger. Everyone is super scared to report what they have seen in Saudi Arabia because you can be thrown in jail. While growing increasingly anxious, an anonymous caller got in touch with the family, Ms Sadhan said. The caller said officials, believed to be from the secret police, had arrested Mr Sadhan at the Riyadh offices of the Red Crescent. She added that his neighbours informed the family they saw men dressed in police uniform forcefully entering his house and seizing a laptop, phone, other personal belongings and his car a day after he was detained at his workplace. Ms Sadhan said they had tried every possible way to communicate with Saudi officials about her brother but had heard nothing from them adding that the family had decided not to speak to the press for a year. Ms Sadhan, who called for the US government to take action on her brothers case, has now decided to go public about his case. We thought we were being diplomatic and trying to reach him through official ways. The last year has been really, really horrible. I miss him terribly. I pray for him to stay strong. He is always in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully, he will be released and come back safe and sound. I think about him day and night he is on my mind constantly. Recommended Germany extends ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia Waiting makes you think the worst especially after the scary stories about the women activists being tortured and then the horrible killing of Khashoggi. What are they trying to hide? If they had nothing to hide they would allow us to communicate with him. I had no option but to speak about it I cant stay quiet any more. I know speaking out is dangerous but staying silent is even more dangerous. She described an enforced disappearance as making someone vanish by force by locking them up and not allowing them to communicate with the world. The Sadhan family eventually received confirmation from the authorities that Mr Sadhan had been detained a month after his arrest. Ms Sadhan said the last information they received was in November when the semi-independent National Society for Human Rights told them he had been transferred to a different prison. Ms Sadhan, who described her brother as a compassionate individual with a passion for working with people, said she was not sure why he was detained but thought it could be linked to him criticising human rights violations. The family assume him to be among the dozens of people arrested in a crackdown on dissent that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has used to strengthen his power over the last three years. She said she had received threats after sending a tweet which simply asked Where is my brother? adding that she would be informing the FBI and police of the threats and abuse she had been subjected to on Twitter. There is no crime in asking where he is, she said. But I have had threats to be thrown in the sewer. The threats make me really scared. These are not things to be taken lightly. It is not just an online threat, it could escalate into something serious. Ms Sadhan said she had not been back to Saudi Arabia for 10 years and was too scared to return there at the moment saying it was too dangerous. London-based Saudi rights group, ALQST, said Mr Sadhans predicament is one of five cases of enforced disappearance that it has documented over the last three years. The other cases involve a preacher, a Syrian pilgrim and two journalists. ALQST director Yahya Assiri said: We used to get information through governors or officers in prison but with the current cases we cant get any information. We are expecting they have either killed them or hidden them in a faraway place in Saudi Arabia. We dont think they are in normal prison. After the Jamal Khashoggi murder and torture of the female activists, the pressure needs to increase on the Saudi government to respect human rights and release people who are under enforced disappearance. Saudi Arabia has faced extensive scrutiny and criticism over its human rights record in the wake of its detainment of womens rights activists. It has also been criticised for its role in the war in Yemen and over the killing of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi in the kingdoms Istanbul consulate in October. Recommended Saudi sisters who fled family granted asylum and leave Hong Kong Eleven womens rights activists were arrested in May 2018 in Saudi Arabia as part of a crackdown and there have been allegations of torture, claims the authorities have denied. Earlier in the week, several human rights organisations and news outlets reported Saudi Arabian authorities had released three of the female activists who were imprisoned last year for campaigning to lift the driving ban and dismantle guardianship laws. Under the restrictive laws, women cannot travel without permission from their male guardians and male relatives have a final say over a woman marrying. Conditions of the womens release remain unknown and initial reports suggest it is temporary, because their trials continue to move through the criminal court. Dozens of academics, bloggers, clerics and businessmen have also been rounded up with ALQST estimating that at least 150 people have been detained over the past three years. A representative for the Saudi government or Red Crescent did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Palestinian groom, Walid, was preparing his new marital home for his wedding in a few weeks time when the family heard the knock on the roof. An non-explosive missile had made a hole in the top of the block of flats in Gaza where Walids sister, Hiba, and her four children live. Hibas 13-year-old son, who has survived three wars already, was the first to hear the warning sign, and knew exactly what that meant: an impending Israeli airstrike. They had just minutes to get out of the building before a deafening boom and the area was swallowed in a seething ball of flames. Walid, 26, unemployed like the majority of youth in Gaza, could not afford to pay for his own flat and was only able to marry his fiancee because his sister had cordoned off a part of her home for the new couple. All that remains of it now is a mound of a greying rubble. A bright blue and yellow plastic childrens car and the gutted remains of a bright red stuffed bear are the sole flicks of colour amid the concrete. Im supposed to get married in just over a week, and now I cant even think about it. I doubt I will ever be able to provide now, Walid says from the building next door that is also partially destroyed. My sister, her children, are homeless all five of us are camping here with relatives but we dont know how long even this building will stand, he adds. The block of flats was hit during the latest escalation between Israeli and armed factions in Gaza. Israel said it contained internal security offices used by Hamas, the militant group that runs the enclave. Israel launched a wave of airstrikes last week after a rocket was fired from Gaza, destroying a family home and injuring seven Israelis, including a baby. Armed groups within Gaza fired back with a barrage of rockets on southern Israel. Many feared there would be another war. Whatever was in this particular block of flats where Walid was trying to build a home, there were civilian families living there who are now homeless. And struggling even more than before. But despite the hardships Walids family said they are not participating in the Saturday marches on the border with Israel. The regular rallies were launched exactly a year ago against the decade-long Israeli blockade that has crippled Gaza economically, and sparked a worsening humanitarian crisis. Gaza protesters are also demanding the right to return to ancestral lands they were forced from during the conflict which surrounded the creation of Israel in the late 1940s. Right now over half of the 2 million-strong population of Gaza live under the poverty line, homes get fewer than six hours of power a day, over 97 per cent of the water is undrinkable. The list of woes goes on. But for Walids family the rallies, which have led to the deaths of hundreds of people, are pointless. Israel has been accused by the United Nations of committing war crimes in their response to the protests. Over 260 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded by live rounds shot by Israeli troops. The Israeli army has defended its use of force, saying the protesters are violent, use explosives and have tried repeatedly to breach the border fence. It has achieved nothing for the people and we see it has caused more damage to people like us, like those who are injured, who lost their limbs. These are not achievements, Walids brother Ahmed says. Medecins Sans Frontieres warned this week that Gazas collapsing health system did not have the capacity to treat everyone and that a slow motion emergency was unfurling across the strip. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events On Saturday morning, hours before the marches began, 20-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Saad died after being hit in the head with shrapnel caused by Israeli army fire east of Gaza City. Aid agencies and hospitals braced for a bloody day. I dont blame people for going, they are doing it to escape from the harsh reality. There is nothing left to do than throw yourself at the [border] fences, Walids brother adds from the crumbled remains of the family home. But to me it is only increasing the sorrow and pain, we are only losing more people, not gaining happiness. I would like the marches to be without political factions and parties, with all people participating in love and unity. So we can send a message to the whole world that we need help. I have a hunch that the demonstrations at the Birmingham school are spearheaded by white right wingers with an interest in stirring discontent. I do not for one minute believe that the majority of practising Muslim parents are party to the protests. So, thank you, Andrea Carlo, your article has filled the gap I have just complained about. We need more like you! Joanna Pallister Address supplied Good work, Robert Fisk Wonderful article on the Egyptian trade unions. More of this kind of reporting, please. Mariam Kamis Address supplied 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 Nobody cares about us This morning I listened to the BBCs World Service news headlines at 8.30am. Brexit and the parliamentary crisis were not mentioned at all. Perhaps this is a true perspective and reflection of the UKs position in the world. Surely it is better for us to remain with the friends we have than cast ourselves off into an ocean that has absolutely no interest in us at all? Gillian Coates Anglesey Not impressed with Grieve Seems to me Dominic Grieve doesnt like any kind of democratic vote. He now throws the toys out of his pram because he is about to be deselected by his local Conservative Party. Dominic, just do what you did in the European referendum and ignore the result and go and sulk in the corner. Name and address supplied Beware a return to violence in Northern Ireland Over the past three years, I have not heard any workable solution to the Irish-EU / Northern Ireland-UK border problem from anyone of any political party on the Leave side of the Brexit debate. It is blindingly obvious to everyone with half a brain that the only way Brexit can happen without a return to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland (and the huge social and economic cost to the rest of the UK as a result) is for Northern Ireland to leave the UK. Is this what the majority of Brexiteers want? John Hamill Address supplied Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Not a homogenous group Why does anybody (apart from ERG head-bangers, yellow-vest demonstrators, and Theresa May) imagine that the famous 17.4 million are a solid phalanx of like-minded people united on either Rees-Moggs or the prime ministers version of Brexit? Why, given the referendum campaign promises three years ago, might half of them not want a Ken Clarke customs union Brexit, or Common Market 2.0, or a Labour front bench Brexit? Is there any evidence whatever of Leave voters actual views on what form Brexit should take? I can see why the cabinet is not asking this question, but why isnt Labour asking it? Richard Gravil Penrith Fighting between security forces and armed groups in Kurdish-majority cities began in Turkey in 2015, and I, as a Kurdish journalist, felt the need to visit those cities. The media in Turkey, which is almost completely under government control, was only reporting information shared by the security forces, put out in a one-sided and propagandistic way. In 2015 I was working for the JINHA, a womens news agency, which was made up entirely of women and wrote all its news from a feminist perspective. There was still one year left before JINHA, of which I was a founder, would be closed by government decree. Before I went to these cities, some people warned me I could be arrested. At the time these places were under military siege, with a 24/7 ban on going out into the streets and the bodies of civilians, who had been killed in the fallout of clashes, lying for days in the middle of the road. But if I did not go, I would have been leaving my people on their own, and their stories would never have been heard. I was also frightened of being detained or wounded in the fighting, but this was not going to stop me from doing what was necessary as a journalist. To fear is human, but to give in to fear when trying to tell the people the truth in the face of a repressive regime is to lose the struggle before it has even started. As a reporter, I covered conflict zones for months, and I relayed what I saw and the statements of witnesses living in these cities. But our coverage went unseen by a large proportion of the Turkish press. The websites on which our news was published were censored. As a painter, I decided to use art in order to convey what had happened there. I first began to draw the destruction of the town of Nusaybin and the painful events that were happening around me with a stylus on my mobile phone and I shared them on social media. Social media was not censored like mainstream media, and these pictures began to be shared a lot. It had never occurred to me that in order to get across what was happening in a conflict zone today I would need to paint it, like the war painters of the 1800s. Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Supporters of Mr Erdogan celebrate in Istanbul Getty Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures A supporter of Mr Erdogan carries his portrait in front of a Turkish flag Reuters Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Following the election, a shipowner reads a newspaper that covers the result AP Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Supporters of Muharrem Ince, defeated opposition candidate, wait outside the Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters following Mr Erdogan's claim of victory Getty Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures People in an Instanbul barber shop listen to Muharrem Ince's speech following the results EPA Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Supporters of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) hold photos of its leader Selahatin Demirtas AFP/Getty Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Supporters of Mr Erdogan celebrate outside the AK party HQ in Ankara Getty Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Mr Erdogan waves to supporters in Ankara AP Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Mr Erdogan waves to supporters in Ankara AP Election in Turkey: the reaction in pictures Supporters of Mr Erdogan light flares as they celebrate the result AP These pictures came to the attention of social media users, and they did not go unnoticed by the state. One day after I left Nusaybin, I was detained and arrested. The pictures and news I had made were given as the reasons I should be sentenced. The Turkish judiciary gave a short answer to questions asked by artists such as, Is there a limit to criticism in art, and if so, where is it? by judging my picture to have exceeded the limits of artistic criticism. At first they allowed me to paint in prison. People sent us canvas, paints and brushes from the outside, and I both painted with the prisoners and taught the other women in the prison to paint. Eventually the bringing in of art supplies from outside was banned. What the authorities forget is that every repressive act produces its own resistance: I began to produce my own art supplies. My paints came from fruits, vegetables, drinks and the menstrual blood of the women in the prison. My brushes were made from bird feathers that fell into the prison yard and womens hair. I produced much more under these repressive conditions than I had ever produced in the outside world, and I didnt lose heart despite dozens of my pictures and the notes I had written for a novel being seized and destroyed. While I was being depicted as a terrorist in Turkey, my pictures were exhibited in a number of European countries. I was nominated for international awards without even knowing it, and I won some of them. The picture that the court had said exceeded the limits of artistic criticism was projected onto a wall in New York by Banksy. Many international organisations and artists made calls for me to be released and drew attention to jailed journalists in Turkey. My art and words, which the authorities had sought to silence and censor, spread to the four corners of the Earth as a result of this repression. I received encouraging letters and postcards from many different countries, and it is difficult to describe in words the optimism that each letter spread. All of this was not simply a big morale boost for me, but also for all the other women I stayed with in jail, and for artists, politicians and academics. We read about acts of solidarity in the few newspapers allowed in the prison with joy. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events I was behind iron bars, but I was free. The state could keep me cooped up in one place, but it could never arrest my mind. In Turkey today, if there are thousands of free-thinking people in the jails, there are millions of arrested minds outside them who have been subjected to the governments brain-washing. After my experience in prison, I believe that the whole world needs to show even more support of prisoners in Turkey. Unlike the period when I was under arrest, politician Leyla Guven started a wave of hunger strikes, which hundreds have people have continued for more than 100 days by taking limited amounts of sugar water to slow death. Their demands are completely legal and basic: for PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to be able to use his legally-protected right to see his lawyers. Many people are today on the brink of death, and as of 29 March, four people have died by hunger strike. While the vast majority of the Turkish press are not reporting this, even in the smallest column, international powers coming together to put pressure on the government is the most important thing. I am now outside prison, but there are many journalists, artists, students, academics and politicians under arrest as a result of their thoughts. There are enough of these people to turn Turkeys prisons into the worlds largest educational institution, but their notebooks are seized, the books they want to read are banned, and the artworks they create are ripped to shreds. Do not forget them and do what you can to help them. Zehra Dogan is a nominee for this years Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards for Arts A deal that convinced the US to lift sanctions on companies linked to Oleg Deripaska may have helped restore order to the global aluminium market, but it's left the Russian billionaire himself increasingly isolated. Executives and board members at United Co Rusal, which owns Aughinish Alumina in County Limerick, and parent En+ Group now avoid communicating directly with their biggest shareholder, who remains under personal sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter. Deripaska has been missing from the VIP events he'd previously frequented and even fellow billionaire Vladimir Potanin says his rival's absence is being felt. It's almost a year to the day since the US announced sanctions on Deripaska and his businesses, throwing their operations and the global aluminium market into turmoil. Following almost eight months of talks and furious lobbying, and after Deripaska agreed to reduce his ownership and relinquish control over the companies, the US Treasury removed Rusal and En+ from the restricted list in late January. Since then, Deripaska has remained largely out of sight. He didn't attend President Vladimir Putin's state-of-the nation speech in February and was absent from an annual meeting in March between the president and big business, arranged by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He's likely to skip the St Petersburg economic forum in June again this year, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Even En+ Chairman Greg Barker, the British lord who spearheaded the lobbying push, says he hasn't spoken to Deripaska since the sanctions were lifted. The tycoon's relationship with the companies is now "very constrained", Barker said at the FT Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne. "If he knew at the very beginning just how far he would have to go by the end, I'd question whether or not he would have started out on the journey," he said. At En+ and Rusal, it's mostly been a return to business as usual, with one glaring difference: employees go out of their way to avoid direct contact with the man who for years controlled both companies, according to people familiar with situation. Most of the top executives at the companies have worked for Deripaska for years - more than a decade in the case of Rusal's management. Yet the stakes of compliance are high, with some US politicians having expressed doubts that the billionaire no longer controls the companies, and there are calls for the sanctions relief to be revisited. En+, Rusal and Deripaska are ensuring that the agreement with OFAC is fully adhered to, a spokeswoman said. Bloomberg The Government has conceded it will be very difficult for Ireland to simultaneously protect a hard border and the Good Friday Agreement, ahead of crunch meetings with EU leaders this week. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week and is expected to come under increased pressure over Ireland's plans to cope with a no-deal Brexit. The UK is set to crash out of the UK on April 12, with European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee admitting Ireland will be left in a difficult position. Mr Varadkar will fly to Paris on Tuesday to meet with Mr Macron. He will then meet with Ms Merkel during her visit to Dublin. Expand Close Under pressure: British Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Under pressure: British Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo: Reuters The meeting take place ahead of an emergency EU summit two days before Brexit and will centre on the UK's cliff-edge Brexit plans that were thrown into further turmoil last week after the House of Commons again voted against supporting British Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement. The Taoiseach's meetings with his French and German counterparts will be Brexit focused, with discussions set to centre on protecting the integrity of the single market. Ms McEntee's intervention yesterday shows how challenging it will be for the Government to offer Europe assurances on protecting the EU's final frontier with the UK while also managing the Good Friday Agreement by protecting against the establishment of a hard border with Northern Ireland. Read More "How we protect the single market and the customs union - these are discussions that we have been having and will continue to have into the coming week," Ms McEntee told RTE yesterday. "It is about making sure that our obligations to the EU are fulfilled and the obligations we have as co-guarantors of an international peace treaty are also upheld. "It is very difficult in the event of a no-deal to bring those two together. But we are absolutely determined to do that. We have always had the support of the EU and I don't see that changing." Last night, Theresa May's Cabinet was considering calling a fourth vote on her deal, bolstered by their success in narrowing the margin of defeat to 58 votes on Friday from 230 votes in January. It had been rejected for a third time on Friday. Parliament has voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit - but it remains the default position unless a deal is approved, Brexit is cancelled or the EU grants Britain another extension. THE European Union has had a lot of patience with Britain over Brexit but patience runs out, the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview on Italian state TV RAI on Sunday. Juncker, whose words were translated into Italian, said he would like Great Britain to be able to reach an agreement in the coming hours and days that could be followed. So far we know what the British parliament says no to, but we dont know what it might say yes to, he said. Asked if a second referendum might be possible, Juncker said that was an issue exclusively for the British people. His remarks come hours after a senior British minister has made perhaps the strongest warning yet about the prospect of a United Ireland if there is a no-deal Brexit. British Justice secretary David Gauke has said he worries a great deal about what a crash out Brexit would do to the integrity of the United Kingdom and would put the future of Northern Ireland in the union in some doubt. He warned that direct rule would have to be imposed as well as moves towards a possible hard border and raised concern at the impact this would have on the views of moderate Nationalists. He made his remarks ahead of another crunch week in Brexit, where the House of Commons will again try to seek consensus on alternatives to British Prime Minister Theresa Mays deal. Mr Gauke said the UK government cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it votes for a "softer" Brexit. He said that Mrs May would have to look "very closely" if MPs back a customs union with the EU in a fresh round of indicative votes this week. He was asked on the BBCs The Andrew Marr Show what a no-deal Brexit would do to the country. Mr Gauke replied: I think it would be very, very bad news indeed citing the economic consequences which would involved major disruption as well as security concerns. He also raised the future of Northern Ireland under such a scenario. I do worry a great deal about what that will do to the integrity of the United Kingdom, he said. At the moment moderate Nationalist opinion in Northern Ireland is reconciled to its position as part of the United Kingdom. He said a no-deal scenario would see the UK government have to impose direct rule and would bring about a situation "where we were essentially heading towards a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland." I think that puts it in some doubt, the future of Northern Irelands place in the UK, Mr Gauke said. A SENIOR British minister has made perhaps the strongest warning yet about the prospect of a United Ireland if there is a no-deal Brexit. Justice secretary David Gauke has said he worries a great deal about what a crash out Brexit would do to the integrity of the United Kingdom and would put the future of Northern Ireland in the union in some doubt. He warned that direct rule would have to be imposed as well as moves towards a possible hard border and raised concern at the impact this would have on the views of moderate Nationalists. He made his remarks ahead of another crunch week in Brexit, where the House of Commons will again try to seek consensus on alternatives to British Prime Minister Theresa Mays deal. Mr Gauke said the UK government cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it votes for a "softer" Brexit. He said that Mrs May would have to look "very closely" if MPs back a customs union with the EU in a fresh round of indicative votes this week. He was asked on the BBCs The Andrew Marr Show what a no-deal Brexit would do to the country. Mr Gauke replied: I think it would be very, very bad news indeed citing the economic consequences which would involved major disruption as well as security concerns. He also raised the future of Northern Ireland under such a scenario. I do worry a great deal about what that will do to the integrity of the United Kingdom, he said. At the moment moderate Nationalist opinion in Northern Ireland is reconciled to its position as part of the United Kingdom. He said a no-deal scenario would see the UK government have to impose direct rule and would bring about a situation "where we were essentially heading towards a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland." I think that puts it in some doubt, the future of Northern Irelands place in the UK, Mr Gauke said. Last summers severe drought made such a lasting impression on farmers that many are taking steps to ensure they dont get caught out a second time with water shortages. Throughout last June and July many farmers were forced to go to extremes to ensure animals had adequate water. Now it seems that chastening experience has led to a surge in well drilling enquiries from farmers, with some looking at installing a second well on farm as a backup. In other cases farmers who were caught with limited supply last summer are looking to improve flow-rates from existing wells. The total cost of sinking a well very much depends on the volume of water you need to get out of it. Expand Close An average well would cost 2,500 for the borehole and 1,600 for the pump / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An average well would cost 2,500 for the borehole and 1,600 for the pump On average, it usually costs between 5,500 to 6,000 to sink and kit out a well capable of supplying enough water for a dairy farmer milking 100 cows. To find out more I spoke to Frank Seery of Seery Well Drilling based in Cappoquin, Co Waterford (website: welldrillingireland.ie). A family-run company founded by Franks father, Matt, in 1965, today about 30pc of the firms workload comprises drilling wells for farmers and agricultural purposes. Frank says the amount of work coming from farmers has been increasing steadily in recent years. They typically cover farms within an 80-mile radius of their base, with customers in Waterford, East Cork, South Tipperary and Kilkenny. In the aftermath of last summers drought Frank noticed a sharp rise in the number of enquiries from worried farmers looking for a trusty water source. The knock-on effect is that people are reassessing their existing water supply, but also looking to future proof supplies to ensure they dont get caught out again should a similar weather event occur. Last summer was a testing experience for many. Expand Close Gerry Nolan and his son James have been drawing two tankers of water a day from the River Nore to keep their cows hydrated during the heatwave. Photo: Roger Jones / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerry Nolan and his son James have been drawing two tankers of water a day from the River Nore to keep their cows hydrated during the heatwave. Photo: Roger Jones Those with bigger herds such as the dairy farmer with 200 or 300 cows really need to have a plan B in place for when things go wrong. These business-minded farmers are now looking to have a second borehole in the event that if one goes down there is always a backup available at the flick of a switch. Apart from the drought of summer 2018, Frank Seery says the recent era of rapid dairy herd expansion has led to a sharp rise in farmers looking to sink new wells and improve existing sources. However, it seems many farmers viewed the requirement for extra water as a bit of an afterthought when it came to expansion planning. Most of the emphasis seemed to be placed on things like sheds, grass, fields and cow numbers, but in a lot of cases very little thought was given to the matter of needing to increase water supply in line with expanding the herd size, says Frank. Now I think it has come to the fore that water is crucial and that correct supply is of huge importance. If you think about it, milk is nearly 80pc water and cows need on average 70-100 litres of water per head on a dry day. Boreholes Expand Close The average dairy cow drinks 25 gallons of water daily / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The average dairy cow drinks 25 gallons of water daily As a rule of thumb I always say that for a 100-cow herd you need a minimum flow rate from your well of around 20 litres per minute. For a 200-cow herd you need a flow rate of 40 litres per minute, for a 300-cow herd you need 60 litres per minute, and so on. The usual protocol is that the well drilling team will do a first visit to a farm prior to commencing works and check out what the water requirements are. A site visit will entail assessing how many animals are on the farm and checking any existing boreholes on the farm for flow rates. On most farms it is possible to find a water source, but according to Frank there are certain areas where it can be more difficult to sink a well than others. In my own county of Waterford certain areas along the coastline, for example between Stradbally and Tramore, there is a type of bedrock which just does not hold groundwater well. This means regardless of how deep down you go, the flowrates are not going to be great. Other areas would be easier; in general where you have a sandstone or limestone area of bedrock you are going to be more successful in terms of achieving good flowrates because those types of rock tend to hold large volumes of groundwater. In terms of drilling depth, for a new farm well, Seery Well Drilling tends to drill down to at least 60m. However, in more difficult areas the drilling depth can be as far down as 100-120m in order to get sufficient flowrates. The well drilling machinery used has changed massively and now allows for much higher work rates. For example, a 60m well can now be sunk in less than a day, whereas back in the 1960s it could take up to three weeks. Getting the drilling equipment safely on and off of your farm must be planned in advance. These are impressive machines in operation; they can weigh up to 40 tonnes so access is an important consideration. Large American drill rigs are used by the Seery team which operate on compressed air with high pressured hammers. They are also tall vehicles when the drilling process begins, so due care must be given to things such as overhead power lines or low hanging trees on the farm, low bridges en route to the drillings site and any soft ground where the rig could potentially get stuck. 'Common pitfall' A common pitfall for farmers drilling wells is that existing pipes on farms are not big enough to handle increased pressures when larger wells are being sunk to cater for rising herd numbers. An awful lot of pipes in use on Irish farms at the minute are either half an inch or three-quarters of inch, which is quite small, says Frank Seery. It would be better if they were bigger, and close to 1in or even 1in to handle the bigger pressures. If you dont have the correct pipe size, regardless of how good your pump is or how good your well is, you will still not be able to get a sufficient flow rate to water troughs and cater for the herds demand. For farmers who do not want to be left short as happened last summer, the advice from well drilling experts and from Teagasc is to do a simple survey to assess how much water supply you need. A well should start to pay for itself within three years So what can the farmer with a 100-cow dairy herd expect to pay for a new well, and how soon can you reasonably expect it to pay for itself? Such a herd would require an average supply of 2,000 gallons of water per day your typical dairy cow can drink 20 gallons (90 litres) of water on a warm day when milking. For such a demand the total cost of the well drilling and installation of the pump would be somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000. Obviously there can be variation in prices depending on the drilling difficulty and depth required but those are ball park figures. Remember to factor in things like pump maintenance costs, water treatment units for areas of hard water, annual testing of water quality and electrical power supply costs for the pump. An annual service is recommended for most pumps which can cost around 150 to 250. Modern pumps have a life span of about 15 years. So when you add it all up the important question is what do these figures mean in terms of the payback period? The cost of using 2,000 gallons of water per day if on the mains system works out at around 13 per day at current commercial rates. The dairy farmer obviously wont use this much water every day of the year, but even if he used the maximum demand for 200 days of the year that equates to a total water charge of 2,600 per annum on the public system. Therefore at current costs for drilling and installing a private well this would give an impressive payback period of just under three years. The EPA have published a very useful booklet: Have You Checked Your Well Water Supply? A quick Google search can pull it up. This booklet gives guidelines and recommendations as to what not to have near your well head, where to locate your well and how to have the supply checked yearly for dangerous contaminants such as E Coli. It is important that water wells are only drilled in locations which minimise the likelihood that the well will be polluted by, for example, septic tanks, fuel tanks or farmyard run-off. 'Excessive' usage water charges on the horizon Domestic water charges were introduced in Ireland back in 2015, but they didnt last long. After countless protests and political bargaining the charges were eventually suspended. The situation now is that there are no ongoing domestic charges for normal use of water, but any household using amounts of water over a specified threshold will be charged. That threshold figure is 213,000 litres per year; the equivalent of 583 litres (128 gallons) per day. Household water usage figures from the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) show that the average water usage for a four person domestic household in Ireland is 125,000 litres a year, so the threshold is approximately 1.7 times that. The monitoring of peoples usage under the new charging regime began on January 1 last year. It now looks like the first excessive usage water charges will not be issued until early 2020. At that point users will be given a six-month period during which they can reduce their water usage; if they havent done so by the end of the six month period, they will then be charged for any usage above the threshold for that period. What will the water charges be? The cost isnt set yet, but a figure being used in some sample calculations by the CER is 3.70 per 1000 litres. At that rate, a household using 50,000 litres of water over the annual threshold would be billed 185 in water charges for the year. In a surprising move, the port's decision has piqued the interest of the DUP. Stock Image The Dublin Port Company's decision to limit cruise ship activity has been hit by some well-publicised choppy water. Port boss Eamonn O'Reilly announced in these pages last month that rising freight volumes and the need to create space due to Brexit meant that trade needed to be prioritised over tourism. Naturally, business owners have hit out at the plan and have spawned the All-Ireland Cruise Ship Action Group. The group has sought the support of the Government, warning that as much as 50m in consumer spending could be lost "forever". They have also received the support of local politicians. Independent councillor Christy Burke is set to put a motion before Dublin City Council tomorrow asking it to halt the decision made by the port company. Ergo understands that the cruise campaign has also received the backing of lord mayor Nial Ring, who sits on the board of business representative group Dublin Town. In a surprising move, the port's decision has piqued the interest of the DUP. East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson has called on Belfast Harbour to "look closely" at the likelihood of declining numbers of cruise ships entering Dublin. "On the face of it, their position appears to lack vision or strategic development. It does however present a potential opportunity gain for Belfast," Robinson said. "Any inability to call at Dublin will not remove the desire to visit our shared island. Our port is open and increased numbers of visiting cruise liners are more than welcome.'' Eugene OCallaghan, director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund which backs startups and early stage firms The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (Isif) is to invest 35m into a new Quadrant-managed fund that will provide financing of up to 120m for the development of high-quality office space in Cork city. Quadrant clients will co-invest alongside Isif as opportunities arise, with Quadrant planning to raise additional funding in subsequent fundraising rounds for additional investment in Cork. Isif's 35m investment is expected to co-finance the development of up to three large prime office blocks in the city, meeting demand from employers setting up new operations there or expanding in the area. One Quadrant fund, in which Isif invested in 2015, has deployed over 230m in financing for office and commercial property and hotel investments in Dublin - including in the Docklands, the Sandyford business district and Donnybrook. Isif's expectation is that the new Cork fund will result in more urban regeneration investments in Cork city. This investment is aimed at addressing a shortage of modern, Grade A office space in Cork city and is designed to draw in financing from other investment sources. Isif director Eugene O'Callaghan said the investment "aligns with our regional investment priority focus". Dublin-headquartered financial services company MontLake, formerly known as ML Capital, intends to more than double its assets under management to 20bn over the next two years. A further 20 front-office staff will also be added to its base on St Stephen's Green, due to the firm's organic growth and opportunities created by Brexit. Chief executive Cyril Delamare said that UK fund managers will struggle to distribute their funds across Europe in the event of a hard Brexit. "It has brought opportunities for people looking for Brexit solutions. Many people have contacted us to help them with their European investment funds in case Brexit brings an issue there," Delamare said. "In case of hard Brexit and a loss of passporting, UK-based fund managers will be unable to distribute in the European Union - so they need to find a solution of how to reach their clients," he added. As well as helping fund managers distribute their products across Europe, MontLake also ensures that funds are compliant with both European and Irish regulations. The company is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. "As a fast-growing business - we're only nine years old - we believe we'll have another 20 staff based in Dublin in the next couple of years," Delamare said. "That reflects the growth of the business we have away from Brexit, but that will definitely be an enhancer in terms of staff." The company employs 27 people in Dublin, a further 10 in London, and another two in Geneva. Up to six of its new hires will be as a direct result of new business driven from Brexit. The company was chaired by businessman Dermot Smurfit up to last December. Smurfit was succeeded by Maples and Calders Investment Fund Dublin chief Barry McGrath. Among the most popular funds managed by MontLake are property-based funds, such as qualifying investor alternative investment funds (QIAIFs). Delamare defended the reputation of funds and their role in addressing the shortfall of housing in Ireland. "In Ireland what has happened is that there has been a gap in the market where no more housing has been built over a number of years due to the financial crisis. "There is definitely a gap, and that gap has to be caught up," he said. "How do you bridge that gap?" he said. "Well, I struggle to see how if you don't get private capital to fund the construction of houses in this country how you're going to bridge the gap and basically be able to temper the pressure on rents and on general property housing." The Nama/NTMA offices in Dublin, Since it was established a decade ago, Nama has acquired loans and assets worth more than 31.8bn. Over 90pc of all loans sold by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) have gone to international funds - the vast majority in the US - the United Nations has claimed. The figure was included in a letter highly critical of government policies it says have allowed "unprecedented" amounts of global capital into Ireland's housing market. The UN stated that foreign investment and finance was brought into the country by the State through a number of measures, including the establishment of Nama in 2009 and the subsequent introduction of the Real Estate Investment Trust tax (Reits). It also cited the sale of non-performing loans to investment funds by State-controlled banks as a factor. "Of all assets sold by Nama, 93pc have gone to foreign investors, with 90pc being sold to US private-equity funds," the UN said. The letter was written by Surya Deva, the UN's chief rapporteur of its working group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other businesses, as well as by the UN's special rapporteur on adequate housing, Leilani Farha. It follows a report from the UN during the week, which accused the Government of helping vulture funds push people out of their homes. A spokesman for Nama said the loan sales represented less than a third of the bad bank's total transactions. "In relation to the sale of loans, the ownership of the properties does not change so these funds do not become property owners or landlords, just secured creditors," the spokesman said. He said as well as the 11bn worth of loans sold, Nama also sold 24bn worth of assets, the vast majority of which went to Irish entities. A breakdown of Nama's loan sales found that 10.23bn worth of loans were sold to overseas investors, 9.9bn of which went exclusively to US investors. Nama said that 69pc of its asset sales went to Irish companies, while 12pc went to the US. The remainder of the sales were to the UK, Germany, Canada, and others. Since it was established a decade ago, Nama has acquired loans and assets worth more than 31.8bn. It expects to generate a surplus in the order of 3.5bn when it winds down, most likely in 2021. Elsewhere in the letter, the UN criticised the "disproportionately higher and more severe" cuts made to the country's public housing capital construction budget. It dropped from 1.46bn in 2008 to 167m in 2014. After beef baron Larry Goodman's ABP Food took a 50pc stake in Wexford-based Slaney Foods, the parent of Slaney Meats, back in 2016, the move culminated in Irish Farmers' Association protests. Farmers and suppliers were concerned about falling beef prices and the arrival of powerful ABP as a shareholder. But fast-forward to today and Slaney is one of Europe's top beef producers supplying over 25 countries, including China. Low prices are still a big concern for farmer suppliers, but fears around the acquisition seem to have been allayed. Not that the protests were likely to have given Goodman many sleepless nights. If any Irish businessman is deserving of the moniker survivor, it is him. Now 81, and still actively involved in ABP Foods, the family beef business which had a turnover of 2.8bn in 2018, he has come out the other side of a Beef Tribunal, a horse-meat scandal, two recessions and business exposure following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The Goodman business empire - which includes his wife Kitty and sons Laurence (37) and Mark (35) - now straddles the food, property, pet food and renewable sectors and employs 11,000 people, mostly outside of Ireland. The deeply-private businessman, who is the sixth generation of a livestock and meat-exporting family, runs a tight ship and at top level surrounds himself with a team of loyal allies who are expected to put in the hours, sources said. Goodman is the executive chairman of the company which has grown to become one of Europe's leading privately owned agri-businesses with 51 production sites across Europe. Day-to-day operations at ABP are handled by a management team consisting of chief executive Frank Stephenson, COO Finbarr McDonnell and a team of divisional heads, one of whom is Goodman's youngest son Mark, who is managing director of ABP's international division. His eldest son, Laurence, heads up the family's property interests as well as running his own property development business - Urban Life. In fact, it is understood that Goodman and Laurence are the State's biggest landlords, earning an 8m rent roll for office space to three government departments at the Baggot Street property, now known as Miesian Plaza. They also own an office block on Nassau Street in the capital, which they hope to redevelop. The family also has investments in the Blackrock and Hermitage Clinics. But beef remains where it's mainly at for the business. Customers include supermarket private labels and restaurant and takeaway chains, while pet food has also been a growth sector in recent years. Earlier this year, ABP took control of Longford-based pet food manufacturing firm C&D Foods after it purchased the remaining 15pc stake owned by CEO Philip Reynolds. The company already had an 85pc stake in the business after the purchase of 50pc in 2008 and a further 35pc in 2011 in what is now one of the biggest European pet food suppliers. According to Reynolds, Brexit was a key motivation behind the buyout. Indeed Brexit remains a significant threat to for the wider group, as the UK is a big net importer of beef. Ireland accounted for 75pc of UK beef imports in November of last year, according to recent trade statistics. And although ABP has hedged against this in the North with a 50pc stake in Linden Foods and a factory investment in Scotland a source close to the meat industry said: "Brexit is potentially significant for them but it all depends on how the UK manages its beef tariffs. "But if there is anyone in the meat industry can find ways to deal with the challenge it's ABP. They are so well-connected internationally, so well-resourced, ABP will have a response to anything that arises." The type of post-Brexit bilateral deals the UK may strike with other trading blocs - including Mercosur (the South American trading bloc) which includes beef and other meat producers like Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay - will be a key concern, however. Some farmers fear that Brexit-related price pressures would not be passed on to consumers by dominant beef producers such as ABP - farmer suppliers would take the hit rather than supermarket multiples. "This is a fear among some farmer suppliers. Goodman is respected in the industry for paying and paying on time. But he is seen by some as ruthless," said one farming source. Brexit-proofing is also likely to be a component in the company's strategy of growing new markets, including China. Just last week, ABP announced that due to "extremely" positive demand it was extending its range of online beef products for Chinese consumers on the JD.com platform, which is one of the largest business-to-consumer online retailers in China with 301.8 million users. The Chinese market opened to boneless cuts from six approved Irish beef plants in June 2018 and demand has since been strong. By the end of 2019 it is estimated that more than 1,000 tonnes of Irish beef will have been landed in China. When Dundalk-born Goodman founded the business in 1954 it was not long before he raised his sights beyond the local market. One of his first acquisitions was Anglo-Irish Meats in the late 1960s and he hoovered up factories around Ireland while expanding into Russia and the Middle East. His ability to build up trust with customers and suppliers as well as handsome EU subsidies helped him to grow the empire. He also had strong political allies in the likes of former Taoisigh Charlie Haughey and Albert Reynolds. But the road to success was not without bumps. In the 1990s the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait brought difficulties. Goodman's beef empire had given hundreds of millions in credit to the Iraqi government which defaulted on the debt. The banks then pulled the plug and the Government was recalled from holidays to pass special legislation to protect the Goodman business, given its importance to the Irish economy. Peter Fitzpatrick, Ireland's first examiner, was appointed to run the Goodman empire. By 1995, Goodman had reassumed control of the business with the help of private backers and by 1999 he had paid them off and assumed full control. But more controversy followed. The Beef Tribunal arose out of a World In Action ITV investigation into irregularities in Ireland's beef and cattle trade. The tribunal ultimately found that no wrongdoing had been done by Goodman or his company, but it led to the collapse of two governments. The company was also embroiled in a horse-meat scandal five years ago, when equine DNA was found in burgers produced by a subsidiary. But it was also subsequently cleared in relation to this when it was found that contamination originated from a third-party source. Goodman appeared before the beef tribunal in 1993 and the media-shy businessman has kept a low public profile since. While Brexit appears to be an extraordinary challenge for Ireland's beef industry, sources close to the sector said that Goodman and his team will face it head on. They believe that business will be well set for the foreseeable future, even if Goodman steps back from the leadership of the group in the coming years. Another said that although Goodman has been at the centre of controversy from time to time, he has played a huge role in developing the Irish beef industry by providing an extremely efficient route to market for meat produced in Ireland over the past 50 years. Given his form to date, ABP is likely to continue to build on this, come what may. By Scott Reeves, China Daily | Mar. 28, 2019 US senators sharply questioned regulatory officials Wednesday about the Federal Aviation Administration's reliance on Boeing's engineers to certify the safety of the new 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which was involved in two fatal crashes in the last five months. The self-certification procedure, called Organization Designation Authorization, was scrutinized in Washington at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on aviation and space. It featured testimony by Daniel Elwell, the acting FAA administrator; Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; and Calvin Scovel, Transportation Department inspector general. For decades, the FAA has delegated some authority for certifying new aircraft to the manufacturers themselves, reducing government costs and, defenders say, speeding the rollout of new models. Following the crashes of Lion Air in Indonesia last October and Ethiopian Airlines earlier this month that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew, the self-certification process has been seized by critics as evidence of an overly cozy relationship between the FAA and the industry. In his opening statement, Elwell said the FAA was "fully involved" in the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, including "133 of the 297 flight tests". Elwell defended the agency's reliance on experts from aircraft manufacturers and said the current system had produced an unprecedented safety record in the US. Senator Richard Blumenthal questioned the FAA's oversight of the Boeing 737 MAX jet, arguing that reliance on the aircraft manufacturer during certification of the aircraft's safety put "the fox in charge of the henhouse". Blumenthal said Boeing rushed to get the 737 MAX into the air to compete with Europe's Airbus and disregarded critical safety features. "There needs to be rigorous reform so the FAA is put back in charge of safety," the Connecticut Democrat said. "The fact is that the FAA decided to do safety on the cheap, which is neither safe nor cheap," he said. Blumenthal vowed to introduce legislation to change the way aircraft are certified safe to fly. Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, asked what it would take for the FAA on its own to certify aircraft. Elwelll said: "10,000 additional FAA employees and $1.8 billion' each year. He said the European equivalent of the federal regulatory agency delegates more authority to a manufacturer's employees when certifying the safety of Airbus. Elwell said the FAA conducts strict oversight of manufacturers. "It's part of the fabric of what we've used to become as safe as we are today," he said. Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, demanded a "yes" or "no" answer from Elwell on whether two safety options that airlines could decline to buy should have been mandatory on the MAX aircrft. Elwell declined to answer the question with a single word and reiterated what he had said several times during the hearing: "Safety is central to the agency's existence." Airlines configure aircraft to meet their operational needs and budgets. Some airlines chose to purchase the "angle of attack" system display for readings of two sensors and a "disagree light" to be activated if the sensors produce conflicting readings while others did not. The add-on safety devices are a minor cost in an aircraft that sells for $120 million. Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air reportedly declined to buy the two add-on safety devices. Calvin Scovel III, inspector general of the Transportation Department, said his office plans to revise its oversight of aircraft development by July. But he did not say federal regulators plan to abandon the collaborative approach with manufacturers. "While revamping FAA's oversight process will be an important step, continued management attention will be key to ensure the agency identifies and monitors the highest-risk areas of aircraft certification," Scovel told the committee. "Over the years, FAA has increasingly shifted toward working with industry to meet shared safety goals,' he said. "For example, FAA now delegates more of its aircraft certification to approved manufacturers through its congressionally authorized Organization Designation Authorization program or ODA. However, my office has identified weaknesses with FAA oversight of ODA. For example, in 2015, we reported that its oversight was not based on risk.' Senators questioned the safety of Boeing's anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MACS). The system was installed because MAX jets have bigger engines mounted closer to the nose of the plane than older Boeing 737s, changing the plane's aerodynamics. If the nose of the plane rises, threatening a stall, the MACS system automatically points the nose of the plane down to gain speed. The system can be shut off by flipping a switch on the throttle console. The system may have played a part in the crash of the Lion Air crash and the March 10 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane. The "angle of attack" sensor built into the MAX aircraft measures the amount of lift generated by the wings. The device warns pilots when there is too little lift, potentially stalling the plane, then points the nose of the plane down to gain speed. Information contained on flight recorders for the Indonesia and Ethiopian planes has not been released, but analysts say the pilots may not have known how to turn off the anti-stall device after it pointed the nose of the plane down, and that may have been a factor in the crashes. On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on her department's 2020 fiscal year budget. When asked by Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, about the relationship between the FAA and Boeing on safety certification, Chao said that while the relationship is necessary, she was "concerned about any allegations of coziness". "The FAA is the one that certifies," Chao said. "The FAA does not build planes. They certify. But this method of having the manufacturer also be involved in looking at these standards is really necessary because once again the FAA cannot do it on their own." At a news conference Wednesday at a Boeing plant in Renton, Washington, Mike Sinnett, the company's vice-president, said he doesn't see the need to overhaul its development of aircraft following the two crashes. He described changes to the MAX jets' flight-control system and called the new software "more robust" than the initial version. However, he said the upgrade does not mean the original design was inadequate. The upgraded MCAS will be activated by input from two sensors rather than one. The power of the system will be limited so the pilot can pull back on the control column to override the automated system if the plane's nose is pointed down. Sinnett said a new training system for pilots on upgrades to the MCAS has been "provisionally approved" and will provide about 30 minutes of computer-based training. Your columnist spends a lot of time speaking at conferences and presenting to smaller groups on economics, policy and political matters. Often the most interesting events take place in corporate suites. Interacting with executives at the business coal face is always informative. One such meeting last week showed that however much is going on in the world that is of relevance to business, Brexit is absorbing a huge amount of the attention for companies of all kinds. Millions of hours that could have been spent on product development, innovating to boost productivity and finding cost savings have instead been spent on the implications of Brexit for individual firms and their clients, customers, competitors. The opportunity cost of Brexit for firms in Ireland almost certainly dwarfs the hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers' money spent by government on preparing for it. Brexit has also distracted businesses from other big picture issues they need to keep abreast of. Italy more than anything else - including Brexit - keeps the top people in Brussels awake at night. It could reignite the euro debt crisis at any time. Another big risk for Europe is France. It will hold its next presidential election in three years. The incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, has shown leadership in the foreign affairs sphere and delivered real reform at home. But his support levels are tracking his predecessor Francoise Hollande who didn't even try for re-election in 2017. The rolling insurrection in France since the end of last year - in the form of the Gilet Jaune movement - is in part a reaction to the reforms Macron has implemented. If he cannot turn things around, either the hard right or the hard left, which are both anti-EU, could win the presidency in three years - their combined support reached 40pc in the first round of the 2017 contest. If that were to happen there would be a rupture. As sure as night follows day a ruptured France would lead to a ruptured Europe. A much less dramatic European issue, but one that business needs to watch, is Germany's shift towards France when it comes to a greater role for government in the economy. Traditionally, the French have advocated for a big role for the state in steering the economy and believe that history shows this approach to be successful - the global success of Airbus is often held up as an example of the sort of champion companies governments can create if they put their minds to it. France's neighbours across the Rhine have painful memories of what happens when the state and big business get too cosy. But while Germans have long been standard bearers of market discipline and rigorous competition in EU market constructs, foreign takeovers of significant companies and a more hostile geopolitical environment have led to rethink. Berlin's position on supporting companies and whole industries has been shifting towards the long-held view in Paris. Even if it would be premature to label the new Franco-German consensus as motivated by protectionism, this new consensus raises issues that businesses and consumers, particularly ones in the European periphery, need to be alive to. Another issue of relevance to many businesses is the main fear driving the new interventionism - China. Europe's stance on that country has undergone a major change in a short time. Earlier this month the EU's diplomatic service declared the rising Asian superpower a "strategic rival". French president Macron has declared that Europe's era of naivete towards China has ended. Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart visited Paris last week, with an entourage in tow similar to the ones US presidents bring on foreign trips (these optics are not accidental). What was originally set up as a bilateral meeting between the two presidents morphed into something different. Macron invited along his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, and the European Commission president, Jean Claude Junker, to demonstrate Europe unity. Europeans have been talking about a "strategic partnership" with China for many years. It was neither strategic nor a partnership. China's interest in the EU as a partner waned after the euro crisis. Indeed, it saw the weaknesses - economic and political - of that period as an opportunity to increase its influence in Europe via individual countries. It did this most notably by making (much-needed) investments in vital infrastructure in crisis-hit countries, including Greece and Portugal. Half a decade ago that was not looked at askance by the continent's power players. Today, all has changed and Chinese investment in Europe has led to the introduction of a new screening framework at EU level which will prevent foreign takeovers if they are deemed a security threat. Other security concerns around China have also contributed to the changed stance towards the rising power. Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant with a significant presence in Ireland, is viewed with growing concern in western countries. The world is changing fast. Brexit is vital for Ireland, but it should not distract from changes afoot further afield that will have consequences for the business environment here. Life rarely ran smoothly for Vincent van Gogh. Born in the Netherlands, son of a minister, he dabbled with art dealing, teaching and the church before settling on painting in his late twenties. His chosen calling would give him passion, a sense of purpose but little success and no money. He would have starved or died in a ditch were it not for the tireless efforts of his younger brother Theo, and during a chaotic final year he cut off his ear, was in and out of asylums and created many of his most famous paintings before dying from a gunshot wound that may or may not have been self-inflicted. This febrile time is memorably recreated by Julian Schnabel in his new film, At Eternity's Gate, which opened here yesterday. It stars Willem Dafoe as Van Gogh, who's at a loose end in Paris in 1888 when his friend Paul Gauguin (Oscar Issac) suggests the Dutchman travel south for a change of light. He goes to Arles and is instantly energised, sent half crazy by the colour, the sunshine, the glorious Provencal light. But when Gauguin comes to stay with him, the pair fall out, and this row sets in train a fateful chain of events. This is not the first film about Vincent van Gogh - in fact there have been at least a dozen, including Vincente Minnelli's enjoyable 1956 melodrama Lust for Life, which starred Kirk Douglas as a flame-haired, impassioned Van Gogh who's so driven mad by his perfectionism that he shoots himself. Expand Close Timothy Spall in Mr Turner / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Timothy Spall in Mr Turner Though they cover many of the same events, the contrast in styles between Lust for Life and At Eternity's Gate is striking. While Minnelli's film is bold, beautiful, lush and epically tragic, casting Van Gogh as a kind of tormented secular saint, Schnabel's biopic is less triumphalist, and probably gets closer to the grubby reality of the painter's life. Read More It tries to see the world as he saw it, explores his attitude to painting, and does not shirk the sad fact that the artistic life brought him much pain, little joy and ended in madness, failure. When you watch Dafoe's Van Gogh shuffling around the backroads of southern France in rags with his an easel on his back, the posthumous fortune his works would accrue seems like a sick cosmic joke. The two films highlight the stark choice facing anyone who sets out to make a biopic about an artist. Either you portray them with a flourish as secular saints or seers in the grand 19th-century tradition of the starving, misunderstood artist, or you move beyond all that to try and discover the actual person behind the myths. The best films about artists have opted for the latter approach. Expand Close Willem Defoe in At Eternity's Gate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Willem Defoe in At Eternity's Gate Few are better than Andrei Rublev, a fascinating 1960s epic based on the life of a 15th century Russian icon painter. Andrei Tarkovsky's enthralling drama explored the dilemma of a tired, sensitive artist who's decorating a theatre when he's asked to paint scenes of souls in torment, and baulks (see panel). Rarely seen but boldly original, Peter Watkins' biopic film Edvard Munch (1974) used a spare, docudrama-style approach to its subject. Despite his talent, and eventual success, the great Norwegian Expressionist painter was a high-strung, unstable soul, and his early to middle years were blighted by drinking, fighting and breakdowns. Watkins used a largely amateur cast of Norwegians to tell his story, some of whom would pause and speak to camera. As Munch faced an angry public backlash to his work, Watkins hired people who didn't like his paintings to make their testimonies more convincing. Expand Close Salma Hayek as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Salma Hayek as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo Video of the Day The myth of the tortured, suffering artist was magnificently exploded by Mike Leigh's Mr Turner (2014), which starred Timothy Spall as a taciturn, business-like, working-class Joseph Turner, who treats painting as his trade and despises all the talk and critical chatter his work inspires (see panel). To hear this Turner talk, you might imagine him a cabinetmaker. If Montparnasse 19, by contrast, dived straight into the bathos of the impoverished artist, its subject matter didn't leave it much choice. The Italian-Jewish early 20th century painter Amedeo Modigliani, who would become posthumously famous for his beautiful, elongated portraits of women, spent much of his short life leading a bawdy, squalid existence in Paris. Poor health and lots of alcohol would kill him at 35, and his besotted young wife died by suicide in solidarity shortly afterwards, but Max Ophuls' 1958 film steers clear of melodrama for the most part, and instead explores the tragedy of a brilliant man whose work is so far ahead of public taste that he feels a failure. The talent of Frida Kahlo was only recovered from beneath the hefty shadow of her lover Diego Rivera decades after her death. Julie Taymor's 2002 biopic Frida sometimes struggled to keep up with the Mexican painter's hectic, helter-skelter life, but got its casting spot on: Salma Hayek was utterly convincing as the passionate, free-spirited Kahlo. Art films don't always have to be about great artists. I greatly admired Tim Burton's 2014 drama Big Eyes, which told the rather melancholic story of Margaret Hawkins (Amy Adams), a 1950s housewife who ran away from a bad marriage and began painting cartoonish pictures of wistful, huge-eyed waifs that would later become must-have items of decor in 1970s homes across the western world. Margaret reckons that things have looked up when she meets Walter Keane, a raffish amateur artist and market stall owner. They marry, and start making money, but then she finds out Walter has been passing her paintings off as his own. And I did love Seraphine (2008), Martin Provost's tender-hearted biopic based on the life of Seraphine Louis, a French maid who painted in secret until her colourful talent was discovered by a German collector. But success unhinged her: she began walking through her town in a wedding dress talking of messages received from the angels. So it was off to the asylum with poor Seraphine. Painting, then, would appear to be a risky business. Julian Schnabel made his debut as a film-maker back in 1996 with a film about Jean-Michel Basquiat, the New York graffiti artist whose bold neo-expressionist paintings propelled him to fame before a heroin overdose killed him at 27. The late David Bowie made a remarkably convincing cameo as Andy Warhol. Odd, though, that no one's ever done a biopic on Warhol himself: there's a life story worth telling. The three best art films Andrei Rublev Expand Close Andrei Rublev / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Andrei Rublev The Soviet authorities took a dim view of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1966 film, and banned it for being too spiritual! In it we watch the icon painter Rublev toil through a 15th-century Russian winter as he ponders the discord between Christ's message of love and the Church's cruelty. Mr Turner Mike Leigh's masterful biopic plunges you into the grime of early 19th-century London, and stars Timothy Spall as the gruff, brilliant, taciturn Turner, whose passion for his work grows more intense as his powers fade. La Belle Noiseuse In Jacques Rivette's long but riveting meditation, Michel Piccoli plays a painter who's retired to the countryside with his wife (Jane Birkin) when a younger artist turns up with a beautiful girlfriend (Emmanuelle Beart) in tow. The older man is inspired, in more ways than one. Independent News and Media (INM) has initiated a High Court action against its former chief executive Robert Pitt. The company lodged proceedings on Friday, court records show, but no further details of the case were included in the filing. A spokesman for INM - which publishes the Sunday Independent - said the company had no comment to make. Pitt, who left INM in October 2017, made a protected disclosure to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), which prompted an inquiry. The ODCE probe led to the appointment of High Court inspectors to investigate the alleged interrogation of INM data, including that of journalists, staff and directors, by outside parties in 2014. The inspectors are also investigating claims that senior INM executives came under pressure from former chairman Leslie Buckley in 2016 to pay an inflated price for Newstalk, a radio station owned by Denis O'Brien, INM's largest shareholder. The purchase was abandoned. Mr Buckley denies any wrongdoing, while Mr O'Brien has yet to comment. Claims were later made to the Data Protection Commissioner that Pitt had ordered a search of the computers of up to six editors in 2015. Mr Pitt has declined to comment. A judge says he will no longer accept Republic of Ireland bail addresses for defendants because of the continuing uncertainty over Brexit. Judge Barney McElholm described the political uncertainty as "this abominable exercise in misgovernment" which could result in people living in the Republic no longer being subject to extradition to the North. "We are nearly three years down the line and still nobody has even a sketch of a plan," he told Derry Magistrates Court. "None of us knows what is going to happen in relation to the way we are going to be governed and I use that term extremely loosely. "It would suggest little optimism at the moment that some agreed way forward is going to be reached. We could even have the situation arise where anyone living in the Republic of Ireland will not be subject to the extradition laws of this jurisdiction," he said. Judge McElholm made his comment during a bail application for a man who was extradited yesterday morning. A senior policeman in Northern Ireland has voiced concern that the European Arrest Warrant could disappear. Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin warned under a no-deal Brexit, "those people we have currently arrested and gone through the process of European Arrest Warrants, that would fall away". A former head of counter-terrorism in the UK's Foreign Office has said Irish Isil bride Lisa Smith should be detained if she returns to Ireland for her own safety. Sir Ivor Roberts, a former British ambassador to Ireland, said Ms Smith could be targeted by Islamophobic extremists, or people who have been impacted by Isil. Expand Close Lisa Smith holding her daughter while speaking to CNN Photo: CNN / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lisa Smith holding her daughter while speaking to CNN Photo: CNN "She may become the target of those who have suffered at Islamic State's hands or those who are violently opposed to Isil, to the extent they want to take it into their own hands," Mr Roberts said. Mr Roberts said Ms Smith would be seen as "damaged goods" by Islamic terrorists if she does return and it is unlikely she will be used to set up a terror cell in Ireland. "Ultimately, one would hope there is a prospect of de-radicalisation and she could be turned in another direction and act as a warning to those who are tempted by the idea," he said. "She could actually cause damage to the causes of the Islamic State," he added. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Lisa Smith and her two-year-old daughter will be allowed to return to Ireland - but a full security assessment into her situation will take place. The International Red Cross is spearheading the operation to bring Smith, a former member of the Defence Forces, back to Ireland. She is currently in a detention camp in north-eastern Syria where conditions are extremely poor. Lisa Smith was interviewed in the Al-Hawl refugee camp by CNN last week when she said that she "wants to go home". Expand Close Lisa Smith. Picture: Tom Conachy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lisa Smith. Picture: Tom Conachy Asked if she was concerned about being imprisoned on her return to Ireland, she said: "I know they'd strip me of my passport and I wouldn't travel and I'd be watched kind of, but prison? I don't know. I'm already in prison." She also said people "should realise that all the people here [in the camp] are not terrorists". Children under 16 are to be given free universal dental care as part of a new government initiative. The 80m plan will see almost the entire range of dental services extended to every child from birth to 16 years old. Under the scheme, parents will be able to bring children to the dentist for regular check-ups where fillings, extractions and any other dental surgery will be carried out free of charge. Prescriptions related to dental procedures will also be free and the services will be provided by local dentists. Health Minister Simon Harris will announce the five- year plan for comprehensive dental care for all children under 16 this week. The Department of Health has been working on the plan for a number of years and it was signed off on by the Cabinet two weeks ago. The scheme has not yet been negotiated with dentists but it is hoped universal dental care will be extended to every child under six in next year's Budget. The Government will have to reach an agreement on fees with dentists who sign up to the initiative before it can make a budget announcement. Children are currently entitled to two dental examinations while they are in primary school, while some emergency treatments are also covered by the State. Their first examination is supposed to be when they are seven years old, with a final check-up in sixth class. However, the Irish Dental Association has previously warned that most children are not receiving their first examination until they are at least 12. The backlog in the system, which is being caused by staff shortages, has resulted in 84,000 children and adolescents waiting for a public dental assessment or treatment around the country. The Government has also struggled to extend the free GP care scheme for children, which is currently available only to those under six years old, despite promising to broaden the initiative out to under-12s. The new free dental care scheme is linked to the cross-party Slaintecare project. The plan will comprise a number of different oral health packages depending on the age of the recipient. The most comprehensive packages will be for children but there are also plans to extend the number of services provided to older people and those in residential care. People over 65 will be entitled to annual denture and dental implant check-ups as part of the scheme. However, it is unclear when this will be introduced. There will also be a focus on examinations for head and neck cancer for older people. The Government reintroduced dental benefits in the 2018 Budget. The State now pays 42 toward either a scale and polish or - if clinically necessary - periodontal treatment to PRSI workers or the self-employed once a year. If the cost of either cleaning or periodontal treatment is more than 42, patients must pay the balance - capped at 15 for a scale and polish. There is no cap on the balance charged for periodontal treatment. A small border town in Co Donegal has claimed its third National Lottery win of the year, with a local shop selling last nights winning ticket worth 1 million. The National Lottery confirmed today that Barclays Newsagents in the Diamond, Raphoe, sold the golden Lotto Plus 1 ticket the same shop that sold a EuroMillions Plus winning ticket landing a local man 500,000 in February. The Centra Store in Raphoe also sold a winning ticket on Feb 28, worth 98,068. The National Lottery today appealed to all its players in Donegal to check their tickets to see if they are Irelands latest Lotto millionaire. The winning numbers are: 8, 11, 16, 18, 20, 46 and bonus number 40. The owner of the winning Lotto Plus 1 shop, Jimmy Barclay, said he was delighted to hear his shop had sold another big National Lottery ticket. This is great news we cant believe it. This is a very small town and to have sold a Lotto Plus 1 and a EuroMillions Plus winning ticket within a few months is brilliant. He said there is a lot of passing traffic through the town, especially at weekends, so it could be anybody. We are only six miles from the border and get a lot of visitors so who knows. Whoever it is we are thrilled for them. In February Barclays shop sold a EuroMillions Plus winning ticket won by 84-year-old retired farmer, Charlie Meehan, from Manorcunningham. Charlie, who decided to go public with his win, revealed he was in recovery from cancer and declared at the time he was going to enjoy his winnings with his family. A National Lottery spokesperson said today: What are the odds. Three big wins in a few months in a small town. What a great day it is for Barclays newsagents. We are thrilled for the locals in Raphoe and urge everybody to check their tickets to see if they are Irelands newsest Lotto millionaire. Cabinet minister Finian McGrath has made the astonishing claim that gardai have become politicised and are carrying out unnecessary roadside breathalyser checks because they oppose new road safety laws. In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Mr McGrath says the implementation of controversial drink- driving laws by gardai has been "really over the top" and suggests that this is part of an "agenda" within the force to damage the Government. The Minister of State for Disability Issues even calls on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to intervene and "de-politicise" the country's police force as part of his ongoing reforms of An Garda Siochana. "A police force - like teachers, nurses - guards should always be non-political," Mr McGrath says. "I would like Drew Harris now, as part of the reforms we have, to de-politicise anything like that in a police force." Mr McGrath says he has received complaints about gardai breathalysing parents picking up their children from school and on the way to Mass on Sunday mornings. "To me, the breathalysing time should be at pub closing time between 12 o'clock and 2am in the morning. That's where the focus should be, so I don't know what agenda is going on there," he adds. The extraordinary comments follow ongoing tensions within the Government over the enactment of strict new road safety laws introduced by Transport Minister Shane Ross. Expand Close Stock image / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stock image The road traffic legislation introduced an automatic three-month driving ban for first-time offenders caught over the limit. Before the law was enacted, motorists caught drink-driving were given three penalty points but no ban for their first offence. Road safety legislation banning unaccompanied learner drivers from driving was also bitterly resisted by government and opposition TDs before it was signed into law last year. Mr McGrath claims gardai are now specifically blaming Mr Ross for the new laws when they are stopping motorists at checkpoints. "If you're a public servant, you're working and you're paid by the State and you're paid by the taxpayer, you stay out of any subtle kind of thing whether it is a garda checkpoint saying 'oh I blame that Shane Ross, that's his fault'," he says. "That is being said at checkpoints. That's not good enough. That would not be tolerated in any other profession." Asked if he believes gardai are doing this because they are unhappy with the new laws, Mr McGrath says: "I think they are trying to make a point and they are not happy about it [the laws]. "The law is there, implement the law, you're a civil servant, you're a public servant, get on with it some of them don't like the law, yes, I suspect that's part of the angle and they are saying 'well blame the Government' and I don't like that." Mr McGrath says TDs from Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein have told him they have heard reports of gardai blaming Mr Ross and the Government for roadside breathalyser tests. Mr McGrath also takes aim at Fine Gael ministers and TDs who he says are using Mr Ross as a "fall guy" for concerns raised by people living in rural Ireland. "Government ministers and backbenchers should cop on to themselves," he says. "It's a collective group of Independents and Fine Gael in government and it's not one person who's responsible for the problems in rural Ireland. "I think that he's a very easy fall guy and I think that Shane is being used by some of them as a battering ram and I don't like that. "I think it's very unfair and it's been spun by some within our own Government and also some of the opposition party, so I don't think it's fair and we're doing our best for rural Ireland." Mr McGrath says the Government had to "bite the bullet" and push through Mr Ross's laws on drink-driving and unaccompanied learner drivers despite the move meeting resistance in some parts of the country. Speaking this morning, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said that Mr McGrath's comments were "bewildering and bizarre". "Allegations of 'political policing' are unwise, even dangerous," Mr Flanagan added. Fine Gael junior minister Patrick O'Donovan joined Mr Flanagan in branding Mr McGrath's comments as "bizarre" and adding that he found them "absolutely unbelievable". He told RTE that Mr McGrath should reflect on his remarks and ultimately withdraw them. Separately, Mr McGrath says there are not enough gardai on the streets in Dublin and people in his constituency are being "tormented every night by anti-social behaviour". "They want to see a cop or two walking around the area and that is not happening and we have more guards than we ever had before. That is the issue. "There has to be a radical restructuring and management of the garda has to up its game as far as I am concerned," he says. Reuters | Mar. 29, 2019 A lawsuit against Boeing Co was filed in US federal court on Thursday in what appeared to be the first suit over a March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people. The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, and alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide following the Ethiopian Airlines disaster, which came five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people. Boeing said on Wednesday it had reprogrammed software on its 737 MAX to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that is facing mounting scrutiny in the wake of two deadly nose-down crashes in the past five months. The planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents, in Indonesia last October, would only do so once per event after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control. The crash of Boeing's passenger jet in Ethiopia raised the chances that families of the victims, even non-US residents, will be able to sue in US courts, where payouts are much larger than in other countries, some legal experts have said. Wednesday's complaint was filed by Musoni's three minor children, who are Dutch citizens residing in Belgium. The lawsuit says Boeing failed to warn the public, airlines and pilots of the airplane's allegedly erroneous sensors, causing the aircraft to dive automatically and uncontrollably. Ethiopian officials and some analysts have said the Ethiopian Airlines jet behaved in a similar pattern as the 737 MAX involved in October's Lion Air disaster. The investigation into the March crash, which is being led by the Ethiopian Transport Ministry, is still at an early stage. Finian McGrath: I could retire, yeah. But I love the day job. Id be delighted to be here at 70. Photo: Mark Condren You generally hear Finian McGrath before you see him. His bellowing laugh can be heard bouncing off the walls as he makes his way through Government Buildings, exchanging greetings with everyone he meets. Before he entered his ministerial office last Thursday afternoon, he laughed and told Junior Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran to "stop plamasing" as he agreed to attend the launch of a Government initiative. He rummaged around in his briefcase before the interview began and produced a list of projects and investments he secured during his three years in office. It included 11m for a new cystic fibrosis unit in Beaumont Hospital, 5.95m for a new kidney unit, 167m for HSE disability services, 10m for extending medical cards to 10,000 children and 10m for respite care. The list goes on. The same one-page document was distributed to Independent Alliance councillors who attended a dinner event the previous night in Leinster House. There were 22 of them, believe it or not. McGrath said the group will field 30 candidates in the local elections. "The message we're sending out is basically we're saying, listen, if we could get four or five of you guys elected on top of us [in a general election], that would be eight or nine and that would be a substantial block for the next Government," he said. He accepted the Independent vote had plummeted since the historic 2016 General Election, but added: "Sure, when you're in Government you always c**k up at some time. That's reality." However, he was not convinced the Dail will be stripped of Independent voices when the country next votes. He said the Alliance showed they were "radical but responsible" in entering Government with Fine Gael. "We're saying to people on the doors, 'do you want an Independent who is going to do a deal and serve in Government or do you want an Independent who's going to whinge on the sidelines?'" He said "deep down", Fianna Fail and Fine Gael know they will have to rely on Independents to form the next Government. "And that, on the last week or two of a campaign, could push us up another bit because you're relevant to the debate," he added. Would he have an ideological objection to doing business with either Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald or Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin? "No, I'd do a deal with the devil," he said, before breaking into laughter and adding: "there's your headline". "You see, historically, I'm the only Independent TD that's done a deal with four different taoisigh - I did a deal with Bertie, I did a deal with Brian Cowen, I served in Government with Enda Kenny and I served in Government with Leo," he added. He said the current Taoiseach knows his red lines - disability funding and additional services at Beaumont Hospital - and he insisted that if he's "doubled crossed" by Leo Varadkar, he will walk away without any discussion. He would prefer if the general election was next year but believed it will probably be this coming autumn. "If there was momentum there, I could see Fianna Fail calling it in the autumn but I do know from talking to Fianna Failers over the last few days, they're also conscious of the fact that they don't want to be blamed for causing an election." He'd be happy to remain Disability Minister in the next Cabinet but was also open to the Health and Social Protection portfolios. On the housing crisis, he said builders have told him privately they were not building domestic homes because there was more money to be made working on state capital projects because they were "much easier, they're less hassle and there's more profit". At a Cabinet meeting last year, he accused Fine Gael ministers of "looking down their noses" at social housing but, while refusing to comment on the confidential discussion, he said the party's "mindset has changed over the last year". He insisted Fine Gael was not spinning homeless figures and there was a "constant flow" of people coming into his constituency office looking for housing. McGrath said, "people are afraid to say it" but he insisted some people were "gaming the system" by claiming homelessness to be bumped up the housing list. "I'm not saying it's a huge issue, but it's there as an issue and it's unfair to those who are waiting around for five, six or seven years," he said. McGrath said working couples are even asking him, should they go on the social housing list because they can't find accommodation? "I have working couples coming into my clinics and they're talking about going on the social housing list - we have to accommodate them and let them go for their house so it takes the pressure off the social housing list. "They want to buy, they have a low salary, a combined salary of 60k let's say, that's the situation, those people should be facilitated," he said. The minister believed that there should be more "flexibility" around the Central Bank mortgage rules to allow more first-time buyers to get on the property ladder. "Without going over the top, there will have to be some sort of flexibility to give reliable people who have a job but mightn't be on a high income - but it's a stable income... we need to give them a break." McGrath was supportive of his Fine Gael Government colleagues - Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy and Health Minister Simon Harris who, he said, were doing "their best in a bad situation". However, he was furious with Fine Gael ministers and TDs who were using Transport Minister Shane Ross as a "fall guy" for concerns raised by people living in rural Ireland. "Government ministers and backbenchers should cop on to themselves. It's a collective group of Independents and Fine Gael in Government and it's not one person who's responsible for the problems in rural Ireland. I think that he's a very easy fall guy and I think that Shane is being used by some of them as a battering-ram and I don't like that. "I think it's very unfair and it's been spun by some within our own Government and also some of the Opposition party, so I don't think it's fair and we're doing our best for rural Ireland," he added. McGrath believed the Government had to "bite the bullet" and push through Ross's laws on drink-driving and unaccompanied learner drivers despite resistance in some parts of the country. However, the minister also believed Garda enforcement of the new legislation had been "really over the top" and made the extraordinary claim - in comments he has since withdrawn - that there was a political agenda among some members of the force who were unhappy with the road safety laws. "I'm getting complaints around the country that they are breathalysing people at 2pm in the day. To me, the breathalysing time should be at pub closing time between 12 o'clock and 2 in the morning. That's where the focus should be so I don't know what agenda is going on there," he said. Does he think some gardai are opposed to the new laws? "I think they have an issue and that I feel uncomfortable about. The law is there to implement - you're a civil servant, you're a public servant, get on with it. Some of them don't like the law, yes, I suspect that's part of the angle and they are saying 'well, blame the Government' and I don't like that." He claimed gardai are specifically telling motorists that Shane Ross was to blame for roadside check points. "I would like Drew Harris now, as part of the reforms we have, to de-politicise anything like that in a police force. A police force - like teachers, nurses - guards should always be non-political. That would not be tolerated in any other profession," he said. Mr McGrath has since said he was "wrong" to suggest that Gardai have become politicised in the wake of the government's drink-driving crackdown He insisted progress was being made on a Programme for Government commitment to recognise the state of Palestine despite international resistance. "It should be going quicker and I think we will see movement in the next couple of weeks," he said. It came after a slap-down from justice minister Charlie Flanagan, who labelled Mr McGrath's remarks as "bizarre", "unwise" and "even dangerous". Mr McGrath, an Independent Alliance junior minister released a statement saying he is withdrawing his comments which he made in an interview with the Sunday Independent. He said: Nobody is more supportive of the work An Garda Siochana does - often in tough circumstances- than I am. "My comments in this morning's Sunday Independent were prompted by concerns raised with me over the past number of weeks. "I acknowledge that these concerns were wrong and I am happy to withdraw my comments. "I am also happy to state that I have full confidence in An Garda Siochana and that I was wrong to suggest there was any element of politicising within the Force over the new drink driving regulations." The 65-year-old minister, who was just back from a State visit to Mexico and Cuba, said he had no intention of quitting politics any time soon. "I could retire, yeah. But I love the day job. I'd be delighted to be here at 70. I love my day job, I love being a minister. I will stay in the job as long as I get that buzz," he concluded. TRIBUTE: Left, Robert Byrnes funeral cortege in Limerick, with several British soldiers saluting in the background. The Volunteers who went to rescue him reported that Byrne was shot in his hospital bed by the RIC at point blank, killed in accordance with what was RIC policy that prisoners were to be shot rather than be permitted to escape The centenary of the death of the first Irish Volunteer killed in fighting in the War of Independence will be commemorated this Saturday. Robert 'Bobby' Byrne was a patient in a hospital ward when he was shot during a daring attempt by comrades to free him from the custody of five armed policemen and a prison officer. One of the RIC constables was shot dead and another policeman seriously wounded at the Union Workhouse hospital (now Saint Camillus Hospital) on Shelbourne Road in Limerick on April 6, 1919. Byrne, bleeding from his wounds, escaped the hospital with IRA volunteers but died that night in a house two miles away in Knockalisheen, Meelick, Co Clare. In the aftermath of the dramatic event, Limerick was placed under a form of martial law known as a 'Special Military Area'. The trade union movement in the city reacted to army control by starting a 'General Strike against British militarism'. The strike became renowned as 'The Limerick Soviet' and lasted two weeks. The centenary event this Saturday will be held at a monument to Byrne at Knockalisheen. A number of people in Irish Volunteer uniforms from the War of Independence period will attend, a piper will play a lament, there will be wreath laying. MC Cathal Crowe, a local Fianna Fail councillor, said that while local members of all the main political parties will attend, it will be a non-political community event, organised by the Meelick-Parteen and Cratloe War of Independence Commemoration Committee. Local Fine Gael supporter Johnny White said: "It's an important centenary. We were always aware that the first Irish volunteer killed in action in the War of Independence had died in our parish." Local historian and author Dr Padraig Og O Ruairc, who will deliver an oration, told the Sunday Independent that Byrne (28) was president of the Limerick branch of the Post Office Clerk's Trade Union and was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of the then IRA's Limerick Brigade. Born in Dublin, he grew up in Limerick. He was arrested after guns were found in the family home in January, 1919. He and other republican prisoners went on hunger strike in Limerick Prison seeking political status.When his health began to deteriorate, he was transferred to hospital. A plan to free him was activated when two armed IRA Volunteers and more than 20 unarmed Volunteers entered the hospital and went to the ward where Byrne was kept. Michael 'Batty' Stack, armed with a revolver, signalled for his comrades to overpower the policemen and prison warder. Constables Martin O'Brien and James Spillane managed to draw their guns. In the desperate struggles that followed, Constable Spillane jumped on Byrne as he began to get out of bed. Byrne received a gunshot wound to the chest. Then Stack shot Spillane Bullets were flying in the violent melee, hitting the walls and one ricochet damaged a Child of Prague statue nearby. Amid the commotion, patients, visitors and hospital staff ran for cover. Volunteers struggled to overpower the remaining policemen. Constable O'Brien, drew his gun but was shot and died shortly afterwards. Byrne was helped down the stairs and out of the hospital by two comrades who commandeered a pony and trap near the hospital. He was taken to the house of the owners of the trap, John Ryan and his wife Margaret, who lived at Knockalisheen. Though he received medical attention, he died in the Ryan home that night. His funeral at Saint John's Cathedral in Limerick was one of the biggest in the city. Thousands of people, local dignitaries, and even British troops lined the route as a military aircraft patrolled overhead. A small park in Limerick is named in his honour. Constable O'Brien received a large funeral in his home town of Birr in Co Offaly. Dr O'Ruairc said Saturday's commemoration marked a significant event in the fight for Irish independence. Former U2 manager Paul McGuinness believes his TV series Riviera has proved a massive hit because of the public's fascination with how the other half live. "People like to think that they are getting a glimpse of what's on the other side of the big wall," he told the Sunday Independent. "I think it is a natural human instinct - a vicarious pleasure for what is voyeuristic. I mean, look at what happened to Jeff Bezos and the National Enquirer - that is an amazing story." After 35 years helping to position U2 as the biggest rock band in the world, McGuinness is no stranger to money himself. Worth more than 140m, he takes a philosophical view: "I have tried life with money and life without money. I remember being very broke, and I prefer to have money," he muses. Although, he adds: "Everyone knows money doesn't necessarily make you happy. There are a lot of miserable rich people. I'd like to think I'm not one of them." Now at the helm of Sky's most successful original series, he has peppered the 10 one-hour episodes with super- yachts, sprawling mansions and sweeping scenes of the Riviera. And with a 40m budget, he says: "Every frame looks like money to me. "It is a very healthy budget," he adds, "but we use it very carefully. I think at the end of the day the money is on the screen. The audience do not feel we squandered it." He recalls advice from his friend John Boorman, who said film and television-making "is not as complicated as some people think". He told McGuinness: "All we are doing here is turning money into light and light back into money and if we have more money than we started out with, we get to do it again." Asked if there is a lot of sex in the new series, McGuinness smiles: "Yes, there is. More than sex, there is a lot of adultery. But actual nakedness, we don't do it gratuitously." It is well documented that the introduction of some of the raunchier scenes caused Neil Jordan particular annoyance. After walking away from the production with John Banville in series one, he explained: "There were various sexual scenes introduced into the story and a lot of very expository dialogue. I objected in the strongest terms possible." But McGuinness is keeping tight-lipped about Jordan and Banville's involvement in the show. "I have agreed not to talk about that because there was a certain amount of legal activity," he explains. However, he does seem to have mended bridges with the Booker Prize-winning author. "I had a drink with John the other day," he says. But asked if he still keeps in touch with Jordan, he replies: "I am not going to talk about it." After initially helping to create the drama, Jordan told the media he wanted nothing to do with the project. The director revealed the episodes he wrote were changed, despite his staunch objections and that he had planned for a much darker drama. But McGuinness seems unfazed by the departure, given the phenomenal success of season one, and says: "I am very happy with the writing [now that] season two is complete and I think it is much better than season one. "I think we had better writers. Some of the writers were the same as on season one and we kind of knew better the world we had invented - the locations, the yachts, the characters, the mood of the piece - and even though we were introducing new characters, we were able to build on what we had before." The first season of Riviera was Sky's most successful original commission with an audience of 2.3 million per episode and more than 20 million downloads. The second season will see Julia Stiles return as American art curator Georgina Clios, but a host of new faces will be soaking up the sun and intrigue, including Arrested Development star Will Arnett, Truly, Madly, Deeply actress Juliet Stevenson and Poppy Delevingne, who had parts in Kingsman 2 and King Arthur. 'The past week The New York Times dedicated an entire article to the humble garment known as "leggings"' A mother of four sons in the US has gone viral for her stance on women wearing leggings. Maryann White wrote an open letter titled 'The Leggings Problem' in Notre Dame's student newspaper imploring the young women on campus to stop wearing leggings. She argues that it is difficult for her to teach her sons to have respect for women when they wear leggings which she says "expose their nether regions". "Im not trying to insult anyone or infringe upon anyones rights. Im just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings," she writes. Maryann refers to a visit her family made to Mass where a group of young women were wearing "very snug-fitting leggings" and "short-waisted tops" with some of them looking "as though the leggings had been painted on them." "A world in which women continue to be depicted as babes by movies, video games, music videos, etc. makes it hard on Catholic mothers to teach their sons that women are someones daughters and sisters. That women should be viewed first as people and all people should be considered with respect," she writes. "I talk to my sons about Princess Leia and how Jabba the Hutt tried to steal her personhood by putting her into a slave girl outfit in which her body became the focus. (Thats the only scene in the whole franchise in which Leia appears in such a way and its forced upon her.)" She concedes that leggings are "hardly slave girl outfits" but asked why women would choose to "voluntarily expose their nether regions" in them, adding that she was "ashamed for the young women at Mass". She continues, "I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldnt help but see their behinds. My sons know better than to ogle a womans body certainly when Im around (and hopefully, also when Im not). They didnt stare, and they didnt comment afterwards. "But you couldnt help but see those blackly naked rear ends. I didnt want to see them but they were unavoidable. How much more difficult for young guys to ignore them." Maryann states that she feels this way not just for her sons but all the other men in our lives. "Im fretting both because of unsavory guys who are looking at you creepily and nice guys who are doing everything to avoid looking at you. For the Catholic mothers who want to find a blanket to lovingly cover your nakedness and protect you and to find scarves to tie over the eyes of their sons to protect them from you!" she wrote. She concluded by asking the women to choose jeans over leggings. Critics of the letter have accused Maryann of contributing to rape culture with the assumption that women are responsible for men's reactions and behaviour. Shane Combs, a male senior student wrote a letter in response, stating that the young women should not be "seen as shamefully exposing themselves for voluntarily wearing whatever they find most comfortable or functional." He added, "The men here ought to know by now how to behave towards their female classmates. For the fleeting few that might not, the fault is entirely their own. No woman should be responsible to alter her dress so men might be aided in behaving appropriately." Another reader commented, "Men and boys need to learn to restrain themselves in the world, to control their impulses, to learn that the world will not be perfectly paved in front of them and may not be 'legging-free'. "And at the very least, all men need to view women as human beings deserving of respect regardless of any fashion choice a woman decides to choose. Stop blaming women for the thoughts in your head or your perceived thoughts in the heads of others." It's not the first time leggings have sparked debate. In 2017 United Airlines prevented two girls who were wearing leggings from boarding a plane and last year a female writer in the New York Times said that women wear leggings because they are sexy and should be wearing tracksuit bottoms instead. BBC prsenter Alex Jones has revealed that she hosted 'The One Show' just an hour after learning she had suffered a missed miscarriage. The 42-year-old star, who is mother to Teddy (2) with husband Charlie Thomson and is currently seven months pregnant, learned she was pregnant while in New Zealand over the festive period on 2017. Expand Close Alex Jones announced that she is pregnant with her second baby before Christmas (Ian West/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alex Jones announced that she is pregnant with her second baby before Christmas (Ian West/PA) However, when she returned to the UK she went for a private ultrasound scan and was told that the baby had "stopped developing". "We learnt the baby didn't have a heartbeat," she told The Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine. "I was around 14 weeks, which is a decent amount of time. The baby had stopped developing at about nine weeks. That was really hard. It hit us like a ton of bricks. Expand Close Alex Jones attends the After Party dinner for the House of Fraser British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) at The Grosvenor House Hotel on May 10, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alex Jones attends the After Party dinner for the House of Fraser British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) at The Grosvenor House Hotel on May 10, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images) "It's really odd. You're in that room looking for answers that you're never going to get. You're thinking, have I done something wrong? What did I do differently? Was it because we flew a long way? Was I too stressed? Was I putting too much pressure on myself?' " Alex confided in her boss, who told her to take time off but she insisted on going back on air that evening. "I said, 'What else am I going to do?' It's a horrible feeling because it is so empty. There's nothing to say. It's done.' " Six months after her miscarriage, the Welsh presenter became pregnant again but she revealed that she "couldn't enjoy" it for a long time and hasn't been able to "relax" in case something goes wrong again. "It was completely different. You don't let yourself relax. I couldn't enjoy it for a long time and didn't tell anyone for ages," she said. A model of a city at the Cool Planet Experience at Powerscourt in Co. Wicklow. Photo: Damien Eagers Richard Branson cutting the ribbon on the Cool Planet Experience at Powerscourt Transition year students Eleanor Grennan (15) and Eva Whelan (15) from Loreto Abbey in Dalkey view a model of the earth at the Cool Planet Experience. Photo: Damien Eagers Wicklow's Cool Planet Experience has seen visitors pledge to save the equivalent of over 1.4 million trees in the past year, it says. The interactive climate change experience, located within the Powerscourt Estate, shared the news to celebrate its first anniversary. Guests at the attraction take part in interactive games, competitions and exhibits designed to inform about the realities of climate change. The message is a hard-hitting one, with visitors encouraged to calculate their carbon footprint as they enter and become Agents of Change as they leave - pledging to cut back on red meat, for example, or reduce their long-haul travel. In the past year, visitors promised to reduce their carbon footprint by 25pc - a cumulative 30,000 tonnes or the equivalent of saving over 1.4 million trees, it says. Children have taken the lead - pledging to reduce their carbon footprints by 25pc, records show, while adults lag a little behind on 22pc. Expand Close Richard Branson cutting the ribbon on the Cool Planet Experience at Powerscourt / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Richard Branson cutting the ribbon on the Cool Planet Experience at Powerscourt Year one at Cool Planet has been incredible, said CEO, Vicky Brown What is especially exciting is our results are supporting the findings of the citizens assembly on climate change. Once people understand the evidence and changes required to address global warming, they are willing to play their part, and to make the necessary lifestyle changes." Cool Planet is the brainchild of entrepreneur and owner of Crowley Carbon, Norman Crowley, along with Sarah Slazenger, the Powerscourt Estate's custodian. Its ribbon was cut by Richard Branson last year, and the attraction has also been shortlisted for a European Museum of the Year Award. Entry costs 9.50/5.50 (a 20pc discount is available online up to March 31 using the code WeAre1). See coolplanetexperience.org for more. Read more: Dog's Bay, Connemara: Just a couple of kilometres from the village of Roundstone on the Ballyconneely Peninsula you'll find two of the sweetest beaches on the Wild Atlantic way lying back to back. Both Dog's Bay and Gurteen Bay are good for walking and swimming, but it's the snow-white sands of the former that do it for us. "Have you forgotten how to drive, Mum?" Nicole piped up. I had, in a way. We were driving from Santa Monica to the Hollywood Hills, and it had been a while since I'd driven an automatic car - so the first kilometre of our journey was taken on kangaroo juice. Fortunately, I remembered to use my right foot to break before reaching the five-lane freeway. After that? I put the wrong Hollywood into the GPS. We ended up at Hollywood Dry Cleaners in east LA instead of Universal Studios. Time passes too quickly. Today, my daughter is 15. My son, Mark, is 18. How did that happen? Mothers will always look back on these whirlwind years with mixed emotions. But as a travel writer, one of the decisions I am happiest with is to have travelled with my two kids. On long, winter nights in Dublin, those trips provide some of our fondest memories. GPS screw-ups in the US are just the start. We've travelled as a trio on cultural trips, such as a cruise in the Baltics. Our stroll through the Amber Room at Russia's Catherine Palace was more memorable for the photobombing of other tourists and strange cheese sandwich in the canteen. Our visit to the Guggenheim in Bilbao was completely overshadowed by the giant puppy made entirely of flowers that sits outside the museum. On one of our most recent trips, Mark and I visited an elephant sanctuary near Chiang Mai, Thailand. There we made homoeopathic medicine for the geriatric elephants and washed the babies in the nursery. I was learning as he was. The fun continued afterwards as we zip-lined through the jungle, over paddy fields and tree tops. Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Washington Monument Family time: Michelle with son Mark and daughter Nicole Cycing at the lake in Toronto. CREDIT Michelle Jackson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Washington Monument America has been good to us. A solo trip with Mark to Washington DC saw us enjoy superb views of the Washington Monument from our room at the W hotel, and a 'Bike and Roll Tour' through the Presidents' Memorials gave him a history lesson that helped him through his studies in secondary school. Then there was eight-year-old Nicole's adventure on a Barbie cruise with Royal Caribbean. Would it turn her into a diva? In the end, she wallowed in the experience and made so many friends, I had difficulty getting her off the ship on port days. The diva thing wasn't an issue until we landed in New York to celebrate her 10th birthday. That was a trip carved out of my own most girly desires - from the American Girl store to Mamma Mia! on Broadway and the Top of the Rock observatory atop of the Rockefeller Center. Then there was the shopping. "I could live here, Mum!" she said. Travel has made them brave. Recently, we went on a group tour to China. To navigate the turnstiles of the Beijing underground at rush hour is a skill in itself. But to walk on the Great Wall of China is a bucket-list adventure. We walked a small part of the wall at Bandaling during autumn, as orange leaves blew in the dramatic light. Being there with my children truly enhanced the experience. What makes travel different to other experiences we share with our kids? It's the opportunity to see the world with new eyes. While travelling, Mark, Nicole and I have learnt acceptance and appreciation of different cultures and customs. Travel has educated us in learning about new foods and extended their tolerance of new flavours. They've pushed me out of my comfort zone, too. I'm not sure I'd have zipped around a glacier on a snowmobile without them! Most importantly, as a mother, travel has offered us the privilege to enjoy these experiences without the interruptions of daily life. And to enjoy them together. You don't have to travel far to enjoy a memorable experience, of course. I had never been to Northern Ireland before taking my kids on a trip to Titanic Belfast. We had most fun in the restored tender, SS Nomadic. Once, this boat carried guests to the ill-fated ship; today, it's a permanent interactive museum in the Titanic Quarter, where the kids dressed up in period costumes. I have to mention the laughs we had when we saw a genuine Crapper & Co. toilet, too... Ireland is full of natural beauty and when the weather is good, it's difficult to beat as a destination. During one of our recent glorious summers, we went to Dog's Bay Beach (below) in Connemara. Nicole assured me it was warmer than Portugal. The knowledge my children have gained from travel is immense. They know what is essential to pack and what to leave at home; they can navigate any departures board and change terminal with aplomb. They can spot our luggage before it hits the carousel and waste no time finding bus timetables while navigating their way around a new city. Travel has given them confidence and an interest in life that I hope will take them to wonderful places and experiences in the future. Do I regret any of our trips? Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Dog's Bay, Connemara: Just a couple of kilometres from the village of Roundstone on the Ballyconneely Peninsula you'll find two of the sweetest beaches on the Wild Atlantic way lying back to back. Both Dog's Bay and Gurteen Bay are good for walking and swimming, but it's the snow-white sands of the former that do it for us. Cycing at the lake in Toronto. CREDIT Michelle Jackson Family time: Michelle with son Mark and daughter Nicole The Washington Monument / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dog's Bay, Connemara: Just a couple of kilometres from the village of Roundstone on the Ballyconneely Peninsula you'll find two of the sweetest beaches on the Wild Atlantic way lying back to back. Both Dog's Bay and Gurteen Bay are good for walking and swimming, but it's the snow-white sands of the former that do it for us. Not for a single moment. But if I was able to change one thing, it would be to go to Lapland when the children were small. Yes, time passes quickly. Purchases get made for the house and the car, and some opportunities just pass you by. Then again, it's something that they can do with their own children when they grow up. Enjoy your time together. Memories are made of experiences shared with those that we love. Read more from Michelle at thenoveltraveller.com. What to pack Take spare clothes in cabin bags in case of luggage delays; download movies onto devices before take-off; a pack of cards is great fun (and an ice-breaker with new friends); and save space by buying cheap towels at your destination. 3 Top tips 1. Check in with a travel agent - they know the best family operators and can do bespoke trips. All-inclusive or half-board resorts can help control food costs, as can cruises - a good way to see several new places on a single trip. 2. City passes are good value - offering discounts and shorter queues. A hop-on-hop-off bus tour will help you get your bearings in a city. And don't forget to pre-book big attractions. 3. Make a diary, and write down funny things the kids say and special places you've been. Collecting photos into a book can make a great surprise gift after the trip. Read more: Yesterday was Mother's Day. What do you think about when you think about the day? For a lot of people, it's "God, I must remember to get mam a card give her a call bring her out for lunch", or - judging from the presents on sale in supermarkets - buy her a Kenny Rogers CD and something pink and flowery. For many of us who are mothers, it's the half expectation we'll get some room-temperature, corn flakes slopped over our duvet this morning and perhaps something made of modelling clay. I think a lot of people see it as a perfunctory 'Hallmark' holiday that gives us a nudge to do something nice for mothers or as an excuse, as mothers, to put our feet up for the day. But what if that's not how you see it? What if that casual nod towards motherhood that so many of us make today is far more complicated? What then? Mother's Day is difficult for huge numbers of people. Many of us have lost our mothers. Some recently. Some long ago - but the death of your mum is generally not something you get over quickly or easily. Expand Close Motherhood is not a passive, sweet state. It is complicated, powerful, sometimes deeply riven / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Motherhood is not a passive, sweet state. It is complicated, powerful, sometimes deeply riven British MP Matt Warman, who lost his mum at 27, has called for an ability to opt out of targeted ads about Mother's Day on social media, in case they exacerbate people's grief and I fully understand that. But there are also those of us who - even though Mother's Day dredges up some degree of sadness - like the occasion to pause and reflect on our loss. There are times when grief gives you a sense of connection to the person that's died - you actually welcome the feeling for a bit. Or, what if you desperately long to be a mother but it isn't to be? Infertility is a real issue for so many Irish couples today. The stress, the expense, the medical interventions are all incredibly difficult to deal with but the worst part of all is the loss - or the fear of the loss - of a future that includes much-longed-for children. The yearning to have a child is almost visceral and can be so all-consuming that not having one is like a pain you carry in your chest every day, no matter what you are doing, where you are, who you are with. Read More The celebration of motherhood yesterday, when you have been excluded from that club, is extremely hard. And yesterday there were many who gritted their teeth and were glad that today came. Miscarriage is another invisible grief that Mother's Day makes tougher - particularly if you have no other children. There are women whom you know who have lost a baby and who feel like a mother to a child that's not living, but nobody recognises them as such. How do they approach or deal with their version of motherhood today? And perhaps one of the hardest roads of all is being a child of a mother you don't get on with. Not every mother is a good mother. Some are unloving, hard, cruel even. And sometimes they're actually that way to only one child in the family - the whipping boy. How hard is it to process - in a world that tells you that no one will ever love you like your mum - that your mum doesn't love you? That your mum doesn't care that she's hurt you time and time again. That no matter how many times you try to make her see what she's doing to you or how many times you try to get her to value your love for her - it doesn't make any difference. What if you haven't lost your mum through death, you've had to cut her out of your life as self-preservation? What if she gave you up but had other children? How do you reconcile that experience of motherhood with the saccharine, sanitised version lauded today? And maybe, lastly, spare a thought for those mothers who are struggling to come to terms with being a mother in the first place. We imbue the role with such weight and importance, it can be overwhelming to take up the job. All over the country today, there are some new mothers who are scared of being the mother to their children. Scared they aren't good enough - they don't deserve this happiness. Scared to love them. Scared they will be found out as being less than perfect. Scared they're going to mess it up. Mess their kids up. Maybe even lose them. Motherhood is a heady mix of fear, love, joy, pain, hope, rage and exhaustion. It's hard to distill that into a verse in a card and, if you could, I suspect a Bengal tiger on the front would be more appropriate than pink hearts and flowers. Motherhood is not a passive, sweet state. It is complicated, powerful, sometimes deeply riven. So to all and any who are mothers, have mothers, have lost mothers, discarded mothers or want to be mothers, I'm was thinking of you on Mother's Day. We are not all the same but we share common - sometimes frayed, sometimes broken -bonds, all of which are worth celebrating in our different ways today. @ciarakellydoc Ciara presents 'Lunchtime Live' on Newstalk, weekdays 12-2pm By Stine Jacobsen, Tommy Lund, Reuters | Mar. 28, 2019 Iceland's WOW air became the latest budget airline casualty on Thursday, halting operations and cancelling all future flights after efforts to raise more funds failed. WOW, which focused on low-cost travel across the Atlantic, advised stranded travelers to seek flights with other airlines. It flew a total of 3.5 million passengers last year. "This is probably the hardest thing I have ever done but the reality is that we have run out of time and have unfortunately not been able to secure the funding of the company," WOW CEO and founder Skuli Mogensen wrote in a letter to the company's 1,000 employees. "I will never be able to forgive myself for not taking action sooner," he added. WOW had earlier postponed flights on Thursday as it entered what it had hoped were the final stages of an equity raising with a group of investors. "My flight from Boston has been canceled. Having a hard time getting through to anyone on the phone. Can you help me at all?" Twitter user Marc Solari wrote. WOW replied with an apology and offer of further assistance. WOW is the latest budget airline to collapse as the European airline sector grapples with over-capacity and high fuel costs. Recent failures include Britain's Flybmi, Nordic budget airline Primera Air and Cypriot counterpart Cobalt. "Rescue Fares" Other airlines including, Icelandair, Easyjet and Norwegian stepped in offering discounted 'rescue fares' to stranded passengers, according to the Icelandic Transport Authority WOW has been pursuing different avenues to raise money over the past few months. It ended talks with rival Icelandair last Sunday while veteran low-cost airline investor Bill Franke also had canceled a proposed investment through private equity fund Indigo Partners. Icelandair shares traded up 13 percent at 1215 GMT after the failure of a competitor. Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Mogensen, WOW used smaller single-aisle planes to fly between Iceland and many destinations in the United States and Europe. Its website had advertised flights from London to cities such as New York and Boston for as little as 150 pounds, although the journey went via the Icelandic capital Reykjavik. Norwegian Air has a little over half of the market share in the fast-growing, low-cost, long-haul transatlantic market, while WOW controlled a quarter in 2018. There are fears of a knock-on effect on Iceland's important tourism industry. Around 30 percent of tourists visiting Iceland last year flew with WOW and the collapse could trigger a 16 percent drop in tourists this year, research from Icelandic bank Arion showed. At this stage, we're surely only days away from a charity single, perhaps sung to the tune of that England World Cup song: "She's coming home, she's coming home, Lisa Smith's coming home." And to be clear, the former Air Corps member and Muslim convert, currently being held at a camp in Syria for the wives and children of suspected Isil fighters, has every right to do so. Article 2 of the Constitution declares that "it is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish Nation". The Constitution does state that "loss of citizenship" is a matter for the Dail to decide, but, as far as the legality of Smith's return to Ireland at some point goes, the position seems fairly definitive. International law forbids making a person stateless. Lisa Smith, who left Dundalk in 2015, originally for Morocco, later for war-torn Syria, has no other citizenship to fall back on. Cutting her adrift would simply pass the problem on to someone else. Ireland has to clean up its own mess. She also has a two-year-old daughter, whose welfare must be taken into urgent consideration. Having said that, Article 9 of the Constitution also demands "fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State" as "fundamental political duties of all citizens", and it's open to debate whether leaving the country to live under a foreign force which is hostile to the values on which Ireland is founded abides by the spirit of that requirement, and that's equally important. Right now, it seems that Article 2 is all anybody cares about, and Article 9 is being left by the wayside. The Taoiseach has set the running here, not least with the latest news that the Government is actively seeking ways to bring Lisa Smith home. While strongly denying reports that the government jet is to be sent to pick her up, and despite having no direct contract with the woman herself, three government departments (Foreign Affairs, Defence and Justice) have already held joint meetings to draw up ways to facilitate her return. Why this determination to bend over backwards for her? Last year, Irish consuls helped 344 people arrested abroad, 318 in medical emergencies, and 271 families who'd tragically suffered a bereavement while out of the country; but I doubt any of them was given this red-carpet treatment. The Government doesn't even pick up the cost for the repatriation of remains when innocent Irish people die abroad. The huge costs involved for families led one couple in Northern Ireland to establish a charity in memory of their son, who was knocked down and killed in New York in 2013. The Kevin Bell Repatriation Fund has helped around 500 families since, two thirds from the Irish Republic, one third from the North. There are no high-level government meetings for families in these distressing and stressful circumstances. Quite why the Government is disproportionately exercised about Lisa Smith's welfare is a mystery. It could be a reaction to the UK's treatment of teenager Shamima Begum, who left London for Syria as a schoolgirl to support Isil as a so-called "jihadi bride". Under pressure from a tabloid media campaign, the British Home Secretary Sajid Javid moved quickly to revoke her citizenship, even though, when she left the country, she was at an age when she would be considered to be a victim of online grooming and statutory rape. The same cannot be said of Lisa Smith, who, despite being described by friends as someone who "didn't have a lot of sense", was a grown woman, with experience of the world, yet Ireland seems anxious to prove that it does things differently all the same, and that, unlike the UK, it has no intention of dodging its responsibilities. That's commendable. Up to a point. There's a big difference, though, between doing the right thing and going too far in the other direction. Speaking last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney actually said of Lisa Smith and her child that, while an unusual situation, "we consider her case a consular case" and "like all Irish people, we want to look after them and bring them home". Talking about the need to "look after" Smith was the final straw. Hers is far from being a normal consular case. Some headlines have even talked about drawing up plans to "rescue" her. She is not a hostage such as Brian Keenan. However naive, she made certain choices. While it's right to not prevent her from returning, let's not pretend that she's a victim. The Taoiseach's primary role in this circumstance ought to be to reassure the Irish public that their safety supersedes all other considerations. At his press conference a couple of weeks ago when the news first broke, he rightly stated that there would be a security assessment to see what she'd done while in Syria, and that "it's not just as simple as coming here and proceeding as if nothing had happened." Where he misspoke was in going on to say that preventing her return or removing her citizenship would not be "either the right or compassionate thing to do". Say that she has legal rights, by all means. Say that making political extremists stateless may be a more dangerous course of action. Just please spare us this touchy-feely waffle about compassion. It's all a far cry from the days of Leo's Fine Gael leadership campaign when he vowed that protecting Irish people from terrorism would be one of his top priorities. Was that just PR for the hustings? Once the Cobra-style National Security Committee was launched with bells and whistles, it soon vanished without trace, to be replaced now by fine words about compassion, all delivered in that soft, concerned voice which the Taoiseach likes to adopt when dealing with human interest stories. Rather than projecting authority, his intent seems to have been to project concern, tilting his head and nodding rather than standing up straight and delivering a strong message. Who is he reassuring? Who is the intended audience for these remarks? It's as if he's more focused on avoiding criticism for being unfeeling rather than on laying down a firm red line. Once the word compassion has been deployed, it's meant to end all argument, and it shouldn't. The camp in Syria where Lisa Smith is reportedly being held is, by all accounts, a hellish place, and it's only natural to want to get her child out. But don't infantilise women by treating them as if they're not responsible for their actions. She'll be on The Late, Late Show with her sob story next, if we're not careful. There certainly wouldn't be this much fuss if Smith was a man. Alexandr Bekmirzaev is a Belarus-born naturalised Irish citizen also being held in a camp in Syria on suspicion of belonging to or supporting Isil. He has a wife and Irish-born child too, whose whereabouts are unknown. Where's the campaign for them? Terence MacSwiney is my hero for three reasons: his heroic hunger strike, his hatred of Hibernianism, his noble Principles of Freedom. These idealistic essays, written in the ferment of the foundation of the Irish Volunteers 1912-13, left an indelible mark when I first read them as a young republican in Cork. Principles of Freedom planted the seeds of republican pluralism and prevented me from becoming the kind of Hibernian nationalist who now dominates social media. Like my grandfather Pat Harris, who was arrested with him at City Hall on August 12, 1920, MacSwiney loathed the sectarian Ancient Order of Hibernians. MacSwiney: "This was in effect a sort of Catholic Freemasonry to counter the Orange Freemasonry, but like Orangeism it was a political and not a religious weapon." By 1913 the AOH was active all over the south. As the militant arm of the Irish Parliamentary Party, it was notorious for its mixture of jobbery and thuggery. MacSwiney on its influence: "In Cork it completely controlled the city life for some years, but the rapid rise of the Republican Movement brought about the equally rapid fall of Hibernianism." Pat Harris, in his witness statement to the Bureau of Military History, records how AOH thugs tried to break up the first meeting of the Irish Volunteers on December 14, 1913. A pluralist call for three cheers for the Ulster Volunteers prompted the Hibernians' tribal wrath. Hibernianism has always hovered on the wings of Northern nationalist parties but was rejected by republicans in the south. But a new brand, what I call Posh Hibernianism, has surfaced among well-educated bourgeois bigots in southern media. The old Hibernianism was satisfied with sectarian slurs. Posh Hibernianism holds on to the old AOH taunting but throws in a few more tribal tropes. One of the most malign - and illogical - myths among Posh Hibernians is that unionists are ready to sell out for British gold - but at the same time cannot see a good financial deal staring them in the face. This is strikingly similar to Adolf Hitler's astounding thesis: that the Jews were behind a world conspiracy of both capitalist bankers and Soviet Communists. Likewise, the Posh Hibernians told us that by rejecting the backstop the DUP was turning down a goldmine - but was also mad to do a deal with May for money. Go figure. For two years now, every major commentator in the Republic has remained in deep denial about the following three facts. First, the DUP is not doing its own thing: while some unionists are against Brexit, almost all unionists are anti-backstop. Second, as Dan O'Brien has repeatedly shown, the backstop would mean Northern Ireland leaving the UK's single market and staying in that of the EU. Citizens of Northern Ireland would be basically disenfranchised, subject to laws made at the EU level, but without a vote in European elections. In sum, the backstop creates constitutional fears among most unionists - fears dismissed by Posh Hibernians as if the Provo IRA had never existed. Last week the Posh Hibernians were still telling us two brazen lies. First that the DUP was saying no because it never said anything but no. But the DUP did not say no to Ian Paisley sitting down with Martin McGuinness only a few years after the Provos had stopped killing Protestants. Second, the Posh Hibernians told us the DUP were saying no to May because they were also mindless Tory Brexiteers. But anyone not a raving bigot watching Tommie Gorman's moving interview with Arlene Foster could see her transparent anguish at not being able to vote for Theresa May's deal. Likewise, anyone not a raving bigot would also have to accept that Foster had shown us the fundamental division between the DUP and the Tory Brexiteers. Foster could hardly have put it more plainly: "Some Brexiteers have decided that they're going to support the deal because for them the most important thing is Brexit. For us the most important thing is the union." Last Friday, Nigel Dodds finally nailed the porkies peddled by Posh Hibernians when he flatly said he would rather the UK stayed in the EU than risk the union. Posh Hibernians have no right to sneer at the fears of one million Northern Protestants following the sectarian IRA campaign. Michael Harding, speaking from the heart last week in The Irish Times, showed us why a south Fermanagh woman like Foster might cling to the union at all costs. "In south Fermanagh, Protestants died in school buses, classrooms, and their own back yards, as the gunmen chipped away at the fabric of unionist culture along the Border." Harding also reminded us that the rows in the House of Commons are not signs of decay but of democracy. "And while civility has been scarce at times, the debate has demonstrated the strength and resilience of robust parliamentary institutions and a healthy democratic tradition." Harding is teaching us the same lessons laid down by Terence MacSwiney in Principles of Freedom. As ever, MacSwiney had the tribal and sectarian divisions of our island on his mind when he wrote this plea for humility and forbearance in debate. "Let us, for our salvation, avoid the attitude of the superior person. Don't make sport of others - make it of yourself." And he adds this bit of mordant wisdom: "Ridicule of your neighbour must be largely speculation; of the comedy in yourself there can be no doubt." In the ferment of Cork republicanism, MacSwiney never lost his love of English literature, of Shakespeare and Shelley, nor his sense of why literature should not be a servant to politics, not even nationalist politics. He criticised what he called propagandist plays. "A type of such play is familiar enough in these days when we like to ridicule the West Briton. "We are served up puppets representing the shoneen with a lisp set over against the patriot who says all the proper things suitable to the occasion." Terence MacSwiney would have liked Eddie Naughton's new play, Joxer Daly Esq, which received a standing ovation at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire last Thursday. Although inspired by Sean O'Casey, Joxer Daly Esq is a reimagined person, not so much a lumpen proletarian as a Joycean petit-bourgeois clerk. An alcoholic Mother Courage, brilliantly played by Phelim Drew, he survives the 1913 Lockout, the 1916 Rising, World War I, the War of Independence and finally the Civil War. A true Brechtian anti-hero, he somehow stays human in the midst of all the horrors, making only one modest claim: "History may not record that Joxer Daly did his bit for Ireland - by not doing anything at all." Not doing anything to add to the tribal antagonisms of our little island is the purest form of patriotism at this time. The Taoiseach should do his bit, too - by taking the backstop off the table. King Canute has gone down in legend for sitting on the sea shore and ordering the tide to retreat. Today's politicians have gone one step further by starting a battle with time itself, as the EU Parliament last week adopted a European Commission proposal that all countries in the union should end the practice of putting clocks forward by one hour in spring and back again in autumn. Once agreed by the European Council, it means countries will either have to choose to stay in permanent summer time or winter time. Whichever they choose, they won't be allowed to change the clocks again after 2021. The arguments for and against the proposal are well rehearsed at this stage. Going on permanent summer time means more light in the evening, thereby reducing crime. Criminals love the dark. Figures also show that there are significantly more road accidents in the 24 hours following time shifts, as people's sleep patterns are disrupted. Apparently, switching back and forth also causes more heart attacks, because "the effect on the human biorhythm may be more severe than previously thought". Whatever the practicalities, the decisions are ultimately political in nature, and this one is no different. As far as the EU is concerned, it's about "having harmonised rules to ensure a proper functioning of the internal market". As EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc told the European Parliament last week: "No one wants to see a patchwork of time zones within the EU." That may be overstating the case. Evidence suggests that few people are bothered one way or another. A Europe-wide consultation last year found that 84pc of respondents preferred to end the clock changes and stay on summertime all year round, but there weren't that many responses at all, and 70pc of them came from Germany alone. Perhaps the lesson is that, whatever time zone they're in, people cope. It's just a question of thinking what you grow up with is normal. Everyone is used to the way things are. If it changes, they'll get used to that too, but it's not a burning issue by any stretch of the imagination. China only has one time zone, Beijing Time, despite being more than twice the size of continental Europe, which has three, meaning that in some parts of the country the sun doesn't go down until midnight. That would seem bizarre to us, but presumably the Chinese are managing. Ireland poses a different problem. After 2021, this country may be unique in Europe in having two time zones in the same national territory, one in the Republic, another in the North. This has led to some predictable jokes about Northern Ireland already being hundreds of years behind the rest of the world anyway, so what difference would a few hours here and there make? Joking aside, it would be quite a radical change if Northern Ireland does keep the "spring forward, fall back" principle of adjusting the clocks while the Republic ends it. Clocks would symbolically become partitioned. The problem could be solved by the UK also giving up the habit of changing the clocks twice a year. Many people in Britain have called for such a change for decades. Again, there are arguments for and against. When the UK government of Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson tried an experiment with "double summertime" in the 1970s, putting the clocks forward by two hours in spring instead of one, it meant that northern regions were dark until nearly midday. Scotland was not well pleased, let's put it that way. Assuming that Britain keeps daylight saving time, it means, just when we thought we'd heard all the problems that the Irish Border can cause, it will suddenly become a dividing line between time zones as well. As always in Northern Ireland, these changes are bound to take on political significance. The Taoiseach has told the Dail he "couldn't and wouldn't countenance a situation where Northern Ireland is in a different time zone to the rest of Ireland", though what he can actually do about it is unclear. Maybe he was just expressing his frustration at a potential state of affairs which nationalists and unionists alike have described as absurd. How can Newry and Dundalk be in different time zones when they're just 21km apart? "The whole idea is completely ludicrous," says Ulster Unionists MEP Jim Nicholson. "It just does not make sense." You can say that again. That's why some people are already suggesting that Northern Ireland might get an opt out, allowing it to sync time with the Republic. But who would make that decision? In principle, the Northern Ireland Assembly could have a role in deciding what would happen, but that's a deeply dysfunctional body, and there's no sign that the compromises needed to get Stormont back up and running are anywhere close. There could be a referendum on the issue, but that poses a whole new set of problems. It would simply be a border poll by proxy. Nationalists would want to align with the Irish Republic, and unionists with the UK. The latter would argue that the bulk of trade is with the UK, so being in a different time zone to them doesn't make much sense either, whilst nationalists would argue that it's silly to have people living side-by-side in two time zones. Both are right, but reasoned arguments won't come into it anyway. It will be another standoff between two visions of Northern Ireland. The question will not be: do you wish to continue with daylight saving time? It will be: are you a Fenian or a Prod? As such, it would be a sour taste of things to come in any real referendum on Irish unity. Even if Article 50 was to be revoked, and Brexit put on the long finger or cancelled altogether, that wouldn't solve the problem either, because, were Britain to stay in the EU, it might simply refuse to change the time anyway, so the same problem would arise. The EU rules would say that they can't, but what is Brussels going to do to countries that do it anyway? Kick them out of the EU for crimes against Time? Time zones have been a bone of contention for centuries. It's unlikely that history will stop just because the EU says, Canute-like, that it must. Just one thing is certain. However this problem is eventually resolved, for God's sake don't insist on having a withdrawal agreement to cover any transition period, because we've all had a horrifying vision of where that leads. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY: Mother-of-three Emily Zebia with her youngest child, nine-month-old Pilirani, and all her belongings a small bundle of clothes and a Bible. Until the cuurent floods subside, she will share this tent at Nyachikadza Displacement Camp, Malawi, with 19 other women and children. And then her troubles will really begin. Picture: Gavin Douglas Nothing I had seen or read before I left Ireland could have prepared me for the sheer scale of the destruction which Cyclone Idai and the floodwaters have caused in southern Malawi. The power of the floods were awesome, surging through the low-lying lands, carrying away goats and chickens, tearing down houses, and stripping the lush crops from the fields. Wherever I went around Nsanje, I could see the devastation. Thatched roofs lay on mounds of mud bricks in villages where once there had been family homes. In other cases, there was just the mounds indicating the outline of where a house had once stood. But nowhere was the power of the flooding more striking than last Tuesday when I joined Concern World colleagues assessing the extent of the damage in towns and villages which were still submerged by water. We left in two boats provided by the Malawi Defence Forces, heading south from Nsanje for more than an hour along the Shire river, which runs along the border between Malawi and Mozambique. We passed endless abandoned villages. Only the skeletal remains of wood houses remained, some still sitting in four or five feet of water. It was complete desolation. Whole villages had just been swept away. The region was almost deserted, apart from a small number of men who we met who had returned to start repairing their homes or to fish to feed their families. They spoke about the panic and the rapid evacuation as the floodwaters rose suddenly. Most escaped with just the clothes on their backs and whatever possessions they could carry. Everything else has been lost. "We were happy to see the water rising to help the harvest but we were surprised to see it continue to rise. That's when we had to evacuate our wives and children," explained Fraction Jingeni (71), who we met with his grandson George (17). "We managed to rescue some clothes and kitchen utensils but everything else has been washed away." We met Joseph Fole (72) and son Friday (28), who had returned to their village of Katsume to fish and clean. The rest of the family must wait until the floods subside before they return from the displacement camps. Their entire village was washed away, trees are down, and all that is left are a few damaged buildings. At one stage we got out of our boats and trekked inland for a few kilometres to visit a village. We were knee-deep in mud by the time we got there. Two weeks previously this had been a rich maize field almost ready to harvest. Now it resembled a bog with large streams running through it. There was nothing left on the ground, only soaked earth. There were three men in the village when we got there. They had returned to fish as food is scarce in the displacement camps which are home to thousands of people from this region until the floodwaters subside. Food and shelter are the top priorities for everybody in Nsanje. The previous day I visited the Nyachikadza displacement camp which is now home to many of the people who fled these flooded villages. It currently accommodates more than 11,000 people. Food supplies have not arrived for six days and people are hungry. People wait patiently to share cooking utensils - many have lost their own utensils in the floods. Clean water and sanitation are a major priority in this camp and more than 170 others across southern Malawi. Almost 90,000 Malawians are currently displaced as a result of the floods. Nyachikadza camp has set up beside a school whose facilities are dangerously inappropriate to meet the needs of the huge influx of residents. It has just 20 toilets for 11,000 residents. Concern Worldwide is working to dig more latrines and is liaising with the local Ministry of Health officials to provide safe drinking water. The first cases of cholera were reported in Mozambique last week. There is a real fear of cholera and other water-borne diseases in Malawi. Should these diseases spread among the residents, we will be facing a very different crisis, on a much greater scale. The issue is exacerbated by the overcrowding at the camp. Farmer and mother-of-three, Emily Zebia (23), is currently sharing a tent with 19 other women and children. She arrived at the camp having fled the rapidly rising floodwaters which engulfed her town. She escaped with just her children, a small bundle of clothes and a copy of the Bible. Concern Worldwide is working with staff in the camps to construct latrines and bathrooms and to provide safe water supplies. Last week we commenced distributing emergency kits containing essential items such as plastic sheeting, cooking utensils, mosquito nets and soap. While transporting kits to the worst affected areas is challenging, Concern Worldwide is aiming to provide relief support to 45,000 people in the coming days and weeks. Once the floodwaters subside sufficiently to allow people to return home, we will face a race against the clock to help people to plant a ''winter'' crop. If Malawi's farmers do not plant by April (for a crop which will be ready in June/July) they will have to wait until September/October to plant the summer crops which will not be ready to harvest until this time next year. Concern Worldwide will provide people with tools and seeds, along with cash transfers to help people restore their homes and non-agriculture livelihoods. It is aiming to assist 90,000 people with these supports. Concern is running an appeal to raise funds for its Cyclone Idai emergency response. To donate visit www.concern.net Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis (Fethi Belaid/AP) Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel. This years summit comes against a backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algerias president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudans president Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Expand Close Arab leaders pose for the camera ahead of the summit (Zoubeir Souissi/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Arab leaders pose for the camera ahead of the summit (Zoubeir Souissi/AP) Representatives from the 22-member league not including Syria aim to jointly condemn US President Donald Trumps recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and Mr Trumps decision last year to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. But they remain divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Expand Close Saudi Arabias King Salman attends the summit (Fethi Belaid/AP/) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Saudi Arabias King Salman attends the summit (Fethi Belaid/AP/) One of the few things that has united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israels occupation of the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Mr Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognising Israels 1981 annexation of the strategic Golan plateau earlier this month. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia are expected to issue a statement condemning those moves, but are unlikely to take any further action. This is in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Expand Close Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session (Fethi Belaid/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi chairs the opening session (Fethi Belaid/AP) Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemens Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. Lebanons foreign minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Mr Trumps Golan move violates the UN Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force. In Syria, small protests against Mr Trumps Golan move were held in different parts of the country and state media criticised the Arab summit. The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done, the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the US and Israel. Expand Close Tunisian protesters burn a representation of the Israeli flag at a demonstration against the summit in downtown Tunis (Hussein Malla/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian protesters burn a representation of the Israeli flag at a demonstration against the summit in downtown Tunis (Hussein Malla/AP) The Arab League is expected to consider readmitting Syria, a founding member that was expelled in the early days of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back anytime soon. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. Expand Close Tunisian riot police in Tunis push back protesters at a demonstration against the summit (Hussein Malla/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tunisian riot police in Tunis push back protesters at a demonstration against the summit (Hussein Malla/AP) But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Mr Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should be shunned. In a rare sign of easing tensions across another regional rift, King Salman and Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sat at the same sprawling table when the heads of delegations met on Sunday. It is the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Dohas ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. Proposed changes to Hong Kongs extradition law, allowing suspects to be sent to mainland China, have been met with concerns from business and human rights groups. Opponents to the move, which could see suspects subject to torture and unfair prosecution, have said it will harm the Asian financial hubs attractiveness to international business. Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territorys handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights. Expand Close Protesters hold banners reading Hong Kong Independence during the march (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters hold banners reading Hong Kong Independence during the march (Vincent Yu/AP) But changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance would expand the scope for the transfer of criminal suspects to China and remove the legislatures right to scrutinise individual extradition decisions filed by Hong Kongs chief executive. Thousands of members of the citys beleaguered pro-democracy camp marched to government headquarters on Sunday, an unusually large turnout for such events in recent years. The number of people turning up highlights the concerns of Hong Kong people, Alan Leong, chairman of the Hong Kong Civic Party, told participants. Hong Kong people have complete lack of confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judicial system in China, Albert Ho, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said. Expand Close Protesters demonstrate in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters demonstrate in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) Police put the number of participants at 5,000, while participants said at least 10,000 had turned out. In a statement issued on Sunday, Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said: These amendments would heighten the risk for human rights activists and others critical of China being extradited to the mainland for trial on fabricated charges. The amendments would tarnish Hong Kongs reputation for the rule of law, and should be scrapped. She added that the legal changes would put Hong Kong people at risk of torture and unfair trials. These concerns were reflected in a letter to Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam authored by Human Rights Watch along with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the local branch of Amnesty International. Expand Close A protester holds Union Jacks during the march (Vincent Yu/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A protester holds Union Jacks during the march (Vincent Yu/AP) The groups warned that fear of extradition to China which routinely uses trumped-up charges of tax evasion or other economic crimes to punish political critics could stifle civil society and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, where civil liberties are already under assault from pro-Beijing groups. In recent years, several people connected with a Hong Kong publishing house that produced unflattering books about mainland Chinese leaders have appeared in Chinese police custody after apparently being abducted, along with a prominent business person wanted on the mainland. Unlike China, Hong Kong is subject to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as customary international law, which prohibit returning people to places where there is a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, and other serious human rights violations, the letter said. Separately, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued a letter saying its members continue to have serious concerns about the proposed changes, stating they would reduce the appeal of Hong Kong to international companies considering Hong Kong as a base for regional operations. Hong Kongs international reputation for the rule of law is its priceless treasure, the letter stated. By Khanh Vu, Reuters | Mar. 29, 2019 Bamboo Airways will buy 50 Airbus A321Neo planes, its chairman Trinh Van Quyet said on Thursday, as the Vietnamese carrier expands and begins international flights. The first of the planes will be delivered in 2022, Quyet told Reuters on phone. He declined to disclose the value of the deal, which was signed on Thursday. Quyet said the agreement includes the 24 planes covered by a memorandum of understanding signed with Airbus last March. "We have chosen Airbus as the supplier of narrow-bodied planes, while using wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing," Quyet said. Bamboo Airways, owned by property and leisure company FLC Group, plans to launch its first international flights late next month, initially to Japan, Singapore and South Korea, he said. The airline, which made its maiden flight in January, announced a deal to buy 10 Boeing 787 wide-bodied jets worth US$2.9 billion on the sidelines of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi late last month. Bamboo also plans to launch non-stop flights to the United States late this year or early next. Last month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Vietnam complied with international aviation standards, allowing the country's carriers to fly to the United States for the first time and codeshare with U.S. airlines. March 30: Romania may not be well-known in India as a wine producer but it is one of the oldest wine regions in the world, now a part of EU since 2007 and follows European Wine Laws with 34 PDOs and despite being under the communist regime till 1989, it has bounced back with quality wines and substantial foreign participation, writes Subhash Arora who attended an excellent wine evening hosted by Ambassador H. E. Mr. Radu Octavian Dobre at his residence with wines presented by Sorina Mashhadi from Senator Wine and loved the wines and the evening in general If one were to ask an Indian wine drinker if he has tasted a Romanian wine, typically he would look surprised with do they make wines look or where on earth is Romania, with a few saying, werent they a communist country? As if communists didnt drink wine! (The reverse is also true undeniably-not many Romanians would know that India even makes wine). Romania has one of the oldest wine making traditions in the world, its viticulture dating back more than 6000 years. Due to the hot dry summers, the location proved successful for vines and thus the grape vineyards thrived. Since the medieval times, wine has been the traditional alcoholic beverage of the Romanians. Romania was part of the Eastern Block with communist rule till 1989 uprising when it became free and almost immediately, the wine business along with several others, was privatised by the new regime allowing even foreign investments. The results have been astounding. Romania which had been producing wines for captive Russian market in big quantities but cheap quality, had lagged behind the free world because of their continuing technological advancements and improved quality, but it has been making very good quality at reasonable prices in the last decade or more. Bordering Black Sea in the East where it shares maritime border with Turkey, it has Ukraine, Hungary and Moldovia on the North, Serbia on the West and Bulgaria on the south. It has been a part of the European Union since 2007; since then the quality has seen quantum jump. Grape Varieties Romania has currently 34 PDOs (Protected Denomination of Origin) and 12 PGIs (Protected Geographic Indications) each with its own rules and discipline. Romania's most cultivated grape varieties for white wines are the indigenous varieties Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala, Sauvignon, , Tamaioasa Romaneasca, Grasa de Cotnari, Galbena de Odobesti. Cramposie Selectionata can be traced back to more than two millennia ago. Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Aligote, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay are popular international varieties. Romania is well known for a plethora of grape varieties grown across its 34 DOCs; five of these are most important for export. It is interesting to note that 40% of wine production comes from these indigenous grape varieties. The Babeasca Neagra variety dates since the 14th-century approximately. A new addition to the list of local Romanian grape varieties, Negru de Dragasani produces medium-sized, blueberries and blackberries. This variety was developed in the historic winemaking region of Dragasani by cross fertilisation with Romanian variety Negru Vartos with Saperavi, a grape native to Georgia. Of all the indigenous varieties Feteasca Neagra is the one to watch as I found from the taste in the glass during the evening. The flagship red variety has the most characteristic of Romanian grapes and is very pleasant for Indian palates. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are the main international red varieties. Senators Wines The evening was organised by Ambassador of Romania in India by H. E. Mr. Radu Octavian Dobre who conceded that this was the first time such a wine evening ever was being organised by the embassy in Delhi. He knew that Romania and Romanian wines were relatively unknown in India but said it would be his desire to promote the wines through more of such initiatives, as he introduced Senator Wines and Sorina Mashhadi, owners married daughter who lives in Saudi Arabia. Focus on organic wines Senator Wines is a family winery, founded by two brothers in Vrancea, one of the oldest wine regions of Romania in 1991, two years after the countrys freedom from the communist regime. It has expanded to 800 hAs of land in 4 areas: Vrancea, Insuratei (Braila), Husi and Tirol (Caras Severin). Husi and Insuratei have 330 hAs of vineyards which have been certified organic since 2003. Company is committed to organic farming. It claims to own the largest single vineyard of 330 hA in Europe. Senator Wine also has the biggest collection of grape varietals in Romania, with over 20 different varieties in the vineyards. Its main export markets are: China, Japan, Canada, USA etc. Multi-labels winery Senator Wines had several labels based on the grape varieties and styles of wine making and includes: Monser has the biggest selection of Romanian local varieties Glia is a selection of high quality, limited edition wines Varius boasts is a selection of international varieties Omnia, Hereditas and Secolul 13 Reserve are organic wines Cuza Voda are premium wines from local varieties Suav is a brand created for the ladies with a higher sugar content Senator Private Collection are their signature blends Occultus, on the other hand is a super premium red blend of 4 varieties It has the biggest collection of grape varietals in Romania, with over 20 different varieties in the vineyards. Senator Wines are currently exported mainly to China, Japan, Canada and USA. . Tasting and Dinner We tasted about 12 wines. White wines were fine but its the Rose and a Red that captivated my attention. The wines were of very good quality. Sorina did not elaborate much on the prices of these wines but the guests enjoyed the wines, some enquiring about the availability of these wines which ought to be sooner than later. One hopes the embassy would do such events more often, sharing the history of wines that goes back at least 1500 years in the recent history. Rose wine from Babeasca Neagra grapes was really delicious- clean, brilliant, fruity flavours of strawberries and raspberries and the beautiful colour like Provence wines, this wine was quite aromatic and perfumed with hint of tannins only-it would go very well with Indian cuisine; vegetarians would simply adore it. The red Secolul 13 had ripe tannins and was fresh even after 7-8 years in the bottles for its 2011 vintage . Tannins were soft but majestic and gave backbone to the homogenous winesone knowing that they were a main feature of this excellent wine. It could even be categorised as a meditation wine with a great balance and full on the palate. It is a very feminine and delicate wine as well. Another noteworthy wine was Sauv. Targeted at the women buyers, the company insists this is best for women. Perhaps- I found the acidity a bit low as compared to the sugar content. At any rate, I explained to Sorina that Suav wines like that had a very small market. Wine was not the only the important ingredient that made people smile. Food catered by the Taj Mansingh under the superb supervision of Chef Boby Jacob was diversified and delicious and really elaborate. Chef Jacob had curated 5 different salads from lighter to the heaviest for Salad eating health freaks. When I complimented the Ambassador for a great gastronomical experience but commented the food was too much- almost taking away a bit of sunshine from the wines, he smiled and said, what can we do? We love to eat and drink a lot in Romania! Since Sorina was also keenly interested in food and wine match, it could be ascribed to food and wine match exercise for wine lovers. There was a lot of buzz in the audience to try out different wines with different dishes. General consensus was that the wines were delicious. H.E Ambassador Dobre looked seemingly happy and pleased. He said he had been approached by several Romanian producers interested in such an evening and it would not be long before the next evening would be organised. He would do well to have more of such soirees and get stakeholders including more importers and hospitality industry to establish first Brand Romania. For further detail, visit http://www.senatorwines.com Subhash Arora Living up to the hype that all the previous films of the same franchise managed to create, the first trailer for Annabelle Comes Home is finally here! Apart from all the cliche elements that Annabelle franchise boasts of, the seventh movie looks more promising and thrilling! Warner Bros. Pictures The film is helmed by screenwriter Gary Dauberman, who has earlier written Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation and The Nun among others, which definitely means that our money is worth betting! The next chapter in the Conjuring Universe arrives in cinemas on June 28. #AnnabelleComesHome pic.twitter.com/uHlMr8vuQx Warner Bros. India (@warnerbrosindia) March 26, 2019 The film stars: Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in pivotal roles. Warner Bros. Pictures The official synopsis of the film reads, Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her safely behind sacred glass and enlisting a priests holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new targetthe Warrens ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends. Without further ado, watch the trailer here. People have been receptive towards the trailer and here are first few initial reactions. Read on. ||: #AnnabelleComesHome looks good AF. You got The Queen herself Vera Farmiga & the king Patrick Wilson and LAWDDD McKenna Grace whos literally a great child actor An is going places. Also YOU DONT FUCK WITH EVIL SPIRITS. You just dont. -`Jc- (@AmazingGumball) March 31, 2019 I have seen all the parts of conjuring and Annabelle but this one really scared me i almost dropped my phone on my face cannot wait to see it #AnnabelleComesHome https://t.co/4CbK43gwYh Kash (@Kashish39286794) March 31, 2019 THE WARRENS ARE BACK YALL MY PARENTS OUT HERE STILL TRYNA DEFEAT THIS BAD DEMON #AnnabelleComesHome pic.twitter.com/RdPHLFqz4m lala (@believemorning) March 31, 2019 yall saying this bitch is back to scared the shit out of me and my friends again #AnnabelleComesHome frisca (@likeingold) March 31, 2019 IS IT ME OR THEY ARE GRABBING HANDS? OMG STOP IMNOTREADY #AnnabelleComesHome pic.twitter.com/EkKjSfIgrj Vale (@divergent_yeah) March 31, 2019 I dont wanna Im crying but IM FUCKINGCRYING I missed them so much #AnnabelleComesHome pic.twitter.com/GFVlTNGXPG Mary (@evangelina_dell) March 31, 2019 mckenna grace as judy warren is gonna be the best thing #AnnabelleComesHome pic.twitter.com/c1an8MFidw lauren 13 (@regrdingdean) March 31, 2019 If you are a sucker for great horror plots, you will still have to wait till June 28. In the era of numerous dating apps, we are all in indulged in finding that perfect match for ourselves. Scrolling through our phone and envying people roaming around with their forever person, a feeling of not having someone hurts and you know why. And it definitely does not feel good when people around feel bad for you for not having that special someone to share your life with. Unsplash But, with the changing time, most of the millennials are focusing towards their careers, trying to make it big and in the process, making commitments secondary which is putting them into the situation where thinking that they are missing a big part in life, is something that they find scary. However, do you know what science says? Do you know that there are a handful of benefits of staying single? Yes, you heard me. We are made to believe that life becomes happier when you settle down with a partner. There may be some truth behind that but science never lies. Unsplash New York University sociologist Eric Klinenbergthe says that evidence suggests that people who live alone compensate by becoming more socially active than those who live with others, and that city with high numbers of singletons enjoy a thriving public culture." First, by being single you tend to grow a good social network for yourself and hold stronger bonds that even help people says a study done by social scientists named Natalia Sarkisian and Naomi Gerstel. Second, staying single can also improve your physical fitness. Surveying more than 13,000 people between 18 and 64. It was found out that people who had never been married are more into working out on a regular basis. Unsplash And lastly, if you.ve been feeling that you are alone and mostly spending the weekend by yourself, there are studies that suggest that single people are more developed on an individual level as they benefit from the alone time where they can gather their thoughts. The 1998 National Survey of Families and Households study suggests that single people could be more likely to experience personal growth which is a very important aspect for most millennials today. In some casesfor example, autonomy, personal growththe single fared better than the married. "Time alone doesn't have to be lonely," Amy Morin, a psychotherapist, says that alone time can help people be more productive as well. Last year in March, around 40,000 farmers undertook a long march towards Mumbai to protest outside state legislature against governments cold response to the farm distress. The All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), called the march. This year, close to 50,000 farmers including tribals and landless agriculturists, are protesting again. The farmers embarked on a 180-km march from Nashik to Mumbai to protest betrayal" of peasants by the BJP governments at the state and centre. The Kisan Long March-2 is expected to take more than nine days to complete. Farmers from more than 23 districts across Maharashtra have joined the march which was flagged off from Nashik on Wednesday to mark the fourth death anniversary of Communist ideologue Govind Pansare. BCCL/File The talks with water resources minister Girlish Mahajan remained inconclusive on Wednesday night. Farmers want the acceptance of demands in writing. What are their demands Farmers want the government to give a blanket loan waiver. They also want waters of the west flowing rivers to be diverted towards Marathwada and north Maharashtra so that farmland in these regions come under irrigation. "A year has passed, but the state government is yet to fulfil its promises. Hence, the long march is being taken out to protest the betrayal of farmers by the BJP-led state and central governments," AIKS member Ajit Navale said. Other demands include implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and the transfer of forest land to those farmers who are cultivating on it. BCCL/File The AIKS has accused the government of not fulfilling assurances given to farmers last year after they marched between the two cities seeking a farm loan waiver, minimum support for price for farm produce, better irrigation facilities and provision of pension to agriculturists. The farmers are also opposing the multi-billion dollar Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project wherein farmers have approached courts against land acquisition. In an incident which invokes barrage of emotions for the apathy of the school in question and the system in total, two primary school students in Kerala, one of whom is visually challenged were reportedly forced to stand in the scorching sun for hours. Their fault was that they hadnt paid their school fee and in wake of the incident, the state child rights commission registered a case on Saturday against the school management. BCCL/Representational Image Recently, a 12-year-old student was killed by other students in Dehradun boarding school and the school authorities didnt even informed the parents of the children and tried to get away by hastily burying the students body inside the school premises. After standing on the sun for hours, one of the students collapsed and he had to be hospitalised. The incident took place in an unaided school at Karumallor near Aluva and the children who are in the second standard hadnt paid the last instalment of the fee and the management refused them permission to sit in the examination, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights said in a release. Representational Image The commission said it took the cognizance of the case on the basis of media reports and a report has also been sought from the school. The education department of the state has also been pulled up by the commission. A separate case has also been registered by the Kerala Human Rights Commission against the school. (With PTI inputs) If being inhuman can be described in any particular way, this could be it. A woman from Kerala died allegedly of starvation enforced by her husband and mother-in-law because she didn't bring the dowry. The magnitude of the cruelty can be fathomed by the fact that when 27-year-old women breathed her last, she just weighed 20 kg. The appalling cruelty took the life of Thushara, a native of Karunagappally who was denied food by her husband and his family died in a government hospital in Kollam, the police said. The police said that she was reduced to a "bag of a skeleton" as she was forced to survive on soaked rice and sugar syrup, the police said after postmortem report and talking to neighbours. Representational Image The police said that women died on the midnight of March 21 due to illness and uneasiness and she weighed only 20 kg at the time of her death, the police said. The victim Thushara's husband Chandulal and her mother-in-law Geetha Lal were arrested and remanded. The police came to know about the torture the victim was subjected to after the probe it conducted after her death. "She looked like a bag of skeleton with hardly any flesh on her body. She weighed just 20 kg. A detailed inquiry has thrown light to the cruelty. Her relatives alleged that the torture was to get more dowry," a police official told PTI. The victim's mother Vijayalakshmi alleged the accused had been torturing her daughter for the last five years and hadn't even allowed the family to meet her for one year. "My daughter had suffered gruesome torture. We did not give any police complaint as we feared it would put my daughter's life in danger," she said. Representational Image The neighbours also told police that the victim was tortured mentally and physically by husband and mother-in-law. The couple got married in 2013 and the family of the victim had given gold jewellery and had also promised to give Rs 2 lakh later. Chandulal used to do odd jobs other than welding work. The deceased is survived by two children. One of them is three years old and one is 1.5 years, the police informed. (With PTI inputs) 50-year-old Nisar Kaskar had been going to Christchurch's Al Noor Masjid for quite a few years. He along with all the attendees felt safe because New Zealand had never ever seen such a targeted violence ever before. Kaskar, a Konkani Muslim, who moved to New Zealand and subsequently acquired nationality 20 years ago, feels that death never came so close to him in a country that has been so welcoming for him all these years. The attack by 28-year-old white supremacist Australian left 50 dead and as many injured, leaving the entire nation in mourning. Kaskar still can't believe that all this happened right in front of his eyes. He reluctantly recalls the incident and thanks god for still being alive. An unexpected outbreak You know what was the worst part? So many people were killed while praying, said Nisar, recalling that amongst the 300 people gathered for the Friday prayers. Kaskar somehow managed to escape from the burst of bullets. He has been living in Christchurch for the past 20 years, working as a Financial Controller. He said that he had never experienced anything as horrific as the mosque attack in his life. afp While narrating the scene of the attack, he said that at first he only heard noises from the back entrance. The people took more than five minutes to realise that they were actually under attack. There was panic all over in and around the mosque. The Imam was just ten minutes into his Friday prayers, when the fire begun. Nisar was fortunately offering his prayers in the center of the mosque and thus he was able to maneuver his way out from the right exit door of the mosque. There was confusion, fear and panic in the minds of the people there. He said that many people also got killed as they were not able to open the door on the left exit of the mosque, and thus, were left strangled in between. I also heard people talking that many were killed while trying to escape from the mosque, at the gate. I know families who lost three members in the attack, Nisar said. Mohamed Siddiqui, a close associate of his, got shot in the arm. Why target Muslims I fail to understand the reason for attacking people while they are praying, says Nisar while explaining how the Muslims, especially the migrants have always lived a peaceful life in New Zealand. Not only questioning the unprecedented nature of the attack, but the entire thought process and frame of mind the gunman had before conducting the attack, he looked very genuine and worried about his concerns. When asked about his opinions on Islamophobia, he said that it is a global phenomenon and thus, is having its effects all over the world. Even in Canada, a similar incident happened. afp He also said that the rising Islamophobia is a global portent and not a local one. He says that the people are all shocked, mainly because many believed that such an incident would never happen, as it is not in the nature of the people of New Zealand. This is not us, people here are not like that. You could see that even in politics. There is no aggressiveness in the politicians. Citizens are united Kaskar said that he was touched by the reception he got from the fellow NZ citizens. Everywhere I go, right from shopping centers to streets, people come to me and say how sorry they are for whatever happened. He believes that the support from the people of New Zealand is the most important thing for them to carry their day to day activities without fear. He said that the attack has in a way brought the community together and now the New Zealanders are standing united alongside their fellow Muslim population. He believes that without the support of the local New Zealanders, the minorities and especially the Muslims would not be able to live peacefully in NZ. Also, when asked him about plans of returning to India, he turned it down by saying that NZ is their home and they would like it to stay like that. Government solidarity While there are many governments around the world which have a slightly right wing approach to things and a complicated stance on the minorities and the immigrants, the position taken by the NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is commendable. She did not hesitate to use the word terrorist for the perpetrator of the attack. A word which has been overused in context of the Islamic fundamentalists. Ms. Ardern sent a powerful message in the world media that the government of New Zealand is firmly standing with its minorities. As poet and Professor Tabish Khair correctly pointed out in an editorial in The Hindu, ..what she effectively said was that the Muslims are not them in New Zealand. afp Kaskar also was in admiration of the PMs position. The government has covered all the expenses of the victims, right from medical to funeral costs, he said while saying how the government has not only been a financial supporter, but also has been ahead in providing emotional support. He also said that all the national television channels broadcasted the Friday Azaan (call for prayer). The Muslims of New Zealand believe in the PM and the government of NZ. There is no Islamophobia in the country. But it is a global occurrence which had imprints on NZ too. He considers himself very lucky to have survived the deadly attack. The author is a Mumbai-based freelance contributor. Facebook and Google are together hosting a cybersecurity conference in Singapore on March 30 aimed at allowing the top white hat hackers and bug bounty hunters in the world to share tips. And they've invited an Indian student to their exclusive gathering. Rohit Kumar is a 2nd year BCA honours student of the School of Computer Application at Lovely Professional University (LPU). And the two tech companies have recognized his coding chops, inviting him to the two-day 'BountyCon'. Rohit is one of the few security researchers from the Asia-Pacific region invited to the conference. He's considered one of India's foremost ethical hackers, and was inducted into the Facebook Hall of Fame for the top 20 bug bounty hunters with the most reports in 2018. He's even received a direct invite from Zach Turk, the Security Program Manager at Facebook (US) to join BountyCon. Over the years, Rohit has earned several bounties from the likes of Facebook, Imgur, Invision and Shopify. "BountyCon 2019 is one of the biggest security conferences happening in Asia-Pacific. I am delighted to be invited for it and look forward to sharing my learnings with other security researchers," Rohit said. "Any organisation that holds confidential data and is serious about protecting it should consider bug bounty programs to enhance their security efforts." Aside from his studies and side hacking gig, Rohit is also currently running two startups from LPU. One of them Coldfox, which was incubated by renowned investor group YCombinator, makes software for IoT and machinery solutions. Indeed, though major tech companies absolutely need to have their own security teams, they can't possibly be expected to catch every slip up. That's why it's through bug bounty programs and security conventions like this that they encourage young hackers to improve their skill, and contribute to the digital safety of all of us at the same time. One rarely finds lifeguard on any beach in India and despite many mishaps, the necessary precautions are largely missing. To curb this, Aliasgar Calcuttawala, co-founder of Saif Automation Services (SAS) has developed a water drone. If we want to reduce these deaths we must have the right tools to do so, Aliasgar Calcuttawala told The Hindu. SAS designed a remote-controlled water drone that functions like a lifeguard and looks like a horseshoe that weighs 12 kg. It can carry up to 300 kg weight and travels at speeds of up to 13 km/h. It also has strong 3 km communication, extendable up to 10 km on request. Website- Saif Seas The drone functions with the help of a remote control and uses radio frequency from 156 to 174 MHz. Our technology enables the lifeguards to save people drowning from the shore. Several municipal bodies across India and the Indian Navy has shown interest in the product, 41-year-old Aliasgar told The Hindu. Website - Saif Seas The drone is light enough to be easily carried. This means that if a lifeguard spots anyone drowning, all they need to do is to take it to the water body. It can sail on lakes and as well in the open sea with waves up to eight feet. Once the drone reaches the person, the lifeguard can guide them back safely. Website- Saif Seas The idea for Saif Sea emerged at the Naval Science and Technological Laboratorys science fair in 2016. I met like-minded engineers who shared the same passion to build tools for a safer future. With their inputs, we were able to perfect the design, said Aliasgar. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit By Tom Miles, Tim Hepher, Reuters | Mar. 29, 2019 The World Trade Organization said on Thursday the United States had ignored its request to halt a subsidized tax break for Boeing Co in its main plane-making state of Washington as a 15-year-old transatlantic trade row edges towards tit-for-tat sanctions. The European Union said the WTO appeal ruling had vindicated its claims that Boeing continued to receive illegal subsidies, but the United States said only one measure, a Washington state tax break worth around US$100 million annually, had been found still to violate the rules. The trade powers have been battling since 2004 over mutual claims of illegal aid to plane giants Boeing and Airbus, with parallel cases generating thousands of pages of findings and dense litigation that put a burden on the already congested WTO. Both sides have been caught paying billions of dollars of subsidies to gain advantage in the global jet business, and asked to stop or face potential sanctions. Thursday's appeal ruling showed that the United States did not stop all subsidies when asked to do so, echoing an earlier finding against the EU. The WTO's Appellate Body, effectively the supreme court of world trade, ruled that the business and occupancy (B&O) tax rate reduction in Washington state had significantly cut Airbus sales in five particularly price-sensitive sales campaigns. "The Appellate Body has now settled this case definitively, confirming our view the U.S. has continued to subsidize Boeing despite WTO rulings to the contrary," European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement. But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called the ruling a victory for the United States, since the WTO had found only one illegal subsidy while upholding an earlier rejection of EU claims that Boeing's commercial aircraft programs received over US$10 billion in illegal U.S. subsidies. "This report confirms what every other WTO report on these issues has found: the United States does not provide support even remotely comparable to the exceptionally large and harmful EU subsidies to Airbus," Lighthizer said in a statement. Boeing said it would support the new decision. Any sanctions could broadly target industries beyond aerospace, but the impact of the record trade dispute on Boeing and Airbus themselves has so far been modest. Analysts have long predicted the case would peter out or be settled without a trade war, but the prospect of retaliation is grabbing more attention than before amid global trade tensions. Countermeasures Airbus said Boeing still received a raft of support and urged the United States to negotiate a "fair-trade environment" - a settlement proposal that Washington has so far rejected. In a technical point, it said the WTO had resurrected a wider group of U.S. subsidies which could be challenged later. But Boeing said the slate had now been wiped clean of any unlawful subsidies in the United States, except for the Washington state measure which it agreed would now be amended. "We trust that our example will prompt Airbus and the European Union to immediately bring themselves into full compliance with the substantial rulings against these parties by the WTO," Boeing said in a statement. In a parallel ruling last year, the WTO said the European Union had failed to remove illegal subsidies for two airplane programs, the A350 and the A380 - the world's largest airliner which Airbus has since decided to stop building due to poor sales. That part of the row simmers on as Airbus argues the case against European government loans for the A380 no longer counts because of its plans to shut production. The United States says the partly unpaid loans continue to damage Boeing indirectly. The two sides are now in arbitration to decide the size of any countermeasures, starting with a U.S. request for authorization to impose US$11 billion in sanctions on EU goods. The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies organized a March 10 event, an India Afghanistan Peace and Friendship Initiative, which featured dozens of community leaders and diplomats, as well as several speakers. (photos provided) The Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party recently hosted Chai Pe Charcha events in 11 cities across the U.S. in which supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP took the Mai bhi Chowkidar pledge. Seen here is a photo of the event in New Jersey. (photo provided) 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... Why These Can't Clear Resistance Blue Line Futures - 14 minutes ago Actionable fundamental and technical landscape for Crude, Gold, Silver and more . . . 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China Aviation Daily | Mar. 28, 2019 Bringing together African Ministers of Air Transport and Tourism for an inaugural Ministerial Conference hosted by Cabo Verde, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) stressed important messages to their distinguished guests on their sectors' reciprocal socio-economic benefits. In helping to open the high-level transport and tourism event, ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, and the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikasvili, complemented the points made by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, its Minister of Tourism and Transport and Maritime Economy, Dr. Jose Goncalves, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat. "Air transport and tourism are major and highly synergistic economic sectors which continue to deliver increasing contributions to global socio-economic prosperity, with a combined contribution to world GDP today of close to 14%," Dr. Aliu told the ministers of government and senior industry leaders in attendance. "However, in Africa today, the incredible economic potentials of air transport and tourism still remain largely untapped," he underscored. In recent years, Africa has accounted for a mere 5% of global tourist arrivals and 3% of global tourism spending, even despite modest recent growth attributable to the revival of the tourism industry in Northern Africa, and improvements to African air connectivity more generally. Dr. Aliu indicated a variety of associated constraints, including capacity crunches at many African airports, the related lack of finance and investment for infrastructure development and modernization, persisting skilled education and training capacity gaps, and in some jurisdictions ill-conceived market, taxation, and visa facilitation regulation. While highlighting such existing challenges, the ICAO President reminded his audience that "the African air transport market has the highest potential for growth out of all world regions." He underscored that a variety of avenues, tools, resources and agreements for undertaking the necessary reforms already exist, citing the Lome Declaration and its Plan of Action, the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the establishment of Africa's Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), ICAO's Long-term Vision for Air Transport Liberalization, the Antananarivo Declaration and the Declaration and Framework for a Plan of Action for Development of Aviation Infrastructure in Africa. He encouraged delegates to focus on developing pragmatic outcomes that will enhance air transport, increase air connectivity, and improve the investment climate, including through the realization of a dependable regulatory climate and the alignment of air transport and associated national development priorities. "I am sure that through the continued cooperation of ICAO, the UNWTO, the African Union, and all of our diverse development partners and member States, the required technical expertise, resources, and support to implement the outcome of this conference will be fully assured," Dr. Aliu remarked. "By working toward these objectives together, both here at this event and well into the future, we will be able to maximize the immense socio-economic benefits offered by air transport and tourism to the benefit of all Africans." Dr. Aliu concluded his address with gratitude to the Government of Cabo Verde for the leadership it has illustrated toward these objectives through its hosting of the conference, and to the UNWTO for its cooperation toward the organization of the event. The conference was declared open by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr. Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, with a total of 300 participants, including 21 Ministers of Air Transport and Tourism, from 34 States and 29 International organisations. At the end of their deliberations the Ministers approved and adopted the Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan on Air Transport and Tourism Development in Africa. The Declaration calls for the bridging of air transport and tourism policies and the advancement of innovative and sustainable solutions to encourage air connectivity development as a means to deliver the sustainable development goals set forth under the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nations (UN)'s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through the Declaration, the Ministers also agreed to "raise political willingness to the highest level to mainstream the priorities of the two sectors in the national, regional and global development agendas." During his mission to Cabo Verde, the ICAO Council President met with the President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Tourism, Transport and Maritime Economy of the Republic of Cabo Verde, to discuss the State's progress on the development of aviation infrastructure and services. The Head of State expressed appreciation for the work undertaken by ICAO and the organization's collaboration with Cabo Verde. He indicated the State's deep commitment of to the maintenance of high aviation standards and to the development of the sector as a vital component of the economy. He emphasized efforts to strengthen regulatory autonomy and maintain good relations with ICAO, while developing Cabo Verde in to a strong and viable air transport hub. Dr. Aliu commended Cabo Verde for the remarkable progress in the implementation of international aviation Standards and Recommended Practices and regional cooperation, recalling the efficient and effective management of the Oceanic airspace entrusted to Cabo Verde and its contribution to regional and international initiatives. The President thanked Cabo Verde for hosting the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA) and offered ICAO assistance, through its Regional office in Dakar, in areas such as Search and Rescue Organization, Performance Based Navigation, and the effort to establish an air transport hub. He called on the State to assist neighbouring States, in particular needy Portuguese-speaking countries. The Council President also held bilateral meetings with heads of various organizations and institutions present, including the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission (AUC); the Secretary General of UNWTO; and held bilateral discussions on assistance and capacity-building priorities with Tourism and Air Transport Ministers from Angola, the Gambia, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zambia, under the framework of ICAO's 'No Country Left Behind'. Dr Aliu was accompanied by the Director of ICAO's Air Transport Bureau, Mr. Boubacar Djibo; the ICAO Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, Mr. Mam Sait Jallow; and several Representatives of the ICAO Council. Contributed by ICAO The State has paid out almost 9m in compensation and legal fees to staff and prisoners due to assaults and "slopping out" practices - including 100,000 to two families whose relatives died from "self-inflicted" wounds. The figures have been given to TDs amid ongoing concerns over overcrowding and safety levels in jails. In a detailed letter to the Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Justice's secretary general Aidan O'Driscoll said between 2014 and last year the Irish Prison Service and State Claims Agency paid out 8.3m to victims of assaults or injuries. The figure includes 2.4m in compensation payments and 5.9m in associated legal fees - 2.7m of which relates to "slopping out" cases. A breakdown of the figures show: 2014: 249,137 in compensation payments and 834,462 in legal fees 2015: 468,059 in compensation payments and 660,577 in legal fees 2016: 647,167 in compensation payments and 2,235,464 in legal fees 2017: 492,126 in compensation payments and 999,887 in legal fees 2018: 502,646 in compensation payments and 1,183,305 in legal fees In addition to the pay-outs, Mr O'Driscoll also confirmed officials paid the families of two prisoners 50,000 and 51,737 in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In his letter, he said: "The payments were made to the families of prisoners who had died from self-inflicted injuries while in custody." The scale of the payments and legal fees - and the 100,000 in payments to the families of two dead prisoners - is likely to cause significant concern among human rights groups due to repeated fears over the scale of overcrowding in some Irish prisons. However, Mr O'Driscoll sought to downplay the concerns by saying there are no international comparisons available to show if Ireland's pay-outs rate is within norms, other than the fact our 5% rate of the population being in prison is not unexpected. Speaking at last week's PAC meeting, committee chair and Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming said there is a clear need to obtain further information on the scale of injuries in prisons. He added that it is "very sad to be reading that 50,000 and 51,000 has been paid respectively in payments to the families of prisoners who died from self-inflicted injuries in custody". He said the department must clarify exactly what the cases involved. The fresh questions to the Department of Justice came after the Irish Examiner reported last month that a number of prison officer sexual harassment protected disclosure complaints have been made by jail staff since last summer. The department confirmed five sexual harassment protected disclosure complaints have been made since last July by staff concerned over their personal safety in work. Dublin City Council told a property investor it would be difficult to justify opening another cafe near St Stephen's Green. Insurance firm Friends First had been hoping to cash in on a property it owns on Merrion Row by opening a coffee shop. Studios offering tattoos are mushrooming today, but theres a long tradition behind decorating our bodies, says Robert Hume. Adam Levine sported his at the recent Super Bowl; while Justin Bieber claims his took over a hundred hours of hard work. Miley Cyrus is swarming in tiny ones; and Lady Gaga calls hers Little Monsters. Even Dame Judi Dench has one: she got it on her 81st birthday. When they arrived in Europe relatively late on the rich paid for the odd discrete tattoo; in Victorian times an Irish-American revolutionised how they were made. Once you only saw sailors with them; now theyre all the rage. The Association of Body Modification Artists in Ireland (ABMAI) estimates there are around 1,000 tattoo parlours in the country, compared with about 20 of them two decades ago. In Cork City centre alone you can ink up in at least ten studios: from Tattoo Zoo in South Main Street, which claims to be the oldest, to the wonderfully named Inkoholiks in Tuckey Street. Early etching Having a tattoo is one of the longest sustained trends in history, writes art historian Dr Matt Lodder. Otzi the Iceman, the 5,300 year-old mummy discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991, has 61 tattoos: on his chest, lower back, arm and leg joints horizontal and vertical lines probably made by puncturing the skin and rubbing in charcoal. Simply adornment; or places marked for acupuncture? Researchers disagree. Rich women in Ancient Egypt marked their stomachs with a series of dots, possibly to protect themselves during pregnancy. Roman Emperor Constantine banned tattoos on the face. As Man had been created in the image of God, to defile the face was disrespectful. In Japan branding the forehead with a tattoo was once used as a punishment. It replaced a much harsher one limb amputation. Each region had its special symbol, so people knew where the crime had been committed. Painted pilgrims During the 17th century wealthy European men travelled to the Holy Land and returned with tattoos. The Razzouk family of Jerusalem inked pilgrims for generations. Designs were mostly religious, such as crosses, the Pieta, or St George slaying the dragon. Painted Prince In 1691, sailor William Dampher brought to London a heavily tattooed Polynesian named Prince Giolo. He was put on public display. Captain James Cook returned from an expedition to Tahiti and New Zealand in 1769 with tales of the natives elaborate body art. He described tattooing buttocks as a painful operation, performed but once in their lifetimes. Soon, the upper classes were getting tattoos in unobtrusive places. A tattoo artist, who opened a shop at the Turkish baths in Jermyn Street in the fashionable West End of London during the 1880s, managed to make a good living. Irish American transforms tattooing Originally, each skin puncture was done individually by hand. That was what Irish-American Samuel OReilly did at his tattoo studio in Chinatown, New York City. But Professor OReilly felt sure there was a better way. Thomas Edison had been tinkering with pens connected to electric motors. OReilly applied the idea to tattoo pens, and in 1891 patented the first electric tattooing machine, which was faster, more precise, and caused less bleeding. OReilly was swamped with orders and made a small fortune within a few years, says Steve Gilbert (Tattoo History: A Source Book). Now that ordinary people could afford tattoos, the rich did not want to know. Sleazy underworld By 1900, tattooists were scratching away in the seedier parts of town, or by the docks. Tattooing had fallen into disrepute. Heavily tattooed people were seen travelling with circuses and freak shows. People with tattoos who are not in prison are either latent criminals or degenerate aristocrats claimed architect Adolf Loos. Maude Wagner, the tattooed circus woman, born 1877. Booming business again Today, practically every parade of shops has a tattoo parlour. You can select a flash design from the wall, or bring along your own. Go for a little dot work, or a full body suit. But the recent proliferation of shops has also caused concern. The Department of Health warns that tattooing can be an extremely hazardous practice, risking the spread of viruses through dirty needles. Once regulated and inspected, yesterdays scratchers might become fine artists in our inked society. And when parlours peak, and the fad passes, therell still be plenty of work for tattoo removal studios! Getting bad marks Are you sure about that? These symbols look exotic... But the top character is upside down, and the bottom ones mean blithering idiot. The customer was told: The symbols come from the Five Phase Cycle of Traditional Chinese Medicine and depict wood, fire, earth, metal, and water Unfortunately, the character (ho) is actually Japanese, and means whore. Another new SUV hitting the roads here is the new Citroen C-Segment SUV, the C5 Aircross, which will have the companys Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension as standard across the entire range. All models come equipped with three individual sliding, folding and reclining rear seats for extra practicality and include boast best-in-class boot space of 580-litres to 720-litres. ConnectedCAM, a factory fitted dashboard camera from Citroen is also standard across the range. The C5 Aircross has just landed in Ireland and is available in four trim levels Start, Touch, Feel & Flair with prices starting from 26,495 and the line-up is now available to test drive at Citroen dealerships nationwide. Following the recent launch of C3 Aircross in the B-SUV segment, Citroen says it is continuing its SUV offensive with the launch of this C5 Aircross. The look of the new car is underpinned by a broad and imposing front end which is paired with a two-tier light signature and an assertively designed grille. The upper light units extend out from the iconic chevrons on the front and stretch across the entire width of the vehicle for a modern and expressive look. The body features wheel arches extensions and lower body panels with a classic SUV look, Airbump panels are also available with personalised coloured inserts along with front, side and roof bars for extra modernity and personality. The entry Start trim level includes features such as an 8 touchscreen display, cruise control, active safety brake and air conditioning. The Touch edition adds items such as 17 alloys, rear parking sensors, folding mirrors, android auto & apple car play while the Feel model benefits from 18 alloys, front parking sensor, privacy glass, wireless phone charging and active blind spot detection. The Flair is the top specification level and includes additional items such as 19 alloys, Citroen connect navigation, keyless entry and keyless start, a Panoramic Sunroof with interior LED ambient lighting and various driver assistance systems. The new @CitroenIreland C5 Aircross is the tallest, longest, has the largest boot and is the least expensive to buy. Also looks very tasty. What other ingredients do you need for success? pic.twitter.com/fA8VLjusa0 David Walshe (@WalsheDav) March 20, 2019 Highway driver assist is also standard on Flair models coupled with the EAT8 automatic transmission, this feature combines adaptive cruise control, active lane departure warning and a stop & go feature to manage driving semi-autonomously in specific driving conditions. The C5 Aircross comes with a selection of two petrol and two diesel engines. The popular PureTech petrol, comprises of a 1.2litre 130hp engine paired with a 6-speed manual transmission and a 1.6litre 180hp unit which comes with the choice of a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission. The Blue HDI diesel offers a 1.5 litre 130hp engine with the choice of a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission and a 2.0 litre 180hp unit which comes as standard with an 8-speed automatic transmission. A third young Palestinian has died as tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the Israeli border to mark the first anniversary of weekly demos in the Gaza Strip. Gaza's health ministry said Tamer Abu el-Khair, 17, was shot in the chest in the southern city of Khan Younis and died in hospital. Earlier on Saturday, Adham Amara, 17, was hit in the face by Israeli gunfire and died in a protest camp in east Gaza City. At dawn, before the protests began, Mohammed Saad, 21, was hit in the head by shrapnel and died. The health ministry said 64 protesters have been injured by live fire. As the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Gaza's Hamas rulers' calls for a large participation, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives towards Israeli troops. The protest came at a sensitive time for Israel and Hamas. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticised what they say is his failed Gaza policy. In the final stretch of the campaign, he needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas. He took heavy criticism this week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza. Hamas faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of Israeli and Egyptian border closures. The fence protests, which began exactly a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza. Protest organisers say the weekly event will continue into a second year and proposed one for next Friday. That comes despite an announcement by Hamas on Saturday afternoon that Egypt, mediating between the militant group and Israel, has brokered a deal to ease Gaza's blockade in exchange for calm. The emerging deal would see Israel allow more goods into Gaza, expanding its fishing zone off the coast and other economic incentives. But Hamas says the marches will continue until the closure is fully lifted. The Israeli military estimated 30,000 Palestinians were gathered at the marches on Saturday. "The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tyres on fire. In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence," it said in a statement. It added that soldiers were responding with "riot dispersal means" and firing in line with standard procedures. According to a Gaza rights group, 196 Palestinians have been killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 One of the five candidates in the running for the post of leader of the Debian/GNU Linux project has withdrawn from the race, leaving four to contest for the post. Simon Richter, an embedded systems expert from Germany, said he was pulling out of the race for personal reasons which he did not specify. "As you may have noticed, life happened to me shortly after sending that mail [the email announcing he was throwing his hat in the ring]," he wrote. "I'm definitely not in a position to make a serious bid anymore, so I'd like to withdraw. I still have opinions, but I guess I'll just blog about them at some point." Before the nominations closed on 16 March, there was just, Joerg Jaspert, in the race but four others Jonathan Carter, Sam Hartman, Martin Michlmayr and Richter Richter has contested the leadership once before, in 2007, when the post was won by Frenchman Sam Hocevar. Voting for the DPL will take place between 7 April and 20 April. Debian is the only free software project that has an elected leader. The project puts out what is arguably the best GNU/Linux distribution which caters to the widest range of architectures and has served as the base for many other distributions, including the most popular one, Ubuntu. A Republican Senator from Missouri has written to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, asking him to address the company's refusal to work with the US Department of Defence while at the same time working with China on artificial intelligence. Josh Hawley said his letter followed a meeting that Google executives had held with US President Donald Trump to discuss the company's stance on working with the Defence Department. Google came under pressure from its staff after it signed a deal with the Pentagon to work on a project, known as Project Maven, that provides the military with AI technology to better identify images on the battlefield. Staff at Google had expressed disquiet over the company's involvement in the project. More than 3000 staff signed a letter submitted to senior management to protest against the decision to get involved in Maven. In May last year, a dozen workersGoogle, expressing concern over the use of AI in drone warfare and the company's political decisions and the degree to which the trust of users would be eroded by this decision. Following the protests, Google said it would pull out of Maven by the end of the year but gave no assurance that it would not take up similar work in the future. Hawley's letter came after he had spoken to acting defence secretary Patrick Shanahan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joe Dunford, and the two officials had told him that Google's work in China was benefitting the Chinese military. Hawley wrote: "I have been deeply troubled by the testimony of our national defence leadership regarding Googles unwillingness to partner with the US Armed Forces, even while pursuing lucrative projects in China that directly or indirectly benefit the repressive Chinese Government." In August last year, it was revealed that Google was planning to re-enter the Chinese search market with a censored search utility. After this was revealed, Google decided later in the year to put the project, known as Project DragonFly, on hold. "According to reports, the work Google is doing with China not only includes development of artificial intelligence technology that may possibly be used by Chinese military and intelligence services to exploit Americans data and privacy, but also the introduction of platforms that advance a value system and modes of behaviour fundamentally at odds with our own, such as the censor-friendly search engine Project Dragonfly," Hawley said. "That Google persists in seeking partnerships in China including building an artificial intelligence facility in Beijing suggests a long-term commitment by the company to have China as a partner." Hawley urged Pichai to publicly speak about the work Google was doing in China and the company's reluctance to partner with US Armed Forces. Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 68F. Winds light and variable. Tonight A few clouds. Low around 50F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Partly cloudy skies, with gusty winds developing during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 72F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. FOREST GROVE, Ore.- 40-year-old Brian Couture is charged with initiating a false report and improper use of an emergency reporting system -- both misdemeanors. Police say he called 911 on March 6th and reported that he'd struggled with someone who'd broken in. When police arrived, they found Couture unresponsive. The man was hospitalized, but eventually acknowledged that he staged the scene and made up a story, according to police. He was arrested march 18th and appeared in court Friday and pleaded not guilty. A spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts confirmed that Couture has a daughter who is a girl scout and that there is $740 of missing cookie money. ASHLAND, Ore. -- Oregon State Senator Jeff Golden is proposing a statewide task force for wildfires. The Forest Health Enhancement Task Force is in its early stages but its goal is to create ways to better protect communities from wildfires. Senator Golden said last years devastating fire season was a wakeup call for many especially after seeing the Camp fire wipe out all of Paradise, California. Its a new phenomenon of cities and towns burning down. Our cities, Ashland, Medford and some of the others really have the same kind of risk. They have woodlands nearby much like the other towns did. So we are working hard to do something about that, Senator Golden said. We're in an emergency and I think it has to do with the buildup of forest management practices that weren't that sound and climate change which we are too slow to react to. So all of that is coming together such that we have to move really fast and really creatively." Another goal is to get young people trained in forestry. The Lomakatsi Restoration Project was asked to be a part of planning since it gets young members of tribal communities involved. "We want to increase this workforce and continue to adjust the wildland fire and fuels issue and the need but also build resilient communities, healthy communities, socioeconomically sound communities through job development and workforce capacity development," said Lomakatsi Restoration Projects Executive Director Marko Bey. Senator Golden hopes more organizations, even insurance and utility companies, invest in this task force. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 31) Four of the 62 candidates came to CNN Philippines last Senatorial Forum and bared their plans should they clinch a seat in the May polls. Political reforms are top of the minds of community organizer Bernard Austria and lawyer Joan Sheelah Nalliw. Austria vowed to push for changes in the political party system, while Naliw promised to work to adopt the proposed draft federal constitution of President Rodrigo Dutertes consultative committee. Walang loyalty sa party, kaya walang malinaw na programa para sa taongbayan, walang malinaw na prinsipyo kung anong gagawin. Kaya nangyayari sa atin, nagkekengkuyan tayo Yung iba pwedeng sumayaw, yung iba gumagastos ng 400 billion sa pangangampanya, Austria said Sunday. [Translation: There is no loyalty to the party, so there are no clear programs for the people, their principles are unclear on what they should do. So whats happening with us is that we make fools of ourselves Others can dance, while others spend P400 billion on their campaign.] READ: Dela Rosa defends HNP's campaign style: 'No one listens to issues in sorties' Meanwhile, Naliw said, We really need a system change here. Kasi kung gusto natin ng pagbabago, dapat overhaul na siya. Hindi lang baguhin yung piecemeal legislation kasi sistema na ang problema. [Translation: We really need a system change here. If we want change, we need an overhaul. We cant change things through piecemeal legislation because the system itself is the problem.] But Austria said it is not the Constitution that has a problem, but the political party system, which he said can be fixed by letting them receive funding from the government. Aside from overhauling the Constitution, Naliw also vowed to push for the Freedom of Information bill, which has languished in several Congresses. Labor lawyer Sonny Matula and doctor Willie Ong, meanwhile, will be prioritizing issues they are most familiar with. Matula said he will push for an end to contractualization, a national minimum wage, social security enhancement and the protection of workers right to organize unions. Ong said he will be using his oversight function as a senator on the Universal Health Care law, which he views to be insufficient to solve the countrys health woes. Drug war, China The Senate bets took a slightly different stance from the administration on the drug war and the countrys deals with China. READ: Senate bets: Review or stop Duterte drug war While Naliw wants the governments drug war to continue, she also said the government should review its approach. Ong is also against stopping the drug war, but reminded the administration that the drug problem is not just a criminal problem, but also a health concern. Austria said drug addicts are victims and should not be killed. He said the government should protect their rights and dignity. For his part, Matula wants to create a high-level commission which would investigate the killings related to the drug war and urged the government to look into its drug campaign. Meanwhile, Austria, Matula and Ong all said that the government should be cautious in its dealings with China, amid concerns of the Philippines falling into a debt trap. READ: With Sri Lankan port acquisition, China adds another 'pearl' to its 'string' Solving water woes Most of the four Senate bets at the forum said consumers should be saving water in response to the dwindling water supply. Tayo din mismong mga tao may responsibility sa pag-conserve ng tubig na ito. Isipin po natin, hindi lang po tayo ang nakikinabang dito, kundi ang buong sambayanan, Naliw said. [Translation: We, ourselves, have the responsibility to conserve water. Think about it, we are not the only ones who are benefitting for his, but all other people.] Ong and Austria said the government should invest in technology to save more water in irrigation. Baka dati yung technology masiyadong maraming tubig na gagastos, baka may crops na konting tubig lang ang kailangan, Ong said. [Translation: Maybe old technology uses too much water, maybe there are crops that would need less water.] Austria also said water utilities should be brought back under the control of the government because private water concessionaires have failed to deliver services. READ: Senate hopefuls urge government to take back control of the country's water resources Easing traffic Austria, Naliw and Ong said traffic congestion in Metro Manila can be eased if national government offices are transferred to nearby provinces. Kaya nagkakatrapik tayo dito sa Metro Manila kasi nandito yung development, nandito yung focus, Austria said. [Translation: The reason why Metro Manila is so congested is because development is focused here.] Ong also said cities should be made walkable. Dapat maganda yung pwede mong lakarin, covered ang walkway, mayroong upuan para hindi na lahat sasakay, he said. [Translation: The walkway should be good and covered, there should be somewhere to sit on so that not all would have to ride a vehicle.] Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is considering imposing sanctions on companies from other countries that do business with Venezuela to cut off revenues to President Nicolas Maduro, Trumps national security adviser John Bolton told Reuters TV on Friday. Were moving exactly in that direction, Bolton said when asked whether Trump would consider what are known as secondary sanctions. We are even now looking at a series of additional steps we could take, Bolton said in the interview. The United States and most other Western countries have thrown their backing behind Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who invoked the constitution in January to declare himself interim president, arguing that Maduros 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Oil provides 90 percent of export revenue for OPEC member Venezuela. The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuelas state-owned oil company PDVSA in January, preventing U.S. companies from dealing with it unless revenues went to a fund available to Guaido. The Trump administration has not yet slapped sanctions on companies from other countries that do business with PDVSA - but U.S. officials have been having conversations with oil trading houses and governments around the world to convince them to scale down their dealings with Maduro, Trumps Venezuela envoy Elliott Abrams said earlier on Friday. MONROE DOCTRINE Russia and China support Maduro, who has said Guaido is a puppet of Washington. Maduro retains control of state functions and the loyalty of the countrys military. Bolton said he was not concerned that the push to oust Maduro was losing momentum. I can tell you theres a lot going on beneath the surface. The opposition is in constant contact with large numbers of admirals and other supporters within the Maduro administration, Bolton said. Its a struggle against an authoritarian government and its obviously going to take some time, he said. Trump is looking at options - including sanctions - to respond to Russias growing military presence in Venezuela, Bolton said. Two Russian air force planes carrying nearly 100 military personnel landed outside Caracas on Saturday. Were not afraid to use the phrase Monroe Doctrine in this administration, Bolton said, referring to the 1823 policy established by then-President James Monroe, widely seen in Latin America as a justification for U.S. armed intervention in the region. And one of the purposes of the Monroe Doctrine was to prevent foreign interference and even recolonization, Bolton said. If you look at the presence of Cuban and Russian forces in Venezuela, you have to ask when will the people of Venezuela get to choose their government rather than foreigners? he said. Venezuelas economic crisis, which has caused shortages of food and medicine, has pushed millions of people to flee the country. Trump is considering granting temporary protection from deportation to the more than 70,000 Venezuelans believed to be in the United States, but wants to focus first on ensuring there is a transition in the government of the country, Bolton said. We want to be sure that people are not put back into a difficult position if theyre opponents of the Maduro regime. On the other hand, there are many families of Maduro regime supporters in this country that wanted out of Venezuela to be safe, Bolton said. Reporting by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Tom Brown Stuff reports: Little said he was fast-tracking a widespread review of New Zealands existing hate speech legislation. This would include deciding if hate crime should be established as its own separate offence, as it is in the United Kingdom. The UK is a great example of how well intentioned laws end up criminalising many different types of speech. Some examples: An evangelist, was convicted because he had displayed to people in Bournemoutha large sign bearing the words Jesus Gives Peace, Jesus is Alive, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop Lesbianism, Jesus is Lord. A man was arrested in Cardiff for distributing pamphlets which called sexual activity between members of the same sex a sin Harry Taylor sentenced to six months prison (suspended) because he left anti-religious cartoons in the prayer-room of Liverpools John Lennon Airport on three occasions and the Chaplain complained A 19-year-old woman was convicted of sending a grossly offensive message after she posted rap lyrics that included the N-word on her Instagram page Scottish YouTuber Mark Meechan of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire was fined 800 after being found grossly offensive for posting a YouTube video that was viewed over 3 million times depicting him training his girlfriends pug to respond to the phrase Sieg Heil by lifting his paw in a Nazi salute A student was arrested for saying to a mounted police officer Excuse me do you know your horse is gay A teenager was arrested for barking at two labradors, as the owner was non-white A teenager was prosecuted for holding up a placard that described the Church of Scientology as a cult A man was charged with racially aggravated criminal damage for writing Dont forget the 1945 war on a UKIP poster An Essex baker Daryl Barke was ordered to take down a poster promoting English bread with the slogan none of that French rubbish, because the police believed it would stir up racial hatred An 11 year old boy was charged for calling a classmate a Paki bastard in a playground fight after being called a teletubby The North Wales Police Commissioner tried to prosecute a newspaper columnist for suggesting a Welsh bridge should be named something indecipherable with no real vowels, such as Ysgythysgymlngwchgwch Bryggy. An Irish TV writer was visited by the Police because he used the pronoun he on Twitter to refer to a transgender woman. These are just a few examples Ive plagiarized from various columns and articles I could locate. There are no doubt many more. We already have a law which states it is an offence to publish anything which is likely to excite hostility or ill-will against, or bring into contempt or ridicule, any such group of persons in New Zealand on the ground of the colour, race, or ethnic or national origins of that group of persons Lowering the bar from exciting hostility will lead to court cases like the ones cited above. If the Government proceeds, it will be buying a huge battle. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr WASHINGTON President Donald Trump called for the Pulitzer Board to revoke the prizes awarded to The New York Times and The Washington Post for coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the links between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. "So funny that The New York Times & The Washington Post got a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage (100% NEGATIVE and FAKE!) of Collusion with Russia - And there was No Collusion! So, they were either duped or corrupt?" the president wrote on Twitter on Friday. "In any event, their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!" The sentiment has been a talking point for Republicans since Attorney General William Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but it was the first time the president suggested that the media outlets have their Pulitzers one of journalism's highest honors stripped away. The awards were given in 2018 for what the Pulitzer Board described as "deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nations understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elects transition team and his eventual administration." More: AG William Barr plans to release Mueller report by mid-April. 'Everyone will soon be able to read it.' More: Mueller report: Investigation found no evidence Trump conspired with Russia, leaves obstruction question open Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy said in a statement to USA TODAY that Trump's tweet was "fake marketing." "This criticism is fake marketing. We stand behind the Pulitzer selection process, which has endured for 103 years. And the winning work speaks for itself," she said. "Beyond that, this simply doesnt deserve comment. Im focusing on our exciting upcoming 103rd awards announcement and invite everyone to tune in to the livestream on Monday April 15th at 3 p.m. on Pulitzer.org." In a statement, The New York Times said the outlet's coverage stands and Barr's four-page letter summarizing the investigation only confirmed the work of its reporters. "No report in our package of Pulitzer-prize winning work has been challenged," said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the company. "In fact, what we know of the Mueller report from the Attorney Generals summary confirms our coverage. Russia actively worked to upend the American elections in 2016 and there were multiple instances of Trump Transition and Administration officials having contact with Russia." The Washington Post, through a spokeswoman, said it did not plan on commenting on the president's tweet. Throughout Mueller's investigation, dozens of individuals were charged, including members of Trump's inner circle, his campaign and his administration. But no charges were filed specifically alleging a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to help him win the 2016 election, though Mueller and U.S. intelligence officials has concluded that the Kremlin was behind a massive campaign to interfere and influence the outcome of the election. Mueller found, according to Barr's letter to members of Congress, that the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with Russia "despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign." Barr said Mueller declined to reach a conclusion on whether the president sought to obstruct the investigation, though Barr said his own judgment was that Trump had not. Barr's letter included very little from Mueller's nearly 400-page report. The full report is expected to be released publicly in mid-April, Barr told Congress on Friday. The award-winning work by the Times and Post chronicles issues and warnings about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn before he was charged as part of Mueller's investigation and Jared Kushner's Russian links. Other stories revealed a meeting between top Trump campaign officials, including the president's eldest son, with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower before the election and conduct by the president that led to questions over whether he may have attempted to obstruct the investigation, including asking former FBI Director James Comey to let go of an investigation into Flynn. Brian Howey is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at howeypolitics.com. Find him on Facebook and Twitter @hwypol. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The divide between Hollywood writers and their agents deepened on Sunday when members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new code of conduct that would curb the use of packaging fees and other unpopular industry practices. The WGA said Sunday that 95.3% of members who participated in the vote, or 7,882 individuals, said they are in favor of the new code, with just 4.7%, or 392 people, voting against it. The guild said it had no further comment. Voting began Wednesday and concluded Sunday morning as talks between the two sides appeared to make little headway. The Assn. of Talent Agents, the organization that represents the talent agencies, said in a statement that it was eager to resume negotiations. Advertisement Now that the WGA is past its vote, we look forward to getting back into the room to work through an agreement that serves the best interest of writers, respects their individual choice, and prevents unnecessary disruption to our industry. We stand ready and waiting. Writers Guild vs. talent agencies While Sundays vote is largely regarded as symbolic, since no talent agency has thus far agreed to sign it, the resolution is expected to put more pressure on agencies as the two sides are set to recommence talks this week ahead of Saturdays deadline to negotiate a new franchise agreement. The WGA has taken the extraordinary step of saying its members will fire agents if they dont abide by the new code. Initially, the threat was seen as little more than rhetorical saber-rattling. But in recent days, many high-profile Hollywood writers have signaled that they support the WGAs efforts if their demands arent met. J.J. Abrams, the writer-director-producer behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and ABCs Lost, said Wednesday that he was throwing his considerable clout behind the guild. If you agree with me that its finally time to end agencies conflicted practices, I urge you to join me and vote yes, he said in a statement to other WGA members last week. Abrams joined a growing list of prominent Hollywood writers including Aaron Sorkin, David Chase and Jenji Kohan who have signed a statement saying they will fire their agents. I think [Sundays] vote is a tactic, said Elsa Ramo, an entertainment attorney who isnt involved in the negotiations. She said the union is using the vote of support to maximize its leverage. The question is if all the barking is going to result in a bite? The unprecedented dispute has put much of Hollywood on edge. Writers last negotiated a franchise agreement with their agents in 1976. In that time, the agency industry has dramatically evolved, especially in the last decade as an influx of private equity investment has put pressure on agencies to grow their bottom lines. Writers are arguing that their agents face rising conflicts of interest as the major agencies seek out new revenue streams to supplement, and perhaps overtake, the traditional business of talent representation. Much of the dispute revolves around packaging, a longstanding practice in Hollywood. But the WGA has said agencies are prioritizing packaging fees over client representation. Packaging fees are the percentages that agencies earn on a project for putting together talent from their client rosters. While packaging fees have become an important revenue stream, the major agencies said that their clients earn more from packaged shows, in part because they dont have to pay the traditional 10% commission. Writers are also objecting to agencies move into the world of TV and movie production. Three of the big Hollywood agencies Endeavor, CAA and UTA have embarked on production activity, either through new internal divisions or outside partnerships. The WGA last week blasted plans by Endeavor, which has become a major player in entertainment production, for an initial public offering. The guild argues that agencies face a conflict of interest when they both employ and represent talent on a show. But the agencies said they are capable of handling potential conflicts by involving talents managers and attorneys. The dispute could end up heading to court. The major agencies are gearing up for a potential lawsuit if the two sides dont reach an agreement by Saturdays deadline, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. But the WGA could sue the agencies over their business practices. Last week Creative Artists Agency was sued by a writer who claims the agency stole his idea for a TV pilot and handed it to another client. CAA has denied the allegations. In a speech given Wednesday to guild members, WGA, West President David A. Goodman said that the agencies business model has become fundamentally flawed. Our goal for a new agency agreement remains to realign the agencies incentives so their welfare is directly tied to writers, he said. david.ng@latimes.com @DavidNgLAT UPDATES: 1:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. La Virgen de Guadalupe an apparition of the Virgin Mary is an icon of the Catholic faith, the patron saint of Mexico and a symbol of Mexican independence venerated throughout the Americas, although not principally for her comic timing. Or at least not yet. In Evelina Fernandezs enchanting new play, The Mother of Henry, now at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, La Virgen gets some of the biggest laughs. For the record: An earlier version of this review misspelled projection designer Yee Eun Nams first name as Lee. As played by Esperanza America in this Latino Theater Company world premiere, La Virgen strongly resembles the best-known image of her, the one miraculously imprinted on a cloak in 1531 and displayed ever since at her basilica in Mexico City. Enclosed in a fringe of sunbeams, dressed in a pinkish robe and cerulean mantle, La Virgen stands with her head sympathetically tilted, her hands clasped and an angel at her feet. But here the angel (Robert J. Revell) plays an electric guitar, while La Virgen belts out 1960s folk-rock anthems like Turn! Turn! Turn! and For What Its Worth in a strong, bluesy alto. Advertisement As in the Latin American tradition of magical realism one of the genres Fernandez and director Jose Luis Valenzuela mingle here supernatural intervention doesnt guarantee a happy ending. For although La Virgen responds personally to a worried mothers prayers, and even helps her fold laundry, she cant change destiny. Do you think things would be such a mess if I could? she asks dryly. All La Virgen can do is listen and comfort the plight of every mother. So many times I think, Oh, no, please dont do that, she admits, of watching humanity struggle from above. L.A. theater: The 99-Seat Beat, our weekly column on the small-stage scene The recipient of these Marian visitations, a not-especially-religious woman named Concepcion Castro (Cheryl Umana), can relate. Its 1968 in Boyle Heights, and Connie, as her Anglo friends call her, is newly divorced, caring for her ill-tempered, devout mother (also Esperanza America, swathed in blankets and hilariously screaming about rosary beads in Spanish), and starting a new office job at Sears. Her work is dull but easy, fortunately, because Connie has enough on her mind. Her son, Henry, is in Vietnam. As Connie gets to know her coworkers, their attitudes toward the war begin to color and complicate her own. Because these characters live in the 1960s, well before the era of political correctness, they have none of our qualms about cultural stereotypes; they blithely use them to explain their own and everyone elses behavior. Their banter captures both the relative simplicity of this worldview and its limitations. Loretta (Ella Saldana North) is an outspoken Italian who says things like, Theres something about Latin men. I cant explain it; I just know I like it. Olga (Mary-Beth Manning), in keeping with the policies of her native Canada, prefers not to take sides. Their manager, Manny (Xavi Moreno), is a flirty musician on the make; and their supervisor, Herb (Gary Patent), is a kindhearted Jewish bachelor who opposes the war and sympathizes, just as Loretta suspects he does, with the coloreds. Poor Yella Rednecks: Kung fu, hip-hop and the immigrant superheroes of playwright Qui Nguyen As the five of them navigate a rapidly changing America gorgeously conveyed by Yee Eun Nams projections, which combine lush religious iconography with footage of the calamities (RFKs assassination) and triumphs (the moon landing) of the late 1960s they change one another in unexpected ways. The story, if summarized, might sound more bitter than sweet, but the strength of the performances, the warmth and humor of the developing relationships, the excellence of the design elements and Valenzuelas spirited direction cast an irresistible spell. What it means to be American seems likely to keep changing, just as radically now as it did, but maybe we can get through it if we stick together. The Mother of Henry Where: Latino Theater Company production at Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through April 20 Tickets: $20-$50 Info: (866) 811-4111 or TheLATC.org Running time: 2 hours Support our coverage of local artists and the local arts scene by becoming a digital subscriber. See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts. When actor and writer Heidi Schreck was a high school student in Wenatchee, Wash., she was racking up college tuition money by giving speeches on the majesty of the Constitution in contests organized by the American Legion. Pick an Amendment and this self-described teenage zealot could deliver an impassioned address on its democratic superpower. Start the clock and hear her deliver a defense of this founding documents magical ability to correct its blind spots over time. In What the Constitution Means to Me, the singularly charming, politically urgent and cathartically necessary play that had its official Broadway opening Sunday at the Helen Hayes Theater, Schreck tries to re-create from memory the prize-winning speech she gave as a 15-year-old. But thats just the setup for a delightfully free-form theatrical experience. This unconventional work is a hybrid creation, part play, part performance piece. The production, directed by Oliver Butler, brings into frolicsome dialogue an adult womans consciousness of contemporary fractured America with a youthful idealism that valiantly refuses to concede defeat. Advertisement On a set designed by Rachel Hauck to resemble an American Legion hall, Schreck jumps back in time to 1989 to remember the adolescent girl whose overheated rhetoric and giddy metaphors betray an obsession with the Salem witch trials and Patrick Swayze. Behind this fervid style is an incisive mind with a passionate commitment to the principle of equality, which from the nations beginning has been a source of endless controversy. Schreck sends up her own goofy earnestness as she excitedly takes the microphone in a setting that includes a couple of flags, a sad potted plant and, as a stand-in for the original mostly white male audience for these oratorical showdowns, a paneled wall of headshots of Legionnaires. Actor Mike Iveson impersonating one of these fellows with regulation blazer, hat and pin poses questions and strictly enforces time limits in a play that sets up the contest structure only to discard it when it threatens to become too confining. Remembering that the path to victory lies in drawing connections between her own life and the Constitution, Schreck begins to tell stories about the women in her family line. A key figure is her great-great-grandmother, Theresa, a German immigrant who came to Washington as a mail-order bride and died in a mental institution at age 36, a casualty of melancholia. What occasions this bit of family history is the first clause of the 14th Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State in which they reside. Schreck explains that Theresa was considered in her day a good immigrant, a determination arrived at through the whim of lawmakers. She doesnt need to harp on Donald Trumps build the wall demagoguery to remind us of just how heated these constitutional issues are today. Engendering even more intensely private revelations is Clause 3 of this same amendment: Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Schreck explains how, in an act of breathtaking judicial interpretation involving the 9th and 14th amendments, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackman arrived at the right to privacy, which gave a woman the right to decide what to do with her own body. Raised in an abortion-free zone in Washington, Schreck cringes when recalling her eager-to-please young self arguing in favor of a womans right to choose while making clear that this is a choice she would never make personally. But six years later while starring in a tiny Seattle production of Miss Julie, she slept with her costar, got pregnant and decided to have an abortion, a secret she kept from even her feminist mother. This disclosure is at the heart of What the Constitution Means to Me, and it personalizes the theatrical discussion in a powerfully emotional way. Schreck bravely digs into the decades-old confusion and shame to shed light on the manifold ways reproductive freedom is bound up with privacy concerns. She remembers taking the pregnancy test at a site that had pictures of fetuses on the wall and a poster that read, Adoption Is a Beautiful Choice. Raised to be psychotically polite, she found herself in a nice-off with the receptionist, who hugged her when she lied and said it would be good news if she found out she were pregnant. Its important to Schreck that we know she was on birth control when she got pregnant. She had been on birth control since she was 15, not because she was having sex at that age but because of fear. She worried irrationally about hot tubs and sperm, and she worried with reason about a real attack. Being a woman means living in a state of anxiety not only about sexual assault and rape but also about the loss of judicial control. Schreck fills us in on violent episodes from her mothers childhood, harrowing incidents that sound extreme but turn out to be disturbingly common as she reviews her family tree. The unspoken inheritance of this trauma can be felt in the gaps in Schrecks monologues, the pockets of silences in which she sorts her feelings of sorrow, anger and frustration into a growing solidarity. Statistics are cited: One in three American women is sexually assaulted during their lifetime. One in four American women is raped during her lifetime. Ten million American women live in violent households. Forty million adult Americans grew up with domestic violence. The point of the show, Schreck makes clear, isnt to vilify men. (I love men, she says. Im the daughter of a father.) But theres no getting around the abject failure of historically male-dominated courts to deal with womens bodies. Congressman Barbara Jordan famously declared that her faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. Schreck is still a believer too but she now openly embraces her doubts and questions. What the Constitution Means to Me concludes with a debate between Schreck and a bright teenager (Rosdely Ciprian alternates performances with Thursday Williams) over whether the Constitution should be defended or abolished and redrafted. The play loses some of its emotional force in the final stretch. (The structural looseness does wear thin at points.) But in bringing to the stage a youngster with the same passionate engagement of the 15-year-old Schreck, the show ends on a note of optimism that the battle for social progress is in confident hands. Black Panther, the cultural phenomenon from Marvel Studios, swept the NAACP Image Awards by taking home six trophies, including best picture, director and ensemble. Director Ryan Coogler and much of the cast of the 2018 blockbuster took the stage late Saturday at the Dolby Theatre to accept the outstanding motion picture trophy. The power of this moment to us really feels like the power of Pan-Africanism, said co-star Danai Gurira. The beauty of this project is that we as a diaspora made this film successful, and were just getting started. That sentiment was echoed throughout much of the evening. On the red carpet of the Image Awards, which marked this years 50th anniversary, costar Winston Duke celebrated what the success of Panther as well as his latest film, Jordan Peeles Us, means for representation in Hollywood. Advertisement We are challenging all the narratives that say our movies dont make money overseas and they dont translate into diverse audiences, he said. Were also changing a genre where were the first casualties. And were begging audiences to question what else can become casualties. Constructs like racism, the American dream, the patriarchy those things can get beaten up and killed and still lend itself to a very powerful story. Dukes Panther costar Chadwick Boseman took home the first award of the night, winning outstanding actor in a motion picture for his role as King TChalla in the movie. Black people always thank God when they win, and Im not gon let you down, he said, also thanking Coogler in his speech. My director, you are a genius. Letitia Wright, who plays TChallas teenage sister, Shuri, in the film, won the award for breakthrough performance in a motion picture. Wow, I didnt expect this at all, she said. I just want to say a massive thank you for all of the support. Another big winner of the night was black-ish, with stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson both taking home acting in a comedy series awards for their roles, marking his 14th nomination and fifth win in the category and her 17th nod and eighth win. Anderson brought his mother onstage with him during his acceptance speech. The show also won the award for comedy series. Before announcing the nominees in the category, presenter Chris Rock couldnt stop himself from making jokes about Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor recently embroiled in a Chicago attack case. I guess I gotta present an award, he began. They said no Jussie Smollett jokes. What a waste of light skin, you know? You know what I could do with that light skin, that curly hair? My career would be out of here. Id be running Hollywood. What the hell was he thinking? he went on. Youre Jessie from now on. You dont even get the U no more. That U was respect, you aint getting no respect from me. In the casts acceptance speech, Yara Shahidi countered Rock, saying: I stand with Jussie, before passing the mike on to her costars. The chairmans award went to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who had a message for the haters whove made death threats against her and her family. Ive had four of them convicted, she said. If you come for me, Im coming for you. I have the gavel and Im not afraid to use it. Jay-Z received the presidents award, thanking his mom and his grandmother, Hattie White, in his speech. Thank you, guys, thank you to NAACP for allowing me to forward this so she can put this on her mantel next to her favorite grandson, he said of his 93-year-old grandmother. And then when shes sneaking pork and her legs swell up, she can remember how much of a G she is. The entertainer of the year award went to Beyonce, whose hands shook as she read her speech from a piece of paper. She used her time to thank her fellow nominees in the category: Boseman, Coogler, LeBron James and Regina King. sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com follow me on twitter @sonaiyak President Trumps plan to pull funding from military construction projects to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border could delay more than $139 million in critical infrastructure funding for U.S. Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in Orange County, officials said. The stations needs include replacing a 60-year-old ammunition pier, dredging Anaheim Bay and constructing missile storage warehouses. The installations strategic importance is expected to increase in coming years because the Navy plans to base 60% of its ships in the Pacific by 2020, up from 40% a decade ago, according to a Navy study. Seal Beachs primary missions are to store ordnance for the Navy and Marine Corps, load and unload ammunition and maintain weapons on warships departing San Diego. Advertisement At the request of Sen. Jack Reed (D- R.I.), the Joint Chiefs of Staff released a list of military construction projects this week that could be used as funding sources for the border wall. Seal Beachs earmarked funding was listed as an eligible source. Gregg Smith, public affairs officer for the weapons station, said the bases construction funds had only been identified as a potential source of border wall funding. Especially knowing that, it would definitely not be appropriate for me to speculate on potential impacts to the base or the Navy at this time, he said. U.S. Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach), whose district includes Seal Beach, wrote in a statement that Trump chose to veto a congressional resolution terminating his border emergency, defying the consensus of both parties in the House and the Senate. I will not sit still and let the president raid hundreds of millions from California disaster relief funding, and put $139 million more in military construction projects for Seal Beachs brave service members and their families on the chopping block, Rouda wrote. The replacement of the ammunition pier is considered vital by the Navy because the pier was built prior to modern earthquake standards, and a major seismic event could halt operations. Dredging Anaheim Bay and reconfiguring the turning basin will allow Seal Beach to serve larger amphibious assault ships, which currently have to be resupplied at sea by Marine Corps helicopters off Camp Pendleton. To allow vehicles to access the new wharf, the Navy will build a causeway across the east side of the bay and create an entirely new public navigation channel for Huntington Harbour. The Navy currently closes Anaheim Bay to public boating traffic while ships are entering or leaving the base. The new navigation channel will eliminate the need for such closures, which can last for about an hour and a half, said Paul De Graw, commodore of the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club. The yacht club was excited about the option that they came up with because it separates the harbor from the naval base, De Graw said. The members of the yacht club would be disappointed if the project didnt go through. Its unclear when the Trump administration would tap specific military construction projects for funding and how it long it would take to restore funding to those projects. If the Navy decides to move ahead with funding Seal Beach on schedule, construction crews could break ground later this year or in 2020. Langhorne writes for Times Community News If Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti had hoped to share in the excitement over San Francisco-based Lyft becoming one of the first gig economy companies to begin trading on public stock markets, he may be disappointed. Garcetti is facing criticism for appearing with Lyft executives at an event to celebrate the companys initial public offering. Garcettis official mayoral account tweeted photos of him standing at a podium adorned with a Lyft logo and a flurry of pink-colored confetti. The event, held Friday morning, came days after Uber and Lyft drivers went on strike in L.A. to protest low wages at ride-hailing companies. L.A. is leading Americas transportation revolution, and @Lyft is a part of that promising future, the mayor tweeted Friday. Their spirit of corporate responsibility will guide the future of public-private partnerships that benefit residents first. Advertisement Last Monday, drivers for ride-hailing companies staged a 25-hour strike in Los Angeles to protest Ubers decision to slash their per-mile pay from 80 cents to 60 cents in Los Angeles County and parts of Orange County. Lyft also has been criticized over its wages. Groups representing Uber and Lyft drivers are pushing the California Legislature, as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom, to grant them tougher job protections. Currently, Uber and Lyft drivers operate as independent contractors. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) has introduced a bill that would clarify the difference between independent contractors and employees under state law, potentially forcing the ride-hailing companies to pay their drivers overtime, family leave and other benefits granted to employees, increasing labor costs. Gonzalez linked to Garcettis tweet and wrote: Last I checked corporate responsibility includes treating their workforce with dignity & respect. There were LA Lyft drivers on strike this week. We will fail as Democrats when we choose corporate decadence & greed over workers. Gonzalez, through her spokeswoman Sami Gallegos, declined an interview request. Gallegos said the tweet speaks for itself. Rideshare Drivers United spokeswoman Nicole Moore said she was extremely surprised by Garcettis appearance at Fridays event. The group represents more than 3,000 drivers in the Los Angeles metro area, she said, and helped organize the recent strike. Our mayor stood with a company that is profiteering from the labor of many good people in Los Angeles, Moore said. This is a challenge to him to reach out to us. Garcetti spokeswoman Anna Bahr said in a statement that the mayor went to the Lyft event to celebrate the City Works program, a new initiative that Lyft launched on Friday. The program, Bahr said, will help fund bridge housing and services for our homeless neighbors, and solve the first mile/last mile challenge that affects L.A. commuters in low-income communities. Lyft has committed $5 million toward the citys transportation initiatives, including funding rides for staff working with the citys new A Bridge Home shelter program and for rides on electric scooters in low-income areas. Nationwide, the company said it will commit $50 million or 1% of profits to cities where it operates. Lyft, like Uber, is currently not profitable, however. The mayor regularly courts technology companies in a bid to expand the citys business base. Garcetti used his 2015 State of the City address to announce a proposal to allow Uber and Lyft to pick up customers at Los Angeles International Airport news that at the time thrilled fans of the ride-hailing services. Garcetti also led a push to increase L.A.s minimum wage and supported L.A. Countys efforts to do the same. A Lyft spokeswoman declined to comment on Assemblywoman Gonzalezs tweet. In regards to the $5 million for Los Angeles, she said that Lyfts policy team worked directly with the mayors office to determine the areas our investment can make the greatest impact. Staff writer Johana Bhuiyan contributed to this report. dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @dakotacdsmith For six years, dozens of homeless veterans have recovered from trauma in nine cottages along a winding residential road in Echo Park. The Billets military jargon for civilian quarters has been a model. The 72-bed program places as much as 70% of its chronically homeless veterans male and female in permanent housing, according to Volunteers of America, which operates the program. Its based in a tranquil, leafy and gentrifying neighborhood of families and young professionals a short walk from a doughnut shop, a grocery store and multiple bus lines. But on Monday, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is closing the Billets for good. Volunteers of America officials said the VA gave no real reason for the decision, and Nikki T. Baker, department spokeswoman at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, declined a request to interview Director Ann Brown or another administrator. Advertisement Were perplexed, said Karl Calhoun, Volunteers of America director of veteran and recovery services. Baker told The Times that the program was ending because there were better applicants for the grant of $1 million a year. She said she could not release the list of applicants or the chosen recipient until June. Other applicants were better able to meet VAs funding criteria, which is designed to ensure resources are utilized in the most efficient manner possible, Baker said in a statement. Volunteers of America has slowly been moving Billets residents into other housing, including the 500-bed shelter in Bell. But those facilities are unlikely to match the benefits of the Echo Park program, participants said. Jeff Petrie, 51, a Navy veteran and former museum fundraiser, said he got a part-time job in the neighborhood and had begun volunteering at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Here, you have one roommate and were all bonded because were all military, said Petrie, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, largely from his experiences being a gay serviceman when it was forbidden. To be on a beautiful campus has given me a take-off platform so much higher than the three-hots-and-a-cot shelter in Atlanta that he once called home. The Billets has used a harm-reduction model for its services; some clients actively struggle with drug or alcohol problems. Volunteers of Americas Calhoun said that because the program is comprehensive offering intensive case management and help finding housing or applying for benefits it has been especially effective with veterans who had hits and misses with past services. Reginald Pippin, 37, left, speaks with Taneisha Antoine, clinical program manager at the Billets. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Its a one-stop shop. They can get all their needs met, said Taneisha Antoine, clinical program manager at the Billets. Over the years, neighbors of the Billets have complained of carousing, drug paraphernalia, profanity and a glut of parked cars all as Echo Park has been transitioning from a bohemian enclave into a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar real estate. But an executive at Gateways Hospital, the programs landlord, said Volunteers of America had worked things out with neighboring residents. The hospital was trying to extend the Billets lease when the VA pulled out with no explanation, Chief Operating Officer Phil Wong said. Reginald Pippin said that he spent two years in a veterans program in Hollywood after finishing film school but that his issues werent deeply addressed until he arrived at the Billets. Its a good area; its easy to walk about, said the 37-year-old Iraq war veteran, who took up art through a therapy class. I find myself drawn to museums. Im learning how to shade. Petrie said the shady courtyard of the Billets and the beauty of the surrounding neighborhood, which includes Elysian and Echo parks and views of the downtown skyline and Hollywood sign, were healing. On Friday, he moved into a 10-foot-by-6-foot cubicle in a dorm-style shelter at PATH homeless services agency. The building is in an East Hollywood neighborhood packed with homeless camps. I know its weird for a 51-year old Naval Academy graduate to say, but its a scary day. I understand there are veterans here, but I havent met any yet, Petrie said. I knew I had it good. Now I really know I had it good. gholland@latimes.com Twitter: @geholland In a bid to get homeless veterans off the streets, Los Angeles awarded more than $10 million to help transform an unfussy building in Westlake into supportive housing. Now critics are arguing that the money should be pulled. The reason? One set of extremely poor residents were displaced to make way for another set of extremely poor residents, attorneys from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Western Center on Law and Poverty wrote to the city on behalf of the Los Angeles Community Action Network. This is, at best, a waste of taxpayer money. The Royal Park Motel now known as West Third Apartments had recently been home to some residents who accused their landlord of illegally booting them out of their units. Just before the building was sold for the new project, those tenants had reached a settlement with their landlord that included payouts and a chance for other former residents to return. Advertisement Nonprofit and construction executives on the development team for the project are outraged by the idea of yanking the $10.2 million, saying they had no connection to the former owner accused of pushing out residents. Their planned project, they said, will take a building that was unsafe and barely occupied and turn it into desperately needed housing for more than 100 homeless veterans. Pulling the money would be devastating and preposterous, said Tod Lipka, president and chief executive of the nonprofit Step Up, arguing that the project was eligible and properly funded under Proposition HHH, a $1.2-billion bond for homeless housing. Without housing, veterans are going to die on the street. A lock on a gate at the building formerly known as the Royal Park Motel in Los Angeles on March 20. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The dispute has arisen amid broader concerns about the displacement of poor tenants as apartments are bulldozed for new, pricier construction or turned into de facto hotels for tourists. As L.A. funds homeless housing, some activists fear it could end up perpetuating that same problem, even as it houses destitute people living on the streets. The debate over whether that happened at the Westlake building revolves more narrowly around the difference between a residential hotel and a motel. L.A. defines residential hotels as buildings with rooms rented out for sleeping purposes that are also the primary residence of those guests. That excludes hotels and motels chiefly used by temporary guests. City officials say that under HHH regulations, money cannot be awarded to remake a residential building that is occupied unless new construction is going to result in at least twice as many units as are being eliminated. HHH money can, however, be used to convert motels into homeless housing. Andy Meyers, CEO of Shangri-La Construction, said that when members of the development team toured the building in Westlake, it was operating as a motel, with housekeeping staff and nightly rates for guests. At the time, he said, they had no idea about the legal battle underway with the building owner. This was a motel that was supposed to be delivered to us vacant, Meyers said. It was not functioning as a residential hotel. Yet when real estate advisory firm Keyser Marston Associates analyzed the West Third Apartments proposal for the city more than a year ago, it had concluded that the building was being used as a long-term residential hotel and that some tenants would probably have to be relocated. The building was also on a city list of residential hotels. Last year, several Royal Park residents represented by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and another firm sued their landlord, claiming they were told they had to leave temporarily because of repairs after a fire, then blocked from coming back. One of those residents, Peter James, said he rolled around town for months in his Ford Aerostar van, hunting for spots to sleep. Me and the dog became hobos, the 62-year-old recalled, remembering the months after he vacated his $875-a-month unit. Peter James, 62, unpacks and organizes his new apartment in Los Angeles on March 19. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) James said that when he tried to return, he ran into travelers toting suitcases and chatting in other languages. Residents complained their landlord was replacing door locks with key cards and advertising the building online as the Center Lake Hotel, despite a city order to restore it to its approved use as a residential hotel. They had a bellhop and everything, said Misty Word, another former resident involved in the legal battle over the building. Word said she was told she had to leave the Royal Park for a few months for renovations, but was later told she could return only if she paid $3,000 a month a massive hike over the roughly $700 she and her fiance had been paying, according to their suit. Other tenants said they successfully returned but faced retaliation for complaints. Under a settlement in December, the landlord agreed to pay more than $1 million including relocation payments to residents who sued and stop marketing the building as a tourist hotel. That agreement also stated that former tenants who were not among the plaintiffs could come back to the building at close to their old rents or get paid to permanently relocate. A few weeks later, Royal Park Motel LP had sold the building to its new owners for more than $22 million more than three times what the company had paid for it. Im happy its for veterans, said Word, who has been living in a smaller unit in another residential hotel down the street. But because of him doing this, we lost out on housing for us. Gerald Wang, identified by residents as one of the former owners, declined to comment on the controversy. Meyers and Lipka said they found out about the settlement only in December, just before the sale closed. They said that after finding out there were still people at the building, the development team had followed HHH guidelines and was providing relocation payments for anyone who was entitled to them. Housing officials said they were reviewing the concerns raised about the West Third Apartments project and declined to weigh in on it specifically. In general, L.A. has long provided financing to rehabilitate and preserve residential hotels through other affordable housing funds, the housing department said in a statement, and under certain circumstances, such affordable housing developments are eligible for HHH funding. Meanwhile, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Western Center on Law and Poverty argue that L.A. needs to avoid repeating what happened there in a new $120-million program meant to find innovative ways to house people more quickly and cheaply. At a recent hearing at City Hall, officials said a proposed provision for the new program would prohibit permanent displacement of existing tenants. Alex Comisar, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said they would work with the council on a program that brings our homeless neighbors indoors as quickly as possible, without displacing people from homes they already live in. But critics argued that the proposed language could still encourage landlords to empty out their buildings before selling them for HHH projects. In their letter, attorneys with the two groups argued that L.A. should specifically ban using that money to remake existing residential buildings. If it doesnt, they wrote, we will be forced to file suit. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @AlpertReyes A suspicious item found Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport prompted the temporary evacuation of one of its busiest gate areas, police said. The item was discovered about 12:30 p.m. and spurred the evacuation of Gate 150 of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, police said. Los Angeles police dispatched its bomb squad to the scene, police said. After scouring the immediate area, authorities declared it safe and began allowing people to return. Airport police tweeted: suspicious item cleared area to begin repopulation no threats thank you all for your patience and cooperation. Advertisement No other information was immediately available about the incident. carlos.lozano@latimes.com Technology is a major part of our lives, and companies such as Facebook have immense responsibilities. Every day, we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks. These are important for keeping our community safe. But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldnt ask companies to make these judgments alone. I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators. By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve whats best about it the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things while also protecting society from broader harms. From what Ive learned, I believe we need new regulation in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. First, harmful content. Facebook gives everyone a way to use their voice, and that creates real benefits from sharing experiences to growing movements. As part of this, we have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services. That means deciding what counts as terrorist propaganda, hate speech and more. We continually review our policies with experts, but at our scale well always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with. Advertisement Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree. Ive come to believe that we shouldnt make so many important decisions about speech on our own. So were creating an independent body so people can appeal our decisions. Were also working with governments, including French officials, on ensuring the effectiveness of content review systems. Facebooks Zuckerberg calls for more government regulation of internet Internet companies should be accountable for enforcing standards on harmful content. Its impossible to remove all harmful content from the internet, but when people use dozens of different sharing services all with their own policies and processes we need a more standardized approach. One idea is for third-party bodies to set standards governing the distribution of harmful content and to measure companies against those standards. Regulation could set baselines for whats prohibited and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum. Facebook already publishes transparency reports on how effectively were removing harmful content. I believe every major internet service should do this quarterly, because its just as important as financial reporting. Once we understand the prevalence of harmful content, we can see which companies are improving and where we should set the baselines. Second, legislation is important for protecting elections. Facebook has already made significant changes around political ads: Advertisers in many countries must verify their identities before purchasing political ads. We built a searchable archive that shows who pays for ads, what other ads they ran and what audiences saw the ads. However, deciding whether an ad is political isnt always straightforward. Our systems would be more effective if regulation created common standards for verifying political actors. Online political advertising laws primarily focus on candidates and elections, rather than divisive political issues where weve seen more attempted interference. Some laws only apply during elections, although information campaigns are nonstop. And there are also important questions about how political campaigns use data and targeting. We believe legislation should be updated to reflect the reality of the threats and set standards for the whole industry. Third, effective privacy and data protection needs a globally harmonized framework. People around the world have called for comprehensive privacy regulation in line with the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, and I agree. I believe it would be good for the internet if more countries adopted regulation such as GDPR as a common framework. New privacy regulation in the United States and around the world should build on the protections GDPR provides. It should protect your right to choose how your information is used - while enabling companies to use information for safety purposes and to provide services. It shouldnt require data to be stored locally, which would make it more vulnerable to unwarranted access. And it should establish a way to hold companies such as Facebook accountable by imposing sanctions when we make mistakes. I also believe a common global framework rather than regulation that varies significantly by country and state will ensure that the internet does not get fractured, entrepreneurs can build products that serve everyone, and everyone gets the same protections. As lawmakers adopt new privacy regulations, I hope they can help answer some of the questions GDPR leaves open. We need clear rules on when information can be used to serve the public interest and how it should apply to new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Finally, regulation should guarantee the principle of data portability. If you share data with one service, you should be able to move it to another. This gives people choice and enables developers to innovate and compete. This is important for the internet and for creating services people want. Its why we built our development platform. True data portability should look more like the way people use our platform to sign into an app than the existing ways you can download an archive of your information. But this requires clear rules about whos responsible for protecting information when it moves between services. This also needs common standards, which is why we support a standard data transfer format and the open source Data Transfer Project. I believe Facebook has a responsibility to help address these issues, and Im looking forward to discussing them with lawmakers around the world. Weve built advanced systems for finding harmful content, stopping election interference and making ads more transparent. But people shouldnt have to rely on individual companies addressing these issues by themselves. We should have a broader debate about what we want as a society and how regulation can help. These four areas are important, but, of course, theres more to discuss. The rules governing the internet allowed a generation of entrepreneurs to build services that changed the world and created a lot of value in peoples lives. Its time to update these rules to define clear responsibilities for people, companies and governments going forward. Mark Zuckerberg is founder and chief executive of Facebook. Ive spent my career thinking about how to tell the truth. I worked for a decade as a press critic at the Los Angeles Times, ran think tanks that study the news media and wrote a slew of books about the ethics of reporting and editing and the responsibilities of nonfiction. Then a few years ago I began making things up. I started writing political thrillers about Washington. I work hard to make these books plausible and revealing. And inevitably, people pose the same question: How can you possibly write fiction about politics when the news itself reads like dystopian fiction? The answer, as comedian Lily Tomlin once said about politics, is that its impossible to be too cynical; its just hard to keep up. Advertisement Fiction, at least good fiction, is supposed to get at whats true in a way nonfiction cant. To invent stories that tell the truth about politics in Washington which is to say, to tell stories about moral leadership in public life Ive had to keep redrawing the characters, making the situations more drastic and going darker into the human psyche. Or the stories dont ring true. Its remarkable that one political character does not work on the page: Trump feels too predictable and too recognizable to be compelling as fiction. The inner lives of the people in my invented world have become more fevered and filled with doubt. To fend off the bad guys, the good guys must do things that come closer to the moral edge. And to be believable, the villains have become stranger and more ruthless. When I started writing fiction, around 2008, a number of my characters were veteran lawmakers who would play tough for the cameras. But in private after they had done their best to get their way they would count heads, face reality and make a deal. These characters were amalgams of real people, of course. And the real-life lawmakers who inspired them were complex people whom I had covered as a journalist. As I worked on my first novel, however, nearly all of the real-life lawmakers retired or passed away. By late 2015, as final edits were being made, many of the characters seemed anachronistic. The idea that two lawmakers might lock horns one day, then lock arms to co-sponsor legislation the next, no longer felt plausible. Their pragmatism had to be scrapped. Now the characters needed to fear they would be primaried if they made a deal. Some had to be replaced altogether, substituted with younger politicians less interested in legislating and more interested in being president. Many of these new lawmakers abhorred the moderates in their own party more than they resented their opponents across the aisle. The books theme was the importance of facts: how they still mattered in politics, despite how much some in Washington place a higher premium on perception. The theme still worked, and I still believe its true. But it became harder to make the case believable. By mid-2016, I had started working on a new novel, this one about how politics was badly broken. The story involved thoughtful conservatives and liberals who felt confounded by a system that did not allow them to have complicated ideas or buck party orthodoxy. But while a broken political system is no small matter, it started to feel insufficient. The book had to be about a bigger crisis: whether the government itself could survive. New characters had to be added, ones who a year earlier might have seemed absurd. There were internet entrepreneurs in the Senate who wanted to fix politics the same way theyd reinvented industry. And shadowy billionaires funding campaigns with dark money to exercise control over government. There were elected officials hacking their rivals emails. And congressional hearings so dysfunctional, people on both sides had no interest in the facts. Machiavellian politicians were not just conspiring with ideological talk show hosts. Now, to be plausibly scary, they were planting false rumors on conspiracy websites and then commenting on them to ferry the lies into the legitimate press. Something else changed, too. The people behind the scenes now felt like the most compelling characters. Not long ago, we might have dismissed them as staffers, apparatchiks or bureaucrats. Today, they are considered resisters or enablers, their struggles moral and existential. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute One reason for this is that public figures in front of the cameras rarely talk these days like real people. They occasionally evince what sound like authentic thoughts, but their words feel pre-tested and acrylic. And that makes us doubt our politics even more. A good deal of fiction, particularly thriller fiction, takes real situations and tweaks them, just a little, to examine the logical implications of where we are heading. The best fiction then throws interesting characters into those situations and explores how they react. So it is remarkable that one political character does not work on the page: Trump feels too predictable and too recognizable to be compelling as fiction. Readers wouldnt look beyond the real thing to see much more. And ultimately whats interesting about Trump if one were to invent him is what he says about the rest of us. Fiction is also different from real life because the stories come to an end, and we are left to contemplate their meaning. Maybe thats why people keeping asking how anyone could write political fiction today. When you read the news, its hard to know the end. Or the meaning. Tom Rosenstiel, who will appear at the Los Angeles Festival of Books on April 14, is the author of The Good Lie. He is executive director of the American Press Institute and a senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: A Public Policy Institute of California poll finds that people would rather have life without parole than the death penalty imposed as the punishment for first-degree murder. The polls also predicted that Hilary Clinton would be president how did that work out? Heres an idea: Lets actually put the question to the voters. Oh wait, we already did that twice in 2016. The results for one ballot measure affirmed the voters wish to retain capital punishment, and on another initiative voters elected to speed up the appeals process. The arrogance of Gov. Gavin Newsom to blatantly disregard the will of the voters is a slap in the face to not only the voters but the legislative process. This is the same thing he has railed against the Trump administration for doing. I guess its OK when you feel you are the only one on the side of righteousness. Advertisement Jim Toomey, Reseda .. To the editor: California voters have too often gotten past initiatives wrong (Proposition 8 in 2008 should ring a bell). Even Proposition 66, which asked voters if they wanted to speed up the appeals process, was neutered by our courts. Let Newsom and our professional legislators do their jobs. I recall plenty of columns by George Skelton, who opposes Newsoms moratorium, lamenting the constant barrage of initiatives lengthening our already bloated general elections ballots. Jerry Kong, Wildomar, Calif. .. To the editor: The death penalty represents government participation in a blood vendetta on behalf of the victim of a murder. I strongly object to my government involving me in another persons revenge. Similarly, if a loved one of mine were murdered, I would not ask strangers to be involved in exacting revenge on my behalf. David E. Ross, Oak Park Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Former Vice President Joe Biden, his yet-to-be-declared presidential candidacy shaken by an allegation he kissed and touched a woman without her consent at a 2014 political event, said Sunday that never did he think he had acted inappropriately toward her or other women. Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and onetime Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor, wrote in an article published Friday by New York magazine that Biden kissed the back of her head and placed his hands on her shoulders as the two of them waited to take the stage at a Las Vegas rally. In a carefully worded statement, Biden, who is mulling whether to seek the 2020 Democratic nomination, said he would listen respectfully to any allegation that he acted inappropriately but said it was never my intention to cause discomfort or offense. The 76-year-old Biden described expressions of affection, including handshakes and hugs, as a longtime part of his public repertoire. But in the #MeToo era, which has seen scores of powerful men held accountable for sexual harassment and impropriety, it was not clear whether his explanation would quell the uproar. Advertisement Flores said in a television interview Sunday that although she welcomed Bidens pledge to heed the account of anyone made uncomfortable by his behavior, she believed he should remove himself from contention for the presidency. It is completely inappropriate, said Flores, interviewed on CNNs State of the Union, adding that this is something that we should consider when were talking about the background of a person who is considering running for president. For me, its disqualifying, she said. I think its up to everybody else to make that decision. In her published first-person account, Flores described the rally encounter with Biden, then vice president, as startling and upsetting. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me? she wrote, going on to describe a big, slow kiss on the back of her head. With Biden polling at the top of the Democratic pack even in advance of any declared candidacy, the White House appeared to relish the controversy, despite President Trumps own record of improprieties, including the sexually explicit Access Hollywood tape in which he was caught on microphone boasting of grabbing women without their consent. Senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, interviewed on Fox News Sunday, ridiculed the former vice president as out of touch. If anybody just types in Creepy Uncle Joe Videos, you come up with a treasure trove, Conway said. She described it as Bidens big problem here, because he calls it affection and handshakes. READ MORE: Joe Biden inches closer to launching a 2020 presidential bid Several former senior aides to Biden quickly took to social media to defend their ex-boss as a staunch advocate for womens rights who had never behaved inappropriately in their presence. Biden, too, spoke in his statement of a deeply held commitment to gender equality. I will remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women, he said. I will fight to build on the work Ive done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve. The episode poses an awkward dilemma for Bidens Democratic rivals, who appeared loath to denigrate a popular party elder but were also keenly aware of the social climate in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who has declared her candidacy, said she had no reason not to believe Flores but stopped well short of describing the allegations as disqualifying. I think we know from campaigns and from politics that people raise issues, and they have to address them, and thats what he will have to do with the voters if he gets into the race, Klobuchar said on ABCs This Week. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who proved a formidable rival to Hillary Clinton in the battle for the 2016 Democratic nomination and retains a strong following, also said there was no reason to disbelieve Flores. But Sanders, interviewed on CBS Face the Nation, did not call on Biden to preemptively take himself out of the running. I think thats a decision for the vice president to make, Sanders said. A single allegation such as this was not disqualifying, he said, but her point is absolutely right. In her essay, Flores described feelings of shame and disorientation during and after the 2014 incident. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, tragame tierra, it means, earth, swallow me whole. I couldnt move and I couldnt say anything, she wrote. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience. In his statement, Biden did not deny the episode but said he may not recall these moments in the same way. The former vice president made a point of hailing an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will, he added. An allegation that Joe Biden inappropriately touched a Nevada state lawmaker is renewing questions about his appeal to women if he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice presidents decades of vacillation on abortion rights and his handling of Anita Hills sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas at Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991 were already serious vulnerabilities. If Biden launches his third campaign for president, as expected, he will be joining a crowded field of Democratic rivals that includes four women in the U.S. Senate and at a time when women have been siding strongly with Democrats in national elections. Beyond the primaries, the new accusation raises questions about whether Biden, in a general election contest, would strike a weak contrast with President Trump, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct toward women. On Sunday, Biden acknowledged his frequent public expressions of affection but denied any misconduct. Advertisement The 2020 presidential race is the first to occur after the explosion of the #MeToo movement, which swept record numbers of women into public office last year. Over the last 18 months, more than 200 powerful men in media, politics and business have lost their jobs or careers after allegations of sexual harassment or assault became public. Running a campaign in the post-#MeToo or in the middle of the #MeToo movement with these kinds of things on your record is going to be very difficult, said Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer. The old ways on gender are just no longer tolerable. In a New York Magazine web post on Friday, former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote that she felt demeaned and disrespected when Biden touched her offstage at a 2014 campaign rally. She said she felt Bidens hands on her shoulders and froze. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair, she wrote. I was mortified. Flores, then a 35-year-old candidate for lieutenant governor, wondered why the vice president was smelling her hair. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head, she said. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. Flores said he made her feel gross, and she wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from her. Lucy Flores speaks at a February 2016 campaign rally in Las Vegas for presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Biden, 76, released a statement Sunday saying he had offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once never did I believe I acted inappropriately, he said. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. Biden, the co-sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, said he would remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women and surround himself with female advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. Neither Biden nor his staff recall the incident that Flores described, spokesman Bill Russo said. Presidential hopefuls struggle to control damage from sexual misconduct cases in first race of #MeToo era Biden has long had a reputation as an affable politician who is quick to smile and put his hands on people. One viral video from 2013 captured how Biden, then vice president, works the room while swearing in senators wrapping their mothers in tight embraces, insisting that female family members stand next to him, even stroking the face of one. The behavior fed into Bidens folksy Uncle Joe image, epitomized in a satirical Onion piece that envisioned a shirtless vice president fixing a vintage Trans Am on the White House grounds while making mild catcalls. But in another light, Bidens behavior struck some as disturbing. At a Senate swearing-in ceremony in 2015, Biden whispered in the ear of a senators teenage daughter and kissed the side of her head, an interaction that a conservative writer described as a lecherous elderly man creeping on underage girl and said Biden wouldve caught more flak if he were a Republican. All of us who have been around Joe Biden he hugs men, women and children, said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator and avid Biden supporter. He is a hugger. Thats just the generation he comes from, and thats his personality. You shouldnt read anything into it other than he was doing what he has done to me, to my daughter, to my wife, to Barack Obama. If Biden made Flores feel uncomfortable, he said, it was unintended. Mindy Romero, a political sociologist at USC, said the effect of Flores allegation will depend partly on whether Bidens rivals especially the women try to use it against him. If they do, that will elevate it, she said. Two of the Democratic contenders campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, told reporters they believed Flores. Joe Biden needs to give an answer, Warren said. Bernie Sanders, another candidate for the party nomination, told CBS on Sunday that he, too, had no reason to doubt Flores. What this speaks to is the need to fundamentally change the culture of this country and to create environments where women feel comfortable and feel safe, he said. Flores, who campaigned for Sanders in 2016, has served on the board of Our Revolution, a group that backs the Vermont senator. Sanders recently apologized for male staff members harassment and mistreatment of women who worked for him in 2016. A key Biden supporter said there was no panic among his top advisers, and the Flores allegation would likely not change his expected plan to join the presidential contest in April. Another longtime Biden ally, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said the Flores story was obviously a hurdle but would do no harm to Bidens campaign, even in a general election contest against Trump. Jack the Ripper wouldnt have a problem with his sexual activity compared to President Trump, Rendell said. Republican strategist and commentator Ana Navarro-Cardenas wrote on Twitter that Biden needed to stop the touchy-feely conduct that made people uncomfortable. But pls get back to me when +15 women say he sexually harassed them, or he boasts of grabbing a womans kitty-cat, or he pays hush-money to a stripper who reminds him of his daughter, she wrote. Ill wait. If he runs, Bidens mixed record on abortion in his 36 years as a U.S. senator from Delaware will pose no small challenge as he seeks to build support among Democratic women. Biden, who is Catholic, voted both to restrict and expand abortion rights over the course of his career. In a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian, Biden criticized the Supreme Courts Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. I think it went too far, he said. I dont think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body. In the Senate, he voted in 1982 for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have effectively overturned Roe vs. Wade by giving states the right to outlaw abortion. And he voted to ban federal funding of abortions. By the time he ran for president in 2008, Biden was vowing to protect Roe vs. Wade, and hed built a voting record largely supporting abortion rights. But he also voted to ban certain late-term abortions. What has caused Biden the most political trouble with women has been his leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Thomas hearings. Hills calmly delivered allegations that Thomas sexually harassed her were met with aggressive and embarrassing questions by the all-male committee, and witnesses who were prepared to testify on her behalf were not allowed to appear. Anyone who lived through the 1990s remembers his role in that, and it wasnt favorable, said Zelizer, the Princeton historian. In a tacit recognition of the enduring political damage, Biden told a New York audience Tuesday: To this day, I regret I couldnt come up with a way to give her the kind of hearing she deserved. Critics continue to fault Biden for not apologizing personally to Hill. Even longtime allies such as Christine Pelosi, chair of the Womens Caucus of the California Democratic Party, say he needs to use his diplomatic skills to address the problem. Call Anita Hill, Pelosi said. Call Lucy Flores. Call the people you need to call. In her online essay, Flores who attended a Texas rally for White House contender Beto ORourke on Saturday suggested there should be zero tolerance for a man who persistently invades others personal space and makes people feel uneasy and gross. In this case, she said, it shows a lack of empathy for the women and young girls whose space he is invading, and ignores the power imbalance that exists between Biden and the women he chooses to get cozy with. Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this report. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, two rival U.S. senators vying for the 2020 presidential nomination, pitched themselves as steadfast allies of LGBTQ Americans on Saturday night, in a bid to appeal to an influential bloc of Democratic voters. Both candidates offered a riff on their core campaign themes while addressing the Human Rights Campaigns downtown Los Angeles gala Booker, the New Jersey senator, extolling the power of love and hope, California Sen. Harris promising a return to truth and justice but with specific nods to the struggles faced by gay Americans and targeted swipes at President Trump. As long as theres a president who is banning patriots from serving in the military because theyre transgender, we all have a collective responsibility not to accept things as they are but to take responsibility for changing them, Booker said. It was a busy evening of appearances for the two contenders Harris and Booker also appeared on stage together at the NAACP Image Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood earlier in the night. The pair spoke briefly about the importance of registering to vote and being engaged in politics. Advertisement At the Human Rights Campaign event, the candidates focused on burnishing their pro-LGBTQ credentials. Chad Griffin, the groups leader, pointed to each senators gay-friendly resume: Booker refusing to perform any marriages as Newark mayor until same-sex marriage was legal and Harris declining to defend Californias gay marriage ban Proposition 8 in court. Booker denounced the moral vandalism coming from the White House, citing the moves to ban transgender people from serving in the military and rescind protections for transgender students. Harris chastised the Trump administration for not speaking out against mistreatment of gay people by foreign governments. Lets speak the truth the fight for LGBTQ rights are civil rights and until all of us are equal, none of us are equal, she said. Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris speak Saturday at the NAACP Image Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP) Despite the common themes, their stylistic differences were on display. Booker, speaking with a preachers energized cadence, recited spoken-word poetry from Langston Hughes, while Harris sounded more like a deliberate, but forceful prosecutor. Both candidates were received warmly by the crowd, with a slight home state advantage going to Harris. The events sponsor, the Human Rights Campaign, is the largest gay civil rights group in the country and will host a forum this fall with 2020 presidential contenders in Los Angeles. Playing up its political clout, the group boasted of its influence in mobilizing voters in the 2018 midterms. They were a resounding victory for equality and a clear rejection of Donald Trump and Mike Pences dangerous policies and divisive politics, Griffin said of last years elections. And there was no confusion over whether the groups Democratic tilt will carry over to the 2020 presidential contest. We know what our marching orders are, said director Rob Reiner, a supporter of the group and close friend of Griffins. Whoever gets nominated from the Democrats, were all in, right? Mark Gonzalez, chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, said the visit from the two candidates was a sign of the power flexed by gay rights groups. Gonzalez said it was noteworthy that Booker and Harris both candidates of color spoke, marking the progress that has been made in acceptance of gay rights in minority communities. Being LGBTQI and African American was never something that was always accepted. For me as a Mexican American, it was never accepted, Gonzalez said. The mere fact that theyre both here, they are presidential candidates and they are open to our community is showing the community, We accept you and we love you for who you are. Also in Los Angeles on Saturday was Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard. The congresswoman from Hawaii donned a white flower lei as she introduced herself to voters at a daytime meet-and-greet event. I like chaos, President Trump once said. He appeared to be joking but he sometimes governs as if he meant it. The latest case in point is Obamacare, the federal program that extended medical insurance to about 20 million previously uninsured people. Last week, Trump blindsided his own allies in Congress by renewing his demand for complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as the 2010 healthcare law is more formally known, and promising that his party would soon offer a plan that is far better. The president ordered the Justice Department to tell a federal court that his administration wants the law struck down as unconstitutional every bit of it, including its protections for people with preexisting conditions and its guarantee that children can stay on their parents insurance until age 26. Advertisement He breezily told his allies in Congress to get ready to enact a replacement. We are going to be, the Republicans, the party of great healthcare, he said. GOP leaders groaned. This wasnt an assignment they wanted; they view it as a mission impossible. Their 2017 attempt to repeal Obamacare was a humiliating failure and perhaps more than any other issue, it helped Democrats win control of the House of Representatives last year. Another round looks like a political loser. So what was Trump thinking? As is often the case, his reasoning has been in plain view. The president is still angry about that 2017 defeat; repealing Obamacare was one of the core promises of his presidential campaign. Seven months after the death of John McCain, Trump still complains about the Arizona senators crucial vote against the GOP bill. More important, the president has often said forcing Obamacare to collapse may be the only way to compel Congress to act. Its his version of chaos theory: If you create a crisis, you can make people agree to your terms. Let ObamaCare implode, then deal, Trump tweeted in 2017. Watch! But Obamacare didnt implode. So now hes trying to blow it up. The gambit fits a pattern. Trump has threatened to walk out of NATO, the security treaty with Europe, if other countries dont spend more on defense. Hes proposed closing the southern border if Mexico and other countries dont do more to stop refugees. Last year he forced a partial government shutdown to get funding for a border wall. It doesnt always work. (The government shutdown didnt.) And his approach seems especially unlikely to work in the case of healthcare. First, health insurance is a very hard problem to solve. Trump learned that in 2017. But despite his hard-won education, hes still over-promising what a Republican alternative can do. Hes still claiming he can deliver better care to more people at lower cost. Nobodys found a way to keep all three of those promises at once. Obamacare doesnt cover everybody; and according to Trump, the deductible is horrible. Some of the GOP bills he endorsed in 2017 would have raised deductibles further and resulted in millions losing coverage. Second, Republicans in Congress have never unified around a single approach: Libertarians like Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah want to get the federal government out of health insurance. Moderates like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have been willing to try to make Obamacare work. Budget cutters like Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin want to slash spending on Medicaid, the program for low-income people; GOP senators from states with big Medicaid rolls, like Rob Portman of Ohio, are opposed. Third, Democrats control the House now. We couldnt repeal and replace it with a Republican House, Alexander noted with a rueful laugh. It would be even harder now. And Democrats appear unified in their zeal to defend Obamacare. Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a proposal to reduce premiums, especially for middle-class workers who have felt priced out. One of the first to endorse it was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, usually a champion of more radical measures. Im happy to support any provision that strengthens the ACA, she said. Predictably, Democrats hailed Trumps call for Obamacares demise as an election year windfall. Make our day, Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York crowed. The healthcare law has slowly grown in popularity since its rocky start; by a notable margin, more people now say they approve of it than disapprove. The president wants to brand the GOP as the party of great healthcare, but without a replacement in place it inevitably looks more like the party that just loathes Obamacare. All thats why Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky so quickly rejected the presidents invitation that he take charge of drafting a new plan. I look forward to seeing what the president is proposing and what he can work out with the speaker, McConnell told Politico evidence that his wit has been underappreciated. Until then, the not very confidential strategy of most Senate Republicans is to work on modest, potentially bipartisan measures to reduce healthcare costs, so they have something positive to talk about in the 2020 campaign. That, and pray that the Supreme Court doesnt rule Obamacare unconstitutional not, at least, in an election year. One statistic explains why so many California civic and nonprofit advocacy groups are worried about next years U.S. census: 72% of the states population belongs to one of the groups historically undercounted during the once-a-decade process. Researchers believe as many as 1.3 million residents could be missed a mistake with profound political and policy implications for the next decade. Theres really a lot riding on census data, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said at an event last week in Sacramento. Monday is the one-year mark until Census Day, the official date for measuring the nations population, though final numbers wont be available until the end of 2020. Californias demographers believe the state has grown by at least 2.5 million people since the last census in 2010. Advertisement Federal government dollars are often divvied up per capita, which means the census determines how much is spent on a variety of programs. The census is also the key building block to drawing political maps from deciding how many seats each state gets in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives to providing the raw data that Californias citizens redistricting commission uses to map out districts for the House, the state Legislature and the Board of Equalization. But how will census officials find all those Californians? State government leaders may spend upwards of $150 million through next year to help verify addresses and expand outreach efforts. Even then, there will be major hurdles. Those without reliable internet connections may be missed in a census where more than half the tally will happen through online surveys. Renters are notoriously hard to count, especially in dwellings with non-family members who dont know whether they should mention everyone who lives there. If the apartment has more people than a landlord allows, they may refuse to answer any questions. The challenge is that there isnt a lot of trust in government, said Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-San Jose), who leads a special legislative committee tasked with finding ways to help get an accurate census count. Big business political muscle in Sacramento is tested by new Democratic mega-majority Immigrants are especially leery, with a widespread (and false) assumption that census information will be shared with other government officials. Citizenship is perhaps the most hot-button issue this time around, as the administration of President Trump is now locked in a legal battle at the U.S. Supreme Court over whether immigration status can be asked opposed by California officials and other states. The citizenship question could significantly lower Californias official population count. Panelists at a Sacramento policy briefing on the census last week said some Bay Area communities could be undercounted by as much as 20% if immigrants even those who are here legally and the U.S.-born children of others were forced to disclose their legal status. Some of the impacts of an inaccurate census are likely to be seen as partisan. A major undercount, for example, could cost California one of its 53 seats in the House and likely force a Democrat out of office. Others, though, could exacerbate the divide between rich and poor. The Childrens Health Insurance Program, which provides healthcare for kids whose families earn too much for Medi-Cal but too little to pay for coverage on their own, depends on census data. In all, California received some $115 billion in federal dollars linked to the process. The task over the next several months, say state leaders, is to raise awareness in hard-to-reach communities that the census is coming and that being counted is vitally important. Californias diversity, its often said, is a strength. The census will put that premise to the test. john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter and sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter All lanes of the 5 Freeway in Burbank reopened Saturday morning after a wild chase overnight ended in a standoff and prompted authorities to close a stretch of the northbound lanes for hours. Police responded to reports of a man armed with a knife at around 7:25 p.m. Friday at Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Oro Vista Avenue. The driver refused to pull over, initiating a pursuit in which the suspect rammed pursuing officers and civilian cars before leading officers the wrong way on the 5 Freeway, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The pursuit turned into a standoff after the fleeing car crashed into two civilian vehicles and came to a stop near Buena Vista Avenue. California Highway Patrol officers were seen firing weapons at the driver who exited the car after crashing, and then got back in. The suspect surrendered about an hour later and was taken into custody. It is unclear if the driver was shot by officers. Authorities did not identify the suspect. This was one that I havent seen in quite a while, LAPD Officer Josh Rubenstein said. The amount of danger that everybody was in ... because the suspect was ramming innocent bystander vehicles as well. Almost 15 hours after the pursuit started Friday night, all northbound lanes reopened at around 10 a.m. Saturday after authorities towed away the suspects vehicle. Southbound lanes reopened at around midnight, but a stretch of the highways northbound lanes had been closed Saturday morning between Alameda Avenue and Buena Vista Street, according to California Highway Patrol. No further details were immediately available. Salahieh and Telles work for KTLA. Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is seeking the publics help to identify a woman who was found in Burbank and has been hospitalized since Dec. 9, according to hospital officials. She was brought to the medical center from an apartment complex at 713 S. Glenoaks Blvd. in Burbank, where she was found knocking on residents doors, hospital officials said, adding that none of the residents recognized her. She has dark hair and dark complexion, and possibly is Latina or Filipina. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs 154 pounds and is believed to be in her 50s. She appeared well groomed and fed, and is believed to have been cared for in a home or facility in the area, according to hospital officials. One of her socks has the name Brazie written on it, and she seems to respond to the name, officials added. She is alert and responsive, but communicates (speaks, writes and signs) unintelligibly and cannot provide any information about herself, hospital officials said. Privacy laws limit information the hospital can provide about the patient, including her condition. Anyone with information is asked to call Providence Saint Joseph at (818) 843-5111 and ask for the nurse supervisors office. mark.kellam@latimes.com Twitter: @LAMarkKellam The company that operated a helicopter that crashed into a home last week in Newport Beach, killing three people and injuring two others, was the focus of a Federal Aviation Administration investigation last year into allegations of improper maintenance, including on the copter that crashed, documents show. Revolution Aviation, a flight school and touring company based at John Wayne Airport, had been leasing the four-seat Robinson R44 from Spitzer Helicopter LLC of Canyon Lake in Riverside County since April 2016. On Jan. 30, the aircraft slammed into a house on Shearwater Place near Egret Court in Newports Bayview Terrace community. Authorities have not determined what caused the crash. Joseph Anthony Tena, 60, of Newport Beach, who had an ownership stake in Revolution Aviation, was killed along with Kimberly Lynne Watzman, 45, of Santa Monica and Brian Reichelt, 56, of Hollywood, Fla., according to the Orange County Sheriffs Department. Records show that another copter Revolution Aviation operated crashed at Long Beach Airport in September. Shortly before that crash, the FAAs Long Beach flight standards district office inspected five of the helicopters Revolution Aviation operated, as well as all the companys aircraft operations and maintenance records, according to an August FAA memo obtained by the Daily Pilot. The investigation was launched in July after the agency received a complaint on its aviation safety hot line. During a review of the R44 helicopter that eventually went down in Newport Beach, a maintenance inspector found that safety wiring on the engines valve covers did not meet FAA standards, the cooling fan nut spring pin (which helps keep the engine cooling fan in place) was not aligned with indicator marks on the aircraft, and torque striping required by the helicopters maintenance manual was missing on multiple critical fasteners, according to the memo. The striping makes movement of the fasteners easier to spot. Jeffrey Rafferty, who at the time was the principal maintenance inspector with the FAA in Long Beach, wrote in the memo that he also substantiated some nonspecific allegations in the complaint with regard to the operation of several helicopters that may not be in airworthy condition. For example, Rafferty wrote, a helicopter was flown after the deadline for its annual inspection had passed, which is against FAA regulations. He also wrote that some helicopter maintenance wasnt being documented as required by the agency. Rafferty went on to say that Revolution Aviation has addressed all of the discrepancies brought to their attention by the [aviation safety inspectors] during the investigation and put new processes in place to reduce the likeliness of reoccurrence. An FAA representative declined to comment this week. Jack Cress, a technology instructor at USC who teaches courses on helicopter and other aircraft accident investigations, said FAA investigations of the type performed on Revolution Aviation are not unusual. He said the findings about the R44 helicopter werent particularly egregious. However, he said, it certainly would be an invitation for a need for more scrutiny. Anytime you run across something like that, it could imply a lack of attention to detail, he said. Anna Robinson, operations director at Revolution Aviation, wrote in a letter to Rafferty on July 31 that the company was notified of some of the issues before the investigation started and had already corrected them. No flight instructor or pilot performing his/her duties while working for Revolution Aviation knowingly, deliberately or carelessly operated any aircraft listed in your letter in unairworthy condition, she wrote. Robinson did not return a call seeking further comment this week. After the crash in Newport Beach, Eric Spitzer of Spitzer Helicopter, which had leased the R44 to Revolution Aviation, called Revolution spectacular. The minute just a little thing goes wrong, theyre on it, he said. Revolution Aviations website states the company has a 100% safety record. However, a Robinson R22 Beta helicopter operated by the company crashed at Long Beach Airport about a month after the FAAs investigation ended in August, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA had noted missing or incorrect torque striping on multiple critical fasteners on the R22. The preliminary NTSB report on the crash said the student pilot suffered serious injuries. The student told investigators that as he began to approach the landing pad at an altitude of about 40 feet, the helicopter began to shudder and a horn sounded warning of low rotor rpm. The students instructor told investigators that the nose began to shift to the left and right and the copter suddenly and rapidly descended, according to the report. The aircraft, which also was registered to Spitzer Helicopter, hit the ground and rolled onto its side. The cause of the crash, which the NTSB is investigating, has not been released. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN After a neighborhood backlash, the Huntington Beach City Council denied a local preservationists plan to relocate a 112-year-old home to a downtown residential lot. Joseph Santiago wanted to place the nearly 2,000-square-foot house on a lot at 506 Seventh St., which already contains a house and a detached garage. The 1905 home, which currently is in a storage lot, is distinctive for its Colonial Revival and Victorian architectural touches. It was owned by John and Martha Hearn, who had ties to Huntington Beachs beginnings. But in a unanimous vote Monday night, the council upheld the Planning Commissions decision in June to deny the project, effectively killing Santiagos plan. The vote came after more than an hour of public comment dominated by downtown residents who didnt like how the Hearn house would need a host of variances for approval. They also criticized Santiagos restoration of the Manning house on 10th Street a 1906 home owned by the citys first mayor, Ed Manning, that Santiago placed on top of the garage of another old house. Councilwoman Jill Hardy called the Hearn house proposal just too big of a project for a small space. She suggested moving the house to Central Park to create a historic district there. Though some residents were skeptical that the Hearn house is historic at all This is not a case of George Washington slept here, one woman said city officials said it was identified as such in a 1986 city survey. Ron Cole, Santiagos attorney, said his clients project had broad community support, including an endorsement from the Huntington Beach Historical Society and about 70 other people. Santiago argued that fear, speculation, exaggeration and very few facts have plagued his effort. Its a worthy project, he said. One of Santiagos supporters, David Eastman, said that, unlike during the Manning house effort, Santiago has financial backing this time to complete his project. Having the old home on Seventh Street would add to the vitality and richness of the city, which you need, Eastman said. Area resident Chris Hart, however, called the house an ill fit. Simply, its like putting 10 pounds of sand in a 5-pound can, he said. bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint Newport Beachs oldest yacht club plans to break ground in January on a new clubhouse to replace its current 97-year-old building, which floods during high tides and has fallen into disrepair. The Newport Harbor Yacht Club will demolish the existing clubhouse to make way for a 23,163-square-foot, two-story building overlooking the harbor at 720 W. Bay Ave. The new building, modeled in the same coastal style as its nearly century-old predecessor, has been more than a decade in the making for the 770-member yacht club, said Staff Commodore Tim Collins. This really is the culmination of a 12-year process, he said. The membership is very excited about this next phase and planning for the next 100 years. Club members were very clear during the projects initial phases that they wanted a design in keeping with the clubs traditions, the Balboa Peninsula and the surrounding neighborhood, Collins said. A rendering shows the Pirates Den Bar planned for the Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs new clubhouse. (Courtesy of Newport Harbor Yacht Club) The Newport Harbor Yacht Club was established in 1916, when the city and Orange County were planning to dredge the harbors sandbars and improve its entrance to create a recreational harbor. The club moved to its current building in 1919. Though it has been remodeled and enlarged, the clubhouse has never been replaced. The club has grappled for years with how to restore the aging structure. In 2012, it approached the city with plans for the new clubhouse. It asked the city to allow it to build the structure as tall as 36 feet. The city typically limits waterfront buildings to 31 feet. Ultimately, the clubs plan was approved by the Planning Commission and the City Council. In March, the project cleared its final hurdle when it won approval from the California Coastal Commission. Jeff Larsen, principal at MVE Architects and lead designer on the project, said he wanted to build a clubhouse inspired by the housing designs on Peninsula Point and Balboa Island. He also wanted the building to fit the personalities of the members who would use it, and he made an effort to make it elegant and functional without being ostentatious, he said. The street entrance to the building will lead to a small lobby area with chairs and a front desk. To the left, the grand hallway, featuring wood floors, will lead to the dining room area overlooking Newport Harbor, renderings show. The formal dining room will feature recessed lighting and floor-to-ceiling glass doors that slide to access the harbor. Across the grand hallway, the Pirates Den Bar a more casual space will have a wood bar and stone fireplace. The building also will feature a boardroom and a space for junior sailing members. The second floor of the clubhouse will feature an expansive room for guests to congregate before functions, a members living room with a fireplace and another events area with harbor views that can be sectioned off with panels. The second floor also will have an expansive deck where members can watch regattas and other harbor events. The foundation of the building will be raised several feet above sea level in an effort to prevent flooding during king tides. The current clubhouse often floods when storms and tides overwhelm the Balboa Peninsula. Incorporating the old buildings charm and character in the new clubhouse was a key element of the design, Larsen said. The history of the place is so strong, so the new building is reminiscent and has some similar elements of the old building, he said. So many people have grown up going to this yacht club. It made me realize its not about the style of the building and the exterior. Instead, its a vessel for the yachting family there and the community, a place that holds these relationships and memories. Construction is expected to last about 18 months. In the meantime, members will be able to congregate on a charter vessel at the east dock. The vessel will host the clubs food and beverage service, Collins said. We want to keep members coming to the club even though we wont have the capacity for private parties, he said. We want to give them a reason to come down and see the progress on the new building. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN Newport Beach has clipped Birds wings. The popular motorized scooter-sharing start-up dropped at least 50 of its two-wheeled vehicles on the Balboa Peninsula over the weekend. But according to the city, the company did so without giving notice or getting a permit, and residents promptly complained about the dockless electric scooters being left on the sidewalk one of Birds key features is that riders can pick up and leave the scooters anywhere. Now the scooters are gone. We sent Bird a demand to remove all of their scooters from the city by midnight yesterday; otherwise they faced the possibility of criminal prosecution and/or administrative citation, Assistant City Attorney Michael Torres said Tuesday. As of today, my understanding is that most, if not all, of the scooters have been removed from the citys property. On Saturday, Birds Twitter account encouraged people to skip traffic and #enjoytheride this weekend in Newport. On Monday, the companys mobile app showed the Balboa Peninsula packed with available Birds. By Tuesday afternoon, the Newport map was blank. The Bird app shows the availability of the companys electric scooters in Newport Beach on Monday, left, and Tuesday, right. (Daily Pilot) In partnership with Newport Beach, we have agreed to remove all Birds from the city while we work to define a framework for operation that works for everyone, a statement from Bird said Tuesday evening. We are in close communication with local officials and we look forward to continuing those productive conversations so we can get back to helping people more easily get around Newport Beach. Bird riders find and unlock available scooters by using the app. Bird charges $1 to rent a scooter, plus 15 cents per minute of use. The scooters reach top speed of 15 mph and can go 15 miles on a charge. Supporters say scooter sharing is convenient, environmentally friendly and fun. Critics say riders are reckless, often driving and parking on sidewalks, riding tandem and not wearing helmets, although the company discourages such behavior and will mail riders free helmets upon request. A similar service recently approached Newport Beach about coming to town, according to a city statement. Staff is reviewing the request from the company, which the city did not identify. Competitors for Venice-based Bird include Lime and Spin, and companies such as Jump Bikes and Motivate provide a similar service with electric bicycles. Newport officials are expected to discuss such services at the Aug. 14 City Council meeting. Companies that rent out electric scooters and bikes have found popularity and detractors around the country in recent months as cities struggle to develop policies. Santa Monica approved a pilot program, set to launch in September, requiring the companies to pay higher fees, develop additional safety education, share real-time data and abide by a dynamic cap on the number of devices each company can deploy. In Los Angeles, a city councilman Tuesday proposed banning electric scooters in town until the city begins issuing permits to the companies providing them. Huntington Beach recently placed a four-month moratorium on bike and scooter services to discuss how other cities are regulating them. hillary.davis@latimes.com Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD The air smelled of creosote, the rolling hills of Santiago Canyon veiled in ash from the recent Canyon 2 fire. It made a foreboding precursor to a guided hike into Black Star Canyon, one of Orange Countys most renowned haunts. It was near dark on Friday the 13th. Haunted OC, an organization that puts on tours of places rumored to be haunted, organized the trek. It marked the first time the group toured Black Star Canyon, a backcountry setting in the Santa Ana Mountains shrouded in decades of mystery and myth. A small band gathered on Black Star Canyon Road as naturalist Joel Robinson, in a miners garb, provided an overview and cautions. Look out for snakes, tarantulas and mountain lions, the tour guide warned. Also, ghosts. Robinson brought a harmonica to his lips and played Oh! Susanna as the small group hummed along a scene that invoked the idyllic prelude to certain disaster in a horror film. Robinson offered a final, ominous caution that the temperature can suddenly and inexplicably drop in the canyon. The group wandered into Black Star with nothing but Robinsons spotty lantern to guide their path and decades of ghost stories and speculation to play on their thoughts. Play they did. Every rustle in the brush seemed like a mountain lion or ghost. Robinson said to keep an eye out for owls, whose presence is rumored to portend death. As if on cue, an owl cried out into the night. The moon appeared to hide behind tall mountains, illuminating their crests. Over the years, some have reported seeing what they describe as the silhouettes of Native American figures traversing the peaks. Guide Joel Robinson, far right, leads a tour of Black Star Canyon in Silverado as part of Haunted OC on Oct. 13. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer ) Black Star Canyon has a haunted history with which many Orange County residents are familiar. Generations of fear-addled teens have traveled to the canyon to test their resolve, an O.C. coming-of-age tradition. The canyon bears a troubled heritage, though delineating between fact and myth is difficult. Robinson said James Gregg was shot to death in 1899 by Thomas and Henry Hungerford in a monetary dispute over horse-grazing issues. The brothers owned the nearby Rancho Escondido, or Hidden Ranch. An ancient Mexican ghost story of a woman who murdered her children and committed suicide has been connected to the canyon. Robinson said there are rumors of La Lloronas ghost dressed in a white gown, forever searching for her children. He said hes heard wailing in the night. The canyons most well-known story involves a 19th-century Native American massacre. Although Robinson said the validity of this tale has been called into question, its sinister nature makes it seem all too real when enveloped in the dark of the canyon. Some have reported phantoms of Spanish conquistadors traversing the ghostly terrains. You can imagine the ghost of James Gregg, or those Native Americans, wandering the canyon looking for revenge, Robinson said. Nothing definitively supernatural happened on the Oct. 13 hike. Yet, nothing has ever been definitive about Black Star Canyon. It remains obscure as ever. For further history of Black Star Canyon, Robinson recommends the book Shadows of Old Saddleback by Terry Stephenson and the published works by county historian Jim Sleeper. To sign up for a Haunted OC tour, visit www.hauntedoc.com. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter:@benbrazilpilot ALSO The 17th Door in Fullerton continues to haunt visitors Bowers Museum to mark Dia de los Muertos with a festival A Halloween escape in Laguna: 12 minutes in a coffin and find a way out Authorities say a group of four men assaulted and robbed a person last Thursday in the elevator of his Glendale apartment complex after asking if they could use his cellphone. A 24-year-old man was using his laptop next to the pool of his apartment building in the 600 block of North Central Avenue when, sometime around 2 a.m., he was approached by a group of four men in their early 20s. The men reportedly wanted to use the mans cellphone in order to order a ride-share car to pick them up and would pay him $20 in return. The man agreed and the group traveled down an elevator to the buildings lobby, according to Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman with the Glendale Police Department. However, during the elevator ride, Suttles said the man had second thoughts and wanted to back out of the agreement. When the elevator reached the lobby, the man was punched in the back of his head and the four men took his laptop, wallet and keys, Suttles said. Two of the suspects were identified and arrested on suspicion of robbery, 19-year-old Angelo Taylor from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and 23-year-old Kaya Matthews of Glendale. A third suspect was also arrested, a 23-year-old man from Beecher, Illinois, but was later released. Suttles said a fourth person was identified but has not been arrested. Its unknown how the four were able to enter the building. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc Glendale Gallerias JCPenney will be staying put, even as its parent company plans to close 18 full-line stores and nine home-and-furniture locations this year. Less clear is the fate of two of the malls other prominent tenants Gap and Victorias Secret whose parent companies also announced upcoming closures but wouldnt comment on individual locations. We are not making the full list of store closures publicly available, but I can confirm that the Glendale Galleria store will not be closing, JCPenney spokeswoman Dana Harrington said of the location that opened in 1976. A lackluster financial report released Feb. 28 spurred the department stores closure decisions. According to the report, JCPenneys sales decreased 3.1% over the past fiscal year, which ended Feb. 2. Fourth-quarter sales decreased more than 4% compared to the same quarter the previous year. Comparable sales performance for the closing stores was significantly below the remaining store base and these stores operate at a much higher expense rate given the lack of productivity, according to a company statement. Another JCPenney spokeswoman, Sarah Holland, said she could not comment on the financial performance of the Galleria location, or any individual store, citing company policy. JCPenney will continue to operate 846 stores nationwide, she said. L Brands, the parent company of Victorias Secret, announced it will be closing 53 stores this year, also as a result of disappointing year-over-year sales. A sales associate who picked up the phone at the Glendale Galleria location said the store will remain open. However, another associate said they could not discuss that information and that the first associate was unauthorized to comment. Victorias Secret also has a store in the Burbank Town Center. A corporate spokesperson confirmed in an email that the company will not be releasing a list of the stores closing. The same email stated the locations closing this year represent fewer than 5% of the companys total store count. We close stores every year, said Stuart Burgdoerfer, L Brands chief financial officer, during an earnings call. So thats an ongoing part of running the business. How we go about it is we look at current and projected performance, sales, profit, cash flow. Last year, L Brands closed 30 stores. Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, is similarly staying mum about its Gap store in the Glendale Galleria, amid its recent announcement that it will be closing 230 stores over the next two years. Gap has an outlet location on San Fernando Boulevard in Burbank. We are continuing to finalize the list of specific stores that will be closed, Gap spokeswoman Trina Somera said. lila.seidman@latimes.com Twitter: @lila_seidman A comedian who plays an accidental president on TV was leading all candidates for the real job Sunday as exit polls showed him poised to advance to a runoff in Ukraines presidential election. Moments after voting ended, exit polls showed Volodymyr Zelensky leading the field of 39 candidates with 30.4% of the vote, trailed by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko at 17.8%. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had warned darkly of a rigged election, was in third at 14.2%, according to the exit polls. She said that the polling was wrong and that final results, due early Monday, would show her in second place. Only two candidates will advance to the April 21 runoff. In his sitcom, Zelensky, 41, plays a schoolteacher who stumbles his way into the presidency and stands up to the countrys political elite. That persona clearly appealed to many Ukrainians, especially the young, who saw a fresh face and the promise of relief from politics as usual. Advertisement Lest that message be lost, Zelensky threw a raucous election night party at a hip Kiev nightclub, where he played pingpong with a journalist and verbally tweaked the more staid Poroshenko, a 53-year-old confectionery magnate. There are many exit polls, but theres only one winner, Zelensky said, twisting Poroshenkos campaign slogan, which is on billboards throughout the country: Many candidates, only one president. Zelensky, who has never held any political office, has naturally been compared to another TV star and political novice who became president. But parallels with President Trump are shaky at best. Both may have campaigned as policy novices, but Trump was rarely accused of reticence in declaring his prescriptions: Build the wall, overturn Obamacare, get tough with China. By comparison, Zelenskys platform and agenda for ending the countrys war in the east against Russian-backed separatist rebels remain unclear, as does his plan for ending Ukraines endemic corruption. Still, both he and Poroshenko as well as nearly all the other candidates in the race maintained an anti-Russian stance that continued to look westward toward some kind of European integration for the post-Soviet nation of 43 million. If the exit poll results hold, the outcome may be a relief for Poroshenko, who was elected after the 2014 Maidan revolution and appeared in danger of finishing out of the running. The Maidan mass protest movement, centered on Kievs Independence Square, ousted a Kremlin-favored president, Viktor Yanukovich. Im ready for a deep and substantive dialogue with those whom I did not manage to convince in the first round, Poroshenko said in a statement issued after the polls closed. He specifically addressed young voters, saying he understood their need for deeper, faster change. We must unite in order to achieve this, he said, and not lose time. Poroshenko, sometimes referred to as the Chocolate King because of his candy business, has been a wartime president and is trying to convince voters that sticking with him means continuing to fight against Russian aggression. His campaign has been marred by accusations from Tymoshenko that he tried to buy votes and register a candidate with a name similar to hers, Yuri Tymoshenko, to confuse voters at the ballot box. Voting underway in Kiev, Ukraine, on March 31, 2019. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press) The gambit may have worked, or voters may simply have been turned off by Tymoshenko, who came to the race carrying considerable baggage. She is a member of the Ukrainian parliament, or Rada, and has been a staple of Ukrainian politics for at least two decades. In 2004, she became an international symbol of the Orange Revolution, in which protesters angry over ballot fraud demanded new elections. She later served two terms as prime minister, and a prison term for abuse of power in a natural gas deal she brokered for Ukraine with Russia. Turnout for the election was 64%, which is close to average in Ukraine. Many voters said they were frustrated with the quality of the candidates. Theres no one I really like, said Mikhail Fesenko, 29, who works in marketing in a Kiev advertising company. We need someone to start building our country.... But I dont know which of these guys can really do that. Fesenko, still undecided, was on his way to the polls with his wife and young daughter after walking along Kievs central street, Khreshchatyk. On a warm, sunny day that felt, at long last, like spring, people were strolling, sitting outside on benches and eating ice cream or drinking coffee at one of the capitals many cafes. Polls released before election day showed that 1 out of 6 voters were, like Fesenko, undecided on the cusp of voting. Before Zelensky launched his campaign officially on New Years Eve, Yulia Drozdova, 23, said she didnt know for whom or if she would vote. When Zelensky announced, she said, everything fell into place. Zelensky 100%, she said. Hes a new face. He loves Ukraine, and he supports the new generation of Ukrainians. Hundreds of international observers were scattered across the country to watch for irregularities. Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died in August, was heading up the delegation for the International Republican Institute, a quasi-governmental agency that supports democracy-building programs around the world. There were no immediate reports on the IRIs or other monitoring agencies conclusions. Virginia Dronova, a spokeswoman for Poroshenkos campaign, said there had been evidence of Russian efforts to manipulate the vote, including numerous cyberattacks and an uptick in shelling in eastern Ukraine aimed at dissuading people there from voting. She insisted that the efforts were specifically aimed at hurting Poroshenko. That conformed with a worldwide threat assessment made by U.S. intelligence agencies in January. It concluded that Russia was applying a range of tools to exert influence and exploit Kievs fragile economy, widespread corruption, cyber vulnerabilities, and public discontent in hopes of ousting Poroshenko. Yevhen Fedchenko, director of the Mohyla School of Journalism in Kiev and cofounder of the nonprofit organization StopFake.org, said Russia had weaponized Facebook and undertaken other efforts to spread propaganda aimed at undermining faith in the electoral system. Ayres is a special correspondent and Landsberg is The Times Foreign editor. Reporting for this article was partially funded by KfW Development Bank, which supports nonpartisan, nonprofit German Marshall Fund of the United States fellowships. - Sen Ovie-Omo-Agege says his reelection victory in the February 23 National Assembly poll remains valid and legitimate - The lawmaker said the APC has already filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment which nullified the Jones Erue-led APC State Executive Committee - Omo-Agege insisted that the status of all the candidates of the APC in Delta for the 2019 general elections remains valid and legitimate Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta-APC) has restated that his reelection victory in the February 23 National Assembly poll remains valid and legitimate. Omo-Agege, who represents Delta Central senatorial district, said this on Saturday, March 30 in a statement by Godwin Anaughe, his senior special assistant, communications and strategy, in Abuja, NAN reports. READ ALSO: Boko Haram terrorists allegedly launch deadly attacks along Adamawa-Borno border Legit.ng notes that the Court of Appeal, Benin, had on March 29, upheld the earlier judgment delivered by the Asaba Federal High Court which nullified the Jones Erue-led APC State Executive Committee. Omo-Agege and Reverend Francis Waive had earlier filed an application seeking the leave of court to join as parties to the appeal, on behalf of themselves and other candidates of the APC, against the judgment of the Asaba court. Reacting, the lawmaker said it was instructive to note that the ruling delivered by the Court of Appeal only struck out the application on the ground that they cannot appeal the judgment as individuals since they were both members of APC who can appeal the judgment on their behalf. According to him, the APC has already filed an appeal against the judgment. Omo-Agege, who said that the Benin Appeal Court has not and did not determine the appeal filed before it by the APC, reiterated that the consent judgment delivered by Justice A.I. Chikere of the Abuja Federal High Court was still valid and subsisting. And all the recent happenings in court have neither invalidated nor set aside the consent judgment. Therefore, the Prophet Jones Erue-led Exco remains the authentic and legitimate APC executive committee of Delta, so also are all the candidates of APC in the just-concluded 2019 general elections, he said. According to him, it is settled law that a court cannot make a finding that will be prejudicial against a person that is neither before it nor a party to the case and cannot in the same vain grant a relief which will affect a person who is not a party in the suit. Okonkwo vs. Okagbue (1994) 9 NWLR (PT 368) 301. The effect of order(s) made against persons not joined as a party is that such order is a nullity and of no effect. This remains the position of the law as affirmed by the Supreme Court in plethora of cases, including but not limited to the case of Okonta vs Philip. Therefore, the status of all the candidates of the APC in Delta for the 2019 general elections remains valid and legitimate, Omo-Agege argued. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that stakeholders of the APC in Ndokwa nation of Delta lent their support to the partys choice of Senator Ahmad Lawan (Yobe-North East) for the top job of the president of the Senate. The group also urged the national leadership of the party to endorse Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for the position of the deputy Senate president. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! No lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the people - on Legit TV: Source: Legit - Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, recently took to her Instagram page to celebrate Mother's Day with an adorable video of her son Andre - In the message which accompanied the video, the actress revealed her son answered her surname instead of his father's - Responding to critics who called her out, the actress spared no words in letting them know their place As the some parts of the world including Nigeria celebrate Mother's, many people have taken to social media to either celebrate themselves or the women in their lives. Nollywood actress and mom of one, Tonto Dikeh was not left out in the celebration. The philanthropist took to her Instagram page to share video of a compilation of never-before-seen baby photos of her son King Andre. Sharing the video, she accompanied it with a sweet message about motherhood. She wrote: "HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ME! Being A mother has by far been the best thing that ever happened to me and having you My baby boy(KING ANDRE DIKEH) @kingandre_dikeh has been my greatest blessing!! I Love how much you changed me KINGY and most especially I am grateful to God for US!! I love you KINGY#KINGTONTO #MOTHERSDAY" READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) See post below: PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App While many people were moved by the adorable video, others noticed she wrote her son's name as 'King Andre Dikeh' instead of his father's name and as expected, they criticized and advised her against shutting out the father from the life of their son. This did not go down well with the mother of one who wasted no time in letting people know how she felt. Sharing a rather angry post, she wrote: "Dont even f*ck with me! NO MAN BORN OF A WOMAN CAN TELL ME WHAT TO AND WHAT NOT TO DO!! KEEP YOUR BASELESS ADVICE TO YOURSELVES!!!#MAMA DE PAPA @kingandre_dikeh" Her decision to give Andre her surname rather than his father's as is the custom, comes as no surprise to a lot of people. This is due to her public and messy divorce from Olakunle Churchill whom she clearly detest. Just recently, she took to his comment section to verbally abuse him while spilling some dirty secrets as well. According to the mother of one, she married and clothed him with her money, she also offered to pay child support for his daughter with another woman. This came after he accused her of spreading fake news about winning the custody battle. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better STREET GIST: Would you allow your mother in-law live with you as a newly-wed? | Legit TV Source: Legit The Lehigh County Coroners Office has identified a man struck and killed while walking along railroad tracks Friday evening east of Route 100 in Macungie Township. The man is identified as Gregory Wippel of Fountain Hill. Wippel was pronounced dead by Deputy Coroner Craig Hanzl at 10:24 p.m. on the railroad tracks. Wippels cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries due to the collision with the train and the manner -- accidental, suicide, homicide, natural or undetermined-- remains under investigation, according to coroners office. Norfolk Southern confirmed the death, previously stating one of its trains struck Wippel at about 9:45 p.m., as he was walking on the tracks. The railroad operator said its train crew sounded the trains horn and put the train in braking, but could not avoid striking Wippel. The mixed-freight train, consisting of two locomotives and 91 rail cars, was en route to Conway, Pennsylvania, Norfolk Southern said. The railroad operator continues to assist local law enforcement in its investigation. Norfolk Southern reminds the public that it is extremely dangerous and also trespassing to walk on or within the right-of-way of railroad tracks. People should cross tracks only at designated crossings and use extreme caution," the statement added. Its unclear what Wippel was doing on the railroad tracks at the time of his death. The incident is being investigated by both the coroners office and the Macungie Police Department. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 48-year-old woman was killed Saturday evening when the motorcycle she was riding on collided with a car near an Upper Macungie Township shopping center, police said. The crash happened around 6 p.m. along Hamilton Boulevard, police said. David M. Seip, 52, of Coplay, was driving a 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle heading east on Hamilton Boulevard when he attempted to travel through the intersection near Trexler Plaza Mall, according to police. Seips motorcycle somehow collided with a 2006 Infiniti G36, driven by a 16-year-old girl, who was headed west on Hamilton Boulevard, attempting to make a left turn into the Trexler Plaza Mall, police said. Police did not name the 16-year-old driver or her 17-year-old male passenger because the pair are both juveniles. Lori Seip of Coplay, who was riding on the motorcycle, was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, where she later was pronounced dead, police said. A news release did not state her relationship to the driver. David Seip suffered minor injuries and was also taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for treatment. Both teens in the Infiniti were not injured, police said. The juveniles were wearing seat-belts at the time of the crash; both David Seip and Lori Seip were wearing helmets, police said. The crash remains under investigation by the Upper Macungie Police Department. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A motorcyclist was injured Saturday evening following what appeared to be a single-vehicle accident along Route 22 west in Phillipsburg. A witness at the scene reported the accident happened at 5:44 p.m. near Hillcrest Boulevard. An adult male was being taken by Lopatcong Rescue Squad to a landing zone set up at the National Guard Armory on Heckman Street. The man later was airlifted to an area hospital for treatment of unknown injuries. Its unclear what led to the crash, with Phillipsburg police not immediately returning a request for information. Investigators were shutting down the right lane of the intersection, where the crash might have happened. The motorcycle, the witness said, was upright and didnt appear to sustain heavy damage. Responding were the Phillipsburg Police Dept., Phillipsburg Fire Dept., Lopatcong Rescue Squad and paramadics from Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township. The Phillipsburg Police Department is investigating. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Portarlington resident has pleaded guilty to attempting to rob a local shop. Kamil Cruk, Ballymorris Manor, Portarlington, is charged with attempted robbery from the Polish shop on the Link Road, Portarlington, on February 20; and theft from Centra on February 19. At the recent sitting of Portlaoise Circuit Court, the accused entered a guilty plea to attempted robbery, at the Link Road, Portarlington, on February 20, 2018. He also pleaded guilty to theft, at Centra, Main Street, Portarlington, on February 19, 2018. This related to the theft of tin foil and a muffin. When the robbery charge first came before Portlaoise District Court in February, 2018, Garda Adrian Corcoran gave evidence that he arrested the accused at Ballymorris Manor, Portarlington and the accused made no reply when charged. Garda Corcoran gave evidence that on February 20, it was alleged the accused entered the Polish shop on the Link Road, Portarlington, produced a knife at the female shop assistant and demanded money. The assistant fled to the back of the shop and the robber fled the scene. Bail conditions were imposed in the district court, that the accused observe a curfew from 9pm to 8am; he provide the gardai with a mobile phone number; he stay out of the Polish shop and the Centra store in Portarlington; and he stay away from drugs and alcohol. After the accused was arraigned on the two charges at the circuit court last week, defence barrister, Ms Lousie Troy requested a probation report on the accused. The matter was adjourned by Judge Keenan Johnson to June 19 next for sentencing. A probation report was directed on the accused andJudge Johnson also requested a victim impact statement in relation to the attempted robbery. A famous Clane business was in the limelight recently when a model of its building appeared on the Mens Shed float in the St Patricks Day parade in the town. Malones Barber shop was at the heart of the Clane community for many years. The stone-walled slated roof structure with a shop front was located in the centre of the village and is the subject of many paintings and photographs. A filling station in the 1940s and 50s, it was a barber shop from the 1960s until it fell to progress in the eighties. As a barber shop, it was operated by Jim Malone, affectionately known to his clientele as Skinner Malone. He was also the sacristan and was responsible for the Clane angelus bell every day at noon and 6pm. Mens Shed spokesperson Ted Murray said many a man was left in the middle of a haircut while Jim attended to his duties. Those were the times that were in it who cared, he was doing Gods work. This was the heart of the community for men from here to Allenwood and beyond. Every big celebration in a mans life involves a visit to the barber. Christenings, communions, confirmations, weddings and funerals were all kicked off with a good haircut and by God, thats what you got in Skinner Malones, said Ted. The barber shop, which provided an important social service at the time along with haircuts, draws parallels with what the Mens Shed is about today a place where men gather to shoot the breeze, to catch up on the local news and to have a bit of craic. Meeting former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, was one of the main highlights of a New York visit for Scoil Mhuire Community School transition year students Athena Fusciardi and Iman Elisir. Recently they were in the Big Apple to attend the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women. The pair won the trip in a Department of Justice and Equality sponsored competition on Why Politics Needs Women. The rules required they produced a video of no more than 90 seconds no mean feat. The video, shot on a Canon EOS C100 cinema camera, won the national competition and the prize was this amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip to New York. Teachers, David Gorry and Sinead Ronan, accompanied the students on the visit. For Athena, whose grandparents are Italian, women still need to break the glass ceiling. She wants to do film studies at third level and has made a good start with various short films made with help from Kildare Young Filmmakers. he also has an interest in geology. Iman, whose parents came from Sudan to Ireland in 2000, said a lot of young people are engaged with gender equality. It was great to see so many nationalities in the same place, said Iman, who would like a career in government and politics. They were impressed by the Irish ambassador to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nasan, who chaired the main session. They enjoyed meeting Mary Robinson. The party stayed at the Fitzpatrick Hotel, five minutes walk from the United Nations building. Rushes SuperValu Naas picked the National Rehabilitation Hospital Dun Laoghaire as their chosen Charity of the Year 2018. Each year the management and staff nominate a charity and direct all their fundraising efforts towards their chosen good cause. The NRH, which caters for adults and children, is a fully publicly-funded hospital providing medical specialist rehabilitation to adults and children , who as a result of an accident, illness or injury require rehabilitation in such areas as brain injury (including stroke), spinal injury, prosthetics, orthotics and limb absence. It is the only hospital of its kind in Ireland. Together with customers and staff, the Rushes group raised 15,000 across their four stores, three of which are located in Dublin. This year the group has chosen thee Irish Cancer Society as the charity to benefit in 2019. Shane Rushe commented: We were delighted to partner with the NHR for 2018 and we had a very successful year . We would like to extend many thanks to our customers and our staff . We are looking forward to assisting the Irish Cancer Society this year because all of us know people who have been been affected by this terrible disease. Students from the second level schools in Naas Naas CBS, Pipers Hill College, St Marys College and Gaelcholaiste Chill Dara embarked on strike action on March 15. But it had less to do with pay for teachers than with the price we all might pay if climate change isnt addressed. Second year students demonstrated outside St Marys College, while a group from Naas CBS, marshalled by the CBSs green school committee, went to the Kildare County Council offices and then to Naas Courthouse to highlight the need for the Irish government and administrations elsewhere to take action to halt climate change. The CBS students, accompanied by teachers Elaine Cowper and Damien Stevens, chanted glaciers are sinking, what is Leo thinking? and they joined students from the other Naas schools as the demonstration moved to Poplar Square. Schools around the country took part in the day of action and a gathering of students marched in Dublin from St Stephens Green to Leinster house. Climate change is happening and its happening quickly. The students know this and the CSPE (Civil Social and Political Education) course brings it to life. They are young but they are learning about what is happening to the environment and they are aware of issues like what happens if countries like Ireland dont reduce carbon emissions, said St Marys College teacher Margaret Humphreys. If parents go on strike adults might take notice that we are damaging our environment. If action is not taken and future generations will suffer, not the adults and politicians of today, said sixth year Gaelcholaiste Chill Dara student Laoise Ryan. The initiative to tackle climate change and criticise the inaction of national governments was launched by a 16-year-old Swedish girl last year. Fianna Fail TD James Lawless addressed the students during the protest. Daniel is the son of Larry and Josephine, who have passed away, and he is the youngest of a family of four. He went to primary school in Prosperous, secondary school in Clane, and studied at both the Irish Management Institute and the College of Commerce, Rathmines. Daniel works full time in the HR area of a large multinational in County Kildare. WHAT IS YOUR FIRST KILDARE MEMORY? Growing up in a country background gave me a great appreciation of nature. I inherited my love for nature from my late father Larry, who would take us on long, leisurely country walks on weekends. He would point out all the different plants, birds and animals. Great memories, too, of turf cutting when we would spend much of the summer holidays in the bog cutting and footing the turf. The picnics always tasted so much better in the bog. The curlew and lark could always be heard in the background. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT KILDARE? Kildares best attribute is its rich equine heritage and facilities. The Curragh on our doorstep has world-class facilities with an incredible grandstand about to open soon. Naas and Punchestown racecourses are also on our doorstep. Its very likely most of us have some contact with the horse industry. My earliest memory is taking lessons and partaking in show-jumping events at Iris Kelletts in Kill. The St Stephens Day cross country chase was an event not to be missed. Definitely not for the faint-hearted! I am a member of the Irish National Stud Racing Club and this is great way of getting involved in horse racing and has a great social aspect. IDEAL DAY SPENT IN KILDARE? On a day off from my busy day job (which doesnt happen very often) I head out to the Curragh to get some photos of the horses and jockeys as they ride out to hopefully a nice backdrop of the sunrise. I think they have got used to seeing me now with the long camera lens pointed in their direction. This followed by breakfast at the National Stud and even more photos of the horses and foals there. Springtime is a super time to visit there with the new born foals. A great afternoon can be spent at Abbeylands Farm Clane for some well-organised clay pigeon shooting and air-rifle shooting. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT IN KILDARE? Pat Keanes famous pub and restaurant The Hanged Mans Arch in Milltown. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY? Up to 18 months ago I probably would not have known the first thing about a camera and its many settings. Slowly I managed to grasp the basics and build on them. Now I try and go on a few photography trips annually. This year I will head to Montenegro and Transylvania. Initially I posted a few photos on Instagram and Facebook and the reaction was really good. I get great enjoyment from seeing peoples reaction to some of my photos. I post regularly on Instagram. I can be found on Instagram at danieljoneill2019. I also post frequently on This is Kildare A photographers v iew on Facebook. A serving member of An Garda Siochana was convicted, fined and disqualified from driving after he was found guilty of refusing to give a breath sample and frustrating the prosecution case at Carrick-on-Shannon District court on March 22. Tom Egan, Caran, Ballintubber, Co Roscommon was charged with refusing to provide a breath specimen and taking action to frustrate the prosecution's case at Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station on December 1, 2017 The court heard Castlerea gardai received a call at 00.45 on the above date reporting a two vehicle accident at Knockroe, Castlerea. Garda Catriona McGrath attended the scene with Garda John Gormley and were later assisted by Sgt Michael Walsh. Garda McGrath told the court a minibus had been hit by a VW Passat. She spoke with the driver of the bus while Garda Gormley spoke with Mr Egan. She said Mr Egan told her Im one of ye. Garda McGrath said she witnessed Gda Gormley ask Mr Egan to blow into the road side breathalyser. She said Mr Egan held the apparatus but refused to blow into it and handed it back. Garda McGrath managed the accident scene while Garda Gormley and Sgt Walsh brought Mr Egan to Carrick-on-Shannon. She noted there was no tax on Mr Egan's VW Passat. Garda John Gormley said he spoke to Mr Egan after he was identified as the driver of the car at the scene. He said, Mr Egan told him he was driving home and didnt see the minibus. Garda Gormley said he noticed Mr Egans speech was slurred, eyes glassy and there was a smell of alcohol from him. He requested Mr Egan to take the roadside breath test and asked him had he consumed any alcohol. He said Mr Egan answered a couple and asked was there anything we can do. Mr Egan asked to speak with him and informed him he too was a garda. Gda Gormley asked Mr Egan to sit in the back of the patrol car to calm him down. He made the requirement for a breath sample and he said Mr Egan refused to take it. He was then cautioned and arrested. Gda Gormley reported that during the journey to Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station Mr Egan requested to use the toilet and so once at the station he was brought immediately. Gda Gormley stated, He requested me to leave and he tried to close the door. The garda refused to leave and said the accused then reached around to the bottle of bleach on the floor and attempted to open and drink it. The garda said while the cap was opened, he grabbed the bottle off him and put it under the table in the doctors room. Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station Mr Egan was then brought to be processed. The court heard Mr Egan was disruptive and then started to complain of stomach pains, requesting a doctor. After 20 minutes of observation, Mr Egan was brought to the doctors room and requested to provide two specimens of breath for the intoxilyser machine. There, Mr Egan dropped to the ground and held his stomach. He then crawled under the table and tried to open the bottle of Domestos again. Gda Gormley said the defendant did not drink the bleach but a doctor was called. The doctor brought Mr Egan for a private consultation and then shouted for assistance. Gda Gormley went back into the room and saw the accused had taken the bottle of hand sanitiser from the wall and poured it over his face. The doctor administered an injection and an ambulance was called for. The court heard that a short time after Mr Egan left in the ambulance, the crew called to say he had asked them to stop and got out, refusing medical attention. Defence solicitor Evan O'Dwyer asked Garda Gormley why his client was placed in the patrol car before being arrested. Garda Gormley replied, I thought it would relax him. He was questioned over whether Mr Egan held the roadside breathalyser. Garda Gormley said he did not take it from him. He also questioned the arrest within the patrol car. Garda Gormley also clarified that at no time did Mr Egan consume the toilet bleach. Judge Kevin Kilrane asked the garda at what point of the breath specimen demand did the defendant drop to the floor. Garda Gormley said he was almost finished and although the judge queried him twice at what exact point he was at in the requirement, the garda answered I had went through the legislation part of it. While Garda Gormley said Tom Egan was not known to him, Sgt Michael Walsh who accompanied the defendant to Carrick-on-Shannon said he was known to him. Sgt Walsh said he called Mr Egan after he heard he had left the ambulance and offered him a lift back to Castlerea as he was concerned for him. In closing, Mr ODwyer asked the judge for a direction. He said there was no time of driving given and the defendant was not asked when his last drink was taken. He queried the arrest in the garda patrol car, asking if it was necessary when no handcuffs were needed. He also said he didnt hear the time of arrest. Mr ODwyer questioned the quality of the demand for a breath specimen in the station. He said his client was not offered the opportunity to provide a sample of blood or urine. Prosecuting state solicitor Noel Farrell on behalf of the DPP refuted all of Mr ODwyers points saying the arrest was lawful, and the demand under section 12 was made. He also noted that this was an unmanageable situation. Judge Kilrane sided with the prosecution and was also satisfied that the defendant did take calculated action to frustrate the prosecution. Mr Egan is a serving member of gardai and is married with five children. His solicitor said immeasurable consequences would arise from his conviction. Judge Kilrane convicted, fined him 400 and disqualified Mr Egan from driving for four years for refusing to give a breath sample. He also convicted, fined him 200 and disqualified him from driving for one year for persistent frustration of the prosecution's case. The judge noted this was a nasty case and he was very disappointed in the defendants actions. He fixed recognisances for appeal at 500. Also read: Increase in violence towards Leitrim gardai A total of 19 organisations in Limerick will benefit from over 1,500,000 in funding from the Governments Community Services Programme (CSP). In the city, Limerick Youth Service will receive the largest amount of funding with 150,598, while in the county Dromcollogher And District Respite Care Centre Company will receive a boost of 142,731. Six of the organisations are based in Limerick city and will receive over 450,000 between them. The Desmond Ability Resource Complex Company will benefit to the tune of 127,165. Below is a full list of organisations to benefit Adare Recreation and Community Complex Company, 72,266 Ballyhoura Development Company, 72,266 Ballyhoura Rural Services CLG, 92,399 Caherconlish/Caherline Community Council Company, 57,099 Carebright Company, 89,099 Croom Community Development Association Company, 108,132 Dromcollogher And District Respite Care Centre Company, 142,731 Kilmallock Performing Centre Company, 72,266 Knockaderry Cloncagh Resource Centre Limerick Company, 40,266 Learning Hub Limerick Company, 40,266 Limerick Youth Service, 150,598 Lough Gur Development Co-operative Society Limited, 47,582 Mobile IT Company, 92,399 Newcastlewest & District Community Centre Limited, 38,066 Northside Family Resource Centre Company, 79,582 Patrickswell Community Council Company, 40,266 RCCN (Housing) Company, 112,532 Southill Area Centre Company, 57,099 The Desmond Ability Resource Complex Company, 127,165 The extensive funding was welcomed this week by Fine Gael senators Kieran ODonnell and Maria Byrne. Senator Byrne said such funding is immensely important to all beneficiaries across Limerick. The CSP currently supports community-based organisations to provide local social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model, providing a contribution towards the cost of their staff, Senator Byrne said. It typically supports organisations to meet service gaps and provide access to services and facilities that would otherwise generally be unavailable. Senator ODonnell said that all finance comes from Minister Michael Rings Rural and Community Development Department. Id like commend the work of these vital community services and especially mention the Caherconlish and Caherline Community Council, the Learning Hub, Limerick Youth Service, Northside Family Resource Centre, the RCCN and the Southill Area Centre who have been awarded funding for 2019, Senator ODonnell said. Minister Ring recently appointed Indecon Consultants to carry out an independent review of the programme as no formal review has been carried out since it began in 2006. A formal review will ensure the programme is more closely aligned with current department policy and better placed to meet community needs, Senator ODonnell said. MORE than three decades after the Great Southern Trail Group was established, one of its founder members and current chairman, Liam OMahony has been invited to address the conference of the European Greenways Association on the issue of citizen involvement. The conference, which takes place in Spain next week, has attracted participants from countries all over Europe including a speaker from the Department of Transport and Tourism who will outline the Irish strategy in developing greenways. Speaking to the Limerick Leader in advance of the conference, Mr OMahony said the building of an underpass to Barnagh Tunnel, currently underway, was to be welcomed. The application by Kerry County Council for funds to develop two stretches of the old Great Southern railway line from the Limerick border to Listowel and from Tralee to Fenit was also a positive, he said. But he questioned whether there was joined-up thinking between the Kerry and Limerick councils on the matter and argued that an opportunity was being missed to develop a national greenway. It appears that both councils are working independently of each other, Mr OMahony said. Kerry is not even using the Great Southern tag in their two projects. Both councils have also failed to highlight or perhaps that the railway route is 100km long, he pointed out. He is also concerned that the momentum that was injected when Limerick City and County Council took over management of the Limerick trail in 2016 has faded. A grand plan is one thing. Implementation is something else. And he has voiced concern that the Great Southern Trail group, is once again being sidelined. When the idea of a trail along the railway line was first raised, Shannon Development ignored the group and effectively created the opposition among landowners, he said. For ten years, Mr OMahony said, the trail group was regarded as an undesirable element. But the group persisted in its plan, gradually doing stretches of the line and gained recognition. Now, Mr OMahony feels the group is again being ignored. Now everybody seems to be consulted except us, he said. Anything suggested by us has been put on the long finger, he said. And he includes in this, a suggestion from the trail group to site artefacts of railway heritage along the route. These include old wagons, wheels etc which could be adapted to new purposes but would serve as reminders of the past. The group however, is particularly concerned about preserving the integrity of the line. When the GST Group was developing 40km of the old railway line in Limerick, it prevailed, despite trenchant opposition form some sources, in preserving the integrity of the route, Mr OMahony said. It is a matter of much regret that in 2017, Limerick City and County Council failed to develop a stretch from Rathkeale to Ballingrane Junction due to local opposition. To compound this failure, there are indications the council is now contemplating a deviation from the already developed 40km greenway to facilitate one individual. This is totally unacceptable to the Trail Group, he continued, and could set a precedent for further deviation in the yet to be developed stretches of the line. Our position is clear: State-owned railway routes are not up for grabs by private individuals, he said. AS PART of a bid to sustain life beyond this planet, Limerick students could be in with a chance to develop an experiment to be tested in microgravity. Second-level students are invited to develop an experiment focused on environmental issues to be tested by researchers on an international microgravity flight this October. The exciting international project is open to Irish students between the ages of 15 and 17 thanks to a unique partnership between the Irish Composites Centre (IComp) at the University of Limerick and Project Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (Project PoSSUM). This is an opportunity for students to develop skills in STEM, teamwork, research and creativity all of which are skills that are required throughout our careers, said Dr Norah Patten. And what better place to develop these skills than a microgravity flight opportunity. Dr Patten, project manager at IComp, is also currently in the running to become Irelands first astronaut. I truly hope this project sparks the interest and imagination of these students, she added. This October, (Project PoSSUM will fly a number of microgravity flights in Canada. IComp is inviting students to team up, with either a female lead or a minimum of two females per team, and develop ideas for experiments focused on environmental issues. This initiative is running parallel to the PoSSUM 13 International Microgravity Flight Challenge, an effort to celebrate the Mercury 13 and the achievements of women in space science. This upcoming flight is planned for 18 parabolas, a curved flight path, providing researchers with an opportunity to test an experiment for 15 to 20 seconds in microgravity. According to IComp, this unique opportunity is made even more special because the experiments will be handled and controlled by researchers on board. The Irish student experiment selected to fly in October will also be handled and controlled by a researcher wearing a pressurized intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit, something that has never been done before. The top five entries will be invited to the University of Limerick on May 23 to present their experiment and ideas to a panel of experts, where the winner will be selected. The winning team will work with experts at IComp and UL to prepare the experiment for the October flight. This opportunity was made possible thanks to the sponsorship received through IComp, the Bernal Institute, Varicomp and The Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Limerick, Dr Patten said. Details on how to enter, and the projects terms and conditions, are available on www.icomp.ie. Closing date for entries is Tuesday May 14. IComp is one of four strands of research clusters operating out of the Bernal Institute, the largest research institute at UL. FAMILIES are currently being housed by the local authority in student accommodation in Limerick city, with some families recently offered long-term leases at student villages on the northside of the city. A number of families who were previously living in emergency accommodation, as well as a number of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) tenants, are currently being housed in student accommodation on the Old Cratloe Road. Sinn Fein Northside rep Sharon Benson told the Limerick Leader she was shocked to learn Limerick City and County Council was offering families long-term leases in the complexes. Student accommodation is no place for families, Ms Benson told the Limerick Leader. The complexes were designed specifically with students in mind, she added. They were never intended to accommodate families, or designed for people to live in on a long term basis. If these families were offered long-term leases with any other long-term property it would be fine but kids especially do not belong in student villages. It is not right. Noise is a major concern to the families, she added. There are huge issues there if they are living with young kids, trying to get them up for school in the morning after they are woken during the night. There are children who are in hospital with respiratory problems and other mothers who say their children are missing a lot of school this year due to the disruption. It's difficult if youve got kids and they are trying to study for exams. It's just not suitable. Families are also spending between 20 and 30 every few days on storage heating in this accommodation, she added. Some of the families (living in the complexes) would have been in emergency accommodation and they were offered a ten-year lease over there, she explained. These families have been advised the council would still keep looking for other accommodation for them even though they were offered these leases, she added. Then there are other people who were in emergency accommodation, moved out of hotels and told they would have to take the student village or their emergency accommodation would be stopped. Ms Benson called on the local authority to stop using the accommodation. The council needs to commit to an ambitious plan of building social and affordable homes across Limerick, where parents can raise their children in a family friendly environment with access to local services, she said. In a statement to the Limerick Leader, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council confirmed it has leased accommodation on the Old Cratloe Road. Accommodation which meets the standards of housing laid down by the government will continue to be offered to those who qualify for social housing from Limerick City and County Council. Being classed as homelessness is not a right of entry to selective housing with the local authority. Housing standards deem storage heating acceptable to heat a property, the spokesperson said, adding that there are a number of council homes heated as such. That is not the issue we are raising here, Ms Benson said in response. We shouldnt be putting families into accommodation that is so unsuitable, especially for kids. These families are not looking for a right to entry into social housing. What they are looking for is a proper home that is suitable for their needs, and student accomodation is not suitable, she added. Megaton Brewery, the craft-beer spot in Kingwood with a steampunk-and-apocalyptic twist, had its grand opening from noon to midnight Saturday, March 30. It is part of a growing industry within the Lake Houston area, which now has three breweries. The brewery is located at 808 Russell Palmer Road, within walking distance of the Nathaniel Center. Some of the draft beers on tap are Motherlode, Iron Dome, NukaShine and more. For additional information, visit megatonbeer.com or call 281-973-9043. The brand is also on the three main social-media sites Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as megatonbeer. Country Smokin Burgers Opened at the end of January is the burger joint next to the Valero gas station at 213 1st St. E in Humble. Both businesses have the same owner. Other than burgers, whose Angus-beef and hand-formed patties are available in either one-third or half pounds, diners can also have breaded seafood with fries, poboys, hot dogs and smothered fries. A kids menu is also available. Country Smokin Burgers has presence on Facebook (countrysmokinburgers) and Yelp. Its phone number is 281-319-4680. The business also takes orders through DoorDash. No more Mama Fus in Houston All Mama Fus Asian House establishments in Houston have closed, including the one in Kingwood at 4535 Kingwood Drive, Ste. 100 in the same plaza as H-E-B. Visiting the branchs website will turn up an empty page. A post on the restaurants Facebook page dated last Saturday says: It's never easy to say goodbye. Regretfully, after 5 wonderful years in the Houston-area, Mama Fu's has closed its doors on March 22, 2019. FUnatics rewards are still honored at other locations. Find them at locations.mamafus.com. Mama Fus specializes in pan-Asian dishes, such as jalapeno brisket fried rice, drunken noodles with shrimp and pad Thai, and has locations around Texas, Florida and Arkansas 17 in the former and one each in the latter two states. Austin-based Murphy Adams Restaurant Group owns and franchises the brand since 2007. Calls to the firms marketing department to elaborate on the closure were not immediately returned. Know of a new business? Email details and photos to nguyen.le@chron.com KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents repeatedly ambushed the convoy of Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum and killed two of his guards, Afghan officials said Sunday, but the powerful former warlord escaped injury. Dostum, a general officer and member of Afghanistan's Uzbek minority, was traveling in the north of the country when his heavily armed entourage came under fire. "By the grace of God, the general was unharmed," Bashir Ahmad Tayenj, an aide to Dostum, said by telephone. Tayenj was with Dostum when the three ambushes occurred Saturday evening. "The fighting was intense," he added, adding that four Taliban insurgents also were killed. In a statement, the Taliban asserted responsibility for the assassination attempt, which comes as peace negotiations between the group and the United States are underway. Parallel talks are also being held between the Taliban and various Afghan power brokers. Dostum, a controversial figure who has been accused by political rivals of rape and torture, had gone to Balkh province to evaluate the security situation and consult his followers on the delicate peace process, from which the Afghan government has been excluded. Six of Dostum's bodyguards were injured in the attack, which continued into his native Jowzjan province, local official Ana Murad Shahi said. Although talks are accelerating, with prospects for a peaceful settlement on the table for the first time in the nearly 18-year war, there has been an uptick in fighting that experts say is expected as all sides try to increase their leverage. The Taliban has refused to engage with the government, branding it as an American puppet. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who leads the unity government with President Ashraf Ghani, said the assault on Dostum raised the stakes. "Taliban miscreants must know that with every attack they carry out on our political leaders, our resolve gets further strengthened to defeat them," Abdullah said in a statement. The U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, was due in the country on Sunday as part of his latest multicountry diplomatic tour aimed at building consensus and establishing the next steps of the peace process. This is not the first time Dostum has survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, which also targeted him in 2003. The group has long reviled Dostum, who allegedly suffocated hundreds of Taliban prisoners in sealed truck containers at the start of the war. Once described by the State Department as a "quintessential warlord," Dostum's mercurial switching of sides throughout Afghanistan's four decades of conflict, going back to the Soviet invasion in 1979, have earned him legions of followers and enemies. Over the past decade, the Kabul leadership has sent Dostum into exile in Turkey twice because of extreme violence. When he returned to Kabul last year after time away related to sexual assault charges, the government welcomed him back. He has not faced prosecution. What happens when you drop a dead alligator in the darkest depths of the Gulf of Mexico? It's not a question that has plagued many scientists, but it has plagued at least one - Craig McClain, a marine biologist and executive director of the Louisiana University Marine Consortium in Cocodrie. McClain wanted to see what unfolded if he introduced a rare calorie-rich reptile to the abyssal seafloor, a dark and nearly lifeless place with little food for the few critters dwelling there. 'COCKROACH OF THE SEA': More about the giant isopod found in the Gulf of Mexico So last month, McClain and a team of LUMCON researchers plopped three adult alligator carcasses, each seven to eight feet long, into the Gulf, where they sunk to depths of more than a mile. They then deployed a live-feed video camera to cover the action. It didn't take long for one of the creepiest creatures of the deep to sniff out the gators. Giant isopods, each about a foot in length, swarmed in and began nibbling on what, to them, must have been a bountiful and exotic feast. "We had assumed given the tough hide of the alligator it might take a while for deep-sea animals to access the soft tissue," McClain said in email during an outing on a LUMCON research vessel. "But the giant isopods seemed to find soft spots in the hide on the abdomen and in the armpits." GOING FISHING? That box of frozen shrimp bait could be illegal - and deadly From the top, an isopod looks like a gargantuan version of the pill-bug, a land-dwelling cousin. Flip it over, and the pale, 14-legged crustacean resembles a 'facehugger' from the movie Aliens. Giant isopods crawl around the mostly barren seafloor hoping some edible morsel falls from near the surface. Decaying bits of fish and other organic matter become a white fluff as they sink beyond the reach of sunlight. This 'marine snow' is a prime but not especially rich food source for isopods. Occasionally, a whale carcass drops to the seafloor, but such food bonanzas are relatively rare in the deep sea. Isopods must go without eating for months, even years. An isopod at an aquarium in Japan managed to live for five years without food. So it was no surprise that several isopods would quite literally dive into their alligator dinner. "Once a hole was opened we observed giant isopods actually going inside the alligator," McClain said. McClain has long been fascinated with isopods. Last year, his lab live-tweeted an isopod dissection (a task that required bolt cutters). McClain once tried eating isopod, which he said tasted like "old fried chicken and cheap faux seafood." But why serve an alligator, a resident of swamps and marshes, to sea critters that live more than a 100 miles offshore? McClain said alligator carcasses in the deep ocean are "not nearly as impossible as you might think." Dead alligators have washed ashore on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Live ones have popped up on the sandy beaches near Grand Isle. Alligators are sometimes pushed out to sea by river flooding and storms. After Hurricane Katrina, an alligator was seen swimming near an oil rig about 40 miles offshore. Recent research shows that alligators make regular meals of sharks and stingrays. Alligators, which lack the salt glands of their crocodile relatives, frequently snap up sharks and rays that stray into rivers and bayous. They also ride the river runoff that spreads across the top of saltwater after a hard rain, giving them a chance to sample a variety of seafood. From the 19th century, when alligators were more abundant, there are several accounts of alligator vs. shark battles off the Florida and Gulf coasts. An 1877 magazine story recounts how a school of fish trapped in a south Florida inlet attracted rival gangs of gators and sharks. Witnesses said the beasts could be seen fighting in the crests of waves. Large marine reptiles may have been a big part of the deep-sea food chain during the time of dinosaurs, McClain said. A variety of dolphin- and fish-shaped ichthyosaurs and immense mosasaurs thrived in the deep ocean. Fossil records indicate some deep-sea mollusks and limpets may have depended on sunken reptiles. "When these prehistoric sea monsters died and fell to the seafloor, they may have served as the host for a whole community of deep-sea animals," McClain said. "Do modern alligator and crocodiles serve as the last remaining refuges for these faunas?" McClain acquired the alligators from the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which culls wild alligators to control their populations in ecologically-sensitive areas. He plans to return to the three alligators in a year or two to check for bone-eating worms and snails that are often drawn to whale carcasses. The research is another flash of light into an area of the planet that has been "shrouded in mystery," McClain said. Much of the deep ocean is unexplored. We have a better understanding of Mars' topography than Earth's seafloor, of which only 20 percent has been mapped, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Recent advances in technology have sparked a boom in ocean research. Underwater robotics, video and sound recording gear and remote operated vehicles (ROVs), like the one McClain used to study the sunken alligators, are now widely accessible to scientists. Deep sea discoveries have become almost commonplace, McClain said. "Every sample of life we bring from the abyss contains a cornucopia of species never seen by humans before and unknown to science," he said. The second Civil Mock Trial of Cluck E. Chicken versus East R. Bunny in Webb County Court at Law II ended Friday with unanimous decisions that the bunny, portrayed by Mike Angel, did not steal 12 eggs from the chicken, portrayed by Lola Quesada. Third graders from Blessed Sacrament and from UISDs Zaffirini Elementary schools also unanimously decided that the bunny did not trespass into the chickens coop and need not pay her $500 in damages. Non-jurors comprising the court of public opinion came to the same conclusion, as did Laredo ISD students from Gallego, Ligarde, Sanchez Ochoa and Santa Maria elementary schools; and United Day School who attended the mock trial on March 22. Students from Laredo Colleges Continuing Education Program observed the proceedings as special guests. The children were enthralled by the litigants, beginning with Cluck E. Chickens entering the courtroom dancing The Chicken Dance, and East R. Bunny dancing the Bunny Hop. They also enjoyed the countless puns and numerous songs, fun facts and biculturalisms interspersed throughout as Judge Victor Villarreal presided. Represented by Cesia Rodriguez, the chicken emotionally accused the bunny of entering her chicken coop illegally and stealing her eggs while she went to cross the road. Rodriguez promised to offer eggs-ellent testimony sunny-side up and that the case would be over easy. Guerrero countered, however, that the plaintiff had scrambled the facts and couldnt even say which came first, the chicken or the egg. Called by the plaintiff, 8-year-old Little Joey (Desiree Perez) testified that she and her friends found 12 eggs-quisitely painted and eggs-pertly hidden eggs after church services the very next morning and that Padre Hector told them East R. Bunny hid them. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Iris Vasquez Guerrero, however, Little Joey admitted she didnt know if the 12 eggs they found were the ones that were stolen and that it would be difficult to cover Cluck E. Chickens brown organic eggs with pastel paints. Rodriguez then called a witness, Hopp E. Frog (Daniela Ramon), who earlier hopped into the courtroom to the music and lyrics of Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog. When asked who stole Cluck E. Chickens eggs, Hopp E. answered, Rib-bit! The defense dismissed her as an unreliable witness and rana sonsa (silly frog) whose response to any question was the same word, namely, Rib-bit! Vehemently denying he would ever steal anything from anybody, East R. Bunny said maybe the chupacabra or B. B. Wolf (Billy Bob, not Big Bad) took them. He said with a little magic he always had enough eggs to hide for the children at Easter. Besides, he said, he was too big to fit in the chickens little coop. Cluck E. almost fainted as the bunny volunteered that if he had trespassed, he sooner would have stolen a chicken or two because he loved fried chicken, but didnt eat eggs. The defense was bolstered by a surprise character witness, Santa Claus (Tony Bondoc, though portrayed the first time by Carlos Santacruz). He said his compadre, East R. Bunny, was a giver, not a taker, and would never steal anything. Hes always happy, always egg-reable and never does anything egg-ravating, Santa said. Rodriguez objection to Santas spegg-ulation was overruled. The judge then told the defense attorney, Omelet you continue. Passionate closing arguments captured the opposing attorneys completely opposite perspectives. Rodriguez argued East R. Bunny got caught stealing and now is too chicken to tell the truth. Noting that East R. Bunny had white fur but a brown beard, she said maybe he was Bad Bunny (a reference to a popular rapper) in disguise. As punishment for the crime witnessed by Hopp E. Frog, Rodriguez said the bunny should pay $500 in damages to Cluck E. Chicken. That rabid rabbit deserves to be fried or at least hard-boiled! she concluded. Guerreros rebuttal focused on the lack of evidence that the eggs hidden by East R. Bunny were those stolen from Cluck E. Chicken and the unreliability of the frog who answered all questions with one word, Rib-bit! She reminded the jury that Cluck E. Chicken lived rent-free and salary-free at the ranchito, where she also received all the free chicken feed she wanted. What would she do with $500? All the years youve loved and waited for the Easter Bunny and looked for the eggs he hid for you, she asked the jury, did you ever think he stole them from Cluck E. Chicken or any other chicken? Certainly not! The defense attorney concluded dramatically, If East R. Bunny is found guilty todaywill Easter be cancelled? Immediately after the not guilty verdict was announced, a defense witness arrived, clearly too late to testify. In the spirit of celebrating Christmas year-round, even at Easter, the judge allowed her to make an appearance. As Pancha Clos (Gigi Noriega) entered the courtroom, the children spontaneously joined her in singing Feliz Navidad as she played her maracas. Students received complimentary certificates designating them Mock Trial Scholars, handbooks, imprinted gavel and Texas pencils, lanyards and two Hopp-y Easter treats (one to keep and one to give). Senator Judith Zaffirini wrote the script and handbook. Mock trials are presented twice per month for Laredo students as part of the judges Access to Justice: Class in the Courtroom. Each is targeted for a specific age group and includes not only insight into the system of justice and how trials develop, but also social justice lessons, fun facts, and examples of biculturalism. Laredo police are warning the community about scammers who are using LPDs non-emergency number to ask for money. Authorities said they have been made aware of recent calls where the 795-2800 number has been spoofed by scammers. We want to advise the community that the Laredo Police Department does not request any payments over the phone, require money to be wired into certain accounts or accept payments for pending warrants, tickets, police said in statement. Authorities added, If the person on the line claims to be a member of the Laredo Police Department, advise them that you would like to meet in their office at the (police) station. If they refuse, it should be a strong indicator the person is not an employee of the department. Police encourage people to ask the caller for their direct office line so that they can try to call them back. Members of the community are also welcome to call LPD to verify the employee status of the caller. The Laredo Police Department strives at building relationships with the community of Laredo and ensuring the safety of our residents. Do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns you may have, LPD said in a statement. ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME - Making rare remarks about a high-profile abuse case, Pope Francis on Sunday said it was "important" that a French cardinal who had been convicted of covering up abuse be presumed innocent while he appeals his case. "Maybe he is not innocent, but there is the presumption," Francis told reporters during a news conference on a plane ride after his two-day trip to Morocco. Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon and one of France's leading Catholic figures, three weeks ago was convicted of not reporting abuse to authorities. The conviction forced Francis to make a choice. Barbarin submitted his resignation after his conviction. He met soon after with the pontiff in the Vatican. But Francis, in a surprise move, did not accept the resignation. Barbarin, in turn, chose to step away from his post for an unspecified period of time. The aftermath of Barbarin's case shows how the Catholic Church - at a time when it is trying to improve its response to the sexual abuse crisis - is facing new tests in how it responds to court decisions and how it chooses to discipline figures who are investigated or convicted in the secular justice system. Analysts note that the church, after decades of not curbing sexual abuse by priests, is facing more pressure from external judicial authorities. In Australia, Cardinal George Pell is in prison, convicted of child sexual abuse. In Chile, church leaders have been called to testify to prosecutors about their role in the country's sprawling abuse scandal. And in the United States, attorneys general across the country are taking an aggressive look at Catholic dioceses. Francis on Sunday did not refer to particulars of the French cardinal's case, but the pontiff said he felt he was "morally" unable to accept Barbarin's resignation. After the appeal, Francis said, "we'll see what happens." He cautioned against "superficial media condemnation." "One time, I have spoken about this problem about a case in Spain of how media condemnation has ruined the life of some priests who were later found innocent," Francis said. "Before doing a media condemnation, one should think twice." In 45-minute remarks on the plane, the pope wrapped up his 27-hour trip by warning against closing doors to migrants, building walls and fomenting fear. Wall builders, Francis said, "shall become prisoners of the walls they build." The remarks built on themes that Francis emphasized during his speeches in Morocco, a country that has become the top passageway for migrants from Africa trying to reach Europe. But many Catholics say the church has diminished its credibility to speak out about moral issues because of a sluggish response to its central crisis. Amid a crescendo of abuse-related cases, Francis' approval rating has fallen. Though he has taken notable steps to address the issue - writing a letter condemning abuse to the global faithful, holding a four-day summit for leading bishops - he has tended to speak not about specifics of cases, but instead about broader themes of abuse. The presumption of innocence is a common legal principle, and the pope has emphasized it before. During the abuse summit, Francis presented bishops with "reflection points" - ideas for contending with the crisis. One said the "presumption of innocence must also be safeguarded," and therefore, "it is necessary to prevent the lists of the accused being published, even by the dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and the definitive condemnation." Barbarin, 68, was given a six-month suspended sentence. He was found guilty of covering up for Bernard Preynat, who is accused of abusing children in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Prosecutors had dropped the case, but victims successfully pushed to reopen it, saying Barbarin allowed the priest to stay in his post for too long and didn't report Preynat's actions to police. The pope on Sunday took a defensive posture in explaining a February speech that concluded the sexual-abuse summit. In highly anticipated remarks, Francis described abuse in sweeping terms - as a global crisis, not just something gripping the church. On the plane, Francis mentioned specific newspaper criticism he received about that speech but said it was correct to diagnose abuse from all angles - not just with measures to improve protection but with consideration of the spiritual reasons abuse takes place. "You can't forget about the spiritual part," Francis said. The pope said U.S. bishops, with their own prescriptions for fighting the crisis, had neglected that "second spiritual dimension." The Vatican told U.S. prelates in November to hold off on voting to implement anti-abuse measures. "Their proposals were too much of an organization of methodologies," Francis said. "It's a concrete problem. We've got to solve it in a concrete manner. But you've got to say it's the spirit of evil." - - - The Washington Post's Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report. When the pope names a new bishop for a diocese, it's always buzzy Catholic news. But a leaked report this past week about the next archbishop of Washington was big news for unexpected reasons. The Catholic News Agency, citing anonymous sources, reported Thursday that Pope Francis is going to appoint Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory to replace embattled District of Columbia Cardinal Donald Wuerl - which would make Gregory the first black Catholic archbishop of the capital, one of the most high-profile posts in the nation. The news was quickly eclipsed by questions, doubts and conspiracy theories about the sources behind it. Had Gregory really been offered the job - or was someone allied with the pope floating a trial balloon to gauge sentiment in the District, an epicenter of the current clergy sexual abuse crisis? Or could the report, in a conservative-leaning publication, have been leaked purposely by Francis critics in the Vatican or elsewhere to hurt and possibly scuttle the pick of Gregory, loathed by some orthodox Catholics as too liberal? Another theory is the leaks came as a push to make Gregory, who is seen as happy and mostly popular in Atlanta, feel more obligated to accept the pope's offer if it were made public. It's also possible there's no manipulation behind the leaks, and Gregory's appointment will be announced soon. The Catholic News Agency hedged, saying the "likely appointment could still be subject to change." The Vatican and church officials in Washington and Atlanta declined to verify the report, leading some to speculate that it was untrue, Gregory could be considering turning it down or the pope could change his mind. As of Saturday, no other Catholic media or mainstream outlet, including The Washington Post, had confirmed the CNA's reporting, although the far-right website Church Militant was quick to cite the CNA report. CNA's editor in chief, J.D. Flynn, who is also one of the authors of the piece, said "I don't have any doubt about the veracity of what we reported," he said. Names of new bishops sometimes leak a day before the appointment, but experts said they couldn't recall the name of someone who had been offered the job getting out a week or more in advance. The CNA report said the appointment "could come as early as next week. The reaction Friday illustrated the intense political polarization in the Catholic Church, as well as the very high stakes many say Francis perceives in filling the vacancy created when Wuerl resigned in October - a long vacancy by church standards. "Even without the abuse stuff, this would be important because of the political situation, the polarization, the fraught state of the country," said Rocco Palmo, author of the popular Catholic news site Whispers in the Loggia. "Whomever is in D.C. will set an important tone for the church politically on issues of priority - be it abortion, immigration, whatever. This appointment is too big to fail. This is the most significant thing Francis will do in the United States during his papacy." Rich Raho, a campus minister from St. Patrick High School in Chicago who tweets church news to thousands of followers, warned Thursday that someone who wants to hurt the Gregory appointment could be the one who leaked it. "Floating potential episcopal appointments well ahead of an actual announcement while quoting anonymous sources is risky, to say the least," Raho tweeted. "Francis is a pope of surprises and could change his mind at any moment. Caution, folks!" In an interview with The Post, Raho pointed to fired-up readers commenting against Gregory on some right-leaning sites. "If they're trying to achieve a purpose, it's working." The District archdiocese, which includes the District and Maryland suburbs, is a prosperous, healthy part of the Catholic Church and has been rocked since the summer, when its last archbishop - Theodore McCarrick - was suspended for alleged child sexual abuse. Then Wuerl was forced to retire early after the release of a bombshell grand jury report out of Pennsylvania about clergy mishandling and coverup of abusive priests. Wuerl was criticized for allegedly mishandling several abuse cases in his role as bishop of Pittsburgh. Many Catholics were upset in January when Wuerl admitted during questioning from The Post that he knew of complaints about McCarrick years ago and had reported them to the Vatican, despite denying having any knowledge of the scandal since it surfaced. Even fans of Wuerl recognize the archdiocese is hurting and needs a new and healing leader who will offer no surprises. Under the tenures of Francis and President Donald Trump, Catholics have become bitterly divided about almost everything, and the crisis has served to further that political polarization. With Washington at the epicenter of the crisis, Francis's pick for the seat will likely be seen as a statement on the scandal engulfing the global church. Francis is seen by many survivors as uneven on the topic. Conservatives immediately responded on social media to the CNA with criticism about a possible pick of Gregory, who is associated with moderate bishops who have largely sidestepped the culture war. "This is a bad move. Gregory is 100% McCarrick/Wuerl Apologist Company Man .... sigh.... more of the same," wrote one reader on Twitter. "MCCARRICK CRONY RUMORED TO REPLACE WUERL IN WASHINGTON DC," was the headline of Church Militant. Gregory, the site noted, was a protege of the late Chicago cardinal Joseph Bernardin, a lead promoter of "the 'seamless garment' philosophy that saw poverty, joblessness and other social justice issues as weighty as abortion," the site said in a sharply critical way. A group of conservative Catholics in the archdiocese Friday put out a statement appealing for Gregory not to be picked. "Cardinal Bernardin left a legacy of dilution of Catholic teaching and subversion of the fight to protect unborn babies and their mothers," wrote the Catholic Laity for Orthodox Bishops and Reform. Michael Sean Winters, a left-leaning columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, raved over a possible Gregory appointment because he thinks the church needs more moderation. "The church needs more people in the style and leadership of Bernardin, committed to a consistent ethic of life, social justice, to engagement with the culture, and who are allergic to vitriol," Winters said. He said a senior black bishop would be a powerful image in Washington, especially after the explosion of controversy in 2009 - including vocal criticism by some bishops - when President Barack Obama was invited to give a commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic school. "Black Catholics' experienced the disrespect shown to the first black president in a way that white Catholics never did," Winters said. "Even conservative black Catholics who disagree with Barack Obama on many things were turned off by the vile response he got. To receive a black archbishop in the nation's capital will be a real shot in the arm." Like almost all U.S. bishops with a lengthy record in church leadership, Gregory's history of handling abusive priests has been questioned at times. Gregory, 71, was praised by some for removing abusive priests from ministry when he was bishop of Belleville, Illinois, even before the Boston Globe's landmark exposure of abuse in the church in 2002. Some advocates say the removals were already in the works before he came. When the Boston scandal broke, Gregory was president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and he led the bishops through their landmark 2002 meeting in Dallas addressing the crisis. Terry McKiernan, who leads the anti-abuse organization Bishop Accountability, gave Gregory high marks in some areas - in particular for leading the creation of the Dallas Charter, a document for the U.S. church that created a zero-tolerance policy for priests. However, critics noted the charter didn't address oversight for bishops - an omission that many activists in the church blame for today's problems. In 2004, Gregory, as president of the bishops' conference, made a speech that some survivors came to equate with cluelessness. "The terrible history recorded here today is history," Gregory told a news conference. That same year, the Illinois diocese that Gregory was leading was held in contempt of court for refusing to release the mental-health records of a retired priest accused of abusing three children. Gregory had removed the priest from ministry nine years earlier, but the diocese fought the civil case brought by one of the victims. Gerard O'Connell, a longtime Vatican reporter in Rome who recently wrote an article with a very rare leak from the most recent pope vote, in 2013, said Friday that it is very unusual for names of new bishops to get out well in advance. O'Connell, associate editor for America magazine, like several other writers for Catholic publications, said the magazine's sources had not confirmed the Gregory appointment. He believed there was extra caution being taken about Washington. "They're taking great care, given Theodore McCarrick. They want to appoint someone who on the abuse question is above question," he said. Flynn said Friday that the leaks were part of an unusual era in Washington due to it's role as an epicenter of the abuse crisis in the U.S. Flynn, who is also a canon lawyer, said his sources said there is extra review of candidates' backgrounds happening "to make sure there aren't things that are a source of scandal or difficulty." Flynn said the interest among Catholics in this opening has been intense. "It far exceeds interest I've seen [in previous openings] in the United States before." Asked how he felt about the speculation that leaking to an outlet with a more conservative readership was deliberate, Flynn declined to add any detail about the thinking of those who leaked the news. "Like everything else now, there is a lot of polarization," Flynn said. "And one thing you know is, when you report facts now, it's so often said you are making some kind of statement. We just think this is news and wanted to cover it." - - - The Washington Post's Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report. Todd Johnson was more than just an artist. He was a creator of beauty, whether it was with a pen, from behind a camera lens, inside a kitchen or at an amateur guitar jam session. Professionally, he documented for nine years the installations of artists in residence at Artpace San Antonio by capturing their work as a freelance commercial photographer, his relatives said. His work is a rich part of our legacy, said Scott G. Williams, director of archives and communications at Artpace, a nonprofit residency program that supports artists in the creation of new work. Johnson, who died March 11 at age 66 of complications from an aggressive form of liver cancer diagnosed in December, captured the hearts of those who knew him with ethics, kindness and loyalty. He had this vision that brought up the most beauty that anything had, including people, said his wife, Loretta Rey, also an artist. He sought many ways (in his art); sight, sound, writing, he just was interested to explore his creativity. Johnson was born in Tucson, Ariz., the first of three children of William Willis Johnson, a pilot and accomplished jazz musician, and Rita Gervais Johnson, a nurse. His father was in the Air Force, and the family moved around, Rey said. Todd Thomas Johnson Born: Sept. 9, 1952, Tucson, Ariz. Died: March 11, 2019, San Antonio Preceded by: His parents, Rita Johnson and William Willis Johnson. Survived by: His wife, Loretta Rey; a sister, Stacey Rita Johnson and husband Robert Bruce Hoek of Orlando, Fla.; a brother, Christopher Perry Johnson and nephew Garrett Johnson, both of San Antonio. Services: A memorial celebrating his life will be held at a later date. See More Collapse They lived in France for a long time until his father was called to Vietnam, then moved back to the states and chose San Antonio, she said. Johnsons sister, Stacey Rita Johnson of Orlando, Fla., said he had a love affair with France all of his life, appreciating the food and the beauty and style of French sensitivities. At 16, he left the family for a spiritual journey that took him to the Pyrenees, the mountain range that separates France and Spain, where he worked as a shepherd, his sister said. Johnson attended the University of Texas at Austin, but transferred to Trinity University in San Antonio, where he would earn a bachelors degree in film studies. His senior project was to complete a film influenced by American author Flannery OConnors short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Stacey Johnson recalled. It was then that I realized he viewed the world through the lens of an artist, she said. The film was beautifully made; it moved all of us in the audience through its cinematography and deft handling of the subject matter of forgiveness and salvation. Rey said she first met the man who would become her husband in the 1960s as part of a group of friends that still hangs out. They got together in 1991 and married in 1994. Both his wife and his sister said Johnson came to be a unique and creative force, not just within the family, but in the San Antonio art scene. He was a Renaissance man, Rey said. He had so much creative talent. Whatever he did, he did it with the most beautiful finesse. He just had that ability to be an artist engineer. Rey said her husband wrote poetry and beautiful letters and could go on YouTube to learn how to fix his car. He had that attention to detail that was just so easy, she said. He could photograph a crumpled piece of paper and make it look like a priceless object. He was a natural at so many different things. The couple loved spending time together at their place at the Guadalupe River, where they would relax by the water and enjoy the outdoors on a walk. Rey said cooking was one of her husbands favorite things and that he enjoyed having people over for dinner. Creating in the kitchen was a love he shared with his sister. He was an excellent cook, using his experiences from traveling throughout Europe to enhance his cooking repertoire with spices and sauces that were sublime, Stacey Johnson said. Rey said that despite her husbands accomplishments, he wasnt the egotistical type. He was very loyal and humble, a solid, solid man, she said. He just enjoyed life. I knew I would be with him the rest of my life. 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 A U.S. Marshal has been charged with drug possession following an arrest Saturday morning outside a strip club on San Antonio's North Side, police said. Reynaldo Chavera, 31, has been charged with possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance, Bexar County booking records show. Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service said Monday he has been placed on administrative leave. The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 Into the arms of our heavenly Father and in the presence of all the saints in glory, we commend the spirit of our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Raquel G. Ramirez, 54. She fought an arduous and courageous battle against cancer, with her loving family steadfast at her side. It was a conflict in which she was not defeated, but rather gained eternal reward that is given to all who believe in Christ and follow Him in His ways. She is loved beyond measure and her legacy will continue on in the hearts and minds of those who knew her. While floral tributes are appreciated and will be accepted, there has been an official memorial fund instituted in Raquels honor. Please go to Facebook and access the Raquel G. Ramirez Memorial Fund to leave a donation in her memory if you wish. The family will be receiving condolences on Sunday, March 31, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapels & Cremation Services, 1410 Jacaman Rd. Preparations will be made at the conclusion of the visitation to transfer Raquel to the church for the Vigil for the Deceased and Rosary to be offered at 7:30 p.m. Funeral procession will depart the funeral chapel at 9:15 a.m. to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church for a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Rite of Committal and Interment will follow at the San Agustin section of the Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Pallbearers will be: Carlos Rene Ramirez, Jr., Carlos Roberto Ramirez, Carlos Ricardo Ramirez, Carlos Rodolfo Ramirez, Oscar Torres, Jerry Ramirez, Daniel Hernandez, and Tony Rangel. You may express your condolences, share your favorite memories, and sign the guestbook online at: www.joejacksonfuneralchapels.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care and direction of the funeral service professionals at Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services, 1410 Jacaman Road, Laredo, Texas 78041; (956)722-8850. The Abbeylara Gun Club was first founded back in 1976 thanks to the efforts of local Cllr PJ Reilly, Ned Lynch, Tim Grier, John Gilligan, Peter O'Reilly, Ciaran McGivney, Vincent Quinn and John Crudden. Over the years more people have become involved and the club now has 25 members on its roster, all aged between seventeen and seventy years old. They also have their own base, officially opened in 1982. Members are not only based in the Longford locality, with some even hailing from as far as Dublin and Kildare. You can join the club from fourteen years of age up, Chairman Richard Flynn explained to the Leader. The club are always looking at ways to encourage young people to get involved and Richard says he only joined himself after encouragement from his father. Richard said: My father got me into the shooting years ago and I want to keep that going. We try our best to encourage young people to come in, have a bit of a laugh and some craic. Also read: Rent review increases criticised by Longford representatives The main activities carried out by the club, are shooting orientated. This includes social activities such as clay pigeon shooting and other shooting activities which are of benefit to the locality. Members can also enter into competitions throughout the year, should their competitive streak be in need of suppressing. Richard noted: At the minute we are doing more vermin control than anything, helping farmers protect their livestock. We try to help them as much as we can. You can also enter into competitions and actually make a name for yourself out of shooting. The club gives the members an opportunity to go out and have sometime to themselves and you make new friends out of it too. Anybody interested in getting involved can do so by contacting Richard himself on 087 296 0881. There is one rule, however, as any potential club members must first be voted in at the clubs annual AGM. Richard said: If you are interested in shooting or joining, just come out for the day and watch us shooting clays. We will always try to help young people learn how to shoot. There is very much a family-feel about the Abbeylara gun club and Richard hopes to inspire future generations to join in the coming months. He also hopes his two sons will one day follow in his footsteps. I will stay in the club as long as I can and hopefully by then, my two boys can follow in my footsteps. It is just like a big family at the end of the day. So what are you waiting for, pull the trigger and join the Abbeylara gun club. When Scott Mullen worked as general manager of the Hubway bike system, now known as Bostons Bluebikes, there were little more than four stations in Brookline. They didnt really serve everywhere. They were only convenient if you were near a station, said Mullen, who now works as Limes northeast director of expansion. As Brookline launches the first electric scooter pilot in Massachusetts on Monday, Mullen says the way people move around the town will become much simpler. Thats the beauty of these being dockless, Mullen told MassLive. Maybe it wasnt that convenient to get to the T in the morning, so people decided to drive instead. But now, if its a mile or so, now its like a 6-minute scoot to get to the T. Leave the car at home. Reclaim your commute, Mullen said. Brookline is the first community in the state to test the fleets of dockless e-scooters on its streets. The town will implement the new devices -- or rolling computers, as Mullen called them -- in popular spaces near transit lines, intersections and libraries starting early Monday morning. E-scooters, provided by micro-mobility giants Lime and Bird, will reach speeds up to 15 mph. Both Lime and Bird are rolling out 100 scooters each in Brookline Monday for a total of 200 to be placed throughout town. The town set a number of regulations for the pilot, requiring passengers be 18 or older to ride, operate scooters only between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., and park the devices respectfully between sidewalks and street curbs, leaving adequate space for people to walk by. A lot of the disability groups and a lot of the pedestrian-centered groups are very concerned about where these devices will be deployed and where they will be parked, Select Board member Heather Hamilton told MassLive. I dont know if any municipality in the world has gotten it right. Each company has safeguarding measures against bad scooter-park jobs, and each will take part in local Brookline events on Saturday and Monday to offer test runs and safety practices to residents. According to spokesperson Mackenzie Long, Bird has a number of initiatives to deter bad scooter behaviors. The company encourages riders and non-riders to use Community Mode in the Bird smartphone app to flag any poorly parked or damaged vehicles. Before creating a Bird account, Long said users must watch a safety video and walk through responsible riding information, and can access a free helmet through the app. How to ride responsibly is extremely important to us, Long said. We go out of our way to send information to you. Both Bird and Lime also require users to take a photo of a parked scooters to close out their trips. The problem of bad parking, however, isnt limited to just scooters, according to Mullen. When an issue happens, its sort of like very visible. It gets retweeted 50,000 times, but it didnt happen 50,000 times, Mullen said. These things are rare and annoying. So is a car parking in a crosswalk, and that happens all the time. So is someone blocking a bike lane, and that happens all the time. It has been less than a year since Bird surprised Somerville and Cambridge with fleets of e-scooters (and were subsequently ordered to remove them). Whats important to understand is the landscape has shifted. A year ago, Bird was a brand new thing, Long said. In that time, she said, Bird scooters have become tremendously popular and provided tens of millions of rides around the world." Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Boston Mayors Coalition convened to discuss what regulating scooters and other micro-mobility options might look like. According to Hamilton, Brookline tried to roll out a pilot program for e-scooters in the fall of 2018, but neighboring cities did not feel prepared for any unintended consequences. Boston and Cambridge, they werent ready to have these cross into their jurisdictions, Hamilton said. She said the town of Brookline worked with Bird and Lime to create clear guidelines for customers and enforce geofencing barriers, which require the companies to shut down and immediately pick up an e-scooter once it goes outside of Brooklines borders. Any person who rides a scooter from Brookline into Boston will be able to finish their ride, but no other person can use that device again until it is brought back to Brookline, the program outlines. A repeat offender may see their account with Lime or Bird suspended. The Boston City Council came to an agreement on regulations last week, but decided on no exact form of implementation or pilot program. Lime and Bird both operate their systems using a smartphone application, through which a person pays for an e-scooter and initiates a ride. Cash options are available too, through a handful of PayNearMe stations at convenience stores, according to Mullen. The town of Brookline says both companies charge about $1 to unlock a scooter, plus $0.15 per minute of the ride, though those rates are subject to change. As a select board member, Hamilton is excited at the prospect of more micro-mobility options. During a visit to Tel Aviv in December, she observed almost micro-mobility utopia, with scooters and bikes being used responsibly and complimentary to one another. But, she noted, the Israeli hub has very good biking infrastructure. In Boston, Brookline and neighboring communities, the roadways are more complex. Whether the proper infrastructure or e-scooters come first is, as Hamilton says, a chicken and egg problem. Do you invest in separated bicycle tracks, before the appetite of users are there to use them? Or do you incentivize people to use micro-mobility to start and then, once you get the numbers, you actually invest in the infrastructure? Hamilton asked. The problem is one that cities around the world are facing. But Mullen said he hopes the popularity of e-scooters and e-bikes will push leaders to reconfigure their streets. "Theyre completely unbalanced. Theyre not working, he said. "I dont think anybody in downtown Brookline is going to say yeah, we could use a few more cars. The town will charge both Bird and Lime a $1,000 license fee, as well as a $1 per scooter per day surcharge. Though those fees will go toward infrastructure and safe travel funds for the town of Brookline, Mullen did not wholeheartedly support the fees as sustainable in the long run. This is a good place to start, Mullen said. I think that moving forward, and as we are able to scale, we would look to a more flexible model because this one is just a little too inflexible. It doesnt help us scale. The Brookline pilot runs from April 1 through Nov. 15, after which the town plans to evaluate whether the e-scooters deserve a permanent place on roadways. Two men clinging to a buoy in Boston Harbor were rescued after a person taking a tour of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum spotted them through a pair of binoculars and contacted the United States Coast Guard. The Boston Police Harbor Unit was notified by the Coast Guard about two people in the water near Thompson Island around 6:15 p.m. Saturday. The people were hanging onto a buoy. Officers arrived on scene, observed the victims, and due to a strong south west wind, officers were able to bring the vessel close enough to rescue both adult male victims and one dog from the buoy, Boston police said. According to police, the men launched their kayak from Carson Beach in South Boston and paddled out into Dorchester Bay when strong winds and choppy seas became overwhelming. As they turned to head back, the kayak began to take on water, capsized, and sank, forcing the victims into the frigid 40-degree water, police said. They were able to climb on top of the buoy where they spent more than an hour waiting for help to arrive. The men were taken to a local hospital, suffering from severe hypothermia. The dog passed away. Immigration authorities placed a detainer on an Uber driver accused of raping a female passenger in Boston. Massachusetts State Police said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on 37-year-old Daudah Mayanja of Waltham after he was accused of raping a woman in his vehicle on the Esplanade. A Ugandan citizen, Mayanja is being held by state police until his arraignment Monday in Boston Municipal Court. Bail was set at $100,000 as Mayanja faces two counts of rape. Mayanja told WCVB in a telephone interview that he is innocent. He told the television station the woman left the back seat of his car and jumped into the drivers seat. The woman got out of the car when he pulled over, but she left her bag inside, Mayanja told WCVB. Investigators received a report that a woman had been sexually assaulted by an Uber driver on Storrow Drive near the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston around 1:15 a.m. Saturday, state police said. Mayanja was arrested and is being held at the Boston Barracks. The woman was taken to an area hospital for treatment. State Police Crime Scene Services personnel and a state police chemist collected potential evidence for forensic analysis, authorities said. Julian Field, the 24-year-old Massachusetts man accused of kidnapping a man at knifepoint and forcing him to drive to a Springfield strip club and Connecticut, will be arraigned in a federal court Monday. Federal records show Field will appear in a Worcester federal court to face a kidnapping charge. He was caught in Florida a few days after the Feb. 3 incident. A federal grand jury indicted Field on March 28. Field is accused of breaking into a Concord home on Feb. 3 and approaching a man, who is in his late 60s. The alleged victim was home alone playing his piano when Field pulled out a knife. According to federal records Field then said, Do you enjoy pain? Federal investigators said Field told the man he broke his mothers arm and tied her up before leaving the area. Field demanded the man drive him to New York. FBI Agent Ryan Burke wrote in the federal affidavit that Field made the man drive him to the Mardi Gras strip club in Springfield in order to find fentanyl. The alleged victim was forced to go into the club with Field. Once inside, Field began soliciting drugs from the employees, the FBI agent wrote. After approximately 15 minutes, Field and victim left the club. Field forced the man to drive to Connecticut and eventually, Field boarded a train in New Haven, Connecticut, records said. The victim was told to wait before calling police, Burke wrote. The man drove back to Concord. He stopped to call his wife to let him know he was safe. The man didnt get home until 3:45 a.m. on Monday. He then called police. Investigators in Concord also obtained an arrest warrant for Field on charges of armed home invasion, kidnapping, armed assault on a person over 60, armed assault in a dwelling and armed burglary. The 21-year-old man accused of causing a fatal New Bedford crash and fleeing the scene last week was caught Saturday in Rhode Island, according to the Massachusetts State Police. Authorities said James Bennett-Werra was caught in Pawtucket, Rhode Island around 5 p.m. Saturday. He was taken to the Pawtucket Police Department and charged with being a fugitive from justice. Bennett-Werra will be held in Rhode Island pending rendition to Massachusetts. Authorities began searching for Bennett-Werra after the March 27 fatal crash in New Bedford. He is accused of crashing into another car, causing a womans death and serious injuries to another man inside. At the time of the crash, Bennett-Werra was already a fugitive, having cut off his court-ordered electronic monitoring device prior two days to causing the fatality, authorities said. Bennett-Werra allegedly refused to stop for police in Fairhaven Wednesday and continued to drive into New Bedford. He ran a stop sign and crashed into a Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Ashley Boulevard and Tallman Street, police said. The crash killed 68-year-old Janet Murphy of New Bedford, according to the office of Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III. Her passenger, 28-year-old Kyle Murphy of New Bedford, was in critical condition immediately after the crash. A family member created a GoFundMe page for Janet Murphy to help pay for services. Bennett-Werra ran from the scene after the crash. Police said a second person riding in Bennett-Werras vehicle remained on scene. At the time of the crash, there were warrants out for Bennett-Werra for probation and parole violations. Bennett-Werra was previously convicted of assault and battery on a family or household member and carrying a dangerous weapon, state police said. After serving time, he had been paroled to a family members home and ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet. It is believed he cut off the bracelet on March 25. Parole officers immediately began searching for him. Several people were stabbed in a fight Sunday morning in the area of a Boston nightclub, police confirmed. Officers were called to the 100 High St. area around 1:05 a.m. for a report of an assault. They discovered three people with stab wounds. All three people were rushed to area hospitals. A Boston police spokeswoman said all three victims are expected to survive. A fourth person also injured in the altercation showed up at an area hospital with minor injuries. Police do not have a description of any suspects as of Sunday morning. The attack was in the area of the Society on High club. What is the true meaning of family? One of the largest employers in Massachusetts seeks to address that question in their benefits to employees. New benefits include 18-week parental leave for new parents, new family planning benefits and gender-affirming coverage for procedures that previously would have been deemed not medically necessary. MassMutual is setting aside past policies that prescribe allotted time off for employees to grieve or care for loved ones based on relationships, instead allowing workers to define who a loved one is. In a newly introduced policy, MassMutual employees can take up to two weeks paid leave to care for a loved one suffering from a serious health condition. This could be a child, a parent or a close friend. In a reworking of the companys bereavement leave, three weeks are offered to grieve the loss of a loved one, with the employee defining who that is. We think that were really doing something special here, Claudia Coplein, the head of health and wellness at MassMutual said in a recent interview. The policy change follows a similar one enacted in 2015, reducing the office dress code to two words: dress appropriately. Company officials say theyre placing trust in their employees to use their best judgment - whether thats when to wear jeans to the office or when to take time off. Founded in Springfield more than 150 years ago, the company employs about several thousand people in the Springfield area and intends to bring more to Massachusetts. MassMutual announced plans for a $300 million expansion plan in the state, promising to bring 2,000 jobs to Massachusetts over the next three years, including 1,500 jobs to the Springfield headquarters and 500 jobs at a new Boston Seaport campus. The benefit changes were among more than a half-dozen others announced this year as MassMutual seeks to recruit a diverse workforce. Of their thousands of employees, Coplein says there is no typical family structure. Everyones circle of loved ones is different. Some households feature a married couple with children; others an employee caring both for their child and aging parents, others featuring long-term partnerships, friendships or independent households. To allow new parents more time with their family, the company introduced a new parental leave plan which offers parents up to 18 weeks of fully paid time off. Starting from her first day within the company, new mothers are eligible for 10 weeks of maternity leave. Birth mothers are also eligible for an additional eight weeks of parental leave, which is also offered to non-birth mothers, fathers and adoptive parents. While some choose to use the eight weeks to extend time with newborns after childbirth, others use it a day at a time, a week when needed for up to the childs first birthday. Our fundamental goal is to support the wellbeing of our employees, Coplein said, adding, and the longer parents have to bond with a child at home, the better. Some benefits were added at the request of employees. After hearing from many of the often prohibitive cost of fertility treatments, MassMutual officials added new family planning benefits to company policies. Employees have full treatment and medication coverage for intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and egg freezing. Fertility coverage is becoming an increasingly common tool in recruiting and retaining employees, as the age of couples choosing to start a family continues to rise. In Massachusetts, the average age of a first-time mother is 30 years old, above the national average of 26 years old. The high average is in large part due to the lowest rate of teenage pregnancies of any state in the nation and would-be parents delaying starting a family until theyve obtained higher levels of education. The more education a woman has earned, the more likely she is to delay pregnancy or adoption. An estimated eight million babies have been born with the assistance of IVF worldwide since its introduction in the late 1970s. It now accounts for about 2 percent of all live births in the U.S., according to a 2016 report by CDC. While IVF is largely considered one of the most successful treatments in fertility, it is also one of the most expensive. A single round can cost $12,000 and while Massachusetts is one of few states to require insurers offer I.V.F., one round can cost more than the maximum cap on coverage. Traditional insurance plans can also create barriers for same-sex couples, requiring a time period for couples to try naturally to conceive. MassMutual partnered with Progyny, a healthcare company rethinking fertility treatments and payments. Our business model is dependent upon providing value to employers. And cost is only one element of value. The other, more important element is the outcome. We are much more focused on the experience our providers provide to our patients and the outcomes they create, Progyny CEO David Schlanger told CNBC in 2017. The company says its clinicians have a 20 percent higher success rate with I.V.F. compared to the national average and a 74 percent lower rate of multiple births. The companys new policies also address other difficult times in employees lives, from mental health to cancer care and gender affirmation. After an employee is diagnosed with cancer, a new benefit will offer unlimited access to an oncology nurse to provide customized support. Seeking to make mental health treatment more accessible, MassMutual reduced coinsurance for seeing out-of-network counselors. MassMutual also became one of a handful of companies its size to offer transgender-inclusive health benefits. For five years, the company has offered medically-necessary services related to gender transition or sex reassignment, namely hormone therapy. Starting this year, MassMutual is offering benefits to make its coverage for transgender employees more comprehensive. Procedures previously deemed cosmetic under the insurance plan are now included - such as electrolysis to remove facial and body hair for employees transitioning from male to female; thyroid chondroplasty, a surgery to reduce the Adams apple; and facial feminization surgery. MassMutual is among 3 percent of companies nationwide to offer enhanced gender-affirming benefits. Others include large tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, who are also doing business in Massachusetts. The newest employee benefits seek to support the well-being of employees, Coplein said. Our enhanced benefits were designed to help our employees and their loved ones, however they may define them, live their best lives and feel cared for in all phases of their lives enabling them to achieve their full potential. Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed a bill allocating state money to reimburse family planning clinics if they lose federal funding due to President Donald Trumps new Title X rules. Signing this bill into law ensures womens health providers across Massachusetts will continue to have access to these critical funds and we thank our colleagues in the Legislature for their swift response to changes in federal policy, Baker said in a statement. Baker, a Republican who supports abortion rights, plans to hold a ceremonial bill signing this coming week. The House and Senate passed the bill last week, approving up to $8 million in state money to replace federal Title X money through June of 2020. The bill is a reaction to President Donald Trumps proposed changes to Title X, a federal program that provides money to family planning clinics. Trumps proposal tightens abortion-related restrictions on the use of the money by banning federally funded health clinics from providing referrals to abortion clinics and requiring a physical separation between a clinic that gets federal funding and one that performs abortion. State officials worry that places like Planned Parenthood and community health centers, which provide a range of reproductive health care services to primarily low-income women will lose eligibility for federal money under these rules. UPDATE: Community mourns N.J. college student as accused killer heads to court A 21-year-old New Jersey woman attending college in South Carolina was kidnapped and killed there after mistakenly getting into a strangers car that she thought was the Uber ride she had summoned, police announced Saturday evening. The Columbia, South Carolina police chief provided that and other details in announcing an arrest in the murder of Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville, who went missing early Friday and was found dead later that day. Her father had reported her death on social media early Saturday. News Conference On Samantha Josephson Investigation https://t.co/PvfVmd74X9 Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 Chief W.H. Holbrook said during a news conference that Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, had summoned a car from the ride-sharing app and was waiting for it outside a downtown location in Columbia where she had been out with friends sometime before 2 a.m. on Friday. When a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up, Holbrook said, Josephson got in. She simply mistakenly got into this ... car thinking it was an Uber ride, Holbrook said during the news conference, which was posted online. Holbrook said the driver of the car, identified as Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was later charged with murder and kidnapping in Josephsons death. Police believe Rowland activated the car doors child-safety locks, which prevented any escape attempts, The State newspaper reported the chief saying at the announcement. Nathaniel David Rowland is charged with kidnapping and murder of Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville. (Police photo) Holbrook, the chief, said police were contacted by Josephsons friends twelve hours later after they were unable to reach her. Then, at about 4 p.m. on Friday, Holbrook said a body that matched Josephsons description was found in a wooded area. Rowland was arrested at about 2 a.m. on Saturday, the chief said, after a police officer on patrol pulled him over in the black Impala. Holbrook said Rowland tried to flee on foot but was apprehended, and police then found blood in the passenger area and trunk of the car that was later determined to be Josephsons. Josephsons cell phone was also found in the car, he said. News of her death was reported Saturday morning on Facebook by her father, Seymour Josephson, and later confirmed in a statement from the university. Samantha is no longer with us, her father wrote. I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life, Josephson continued. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this. Contd: Special Victims Unit investigators believe that shortly after 2:00 a.m., Josephson was seen getting into this newer model Chevy Impala along Harden Street. Family & friends have been trying to locate her ever since. Again, call @MidlandsCrime 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your tips. pic.twitter.com/3211Wjx6PK Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 Local news outlets reported that Josephson was set to graduate in May with a political science degree. She had planned to go to Drexel University law school in Philadelphia. The Robbinsville Township Facebook page posted a message expressing condolences to the family on behalf of Mayor Dave Friend and other township officials. Our thoughts, prayers, boundless grief and endless support are with Seymour, Marci and Sydney at this unimaginable time, the message said. Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said he did not know the Josephsons personally, but said the loss of a child is a devastating event that rattles us all. Everyone in this loving, caring, tight-knit community offers its most heartfelt thoughts, prayers, support and love to the Josephson family and all of Samanthas friends - both in Robbinsville as well as her classmates at the University of South Carolina, Fried said. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. NORTHAMPTON -- Police arrested a man accused of breaking into a downtown business after sharp-eyed officers spotted the man by the distinctive shoes he was wearing. Orlando Wright, 45, who is homeless, was arrested Sunday and charged with breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony, larceny over $1,200 and malicious destruction over $1,200, said Police Lt. Alan Borowski. Wright is accused of breaking into Hannoush Jewelers on 227 Main St., in Northampton, grabbing multiple watches valued at several thousand dollars and fleeing, he said. The crime occurred at about 6:30 a.m. and a few witnesses on Main Street told police they heard glass breaking and saw a man running from the store while stuffing something into a backpack, he said. The suspect cut himself and officers were able to track him for a distance but then the trail ended. They were assisted by the K9 officer from Easthampton Police but were not able to find the suspect. A little more than an hour later officers who were working at a private detail at NETA, the marijuana store on Conz Street, spotted the suspect and arrested him, Borowski said. They spotted him based on his distinctive shoes, he said. The shoes or soles of the shoes were bright orange. That, with other details of the description of the suspect, led to the arrest, he said. Adapting a novel for the screen is a risky business; it either creates history or is panned by book-lovers for eternity. Go overboard with characters and the literary fandom will shed you to pieces and if you don't show enough character development, the audience will lose interest. Not every movie can match the excellence of the novels which they are adapted from, the adaptations have to play on just the right chord or else the entire movie falls apart. via GIPHY Sometimes the actors don't work or if they work the script fails to live up to the novel's intensity. Even more challenging is changing the plot; some directors twist the ending or alter plot points to make it more desirable and intriguing, case in point, 'The Lord of The Rings', which worked phenomenally for the movie, but other adaptations aren't that lucky, looking at the 'Divergent' series. via GIPHY With a throng of books being turned into movies, 2019 seems to be the Year of Novel-to-Movie Adaptation. Here are six of the most anticipated adaptations to grace the screen this year: 1. Little Women: Columbia Pictures Set in Massachusetts, with the Civil War as the backdrop, the story focusses on the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as they come of age in a new America. Vividly different than the other, each with their own personalities and ambitions, the girls learn something new about life and themselves, guided by their mother, lovingly called Marmee. Starring Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep among others, this adaptation of the famous novel by Louisa May Alcott is one of the most anticipated movies of 2019. Emma Watson is taking on the role of the eldest daughter, dreamy and soft-spoken Meg, (after Emma Stone dropped out of the project) which should be a cakewalk for her given her previous roles as Hermione and Belle; strong, resilient characters with a soft but solid disposition. (Though, I would have preferred her to be Jo!) In a Ladybird reunion of sorts, accent-queen Saoirse will star as the second daughter, headstrong and quick-witted Jo, the creative genius in the family, alongside Timothee Chalamet who will play Laurie (and looks a lot like him), the handsome neighbour who strikes up a friendship with the four girls. Given that the 1994 version starring Susan Sarandon (Marmee March), Winona Ryder (Jo) and Christian Bale (Laurie), has been the undisputed king of all the adaptations till date, the movie will have to live up to its name; Saoirse and Timothee have some very big shoes to fill! The casting is the best part of the movie: Laura Dern as Marmee and Meryl Streep as the cantankerous Aunt March are well-suited to their roles. So are the March sisters; we couldn't have asked for better actors. The person to look out for would be Eliza Scanlan who plays Beth March, the sweet-natured and innocent March sibling whom everyone loves; a dynamically different role than her manipulative Amma Crelin in Sharp Objects. Directed by Greta Gerwig of Ladybird fame and its Oscar-nominated cast, it sure is to make its own mark in adaptation history. Also, an element to look forward to is the plot changes which Greta seems to have made to make the story more relevant. Date of Release: December 25, 2019 2. The Woman in the Window: 20th Century Fox Anna Fox is a recluse; a formerly celebrated child psychologist who spends her time drinking wine, watching movies and spying on her neighbours through her window. Then one night, everything changes when on her spying spree, she witnesses something she wasn't supposed to in the home of her new neighbours, the seemingly-perfect Russells. Is what she saw true or was she still under the influence of her nectar: the alcohol? Will she be able to prove it? Dealing with themes of suspense, intrigue and agoraphobia, this A.J Finn thriller novel is set to release Featuring Amy Adams as the aforementioned woman, and directed by Joe Wright, the psychological thriller movie also stars Gary Oldman and Julianne Moore as the Russells. The role seems to be right up Amy Adams' alley, since we have seen her play intense, dramatic characters with scarred pasts and secrets, most recently as Camille Preaker in Gillian Flynn's novel's adaptation 'Sharp Objects'. She is sure to bring Dr Anna's anguish to life with her stellar portrayal. Date of Release: October 4, 2019 3. The Rhythm Section: Paramount Pictures When Stephanie Patrick's life is upended after an airplane crash that kills all her loved ones, she turns to drugs and prostitution for solace and as a coping mechanism to stop the unravelling of her life. Vexed on finding out that the crash wasn't an accident but the work of a terrorist organization, she vows to take revenge. In order to do that she enlists into a dubious intelligence organization which promises to lead her to the terrorists, if she completes their questionable assignments. Mark Burnell's novel's lead, Stephanie, is a gritty, no-nonsense, fascinating woman who can go to any lengths to achieve her goal and bring the preparators to justice. Starring Blake Lively (as Stephanie), Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown among others, and directed by Reed Morano, it's to be seen whether the movie can match the pace of the book. Date of Release: November 22, 2019 4. Artemis Fowl: Walt Disney Pictures Teenage genius Artemis Fowl is on a mission to rescue his father from the Russian Mafia and restore his family's fortunes. The catch? His father is a known criminal. Starting off as an anti-hero, he captures Holly Short, the head fairy of the LEPrecon (the fairy police), hoping to extort gold from them and becoming rich; as a first step in his quest to his free his father. He is helped all the way by his trusted bodyguard, Butler, as they embark on more adventures. Based on Eoin Colfer's novels of the same name, the movie is to adapt the first two novels for the movie version. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Ferdia Shaw, Judi Dench, Lara McDonell, Nonso Anozie and Josh Gad in main roles, this Disney film is bound to be full of spectacular special and visual effects. A visual delight for sure! Date of Release: August 9, 2019 5. The Goldfinch: Warner Bros Pictures Donna Tartt's eponymous novel is set to feature on screen in a movie directed by John Crowley. Theo Decker is a teenager who has known tragedy very early on in his life. He is a survivor of a terrorist bombing at a museum which sadly claimed his mother. His only solace is the painting his mother loved at the museum, The Goldfinch, which he had secretly taken from the museum after the bombing. But as he grows up, it is this innocent act of taking the painting that propels his life into a series of adventures which eventually lead him to the underground world of art forgeries and crime. Along with his friend Boris, he embarks on new experiences which don't turn out to be exactly what he had imagined. Starring Ansel Elgort as the adult Theo and Aneurin Barnard as Boris, the movie is sure to be a good adaptation, given the actors chosen to portray the characters. Nicole Kidman and Luke Wilson also star in supporting roles as socialite Mrs Barbour and Larry Decker (Theo's idler father) respectively. Date of Release: October 11. 2019 6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? Annapurna Pictures Based on the novel by Maria Semple, Bernadette is an agoraphobic mother of a 15-year old daughter, Bee Branch, who hates everybody around her, especially her neighbour, Audrey. Though Bernadette wasn't always like this, she has now become a housebound recluse, a far departure from her once successful career as a feted architect. One fine day, a few days before a planned Antarctica tour which was to be Bee's gift, Bernadette goes missing and now Bee must take on the difficult task of finding her mother before it's too late. Cate Blanchett will star as Bernadette Fox, with Emma Nelson as Bee, along with Judy Greer as Dr Kurtz and Kristen Wiig as the annoying neighbour, Audrey. Given the comedic elements of the book, Cate is Blanchett is sure to nail the character's idiosyncrasies and with Kristen Wiig as Audrey, it is bound to be a laugh riot. Judy Greer as Dr Kurtz is the perfect choice for the role and so is Billy Crudup as Bee's genius father, Elgin Branch. Let's hope the mystery behind Bernadette's disappearance is as intriguing as it is in the novel. Date of Release: August 9, 2019 Which one are you most excited for? When it comes to watching a film based on a religious cult theme, there is a natural tendency in most of us to at least try and get a taste of this genre of cinema. The pull towards such films is natural! Call it the excitement and thrill that comes with this genre or the inquisitiveness to get a bit psyched, only to recover stronger later. As one's heart is often in his mouth while watching a religious cult film, simultaneously his mind begins to question the very existence of occult practices, the talks surrounding the paraphernalia and its relevance. For a brief period of time, the dark elements that are often represented in such films connect us to the theme, so much, that we keep coming back to it, every time another version of the film is released. That's what a religious cult can do! In this post, we have deeply researched some of the best religious cult films that have succeeded in capturing our attention over the years and made us talk about them. Here are the top 10 highly recommended films in the religious cult genre. 1. Wicker Man (1973) Robin Hardy's 'The Wicker Man' is unquestionably the mother of religious-cult movies. The British film is an ultimate representation of folk horror and offers a terrifying experience. The film deals with the subject of Paganism and throws light on its multiple consequences. One cannot ignore the uniqueness of the film and the artistic touch it offers. The film stars Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee in lead roles. 'The Wicker Man' is inspired by David Pinner's 1967 novel 'Ritual' and depicts how Police Sergeant Neil Howie leads to his own death while investigating the case of a missing girl. The film is believed to be the 'Citizen Kane' of cult movies! 2. Rosemary's Baby (1968) Over the years, film-makers have debated the relevance of Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning film 'Rosemary's Baby'. However, the film has remained a phenomenon and a popular choice under the horror and religious-cult genres. As one tries to delve deep into the hysterical world of Polanski's creation, it only gets more complicated. Rosemary (Mia Farrow) ultimately loses her baby to Satan as her husband (John Cassavetes) and neighbours plan terrible things for the mother. The film offers sinister twists and keeps one glued to the couch. Polanski's masterpiece is largely entertaining and succeeds in creating sheer psychological terror. 3. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006) Stanley Nelson's widely acclaimed documentary 'Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple' is a detailed analysis of the mass murder (led by Jim Jones) that happened on the 18th of November 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. The documentary film is a collection of archived reports and real accounts of the survivors and previous members of the Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. Jim Jones, an American religious cult leader created an organization for the social good and persuaded many to be a part of it. With more power, he became addicted to drugs and even abused many of his followers. He ultimately persuaded them, a group of one thousand people to move to the remote jungle of Guyana in South America, and promised them a utopian life. Jones was obsessed with the idea of revolutionary suicide and in a final ceremony; he served his people with a fruit punch spiked with cyanide which eventually killed most of them. He later shot himself. 4. Hereditary (2018) Hereditary can be termed as the scariest movie of this decade, but not to be forgotten that the film is inspired by demonology at large. Toni Collette gives a tour-de-force performance in Ari Aster's directorial debut which has already become a horror phenomenon. The film revolves around the lives of the members of the Graham family and narrates how a cult leads to their sinister fate. There are scenes in the film which display the highest form of cult practices including the one when Annie (Toni Collette) performs seance and another one when Joan's occult paraphernalia comes to light. The film is physically exhausting to watch and is deeply terrifying, it is one of the best religious cult films that have ever existed. 5. Children of the Corn (1984) Nothing could be more terrifying than kids killing an entire adult population of a town, as a result of a ritual. 'Children of the Corn' is one religious cult film that has inspired film-makers to keep coming up with more refined horrific versions of it, however, the original has established a huge following over the years. Based on Stephen King's 1977 short story, the film has scared the audience and made them understand the fact that a religious cult practice can eradicate not just families but a whole town! 6. The Master (2012) Joaquin Phoenix delivers the performance of a lifetime in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master', a film that combined Scientology with philosophy. Unlike others, this film is free of supernatural, horror, mystery elements and throws light on much deeper subjects. Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix), a World War II veteran finds himself incapable of dealing with the post-war conditions and seeks help from 'The Cause', a religious movement. The film had performances from heavy-weight actors including Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Even after much criticism from various Scientology groups, the film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. 7. Don't Deliver Us from Evil (1971) Directed by Joel Seria, 'Don't Deliver Us from Evil' is a French film loosely based on the ParkerHulme murder case of 1954. Anne (Jeanne Goupil ) and Lore (Catherine Wagener) friends at a boarding school dedicate themselves to evil and seduction, ultimately leading to self-destruction. The film was banned in France due to its disturbing nature, however, it was later screened at Cannes Film Festival. The film's controversial theme gave it much highlight, the unsettling ending can't be ignored! 8. Suspiria (2018) Suspiria (2018) is inspired by the 1977 film of the same name. The film stars Dakota Johnson (Susanna "Susie" Bannion) and Tilda Swinton (Madame Blanc / Mother Helena) in lead roles and is directed by Luca Guadagnino. The screenplay of the film weaves motherhood with the cult and gives it a display of psychological horror. The film takes the audience back to the cold war affected Berlin, and appears more like a stage play. Susie enrols herself in Tanz Dance Academy run secretively by witches, only to find out that she is Mater Suspiriorum, one of the three witches. The highlight of the film is witches performing 'Volk' followed by the Sabbath. The film is powerful enough to leave one disturbed! It is nauseating. Let us tell you that Dakota Johnson had to go through therapy after filming 'Suspiria'. 9. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' is a grim expression of the fact that a cult may haunt you forever, even if you want to get rid of it! Martha (also Marcy May/Marlene Lewis) finds herself delusional and paranoid after she makes her way back to her family. After spending some time under a cult, she tries to make her way out, however, fails to do so. The film outlines the ruinous effects of a coordinated cult hovering over the central character. The movie is highly engaging and was named the best film of the year by Associated Press in 2011. 10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Steven Spielberg became more experimental with his themes surrounding the Indiana Jones franchise. 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' remains one of his most discussed and controversial films ever. Set in colonial India, the film features Amrish Puri (Mola Ram), a savage priest who worships Kali in a cult practice and performs various harrowing cult rituals. The film was banned in India as it majorly cliched people of brown skin. Heavily criticized for its child unfriendly graphics, the film still remains one of the most watchable cult films on the planet. Concluding his visit to Australia, which included contacts with Diaspora organisations, participation in the celebrations for Greek Independence Day, as well as participation in the NOSTOS III programme of the Greece-Cyprus-Egypt trilateral cooperation scheme, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terens Quick had meetings with the presidents of various Diaspora organisations in Sydney, with prominent figures of the local Greek community, and with State MPs of New South Wales of Greek descent, namely Eleni Petinos, Sophie Cotsis, and Steve Kamper. During the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs meetings with Diaspora organisations, issues pertaining to education, culture were discussed. The need for further strengthening of these two areas by the corresponding competent Greek ministries was stressed. For their part, the New South Wales' MPs of Greek descent expressed their satisfaction with regard to the excellent relations between Greece and Australia and commencement, on 1 July, of the long-awaited Working Holiday Visa Programme. Before departing from Sydney, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs visited the Archdiocese of Australia to offer his condolences on the passing of Archbishop Stylianos. Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou had courtesy meetings today, on the occasion of assuming her duties, with the Ambassadors of Turkey, Croatia, Estonia, and Slovenia. During her meeting with Turkish Ambassador Burak Ozugergi, which was held in a friendly atmosphere, views were exchanged on current developments in Greek-Turkish relations, while ways and possibilities for further strengthening bilateral cooperation were discussed. The Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, having recalled Greeces support in Turkeys European prospects, underscored the need for the Turkish side to fully respect the rules of International Law. The meeting with Croatian Ambassador Aleksandar Sunko confirmed the excellent relations between the two countries with regard to all bilateral relations. Ways and possibilities were discussed for further strengthening Greek-Croatian cooperation, as were current developments in the European Union. Special emphasis was placed on Croatias assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020. The excellent level of Greek-Slovenian relations was confirmed during the Alternate Ministers meeting with Slovenian Ambassador Anita Pipan, with whom she exchanged views on current developments on a European and international level, as well as on the European prospects of Western Balkan countries. Finally, during her meeting with Estonian Ambassador Priit Pallum, talks revolved around current international developments, with an emphasis on the negotiations pertaining to the new European Multiannual Financial Framework, as well as on the European prospects of Western Balkan countries. Finally, ways and possibilities were discussed for further strengthening the excellent bilateral relations and Greek-Estonian cooperation in areas of common interest. MIDDLETOWN Wesleyan students and staff traveled to Johnsonburg, New Jersey, March 18-22 to participate in the fourth annual Office of Religious and Spiritual Life interfaith service trip. The group had representation from the Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim communities. The student participants included Nacala Gadsden 21, Joy Adedokun 19, Fitzroy Pablo Wickham 21, Brynn Assignon 20, and Fatima Sepulveda 21. The trip was led by University Chaplain Rev. Tracy Mehr-Muska and Sandy Durosier 13, area coordinator for residential life. The purpose of the trip was to engage in community service and learn about other faiths, Mehr-Muska said. The group stayed at the faith-based Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center and volunteered their time at the Barnyard Sanctuary in Johnsonburg; Trinity Methodist Church Thrift Shop in Hackettstown; and Manna House Soup Kitchen in Newton. Each of these incredible nonprofits happened to be run by women, and the students were able to see the complexity and rewarding nature of developing and sustaining important, life-giving community organizations, Mehr-Muska said. In the evenings, the group gathered to reflect on the day and discuss issues, including self-care and learn new spiritual practices. The group also attended a special service at a Jewish temple for the holiday of Purim and had the opportunity to dialogue with the rabbi and community leaders about Judaism. In addition to spiritual devotional time, the group participated in an array of social gatherings including walking a labyrinth, bowling, journaling, playing volleyball, making decoupage, zip-lining, watching a movie, and making a campfire. Students chopped and stacked wood at the faith-based Johnsonburg Camp & Retreat Center. In 1959, the camp was established to provide experiential Christian education in support of the Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. The group interspersed their interfaith and volunteering events with games and social activities. On March 18, they bowled a few rounds at Circle Bowl in Ledgewood. The group also attended a service at Temple Shalom in Succasunna. Airmen Have Five Days to Get Immunized After Vaccine Exemption Is Denied or They Face Punishment, Air Force Says The service required all active-duty troops to become fully vaccinated by Nov. 2 after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in... Thousands of Marines and sailors wrapped up a huge exercise that, in part, tested their ability to get the right people and equipment out to sea for a potential large-scale maritime battle. About 10,000 sailors and Marines completed Exercise Pacific Blitz in California this week. The members of I Marine Expeditionary Force and several ships from the Navy's 3rd Fleet carried out the exercise, which prepared them for a battle that looked a lot different than the ones they have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. After years of flying into the Middle East and getting gear from big stockpiles there, preparing to operate in a distributed maritime environment is a lot different, said Lt. Col. Ray Howard, I MEF's strategic mobility officer. "The steady state that we've seen in the Middle East, the equipment's kind of already there, so we just put people on airplanes and fly people over there. But this has really made us take a hard look at 'How do you deploy a large force?'" It's a question so important to the Navy and Marine Corps that the services' top officers, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, paid the troops a visit during the exercise. The Marines and sailors spent the past two weeks simulating how they would operate from the sea against a near-peer enemy such as Russia or China. That included not only striking mock-enemy ships with long-range precision fires from the shore, but also getting the right people and gear onto the ships and out to small posts where ground troops were operating. "I think some of our skill sets need to be honed again without a big deployed capability set," Howard said. "Working the naval integration piece of that is critical to get our readiness where it needs to be and understanding just how complicated some of these things are." Pacific Blitz combined two maritime exercises into one to prep Marines and sailors for fighting at sea and on and around the shore. Howard said it takes the maritime prepositioning elements of Pacific Horizons and amphibious nature of Dawn Blitz. A pair of amphibious transport dock ships, the Somerset and New Orleans, along with the guided-missile destroyer Michael Murphy and maritime prepositioning ship William R. Button participated. There were also sailors and Marines ashore at several West Coast military installations, including Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Naval Base San Diego. "I think if we were going to do this for real, time, space and logistics become extremely complicated," Howard said. "[It's one thing] to deploy up the road, but when you overlay islands in different places in the theater, it can become a lot more challenging, and we can't do that without the Navy." Marines across the MEF participated, responding in real-time to the scenarios they were dealt. That forced them to think in real-time about what equipment they needed to employ to deal with a specific crisis, Howard added. "It's hard to stand up forces and deploy the right capabilities at the right time," he said. While this exercise was built around the idea of deploying to the Asia-Pacific region, practicing the way a maritime force would respond to a contingency helps the MEF prepare for a number of real-world threats, he said. "The real benefit is the education part of it. I think it's being learned at all levels right now how hard it is to deploy a force of this size," he said. "Stand it up, deploy it and then integrate it with the Navy and become that capability that's able to fight anywhere. "I've watched this exercise challenge my folks, from a private first class who's brand new to the Marine Corps, as well as ... my most senior [subject-matter experts] be challenged. I've really watched the whole MEF and also the Navy be challenged." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image) Controls - all media types Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device. Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen. < and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys. < and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys. > in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys. ? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key. Other keyboard shortcuts: 1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons Scalebar If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular. Controls - Video Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key. Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation) Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts Reds left-hander Alex Wood, whos on the injured list with lower back tightness, isnt nearing a return. While Wood is progressing in his recovery, it may have been a little aggressive on the Reds part to expect a mid-April debut, manager David Bell said Sunday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Given that Wood has been battling back problems since late February, hell need to build up his innings before taking a major league mound again, Nightengale notes. Woods situation is undoubtedly a significant disappointment for the Reds. After all, Cincinnati acquired the ex-Dodgers final year of team control with the hope that hed slot in near the top of its made-over rotation for the entire season. More injury updates from around the league WATERLOO TWP., MI An 80-year-old Rives Junction man has died from injuries he suffered Saturday afternoon when his pickup hit a tree in Waterloo Township, police said. Thurmal Mays was the only occupant in the truck, which was headed north on Mount Hope Road near Glenn Road, when it hit a tree at 1:37 p.m. March 30, according to a Jackson County Sheriffs Office statement. Mays was pinned in the truck and had to be extricated by rescue personnel from both the Stockbridge and Chelsea fire departments, police said. He was taken by Jackson Community Ambulance to Henry Ford Allegiance Health where he died, police said. Mays was wearing a seat belt and the trucks air bags did deploy, police said. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. Police are investigating if alcohol was a factor in the crash, they said. By Cait Bladt Republicans in Congress and the White House are calling for Rep. Adam Schiff to resign his position as the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The president and his supporters say Schiff perpetuated a false narrative about Trump and his potential illegal activities. Schiff, for his part, says that while he supports Robert Mueller and his investigation, he does not believe the conclusion of that investigation should be the end of all investigations into the president. What do you think? As soon as Barrs summary of the Mueller report was released, the president began calling for retribution against those he felt lead a wrongful investigation into him and his administration. Schiff was first on that list. Per The Hill: Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress! the president said in an early morning tweet. Nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee, which Schiff chairs, called for him to step down. Per NBC News: Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, introduced the scathing letter during a public committee hearing Thursday and then read it aloud. "Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming," Conaway said. "The findings of the special counsel conclusively refute your past and present exertions, and have exposed you of having abused your position to knowingly promote false information." "Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as chairman of this committee," Conaway added. "As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your constitutional responsibility, and urge your immediate resignation as chairman of the committee." Schiff, however, says he still sees value in continuing the multiple investigations into the president he has been overseeing. Rep. Adam Schiff: "Until we're satisfied, I think, that we have pursued credible allegations of conflict of interest or compromise, we are not done." pic.twitter.com/ESt1NAEB0B The Hill (@thehill) March 28, 2019 Schiff delivered a passionate speech defending both Robert Muellers investigation and his decision to maintain his seat and continue the investigations. Rep. Adam Schiff: "I do not think that conduct, criminal or not, is okay -- and the day we do think that's okay is the day we will look back and say that is the day America lost its way." https://t.co/5W1w80eKqZ pic.twitter.com/lP5Dkddyvu The Hill (@thehill) March 28, 2019 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, wed love to hear what you have to say. A powerful explosion rocked a Chinese automotive parts factory, as authorities vow to toughen regulations on dangerous chemicals after a similar tragedy killed dozens at a pesticide plant in the same province. Footage from the scene shows the building engulfed in thick smoke, as fire trucks arrive in the area. The blast occurred at 7:12am local time at the yard of the automotive parts factory in Kunshan, eastern China on Sunday. The tragedy is said to have begun when a fire broke out in a container used for storing scrap metal, and quickly spread around the facility. Seven people were killed and five injured, local authorities confirmed. Hundreds of factory workers, as well as residents of nearby houses, were evacuated. This is the second deadly workplace incident to hit China this month. On March 21, an explosion at a pesticide plant in Yancheng killed 78 people. Both tragedies happened in the Jiangsu province. The blast in Yancheng prompted authorities to strengthen regulations on handling and storing dangerous chemicals. Also on rt.com Dozens dead, hundreds injured in huge explosion at Chinese chemical plant (PHOTOS, VIDEO) Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! At least some Saudi agents involved in the grisly murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi trained in the US as part of Washingtons broader plan to modernize Saudi intelligence, a new report by the Washington Post says. Members of the so-called Saudi Rapid Intervention Group, which was allegedly sent to the Istanbul consulate in October 2018 to deal with the self-exiled journalist and critic of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, underwent training in America as part of a program launched under a State Department license, Washington Post columnist, David Ignatius, wrote, citing Saudi and US sources. Also on rt.com CIA says MBS ordered Khashoggi hit, but dont expect Saudi-US relations to change John Kiriakou The CIA reportedly warned other government agencies that the special-operations training the Saudis might have received was conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company as part of ongoing liaison with the Saudis. The hit-teams alleged leader, Colonel Maher Mutreb, is specifically said to be the one, who received the US training. Mutreb reportedly served in London as a deputy chief of station between 2002 and 2007, and was later repeatedly sent to the US and elsewhere for training, Ignatius said. Mutreb himself reportedly told his friends in Saudi Arabia that he had gone to several training programs in the US over the past decade. Washington also planned to launch a broader training program for Saudis, which was developed by a private firm called Culpeper National Security Solutions with help from some former CIA officials. One of the Saudi contacts, who was involved in the program development was Major General Ahmed al-Assiri, Riyadhs deputy intelligence chief, who is now also under investigation over his alleged role in the Khashoggi killing. The Culpepers board was, meanwhile, led by Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA, who allegedly quit the project following the high-profile murder, according to Ignatius. Also on rt.com Unfortunate accident: Saudis assure UN theres no need for probe into Khashoggi killing Khashoggis murder apparently disrupted Washingtons and Riyadhs plans as the broad training program was put on hold, pending a State Departments approval of a license. The US-Saudi exchange programs, which the hit team members participated in, were also allegedly stopped in the wake of the incident. The Riyadh critic was allegedly killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 by a team consisting of 15 agents, according to Turkish officials. His remains have never been found. The incident sparked an international uproar, which eventually forced the Saudi authorities who initially denied the journalists death to admit that he was killed. Saudi Arabia has since indicted 11 unnamed suspects for what it called a heinous crime and an unfortunate incident. The Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the suspects while Riyadh still rejects calls for an international investigation into the case by saying that it is capable of dealing with the issue all by itself. Khashoggis murder has arguably become the source of the biggest test in relations between the US and Saudi Arabia. The US Senate passed a resolution that blamed the crown prince for the murder of the journalist. Also on rt.com US Senators lash out at gangster Saudi crown prince, but the deals go on and on As the world was reeling with anger over his murder, the White House rushed to Riyadhs defense. President Donald Trump repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia was a great ally which funded a lot of things. The Pentagon also argued that Riyadh is too important to whip, as it rolled out another arms deal for the Saudis worth billions of dollars. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Brazil opens diplomatic office in Jerusalem, calls it part of embassy Brazil opens diplomatic office in Jerusalem, calls it part of embassy Brazil opened a diplomatic facility of sorts in Jerusalem on Sunday just as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began a visit to the country. Tel Aviv described the facility as a diplomatic office, and Brasilia said it is a part of its embassy, tasked to promote trade, investment, technology and innovation. While Bolsonaro had earlier vowed to move his countrys embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing it as the capital of the Israeli state, the ambiguous language used by the both sides suggests such a step was not actually taken.Source : RT - Daily news China continues to suspend additional tariffs on US cars, auto parts China continues to suspend additional tariffs on US cars, auto parts Beijing will further suspend additional tariffs on US vehicles and auto parts after April 1, Chinas state council has said. The move appears to be a goodwill gesture coming as a response to President Donald Trumps February decision to delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese exports to the US. Initially, Beijing suspended additional 25-percent tariffs on US cars and auto parts in December 2018 for three months, following a temporary truce in its trade war with Washington.Source : RT - Daily news Russias fourth richest women, Natalia Fileva, who chaired the executive board of S7 Airlines, has died in a crash of a small plane near Frankfurt, Germany, which took the lives of a pilot and another passenger as well. A six-seater airplane with Fileva on board took off from France and was en route to the central German town of Egelsbach when it crashed in a field near the town of Erzhausen, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Frankfurt, police said, adding that at least three people, including the pilot, were on board. The exact number, as well as the identities of the other passengers, is still being verified. DETAILS TO FOLLOW Russias fourth richest women, Natalia Fileva, who chaired the executive board of S7 Airlines, has died in a crash of a small plane near Frankfurt, Germany, which took the lives of a pilot and another passenger as well. A six-seater airplane with Fileva on board took off from France and was en route to the central German town of Egelsbach when it crashed in a field near the town of Erzhausen, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Frankfurt, police said, adding that at least three people, including the pilot, were on board. The exact number, as well as the identities of the other passengers, is still being verified. Natalia was the wife of Vladislav Filev, the CEO and co-owner of S7 Airlines Russias biggest private airline holding company. Her personal wealth amounted to $600 million. The couple have four children, including one adopted child. DETAILS TO FOLLOW Erdogans party takes solid lead in Turkeys local elections preliminary results Erdogans party takes solid lead in Turkeys local elections preliminary results Turkeys Justice and Development Party (AKP) has taken a solid lead in Sundays local elections, getting over 46 percent of votes, preliminary results indicate. The closest competitor the social-democratic Republican People's Party (CHP) has garnered support of around 30 percent of voters. As of 10pm local time, around 75 percent of ballot boxes had been opened. Quite surprisingly, the opposition party maintains a narrow lead in Ankara. Traditionally the Turkish capital has shown strong support towards AKP, led by the countrys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Source : RT - Daily news North Korea called on Spain to conduct a thorough investigation into a raid on its mission in Madrid, which was said to be done by FBI-linked dissidents, now hiding in the US. Pyongyang asked Spain to investigate the grave terrorist attack and flagrant violation of international law, state-run KCNA news agency reported. This kind of act should never be tolerated, the statement read. It was the first time North Korean officials have commented on the mysterious break-in at its mission in Madrid on February 22. A group of intruders subdued and tied up the staff before stealing a number of electronic devices and a trove of documents from the building. They also reportedly tried to persuade a North Korean attache to defect. A video, allegedly filmed during the break-in, shows men taking down portraits of North Korean leaders and smashing them on the ground. Spanish media say that 10 suspects fled to the US and a court in Madrid issued arrest warrants against them. The leader of the group was named as veteran dissident and anti-Pyongyang activist Adrian Hong Chang, who is a Mexican national and a US citizen. Two of the other suspects were named as US nationals. An unexpected twist came several weeks later when the Spanish paper El Pais cited court documents and police sources as saying that the suspects tried to obtain information on the North Korean nuclear program and contacted the FBI after arriving in the US. The details were partially confirmed by dissident group Cheollima Civil Defense / Free Joseon, which claimed responsibility for the raid. Its members shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI, on the Bureaus request, the group claimed on its website. The US has denied any involvement with the break-in, and the FBI has refused to comment on the incident. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Israel has pelted the positions of Palestinian militants with tank fire after five rockets were launched from Gaza without inflicting any damage. The exchange of fire comes after a day of mass Palestinian protests. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that its tanks shelled "a number of Hamas military posts" in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to an earlier attack by Palestinians, that saw them firing five rockets towards the Israeli territory. The rockets landed inside the Eshkol region along the border with Gaza, triggering alarm sirens in the area shortly after midnight. The local authorities said that the rockets did not inflict any damage or casualties, striking open areas. It's unclear if the Israeli retaliatory strike has resulted in any damage to the militant group, that has been ruling the besieged Gaza since 2007 amid an ongoing blockade of the stretch of the land along the Mediterranean by Israel and Egypt. It is the first cross-border fire incident since earlier this week saw two days of heavy bombing by Israel in response to a missile attack from Gaza that hit a home injuring seven Israelis on Monday. Israeli planes bombarded what they claimed to be Hamas positions in Gaza, with PM Netanyahu ordering an infantry brigade and artillery battalion to move to the Gaza border on Monday. The bombing continued into Tuesday, as the situation risked to spiral into an all-out war, with the Israeli PM hinting at a potential military invasion of Gaza. Also on rt.com 1 killed by Israeli fire as Palestinians rally on 1st anniversary of Great March of Return The violence has subsided due to Egyptian mediation and a shaky truce held during Saturday's mass protests along the Gaza border. While the IDF sang rare praise for Hamas, commending it for exercising restraint during the rally that marked the one-year anniversary of "Great March of Return" protests, the protests still did not end casualty-free for the Palestinians. The Gaza health ministry reported that three 17-year-old teenagers were killed in the protests while about 300 people were injured. Up to 40,000 protesters turned up to the rally, many brandishing Palestinian flags, to decry the occupation of the West Bank and the continuing blockade of Gaza. The protests, fueled by US President Donald Trump's decision to move the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem in May, have been marred by violence with Palestinians accusing the IDF of disproportionate use of force. Nearly 200 Palestinians have died in the course of the protests, and over 6,000 were wounded. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lamented the adversarial style of the current US policy towards Moscow, saying Washington shows no intent of seeking compromise contrary to what diplomacy is supposed to be about. I dont see anything coming from the US diplomatic corps except ultimatums and threats to impose sanctions unless the demands are met. All other tools have vanished from the arsenal of American diplomacy, and that is sad, the Russian minister said in an interview for an upcoming documentary, which was partially published by the ministry. The sentiment came in response to the latest threats coming from Washington over Russian policies in Ukraine and Venezuela. Lavrov said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tones down his rhetoric when speaking directly to him, compared to his public statements on Russia, but the essence remains the same. When we talk on the phone he speaks in a correct manner. Understandably, we disagree on virtually everything. And the threats are voiced all the time, he said. If you head a diplomatic agency, you are supposed to seek diplomatic solutions for various problems. Also on rt.com Russia must get out of Venezuela, all options open - Trump When asked about US President Donald Trump recently ordering Russia to get out of Venezuela and whether he found such language acceptable, Lavrov said he didnt discuss manners. Trumps words were said in reaction to Russia sending some military personnel to the Latin American country under a long-standing agreement on defense cooperation. The Russian minister suggested that the US should search for new approaches in its foreign policy. If you like this story, share it with a friend! The Israeli PM's spokesman has faced a fiery backlash, including accusations of racism, after he mischaracterized female flag-waving Palestine protesters, calling them "ISIS women." Hamas is in a state of war with the 'caliphate'. Ofir Gendelman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Arab media spokesman, sparked a Twitter storm after he captioned an image with four veiled female protesters in the foreground as "ISIS women also participate today in the Hamas' led riots on the Gaza border." He then piled on another highly dubious claim: "That's no surprise because Hamas IS the Gazan branch of ISIS." Gendelman was immediately keel-hauled by commenters pointing that there was no way an ISIS woman would be waving a Palestinian flag, which is considered to be secular blasphemy by the group, let alone the fact that Hamas is at war with the Sinai branch of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). Since Gendelman appeared to be basing his branding of the women as terrorists solely on the fact they were wearing the niqab full-face veil, he was called out as racist and Islamophobic: "This is nothing but racism, Islamophobia (yes, that term exists actually!) and political propaganda. You know very well that these women are not ISIS but nevertheless you spread such messages," one commentator wrote. "This is clear incitement meant to justify the killing of protesters," another noted. Some pointed out that even the long-sleeved gowns the women wear are incompatible with the strict Sharia-based code enforced by IS militants, since they are not black, but dark blue, grey and brown. Overall, Gendelman's tweet earned the brands of "making no sense","bull**t" and "inappropriate even by Zionist standards." The original tweet by Gendelman was written in Arabic and duplicated in English. The official has not responded to the pushback, or clarified his claims. Up to 40,000 people have taken part in the large-scale 'Great March of Return' protests along the Gaza-Israeli border on Saturday, marking the anniversary of the movement. The rally proceeded largely peaceful, but claimed three teenage victims on the Palestinian side as the Israeli military deployed live ammunition against the activists. Also on rt.com Israel targets 'Hamas posts' with tank fire after Gaza rockets land in open space The Sinai IS branch has been a formal enemy to Hamas since at least January last year, when it declared a war on the group with a video showing the execution of an alleged Hamas member. It called on its supporters to stage attacks on the group's members and its security infrastructure, claiming that Hamas "betrayed" Palestinians by jailing extremists and not putting up better resistance to the US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Rocket sirens have gone off in southern Israel near Gaza soon after Tel Aviv opened the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings into the Strip. There were no immediate reports about any injuries or damage. The residents, however, said they heard explosions in the area, the Israeli media report. On Saturday night, Palestinian militants launched five rockets at the Israeli territory. The projectiles landed in open space without inflicting any damage. The incident provoked a military response from Tel Aviv, though. The Israeli tanks shelled "a number of Hamas military posts" in Gaza in retaliation to the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed. The incident also comes a day after mass protests in the Palestinian enclave, which is besieged by Israel since 2007. Up to 40,000 turned up to the rally to decry the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. The demonstration also marked the first anniversary of the Great March of Return a massive protest action launched by the Palestinians last year, which further intensified in May 2018 after the US President Donald Trump announced his controversial decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. At least three demonstrators were killed by the IDF live fire during the Saturday protests, according to the Palestinian authorities. DETAILS TO FOLLOW What government wouldnt like to see its national press toe the line and try to delegitimize a foreign president it wants to topple? Brownie points for you, TIME, for branding Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro in a Trump-approved way. Maduro, the democratically elected Venezuelan leader the current US administration is trying to oust and replace with a person more to their liking (Juan Guaido), has a uniquely worded description in TIME magazines reader poll. The American publication is currently asking its audience who they think should be on the list of the worlds 100 most influential people this year. The Latin American president is Venezuelas authoritarian ruler, according to the poll, while his challenger is Venezuelas would-be leader. Apparently, when the State Department lectured the press on how they should cover the situation in Venezuela earlier this month, someone at TIME listened. A dismissive title appears to be reserved solely for Maduro in the poll. Theresa May, for example, is called British Prime Minister, rather than soon-to-resign Brexit failure. Also on rt.com Weaksauce: State Department tries ordering media how to cover Venezuela Mohammed bin Salman? Just the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, no mention of the bloody Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. Even the leaders of Iran and North Korea which Washington hardly sees as best buddies are referred to as supreme leaders of their nations. Washingtons game in Venezuela is arguably the most out-in-the-open regime change operation in decades. After years of crippling economic sanctions ostensibly to punish Caracas for corruption the White House in January backed Guaido, a previously little-known opposition leader with a long record of cozy relations with the US establishment. Guaido declared himself interim president of Venezuela despite never running for the office, and was instantly recognized as such by the US and a number of its allies. The US media jumped on the government bandwagon to promote the would-be leader and the narrative of Maduro allegedly starving his own people to death by rejecting and even burning humanitarian aid which has been called into question by the US media itself. Despite thousands-strong protests against Maduro, massive rallies have also been held for the incumbent president. TIMEs little gaffe may just be an honest mistake, or part of a wider trend to demonize leaders Washington does not approve of. Like this story? Share it with a friend! Ice cream and sorbets from Russias northwestern city of Vologda can now be enjoyed in Africa. Russian ice cream producer Iceberry has shipped around 75 tons of the cool treat to Ivory Coast (Cote dIvoire) and Senegal. The cargo was reportedly checked and certified by the Russian agricultural watchdog in accordance with the health requirements of the importing countries. One of Russias ice-cream-making majors, Iceberry is not a newcomer to the international markets. The companys production line is located in Vologda, known for its traditions of dairy farming, but it already exports ice cream to Israel and China. It also makes dairy-free fruit sorbets. Also on rt.com Putins gift to Xi causes Russian ice cream craze in China According to the company, foreign customers are highly attracted to Iceberrys products due to its use of natural ingredients, as well as its quality-to-price ratio. The manufacturer says the basic ingredients are purchased from local agricultural producers. The factory in Vologda reportedly produces some 30 tons of ice-cream per day. Iceberry is one of Russias time-honored brands. It has reportedly been delivering desserts to the Kremlin for decades. Vologda Plombir is one of its top-ranked products. The ice cream has been labeled Real Vologda Product and is a winner of 100 Best Goods of Russia and Best for Children awards. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Fox & Friends displayed a graphic on Sunday referring to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as "3 Mexican countries." The hosts swiftly apologized for the blunder, but the show and the network were not spared online mockery. The Sunday morning show applauded Donald Trump's move to cut off aid to the Northern Triangle of Central American countries, accompanying the discussion with a simple, yet colorful chyron reading, "Trump Cuts US Aid to 3 Mexican Countries." The erroneous to put it mildly lower third was displayed for a good 30 seconds. Later in the segment, the hosts acknowledged the mistake and apologized for it. The chyron was fixed afterwards, and the countries were correctly described as 'Central American'. "Now we want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show," co-host Ed Henry said later. "We had an inaccurate graphic onscreen while talking about this very story. We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries. We apologize for the error it never should've happened." Yet it did happen, and was promptly picked up by social media for joke and meme purposes. Naturally, a Twitter account dedicated to Fox's blunders was among the first to mock the graphic. The error was so bad that many refused to believe it was genuine and had to double check. Some users accused Fox and its watchers of "bigotry" and claimed that the graphic perfectly reflected what the channel actually thinks. Many began speculating what exactly the "3 Mexican countries" might be. Many joked about the consequences the faulty graphic might have for US foreign policy, saying that Fox News is actually the main source of information for Trump himself as the president has repeatedly and openly expressed his approval of the network. Some, however, rallied to Fox's support, dismissing the blunder as an "honest mistake." Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! The pro-Israeli bias of Washington under President Donald Trump has become so glaringly obvious that the Palestinian Authority will not accept the US as a mediator in the conflict with the Jewish state, Mahmoud Abbas said. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas criticized the Trump administration in a speech before leaders of the Arab League, who gathered in Tunisia on Sunday for the organizations annual summit. Abbas accused Washington of enabling crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians and international law over the past several years. Americas missteps include moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and rejecting calls to talk about illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian lands, he said. The continued bias, according to Abbas, means that the Palestinians will likely reject the deal which the Trump administration is preparing to resolve the decades-long Middle East conflict. We will not accept any deal that does not account for the results of previous peace talks and resolutions of the UN Security Council, including the demand to stop Israeli occupation and create a sovereign Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem. The terms of the promised deal of the century remain obscure, while the date it is to be made public has been pushed back several times. The current expectation is that the proposed agreement will be unveiled in early April. Also on rt.com Deal of the Century, minus one: Is Trump's peace plan for the Middle East the deletion of Palestine? The Arab League summit provided the opportunity for member states to briefly overcome regional rivalries and unite to condemn the US move to recognize Israels annexation of Syrias Golan Heights. The strategically located territory which was discovered to be rich in oil a few years ago has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 war. No nation except Israel, and now the US, considers it part of Israel. Like this story? Share it with a friend! Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has asked governments and regulators to tighten the screws on digital companies, such as his own, and slap them with sanctions if they refuse to abide by rules on privacy, political or harmful content. Facebook has been under immense pressure from US lawmakers to crack down on supposedly Russia-linked political ads and bots they accused of sowing discord in the run-up to the 2016 elections as well as to combat hate speech and protect the personal data of its millions of users from being harvested by third parties such as the infamous Cambridge Analytica research firm. Also on rt.com Facebook adds white nationalism to blacklist, because when has censorship ever backfired Zuckeberg, the founder and CEO of the scandal-ridden company, has embarked on a mission to repair its image, recently unveiling his "privacy-focused" vision. On Saturday, he took the damage control one step further, telling the government he's been a bad boy and needs to be regulated. Governments taking up a more active role in policing the Internet is a good thing, Zuckerberg writes in an op-ed published by the Washington Post. Government control would actually somehow create more freedom, he argues, by setting up an Internet-sized safe space. "I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators. By updating the rules for the Internet, we can preserve what's best about it the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things while also protecting society from broader harms," Zuckergberg wrote. READ MORE: Soft child-porn or honest political debate? Take a guess which one YouTube failed to censor He proposes regulators to focus on four key areas that he believes are in need of government oversight, which are "harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability." Zuckerberg lamented that his company has been allowed to get away with too much control over freedom of speech, and suggested it should be somebody else's problem somebody selected by politicians. "Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," he wrote, adding that he believes that it should be done on their behalf by an independent body, that would set the rules Facebook and others would then have to follow. Facebook along with Twitter were accused of bias and censorship after they purged hundreds of alternative media pages ahead of the November 2018 midterm elections. Most recently, Facebook imposed a ban on any praise of "white nationalism" and "white separatism" prompting more free speech concerns. In February, it blocked several RT-linked pages, operated by a German-based company, for not revealing their "ties" to Russia, a move that again drew accusations of "blatant censorship." The CEO of the tech giant, which has reportedly been under investigation by federal prosecutors for allegedly striking some 150+ illicit data-sharing partnerships, said that there should be "clear rules" set "about who's responsible for protecting information when it moves between services." The mechanism "shouldn't require data to be stored locally, which would make it more vulnerable to unwarranted access," Zuckerberg said. "And it should establish a way to hold companies such as Facebook accountable by imposing sanctions when we make mistakes." Speaking about the way to minimize the spread of harmful content on the platform, Zuckerberg said that regulators should "set baselines" for companies over what content is prohibited and force them to report about how they enforce these rules. "I believe every major Internet service should do this quarterly, because it's just as important as financial reporting." Facebook has taken hit for its handling of the New Zealand mosque shooting video, which was streamed live by the attacker. New Zealand authorities argued that the company was too slow in deleting the video, allowing it to spread all over the Internet. Zuckerberg's new self-punishment initiative comes as Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has suggested breaking up monopolies like Facebook, Amazon and Google over the vast power they had accumulated. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! South Korean automaker Hyundai plans to roll out a host of India-specific connected features including a panic button for distress situations, in its upcoming compact SUV Venue, which is set to hit roads in May this year. The auto major will introduce its global technology BlueLink in the Indian market with the launch of the new model and has tied up with Vodafone Idea for network connectivity. The company's BlueLink technology comes with 33 artificial intelligence and connected features, out of which 10 have been specially designed for the Indian market. The company is also looking at introducing such features in its future models in the country. "Hyundai has a long experience in connected car technology in the global market. We are using the same global architecture here with addition of India-specific features after conducting several rounds of studies and internal brain storming," Hyundai Motor India Engineering Managing Director Ji Hong Baek told PTI. The e-sim for the BlueLink in-built device in the vehicle will be provided by Vodafone Idea and it will work on 4G and drop to lower frequencies like 3G if 4G is not available in certain regions, he added. The BlueLink device would also come with a cloud-based voice recognition platform from a global artificial intelligence (AI) company. The device will project real-time traffic navigation and live local search. It will also have interactive voice recognition which would have the ability to catch any English accent, covering various regions in India. Baek said the company started the project two years ago. "We will not be giving any technology which is is not verified properly. We have verified India-specific features several times to fine tune it," he added. The company is also working with its dealers to educate them regarding the new technology and its functioning in the new model, Baek said. Commenting on the initiative, Hyundai Motor India MD and CEO Seon Seob Kim said, with 10 India-specific features, Hyundai BlueLink will be the most practical, concrete and convenient connected car technology in the Indian market. "The technology will be available in future Hyundai products starting from Venue, thus, democratising the technology and making it accessible for everybody," he added. Various safety applications like automatic crash notification and assistance, SOS emergency and road side assistance would also feature in the new compact SUV. Besides remote functions like engine start/stop, climate control, door lock/unlock would also be there as part of the new technology in Venue. The model when launched would compete with the likes of Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Motors Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Honda WR-V and Ford EcoSport. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Chandan Taparia Nifty index opened positive and extend its gains towards 11,630 zone, however it consolidated in range of 50 points for most part of the session being the last day of FY19. It has been forming higher highs - higher lows from past four trading sessions and formed a Pin Bar on daily scale on March 29 while a strong bullish candle on weekly scale which suggests bulls are holding the tight grip on the market. Now the index has to hold previous hurdle of 11,550 zone to extend its gains towards life time high of 11,760 zone while on the downside support is seen at 11,450 and then 11,380 levels. Nifty has seen strong momentum during the week as witnessed buying interest from 11,300 to 11,630 zone. India VIX moved up by 5.59 percent to 17.18 levels. VIX started to hold at higher levels so it requires a cool off to shift its base to higher zones. On Option front, maximum Put open interest (OI) is at 11,500 followed by 11,000 strike while maximum Call OI is at 12,000 followed by 11,600 strike. Call writing is at 11,700 followed by 12,000 strike while Put writing is at 11,500 followed by 11,600 strike price. Option band signifies a broader trading range in between 11,400 to 11,800 zones. Bank Nifty made an new life-time high near to 30,500 zone. It has also given the highest daily close and formed a strong bullish candle on weekly scale which suggests sustain buying interest and tight grip of bulls in this rate sensitive index. Now Bank Nifty has to continue to hold above 30,250 zone to extend the rally towards new higher uncharted territory of 31,000 while on the downside support is seen at 30,000-29,888 zones. Stock specific positive set up in Siemens, BEML, Pidilite Industries, Titan, Voltas, Jindal Steel, PFC, REC and PSU banks. We have seen higher premium in deep out of the money strike so aggressive option traders can go with short strangle to get the benefit of the same. (The author is Associate Vice President - Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited) : The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Vishal B Malkan The April series seems to have opened with a huge bout of positivity. With Nifty closer to its previous highs and Bank Nifty venturing out into an unchartered territory, the bulls have all the reasons to be optimistic about the current market scenario. One sector that is poised to take full advantage of this positivity is metals. The sector which has long been preparing itself for this move seems to be fully prepared to go full-out and perform itself in the April series. The fact that it closed with a big white candle pattern on the first day of April series, with a good amount of long positions built up, is indicative of a strong move to be anticipated in this sector. In the monthly chart of Nifty Metals shown below, notice the hammer candle pattern marked in the blue arrow which falls at 50 percent Fibonacci retracement level. Nifty Metals Monthly Chart Most stocks in the sector too show similar patterns. Vedanta The momentum indicator RSI has moved into its bullish zone after staying into the negative/sideways zone for more than two years. This indicates the onset of a long-term shift in trend in this stock, to the upside. Vedanta Ltd Daily Chart SAIL After making multiple lows below the 40-level, the RSI in the monthly chart of SAIL below has now taken support at that level, forming a higher bottom at the same time. This is followed by a bullish candle pattern, as marked in the chart below. The April series in SAIL too seems to be interesting, considering that the support may do its job. SAIL Monthly Chart Jindal Steel & Power The price breakout with the big white candle pattern in the daily chart below has moved above the 38 percent Fibonacci retracement level. The stock seems perfectly poised to move to its previous high Rs 200 level. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd Daily Chart Considering the charts of the Index along with its components, there is a strong possibility of the April series closing strong. (The author is Founder of MalkansView) The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Representative image The Pakistan Army on March 31 targeted forward posts and villages along the LoC in Rajouri district with mortars and small arms firing, a Defence spokesman said. This is the third consecutive day that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire. "At about 0900 hours, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri. The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the spokesman said. He said there was no report of any casualty in the cross-border shelling which was still continuing when last reports came in. A civilian was injured on March 31 when Pakistan Army lobbed mortar shells in Mankote sector of Poonch district. Representative Image The TRS on March 30 claimed that the idea of the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman farmers' scheme was copied from the 'Rythu Bandhu' farmers' investment support scheme of the TRS government in Telangana. "Yesterday, he (Modi) came (to Telangana) and said about our Chief Minister that, he (Rao) claimed my (Modi) schemes to be his. I am asking Modi ji, where did the idea of Rythu Bandhu come from? Is it not from KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao)? Is it not from the scheme that KCR gave to our Telangana farmers?," Telangana TRS working president K T Rama Rao said. "The idea of PM Kisan (farmers scheme), is it not given by KCR? Have you not copied it?," Rao who addressed road shows in support of TRS candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, said. Though Modi campaigned in Telangana, it would not help the BJP, he claimed. Modi addressed a BJP campaign rally at Mahabubnagar on March 29. On comments of BJP and Congress leaders that comprehensive development was possible only with national parties, Rama Rao claimed there are no national parties in the true sense of the term as neither BJP nor Congress was in a position to win substantial number of seats among the six southern states. He demanded to know why development, as expected,had not taken place in the country, though Congreses and BJP had ruled the country for long years. The TRS, he said, can ensure a better deal for Telangana if it wins 16 of the total 17 Lok Sabha seats (leaving Hyderabad held by TRS ally AIMIMs president Asaduddin Owaisi), he said. He suggested that other non-Congress, non-BJP parties, including Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, BSP and SP in Uttar Pradesh and YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh could join hands with TRS post-Lok Sabha elections to increase its strength. TRS is going it alone in the Lok Sabha polls, to be held in Telangana in the first phase on April 11. File Image The Aam Aadmi Party has hit out at Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari for reportedly saying that the Supreme Court refused to grant complete statehood to Delhi, challenging him to show which case was filed in the apex court regarding the issue. According to media reports, responding to a question on the issue of full statehood, Tiwari on March 29 said that the BJP never took a U-turn on the issue but the Supreme Court made it clear that it cannot be done. Senior AAP party leader Gopal Rai hit out at Tiwari, accusing him of lying on the issue and misleading the people of the city because the BJP was afraid of the growing popularity of full statehood. "The AAP will not allow the BJP to escape its decades of false promises with the people of Delhi and its ultimate treachery with Delhiites," he told reporters. He claimed it was not possible for a member of Parliament to not know the process of how Delhi would attain statehood, particularly when his own party kept promising it to the people of the national capital for decades. "Latest attempt by Tiwari to spread further falsehoods on Delhi statehood was during his 'Twitter chaupal', during which he said that since the Supreme Court of India has stated Delhi cannot be granted statehood, therefore this matter is now over," Rai added. He challenged Tiwari to make public where, when and in which case the Supreme Court stated what he has been claiming. Reacting to it, Tiwari said the AAP party leaders are "biggest liars" if they think the matter is not in the apex court. "It means they have not gone through the documents carefully. They should read the evidence carefully first," he said. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the city is fighting the Lok Sabha election on the agenda of granting full statehood to Delhi. The election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital will be held on May 12. File image The Congress on March 30 alleged mismanagement of the economy by the government and that it has suffered due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "reckless" decisions. Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that in the past five years, India's economy is "gasping" instead of "galloping". "The government is destroying the credibility of Indian data by embellishing the data, fudging numbers and inflating figures. The fact is that there has been an monumental mismanagement of Indian economy under his watch. It is not galloping economy but a gasping economy, a struggling economy which has also suffered because of the reckless decision of Prime Minister Modi," he told reporters. The Congress leader claimed that Modi has to be held accountable for destroying tens of millions of jobs by demonetisation. "He has to answer for a hasty imposition of a flawed GST model which he claimed to be 'one nation, one tax', but it is one nation, five taxes which excludes 45 per cent of the revenue, making Indian GST the most burdensome most complex," he said. Sharma said the four engines of the Indian economy -- investment, manufacturing, exports and capital formation -- were down. "How can you keep on claiming that we are the fastest growing (economy) by not creating jobs but by destroying them. There is a huge contradiction. This economy is not creating jobs. Exports have stagnated for five years, manufacturing has gone down, gross fixed capital formation has remained hovering over zero. National investment rate has fallen. These are the facts. The government has gone into heavy borrowing," he told reporters. Sharma also alleged that the country has played with the credibility of the country's data. "Fudging of the data is not going to help. NITI Aayog's job is not meant to embellish numbers and fudge the country's data. The prime minister and his government has played with the credibility of the country's data. They have dented the credibility," he said. "The time has come to punish the PM and his govt for destroying the credibility of Indian data, embellish the data, fudging numbers and inflating figures. The fiscal deficit has reached an alarming point. These are the questions to the prime minister," he said. He said if the Congress comes to power after the April-May parliamentary election, it would scrap the NITI Aayog and bring back the Planning Commission. Sharma also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly splurging on advertisements. "BJP spent Rs 4,397 crore on advertisements in the last three years. Even when we were in power and they were in Opposition, BJP had more resources than us. Even today the ratio is 90:10 in terms of spending on advertisement," the former Union Minister said. Sharma alleged that Modi and the BJP had spent more than Rs 4000 crores on advertisement in the last four years, which surpassed the advertisement expenditure of multinational brands such as Netflix and Amazon. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh is like a group photograph of people who have come together to abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will not manage more than seven of 80 seats in the state, says former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. The 'gathbandhan' of the three parties in Uttar Pradesh is afraid of Modi, Singh said, recalling an old Hindi film song "Sathi haath milana saathi re" (let's all join hands) to mock the alliance. BJP president Amit Shah would act as kingmaker in the elections, Singh, whose close aide Jaya Prada joined the saffron party recently, told PTI. "As Modiji says, where is the gathbandhan (alliance)? They are afraid of Modiji and doing 'Saathi hath milana re'. Now where is Mamata (Banerjee)? Where is the Left and the Congress? Rahul (Gandhi) says Mamata or BJP are one and the same for Congress. This gathbandhan is a group photograph to abuse Modi," Singh said. Asked about the alliance's electoral prospects in the state, which goes to the polls over seven phases, he said they would together get only seven of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Uttar Pradesh has the highest chunk of Lok Sabha seats and is politically crucial for any party eyeing power in the state. To a question on the future of the SP, the former Rajya Sabha member said the party is a divided lot now. He said there was a time when the SP came third among all political parties in the country. "It has gradually been divided to such an extent that it is now a 'half party' in Uttar Pradesh. It is half of Babua and half of Bua," Singh said, referring to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati. He said Akhilesh Yadav has no equation either with his father, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, or his uncles Shivpal Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav. A bitter family feud had hit the Uttar Pradesh-based political party in 2016. Mulayam Singh, who was then head of the regional party, expelled his son Akhilesh Yadav and brother Ram Gopal from the party. However, their suspension was later revoked. Shivpal last year quit the SP and later founded the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) party after falling apart with his nephew. "Ye virodh ka khazana hai," Singh said, terming the party a treasure trove of disunity. "In the SP, every person is trying to cut short or settle scores with another person. In any business, if insiders start stealing things then that business does not run long," he added. Asked about reports of accusations against him by Akhilesh Yadav, he said the former chief minister is now embarrassed and quiet. "I am no more a part of Samajwadi Party. So why don't they all unite?" he asked. Akhilesh had publicly accused Amar Singh of creating factionalism in the Samajwadi Party. "Amit Shah will act as kingmaker in this election," Singh declared in response to a question on whether he would be kingmaker and would join hands with the BJP considering actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada's move. Jaya Prada, a two-term Lok Sabha member from the SP, is a close associate of Singh, who was expelled from the regional party and has since become close to Hindutva fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The BJP's ambitious target of winning 23 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal may prove to be an uphill task as discontent is brewing over ticket distribution after old-timers and homegrown leaders were overlooked in favour of turncoats and newcomers. The BJP, which has announced candidates for 40 seats out of 42 in the state, has nominated 10 turncoats, who switched over from Congress, CPI(M) and TMC and has around 20 greenhorns. Protests have erupted in various parts of the state over the issue with several leaders either resigning or becoming inactive during campaign. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh conceded there has been discontent over ticket distribution, but said everybody should abide by party's decision. "Yes, there has been some discontent in the party but we all should abide by the party decision's. Somebody has aspiration for tickets but that doesn't mean that if you don't get tickets you will start protesting," Ghosh said. A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named said, discontent might prove to be a problem for the party in polls. "The party needs to understand one thing that we don't have very strong organisation unlike TMC at the grassroots level. For winning the seats we need to depend on cadres and leaders whom we have groomed for the years. Now if they are not happy with candidate selection will they campaign during polls," said the senior BJP leader. The BJP leader's view was endorsed by Sanjit Mishra, Malda district president of the saffron party, who agreed that party cadres were unhappy over both the seats in Malda being alloted to turncoats ignoring homegrown leaders. "As a president, even I will admit the way the seats were allotted was somewhat unfair. The cadres are not happy but I am trying to pacify them," Mishra said. His comments comes in the backdrop of party's vice president of Bengal unit, Raj Kamal Pathak, who has been a BJP leader for last three decades, tendering his resignation after denied a ticket. Not just Pathak, there are several other top BJP leaders such as state secretary Ritesh Tiwari, state general secretaries Raju Banerjee and Biswapriya Roy Chowdhury and Minority Morcha chief Ali Hossain, who have been deprived ticket in order to pave way for newcomers and turncoats. With BJP emerging as the main challenger to TMC in the last five years by outsmarting CPI(M) and Congress in Bengal and buoyed by its performance in rural polls, BJP president Amit Shah set out a target of winning more than 23 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. BJP presently has 2 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. But, in view of protests in various parts of the state and discontent, the party is trying to pacify dissidents. Former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, once known to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was given ticket against TMC candidate and actor Dipak Adhikary from Ghatal LS constituency. The BJP has fielded former Trinamool Congress MLA Arjun Singh from Barrackpur LS seat. Singh, who had recently joined the saffron party, has been pitted against TMC's Dinesh Trivedi. In Coochbebar LS seat, the party has fielded former TMC youth leader Nishith Pramanik, while in Jadavpur, expelled TMC MP Anupam Hazra will contest against TMC's Mimi Chakraborty, an actor by profession. Another former TMC MP Soumitra Khan, who joined the BJP in January, has been given ticket from Bishnupur (SC) LS seat. Former CPI(M) MLA Khagen Murmu, who too had switched over to the BJP, will contest from Malda North seat whereas former TMC leader Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury, who had contested elections on a TMC ticket from New Delhi in 2014, is the BJP candidate from the neighbouring Malda South seat. In Jangipur Lok Sabha seat, former CPI(M) leader Mafuza Khatun, who recently joined BJP, has been pitted against sitting Congress MP Abijit Mukherjee. In Diamond Harbour LS seat, former Congress leader Nilanjan Roy, who has recently crossed over to the BJP has been fielded against TMC's Abhishek Banerjee. Since the day of announcement of candidates, posters have come up in various parts of the state with BJP workers hitting the streets. BJP workers had staged protest in Cooch Behar, North 24 Parganas, Junglemahal, Baharampur, Diamond Harbour, Malda South and Malda North against party's decision to nominate TMC, Congress and CPI(M) leaders instead of local party leaders. "Why was Nishit given ticket? Does our district unit lack good leaders to contest polls? This decision has not sent out a good message to the rank and file of the party," said a senior district BJP leader, adding TMC would "exploit ripples of discontent". In Barasat, BJP workers have come out with posters appealing to masses not to vote for "outsider" BJP candidate. Similar kind of posters have come up against BJP's general secretary Sayantan Basu, who is contesting polls from Basirhat. BJP leader Mukul Roy, once TMC's number two, defended party's decision on fielding turncoats. "Anybody who wants to fight against TMC misrule in Bengal is welcome," Roy told PTI. The decision over candidate selection was based on a survey conducted by BJP both internally and by an external agency as candidates thought to be strong in a particular constituency were given ticket from another. BJP Mahila Morcha president Locket Chatterjee was expecting a ticket from Birbhum but the survey found that she was popular in Hoogly, so she was given ticket from Hoogly. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said BJP is a disciplined party and everybody will abide by party's decision. Representative image Political observers may have a poor perception of the BJP's performance in Telangana based on December 2018 assembly results, but the saffron party will throw a surprise by winning 8-9 seats out of 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state due to the Narendra Modi factor, party's state unit chief K Laxman has claimed. The parliamentary elections are different from assembly polls and there is no prime ministerial face from the opposition parties who can match up to Prime Minister Modi's charisma, he said. The 2014 general election was the last election that a united Andhra Pradesh saw, as the state was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana less than a month after the polls. The BJP had 10.5 per cent vote share and won only Secunderabad seat in alliance with Telugu Desam Party (TDP). In the assembly polls last year, the BJP could retain only one of the five seats it had won in 2014 "We will not only retain Secunderabad but also win some more seats. The Modi factor will not only work in Hyderabad/Secunderabad but also in surrounding areas," Laxman told PTI in an interview. In the past, the BJP had won 3-4 Lok Sabha seats in united Andhra Pradesh. The party has winning prospects in constituencies like Mahabubnagar, Secunderabad and Karimnagar, he said "We are targeting at least 8-9 seats. We are going to set a record," said Laxman, who was defeated by the TRS in the recent assembly poll from Musheerabad within the Secunderabad parliamentary constituency. Asked about the reason for the confidence after the drubbing in the recent assembly polls, the state party president said, "Modi wave is there and his charisma is still there. There is no prime ministerial face who can match up to Modi." "After poll results, the Opposition parties will come to know whether there was Modi wave or not," he added. On the buzz about a 'non-BJP and non-Congress front' created by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Laxman said, "They are day dreaming and trying to confuse the people. Even if they win 16 seats, they cannot form the government at the centre and become PM." The BJP is fighting alone in the current Lok Sabha polls and has field candidates in all the 17 constituencies. The state will see a single phase election on April 11 and the counting of ballots for the entire country will be on May 23. World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10. While awareness of mental health is gradually improving, there are certain misconceptions and myths related to the subject. A website called HealthPartners debunks some of most common myths. (Representative image) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this month, took a covert jibe at Congress President Rahul Gandhi with a reference to dyslexia and dyslexic children. In February, Gandhi had attacked the prime minister, wondering if latter was suffering from schizophrenia. Then, it was Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s Karnataka parliamentarian Anant Kumar Hegde who reportedly called Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy schizophrenic. Schizophrenia is an extreme mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Dyslexia is a learning disorder. There is an unhindered flow of words and references to mental health while mocking political rivals. A senior journalist and a television anchor in Andhra Pradesh called evangelist politician KA Paul as having a bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a manic-depressive illness. Paul's political outfit Praja Shanthi Party (PSP) is contesting the elections in the state. Dementia and Alzheimer's, often tied together with mental health, are also frequently used to describe opponents. Mental health stigma The 2019 Lok Sabha election has once again brought to the fore, the lack of awareness or sheer insensitivity towards mental health problems in our political discourse. The stigmatization of mental illness, becomes a major barrier for people with mental health problems to seek professional help, as they fear being labelled and bullied. Worse, many live in denial of the possibility of mental illness ever occurring to them. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that around 20 percent of Indians may suffer from depression, of which according the National Mental Health Survey in India (2015-16), only about 10-12 percent get treated. WHO estimates that the burden of mental health problems is to the tune of 2,443 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 1,00,000 population. The age-adjusted suicide rate per 1,00,000 population is 21.1. DALY is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. It is estimated that in India, the economic loss from 2012 to 2030 due to mental health conditions would be 1.03 trillions of 2010 dollars. It is high time our political discourse be free of stigma related to mental illness, the least we can do is to help improve mental health of our nation. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will brief the parliamentarians next week on "hostile situation at the Line of Control" in the aftermath of recent tension with India, media reports said on Sunday. The briefing, to be held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on April 4, will be attended by the members of standing committees of the National Assembly and Senate on defence, Dawn reported. Gen Bajwa will "brief the parliamentarians on hostile situation at the Line of Control", it said. The paper said that it will be the second briefing by the army chief to the parliamentarians over one month. Earlier, parliamentarians were briefed in an in-camera session held at Parliament House on February 27, the day the Pakistan Air Force carried out a raid in India. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan did not attend the briefing. This week's briefing would be attended by a number of prominent leaders from the opposition parties, including former ministers, as they are members of the two committees. According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, chairman of the NA committee Amjad Ali Khan would lead the delegation of members of the National Assembly, the lower house. Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has also been invited as he is ex-officio member of both standing committees. The lawmakers have been told to assemble at Gate No 1 of Parliament House at 10 am and those who intend to proceed directly to GHQ have been asked to provide registration numbers of their vehicles before the meeting. A notification issued by the Senate Secretariat says that Chairman of Senate standing committee on defence Azam Swati will lead the Senate members. A few days ago Prime Minister Khan had said that the "possibility of a misadventure" from India could not be ignored. Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that the armed forces needed to remain alert. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the February 14 attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. Amid mounting outrage, 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 in an aerial combat and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India later. March 30, 2019 Kushner Extorted Qatar - Or Did He? The Hillreporter just published a very juicy story about Jared Kushner, the son in law and senior advisor of President Trump. It says that Kushner, with the help of the Saudi clown prince Mohammad bin Salman, extorted Qatar for $1 billion to save his families real estate business in New York. While the story sounds plausible and fits the public known timeline of other events, there is so far no evidence that supports it. The tale is based on the work and information of author Vicky Ward, who recently published Kushner Inc - Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Ward first talked through the story on yesterday's KrassenCast, a podcast by the anti-Trump and somewhat shady Krassenstein brothers who also run the Hillreporter. In 2007, at the hight of the real estate bubble, the Kushner family bought the 666 5th Avenue building in New York City for $1.8 billion. Ten years later the Kushners were in real trouble. Plans to replace the building with a new one found no financing. The property was losing lots of money and a huge mortgage payment was due in January 2019. The family had to look for a bail out. bigger In early 2017 the Kushner family had several meetings with Qatari officials to discuss a deal. The Intercept reported: Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist and the younger brother of White House adviser Jared Kushner, met with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi the same week as his father, Charles Kushner, did in April 2017, in an independent effort to discuss potential investments from the Qatari government. Both meetings took place at Al Emadis St. Regis Hotel suite in Manhattan. This revelation comes after Charles Kushner, in an interview with the Washington Post this week, confirmed for the first time that his meeting with Al Emadi had indeed taken place on the subject of financing for the underwater Kushner property at 666 Fifth Avenue. According to Vicky Ward this is what happened next: "What I have learned is that in the ensuing month [May 2017] before the US visit to Riyadh, Jared Kushner got on a plane and flew to Doha, the Qatari capital, and he reamed the Qatari ruling family, the al-Thanis, for not doing the deal with his father They began to feel that he was indirectly threatening their sovereignty. The next thing they know, when they show up to the summit in Riyadh, the Emir, the ruler of Qatar, arrives with an entourage, but his entourage is suddenly cut off from him, and not allowed into the summit at the same time by the Saudis, which he felt was a move to deliberately make him look weak. You have to remember during this summit, Jared and Ivanka go off for a cozy secret unmonitored dinner with [Saudi Crown Prince] MBS. Nobody knows what they talked about. Fifteen days later the Saudis and the UAE blockade Qatar and send troops to its border. Trump supports the Saudi blockade against the advice of his Secretary of State Tillerson and his Defense Secretary Mattis and despite the fact the the biggest U.S. base in the area is in Qatar. Nine months later, a Canadian company, Brookfield Partners, who the Qatari Investment Authority owns a $1.8 billion or 9% stake in, bailed out Kushner Properties, with a 99-year lease agreement for 666 5th Ave. ... Around this same time, President Trump publicly shifts course, no longer supporting the blockade, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells Saudi Arabia to stop the embargo. If the blockade of Qatar originates in a Kushner extortion scheme, as the story insinuates, it would have serious political consequences. But is that true? The sequencing of the real estate deal and the change in the Trump policy on the blockade is somewhat problematic. The Trump shift was reported on April 29 2018 while the Brookfield Partner deal was first published about three weeks later on May 17: Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield Asset Management over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower in Midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Avenue, according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but were not authorized to discuss it. The deal only closed in August 2018 on terms that had changed from the first report and were unusual: Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to lease the troubled office tower for 99 years and is paying for the lease up front, rather than in the typical yearly ground rent, the Wall Street Journal reports. The financial terms of the deal were not made public, but the New York Times reports that Brookfield is paying $1.1B. What was the real sequencing here? Was the property deal agreed upon before the Trump administration changed its stand on the Qatar blockade or after that happened? Was it related to it or not? We don't know. There is no public record of the alleged Jared Kushner flight to Qatar. There is so far no other evidence that would support the story. The tale fits the publicly known timeline, but that is not enough to believe it. Its authors may have used the public timeline to then fit a story onto it. It is possible that the Kushner property deal and the Qatar blockade are intimately intertwined but there is, so far, no proof for it. That idea that Kushner played the Saudis is dubious. The other way around is more likely. bigger Saudi Arabia and the UAE had plenty of reason to blockade Qatar. Both countries fear the Qatari support for the Muslim Brotherhood. They hate Qatar's Al Jazeerah TV because it often publicly opposes their policies. The Saudis need money and annexing the very rich Qatar would solve all their problems. Brookfield Properties denies that Qatar or the Qatari investment agency had any involvement in 666 5th Ave. deal. Even if Qatar, through Brookfield, made a deal with the Kushner family, it does not mean that it was extorted. The Qatari rulers might simply have hoped that the deal would help them. It did not. The blockade still continues despite the real estate deal. Trump had his own reasons to support the Saudis Qatar blockade. He wanted them to buy as many U.S. weapon system as possible, if only to beat out Obama, who sold the Saudis all sorts of military trash for a record amount of money. During the Mueller Russia investigation lots of smoke seemed to show that there was a 'collusion' fire burning somewhere under the hundreds of facts and figures. There wasn't. The story about the Kushner 'extortion of Qatar' might create a similar 'the walls are closing in' (vid) farce only to end up with nothing. It is interesting that the Vicky Ward story was published on March 29, a day after Jared Kushner was interviewed behind closed door by the Senate Intelligence Commission: President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner returned to the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed door interview Thursday as part of the committee's Russia investigation. ... The first time Kushner appeared before the panel in 2017, he was interviewed by committee staff. The committee has wanted to re-interview witnesses central to the investigation. On Thursday, senators were sitting in on the interview. Russiagate is really finished. The Republican's rule the Senate. Why would they continue to interview Kushner and why would senators sit in on it? Might the 'Kushner extorted Qatar' be a planned sequel to Russiagate or why else was it launched right now? Posted by b on March 30, 2019 at 21:28 UTC | Permalink Comments March 31, 2019 The MoA Week In Review - OT 2019-18 Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama: March 25 - A War On Gaza For Regime Change In Tel Aviv? March 26 - Trump Tries To Undo North Korea Sanctions - Gets Sabotaged By Own Staff March 27 - Judge Identifies CIA Related Man Who Led The Raid On North Korea's Embassy In Spain More morsels on the case: El Pais: North Korean embassy assailants filmed the attack to prove their actions, say Spanish police The 10 individuals who broke into the North Korean embassy in Madrid last month, assaulting staff members and taking audiovisual material with them, had micro-cameras that they used to provide evidence of their actions to whoever ordered and financed the operation, according to Spanish investigators. ... The 35-year-old is a US resident with a Mexican passport who owns several dubious companies and is in contact with various intelligence services. Investigators are now exploring whether Hong Chang played a role in other violent incidents against North Korean interests in other countries. Near the Madrid embassy, the police found an Italian drivers license belonging to Hong Chang but showing a fake name. The North Korean ambassador to Italy has been missing since January, and is presumed to have defected. ... Investigation sources say the attack was perfectly planned down to every last detail, something that would require significant infrastructure and financing, which the individuals involved lack. ... Even though the assailants mostly young South Koreans living in the US and trained in military action took away the hard drives of the embassys security cameras, the police was able to partially recover the footage before its automatic deletion. This is what allowed investigators to observe the intruders extremely violent and professional behavior, and to identify them. - The CIA cover group has gone silent. It may be that Adrian Hong gets another gig. Not again Libya from where he transferred Islamist to the Syrian war theater, but how about Venezuela? Free Joseon says it is going on a hiatus Most notably, according to AFP, Hong was spotted in Tripoli, Libya, during the Libyan civil war in 2011. He helped Libyan war victims receive treatment at hospitals in Jordan. - Mystery group tied to break-in at DPRK embassy in Madrid will suspend activities Notably, the source said that South Koreas embassy in Madrid also had some knowledge of the incident shortly before it took place and immediately after. - Presumably to prevent that the case gets buried, North Korea finally acknowledges the raid: North Korea said Sunday it wants an investigation into a raid on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a grave terrorist attack and an act of extortion that violates international law. ... The Norths official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that an illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and an act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated. He claimed an armed group tortured the staff and suggested they stole communications gear. March 29 - Regulators Knew Of 737 MAX Trim Problems - Certification Demanded Training That Boeing Failed To Deliver Yves Smith: Boeing Doubles Down on 737 Max, Rejects Need for Simulator Training Southwest Airlines contract with Boeing says that Southwest will get $1 million rebate per plane if 737 MAX pilots need extra simulator training for it. Matt Taibbi: On Russiagate and Our Refusal to Face Why Trump Won A long read about Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic candidate for the next presidential election. All About Pete The rage with which the piece was written is beautiful. You will be sold Buttigiegs small-town milliennial neoliberalism the way theyre trying to sell you Beto ORourkes skateboard neoliberalism. Hey kids, you like Medicare For All? So does this guy! But hes young and from the Midwest and likes Hamilton! Bernie is old. You dont need an old man. You need young hip progressivism. Do not be deceived by this. Use as open thread ... Posted by b on March 31, 2019 at 17:42 UTC | Permalink Comments next page The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service can provide conservation assistance on agricultural and forestland. Ivan Dozier, Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist, said the agency has technical knowledge to develop a conservation plan for resource concerns and programs to help implement the plan. Morgan County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Towanda L. Acon, 40, of Wellington, Kansas, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 9:17 a.m. Friday on charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a stolen firearm. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Ashton D. Haley, 35, of 528 W. Walnut St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:25 p.m. Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Compiled by Rosalind Essig and Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree A trip to Texas and New Mexico helped Illinois farmers see the stark differences between how agriculture is implemented here versus there. The group of Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leaders spent a week in the southern part of the nation. Katrina Schreiner of Lincoln said the trip provided a real eye-opening experience for her. The trip was to basically broaden our horizons of agriculture thats not here in our little bubble in Illinois, so outside of corn, beans and cattle, she said. The program is designed to help those in the agricultural community age 18-35 to network and discuss ways to make a difference in their communities. According to the Illinois Farm Bureau, the tour and its respective stops aim to get people in the industry out of their comfort zones to experience agriculture in a way they might not otherwise have a chance to see. There were many stops along the trip, but one of the most interesting for Schreiner was the cattle crossing Union Ganadera Regional de Chihuahua at the New Mexico/Mexico border. Schreiner had experience with cattle on her family farm, but she said the sheer scale of the crossing was an impressive sight. Growing up on a farm we had livestock for basically show and Ive been to other farms where they do sorting, Schreiner said. This was so smooth, with that many cattle. They had so many workers getting them into a pin, counting them, moving them on and ready to be loaded. They load 3,500 a day. New Mexico hosts one of the largest import/export facilities for cattle on the Mexican border, with well more than 300,000 head of cattle moving across the border each day. People have sorting [operations] like that here but this was just so much greater and they have to do so much more because its coming from Mexico to the United States, Schreiner said. One interesting portion of the trip for five-year member Courtney Bedtka of Chandlerville was the groups visit to the U.S./Mexico border. Bedtka said getting to talk with U.S. Border Patrol agents and to see how illegal immigration affects agriculture highlighted the importance of border security to her. Nathan Ring of Virginia said attending Hill Farms in New Mexico and meeting the owner, Jay Hill, was a major highlight of the trip. Not only was the agriculture different, with different crops and water restrictions, but Hills management style was eye-opening for Ring. It was really neat to see how he empowers his managers that he puts in his business, Ring said. To me, wanting to have a business of my own someday, it was neat to see how he empowers his managers to take over certain sectors of the business and run them. He gives them all control. They have meetings weekly but it was good to see how he handles his team of over 100 employees. Hill is an entrepreneurial farmer, growing his original 10-acre production to a 900-acre farm that covers feed crops, livestock and produce such as chiles, onions, pecans and more. It was amazing, to me, to get to see how they communicate in person, Ring said. It gave us young individuals on the trip an entrepreneur mindset of Hey, you can do this. You can find people in the industry you can allow to take your business and empower it. They really seem to do a great job. Jenny Jackson of Jacksonville said that she had connected with Hill at an International Pork Board meeting when he was training a group on Snapchat. Jackson said that meeting him again on this trip proved to be an excellent networking opportunity. While we were there, (Hill) wanted us to meet a guy that grows onion seeds for BASF the guy who was in charge of vegetable for production for that company was there and (Hill) said Hey, I want you to meet this guy, Jackson said. He wore jeans and a T-shirt and was just so down to earth. Hes such a big guy in the ag industry and we got to meet him because of Jay. The group also mentioned how interesting the irrigation solutions were in Texas. While Midwest farmers are looking at issues with excess moisture, the dry operations of Texas and New Mexico have the opposite problem Given the restrictions on water, there is a large reliance on drip irrigation, something Illinois simply doesnt have, Ring said. The group got to see new products that would reserve water and use 1/10th of the pressure used in current drip irrigation solutions. Ultimately, everyone in the group recommended that, if possible, young people interested in the Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leaders program join the club and consider taking the trip in the future. While each member does pay their own way in the trip, either through sponsorships or personal funding, everyone in attendance agreed that the trip greatly expanded their agricultural knowledge and its something they intend to present to their peers when the opportunity arises. I think its a super neat experience for a young ag individual in our area, Ring said. Its something that we dont get to experience in our area. The crops that they grow to just the water control, which was shocking to us, we dont have the same types of issues that they face in that region. Nick Draper can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1223, or on Twitter @nick_draper. I've always wanted to write to ... Leaders from Texas, including Midlander Don Evans, are working with the White House on bringing President Donald Trump to the Permian Basin, according to comments made during a Texas Transportation Commission this week. J. Bruce Bugg Jr., chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, said during the commissions March meeting that he was involved in multiple meetings in Washington with White House officials. The hope, Bugg said in the video of the meeting, is Texas leaders, including Evans, would host Trump in the Permian Basin. Bugg also said Trump is working in real time on an executive order that Trump would sign during a visit directing federal agencies provide more resources to the Permian Basin, the largest oil patch in the United States. Bugg said during the meeting that Gov. Greg Abbott asked him six months ago to lead an effort to assess what the needs are in the Permian Basin and asked Bugg to work with Evans, the chairman of the Permian Strategic Partnership, a coalition of oil industry companies in Midland and the Permian Basin. RELATED: TxDOT finds Permian road use even heavier than believed I call (the Permian Basin) the Permian promise because it is an enormous opportunity not only for the state of Texas but an enormous opportunity and have a profound effect on our foreign policy in the United States and our energy independence, Bugg said. He said the work on improving the opportunities will be part of a multi-generational opportunity for the folks of the state of Texas and that the governor told him when the effort started months ago that this would result in the further building of towns and cities. It is exciting to see how this is all coming together, Bugg said. Bugg said a letter has been sent to the White House, ranking 11 energy roads that transportation leaders have identified as having the highest impact and would be the quickest to get done. Bugg said there is more than $2 billion in road projects on the list. He said Interstate 20 was ranked No. 1, and U.S. Highway 285 was ranked No. 2. Bugg did not mention when or where the presidents visit might take place. The Texas Tribune on Friday reported that the president has fundraisers scheduled for April 10 in Houston and San Antonio. PSP officials were not available for comment Friday night. "She's coming along very nicely," said Hall of Fame race car builder Don Hardy as he inspected a modified 1953 Studebaker he's building in his Floydada garage. Equipped with an L6 Chevrolet 372 cubic-inch engine, built by his son Donald, and a five-speed transmission, Hardy is hoping to break the land speed record for the vehicle at the Bonneville Speedway in Utah this August. "We're hoping to hit about 225-230 miles per hour and I think the record is set at 224," said Hardy as he propped his elbow on a customized steel roll-cage on the Studebaker. Breaking the speed record will cap off a big year for Hardy, who will celebrate his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his world famous businesses Don Hardy Race Cars, Inc. To commemorate the milestones, the Hardys are inviting friends, family and car lovers to a special birthday party at 2 p.m. Saturday. The party will show Hardy's classic cars and more at their 201 East Missouri and 111 East Missouri locations in Floydada. The Hardys also are inviting the public to jump into their classic cars or hot rods and head to the party. "I'm inviting everyone," added Hardy. "I want to show them around and have a big party." Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1965, Hardy began building "funny cars" in Floydada. Hardy said he came to Floydada following his discharge from the U.S. Army, where he had spent 18 months in Alaska. His first car, a Chevy II, was built for National Hot Rod Association Hall of Famer Kelly Chadwick in the garage of Chadwick's residence. At the peak of his career he was building 12 to 20 race cars per year. Hardy won "Car Craft Chassis Builder of the Year" from 1977 to 1981. He was inducted into the Dick Harrell Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1980, Hardy was inducted into the Division-4 NHRA Hall of Fame and in 2001 he was inducted into the Texas Drag Racers Hall of Fame. Hardy became a legend in the world of drag racing. In 1984, Hardy diversified his garage by building fuel efficient engines for irrigation purposes. Hardy Fuel Efficient Engines are well known throughout the Panhandle and South Plains area. The engines are now shipped to Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Mississippi. Hardy says he is very appreciative of his employees, customers, family and friends for their support throughout the past 50 years. Hardy is still involved in Don Hardy Race Cars, Inc. He and his wife, Carolyn, have a collection of classic cars, which will be on display at the birthday party. Refreshments will be available. A local man is dead after a fire engulfed a Northwest Side home Sunday afternoon in the city's third fire fatality this year, San Antonio Fire Department officials said. Around 12:45 p.m., San Antonio firefighters responded to multiple calls of a heavy fire and trapped resident at a home in the 100 block of Postwood Drive on the Northwest Side, SAFD Chief Charles Hood said. RELATED: Woman found dead in a Northwest Side apartment Sunday Investigators have not identified the cause of the blaze. Hood said large amounts of "stored materials" fueled the fire, showing the "dangers of hoarding." "As far as storing large amounts of material in your homes, it really makes it hard for us to get in," Hood said. "It makes it hard for someone to get out. And, it increases the fire load to where we really can't get enough water on them sometimes." The hoarded boxes and other items combined with the presence of burglar bars on the inside of windows, rather than outside, hampered rescuers' ability to reach the victim before he died, Hood said. "I have no doubt that the burglar bars and the large amount of fuel volume probably contributed to this fatality today," Hood said. "So, it's very unfortunate. "This is the first time in my career that I've ever seen a home with burglar bars on the inside," Hood added. Hood declined to release the victim's age or identity. No other family members were in the home at the time of the fire, Hood said, but a chaplain was present at the home comforting family members. The chief then explained how the fire reached the one-story house's attic and roofline, likely making it uninhabitable. "This house is probably totally destroyed," Hood said. "It's in really bad shape right now." A 44-year-old man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his stepfather on the Northwest Side, San Antonio police said Sunday. Danny Cejay Allen is accused of shooting and killing Thomas Cervantes Moreno, 72, at around 1 p.m. Saturday at a home on the 41oo block of Willowbrook Drive, police said. San Antonio police are investigating the killing of a woman in her 30s at a Northwest Side apartment complex, police said Sunday morning. A resident at the Morgan Manor Apartments, in the 7100 block of Oaklawn Drive, found the woman with severe injuries in the front room of her apartment about 8:20 a.m., police said. Government will decisively deal with irresponsible individuals who abuse or distribute aid along partisan lines, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said. The Vice President said this yesterday to scores of villagers at Masasa Primary School in Chikomba at the handover of food aid to affected communities in Mashonaland East. Cde Chiwenga also said the President and Head of State, Cde Mnangagwa will this week lead a delegation of all political parties participating in the ongoing national dialogue to Chimanimani to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Idai. He said President Mnangagwa will tour all the four provinces Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Masvingo and parts of the Midlands that were affected. Next week, all the parties that are participating in the national dialogue agreed to accompany the President and visit Chimanimani in order to assess and try to assist with solutions to the tragedy that devastated that area. Those who refuse to participate in the dialogue will show that they do not care about the people of Zimbabwe. This is why you should ask them when they come here looking for votes where they were when disaster was on your door, he said. Nelson Chamisa has stuck to his guns refusing to take part in the so-called National Dialogue citing insincerity on the part of the Zanu PF strongmen. At least five opposition political parties, which initially joined the discussions, have pulled out, accusing the President of having dirty hands. Violet Mariyacha, leader of the less known United Democracy Movement (UDM), this week became the fifth party to walk out of the talks following Nkosana Moyos Alliance of Peoples Agenda (APA), Daniel Shumbas United Democratic Alliance and Noah Manyikas Build Zimbabwe Alliance, as well as Peoples Progressive Party of Zimbabwe, led by Timothy Chiguvare. The parties accuse Mnangagwa of insincerity, saying the talks would not amount to anything as long as MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa was not part of the initiative. VP Chiwenga said there was urgent need to provide aid to affected families, especially those in the worst affected areas, as their burden had been compounded by the drought-plagued 2018/2019 agricultural season. When aid is being distributed, we plead with all Government workers, councillors and all those involved in the distribution not to steal any of the donations, but to take them to the appropriate beneficiaries, said VP Chiwenga. The donations must reach the most affected areas. Our bad situation has been compounded by the drought, but we want to assure you that no one will die of hunger. All households will be given aid coming from Government. But when this aid is being distributed, we do not want you to look at the beneficiaries totem or political affiliation, we want it to be given to every Zimbabwean. The Vice President said after assessing the extent of devastation and quantum of resources needed to repair the damaged infrastructure, Government will devise a plan of action to start the rehabilitation works. SundayMail Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been accused of encouraging state capture after he revealed that a United Arab Emirates (UAE) prince hired private jets for him. Mnangagwa told the Zanu PF central committee on Friday that the crown prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed paid for the luxurious jet he used for his visit to the UAE recently. The Zanu PF leader was trying to deflect pressure after his latest jaunts using expensive chartered planes sparked outrage but his boast about the freebies from the UAE has alarmed political analysts. University of Zimbabwe political science guru Eldred Masunungure said Mnangagwas confession was more scandalous than his luxurious travels at the taxpayers expense. There are no free lunches. What we dont know is what Zimbabwe is offering in return, he said. I dont think the crown prince can be so generous as to give out those planes and even go on to say its available for nothing. You know there must be a catch. I think his explanation brought more questions than answers. Zimbabweans find that quite troublesome and would like (to know about) the other part of the equation. Mnangagwas spokesperson George Charamba last week told this publication that the government paid for the private jets that the president used for his trips. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube also told the Senate last Thursday that the president was using a travel budget that was approved by Parliament. Masunungure said the revelation that the luxurious jets were available for Mnangagwa on demand and for free were worrying. I am actually not worried so much about the inconsistency between Mnangagwa and his spokesperson, he said. I am more worried about the fact that a luxurious plane is available on demand by the president and whether Zimbabwe is mortgaging itself to the UAE. What price are we paying and what does it do to our national sovereignty? It is not good to be wasteful but its much better if Zimbabwe is struggling to pay and we know that we are paying and our national sovereignty is intact. MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said Mnangagwa was trying to cover-up for wasteful expenditure but ended up exposing a bigger scandal. There are two fundamental issues, the spokesperson to Mnangagwa came out and said it was cheaper to hire those planes and that indeed they were hiring those planes, he said. Then we have [Mnangagwa] coming out at his own party central committee meeting and says no he was not hiring those planes but he was being given by the government of another country. Now this is not kindergarten stuff. You cannot get free lunches in this world. What has Zimbabwe done to deserve its travels to be sponsored by another country? What type of friendship is that? What are the deals? For how long? This is a clear classical example of state capture, or a clear cover up to wasteful expenditure. Harare-based political commentator Rashweat Mukundu said Mnangagwa had exposed himself to manipulation by a foreign government. The president swore to serve Zimbabwe not foreign powers and his actions and decisions must not be compromised by foreign entities be they government or otherwise, he said. Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana refused to comment on the matter saying the ruling party had nothing to do with the presidents foreign trips. Charamba was not available for comment. Mnangagwa has made at least 30 trips since he came into power after a coup in November 2017. His predecessor Robert Mugabe became notorious for his many trips abroad, especially to Singapore where he regularly went for treatment, only that Mugabe hired Air Zimbabwe thereby saving the much needed foreign currency. The Standard Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News THE Lumumba Files, which has since been revamped to #TLF Drive and well-marketed to a wider audience of Zimbabweans beyond politics, has grown steadily to become the main feature of many Zimbabweans to-watch list on Sunday nights. Social media influencer Acie Lumumba, working with fellow influencer and branding strategist Kuda Musasiwa, have delivered a product that is strong in both the guest list as well as superb visuals. The two are a classic example to Zimbabweans on how to harness ones social media presence into something of value. #TLFDrive has also marketed itself well into the corporate sector, attracting leading Zimbabwean brands such as Premier Auto Services and Chicken Inn, among others, into the fold. The last episode featured Tendai Beast Mtawarira, a Zimbabwe-born athlete who plays for the Sharks in Super Rugby and in the Currie Cup and represents the South Africa rugby national team, the Springboks. The fact that the 33-year-old Zimbabwe-born Beast, as he is affectionately known, will equal former Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss as the most-capped South African in Super Rugby history when the Sharks take on the Bulls in Durban today, shows the dizzy levels to which Acie Lumumba and his team have grown their social media following into a product many professional and corporates would want to associate with. The next episode, set for today, features gospel music diva Ivy Kombo-Kasi. Kombo returned home last week after a long time in the UK, and her return is set to ignite the local gospel music scene with what she calls a big gospel concert: Nguva Yakwana. We are back home to organise a big function that will remind people of the good old days. Nguva Yakwana was a popular brand and we need to bring it back. We are working on the groundwork to bring back the festival. 2019 seems to have started well for Acie Lumumba and his production team. His show has improved from the political gossip chat it used to be, to a brand that many individuals and corporates would not shy away from partnering with. Todays episode of #TLF kicks off at 21:00 hrs CAT. The show will be on Facebook live as well as on the official YouTube channel. Watch the episode 9 featuring Tendai Beast Mtawarira below ZOOMZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Readers, thanks to your rapid and generous response, our mini-fundraiser for Water Cooler has reached its goal of 300 donations. Of course, nothing prevents us from exceeding that goal, and if you were out of town or doing more important things, and missed the post, or simply wish to show your appreciation, you can still join us and participate via Lamberts Water Cooler Tip Jar, which shows how to give via credit card, debit card, PayPal, or even a check in the US mail. Tasmanian devils adapting to coexist with cancer BBC Second ghostly galaxy without dark matter discovered, first confirmed Astronomy The ETF Tax Dodge Is Wall Streets Dirty Little Secret Bloomberg March U.S. Auto Sales Numbers Arent Looking Good As Consumer Confidence Slumps Further Jalopnik Experimental Security Research of Tesla Autopilot (PDF) Tencent Keen Security Lab. Note the ownership; however, most AI triumphalism seems to ignore the possibility that people will game the AIs sensors, as in this study, when in fact thats the very first thing they will do, in the wild. Those cheeky, curious, fun-loving anthropoids! New Yorkers Dino Fossils Profile Features Pitfalls of Science as Performance The Wire (The New Yorker story; more from the BBC). Americans Are Smart About Science FiveThirtyEight Brexit Jeremy Corbyn could be poised for Downing Street if May calls an election after shock poll reveals Labour have taken a FIVE-point lead over Tories while Boris is still favourite to succeed the PM Daily Mail China Syraqistan Vietnam to Venezuela: US Interventionism and the Failure of the Left Adolph Reed, Common Dreams. Important. Grab a cup of coffee. Venezuela Trump plans to cut U.S. aid to 3 Central American countries in fight over U.S.-bound migrants WaPo. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. New Cold War From Global Order to Global Transition Russia in Global Affairs. The current post-Washington world transition is analyzed here in the context of theoretical studies concerning the previous post-Vienna, post-Paris, post-Versailles and post-Yalta transitions and their historical experience. The article concludes that the current post-Washington transition is irreversible, yet it may take more time than the previous ones and extend beyond 2050. Dense, but interesting. RussiaGate Trump Transition Doomsday vault town warming faster than any other on Earth CNN Health Care 737 Max Concentration Class Warfare On Flooding: Drowning the Culture in Sameness Long Reads Appl Still Hasnt Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm WSJ. Massiv takdown. Perhaps Apple wants be a services business, and not a hardware business, like that time GM decided it was going to be a finance company with a factory attached. If thats the goal, acing out the creatives who, despite every obstacle placed in their way, still use Apples increasingly crapified products seems like a dumb move, but what would I know? Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Last night, I saw some images from this years flooding in the Midwest float by, and I remembered my grade school classes on FDR, and that the New Deal actually had a significant flood control component. So I thought I would recapture a little bit of that history, and then put the Green New Deal (here; here) in that context. Spoiler alert: Problematic. First, Ill survey the scale and scope of the flooding, then Ill look briefly at the New Deal flood control programs, and finally Ill look at the Green New Deal (DRAFT TEXT FOR PROPOSED ADDENDUM TO HOUSE RULES FOR 116TH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES). The Midwest Floods of 2019 (So Far) Here is a handy map of current flooding from the the United States Geological Survey. As you can see, theres rather a lot of it: Weather Underground describes the causes of the flooding: The flooding was triggered after an intense bomb cyclone pushed strong winds, mild temperatures, and heavy rain across frozen, snow-covered ground on March 12-14. The result was a flash melt that clogged rivers and streams with huge ice chunks and massive amounts of water. The cyclone itself also caused widespread wind damage and blizzard-related impacts. And Grist describes the effects. In fact, its not just the Midwest: The record-breaking flooding disaster in the Midwest is just beginning. On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued its annual spring flood outlook, and it is downright biblical. By the end of May, parts of 25 states nearly two-thirds of the country could see flooding severe enough to cause damage. Pretty much every major body of water east of the Rockies is at elevated risk of flooding in the coming months, including the Mississippi, the Red River of the North, the Great Lakes, the eastern Missouri River, the lower Ohio, the lower Cumberland, and the Tennessee River basins. This is shaping up to be a potentially unprecedented flood season, with more than 200 million people at risk for flooding in their communities , said Ed Clark, director of NOAAs National Water Center, in a press release. That represents about 60 percent of all Americans. Curbed comments: The midwestern floods join the lengthening list of unprecedented and unexpected natural disasters accelerated and made worse by climate change. And, just like other climate events that have caused widespread damage, our planning, resiliency, and flood insurance programs are ill-equipped to cope. There is, naturally, a lot of flood imagery (Discover, Vox) but the photograph that really struck me was this one: Thats Offut Air Force Base, headquarters of the Strategic Air Command[1]. If theres a better symbol of our societys inability to mobilize against climate change even in its own terms! I have a hard time thinking of it.[2] Now lets turn to how FDR mobilized the United States, back in the Age of Steam, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. New Deal Flood Control Projects From the Roosevelt Institute, writing of the Midwest flooding in 2011 [breaks out calculator] eight years (or two presidential election cycles) ago: Interestingly, 75 years ago the United States faced a very similar natural disaster in the form of the Great Flood of 1936. Unlike today, however, the death and destruction that struck much of the eastern United States as a result of the flood spurred Congress into action. It passed of one of the most significant though lesser-known pieces of legislation to come out of the New Deal: the Flood Control Act of 1936. Recognizing for the first time that destructive floods upon the rivers of the United States constitute a menace to national welfare and that flood control on navigable waters or their tributaries is a proper activity of the Federal Government in cooperation with States, the Roosevelt administration worked with members of Congress to pass the first piece of legislation to provide for national flood relief. The hundreds of reservoir, levee, and channelization projects that resulted from the 1936 act protected millions of acres of farmland, saved countless lives, and literally changed the face of the nation. Taken together, the projects that came about as a consequence of the act constitute one of the largest additions to our nations economic infrastructure, on par with the development of the nations highway system. Moreover, in keeping with the spirit of the New Deal, the construction of many of these flood control projects (which usually took place under the auspices of the US Army Corps of Engineers) also spurred local and regional economic growth and helped conserve one of our nations most precious resources our soil.[3] These New Deal flood control public works[4] projects were quite extensive. From the interactive map at the wonderful Living New Deal site: And from the same site, I pick at random one such project: The Breakheart Reservation in Saugus and Wakefield, Massachusetts, now on the National Register of Historic Places. A photo: And the history: The CCC conducted extensive work on Breakheart Reservation to turn it into a public park. From the Friends of Breakheart Reservation website: [H]undreds of men lived and worked here, paid $30 a month, out of which they kept $5 and sent the rest home to their families. It was the CCC who helped develop this land into a recreational area with bridle paths, trails, and picnic areas. From Wikipedia: In 1934 the executors for Johnson and Clough sold the Breakheart Hill Forest to the Metropolitan District Commission for upwards of $40,000. The MDC then turned the land over to the Civilian Conservation Corps. Over the course of six years, the CCC built roads and trails, planted trees, and restored the dams at Upper Pond and Lower Pond. The CCCs efforts resulted in the return of wildlife that had become rare in Breakheart, including beavers, fishers, coyotes, blue herons, and owls. Breakheart was opened to the public in 1936. So the public has been benefitting from this New Deal public works flood control project for [breaks out calculator again] 83 years. Not to mention the beavers, fishers, coyotes, blue herons, and owls, all of whom are in their own ways helping to keep the biosphere in balance. And the same goes for all the other projects on that map. The Green New Deal and Flood Control Projects Now, with a New Deal track record like that not to mention an ongoing series of flooding disasters in the midwest, dating back to at least the pre-Obama era, in 2007 you might think that the Green New Deal, well, learned from history and included flood control with its project scope. No such luck: (6) SCOPE OF THE PLAN FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL AND THE DRAFT LEGISLATION. eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure, and upgrading water infrastructure to ensure universal access to clean water ; No matter how hard you squint, clean water is not flood control. The omission is especially curious, given the next section: B) The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Plan (and the draft legislation) shall: ensure a just transition for all workers, low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change , pollution and other environmental harm including by ensuring that local implementation of the transition is led from the community level and by prioritizing solutions that end the harms faced by front-line communities from climate change and environmental pollution; Its hard to see how rural residents whose homes (and farms and businesses) are literally underwater arent front-line communities affected by climate change, and why they dont get a bullet point of their own under (6) SCOPE OF THE PLAN, especially, again, considering the success of the flood control efforts of the original New Deal. Now, I have always viewed the GND as a plan to have a plan not a bad thing, an essential thing but that the initial state did not, apparently, include input about a major concern from the Midwest is very concerning. My suggestion to GND advocates is that if they want to be seen as working for all Americans no doubt a good thing with another change election coming up that they remedy this omission tout suite. Frankly, I expected to see this material included in the Draft Text, and was mildly shocked when it wasnt. NOTES [1] Yes, Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove was shot on location at Offut Air Force Base (Burpleson Air Force Base). [2] The photo caption is wonderfully dry: A personally-owned vehicle sits in flood waters March 17, 2019, at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. In the wake of base flooding, the 55th Wing Legal office is offering assistance with claims. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake). From the body of the article: The legal office is here to take care of the whole base and their legal needs and helping people become financially whole after a disaster is part of that, said Capt. Joline Y. Doedens-Combs, 55th WG assistant staff judge advocate. Unlike most, I would think. [3] We also learned about the New Deal and soil in grade school, and that might be a suitable topic for a later post. [4] Dont say infrastructure. Say public works. APPENDIX Two caveats I didnt find a place for: First, Im aware that the New Deal flood control projects are not entirely unproblematic, especially stream channelization. My point is that the New Deal mobilized the country, contrasted with our own curious inability to do. Second, the focus of the GND is greenhouse gases, not saving the biosphere as such; therefore, one might not expect water (or soil) to figure largely, as they did in the original New Deal. Intuitively, I feel that is a mistake; we cannot, for example, envision using a re-prairied Midwest as a carbon sink without thinking about soil and water. Ditto reforestation. (Natural News) What do New York, San Francisco and Chicago all have in common? Theyre all willing victims of socialism. The far-left political ideologies that have consumed these cities are now driving them deep into financial ruin and citizens are fleeing in greater numbers every year. Whether its a lack of job opportunity, exorbitantly expensive housing costs, or high taxes, theres no shortage of bones to pick with socialist policies. While liberals may herald socialism as the progressive dream, its ideologies dont hold up very well in the real world. There is no stronger evidence of that than the mass migration from the most liberal states and cities in the union. New York, San Francisco and Chicago are among the hardest hit and its easy to see why. Citizens say high taxes, exorbitant costs of living and poor job prospects are driving them to look for new places to live. Socialist cities struck by mass exodus The authoritarian, socialist left-wing has been ravaging American states and cities for years, and now, Democrat politicians are reaping what they sow: Citizens around the country are engaging in a mass exodus from liberal cities. As a recent report shows, the state of Illinois has now been suffering population decline for five years in a row. Mary Miller, a 44-year-old Illinois native, told Chicago Tribune exactly what drove her to move across the country. Its taxes. Its corruption. Its politics, she said. Census data shows she wasnt alone: Over 45,000 Illinois residents fled the state between 2017 and 2018. Estimates suggest the city of Chicago is losing 156 people every day. As a whole, Illinois suffered one of the greatest population losses in the country during 2018 second only to New York. According to reports, New York lost a net-total of 48,510 residents between July 2017 and July 2018. Out-migration, or the moving from one state to another, is a key driver for population loss in the Empire State. Some 180,000 residents moved to other states across 2018. Since 2010, its estimated that New York has lost a million citizens to out-migration. The New York City Metro Area has been hit hard by massive relocation. And in sunny California, cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are undergoing a similar population decline. While New York may be leading in population exodus at the state level, survey data shows that San Francisco is topping the charts for relocation among cities. And as Business Insider reports, a growing number of those moving away are Silicon Valley investors. In February 2018, it was estimated that 49 percent of Bay Area dwellers were looking to leave San Francisco. Leftist policies lead to collapse Citizens relocating from left-leaning states and cities all seem to share the same complaints: High taxes, high cost of living, and low opportunity. As Business Insider reports, recent tax reforms in San Francisco have made the already-high cost of living even more burdensome. Some citizens even say that they are leaving for no reason other than the stifling socialist political ideologies which seem to have overtaken the city. The effects of liberal politics can be observed in New York and Chicago as well. Regardless of who you talk to, obscene taxes, unaffordable rents and other exhaustive costs of living are giving residents no choice but to move elsewhere. Indeed, it seems that socialist inclusive policies adopted by these major cities are unceremoniously ousting inhabitants. Who would have thought? As it turns out, raising taxes to the point of insanity is a great way for politicians to drive their cash cows on to newer, greener pastures. See more coverage of the loony lefts latest atrocities and more at LeftCult.news. Sources for this article include: BusinessInsider.com ChicagoTribune.com Bloomberg.com (Natural News) In this day and age, when the presidents detractors are stricken with severely advanced Trump Derangement Syndrome, it shouldnt be a surprise when we hear another virtue-signaling Hollywood Leftist make some outrageous and completely unsubstantiated claim about No. 45. As you may have read, most of Hollywood erupted after gay actor Jussie Smollett, star of Foxs Empire, faked a hate crime attack in which he claimed he was assaulted by two whites and who has now been exonerated by a corrupt states attorney, Kim Foxx. Chicago PD never found any evidence to support the claim but much to refute it, but of course, evidence never mattered to the Hollywood Left; any attack on a gay person (even a fake one) has got to be a direct result of the hate and intolerance of POTUS Donald Trump and VP Mike Pence. Enter actress Ellen Page. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday, she literally accused the president and vice president of spreading hate towards the LGBTQ community and hinting that the alleged attack against Smollett was their fault as well. In a self-terrorizing breakdown, Page claimed that neither Trump nor Pence wanted her to marry her lesbian spouse, either. Im like really fired up right now, but it feels impossible not to feel this way right now with the president and vice president, Mike Pence, who wishes I could not be married, lets just be clear, she said. The vice president of America wishes I didnt have the love with my wife, she continued. He wanted to ban that in Indiana. He believes in conversion therapy, he has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the governor of Indiana, she continued. Making false accusations and unsubstantiated generalizations arent helping In attempting to tie the administration to Smolletts alleged attack, Page added, Connect the dots, this is what happens, though she admitted she didnt know details on a personal level. If you are in a position of power and you hate people and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and theyre going to kill themselves and people are going to be beaten on the street, she said. .@EllenPage is fed up with leaders who promote hatred and intolerance. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/apxXzye5SF The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) February 1, 2019 For his part, POTUS Trump addressed the attack and was very specific in his disdain for it. That, I can tell you, is horrible. It doesnt get worse, he said. First, Smollett. Hes not helping his cause because hes refusing to turn over his cellphone to police detectives looking into the allegations, according to reports. Also, as of Friday, police said that they have discovered video of him arriving home with a rope around his neck, but they still cannot find video evidence of the attack, despite the prevalence of cameras in the area where he says the assault took place. (Related: Americas major media outlets are now making up EVERYTHING they report four huge media hoaxes blow up in their faces.) As for the president and vice president, both of them have taken public stances in favor of support for religious freedom for all Americans, as called for by the First Amendment especially for Christians, since the Left has been persecuting them for years. And as it happens, the Christian faith teaches that marriage should be traditional between a man and a woman. But Christianity does not call for violence against gays and lesbians, like, say, Islam. So to claim that the administrations pro-Christian support is akin to promoting violence isnt just disingenuous, its flat-out wrong. Was Smollett attacked by white Trump supporters? Time will tell, but Page claiming that the president and VP have called for or sanctioned such attacks is false and needless self-terrorization. Read more about the actual good President Trump is doing our country at Trump.news. Sources include: Infowars.com TheNationalSentinel.com (Natural News) The Russia collusion hoax that clouded the first two years of the Trump Presidency was breathed into existence by an antagonistic New York Times and Washington Post. Because these propaganda rags presumed guilt on the President, instilled feckless suspicion, and contrived stories of corruption, journalism in America has lost its credence. The NYT and the WaPo both received numerous journalism awards for their historic reporting about the Russian collusion hoax. Now that the costly investigation is over and Special Counsel Robert Mueller has confirmed that there was no collusion, all the fake news reporting that happened along the way echoes now of dishonesty, obnoxious political bias, and a witch hunt that failed. Because the NYT and WaPo won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on the issue, journalism awards have become a complete joke. Instead, these journalism awards should be called fake news awards. Instead of honoring real journalism, the Pulitzer has put a spotlight on two of the most phony propaganda rags in todays world of information hysteria. The witch hunt failed and liberal activists posing as journalists have been exposed The NYT and the WaPo were once highly credible, dedicated to journalistic integrity. Once upon a time, reporters held those in power accountable with real evidence, not hysteria. Once upon a time, these publications exercised critical thinking with eloquence and resolve. Not today, for they both deserve to be mocked for continuously feeding the public a bunch of lies, hysteria, and conspiracy theories. Their biased reporting has driven democracy into darkness and disarray. The NYT and Washington Post have promoted a crazy political agenda for over two years, aiding and abetting a coup de teat to overthrow a democratically-elected President. Where there is real corruption, these propaganda rags turn a blind eye. Whenever there is a sell-able conspiracy about the President, these propaganda rags are all over it, like maggots on trash. For those journalists who could filter out the hysteria and keep a level head through the Russia-collusion hoax; they have preserved the integrity of journalism itself. They have also preserved a key tenet of American democracy: the presumption of innocence. Americans are innocent until proven guilty. For two years, these propaganda rags fabricated hysteria, connected false conspiratorial dots, and fostered uncanny suspicion to defame, blame, and mock a duly-elected President. Babbling liberal media such as CNN and MSNBC made the circus louder, twisting facts and fabricating stories of collusion within the Trump candidacy. When attorney William Barr presented the final conclusions of the Mueller investigation to Congress, the President was not only exonerated from the conspiracy theories, but there was also a great light penetrated into the heart of those who sought to undermine and overthrow a democratically-elected President. Because these propaganda rags are hell-bent on distorting everything about the President and his America-first agenda, they are not journalism at all. They are all about political activism. This is what the President warns about when he says that fake news is the enemy of the people. Journalism has become weaponized for political gain, and with independent media being censored online, the weaponization of media has become like a second Civil War. Journalism awards should be recalled In February 2017, the NYT published a piece called, Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts with Russian Intelligence, authored by Michael S. Schmidt, Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo. This piece claimed to have sources from four current and former American officials and intercepted calls. Even former FBI Director James B. Comey confirmed that the story was a lie. In a testimony to Congress, he told lawmakers to disregard the phony report because it was debunked by the intelligence community. The story, though, was never retracted nor corrected as a whole. Instead, the story was submitted for a journalism award and actually won a highly coveted Polk Award! The judges praised both propaganda rags: Special recognition goes out this year to the staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post for their extraordinary effort in uncovering the connection between the Trump presidential campaign and the Kremlin that led to Special Counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation, the judges wrote. These journalism awards should be recalled. These journalists arent the only ones who continually perpetuated hysteria about the Russia collusion hoax. Over the past two years, Yahoo News Michael Isikoff and Mother Jones David Corn continued their flimsy careers peddling leftist lunacy about the Trump Administration. The two even co-authored a book titled, Russian Roulette. Full of their own nonsense, they wrote on and on about Trump and Russian collusion, only to realize, after the two-year investigation was over, that they themselves are nothing but mindless pawns who promoted an empty conspiracy. Therefore the good news is two-fold: the witch hunt failed, and the liberal activists posing as journalists have been exposed. Sources include: Breitbart.com DailyCaller.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) SWAT teams have been part of police departments for decades, the concept having grown dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s especially, as the drug wars heated up and gang violence grew. Police justified the investment in SWAT teams as necessary to protect officers from well-armed perpetrators and suspects who often were wigged out on substances or just faced with a desperate situation. However, with the rise of SWAT teams also came the rise in no-knock raids by officers in general essentially, home assaults by often heavily-armed cops hopped up on adrenaline and essentially looking for a gunfight. Increasingly, they got them. As reported by Ammoland, the fallout from a no-knock raid in Houston that occurred in late January continues after two middle-aged homeowners were killed and four officers wounded in a subsequent gun battle. Four cops have retired since the incident. The site reports: Dennis Tuttle was a Navy veteran. His wife, Rhogena Nicholas, was a supporter of President Trump. They had no criminal records. They were married for 20 years and lived in their modest home in Houston for the same 20 years. But on January 28, a SWAT team broke down the door to their home and shot the couples dog. According to reports, Tuttle armed himself and fired back, wounding the officer who shot the dog, thus initiating a gunfight. Police would claim that Tuttle was firing at them with a .357 revolver, but no such gun was discovered on the scene. It seems more likely he was shooting one of the two semi-auto hunting shotguns recovered at his home, Ammoland reported. (Related: John Whitehead: Its time to fight for America and take it back from the corporate tyrants, the lobbyists and the deep state traitors.) Meanwhile, Houston police claim that Nicholas then attempted to take a shotgun away from the wounded officer. In the process of that act, she was shot and killed though it isnt clear, Ammoland reports, whether she ever touched the officers weapon. Early police reports claimed that Tuttle continued to fight police, wounding three additional officers. But the exact timing of events, as well as what happened that morning, is not clear because none of the officers were wearing body cams and surveillance video from a next-door neighbors home was subsequently confiscated by police. This is what increasingly happens with these kinds of raids There were claims that a small amount of pot and cocaine was recovered by police at the residence. No heroin was found and there wasnt any indication that the couple was dealing drugs from their home. Also, an investigation into the incident has found that the evidence used to justify the SWAT raid was falsified. Again, four officers all with more than 20 years in the Houston Police Department have since retired. At least one of them Gerald Goines, listed as the lead narcotics investigator in the case is under the microscope. Following the raid, Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLUs Texas branch, said, No-knock raids put both police officers and residents in extreme, unnecessary danger. We encourage other big-city chiefs and other law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction in Houston to take proactive steps to change these policies, rather than wait for tragedies to occur. Immediately after the raid, the Houston Police Union went on the offensive, according to KTNV in Las Vegas: The Houston Police Union did not hold back after the ambush-style attack. We are sick and tired of having targets on our back, we are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives, said Joe Grimaldi, with the Houston Police Officers Union. [For the record, the police union head is Joe Gamaldi, not Grimaldi.] But the fact is, based on follow-on investigations and reporting, that by all accounts police fired first; the officers were not ambushed. Also, it was a no-knock raid and it was premised on faulty evidence based on an informant that investigators cannot confirm ever existed. Its time to reevaluate the practicality and necessity of no-knock raids. Sources include: ACLUTX.org KTNV.com Ammoland.com NewsTarget.com A customs union beckons - and it won't stop trade deals My regular column is available to subscribers on www.thesundaytimes.co.uk This is an excerpt. Another week on in the Brexit process and I am worried. I may have used up all my best adjectives too soon. This thing could get even madder. And, in a few weeks time, the short rein of Theresa May as prime minister will soon be over; the only former Bank of England official, as far as I know, to have made it to the top job. She lost heavily again on Friday. For all her faults, there was always an element of cling on to nurse for fear of something worse about Theresa May. Who knows who the 100,000 members of the Tory party, one of the least representative electorates in the world, could inflict on us? And then theres Jeremy Corbyn waiting in the wings. But let me be positive. Last week saw the House of Commons seize control of the order paper for a series of indicative votes on the way forward. They have been criticised for failing to agree on any option but that rather misses the point. They do point to a way forward if MPs are prepared to remove their party blinkers. So, for example, a perfectly sensible proposal from George Eustice, the Tory Eurosceptic former agriculture minister who resigned in protest over Mays withdrawal agreement, was the pure Norway option of Britain rejoining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and thus staying in the single market and European Economic Area (EEA). It was heavily defeated by 377 votes to 65. Only a minority of Tory MPs and a tiny handful of Labour MPs supported it. It suffered from its authorship. EFTA countries have profited from their relationship with the EU, whether by being in the single market, as with Norway, Iceland and Liechenstein, or by mirroring it closely, as with Switzerlands large range of bilateral deals with the EU. All have a higher proportion of trade with the EU than Britain does. On the other hand, the Norway-plus Common Market 2.0 proposal, combining EFTA-EEA with a comprehensive customs arrangement, attracted a lot of Labour support but very lukewarm Tory backing. Combine the two and Norway staying in the single market - favoured by me since immediately after the referendum, could yet still be a runner. I fear, however, that like Monty Pythons Norwegian blue it is now a dead parrot. The two indicative votes which came closest last week, and around which a consensus could build this week, were for a permanent customs union with the EU, as proposed by Kenneth Clarke, the former chancellor, which lost by just 272 votes to 264, and a second or confirmatory referendum, defeated by 295 to 264. Let me say at the outset that anything with Clarkes name attached to it deserves to be taken very seriously. As chancellor from 1993 to 1997, not only was he a delight to deal with but he presided over a strong recovery in the economy that in normal circumstances would have seen the Tories romp home in the 1997 election. But then, as now, the party was riven with disagreements over Europe maybe it would have been better if it had split irrevocably back then and also tarnished by the biggest government humiliation since the current one; Britains involuntary and embarrassing exit from the European exchange rate mechanism in September 1992. Does staying in a permanent customs union with the EU make sense? Let me explain. The central point is that within a customs union there are no internal tariff barriers. Exports from Britain to the EU would not attract tariffs, and neither would export to the UK from the EU. Within the customs union there is tariff-free trade. There is not, of course, tariff-free trade from outside the customs union; a common external tariff would apply to imports from the rest of the world, as it does now. Being in a customs union would settle the problem of so-called rules of origin. Anything originating within the customs union would satisfy the requirement for tariff-free trade within it. It would, as Clarke said in the Commons, keep the minimum needed for frictionless trade and an open border in Ireland. We would also need some understanding or moves on regulatory convergence, but that does not need to be dealt with at this stage. Is not the fundamental flaw of a customs union that it restricts Britains ability to negotiate independent trade deals with other countries? No. As the trade expert Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform says he is now tired of pointing out, being in a customs union with the EU does not require Britain to sign up to the EUs common commercial policy, under which it negotiates trade deals with other countries. The common external tariff would constrain Britains freedom of manoeuvre, preventing this country from offering tariff concessions, but would not prevent trade deals from being negotiated, particularly concerning services, which are the dominant part of Britains economy. Are there other disadvantages? A customs union is, in the jargon, trade diversionary. It favours inefficient domestic producers at the expense of more efficient ones overseas. That applies particularly to agriculture. But an increasing proportion even of agricultural imports are tariff-free. A customs union does not tick every box, as Clarke told the Commons. He also favoured the Common Market 2.0 option of staying in the single market as well. The main drawback for this, and for any of the other indicative vote ideas that might rise above the pack this week is the current state of British politics. May made no commitment to being bound by these votes and her successor would probably not be bound at all. No future Tory leader or prime minister would submit to the will of the Commons on a customs union or the single market if that was not already their position. That is why, constructive though these votes may have been in purpose, they may turn out to be a waste of time. Not only that but their outcome will still be seen as second best by the many MPs, and voters, who would rather we just stayed in the EU. Their second-best solution should be to maintain as close a post-Brexit economic relationship with the EU as possible but for many of the most ardent Remainers it is a second referendum or nothing. I would warn them that, while polls point to a modest Remain lead in the polls, most voters have learned very little from the chaos and humiliation of the past three years. Onto the next chapter and, I presume, a further extension of Britains limbo period; neither in noir out. At some stage the fun must stop. The San Diego Rapid Response Network (RRN) let local media tour its newest shelter for migrant families Wednesday, just hours after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced a one-day record for apprehensions and encounters at the U.S. Mexico border. The RRN repurposed an old courthouse building in Bankers Hill after the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted in January to lease the building for $1. County Supervisors said the new facility will help staff and volunteers process thousands of asylum-seeking families that have made their way into the U.S. The County says more than 11,000 families have been processed through its shelters since last November when the federal government stopped providing assistance to asylum seekers. Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill allowing $5 million to fund community organizations that provide service to asylum-seeking families. The RRN will use $2.2 million of that allotted funding through the end of June, but says it needs hundreds of thousands more to get through the end of the year. CBP tweeted that agents made 4,117 apprehensions or encounters along the border on Tuesday, dozens more than the 3,700 recorded the day before which CBP said was the most the agency had seen in 10 years. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that asylum seekers would no longer be granted shelter in the U.S. and would instead have to wait south of the border until the courts are ready to hear their claims. The administration hoped that making asylum seekers wait in Mexico would discourage weak claims and help reduce an immigration court backlog of more than 800,000 cases. But advocates for the thousands of asylum seekers from Central America now camped in shelters or in the streets in Tijuana, many of whom complain of unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, say the policy change is to blame for the rising tensions at the border. Immigration attorney Cesar Luna told NBC 7 he believes the policy change is a strategy the U.S. government has deployed to make things more difficult for migrants. Unfortunately, the new procedures that have been recently established, we believe they're wrong. They are, perhaps, even illegal with regards to having people stopped at the border and having to wait for their turn in Mexico, Luna said. Pedro Rios with the American Friends Service Committee says President Trumps policy change doesnt agree with international asylum procedure. The U.S. is making it so difficult by posting agents at ports of entry denying people the ability to come in, to force them to get some sort of number and wait months in Tijuana -- it's inconsistent and violates those international agreements around asylum procedures, Rios said. Supporters of the Trump administration's policy say the crisis at the border is evidence of the need for an extended border wall. Those on the other side say the U.S. should continue to help the impoverished countries where drug cartels are terrorizing citizens are driving them north out of apparent desperation. Heroism runs in the Pratt family. Marvel superhero and actor Chris Pratt visited the Travis Air Force Base Friday as his brother Daniel "Cully" Pratt, a Solano sheriff's deputy, was honored as a hometown hero at a Thunderbirds air show. He even pulled a 9g. "I had a once in a life time experience! I had the opportunity to fly in an hour long #F-16 fighter jet with the #thunderbirds," Pratt wrote on Instagram, captioning the photos of him along side his sibling. The Army veteran joined Pittsburg Police Department as an officer in 2003, and he later went on to serve with the City of Rio Vista before eventually becoming the public information officer of the Solano County Sheriff's Office. "The work he does for his community is amazing and he helps so many people who are in need! He is truly a hometown hero! Thanks for flying with me Cully!," Maj. Jason Markzon said. Pratt has been instrumental in helping children and families through The Leaven organization, which provides after-school tutoring and mentoring services to at-risk neighborhoods, the Travis Air Force Base said. Pratt is also a founder of a non-profit that helps first-responders with an outlet to socialize and receive suppor. He spent 8.5 years in the U.S. Army, serving as an infantryman, Military Police Officer and an Army Recruiter and Retention Officer, according to the Solona County Sheriff's Office. "So incredibly proud of my brother @cullypratt for flying with the thunderbirds at #ThunderOverTheBay He pulled 9 Gs!!! I never tire of spending time with our men and women in uniform," Chris Pratt wrote on Instagram. The Thunder Birds will be performing Saturday and Sunday in the "Thunder over the Bay" air show. It is a free event with more than 10 performers and over 20 static displays. Border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of a top government effort to address the swelling number of Central Americans arriving in the country, a Trump administration official said Saturday. It was the latest attempt to ease a straining immigration system that officials say is at the breaking point. Hundreds of officers who usually screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry were reassigned to help manage migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department, sent a letter to Congress late this past week requesting resources and broader authority to deport families faster, and she met with Central American and Mexican officials. The efforts are being made while President Donald Trump is doubling down on threats to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border entirely, a move that would have serious economic repercussions for both the U.S. and Mexico but wouldn't stop migrants from crossing between ports. His administration also announced it was cutting aid to the Central American countries home to most of the migrants. Right now, about 60 asylum seekers a day are returned to Mexico at the San Ysidro, Calexico and El Paso ports to wait out their cases, the official said. They are allowed to return to the U.S. for court dates. The plan was announced Jan. 29, partially to deter false claimants from coming across the border. With a backlog of more than 700,000 immigration cases, asylum seekers can wait years for their cases to progress, and officials say some people game the system in order to live in the U.S. Officials hope to have as many as 300 people returned per day by the end of the week, focusing particularly on those who come in between ports of entry, said the official, who had knowledge of the plans but was unauthorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. But the process so far has been slow-going, and such a sizeable increase may be difficult to achieve. The plan has already been marred by confusion, scheduling glitches and an inability by some attorneys to reach their clients. In San Ysidro alone, Mexico had been prepared to accept up to 120 asylum seekers per week, but for the first six weeks only 40 people per week were returned. Plus, U.S. officials must check if asylum seekers have any felony convictions and notify Mexico at least 12 hours before they are returned. Those who cross illegally must have come as single adults, though the administration is in talks with the Mexican government to include families. Children are not returned. Homeland Security officials have been grappling with an ever-growing number of Central American children and families coming over the border. Arrests soared in February to a 12-year-high and more than half of those stopped arrived as families, many of them asylum seekers who generally turn themselves in instead of trying to elude capture. Guatemala and Honduras have replaced Mexico as the top countries, a remarkable shift from only a few years ago. Migrants from Central America cannot be easily deported, unlike people crossing from Mexico. Mexico has been treading lightly on the subject. After Trump lashed out, saying Mexico and the Central American nations were "doing nothing" about illegal immigration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country would do everything it could to help to maintain a "very respectful relationship" with the U.S. government and Trump. Meanwhile, Nielsen sent a letter to the heads of other agencies within her sprawling, 240,000-person department, asking for volunteers to help with border duties. And she wrote to Congress asking for more temporary facilities to process people, more detention space, and the ability to detain families indefinitely and to deport unaccompanied minors from Central America. While children from Mexico can be returned over the border, laws prohibit deportation to other countries. Democratic congressional leaders expressed deep concern, saying the administration wanted to revive "horrific" and "immoral" plans, noting its failed hardline border policies have created "senseless heartbreak and horror." "Democrats reject any effort to let the administration deport little children, and we reject all anti-immigrant and anti-family attacks from this President," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat contributed to this report. With less than 48 hours until Election Day, Chicago mayoral candidates Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot are criss-crossing the city, delivering their final pitches to voters ahead of their Tuesday showdown. Lightfoot, who has been leading in most polls, is pushing for change in the mayors office, while Preckwinkle has been emphasizing her experience as a public servant with the campaign winding down. Lightfoot held a rally Sunday at her South Shore campaign office, with Rep. Robin Kelly standing alongside her. Change is coming, Lightfoot said. Meanwhile, Preckwinkle went on a tour of numerous city churches, visiting eight congregations in all on the South and West sides of the city. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White accompanied her on that tour, as she touted her work as the Cook County Board President. Ive done the difficult work (to bring change to neighborhoods), she said. In spite of polls that have shown Lightfoot with a substantial lead, as much as 30 percent in some cases, Preckwinkle is confident that her campaign has done good work in identifying voters and in energizing them to get out and vote on Election Day. Weve done a lot of good work to identify our voters, and were trying to make sure they get out, she said. The race is going to be close. Lightfoot also sounded a call to her supporters to get out and vote, and elaborated on what she would do if she were elected to the mayors office. I think the mandate is to clean up city government, to make it much more responsive, she said. (To) make it much more transparent and accountable for sure, and also just to be honest about the challenges (we face). As the campaign comes to an end, both candidates have agreed, at the urging of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, to hold a joint press conference on the morning after Election Day to show unity. (Showing unity) is what you have to do in any election process, Preckwinkle said. I think its really important that that be clear to folks. 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. Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s lawsuit, announced Thursday, asks a federal court to throw out a portion of this year's U.S. military appropriations act that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment on the grounds it is unconstitutional. It comes as the biggest global maker of network equipment for phone and internet companies fights U.S. efforts to persuade allies to exclude the company from next-generation telecom systems. The complaint, filed in Plano, Texas, the headquarters of Huawei's U.S. operations, cites the framers of the U.S. Constitution, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, in arguing that the law in question violates the constitutional separation of powers, denies due process and amounts to a "Bill of Attainder" that singles out a specific entity for adverse treatment. It says the law causes the company "concrete and particularized injury, and imminent future injury" and subjects it to a "burden that is severe, permanent and inescapable" that amounts to the corporate "death penalty." Huawei, China's first global tech brand, is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology competition and cyber-spying. The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations it facilitates Chinese spying or is controlled by the ruling Communist Party. Increasingly, both sides appear to be resorting to courts to try to press their cases. "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 after a federal court in Seattle unsealed a 10-count indictment in January against two of its units, Huawei Device Co. and Huawei Device USA. The charges include conspiracy to steal trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets, wire fraud and obstruction of justice. The company's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, is fighting extradition to the U.S. after she was arrested in Vancouver, Canada on Dec. 1. U.S. prosecutors have filed charges accusing Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei's founder, of lying to banks about dealings with Iran. Huawei denies any wrongdoing. The company has about 40 percent of the global market for network gear but 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. U.S. authorities "have hacked our servers and stolen our emails" but have presented no evidence to support their security claims, Guo said. He complained Washington was "sparing no effort to smear" the company. The U.S. campaign to persuade allies to shun Huawei threatens to block access to major markets as phone carriers prepare to invest billions of dollars in 5G systems. 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 percent of the global market for computer and telecom technology. Huawei says the U.S. law it is protesting 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, at the news conference. "Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered." The Chinese government says Washington fabricates or exaggerates security concerns to block competition. 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. 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 continue. 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 cooperate with intelligence agencies. They say Huawei and other tech companies might be required to install "backdoors" in equipment to allow eavesdropping. Huawei denies altering its equipment to facilitate spying and has set up testing centers 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. The company also has launched a public relations campaign abroad. Its typically press-shy founder, Ren, gave a two-hour interview to foreign reporters in January in which he said Huawei would reject Chinese government demands to disclose confidential information about its customers. Since then, Ren also has talked at length with foreign TV broadcasters. Three people are dead and at least nine others have been wounded in shootings across the city of Chicago so far this weekend. The citys first fatal shooting occurred just after noon on Friday in the 3500 block of West 38th Place, according to police. Authorities say that two men were standing on a sidewalk at the location when a grey van pulled up, two gunmen got out of the vehicle, and opened fire. One man, a 21-year-old, was shot in the stomach and was later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital later Friday, police said. A 33-year-old man was also taken to Mount Sinai after being shot in the left leg. His condition is not known at this time. At approximately 4:24 p.m., a 30-year-old man was shot during an argument in an apartment building in the 9200 block of South Dauphine, police said. The man was shot multiple times, and was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Police say a gun was recovered from the victims body, and an investigation into the altercation and shooting remains ongoing. Just before 7 p.m. Friday, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in the 3500 block of West 58th Street, according to authorities. The boy was walking in a group when four men jumped out of a black SUV and began firing shots, striking him twice in the back. The teen was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. Here are the rest of the areas shootings so far this weekend: Friday: At approximately 1:17 p.m. in the 500 block of East 40 th Street, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the left leg, according to police. The teen was in the back seat of a vehicle at the time of the shooting, and police say they recovered at least 24 shell casings at the scene. The teen was taken to the University of Chicago in stable condition. Street, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the left leg, according to police. The teen was in the back seat of a vehicle at the time of the shooting, and police say they recovered at least 24 shell casings at the scene. The teen was taken to the University of Chicago in stable condition. Just after 11 p.m. Friday night, an 18-year-old man was on foot when he got into a verbal altercation with another man in the 100 block of North Western Avenue, police said. The man was then shot in the leg and was taken to Stroger in stable condition. The gunman got into a black pickup truck and fled the scene. Two people, including a 14-year-old boy, were driving in the 2900 block of West Monroe at approximately 11:20 p.m. when a person in a passing black sedan opened fire, striking both of them. A 44-year-old man was taken to Stroger in stable condition with gunshot wounds to his arm and leg, while the teen was taken to Stroger with a gunshot wound to his lower backside. He is also in stable condition. Saturday: An Illinois State Trooper who was killed in the line of duty will be honored with funeral services in her hometown of Warren next week, state police announced Saturday. A visitation service for Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, who was struck and killed by a semi-truck while investigating another vehicle, will be held on Tuesday afternoon from 4 to 7 p.m. at Warren High School in Warren. A law enforcement walk-through will begin at 6 p.m., and officers will be able to line up beginning at 4:30 p.m., according to the Illinois State Police. A funeral service for Jones-Story will also be held at the high school on Wednesday beginning at 2 p.m. Officers are asked not to arrive at the school before noon, as school will be in session on the day of the service. Per the wishes of the troopers family, burial services will be private. A northern Illinois sheriff is suing the county board and top county officials, saying they've cut his office's budget so much that the safety and well-being of residents is at risk. The Rockford Register Star reports Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana filed a lawsuit Friday against the county board, chairman and treasurer. It's the latest move in a two-year fight over funding for the sheriff's office. The disagreement started when the board cut the sheriff's office budget by $4.3 million in fiscal year 2018. Caruana didn't make all the cuts. But one that he did make laying off reserve deputies who provide security at county buildings angered county officials. Caruana's lawsuit asks a judge to compel the county board to approve a budget that meets the sheriff's obligations. A Connecticut businessman is scheduled to go on trial in connection with a human trafficking ring that police say preyed on mentally ill and intellectually disabled boys and young men for more than 20 years. State prosecutors are scheduled to begin presenting evidence to a jury Monday in Danbury Superior Court in the trial of Bruce Bemer. The Glastonbury resident and owner of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl racetrack has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges including patronizing underage trafficking victims and accessory to human trafficking. Authorities identified alleged 15 victims of the trafficking ring, but say there could be hundreds more. Two other men were arrested. Robert King, of Danbury, has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. William Trefzger, of Westport, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison. By Washington Examiner, March. 30, 2019 A federal judge in California struck down the state's gun magazine ban Friday, saying it was unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez, who previously served on the California Superior Court and was appointed to the Southern District of California by George W. Bush in 2004, said in his decision that the state's ban on magazines capable of holding any more than 10 rounds severely restricts California residents' Second Amendment rights. The autonomy that Southern Baptist churches have always jealously protected is at the core of the sexual abuse problems plaguing them, ministers say. The Odessa American reports the Revs. Aubrey Jones, Mike Atkins and John Copeland say the instances recently detailed by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News have brought increased vigilance to Baptist churches everywhere. The newspapers said 220 ministers, deacons, volunteers and Sunday school teachers have been convicted of abusing church members and children during the past two decades. "One case is a too many," said Jones, pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church. "It's not only a crime and a tragedy against innocent people, it breaks God's heart." Noting that the SBC is a national organization while Texas Southern Baptist churches belong to the Dallas-based Baptist General Convention of Texas, Jones said, "The SBC hasn't done itself any favors, finding the best way to do the wrong thing. "I'm not making excuses, but one of the things making it difficult is that the SBC is not top-down like the Catholic Church, where the priests are answerable to a bishop who tells them where to go for their next assignment and can stop somebody if there is a problem. "Each Southern Baptist church makes its own decisions. If a pastor has been a predator, abusing people, and leaves before it becomes public knowledge, he can go to another church. There hasn't been a way to stop that because you're chasing them from behind. But I wouldn't be surprised to start seeing some policies put into place at the state and national levels." In the meantime, Jones said, it's up to the individual churches "to do what we can to protect our people rather than sit around waiting for somebody in another town to come up with an idea." He said Chapel Hill "has a two-up system" with no adult being left alone with a child or children. Doors are left open and the interiors of rooms kept visible through windows. Men are not allowed to change diapers and background checks are done on all ministerial staff members, paid nursery workers and volunteers for overnight trips, youth camps and children's church. "Our policy is that if you see something, say something," the pastor said. "We can't afford to get sloppy on this because kids' safety is important to us." The Atkins was hurt by the revelations "because these are guys working in church and you think your kids are safe and they just keep getting away with it," he said. "I'm afraid the ladies and girls think this is a man of God and you can't go against him," said the Kingston Avenue Baptist Church pastor. "I was a minister 10 or 12 years ago in Paris and a college student said this had happened to her at a church in the Dallas area. "The youth minister had convinced her that that was the thing to do. She said, `I wanted to marry a youth minister anyway.' I told her, `You should have sent that boy to jail.' And she said, `I didn't know that a man of God's authority could be misused."' Atkins said a prospective Kingston Avenue youth minister meets with a committee that observes a month of prayers, then meets with him again to go into more detail. No single men are hired. The church avoids closed door meetings between genders. "We do everything we can to stay away from any possibility of rumors getting started," Atkins said. "According to Scripture, we are held to a higher standard and that needs to be adhered to." Copeland, pastor of Crescent Park Baptist Church, said most major denominations "have been hit by the same kind of thing. "I'm wondering if pastors just need more personal accountability," he said "Not to excuse any of this, but who pastors the pastor?" Copeland, West Texas coordinator for the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute in Irving, said it "is a very sad day" because Christianity in general has been sullied. "Even the Catholic Church, which is extremely connected and has more power to bring discipline to the lives of ministers, hasn't stopped this stuff from happening," he said. Copeland said Crescent Park has windows in the ministers' offices so nothing is hidden. "We never get behind closed doors with a member of the opposite sex," he said. "We have a lot of protections in place, so we are very aware of it." Death row inmates Patrick Murphy and Domineque Ray each turned to courts recently with a similar plea: Halt my execution if the state won't let a spiritual adviser of my faith accompany me into the execution chamber. Both cases wound up at the Supreme Court. And while the justices overrode a lower court and allowed Ray's execution to go forward in Alabama in February, they gave Murphy, a Texas inmate, a temporary reprieve Thursday night. What the justices wrote suggests the opposite results came down to one thing: timing. Ray, a Muslim, didn't ask to be joined by his spiritual adviser soon enough, while Murphy, a Buddhist, did. Spencer Hahn, one of Ray's attorneys, said in a telephone interview Friday that he hoped his client had helped bring attention to the fact some inmates are treated differently when it comes to religious advisers in the execution chamber. "I'd like to think Mr. Ray's death was not in vain," he said. Hahn said the Supreme Court's action in Murphy's case sends a message to other corrections departments: "The Supreme Court doesn't want to see people mistreated like this in their final moments." Ray, 42, was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and murder of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville. His attorneys argued that Alabama's execution procedure violated the Constitution by favoring Christian inmates over Muslims. A Christian chaplain employed by the prison is typically present in the execution chamber during a lethal injection, but the state would not let Ray's imam in the chamber, arguing only prison employees are allowed for security reasons. A federal appeals court halted Ray's execution, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision and let it take place Feb. 7. The court's five conservative justices said Ray waited until just 10 days before his execution to raise the issue. The court's four liberal justices dissented. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that Ray's request to have his imam by his side was denied on Jan. 23 and he sued five days later. Ray's imam watched the execution from an adjoining witness room. Murphy's plea was similar. The 57-year-old, who was among a group of inmates who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000 and then committed numerous robberies, including one where a police officer was fatally shot, became a Buddhist while in prison. He asked that his spiritual adviser, a Buddhist priest, accompany him into the execution chamber. Texas officials said no. They argued that only chaplains who had been extensively vetted by the prison system were allowed in the chamber. While Christian and Muslim chaplains were available, no Buddhist priest was. Murphy's lawyers argued that violated their client's rights. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Neil Gorsuch would have allowed Murphy's execution to proceed. But a majority of the Supreme Court said the state can't carry out Murphy's execution at this time unless it permits Murphy's spiritual adviser or another Buddhist reverend the state chooses to accompany him in the execution chamber. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel said Thursday that the state would review the ruling to determine how to respond. Speaking just for himself, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote "that Murphy made his request to the State in a sufficiently timely manner, one month before the scheduled execution." No other justice wrote separately. Kavanaugh said the state has two options going forward: allow all inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room, or allow religious advisers only in the viewing room, not the execution room. Robert Dunham, the head of the Death Penalty Information Center, said it's possible something besides timing was considered by the justices. "The more centrist conservatives on the court may have been stung by the overwhelming criticism they received from people across the political and religious and ideological spectrum" following Ray's execution, he said. It was not clear how many other inmates might find themselves in a similar situation. Only eight states, including Texas and Alabama, carried out executions last year. But law professor James A. Sonne, whose Stanford clinic has studied the issue of chaplains' presence at executions, said most of the 30 states with the death penalty allow a chaplain of the inmate's choice to be present at the execution, though that doesn't necessarily mean in the death chamber. He called Thursday's ruling a "sea-change." Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano and Michael Graczyk contributed to this report. A 25-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping and murdering a New Jersey woman who went missing in Columbia, South Carolina, after a night out with friends. Investigators said Nathaniel David Rowland killed Samantha Josephson, of Robbinsville Township, New Jersey, in the early hours of March 29 and dumped her body in a rural area outside Columbia. Large amounts of her blood and Josephson's cell phone were found inside his car, according to investigators. Authorities also found a container of liquid bleach, window cleaner and sanitizing wipes. Josephson was a senior at the University of South Carolina with hopes of continuing her education at Philadelphia's Drexel University, according to her family. Instead, the 21-year-old was found murdered by a group of hunters, Columbia police said. Officials suspect Josephson accidentally climbed into Rowland's car thinking it was the Uber she had been waiting for in the 5 Points section of Columbia. "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write these words this morning. Our prayers are with the family and friends of Samantha Josephson following the devastating news of her death," USC president Harris Pastides said in a statement to students. Josephson's father posted on Facebook that he "will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life." The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Friday that it is poised to deliver aid to Venezuela, warning that it will not accept any interference from President Nicolas Maduro or opposition leader Juan Guaido. Federation president Francesco Rocca said at a news conference in the capital of Caracas that the humanitarian network can start distributing assistance to an estimated 650,000 people in the South American country in around 15 days. The Red Cross "can never accept interference from other actors," Rocca added, saying that Venezuela was a deeply polarized country and it was vital that no one take advantage of the aid. On Twitter, however, Guaido almost immediately claimed credit for the effort, saying the announcement amounted to a victory for "our struggle." He also said medical aid would be coming into Venezuela in a matter of days, reiterating a promise that he was forced to renege on in February after security forces blocked U.S.-backed assistance from entering the country and clashed with protesters. Guaido said Venezuelans should stay vigilant to make sure incoming aid is not diverted for "corrupt" purposes, but did not expound on the logistics of aid shipments nor say whether any agreement had been made with Maduro to let them in. The leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly has previously rejected the idea of negotiations with Maduro, saying his embattled adversary must resign immediately so that elections can be held. Early Friday evening, pro-Maduro demonstrators tried to block Guaido as he arrived in a vehicle to address a crowd in a Caracas neighborhood. Police, who in the past have cracked down on opposition gatherings, set off a tear gas canister to disperse the government supporters and formed a line to separate the two groups. Maduro, who has previously denied that Venezuela was suffering a humanitarian crisis, did not immediately comment on the Red Cross initiative. A Chinese plane, meanwhile, arrived at the country's main airport, carrying what Venezuelan officials said was a 65-ton cargo of medical supplies. The plane was positioned near a plane that had brought Russian military personnel to Venezuela last weekend. The scene, and the timing of the aid arrival, projected symbolism for Maduro's government, which counts China and Russia among its allies but has been urged to give up power by the United States and dozens of other countries. The latest announcement comes as dire conditions in Venezuela force millions to leave the country and make lives elsewhere. Many who have stayed behind struggle to afford supplies of food and medicine, while nationwide power outages this month have exacerbated widespread misery. A new blackout struck Venezuela Friday evening, plunging much of the nation again into darkness. Netblocks, a non-government group based in Europe that monitors internet censorship, said the latest outage left just 10 percent of Venezuela's telecommunications infrastructure online. Rocca said he couldn't accept the idea of children dying because of a lack of electricity, and he said Red Cross workers would focus on the medical needs of hospitals, regardless of whether they are state-run or not. "The distribution has to be neutral," he said. Rocca added that the Red Cross would consider delivering aid currently being stored on the Colombian and Brazilian sides of the border with Venezuela, as long as it meets the protocols of the humanitarian organization. On Feb. 23, Guaido attempted to deliver that aid, much of which was provided by the United States in a direct challenge to the rule of Maduro. But Maduro said the shipments were part of a coup attempt against him, and armed forces blockaded the assistance. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry as well as individuals linked to Maduro in an attempt to force him from power, and it now leads many countries in supporting Guaido's claim that Maduro's re-election last year was rigged. In Washington, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela welcomed the latest aid distribution plan. "This looks like a real opportunity and we think it is a response to the efforts that interim president Guaido has been making," said the envoy, Elliott Abrams. Associated Press journalists Jorge Rueda and Matthew Lee contributed. Democratic presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar expressed support Saturday for strengthening antitrust laws and enforcement to break up big agriculture monopolies. "You've got these giant corporations that are making bigger and bigger profits ... and they're putting the squeeze on family farms and small farms," Warren said at the Heartland Forum, which was focused on rural issues. The U.S. senator from Massachusetts called for breaking up some of the biggest farming corporations "so that they not only do not have that kind of economic power, so that they're wiping out competition, so they're taking all the profits for themselves ... but also so that they don't have that kind of political power." While supporting an antitrust approach, Klobuchar, a senator and Minnesota Democrat, also proposed putting a fee on corporate mergers to help investigate noncompetitive practices. "If we stifle competition through monopolies, we're not just going to bring up the prices for consumers, we're going to stifle entrepreneurship," she said. Targeting monopolies was a key part of the agriculture policy Warren rolled out this week, which included a handful of proposals aimed at helping family farmers compete in a market increasingly saturated by major corporations. Klobuchar and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, another White House hopeful who attended the forum, also rolled out rural-focused policies this week. Klobuchar announced a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would help expand access to rural broadband and strengthen roads and bridges. Delaney offered a comprehensive rural plan that included proposals to strengthen family farmers and rural infrastructure. Other White House contenders at the forum were former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who is considering launching a bid. The attention on agricultural communities and issues is the result of a recognition that Democrats need to do more to win over rural voters, especially in places like Iowa. The state has long been a presidential battleground, but Iowa has trended more solidly Republican over the past two election cycles, a troubling sign for Democrats seeking to oust President Donald Trump. "There needs to be a better connection made between politicians and rural Americans," said Aaron Heley Lehman, the president of Iowa Farmers' Union, which hosted the forum and bussed in members from neighboring states to hear the candidates. In the early days of the 2020 Democratic primary, many candidates are focusing on building that connection. Several contenders, including former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, have campaigned in parts of rural Iowa that haven't seen much Democratic activity in years. Delaney is the only Democratic candidate so far to visit all 99 of Iowa's counties. That's a key part of what Democrats need to do to win back rural America, according to Iowa state Rep. Mary Gaskill simply show up. "There are a lot of people who are hesitant to come out as a Democrat, because they all feel neglected, or abused or shunned by their neighbor," she said. Gaskill is the only Democratic lawmaker in her area, and represents a red county that went for Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2016 but one that Barack Obama won by nearly 12 points in 2012. Now, at least two candidates Sens. Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand have campaigned there, a development Gaskill welcomes. "We might see our neighbors there, that we didn't know they were Democrats," she said. O'Rourke didn't attend Saturday's forum. But his first Iowa swing as a presidential candidate included stops in small towns that swung from Democrats to Republicans in 2016. He didn't change much of his message during the swing O'Rourke still talked about the need for gun control, legal marijuana and a compassionate immigration program. But his top strategist in the state, Norm Sterzenbach, said the key was to bring those policies to people that hadn't heard directly from Democrats before. "Maybe those ideas you like, maybe you don't, but you'll never know if we're not in there communicating," he said. Gillibrand, a U.S. senator from New York, recently visited the same swath of eastern Iowa, pitching herself to voters as a candidate who could defeat Trump because she's won in red areas of her state. She, too, didn't shy away from embracing progressive policies like gun control, universal health care and the Green New Deal, and she touted her work on the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military. Neither Gillibrand nor O'Rourke won everyone over. Tom Courtney, the Des Moines County Democratic Party chairman, hosted an event for both candidates and said he wasn't impressed by their message. "O'Rourke didn't, and (Gillibrand) didn't make a good case for rural Iowa either nobody's doing that yet. She was talking a lot of issues that liberals always talk about," he said, citing leadership on the global stage, the president's morals or abortion rights. "Trump got elected by telling people he was gonna fix their lives. I'm not hearing that here." Some of the Heartland Forum attendees were, however, impressed by the candidates' depth of understanding of rural issues and the policies they've proposed to tackle them. Jeri Neal, a retired sustainable agriculture consultant from Ames, said she was impressed at how fluent Klobuchar was on rural issues. She also appreciated the "hope and optimism" that the candidates showed when discussing policy solutions. "What I liked about today was they really were willing to think about what's causing the problem, and how do we change that," she said. "Instead of treating the problem, they're really willing to say, 'Why do we have this problem?' And treat that." But Matt Russell, a farmer from Lacona, Iowa, said he wanted the candidates to have included farmers as a key player in some of their proposals to solve the problems confronting rural America. "I was a little bit disappointed that there was a lot of description of the problems in rural America, but there wasn't a lot of talk of where farmers could play a really good role in providing solutions," he said. Russell said he feels that Democrats spend too much money on consultants to help them figure out what strategic policies to promote, and not enough time on actually investing in Democratic leadership and organizing at the local level in rural America. And that remains a key question for Democrats: Will the fresh emphasis on rural issues will translate to added support on the ground? Becky Bryant, a retired teacher who grew up in Storm Lake and comes from a farming family, said even a fresh effort by Democrats to take their message to rural America may fall flat in areas where being Republican is in peoples' DNA. "I waited to change my affiliation till after my father died, because he would've been horrified. I had people attacking me because I changed parties," she said. Asked how Democrats could win over voters like her family, she paused for a long minute. "When they don't understand that the tariffs have caused them problems, when they believe that Trump is here biblically, it's a tough row to hoe," she said. What to Know The 20-year-old son of a Philadelphia Police Department official was shot to death at a city park, the department confirmed Sunday. Nicholas Flacco, the son of PPD Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco, was gunned down at Philly's FDR Park. A $35,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to an arrest. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the gunman who shot and killed the 20-year-old son of a Philadelphia Police Department official at a city park. Nicholas Flacco is the son of PPD Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco, who heads the department's Internal Affairs Unit, police said. He was gunned down Saturday night at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park. Police responded to the park around 10 p.m. after someone called to report the shooting. The suspect fled in a green sedan, police said. Police have not released a physical description of the suspect but say he was dressed in all black clothing. Flacco, who was home from Penn State's main campus to celebrate his 20th birthday, and friends were in the park after attending Saturday's Phillies game against the Atlanta Braves. The game ended around 7:30 p.m. The group was tailgating. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Monday that two groups of women had an altercation before the male shooter appeared. Ross said the man could be a third party. The shooter fired two gunshots one into the air and another into the ground before starting to walk away. Ross said he then turned around, aimed at Flacco's chest and fired the ultimately fatal shot from 15 feet away. "It appears that this individual deliberately fired a round into [Flacco's] chest," Ross said. A motive for the shooting has not yet been released, and police have not made any arrests. Ross said they have interviewed several witnesses, but is asking for anyone with information to come forward. On Sunday, John McNesby, the president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents Philadelphia law enforcement officers, called the shooting a senseless act of violence. "Right now the family is asking for privacy and prayers and that is what we're doing," McNesby said. The FOP is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information leading to an arrest. The city of Philadelphia is also offering $20,000 while the Philadelphia Firefighters & Paramedics Union Local 22 is offering $5,000, bringing the total to $35,000. What to Know California last conducted an execution in 2006 More than 700 inmates are on the nation's largest death row California voters have consistently rejected repeal efforts, voting in 2016 to speed up the appeals process California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he is taking executive action to halt the use of the death penalty in California. Newsom signed the order Wednesday, granting a reprieve for the state's more than 730 condemned inmates for as long as he is governor. The order doesn't change existing convictions or sentences and no one will be released as a result of the action. At a Wednesday news conference, the first-term governor said his views on capital punishment were shaped 40 years ago by his grandfather and father, who advocated on behalf of wrongly convicted prisoners. 12:45pm: The death chamber at San Quentin. Closed. pic.twitter.com/0zK4UUItBG Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) March 13, 2019 "It's a very emotional place that I stand," Newsom said Wednesday. "This is about who I am as a human being, this is about what I can or cannot do; to me this was the right thing to do. "I was a young man learning that life story. I've gotten a sense over a course of many, many years over the disparities in our criminal justice system." In a statement issued earlier, Newsom said a civilized society can't claim to be a world leader as long as its government "continues to sanction the premediated and discriminatory execution of its people." Newsom had been calling elected officials around the state to share some information, but the official announcement was made Wednesday morning in Sacramento. Two sources familiar with the governor's plans confirmed plans Tuesday to NBC4's I-Team. California, which has 737 condemned inmates and the nation's largest death row, has not executed anyone since 2006. Newsom has been openly advocating for a moratorium on the death penalty and told the LA Times this week that he has asked his legal advisers to research his options as governor. "It doesn't necessarily square with the values... and the hearts and minds of tens of millions of Californians," Newsom said at a Wednesday news conference. Newsom's action is temporary, and a repeal of capital punishment would be up to California voters, who have consistently rejected statewide ballot measures to repeal the death penalty. In 2016, voters narrowly passed a ballot measure to speed up executions in California by fast-tracking appeals, but no condemned inmate was facing imminent execution. Current death row inmates include Scott Peterson, convicted in the death of his wife Laci, and Richard Davis, sentenced for kidnapping and strangling 12-year-old Polly Klaas. The last inmate to be executed in California was Clarence Ray Allen, killed Jan. 17, 2006 at age 76. Allen, sentenced to death on three counts of first-degree murder, was on death row for more than two decades before a lethal injection was administered. California now houses one of every four condemned inmates in the country. Early Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted his disagreement with Newsom. He said "friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!." Newsom "is usurping the express will of California voters and substituting his personal preferences via this hasty and ill-considered moratorium on the death penalty," said Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy (Los Angeles County) District Attorneys. The governor's office sent emails that included the phrase, "...will announce a death penalty moratorium via executive action." An administration source in the governor's office said the order does the following: Puts in place an executive moratorium on the death penalty in the form of a reprieve for all individuals sentenced to death in California. Withdrawals California's lethal injection protocol. Immediately closes the execution chamber at San Quentin. States clearly the directive does not provide for the release of any individual from prison or otherwise alter any current conviction or sentence. Newsom's action is likely to face a court challenge, but aides said he is not changing any convictions or allowing for early release. A governor needs approval from the state Supreme Court to pardon or commute the sentence of anyone twice convicted of a felony. Last year, justices lblocked several clemency requests by former Gov. Jerry Brown that did not involve condemned inmates. Other governors also have enacted moratoriums. Republican Illinois Gov. George Ryan was the first in 2000 and later was followed by Pennsylvania, Washington and Oregon. Illinois ultimately outlawed executions, as did Washington. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, applauded Newsom's decision. "As a career law enforcement official, I have opposed the death penalty because it is immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars," she said in a statement. The California Innocence Project, which works to exonerate people on death row in the state, lauded the upcoming announcement. "It has been my dream for many years that we would end the human rights violation known as the death penalty in California," Justin Brooks, Director of the California Innocence Project and a Professor at California Western School of Law, said in a statement. "It is certain that as long as there is the death penalty there is the risk of executing innocent people. I am proud of our new Governor for taking this bold step." The District Attorney's Association also responded to the planned announcement: "The voters of the State of California support the death penalty," Michele Hanisee, President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys said in a statement. "That is powerfully demonstrated by their approval of Proposition 66 in 2016 to ensure the death penalty is implemented, and their rejection of measures to end the death penalty in 2016 and 2006. Governor Newsom, who supported the failed initiative to end the death penalty in 2006, is usurping the express will of California voters and substituting his personal preferences via this hasty and ill-considered moratorium on the death penalty." Equality California, the nation's largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, also responded to the planned action: "Equality California applauds Governor Newsom for the principled leadership he has demonstrated through this decision," Rick Zbur, executive director of the organization, said in a statement. "Fairness and equality are fundamental California values. But these core values are not reflected in our state's broken death penalty system. We cannot accept a system in which certain communities especially communities of color and the LGBTQ community are disproportionately vulnerable simply because of our race, our sexual orientation or gender identity, how much money we have or where we are from." Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who has previously worked with Trump on criminal justice reform, tweeted her support for Newsom's moratorium. NBC4's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report. A Navy SEAL charged with murder in the stabbing of an injured Iraqi war prisoner is no longer being held in the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, just 15 hours after President Donald Trump announced the move in a tweet. Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was moved from the brig to the barracks at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, according to his attorney, Phil Stackhouse. A Navy spokesperson confirmed the move was to take place by the end of the day Saturday. In Trumps tweet, the president said the move was in honor of Gallaghers past service to the country. The tweet came after 18 Republican members of the U.S. House sent a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer raising concerns about the conditions of Gallaghers confinement at a Navy brig in California. Gallagher is accused of killing a teenage Islamic State fighter under his care and then holding his reenlistment ceremony with the corpse. Navy prosecutors also accuse Gallagher of shooting two civilians in Iraq and opening fire on crowds. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Motions were being heard Friday afternoon in the case against Special Ops Chief Edward Gallagher. NBC 7's Liberty Zabala was in court. His lawyers have said he did not murder anyone and that disgruntled SEALs made the accusations because they wanted to get rid of a demanding platoon leader. In their March 18 letter to Spencer, the House members said Gallaghers family and friends reported that he had not had sufficient access to his defense attorneys. They also said they got reports he was not receiving enough food or adequate medical care. Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher pleaded not guilty to the accusations of premeditated murder for the stabbing death of a teenage ISIS fighter. NBC 7s Alex Presha has more on the unfolding trial. Housing prisoners such as Gallagher who are awaiting trial with those who have completed their trials may be to blame for some of those problems, they said, and they called on Spencer to review that practice. Chief Gallagher is a decorated war-fighter who, like all service members, is entitled to the presumption of innocence while awaiting court-martial, the letter said. NBC 7's Bridget Naso spoke to the SEAL's attorney about the charges hours after the Navy confirmed the SEAL will face a Court-Martial NBC 7 reached out to Stackhouse, who said his team is very thankful to President Trump for Gallaghers release from pretrial confinement. Stackhouse also thanked U.S. Representatives Duncan Hunter, Ralph Norman, and Dan Crenshaw in an email to NBC 7. Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of a young ISIS fighter in 2017. NBC 7's Alex Presha has more. Now that the President has directed Chief Gallagher's release, we look forward to the Navy expeditiously releasing him to his command, Stackhouse wrote. Once released, Stackhouse said Gallaghers commander will determine if any moral restraints will be imposed upon Gallagher. This could include being restricted to one location, like San Diego County, or restricted from talking to particular individuals, like a witness. Stackhouse ended his email to NBC 7 by saying, Make no mistake about it, chief Gallagher is currently in a battle for his life as the potential sentence in this case includes life without the possibility of parole. He is focused and eager for the trial to begin so that he can face his accusers and so that he can be vindicated of these allegations. A military judge last month postponed Gallaghers trial by three months after defense lawyers asked for more time to go over the prosecutions evidence. The trial was reset for May 28. NBC 7 contributed to this report. What to Know Almost three years after Britons voted to leave the EU, the date and terms of its departure are up in the air The EU granted Britain a delay to the scheduled March 29 exit date to April 12 The U.K. may be forced to create a national unity government to end the impasse over Britain leaving the European Union, as Prime Minister Theresa May clings to the Brexit divorce agreement that Parliament has rejected three times, a senior Conservative suggested Saturday. Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's comments came a day after the House of Commons rebuffed the prime minister's call for lawmakers to "put aside self and party," sending her Brexit deal to its latest defeat. The rejection leaves the U.K. facing the stark prospect of a chaotic departure from the EU in just two weeks unless squabbling politicians can put aside their differences and engineer a long delay in the process of leaving the bloc. The British Parliament will vote Monday on a variety of Brexit alternatives in an attempt to find an idea that can command a majority. But May's government is considering a fourth vote on her deal, bolstered by their success in narrowing her margin of defeat to 58 votes Friday from 230 votes in January. "If the government refused and Theresa May felt she could not implement what Parliament had identified as a way of leaving the EU, then I think we would have to think very hard about whether a cross-party coalition ... could do that in order to make sure that the U.K. does leave the EU in an orderly fashion," Morgan told the BBC. Britain has in the past had national unity governments in times of national crisis, such as World War II. But critics point out that such coalitions were forged when there was a single goal such as defeating Nazi Germany. It is unclear now how Britain's political parties would agree to cooperate on an issue like Brexit, which has split the country and its two major political parties, May's ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party. As a result of Friday's vote, the U.K. is now scheduled to leave the EU on April 12, regardless of whether the two sides have reached an agreement to cushion the impact. That has led to concerns about crippling tariffs, border gridlock and shortages of food and medicines. EU officials have suggested, however, they may agree to a lengthy delay to Britain's departure from the bloc if U.K. politicians agree on a plan. The House of Commons on Wednesday began the process of debating alternatives to the prime minister's deal but rejected all eight proposals they considered. Two ideas, a customs union with the EU and a second referendum on any deal, achieved significant support. Lawmakers are expected to hold a second round of votes Monday on Brexit proposals. Hilary Benn, a Labour Party lawmaker who chairs Parliament's Brexit committee, dismissed criticism that the parliamentary process was a failure because it didn't deliver a majority in the first round of voting. Benn said he hopes the latest defeat for May's deal will "concentrate minds" and help build a clear majority for one of the Brexit options. "Since it took 2 3/4 years for the government to get what it had negotiated defeated three times, it's a little bit harsh on Parliament, when it started the process last Wednesday, for not having immediately solved the problem in 24 hours," Benn said. "So I think a little bit more time is a perfectly reasonable thing to provide as we try and find a way forward." While Benn and Morgan are pushing for compromise, others are demanding that the Conservative-led government not cave in. Some hard-line Conservative Party lawmakers have written to May insisting that she not agree to a Brexit extension beyond May 22, which would force the U.K. to take part in the May 23-26 European Parliament elections, The Sun newspaper reported. The letter, signed by 170 members of the prime minister's party, called on May to bring her deal back to Parliament for a fourth vote, with the threat of a general election if it is rejected again, the newspaper said. Brandon Lewis, a Cabinet member and chairman of the Conservative Party, said he was aware of the letter, though he had not seen the final text or the signatures. "We should be doing everything we can to leave the European Union in good order as quickly as we can, as we said in our manifesto and as we've said to Parliament," Lewis said. "I think the deal is the right way to do that." By Life Site News, March. 11, 2019 RICHMOND, March 11, 2019 (Day of Mourning) In the wake of Governor Northams recent advocacy for infanticide, a grassroots movement of distressed citizens has turned their disgust to action with a Day of Mourning on April 6th. Citizens were shocked and a national firestorm ensued when Virginia Governor Ralph Northam not only defended infanticide on already born babies, but also doubled down on his highly controversial comments. New Zealanders observed the Muslim call to prayer Friday in reflecting on the moment one week ago when 50 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques were slain an act that an imam told the crowd of thousands had left the country broken-hearted but not broken. In a day without precedent, people across New Zealand listened to the call to prayer on live broadcasts while thousands, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, gathered in leafy Hagley Park opposite the Al Noor mosque, where 42 people died. "New Zealand mourns with you. We are one," Ardern said. The call to prayer was observed at 1:30 p.m. and followed by two minutes of silence. Hundreds of Muslim men at the park sat in socks or bare feet. One man in the front row was in a Christchurch Hospital wheelchair. The Al Noor mosque's imam, Gamal Fouda, thanked New Zealanders for their support. "This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology. ... But, instead, we have shown that New Zealand is unbreakable," the imam said. "We are broken-hearted but we are not broken. We are alive. We are together. We are determined to not let anyone divide us," he added, as the crowd the city estimated at 20,000 people erupted with applause. Later in the day, a mass funeral was held to bury 26 of the victims at a cemetery where more than a dozen already have been laid to rest. Family members took turns passing around shovels and wheelbarrows to bury their loved ones. Friday's burials included the youngest victim, 3-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim. Christchurch native Fahim Imam, 33, returned to the city for Friday's service. He moved away three years ago and now lives in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. "It's just amazing to see how the country and the community have come together blows my mind, actually," Imam said before the event. When he got off the plane Friday morning, he saw someone holding a sign that said "jenaza," denoting Muslim funeral prayer. He said others were offering free rides to and from the prayer service. "The moment I landed in Christchurch, I could feel the love here. I've never felt more proud to be a Muslim, or a Kiwi for that matter. It makes me really happy to be able to say that I'm a New Zealander," Imam said. He called it surreal to see the mosque where he used to pray surrounded by flowers. The observance comes the day after the government announced a ban on "military-style" semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines like the weapons that were used in last Friday's attacks at the Al Noor and nearby Linwood mosques. An immediate sales ban went into effect Thursday to prevent stockpiling, and new laws would be rushed through Parliament that would impose a complete ban on the weapons, Ardern said. "Every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned," Ardern said. The gun legislation is supported not only by Ardern's liberal Labour Party but also the conservative opposition National Party, so it's expected to pass into law. New Zealand does not have a constitutional right to bear arms. Among those planning to attend Friday's observance was Samier Dandan, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association in Sydney and part of a 15-strong delegation of Muslim leaders that had flown to Christchurch. "It was an ugly act of terrorism that occurred in a beautiful, peaceful city," Dandan said. He said his pain couldn't compare with that of the families he'd been visiting who had lost loves ones. He was inspired by their resilience, he said. "And I've got to give all my respect to the New Zealand prime minister, with her position and her actions, and it speaks loud," he said. Ismat Fatimah, 46, said it was sad to look at the Al Noor mosque, which was still surrounded by construction barricades, armed police officers and a huge mound of flowers and messages. "We're feeling stronger than before, and we are one," she said. She said she prayed for the people who died. "I'm just imagining what would be happening last Friday," she said. "People were running around so scared and helpless. It's just not right." Erum Hafeez, 18 said she felt comforted by the overwhelming response from New Zealanders: "We are embraced by the community of New Zealand, we are not left behind and alone." The Al Noor mosque's imam said workers have been toiling feverishly to repair the destruction, some of whom offered their services for free. Fouda expects the mosque to reopen by next week. What to Know Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax's team says polygraph test results show he is truthful in denying two sex assault claims against him Fairfax resisted calls to resign after two women separately came forward with assault allegations. The two accusers, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, both have offered to testify before the General Assembly Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax's team says he took a polygraph that supports his denials that he engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with two women. Fairfax has vehemently denied the claims of two women who say he assaulted them when he was younger, and his team says the polygraph test affirms his position. During the test, Fairfax's team says he was asked about encounters with two women who have publicly accused him of assault, Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson. When asked if he had engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity with either woman, Fairfax replied, "no," according to his team, and the polygraph showed the answer was truthful. The Fairfax team sent News4 a press release on Sunday saying that two tests were given by Jeremiah Hanafin, who also administered a polygraph test to Christine Blassey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assault. Va. @LGJustinFairfax says he took a polygraph exam that supports his contention that he did not sexual assault two women when he was a younger man. The test asked about encounters with both accusers, Vanessa Tyson & Meredith Watson. Full Press release below. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/VyUpYG0sbR Julie Carey (@JulieCareyNBC) March 31, 2019 Raw results of the polygraph were not provided. Lawyers for Watson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Tyson's legal team said Tyson hope's that the Virginia General Assembly takes bipartisan action to ensure Fairfax, Tyson and Watson can testify in public. Tyson also told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King that she wants Fairfax to resign, according to an excerpt of her interview aired on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "In my ideal world, I'd want him to resign," Tyson said in her first TV interview, which will air Monday. Watson is also set to speak in a TV interview Tuesday on "CBS This Morning." Polygraphs are inadmissible in Virginia court proceedings under state law, but federal guidelines say they can be used in some cases as evidence in defense. Fairfax faces no court proceedings or charges but has been asked to testify in front of the state's General Assembly. The team says Fairfax passed two polygraph tests, in which he was also asked more specific questions about the women's claims. In January, Vanessa Tyson publicly accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Meredith Watson also publicly accused Fairfax of sexual assault. She issued a statement accusing him of raping her 19 years ago while they were students at Duke University. Both accusations came out as it looked like Fairfax might step into the Governorship, as calls grew for Gov. Ralph Northam to resign over a racist photo found on his medical school yearbook page. Fairfax has resisted calls for the General Assembly to investigate the claims, which he vehemently denies. He has called for the FBI to investigate. In February, the General Assembly invited Tyson, Watson and Fairfax to testify on the claims. Weeks later, no date has been set. Lawyers for Tyson and Watson issued statements earlier in February saying they would be willing to testify if impeachment proceedings begin. Both Tyson and Watson have been critical of the General Assembly for its inaction. Tyson' lawyers issued a statement last month calling for lawmakers to hire "experienced independent investigators'' to probe the allegations against Fairfax. The Fairfax's press release said, in part: "From the moment that Dr. Vanessa Tyson and then Ms. Meredith Watson first made accusations that Lt. Governor Fairfax had committed sexual assault decades ago, Lt. Governor Fairfax has been steadfast in saying that the allegations are extraordinarily serious, deserve to be heard, and should be investigated and taken seriously. Lt. Governor Fairfax has also been steadfast from the start in saying that a serious, fair, and impartial investigation and examination of the facts would demonstrate that these allegations are false and that he engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever." What to Know Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax's team says polygraph test results show he is truthful in denying two sex assault claims against him Fairfax resisted calls to resign after two women separately came forward with assault allegations. The two accusers, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, both have offered to testify before the General Assembly Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax's team says he took a polygraph that supports his denials that he engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with two women. Fairfax has vehemently denied the claims of two women who say he assaulted them when he was younger, and his team says the polygraph test affirms his position. During the test, Fairfax's team says he was asked about encounters with two women who have publicly accused him of assault, Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson. When asked if he had engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity with either woman, Fairfax replied, "no," according to his team, and the polygraph showed the answer was truthful. The Fairfax team sent News4 a press release on Sunday saying that two tests were given by Jeremiah Hanafin, who also administered a polygraph test to Christine Blassey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assault. Raw results of the polygraph were not provided. Lawyers for Watson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Tyson's legal team said Tyson hope's that the Virginia General Assembly takes bipartisan action to ensure Fairfax, Tyson and Watson can testify in public. Tyson also told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King that she wants Fairfax to resign, according to an excerpt of her interview aired on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "In my ideal world, I'd want him to resign," Tyson said in her first TV interview, which will air Monday. Watson is also set to speak in a TV interview Tuesday on "CBS This Morning." Polygraphs are inadmissible in Virginia court proceedings under state law, but federal guidelines say they can be used in some cases as evidence in defense. Fairfax faces no court proceedings or charges but has been asked to testify in front of the state's General Assembly. The team says Fairfax passed two polygraph tests, in which he was also asked more specific questions about the women's claims. In January, Vanessa Tyson publicly accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Meredith Watson also publicly accused Fairfax of sexual assault. She issued a statement accusing him of raping her 19 years ago while they were students at Duke University. Both accusations came out as it looked like Fairfax might step into the Governorship, as calls grew for Gov. Ralph Northam to resign over a racist photo found on his medical school yearbook page. Fairfax has resisted calls for the General Assembly to investigate the claims, which he vehemently denies. He has called for the FBI to investigate. In February, the General Assembly invited Tyson, Watson and Fairfax to testify on the claims. Weeks later, no date has been set. Lawyers for Tyson and Watson issued statements earlier in February saying they would be willing to testify if impeachment proceedings begin. Both Tyson and Watson have been critical of the General Assembly for its inaction. Tyson' lawyers issued a statement last month calling for lawmakers to hire "experienced independent investigators'' to probe the allegations against Fairfax. The Fairfax's press release said, in part: "From the moment that Dr. Vanessa Tyson and then Ms. Meredith Watson first made accusations that Lt. Governor Fairfax had committed sexual assault decades ago, Lt. Governor Fairfax has been steadfast in saying that the allegations are extraordinarily serious, deserve to be heard, and should be investigated and taken seriously. Lt. Governor Fairfax has also been steadfast from the start in saying that a serious, fair, and impartial investigation and examination of the facts would demonstrate that these allegations are false and that he engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever." New Hampshire State Police and Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announced an autopsy was conducted on Steven E. Hall, who was found dead in Bristol, New Hampshire on Friday. Halls cause of death was by a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The Chief Medical Examiner ruled Halls death as a homicide. Hall was 52-years-old. The investigation is still ongoing. Fire crews responded to a two-alarm fire in Clinton, Massachusetts at 125 Green St. overnight. Three families are displaced by house fire. American Red Cross of Massachusetts are assisting the families. There is no further information at this time. Massachusetts and Rhode Island law enforcement arrested a suspect who killed a 68-year-old female driver in New Bedford, Massachusetts. James Bennett-Werra, 21, fled the scene after his car crashed into another vehicle in New Bedford, Massachusetts on Wednesday. The crash killed Janet Murphy and caused serious injuries to a male passenger. Bennett-Werra fled the scene on foot, while a male passenger in his vehicle remained at the scene. Bennett-Werra is charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, assault with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of personal injury, leaving the scene - death resulting and reckless operation of a motor vehicle. Prior to the crash, Bennett-Werra was a fugitive for having cut off his court-ordered electronic monitoring device two days prior. He was previously convicted of assault and battery on a family or household member and carrying a deadly weapon. He was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet after service time and parole. The Massachusetts Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and local law enforcement in the area worked days before tracking Bennett-Werra in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Police arrested the suspect without incident at around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Bennett-Werra was booked as a fugitive from justice by Pawtucket Police and will be held pending rendition to Massachusetts. Bennett-Werra had three outstanding warrants prior to his arrest on Saturday. Police say a man who went missing in Andover, Massachusetts has been located in Boston. Authorities announced on Twitter that Robert Connelly was found safe in Boston around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Connelly went for a walk earlier this afternoon and had not returned to his home, which is in the area of 460 River Rd. in Andover. He was wearing a tan coat, khaki pants and black sneakers. Whitmans Police Chief Scott D. Benton, says a suspect was manufacturing marijuana products, a lot like the moonshiners during prohibition. Derek Sheehan, a 35-year-old, faces drug and weapons charges. Police say he sold THC-laden drinks to an undercover detective three different times in the last month. That prompted a search of the suspects car and home here in Whitman, Massachusetts. Police say they found nearly 140 bottles of THC infused drinks along with liquids, cookies and extracts. Not to mention, marijuana, $5,000 in cash and an unregistered weapon that had the serial number scratched off. The chief said Sheehan was manufacturing the products in his home. This could become the norm with the legalization of pot he added. The suspect is being held without bail this weekend and will be in Brockton District Court on Monday. The Lions branch in Newbury is twinned with the Lions club in Beira, which has been devastated by the disaster THE Lions Club of Newbury will this weekend be collecting donations for victims of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in a bid to provide vital aid for members of one of its sister Lions clubs. Since 2013, the Lions branch in Newbury has been twinned with the Lions club in the port city of Beira, which was hit by the full force of the cyclone. Cyclone Idai, which struck the coastline of Mozambique on March 14, has caused devastation and heavy loss of life across the country. As the fourth largest city in the southern African nation, Beira sits on the mouth of the Pungwe river that runs to Zimbabwe. With a population of half a million, the whole city has suffered from vast flooding, while buildings have been knocked down and roads cut off. Aid agencies have reported that 90 per cent of the city was destroyed by the storm. Newbury Lions Club is eager to provide vital aid to its twinned club formally known as the Beira Corridor Lions Club to help both its members and ensure aid reaches the citys community as quickly as possible. Newbury Lions Club will be collecting donations in Bridge Street, Northbrook Street and Bartholomew Street, Newbury, this Saturday. The charity will also be manning a stall outside Newbury Town Hall from 10am to 4pm and is asking members of the public to spare some of their time to help out. Newbury Lions Club member Colin Mansell has been involved in charitable projects in communities across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and South Africa with his own childrens charity Children First International since the 1990s. Mr Mansell, who was involved in twinning Newbury Lions with the Lions club in Beira, said: Having been to Beira and seen the infrastructure for myself, I have many friends and Lions Club contacts there and I know it would be devastating for the city and its people. Life at the best of times in Mozambique is a struggle for many people, but at this time and having seen the TV pictures of the damage caused, life must be indescribable. Mr Mansell added: We were really worried about whether the Lions were personally affected. We want to try and raise as much money as we can and get it there as fast as we can. To donate to the appeal, visit https://www.wonderful.org/fundraiser/beiracycloneappeal-f73c6555 or pop in to Newbury town centre on Saturday. Christian Abraham / Christian Abraham BRIDGEPORT A Bridgeport city councilwomans son was among those shot Saturday night in the area of Iranistan and South Avenues, and she is calling for a serious examination of violence in the city. According to city spokeswoman Rowena White, the three people shot were Dennis Moye, 48, son of councilwoman Denese Taylor-Moye (D-131st); Ronnie Pernell, 40, and Christopher Nichols, 38. White said they were among a group of people who had gathered in a parking lot after the funeral services for Nichols mother when shots were fired at the group from the direction of South Avenue. BROOKFIELD Residents will discuss the proposed $70 million operating and $3.5 million capital budget at a public hearing on Tuesday evening. The recommended operating budget would increase spending by 5.18 percent and raise the tax rate by 2.87 percent. It includes $44 million for the schools, $18.8 million for municipal operations, $5.2 million for debt service, $1.8 million for capital projects and $130,000 for teacher retirement. The capital budget would cover road paving, a new HVAC control system for the high school, a fire pump generator for Whisconier Middle School, a fire pumper truck for the Candlewood Fire Company, vehicles for the public works and parks and recreation departments, and various other projects. The meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium of the high school. Westport Fire Department photo / Westport Fire Department photo The smell of smoke from a large New Jersey forest fire wafted Sunday to parts of Connecticut. New Fairfield was among the towns that reported seeing smoke from the fire. The New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Company warned residents about the issue on its Facebook page. Both supporters and opponents of the Venezuelan government took to the streets on Saturday amid an ongoing political and economic crisis aggravated by successive blackouts. Government supporters take part in an anti-imperialist rally in support of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, March 30, 2019. [Photo: AP/Ariana Cubillos] Backers of the ruling socialist party took part in what was billed as the "People's Operation in Defense of Liberty," which saw demonstrations in the capital Caracas and other major cities protest U.S.-backed attacks against the government and existing infrastructure. This month, according to officials, sabotage at the country's central hydroelectric plant caused two crippling blackouts that brought productivity to a standstill, undermining an already fragile economy battered by U.S.-led financial sanctions. In Caracas, supporters of the government rallied at four different locations, including San Bernardino, in a show of solidarity with workers of the state-run National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec). Supporters condemned the "electricity sabotage" that led to schools and offices being closed for up to five days at a time, and to businesses and plants being idled. "Today the Venezuelan people are mobilizing nationwide ... to say 'NO' to imperialist terrorism and to defend the peace in our beloved Venezuela," President Nicolas Maduro said via Twitter. Marchers also gathered at the headquarters of the Public Ministry to demand prompt investigations into the attacks on the electricity network. Dario Vivas, vice president of events and mobilizations for Venezuela's United Socialist Party (PSUV), and other party leaders, officially submitted the petition to the ministry. Supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president, listen to him speak during a rally at San Antonio de Los Altos, Miranda State, Venezuela, March 30, 2019. [Photo: AP/Natacha Pisarenko] Meanwhile, anti-government demonstrators gathered in Los Teques, capital of north-central Miranda state, an opposition stronghold, and in the Caracas districts of La Candelaria and Caricuao. Addressing a rally, opposition leader and self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido borrowed from the PSUV's parlance and called on Venezuelans to "organize Help and Liberty Committees in each community to create each space for protest." Also on Saturday, a top official announced the government has agreed to the International Red Cross distributing humanitarian aid in Venezuela. Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly, said during a rally in Caracas that the government agreed to work with the Red Cross "because we want peace in this country." In February, the far-right sparked a border standoff by demanding the entry of U.S. humanitarian aid that the government had blocked, arguing it was a ploy to prop up the opposition rather than an effort to help needy Venezuelans. The Red Cross and the United Nations both refused to take part in the Feb. 23 relief effort, saying it was "politicized." On Friday, the Red Cross said it will be ready to deliver aid in two weeks. The organization added it will work alone and not accept the "interference" of others. New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah has claimed that his party will make substantial gains in the Northeast, Odisha and West Bengal to offset any losses, if any, in other regions and get clear majority in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to CNN News18, Shah said the BJP was looking to bag between 35-40 seats in these states. It will be a 35-40 game, he said. When asked to put a figure on the seats the BJP was likely to win in West Bengal, Shah said it would emerge victorious in at least 23 seats. West Bengal has been a focus state for the saffron party the BJP had won only two of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Shah said that BJP was looking to bag 20-21 seats in the Northeast. When asked whether the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which has caused a lot of unrest in the region, will affect the BJPs prospects, Shah said, Through the work that we have done through NEDA [North East Democratic Alliance, the BJPs nodal outfit for the region], we are sure of substantially increasing our tally in the Northeast. The BJP had bagged eight seats from these states in 2014. Amit Shah also claimed that the BJP was on its way to not just performing well in Odisha but would also form the next government in the state. State and Lok Sabha polls are being conducted simultaneously in Odisha. In a freewheeling interview conducted by CNN News18s group editor Rahul Joshi, Shah did not shy away from answering the question about who was the Number 2 in the party. There is only number one in our party and that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Were you to look for a number two after him, you wouldnt find any. As far as the leadership of the party is concerned, Im very happy to be leading the worlds largest party and often seek suggestions from my seniors whenever occasion arises, he said. Shah also answered a question about the impact that Priyanka Gandhi, who was appointed the Congress partys general secretary in February, was likely to make in the upcoming polls. This is not her first entry into polls. She has been campaigning for her party for the last 12 years and has proved to be a failure each time. This is her 13th time. Lets see what shes able to do. Responding to allegations that Modis announcement of Indias space firepower capabilities in the form of Mission Shakti had violated the model code of conduct, Shah said such announcements have been made since the time of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Election Commission had given Modi a clean chit in the matter. It was not a press conference but an address to the nation. And if the Prime Minister will not address the nation, then who will, the leader of the opposition? Shah asked rhetorically. Rubbishing claims that the announcement of Mission Shakti was made keeping elections in mind, Shah said such tests in space were conducted only after consultations with international community. Such things are done well in advance. It takes at least two to three months of planning, he said. Shah was also asked what difference the government had made in the last five years, particularly in context of the Balakot air strikes. We have brought the narrative from fake Hindu terror to Pakistan-sponsored terror, he said, referring to the recent verdict in Samjhauta terror case, which acquitted the accused, including Swami Aseemanand. The world has acknowledged Indias right to self-defence and Pakistan has now been isolated, said Shah. India has the steps to carry out counter-terror operations not on our own soil but on Pakistans soil - at the very source of terror, he added. India has also taken effective steps in curbing the influence of separatists -- by cracking on their financial sources, banning them, and putting people running those outfits behind bars, he claimed. When asked what steps India had taken to deal with China, which has repeatedly vetoed the resolution to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist, Shah said, China is also isolated. Sooner or later, it will be forced to support us. The BJP chief, contesting the elections from Gandhinagar, said that if audacious strikes like Balakot operation had been carried out 10 years ago, terror attacks like Pulwama wouldnt have happened. Since he was the first senior BJP leader to claim that the aerial strikes had eliminated around 300 terrorists, Shah was asked about its source, given that IAF Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa had claimed the air force doesnt count the dead. Even foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale had told a Parliamentary committee that the government did not have the number of the dead. I got that number from media reports, Amit Shah said. Shah was also asked about the jobs created by the PM Modi-led NDA government, which had promised 10 crore jobs in five years. A recent NSSO report quoted by several media organisations had pointed out that job creation was at a historic low in the current period. The government had later claimed that the report was never cleared by the Cabinet. We have to stop looking at data from the Western perspective. NSSO data is correct. But we need to have a re-look at the system, Shah asserted. If no jobs are created, then how were so many roads and toilets built? When a girl opens a beauty parlour in a village, isnt it job creation? In response to Congress president Rahul Gandhis Nyay scheme, which will, minimum income for the 20% poorest Indians, Shah said a concerned Congress could have implemented such a programme to alleviate poverty during its 10 years of the UPA regime. When asked whether the BJP was also looking to introduce such a scheme to counter the Congresss narrative, Shah said, We dont need to introduce new schemes. We have already reacted to the needs of Indias underprivileged people by introducing schemes that were not even part of our election manifesto. The event will feature political leaders from the ruling and opposition alliances, policy experts and strategic thinkers. From national security and policy to development, the speakers and panelists will lay out their priorities on the issues and make a case for their particular agenda and why that should be favoured by voters. With national security as a key focus area, the evening will also witness a special segment dedicated to the security forces, many of whom have made the supreme sacrifice. Hitting out at regional parties for not "aggressively" pushing special status to Andhra Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the moment his party comes to power, the long pending demand will be fulfilled. Meanwhile, Gandhi has picked Wayanad as his second seat, following demands from southern India. Announcing party chief's decision at a press conference, senior leader Randeep Surjewala said that Gandhi chose the Kerala constituency as it is "geographically important". The official Twitter handle of Congress has tweeted a picture that has multiple miniatures of a man dressed as 'chowkidar' (watchman). Among the several watchmen, one can be seen in white beard. The grand old party has asked people to spot the odd one out as only "one chowkidar is chor (thief)". Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch HD Deve Gowda will launch their campaign blitzkrieg for the impending Lok Sabha elections on the outskirts of Bengaluru in Karnataka today. Titled 'Parivartana Samavesha', the mega rally will be the first jointly organised campaign by the Congress and JD(S) after they came to power. The Congress and JD(S) ministers, MLAs and leaders will be part of the event which will be held at the BIEC ground near Nelamanagala. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy visited the venue himself to inspect the arrangements being made. He also dubbed the event "historic." Following this, state leaders of both the parties would organise similar joint meetings at several places across Karnataka. As Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituencies are going to polls on April 11, campaigning has begun in full swing in the two segments. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will hold an election rally in Greater Noidas Bisada village today to canvas votes for Gautam Budh Nagar sitting MP and Union minister Dr Mahesh Sharma. During his day-long visit to the region, the UP CM will also hold election rallies in Loni and Ghaziabad city to drum up support for BJP candidate and the sitting MP of Ghaziabad, general (retired) VK Singh. Yogi Adityanath will be accompanied by Union minister of health & family welfare and the partys parliamentary board secretary, JP Nadda. The Congress will sound the poll bugle in Andhra Pradesh with party chief Rahul Gandhi's rallies in Vijayawada and Kalyandurg. The Congress scion will be addressing two election rallies in a state where the party is fighting hard to avoid hitting the rock bottom. Rahuls first stop will be a rally at Makineni Basavapunnaiah Stadium in Vijayawada and then at Mudigal Bypass Road Ground in Kalyandurg. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here New Delhi: Cash-strapped private carrier Jet Airways has expressed inability to clear salary dues of its pilots, saying it could pay only the balance 87.50 per cent of pending December pay. Meanwhile, the airline's pilots body, the National Aviators Guild (NAG), has called an `open house' of its members in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday. The pilots, who along with engineers and senior staff have not been paid for almost four months now, have said they will not fly from April if dues were not cleared and a roadmap on future payment was not provided by March 31. "The board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. "These are complex processes and it has taken longer than we had expected and as such we are only able to remit your remaining salary for December 2018," Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube said in a communication to pilots Saturday. Last week, SBI-led consortium of lenders became the owner of Jet Airways after its founder-chairman Naresh Goyal along with his wife Anita stepped down from the board under a debt-rejig plan. Goyal also quit the chairman's post. In the last few months the airline has witnessed exceedingly challenging times in the organisation, Dube said, adding, "We understand the hardship, anxiety and uncertainty which each of you have endured. "We realise that this remittance does not lift the financial hardship that each of you are facing... We continue to work on additional funding on an urgent basis and shall advise you about the release of the remaining salary arrears as the funds come in," he added. Earlier Friday, around 200 pilots had written individually to the Jet CEO, threatening to go on "leave of absence". A source in the pilots' community said around 200 pilots had written to the CEO flagging concerns about non-payment of salaries. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A 50-year-old Delhi policeman and his accomplice were arrested on Saturday for allegedly shooting dead a woman and her fiance at the Sai Upvan temple complex in Ghaziabad on March 25. Dinesh Kumar, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Delhi traffic police, reportedly told investigating officers that he was in a relationship with the woman identified as Preeti for the past 12 years. He got angry with the woman when he found that she had developed relations with 26-year-old Surendra. The arrest was made days after bodies of Preeti and Surendra were found inside the temple. A complaint was lodged by the girl's father Pramod Kumar, said DIG Upendra Agarwal. The police zeroed in on Dinesh as the main suspect after reports of Preeti and him being in a relationship surfaced. Later, Ghaziabad police examined CCTV footage and conducted electronic surveillance in the area. A week ago, Preeti had changed her mobile number and stopped meeting Dinesh, officials said. According to officials, Dinesh started planning to kill them when he came to know of Surendra and Preeti's relationship. On March 25, Dinesh along with his accomplice Pintoo - followed the couple when they were on their way to the Sai temple in Sai Upvan, officials said. When the couple came out of the temple, Dinesh had a heated argument with them and in a fit of anger shot them, officials said. Police have recovered a 9 mm service pistol, three live cartridges and the car which was used in committing the crime, they said. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that the differences between the BJP and his party have been resolved and praised Prime Minister Narendra, saying the opposition had no leader that matches his stature. Taking a swipe at the proposed opposition grand alliance over their prime ministerial face, Thackeray said they have already started pulling each others legs as every leader wants to become the PM. They have 56 leaders in a rally joining hands. It's good...They should join hands, even if they do not get along well. But Shiv Sena and BJP we are joined by hearts, he said at a rally in Ahmedabad ahead of filing of nomination by BJP chief Amit Shah for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. "I would like to ask who their leader is. If they organise a rally, will their supporters shout one name like you people shout," Thackeray said, following which people started shouting 'Modi, Modi'. "Who is against us (in opposition)?...Nobody in this election. You will only see saffron saffron and saffron," he said. Thackeray said he took part in the rally to give his best wishes to Shah. "Many people will raise eyebrows why I am here, many people are happy that I am here, but some have stomach pain due to it," Thackeray said. "Some people were rejoicing that the two parties with the same ideology are fighting with each other. We had some manmutav (bad feeling) and matbhinnata (difference of opinion). But when Amit Shah came to my house and we sat and held talks, all the issues were resolved," he said. "We have similar goals. Our ideologies and hearts are woven together. We have come together because Hindutva is what binds us," he added. "My father (Bal Thackeray) taught us that whatever we do, we should not do it from behind. We had raised people's issues. We have never back-stabbed and never will," he said. "Shiv Sena and BJP have the same ideology of Hindutva. My father used to say Hindutva is our breath. But if our breath stops how can we survive?" he asked. Thackeray said whatever happened in the last five years between the Sena and the BJP was past now. "We should not forget our history of partnership of 25 years that preceded these five years. We were just two parties carrying the saffron flag, nobody was ready to align with us except Badal sahib. "We were nowhere, but started walking, taking the saffron flag with us. Twenty-five years passed and our dream of hoisting the saffron flag in Delhi was realised. Today, our thinking is one, our ideology is one and our leader is also one," he said. The Shiv Sena and the BJP were engaged in a bitter war of words in Maharashtra for the last five years of the NDA rule, though they were sharing power both at the Centre and state levels. Before the 2019 election, there were doubts whether the two parties would join hands or not. However, finally both the saffron parties decided to patch up and fight the elections together. Ghaziabad/Greater Noida: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at the Opposition on Sunday for seeking evidence of the Balakot airstrike, alleging that only two factions were "pained" by the post-Pulwama retaliation -- Pakistan and the Opposition. "Pakistan was counting the dead bodies of terrorists. At that time, our Opposition was asking questions about the airstrike. This will not be tolerated at any cost," Adityanath said at a public meeting in Ghaziabad. At another rally in Greater Noida, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader accused the previous Congress-led UPA government of "serving biryani" to terrorists and having a soft approach towards handling terrorism. "Masood Azhar... Congress gives them respect by adding 'ji' after their name. But, the BJP has only two ways of dealing with terrorists -- bullet or bomb," he said. "After the air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan was crying. Only two factions were pained by this, either Pakistan or the Congress-SP-BSP. Rest of the country was celebrating it and these people were asking for proof," Adityanath said. #WATCH UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Ghaziabad: Congress ke log aatankvadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modi ji ki sena aatankvadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai...Congress ke log Masood Azhar jaise aatankvadiyon ke sath 'ji' laga kar aatankvad ko protsahit karte hain, yahi antar hai pic.twitter.com/ScHCNYxgX7 a ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 31, 2019 The chief minister accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party of insulting the soldiers by asking proof of the airstrike. He also alleged that the Opposition were encouraging terrorism, Maoism and anarchism. Adityanath also pointed out to the alleged migration from cities like Kairana, Kandla. "In the last two years of our government, not a single family has migrated from the state. In fact, people are now coming back to the state. The only people who have migrated from the state are criminals, who know that nobody can save them in the state," he said. The chief minister alleged that earlier, the situation in western Uttar Pradesh was such that women and girls were worried about safety. "Now, in two years of our government, criminals are either behind bars or they have been eliminated. There is no third other option for them." Adityanath claimed that before the BJP came to power in the state, DJ music was not permitted during the 'Kanwar Yatra'. "We gave a free hand to all the pilgrims. The BJP government has entirely changed the scenario of the state." He alleged that the Congress, SP and the BSP, which ruled the state for most of the time since Independence, had created a divide in the society. "They (BSP-SP-Congress) worked for personal gains and their families, engaged in policies of appeasement and created divide in society," Adityanath said, adding that the Modi government had worked for all sections of society. The chief minister claimed that the Opposition, including the BSP and the SP, had come together only to control and exploit the national resources. On 'Mission Shakti', Adityanath said the Election Commission could not find any violation of the model code of conduct because Narendra Modi addressed the nation in his capacity as the prime minister. "This is a decisive battle. This election will decide the path for India's development," Adityanath added. The chief minister addressed the rallies to campaign for Ghaziabad candidate VK Singh and Gautam Buddh Nagar candidate Mahesh Sharma. "Your vote to the BJP will ensure that development will continue in your area for the next five years," Singh said. Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar go to polls on April 11 in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election.A A New Delhi: Days after being fielded from the Begusarai seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has landed himself in a controversy after he was seen sharing stage with former Bihar minister Manju Verma, who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. Giriraj was addressing NDA leaders and party workers on Saturday while sharing the stage with Verma, who was arrested under Arms Act in connection with Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. Verma had stepped down as the minister for social welfare in August, following reports that her husband, Chandrashekhar Verma, had close links with Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home. The Arms Act case was lodged against Verma following recovery of a huge quantity of ammunition from her residence here during a CBI raid. On the other hand, Giriraj Singh was earlier unhappy with the party leadership over being asked to contest from a Lok Sabha seat other than the one he held but fell in line after a meeting with party chief Amit Shah. While speaking at the event, the Union Minister indirectly took a jibe at his rival Kanhaiya Kumar who is a CPI candidate from Begusarai constituency. Giriraj said that his fight is against "anti-nationals". "I am sure that people of Begusarai will not only defeat them but also give them a befitting reply," he added. New Delhi: Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikars sons on Saturday hinted at joining politics to "continue the legacy" of their father, who served the nation and the state "till his very last" moments. In a statement released on Saturday, Parrikars sons Utpal and Abhijat said, We will honour his life by continuing his legacy of service and dedication to the state and the nation. Quoting former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, the statement said, It is said the legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and inheritance of a great example. The duo said that Parrikar had a strong will and desire to serve the nation and the state and that he was occupied with issues of the state even though he was in his very last moments. My father lived everyday with vigour, a strong will and desire to serve the nation and the state. Till the very last, he was occupied with issues concerning the state, the statement said praising Manohar Parrikar, who died on March 17 after a battling a pancreatic ailment for over a year. However, the sheer number of people, messages and letters we have received has made us feel we are part of a much bigger family that he has left behind, the statement said. The sons thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support during Parrikars illness and the armed forces for giving their father a military funeral, calling it a moving ceremony. Parrikar was given military funeral at Miramar Beach on March 18. PM Modi, Union ministers had several other dignitaries had attended the funeral proceedings. On Friday, Utpal had said that he would take a decision about joining politics at the right time. New Delhi: Ending days of speculation, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has taken the final decision of not joining hands with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, according to sources. Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit was conveyed the decision by party leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal in a late-night meeting held on Saturday, they added. Chacko and Venugopal met Dikshit at her residence and also brainstormed on shortlisting candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. Sources said Rahul has conveyed it to Dikshit to begin party's preparations to contest all the seven Lok Sabha seats alone. The reported development brings the back and forth over an AAP-Congress alliance to an end. Chacko's views are at variance with Dikshit, who has made it clear that aligning with AAP will not be in the party's interests. The Delhi unit of the party has been divided over any alliance with the AAP. Four former Delhi Congress presidents -- Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra, Tajdar Babar and Arvinder Singh Lovely -- favoured an alliance with Kejriwal's party. On the other hand, Dikshit and three working presidents, Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia, and Haroon Yusuf, maintained their stand against the alliance. Amid the dilly dallying over forging an alliance, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also intervened, asking both the parties to join hands to unitedly defeat the BJP. Soon after the meeting, Arvind Kejriwal had declared that the Congress had rejected an alliance and he was "fed up of trying to convince the party". The AAP has been seeking an alliance with the Congress in Delhi saying that a division of votes will help the BJP in all seven constituencies in the city. The BJP had won all Lok Sabh seats in Delhi in 2014 parliamentary polls. The Lok Sabha elections on the seven seats in Delhi will be held on May 12. The counting of votes will be done on May 23. New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his decision to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad and said that people of the state will not see his candidature from the constituency as Congress battle against the BJP. "Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad is a challenge to Left. Wayanad is one among the 20 constituencies and doesn't need to be seen as any different. We will fight him," Vijayan said. The Kerala CM said that Rahul Gandhi should have chosen a BJP state to contest elections instead of a Left-ruled state. "He (Rahul Gandhi) should have contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting. This is nothing but a fight against the Left," Pinarayi Vijayan said. Former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat also criticised Rahul Gandhis decision to choose Keralas Wayanad as his second seat, saying it was against his partys national commitment to fight the BJP. "Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority is to fight the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress's national commitment to fight the BJP, as in Kerala it's Left Democratic Front which is the main force fighting BJP," Prakash Karat said. Earlier in the day, Congress party announced that Rahul Gandhi, who currently represent Uttar Pradeshs Amethi constituency in the Lok Sabha, will contest the upcoming polls from Kerala's Wayanad as the second seat. Explaining the Congress chief's decision, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala cited the "geographical importance" of the constituency and said that the move was taken to fight the "discriminatory" attitude of the BJP towards the southern states. New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi after the latter decided to contest Lok Sabha elections 2019 from Keralas Wayanad constituency besides his traditional Amethi seat. Reacting to the Congress chiefs move, BJP president Amit Shah said that Rahul Gandhi escaped to Wayanad as there was no place for him in Amethi this time. "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation," Shah said during his rally in Nagina. Another BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Congress chiefs decision to fight the polls from Wayanad because the constituency has over 50 per cent population of minority communities. "Rahul Gandhi's roots in Amethi are shaky. Some people go to the temples around election time and he is one among them. We tried doing some homework about why did he suddenly escape to Wayanad? That is when we realised that the population in Wayanad consists of 49.4% Hindus, whereas rest of them belong to the minority group," he said. Earlier in the day, Congress party announced that Rahul Gandhi, who currently represent Uttar Pradeshs Amethi constituency in the Lok Sabha, will contest the upcoming polls from Kerala's Wayanad as the second seat. Explaining the Congress chief's decision, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala cited the "geographical importance" of the constituency and said that the move was taken to fight the "discriminatory" attitude of the BJP towards the southern states. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also criticised Rahul Gandhis decision and questioned the Congress partys resolve to fight against the BJP. He (Rahul Gandhi) should have contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting. This is nothing but a fight against the Left," the Kerala CM said adding that people of the state wont see it as a fight against the BJP. New Delhi: Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday said he decided to join the Congress because it was a national party in the true sense. Besides, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had recommended the same, he told news agency PTI. Sinha is expected to formally join the Congress on April 6. Our family friend Lalu Prasad also suggested I go there (to the Congress), Sinha said. It was done with his permission and in agreement with him. Describing himself a great admirer of Nehru-Gandhi family, Shatrughan had earlier met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. The development came after Shatrughan, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was denied party ticket from Patna Sahib parliamentary constituency in Bihar. He is currently the sitting Member of Parliament from the seat. Democracy within the BJP does not exist any longer. Dictatorship prevails instead. That's why I have decided to join the Congress Party during the auspicious period of Navaratri, he had said. Later, he tweeted that he was "painfully, on the way out of BJP". "Painfully....on the way out of BJP....But hopefully in the best direction under the dynamic leadership of my dear friend Lalu Yadav and the desirable, most talked about leader from the Nehru Gandhi family... the true family of nation builders...." he earlier tweeted. Sinha also said he would contest from the same seat. "In every situation, the location will be the same Patna". Bihar Congress in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil said Sinha would work as the 'star leader and star campaigner' of the party. Associated with the BJP since the 1990s, Sinha fell out with the party's leadership in the recent past, complaining it has become a "one-man show and two-man army"-- a reference apparently to the Prime Minister and his trusted aide and party president Amit Shah. Sinha has repeatedly asserted he would seek a re-election from the Patna Sahib seat though it may be as a candidate of a different party. Sinha had served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and is serving his second consecutive term as MP from Patna Sahib. On Friday, his daughter Sonakshi Sinha said he should have "moved on" from the BJP long back as he did not get the respect he deserved. Sonakshi said joining the Congress is his choice and she believes the veteran actor will be able to do good work with the party. "It's his choice. If you aren't happy at a place with the way things are going, you should definitely change it. Which he did. I hope with his new association with Congress, he will be able to do a lot more good work and not feel suppressed," Sonakshi told reporters. The actor said it was high time that Sinha left the BJP. "Being such a senior leader and having such a vast knowledge, being a member of the party from the beginning, from the time of Jayprakash Narayan ji, Atal ji, LK Advani ji, my father has a lot of respect within the party. "I feel like those leaders, that entire group has not been given the kind of respect that they deserve. I feel it was time to move on. He's done it a bit too late, he should've done it long back." She was speaking on the sidelines of HT Most Stylish Awards. Indore: With Congress chief Rahul Gandhi making his biggest pre-poll promise of minimum income guarantee, a television actor has told a local family court that he will pay maintenance to his estranged wife and daughter with the money he gets from the Congress' proposed minimum income guarantee scheme, Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY). On March 12, the family court had ordered Anand Sharma (38) to pay an interim monthly maintenance amount of Rs 4,500 to his wife and their 12-year-old daughter, who have been living separately for some time now. A dispute between the couple is pending in court. His petition, presented in the family court, contended that he performs small roles in TV serials and earns Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 per month. It said that he also has to look after his parents. Sharma, who described himself as a struggling TV actor, asked the court to put off the March 12 order till the formation of the Congress government (post Lok Sabha polls) because his financial condition is not such that he could make regular payments to his wife. He gave an undertaking that after the formation of a Congress government, an amount of Rs 4,500, out of the Rs 6,000 given to him under NYAY, could directly be transferred to his wife's account. His lawyer, Mohan Patidar, Saturday told PTI that the family court has fixed April 29 for the argument on his application. Rahul Gandhi last week said that Congress minimum income guarantee scheme, Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) assures up to Rs 72,000 a year or Rs 6,000 a month income to 20 per cent of India's poorest families if the party is voted back to power in the Lok Sabha elections next month. New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday urged BJP's sister organisations to not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party chief Amit Shah during the national polls. Addressing an election rally here organised by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, Banerjee said the BJP won't get a single seat in Bengal and the party won't cross the 125-mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "BJP has sister organisations, I would like to request them that if you love the country, please don't support Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the West Bengal chief minister said. "This is a special election. There are not many people to fight for the country, please vote for Chandrababu Naidu. Modi and Shah bully everyone," she added. Taking on the BJP, the Trinamool Congress chief said the BJP will not get a single seat in Bengal. "In 2014, Modi got 21 out of 191 seats in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha, that was your best time," Banerjee said, adding that the BJP will not get more than 125 seats in this election. "In UP, he got 73 seats when the Samajwadi Party and the BSP fought alone. Now they have come together. In Odisha too they won't get any seats," she said. Banerjee also challenged Modi for an open debate and attacked the prime minister for not addressing any press conference during his tenure. "Modi didnt address a presser in five years. He reads from tele-prompter and says he has a 56-inch chest," the TMC supremo quipped. She said the country needs a prime minister who doesn't differentiate between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. "Modi said demonetisation would curb terrorism, but it is maximum under his government," she said. Supporting Arvind Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi, Banerjee said the issue needs to be resolved. New Delhi: Major Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the 2017 'human shield' controversy, may face a reduction in seniority as a punishment for "fraternising" with a local woman in Srinagar in 2018, officials told news agency PTI after the completion of the court-martial proceedings against him. The court-martial process against his driver, Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, was also completed recently in the Kashmir valley and he is likely to be given a "severe reprimand". Malla was recruited in the Territorial Army in 2017 and he was posted with 53 sector of Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. After completion of Summary of Evidence against Major Gogoi and his driver in early February followed by the initiation of court-martial proceedings, the two men have been held guilty on two counts -- "fraternising" with a local in spite of instructions to the contrary and "being away from the place of duty while in operational area", the officials said. Statements of the accused, as well as other witnesses, were recorded by the Army court and the punishment, which will be vetted by the Army headquarters, has been given, they added. Major Gogoi was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police following an altercation at the hotel in Srinagar where he was allegedly trying to enter with an 18-year-old woman on May 23, 2018. Days later, the Army had ordered the CoI into the incident after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said in Pahalgam that exemplary punishment would be given to Major Gogoi if he was found guilty of "any offence". "The CoI found Major Gogoi guilty of fraternising with a local in spite of instructions to the contrary and being away from the place of duty while in the operational area," the sources said. On April 9, 2017, Major Gogoi triggered a controversy after he tied a civilian to the bonnet of his vehicle in Kashmir, purportedly as a shield against stone pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A MiG 27 UPG (upgraded) aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF)A crashed on Sunday morning when it was on a routine mission from Jodhpur in Rajasthan.A It was not clear whether the pilot ejected safely. The fighter jet crashed in Godana near Sheoganj in Sirohi District of the state.A A Police and administrative officials have reached the spot to cordon off the area, Sirohi district SP, Kalyan Mal Meena said. "Today morning at around 1145h a MiG-27 UPG aircraft which got airborne from Utarlai Air Force base experienced engine problems leading to a crash about 120 km south of Jodhpur. Pilot ejected safely. Preliminary reports indicate no loss of property/life on ground,"A ANI reported. EXCLUSIVE visuals of MiG 27 UPG which crashed in Rajasthan's Jodhpur Read full story: https://t.co/WsOSXlZIsV pic.twitter.com/hkoluzQ1rD a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 31, 2019 The sources said a court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. Earlier this month, a MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed in Rajasthan's Bikaner district with the pilot ejecting safely. The aircraft took off from the Nal airbase for a routine mission and crashed at Shobhasar ki Dhani area, 12 km from Bikaner city, the officials said. aInitial inputs indicated the likely cause as bird hit after take-off,a IAF spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee had said. MiG-27 is a variable-geometry ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. Unlike MiG-23, the MiG-27 was mostly restricted to use in Russia.A For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jammu: Pakistani troops on Sunday violated the ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri, a Defence spokesman said. This is the third consecutive day that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire. "At about 0900 hours, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri. The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the spokesman said. There are no reports of any casualty in the ceasefire violation which was still continuing when last reports came in. Earlier on Saturday, heavy exchange of fire took place between Indian and Pakistani armies at the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. A civilian was injured when Pakistan Army lobbed mortar shells in Mankote sector of Poonch district. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Sunday cited remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made in a recent interview to claim that the government has already recovered more than what he owes to banks. He also criticised the party spokespersons for speaking against him despite the government's confirmation of full recovery of the debt. "Saw PM Modis interview in which he takes my name and says that even though I owe Rs 9000 crores to Banks, his Govt has attached my assets worth Rs 14,000 crores. So the highest authority has confirmed full recovery. Why do BJP spokesmen continue their rhetoric?" Mallya tweeted. "I humbly submit that my assertion that I am a poster boy is fully vindicated by the PMs own statement about me (by name) that his Govt has recovered more than what I allegedly owe the Banks. Fact that I have been a UK resident since 1992 ignored. Suits the BJP to say I ran away," he added. Mallya's remarks come just days after the Patiala House Court ordered attachment of Vijay Mallya's properties in Bengaluru under section 83 in The Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with a FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) violation case. The same court had already declared Mallya a proclaimed offender for evading summons in January 2018. The court had also issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against him for evading summons and law of the land in 2017. In a major blow to the liquor baron and boosting India's efforts to bring back the fugitive businessman, the UK Home Secretary had in February approved the extradition of Mallya. Mallya is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017 after the Indian authorities brought fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores against the former Kingfisher Airlines boss. While Mallya's legal team had argued in the UK court that the default on the loans sought by the now-defunct airline were the result of business failure, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had claimed fraudulent intentions by the businessman in seeking and then dispersing those loans. The judgment had also dismissed the defence team's attempt to challenge the case on human rights grounds by claiming that Barrack 12 of Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be detained following his extradition, did not meet the requirements. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A terror module has been busted and five of its highly radicalised members were arrested in Punjab, the police said on Sunday. The accused were allegedly planning to kill Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, as per a State Special Operations Cell, Punjab polices release. One .32 bore pistol (along with magazine and four live rounds) and 15 letter pads of Babbar Khalsa International have been recovered from the arrested, the release said. The arrested are residents of Punjab and Haryana, identified as Harvinder Singh from Panchkula, Sultan Singh from Kurukshetra, Karamjeet Singh from Moga, Lovepreet Singh from Sangrur, and Gurpreet Singh resident of Chandigarh, it read. "They are planning to kill specific targets including Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, who were allegedly responsible for incidents of sacrilege/desecration," said Assistant Inspector General, SSOC, Varinderpaul Singh. The arrested youths were radicalised over social media by suspected persons based in Europe, he said, adding they were planning to commit various violent acts to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state. A police case has been registered in Mohali. "These highly radicalised youth were in (the) process of mobilisation of funds, and already had procured weapons. They were planning to arrange weapons training in Jammu and Kashmir. "They were in touch with militants including Jagtar Singh Hawara of Babbar Khalsa who is in jail, Ranjit Singh Pakhoke, active member of Khalistan Tiger Force, residing in Germany," Singh said. Police said further investigation was underway. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Some members of the team that brutally killed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi received training in the United States, the Washington Post has reported, revealing other new elements in the death of the newspaper's former contributor. Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi regime, was killed and dismembered on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has not been recovered yet. After having denied the murder, Saudi Arabia said the operation was carried out by agents who were out of control. A trial of 11 suspects opened earlier this year in Saudi Arabia. But much of the case remains shrouded, beginning with the role of countrys powerful crown prince and de facto ruler Salman. The US Senate, after a closed-door briefing by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), adopted a resolution naming the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as responsible for the murder, while US President Donald Trump has refused to publicly take a stand. According to David Ignatius - Washington Post columnist, a Saudi who closely read the transcript of a recording from a bug placed in the consulate by Turkish intelligence said it indicates the plan was to kidnap Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for detention and interrogation. A note in the transcript says an injection was administered to Khashoggi, which the Saudi source said was probably a powerful sedative. A bag was then placed over his head, and Khashoggi screamed: "I can't breathe, I have asthma. Don't do this." According to the Post, he died soon after. The transcript describes a buzzing noise, perhaps an electric saw used to dismember the journalist. According to Ignatius, who said he interviewed more than a dozen American and Saudi sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, some members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group received training in the United States. "The CIA has cautioned other government agencies that some of this special-operations training might have been conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company, under a State Department license," he said. "The training occurred before the Khashoggi incident, as part of ongoing liaison with the Saudis, and it hasn't been resumed." He said several other US-Saudi security exchange programs also have been suspended. With PTI Inputs For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to shut down America's southern border with Mexico next week unless Mexican authorities immediately halt all illegal immigration. Trump emphasized "I am not kidding around" about closing the border, even though such a severe move could hit the economies of both countries. "If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our southern border, I will be closing the border, or large sections of the border, next week," The President said on Twitter. Trump, who also cut US aid to three Central American nations whose citizens are fleeing north, claimed closing off border crossings, key avenues for trade with Mexico, "would be a good thing!" "It could mean all trade" with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. "We will close it for a long time." Though Trump has previously threatened to close the border and has not followed through, his administration moved to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The State Department said in a statement that it will suspend 2017 and 2018 payments to the trio of nations that have been home to some of the migrant caravans that have marched through Mexico to the U.S. border. Trump has been time and again saying that he will build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new surge of migrants heading north, he gave a definite timetable. A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S. The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be "an unmitigated economic debacle" that would threaten 5 million American jobs. Trump tweeted Friday morning, "If Mexico doesn't immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week." He didn't qualify his threat with "or large sections," stating: "There is a very good likelihood I'll be closing the border next week, and that is just fine with me." He said several times that it would be "so easy" for Mexican authorities to stop immigrants passing through their country and trying to enter the U.S. illegally, "but they just take our money and 'talk.'" The president, with support from conservative media, has made the large caravans symbols of the United States' immigration problem. A group of House Democrats visiting El Salvador denounced the administration's decision to cut aid to the region. "As we visit El Salvador evaluating the importance of U.S. assistance to Central America to address the root causes of family and child migration, we are extremely disappointed to learn that President Trump intends to cut off aid to the region," said the statement from five lawmakers, including Rep. Eliot L. Engel of New York, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The President's approach is entirely counterproductive." Short of a widespread shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children. Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles. Many people who cross the border illegally ultimately request asylum under U.S. law, which does not require asylum seekers to enter at an official crossing. "If we have to close ports to take care of all of the numbers who are coming, we will do that," Nielsen said. "So it's on the table, but what we're doing is a very structured process based on operational needs." Trump's latest declaration came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country was doing its part to fight migrant smuggling. Criminal networks charge thousands of dollars a person to move migrants through Mexico, increasingly in large groups toward remote sections of the border. "We want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States," Lopez Obrador said Friday. He added: "We are going to continue helping so that the migratory flow, those who pass through our country, do so according to the law, in an orderly way." Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign relations secretary, tweeted that his country "doesn't act based on threats" and is "the best neighbor" the U.S. could have. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday that 750 border inspectors would be reassigned to deal with the growing number of migrant families. In Florida, Trump was also asked about the two migrant children who died in U.S. custody in December. Is the administration equipped to handle sick children who are detained? "I think that it has been very well stated that we have done a fantastic job," he said, defending Border Patrol efforts to help the children. Trump said that in one of the cases "the father gave the child no water for a long period of time," although an autopsy released Friday made no mention of dehydration. With Agency Inputs For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Get a briefing of all the latest stories from The News Record, delivered right to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. STORM LAKE, Iowa - Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts talked about drowned livestock. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota delved into soybean prices. Former congressman John Delaney of Maryland bemoaned the privatization of Medicaid, and Julian Castro, an Obama Cabinet member, insisted that he is "very proud of the story of Storm Lake." In other words: The pandering to voters in Iowa, which will host the first caucuses of the 2020 presidential campaign, has begun. This weekend, four Democratic presidential candidates and Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who is considering a run, spent a bright but blustery day at the Heartland Forum at Buena Vista University. Much of the race has been dominated by national issues such as Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal environmental plan. This event focused on more local concerns. "They realize that this election is going to be decided this time in the Midwest," said Art Cullen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of the Storm Lake Times's editorial page, who moderated the forum. Jane Kleeb, chairman of Nebraska's Democratic Party, said that party activists in rural states have been clamoring for more focus on rural voters. "We want to see somebody running for president that knows what it's like to be on a farm and have major industrial agriculture surrounding you, trying to squeeze you out of the market," she said. Candidates largely used the forum to highlight their ideas for rural America, a theme that many here say Democrat Hillary Clinton missed in her 2016 campaign. A key issue that many addressed was how consolidation in the agriculture industry has caused higher prices and fewer choices for small farmers. Warren said that she would appoint regulators to unwind mergers like the recent Bayer-Monsanto deal, which combined two major seed suppliers. "Twenty years ago, 600 different outfits were selling seeds. Today, basically, it's six," she said. "That means less to compete on price and the diversity goes away that farmers want." Klobuchar also decried the monopoly control of farming. She invoked the Granger Movement of the late 1800s, in which farmers and other activists successfully fought railroad monopolies. "Literally this movement started where farmers were there with their pitchforks," she said. "That's what we need to see today." She also touted a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would use tax subsidies, loan guarantees and federal money to help local governments repair bridges, roads and water systems while bringing Internet access to remote areas. Delaney, who was a businessman before he entered politics, didn't discuss breaking up specific companies. But he agreed that mergers can pose a problem. "All the big companies have effectively controlled the part of the agricultural market where there's no risk, and they leave the farmers in the one part of the market where there's risk," he told reporters after speaking at the forum. "What we've got to do is start updating these laws." Other topics came straight from the front pages of the local papers, which on Saturday reported that UnitedHealthcare is pulling out of the state's Medicaid program, which will force more than 425,000 Iowans to change plans. Delaney, who has spent much of his campaign in Iowa, criticized the state's decision in 2016 to allow private companies to help manage the program. Iowa "shouldn't have privatized the Medicaid system," he said. "That was a bad decision, and it was a bad outcome and it hurt citizens." Warren and Klobuchar spoke about devastating floods this month that may have caused about $1.6 billion in damages. But neither said how they would vote Monday on a major disaster relief plan that Republicans say would include some money for Iowa. Democrats say the bill lacks sufficient funding for Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Only a few questions were about trade, even though the Trump administration's dispute with China has had a major effect on corn and soybean sales. Klobuchar applauded the administration for putting aside $12 billion to help farmers affected by the trade war, but said it's not a complete solution. "That's not actually the same as selling things, right?" she said. "That's not the same as having value with your product." - - - The Washington Post's David Weigel contributed to this report. Its Budget Season in Bethel, and as usual, those of us who are committed to restraining spending are suffering the slings and arrows of those who believe that more money equals more progress. But theres a bigger issue one that is rarely ever voiced. Its time to put a choke-chain around the unions especially the AFT. Unions were the perfect response during the Industrial Revolution to exploitative employers. Workers needed to galvanize in order to protect themselves. However, now the tables are turned, and the weasels appear to be guarding the henhouse. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is Joe Aresimowicz, who is also a longtime union staffer. In fact, Aresimowicz even attended the official unions institution of higher learning the National Labor College. At one point, there were those who believed that the overlapping of these two roles might become problematic. However, it was determined by the courts that Aresimowiczs employment combined with his government position did not constitute a conflict of interest. Is no one willing to admit that its the unions stronghold on state government that prevents Connecticut towns from controlling our own budgets? In Bethel, a whopping 85 percent of the Board of Eds budget comes from salaries and benefits probably 98 percent of which are contractual. Those increases occur no matter what the BoF or taxpayer thinks. So, if you are someone who supports antibullying, start by putting a choke-collar on these heavyweight unions our towns negotiate with every year. Only then will we be able to fairly assess our town budgets and all it entails. The taxpayers need to take back the power. In general, people appear to be strangely complacent on this topic, seemingly unwilling to point to it as an issue. There is a huge elephant planted squarely in the middle of the room that is sucking out all our oxygen year after year, leaving taxpayers gasping for air. Especially with state taxes and tolls undoubtedly coming our way, as well as the growing diaspora out of Connecticut, can we simply stand by and let this oppression continue? As a taxpayer, wouldnt you prefer the School Superintendent and/or Town Administrative team oversee hiring and firing of its own staff? Every year, the Selectmen and Board of Finance are forced to subordinate their own judgment and accept union demands and contracts, as if they were simply a fact of life! Well, I, for one, have grown quite weary of this process, and every year that goes by, my resentment grows. The combination of the unions unchallenged power hold and the states unfunded mandates turn the school and town budget process into an unnavigable maze where, in the end, there isnt even the tiniest kernel of corn for the mouse to find! This ridiculous, convoluted process is like some sort of weird family secret that everyone knows about but no one wants to discuss. Its the main reason local taxpayers become so hostile toward each other at this time of the year especially regarding the education budget. Pro-budget voters accuse those who do not support it of not caring about education, and being unappreciative of teachers. This is not at all true. Most of us who decry these unavoidable budget increases are simply conservatives who are fed up with being handcuffed to a corrupt system that has so many overlapping special interest groups its at the point of insanity. We need to realize and admit that unless the relationships in Hartford actually change, we are doomed to go through this same nonsense every year. And, to those who believe that the unions are protecting teachers, you are flat-out deluding yourselves. Bethels BoE describes itself as being in the people business, and they undoubtedly are. But does that really matter when its the money-seeking/power-grabbing/politically-motivated unions who are calling the shots? I promise you, the unions are not in the people business as much as they are in business for themselves. Somethings gotta give. Cynthia McCorkindale is a member of the Bethel Board of Finance. Edwardian farce is Hartford Stages offering at hand with Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, featuring the effervescent humor of P.G. Wodehouse, Britains finest literary export to America last century. Yet in its North American premiere, this production seems to have lost something in translation since its Olivier award-winning London premiere five years ago. British brothers David and Robert Goodale adapted Perfect Nonsense primarily from Wodehouses 1938 novel, The Code of the Woosters. The show follows the guileless Bertie Wooster (Chandler Williams), an utterly charming fool with a penchant for hatching delicious if half-baked ideas thoroughly lacking practical planning for execution, spinning his yarns on stage as a one-man play on Londons West End. As Wodehouse fans know by rote, Berties theatrical dream is certain to bomb were it not for his indispensable valet Jeeves (a versatile Arnie Burton), who serves him as efficiently as Radar OReilly serves Col. Potter in M*A*S*H*. Jeeves never fails to emerge from the invisible to Berties rescue with the perfect solution to his charges doomed-to-fail endeavors, including this one with further help from Berties butler, Seppings (Eddie Korbich, even more versatile), whose heart is always willing even if his wits fall a few feet short of mastery. Wodehouses Jeeves stories enjoyed a popular British television series in the early 1990s, Jeeves and Wooster, starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, respectively. In 1975, Alan Aychbourn (a British playwright as prolific as Wodehouse, if not as rangy) and Andrew Lloyd Webber created By Jeeves, a nifty, intimate musical including several characters filling the many Jeeves stories. Though charm and shtick favor Hartford Stages Perfect Nonsense, which continues through April 20 under Sean Foleys direction, they barely sustain the 135-minute performance. Its not the Wodehouse wit and elegance that breed the heartiest laughs, but rather the sight gags derived from hyperbolic and just plain silly props, set pieces and outrageous costumes. If youve already seen similar adaptations such comedies as 39 Steps and its imitators, originals such as 1973 revue El Grande de Coca-Cola, the 1982 two-hander How I Got That Story, or the long-running mystery The Woman in Black (another two-person play with a thousands characters), you may feel as if youre watching a revival. Perfect Nonsense revives such chestnuts as the slow-motion bit, the ridiculously cute stuffed dog-on-a-stick viciously attacking unsuspecting characters, and drag in the timeless British Holiday Panto tradition. Welcome as these laughs are, the fact that the productions clever (if derivative) gags and jesting upstage Wodehouses brilliant craft and wit is not a healthy sign. How could this be so? Wodehouse penned short stories, light verse, scores of books and more plays than Shakespeare. He, with Guy Bolton, wrote numerous musical comedies with Jerome Kern, including the touchstone Princes Theatre musicals, establishing a template for the farcical stories subsequently incorporated in the Astaire-Rogers RKO musicals. Perhaps the Master knew that his Jeeves capers work better in short fiction than in plays because the material isnt dramatic enough for the stage. As delicious as Wodehouses narration is to read, its meant to tickle the reader rather than keep a theatergoer on the edge of a $100 seat ($4.40 in late 1930s prices). A reader can enjoy the Jeeves stories at ones own pace, where as farce on stage they play nonstop and hopefully a step ahead of its audience. If this material was genuinely stage worthy, it stands to reason, Wodehouse wouldve written a play rather than a magazine story or novel. This is not to suggest that dramatists cannot fashion fiction as presentable theater. Giles Havergals exquisite 1989 adaption of Graham Greenes novel Travels With My Aunt is solid proof that it can be done, in similar style to the Goodale brothers adaptation. Frank Galatis 1988 adaption and staging of John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath is another example, albeit a far more sober story. In short, Perfect Nonsense seems more tedious than dramatic as it talks and talks and talks . Foley, who nearly 20 years ago co-wrote and performed in the similarly silly and immensely popular The Play What I Wrote, is smart casting to stage Perfect Nonsense because he has a genuine feel for this apparently free-wheeling style of comedy. Some of the shows best bits, such as transforming the vertically challenged Seppings into a towering antagonist with the employment of patently bogus apparatus (here the description hits a paywall you must see the device for yourself) jar us to laughter by the element of surprise. As with many of these other gags, they wear decidedly thin the longer they run, and not even Foley puts over all of them. The surprises disappear before intermission, taking much of the real laughter with them. Foley smartly cast Williams, Burton and Korbich as they share a refined sense of playing British upper crust in baggy pants style. Williams really personifies Bertie, who smiles with the sheer delight of living, as if every moment is natures gift not to be squandered on mundane pursuits. Williams charm mostly carries Bertie through his countless, windy addresses where he spouts exposition as Jeeves and Seppings run ahead up the track to lay more rails enabling Berties train of thought to continue moving forward. Burtons unflappable Jeeves alone commends his performance. One truly appreciates Burtons range as he slips into far more exotic, cartoonish characters. Korbich gets to show more variety still with his myriad impersonations. His best triumph is Korbichs portrayal of Berties Aunt, wearing a wig-cum-hat borrowed from the walker chorus in The Producers, a housecoat from Olympia Dukakis in Social Security and channeling Judy Kayes Emma Goldman in Ragtime. Fans of that musicals original cast album may listen to Korbichs clarion Auntie voice with eyes closed and fail to distinguish his voice from Kayes. The productions creative team Alice Power (scenic and costume design), John Gromada (sound) and Philip Rosenberg (lighting) complement the creators conceit of quick and light design superbly. At 2 hours, 15 minutes, Perfect Nonsense feels sporadically humorous at best, deadly dull at least. Its your dime. E. Kyle Minor is a Register theater writer. In recent weeks there have been multiple stories highlighting insightful young people in New Haven, Oakland and other cities around the country and world rallying in support of socialism as a result of economic inequalities. Many young people have become disillusioned by an economic climate that left them buried in debt and struggling to provide for themselves and their families. Faced with a dim outlook casting doubt on the benefits of capitalism, they are looking for a new path forward by embracing socialism, the perceived alternative option. That dichotomous view is a false one, driving young peoples belief that socialism is the only alternative to our current system. I agree that we need a new path forward, but in finding that path we must maintain the positive forces of capitalism while answering its flaws. I am one of a growing number of people who have embraced Conscious Capitalism. This movement represents the best of capitalism with a recognition that we must not only look to the bottom line when building a future, but must also look to a higher purpose for businesses. Following the 2008 financial crisis, I found myself seeking a new way forward. The crisis laid bare the flaws of an economic outlook based solely on financial success. In seeking to rebuild the environmental services company for which I serve as CEO, I was determined to ensure we would emerge a stronger organization, and that we would do our part to prevent the communities we serve from being as susceptible to the forces that caused the crash. It was then that I discovered Conscious Capitalism, a movement that believes business must take stock of its impacts and stand in support of the social, environmental and financial well-being of all stakeholders. Despite its flaws, I believe capitalism, when ethically implemented, is the economic system most capable of improving lives around the globe. Capitalism is a system that is based on creating things of value, and that value has driven the forward march of innovation and lifted millions of people out of poverty. Two hundred years ago, most of the worlds population lived in extreme poverty. Today, only 16 percent of people live this way. To follow Conscious Capitalism, a business must examine its motivations and identify its higher purpose. This higher purpose is the value a company provides to benefit society; a reason for being that motivates stakeholders beyond dollars and cents, while reinforcing financial sustainability across the organization and amid market shifts. According to the book Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, recent research covering a 15-year period showed that by following the principles of Conscious Capitalism, companies not only improved their cultures but outperformed their peers 14-1. This is no surprise, given the growing belief amongst young people that a profit-driven economic system is not working. Deloittes 2018 Millennial Survey found in members of that generation, as well as members of Generation Z, the same distrust of the future and the business climate that has driven many young people to turn their backs on capitalism. This worldwide survey found that todays young people believe business has a responsibility to improve society. These young people are customers of our businesses. In the past three years, 85 percent of companies guided by a higher purpose showed positive growth, while 42 percent of non-purpose-led companies showed a decrease in revenue. This gap is likely to expand as more young people enter the job market. It is increasingly clear that embracing a higher purpose and making a positive impact is not just a vanity effort for business, it is a necessity. Deloittes 2018 Millennial Survey also found that more than two-thirds of young people believe political leaders are not the answer to the worlds problems. They are far more likely to believe that business can bring positive change. Business has a responsibility to answer this call. Capitalism without a higher purpose is not the way forward, but neither is seeking security through socialism. We must ensure that the world continues to move forward, not toward higher profits, but toward a higher purpose. That is the promise of Conscious Capitalism. Larry L. Bingaman is the president and chief executive officer of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority and the founder and Chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of Conscious Capitalism. Newsfrom Japan Seoul, March 30 (Jiji Press)--South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon has expressed his eagerness to improve relations with Japan, during a ceremony in Chongqing, China. South Korea is trying to overcome its unfortunate history with Japan and develop the 1,500-year history of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a future-oriented way, Lee stressed. The remarks were made during the ceremony on Friday to commemorate the restoration of the headquarters building of the Korean Liberation Army, set up by the South Korean provisional government during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The prime minister's office released the remarks. Lee did not refer to concrete issues, such as recent South Korean top court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to South Koreans who claim to have been forced to work for them during World War II. During a recent parliamentary session, the South Korean prime minister also expressed his readiness to make efforts to improve relations with Japan, saying that backdoor talks were under way. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] UPDATE: Fire grows to 8,000 acres, but its 50 percent contained As firefighters battle a massive blaze thats torn through more than 5,000 acres in the Pinelands, residents as far away as New York are reporting that they can smell the smoke. The smoke plume from the South Jersey blaze even appears on radar. In addition to smoke, residents in areas of Monmouth and Middlesex counties are reporting falling ash covering vehicles Sunday morning. An update on the status of the fire is expected later this morning. The fire was first reported around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County. High winds helped drive the blaze through the afternoon and it had grown to 5,000 acres as of 10 p.m. Saturday, with 10 percent containment. The fire was expected to expand overnight. No injuries were reported and no evacuations have been ordered. The National Weather Service shared this image showing the smoke plume from the Pinelands fire, along with an explanation for why residents far north of the blaze can smell smoke. Meanwhile, social media users reported smelling smoke in areas including Newark, Elizabeth, Wayne and Staten Island. The smell of fire and smoke in the air is almost unbearable outside, and Im 50 miles north of this. https://t.co/urJIr0MpcU Live Action Vincent Adultman (@CFSparta92) March 31, 2019 The National Weather Service in Mount Holly reported that the smoke plume was visible on radar and explained that smoke was being carried north. A meteorologist said the spread of smoke into North Jersey was the result of nocturnal inversion in the atmosphere, which prevented smoke from quickly dissipating. We can smell this fire and the smoke all the way in staten island NY https://t.co/LHB8ALyrsE KeithCohenRealtor (@KcohenSIRealtor) March 30, 2019 In addition to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and support from air tankers, multiple departments from Burlington and Ocean counties responded to battle the blaze. The forest is bounded by Route 72 to the northeast, Route 563 to the west and Route 539 to the east. Route 72 remains closed in the area of the blaze. FB peeps in NJ from Old Bridge going south .Keep your windows closed do to a big forest fire in Ocean Co. Ash & smoke everywhere Gail Ritzer (@karma61) March 30, 2019 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. Chris Rock: Jussie Smollett, You Don't Get No Respect From Me #ImageAwards50 pic.twitter.com/97vpDkLltQ TV One (@tvonetv) March 31, 2019 Apparently, telling Chris Rock that he cant make a Jussie Smollett joke only sets you up for a Jussie Smollett joke. Rock, 54, who has a home in Alpine, appeared at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, where producers were, according to Rock, not keen on anyone making a joke about Smollett. Recently, all charges were dropped against Smollett, an Empire actor, after he claimed that two masked men attacked him in Chicago on Jan. 29 and tied a rope around his neck, pouring bleach on him. He said the men had hurled racist and homophobic slurs during the attack. A month later, Smollett, 36, was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct as police accused him of staging the attack. The Cook County States Attorneys Office dropped all charges against Smollett on Tuesday. Rock took to the stage at the 50th NAACP Image Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to present an award. They said no Jussie Smollett jokes, Rock said, to hearty laughter from the audience. Yeah, I know, I know, he continued. What a waste of light skin, you know? You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be outta here! (Id) be (expletive) running Hollywood!" After stopping to laugh for a few beats, Rock continued. What the hell was he thinking? From now on, youre Jessie. From now on. You dont even get the U no more. The camera cut to Daily Show host Trevor Noah doubling over with laughter in the audience. That U was respect," Rock said. "You aint getting no respect from me. Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon on Foxs Empire, was absent from the NAACP Image Awards despite being nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series (he did not win). Others in attendance at the Image Awards, including Chicago showrunner Lena Waithe, 34, and actress Yara Shahidi (Black-ish," Grown-ish), said they stood with Smollett, supporting the actor. Shahidi, 19, made the comment onstage while standing alongside her castmates to accept an award for outstanding comedy series for Black-ish. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the dropping of charges against Smollett a whitewash of justice." Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the city is still owed an apology. Smollett had said that the men who attacked him shouted this is MAGA country and that he saw one of them was white. Police later said the actor had paid $3,500 to hire two black men brothers Abimbola Abel Osundairo and Olabinjo Ola Osundairo to conduct a staged attack. This week, Saturday Night Live dedicated a sketch to the Smollett controversy (see clip below), in which Chris Redd plays Smollett, who again claims to have been attacked. Redd, who is late to a network meeting for Empire, takes several clues" out of a bag, including three letter Ks to signify the Ku Klux Klan. In the sketch, Smolletts exasperated manager, played by Sandra Oh, cuts ties with him and series creator Lee Daniels tells the actor he has to fire him. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. William Miles wasnt happy with his second-place finish two years ago during the annual Christmas decorating contest at Newark City Hall. He figured hed be a cinch to win in 2018 with an intimate display that would incorporate his childhood passion for trains. Miles, however, missed the competition when he got carried away working on his creation. Its a good thing he did. What he came up with instead is more valuable than first place. It shows how deeply Miles loves the city where he was raised. Spread across a table four feet wide and six feet long, Miles built an elaborate, detailed model of Newark life, featuring historical landmarks, NJ Transit and Amtrak trains zipping through tunnels and the citys landscape. My mind took me in another direction," said Miles, a project coordinator for the citys construction official in the engineering department. If I had a larger table, I would have gone a little bit further." His vision is something to see underneath a fiberglass enclosure on the first floor in city hall. Weequahic and Branch Brook parks are landscaped with shrubs, trees and cherry blossoms. There are replicas he assembled of prominent buildings, including the Prudential Insurance Company, 744 Broad Street and the Newark Public Library, which has an added fixture. On its roof are small signs with the mascots of Newark high schools. I want kids to realize that you can do anything in this world if you put your mind to it," Miles said. In the center of the display is Broad Street, with several miniature city vehicles and a model NJ Transit bus traveling along the major artery he made. Decorative street lights that work line the corridor. Police vehicles sit on top of two bridges that resemble sections of the Pulaksi Skyway. There are murals and graffiti sprinkled around for flavor. He didnt forget anything in this tribute. Billboards that Miles made contain images of Queen Latifah and Shaquille ONeal, who are natives contributing to Newarks redevelopment with residential buildings. Past mayors Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James share a billboard as well. Current Mayor Ras Baraka has his own space above Whole Foods, too. Miles said he didnt intend to build something this large and intricate when he started. But he kept adding to it, making the exhibit bigger whenever hed pass something in the city that caught his eye. An overhead view of the Newark model created by William Miles, a city resident. (Barry Carter)Barry Carter I said Im going to do this project for the city," Miles said. Newark Liberty International Airport has a spot. So does a row of mom and pop stores, a food truck and another billboard with the names of Newark breweries and department stores. Before he knew it, the calendar flipped to January. Miles was still in design mode, not knowing what he would do with his production. March arrived and his artwork still didnt have a home, except where he built it at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Newark. He is a member there and spent three months and about $1,500 putting it together in the basement. Only a few people knew about it. Hed send pictures of his ideas to Lillian Washington, but the retired Newark employee said she didnt realize how big it was until he invited her and his fourth-grade teacher to see it at the church. It made me so proud that someone would take an interest to that degree, that he would put Newark out there like that," Washington said. Theres a lot to look at with each gaze. Positive messages are attached to street signs. Birds and butterflies blend into green space. Construction equipment demolishing the old Carlton Hotel shows progress. His skyline is a pictorial of other Newark attractions. Audrey Berger, his fourth grade teacher and her husband Rick were floored when they saw it at the church. He is something else, Audrey Berger said. I never saw this side of him." Rick Berger said Miles crafted a permanent documentary of Newark with love. It speaks to his penchant for hobbies, something he says young people today dont do enough of in the digital age. As a kid growing up in Stella Wright, a former Newark housing development, Miles was fascinated taking apart radios and toy cars. But nothing rang his childhood bell like the sight of a train. When he walked to his grandmothers house on 18th Avenue, Miles said his sister would have to hold his hand to keep him from jumping on the train that rolled by at rail crossings. I was a fanatic," Miles said. To see a big piece of metal on a track was just amazing." Amazing doesnt even describe how he transformed his passion. The word reached Mayor Ras Baraka, who had Miles display his creation during his State of the City address at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Miles is not sure how long it will be at city hall or where it will be next. I want it to be somewhere where people are going to appreciate it," he said. Read More Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. JERSEY CITY A 6-year-old child was rushed to the hospital Saturday evening after surviving a fall out of a 4-story apartment window. The boy fell more than 50 feet onto the sidewalk just after 4 p.m. Saturday from the 4th floor of a York Street apartment building on the corner of Washington Street, witnesses said. Tenants of the building said the child was conscious when emergency officials arrived on the scene. One resident said a wire may have broken the boy's fall. The child was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center and is now being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center, but the extent of the boy's injuries are unclear at this time. The family of the child could not be reached for comment. Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cwmcdonald_. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY It got as warm as 65 degrees on Saturday and, for some New Jerseyans, that was enough to break out the shorts and sunglasses. Hundreds of people took to Liberty State Park the biggest and most popular parks in Jersey City to run, bike, or take pictures in front of the waterfront or to simply play with their dogs. Whether visitors chose to sit back and relax or run a few laps, it was clear everyone was enjoying the warm weather. My dogs are very happy, said Rosanna, a longtime Jersey City resident. Rosanna who only provided her first name said she and her partner, Dave, walked her two dogs for about an hour around the park before taking a break on a bench across the playground. Weve been looking forward to just getting out the house, Dave said. Its just been too cold. But, on Saturday, there was no presence of the cold weather; just some cool breezes that carried the scent of barbecue from the picnic area near the playground, where Rosanna and Dave relaxed. And the mid-60 degree warmth didnt only draw in locals, but some out-of-city visitors as well. Megan Kim, of New York, and Christina Roperti, of Staten Island, decided to reunite at the Jersey City park after not seeing each other for months. Were not friends in the winter, Roperti said, laughing. Only through text message. Kim agreed as the two explained Liberty State Park was most convenient since The Oak on Pine a restaurant at 196 Pine St. -- was a less-than-10-minute walk, which is nothing in this weather. The parents had brunch and the kids were free to run around the park afterward, Kim said. But Kim wasnt the only one who took a drive to bring her kids to the park. Barbara and Anthony, of Union County, took their two daughters out to ride their bikes and fly their kites. The couple said the weather was great and they had been biking around for almost half an hour before taking a snack break in front of the waterfront. Yeah, the warm weather got us out here, said Anthony, who only provided his first name. JERSEY CITY Authorities have arrested and charged a city man for the murder of a woman in Lincoln Park, officials with the Hudson County Prosecutors Office said. Members with the HCPOs Homicide Task Force early Sunday morning arrested Jorge Rios, of Jersey City, for the murder of Carolina Cano. The Jersey City woman was found dead in the lake in Lincoln Park, east of Route 1&9 near the tennis courts, on Sunday, March 24. Authorities say she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted prior to her death. Rios, 33, has been charged with murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault, authorities said. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny. Authorities found Cano's body last Sunday in the lake in Lincoln Park just after 7:30 a.m. The Regional Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death to be from "strangulation and water submersion." Cano, 45, lived two blocks away from Lincoln Park on Gautier Avenue. Law enforcement sources said she was believed to have been jogging. Residents in the park were relieved to hear of the arrest, but said the incident was shocking. Cano's murder has prompted calls from residents for additional security in the park. Phil Taino and Cesar Realista have been playing tennis in the park for years not far from where Canos body was found in the park. They said they thought the park has gotten safer over the years with all of the cameras and there are a lot of police patrols going around. "But it's surprising this happened," Taino said. Realista said he thinks additional security is needed, and added that "there's not enough lighting around here." Khalid Muhammad, a lifelong resident of Jersey City who has been jogging in Lincoln Park for more than 25 years, called the park a "sanctuary" for joggers and residents looking to escape the urban environment. He said Cano's murder was tragic, but that he has "always thought (the park) was safe." "I never felt threatened," he said. "This is just a really terrible and unfortunate incident." Freeholder Bill ODea and Jersey City Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, who represent the West Side, plan to host a meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Gallo Center to discuss the homicide and talk about security measures at the park. Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cwmcdonald_. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY A man was charged in a shooting incident and city police recovered a stolen gun, a city spokeswoman said. Marvin Pulliam, 40, was charged with obstructing a government function, receiving stolen property, causing or risking widespread damage, and multiple weapons offenses, including being a person not to possess a weapon, spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said. The handgun was recovered after police arrested Pulliam at 4:25 p.m. in the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Grant Avenue, about a block away from where the shooting incident occurred, Wallace-Scalcione said. Police could not locate any victims in the shooting incident, Wallace-Scalcione said. Jeffrey W. Lenarski, a 42-year fireman in Ewing who last year was named officer in charge of the townships career fire department, has passed away following a brief illness. Ewing fire companies announced his death Saturday morning. He was 58. Lenarski was a longtime volunteer with the Prospect Heights Volunteer Fire Co. in town, serving as its chief from 2002 to 2013. He joined the company in 1976 as a junior firefighter and held an assortment of ranks over the years. For 38 of those years, he also served as a career firefighter in Ewing. When the town started bulking up its career staff in late 2015, Lenarski was promoted to career captain of the force. The town went to a 24/7 fire department in late 2017, and last year Lenarski was named officer-in-charge of the department, called Ewing Fire Division 30. He was the chief officer when he passed away. News of his death spread through the fire service in Mercer County Saturday, with companies across the area posting condolences to the extended Lenarski family, many who also serve in the fire and first responder community. The Trenton Fire Department said: Jeff was a great friend and advocate of the TFD. His infectious smile, love of the fire service and great knowledge will be sorely missed. Our condolences go out to his family and our Brothers and Sisters at Prospect Heights and all the Mercer County Fire Companies that Jeff had a part in. Lenarskis father, the late Joseph S. Lenarski, also had served as chief of the Prospect Heights company. The Prospect Heights Volunteer Fire Co. salutes the life of Jeffrey Lenarski and the service that he has given to his community! Thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Catherine, daughter, Amanda, son, Joseph, brothers Joseph M. Lenarski and Mark Lenarski and sister Christine (Lenarski) Evans and to the extended family, the company said in a statement. Lenarski will be laid to rest Friday, April 5, in Ewing, with viewings the night before. Details are here. 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 veteran priest in Monmouth County has been removed from the ministry, the Diocese of Trenton announced Saturday, after determining there were credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor in the 1970s and 80s at a parish in Keansburg. However, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office said the priest, the Rev. Msgr. Gregory D. Vaughan, would not face criminal charges because, under state law, too much time had passed since the abuse was alleged to have taken place. "The allegations fell outside the statute of limitations, said Charles Webster, a spokesman for the prosecutors office, referring to state law effectively limiting prosecution for sex crimes to those alleged to have occurred after December 1986. Webster said the case was thoroughly investigated, though he declined to elaborate. Most recently, Vaughan had been the pastor at the Church of St. Catherine in Holmdel, though the abuse was alleged to have occurred at the Church of St. Ann in Keansburg. The diocese said it was with profound sadness that it was announcing the allegations and its action against Vaughan, who had ministered to the countys Catholic community for four decades in various capacities and at various parishes, all of which had been informed of the issue. On March 17, 2019, the Diocese of Trenton received an allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor against Rev. Msgr. Gregory D. Vaughan, who has served as pastor of St. Catharine Parish in Holmdel since 2013," read the statement from the diocese, which is headed by Bishop David M. OConnell. Following our own interviews with the victim, the Diocese has determined that the allegation is credible." Msgr. Vaughan has denied the allegation, the statement added. Vaughan could not be reached for comment Saturday night. The diocese said it would not disclose details of the alleged abuse. It said this was the only allegation of sexual abuse of a minor it had received against Vaughan. A spokeswoman for the diocese did not immediately return requests for comment late Saturday. Vaughan was not among 188 priests and deacons accused of abuse whose names were released in February by New Jerseys five dioceses after allegations against them were found to be credible. After finding the allegations credible, the diocese said OConnell removed Vaughan from ministry immediately, and that the allegation would also be reported to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. After being ordained in 1972, Vaughan served exclusively within the Diocese of Trenton, assigned to the following parishes: St. Ann in Keansburg; St. Charles Borromeo in Cinnaminson; St. Mary in Middletown; St. Raphael in Hamilton; and St. Catharine in Holmdel. Vaughan had also served the diocese as vicar for Catholic education, chancellor, vicar general, moderator of the curia, and director of vocations. Officials at the diocese have encouraged all victims of abuse to report it to the appropriate law enforcement agency, and to the diocese through its abuse hotline: 1-888-296-2965 or via email at abuseline@dioceseoftrenton.org. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Samantha Sami Josephson was just finishing her last semester at the University of South Carolina and planned to head to law school, but when she mistakenly got into a car she thought was her Uber, those plans were cut short. The 21-year-old Robbinsville, New Jersey, native was killed earlier this week in a tragedy that Columbia, South Carolina, police are now investigating as a murder. Turkey hunters found her body in Zion, Clarendon County, on Friday afternoon. Her funeral has been scheduled for Wednesday at noon, her parents announced on Facebook Sunday. The suspect in her killing, 24-year-old Nathaniel Rowland, made his first court appearance for a bond hearing Sunday afternoon, and will appear again in court in late April. Hes charged with kidnapping and murder. Hes taken away a piece of our heart, soul and life. Shame on him, Marci Josephson said of Nathaniel Rowland at the hearing, The State reported. We thought he would be here, to see his evil face. I cannot fathom how someone could randomly select a person, a beautiful girl, and steal her life away. Rowland waived his right to appear in court, The State reported. Warrants from the State Law Enforcement Division said Samantha Josephson had numerous wounds evident on multiple parts of her body," including her head, neck, face, upper body, leg and foot. Blood was found in the trunk and cab of the black Chevrolet Impala Rowland was driving, along with bleach, wet wipes and germicide, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a press conference Saturday evening. Testing found that the blood was Josephsons. A motive for the killing has not yet been revealed. Nathaniel David Rowland is charged with kidnapping and murder of Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville. (Columbia Police Department) Court records in Richland County, South Carolina, also listed charges of refusing to stop on police command and marijuana possession on Saturday. Rowland has a past felony arrest in South Carolina from October 2018 for obtaining a signature or property under false pretenses. Rowland attended South Carolina State University in 2017, according to his Facebook page and public records, The Greenville News reported. Local news outlets reported that Josephson was set to graduate in May with a political science degree and planned to go to Drexel University law school in Philadelphia. Our hearts are broken," Holbrook said at a press conference Saturday evening. "There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered. It was gut-wrenching. This is personal to us. god i cant stop thinking about sami josephson its making me feel sick @ all girls we need to look out for each other and protect each other bc its obvious no one else will never let ur friends wander off or go home alone dr pepper is a woman (@asbestosplug) March 31, 2019 Family friends started a GoFundMe to help with Josephsons funeral and memorial costs. By Sunday afternoon, it had far exceed the $5,000 goal, raising $32,852. It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life, the victims father, Seymour Josephson, wrote. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this. USC President Harris Pastides wrote in a letter to the school community, Times like these leave me searching for words of wisdom and comfort. However, I take solace that the Carolina Family is here to embrace those who are hurting. The university also sent a reminder to students to travel in groups and use the schools public safety app, RAVE Guardian, which allows students to connect with campus police immediately and report crimes. Thousands of friends and strangers alike reached out to share their condolences with the Josephson family over the last two days. It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest... Posted by Seymour Josephson on Saturday, March 30, 2019 All of us here in Columbia, SC grieve with you, wrote Sandra Dotson Evans, a mother who lives near USC. As a mother of a daughter in college this is always one of our greatest fears. A funeral for Josephson will be held on April 3 at noon, with services at Congregation Beth Chaim in Princeton Junction and a burial at the Perrineville Cemetery, her father announced on Facebook Sunday afternoon. After the burial, the family will sit Shiva and hold visiting hours at their home Thursday after 3 p.m. and Sunday starting at noon. Ubers press line has not yet returned a request for comments, but the ride service posted a list of safety tips over the summer, reminding users that when they request a trip through the Uber app, they receive the drivers photo, name, the car make and model, and license plate number. Rowlands bond hearing was at 2 p.m. Sunday, but he waived his right to appear in court. He has another court appearance in Richland County scheduled for April 22 at 9 a.m., according to court records. He is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia. 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. The South Jersey forest fire thats spreading smoke and ash into North Jersey and beyond grew overnight, but authorities say its now about half-contained. At about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, a fire in Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County, was reported, and high winds quickly spread the flames. Late Saturday, it had grown to 5,000 acres, forcing the closure of Route 72. By Sunday afternoon, the fire had spread to about 10,000 acres, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, but the blaze is now about 75 percent contained. Route 72 reopened just before 5 p.m. Sunday. This blaze is one of the larger ones New Jersey has seen in recent years. in 2015, Woodland Township experienced a 1,000 acre fire. This is a major fire, Hajna said of Sundays blaze. New Jersey firefighters have been battling and containing the actual fires while local fire teams out of Burlington and Ocean counties are providing protection to structures, Hajna said. Route 72 remains closed in the area of the blaze. Gov. Phil Murphy released a statement thanking responders and urging residents to follow the instructions of officials. In a tweet, he said that he had spoken with state coordinators. Rain has helped limit the Pinelands fire, but expected winds are a continued challenge, he said. Nick Carr, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said tomorrows weather would be drier and windy, posing a potential problem if the fire lingers through the night. Folks in Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Essex and Ocean counties, and even some across state lines in Staten Island, noted the smell of smoke and saw plumes filling the air. Liz Rios, of Toms River, said she first noticed the smoke at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, while she was driving. She posted a video Sunday morning showing heavy smoke over her town. The smell made it seem a lot closer than it actually was, she told NJ Advance Media. Sunday morning, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service said he hadnt seen any emergency alerts about the air quality, with the state currently listed as moderate." Areas downstream of this fire the wind has been blowing out of the south, carrying smoke north might see widespread ash, or the smell of smoke," he said. "This is more localized, but obviously if youre in that smoke zone, youre going to feel the localized effects of it. But so far, no one has been injured because of the fire, and no evacuations have been mandated. Hajna said that the weather Sunday cooler, with periods of rain would help in containing the fire. Whats equally important is that the winds have died down, Hajna said. That will help suppress the further spread of flames. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Pinelands on fire north of us last night. Posted by Myrna Haeberle on Sunday, March 31, 2019 Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@By_paigegross. 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 governors task force investigating the states tax incentives program has only held one hearing so far, and already, this looks outrageous. The program is out of control, with a sudden explosion of incentives granted under the Christie administration, thanks to lawmakers in both parties who blew the limits off these awards. At best, it appears the Economic Development Authority was understaffed and had to rely on the word of CEOs and their hired lobbyists when promising away billions in tax breaks -- often undeservedly, a state audit has said. Companies are ripping us off, and Phil Murphy is taking strides to clean it up where the Legislature has let it rot. Was this incompetence and bad policy? Or even worse, corruption? Thats the question now facing Murphys task force, staffed with out-of-state experts in white collar crime. The testimony on Thursday seemed pretty damning, even for New Jersey. A new whistleblower stepped forward, a former top executive at the Jackson Hewitt tax-preparation firm. Gulsen Kama says the CEO of her company lied to the EDA, faking a threat to move jobs out of state in order to secure a promise of millions in tax incentives to remain here. She was fired shortly after calling out her bosses, she claims, and sued the company. If her story is true, it was all encouraged by a consulting firm that has advised other applicants, which raises a disturbing question: Were the CEOs of other companies advised to pull the exact same trick? An even more alarming question is this: Did the EDA know taxpayers were getting fleeced, and look the other way? Thats what another whistleblower alleged, in a lawsuit previously obtained by WNYC. Long-time EDA employee Veyis David Sucsuz said he was fired for resisting orders to approve improper applications, from CEOs faking threats to move to phantom locations out of state. The EDA successfully argued in court that he was fired for other reasons, but Sucsuz may still have been telling the truth. His boss, John Rosenfeld, the head of the incentives program at the time, also testified about the intense pressure his small staff faced from the Christie administration to approve certain applications. The governors office was ready to blow past the rules in its haste to approve favored businesses, Rosenfeld said. A separate Legislative panel is also investigating this, but so far appears to be giving a pass to the officials in charge at the time. So its good to see that Murphys task force isnt shying away from potentially embarrassing questions. Heres one: Did the EDA come clean with investigators from the Murphy administration? During their audit, the state comptrollers staff explicitly asked if the agency was the subject of fraud allegations by former employees. The EDA answered, in writing, that it had no knowledge of any such allegations. But the truth is that its top executives were embroiled in this whistleblower lawsuit from Sucsuz. Among those being deposed were the agencys former CEO, Michele Brown, and Rosenfeld. Why didnt the EDA tell the comptroller about this? The newly-appointed head of Murphys EDA, Tim Sullivan, said through a spokeswoman on Friday that he knew about the lawsuit, but not the specific allegations in it. So the very same day the EDA denied any accusations of fraud by former employees, Sullivan sent a separate statement to the comptroller, staunchly defending the EDA. It was a mistake for him not to ask. But why wasnt he told? Its important to note, as did Ronald Chen, the head of the incentives task force, that most companies that apply for tax incentives do so honestly. And not all the tax discounts that were improperly promised have actually been used by the companies. Yet if not for this task force, would the EDA have sought to claw back improper awards, reclaim money or hold companies accountable? What kind of enforcement mechanisms exist at this agency? And given the accusations of favoritism, we need to know why EDA was charging hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to some applicants and not others, as pointed out in the comptrollers report. All questions that demand further investigation. But thanks to Murphy, and not the Legislature, were off to a promising start. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. WASHINGTON When New Jersey and New York needed federal help to recover from Hurricane Sandy, congressional Republicans delivered a resounding no. A majority of GOP lawmakers in both the House and Senate including Floridas Marco Rubio, future Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and future House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin opposed helping New Jersey and New York recover from the storm. The aid was approved largely on the strength of Democratic votes. Now Florida is awaiting federal aid for last years devastation caused by Hurricane Michael, and its junior Republican senator, Rick Scott, is calling out the same Democrats who pushed for Sandy assistance. A $13 billion aid package for Florida, Puerto Rico and other localities hit by natural disasters awaits Senate action. Families in Florida and Puerto Rico need our help, but the Democrats are blocking critical disaster relief funding from getting to the floor," Scott said. Democrats wouldnt stand for this when their states were hurting after Hurricane Sandy. Now, every Democrat should have to answer for their hypocrisy." Democrats said they are willing to move ahead with such legislation, as long as it included sufficient funding for Puerto Rico. The Senate Republican bill so far does not include that aid, they said. Complicating matters is that President Donald Trump reportedly told GOP senators that Puerto Rico already is getting too much assistance, according to the Washington Post. The Trump administration is committed to the complete recovery of Puerto Rico," White House spokesman Judd Deere said. "The island has received unprecedented support and is on pace to receive tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers. However, the Trump administration will not put taxpayers on the hook to correct a decades old spending crisis that has left the island with deep-rooted economic problems. Nor have Senate Republicans agreed to pass legislation already approved by the Democratic-controlled House over GOP objections that would have provided $14 billion aid to states hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters such as wildfires. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., was one of only six House Republicans to support the measure that passed during the recent record-long partial government shutdown and also provided funding to temporarily reopen the closed federal agencies. Senator Scott clearly has no idea what hes talking about," said Steven Sandberg, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. Unlike this president, and apparently Mr. Scott, Bob Menendez believes that when disaster strikes anywhere in the United States, we dont leave our fellow Americans behind. It is Republicans, once again, who are shamefully playing politics with disaster aid, exacerbating the suffering of American families who need our help. Even if the Senate mustered the 60 votes needed to pass its bill, there was no assurance that the House would follow suit, requiring negotiations between the two chambers and further delaying the aid. The bill that they are trying to pass here is never going to pass the House, said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. They know that. To get disaster aid for the country, well needed, in so many places, our Republican friends are going to have to tell Donald Trump his cold, cruel-hearted, and divisive policy of not letting any of the aid that has already been allocated to Puerto Rico to be distributed there, must fall. 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. As sure of a sign as a robin heralding spring, a colorful array of eccentric characters in outlandish situations taking to the stage signals the annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, celebrating the life, works and influence of the citys favorite playwright. The centerpiece theatrical work of this years festival, however, was not written by Tennessee Williams. A Confederacy of Dunces: Off the Page onto the Stage, nevertheless featured figures who couldve stepped directly from the Williams canon. The adaptation of John Kennedy Tooles work, which might well be considered the best-loved novel about New Orleans, had its premiere with several sold-out performances throughout the festival. Adapted by Kenneth Holditch and directed by Francine Segal, it was presented in a semi-staged reading at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center. Ever since its 1980 publication and subsequent Pulitzer Prize, various attempts have been made to dramatize the comic novel. Set in New Orleans of the 1960s, it centers on Ignatius J. Reilly, a slovenly cynic and erudite snob, a mountain of a man, and one of the generally more repulsive protagonists a reader is likely to encounter. From encounters with police while waiting for his mother beneath the clock outside D.H. Holmes on Canal Street to adventures selling hot dogs in the French Quarter, we also meet the various misfits of New Orleans who either befriend or besiege him. Hollywood has repeatedly shown interest but failed in bringing A Confederacy of Dunces to the screen. Despite its seemingly cinematic appeal, Holditchs script reveals why it is more likely a work for the stage than the screen. If anyone is capable of taking Ignatius J. Reilly and cohorts from the page to the stage, it is Holditch. His script shows an affinity and understanding of the picaresque book that few could achieve. For all of the innate theatricality of the novels figures, it is Tooles use of language that brings them vividly to life. The primary parts of the script are taken directly from the novel. The play opens with an introduction by Thelma Toole, the novelists mother who worked diligently for years after her sons suicide in 1969 to have the work published. She was splendidly played by Brenda Currin, showing Thelma was quite a character herself as she relates the story of finding the manuscript and eventually bringing it to novelist Walker Percy, who helped get it published. Currin sculpts a genteel but powerful figure who could easily emerge from a Williams drama, equal parts Violet Venable from Suddenly Last Summer and Amanda Wingfield of The Glass Menagerie. It gives a focal point to the entire evening. Following the introduction by Currin, the story is told in a series of vignettes from the novel. Charlie Talbert is a blustery, belching and bellowing Ignatius. His misadventures stem from being thrust from his mothers house into a world comically alien to him. Talbert maintains a haughty pretension, ever ready with the grand gesture as he battles his betes-noires of cops, strippers and his own intestinal issues. Tracey E. Collins is the very picture of the long-suffering Irene Reilly, Ignatius mother, creating a role that draws upon many a New Orleans maw-maw for inspiration. The cast is well rounded out with comic performances by Kate Adair, Edward R. Cox, Kyle Daigrepont, Zeb Hollins III, Vatican Lokey, Marie Lovejoy, Jo-Ann Testa and director Segal herself. The full ensemble captured what Holditch called so real, so New Orleans. Its like going to Schwegmanns. The production itself, presented with minimal scenery and costumed actors with scripts in hand, only hints at what it could be. Told in an episodic nature, Segal emphasized the cartoonish level of the comedy, which aimed for and achieved the bold laughs over the subtle. It does whet the appetite of the audience for a more fully realized production, which has been hinted. An equal part of the pleasure of the shows opening night was Segals onstage discussion with Holditch. A writer and longtime scholar on the works of Tennessee Williams and other Southern writers, Holditch also has been involved with A Confederacy of Dunces since before it was published, and was a close friend of Thelma Toole. A master raconteur, he gave rich insights into the novel and the challenges of dramatizing it, while offering a number of entertaining stories and quips. Audiences and readers can only hope he will decide to complete his biography of John Kennedy Toole. Covington voters chose a new mayor Saturday (March 30), putting Mark Johnson in the city governments top elected post, unofficial election returns show. The Republican businessman, seeking elected office for the first time, earned 52 percent support to finish ahead of City Councilman Rick Smith and former mayor Candace Watkins. For more on the mayoral candidates, click here. Johnson will take over a post that will come open July 1 when Mayor Mike Cooper leaves the office after two terms. While the candidates shared common major issues drainage, flood control and traffic control each presented unique personas during the campaign. Johnson, who retired from the homebuilding business, touted the consensus-building skills he developed running successful business. Smith, finishing his second term on the City Council, touted his candidacy as a seamless transition to new government leadership. Watkins, who was mayor from 2003 to 2011, touted herself as the lone candidate to have worked full-time running a municipal government. This is not the outcome we expected tonight, but this is the process that makes America great and I wish our new mayor-elect the best as he moves ahead, Smith said in a concession statement. In a race featuring three current City Council members, voters sent Patrick McMath and Larry Rolling into the councils two at-large posts, unofficial returns show. Jerry Coner finished third. The candidates campaigned on the common issues of improved drainage and streets, and boosting area businesses. In the District A race, Peter Lewis beat Keitisha Young with 52 percent of the vote, the returns showed. Both candidates said they wanted to improve community and youth-oriented programs in the district. In the District E race, voters sent Meghan Garcia and Mark Verret into a May 4 runoff, the returns show. Keith Villere finished third. Issues in that race included improved infrastructure and protecting the districts unique charm. Gerard Williams III, the lead designer of Apples industry-leading custom A-series ARM-based chips has left the company according to a CNET report. The departure couldnt have come at a worse time for Apple which has been reeling from negative publicity surrounding the termination of the high-profile AirPower charging mat device and an admission that its third-generation butterfly-mechanism based keyboards are also susceptible to failing. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Human 2.0 , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker What should have been a good week for Apple with the launch of its new subscription services has turned into a PR nightmare. Although the company continues to generate money hand-over-fist, it has been struggling to contain the fallout from the spectacular demise of its AirPower charging mat and an admission that its third attempt at designing a reliable butterfly keyboard mechanism has also been an abject failure. For a company struggling with engineering challenges, news that it has lost the lead engineer of its vaunted A-series chips will come as yet another blow to its image. CNET reports that Gerard Williams III, the lead designer of Apples custom ARM-based chips from the A7 to the A12 Bionic chips has left the company. However, it is not clear why Williams has left the company or where he is headed post-Apple. He will, naturally, be a highly sought-after property with companies like Qualcomm, Google, Samsung and Huawei undoubtedly lining up for his signature, if indeed he hasnt already signed on with one already. In leading the design of the A7 chip, the first 64-bit ARM-based chip on the market by some 12-18 months, Williams was very much an integral member of the chip team that continues to dominate the industry in mobile chip performance and efficiency. He was also responsible for helping to design the overall system architecture of Apples SoCs at large. It is, however, likely, that Williams work will still find its way into Apple products in the immediate future, but it is clear he leaves behind large shoes to fill. South Africa: Masutha orders probe into fatal prison stabbing Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha has instructed National Correctional Services Commissioner Arthur Fraser to investigate the fatal stabbing of a warder at Goedemoed Correctional Centre in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, on Friday. In a statement issued on Saturday, in which the Minister conveyed condolences to the family of the deceased warden, Masutha said the intervention was meant to establish the facts surrounding the incident and to expeditiously get to the bottom of it. Another female warder was seriously wounded during the attack and is receiving medical attention. On behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, I wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the family of our official, who lost her life while performing her official duties. Her family and colleagues are in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. I would also like to wish a speedy recovery to the other official, who is recovering after sustaining stab wounds in the same incident. Fraser and senior members of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) management have been at the correctional facility since Friday night. Trauma counselling and other relevant employee assistance is continuing. Masutha said the safety of staff is of paramount importance and the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services takes any attack on officials very seriously. We expect a full assessment of the protocols regulating the interaction of officials and inmates at Goedemoed Correctional Centre. We cannot afford to have a similar incident recurring at any point. Therefore, we have to find the glitch in our systems that placed our two officials in harm's way, said Masutha. The Minister called on those who are spreading baseless statements to act with sensitivity and show respect to the families of the affected officials. "We have already established that it is not true that the incident at the Goedemoed facility happened because of overcrowding. The population of offenders at the centre is at 97.41% capacity; it is not overcrowded. Let all of us await the official report and not give in to the temptation to venture into uninformed speculation," Masutha said. The Minister has also instructed the DCS training colleges to increase their intake of learnerships from once to twice a year. This will assist in beefing up the number of boots on the ground and alleviate staff shortages, the department said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Greetings, No doubt, there is a lot to be concerned about this year; however, 2020 has also been quite a year for recorded music. Let u... NPS photo March 30, 2019 Contact: Mike Litterst, 202-245-4676 Daily Schedule of Special Events Washington Special programs and services offered by the National Park Service during the 2019 National Cherry Blossom Festival are now underway, including the Cherry Blossom Festival Tidal Basin Welcome Area, festival-related lantern walks, and ranger talks and tours around the Tidal Basin and National Mall. National Park Service festival events will be held daily through April 9, and on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14. All activities are free of charge.Visitor information during the festival will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at the Tidal Basin Welcome Area, located near the paddle boats in the Tidal Basin parking lot. Food, souvenir, and book sales are also located in the same area, available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 29 April 9 April 13-14 Tidal Basin Welcome Area 10 a.m. 6 p.m. East Potomac Park Shuttle 10 a.m. 7 p.m. Cherry Blossom Ranger Talk Jefferson Memorial 12 p.m., 4 p.m. Cherry Blossom Ranger Talk Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial 2 p.m., 6 p.m. Special Programs Ranger-led Lantern Walks March 30-31, April 6-7, April 13-14 Ranger Bike Tour April 6-7 Pups n Petals Dog Walk March 30, April 6, April 13 If You Go NPS Begin your visit to the National Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin Welcome Area, located off Maine Avenue, SW, on the northeast side of the Tidal Basin. Information tents, performance stage, food and souvenir sales areas, and first aid station provide everything you need for a fun-filled visit.Stop by the National Park Service tent to become a Cherry Blossom Protector, earn a Bloomin Junior Ranger badge, and participate in the cherry blossom community art project.Shuttle service with 11 stops around East Potomac Park between Hains Point and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial is available free of charge. Provided by D.C. Circulator, the service will operate through April 9 and on April 13-14 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.Join a Park Ranger and learn more about the history and lore of the cherry blossoms. Programs meet on the plaza in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.Join a Park Ranger and learn more about the history and lore of the cherry blossoms. Programs meet at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial bookstore.Bring your flashlight for an evening stroll beneath the blossoms; evening is one of the best times to beat the crowds and enjoy the beautiful serenity of the Cherry Trees! This 1.8 mile, two hour guided walk around the Tidal Basin begins at 8 p.m. at the National Park Service tent in the Tidal Basin Welcome Area. Tours offered every Saturday and Sunday evening between March 29 and April 14.Grab your own bike, helmet, and water for a leisurely ride beneath the blossoms. The three-hour tour departs from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (East Basin Drive) on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m.Bring your furry friend for a two-hour stroll among the cherry blossoms! Meet outside the Franklin Delano Roosevelt bookstore at 4 p.m. Dont forget your leash (required), waste bags and water.For the full schedule of National Park Service cherry blossom events, including the Anacostia River Festival to be held in Anacostia Park, as well as a history of the cherry blossoms, and the bloom watch countdown, go to www.nps.gov/cherry For the full schedule of events sponsored by the National Cherry Blossom Festival, see www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org Due to extremely limited public parking, the National Park Service strongly recommends all visitors take Metro or bike to the festival. The closest Metro stop to the festival and the Tidal Basin is the Smithsonian station. The LEnfant Plaza, Metro Center, and Federal Triangle Metro stations are also within walking distance. Nine Capital Bikeshare stations are available within the National Mall to provide another transportation option.D.C. Circulator service is also available around the Tidal Basin, via the National Mall route. Stops near the cherry blossoms include the Holocaust Memorial Museum/Bureau of Engraving and Printing (adjacent to the Tidal Basin Welcome Area) and the Jefferson Memorial.Handicapped parking is designated on West Basin Drive at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Additional handicapped parking is available on southbound Ohio Drive on the Washington Boundary Channel side of Hains Point, north of the intersection with Buckeye Drive.From Saturday, March 30 through Sunday, April 14, Ohio Drive SW through West Potomac Park will be one way only (westbound) between Inlet Bridge and 23rd Street SW. GA English on Sunday : News in Brief from Bonn and the region Bonn/Region A woman died in a house fire in Troisdorf on Saturday night, politicians vote for a Bad Godesberg bicycle parking garage, the future of the old post office in Endenich remains uncertain, not enough parking spaces cause difficulties in Bonn and two suspected culprits were questioned in relation to the swastika graffiti in Bad Godesberg heres our news in brief on Sunday. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Fire brigade called out to fire in Troisdorf: Woman burnt beyond recognition TROISDORF. Due to a house fire, the fire brigade in Troisdorf was called out on Saturday evening around 7.30 pm. A 30-year-old woman was found dead in the burnt-out apartment. Peter Kern, the spokesperson for the Troisdorf fire brigade, told the GA that the woman was the occupant. According to GA information, the brother of the deceased alerted the fire brigade after forcibly entering the sister's apartment, which was already on fire. Because of the ongoing fire-fighting work, the area around the blaze was closed off. The fire brigade asked the road users to avoid the Heidestrae and the adjacent Kolner Strae. Around 1.20 am the operation was finished. According to the Troisdorf fire brigade, a total of around 60 emergency staff were on site. The exact cause of the fire is still unclear. Original text: Dierk Himstedt Former Klangstation: Politicians vote for Bad Godesberg bicycle parking garage BAD GODESBERG. The former sound station becomes a multi-storey car park for bicycles, both the district council and the city council decided unanimously. Also, a public toilet is to be developed now. In future, there will be a parking garage for bicycles in the station building with 192 parking spaces in automated operation as well as a service area with an associated workshop. Although it was not initially planned beforehand, a public toilet will now also be included in the plans. At the request of the FDP, additional proposals from the third Bad Godesberg Model Conference will be included in the construction concept. Original text: Judith Nikula Branch still not opened: The future of the old post office in Endenich is uncertain ENDENICH. A new post office was supposed to open last November in Alfred-Bucherer-Strae. But now it is again uncertain whether and when the post office will move into the premises. For months, many Endenichers have been puzzling over the question of why the rooms of the former Postbank branch on Alfred-Bucherer-Strasse are still empty. Originally, a Deutsche Post DHL branch was to open there last November with a private cooperation partner in order to further ensure customer service in Endenich. In a press release issued last autumn, the Deutsche Post officially announced that the branch was due to open soon: "The new branch will replace the Postbank Finance Center service at the same location, which was closed at the end of October 17. Postbank's press office, as the previous tenant, merely stated upon request that negotiations were about to be concluded with the owner due to the termination of the tenancy agreement. Original text: Lisa Inhoffen Swastika on wall and paint on cars: Suspected sprayers in Bad Godesberg questioned BAD GODESBERG. After vehicles of the Bonn public order office had been sprayed in Bad Godesberg on the night of March 12, police have now questioned two suspected sprayers. As the investigators announced on Friday, the two men are suspected of having smeared building facades, traffic signs and vehicles of the Bonn public order office with so-called "tags" in the Bad Godesberg city centre during the night to March 12 - especially along Kurfurstenallee and Am Kurpark. Since a political motivation could not be ruled out - among other things they had sprayed swastikas - the state security investigated. These investigations led now to two local men, both aged 22. The police secured extensive evidence which substantiated the suspicion against the men. The officers are now also investigating whether the suspects can be linked to other cases in Bonn and the region. Illegal Graffiti Spraying can mean criminal charges as well as substantial civil consequences. SEATTLE Jeff Bezos security consultant accused the Saudi government of gaining unauthorized access to the Amazon chief executives phone, as part of an effort to harm the worlds richest man. In an opinion article in The Daily Beast on Saturday, Gavin de Becker, Mr. Bezos security chief, alleged the Saudis wanted to hurt Mr. Bezos because he owns The Washington Post. The Post has aggressively reported on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, one of its columnists, who was killed last year in Turkey. United States officials have concluded Mr. Khashoggi, who was critical of Saudi leaders, was killed on the orders of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Mr. de Becker said he had turned over his findings about the Saudis and their role against Mr. Bezos to law enforcement. Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos phone, and gained private information, Mr. de Becker wrote. Heres an annotated analysis of Mr. Zuckerbergs post and what he is seeking to do with each area. Harmful Content First, harmful content. Facebook gives everyone a way to use their voice, and that creates real benefits from sharing experiences to growing movements. As part of this, we have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services. That means deciding what counts as terrorist propaganda, hate speech and more. We continually review our policies with experts, but at our scale we'll always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with. So-called harmful content across Facebook is an enormous category, spanning abuse and bullying to the recent live-streamed shootings at two mosques in New Zealand. With more than 2.7 billion people regularly using Facebooks services, policing such content is far and away the most difficult issue facing the company. By saying that Facebook gives everyone a way to use their voice, Mr. Zuckerberg makes something clear: The social networks sheer size means there will forever be errors, mistakes and things that it misses. Tens of billions of posts are shared to the network every day, making it impossible to keep the platform clear of harmful content. Facebook has had a difficult time deciding what is and isnt allowed on its site. Its policies often seem to be defined by its most extreme cases, which often spur outrage when handled poorly by the companys content moderators. If Facebooks policy determinations will always cause dissatisfaction, then it may be better to leave it up to lawmakers to write the rules for it. By adhering to the letter of the law, Facebook can effectively shield itself from blame when something inevitably goes awry. Election Protection Second, legislation is important for protecting elections. Facebook has already made significant changes around political ads: Advertisers in many countries must verify their identities before purchasing political ads. We built a searchable archive that shows who pays for ads, what other ads they ran and what audiences saw the ads. However, deciding whether an ad is political isn't always straightforward. Our systems would be more effective if regulation created common standards for verifying political actors. For years, Facebook has maintained little oversight over its political advertising practices. The company raked in revenue by the billions of dollars on the back of its automated advertising system. Wall Street loved Facebooks reliable blockbuster financial results and the companys stock soared. BENSALEM, Pa., March 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Swedbank AB investors (Swedbank or the Company) (STOCKHOLM: SWDBY) concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws. On or around February 20, 2019, The Swedish TV program, alleged that at least 40 billion Swedish crowns ($4.25 billion) had moved between Swedbank and Danske accounts between 2007 and 2015. On this news, shares of Swedbank fell $17.95, or nearly 10% to close at $180.65 on February 21, 2019, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Swedbank securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com , or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com . This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. The police in Columbia, S.C., arrested a man on Saturday in connection with the killing of a 21-year-old college student who was last seen early Friday before she apparently got into a car that she mistook for an Uber she had called, the authorities said. The police said at a news conference on Saturday night that the body of the woman, Samantha Josephson, was found Friday in a wooded area in Clarendon County. They said they believed that the man they had taken into custody, Nathaniel D. Rowland, 24, had recently lived nearby. Mr. Rowland faced murder and kidnapping charges. He was arrested early Saturday when the police found him driving a car that resembled the one Ms. Josephson had entered, said William H. Holbrook, the chief of the Columbia Police Department. The police did not say whether there was any known connection between Ms. Josephson and Mr. Rowland. The police did not share a possible motive for the killing, but Chief Holbrook asked the public to report any recent experiences of someone trying to entice them into a rideshare vehicle in the Five Points neighborhood, where Ms. Josephson was last seen at 2 a.m. on Friday getting into a black Chevrolet Impala. MEXICO CITY President Trumps plan to cut off aid to three Central American countries for failing to stop the flow of migrants toward the United States breaks with years of conventional wisdom in Washington that the best way to halt migration is to attack its root causes. The decision also runs counter to the approach advocated by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, among others. Mr. Lopez Obrador has been lobbying Washington to join his government in investing billions of dollars in Central America and southern Mexico, arguing that economic development and reducing violence are the most effective ways to encourage Central Americans to remain home. Cutting off aid is shooting yourself in the foot, said Adriana Beltran, the director of citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights research group that tracks aid closely. But the president has become incensed at the growing numbers of families arriving at the southern border asking for asylum. His administration notified Congress late Friday that it intends to reprogram $450 million in aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and has already sent instructions to embassies in the region. In a stunning rebuke of Slovakias populist governing party, Zuzana Caputova a 45-year-old lawyer, activist and political newcomer was elected Saturday as the nations first female president. Riding a wave of popular discontent over widespread corruption but refusing to engage in personal attacks on her opponents, she vowed to return a sense of decency to Slovakias often toxic political climate. Her sweeping victory in a runoff election gave hope to opposition parties across the region that the tide might be turning against the ethnic nationalist and populist movements that have swept to power in recent years. Maybe we thought that justice and fairness in politics were signs of weakness, she told a crowd of supporters around midnight. Today, we see that they are actually our strengths. We thought that the barrier between conservative and liberal is unbreakable, but we managed to do it. The countrys official statistics office said that with 100 percent of the vote counted, she led with 58 percent over 42 percent for Maros Sefcovic, a career diplomat who had the backing of the countrys governing party, SMER-SD. The sketch continued in this round-robin fashion, setting up exchanges like these: De Niro: I am submitting these 380 pages. Bryant: I am writing almost four pages. Baldwin: I am reading zero pages, but Sean Hannity has read it and he was so excited that he texted me an eggplant. De Niro: On the charge of obstruction of justice, we have not drawn a definitive conclusion. Bryant: But I have, and my conclusion is: Trumps clean as a whistle. Baldwin: Free at last, free at last. De Niro: As for conspiracy or collusion, there were several questionable incidences involving the presidents team, but we cannot prove a criminal connection. Bryant: No collusion, no diggity, no doubt. Baldwin: [blows an air horn] De Niro: However, we have indicted 34 individuals in connection with this probe Bryant: Most of them, very good people. Baldwin: The pardons are already in the mail. De Niro: In conclusion it is my hope that this report will be made public, with a few redactions. Bryant: Hella redactions. Baldwin: Were going to black out everything except the words no and collusion. S.N.L. returned to the subject of the Mueller report in another sketch later in the evening, this time from the perspective of the Russian president Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) as he sheepishly acknowledges to his underlings at the Kremlin that Trump is not one of his agents. Pleading his case to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Bowen Yang, an S.N.L. staff writer) and an interpreter (played by guest host Sandra Oh), Bennett said, We dont know everything in the report yet. Plus, Mueller handed off a lot of stuff to the Southern District of New York. Thats where the real action is. Interpreting for Yang, Oh replied to him, Glorious Leader says you sound like Rachel Maddow right now. Weekend Update Jokes of the Week When Rod Serling opened The Twilight Zone for business in 1959, it was a single, specific location. He defined it, in his signature Professor Spooky voice-over, as a place between light and shadow, science and superstition you know the drill. But the twilight zone was also a safe space, an underground meeting place to talk about things you couldnt talk about on TV. Serling, a playwright harried by network censors in the 1950s, saw that he could tell unsettling stories about prejudice, conformity, human frailty if he dressed them in monster masks and alien goo. The shows title came to define anything uncanny, any situation in which our sublimated nightmares became manifest. So anyone remaking the series in 2019 has to answer, not just what is The Twilight Zone 60 years later, but where is it? In an age when theres little you cant show on TV, where are the forbidden zones? What is it people cant say or, at least, wont say? The new Twilight Zone, which arrives Monday on CBS All Access, does not lack for talent, big names or production resources. But as for finding its own distinctive place, its still looking. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party are seeking to retain power, facing a surging challenge by the opposition Congress Party. The briefing will be regularly unpacking aspects of the race. Voting unfolds from from April 11 until May 19 and results are announced on May 23. For now, keep in mind that the backdrop for the campaigning is a flammable mix of economic, religious and national security issues. Unemployment is high, sectarian violence has risen, farmers across the country are increasingly frustrated and theres a broad disillusionment with politicians. Send us your feedback and any questions you have about the elections here. Heres what else is happening Taiwan: Two Chinese fighter jets crossed the self-ruled islands maritime border, a move Taiwanese officials condemned as provocative, saying it seriously impacted regional safety and stability. Jeff Bezos: The Amazon founders security consultant accused the Saudi government of hacking Mr. Bezos phone, motivated by the aggressive coverage in The Washington Post, which Mr. Bezos also owns, of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The consultant provided no evidence but said he had turned his findings over to law enforcement. Boeing 737: Black box data from the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight suggests that a faulty sensor that erroneously activated an automated stabilizing system on the jet caused the crash, a sequence also suspected in the crash of a Lion Air flight in October. Joe Biden: The former vice president, accused of touching and kissing a Nevada candidate just before appearing in support of her political campaign in 2014, released a statement saying he didnt believe he acted inappropriately but admitted to making expressions of affection on the campaign trail. He is expected to announce whether he will run for president soon. Dr. Daniel Calvin Leung and Richard Joseph Kinnard were married March 30 at the Riviera in Palm Springs, Calif. Amy Key Camp, a friend of the couple who became a Universal Life minister for the event, officiated, with Monica Thakrar, another friend, taking part. Dr. Leung (left), 44, is an anesthesiologist for Medical Anesthesia Consultants in Walnut Creek, Calif. He graduated from the University of California at Davis and received a medical degree from George Washington University. He is a son of Josephine Leung and Wayman Leung of Stockton, Calif. Dr. Leungs mother retired as a bookkeeper at the Chinchiolo Fruit Company in Stockton. His father, also retired, owned Super Save Market, a grocery store, also in Stockton. Mr. Kinnard, who is 45 and works in San Francisco, is a senior associate at HBA International, global interior designers of luxury hotels and restaurants based in Santa Monica, Calif. He graduated from Georgetown and received a masters degree in interior design from Pratt Institute. The agreement also calls for an overhaul of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that oversees New York Citys bus and subway system. Mr. Cuomo, who effectively controls the authority and who has been heavily criticized for the subways shoddy performance, has scapegoated the agency in recent months. As part of the budget deal, the authoritys policies will be changed to encourage speedier capital projects and to increase oversight. A wave of new progressives in the Legislature believed the issue of criminal justice reform was of critical importance, and the new budget reflected that. Under the budget legislation, the state will eliminate cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes, though it will not be completely eliminated, as some of the Legislatures more liberal members still recalling the case of Kalief Browder, who took his own life after spending three years on Rikers Island because his family could not raise $3,000 bail had hoped it would be. Lawmakers and Mr. Cuomo also agreed to a number of changes to discovery allowing defendants more access to evidence that prosecutors intend to use against them and processes to ensure speedy trials. The compromise on bail, which came after law enforcement officials expressed concerns about the total elimination of such a system, is one of many compromises that appear in the budget. Another saw a proposed pied-a-terre tax, an annual recurring tax on second homes that were valued at $5 million or more, eliminated. Although the tax had the backing of state leaders, it evaporated under pressure from real estate interests and legal concerns. In its place, lawmakers and Mr. Cuomo agreed to a mansion tax coupled with a real estate transfer tax, two one-time levies that would be charged at the point of sale on multimillion-dollar homes. The tax rate would top out at 4.15 percent on the sale of properties worth $25 million or more. A plan to ban plastic bags in the state was also included in the budget, but it makes a fee on paper bags optional, which some environmentalists worry will lessen the popularity of reusable bags. New York would be the second state, after California, to ban plastic bags. (Hawaii also effectively has a ban in place, since all the states counties bar such single-use bags.) [What you need to know to start your day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] New York City, home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, has often served as a proxy battleground for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mayors dating back from Robert F. Wagner, who in 1957 barred a welcome for a Saudi king he deemed anti-Jewish, to Bill de Blasio, who in 2015 canceled a plan to meet Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been forced to confront the highly charged issue. But as more Palestinian immigrants have settled in New York, the political calculus has grown slightly more complicated, as seen last week, when Kalman Yeger, a Brooklyn councilman who represents the Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park, took to Twitter on Wednesday to state that Palestine does not exist. [What you need to know to start your day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] When Karina Vetrano was found beaten and strangled in a Queens park nearly three years ago, the New York Police Department carried out one of the most intense and extensive manhunts in the agencys recent history. But defense lawyers for the man charged in the killing, Chanel Lewis, are now contending that the police swept up hundreds of black men in a race-biased dragnet before settling on him information they argue should have been turned over to them before trial. They said they learned only recently that the police took DNA samples from at least 360 black men who had been previously taken into custody in parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Six months after taking the DNA samples, investigators testified that they finally found a match in Mr. Lewis, whom detectives approached on a police lieutenants intuition. Mr. Lewis, now 22, confessed to the crime, though he later claimed he was coerced. His first trial ended with a hung jury. As Mr. Lewiss second trial is coming to a close, his defense lawyers are raising questions about whether prosecutors withheld critical evidence about the wide genetic canvass, as well as whether the police initially suspected that two white men had killed Ms. Vetrano. The lawyers said they will file motions in State Supreme Court in Queens on Monday, seeking a hearing to determine if prosecutors hid evidence favorable to Mr. Lewis. Ross Brawn has suggested Liberty Media's plan to expand the calendar to 25 races is on track. Currently, there are 21 races, but most teams argue that they are on the limit in terms of being able to cope with that logistically. And it is rumoured that a Dutch GP at Zandvoort is about to be added to the 2020 calendar. Brawn, Liberty Media's F1 sporting boss, admitted in Bahrain that there is an "exciting new race in the pipeline". That would be in addition to Vietnam, which would increase the 2020 calendar to 23 races. Brawn also played down speculation F1 could shed one or more of the races in Barcelona, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Mexico or Monza. "I would be surprised if we lost one of the current races," he is quoted by Germany's Sport1. Brawn thinks the teams can cope with more than the current 21 races per year. "We think we can expect the teams to do that if we manage to streamline the race weekends," he said. (GMM) Kenneth Allen Gibson was born in Enterprise, Ala., on May 15, 1932, the elder of two sons of Willie and Daisy Gibson. His father was a butcher who worked in the Swift packing plant in Kearny, N.J.; his mother, Daisy, was a seamstress. The family moved to Newark when Ken was a boy. While attending Central High School in the city, he worked as a hotel porter and played saxophone in dance bands. After graduating in 1950, Mr. Gibson enrolled in the Newark College of Engineering (which later became part of the New Jersey Institute of Technology), but soon dropped out because of financial problems. Over the next decade he worked in a factory and with the states highway department, spent two years in the Army serving in Hawaii with the 65th Engineer Battalion and re-enrolled in the New Jersey engineering college. Attending classes in the evenings while working days, he graduated in 1962. Mr. Gibson first ran for mayor in 1966, finishing third. In the 1970 campaign, Mr. Addonizio contended that Mr. Gibson, who had a reputation as a racial moderate, was a puppet in the hands of black extremists seeking to gain control of the city. He repeatedly noted that one of Mr. Gibsons major supporters was LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka), the poet, playwright and black nationalist who was a native of Newark. (Mr. Barakas son Ras J. Baraka is the current mayor of Newark.) Mr. Gibson argued that it was time to end dominance by machine politicians and sought to supplement his overwhelming support among black residents by successfully courting votes among liberal and moderate white people, who widened his victory margin. (Mr. Baraka publicly split with the mayor in 1973, saying Mr. Gibson had become a puppet of the citys business community.) Mark Bankston: Infowars has frequently used 4chan as a source. Weve reported on things being reported at 4chan. As a source, right? Thats what a source is, isnt it? Yes. O.K. I mean, somebody emailing you, you could say technically is a source, even if you never even open it. Any piece of information that youre going to report secondhand is a source, right? Yes. Theres a source of that information. Yeah, like somebody draws on the bathroom wall could be a source. Mr. Halbig has been a considerable source of information for you, youll admit that, correct? Yes. Now these Sandy Hook investigators, these people were so crazy that you had to realize at some point that what theyre saying isnt true and that Sandy Hook wasnt fake, right? Joness lawyer: Objection as to form. I found out some of what they were saying was not accurate. Mark Bankston: And he sent you something in the neighborhood of 10, four 4,000 emails? Its a lot. Yeah. And looking at those emails, taking a look at them, you wouldnt agree with me that that man is a raving lunatic? He, he seemed very credible and put together earlier on. But I cant remember the exact numbers. He seemed to get agitated about four years ago three years ago. And just, theres been a lot of experts Ive talked to, including retired F.B.I. agents and other people, and people high up in the Central Intelligence Agency, have told me that there is a cover-up of Sandy Hook. Sealing the death certificates, the fact that they were sealed, something you and Mr. Dew both said, how did you confirm that? Joness lawyer: Objection as to form. I dont want to answer these things incorrectly. So my memory is I remember that they were saying it was the most sealed case ever. And that was in the news. That there were all these lawsuits about them sealing things. And that the records and the redacted police reports I mean, this report you gave me is almost all blacked out. This is what people were talking about. And so, I cant accurately answer off of edited tapes. Ive never seen anything like that. So, Im trying to answer your questions. Mark Bankston: Did you ever try to order a death certificate? Theyre $20. Anybody can get any one of them. Did you ever try? As Ive told you, we went off news reports and other people that were investigating. We did not ourselves investigate Sandy Hook. To the Editor: Re After Jail Time, a Clean Slate (Op-Ed, March 21): As J.J. Prescott and Sonja B. Starr advocate, it is high time to institute automatic expungement of records for minor criminal acts once the formal sentence has been served. Expunging a criminal record, however, does not assist a person who is applying for a license, for example, in law, real estate and medical fields, or for that matter most professions. In those cas es, a conviction will still be considered by the board or agency. It is noted on the application form. In most states, too many occupations are overregulated. California, for example, has more than 200 regulated occupations; each has its own board that has been delegated vast powers by the Legislature, including admission to be allowed to practice. A felony that is later reduced to a misdemeanor will remain a felony in the eyes of most boards and will be found, usually, to be disqualifying. Ever seen someone flip a coin with a forklift? Just place the coin on a hard, smooth surface. Lower the tip of the blade onto it, about halfway across the coin, leaving a bit of pressure, and ever so gently rake it back. The edge of the coin will catch, sending it flying up and over, maybe even onto the fork itself. It takes some practice. So does fabricating a piece of salmon with the edge of your hand, instead of more slowly, with a knife or chopping dozens of perfect slices of cucumber with increasing speed but without looking. Have you ever witnessed the joy of a clean, single-pass flat weld? Or of capping a ruptured water line as it sprays mud all over the place? What happens if you pet the sloth you care for at the zoo? Sometimes, it pets you back. Maybe, for no particular reason, youre curious about what goes into a predeparture check for a Boeing 737 Max? Its alarming: A robotic voice recites various notifications as screens light up: pull up, wind shear, wind shear, wind shear, terrain, obstacle, obstacle, pull up. All of this I learned on TikTok, the wildly popular video app that people seem to have a hard time describing. Its an app with lots of teens, and lots of music, and lots of, well, everything. Its ruled by mysterious algorithms, which shuttle users around its sprawling platform however they please, for whatever purposes their creators decide. Its an app thats unapologetic about wasting your time. Its also, apparently, a good way to waste some time at work. Citing interviews with families held under the bridge, the A.C.L.U. said it had received reports that agents had verbally and physically harmed migrants, forced them to stand for prolonged periods and deprived them of sleep and access to medical care, and had failed to provide the migrants with adequate food and water. Some families were detained under the bridge for as long as four days, the A.C.L.U. said, adding that families with infant children were told to sleep on the ground and were not provided with any bedding, mats or chairs. We are demanding an immediate investigation by the inspector general into abuses inflicted on asylum seekers by Border Patrol agents in the outdoor facilities, said Shaw Drake, policy counsel for the A.C.L.U.s border rights center. Migrants have since been transferred to undisclosed locations, he said, adding that the agency has not told us or members of Congress where migrants are now being held and under what conditions. Local political leaders and human rights groups said that a sharp increase in asylum seekers should have been foreseeable, as part of an annual surge in border crossings before the arrival of the deadly summer heat. Immigration officials were already scrambling to respond to a shifting profile of migrants arriving at the border with Mexico. Border Patrol apprehensions remain well below their peak of 1.6 million in the 2000 fiscal year, but they have been climbing lately, reaching 467,000 in the 2018 calendar year, the highest figure in six years. And more of them are now Central American families seeking asylum rather than single men from Mexico. Federal immigration officials claim that legal rulings have created loopholes that make it more attractive for Central Americans to apply for asylum in the United States. Many of the levees, usually earthen and topped with grass, were built by farmers decades ago and are now managed by a patchwork of local government agencies known as levee districts that often do not coordinate or even follow the same rules. With increased flooding in the past few years, the levees are being tested more frequently than ever before, straining the finances and expertise of some of those districts. The levee situation has become so grave that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the countrys levee system a D grade in 2017, suggesting $80 billion in investment over 10 years. When the next one comes along bigger, they either fail or are overtopped again, said Nicholas Pinter, an expert on rivers and flooding at the University of California, Davis. According to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees infrastructure on the Missouri River and some of its tributaries, at least 62 levees had been breached or overtopped in the Midwest in March, and hundreds of miles of levees had sustained damage. When they run water over the top of them, theres not anything you can do, said Pat Sheldon, the president of a rural levee district in southwest Iowa that was still paying off repairs from the 2011 flood. This time, Mr. Sheldon said, the damage to the levees was much worse, perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Its terrible, said Mr. Sheldon, whose farm was also cut off by the water. In Missouri, Mr. Bullock pointed out a levee that last week had been split open and consumed by the river. A large log swirled in the water near where the earthen berm should have been. I dont know what were going to do this time, he said. The Army Corps of Engineers, which helps determine water levels by operating a series of dams on the Missouri River, tries to balance the needs of many who use the rivers it manages, including farmers, barge shippers, endangered animal species and people who use the water for recreation. Those interests are sometimes at odds, and have been the subject of decades of litigation. Corps officials say they are not allowed to change the congressionally authorized purposes of the reservoirs, though they had been most focused on limiting floods for the past year. Its a little frustrating to see some candidates coming in whether Beto or whoever and start getting a lot of attention when they do not have the same resume of other candidates, said Kathy Sullivan, a former New Hampshire Democratic chairwoman who has not yet endorsed in the race. Making clear that her exasperation was on behalf of some of the female candidates, Ms. Sullivan added, But theres nothing new about that, weve always had to do it backward and in heels. Other Democrats worry about what they describe as the political version of post-traumatic stress disorder following Hillary Clintons stunning loss. Questions of viability, party officials say, have become overwhelming to the point that activists are uncertain about following their instincts out of fear they will nominate someone who will lose to Mr. Trump. Were so traumatized by 2016 that were afraid to trust our hearts and thats turning us all into pundits, said Adam Jentleson, a longtime Senate Democratic aide who supports Ms. Warren. Overthinking and voting for a candidate we like less but who we think other people will like more is the path to ending up with a candidate no one likes very much. Mr. Trump, who has long relished taunting Ms. Warren with the Pocahontas slur, has already declared victory. In an interview on Fox News last week, Mr. Trump said, I hit her too hard, too early and now it looks like shes finished. Part of Ms. Warrens challenge owes to timing she is not the new candidate on the scene the way she would have been four years ago, when progressives lobbied for her to challenge Mrs. Clinton. There were artificially high expectations early on because there was so much interest in her in 2016, said Jennifer Palmieri, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton in the last race. Everybody loves you when youre the one whos not in the race, and once you get in youre a mortal and have to slog it out. That doesnt mean you cant come back and win its just a different type of race. Its completely inappropriate, Ms. Flores said of Mr. Bidens behavior with women. And that is something that we should consider when were talking about the background of a person who is considering running for president. She first leveled her charges in an essay published on Friday in New York magazines The Cut. Ms. Flores, a candidate for lieutenant governor of Nevada in 2014, said that when Mr. Biden visited that year to campaign for her and other Democrats, he came up behind her before the rally, put his hands on her shoulders and planted a big slow kiss on the back of her head. Ms. Flores said she felt compelled to come forward now because she believed Mr. Bidens behavior with women was being left out of political conversations as he prepares for a possible presidential run. Mr. Biden has drawn attention in the past for his intimate touching of political allies, their family members and even supporters he has just met gestures that are seen as excessive to the point of creepy by some but viewed as harmless by his defenders. [Sign up for our politics newsletter and join our conversation about the 2020 presidential race.] Mr. Bidens allies said he often drew close to people he sensed were nervous before they went on stage in an effort to relax them, suggesting that is what he was doing with Ms. Flores. On Sunday night, Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, said Mr. Biden had been doing exactly that in 2015 when the vice president was memorably photographed holding her shoulders at Mr. Carters swearing-in ceremony. Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful, Ms. Carter wrote on Medium, adding that she wanted to reclaim an important day for her family from strangers, Twitter, the pundits and the late-night hosts. And, in recognition of the political peril the former vice president now finds himself in, Mr. Bidens female aides and supporters rushed to his defense over the weekend, some of them citing anecdotes about when he, for example, offered to get coffee himself when a male colleague asked one of his female aides to do it. [What you need to know to start your day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] ALBANY After months of frenzied lobbying, bitter infighting, late-night bill drafting and secretive negotiating, New Yorks $175 billion state budget is finally here. You could call it the budget of progressive priorities. Its the first budget in a decade to be negotiated between all Democrats Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the Democrat-led State Senate and Assembly and it will turn many long-neglected liberal priorities into reality. But you could also call it the budget of compromises. Even as activists cheered the inclusion of certain issues, they also said some measures did not go far enough, or delivered on certain promises in name only. Heres your guide to the deals that will shape life in New York this year and beyond. Congestion pricing is finally here The idea of charging drivers of vehicles that enter the busiest parts of Manhattan had been around for decades. But lawmakers from outside Manhattan always shot it down, worrying that their constituents would pay a price without reaping benefits. A full or partial sealing of the border would effectively close off the United States from one of its largest trading partners, and it could leave American citizens who cross back and forth with a sluggish or potentially nonexistent system of returning to the United States. Mr. Trump will travel to Calexico, Calif., to tour the border on Friday. Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, said in a statement on Friday that she had asked volunteers to add more support at the border, and suggested that American citizens may encounter difficulty getting through as a result. And by directing the State Department to revoke aid from the three Northern Triangle countries, Mr. Trump is seeking to punish those countries for what he says is a failure to stop migrant caravans from making their way north. Leaders of those countries have said they are committed to solving the problem, despite what Mr. Trump has said. In 2017, the United States gave $420 million to Central American countries struggling with violence. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a nonprofit organization that supports diplomatic efforts of the United States, the Northern Triangle countries committed about ten times that amount, or $5.4 billion, to improve conditions. American aid to Central America is not charity, but an investment in our national security, Liz Schrayer, the president of the coalition, said in a statement. The idea of suspending the relatively small, but essential foreign assistance to the region will only exacerbate the root causes driving people to flee their homes brutal violence, hunger and instability. In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNNs State of the Union, who pointed out to him that experts within the presidents own administration have said aid money has helped curb violence in and migration from El Salvador, Mr. Mulvaney shrugged off the data from career staffers and said the money had not done enough. Red Bull has work to do on its 2019 chassis. That is the view in Bahrain of Max Verstappen, who only narrowly stayed ahead of Haas' Kevin Magnussen in qualifying rather than challenge the top teams Ferrari and Mercedes. "We are actually better than best of the rest here," Dane Magnussen said. Verstappen is quoted by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad as admitting that the Red Bull chassis is not working optimally in Bahrain. One theory is that Red Bull needs to abandon its front wing concept and instead copy the direction taken by Ferrari. "Ours is a lot different from theirs," Verstappen said. "Perhaps we have not yet realised our potential, but there is something that is not quite right yet," he added. The Dutchman backed Red Bull to respond quickly in the coming races. "Hopefully it won't take longer than two or three races," said Verstappen. He said Honda should not be blamed for the lack of winning pace in Bahrain. "I don't think we should say anything about Honda while we ourselves are wrong in terms of balance," said Verstappen. (GMM) Three girls in North Carolina were fed up with a school policy prohibiting female students from wearing pants. Skirts, they said, were uncomfortable and restrictive. They wanted to be free to play at recess, do cartwheels with the boys and focus on learning in the classroom not the position of their legs. So the girls, then ages 5, 10 and 14, decided to do something about it. What began with a school petition by one of the students seeking to allow girls to wear pants to school stretched into a yearslong battle that culminated last week when a federal judge struck down the schools uniform policy as unconstitutional. The skirts requirement causes the girls to suffer a burden the boys do not, simply because they are female, the judge, Malcolm J. Howard, wrote in the ruling, filed on Thursday. The ruling landed amid a larger discussion about how female students of all ages are viewed, after recent episodes at other schools. ABUJA, Nigeria When a Nigerian presidential candidate landed in the United States in January after years of being subject to a visa ban because of corruption allegations, he had a team of Western consultants and lobbyists to thank for the warm American welcome. One of those who helped was Riva Levinson, who was mentored in the art of political consulting by Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Trumps presidential campaign, sentenced this month to more than seven years in prison for a host of crimes. Ms. Levinson, who now has her own firm, KRL International, is among the many American political consultants with ties to President Trump who have become regular fixtures in African political campaigns, seizing on the regions turn toward democracy. For decades, countries in sub-Saharan Africa changed governments through coups that left military juntas in charge. But increasingly, in places like Nigeria, elections are supposed to determine the will of the people, though sometimes they are not fully free and fair. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria is preparing to announce his resignation, a privately owned Algerian TV network said on Sunday, following weeks of mass protests and the army chief of staffs call to have the president declared unfit for office. Citing unnamed political sources, the network, Ennahar TV, reported that Mr. Bouteflika might announce his resignation on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Also on Sunday night, Algerian national television announced that Mr. Bouteflika and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui had named a new government, and that it would keep Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah as the army chief of staff and vice defense minister. General Gaid Salah shocked the nation with his call last week for the Constitutional Council to set in motion a process to end Mr. Bouteflikas 20-year presidency. Critics accused the army chief of trying to orchestrate a coup, and he suggested Saturday that unnamed figures were plotting against him as a result of his stand against Mr. Bouteflikas presidency. OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso Russia has been steadily expanding its military influence across Africa, alarming Western officials with increasing arms sales, security agreements and training programs for unstable countries or autocratic leaders. In the Central African Republic, where a Russian has been installed as the presidents national security adviser, the government is selling mining rights for gold and diamonds at a fraction of their worth to hire trainers and buy arms from Moscow. Russia is seeking to ensconce itself on NATOs southern flank by helping a former general in Libya fight for control over his government and vast oil market. [Sign up for the weekly At War newsletter to receive stories about duty, conflict and consequence.] Sudans president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, brought in Russian mercenaries in January to help shore up his rule against nationwide protests. And last spring, five sub-Saharan African countries Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania appealed to Moscow to help their overtaxed militaries and security services combat the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. Russia, entrenched in Africa during the Cold Wars violent East-West rivalry, largely retreated from the continent after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But in the past two years, Moscow has rekindled relations with Soviet-era clients like Mozambique and Angola, and forged new ties with other countries. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will host a summit meeting between Moscow and African countries later this year. KABUL, Afghanistan The Taliban ambushed a convoy escorting the vice president of Afghanistan, killing at least one of his bodyguards, Afghan officials said Sunday. The vice president, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, survived. General Dostum, the leader of the Uzbek ethnic minority in Afghanistan and a bitter foe of the Taliban, had just returned to Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan, after a personal trip to Uzbekistan. On Saturday evening, he was traveling to his home province of Jowzjan when his convoy came under attack for about an hour in the village of Timorak, in Balkh. The convoy pressed on to Jowzjan Province, where it was again ambushed by the insurgents, according to Amanuddin, head of the local police in Timorak. Mr. Amanuddin, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said the attackers had destroyed one of General Dostums vehicles and killed three of his bodyguards. Their guys lied about the casualties to the media, he said, referring to early reports that no one had been killed. A rainstorm swept through southern Nepal on Sunday, leaving at least 25 people dead and hundreds more injured, officials said. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli of Nepal said in a Twitter message Sunday that he had received a report of 25 people killed and 400 injured. He said security forces have been alerted and that rescue teams and helicopters with night-vision capabilities were waiting for the weather to clear to help the injured people from affected villages. A government administrator, Rajesh Poudel, said the number of deaths would likely increase because the storm had hit many villages in the Bara District, located about 75 miles south of the capital, Kathmandu. North Korea expects the Spanish authorities to bring the terrorists and their wire pullers to justice in conformity with the relevant international law, he said. The raid at the North Korean Embassy took place five days before the start of President Trumps summit meeting in Vietnam with North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un. Ten suspects attacked embassy employees with knives, machetes, metal bars and fake pellet guns, a Spanish judge investigating the case said last week. After holding the employees hostage for several hours, the assailants fled with a cellphone, two pen drives, and two computers and two hard drives that probably contained security footage, the judge reported. The judge identified the leader of the gang as Adrian Hong Chang, who he said was a Mexican man who lives in the United States. Mr. Hong Chang escaped to the United States and got in touch with the F.B.I., offering to share audiovisual material obtained during the embassy attack, the judge said. An international arrest warrant has also been issued for an American identified as Sam Ruy. A mysterious organization that describes itself as a dissident group dedicated to toppling Mr. Kims regime in Pyongyang has since claimed responsibility. The group, known as Cheollima Civil Defense, or Free Joseon, said on its website that its action at the embassy had not been an attack, that no one had been beaten and that no weapons had been used. If the two countries move ahead, it could be a watershed moment for the era of global social media. No established democracies have ever come as close to applying such sweeping restrictions on online communication, and the demand for change has both harnessed and amplified rising global frustration with an industry that is still almost entirely shaped by American law and Silicon Valleys libertarian norms. Big social media companies have a responsibility to take every possible action to ensure their technology products are not exploited by murderous terrorists, Scott Morrison, Australias prime minister, said Saturday. It should not just be a matter of just doing the right thing. It should be the law. The push for government intervention with a bill to be introduced in Australia this week reflects a surge of anger in countries more open to restrictions on speech than in the United States, and growing impatience with distant companies seen as more worried about their business models than local concerns. There are precedents for the kinds of regulations under consideration. At one end of the spectrum is China, where the worlds most sophisticated system of internet censorship stifles almost all political debate along with hate speech and pornography but without preventing the rise of homegrown tech companies making sizable profits. No one in Australia or New Zealand is suggesting that should be the model. But the other end of the spectrum the 24/7 bazaar of instant user-generated content also looks increasingly unacceptable to people in this part of the world. VALLETTA, Malta Three teenage migrants have been charged in a court in Malta with hijacking a small commercial oil tanker that had rescued them and others off the coast of Libya, an act that is considered a terrorist crime under Maltese law. The tanker, El Hiblu 1, was hijacked in the Mediterranean this past week. The captain said that rescued migrants had begun to riot and threaten violence when they saw that the ship was returning them to Libya. According to the captain, they forced it to turn north toward Europe. The suspects pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Valletta, the Maltese capital, on Saturday. One of the accused was identified by the court as Abdalla Bari, a 19-year-old from Guinea. The other two are a 15-year-old from Guinea and a 16-year-old from Ivory Coast, who could not be named because they were minors. ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE Pope Francis, putting President Trump on notice, warned on Sunday that those who close borders will become prisoners of the walls that they build. The remarks came as the pope was returning from a visit to Morocco, where he worked to further his priorities of supporting migrants and establishing closer relations between the Roman Catholic Church and moderate Islam. Mr. Trump threatened Friday to seal off the border with Mexico and moved to cut aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to punish them for failing to stop a surge in migrant crossings into the United States. Francis, who suggested in 2016 that Mr. Trump was not Christian for his belief in building walls, rather than bridges, was also asked aboard the papal airplane about the Spanish governments efforts to keep out migrants, many of whom depart from Morocco. Mick Schumacher needs more time to adjust to life in Formula 2. That is the view of Nico Rosberg, the retired 2016 world champion. In Bahrain, just days ahead of his maiden F1 tests for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, 20-year-old Schumacher qualified tenth and finished his first F2 race eighth. "That was definitely a good start, even though I am still learning a lot each time I'm in the car," the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The young German finished the race eighth, meaning that with the reverse grid rules for Sunday's race, he will actually start from pole. Rosberg said: "I also finished eighth in my first race in Formula 2 and then started from pole. So that's a good omen. "Formula 2 is a strong series, so we have to give him time," Rosberg added. "We can already see that in terms of speed he is still missing something." (GMM) michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has carried out a brazen campaign of state-sponsored assassinations. My colleague Michael Schwirtz tracked down one of the assassins behind that campaign. Its Monday, April 8. michael schwirtz So theres this small town in western Ukraine called Rivne. [music] michael schwirtz Its old and has a number of Orthodox Christian cathedrals and a good theater. And theres a man named Oleg Smorodinov, who moves into this small town. He rents an apartment on the first floor of an old Soviet-style building. But hes not there because he wants to live in this apartment. Hes there because he wants to keep an eye on someone, a man who lives on the sixth floor of the same building. [music] michael schwirtz That man was on a list of six people that Oleg had been given by two handlers who had sent him to this town. michael barbaro Describe this list. michael schwirtz There were six names on the list, each with addresses and dates of birth. And each of the names on the list was given a code name, the name of a flower in Russian. So there was [SPEAKING RUSSIAN], which is buttercup. There was [SPEAKING RUSSIAN], which is briar. And the name of the man on the sixth floor that Oleg was watching was Ivan Mamchur. And his code name was [SPEAKING RUSSIAN], or the rose. michael barbaro And what did Oleg know about this man, the rose? What does he learn by watching him? michael schwirtz Oleg knows very little, initially, about this man. He learns that hes a man who keeps to a routine. He leaves every morning at around 6:30, 7 oclock, takes his bicycle, goes to work. He works as an electrician at a local jail. He comes back around 6 oclock in the evening, goes into his apartment, and really doesnt come out all that much. He certainly doesnt know why hes there to watch him. His handlers were vague. But what they did tell him was that this was an enemy. This was somebody that had done something bad in his past. michael barbaro And so what happens next? michael schwirtz Oleg watches Ivan for about a month and a half. And then, one day, he gets a text message written in Russian. Its cryptic, but he knows what it means. It says, [SPEAKING RUSSIAN], which means, The rose must be picked today. Tomorrow, it is no longer relevant. At that point, Oleg positions himself on the sixth floor in the hallway outside of Ivans apartment and waits for him to come home. He stands there, Im not exactly sure for how long, smoking cigarettes, with a gun in his hand, a silenced pistol. And when the elevator doors open, he calls Ivans name. Ivan turns to him, and Oleg opens fire. He shoots him eight times. But instead of falling to the ground immediately, Ivan turns and walks towards Oleg and says, in Russian, [SPEAKING RUSSIAN], which means, Its not me. Im not guilty. And then, he falls dead to the floor. [music] michael barbaro And Michael, how do you know all these intimate details of this murder? michael schwirtz I came to this story by reporting on another attempted Russian assassination, the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. archived recording Police worked well into the night, carefully examining the site of a bizarre incident they still cant explain. It happened yesterday in a shopping area. michael schwirtz In March last year, British authorities found Mr. Skripal and his daughter twitching and unresponsive on a bench. archived recording There was a couple, an older guy and a younger girl. She was sort of leant in on him. It looked like shed passed out, maybe. michael schwirtz Actually, initially, they thought that they were suffering from a drug overdose. archived recording He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky. michael schwirtz But they very quickly realized that they had been poisoned. archived recording In a statement released in the past hour or so, police said the pair came into contact with a nerve agent, furthermore. They both remain critically ill. michael schwirtz As the investigation delved deeper, they determined that, in fact, Mr. Skripal was a former Russian spy and that he had been poisoned by agents sent by the Kremlin to kill him. michael barbaro Leaving him twitching on this bench. michael schwirtz Exactly. archived recording The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal. michael schwirtz This sets off a geopolitical conflict between the West and Russia. archived recording Alone, Russias crime is worthy of this councils action. But this is not an isolated incident. The U.S. is removing 60 Russian officials. An entire consulate will be closed. archived recording 1 Chancellor Merkel and President Macron agreed that there is no plausible explanation, other than that the Russian state was responsible. archived recording 2 Its now 16 E.U. nations following suit. One by one, they joined Britain in a standoff with the Kremlin. michael schwirtz What was most frustrating for me, as a reporter, about the Skripal case was that there was very little I could find out about the mechanism by which these sorts of attacks were carried out. When these sorts of things happened, we were reliant on Western intelligence services, if theyd give us anything. Were reliant on Western law enforcement services. Normally, you get nothing but denials from the Kremlin. And what I was looking for is for somebody to explain to me how these assassinations, how these operations, are carried out, from the point of view of the people who are plotting them. michael barbaro You wanted to know from the other side how this all works. michael schwirtz Correct. And so I went looking for cases that could help better explain how these sorts of assassinations and assassination attempts are carried out. And that brought me to Ukraine. michael barbaro And why Ukraine? archived recording A steady stream of anti-Kremlin figures have been assassinated on Kievs streets. michael schwirtz Mostly because there have been a number of assassinations in recent years, a lot of them attributed to Russia. archived recording 1 A former Russian lawmaker who defected to Ukraine in 2016 was shot dead outside a hotel in Kiev. archived recording 2 The surveillance video appearing to show the assassination of a vocal critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin. archived recording 3 The blast comes nearly a year after investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a car bomb. archived recording 4 It marked another dark moment in the awful relationship between Russia and Ukraine. michael schwirtz And so I talked to a source who had some knowledge about some of these cases. And one of the cases he mentioned was this assassination in an apartment building with Oleg in far-western Ukraine. And this one immediately jumped out at me because it was so unlike all the other cases that I had been researching. michael barbaro What do you mean? michael schwirtz Most of the assassinations that have occurred have involved high-ranking officials or military figures or journalists people, its sad to say, you might expect to be targets of assassination. This case didnt seem to fit any of those patterns. The victim wasnt a well-known political figure. He wasnt a journalist. He was an electrician at a jail. He was a nobody, really. And so I was curious why anyone would want to kill him, let alone the Russians. And yet, the Ukrainian officials insisted that Russia had something to do with this. [music] michael schwirtz Turned out that he was on trial, and there was a hearing going on. And so I rented a car. I drove four hours from Kiev, the capital, to this town, Rivne, and just showed up at the courthouse. I arrived a little before anybody else got there and was in the courtroom alone. The courtroom is about the size of a large New York City bedroom. Theres a Ukrainian flag. Theres a bench where a three-judge panel sits and just a few benches for spectators. Theres a large steel cage where the defendants are kept. michael barbaro A steel cage? michael schwirtz A steel cage. michael barbaro In the middle of the courtroom? michael schwirtz In the middle of the courtroom. A few minutes later, the bailiffs bring this man in Oleg, the defendant and lock him in the cage. And hes short in stature. Hes got a goatee flecked with gray hair. Hes sort of slumped. Hes wearing this blue tracksuit and a baseball cap. And I walk up to Oleg and just introduce myself as a journalist. michael barbaro Through the cage? michael schwirtz Through the cage. And I had expected, maybe, to get a few soundbites on this trip and to go home largely disappointed. And to my great surprise oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz Oleg just started talking and talking and talking. michael barbaro What did he say? michael schwirtz He admitted, almost immediately, to having pulled the trigger at the behest of these two individuals who were his handlers. And then the judges walk in, and were cut off. And Oleg suggests that I come back after the trial and talk to him in jail, where he has all the time he needs. michael barbaro So he is very willing to tell you that story. michael schwirtz Eager to tell this story. [music] michael barbaro And so you meet Oleg in prison. What happens there? michael schwirtz I go to the jail after the trial. They lead me into a small room. Theres a table. Theres chairs and a small, barred window. After a few minutes, they bring Oleg in, and were left alone in there. I pull out my recorder and start talking to him. michael schwirtz [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael barbaro And how unusual is it to get this kind of access to these Russian assassins? michael schwirtz The successful ones you never find. And the unsuccessful ones usually end up dead. And so its rare to find an unsuccessful assassin who is captured and contained in a way that allows them to be interviewed. michael barbaro And Oleg is uniquely in that sweet spot. michael schwirtz Right. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael barbaro What does he tell you when you guys start to talk? michael schwirtz He started with a poem that I dont really remember. He said some sort of poem and then started rattling a few things off in English. oleg smorodinov So I spy. michael schwirtz Uh-huh. oleg smorodinov Or sly. No. I simply started this silly manner. michael schwirtz But very early on in our conversation, he brings out this map oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz this map that he had drawn on a piece of graph paper ripped out of a notebook. oleg smorodinov It Moscow. It Moscow. michael schwirtz The map shows downtown Moscow. And he points to this little shaded square that is labeled Vienna Cafe. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz And this is around the corner from the headquarters of Russias domestic intelligence agency, the F.S.B., which is the successor of the K.G.B. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz And he points to this square and said, this is where I met with my handlers. This is where I would meet with them. michael barbaro In downtown Moscow, around the corner from the F.S.B. michael schwirtz At a coffee shop. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz And these were the guys that gave Oleg the list of names with six targets, one of them being Ivan, who lived in the apartment in Rivne. michael barbaro And so, Oleg, it sounds like, is part of the Russian intelligence system. michael schwirtz No, in fact. He was not an intelligence officer. He spent much of his life involved in various criminal pursuits. This is a criminal. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz He was involved in an extortion racket in the early 2000s. He served two stints in jail for bribery and fraud. He was involved in sex trafficking. michael barbaro Not a good guy. michael schwirtz This is not a pleasant man. And at some point, he finds himself at a gun show in Moscow, where hes trying to find some kind of accessory for a weapon that he has. And its at this gun show that he meets some individuals who offer him employment, say that they know some people who might be looking for somebody with his particular skills, and would he like to meet him? And that is when he was introduced to these two individuals who became his handlers. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael barbaro And what is Olegs understanding, after speaking with these handlers, of what his job is going to be? michael schwirtz Hes getting older. He is starting to think about his future. And what he really wants out of this is a pension. oleg smorodinov I think its a pension. michael schwirtz Mm-hmm, pension. michael schwirtz He sees this as sort of his way, his entry, into a government job with the Russian government that would allow him to one day retire with a pension. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael barbaro So in his mind, he can do this job, he can carry out this task, and be financially set for the rest of his life? michael schwirtz Right. And keep in mind, according to Oleg, he doesnt know that hes going to kill anybody at this point. He knows that he wants to get into the government in some way, and he wants to find some way to pay for his retirement. But he doesnt exactly know what the task is. michael barbaro And when does he learn what the job actually entails? michael schwirtz According to Oleg, he went to Rivne to start conducting surveillance of this individual at this apartment building under the impression that that is all he was going to do. He did know that a murder was going to take place. He did know that this man was targeted for murder. But he insists and he insists this to me, and he tells this to the prosecutors and the judges in the case he claims it was a great surprise to him that he was then asked to carry out the murder himself. oleg smorodinov [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] [LAUGHTER] michael barbaro So when you leave this interview, what have you learned about this list? What did he tell you about why they were being targeted by the Russian government? michael schwirtz He knows very little, other than he suspects that this is revenge for something. But he does give me the list, which allows me to go look into this question for myself. michael barbaro He grants you access to the assassination list? michael schwirtz Gives me access to the assassination list. And I sort of embark on this journey, trying to figure out why. Why these individuals? What made them targets? michael barbaro And how do you do that? michael schwirtz Google is a good place to start. [CHUCKLES] I take the names, and I just start Googling them. I start asking sources that I have in Ukraine about them. Very quickly, I learned that some of them have military backgrounds. But the thing that stands out as most important is that they were all connected in some way to a 2008 war between Russia and the Republic of Georgia, a war that, for Russia, ended up being a very big embarrassment. archived recording Bombings and firefights still raging, and Georgian forces in retreat. Russian troops have pushed their way into Georgia itself. michael barbaro I think I vaguely recall this conflict. But what was so embarrassing about it for Russia? michael schwirtz Well, firstly, Russia crushed the Georgian army in a matter of days. This was a massive superpower against a tiny little army. But what Russia didnt expect was that Georgia had these sophisticated antiaircraft systems that were just blowing Russian planes out of the sky. archived recording Georgian rockets rained down on the South Ossetian capital. michael schwirtz Several pilots were killed. Some were captured. This became a major intelligence failure. archived recording Russia routed Georgias army in five days. Despite its victory, Moscow worried about its shortcomings on the battlefield. archived recording (vladimir putin) [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz Putin was livid. And when Russia started looking into this, they discovered that it was Ukraine that had secretly sold these weapons systems to Georgia in advance of the war. And this just set Putin off. archived recording (vladimir putin) [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] michael schwirtz He became incredibly angry and vowed to find the people that were responsible for providing Georgia these weapons. What he said was, we dont know who decided to deliver the equipment and weapons from Ukraine during the conflict. But whoever it was, that person made a huge mistake. michael barbaro And so these six names on this list that Oleg has, what do we know about their involvement in this Georgian conflict? michael schwirtz Even with my digging, we dont know a lot. We know that all of them had some connection to the Georgian war. But it was really hard to find anything, specifically, about their involvement. One I found on a government document. Several I found named in books about the war that were written by Russian authors. One of the men on the list I met, and he claimed to have been in Georgia during this time but didnt even take part in the war. And so what is clear is that these people dont appear to have played a very big role, if any, in the fighting. And theres no evidence to suggest that they had anything to do with these missile systems that shot down Russian planes. That includes Ivan Mamchur, the man who was killed. It had been eight years since the war in Georgia. He was doing nothing that would seem to constitute a threat to Russia. But for some reason, they came after him, and they killed him. michael barbaro It sounds like, to the degree the people on this list were involved in the Georgian conflict and in embarrassing Russia, it might have been quite peripheral. michael schwirtz Well, the problem is we just dont know. We dont know what the motivation was, why, eight years after the fact, suddenly, they send Oleg to go start handling this problem, why they were still so burnt up about it. I talked to one Ukrainian intelligence official who just described this as a bureaucratic problem. Somebody discovered that a file was left open and not resolved, and somebody set about resolving it. michael barbaro Hmm meaning a file of Russian grievance? michael schwirtz Correct. [music] michael barbaro In other words, there is no slight too small or old because Russia doesnt forget. michael schwirtz Correct. Russia will remember. The Kremlin will remember. And in a lot of cases, they come after you. If you look at Skripal, and if you look at Mamchur, and if you look at any number of people that we believe have been murdered by the Russian state, these killings, these attacks, seem to serve no geopolitical purpose. They are individual, petty slights that the Kremlin is pursuing, that the Kremlin is seeking satisfaction for. And thats what sets Russia apart from other countries. It operates more like a mafia organization, an organized crime syndicate, than it does a state. It almost, often, seems as if its Putins personal animosities that are driving these attacks and driving these killings. But the one thing thats interesting and even, perhaps, more scary about this case is that not only is the target insignificant, but the assassin is a nobody. I think theres this assumption about Russian spies, that theyre the elites. Theyre highly trained. Russia has one of the most well-funded, most populous spy services in the world. And yet, Oleg was a criminal. He was untrained. He was not an intelligence officer, based upon everything that we know. And that, to me, is probably more terrifying than anything else. michael barbaro Why? michael schwirtz How many Olegs are there out there? How many people are out there willing to work for the Russian government to kill people? How many people can be recruited to murder other people, to match with the myriad grievances that Russia possesses? michael barbaro If you can recruit a kind of nobody on the street michael schwirtz Then you can recruit anybody. michael barbaro And it feels like the answer is there are a lot of Olegs, and there are a lot of grievances. michael schwirtz I think thats true. [music] michael barbaro Im curious what will happen to Oleg in the end. Did he end up getting that pension from Russia that he thought would set him off for the rest of his life? michael schwirtz He certainly didnt get a pension. He did get a few thousand dollars, a Mercedes van and a dinner at a Japanese sushi chain in exchange for this murder. But hell never be able to use the money or the car. Hes sitting in a Ukrainian jail and almost certainly will be convicted and possibly spend the rest of his life in a Ukrainian prison. Hes holding out hope that Russia is going to help him, that perhaps he might be exchanged for a Ukrainian prisoner on the Russian side. But the Russians have shown no interest in his welfare at all. By all accounts, for Russia, hes just disposable. As one official told me, [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] hes a used bullet. [music] michael barbaro Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. On Sunday, the secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen, resigned amid growing frustration from President Trump over the number of migrants seeking asylum at the southern border. Nielsens departure comes just days after the president dumped his nominee to run the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency, Ronald Vitiello, because the president said he did not believe that Vitiello would be tough enough on immigration. archived recording (donald trump) Rons a good man, but were going in a tougher direction. We want to go in a tougher direction. michael barbaro And archived recording (benjamin netanyahu) [SPEAKING HEBREW] michael barbaro over the weekend, Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pledged that if re-elected, he would annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank, imposing Israeli authority over the highly disputed territory. archived recording (benjamin netanyahu) [SPEAKING HEBREW] archived recording [SPEAKING HEBREW] archived recording (benjamin netanyahu) [SPEAKING HEBREW] michael barbaro The pledge, which will appeal to conservative voters ahead of Tuesdays election, would all but end the possibility of a two-state peace deal with Palestinians, since Palestinians consider the West Bank the heart of a future state. Polls show that the election for prime minister remains close, but Netanyahus party is expected to have a better chance than his rival of forming a ruling coalition. [music] michael barbaro LONDON For two years, inmates at a prison in Wales have been allowed to lock their cells from the inside for privacy. Guards have been expected to follow a knock first policy before entering. The detainees have had access to laptops, through which they can order meals. And please, dont call them prisoners. The unusual accommodations, publicized by the British newspaper The Telegraph and other news outlets this past week, were put in place at Berwyn, the largest prison in England and Wales, which opened in February 2017. The policies are part of a government overhaul of prison practices in England and Wales intended to improve conditions and bolster rehabilitation. Six new jails are planned in the United Kingdom, The Telegraph noted. And despite opposition from some prison workers, the government regards Berwyn as a model for a modern prison, according to a continuing study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council seeking to unlock an age-old question of whether prisons can really rehabilitate offenders. But the approach has been a failure, an official from a trade union for prison workers said on Sunday. KIEV, Ukraine A Ukrainian comedian who plays an accidental president on television delivered a walloping rebuke to the countrys political class in the presidential election on Sunday by emerging first in a crowded field of candidates, exit polls indicated. The comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, 41, captured more than 30 percent of the vote, according to two authoritative exit polls. It was a strong showing by a maverick with no political experience, though far below the 50 percent needed to win the first round outright. If exit polls translate into real votes, Mr. Zelensky will face President Petro O. Poroshenko, who emerged second with around 18 percent, in a runoff in three weeks, on April 21. Yulia V. Tymoshenko, a former prime minister making her third bid for the presidency, was third with about 13 percent. Official results are not due until Monday, and there will most likely be challenges, but the exit polls all reflected roughly the same results predicted by surveys before the vote. Turnout was estimated at about 63 percent in an electorate of 30 million people, slightly ahead of the 60 percent who voted in 2014. The special counsels investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is over, but federal prosecutors are pursuing numerous criminal inquiries that grew out of the investigation. The report issued by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, included a list of 14 criminal referrals, 12 of which were completely redacted. Here is what is known about the investigations that developed after referrals from the special counsel. Gunther Steiner has aimed fire at Renault, as so-called 'B teams' come under assault. With Ferrari allying with Haas and Alfa Romeo, and Red Bull with Toro Rosso, teams like Renault and McLaren think the rules should be changed to make strategic alliances more difficult. And no wonder. In Bahrain, while Haas split the Red Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were just eleventh and seventeenth. "It's strange that Renault is so far behind, but I don't know exactly why," Kevin Magnussen, delighted to be just five thousandths behind Max Verstappen in qualifying, told BT newspaper. But it could change in the future. Rumours suggest that Renault is demanding that the rules for 2021 forbid teams like Haas from simply buying parts like brake air ducts directly from Ferrari. When asked what impact that would have on Haas, team boss Steiner said: "We would just have to spend more money, and for that we would have to thank your friends at Renault." He told the French reporter: "Renault belongs to the French people. "Seriously, we would have to increase the number of people we have. So far I am not worried, I sleep well at night. I think that even if we have to make our own brake ducts, our results would not suffer. "Just look at where we are in qualifying, and look at where Renault is," Steiner added. (GMM) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 31) The suspect in a hit-and-run incident along Marcos Highway last week has been charged by authorities. Adrian King Carlos is facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, serious physical injuries, and damage to property. The incident involving Carlos and his two victims - Mark Joseph Belen and Rosanna Ugto - was captured in a video that went viral last week. It showed a speeding sedan driven by Carlos overtaking the victims' motorcycle, but then hitting them with the car's left rear side. Belen and Ugto were thrown from the motorcycle to the ground. Belen suffered from leg injuries because of the incident, while Ugto suffered from a head injury and fell into a coma, before dying last Friday. Carlos surrendered to the Pasig City Police on Saturdayhttp://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/3/30/hit-and-run-adrian-king-carlos-roslina-ugto.html, and explained he swerved because he tried to avoid a pothole. CNN Philippines went to the area where the incident occurred, but did not find a pothole. Asked for a reaction, the suspect's lawyer said he will confer with his client tomorrow. Carlos is now under police custody while waiting for the resolution from the Prosecutor's Office. Belen's camp is looking into the possibility of elevating the charge to murder following Ugto's death. CNN Philippines correspondent Jelene Fule contributed to this report. 'Vehicle was signalled to stop but it tried to flee': Amit Shah explains how the Nagaland firing unfolded Parliament roundup: On day 6, Amit Shah's statement on civilian killing in Nagaland & more TMC delegation to meet Amit Shah today; to bring up Nagaland firing issue in Parliament Amit Shah to attend foundation stone laying ceremonies for temple, other projects in Gujarat Amit Shah assets grows three times in seven years India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Gandhinagar, Mar 31: The affidavit filed on Saturday by BJP chief Amit Shah while submitting his nomination papers for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat showed that his assets had grown over three times in the last seven years. According to the affidavit, the movable and immovable properties of Mr Shah and his wife stood at Rs 38.81 crore, up from Rs 11.79 crore in 2012. Amit Shah enters Lok Sabha foray, files nomination after NDA's show of strength The Rs 38.81 crore figure included inherited property, both movable and immovable, of Rs 23.45 crore, the affidavit states. While Mr Shah had Rs 20,633 cash in hand at the time of filing the papers, his wife possessed Rs 72,578. The affidavit goes on to inform that the BJP chief and his wife do not own a car. Battleground northeast: How Citizenship bill row may shape poll result India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 31: The Citizenship (Amendment) bill is set to be the major weapon against the BJP in the Northeast for the Lok Sabha elections 2019, not only for the Opposition parties but also for the saffron party's ally the National People's Party (NPP). Rivals in the battle of the ballot across Northeast seem to be bound by a common cause - opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016? With The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the government plans to change the definition of illegal migrants. The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2016, seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal migrants, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. However, the Act doesn't have a provision for Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyas who also face persecution in Pakistan. Without Citizenship Bill, seats will go to Bangladeshi Muslims: Himanta Biswa Sarma The Bill also seeks to reduce the requirement of 11 years of continuous stay in the country to six years to obtain citizenship by naturalisation. But there has been a strong resistance to the Bill in BJP-ruled Assam and other northeastern States as it would pave the way for granting citizenship, mostly to illegal Hindu migrants from Bangladesh in Assam, who came in after March 1971, in violation of the agreement of the Assam Accord, 1985. Nearly 40 lakh people were excluded from Assam's final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published on July 30 last year. The Bill seeks to negate the NRC (a Supreme Court monitored process that is the fallout of the Assam Accord), as it would grant citizenship to all Hindus who came to Assam from Bangladesh post March 1971, the cut-off date for NRC. However, the Centre's decision was hailed as a "historic win" and "victory of the people", but subsequent assertions by BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders about the party's plan to reintroduce the legislation, if voted to power, turned the brief celebrations into dismay and anger. The BJP emerged as the biggest party in the region in the past three years. It heads governments in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura and is part of coalitions headed by allies in Nagaland and Meghalaya. The transformation took place as BJP managed to shed its hardline Hindutva stance and forge friendships through the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)-a platform for parties in the region opposed to the Congress, which had been the biggest national player in the region until a few years ago. But the goodwill and votes garnered by projecting the party as the true friend of the region could now backfire as there's fear that the BJP could use the Citizenship (Amendment) Bil to secure the votes something that could sideline indigenous voters who see a threat to their language, culture, land rights and identity. As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP What exactly is home ministry doing: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over Nagaland incident Rahul Gandhi in centre of Cong posters for Jaipur rally; call for him to become party chief again BJP search on for suitable candidate to take on Rahul in Wayanad India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 31: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s search for a suitable candidate to take on Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad is on. MP and actor Suresh Gopi's name is among the many names doing rounds. BJP is likely to announce its candidate from Wayanad late in the evening. Party sources have ruled out the entry of Union minister Smriti Irani. A final decision will be taken by national leadership. Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad LS seat also Putting speculations to rest, the Congress Sunday announced that party president Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his native Amethi constituency. Addressing a press conference on Sunday, senior Congress leader A K Antony said, "Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala." Wayanad, a constituency in north Kerala, was formed post delimitation in 2009. It encompasses a large share of tribal population and is touted to be a safe seat for the Congress. In the two Lok Sabha elections that the seat has seen so far, MI Shanavas, who passed away last year, won both times for the Congress even though his margin of victory came down drastically in 2014. Rahul Gandhi coming to Kerala to fight against left, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan The Congress is fighting the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala with its allies in the UDF coalition. Of the 20 states in the seat, the Grand Old Party will be contesting on 16 seats while allies IUML is fielding candidates on 2 seats. Kerala Congress (Mani) and RSP have got one seat each. With the exception of Wayanad, candidates have been announced for all seats by the UDF. The state goes to polls on April 23, the third phase of the seven-phase election. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 14:09 [IST] Congress proposes to split UP four ways India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 31: The Congress is examining a proposal to carve out four states from Uttar Pradesh, if it comes to power at the Centre. This proposal is likely to find a mention in the party's manifesto for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The suggestion to split UP into four was made by the state's manifesto committee. The proposal stated that UP should be divided into Avadh/Madhyanchal, Poorvanchal, Pashchim Pradesh and Bundelkand. The party is expected to release its national manifesto on April 2. The Congress would also release state specific manifestos. Uttar Pradesh: Posters against Priyanka Gandhi come up in Rae Bareli The reason behind this decision is two-fold. Firstly such a division is expected to help the Congress, which has a minuscule presence in the state. Secondly the party feels that it would be easier to govern such a populous state if it is split 4 ways. The party it may be recalled had put up a decent performance in the 2009 elections, when it won 21 of the 80 seats. However in the 2014 elections, the Congress could manage to retain only two seats-Amethi and Rae Bareli. In 2011, the then chief minister of the state, Mayawati had managed to pass a resolution in the assembly to divide the state into four. However the following year after the Samajwadi Party came to power, the proposal was buried. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 8:35 [IST] From Varanasi, PM Modi urges Indians to take these 3 resolutions People go to Banaras in their 'final days: Akhilesh Yadav on PM Modi's visit Criminal negligence: PM Modi targets UPA over delayed decision making India oi-PTI New Delhi, Mar 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying its leaders indulged in corruption and kept personal interests above national interests. He also alleged that the previous government "lacked" political will to test fire the anti-satellite missile despite the country having the capability to build it. The prime minister also took on the entire opposition, saying they were chosen for the task by the people, but they failed to live up to their responsibility. He alleged that the opposition raked up all the wrong issues like national security and seeking proof of Balakot air strike thus questioning the armed forces. Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad LS seat also He only referred to "proof" but did not mention air strike or Balakot. "Why seek proof ... why talk in favour of Pakistan," he quipped. Modi also said that his government has the political will to withstand pressure and take immediate decisions in national interests. "Delaying decisions of national interests amounts to criminal negligence," he said at the launch of TV9 'Bharatvarsh' news channel here. Noting that his government believes in "commitment not confusion" Modi alleged that those who earlier ran the country created hurdles in the path of development due to "corrupt behaviour". He alleged that these in power in the past chose "personal interest before national interest". "Were not they responsible to make things (system) fool-proof to check corruption ... but the intent was not honest," he claimed. He said the then government delayed the decision on forming a special investigation team to probe black money. "We decided to set up the SIT in our very first Cabinet meet," he said. He alleged that the previous UPA government took little initiative in bringing back black money and entered into "weak" agreements with foreign governments in this regard. "Now we have reworked agreement with Mauritius ... Switzerland will now provide information (on black money of Indians) on realtime basis from this year," he said. He alleged that while the previous government gave scams such as 2G spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games, Bofors howitzer and AgusthaWestland helicopter, his dispensation is moving about things in a very transparent manner. Without naming the Rafale jet deal, he said the Supreme Court found nothing wrong in his government's defence preparedness after going through documents. Without naming former Union minister P Chidambaram, PM said the Congress leader thinks he is very intelligent. "He said the Asat launch should have been kept a secret. By that yard stick, why was the Pokhran (nuclear test) not kept a secret (during Congress rule in 1974) ... I can understand the visits to courts (in alleged cases of corruption) can be kept a secret," he said taking a dig. Referring to black money, he said when the government was framing The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he was under immense pressure by those who knew it would hit them hard. "There was phone banking then. A phone call would go and banks would issue loans. Then more loans were issued to pay back the previous loans ... we have changed that," he said. In an oblique reference to fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, he said properties worth more than the scam he had allegedly indulged in have been attached by investigative agencies. Addressing the gathering, he said his government has decentralised things and focus in now on states. "Earlier, everything was launched a Vigyan Bhawan," he said. Referring to Hyderabad House where government hosts foreign heads of states and governments, he said they to are being hosted outside Delhi. "International platforms where Pakistani propaganda used to echo now listen to India and our views find a place," he said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 15:16 [IST] CRPF bus hit in J&K likely an act of terror India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Srinagar, Mar 31: The whereabouts of the driver whose car hit a bus carrying CRPF personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar highway is still unknown. The rear of the bus was hit at around 10.30 am on Saturday, but none were injured in the incident. The driver of the Hyundai Santro is still unknown and the police are yet to ascertain if the incident was an act of terror. However preliminary investigations suggest that it could have been an act of terror. IGP Jammu Zone M K Sinha informed that there were some Improvised Explosive Devices found in the car. He also said that there were detonators too that had been found. JeM using US made rifles in Kashmir The note stated that the driver was a member of the Hizbul Mujahideen and he was taking the extreme step in the wake of the atrocities being committed on Kashmiris since 1947. The authenticity of the letter is currently under verification. The police said that the car was carrying two LPG cylinders, one of which exploded. The other was found at the site. PTI quoted Banihal Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sajad Sarwar as saying the driver of the Santro was believed to have escaped. "Efforts are on to identify the driver of the vehicle for questioning," he said. Sarwar did not rule out a terror angle, PTI said. Earlier in the day, a CRPF spokesperson had said that the incident was being investigated "in respect of all possible angles Further a note in English found at the site also have raised questions about the incident. The incident was reported in the wake of the state of Jammu and Kashmir being on very high alert ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 8:42 [IST] Focus during first 5 years was on streamlining, next would be to fulfil aspirations: Modi India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Mar 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on a wide range of issues during the 'Mai bhi Chowkidar' programme at Delhi's Talkatora stadium and said that his five years of rule since 2014 were focused on streamlining the system and preparing the ground for ambitious work. He said that the next five years would be dedicated to fulfilling aspirations of the people. The Prime Minister interacted with people from over 500 locations across the country during the 'Main bhi Chowkidar' programme and also took questions from some of them. In a veiled attack on the Congress, the Prime Minister said those who looted the country will not be spared. They will have to pay back. We have now taken them to court, after 2019 they will be (in jail), he said. During the interactive session, one of the questions asked was about the Balakot Air Strike. A person from Maharashtra asked what gave him the inspiration to take decision for Balakot air strike, and was he not worried what might happen to his political career if the operation had failed. Even before beginning the answer, PM Modi refused to take credit for the Balakot air strike and said, "I did not do Balakot air strikes, our jawans did it. They deserve appreciation." "For the second part your question, I would like to say that for me the country is most important, not elections. If i were to consider political ramifications before everything, then there was no need for Modi. For me elections are not important, the nation is. Safeguarding country is the priority, not elections," PM Modi said. [Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Updates: Elections not a priority, country is, says Modi] The Prime Minister said that India struck at a place where there was a terrorist camp. Acknowledging airstrike in Balakot will put Pakistan in a dilemma, they will have to accept that there was a terrorist camp there, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taking a swipe at fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who has taken refuge in London and is facing an extradition case, Modi said some who escaped from India tell foreign courts that Indian jails are not good. PM countered that view by saying that how is it that such thieves expect that I will give them a palace. He said he is giving them the very same jail that housed Mahatma Gandhi. The Prime Minister hit back at the opposition parties for accusing him of taking credit for A-Sat missile test in which India hit a live satellite in orbit. Modi slammed Congress for saying that A-SAT missile launch should have been kept a secret. "When US, Russia and China conducted such tests they openly declared it. If we have some capability, then we must tell the world. That's the way it is in the world," he said. Exuding confidence that he would return as PM in 2019, Modi said, "My first 5 years were dedicated to streamlining the system, bring things in order and prepare the ground for new ambitious work, next 5 would be dedicated to fulfilling the aspirations of the people." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 20:17 [IST] How community radio stations are educating people on elections India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Mar 31: In a "first of its kind initiative", the Election Commission reached out to over 150 community radio stations across the country to educate and inform the voters ahead of the general elections, it said. The event was organised by India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM), in partnership with Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART), at IIIDEM, Dwarka, the EC said in a statement. The main purpose of the workshop was to ensure the training and capacity building of the community radios for voter education and awareness, the EC said. Umesh Sinha, senior deputy election commissioner, said community radio is one of the best mediums to reach out to the last voter of the country and the workshops were just the beginning of a long term and sustained engagement with them. Current method of counting votes most suitable says Election Commission Community radio can play a vital role in motivating and mobilising the voters, enlisting them into the electoral roll, mobilising them to go to the polling booth, educating them about their rights and responsibilities, and making them an informed and educated voter, he added. The radio stations can strengthen democracy by developing content in local dialects and deepening the process of voter education and awareness up to the grass root levels. He assured that community radio stations will become an integral part of the voter education programme. Appoint election commissioners through collegium system: Former CEC Sinha further emphasised that every voter is the first representative of the country and plays an important role in protecting democracy. All voters across the country have the same power. Elections provide a level playing field as each vote has the same power, no matter who casts it-- the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor, he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 9:37 [IST] JNU sedition case: Cops role complete, now over to Delhi govt says court India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Mar 31: A city court hearing the 2016 JNU sedition case has observed that the city police's role regarding sanction was complete and it will now ask the Delhi government about the same. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat made the observation after being told by police that sanction was an administrative action and the charge sheet can be filed without that. DCP of Special Cell of Delhi Police, Pramod Kushwaha, told the court that the agency has already sent a request to the Delhi government seeking sanction. JNU sedition case: Why was I bypassed asks Delhi law minister The court Friday pulled up the Delhi Police over non-appearance of the DCP, who was asked to file report in the case. The Delhi Police had earlier told the court that authorities were yet to give requisite sanctions to prosecute former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the case, and it would take two to three months to procure sanctions. On January 14, police had filed a charge sheet in the court against Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised in the JNU campus during an event on February 9, 2016. The court had also sought a report from the deputy commissioner of police assigned to the case. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 9:45 [IST] After SC warns of contempt, Army to grant permanent commission to 11 women officers in 10 days Kerala: Woman dies after being forced to starve by Husband, Mother-in-law over dowry India oi-Madhuri Adnal Kollam, Mar 31: A 27-year-old woman was reduced to a "bag of a skeleton" and died allegedly due to starvation enforced by her husband and mother-in-law for dowry in Keralas Kollam. The woman has been identified as Thushara, a native of Karunagappally, who was denied proper food for days and survived only on soaked rice and sugar syrup before she breathed her last at a government hospital in Kollam. It is learnt that at the time of her death on the midnight of March 21 due to illness and uneasiness, the woman weighed just 20 kg. Delhi: Two children feared dead after fire engulfs a house in Jamia Nagar Thushara's husband Chandulal and his mother Geetha Lal were arrested and remanded Friday, police said. The alleged torture of the woman came to light in a probe the police conducted after her death. "She looked like a bag of skeleton with hardly any flesh on her body. She weighed just 20 kg. A detailed inquiry has thrown light to the cruelty. Her relatives alleged that the torture was to get more dowry," a police official told PTI. Thushara's mother Vijayalakshmi alleged that her daughter's husband and mother-in-law had been torturing for the past five years and had not allowed the family members to meet her for one year. A neighbour of Chandulal said the woman was allegedly tortured mentally and physically by the husband and her in-laws. Uttarakhand: Delhi youth hangs self in Haridwar, suicide note found The woman's husband used to do odd jobs other than welding work. The couple married in 2013. At the time of the marriage, the woman's family had given some gold ornaments and money to the man's family and had promised to give Rs 2 lakh later. The deceased woman had two children -- the younger aged 1.5 years and a three-year-old -- and both of them are healthy, the police official said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 11:36 [IST] Lok Sabha elections 2019: PM Modi to interact with Main Bhi Chowkidar supporters India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to interact with people, who have pledged their support to his 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign, from 500 places across the country on Sunday via the NaMo app. The Prime Minister will interact with the people who pledged support to the campaign from Delhi's Talkatora Stadium through, video conferencing. The one-hour programme would commence at 5 PM during which details of the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign would be enlisted. Prime Minister Modi launched the campaign earlier this month in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, to be held from April 11 to May 19. Lok Sabha Election 2019: Campaign trail in pics "The outreach programme, which is already turning into a mass movement, is aimed at the common man of the country who silently work in the background and as such is one of the invisible pillars of the country. This is a significant step towards meeting the objectives of 'antyodaya' and 'sabka saath sabka vikas'," BJP media cell convenor Anil Baluni said. The #MainBhiChowkidar has been retweeted three million times and got 1,680 impressions on Twitter since Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the slogan for the Lok Sabha elections. PM Modi and other BJP leaders and Union ministers including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani also changed their name on Twitter by adding prefix 'chowkidar'. Explaining the campaign, Sharma added, "Modi projected himself as a 'chowkidar' during 2014 election campaign and people witnessed a decline in corruption during his tenure. But the opposition started defaming him with the word 'chowkidar'. To nullify their efforts, Modi started 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign on March 16." Sacked BSF jawan, who complained about bad food, to contest against Modi from Varanasi Earlier, Modi had addressed over 25 lakh watchman through audio bridge medium across the country a day before the festival of Holi. According to the BJP, the initiative is aimed at highlighting the work of people like watchmen who work round the clock. However, the Congress party has been ridiculing the campaign ever since it is launched. On Saturday, the party came up with 'Main Bhi Berozgar' campaign with a video showing how the PM Modi's claims of having created jobs in the country are far from the ground reality. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 10:22 [IST] Lok Sabha elections: Series of Congress rallies planned in west UP next week India pti-PTI Meerut, Mar 31: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with the party's other star campaigners Navjot Singh Sidhu and Jyotiraditya Scindia, will hold a series of road shows and rallies in the first week of April in West Uttar Pradesh, AICC members said on Sunday. Speaking to Bhasha-PTI, Congress west UP co-incharge Raghav Singla said the party president would be joined by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and MP Jyotiraditya Scindia during his April 8 rallies in Saharanpur. Further, the party is planning to hold rallies in Meerut, Hapur, Bijnor, Ghaziabad, Moradabad and Fatehpur Sikri, though exact dates have not yet been finalised. Singla said the Congress should not be taken lightly in Uttar Pradesh as the people are looking towards his party for change. He said the Congress will win at least a dozen seats out of the total 28 in west UP. The Congress in not looking to hold grand rallies in the state, concentrating on smaller road shows and campaigns to put its view in front of the people, Singla explained. He said the road show routes would be decided based on maximum-possible voter out reach. [Congress is not "serious" about defeating BJP, says AAP's Raghav Chadha] "Prime Minister Narendra Modi insulted farmers in the country. He should apologise to them," Singla said, referring to the prime minister's February 4, 2017 rally in Meerut. Modi said he would waive the arrears of sugarcane farmers in two weeks, however that promise was not kept, Singla alleged. He opined that the active participation of Priyanka Gandhi would help strengthen his party's position here. PTI As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP What exactly is home ministry doing: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over Nagaland incident Rahul Gandhi in centre of Cong posters for Jaipur rally; call for him to become party chief again Rahul Gandhi, HD Deve Gowda to address first joint rally in Bengaluru today India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Mar 31: In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the ruling alliance in Karnataka will launch their joint Lok Sabha election campaign on Sunday on the outskirts of the city in the presence of Congress president, Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) patriarch, H. D. Deve Gowda on Sunday. The 'Parivartana Samavesha' will be the first such rally of the two parties after the combine came to power in the state in May last year. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, who visited the BIEC ground near Nelamanagala, where the rally will be held to inspect the arrangements, called it a "historic event." Amethi is 'karmabhoomi,' but Rahul readies for Wayanad contest as well Congress and JDS ministers, legislators and leaders will be part of the event. Sunday evening's rally will also be attended by lakhs of workers of both parties from Tumkur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru urban districts, Congress and JDS sources said. According to the seat-sharing arrangements, the Congress and JDS have decided to contest in 21 and 7 seats, respectively. For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP and win more number of seats, it is crucial for the Congress to transfer its votes to the JDS and vice-versa, according to reports. The people of Karnataka will vote in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on April 18 and 23. Results will be out on May 23. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 10:27 [IST] As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP Rahul Gandhi in centre of Cong posters for Jaipur rally; call for him to become party chief again Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad LS seat also India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 31: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will also contest the elections from Wayanad in Kerala. The announcement was made by Congress leader A K Antony. He said that's Rahul had consented to contest from two seats. I am happy to announce that he will also contest from Wayanad, Antony also said. On Saturday Rahul had said that there was nothing unusual in contesting from two seats and cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had contested from Vadodara and Varanasi in 2014. Our manifesto will reflect people's voice, not one man's: Rahul Gandhi He had said in an interview with PTI that Amethi was his karmabhoomi and shall always remain so. While there have been reports in the past, this is the first time that Rahul has confirmed the possibility of contesting from Wayanad. He went on to say that he is deeply grateful to the love and affection expressed by the party workers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. These workers had asked him to contest from a second seat in South India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 11:15 [IST] We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal Vijay Mallya slams Modi govt says,'he has become poster boy for LS polls over bank defaults' India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 31: Absconding businessman Vijay Mallya on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for saying that he ran away from the country, while ignoring the fact that he has been a UK resident since 1992. The business tycoon also said that he has become poster boy fully as Prime Minister Narendra Modi always managed to make his name for bank defaults. Vijaya Mallya said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned that the government has fully recovered from him what Mallya had owed to banks. Taking to Twitter, Malla said,''Fact that I have been a UK resident since 1992 ignored. Suits the BJP to say I ran away.'' I humbly submit that my assertion that I am a poster boy is fully vindicated by the PMs own statement about me (by name)that his Govt has recovered more than what I allegedly owe the Banks. Fact that I have been a UK resident since 1992 ignored. Suits the BJP to say I ran away. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 31, 2019 Prime Minister in a recent interview had expressed satisfaction over the fact that Mallya's extradition process was in the last stage and the government has recovered money from him. He had said that Mallya owed banks Rs 9000 core and government has confiscated his properties worth Rs 14,000 crore from various locations. Nirav Modi & Vijay Mallya to share same jail cell in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail? Vijay Mallya has been accused of defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. Vijay Mallya, who has currently appealed against his extradition to India, settled in the UK after fleeing from the country in March 2016. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 12:10 [IST] As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP What exactly is home ministry doing: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over Nagaland incident Rahul Gandhi in centre of Cong posters for Jaipur rally; call for him to become party chief again Will give special status to Andhra, if voted in: Rahul Gandhi in Vijaywada India oi-Madhuri Adnal Vijaywada, Mar 31: Ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019, which are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning from April 1, poll campaigns across the country have gathered heat. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised to provide special category status to Andhra Pradesh, if the party was voted to power in coming Lok Sabha elections, and expressed surprise that parties in the state failed to 'aggressively' push the issue. "It is not only a commitment made by Congress&Manmohan Singh ji, it's a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. It's our commitment that we'll give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi," said Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Vijaywada. Rahul Gandhi afraid of losing from Amethi, says Amit Shah at rally Assuring that his party would also launch a 'surgical strike' on poverty, the Congress chief said Nyay, his promise of a minimum income scheme, was a "non-violent weapon" that will be used to uplift the poorest. Addressing his first election rally here in the state, which goes to simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said while the previous Congress-led UPA had created poverty eradication schemes, Prime Minister "Narendra Modi dismantled everything." Gandhi, whose party is contesting the polls in Andhra Pradesh alone, said while Modi did "surgical strikes against the poor" his party will carry it out against poverty. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 15:03 [IST] Families get separated as Pakistan military fences Durand Line border with Afghanistan International oi-Shubham Ghosh Kabul, March 31: Separation of loved ones owing to the division of land and country is not something new in South Asia. The latest incident of such human tragedy has happened in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan of late after the Pakistani military decided to put up fencing along the Durand Line, the country's de factor border with Afghanistan. According to a report in Afghanistan's TOLOnews, the fencing has left "many families" who have been living in the border areas for decades, separated. One such affected village is Badshah Khan in Gurbuz district in southwest Afghanistan's Khost province. As Pakistan bolsters military might, an uneasy disquiet at the border "Badshah Khan village is located near Ghulam Khan village which is a border town between Afghanistan and Pakistan. One part of the town sits in North Waziristan and the other half in Khost province of Afghanistan. It is the third busiest border crossing between the two countries, after Torkham and Chaman. The people in the area are all ethnic Pashtuns," the report said. The affected residents complained that they did not have access to schools, health centre and market after the fencing came up. The Pakistani military said in 2017 that they have resumed work on putting up the fence along the Durand Line for stopping entry of insurgents from crossing the de facto border which is more than 2,600 kilometres long. The plan for putting up the fence though dates back to 2003 after US-led forces toppled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan in retaliation after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 although the initiative was not as serious then, the report added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 16:28 [IST] Finish soldiers participating in the Northern Wind war games in Sweden on 22 March 2019 This did not change with the end of the Cold War 30 years ago. In the 1990s, most European states redefined their take on military defense. Between 1989 and 2013, most European militaries became small all-volunteer forces well suited for multinational expeditionary operations with token troop contributions. Division and brigade structures were axed. Long-range fires, electronic warfare, ground-based air defense, main battle tanks, and multiple-launch rocket systems were scrapped. Military crisis management, civil-military cooperation, and counterinsurgency warfare replaced mechanized maneuver warfare in military doctrines. In short, Western militariesparticularly in Europeshrank. There was one exception: Finland. It never dropped the ball on territorial defense. Today, this is paying dividends. In the field of defense, there are no quick fixes. Lost military capability cannot be replaced quickly. This is at the heart of the European military malaise. There is no need for so-called external tripwire forces when you have your house in order. Trying to outsource ones defense-related costs to others (for example to the United States) is no way to proceed when dealing with questions of national security and survival. Too many European states have become too reliant on the United States to deter external militaryand if needed, to defend their national territory and the territory of the NATO alliance. aggression Too many European states have become too reliant on the United States to deter external military aggression Sweden did have its peace dividend moment after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. It lost a significant amount of military capacity for territorial defense, particularly in the land domain. But still, Sweden maintained significant maritime and air warfare capabilities throughout the period. And after 2014, Sweden has refocused on the defense of its own territory and adjacent areas. In addition, military procurement has been boosted. And the outlook for future increases of the Swedish defense budget looks positive. In addition, Finland and Sweden are engaged in bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation arrangements. Maintaining and developing credible territorial defense capabilities does not restrict possibilities for international cooperation. In fact, Finland and Sweden have expanded their respective defense cooperation agendaswith each other bilaterallyand with others. The United States is an important actor in this regard, as is NATO. But defense cooperation cannot substitute for sufficient national military capabilities. This is the logic behind Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It applies to Finland and Sweden as it does to any other countrywhether a member state of NATO or not. After all, even the biggest bear will not eat a porcupine. Georgia did lose part of its territory to Russia in 2008, when Saakashvili was president of Georgia. There is much to learn from that experience, but it does not suggest that Russia will start a war against Sweden or Finland, as Saakashvili contends, in order to boost Putins popularity. US Attorney General William Barr will send to Congress by the middle of next month a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller s report on alleged ties between the 2016 electoral campaign of President Donald Trump and Russia. Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner, Barr said in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House judiciary committees, the Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Jerrold Nadler , respectively. Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own, Barr said, and explained how the document will be redacted before its publication, and defended the brief summary he released last Sunday containing special counsel Muellers principal conclusions. In that document, Barr said that Muellers investigations led to the conclusion that no one in Trumps campaign nor the president himself conspired with Russian authorities during the 2016 presidential election in order to sabotage the candidacy of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. In his letter to Congress, Barr said that information will be redacted that could potentially compromise the sources and the methods of gathering information or that infringes unduly on the personal privacy and reputation of peripheral third parties. Despite such reservations, the letter says that in the coming weeks, lawmakers and the public will be able to study the full 400 pages of the Mueller probe. Barrs announcement came after members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, including some Republicans, requested the handing over of the complete report, which had greatly raised expectations in the US. Democratic Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer demanded the complete report and the underlying documents so the committees could continue working independently, including on any oversight or legislation needed to deal with such problems as the investigation might present. Trump said it wouldnt bother me at all if the report were made public that finds he committed no collusion with the Russians in the 2016 election, though he noted that the decision to do so was up to Barr. Nonetheless, on the other charge of obstruction of justice, the special counsels report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. Over the last two years, Trump has insisted that this investigation was a witch hunt by the Democratic opposition and has constantly denied that in the 2016 electoral campaign there was any conspiracy between his team and the Russian government. Canadian artist Cosimo Cavallaro is erecting a wall of cheese near the fence that separates the United States and Mexico in Tecate, California, as a way of denouncing the waste represented by the border barrier that President Donald Trump wants to build. While Trumps government is trying to use billions of taxpayer dollars to build its wall, Cavallaro is relying on GoFundMe to acquire enough blocks of expired cheese from the Mexican state of Michoacan to complete his structure, which stands 1.5m (nearly 5ft) tall. Art unites people, the 58-year-old son of Italian immigrants told EFE. Cavallaro quipped that he would be delighted to receive a donation from Trump, who made the promise of a border wall the centerpiece of his 2016 election campaign. I can see the waste in this. Its a little bit of a waste to acknowledge a waste, the Canadian said of his project. Beyond the political statement, the main objective of the sculptor and filmmaker is to convey a message of solidarity among people. Cavallaro said that when he first arrived in Tecate, the sight of the reinforced fence topped with barbed wire left him with a very ugly and depressive vibe, evocative of a concentration camp environment. US Border Patrol agents are in the area, but they have not interfered with Cavallaros project and one even approached the artist and his team once to tell them that the site looked ideal for a picnic. The artists intention is to have the wall extend roughly 300m along the border, but the projects final shape depends on how many people donate at his GoFundMe page. Each block of cheese costs roughly $100. His wife and collaborator, Sarah Cavallaro, told EFE that the idea behind the project came more than a year ago when they were listeing to Trump talk about immigrants and the border. Cosimo, according to Sarah, hopes to start a conversation that includes a message of social justice. This is not the first time that Cavallaro has made art from perishable items. His previous works in that vein include a figure of Jesus made from chocolate and a bed of ham. The artist told EFE that the impermanence of the cheese wall was fitting. Federal energy regulators issued a draft analysis Friday of the environmental impacts of the Jordan Cove Energy Project, the controversial proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the north spit of Coos Bay and a feeder pipeline that would stretch across southern Oregon to a gas hub in Klamath County. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also opened a public comment period on the analysis and project until July 5. Public hearings will be held in southern Oregon. The draft is not a tentative decision, but an analysis by FERC staff with 137 recommendations to reduce and mitigate impacts should the commission ultimately decide to approve the project. The agency will seek feedback from the company on relevant issues raised during the comment period, then proceed to a final licensing decision. The company is hoping that decision will come by January. Staff concluded that the project would result in temporary, long-term, and permanent impacts on the environment. But it said many of the impacts would not be significant or would be reduced to less than significant levels with the implementation of proposed impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures. However, some of these impacts would be adverse and significant, it said. Those included significant impacts on housing in Coos Bay; permanent and significant impacts on the visual character of Coos Bay; and adverse impacts on 13 federally-listed threatened and endangered species, including the marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, and coho salmon. Pembina is carefully reviewing the extensive document received today," the company said in a statement. "We can, though, reconfirm three important things: Pembinas commitment to protecting the environment and meeting all state and federal requirements, working with landowners and communities on issues important to them, and that we are confident that our application will successfully meet FERCs strict approval criteria when they make a final decision in January 2020. The LNG terminal would include a gas conditioning facility, five liquefaction trains to supercool the incoming natural gas, two LNG storage tanks, as well as loading platform and berths for the 120 tankers a year that are expected to ship natural gas from the facility to customers in Asia. The 229-mile, 36-inch-diameter gas pipeline would run through parts of Klamath, Jackson, Douglas, and Coos counties and be capable of shipping to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the facility. The projects current owner, Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp., has indicated the project would cost some $10 billion, making it potentially the most expensive construction project in Oregon history and likely that Pembina would seek partners if the project is approved. The temporary construction boom that would entail, involving thousands of workers, has been a big selling point for the projects local proponents, who contend it will give a major economic boost to a part of the state that has been hard hit over the last three decades by the loss of forestry and other natural resource jobs. Once up and running, backers claim the project would create 200 permanent jobs and generate $60 million in new tax revenues, or fees in lieu of property taxes, for local governments in southern Oregon, as well as $50 million in state tax revenues. Opposition to the project has been intense, too. Opponents include environmental, tribal and recreational groups worried about the impacts on waterways, cultural resources and endangered species; property owners whose land could be seized by eminent domain for the pipeline, and others worried about the public safety risks involved in siting a terminal, gas storage tanks and marine terminal on a sand spit that sits directly in an earthquake and tsunami zone. A day before the commission issued its analysis, opponents turned out to protest against the project at the state Capitol. The Oregon Department of State Lands received 50,000 public comments on the projects removal fill permit, an outpouring of public sentiment that is testament to the passions it the project has aroused during the nearly 15 years that various iterations of the project have been under consideration. That comment period ended in February, but the agency has delayed its permitting decision until late September because of the complexity of the project and the number of comments to process. This is not the projects first trip through the regulatory process. In March 2016, FERC denied a permit for the project, saying backers had not demonstrated sufficient public need for the project to outweigh the negative impact on landowners that would be impacted by the Pacific Connector Pipeline. It subsequently denied a rehearing request but did so without prejudice, leaving the door open for the company to reapply. The projects former owner, Veresen Inc., re - filed its federal application in 2017, confident the project would get a different reception under an energy commission that has since been remade under the Trump administration. Trumps staff had expressed strong support for Jordan Cove, part of its push to increase fossil fuel production and exports and achieve U.S. energy independence. Veresen was purchased by its larger rival, Pembina, in 2017. Opponents issued a news release calling for FERC to deny the project again, and for state agencies under Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to protect Oregonians from the terminal and pipeline. FERC was right to reject this dangerous fracked gas export terminal last time, when FERC explained that there was no evidence showing that anybody actually wanted to buy gas from this boondoggle, said Rhett Lawrence, conservation director of the Sierra Clubs Oregon chapter. "Nothing has changed since then. (The draft analysis) provides no additional evidence of need or market support for this project. Correction: An earlier version of this story said the project owners refiled their application for Jordan Cove with FERC in 2018. The former owner, Veresen Inc., re-filed the application in 2017. Pembina also disputed the number of protesters who turned out at the state Capitol last week. Police arrested an 18-year-old man Saturday afternoon and accused him of manslaughter and driving under the influence after a fatal crash near Sherwood. Washington County deputies responded Saturday at 3:45 p.m. to a report of a crash in the 19100 block of SW Pacific Highway. Their crash reconstruction investigation found that a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer exiting a parking lot quickly moved from the right to the left lane southbound on SW Pacific Highway and into the path of a 2005 Ford F350 truck. The impact sent the truck into the median, where it rolled several times. The driver of the truck was transported to hospital and did not suffer life-threatening injuries. His passenger, Lorraine Wheeler, 47, of Tigard, died as a result of the crash. Police said the driver of the Mitsubishi, Roger J. Bayard, 18, of Tigard, was arrested and accused of manslaughter II, driving under the influence, reckless driving, assault and criminal mischief. Police said he would be booked into the Washington County Jail Saturday night. The Washington County Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team responded to the scene and is leading the investigation. "There's a list of the girls' names," her friend Nicky Schmidt, a fellow senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, said. "And we're ranked." Behbehani didn't want to see the list, or know whether she was on it. She had spent the past four years recovering from an eating disorder, working hard to avoid comparing herself with others, she said. But by her sixth-period class on that Monday earlier this month, a text message appeared on her phone with a screenshot of the list, typed out on the iPhone Notes app. It included the names of 18 girls in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School's International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, ranked and rated on the basis of their looks, from 5.5 to 9.4, with decimal points to the hundredth place. There, with a number beside it, was Behbehani's name. A group of male students in their program created the list more than a year ago, but it resurfaced earlier this month, through text messages and whispers during class. One male classmate, seeing the name of his good friend Nicky Schmidt on the list, told her about it, and within 24 hours, dozens of girls had heard about the list. Lists like this one had silently circulated among teen boys for generations, and it has happened in more recent years at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, too, the students said. But it was happening now, in the era of the #MeToo movement. Women had been standing up to harassment in workplaces and on college campuses and the high school girls, who had been witnessing this empowerment, decided they weren't going to let the issue slide. They felt violated, objectified by classmates they considered their friends. They felt uncomfortable getting up to go to the bathroom, worried that the boys might be scanning them and "editing their decimal points," said Lee Schwartz, one of the other senior girls on the list. "Knowing that my closest friends were talking to me and hanging out with me but under that, silently numbering me, it definitely felt like a betrayal," Schwartz said. "I was their friend, but I guess also a number." But there is power in numbers, too. Dozens of senior girls decided to speak up to the school administration and to their male classmates, demanding not only disciplinary action in response to the list but a school-wide reckoning about the toxic culture that allowed it to happen. "It was the last straw, for us girls, of this 'boys will be be boys' culture," Behbehani said. "We're the generation that is going to make a change." That same Monday, a group of girls reported the list to an administrator, who encouraged the students not to talk about it around school, Schmidt said. The next day, the girls learned that after an investigation, school officials decided to discipline one male student with in-school detention for one day, which would not show up on his record. Bethesda-Chevy Chase Principal Donna Redmond Jones said an investigation revealed the list was made during school hours, and that "there was definitely discipline applied," in line with the district's code of conduct, but that she could not give any more information due to privacy concerns. Unsatisfied with the disciplinary action, Schmidt texted about 15 girls she knew, and told them to tell all of their friends to show up at the school's main office the next day during lunch, "to tell them we feel unsafe in this environment and we are tired of this toxicity," Schmidt wrote in her text. About 40 senior girls showed up, packing into an assistant principal's office as Schmidt read a statement she had written. "We want to know what the school is doing to ensure our safety and security," Schmidt said. "We should be able to learn in an environment without the constant presence of objectification and misogyny." The girls and administrators agreed that they should have a large meeting with the male students in the program, including the boys who created and circulated the list. That Friday, on International Women's Day, almost all of the students in the IB program - about 80 students - met in a large conference room for what was supposed to be a 45-minute meeting during fifth period. Instead, the meeting lasted two-and-a-half hours. Several girls delivered personal and impassioned speeches describing not only their presence on the list, but also their previous experiences with sexual abuse, harassment, and objectification, both inside the school and outside of it. "I feel it when walking home from school, I get catcalled by a man in a truck who repeatedly asks me to get in his car, and follows me home when I don't," said Rose Frank, one of the senior girls on the list, reading from a letter she had prepared. "I feel it when my mother tells me that my third ear piercing will 'send the wrong message' in a workplace setting, and that in the future it's best to let my hair down for job interviews." Sitting toward the center of the room during the meeting was the male student credited with creating the list, an 18-year-old senior in the IB program. After listening to all of the girls' speeches, many of which were directed specifically to him, he stood up and spoke to the group, admitting to making the list and apologizing for the hurt it caused. "It was quite intense, being so directly confronted in front of so many people for so long," the student recalled in an interview with The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of the repercussions he could face. He recalled coming up with the list -- which began in the 5 range for girls perceived to be average-looking -- during a brief conversation with a friend during a fifth-period English class last year. He said he never distributed the list to anyone else in the grade, and he didnt know how it began circulating earlier this month. But he took responsibility for what he said was a haphazard, stupid decision. "When you have a culture where it's just normal to talk about that, I guess making a list about it doesn't seem like such a terrible thing to do, because you're just used to discussing it," he said in an interview. "I recognize that I'm in a position in this world generally where I have privilege. I'm a white guy at a very rich high school. It's easy for me to lose sight of the consequences of my actions and kind of feel like I'm above something." While he regrets making the list, he said he was grateful that the girls spoke up. "It's just a different time and things really do need to change," he said. "This memory is not going to leave me anytime soon." Since that confrontational meeting, a co-ed group of senior students - including the boy who created the list - have been gathering on an almost weekly basis at lunch time to discuss how to prevent this sort of incident from happening again. Jones, the school principal, said she has been proud to see the students take the lead on the meetings since the list emerged. "It takes bravery, it takes being vulnerable, it takes a sense of forgiveness," she said. The Bethesda-Chevy Chase students are planning a day next month in which pairs of students -- one senior girl and one senior guy -- will go to the younger students classes to talk about toxic masculinity, said Gabriella Capizzi, one of the senior girls taking the lead on the campaign. Some students are also organizing a pop-up museum focused on the theme of cultural toxicity. While the event was planned before the list circulated, it has now taken on a new meaning, said Gloria Karekezi, a 17-year-old senior who is working on an exhibit and who has been a part of the ongoing efforts to speak up about the list. With the two months of high school they have left, the seniors hope to set a precedent for the younger grades, Capizzi said. I wasnt surprised by the list, Capizzi said. The kids like the kid who made the list arent the outliers. Its the people who speak up about it that are. And that culture needs to change. A woman is suing a security guard she says assaulted and tased her outside a Southeast Portland hookah bar and nightclub in mid-March. The suit was filed by Michael Fuller on behalf of Leala Nicholas in Multnomah County on Tuesday and names the guard, Francisco Swafford, his employer, Nomil Chandra and Bear Arms Security Services, as well as the club: Lux PDX. Theyre seeking up to $250,000 in damages. The suit alleges Chandra and Bear Arms were neglectful in employing Swafford, arguing he was not properly screened before he was hired. Fuller and Nicholas say Swafford assaulted, battered and tased her on March 16, although the suit does not describe what happened that evening. Fuller said Swafford approached his client without warning and tased her as she was trying to leave the club that evening. Its something we see quite often that security guards and police officers are trigger-happy, Fuller said. If anything, she may have been a little bit loud outside the bar. But Swafford claims he was stepping in to stop a fight between Nicholas and a group of regulars as closing time approached at Lux that night. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Nicholas and a male friend were holding her high heels as weapons. Swafford said the duo was ejected from the club earlier for destroying property. Swafford said ordered the two to leave as he saw the incident played out. Thats when they rounded on him with the heels, he said, and he tased Nicholas. It was just a bad situation. I was trying to get them to go home they didnt want to go home, Swafford said. He said she was unfazed by the shock but then began to walk away. As Nicholas left the scene, Swafford said, she tripped on the curb outside Lux and fell. Calls to Nicholas at a number provided by her attorney were not returned Saturday. She is requesting a jury trial. Earlier this year, Swafford was named as the security guard who shot and killed a man who allegedly robbed him at another Southeast Portland establishment. Portland police arrested Henry I. McCollum, 49, who along with Eugene Pharr Jr., 42, reportedly threatened and plotted to steal from Swafford at the Dream On Saloon on Jan. 15. Pharr died of a gunshot wound. McCollum was charged with first- and second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm. Swafford was cooperating with the investigation, police said at the time. The club where Nicholas says Swafford tased her, Lux PDX, was also the site of a shooting in late December that left one person injured. House Democrats passed a bill Wednesday that would make public agencies in Oregon a far friendlier and sheltered spot for union organizing in the wake of a court decision that has threatened their finances. House Bill 2016 would block public access to employee information and unions communication with workers, provisions that conflict with the states public records law and would apply whether the employee is a union member or not. It would penalize public employers that allow anti-union communications on their email systems. And it would lock all public employers into a slate of requirements that are currently the subject of collective bargaining between individual employers and unions in each contract period. The bill, which passed the House on a straight 36-to-22 party line vote and now heads to the Senate, is a reaction to last years U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME. And its one that is raising concerns among public employers, media outlets and advocates of government transparency. In the Janus case, the court ruled that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues or fees if they opt out of membership. Prior to that ruling, employees opting out of membership were still required to pay fair share fees to cover collective bargaining activities. The court found that requirement violated employees first amendment rights. Unions say House Bill 2016, dubbed the Public Workers Protection Act, is an effort to level the playing field by codifying best practices related to unfair labor practices, release time for union activities, dues collection and access to worksites and employee information. HB 2016 is essential to protect collective bargaining in Oregon in the face of unprecedented threats by anti-worker interests, said Steven Demarest, president of SEIU Local 503. The Freedom Foundation, an anti-union group, has stepped up its campaign to discourage union membership in the wake of the Janus decision, and claims that the number of dues paying members has plummeted. The situation may not be that dire. SEIU, the largest public employee union in Oregon, says its statewide membership, including local union members, has increased by 2 percent. Still, figures from the Department of Administrative Services show a four percent decline in its membership among state workers last year. The bigger hit is likely financial, as fair share fees made up a fifth of the $25 million in union dues and fees paid by state workers to all unions before Janus money the state is no longer collecting. Freedom Foundation Oregon Director Aaron Withe said unions went into panic mode after the Janus decision and HB 2016 is the resulting gift to the unions that in turn bankroll Oregons Democratic party. Its unconstitutional and it wont hold up to a court challenge, he said, but it illustrates perfectly how much influence the unions have over the political processes in Oregon. Republican members of the House said much the same thing during Wednesdays floor session, but Democrats rejected their minority report that stripped out many of the bills provisions. In my opinion, it now seems the Oregon Legislature, in a massive overreach with potential issues of constitutionality, wants to press its thumb on the scale to re-unbalance what the Supreme Court has ruled on, said Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles. And in this case, with respect to this bill, with very little discussion. Meanwhile, Rep. Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, the chair of the referring committee who carried the bill on the floor, described it as very straightforward. Nearly everything contained in the bill is already standard practice and has been for more than 40 years, he said. What this will do is codify what already happens and I believe create smoother negotiations and consistency across government. Among the bills controversial provisions: It would require public employers to grant reasonable paid time to designated union representatives to conduct union business and access members during the workday without the loss of compensation. It would require employers to regularly provide unions with all employees personally identifiable information, including home and cellular phones, emails and addresses. Meanwhile, it would categorize providing the same information to other entities, including media outlets or union opponents, as an unfair labor practice meaning employees would have the grounds to file a labor complaint. That conflicts with state public records law, which allows the release of such information if the party seeking it can demonstrate a compelling public interest in its disclosure. As written, the bill would prohibit releasing public employees email addresses and telephone numbers experts say the bill is unclear on whether that would apply to work emails and phone numbers. It would make it an unfair labor practice for employers to release union communications with employees via work email. That information is subject to disclosure today under the states public records law. It would make it an unfair labor practice for employers to knowingly allow emails on work systems that discourage union membership. It gives unions representatives the right to establish rules regarding appropriate conduct for employees at union meetings. It would make it easier for employees to opt in to union membership by telephone, email or in writing, while potentially making it more difficult to opt out of paying dues. Public employer organizations say House Bill 2016 mandates a one-size-fits-all approach to employee relations that would hammer into statute things that are bargained today, including what constitutes reasonable paid time for union business, access to members during the work day, and the collection of dues and employee information. They say it also puts public employers at risk of financial liability and in jeopardy of violating the first amendment and the states public records law. Scott Winkels, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, said the bill presents a legal conundrum for public agencies. The email provisions give employers the choice of either restricting speech based on content, which could violate first amendment rights, or allowing the free flow of email and getting hit with an unfair labor practice complaint. I think the public sector unions are understandably concerned about the Janus ruling and this is an effort to see exactly how far that extends, he said. I would hope there would be a better way to do that than this. Unions have long sought protections against public disclosure of their members information, whether it was pension benefits, salaries or contact information. Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503, says much of what is in the bill, such as the mandated disclosure of employees personal information to union representatives, is already covered under union contracts with the state. She said there is no public interest in allowing outside entities access to email or other contacts lists so they can spam or scam members or send them overtly political messages, either at home or at work. We as a union have a legal responsibility to the people we represent and thats fundamentally different than the Freedom Foundation, she said. We dont think its a best practice for employers to give out 30,000 emails and allow someone to mass email employees. Anything can be sent to any state employee. I dont know what the public interest is in thatNo other employer in the world would release all their employee contact information. As to the bills prohibition on public disclosure of union communications with employees, she said, we believe there is case law thats says you cant get this information now. But media and open government advocates say the bill would be a major step back from some of the progress made on transparency in the wake of the influence peddling scandal involving former Gov. John Kitzhaber and first lady Cylvia Hayes. They maintain it will lead to less public disclosure, more secrecy and increased costs when seeking public information. Jack Orchard, a lawyer at Ball Janik who represents media outlets, said the bill conflates public records law with unfair labor practices in a way that could lead to blanket denials of records requests by employers seeking to avoid potential liabilities. Even routine records, such as the employee directories currently published on the states website, could be construed as off limits. This is just sort of oddly matched parts, he said. We all know what the intention is. But the mechanism doesnt seem consistent with the general right to public records information. Nick Budnick, a reporter for the Portland Tribune and a board member of the Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said lawmakers are sidestepping the Sunshine Committee that the legislature created in 2017 to advise it on public records issues, including the release of personally identifiable information. He said the bill would also effectively reverse a major advancement the legislature passed two years ago in Senate Bill 481, which said agencies should not face liability when they lawfully or in good faith disclose public records. As written, this bill will severely impact public service watchdog journalism in Oregon, he said. Unions acknowledge that they are looking to clarify Oregons public records law through HB 2016. Jessica Giannettino Villatoro, political director of Oregon AFL-CIO, testified that one aim was to prevent third parties from disrupting labor relationships between public employers and represented employees using state resources, and to make it harder for outside organizations to invade workers private, personal time and space. But Shasta Kearns Moore, president of Open Oregon, which advocates for government transparency, said the legislation appears to create an entirely new bar for public access to information that can be released today, either routinely or by making the case that such a release is in the public interest. Im concerned about any kind of new exemptions and costs she said. Its disconcerting that this will create new ways to keep a lot of information secret about our government. Photo courtesy of David Moir/Bravo Chef Sara Bradley prepares a meal during Season 16 of Bravo's "Top Chef." Patrons of Bradley's local farm-to-table restaurant can taste her season finale meal at the freight house through the end of April. Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Nigerien health authorities last week launched the pilot phase of the m-Health (mobile for Health) initiative that involves the use of cellular phones by communities as part of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Nigeria on Sunday said that its troops have killed 16 Boko Haram terrorists during a "clearance operation" in Kerenoa and adjourning areas in the Lake Chad region Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwes tourism sector is under threat of receiving lower visitors as hotels have hiked prices by an average of 310% as a result of last months devaluation on the local currency Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 31) Four senatorial candidates on Sunday called on the government to either review or put an end to its bloody war on drugs. During CNN Philippines' seventh senatorial forum, aspirants Bernard Austria and Sonny Matula said President Rodrigo Duterte should stop the controversial ant-drug campaign, while Joan Sheelah Nalliw and Willie Ong said otherwise. They were not allowed to explain their answers during the yes or no portion but were later given the chance to discuss the drug war, most of them tackling the killings. Nalliw called on the government to review its approach, stressing that the death of drug suspects has not solved the problem. "Marami na nga pong nangamatay subalit nandyan pa rin po yung problema natin sa droga. Therefore, ito ba ay epektibo? Hindi. So let's try another approach," Nalliw, a lawyer and former teacher, said. Another candidate, labor lawyer Sonny Matula wants the creation of a "high-level commission" to investigate drug war killings, and urged the government to look into its drug campaign now. "Dapat tingnan uli ng gobyerbo ang programa nito dahil marami ang mga collateral damage dito Yung mga inosente ay nadadamay," he said. More than 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in police operations, according to government data. But local and international human rights groups say President Rodrigo Duterte's public pronouncements have resulted in thousands more extrajudicial killings, a claim Malacanang has repeatedly denied. Bernard Austria, a former consultant for the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns and the National Anti-Poverty Commission, urged the government to protect the rights and dignity of drug users. "Sila ay biktima dito, hindi sila dapat pinapatay," he stressed. He said the government should instead guard the country's ports, noting that the Philippines is used as a transshipment point for drug smuggling. "Dapat ireview natin yung approach. Paano natin pipigilin yung paglaganap ng droga dito? Dapat doon tayo sa supply side. Bantayan natin ang ating mga daungan," he said. Meanwhile, Physician Willie Ong reminded the administration that the drug problem is a health concern, and not just a criminal problem. He pushed for the rehabilitation of drug users, at the same time called for more medical experts and medicines to treat them. "Ang problema sa rehabilitation centers natin kahit six months na sila nandoon, maraming nagre-relapse, bumabalik uli sa droga. Kulang tayo sa psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, gamot. Kailangan maganda ang gamutan sa kanila," he said. Patna: Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader and former Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, at his 'Gareeb Sammelan' at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on Sunday, spent less time on the plight of the poor and dedicated the majority of his speech to bashing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling both of them 'anti-poor, anti-Dalits, and anti-backwards who were out to destroy them. Manjhi, known for his caste-based rhetoric and politics, opened the salvo against Kumar by slamming him on his crusade against use of alcohol in Bihar. "The entire prohibition was designed to punish the poor because it's the poor who have limited or no means to defend themselves. Prisons in Bihar are filled with backwards and Dalits who have been charged with violating prohibition laws while rich people continue to be able to purchase and consume liquor in the state. It has become a means to harass the Dalit community," Manjhi roared. "If the Grand Alliance came into power, it would scrap prohibition in Bihar," Manjhi, much to the surprise of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav who was also present on the occasion, said. It may be recalled that on April 4 during an event to release the 'report card' of the Nitish government, Tejaswi Yadav had said that while he was in favor of prohibition, if given the opportunity to run the government again, he would implement it differently so poor were not a discriminated lot and the law was equally strict for rich and upper caste people as well. Manjhi further said that he personally knew a number of Janata Dal U leaders who were in the habit of consuming alcoholic drinks. "Liquor is flowing in Bihar but the police arrests only poor people. More than 80% of those arrested under prohibition law are Dalits," the former Chief Minister said. Turning his attention towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the HAM leader said that the NDA government was trying very hard to get rid of SC/ST as was evident by the recent Supreme Court decision. "Narendra Modi is a puppet of the Sangh Parivar and he is doing things that the Sangh Parivar tells him to do. He is hatching conspiracies against the Dalits but we, along with the people of Bihar, will not allow him to do so. RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, who was the only one to represent his party despite Manjhi's attempt to build up the 'Gareeb Sammelan' with billboards portraying the images of Rabri Devi and Tej Pratap Yadav, besides the image of former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, went straight to bashing the NDA saying the BJP had zero respect for backwards and Dalits of the nation and was only interested in doing vote bank politics by inciting Hindu hardliners against Muslims. "They want to wipe off backwards and Dalits to maintain their edge in the Indian politics. They are already attempting to scrap reservation laws and if not checked, the poor will have no voice left in the governance," Yadav said. Understandably, his father and party President Lalu Prasad Yadav was not able to attend the function on account of him being incarcerated in connection with his multiple convictions in the fodder scam. Patna: With senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha all set to quit the party and join Congress on April 6, his soon-to-be ex-party colleague Sushil Kumar Modi, at a press conference in Patna on Sunday took shots at Sinha saying he should stop embarrassing himself at his ripe age and retire from active politics before he makes further fool of himself. I recently advised him not to embarrass himself at his age but he is adamant on running from Patna Saheb seat on a Congress ticket. While he is free to do so, I am here to tell you that even American President Donald Trump would lose at this seat that squarely belongs to the BJP. No other party will win from this seat, Modi said. The Deputy Chief Minister also mocked the Grand Alliance and the Tej Pratap-Tejaswi feud within the Lalu family. The Grand Alliance that cannot even decide names of candidates for seven seats and the Congress that won only at 44 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections are hoping to form the new government at the Center. The country needs a strong government that can stand up to countries like China and Pakistan and not a weak government that Congress is known for, he said adding how could the people of Bihar trust those who could not even handle their own family affairs? Easter is fast approaching, meaning its time to break out the baskets, colored eggs and jelly beans. This year, Easter is being held on April 21. Now, prepare for a guide to the holiday from why its always on Sundays to what eggs have to do with it. How do we figure out when Easter is? Easter is always held on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. This year, the first full moon after the equinox will be on April 19. The first Sunday after that? April 21. What is the meaning of Easter? Easter is a religious holiday in which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, whose death was commemorated on Good Friday. When Jesus rose from the dead, according to the Bible, he conquered death and thus paved the way to salvation for Christians everywhere. You can read the story for yourself in the Gospels (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21). Easter marks the end of Lent. If you're Christian, Easter is what your faith is based on. The crux of Christianity is what Christians call "The Mystery of Faith" which is "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." How should we celebrate it? Christians head to church on Easter Sunday to celebrate. Many churches have services at sunrise, because it was at dawn that Jesus's tomb was discovered to be empty (Matthew 28:1). Sunrise services are traditionally held outside. Easter services are a jubilant time and most services employ special victory songs, including the classic "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today." Easter is a feast day, so should also, traditionally, be accompanied by a large meal - ideally one featuring foods you could not partake in while fasting. The holiday has gradually become secularized, so for many it's the equivalent of a celebration of spring and good weather. Also, who would pass up a chance to eat candy? What are some Easter traditions? Well, there are a lot. People decorate eggs. They make Easter baskets filled with sweets and eggs. They conduct egg hunts and egg rolls. Some people even make cascarones, or confetti eggs. Why Easter eggs? Eggs are a symbol of fertility, renewal and new life, so it's fitting that they are used to celebrate Jesus's conquering of death and the subsequent new life Christians have through him. There's also some religious symbolism there. Some Christians view the egg as a Christian symbol, because just as a bird hatches from the egg leaving behind a shell so Jesus left the empty tomb. During Lent, many Christians fast. Historically this meant not consuming eggs, so it is also believed, according to the History Channel, that eggs are present so much in Easter because those participating in Lent were super psyched to be able to eat eggs again. According to the History Channel, decorating eggs for Easter has been going on since the 13th century, when early Christians stained eggs red in honor of Christ's blood. It all really picked up steam in the 19th century when Czar Alexander III commissioned Peter Carl Faberge to make jewel encrusted eggs as a gift for his wife. However, it should be noted that eggs as gifts isn't a Christian thing. Engraved ostrich eggs have been discovered in Africa that are more than 60,000 years old - which predates Christianity by quite a lot. What about the Easter Bunny? Like eggs, rabbits are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life. The association with rabbits and Easter happened in Protestant Europe. Many of the Germans who eventually settled in Pennsylvania had a tradition of the "Osterhase," an egg-laying hare, Cadbury style. However, it should be noted that the Easter Bunny isn't the only Easter ambassador. Around the world Easter animals include the cuckoo, fox, chick, rooster and stork. Why candy? Why not? This abundance of sweets could be linked to the end of the fasting season of Lent. Seeing as many people give up desserts during this time, it only makes sense for them to geek out about chocolate and sugar when Easter hits. Jellybeans became popular in the 1930s, because merchants said they looked like eggs - which is what we call clever advertising. This story is an updated version of a 2018 story. Arrest warrants have been obtained for two people in connection with a shooting that injured two people in Franklin County Saturday. According to the Chambersburg police, Ryan O. Jefferson, 25, and Christopher C. Darby, 33, are both persons of interest, wanted for questioning in the shooting on the 300 block of South Main Street that sent two people to the hospital. Ryan O. Jefferson. Arrest warrants have been issued because both are former convicts not permitted to possess firearms, police say. According to investigators, a fight had broken out after a party Saturday, and several shots were fired around 5:24 a.m. Two people were struck by gunfire. Christopher C. Darby. Police say this was an isolated incident stemming from a dispute between two groups of people who know each other. Anyone with information should call the Chambersburg police, 717-264-4131. A mother and her 6-year-old daughter who went missing and were thought to be endangered Saturday have been found safe. The Pennsylvania State Police at Emporium canceled the missing-and-endangered-person alert last night for Victoria Fountz, 26, and Odessa Bowes, 6. State police said yesterday they had been last seen in the Williamsport area in a burgundy and gray 2003 Subaru Outback. They were thought to be at risk of harm or injury, but have since been found, police say. Details of their disappearance were not immediately available. Parts of central Pennsylvania could see temperatures drop by as much as 30 degrees by Sunday evening as a strong cold front moves into the region. Thats according to National Weather Service forecasters, who predict Sunday highs for the Harrisburg area at 57 degrees with a low of only 29. We hope you can get outside during a break in the showers this afternoon to enjoy some of the warmth. Temperatures will be much chillier tomorrow. In fact, parts of PA may be as much as 30 colder Sunday afternoon vs. this afternoon! #PAwx pic.twitter.com/2r09juINbf NWS State College (@NWSStateCollege) March 30, 2019 That Sunday cool down will come with some morning rain, according to forecasters. By the middle of next week, temperatures could return to the 60s, with forecasters predicting a high of 62 degrees on both Wednesday and Thursday. The majority of next week is predicted to be rain-free, forecasts show. The National Weather service forecast for the next few days in the Harrisburg area is below: A popular Harrisburg barbecue joint abruptly closed its doors over the weekend -- apparently to be replaced by a medical marijuana dispensary. When a new round of permits for medical marijuana dispensaries was awarded in December, one location was the historic Camp Curtin Fire Station, which has been the location of Camp Curtin Bar-B-Que for the last 30 years. But questions remained Sunday about plans for the old brick building at 2504 N. Sixth St. Heres what we know so far. A permit was awarded: Harvest of South Central PA got a permit for 2500-2504 N. 6th St. when the new round of 23 dispensary permits was awarded in December. While it has a permit, the parent company -- Arizona-based Harvest Health and Recreation Inc. does not list Harrisburg as a location on its website. Not yet, anyway. In Pennsylvania, they list only their Reading location and forthcoming King of Prussia location, marked as opening sometime in 2019. Officials with Harvest could not be reached over the weekend for comment. Dispensary permit recipients have six months to become fully operational, so if the company moves ahead with its plans, it would open within the next three months. Pennsylvanias biggest medical marijuana dispensary? Harvest is poised to become the biggest company in the medical marijuana trade in Pennsylvania. In December the company was awarded permits for six dispensaries, and will have 21 retail marijuana stores in Pennsylvania, according to a report by Philly.com. State law caps the maximum number of stores for any one at 15, but Harvest incorporated its various permit applications as separate businesses, according to Philly.com. What about Camp Curtin Bar-Be-Cue? A sign on the door now reads: Announcement. Today is our last day of operation at Camp Curtin BBQ Station. Although we apologize for the short notice, thank you even more for allowing us to serve you for 30 years. BBQ owner James Cooper was a bit too busy serving up his final orders Saturday to talk to PennLive for very long, but he called Saturday a good day. Well-wishers on Facebook reminisced about the restaurant and lamented its closing. The person posting for the restaurant apologized for the short notice but said the new owners want the building ASAP. It was not immediately clear Sunday who currently owns the building. Built in 1910, the two-story building once served as the Camp Curtin Fire Station, according to the Historic Harrisburg Association. A post to the associations website explains that the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 after city officials decided to sell the former station, which was then considered obsolete. Who is Harvest? Harvest was founded in Arizona, and now operates dispensaries in that state and in Pennsylvania, as well as in California, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, and according to its website has plans to open new locations in Massachusetts, Michigan and North Dakota. The company recently announced plans for an $850 million acquisition of competitor Verano Holdings, the largest such cannabis deal ever in the U.S. Harvest CEO Steve White was recently interviewed on CNBCs Fast Money. Presently, were in a phase that people are referring to it as a land grab, White said. We plan on ... developing the largest retail footprint, the largest retail platform, in the United States, and with this acquisition, I think weve done that. Will I be able to buy medical marijuana there? Under state law, medicinal cannabis can be used to treat 21 different medical conditions. Rep. Stephanie Borowicz entered the General Assembly with the promise of being a strong advocate for the unborn and children with special needs. Her recent choice of words during a legislative invocation threaten to sideline the freshman lawmaker as an ineffective and divisive voice, right as shes sponsored critical pro-life legislation to outlaw the abortion of developing children diagnosed with Downs Syndrome. Prayergate has given the most partisan elements on both sides what they wanted. Those who worship at the altar of identity politics heard their god, Intersectionalty, blasphemed. Not only was she Islamophobic, they alleged, Borowicz was also racist. (Note: 79 percent of African-Americans are, like Borowicz, self-professed Christians.) Partisans simply couldnt pass up an opportunity to remind Democratic primary voters that Republicans are supposedly loathsome bigots. But isn't the blowback to her prayer what Borowicz wanted? The left-wing outrage was so predictable, its difficult to defend her from claims she goaded progressives to attack evangelical Christians. Get up, breathe a little hellfire and damnation, and watch the masses of snowflakes trigger in epic fashion. The real audience wasnt the legislators assembled to swear-in the states first female Muslim lawmaker, nor was it Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell and her Islamic family members; the audience was a Republican electorate apparently needing reminding that liberals wholly disdain their beliefs. Mission accomplished. I can't know with certainty what her intentions were, but there are two primary possibilities: Either Borowicz's prayer was purposely provocative, or she possesses an unhelpful naivety she would be wise to jettison quickly. Ambassadors for Christ must be as wise as serpents yet as gentle as doves. If she didnt know her prayer in the context of Johnson-Harrells swearing in would be interpreted as a needless attack on Muslims, Borowicz does now. May she choose her words more carefully. To do that Borowicz must resist her new celebrity status as martyr to political correctness. She'll have interviews galore - with evangelical outlets lionizing her while lamenting the decline of faith -- and urbane sophisticates clutching their pearls, labeling her every name in the book. This is what Borowicz now faces: Will she set aside fame and notoriety to enact meaningful public policy, or will she become just another gadfly in our political ointment? As a pro-life advocate, I hope she chooses the former. The inflammatory tactics shes employed so far arent helpful, but theres still time for her to adjust. The Rev. Ryan Travis is a former communications coordinator with the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is now senior pastor of New Goshenhoppen United Church of Christ in East Greenville, Pennsylvania. A protester who was allegedly shot and wounded in the neck and arm by a man during a protest against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in Managua, Nicaragua, 30 March 2019. A shooting by alleged Sandinista supporter left four wounded, including the aggressor. The gunman was identified as German Davila, a member of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and a member of the Sandinista Popular Army (EPS) in the 1980s. EPA-EFE/JORGE TORRES Turnover sink Petoskey in Saturday matchup with Menominee PETOSKEY The early portion of the season always comes with lessons and learning curves, some of which are learned the hard way. This undated photo shows Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina student whom police say was kidnapped and killed by the driver of a vehicle the student apparently mistakenly believed was the Uber ride she had summoned. Read more Authorities in South Carolina have charged a 24-year-old man with abducting and killing a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was expected to graduate this spring from the University of South Carolina and begin classes in the fall at Drexel Universitys law school. Columbia Police Chief William Skip Holbrook said at a news conference Saturday night that Samantha Josephson, of Robbinsville, Mercer County, got into Nathaniel D. Rowlands car about 2 a.m. Friday, apparently mistaking it for the Uber ride she had hailed after leaving a bar. She never came home, and concerned friends reported Josephson missing Friday afternoon, Holbrook said. Several hours later, two people out turkey hunting in Clarendon County at least 65 miles from Columbia discovered Josephsons body in a rural wooded area off a dirt road, the police chief said. Holbrook said that about 3 a.m. Saturday in Columbia, an officer spotted Rowlands black Chevy Impala being driven around near the Five Points area where he allegedly picked up Josephson the night before. When the officer pulled over the car, Holbrook said, Rowland got out of the car and ran away. Holbrook said that Rowland was ultimately chased down, and that officers later found what the police chief described as a large amount of blood in Rowlands car, as well as bleach, other cleaning supplies, and Josephsons cellphone. Holbrook said tests later confirmed that the blood in the car was Josephsons. Holbrook said the child safety locks were on in the back seats, which could have prevented someone from getting out. He also said the area where Josephsons body was found was close to where Rowland previously lived. Rowland was charged with murder and kidnapping, police said. Holbrook said that Josephsons relatives were in Columbia, adding: Our hearts are broken. ...There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered. On Saturday, Josephsons father, Seymour Josephson, posted a tribute to his daughter on Facebook. I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life, he wrote. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten. A GoFundMe page set up to cover her funeral costs had raised more than $28,000 through Sunday morning. This article contains information from the Associated Press. Donald "Guy" Generals, president of Community College of Philadelphia, said the school may impose contract terms on faculty and support staff if progress in negotiations doesn't come soon. Read more Following negotiations with the faculty and support staff union that have dragged on for several years, Community College of Philadelphia president Donald Guy Generals said the college is ready to step up the pressure. If progress isnt made over the next week, Generals said the college may move to unilaterally impose a new contract with terms that the school laid out in May in its so-called last best offer. Were not prepared to say it will happen at any particular date, but we feel it is well within our rights to impose the best and final offer, Generals said during a meeting Thursday with,members of the Inquirer Editorial Board. Jeremiah J. White Jr., chair of the colleges board of trustees, also attended. Negotiation sessions were scheduled for Friday and next week. To a union, an imposed contract is considered a nuclear option and could lead to a shutdown of the 27,800-student college. If they impose, its a lockout, said Steve Jones, chief negotiator for the union, which represents about 1,300 full- and part-time faculty and support staff. Jones said its not a given that faculty and support staff wouldnt report for work if a contract were imposed, but it would be an option the union would consider. In 2014, the School Reform Commission, then the Philadelphia School Districts governing body, tried to cancel the teachers' contract and impose terms. The union obtained an injunction and ultimately won at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court level. Earlier, in 2000, before the state takeover of the district, the Philadelphia school board imposed contract terms on teachers. The union went on strike about a month later. The strike lasted only a weekend, and the sides reached an agreement about two hours before schools were due to open. Generals said he had informed Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council members of the possibility of imposing terms. The move follows three years of sometimes contentious negotiations that have failed to yield an agreement. Union members have been operating under the terms of a contract that,expired in August 2016. The move also follows a ruling by a hearing examiner for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board that found CCP faculty are required to participate in assessments designed to determine whether courses are helping students learn. Refusing to do so could be considered a strike activity, the ruling found. Generals said the colleges lawyer advised that ruling opens the door for the imposition of a contract. Jones disputed that analysis. This would be, first of all, unlawful, he contended, and second of all, the ultimate union-busting move by a public employer that we think would be a disaster for labor relations, not just for CCP but all over Philadelphia. Perhaps the major sticking point is the colleges attempt to increase the workload of new full-time faculty members from four courses a semester to five. Current instructors would have a choice: Those who opt for it would get a $9,000 increase in their base pay. Nearly a third of faculty already teach five. Over time, the move would reduce the number of full-time faculty, and savings would be in the millions, Generals said. Jones countered that it would lead to less quality and less vital interaction between faculty and students. Were puzzled by the administrations insistence that forcing people to work more is somehow going to improve the interaction with students, Jones said. "We feel that the administration has an irrational fixation on changing one aspect of our working conditions that feels very reminiscent of, Im going to build a wall. Generals said the change is imperative: The school currently has a turnover rate of about 100 adjunct professors a year. Its an educational quality issue and a financial issue, he said. The contract also would require employees earning more than $40,000 a year to pay toward their health insurance premiums for the first time. Contributions would range from $16 per month for a single employee earning $40,000 to $88 per month for family coverage for an employee earning more than $100,000, Members pay nothing toward health insurance, Generals said. Jones countered that the health-care contributions would significantly eat into the wage increases being offered. (The college has offered a 4.55 percent raise upon ratification, 2.65 percent on Sept. 1, and 3 percent on Sept. 1, 2020.) Some support staff, Jones said, are earning as little as $12 an hour. (Generals said that would be raised to $15 an hour by Sept. 1, 2020, under the imposed terms.) The minimum starting salary for a full-time faculty member at CCP is $50,529 and the average below $70,000. Also at issue is a provision that allows faculty 55 and older with more than 10 years of service to move into a half-time teaching load but maintain full-time benefits, which Generals said is too costly. Will Marsh, shown here in front of the library at Saint Joseph's University, where he went to school and where he now works. Marsh sought accommodations when he took the SAT in high school because he has dyslexia; his request was not fully met. Read more Will Marsh spent his early school years in Rahway, N.J., frustrated and in pain at times. Why am I so stupid? the boy would tearfully ask his mother. Things got better after he was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade and began getting support. Despite his diagnosis, Marsh couldnt get all the accommodations he sought when it came time for him to take his college entrance exam, the SAT. So he was particularly perturbed to learn some children who dont have disabilities were approved for accommodations such as extra time to take the test because their wealthy parents allegedly made up their disabilities as part of an elaborate college-admissions bribery scheme unveiled by federal prosecutors earlier this month. Its already hard enough to get accommodations, said Marsh, 23, a graduate and now employee of St. Josephs University, who recently advocated in Washington for more support on college campuses for students with learning disabilities. The fact that parents were able to get it right there and then just puts off future students who need accommodations as they go through their college-admissions process. It just increases the stigma students have around their learning disabilities. Students with a range of disabilities, including dyslexia, attention disorders, learning problems, and visual and physical impairments, can qualify for accommodations. The SAT and its counterpart, the ACT, are administered on specific days at sites around the country under time limits, between three and four hours with breaks. Accommodations can include extended time to take the test, large print, and braille. They must be approved in advance, sometimes with documentation required, though the majority tend to be granted by the schools where students attend and already have been evaluated for disabilities. Federal prosecutors say that as part of the bribery scheme, a consultant advised parents to have their children fake disabilities during psychological evaluations to get medical documentation that they qualify for accommodations. One parent was told to have his daughter be stupid, according to charging documents. Once students qualified, parents were told to request that their children take the test at a site controlled by the consultant and make up a reason, such as an out-of-town wedding, that their child needed to go there. There, students were often granted permission to take the test over two days in an individualized setting, and test administrators who had accepted bribes supplied students with correct answers or corrected mistakes, according to charging documents. Nationally, advocates of students with learning disabilities are concerned the criminal chicanery could make it more difficult for students who need accommodations to get them. The immediate backlash could harm individuals with real and legitimate disabilities, said Lindsay Jones, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Its already really hard to qualify for accommodations. The worst part, she said, is theres no evidence extra time helps students without disabilities. Those involved in the scheme used it only as an excuse to gain access to a testing site controlled by the consultant. Accommodations, she said, equalize the testing environment for students with disabilities. Were just taking away the barrier, she said. The College Board, which administers the SAT, wouldnt break down how many students who take the SAT receive accommodations, but said generally about 4 percent of the organizations overall testing population receives them. With 2.1 million alone taking the SAT in the Class of 2018, the overall number is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands. Requests for accommodations on the SAT have been on the increase, and generally about 85 percent of requests are approved, according to a 2017 article in North Jersey.com. In the Philadelphia region, particularly on the Main Line where parents can afford the several-thousand-dollar fee for a psychological evaluation, accommodations are not uncommon, said Matthew Joseph, founder of MJ Test Prep, based in Bryn Mawr and Chestnut Hill. Learning disabilities tend to be uncovered and addressed quickly in competitive schools because parents whose children fall behind are assertive about seeking answers, he said. That tends to be the case nationally in areas of higher socioeconomic status, he said. Parents who send kids to these schools put a premium on education and they want to discover how to maximize their childs potential, and thats when they come across a learning disability, he said. His company also helps less privileged students and sometimes finds their parents werent aware they could seek accommodations, he said. Despite great efforts by educators, its not always an equal playing field in the world of education, he said. But he added that hes not seen any cases like those described in the federal indictment. In the wake of the scandal, the College Board said in a statement that it has a comprehensive, robust approach to combat cheating and worked closely with law enforcement on the case. We will always take all necessary steps to ensure a level playing field for the overwhelming majority of test-takers who are honest and play by the rules, the organization said. The ACT issued a similar statement. For Marsh, who got his political science degree in 2018 at St. Joes and works there as a web developer, dyslexia posed hurdles and frustrations, even after his diagnosis. Multiple times, he had to be reevaluated, in a sense having to prove his disability again, he said. Then the College Board denied his request to use a laptop for the essay portion. His dyslexia affects spelling and he wanted access to use spell check. He was granted extra time to take the test. "Knowing how much scores can be meaningful for college admissions gave me anxiety, he said. He took the test twice and improved his score by 200 points. He was accepted at St. Joes, his top choice, and got all the accommodations he needed, he said, including extended time on tests and some assignments, use of a laptop, and a waiver for the foreign-language requirement. English is already hard enough for me, he explained. He also became an advocate for other college students with disabilities. According to the national center, 94 percent of students with learning disabilities received accommodations in high school, but only 17 percent in college. Everyone should have the opportunity to succeed, he said, "no matter what makes us different from each other. Members of the Community College of Philadelphia's faculty and staff union showed up to Professional Development Week in January 2018 with signs protesting their current contract negotiation stalemate. Read more Contract negotiations between faculty and the administration at the Community College of Philadelphia have dragged on for the last three years with no end in sight. But both sides recently got clarity on one thing: Faculty are required to participate in assessments designed to determine whether courses are helping students learn. If they refuse, its considered a strike activity, according to a ruling handed down by a hearing examiner for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. The ruling was a win for the administration, which has argued that faculty must participate in the assessments and that failure to do so constituted a partial strike. The teachers obtaining and providing of assessment data is as much at the core of the colleges existence as their standing in front of a classroom and providing course materials, the ruling said. The hearing examiner, however, faulted the college for threatening to discipline and in five cases actually disciplining faculty who refused to provide the assessment data, noting that the school failed to follow protocol when a strike action occurs. Specifically, the college should have contested the strike action in Common Pleas Court before imposing any discipline, the ruling said. College president Donald Guy Generals was pleased the ruling upheld the colleges right to require the assessments. Its critical to our mission to be able to evaluate courses and programs, Generals said. Weve said that all along and the examiner verified that for us. The college, he said, is weighing its options, maintaining that the union appears to have been on strike for the last couple of years by urging its members not to perform the duties. He declined to say what those options are. We have a legal team that is looking at those things, he said. Steve Jones, chief negotiator for the 1,300-member union, which includes full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and support staff, said the union would abide by the ruling and already had directed members to perform the work. But he disputed the assertion that the union was on strike. Thats really stretching things," Jones said. The reason they are so focused on this ... [is that] they are trying to piece together an argument that the conditions were met for them to impose a contract on us. If the college imposes a contract, Jones asserted, all hell is going to break loose. The union in 2017 advised faculty that performing the assessment work was optional and that they should refrain from voluntary assignments until a new contract is in place. The move came amid tense contract negotiations that have intensified since the previous pact expired 2 years ago. Last May, the college issued its final offer to the union, which it rejected, The hearing examiner noted in the ruling that faculty have participated in assessments for many years, and even though the college hadnt disciplined those who refrained from it prior to 2016, that doesnt mean it wasnt a required duty. The ruling affirmed the colleges position that withholding the service could jeopardize the colleges accreditation, critical to its existence. The college has the statutory right and the contractual authority to mandate that individual faculty members collect and provide assessment data when they are teaching courses selected for assessment, the ruling said. A mediator is continuing to try to help the two sides come together. Meanwhile, faculty at a meeting on Wednesday were scheduled to discuss the history of strikes at the college and the impact theyve had, Jones said. Robin Forrest and John Lopez, both with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, outside the city Criminal Justice Center, the place where Lopez had an unexpected encounter with an ICE agent. Read more To public defender John Lopez, the man didnt look like a cop, sitting in the back of Courtroom 906 in Philadelphias Criminal Justice Center, wearing a Muhammad Ali T-shirt. But when Lopez walked over to introduce himself, the man flashed a badge. He was an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose increasing sorties into courtrooms to nab undocumented immigrants have triggered outcry among judges and activists across the country, including in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Lopez said the ICE agent showed him a photo. It was his client. Is this person here? the agent asked. No, Lopez answered. The lawyer said in an interview that his client, whom he declined to identify, was due in court on that March 21 morning to face a misdemeanor charge of second-degree assault. Lopez doesnt know his clients immigration status but was surprised that the federal government would spend time and money to pursue what seemed to be a small fish. Temple University law professor Jennifer Lee is not surprised. This is another example of the problem of how ICE arrests at courthouses are obstructing justice for immigrants, said Lee, a leader of the Sheller Center for Social Justice at Temple. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the individual county court systems have the responsibility and ability to address this issue. Today, amid the United States divisive debate over immigration, the halls of justice have become a contentious space. ICE says it can find and safely arrest suspects there. But immigration advocates and judges say the agents presence impedes the administration of justice that fear of trouble over their immigration status can lead witnesses to violent crimes to stay away, victims of domestic violence to not testify, and children and families who need court assistance to go without. Last year, nearly 70 former judges from 23 states wrote to ICE acting director Ronald Vitiello, saying the arrests were disrupting the criminal justice system and needed to stop. Nationally, according to a 2018 ACLU report, ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers have dramatically expanded their presence at criminal and civil courts during the last two years, including in family, landlord-tenant, and traffic courts. Agents have arrested immigrants in or near courthouses in states from New York to California, Arizona to Minnesota. In New Jersey, Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner asked the agency to stay out. He wanted courthouses placed on ICEs list of sensitive locations, such as churches, hospitals, and schools, which agents generally avoid. This year in Philadelphia, at least three people have been arrested by ICE on their way in or out of the Criminal Justice Center, according to the Defender Association. On Friday morning, an undocumented man who entered the Justice Center to face charges of domestic assault was quickly detained and taken away by ICE agents, according to his lawyer, Andres Jalon. Apparently, ICE was waiting for him, Jalon said. This is the first time in Philadelphia Ive ever had a client taken. Ive had them taken in Bucks, but, in 20 years, Ive never had one taken in Philly. Asked about Lopezs Philadelphia courtroom encounter, ICE officials said its activities were consistent with those of other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Its safer for agents, offenders, and the public when arrests are made in courthouses, because everyone entering the building has been screened for weapons, ICE officials said. And courthouse arrests can be necessary in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with ICE and allow agents into their prisons and jails. That would include the sanctuary city of Philadelphia, where officials say that unless they receive a signed judicial warrant, they have no legal power to hold anyone beyond the time they would normally be released. ICE officials say their courthouse enforcement includes actions against specific targets who have criminal convictions, are gang members or national security threats, have been ordered to be deported or were previously deported. Generally, witnesses in cases and family members or friends who are accompanying the target alien are not to be arrested unless they pose a threat to public safety or interfere with ICE, the agency said. Agents are directed to generally avoid making arrests in civil proceedings and in places such as Family Court or Small Claims Court, according to ICE. Theres evidence, though, that ICE actions at courthouses are being stepped up. Its operations in and around New York courts increased 17 percent from 2017 to 2018, as the agency reached into upstate counties that had previously been untouched, according to a report by the Immigrant Defense Project. That growth underlined the agencys increasing reliance on the states court system as a place to trap and detain immigrant New Yorkers, the study said. In January, the Sheller Center at Temple released a report that said ICE apprehensions in and around local courthouses in Pennsylvania have frightened away undocumented witnesses and victims, disrupting the course of justice. A Berks County man was arrested when making a child-support payment at the courthouse, the report said. And an undocumented Mexican national in Bucks County was detained when he went to the Ottsville Magisterial District Court to pay a fine for driving without a license. This lurking about and seizing people secretly, without giving notice before or after, is just hamstringing the daily operation of the court system, said Robin Forrest, one of three Defender Association lawyers in the immigration unit. Lopez, the public defender, recalled that during his encounter, the ICE agent didnt offer his name. The man walked away after learning that Lopezs client wasnt there and spent the rest of the morning moving between the courtroom and the hallway. Lopez hasnt seen him again. University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann (not pictured) talks with former Vice President Joe Biden at the university's Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Biden is the Benjamin Franklin presidential practice professor at Penn. Read more Former Vice President Joe Biden defended himself on Sunday after a Nevada Democrat accused him of unwanted touching and kissing in 2014, saying in a statement that he does not believe he has ever acted inappropriately. Lucy Flores, a former assemblywoman who was Nevada's 2014 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said Friday in an essay published by the Cut that Biden touched and kissed her without her consent before a rally to support her campaign. She said the experience mortified, embarrassed and confused her. Biden is expected to announce soon whether he will pursue a 2020 presidential bid. On Sunday, he said he had offered "countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort" during his years in public life, "and not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately." "If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention," Biden said in a statement. "I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will." He pointed to his history of hiring "trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own." And he touted his record of work on behalf of women's rights, pledging to "continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won." In an initial statement Friday night, a Biden spokesman said that neither the former vice president nor his staff had "an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes." Flores said Sunday that Biden's new statement was an improvement and that she is glad he is "willing to listen." But she added that it was concerning that he does not think he has ever acted inappropriately. "Frankly, I think that's a little bit of a disconnect. ... Of course I want him to change his behavior, and I want him to acknowledge that it was wrong," Flores said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union." Asked whether Biden's behavior should disqualify him from the presidential race, Flores replied, "For me, it's disqualifying. I think it's up to everybody else to make that decision." In her piece in the Cut, Flores said Biden approached her from behind during the 2014 incident, placed his hands on her shoulders, moved closer to her and planted a "big slow kiss" on the back of her head. She said Sunday that his behavior had made her feel "powerless" and "like I couldn't move." "To have the vice president of the United States do that to me, so unexpectedly, and kind of out of nowhere, it was shocking," she said on CNN. "You don't expect that kind of intimate behavior, that kind of intimacy, from someone so powerful. ... So I, frankly, I didn't even know how to react." Over the years, Biden has been captured in numerous images and videos embracing, kissing and standing close to women. Biden himself made note of his behavior during a March 16 speech in Dover, Delaware, in which he referred to himself as a "tactile politician." "I always have been, and that gets me in trouble as well, because I think I can feel and taste what is going on," he told the crowd. The renewed focus on Biden's behavior comes as the former vice president is under increasing pressure from women's rights groups, prominent African American leaders and other supporters of Anita Hill to acknowledge his personal responsibility for his handling of the 1991 confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Some have criticized Biden's remarks about Hill at an event in New York last week, at which he said he still regretted that he "couldn't come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved." As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden refused to allow testimony from sexual harassment experts and additional witnesses who could have supported Hill's account. Critics also argue that he could have done more to rebuke senators who questioned Hill inappropriately during the hearing. Two 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former housing and urban development secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, said Saturday that they believed Flores' account but stopped short of calling on Biden to stay out of the White House race. "I read the op-ed last night. I believe Lucy Flores. And Joe Biden needs to give an answer," Warren told reporters in Iowa. Asked whether Biden should pass on running in 2020, she replied, "That's for Joe Biden to decide." White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, argued that Biden "has a big problem here." "He calls it affection and handshakes. His party calls it completely inappropriate," Conway said on "Fox News Sunday." Asked about the allegations of sexual misconduct facing President Trump, Conway demurred. "We've certainly covered that during the campaign ad infinitum. ... Now (those accusers) have to really grapple with what's going on in their own party," she said. --- The Washington Posts Michael Brice-Saddler contributed to this report. Medicare is confusing enough. Some people have Medicaid, too, and Pennsylvania just changed how it works. There's quite a learning curve. Read more WASHINGTON Political candidates and activists in Maine, especially in rural areas, often got a sharp reaction five years ago when they knocked on doors to promote universal health care. The reaction was, Oh, youre a commie, said Phil Bailey, who back then advocated for various Democratic causes. Now, voters in those same conservative areas have a different take. Of course is a common response to calls for universal coverage, said Bailey, now executive director of Maine AllCare, part of a national coalition campaigning for single-payer health care. The organization saw enough growing momentum and received enough financial support to justify hiring Bailey and another full-time staffer last summer for the previously volunteer-led group. What was once seen as a long-shot pitch from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during his 2016 presidential campaign is now a proposal for a single-payer health care plan that at least four of his Senate colleagues also running for the partys 2020 nomination supported in the last Congress. The issue is driving the national political health care debate. But to succeed in enacting a single-payer system such as the Medicare for All plan Sanders backs, liberals would need a grassroots movement propelling the effort and would have to work out complicated policy details affecting nearly one-fifth of the nations economy. Democrats are already contending with industry groups hoping to shift the focus back to strengthening the current system. Most drug companies, hospitals and insurers oppose Medicare for All, which complicates progressives efforts. The partys left wing is pushing a bold, expensive plan that carries risks that make Democratic leaders shudder. Despite all the political hurdles, getting a single-payer law enacted may look easy compared with implementing it. The most ardent advocates for a government-run, single-payer system are not content with incremental steps. They are seeking a wholesale reorganization of the nations health care system. The proposed two-year transition may be too short for the entire industry to adopt in a transformation that experts warn would displace workers and jolt the economy. It is going to be a big administrative and logistical challenge. When youre talking about moving everyone in the country into a new health insurance program, that is not a small feat, said Linda Blumberg, an institute fellow at the Health Policy Center at the left-leaning Urban Institute. A single-payer health care system would significantly change every sector of the health care industry. Hospitals and doctors would have to adjust to a new payment system, the insurance industry would shrink significantly and the government would bring drug companies to the negotiating table to determine prices. Supporters arent intimidated by such broad changes. The hope is not just to ensure that everyone has coverage, but also to take on health care companies seeking to maximize their profits, said Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political action committee that supports liberal candidates. Medicare for All boils down to two things, Green said. One is universal coverage. The other is corporate accountability. Setting up a single-payer system would most likely require creating a new government program to be the payer and oversee the system. A House bill by the co-leader of the Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., would also establish a national health care budget to cap costs. Jayapals bill, like Sanders plan, doesnt envision a large role for supplemental insurance. It would be permitted, but aides say it would likely be unnecessary and used only to cover medically unnecessary treatments, like cosmetic surgery. Unraveling the current insurance system is a Gordian knot-style task all its own. Even public entitlement programs are often administered through private plans, with 68 percent of people in Medicaid and 34 percent of those in Medicare using comprehensive managed-care plans. The role of private insurance in a single-payer system has already emerged in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Kamala Harris of California sparked the debate over the survival of private insurance this year when she said she favors a single-payer system that would eliminate private insurance. Harris has also backed other proposals, but called the single-payer plan her top choice. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said a single-payer system would not be feasible and supports a bill by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, to let people buy into Medicaid. Similarly, former Rep. Beto ORourke of Texas, who previously supported a single-payer system, now says another path to universal coverage may be more efficient. The single-payer bills introduced so far would not be based on the current Medicare program, but instead would greatly expand the programs benefits. Jayapal and Sanders both say the national health program would cover all medically necessary treatments. Those could be determined by a doctor or a newly formed national health program, said Jodi Liu, a Rand Corp. associate policy researcher. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) Adam Gaffney, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, which supports a move to single-payer, said those decisions could resemble how Medicare determines what care is medically necessary. He supports a national list of covered drugs. Advocates for a single-payer system say that enrolling people in the program may be the easiest part. After all, decades ago, the government signed up seniors in the newly created Medicare program the year after it was enacted. Unenrolled patients could be signed up at a doctors office or hospital when they receive treatment, said Gaffney. Once you say youre going to enroll everyone, it actually takes a lot of the administration out of it, Gaffney said. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) One major challenge under a single-payer system would be how to pay health care providers. Advocates propose different types of plans, such as paying all providers at the same rate, possibly based on current Medicare rates, or global budgeting, through which institutions would regularly receive lump sums as payment. Payment changes could benefit some doctors, such as those who currently treat many Medicaid enrollees and collect less money than doctors under Medicare. But providers who see mostly patients covered by commercial insurance could be paid less. The same goes for access to providers, Liu said. Since not all providers accept Medicaid, many patients would probably have an easier time finding doctors. The government would face significant pressure to ensure that providers are compensated at the right rate, Blumberg said. Controlling health care costs would be one goal, but the government would not want to skimp on quality or access to a sufficient number of providers. In making decisions that affect the entire health care system, selecting the wrong payment rate could have serious ramifications, Blumberg said. That process in and of itself is going to require a huge amount of attention and analysis and monitoring. Under the Jayapal bill, hospitals and the government would negotiate a budget based on factors like the historic volume of services over three years, a hospitals normal spending and standard payment rates. Hospitals would also get funding to cover their uncompensated care costs under an all-payer system. Global lump-sum budgeting, which would give institutional providers an amount of money for health care services over a set amount of time, could control costs, which advocates call a key benefit. If there was a national global budget, thats certainly a direct lever to address how much spending there is on health care, but of course, theres a lot of political issues that would come up, such as budgetary pressures, Liu said. While hospitals and other institutions would be paid quarterly through a capped budget under Jayapals proposal, individual doctors would be paid through a fee-for-service system for every procedure. The Health and Human Services secretary would have one year to set those providers fees. Hospitals are already sounding the alarm about receiving lower payments under Democratic proposals. Whether Jayapals two-year transition is feasible is another question. A Jayapal aide said a fast transition provides less time for the industry to push back. Still, Blumberg suggested a 10-year transition is more feasible. The change for a lot of providers could be very substantial, and doing that in a very short period of time may have implications for disrupting the operation, the ability for these providers to continue to operate and the access for the patients, she said. Although the challenges are great, Medicare for All advocates note that other large developed countries ensure that all citizens can access health care. Across industrialized countries, the hallmark of the health care system is universal coverage, said Robin Osborn, a Commonwealth Fund vice president and director of international health policy and practice innovations. Of all the questions about a single-payer system, the biggest may be how to pay for it. Neither Jayapal or Sanders included a financing plan in their bills, although Sanders released a list of possible ways to pay for his. The cost of Sanders vision would be roughly $32 trillion over 10 years, according to two outside analyses of proposals Sanders put forward in 2016 and 2017, the first from the Urban Institute and the other from the libertarian Mercatus Center. Thats an eye-popping balance, although Sanders emphasizes findings that the U.S. would actually save money on health care spending over a decade. Single-payer advocates argue that the U.S. health care system is already the most expensive in the world and would be more efficient under a new program. When you think about the fact that people are already paying, you have to recognize that this is just a scare tactic, primarily from the right, saying youre going to end up paying much more, Jayapal said. Still, asking taxpayers to pay the whole bill causes even some Democrats to balk. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said in a recent Rolling Stone interview that a single-payer system may be easier administratively than other ways to reach universal coverage, but questioned how to pay for it. Pelosi says that Democrats should build on the 2010 health care law, which she helped shepherd through Congress a decade ago. Expanding the current Medicare program would not be as beneficial to Americans as that law, she argues. All I want is the goal of every American having access to health care, she told Rolling Stone. You dont get there by dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Critics will likely highlight the lack of a financing plan and the expected high tax increase that would come with implementing a system that would cover essentially all medical expenses. Sanders financing options include ending tax breaks that would become obsolete under a single-payer plan, adding a 4 percent income-based premium paid by households, imposing a wealth tax or a more progressive personal income tax, or leveraging fees on corporations, such as a one-time tax on offshore profits. Other possibilities include ending parts of the Republican 2017 tax law or creating a tax on employers, which could mean that employers would not see much savings from not providing coverage to workers. High-income earners are particularly at risk, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Depending on how its financed, high-income people could end up paying much more in taxes than they now pay for health care, he said. Because a transition to a single-payer plan would effectively eliminate most of the insurance industry, possibly 1 million to 2 million people who work in that industry would be displaced, according to Jayapal. Both Jayapal and Sanders proposed assistance for those workers with job training, education or other programs. Some Democrats doubt that a Democratic president and Congress would implement a single-payer system. Bob Kocher, a partner at Venrock and a former senior Obama administration health care official, said actions in office typically dont match the aspirations candidates invoke while campaigning. When you try to do it, the details matter and are hard and are often less disruptive and ambitious than what your poetry was, he said. Liberals insist that a single-payer system is the only path forward. This is not a messaging event. We are going to get health care for every American, said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) If lawmakers march toward a single-payer system, a broad shift in public opinion over a relatively short time would be needed. Recent polls show that support for Medicare for All falls when people learn it would eliminate private insurance companies or raise taxes. Advocates hope that Medicare for All hearings will help the public understand the plan. The hearings could also be a chance for single-payer opponents to raise concerns. Democrats are once again proposing fiscally irresponsible policies that will radically alter how hundreds of millions get their health care, Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, the Budget Committees ranking Republican, said when Jayapals bill was released. Mark Peterson, a UCLA political science professor, said that historically, Americans have consistently said the health care system needs improvements, but theyre also afraid of what they dont know. To the extent that what progressives are doing will stimulate that kind of action at the public level to really create that wave, a groundswell of support the way Social Security had, that can make an enormous political difference, he said. 2019 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved Visit CQ Roll Call at www.rollcall.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): Bernie Sanders A Central American migrants, part of the caravan hoping to reach the U.S. border, move on a road in Tapachula, Chiapas State, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2019. A caravan of about 2,500 Central Americans and Cubans is currently making its way through Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos) Read more (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump repeated his threat to close the southern border, saying that U.S. detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals at a time the State Department has moved to cut aid to Central America at Trumps direction. On Twitter Saturday, the president continued to demand that Mexico immediately stop allowing illegal migration into the U.S., which his Homeland Security secretary has said portends a meltdown at her agency. Mexico must use its own strong immigration laws to stop the flow of thousands of people trying to reach the U.S., Trump said. Asked on ABC on Sunday what it would take for Trump not to follow through on his threat to close the border, acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said something dramatic. He blamed Democrats for being unwilling to admit theres a crisis. Its clear the Democrats are not going to help us, so it shouldnt surprise anybody that were turning to what some folks might think extreme measures, Mulvaney said on This Week. Trump senior counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News Sunday that Trumps threat to close the border is not a threat. Conway also echoed a comment tweeted by Trump on Saturday that U.S. immigration laws could be fixed in less than one hour. On Friday, Trump told reporters that theres a good likelihood hed close the border next week, adding that he plans to hold a news conference soon at a section of the border where the government is building a wall. Northern Triangle Trump also said on Friday that he would end foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the so-called Northern Triangle. That process is now under way, according to the State Department: at the instruction of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, State is ending foreign assistance programs for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years to the Northern Triangle. Congress will be engaged as part of the process, a State Department spokesperson said. Democrats, including Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Representative Nita Lowey of New York, criticized the move. From combating drug trafficking and transnational criminal groups to helping establish safe communities with economic opportunities, U.S. foreign assistance addresses the factors driving migration from Central America, Menendez said in a statement Saturday. Durbin said on Meet the Press Sunday that the focus should be on helping the people of Central America who are desperate to come to the U.S. and the presidents cutting off aid to these countries will not solve that problem. In a pair of tweets on Saturday, Lowey said the move to cut off humanitarian aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador is immoral and more likely to deteriorate conditions that push people into the kind of poverty and despair that exacerbates migration. Critics say that withdrawing assistance payments would only increase the type of desperation about crime, drugs and poverty thats driven thousands to attempt to leave Central America. But Conway said stopping aid would have little impact. The conditions are already awful, she said. We are over the melting point. Trump has periodically threatened to close the border, where hes declared a national emergency because of the number of migrants crossing illegally. Sealing the border entirely would halt millions of dollars a day in cross-border commerce. All Trade Trade with Mexico totaled $616 billion in 2017, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It could mean all trade, with Mexico, Trump said. We will close it for a long time. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Friday that we are going to help, we want to have a good relationship with the United States government. We are not going to enter in controversy. He said that some of Trumps complaints are related to politics and the electoral process. The countrys foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, was less conciliatory. Mexico does not act on the basis of threats, Ebrard tweeted. Were a great neighbor. Just ask the million and a half Americans who chose our country as home. Not Playing Games Trump told reporters that Latin American countries including Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador have done nothing to help the U.S. halt illegal immigration. Well keep it closed for a long time, Trump said of the border. Im not playing games. He also criticized Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez, saying the flow of drugs to the U.S. has increased since his election. Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants spiked in February to more than 76,000, an increase of more than 39,000 compared to a year earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. More than half were families or unaccompanied children, the agency reported. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a letter to Congress sent Thursday that apprehensions will near 100,000 in March, and that her agency faces a system-wide meltdown. There are 4,700 migrant children in detention facilities run by Customs and Border Patrol, she wrote, calling the figure a symptom of a broken system. DHS facilities are overflowing, agents and officers are stretched too thin, and the magnitude of arriving and detained aliens has increased the risk of life-threatening incidents, she wrote. She asked Congress for more money to build detention facilities for the migrants, and also wants the authority to rapidly deport children from Central America if they have no legal right to stay. A senior U.S. administration official told reporters Friday that DHS is moving border agents from U.S. ports of entry on the border to patrol areas between them, where most illegal border crossings happen. The official said no preparations are yet being made to close the border, but that if the flow of migrants continues to increase, the U.S. might degrade operations at ports. (Updates with Democratic response from 10 paragraph.) With assistance from Mark Niquette and Cyntia Barrera Diaz. To contact the reporters on this story: Ros Krasny in Washington at rkrasny1@bloomberg.net;Kim Chipman in Chicago at kchipman@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mark Niquette 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Bishop E.M. Barron preaches at the Higher Ground Temple Church in Camden. He is also the Camden County Metro Police Department's Chaplain. Read more Five decades ago, Bishop Edward E.M. Barron preached his first sermon at age 8 at a tent revival on a warm summer day in Charleston, S.C. Churchgoers told his grandmother that boy was born to preach. They were right. He has been preaching ever since in Philadelphia and Camden on street corners, from the pulpit, and for thousands of funerals for folks he had never met. I wanted to run and serve God. The same is still true today, Barron said. Barron, 58, was ordained in 1983 while attending Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. Today, he is the founder and spiritual leader of Higher Ground Temple Church of God in Christ in North Camden, which he started in 2002. He also is the head chaplain for the Camden County Metro Police Department and for several South Jersey funeral homes. Today, Barron leads a thriving congregation with about 350 members, from professionals to parolees trying to make a fresh start. He is part of the spiritual fiber in a city with more than 100 houses of worship and leads a volunteer group of clergy who minister to officers in the Camden County Metro Police Department and the community, especially when a tragedy occurs. We realize that in terms of crimes, we need all the help we can get, said Lt. Zsakhiem James, a community liaison. It has been a circuitous path for Barron, a former U.S. Army officer, who landed in the area after a four-year military stint. After serving as an associate elder at Mt. Calvary Church of God in Camden, he was inspired by his mother, Louise, and heeded her advice 18 years ago to make a bold move to convert souls. Standing on a milk crate at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in downtown Camden, Barron began preaching from that busy spot in 2002. His wife, Sharon, helped him pass out sandwiches and religious tracts to the homeless, commuters, and passersby. The church has become like the bus station. People get on and people get off, Barron said. The response was less than welcoming. They started laughing at me, Barron recalled in a recent interview. That made me more determined." Barron kept going back, and one day several years later in the midst of the mostly uninterested crowd of about 50 people was Kevin Brown. He clung to every word and accepted Barrons invitation to attend his church and has been a member since 2010. I thought he has to be all right to come down here and try to change people, said Brown, 65, a retired landscaper and handyman. The man has to be a preacher." Brown, who had an epiphany that he said forced him to turn his life around, is among the 4,000 people Barron has baptized. Like Welcome Estevez, 27, of Pennsauken, who was homeless when he met Barron in February and now has a carpentry job and a place to live. There also have been tragic endings for some, lost to Camdens tough streets. Last year, while the church was in prayer on New Years Eve, a resident was found dead of an overdose in a lot two blocks away. Hundreds attended his funeral at the church. We cant save them all, Barron said. We celebrate the ones we can. In the Police Department, he mentors youngsters and helps lead the Blue Knight Explorers program for teens interested in becoming police officers. He also has been chaplain for May Funeral Home and others and has conducted more than 2,500 services, many for strangers. He previously was an attendant, transporting bodies to May for burial preparation. Hes just a decent guy, said Toni May, operations director for the family funeral business. "You cant find a better person who wants to help people and spread the love of Jesus Christ. " Barron started his church on Pine Street in South Camden with just a handful of members. In 2009, the Pentecostal congregation moved to its current location at Second and Vine in North Camden. There were drug dealers on the corners running open markets. Violence was an everyday threat. The church is the former home of the Standard Theatre, which opened in 1923 and was later renamed the North Camden Theatre. In the 1950s, it became a live burlesque theater. It was vacant for a decade until Barron reactivated it. Barron took on every role to build up the congregation. He continued his street outreach and drove the church van to pick up parishioners for Sunday service. He taught Sunday school, cleaned the church, led the youth choir, conducted Bible study weekly, and organized peace rallies to stop the violence. Today, he delegates most of those duties to focus on his preaching. Residents flocked to the church, drawn by social and educational programs, such as a food bank that fed up to 1,000 people and distributed clothes once a month, an afterschool program, literacy classes, and summer camps, said Bryan Morton, who runs the North Camden Little League. The church cohosted a gun buyback in the city in 2017 where 2,100 weapons were surrendered. He is constantly trying to make sure the church is serving the community beyond saving souls on Sunday, said Morton, 48, a longtime resident. What I see him doing is reestablishing the role of the black church. A full-time pastor, Barron runs the church with his wife of 35 years. Members welcome his no-holds-barred preaching approach, punctuating his nearly two-hour services with humor and straight talk. At a recent funeral, he urged mourners to find a preacher, not a pimp. Hell tell you the truth, and when he has to chastise me, Ill take it, said Marion Ella Person, 82, of Camden, one of the oldest church members. Hes an amazing man of God. Added Ebony Johnson, 14, a freshman at Pennsauken High School: At least he doesnt sugarcoat anything. But he lets you know right after that that he loves you. Elder Michael Stibich, 47, was a lay speaker at United Methodist Church in Atco when he began visiting Higher Ground nearly five years ago after meeting Barron at a Camden bank. The only white member of the ministry leadership team, Stibich said he was drawn to the predominantly black church. People are people. Color really shouldnt matter, Stibich said. During a recent worship service, Barron titled his sermon Hope in desperate times. He led the jubilant congregation in song, with most on their feet with their hands raised in praise and a chorus of hallelujah. Eight new converts came forward and dedicated their lives to Christian service. Barron immediately assigned them to serve as ushers and led them in a practice march down the center aisle. It doesnt matter that you have red bottoms, Gucci, three weaves, and six fingernails, you are a good candidate for the devil, Barron preached to a burst of applause. He told the worshipers that regardless of their lifestyle or riches, they could fall out of fellowship. The oldest of four, Barron credits his grandmother Bertha Richardson for his spiritual upbringing. Two brothers also are pastors and his sister is an evangelist. Barron was consecrated as a bishop in 2016. I want to save souls for the Lord," Barron said. I want God to be pleased with my life. Lion dancers lead the 2019 Chinese Hoyu Folk Culture Parade down 10th Street toward the center of Chinatown on Sunday. Read more General Humin was a scholar and a fighter who was deeply empathetic and philanthropic whose contributions to the Chinese Fujian people have been remembered annually so many years after his death. Sunday was no exception in Philadelphias Chinatown. There, a parade, lion dance and opera show were among the festivities commemorating the 1189th birthday of Humin, a guardian god to the Fujian people. The citys first Chinese Hoyu Folk Culture Festival to celebrate Humin was held in 2009, inspired by new Chinese immigrants from Hoyu Township of Fujian and sponsored by the Philadelphia Hoyu Chinese American Association. It has been held every year since, popular with locals and tourists. According to historical accounts, Humin assisted the King of Min in building the Fuzhou city, including opening ports, attracting investments, and building schools. After his death, the society lapsed into chaos and corruption. Hoping to be blessed and protected by him, the Fujian people build temples to worship Humin, triggering an annual tradition of honoring him that has lasted more than 1,000 years. The Ocean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of smoke from the Spring Hill fire, a wildfire burning in the Pinelands, on its Facebook page on Sunday. Read more Forest firefighting crews have contained a blaze that burned more than 11,000 acres of the South Jersey Pinelands, officials said Monday. The cause of the fire in Penn State Forest in Burlington County is under investigation. The Spring Hill fire, as it was being called, was first reported around 1:45 p.m. Saturday, said Lawrence Hajna, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Crews succeeded in containing the fire overnight, the DEPs Press Office said Monday morning. Hajna said the blaze, which was in parts of Woodland and Washington Townships, had forced the closure of Route 72 between Routes 539 and 532. Officials had not ordered any evacuations, Hajna said, and no injuries were reported. The National Weather Service in Mount Holly said Sunday on Twitter that smoke from the fire had spread through central and northern New Jersey due to a nocturnal inversion, which made it harder for smoke to disperse. Hajna said that forest fires in the Pinelands were relatively common, but that this blaze was the largest in at least several years. The Trenton Diocese has called on anyone who has been sexually abused as a minor by representatives of the Catholic Church to contact law enforcement authorities. Read more A former Burlington County priest who has held several senior positions within the Diocese of Trenton has been removed from ministry effective immediately following an allegation that he sexually abused a minor about 40 years ago, the diocese announced Saturday. The alleged abuse by Msgr. Gregory D. Vaughan dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was a parochial vicar at St. Ann Parish in Keansburg, Monmouth County, the diocesan statement says. Citing an interest in protecting the accusers identity, the diocese did not provide additional details about the alleged abuse, saying only that it is the sole allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Vaughan, who was ordained in 1972. He has denied the allegation, the diocese said. It reported the allegation to the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office upon learning of it, the diocese said. The allegations were investigated by this office and were found to be outside the statute of limitations and no charges were filed, therefore a referral was made back to the Diocese of Trenton, a spokesperson for the prosecutors office said in an email Saturday night. The diocese determined the allegation against Vaughan to be credible after interviewing his alleged victim. That prompted his removal from ministry by Bishop David M. OConnell. He had been pastor of St. Catharine Parish in Holmdel, Monmouth County, since 2013. Vaughan, who is either 72 or 73 based on the birth year provided by the diocese, has served exclusively in the Trenton Diocese, with assignments in St. Charles Borromeo in Cinnaminson, Burlington County; St. Ann in Keansburg and St. Mary in Middletown, both in Monmouth County; and at St. Raphael in Hamilton, Mercer County. Vaughan also formerly served the diocese as vicar for Catholic education, chancellor, vicar general, moderator of the curia, and director of vocations. Notice of the sexual abuse allegation against him will be reported in all parishes where Vaughan has served, and to church officials in Rome, the diocese said. The statement called on parishioners to remember in prayer all those impacted by this alleged abuse, and all victims who have been harmed as children by abuse of any kind. The diocese also urged anyone sexually abused as a minor by a representative of the church to report the abuse to law enforcement authorities and to the diocese through its abuse hotline at 888-296-2965 or at abuseline@dioceseoftrenton.org. Andres Vasquez, 18, paints with watercolors at Taller Puertorriqueno. Vasquez has been accepted to nine different colleges for art, and gets much of his inspiration from Japanese anime. Read more Nine colleges have accepted high school senior Andres Vasquez, neither a science geek nor a jock, but an artist of rare talent whose soul and eye were honed in a neighborhood that can inspire as much as it can dishearten. The 18-year-old senior from Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School puts in as many hours as he can after school in the studio at Taller Puertorriqueno, a Latino cultural arts center in Fairhill, the poorest neighborhood in Americas poorest big city. He loves doing anime art, a Japanese style of starkly colorful graphics. Vasquez is so taken with the form that he wants to move to Japan; he practices the language busing tables and washing dishes at a Japanese restaurant in Ardmore. Tired of the drugs in a community infamous for them his biological father was deported to the Dominican Republic for dealing and weary of seeing traumatic, violent things, Vasquez is going to pick an out-of-town campus and disappear. The only thing good about this neighborhood, he said one day at Taller, as he painstakingly mixed watercolors to create the correct shade of blue, are programs like this that get kids like me out of here. Art helps me forget reality. I have seen the worst part of this city. And I dont want to be here anymore. Its a sometimes unavoidable byproduct of the work done at such places as Taller Puertorriqueno (which means Puerto Rican workshop) that a child is taught art and culture so well that hes inspired to move away. The community then misses out on an exceptional person who may have helped repair it. But Fairhill is a hard place. The poverty rate is 61 percent, compared with 26 percent citywide. Its median household income is just under $16,000 annually, census figures show, the citys lowest. Once 90 percent Puerto Rican, the area is more diverse now, with Dominicans and Mexicans making up about 35 percent, Taller figures show. Marciene Mattleman in her home in Washington Square in 2008. The tireless education advocate died Friday at age 89. Read more Marciene Mattleman, 89. a feisty advocate for Philadelphias children who created a legacy of programs to promote literacy and after-school activities, died Friday, March 29, after a four-year battle with Parkinsons disease. No one in this city has done more for the schoolchildren of Philadelphia and our region than Marciene Mattleman, former Gov. Ed Rendell said in 2015 when she retired as board chair of After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP), one of the organizations she created. Mrs. Mattleman began her career as a sixth-grade teacher in Philadelphia, then earned a Ph.D. in education, writing her dissertation at night when her three children were sleeping. She worked as an education professor at Temple University. When she was in her 50s, her career went in a new direction when she launched the Mayors Commission for Literacy under Mayor W. Wilson Goode. Later she founded organizations called Youth Education for Tomorrow, Philadelphia Reads, Philadelphia Futures, and finally ASAP, a nonprofit aimed at facilitating after-school programs that help keep kids safe. Then-President Bill Clinton praised Philadelphia Futures, a college-oriented mentoring program, which has been replicated in other cities. After each organization achieved success, Mrs. Mattleman handed it over to others and turned her attention to another cause. Goode, with whom she remained in contact, once described her as one of the most unselfish, dedicated public servants that Ive known. Marciene (pronounced mar-SEEN) Mattleman was famously persistent, and in more than three decades, she built a network of contacts that was so extensive there is almost no one in city government or business she could not call to ask for a favor. My general policy is, whatever Marciene is calling about, just say yes, then-Mayor Michael Nutter said in 2015. It saves you about half an hour, and youre going to do it anyway. She was so passionate about her work, said daughter Barbara Mattleman. If she was doing it, she was 1,000 percent in. She grew up on Woodcrest Avenue in Wynnefield, where her father, a businessman, served as president of his synagogue. She was 16 years old when she met Herman Mattleman, four years her senior, who later became the Philadelphia school board president. They were married for more than 68 years. Their three children all followed their parents into public service. She was a tireless fund-raiser and recruited thousands of volunteers to lead chess clubs and debate teams and teach hip-hop and yoga in after-school programs. The programs she created touched the lives of tens of thousands of students. A lot of kids in this city learned to read because of my mother, said daughter Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, the citys chief integrity officer. Its really quite amazing. She was the education reporter on KYW Newsradio, and often appeared in the media discussing education issues. She served on numerous boards, including the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, the American Red Cross of Southeastern PA, Philadelphia Futures, City Year, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Audrey Miller Poritzky Fund for Education. She was elected a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania and had served as a member of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women before her death. In 2008, she received the Philadelphia Award, the citys highest civic honor, in recognition of her contributions to Philadelphias underprivileged youth (her husband also won the award, in 1991). Ive had a huge amount of support, both emotional and financial, that enabled me to follow my instincts and act with independence, Mrs. Mattleman said in 2008. There is an enormous satisfaction to help other people get what they want from life. In addition to her husband and daughters, she is survived by a son, Jon; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Shiva will be observed at the family residence on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at 7 p.m. Burial will be private. A memorial service will be at a later date. Donations can be made to the Marciene Mattleman Founders Fund at After School Activities Partnerships at 1520 Locust St., Suite 1140, Philadelphia 19102, or to a charity of the donors choice. The Honduran had taken incredible risks to reach the promise of liberty on U.S. soil traveling 1,700 miles from his homeland by riding illegally on the network of freight trains that Central Americans call The Beast, where desperate refugees fleeing relentless violence and poverty are prey for criminals and prone to gruesome injuries. Now, as the man who would only identify himself to a journalist for BuzzFeed News as M. Gonzalez relates a situation that brings new meaning to the term "huddled masses, as he shivers behind barbed wire in the grim shadow of an El Paso overpass with hundreds of others, he realizes it was all a mistake. Its hell there. The bridge is one of the worst things Ive ever experienced, Gonzalez told BuzzFeed reporter Adolfo Flores. He described how what was supposed to be a few hours in temporary U.S. detention at Americas border with Mexico turned into days of agony, dodging pigeon droppings from the international bridge and sleeping on gravel with only a plastic cover to shield him from the frigid nighttime desert winds. This bizarre holding pen is a uniquely American invention the temporary concentration camp. The U.S. Border Patrol, which created the site, insists that its run out of any other option to deal with a spring crush of asylum seekers at the southern border. And the refugees crowded under the bridge are getting clean portable toilets, regular meals and other amenities, and a tent that unfortunately isnt nearly big enough to accommodate the throng. And yet the inhumanity of so many desperate people penned up for public display like some kind of zoo animals is still shocking to see. And it begs several important questions. While they are clearly understaffed and overwhelmed, are U.S. immigration officials even trying to come up with a better temporary fix than human beings sleeping on ice-cold gravel? More importantly, why are these detainees and their suffering on such open display, so easily accessible not just to journalists but to everyday passersby including some who, according to BuzzFeed, shout Go back to your country! or Youre not welcomed! from up on the bridge? Simply put, is this appalling display of American cruelty a bug, or is it a feature of Trump administration policy? President Trump seemed to replace that question mark with an exclamation point this weekend with two stunning pronouncements that whatever his stated intentions would have the real-world impact of amping up what many already see as a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border by several orders of magnitude. The first Trumps declaration that he will completely close off the border as early as this week unless Mexico stops what has so far in 2019 been an increase in Central American asylum seekers is an idle threat for now. Were the president to follow through on his gambit, the halt in trade would have a crippling effect on our own economy a gigantic self-own. Last fall, a temporary shutdown at just one border crossing near San Diego for a few hours cost an estimated $5.3 million; a systemwide shutdown could cost more than $1 billion daily in lost trade and workers blocked from their daily commute. The Trump administration routinely cuts off its nose to spite its face and own the libs (remember the tariffs?), but this deep slice would be taking away some last remaining brain matter along with it. The second threat, however, seems both more real and, thus, more insidious. Trumps State Department announced on Saturday that its ending support for programs in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala that had been expected to cost at least $500 million. Most of the money would have been funneled to nongovernmental agencies that are working to reduce the high rates of poverty and violence that are causing so many people to flee their native countries in the first place. Its clear Trump doesnt see it that way, although its likely he has zero idea what these programs do or what the basic concept is. "We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us, he told reporters, implying incorrectly the money goes directly to the governments of the three nations. Those who actually do know how the program works point out the obvious, that ending aid will probably make violence and deprivation even worse in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, which means well be seeing even more of their citizens making the dangerous trek north certainly by next spring. It will increase the very thing that Trump claims hes trying to stop. The key is to get to them before they leave for the United States, Ken Baker, leader of a U.S.-funded NGO in El Salvador, told the Washington Post. When youre talking about the problem at the border in the U.S., its already too late. Last year, I wrote and many others made a similar point that improving life in Central America is both the best way to stop the refugee crisis and the most moral. Thats especially true when one considers that decades of bad American meddling in the region have made political violence and drug crime worse. But a common sense and arguably much more cost-effective way seems the farthest thing from the presidents mind. Trumps brand is crisis a notion he cemented on Inauguration Day when he elected to speak not on hopes or dreams but on American carnage. His fevered rallies, where diatribes against the invaders (the same term that just animated a mass murderer in New Zealand) are met with chants of Build the wall!," reinforce that. And nothing aids the presidents goal of portraying himself as a defender against invading hordes than images of large crowds of asylum seekers like the images were seeing right now out of El Paso. The cruelty of American policy on the southern border feels intentional the kind of thing that fires up Trumps angry base, especially when the president is emboldened by his claim of exoneration in a Mueller report that America hasnt seen. And it feeds a xenophobic synergy with his state-run media known as Fox News, which on Sunday showed its colors with a laughable-if-it-werent-so-racist chyron saying Trump is cutting aid to three Mexican countries. The humanitarian crisis at the southern border is real but the human rights violations are the ones that the United States government is either exacerbating or flat-out creating. Indeed, the budget bill passed by Congress this winter aimed to spend money on upgrading government detention facilities and increasing the number of now-overloaded immigration judges to process the asylum claims of refugees more quickly. But Team Trump seems much more interested in cannibalizing our military to pay for his grandiose border wall. The immediate effects of these policies is an affront to Americas basic human decency as a nation. For beginners, the Trump administration seems determined to find new ways to increase the cruel separation of children from the parents maybe as a deterrent, maybe because it just doesnt care to find better options. Whats worse, the substandard detention centers and lack of proper supervision are getting innocent people, including children, killed. Just last week, an autopsy of Jakelin Caal Maquin, the 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died last year in U.S. custody, offers powerful evidence she might be alive if authorities had realized the seriousness of her infection during the two days she and her father were detained. And looking at the current crisis in El Paso, its impossible not to wonder how many more Jakelins are out there. And if the poverty and crime in Central America continues to rise, those shivering people under the bridge are just the tip of the iceberg. Spring is typically a peak time for migration ahead of the unbearably hot tropical summer and so its not hard to envision a real border crisis peaking next spring, just as Trump makes his case for four more years in the White House, with his autocratic mantra that I alone can fix it. Im old enough to remember when presidents ran for reelection on creating jobs, not on creating chaos. But Trump is rewriting our political playbook in the blood and misery of authoritarianism. The crisis of Central American migration is a complicated issue, but you dont need a Ph.D in international relations to see that the American president is hell-bent on making things worse. And the road to this hellscape starts under a bridge in El Paso. Jabir Kennedy, 21, of the 6600 block of Dorel Street in Southwest Philadelphia, is wanted on murder and related offenses in a quadruple shooting Dec. 21. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said. Read more Police have identified the 21-year-old Southwest Philadelphia man wanted on murder, attempted murder and related charges in connection with a domestic-related quadruple shooting outside his home Thursday night that left one person dead. Jabir Kennedy, of the 6600 block of Dorel Street, is considered armed and dangerous, police said Sunday. According to police, Kennedy assaulted his girlfriend, with whom he has children, on the 1700 block of South 58th Street. Later Thursday, the woman went to Kennedy's home accompanied by five male family members. Kennedy confronted the group outside his home, pulling out a gun and shooting four of the men shortly before 9:30 p.m., police said. It was not clear whether anyone else was armed. A 23-year-old man whose identity has not been released by police died 4 a.m. Friday at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Two other men ages 22 and 32 were in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian; the fourth victim, 22, was in critical condition. Authorities ask that anyone with information on Kennedy's whereabouts call 911 or the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334. A onetime Democratic nominee for Nevada's lieutenant governor accused former vice president Joe Biden on Friday of touching and kissing her without her consent during her campaign in 2014, an experience she says left her feeling mortified, embarrassed and confused. In an essay published by "The Cut," Lucy Flores wrote that, when she learned the then-vice president had offered to appear at a rally in Nevada to support her campaign, she was grateful. But that feeling changed, she said, when Biden approached her from behind as she was getting ready to address the crowd. She wrote that she felt the vice president place two hands on her shoulders before moving closer to her from behind. Then, she says, Biden kissed her on the back of her head. - - - He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, "tragame tierra," it means, "earth, swallow me whole." I couldn't move and I couldn't say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience. - - - As a young Latina, Flores said, she was used to feeling like an "outsider" in a political world dominated by white men - but she'd never experienced something so "blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before." While she told a few members of her staff what happened, Flores said she was initially reluctant to talk to anyone else. "Is it enough of a transgression if a man touches and kisses you without consent, but doesn't rise to the level of what most people consider sexual assault?" she asked. "I did what most women do, and moved on with my life and my work." A spokesman for Biden on Friday said the former vice president was "pleased" to support Flores in 2014, and neither he nor his staff had "an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes." "But Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so," the statement read. "He respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best." During a March 16 speech in Dover, Delaware, Biden referred to himself as a "tactile politician." "I always have been, and that gets me in trouble as well, because I think I can feel and taste what is going on," he told the crowd. Over the years, Biden has been captured in numerous images and videos embracing, kissing and standing close to women. These instances were brushed off by some who saw his actions as "lighthearted," and Flores lamented the fact that Biden was able to keep his title of "America's Favorite Uncle" despite myriad publications documenting his actions. "In this case, it shows a lack of empathy for the women and young girls whose space he is invading, and ignores the power imbalance that exists between Biden and the women he chooses to get cozy with," she wrote. Flores' account also comes as Biden faces scrutiny over the way he handled the accusations Anita Hill made against Clarence Thomas during his confirmation as a Supreme Court justice. On Tuesday, at an event honoring those who have worked to combat sexual assault on college campuses, Biden apologized again for his handling of the matter in 1991, when Hill faced accusatory questioning from a panel of white men. "To this day, I regret I couldn't come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved, given the courage she showed by reaching out to us," Biden said in New York at the Biden Courage Awards. Some pointed out that his use of the word "couldn't" suggested he didn't have the power to change the course of the hearing. - - - The Washington Posts Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report. Keller Leads After Day 1c of HPT Lawrenceburg, Bazeley Near the Top March 31, 2019 Adam Lamers The final starting flight drew to a close Saturday night in the Heartland Poker Tour $1,100 Main Event at Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg. With 47 players moving on from Day 1c, David Keller will return for Day 2 with the overall chip lead and 516,000 chips. Keller remained patient throughout most of the day and timed his spots perfectly. Twice, he picked up pocket aces and got max value, tripling up one time and doubling up another. Keller managed to take over the chip lead in the latter stages of the last level as the only player over 500,000 chips. Top 10 Day 1c Chip Counts Place Player Counts 1 David Keller 516,000 2 Ronnie Day 492,000 3 Jake Bazeley 455,000 4 Iverson Snuffer 431,000 5 John Nelson 342,000 6 Ian Richardson 224,000 7 Henry Zou 187,000 8 Nick Pupillo 183,000 9 Nick Guagenti 153,000 10 Matthew Stammen 148,000 A few more of the big stacks to move on from Day 1c include Ronnie Day (516,000), Jake Bazeley (455,000), Iverson Snuffer (431,000), and John Nelson (342,000). Bazeley is the most notable of the remaining players left in the field with over $4.4 million in career earnings. The Cincinnati native lives just a short drive away from Lawrenceburg, Indiana and is looking to pocket yet another six-figure score to add to his resume. Jake Bazeley The ballroom on the bottom floor of the casino was packed with poker players right from the start of the day. Over 80 players took their seats when the action kicked off at Noon. The tournament staff had their hands full trying to open more tables to keep up with the number of entries throughout the registration period. When late registration closed, there were a total of 293 entries for Day 1c. That brought the total to 555 entries for the Main Event, which more than doubled the guaranteed prize pool of $250,000. When the players return for Day 2 tomorrow, there will be $532,800 up for grabs with 63 places getting paid. There will be 86 players returning on Sunday all looking to get their hands on some cash. There was no shortage of action in the early going on Day 1c with two eliminations occurring in the first 10 minutes of play. David Worden was the beneficiary of one those player's starting stacks but he was unable to hold on to those chips long enough to find a bag. Some other names to hit the rail include Greg Raymer, Bruce Hugon, Michael Shanahan, and James Pupillo. Some other notables that were fortunate enough to bag up chips include Ian Richardson (224,000), Henry Zou (187,000), Nick Pupillo (183,000), Nick Guagenti (153,000), Kyle Besaw (129,000), and the Stammen brothers Matthew (148,000) and Keven (61,000). The action will resume at 11 a.m. on Sunday with just over 20 eliminations away from the money. The blinds will begin at 2,500/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. The levels will continue at 40-minutes in length and the schedule is to play down to the final nine players. The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on Sunday to bring you all of the coverage of the Main Event Day 2 flight from the tournament floor. Click here to follow the action in the live blog. 303 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Tim Reid EL PASO (Reuters) Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke will hold a major rally in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, a city thrust to the center of Americas immigration debate by President Donald Trump and the U.S government this week. ORourke, a former congressman from El Paso, will kick off three rallies in Texas in his bid to become the Democratic nominee a day after Republican Trump threatened to close the U.S border with Mexico as soon as next week. His rally in El Paso, which sits on the border with Mexico, has been long-planned but the city became central to Americas immigration debate this week. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan told a news conference in El Paso on Wednesday the southern border system was at breaking point because of the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border each day. Trump, who says he is still determined to build a barrier along parts of the southern border, said on Friday: Theres a very good likelihood that Ill be closing the border next week, and that will be just fine with me. He has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office but has not done so. Trump and ORourke held dueling rallies in February in El Paso, which is already divided from Mexico by steel fencing. Trump wants it reinforced and hundreds of miles of additional fencing built along the border. ORourke opposes any new border structures and opposition to Trumps border wall and immigration policies has been a centerpiece of his campaign. They will again be a major part of his speeches in Texas on Saturday. ORourke, who announced his White House campaign on March 14, shot to national prominence last year in an unexpectedly close race against incumbent Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. His Texas rallies will be watched via livestream at more than 1,000 locations across America, according to his campaign. ORourke, 46, competes in a large Democratic field. More than a dozen candidates have joined the fight to become the candidate to take on Trump in 2020. The ORourke campaign sent multiple requests to potential supporters for campaign donations before his rallies in El Paso, Houston and Austin on Saturday, a common practice among presidential hopefuls. The messages stressed the importance of donating before Sunday, the deadline for first quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. ORourke smashed fundraising records as a Senate candidate and raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his presidential campaign, the largest first-day haul of any announced candidate this year. However, he has struggled to see a strong campaign work ethic translate into a significant boost in early polling. ORourke trails former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by double digits, according to early polls among Democratic voters. Analysts warn that polls this early, before the first nominating votes are cast in Iowa in February 2020, are unreliable. Biden has yet to join the race, although he is expected to announce his presidential candidacy soon. (Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Paul Tait) 2.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard NCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) A federal judge in Alaska has overturned U.S. President Donald Trumps attempt to open vast areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans to oil and gas leasing. The decision issued late Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason leaves intact President Barack Obamas policies putting the Arctics Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctics Beaufort Sea and a large swath of Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. East Coast off-limits to oil leasing. Trumps attempt to undo Obamas protections was unlawful and a violation of the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Gleason ruled. Presidents have the power under that law to withdraw areas from the national oil and gas leasing program, as Obama did, but only Congress has the power to add areas to the leasing program, she said. The Obama-imposed leasing prohibitions will remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked by Congress, Gleason said in her ruling. Trumps move to put offshore Arctic and Atlantic areas back into play for oil development came in a 2017 executive order that was part of his energy dominance agenda. The order was among a series of actions that jettisoned Obama administration environmental and climate-change initiatives. The Trump administration has proposed a vastly expanded offshore oil leasing program to start this year. The five-year Trump leasing program would offer two lease sales a year in Arctic waters and at least two lease sales a year in the Atlantic. The Trump plan also calls for several lease sales in remote marine areas off Alaska, like the southern Bering Sea, that are considered to hold negligible potential for oil. Obama had pulled much of the Arctic off the auction block following a troubled offshore Arctic exploration program pursued by Royal Dutch Shell. Shell spent at least $7 billion trying to explore the Chukchi and part of the Beaufort. The company wrecked one of its drill ships in a grounding and managed to complete only one well to depth. It abandoned the program in 2015 and relinquished its leases. Gleason, in a separate case, delivered another decision Friday that blocks the Trump administrations effort to overturn an Obama-era environmental decision. Gleason struck down a land trade intended to clear the way for a road to be built though sensitive wetlands in Alaskas Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The Obama administration, after a four-year environmental impact statement process, determined that the land trade and road would cause too much harm to the refuge to be justified. Trumps then Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke broke the law when he summarily reversed the Obama policy without addressing the facts found in the previous administrations study of the issue, Gleason ruled. (Reporting by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska; Editing by James Dalgleish) 448 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday she was very encouraged by the Senate vote this week on the Green New Deal, the sweeping climate policy resolution she introduced last month, even though the Senate defeated it. The non-binding resolution, which proposes to eliminate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions within a decade, lost 57-0 in the Senate, with 43 Democrats voting present. You had the Republicans voting no and you had virtually the entire Democratic caucus voting present, even those in tough states, Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday. That is an extraordinary amount of unity within the Senate to actually vote in that cohesive of a bloc, so Im very encouraged. The Green New Deal, unveiled last month by Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Senator Edward Markey, marks the first formal attempt by lawmakers to define potential legislation to create government-led investments in clean energy and infrastructure to transition the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels. The plans name is an homage to the New Deal of the 1930s, a series of government-led programs and projects that President Franklin Roosevelt implemented to aid Americans during the Great Depression. CELEBRITY STATUS A rising political star and leader of the progressive left, Ocasio-Cortez defeated a longtime Democratic lawmaker in a 2018 primary to become the youngest woman in Congress at age 29, representing New Yorks 14th district in the House. Her bold stance on climate policy and her strong social media presence have launched her to celebrity status among progressives nationwide. Republicans have criticized the Green New Deal since its inception for being too radical, and have used the plan and Ocasio-Cortez herself, as rallying points to demonize the Democratic Party. The Green New Deal is a wonderful illustration of just how extreme the Democrats have become, Republican Senator Ted Cruz tweeted on Tuesday, calling it a radical socialist proposal. The Trump administration does not believe action on climate change is necessary and has instead focused on increasing production of oil, gas and coal on federal and private lands. At a Trump rally in Michigan on Thursday, crowds chanted AOC sucks! according to television coverage of the event. Ocasio-Cortez shrugged off Republicans insults on Friday at a town hall hosted by MSNBC in her district in The Bronx. I didnt expect them to make total fools of themselves, she said of her critics. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; editing by Bill Tarrant and G Crosse) 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard A battle is brewing between Democrats in Congress and Attorney General William Barr over access to grand jury testimony, which is some of the most sensitive evidence obtained in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Barr said he is still reviewing Muellers entire final report, although he issued a summary of the reports final conclusions. He now says that he hopes to reveal much of it by mid-April, but House Democrats want in sooner. However the biggest upcoming fight wont be over timing, it will be over whether they ever get to see the evidence Mueller gathered that did not lead to criminal charges. Muellers Underlying Evidence Is What Democrats Most Want and Need to See Committee chairs such as Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, and Maxine Waters know that if they can obtain Muellers evidence files it will save them months of time. And they dont have a lot of time, since the past two years have been wasted with Republicans in control of the House. Barr says federal law requires him to keep evidence obtained using grand juries secret, But the government has disclosed grand jury information in the past, in certain high-profile cases. All they have to do is go to a judge to get permission to share the information. Barr could do this, but he says he cant, which is just one more way that he is trying to cover up the evidence from the Mueller probe. Democrats say they need access to grand jury evidence to get a clear picture of how Russia interfered in the 2016 election and how that benefited Trump. They say that even if no Americans conspired with Russia or other foreigners, we need to understand how the foreign countries influenced our elections. Paul Rosenzweig, who was a prosecutor on the team that investigated former President Bill Clinton, said the underlying evidence is more important than the actual report. In many ways, I think the important thing is not so much the report, as the backup material, Rosenzweig said. Muellers investigation made use of numerous grand juries, but we have no idea how much of his final report is based on evidence they collected. The legal battle could begin as soon as Wednesday. How it plays out will very possibly determine how much of Muellers evidence and his final report the American people are ever able to see. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told Barr that he should not waste time and resources keeping portions of the Mueller report from Congress. Instead, he told Barr that he should join lawmakers in asking a court to release all grand-jury information, as has occurred in every similar investigation in the past. Not surprisingly, Democrats are questioning Barrs motives for not turning over more information from Muellers investigation. Its a public document. It has to be turned over, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. But as the week goes on, it just seems like the smell of a whitewash and a cover-up is getting thicker and thicker. 1.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Letitia Stein (Reuters) A spokesman for Joe Biden said the former vice president does not recall an incident in 2014 when a female activist said he inappropriately kissed her, but some of his potential rivals for the Democratic nomination said on Saturday they believe his accuser. The allegation was made in an online essay published on Friday by Lucy Flores, a party activist who was running to be Nevadas lieutenant governor. Flores said Biden also touched her shoulders and smelled her hair when they appeared at an event together, making her feel uncomfortable. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head, Flores wrote in the essay published in The Cut, an outlet of New York Magazine. I couldnt move and I couldnt say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. Responding to the accusation, Biden spokesman Bill Russo said the vice president had been happy to support Flores and to speak on her behalf at the event. Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes, Russo said on Friday in a statement. Biden believes Flores has every right to share her own recollection, Russo added, and that it is a positive change for U.S. society that she has the opportunity. In a separate statement on Saturday, Russo said: People know Joe Biden and they know his character, his integrity and his values, adding that he was a champion for women. Biden served eight years as vice president under former President Barack Obama and 36 years in the U.S. Senate. He has not yet said whether he will run for president in 2020, but has been expected to throw his hat into the ring soon. Some of his potential rivals for the Democratic partys nomination to take on Republican Donald Trump addressed the allegation on Saturday. Elizabeth Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, told reporters in Iowa that she believed Flores. Joe Biden needs to give an answer, Warren said. Julian Castro, a former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development from Texas who is also running for president, said he also found Flores credible, according to news reports. Flores supported Bernie Sanders in his losing 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination. Although the U.S. Senator from Vermont is running again, Flores has said on Twitter that she has not endorsed any of the candidates in this race. Should Biden decide to run in 2020, after failed bids to be the partys nominee in 1988 and 2008, he will be a key figure in the Democratic debate over whether a liberal political newcomer or a centrist veteran is needed to win back the White House. (Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Daniel Wallis) 1.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The battle for control of the U.S. Senate in 2020 may be decided in the cornfields of Iowa. Incumbent Republican Senator Joni Ernst is a rising star in the GOP and her seat is supposed to be safe. But nothing is safe for Republicans now, after Donald Trumps trade war. Trumps tariffs have caused massive financial problems for Iowa farmers who have depended on exports to China to stay solvent. And, according to a report in POLITICO, Ernst has been facing huge amounts of criticism from Iowa voters for not standing up to Trump on his trade policies (or anything else). Trump is not popular now in Iowa, and not standing up to him will definitely hurt Ernst when she runs for re-election next year. Ernst has been hammered with questions from her constituents at recent town hall meetings, but they arent questions about policies. According to POLITICO: One after one, constituents took to the microphone to grill the first-term Republican senator about the president his attacks on John McCain, his emergency declaration at the border and why, in the opinion of several voters, Ernst hasnt stood up to him more often. Other senators are speaking up criticizing Trump and defending McCain, but I have yet to hear one word from you, the report states one voter pressed her. Is there no line Trump can cross that would cause you to break ranks with him? The irony is that Ernst is seen as a rising Republican star mainly because she has been very loyal to the president, and has never criticized him. But this loyalty to Trump may cause her to lose her Senate seat. Ernst has been avoiding the questions by saying she has disagreed with Trump, but that hasnt allowed her to stop talking about the issues she wants to address to help Iowans. Democrats Did Well in Iowa in 2018 Her reelection in the conservative-leaning state, which Trump carried easily in 2016, is not a foregone conclusion, the POLITICO report says. It then goes on to discuss the fact that Democrats in Iowa did very well in the 2018 midterms: Democrats flipped two GOP-held seats in Iowa last year, and Trumps approval ratings have sunk as his trade wars have stretched on. Barack Obama won the state twice and Ernsts predecessor, Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, represented the state for three decades. One of the Iowa senators colleagues, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said Ernst has her work cut out for her, saying Iowa is not a ruby-red state. Former Democratic Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has been attacking Ernst for being too close to Trump, saying, She has essentially been an enabler of many of the Trump policies that arent particularly good for Iowa, in a recent interview. Ernst Is Just Taking Orders From McConnell Democrat Rob Sand, who is considered a frontrunner to take her on in 2020, has also ramped up his attacks. She sold herself as this Harley-wearing, gun-shooting, pig-castrating person who really would stand up and be tough and she hasnt been tough, he said before adding, Shes just taking orders from Mitch McConnell. Trumps Trade War Has Devastated Iowas Farmers Trumps trade war with China is a huge issue in Iowa. The tariffs have slammed the states soybean industry, a big part of Iowas economy. Iowa State University last year projected the tariffs could cost the states farmers up to $2.2 billion in revenue, POLITICO reported. GOP Control of the Senate is At Risk The situation faced by Joni Ernst in Iowa shows that Republican control of the U.S. Senate is in jeopardy. As more negative information comes out about Trump and as the economy continues to weaken GOP incumbents in swing states like Iowa will find that they are at risk. If there is a Big Blue Wave in 2020 then loyal Trump supporters like Joni Ernst will be packing their bags and leaving Washington as Democrats take over control of the entire U.S. government. 6.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Make no mistake, rich people love the GOP and their tax cuts. According to a new study reported by Axios this morning, super-rich CEOs of big corporations have been flooding the Republican Party with contributions. They want to keep their tax breaks coming, even as the United States faces record budget deficits, and possible cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other social programs. According to the Axios report, CEOs are donating to Republicans by an overwhelming margin. It says that it is the first of its kind study tracking the political leanings of CEOs by examining political contributions by more than 3,800 CEOs of S&P 1500 companies. What this study reveals is that Republicans are on the receiving end of more than twice the support from the corporate executives who are trying to influence government policy. And they have been successful, as the GOP has continually passed legislation that puts profits before people. According to the new article: The study, by professors from Harvard Law School and Tel-Aviv University, classifies a CEO as a Republican or a Democrat if they gave at least two-thirds of their campaign contributions to one party or the other. CEOs that distributed their contributions more evenly between the two major parties were classified as neutral. Among big energy companies, CEOs Republican leanings are even stronger: more than 9 in 10 energy CEOs side with Republicans and none with Democrats. How CEOs Control Political Contributions of Employees and Corporations The report goes on to point out that a CEO can influence many other employees under them as well as the company itself to contribute as they do. It then concludes: CEOs are responsible for maximizing shareholder value, and some might argue that support for Republicans is consistent with shareholder interests because share value would benefit from the low-tax and deregulatory policies promoted by Republicans, according to the study. Rich People Have Bought the Government Policies They Want From the GOP This study provides empirical evidence that proves something we have known for a long time: that rich people have bought the Republican Party. And of course, this also means that rich people control U.S. government tax, regulatory and environmental policies when the GOP is in charge of the government. If we want to restore democracy in America, and prevent the movement toward an oligarchy that benefits only rich people, we must put Democrats back in power very soon and next years election is a good place to start. 3.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Robert DeNiro was on Saturday Night Live again last night doing an outstanding job playing the role of former special counsel Robert Mueller. In the shows cold opening sketch Alec Baldwin was also featured portraying President Donald Trump, doing his usual excellent job as well. The skit ridiculed how Attorney General Bill Barr (played by Beck Bennett) attempted to cover up Muellers report, and how Barrs comments were further spun by Trump to the point that he claimed total vindication. In the opening Barr said, You might want to sit down for this one. Trump responded, saying, Guess what, guess what, guess what, Daddy is about to freak. I am submitting these 380 pages, Muellers character said. I am writing almost four pages, Barrs character responded. I am reading zero pages, Trumps character added. But Sean Hannity has read it and hes so excited, he texted me an eggplant. Mueller then said, on the charge of obstruction of justice, we have not drawn a definitive conclusion. And Barr said, But I have, and Trump is clean as a whistle. And Trump shouted, Free at last, free at last! Then Mueller said, As for conspiracy or collusion,there were several questionable incidents, but we cannot prove a criminal connection. Barr said, No collusion, No diggity! Then Trump took out an air horn and blew it in celebration of no collusion. Mueller then added, However we have indicted 34 people in connection with this probe. Barr commented, Most of them are very good people. And Trump said The pardons are already in the mail! Mueller then clarified Ive included hundreds of pages of evidence. And Barr added, Most of it provided on live television by the president himself. And Trump exclaimed, Russia, if youre watching, go to bed. Daddy has won! Then Mueller said, And I should remind everyone that there are still several other ongoing investigations. And Barr said, One, maybe two, tiny little investigations. At which point Trump celebrated, saying, And theyre investigations into Democrats, television shows that have been mean to me, and Puerto Rico. Thats right, I want my paper towels back Amigos. The skit continued as the topics of Russian collusion and obstruction of justice In conclusion, it is my hope this report will be made public with a few redactions, Muellers character said. Hello, redactions! Barr replied. Were going to block out everything except the words no and collusion, Trumps character said. P.S. cant wait to see what the Southern District of New York has in store for Trump, De Niro added. Saturday Night Live Nailed It Although they did it in a humorous way, SNL brought up the basic truths of the Mueller probe and its cover up by William Barr and Donald Trump. Barr and Trump are keeping the Mueller report from Congress and from the American people. If it is eventually given over, it will contain redactions that will cover up most of the incriminating evidence. But as the Mueller character points out there are many other investigations going on in federal and state prosecutors offices, including the Southern District of New York. And we all cant wait to see what the Southern District of New York has in store for Trump. CLICK HERE to watch the SNL cold open on NBC 3.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard A new NBC News/WSJ poll found that instead of helping Trump, the presidents lies and exaggerations about the Mueller report are harming his approval rating. NBC News reported: According to a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll, 29 percent of Americans say they believe Trump has been cleared of wrongdoing, based on what they have heard about Muellers findings, while 40 percent say they do not believe he has been cleared. But a third of Americans 31 percent say theyre not sure if Trump has been cleared. That includes nearly half of independents (45 percent) and about a quarter of both Democrats (27 percent) and Republicans (25 percent.) .. The narrative about the Mueller probe has also not significantly affected the presidents approval rating, which stands at 43 percent. Fifty-three percent of Americans disapprove of his job performance. In February, Trumps approval rating stood at 46 percent, but this months shift is within the polls margin of error. Because Trump and the White have no credibility, their claims of exoneration are backfiring The Trump White House has less than zero credibility with most Americans, which is why when they make false claims of total exoneration it backfires on Trumps approval rating. What the NBC/WSJ poll reveals is that Trump has greatly overestimated and overplayed his hand. The president doesnt have any new political capital to use to attack Obamacare and threaten to shut down the border. The only people who believe in Trumps exoneration are the president himself and his most loyal followers. Most Americans arent buying it, and if Republicans thought that they could use the Mueller report to turn the sinking Trump presidency around, they have bee shown in less than a week that this is not the issue that will save them in 2020. No issue can help Donald Trump, because it is the presidents own lack of popularity that remains the Republican Partys biggest problem. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 1.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The White House has come up with a new lie as Trumps Mueller report cover story is falling apart. Transcript via ABCs This Week: KARL: So, theres no question that Barr quotes Mueller directly in saying that he did not find that there was collusion between the campaign and the Russians. But why do you, and why does the president say that Mueller found no obstruction, in fact he makes no such statement. Lets look at his exact words, this is as quoted by Bill Barr, while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. So the presidents out there saying full exoneration. The words are does not exonerate him. MULVANEY: Keep in mind a couple of things, I think thats actually thats a pull quote from the Mueller report, thats not Barrs interpretation. KARL: Yes. MULVANEY: I couldnt see the exact quote. KARL: Yes, thats right. MULVANEY: Keep in mind that is not what these documents do. When you do an investigation like this, theres typically two outcomes, either criminal indictments come down or it just quietly goes away. These types of investigations are not designed to exonerate people. So what youve saw here is simply Mueller saying you know what? Im going to let Barr call this one. He had plenty of evidence to say on collusion absolutely not and he actually punted over to Barr. Again, thats the way the system can and does work. Barr, if you go elsewhere in the letter, lower down again I dont have a copy sitting in front of me, it says that he and Rod Rosenstein, who up until last week was a darling of the left, found not a single not a single piece of conduct, not a single act that constituted obstruction. So thats why we are absolutely comfortable saying that the president has been fully exonerated. Yes, Barr excuse me Mueller does use those words, but again, those are words you would typically find in this type of investigation. Video: .@jonkarl: Why do you and why does the president say that Mueller found no obstruction?he makes no such statementthe presidents out there saying full exoneration Mick Mulvaney: These types of investigations are not designed to exonerate people https://t.co/4QRYTBwhDY pic.twitter.com/nDtOGzNlRd ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 31, 2019 Mueller did not punt obstruction of justice to Barr Notice that Mulvaney confuses Barr and Muellers names while talking about them. Even the White House cant keep the story straight. Mueller did not decide to leave the decision up to Barr. Mueller believed that the decision on obstruction should be made by Congress. Robert Mueller prepared his report with the intention that it be presented in full to Congress. Trump wasnt totally exonerated. The White Houses cover story is falling apart as the Mueller report con is being exposed as a diversion from the evidence and facts. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook On a warm afternoon in September, Mayor Will Haynie huddled with a small group at Mount Pleasant Town Hall hoping to salvage plans to build a lasting tribute to the nations most celebrated war heroes. Just days before, the head of the national Medal of Honor Museum had announced that after more than six years of planning, the $100 million project might abandon this growing harborside town for another city in a larger market. The news didnt sit well with the town, but Haynies closed-door confab didnt sway the museum CEO from his intention to leave. They did agree on one thing, though: Even if things didnt work out here, neither side should disparage the other. It was a little late for that. Acrimony and suspicion had infested the much-vaunted project for many months. Each party involved, in some way, had felt bullied, misled or both over the years-long planning process as disagreements over the museums design divided the town. That picture became clear in a Post and Courier review of thousands of emails and other correspondence among town leaders, museum officials and board members at Patriots Point, the state attraction where the museum was to be built. The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal how a well-intentioned effort to showcase valor and courage devolved into a dysfunctional showdown in which each side jockeyed for the public high ground amid an atmosphere riddled with personal squabbles and distrust. In emails to confidantes, Haynie groused about the arrogance of the foundation planning the museum while an ally on Town Council branded the groups redesign efforts a campaign of deception. The museum CEO, in turn, chided town officials over perceived threats and misrepresentations about the project. The Patriots Point board chairman, meanwhile, bemoaned a lack of respect from the foundation, lamenting that one museum leader had not eaten enough grits and boiled peanuts to understand the politics of the South. Both in private and in public, people called into question others loyalty to the community, commitment to the project and even downright patriotism. In the balance hung a project that museum planners said would attract several hundred thousand visitors a year and put the town on the national map. For anyone who closely followed the Medal of Honor Museums saga, the conflict was abundantly clear. Whats less known is the months-long meltdown that led to its unraveling. *** When the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation was established in 2013, its effort to build the museum at Patriots Point seemed an ideal fit for the attraction's state-mandated mission to foster pride and patriotism in our nation and its heritage. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, made up of medal recipients, already had its offices and a small museum aboard Patriots Points signature attraction, the Yorktown, a World War II-era Navy aircraft carrier. And Mount Pleasant had a champion at the ready in retired Marine Maj. Gen. James Livingston, who received the Medal of Honor in 1970 after leading his troops through a key Vietnam War battle while seriously wounded. It made a lot of sense to a lot of people, Mac Burdette, Patriots Points longtime director, said of the planned museum. Livingston became one of the first board members for the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, the South Carolina nonprofit formed to build the structure. An agreement gave Patriots Point exclusive rights to the project for 10 years. And the effort seemed to get off to a promising start. The museum secured a $5 million pledge from the state of South Carolina, and the town agreed to contribute money to relocate a road to suit the museums needs. Texas billionaire Ross Perot even paid a visit to Charleston to promote the museums fundraising efforts, headlining a luncheon at King Streets four-diamond steakhouse, Halls Chophouse. At some point, they were moving along and things were good, said Linda Page, Mount Pleasants mayor from 2013 through 2017. But some saw potential problems brewing. Former Town Councilman Paul Gawrych, for one, worried that the foundation wasnt talking enough with the town and Patriots Point about its plans to build a structure taller than town zoning allowed. He conveyed his concerns in a February 2016 email to Page, who replied that she had only seen the design so far in a book. I just detect that no one is properly talking and we do not want a final design coming our way on something this grand for the world to see and then tell them they need a variance to make it work, Gawrych wrote. Meanwhile, Patriots Point officials increasingly felt they were being pressured to do what the foundation wanted. The foundation insisted on building on a plot of land directly on the waterfront, a move that presented wetlands issues and required a complicated road relocation to open up space for the museum. Patriots Point officials preferred another spot but conceded to the foundations wishes, agreeing to lease the desired property at a price of $1 a year for 99 years. Being state land, the lease required approval from the Legislature. But when the time came to get lawmakers blessing, Burdette and Patriots Point Chairman Ray Chandler found themselves alone at a critical hearing. No one from the foundation bothered to show up. Though the foundations lease was narrowly approved by one vote, they never even said Thank you, Chandler recalled. *** Having General Livingston as the face of the project gave it real clout, particularly in Columbia. But as time passed, tensions grew between Livingston and some of his fellow foundation board members, culminating with an unsuccessful attempt in November 2014 to oust him from the panel. Letter asking for Gen. Livingston's removal In this letter, dated Nov. 18, 2014, members of the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation's board asked that Gen. James Livingston be "immediately" Livingston remained an active member despite the challenge but later chose to resign with six other board members during a showdown in early 2017 over the hiring of a new CEO. Livingston said at the time that he didnt like the way the board was being run and the hiring process only amplified his concerns. Livingston declined to be interviewed for this article. The mass defection, and Livingstons departure in particular, alarmed town officials, who began to wonder about the projects viability and the foundations ability to raise the necessary money. Those concerns only grew after the new CEO, Mark Updegrove, decided to leave the foundation after less than a year, citing personal health reasons. As the foundation searched for its fourth CEO in five years, the project was dealt another blow when Mount Pleasants nine-member Planning Commission voted down the Medal of Honor Museum's design in January last year. The commission cited issues with variances needed for the buildings proposed height, setbacks and parking requirements. Created by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, the about 90,000-square-foot museum design included three buildings: a pavilion for the lobby and an auditorium, the main museum building and a chapel. The museum structure was drawn to invoke the shape of the Medal of Honor itself, with five inclined gallery spaces surrounding a naturally lit central hall. The smaller, star-shaped chapel would be connected to the museum by a pedestrian bridge. The original application asked that the maximum building height be increased from 50 feet to 140 feet for the museum and 80 feet for the other structures. The day after the vote, Mount Pleasant and Patriots Point officials exchanged emails lamenting that foundation officials hadnt approached the town sooner to discuss their plans, saying they had been warned height would be an issue. I told the MOH executives over a year ago that they made a bad mistake not checking on our zoning ordinance with the town before designing the building, Town Councilman Gary Santos stated in an email to Haynie and council members. They blew me off as if it were no big deal. It's a big deal now. Haynie, elected mayor just months before on a platform aimed at curbing town growth, urged council members to hold their tongues while the foundation rethought its plans so as not to jeopardize the project. *** Town officials seemed to assume the foundation would scale back its plans in response to the Planning Commissions denial. But the foundations chairman, Bill Phillips, soon would disabuse them of that notion. A month after the vote, he suggested at a Patriots Point board meeting that the foundation might take the museum elsewhere if the design wasnt approved. That didnt go over well. In a flurry of emails after the meeting, board member Susan Marlowe stated she felt the panel needed to be deloused after meeting with Phillips. Calling Phillips remarks offensive, fellow board member Pat Waters predicted that talk of leaving was an empty threat. He and others also disparaged the design, saying there was little support for such a grand structure. Waters wrote that Joe Bustos, chairman of councils Planning Committee, was all in to stop the hideous monster. We are doing the recipients a favor by not allowing that monstrosity, Waters added. Chandler, the Patriots Point chairman, confided to his colleagues that he regretted championing the project and its intent to dominate and distort Patriots Point. He found the notion that the museum would somehow rescue Patriots Point insulting. Chandler wrote that the museum was conceived when its organizers saw Patriots Point as a shabby, second-rate, bush-league attraction that was an embarrassment to Mount Pleasant and to the State. But a lot had changed since then. Now, Patriots Point was thriving while the museum effort was on life-support, a terminal, self-inflicted condition that left the foundation with little chance of drawing the 250,000 visitors needed to sustain it each year, he stated. The message for the Fathers of Mt Pleasant should be. We do not need it, Chandler wrote of the museum. Over the past few years, Chandler had sent multiple letters to the foundation asking for updates on fundraising requests he felt were never answered in full. He had also been looking into whether the foundation had violated its nonprofit status by lobbying officials to support the design. In the end, he decided they had not. It appears that being an (expletive) does not disqualify one from receiving tax exempt status, he wrote. Far from dissuaded, Phillips requested a private audience with Haynie in March 2018 and reiterated the possibility of taking the museum elsewhere. The threat bothered Haynie, who relayed his concerns in an email to Phillips later that day. I want you to know that Im greatly disturbed by the fact that your foundation received $5 million of SC taxpayers money, spent $3.5 million on a design that was not coordinated with the local governing body, but I was told if we dont approve it as is, you will leave Mount Pleasant, the mayor wrote. It appears this is a one-way street. I think this shows great disrespect for both local and state government and is highly regrettable. Phillips replied that it was patently false that the foundation was not coordinating with the town. He also maintained that the states $5 million investment was safe. He added that it was regrettable that the discussion so far had focused on issues like height when the museum stood to be a wonderful beacon of inspiration that would bring jobs and tax revenue to the town. A steady stream of emails and letters soon began to flow into the town from supporters of the project, including Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, a local who urged the town to take advantage of the incredible opportunity to be associated with this soon to be National Treasure. In an email to colleagues, Town Councilman Tom ORourke fretted that the museum foundation and its designers were trying to lay blame on the town for the projects setbacks. He speculated that it was a smoke screen to obscure the fact that they are seriously struggling to raise money. *** Into this breach stepped Joe Daniels, who had accepted an offer to lead the museum effort. Mount Pleasant officials saw in Daniels a smart, articulate and capable man with a proven track record as CEO of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. He helped lead a fundraising campaign that raised more than $450 million for the project, about quadruple the estimated cost for the Medal of Honor Museum. He had also navigated controversy to get it built, as one might expect for a structure that involved a swirl of ideas, emotions and opinions surrounding the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks. People railed against the 9/11 memorials decision to include the names of the hijackers, its underground location and even the key chains in the gift shop. People opposed the fact that there even was a gift shop. The project took longer to complete, as New Yorker writer Nick Paumgarten noted, than it took to find the orchestrator of the attacks, Osama bin Laden. But Daniels got it done. For the first few months after his arrival in late March last year, things seemed hopeful. There were coffee meetings, lunch meetings, cordial follow-up emails and even a note from Daniels thanking Haynie and Bustos for playing a critical role in allowing the beginning of a healthier environment to take root. Officials wondered if a compromise might actually be reached. But, all the while, the museums planned design loomed over the discussion. Architect Safdie brought top-notch credentials, having built projects everywhere from Idaho to Singapore, including the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Israel, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore and Habitat 67 in Montreal. Still, the buildings height, the character of the $3.5 million design and the Planning Commissions denial had already set the public debate in motion. In late May, an article in the Charleston Mercury newspaper drew Haynies ire by portraying Daniels as a man on a mission going up against restless natives with their knives out to fight "something new and daring." In an email to Patriots Point officials, the mayor chafed at the way the town was being portrayed and questioned whether the foundation had any intention of modifying the museums design. Chandler warned Haynie that museum officials, including chairman Phillips, were trying to whipsaw him. Invoking the late Tip ONeills adage that all politics is local, Chandler told Haynie that Phillips didnt understand Southern politics, a fatal flaw. He has not eaten enough grits and boiled peanuts, Chandler wrote. Leading into last summer, however, the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation made some changes. With the recommendation of the town, it had withdrawn its zoning application. Phillips quietly resigned, and a board member from Nevada, Peter Stent, took his place as chairman. And perhaps most importantly, Daniels announced dates for three public meetings where community members could view, and vote on, new design alternatives. Tensions continued to simmer, nonetheless. When Daniels emailed Chandler at the end of June to thank for him appearing at a fundraiser, Chandler blistered the museum CEO over a sentence in a Post and Courier editorial that suggested the project would breathe new life into Patriots Point. I want to make this very clear if I hear this comparison again, I will withdraw all of my support from your project, Chandler wrote. Daniels retorted that Chandler was obsessing over one sentence in the piece and missing the big picture. Really inappropriate response. No need to email further. A copy of the emailed exchange ended up in the hands of Zeb Williams, senior legal counsel for the South Carolina Legislative Council. He forwarded to it Haynie, adding: For (expletive)s sake... Could we just get out of our own way at least every once in a while? This seems totally self-inflicted if you ask me. *** In the run-up to the first public meeting on a potential new design, Daniels emailed Bustos and Haynie to make sure they were coming. Haynie asked if town officials could get a preview before the session, but Daniels indicated the architect would be working on his plans right up until the final hours. At the July 26 meeting at Alhambra Hall, attendees got a first look at two new variations, dubbed the Pavilion model and the Village model. Both were shorter about 100 and 70 feet, respectively though they still exceeded the towns height limit. Both also used the same shapes seen in the original design, though they were arranged differently. Medal of Honor Museum Redesign Options At public meetings last summer, the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation presented two new versions of the museum design, the "Pavilion Scheme" an The next morning, Daniels emailed Bustos and said he had heard there was some disappointment in the new designs. Bustos replied that it was a repackaging of the same design that, if submitted, would generate a prolonged fight that will certainly be a problem for fundraising. Daniels cautioned Bustos against threatening a fight, calling it highly counterproductive. He insisted the design had changed and bristled at the implication that his approach had been deceptive. Lets skip the character attacks, he wrote. Bustos forwarded the message to Gen. Livingston, who replied: Sounds like a line in the sand. Not good. As the days passed, Haynie, Bustos and their allies continued to fret about the town taking the blame for the museums problems, which they considered unfair. They insisted the town had bent over backward to help the project succeed while the foundation ignored the towns rules. Feeling the town was losing this public relations battle, on Aug. 7, Haynie used his private email account to send out a three-page strategic communications plan aimed at countering a perceived "PR offensive" by the foundation. The plan, sent to unspecified recipients, laid out goals such as submitting at least two letters to The Post and Courier per week. This, he said, might sway opinion in the towns favor or cause the newspaper to see fatigue in the amount of letters and stop running any of them. Mount Pleasant Strategic Communications Plan: Medal of Honor Museum On Aug. 7, Will Haynie sent out a three-page strategic communications plan aimed at countering a perceived "PR offensive" by the foundation. T It is paramount for the town to protect its brand and image of the Mount Pleasant, the plan read. The town must ensure the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation does not turn this situation into an us vs. them scenario, harming the towns public image. His plan also called for a concerted effort in all media interaction to highlight issues other than the museums height and looks. The ugly building narrative could be considered petty if used too often. The next day, a call from a New York Times reporter seemed to confirm Haynies fears. The reporters question had led Haynie to believe Daniels was casting the situation as recalcitrant locals fighting all changes to their formerly cozy small coastal town, he told allies in an email. I see that he has gone from being cooperative to critical. I think he sees the death spiral, Haynie wrote. He has taken the gloves off so I am now also escalating my criticism." Susan Marlowe of the Patriots Point board concurred, stating that Daniels narrative was an attempt to hide the foundations financial mismanagement of the project. Hate to say it, but Daniels new whine is class snobbery typical of people from off they want to come and change things with the implication is theyre smarter than locals, she wrote. Im sad to see a different character evolve as the pressure has increased. He has taken off his salesman's gloves. Great job Will. By the time the third and final public meeting on the design process rolled around in August, acrimony surrounding the project was well entrenched. Bustos told Daniels in an email that he was skipping the session and condemned the foundation for using the 90-day extension the town had granted to carry out a campaign of deception. Then, near the end of the month, Haynie started discussing a possible public-private collaboration to cut the museums costs and assure the projects success. Councilman Jim Owens wrote to Haynie wanting more details, saying that he feared Haynies public comments about the idea gave the appearance that were undermining an existing plan at the 11th hour. Owens and some other council members had been growing increasingly frustrated about being left out of discussions, insisting they were only learning of new developments on Facebook or in the media. Haynie called Owens comments quite unfortunate and inaccurate. Still, no details of this potential new venture emerged. *** Hurricane Florence struck the East Coast in September, the same week that Daniels was scheduled to speak to members of the Medal of Honor Society for the first time at their annual conference in Annapolis, Md. He was only supposed to be in town briefly but, due to the storm, stayed for two extra days. During that time, he said, he heard new questions and concerns from medal recipients that made him look at the project differently. With the ultimate goal of building a nationally regarded museum, he said, he and other foundation board members were considering whether pivoting to another market would be the best way to get it done. A little more than a week later, Daniels made the announcement: The Medal of Honor Museum Foundation was considering a national search. In comments to The Post and Courier, he referenced headwinds the foundation had faced from elected officials and others. The statement caused some confusion among residents who assumed the town had officially denied a revised proposal from the museum. But aside from the January vote by the Planning Commission, the museum foundation hadnt submitted any formal plans for approval. Several days after Daniels announcement, Haynie called a private meeting at Town Hall, with himself the only representative from the town. Tommy McQueeney and Susan Marlowe of the Patriots Point Development Authority were invited, along with Livingston. Daniels brought along two staffers. Sept. 26, 2018 Meeting at Town Hall During a meeting at Mount Pleasant Town Hall several days after the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation said it may look to build the museum else The parties staked out their respective positions, with Livingston telling Daniels he should have manned up and discussed this with the mayor before announcing plans to leave. The bottom line, Daniels said, was that after six years of failure, one logical answer is to try somewhere else, according to minutes from the proceeding. In the end, nothing changed. When confronted by council members about the meeting, Haynie told them he felt pressure, as mayor, to take charge of the situation. He then suggested a way to get around open meeting laws if they wanted to take the discussion further. It might be a good idea, he wrote to Town Council, if there are further questions, for us to meet in groups of less than a quorum and discuss the road ahead, perhaps with General Livingston, as he will play a major role in helping Mount Pleasant actually get the museum built here. *** Notes to town officials about the museum had been arriving in council members inboxes for months, and they came in at a faster clip after Danielss announcement. Some applauded the town for sticking to its guns, but many more were critical. One resident bemoaned the unfathomable hostility by a small minority of Mt. Pleasant town leaders towards the Medal of Honor Museum. Another criticized the old guard that threatened a once in a lifetime opportunity for our city. Another wrote, I cannot believe the town of MP has treated our veterans in this disgraceful manner!! One even declared that losing the Medal of Honor Museum would be a mistake that will haunt this town forever. The foundation announced on Oct. 5 that the museum board had officially authorized a national search. Councilman Santos told his colleagues in an email that the search was unfortunate but the foundation was at least keeping the town in the running for the museum. Fellow Councilman ORourke scoffed at that: We are NOT in the hunt. We are out. The situation remained in limbo for about two months as a critical deadline came and went for reaching an agreement on moving Patriots Point Road. The missed Nov. 30 deadline opened the door for either the foundation or Patriots Point to walk away from their lease. In December, Patriots Point decided to do just that, essentially bringing the project to a halt. It was a rocky marriage from the beginning, Burdette said, and it got worse as time went along. *** Daniels maintains that the main motivation for looking elsewhere was feedback from recipients and a desire to reach a larger market. The back-and-forth about the design and the pace of progress, however, gave us the time to come to a different decision about the projects future, he said. Charleston regularly beats out larger destinations on best of travel lists, but in terms of scale, the tourists who flock to the area represent a fraction of those who visit some of the cities on the museum foundations new shortlist. In 2017, the latest year for which figures are available, almost 7 million people visited the Charleston area. Among others under consideration for the museum, New York City saw more than 65 million visitors last year; San Diego, about 36 million. Denver, another prospect, says it brings in more than 31 million about 17.4 million of them stay overnight and Dallas most recently reported around 27 million. And though the Medal of Honor Museum Foundations origins were inextricably linked to the Lowcountry, more than six years later, it had become a completely different body. Since Daniels took over as CEO, every board member has changed but one. None reside in South Carolina. Daniels said he cant be happier with the foundations search for a new home, though he declined to discuss specifics of that process. His group has returned the $5 million it received from the state of South Carolina, but he said he still hopes the town and Patriots Point can build something to commemorate the Medal of Honor. Lets turn the page, Daniels said. In many ways, Patriots Point also has moved on. Earlier this month, its officials celebrated passing the master plan for Patriots Annex, a deal with local business owner and hotelier Michael Bennett for 30 acres of new development, including multiple hotels, retail and an amphitheater. Chandler called the deal historical and fantastic. The Medal of Honor Society, made up of recipients, continues to have a presence on the Yorktown and recently announced plans to add another staff member there. Theyre also exploring options for updating or expanding the existing Medal of Honor Museum on the ship, Chandler said. The Medal of Honor is about the stories, Chandler said. Were already telling those stories on the Yorktown, but we can tell more. Its unclear what ideas the town might have for assisting in that goal, or whether a public-private partnership may still be in the cards, but Haynie says the town's support for a Medal of Honor Museum, or other center or program devoted to the medal, still stands. "I do not see the towns commitment changing if there is a viable effort to construct such," Haynie recently said over email. "The organization undertaking the project may change, but the honorees remain the same, and the towns commitment is to honoring them." Others remained disappointed and more than a little confused as to how the dream of building the museum here got so far off track. Im still dumbfounded by it, said Town Councilman Kevin Cunnane, who believes Mount Pleasant has lost all hope of landing the museum. Former Mayor Linda Page said that would be a disappointing outcome given how much support there was from the community. Though blame can be parceled out, she said, the end result is the same: The town of Mount Pleasant, as a majority, wanted this, and we dont have it now. 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. Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press. You are the owner of this article. COLUMBIA Around South Carolina's capital city on Sunday, reminders of the kidnapping and killing of a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student punctuated the spring weekend. Bouquets of flowers were laid at a makeshift memorial at Five Points' landmark fountain above burned-out tea candles, near where Samantha Josephson was abducted after getting into a car she mistakenly thought was her Uber ride at the end of a night out with friends at a bar. USC students wrestled with one of the universitys darkest episodes in recent memory one still marked by lingering questions about what happened. They also grew warier of routines they had taken for granted, like hailing a ride home late at night. Heather Hunter, a freshman studying music education, said shed always been careful about checking drivers names and calling them first so she could watch them pick up the phone. "It could happen to me," Hunter said, wondering aloud what could happen if she slipped up. "That could be me." During a vigil held at USC on Sunday night, school President Harris Pastides sent a message pledging to spend the week honoring Josephson and offering safety training with students about rideshares. Seymour Josephson, the slain student's father, issued a call to action before hundreds of the universitys students gathered near its Greek Village. He implored students to travel in groups at night and for ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft to go further to make sure passengers get in the right cars. He said his daughter tried to hop into another vehicle she thought was her Uber ride before getting into the car that took her out of Five Points. "Its really about taking that on and what they can do to change and to help keep you guys safe, to keep the public safe," Seymour Josephson said. Uber, the service Josephson was using early Friday, did not respond to a request for comment on her fathers call. "She had absolutely no chance. None," he said. "If theres somebody else in the car, theres actually a chance." He said his daughter put down a deposit at Drexel Universitys law school days before she went missing. Her parents had planned to surprise her with a visit to Columbia over the weekend. Samantha Josephson's Alpha Gamma Delta sorority sisters remembered a caring friend with a penchant for silliness someone who was ready with a meal for friends after a day out and wished the rapper Lil Wayne a Merry Christmas every year, hoping for a response. You could feel the compassion she had for her friends, one sorority sister told the crowd. They remembered the vibrant social life reflected in the crowd gathered on an intramural soccer field. The scores of mourners showed how many people she positively influenced, her boyfriend said, fighting back tears.. Students then lit candles and held a moment of silence. A rabbi offered a prayer in Hebrew at the end of the vigil. Josephson's family traveled from the family's home in New Jersey to Columbia where her mother spoke at a Sunday court hearing, saying the accused killer has "taken away a piece of our heart, soul, and life." "I cannot fathom how someone could randomly select a person, a beautiful girl, and steal her life away," Marci Josephson said in court, according to Columbia television station WLTX. "It sickens us to think that his face was the last thing my baby girl saw on this earth. Does he even know her name? "His selfish, unspeakable, and violent actions have created a hole in the universe, a hole in our universe, and we see the unimaginable ripple effect on our world." Nathaniel Rowland, the 24-year-old Clarendon County man charged with murder and kidnapping, was not in the courtroom after waiving his right to appear. The Josephsons will bury their daughter in New Jersey on Wednesday. Rowland's legal history in South Carolina does not include previous accusations of violence, according to state court records. He has a number of traffic violations in Clarendon, Sumter and Lexington counties, mostly for not wearing a seat belt, according to court records. He was charged with having an open container of alcohol in February in Sumter County. The most serious previous charge against Rowland was obtaining a signature or property under false pretenses in a complaint involving a Columbia pawnshop. The case is pending. Now Rowland sits in a Richland County jail accused of a crime that has shocked the nation. Rowland was arrested around early Saturday morning after police saw a car near the bar-filled Five Points neighborhood popular with college students that matched the description of the one Josephson hopped into before disappearing about 24 hours earlier. Josephson's body was found Friday evening by turkey hunters more than 60 miles east of Columbia in a remote wooded area of Clarendon County near where near where Rowland lived recently, authorities said. Josephson suffered wounds from her head to her feet, according to an arrest warrant from the State Law Enforcement Division. The warrant did not specify how she was wounded. Josephson's cellphone was recovered from the car and lab tests determined that blood found in the car matched the USC student, according to the warrant. The car's child-safety door and window locks were engaged to prevent someone from escaping the car, the warrant said. A passenger was in Rowlands car when he ran from police. She was an acquaintance of Rowland and is cooperating with police, said Jennifer Timmons, a Columbia police spokeswoman. 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. 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 1-megawatt solar farm at the Charleston International Manufacturing Center in Goose Creek. Solar industry advocates are struggling to push through legislation that they say could lead to more large-scale projects. File/Provided/Marc Fetten Anyone visiting Guam for the first time or who is a recurring visitor should be able to appreciate after leaving the air-conditioned hallway Read more The long-awaited trial of former Minneapolis police office Mohammed Noor for murder begins tomorrow in Hennepin County District Court before Judge Kathryn Quaintance. In an egregious example of police incompetence, Noor killed Justine Damond on July 15, 2017. Noor should not have been on the force. His killing of Damond represents an utterly needless tragedy that exposed Minneapoliss kakistocracy for the world to see and now, in the words of the old antiwar left, the whole world is watching. The Star Tribune previews the trial in todays paper. For us, it is a local story. Indeed, one of Noors attorneys (Peter Wold) is a former law school classmate of mine and the Damond family is represented in its civil suit against Noor and the city by an old acquaintance whom I got to know in my first days in private practice (Robert Bennett). Last year I spoke with Bob about the law underlying his civil lawsuit against the Minneapolis authorities for the post Notes on the Damond lawsuit. I included a copy of the civil complaint at the bottom of that post. The criminal case has been assigned to Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance. Judge Quaintance and Chief Judge Ivy Bernhardson have issued a restrictive set of media guidelines for press coverage of the trial. The order is posted online here. I cannot even comprehend Judge Quaintances Friday order excluding bodycam footage from public viewing. I first asked for media credentials to attend the trial on March 14. I was told by a court administrator that they were still sorting out the logistics and advised to keep checking this page, but I really neednt have bothered. All of eight seats were allotted to the media in two courtrooms. They are long gone under a process that I have not found spelled out anywhere. This is one aspect of the case that the Star Tribune has not been inclined to sugarcoat. They covered it in March 29 stories here and here. Certain of the media big boys have banded together to retain counsel and object via correspondence to the Chief Judge posted here by the Star Tribune. I will be following the case from a distance. Cairo, Mar 30 (Xinhua/UNI) An Egyptian court sentenced on Saturday 30 defendants up to 25 years in prisons over terrorist charges and affiliation with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, official MENA news agency reported. Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 18 defendants to 25 years, eight to 15 years and four others to 10 years for being convicted of joining the IS, possessing explosives and attempting to blow up a church in the seaside province of Alexandria. The prosecution also charged the defendants with targeting vital state institutions and receiving military training with IS members in war-torn Syria and Libya. Terror operations in Egypt have killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians since the military toppled 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. The IS Sinai-based branch claimed responsibility for most of the terror operations in Egypt over the past few years. Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared in Egypt following Morsi's ouster. This week, at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, President Trump called bullsh*t on the Democrats. Literally. He told the crowd that the Democrats must now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous bullsh*t. This was, I think, a first. To my knowledge, no president has ever used that obscenity in a speech to describe the oppositions position, or for any other purpose. Another norm falls by the wayside. On the other hand, Trumps description is fair. From the beginning, the Democrats claim that Trump colluded with Russia has been ridiculous bullsh*t. All along, the Democrats have been defrauding the public in a shameless attempt to delegitimize the president and, if possible, have him removed from office. It wasnt presidential for Trump to speak as he did, but Trump was right. Hes also right to be really pissed off. UPDATE: Im informed that President Trump also said bullsh*t earlier this year during his oration at CPAC. Clearly, I underestimated the man. A Paediatric Neurologist, Okunola Olusola, on Sunday cautioned parents against administering antimalaria medication to children who had not been diagnosed with malaria. Mr Olusola of Paediatrics Department, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. He said that it was very wrong to give children antimalaria drugs when they did not have malaria, adding that doing so would not prevent them from the ailment. It is drug abuse and there is a greater chance of the parasite developing resistance to the drugs if it is done regularly. So, the best thing for a mother to do is when a child has a fever, the mother should take the child to an appropriate health facility where the child would be properly screened for malaria. There are Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits (RDTS) for malaria that will give the result within 10 minutes. RDTs assist in the diagnosis of malaria by providing evidence of the presence of malaria parasites in human blood, he said. The paediatrician said there was nothing wrong for a mother to move around with antimalaria drugs anywhere she went but in administering it, malaria must be proven to be present in the child. Mr Olusola urged mothers to understand that not all fevers were caused by malaria, stressing that some could be symptoms of teething, catarrh and so on. (NAN) The people of Morocco on Saturday defied the heavy downpour to welcome Pope Francis to their country. The Pope was received at the Rabat Sale Airport by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco and was immediately driven to the Esplanade Mausoleum where a grand reception had been organised for him. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the excited crowd on sighting the Pope stood up with cheers and admiration for the cleric who was visiting Morocco for the first time. NAN reports that more than 100 Imams, government officials, students, Christians, Muslims, migrants, local and international journalists among others attended the reception. In spite of the heavy downpour which began as early as 9 a.m. people started arriving at the venue to enable them secure seats at vantage position so they could have a glimpse of the Pope. Security was very tight as both the Moroccan Police and Army had barricaded all routes leading to the venue of the reception a few days to the Popes visit. Journalists were not allowed to enter the venue of the reception with their cell phones, cameras, laptops and other gadgets as they were collected from them at the entrance. Only six International Press were allowed inside the venue of the reception with their equipment and other gadgets. Pope Francis who spoke in the Spanish language, commended His Majesty, King of Morocco and his people for accepting and being hospitable to migrants. NAN reports that the Pope who was on a two-day visit to Morocco met with the government officials on the need to accept migrants. The Pope also visited the Mohammed VI Institute where Imams, male and female are being trained on the tenets of Islam. He commended Moroccans for allowing people to practice their different religions, especially Christians in peace without fear, intimidation or harassment. Addressing the mammoth crowd, the pope said, Christians are deeply appreciative of the place accorded them in Morocco society. They wish to do their part in building a fraternal and prosperous nation out of concern for the common good of its people. I assure you that the Catholic Church in Morocco will continue to provide social services in the field of education through its schools which are opened to every confession, religion and background. In thanking God for all that have been accomplished, I encourage Catholics and Christians to be servants, promoters and defenders of human fraternity in Morocco, Welcoming the Pope earlier, King Mohammed said our faith teaches us to love our fellow human beings and to help them. Because God is love, I have tried to make sure my reign is characterised by closeness to citizens as well as resisting the poorest and most vulnerable people, the King said. NAN reports that there are more than 120,000 Christians in Morocco which has about 37 million population. Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires He chose the name Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. He was ordained a priest in 1969 and became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. (NAN) Lassa Fever: Nigeria records five new deaths in three states Five new deaths have been recorded in three states in the ongoing Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria. The states are Edo, Ondo and Bauchi. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its weekly situation report on the outbreak also said 15 new cases were reported in six states. Reporting for week 12, NCDC said the 15 new cases were reported in Edo (4), Ondo (3), Plateau (2), Bauchi (3), Taraba (2) and Ebonyi (1) with five new deaths in Edo (2), Ondo (2) and Bauchi (1) States. Specialist doctors leaving Nasarawa State Official The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has decried the exit of about 10 consultant physicians from the services of the Nasarawa State Government over poor staff welfare. The NMA state chairman, Bulu Umaru, said 10 consultant physicians had left the service of the state government since June 2018. Nasarawa State According to him, some of the consultants were even leaving to take up jobs in neighbouring states with lower salaries in order to guarantee their career progression. Abortion Subsidy: U.S. to stop paying to kill unborn babies Pompeo The U.S. will further clamp down on the use of foreign aid for non-governmental organisations that support abortions or work with groups that help women access the medical service, an official said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said this as he announced new limitations on the use of federal government funds in Washington. We can continue to meet our critical global health goals while refusing to subsidise the killing of unborn babies, Mr Pompeo said. He said the new measures would include strict prohibition on back door schemes meant to help funnel money to organisations working on womens health and that support abortion. Number of Ebola cases in Congo exceeds 1,000 The number of Ebola cases in Congo has exceeded 1,000, as the second-largest outbreak of the virus continues to wreak havoc in the central African country. A total of 629 people have died of Ebola in the outbreak in eastern Congo, which began shortly after the government declared an end to another outbreak in the west of the country in June 2018. Some 320 people had recovered, placing the average survival rate within treatment centres at more than 60 per cent, the ministry statement said. More than 91,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus since August. Union advocates revitalisation of Nigerias healthcare system The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to revitalise the nations healthcare system by returning the management of health institutions to hospital administrators. Josiah Biobelemoye, the president of the union, made the call at the 10th quadrennial delegate conference held under the theme: Advancing national campaign toward good governance, poverty alleviation and Health for all for development. Mr Biobelemoye explained that hospital administrators have not only been trained for such functions but also possess the professional attitude to manage these institutions without fear or favour of any professional body. He described the past four years as the worst years in the health sector, attributing the challenges to the selfish interest and insensitivity of those at the helm of affairs in the sector to the plights of the masses. Poor lung function in shorter people linked to increased risk of heart disease Results from a study led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London has found that an association between shorter stature and a higher risk of heart disease is mainly attributed to our lungs. In the study, published in the journal Communications Biology, researchers examined over 800 places in the human genome known to be associated with adult height and also evaluated data suggesting that lower height increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. The authors found no evidence of a causal link between height and type 2 diabetes risk once an individuals body mass index was taken into account but reported a causal relationship between height and heart disease risk. Time-restricted eating may prevent tumour growth Researchers have already identified obesity as a risk factor for cancer, so some doctors recommend reducing caloric intake to help prevent tumours. However, a new study now finds that prevention may be less about how many calories you consume and more about when you eat your meals. The study suggests that rather than changing what they eat to prevent tumour growth, a person may benefit from simply timing their meals differently. The majority leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, will on Sunday officially declare his intention to run for office of the speaker in the ninth assembly. According to Mr. Gbajabiamilas office, the event will start by 2pm at the Lagos/Osun hall of Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja. The Lagos lawmaker who represents Surulere II federal constituency will be returning to the house for a fifth term. Mr Gbajabiamilas office announced Abdulmumin Jibrin, a Kano lawmaker, as the director general of the campaign. Mr Jibrin is a former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations before he fell out with the house leadership in 2016. The All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership is expected to announce the zoning for the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The APC leadership recently declared support for Yobe senator, Ahmed Lawan, to become the next Senate President. The move was condemned by other APC lawmakers including Borno senator, Ali Ndume, who also seeks to be the Senate president. Mr Ndume who is also from Borno state has vowed to continue with his ambition, saying he enjoys the support of many elected APC senators. The APC enjoys a clear majority in the incoming House of Representatives, winning over 200 of the 360 seats. The party is expected to produce the speaker, but as it happened in 2015, a different candidate other than that endorsed by the party leadership may contest the election. While both Messrs Lawan and Gbajabiamila were endorsed by the party for the positions in 2015, but Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged as the Senate President and Speaker of the House respectively. The two winners later defected from the APC to the PDP. So far, there are at least 10 members that have indicated interest for the position. PREMIUM TIMES will bring you live updates of the proceedings at Mr Gbajabiamilas declaration. Four armed men suspected to be operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) on Saturday whisked away a journalist, Jones Abiri, to an undisclosed location. Mr Abiri, the publisher of Weekly Source Newspaper, was incarcerated for about two years without trial. He was eventually charged for terrorism but was discharged by the court. The court also ordered the SSS to pay him N10 million which the agency is yet to pay. On Saturday Mr Abiri was whisked away at about 4:30 p.m. by agents believed to be from the SSS. According to witnesses, Mr Abiri was in company of some collegues at his office at Azikoro junction of Yenagoa when the armed men arrived in a white Hilux Van and black Prado SUV. They dragged and then pushed their victim into one of the vehicles and drove off. Austin Bodo, a journalist who witnessed the incident, told the News Agency of Nigeria that we were sitting outside his office when a black Prado jeep and white Hilux drove into the premises in commando style. As they packed, two men carrying the type of guns used by DSS operatives, jumped out of one of the cars and said Abiri was under arrest and immediately started dragging him and forced him into one of the cars and drove off. Another witness, Bankole Abdulazeez, said we were discussing national issues when the cars drove in. Two armed men came out of the cars and without identifying themselves, they said you are under arrest and started dragging him. They threatened to shoot anybody that tries to stop them. I heard him shouting what have I done again? what have I done again? Before they finally dragged him into one of the cars and drove off, he said. When contacted, an SSS Official, who preferred anonymity, said: I only heard of it from a journalist friend; I dont think it is our men from here. The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, will today formally declare his intention to vie for the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives in the ninth assembly. The event is holding at the Lagos/Osun hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The lawmaker, who represents Surulere II federal constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives, would be a fifth term member in the next assembly.` His declaration is coming two days before his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), meets to decide on who to back for the exalted position. The APC leadership recently declared support for Yobe senator, Ahmed Lawan, to become the next Senate President. The party is also believed to be in support of Mr Gbajabiamilas candidacy for Speaker. The adoption of Mr Lawan was condemned by some APC lawmakers including Borno senator, Ali Ndume, who also seeks to be the Senate president. Mr Ndume, from Borno State, has vowed to continue with his ambition, saying he enjoys the support of many elected APC senators. The APC enjoys a clear majority in the incoming House of Representatives, winning over 200 of the 360 seats. The party is expected to produce the Speaker, but as it happened in 2015, a different candidate other than that endorsed by the party leadership may contest the election. While both Messrs Lawan and Gbajabiamila were endorsed by the party for the positions in 2015, Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged as the Senate President and Speaker of the House respectively. The two winners later defected from the APC to the PDP. So far, there are at least 10 members that have indicated interest in the position of Speaker. Mr Gbajabiamila is however considered the leading candidate. Stay with PREMIUM TIMES for live updates of the proceedings at Mr Gbajabiamilas declaration. Venue of the official declaration of Femi Gbajabiamila for the office of the Speaker, House of Representatives. Some current members and some newly-elected members of the House have already arrived the venue of the official declaration Prominent amongst the members present are former special adviser to the president on National Assembly (Reps) Kawu Sumaila who is also a member elect, leader of the North-East caucus, Tahir Mongono, Abdulmumin Jibrin and Nasir Ali-Ahmed. 2:16pm Femi Gbajabiamila arrives the venue in company of several other members. Declaration of Femi Gbajabiamila for the office of the Speaker, House of Representatives. 2:59pm. The programme starts with the National Anthem. The event is being anchored by another Rep member, Magaji Dau-Aliyu (Jigawa, APC) Magaji Aliyu reciting the opening prayers Abdulmumin Jibrin addressing the audience at the official declaration of Femi Gbajabiamila Abdulmumin Jibrin addressing the audience Abdulmumin Jibrin is pleading with other contestants to in the interest of the House, run a clean campaign, free of character assassination. Femi Gbajabiamila will also ensure the independence of the legislature and at the same time the interdependence of the legislature Abdulmumin Jibrin Femi Gbajabiamila, flanked by other members and members-elect, just mounted the podium to deliver his declaration speech. While delivering his speech, Femi Gbajabiamila thanked his colleagues for making it to the declaration. He particularly thanked members of the opposition PDP, APGA and APM whom he said also made it to the event. Khadija Bukar, former minister of state for foreign affairs, while responding on behalf of the North-east lawmakers-elect said her zone is compliant with whatsoever the party decides. We stand by whatsoever the party says, she said. A PDP member from Osun State, Wole Oke, while delivering his remark said he has known Mr Gbajabiamila for some time and has been notified personally by him of his intention to contest. He said there is nobody in the House that is more qualified for the job than Mr Gbajabiamila. We from the southwest are giving you one of our best I, Wole Oke will be with him all through, he said. The Chief Whip of the House and leader of the North-West caucus, Alhassan Doguwa, while responding on behalf of the North-West, said with Abdulmumin Jibrin as the Director-General, Mr Gbajabiamilas team is headed for victory. One secret about you, when someone sees you from afar, you look very terrible in the face but coming closer, you are a very simple person, Alhassan Doguwa says Three elected lawmakers from AA and APGA, while delivering their remarks, pledged their support and loyalty to Mr Gbajabiamila. Kawu Sumaila, a member of the House of Reps, said the House members are ready to work with Mr Gbajabiamila. He described his support as beyond party politics, saying he is the best among others. Jerry Alagbaso of the PDP while giving his remarks said there is no doubt Mr Gbajabiamila is the most qualified member but he needs more consultations. For me, Im going to support you, provided you see me. The programme is set to come to an end as Musa Sarki-Adar (Sokoto, APC) steps to the podium to deliver a vote of thanks. The Adara Community in Kajuru Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State says it requires about N50 million to rebuild 545 houses destroyed by gunmen following a series of attacks. The Chairman of the community, Mumini Madugu, disclosed this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Sunday. He said the attacks left thousands of the Adara people homeless. Mr Madugu said the community came under attacks few days after a statement from the Government House Kaduna on February 15, alleging that a number of Fulani people including women and children have been killed by the locals. He said series of attacks launched between February 10 and March 11, left 148 people dead and 545 houses destroyed The attackers in their hundreds first invaded Unguwan Barde, killed 35 people and destroyed 90 houses and proceeded to Karamai village on Feb. 2, killed 42 people and destroyed 196 houses. On March 11, Dogon Noma community was also attacked, 71 people were killed, and 259 houses destroyed, making a total of 148 people killed and 545 houses destroyed. In all the attacks, 65 people were seriously injured and currently in hospitals receiving treatment, while about N28 million worth of grains and other foodstuff were also burnt. These attacks have displaced thousands of our people including 2,000 children who are currently taking shelter in eight camps across three LGAs of the state Chikun, Kajuru and Kachia, he said. The chairman called on government at all levels and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid and help them rebuild their houses so they can return home. He thanked government agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations, community organisations and civil society organisations for supporting them with relief materials. One of the elders, Usman Stingo that the area has a history of peaceful coexistence with settlers including the Hausa and Fulani people. Mr Stingo, a retired teacher particularly described the relationship between the Adara people and the Fulani as a symbiotic one dating far back to the days of their forefathers. He, however, said that the relationship began to deteriorate in 2017 over a relationship between a Hausa boy and an Adara girl which led to a communal clash resulting in loss of lives and property. Also, on October 18, 2018, another misunderstanding occurred at Kasuwan Magani and escalated into serious crises that claimed more than 100 lives. A day after that, the Chief of Adara was kidnapped and murdered. And since then, Kajuru LGA and the Adara people have always been on the news but for the wrong reasons, he said. The elder blamed the series of attacks in the community on the governments inability to perform its duty of protecting lives and property. Hardly will anyone convince us that local Fulani in Kajuru are responsible for these attacks because the accent of the attackers was completely different from that of the Fulani people who live with us. We do not believe that the Fulani that we lived with for ages can suddenly have a change of attitude and turned brutal. We are of the view that the attackers might have been hired mercenaries, but who hired them is a question we do not have answers to, he said. On how to restore the lost relationship, the elder stressed on the need for the Adara and Fulani elders to close ranks whenever something of this nature comes up and fish out the culprits. But leaving one group to go searching for who attacked only gives room for suspicions and mistrust which if not properly managed could escalate into a serious crisis with unimaginable consequences. The state government must also ensure justice and fairness to all and be a government for all by particularly improving security in the state and bringing the assailants to book, he said. (NAN) Kabiru Marafa, the senator representing Zamfara Central, says Governor Abdulazeez Yari has offended God for insisting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted party primaries in the state. Mr Marafa, who fielded questions from State House correspondents on political developments in Zamfara state, faulted the governor for initiating legal action over the matter. He said the governor should ask God to forgive him (Yari) for misleading the people of the state on the issue. He, however, commended the Court of Appeal for an excellent job, saying he initially thought he might not get justice from his appeal against the state High judgment on the matter. The appeal court had on March 25 nullified the primary election conducted by the Yaris faction of the state chapter of the APC against the previous ruling by state high court. It is a promise that God will never help injustice against justice. So, I have always believed that this God we serve will definitely at the end of the day, because God (brings) peace at the end, not the beginning. Im sure most of you here are being paid at the end of the month, not at the beginning of the month. So, at the end of the whole of this thing, truth will prevail, undoubtedly. No fear about that. The truth is there were no primaries in the state, the world knows, Allah knows, the angel knows, everybody knows. So, even if somebody tries to paint it somehow, somebody will come, a good man will come and restore back the original paint. And the original paint is white. The white is the truth, the truth is that there were no primaries, and the Court of Appeal has just done justice to that. And I want to use this opportunity to thank the President of the Court of Appeal for an excellent job she did. You know, we were quite apprehensive from the beginning, fearing that we might not get justice, Mr Marafa said. He added: But they have done justice to that case and they have made judiciary proud and the people of Nigeria proud. If that has not been done, I was afraid where we were heading to. I read their judgement and I was really very proud of the way it was written. That is how judgments are written, not the way the state judgement was written. Mr Marafa, who lamented that Yaris actions have put the people of the state to shame, prayed that God would forgive him for what he had done to the state. According to him, a leader telling lies in a state like Zamfara that practices Sharia is an anathema, and leaders deserve prayers from their followers to avert God anger. I pray, may God forgive him for what he has done, because to us, God has paid us immensely, he added. On the assertion that he (Marafa) is playing the role of a spoiler and he should have let everything go since the national leadership of the APC has endorsed the result of Mr Yaris faction on the APC primaries, Mr Marafa rhetorically asked: Is the national leadership of the APC equal to Nigeria? The answer is no. We are talking about the laws of Nigeria and not talking about personalities. No matter how big you are, you cannot circumvent the law. You cannot break the law by your right hand and then use your left hand to say you want to amend it. You cannot commit criminality then you will approach the court and say court legalise it for me. You cannot commit criminality and then hide under the umbrella of party and now say that because the party is going to lose. Who is party? The people have the party. It is not the Prince in Zamfara, it is not the stones, it is not the land, it is not the roads, it is not the wells or anything in the state, it is the people of the state that have the party. So, if the people are disenfranchised, if the people are cheated, we all have a duty to rise up above party lines. After all, I came to the Senate as an ANPP member, today Im APC. Most of the people you see today talking as APC, they were something else before. So, its not about APC for God sake, the National Chairman of this party, was seen condemning and saying that primaries are not supposed to be conducted by state governors, or by state party chairmen. You cant just change overnight. I am trying to speak the truth, even against myself. And that is exactly what I did when it happened, he said. On the way forward in the state, the senator advised all those not satisfied with the appeal court judgment to seek redress at the Supreme Court. Well, there is still one last option left. It depends on what our opponents feel. There is the Supreme Court option. If they are desirous of exploiting that, they are constitutionally, legally allowed to do so. If they are not, so be it. Before, they were dragging us, but we are now dragging them. We are not pleading with them not to go to the Supreme Court. The most important thing that Nigerians need to know is that we are not the aggressors as far as these problems are concerned. We are defending ourselves, defending the people of Zamfara State. So, if there was never a day the aggressors called us for a meeting or anything that we said no, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Festus Okoye, a National Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee has said that only the Supreme Court would determine the fate of those elected in Zamfara. The affected elected officials include the governor-elect, deputy governor-elect, senators-elect, House of Representatives members-elect and House of Assembly members-elect. (NAN) Armed persons on Saturday attacked some communities in Zamfara State killing at least 10 people. The attackers invaded Kursasa, Kurya and Gidan Achali communities in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State shooting sporadically. Residents say over 40 people, mainly farmers, were killed in the attacks. The police, however, say 10 people were killed. At Gidan Achali community alone, over 20 people were massacred. And at Kursasa community, 10 people were killed while at Kurya, 13 persons were reported dead, an official of the Shinkafi Local Government Area told PREMIUM TIMES asking not to be named. He said the number of people killed at Gidan Achali community is terrible because the high number of casualties in the area is worrisome. The source lamented that despite the repeated attacks on Shinkafi and other local governments in Zamfara, the armed persons still moved freely during the act without being challenged by any security operative. It is just like there is no constituted authority in Zamfara State. Nobody cares about our lives. We have now become easy prey for bandits in Shinkafi, he said. When contacted, the Zamfara police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, said only 10 people were killed at an onion farm in Kursasa community. He said security personnel have been mobilised to the area. Attacks on communities in Zamfara have continued in the past year despite the deployment of thousands of military and police personnel to the state. Apart from killing residents of the communities, the attackers also kidnap people for ransom. Trumps stance on the Golan will allow Israel to operate with impunity elsewhere By Jonathan Cook March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - When President Donald Trump moved the US embassy to occupied Jerusalem last year, effectively sabotaging any hope of establishing a viable Palestinian state, he tore up the international rulebook. Last week, he trampled all over its remaining tattered pages. He did so, of course, via Twitter. Referring to a large piece of territory Israel seized from Syria in 1967, Trump wrote: After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israels Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability. Israel expelled 130,000 Syrians from the Golan Heights in 1967, under cover of the Six Day War, and then annexed the territory 14 years later in violation of international law. A small population of Syrian Druze are the only survivors of that ethnic cleansing operation. Replicating its illegal acts in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel immediately moved Jewish settlers and businesses into the Golan. Until now, no country had recognised Israels act of plunder. In 1981, UN member states, including the US, declared Israeli efforts to change the Golans status null and void. But in recent months, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu began stepping up efforts to smash that long-standing consensus and win over the worlds only superpower to his side. He was spurred into action when the Bashar Al Assad aided by Russia began to decisively reverse the territorial losses the Syrian government had suffered during the nations eight-year war. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The fighting dragged in a host of other actors. Israel itself used the Golan as a base from which to launch covert operations to help Assads opponents in southern Syria, including Islamic State fighters. Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, meanwhile, tried to limit Israels room for manoeuvre on the Syrian leaders behalf. Irans presence close by was how Netanyahu publicly justified the need for Israel to take permanent possession of the Golan, calling it a vital buffer against Iranian efforts to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel. Before that, when Assad was losing ground to his enemies, the Israeli leader made a different case. Then, he argued that Syria was breaking apart and its president would never be in a position to reclaim the Golan. Netanyahus current rationalisation is no more persuasive than the earlier one. Russia and the United Nations are already well advanced on re-establishing a demilitarised zone on the Syrian side of the separation-of-forces line. That would ensure Iran could not deploy close to the Golan Heights. At a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump in Washington on Monday night, the president converted his tweet into an executive decree. The timing is significant. This is another crude attempt by Trump to meddle in Israels election, due on April 9. It will provide Netanyahu with a massive fillip as he struggles against corruption indictments and a credible threat from a rival party, Blue and White, headed by former army generals. Netanyahu could barely contain his glee after Trumps tweet, reportedly calling to tell him: You made history! But, in truth, this was no caprice. Israel and Washington have been heading in this direction for a while. In Israel, there is cross-party support for keeping the Golan. Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US and a confidant of Netanyahus, formally launched a plan last year to quadruple the size of the Golans settler population, to 100,000, within a decade. The US State Department offered its apparent seal of approval last month when it included the Golan Heights for the first time in the Israel section of its annual human rights report. This month, Republican senator Lindsey Graham made a very public tour of the Golan in an Israeli military helicopter, alongside Netanyahu and David Friedman, Trumps ambassador to Israel. Graham said he and fellow senator Ted Cruz would lobby the US president to change the territorys status. Trump, meanwhile, has made no secret of his disdain for international law. This month, his officials barred entry to the US to staff from the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, who are investigating US war crimes in Afghanistan. The ICC has made enemies of both Washington and Israel in its initial, and meagre, attempts to hold the two to account. Whatever Netanyahus spin about the need to avert an Iranian threat, Israel has other, more concrete reasons for holding on to the Golan. The territory is rich in water sources and provides Israel with decisive control over the Sea of Galilee, a large freshwater lake that is crucially important in a region facing ever greater water shortages. The 1,200 square kilometres of stolen land is being aggressively exploited, from burgeoning vineyards and apple orchards to a tourism industry that, in winter, includes the snow-covered slopes of Mount Hermon. As noted by Who Profits, an Israeli human rights organisation, in a report this month, Israeli and US companies are also setting up commercial wind farms to sell electricity. And Israel has been quietly co-operating with US energy giant Genie to explore potentially large oil reserves under the Golan. Trumps adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has family investments in Genie. But extracting the oil will be difficult, unless Israel can plausibly argue that it has sovereignty over the territory. For decades the US had regularly arm-twisted Israel to enter a mix of public and back-channel peace talks with Syria. Just three years ago, Barack Obama supported a UN Security Council rebuke to Netanyahu for stating that Israel would never relinquish the Golan. Now Trump has given a green light for Israel to hold on to it permanently. But, whatever he says, the decision will not bring security for Israel, or regional stability. In fact, it makes a nonsense of Trumps deal of the century a long-delayed regional peace plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that, according to rumour, may be unveiled soon after the Israeli election. Instead, US recognition will prove a boon for the Israeli right, which has been clamouring to annex vast areas of the West Bank and thereby drive a final nail into the coffin of the two-state solution. Israels right can now plausibly argue: If Trump has consented to our illegal seizure of the Golan, why not also our theft of the West Bank? Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Grand Theft Syria: Cynthia McKinney Exposes Golan Heights Oil Interests In The White House Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Samson Ayokunle, has said that saboteurs and politicians in cassock had attempted to prevent the associations leadership from paying congratulatory visit to President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Ayokunle, who spoke with State House correspondents after the leadership of CAN visited President Buhari at the State House, Abuja, on Friday, dismissed the allegation that pressure was mounted on the CAN leaders to congratulate the president on his re-election. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a national daily and some online platforms had on Tuesday reported that some influential people working closely with the Federal Government are mounting serious pressure on CAN leadership to pay a congratulatory visit to President Muhammadu Buhari. The report quoted a source closed to CAN leadership as saying: If you know the pressure mounted on CAN leadership that we, as a body, have to go and congratulate the president. However, the church is saying this election is controversial and we see what is happening. But, they are still mounting pressure seriously. They are telling us if we dont congratulate him, it means we are against him and that we are partisan. However, we are saying let them resolve the issues (in court) before we go and congratulate whoever wins. Thats the situation we find ourselves as the Church of God. The CAN leader, however, dismissed the report, saying it was the handiwork of saboteurs and enemies of progress, who did not wish the association well. He said: Saboteurs who didnt want us to come here (Aso Rock). We are old enough to know what to do and what not to do. If somebody like me after 60 years of age will be under pressure it means that my life would never have meaning again. But by the grace of God we have a meaningful life, I know what to do. By Gods grace He has prepared me well for this assignment. So, those distractors and those politicians in cassock should go and find better job to do, he said. Mr Ayokunle noted that the CAN leadership was in the villa not only to congratulate the president on his re-election, but to remind him of the yearnings of Nigerians. The cleric said that Nigerians want him to perform 100 per cent better than that of the first term. He, therefore, advised the president that only the best Nigerians should be considered while constituting his new cabinet, stressing that he should do more in addressing socio-economic challenges facing the citizens. Now, he has mastered the job; he has mustered enough strengthen to be able to go full swing into action. We want him to do more on security- kidnappings almost everywhere and the issue of insurgency in the northeast, the insurgents should be silenced once and for all. These ethnic militias that have now moved to the northwest, which used to be peaceful, and they are now causing violence there before they will grow wings their wings should be clipped completely, he added. (NAN) The Defence Headquarters has announced recent operations involving Nigerian troops across the country in recent weeks. The defence spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, said at a press briefing Friday that soldiers repelled a Boko Haram attack in Michika, Adamawa State, last week, preventing civilian deaths during a planned robbery of an automated teller machine. Although the machine was damaged, the insurgents faced heavy gunfire from troops of 143 Battalion and 115 Task Force Brigade who intervened from neighbouring Lassa community in Borno State, Mr Nwachukwu, a colonel, said. While fleeing from Michika, the insurgents ran into a military ambush in Maikadiri Villa, Askira Uba Local Government Area, Borno, where many of them were gunned down by the military special forces deployed in the counter-insurgency war. The troops recovered one Toyota Hilux van, two Toyota Starlet cars loaded with looted food stuff and motorcycles from the fleeing insurgents. The military did not announce any own casualties in the attack, whose aftermath PREMIUM TIMES had not been able to independently verify. Last week in Zamfara State, a man posing as a Nigerian Army major was arrested in Tundun Wada, near Gusau, the state capital. The suspect, who identified himself as Abdulresheed Sylvester, was arrested while dressed up in military uniform with the rank of major, Mr Nwachukwu said. A detachment of Operation Whirl Stroke raided a camp of suspected armed bandits in Dogo Gawa, a border community between Takum, Taraba State, and Katsina-Ala, Benue State. In a shootout that ensued, the bandits fled their location after coming under superior firepower from troops, the military said. A locally made rifle, a laptop, two cellphones, SIM cards, ATM cards and N400,000 cash were recovered. The camp was subsequently destroyed, and a manhunt was initiated for the fleeing suspects. Another team of Operation Whirl Stroke stationed in Ondori, Doma Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, raided a suspected militia hideout in Abuja Ogor, also in Doma. The raid led to the recovery of two AK-47 riffles with two empty magazines, one Clarion 5.56 Israeli assault rifle mounted with a magazine. Two suspected armed bandits were arrested with two AK 47 rifles, three magazines and 126 rounds of ammunition, in separate raid on a nearby hideout, the military said. In Delta State, troops of 222 Battalion on a routine patrol arrested two suspected pipeline vandals along Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) pipeline around Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State. The suspects were arrested with eight motorcycles and a tanker and motorcycles while attempting to vandalise an oil pipeline, the military said. Also in Delta State, naval personnel attached to Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) DELTA and Sector 1 Operation Delta Safe, uncovered and destroyed illegal refining camp with 18 ovens, 18 coolers, 39 waste pits during a patrol in Iwhrekreka, Ugheli Local Government Area. Other items recovered included: 26 surface tanks and five pits cumulatively filled with about 750,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil. The NNS PATHFINDER uncovered an illegal refining site at Alakiri general area in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State. The naval personnel recovered several tanks and pits filled with about 500,000 litres of stolen crude oil. Additionally, 600,000 litres of illegally refined automotive gas oil (a.k.a.: diesel) and two pumping machines were also recovered from the suspects. The Defence Headquarters said some of the suspects arrested during the operations have been handed over to relevant prosecuting security agencies, while others are still undergoing preliminary investigation. As of Sunday afternoon, PREMIUM TIMES has not been able to independently confirm the above operations as stated by the military, or the circumstances under which they were conducted and arrests made. The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Friday, set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court over the alleged exemption of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) from tax and other levies payable to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). In a judgement delivered by Justice Garuba Lawal, the court directed that the case over the applicability of NIMASA levies to NLNG be returned to the Federal High Court for rehearing. The court said some of the counterclaims of NIMASA were not taken into consideration by the high court in arriving at its decision. The court, therefore, set aside the judgment of the lower court on the issue of fair hearing. It referred the matter back to the high court to allow NIMASA to state its case. NIMASAs Allegations The NIMASA Act, Cabotage Act, Marine Environment (Sea Protection Levy) Regulations, and other laws of the federation cover all operators within the Nigerian waterways, including the NLNG. Consequently, NIMASA said the NLNG should pay three per cent of the gross freight on all international outbound and inbound cargos carried by ships it chartered for the transport of natural gas cargoes. The spokesperson of NIMASA, Isichei Osamgbi, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, that the NIMASA Act 2007 says the regulation also affects NLNGs wholly-owned subsidiaries. In addition, Mr Osamgbi said the NLNG was expected to pay another $283 million surcharge on cabotage trade undertaken by its vessels within 200 nautical miles of the baselines and Nigerian coastal and inland waters as contained in the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003. Mr Osamgbi said following NLNGs refusal to honour demand notices over the outstanding taxes and levies, NIMASA commenced an action against the company. In the legal process filed in court, NIMASA sought an interpretation of relevant provisions of the Nigerian LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act, CAP N87, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, and the NIMASA Act of 2007. The federal government, through the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), intervened leading to an agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr Osamgbi said, the NLNG undertook to pay up all outstanding levies and taxes totalling about $20 million as well as comply with the requirements of the NIMASA Act 2007, and the Cabotage Act. Consequently, Mr Osamgbi said in January 2013, a blockade put on NLNG vessels was lifted, while NIMASA withdrew the case to allow for an amicable settlement of the dispute out of court. But, in May 2013, he said NIMASA in a bid to enforce compliance to its regulations, again arrested and detained NLNG vessels for non-compliance. On June 18, 2013, Mr Osamgbi said the NLNG served NIMASA the pre-action notice from its counsel, giving 30 days notice of its intention to commence legal action in accordance with Sections 53(2) of the NIMASA Act. NLNG challenges NIMASA in court The NLNG said in a statement by its Manager, Corporate Communication & Public Affairs, Andy Odeh, on Saturday that its application before the Federal High Court, Lagos against the Attorney General of the Federation and Global West sought a judicial interpretation of certain issues in the case. They include the legality or otherwise of certain levies NIMASA sought to impose on its operations despite being an agency of the federal government. The NLNG said it also wanted a clarification on the consequent blockade of its vessels by NIMASA and Global West as a result of the dispute. The notice had resulted in another blockade on June 21, 2013, during which time various issues were canvassed in court by the parties. Meanwhile, following a truce by the parties, the NLNG was said to have agreed to pay all outstanding taxies and levies, including free on board (FOB) cargoes. On its part, NIMASA agreed to lift the detention orders on NLNG vessels for as long as due payments are promptly effected. NIMASA also agreed to ensure NLNG vessels were not detained, while NLNG will ensure all outstanding FOB payments were made within four months from the date of the agreement failing which NLNG will assume responsibility for the payments. On July 6, 2013, following NLNGs payment of its outstanding debt, NIMASA lifted the blockade on Saturday, July 7, 2013. Hearing in the substantive case continued at the Federal High Court until October 2017 when judgment was delivered in favour of the NLNG as well as all the reliefs sought in the case. NIMASA expressed dissatisfaction with the judgement and filed an appeal through their counsel, Lateef Fagbemi and Mike Igbokw. By the latest decision of the Court of Appeal, the case will be heard afresh by another judge of the Federal High Court. Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria, makers of leading Antiseptic brand, Dettol and The Federal Ministry of Water Resources have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to partner on a national campaign to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria. The MoU for the campaign tagged Clean Naija Initiative was signed in Abuja on Thursday, March 14, 2019. The signing ceremony which was attended by the Honorable Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Suleiman Hussein Adamu alongside other top officials of the Ministry, also had in attendance the leadership team of RB Nigeria, health professionals and members of the press. Speaking at the event, the Honorable Minister expressed his delight and enthusiasm for the campaign, stating that With this partnership between RB Nigeria and the Federal Government, we hope to build a greater level of awareness and achieve behavioural change amongst Nigerians, such that will lead to more hygienic practices and ultimately, a healthier population. Recent reports have placed Nigeria amongst the top nations that bear a significant portion of the global disease burden and high under-5 mortality rates. Many of these diseases, such as diarrhoea can be prevented by proper hand washing habits and wide scale hygiene education. This is a major motivation for the setting up of the Clean Naija Initiative. According to Mr Dayanand Sriram, General Manager, RB West Africa, The Clean Naija Initiative was developed as an all-inclusive campaign with various levels and phases aimed at creating awareness, education and driving behavioural change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria. Our clear objectives are: to reduce diarrhoea related child mortality in Nigeria in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of 2030, to reduce Malaria related deaths in Nigeria, and to reduce open defecation menace in Nigeria. RB Nigeria, through the Dettol brand, has over the years developed a number of programs committed to tackling public health and hygiene issues. These include The School Hygiene Program, through which RB has educated over seven million children on proper hand hygiene habits, and the New Mums Program, through which the company has educated over five million pregnant and new mothers on hygienic practices to protect them during the pre- and post- phases of their pregnancies. Reckitt Benckiser Signs MoU With Ministry of Water Resources to Promote Hygiene in Nigeria Reckitt Benckiser Signs MoU With Ministry of Water Resources to Promote Hygiene in Nigeria Reckitt Benckiser Signs MoU With Ministry of Water Resources to Promote Hygiene in Nigeria Reckitt Benckiser Signs MoU With Ministry of Water Resources to Promote Hygiene in Nigeria The MoU and Dettols Clean Naija Initiative comes at a time when a lot of people in Nigeria are exposed to communicable diseases with children being the most susceptible. The program is expected to contribute to individual-led behaviour change that improves public health nationwide. The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), has neutralised a Boko Haram commander, Malloum Moussa, and 15 of his foot soldiers during a clearance operation on Lake Chad Island. According to a statement by Timothy Antigha, the spokesman of the task force on Sunday, troops destroyed five gun trucks belonging to the terrorists in the operation. He said the troops also arrested a woman whose relationship with the terrorists is yet to be determined. Mr Antigha said intelligence revealed that Mr Moussa who had one eye was a high ranking Boko Haram commander who has jurisdiction in the entire Southern island, including Daban Masara, Kirta Wulgo and Koleram. He was notorious for imposing hefty levies on farmers, fishermen and cattle herders to fund Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency in the locality, he said. (NAN) A bank manager in Zamfara State has been kidnapped. Yusif Dare, said to be the branch manager of a First Bank branch in Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara State, was abducted along with two of his relatives. The victims were kidnapped at Mr Dares residence at Gada Biyu in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, on Saturday. Mr Dare is said to be a younger brother to an All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in the state, Dauda Dare. A relative of the victims confirmed the kidnap to journalists in Gusau. He said the kidnappers stormed the house at about 9:00 p.m. on Saturday and whisked the victims away. He said the kidnappers are yet to contact the victims family He said the abduction had thrown the entire Lawal Dare family into serious confusion and fear. He appealed to the security agents to ensure the release of the victims. When contacted, the Zamfara police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, confirmed the kidnap. He said efforts have been intensified to rescue the victims and track the kidnappers. Mr Shehu urged residents to help the police with relevant information. Kidnapping for ransom is common in Zamfara where bandits attack communities at will. The police in Lagos have arrested a suspected petroleum pipeline vandal, Wasiu Oyewole, for possession of petrol products at the Canoe area in Ejigbo. Mr Oyewole was caught in a bus loaded with the product on his way to Ijegun with two accomplices, who are now at large, the police said in a statement on Sunday. The police said the two accomplices, on sighting the officers, jumped out of the bus and escaped into a nearby canal. Bala Elkana, the Lagos State police spokesperson, said the officers while monitoring the Canoe area of Ejigbo, noticed a bus with two contrasting colours and three occupants. The front was painted with the Lagos commercial colour while the rest was painted in blue, Mr Elkana said. On sighting the policemen, the three occupants of the bus jumped down and fled in different directions. The policemen pursued them and caught up with one of them. The arrested suspect confessed that he and his cohorts loaded the FIAT Bus with registration NO LND 825 BC with multiple sacks laden with PMS or Petrol. He claimed further that NNPC pipeline was burst in Owutu area of Agric in Ikorodu where the products were loaded. Mr Elkana further stated that efforts are still ongoing to arrest the remaining suspects who fled at the sight of police officers. The Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Dayo Oladebeye, has vowed to expel students of the institution caught engaging in prostitution, cybercrime and other social vices. He gave the warning at the matriculation ceremony for the 2018/2019 academic session held on Friday for the newly admitted 8,688 ND and HND students of the institution. Mr Oladebeye said the school would continue to maintain zero tolerance for all anti-social behaviours such as examination misconduct, prostitution, cultism, sexual harassment, hooliganism, gangsterism, corruption and any form of social vices. He urged the new students to keep to their matriculation oaths and stay clear of any activity that may lead to an avoidable delay in their studies. The rector warned that the institution would not tolerate any willful destruction or damage of the schools property. He said those involved would be made to face strict disciplinary action. It is compulsory for all students to pass all the entrepreneurship courses as a necessary condition for graduation, he told the matriculants. The rector called on them to be good students during their stay in the institution. He asked them to report any threats to their academic well-being to the Students Affairs Office or the Counselling Officers In the Guidance and Counselling Unit who would readily assist them to solve the problem. No students under any circumstance is allowed to tamper with or alter any structure by the use of any form of partitioning, changing the wiring system or any such unlawful act, he said. The use of electric cookers, hotplates or boiling rings in the hostel is also prohibited. At the ceremony, 66 persons in ND and HND were given awards in recognition of their academic performance. Each of the awardees will receive N10,000 cash together with a certificate of merit. At the event, the rector lamented the poor state of funding of the institution and the inadequacy of its internally-generated revenue. He added that the development had negatively affected the standard of education and peace in higher institutions in Nigeria. The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) on Sunday said it would crush over 2,500 commercial motorcycles impounded by the agency between January and March 2019. Adebayo Taofiq, the agencys spokesperson, said in a statement that the motorcycles were seized for plying on restricted routes in the state. The Lagos State government enacted a traffic law in 2012 which, among other things, outlawed the operation of commercial motorcyclists on major roads and highways across the state. The law allows the motorcyclists to only operate along inner roads and streets. Recently, the Lagos task force officials impounded 109 commercial motorcycles for operating on restricted routes at the Second Rainbow end of the Oshodi-Apapa express-way. The enforcement operation was carried out after several warnings to motorcycle riders to desist from operating on restricted routes, particularly highways and bridges across the State, the agency said in the statement. Olayinka Egbeyemi, the chairman of the agency, said there had been series of complaints from the public on illegal and criminal activities by the motorcycle operators. While some of them harass innocent members of the public at various bus-stops, others engage in all sorts of criminal acts by dispossessing their passengers of valuables such as phones, jewelleries, and bags, Mr Egbeyemi, a chief superintendent of police, said. Also, motorists held in traffic both morning and night around these areas were not spared. Mr Egbeyemi said the agency would continue to carry out enforcement on a daily basis in order to clamp down on illegal activities on the restricted routes. He urged various motorcycle riders associations across the state to educate their members on all 475 restricted routes in the state and the inherent dangers in plying high-ways and bridges. Dispatch riders with power bikes 200cc and above are also warned to desist from engaging in illegal commercial activities as anyone caught violating Lagos State Traffic Laws would be prosecuted, Mr Egbeyemi said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 31) Fourteen people were killed and 16 were arrested in joint military and police operations in several towns and cities of Negros Oriental on Saturday, the province's police chief said Sunday. Police Colonel Raul Tacaca said government forces served 36 search warrants to individuals in the City of Tanjay, and the municipalities of Canlaon, Manjuyod, Mabinay, Sta. Catalina and Siaton. The warrants were for violation of Republic Act 10951 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. The 14 dead were believed to be members of the New People's Army (NPA) and supporters, according to Regional Director 7 PBGen. Debold Senas. Eight of the fatalities were from Canlaon City, four from the Manjuyod and two from Santa Catalina Negros Oriental. A policeman also sustained injuries. Authorities confiscated 51 assorted firearms and explosives. The National Democratic Front (NDF) confirmed one of the slain victims, identified as Edgardo Avelino, was the leader of Hugpong Kusog Mag-uuma (HUKOM) under the left-wing organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), while the rest were civilians. The KMP said two of their members were also arrested, namely Nestor Kadusale, a leader of KMP-Negros, and Azucena Garubat of Naghiusang Mag-uuma sa Panubigan (NAMAPA). The NDF called for justice for the victims and called the police operation a display of abuse amid an ongoing "militarization" of the city due to the alarming presence of soldiers. "Nananawagan ang NDF-Bikol sa lahat ng pwersang progresibo at demokratiko na makibahagi sa paglaban ng mamamayang Negrense sa sukdulang karahasan at pagsasamantala sa kanilang hanay," its statement said. [Translation: The NDF-Bikol is calling for all progressive and democratic forces to take part in fighting alongside Negros residents against the abuse and harassment of their people.] KABATAAN Party-list Sarah Elago said those killed were farmers targeted in operations against members of peasant and plantation groups "in the guise of 'anti-criminality.'" "This horrendous massacre brings the death toll of farmers killed under the Duterte administration to 197. I am enraged, extremely heartbroken! We, in Kabataan, STRONGLY condemn this murderous rampage! We call for an independent probe into this grave matter," Elago said in a Facebook post. The Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA) also condemned the killings. "As in the first wave of Oplan Sauron, authorities justified the operations as an 'anti-criminality' drive against drug and 'loose firearms.' Right after, the police would allege that the victims were killed in a shoot-out with rebels and tag them as combatants and now, members of so-called 'sparrow units' of the NPA," the group said in a statement. The NNAHRA added the police and military are "hard pressed to meet their quotas" in "ending the communist insurgency," as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte under Executive Order 70. The order creates a national task force to end local communist armed conflict. The killings happened a day after the NPA's 50th founding anniversary. Duterte permanently ended talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in March. It first stopped the peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA in November 2017 after government and the communist rebels accused each other of violating imposed ceasefires. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said it has instructed its unit in Central Visays to look into the incident. "At this point, our interest is finding out the truth behind a police operation, which authorities claim to be meant to serve warrants of arrest, but resulted [in] 14 deaths of farmers and a cop said to be injured," CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement. "Even claims of resisting arrest to justify fatalities need to be tried before courts to ensure that there are no lapses and ascertain if the circumstances really warrant the offense from the police, resulting the curtailment of life," De Guia added. The National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), meanwhile, condemned the incident and lamented the increasing military presence in the area. "The brutal killing of farmers is brought about by intense militarization in the countryside," the group said in a statement. "Until now, militarization is intensifying in the upland areas and city centers of North Negros.. This is the reason why the NFSW and the peasant sector are crying out and calling for justice for the victims of the killings perpetrated by the fascists and criminals in the police and military in Negros," it added. The NFSW urged residents in the area to unite, to foil and stop de facto martial law in Negros Island." No mother wants to think that her child died in vain. But, as two more Americans die in Afghanistan this week, we need to face the truth. By Jerrod A Laber March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - President Trump has promised repeatedly to end endless wars, during both his campaign and his tenure so far in office. Despite this rhetoric, endless and, frankly, pointless wars are, sadly, still the American norm. Two more Americans were just killed in Afghanistan a war that the Trump administration realises needs to end, but seems in no hurry to actually do so. In December 2018, Trump announced that all US troops would be withdrawn from Syria, only to later rescind that declaration in favour of a small force of 400 to 1,000 troops to stay behind indefinitely, complementing the more than 5,000 troops in Iraq, who are there to satiate the administrations obsession with Iran. Soldiers who were children when the Afghanistan war began are dying. Its well past time to bring all of our troops from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq home. My uncle fought in Vietnam. After his deployment, he called my grandmother and said she needed to do everything possible to ensure that my father, who was several years younger, did not eventually find himself sent to South Asia. An easy way to avoid the draft would have been enrolling in college, but in Appalachian Ohio in the 1970s, college wasnt exactly an option for everyone. Fortunately, the Vietnam War ended before my father was eligible for the draft, so it was a bridge they never had to cross. Im not sure what my uncles thoughts were when he made that phone call he died in the mid-90s, so I never got to ask. But its reasonable to assume he thought there was something wrong about what the US was doing overseas, and wanted to spare his brother the risk of dying in a pointless war. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter We assume that American soldiers die in defence of our rights and freedoms, as they protect us from existential threats. We thank veterans for their service and revere the dead as martyrs. By and large, we never dig deep into why they actually fight and die. After all, no grieving mother wants to think her child gave their life for nothing. But in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, thats exactly whats happening. Consider Syria. The small contingent of US troops will be be posted there with the primary goal of containing Iranian influence, but also to continue to combat Isis after the fall of the so-called caliphate. Can you imagine sorting out the mess of spillover effects from the Syrian civil war and balancing against the adversarial regional power with only 400 troops? Hubris that unique can only be found in US foreign policy. Playing politics with peoples lives is an overused and oft-abused phrase, but in this case, its quite literally true. Four Americans were killed in Syria in January. Of those troops who remain: how many of their lives are worth a set of unobtainable objectives? Just across the border in Iraq, there are still more than 5,000 troops present for the same reasons that troops are remaining in Syria: to help the Iraqis fight Isis, but mainly to keep an eye on Iran. Its not a wise policy move, since Isis has largely been defeated (although terrorism is a fact of life and can never be fully eradicated) and yet thousands of troops are stuck in one of the most dangerous places on the planet because the president wants to be able to watch Iran. The Trump administration always fails to mention that Iran is too weak to project meaningful power at the expense of its neighbours, and the International Atomic Energy Agency says they are still in compliance with the 2015 deal struck by the Obama administration that limits their nuclear capabilities, even despite the USs exit from that agreement. Its not clear just what the president thinks hes keeping watch over. Meanwhile, 17 Americans were killed in Iraq in 2018, according to iCasualties.org. In Afghanistan, the US has accomplished very little, despite a lot of sacrifice. The Taliban has steadily regained control of significant swathes of the country, while the Afghan government is weak, seemingly corrupt, and completely dependent on US support. Civilian deaths were at record highs in 2018. War hawks argue that America needs to stay in Afghanistan to prevent a repeat of September 11. But those attacks were aided by multiple US intelligence failures and orchestrated across the globe, including at flight schools right here in the US. As international security expert Patrick Porter has said, there is no straight line from Helmand to Manhattan. Counterterrorism doesnt require occupation. This article was originally published by " The Independent " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Empire of Chaos in Hybrid War Overdrive The Trump administrations foreign policy may be easily deconstructed as a crossover between The Sopranos and late-night comedy, writes Pepe Escobar. By Pepe Escobar March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Is this the Age of Anxiety? The Age of Stupidity? The Age of Hybrid War? Or all of the above? As right populism learns to use algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI) and media convergence, the Empire of Chaos, in parallel, is unleashing all-out hybrid and semiotic war. Dick Cheneys Global War on Terror (GWOT) is back, metastasized as a hybrid mongrel. But GWOT would not be GWOT without a Wild West scarecrow. Enter Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama. On the same day the State Department announced a $1 million bounty on his head, the so- called UN Security Council IS and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee declared Hamza the next al-Qaeda leader. Since January 2017, Hamza has been a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the State Department on par with his deceased Dad, back in the early 2000s. The Beltway intel community believes Hamza resides in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Remember these are the same people who believed former Taliban leader Mullah Omar resided in Quetta, Baluchistan, when in fact he was safely ensconced only a few miles away from a massive U.S. military base in Zabul, Afghanistan. Considering that Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Qaeda in Syria, for all practical purposes, was defined as no more than moderate rebels by the Beltway intel community, its safe to infer that new scarecrow Hamza is also a moderate. And yet hes more dangerous than vanished fake Caliph Abu Baqr al-Baghdadi. Talk about a masterful example of culture jamming. Show Me The Big Picture A hefty case can be made that the Empire of Chaos currently has no allies; its essentially surrounded by an assortment of vassals, puppets and comprador 5thcolumnist elites professing varied degrees of sometimes reluctant obedience. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The Trump administrations foreign policy may be easily deconstructed as a crossover between The Sopranos and late-night comedy as in the whole episode of designating State Department/CIA regime change, lab experiment Random Dude as President of Venezuela. Legendary cultural critic Walter Benjamin would have called it the aestheticization of politics, (turning politics into art), as he did about the Nazis, but this time its the Looney Tunes version. To add to the conceptual confusion, despite countless an offer you cant refuse antics unleashed by psychopaths of the John Bolton and Mike Pompeo variety, theres this startling nugget. Former Iranian diplomat Amir Moussavi has revealed that Trump himself demanded to visit Tehran, and was duly rebuffed. Two European states, two Arab countries and one Southeast Asian state were mediating a series of messages relayed by Trump and his son-in-law Jared of Arabia Kushner, according to Moussavi. Is there a method to this madness? An attempt at a Grand Narrative would go something like this: ISIS/Daesh may have been sidelined for now; they are not useful anymore, so the U.S. must fight the larger evil: Tehran. GWOT has been revived, and though Hamza bin Laden has been designated the new Caliph, GWOT has shifted to Iran. When we mix this with the recent India-Pakistan scuffle, a wider message emerges. There was absolutely no interest by Prime Minister Imran Kahn, the Pakistani Army and the Pakistani intelligence, ISI, to launch an attack on India in Kashmir. Pakistan was about to run out of money and about to be bolstered by the U.S., via Saudi Arabia with $20 billion and an IMF loan. At the same time, there were two almost simultaneous terrorist attacks launched from Pakistan against Iran and against India in mid-February. Theres no smoking gun yet, but these attacks may have been manipulated by a foreign intelligence agency. The Cui Bono riddle is which state would profit immensely from a war between Pakistan and Iran and/or a war between Pakistan and India. The bottom line: hiding in the shadow of plausible deniability according to which what we understand as reality is nothing but pure perception the Empire of Chaos will resort to the chaos of no-holds-barred hybrid war to avoid losing the Eurasian heartland. Show Me How Many Hybrid Plans You Got What applies to the heartland of course also applies to the backyard. The case of Venezuela shows that the all options on the table scenario has been de facto aborted by Russia, outlined in an astonishing briefing by Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and then subsequently detailed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj at a crucial RIC (part of BRICS) summit in China,Lavrov said, Russia keeps a close eye on brazen US attempts to create an artificial pretext for a military intervention in Venezuela The actual implementation of these threats is pulling in military equipment and training [US] Special Forces. Lavrov explained how Washington was engaged in acquiring mortars and portable air defense systems in an East European country, and mov(ing) them closer to Venezuela by an airline of a regime that is rather absolutely obedient to Washington in the post-Soviet space. The U.S. attempt at regime change in Venezuela has been so far unsuccessful in several ways. Plan A a classic color revolution -has miserably failed, in part because of a lack of decent local intelligence. Plan B was a soft version of humanitarian imperialism, with a resuscitation of the nefarious, Libya-tested responsibility to protect (R2P); it also failed, especially when the American tale that the Venezuelan government burnt humanitarian aid trucks at the border with Colombia was a lie, exposed by The New York Times, no less. Plan C was a classic Hybrid War technique: a cyberattack, replete with a revival of Nitro Zeus, which shut down 80 percent of Venezuelas electricity. That plan had already been exposed by WikiLeaks, via a 2010 memo by a U.S.-funded, Belgrade-based color revolution scam that helped train self-proclaimed President Random Dude, when he was just known as Juan Guaido. The leaked memo said that attacking the Venezuelan power grid would be a watershed event that would likely have the impact of galvanizing public unrest in a way that no opposition group could ever hope to generate. But even that was not enough. That leaves Plan D which is essentially to try to starve the Venezuelan population to death via viciously lethal additional sanctions. Sanctioned Syria and sanctioned Iran didnt collapse. Even boasting myriad comprador elites aggregated in the Lima group, exceptionalists may have to come to grips with the fact that deploying the Monroe doctrine essentially to contain Chinas influence in the young 21stcentury is no cakewalk. Plan Efor extremewould be U.S. military action, which Bolton wont take off the table. Show Me the Way to the Next War Game So where do all these myriad weaponizations of chaos theory leave us? Nowhere, if they dont follow the money. Local comprador elites must be lavishly rewarded, otherwise youre stuck in hybrid swamp territory. That was the case in Brazil and thats why the most sophisticated hybrid war case history so far has been a success. In 2013, Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks revealed how the NSA was spying on Brazilian energy giant Petrobras and the Dilma Rousseff government beginning in 2010. Afterwards, a complex, rolling judicial-business-political-financial-media coup ended up reaching its two main objectives; in 2016, with the impeachment of Rousseff, and in 2018, with Lula thrown in jail. Now comes arguably the juiciest piece of the puzzle. Petrobras was supposed to pay $853 million to the U.S. Department of Justice for not going to trial for crimes it was being accused of in America. But then a dodgy deal was struck according to which the fine will be transferred to a Brazilian fund as long as Petrobras commits to relay confidential information about its businesses to the United States government. Hybrid war against BRICS member Brazil worked like a charm, but trying it against nuclear superpower Russia is a completely different ball game. U.S. analysts, in another case of culture jamming, even accuse Russia itself of deploying hybrid war a concept actually invented in the U.S. within a counter-terrorism context; applied during the occupation of Iraq and later metastasized across the color revolution spectrum; and featuring, among others, in an article co-authored by former Pentagon head James Mad Dog Mattis in 2005 when he was a mere lieutenant general. At a recent conference about Russias military strategy, Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov stressed that the Russian armed forces must increase both their classic and asymmetrical potential. In the U.S. this is interpreted as subversion/propaganda hybrid war techniques as applied in Ukraine and in the largely debunked Russia-gate. Instead, Russian strategists refer to these techniques as complex approach and new generation war. Santa Monicas RAND Corporation still sticks to good ol hot war scenarios. They have been holding Red on Blue war games simulations since 1952 modeling how the proverbial existential threats could use asymmetric strategies. The latest Red on Blue was not exactly swell. RAND analyst David Ochmanek famously said that with Blue representing the current U.S. military potential and Red representing Russia-China in a conventional war, Blue gets its ass handed to it. None of this will convince Empire of Chaos functionary Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who recently told a Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon will continue to refuse a no first use nuclear strategy. Aspiring Dr. Strangeloves actually believe the U.S. can start a nuclear war and get away with it. Talk about the Age of Hybrid Stupidity going out with a bang. Pepe Escobar, a veteran Brazilian journalist, is the correspondent-at-large for Hong Kong-based Asia Times . His latest book is 2030. Follow him on Facebook . Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy 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. - SK Innovation will break ground for a LiBS plant in Wojewodztwo Slaskie of Poland in the third quarter of 2019 and begin mass production in the third quarter of 2021. - When completed, the plant will produce 340 million square meters of LiBS per annum. - SK Innovation will make tangible outcome by providing LiBS products to customers in Europe rapidly. WOJEWODZTWO SLASKIE, Poland and SEOUL, South Korea, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Innovation will establish a global production base to become a leader in the separator market, the core material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. On 27th of March, SK Innovation announced that it will build a new production plant for Lithium-ion Battery Separator (LiBS) and Ceramic Coated Separator (CCS) in Wojewodztwo Slaskie, Poland. SK Innovation, a leading energy and chemical company in Korea, is engaged in various fields from oil refining, chemicals, lubricants, petroleum development to EV batteries and battery separators. SK Innovation became the world's third company to succeed in developing Wet-Type LiBS in 2004. SK Innovation plans to invest EUR 335 million to build four LiBS production units and three CCS production units in the 270,000 sqm site located in Wojewodztwo Slaskie. The plant will break ground in the third quarter of this year and begin mass production in the third quarter of 2021. The annual capacity of the plant is estimated to be 340 million square meters of LiBS and 130 million square meters of CCS. SK Innovation recently announced a series of plans to build plants in other countries including China and Poland. Currently it produces 360 million square meters of LiBS per year in Jeungpyeong, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea, and the completion of overseas plants in China and Poland will increase SK Innovations' production capacity to 1.2 billion square meters per year. SK Innovation recently established 'SK hi-tech battery materials Poland Sp. z o.o.', a wholly owned limited company. It is expected that SK Innovation will be able to rapidly provide separator products to major customers in the European market when the plant in Poland is completed. In addition, SK Innovation believes that it will make tangible results in Europe where global EV original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and EV battery providers are competing fiercely with each other. SOURCE SK Innovation C0aracas, March 31 : Venezuela's National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido, acknowledged as country's acting President by more than 50 nations, has said that he is ready to invoke the article of the Constitution that allows him to call international missions to the country for the cooperation they can provide. "When we spoke about Article 187 and we said, of course we're going to invoke it, now, as part of that cooperation because it indicates what our allies can and cannot do, not what we can do," Efe news quoted Guaido as saying to a group of supporters in Miranda state on Saturday. "We're going to insist on that cooperation," he said. Some sectors of the opposition over the past few days have called for the application of Article 187.11 of the Constitution that enables the use of "Venezuelan military missions abroad or foreign missions in this country." The Venezuelan opposition says the country is plunged in a complex humanitarian crisis and has asked for donations from the international community to ease the emergency. Some of that aid is being stored on Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia, but the attempt to bring it into the country last Feb. 23 ended with clashes of the opposition with the police and armed forces when the Nicolas Maduro government refused to allow the humanitarian aid to be brought across the border. Guaido, who this Saturday is on a tour of a number of events, again called on Venezuelans to "organize a disturbance" every time there are cuts in the electric service and the water supply, after a week of constant blackouts nationwide. "We must organize a disturbance every time we need to demand our rights, enough of this fooling around," he said. He also called for people to come together to express their discontent with the Nicolas Maduro government, which he again blamed for the problems with the power supply and with the country's entire economy, and said the movement he leads is far from having a power outage. "Some people go around saying that the movement has already shut down, don't laugh. The only thing that has shut down is a regime that left the streets all over the country in darkness," he said. Guaido said that nationwide there are "hundreds of places where people are demanding their rights," an allusion to small gatherings of the opposition in different places coordinating their actions. "We're not asking for patience here, just the opposite, we're asking for organisation and action right now," he said. The demonstrations by opposition groups come simultaneously with a Chavista march through Caracas. Venezuela is going through an immense political crisis that only got worse when Maduro was sworn in last January to a new term in office, which is not accepted by the opposition and much of the international community. In response, Guaido proclaimed himself interim President. Mumbai, March 31 : Actor Rajkummar Rao is happy that he is able to entertain audiences globally. The actor is honoured to win 'Performer of the Year' award at the Filmfare Middle East Awards 2019 ceremony held in Oman. "It's a great honour to receive this award. I also feel gratified in a way to know that my films not only entertain audiences in India but globally," Rajkummar said in a statement. "I've had very distinguished films in 2018 and this win certifies that the audiences are also open to experimentation and watching something new and interesting," he added. The "Stree" actor is looking forward to this year's anticipated films, including "Mental Hai Kya", "Turram Khan", "Imli" and "Made In China". Caracas, March 31 : Thousands of politically divided Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas to protest the power outages, with the opposition accusing the government for the blackouts and the Chavistas blaming imperialism and opposition leaders. The demonstrations went off peacefully on Saturday until police dispersed a couple of anti-government demonstrations with tear gas in downtown Caracas, where dozens of citizens were demanding the restoration of the electric service, cut off since Friday in several parts of the country, Efe news reported. Critics of the Nicolas Maduro government organised dozens of protests after they were called to do so by opposition leader Juan Guaido, acknowledged as interim president of Venezuela by some 60 countries, as a way to denounce the electricity cuts that since March 7 have paralyzed the country for some 10 days. Guaido, speaker of the National Assembly legislature, attended three of those activities on the outskirts of Caracas, and took advantage of those gatherings to call on Venezuelans to "organise a disturbance" every time there are cuts in the electric service and the water supply, after a week of constant blackouts nationwide. "We must organise a disturbance every time we need to demand our rights, enough of this fooling around," he said. He also called for people to come together to express their discontent with the Nicolas Maduro government, which he again blamed for the power supply problems and the desperate situation of the country's entire economy, and said the movement he leads is far from having a power outage. "Some people go around saying that our movement has already shut down, don't laugh. The only thing that has shut down is a regime that has left the streets all over the country in darkness," said the politician, who has promised to work to end what he believes is Maduro's usurpation of the presidency. Guaido said that there are "hundreds of places where people are demanding their rights," nationwide. "We're not asking for patience here, just the opposite, we're asking for organisation and action right now," he said. The demonstrations by opposition groups came simultaneously with a Chavista march through the streets of Caracas in which thousands took part. Maduro's followers marched from downtown and the west side of the capital wearing the usual red colour of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution in a festive atmosphere that included dancing and the distribution of drinking water in some cases. The government called for demonstrations to express support for President Maduro and to condemn the sabotage of the electric system that it blames on the opposition and the US government. Maduro did not attend the principal event that was led by Chavista leaders (supporters of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez) and was closed by the head of the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, considered the No 2 of Chavismo, and who boasted that the opposition has been unable to oust the government from power. "Today more than ever we must be on the alert, today more than ever we must be united as brothers," Cabello said. The leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) asked the Chavistas to look for those who are "confused." "Let's look for the people who are confused, for those who go around saying that it's easier to talk with people on the right...and that the best thing would be to hold elections to restore calm. Well, elections were held here on May 20 and Nicolas Maduro won," he said. Shortly before saying that, Cabello himself told reporters that "with folks of the opposition there are meetings every day. Of course! Because not all sectors of the opposition are crazy and a lot of them, even in their craziness, are divided from those same groups, and they also say they'd like to talk." Cabello also addressed the blackouts and said that those who are behind them are enemies of the people. "Whoever calls for the people to be killed, whoever calls for people to be massacred, whoever orders electricity cuts...in a time of conflict, that individual is the enemy of the people, and the people know what they have to do," he said. Jammu, March 31 : Five people were killed and two others injured on Sunday in a road accident in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, police said. A vehicle en route to Darhal town from Rajouri went out of the driver's control and plunged into a gorge at Dhandkote. "Five people were killed on the spot. The injured have been shifted to the Government Medical College in Jammu for treatment," the police added. Washington, March 31 : Authorities in Texas have released a number of undocumented immigrants from an overcrowded border processing centre, the media reported. With the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility there well over capacity, the city of Brownsville is preparing to handle thousands of migrants moving through the area before starting the trek to other destinations, CNN reported. The Border Protection facility, according to a tweet from the agency, is at 174 per cent capacity with 5,355 people in custody. Brownsville City Manager Noel Bernal said on Saturday that initially only around 50 people were being dropped off per day. It has averaged around 300 in the past few days with more expected to be released in coming days. The CBP has been saying for months that "the immigration system is broken and that they are at critical capacity levels across the southwest border. "CBP's facilities and manpower cannot support this dramatic increase in apprehensions of family units and unaccompanied children". About 1,000 undocumented immigrants are being apprehended each day in the Rio Grande Valley sector, a customs spokesperson said. CBP has released undocumented immigrants into the area before, under former President Barack Obama administration, but the situation was more coordinated then, Bernal said. Texas shelters along the border have scrambled to house migrants, CNN said. Last week, the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley began releasing people directly from its custody with a notice to appear in court -- something that had not been done since 1998, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. New Delhi, March 31 : If you think most hackers are school dropouts and work from dark, dingy garages with half-eaten pizza slices at their workstations, you are probably right. Unless one school dropout decides to embrace ethical hacking and begins his journey to save the film industry from bad actors. Meet Manan Shah, a 25-year-old founder and CEO of Mumbai-based Avalance Global Solutions whose Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based anti-piracy solutions have saved millions for producers of films like "Aiyaary", "Gujjubhai Most Wanted", "Helicopter Eela", "LoveYatri", "Namastey England" and "The Accidental Prime Minister', among others. Established in 2016, Avalance has a branch in New Jersey in the US. "Our clientele includes 95 per cent of Bollywood production houses, television channels, streaming apps like Netflix, South American production houses and European producers and distribution companies across the globe," Shah told IANS. He said that he has a proven track record of reaching more than 95 per cent of the infringed content on the online space. "Our process not only limits itself to detection and eradication of infringements but also incorporates traffic diversion and monetization capabilities for the content," he added. "Generally, we have fixed fee structure of Rs 5 lakh for a medium and small budget film. We further subsidise this to Rs 4 lakh for a window of three months for two films from the date of release," informed Shah. This way, Shah added, you can sell all other rights (digital/OTT/overseas/satellite) for a much better price as you will have an edge to negotiate since the content is fully protected on the online space. Shah and his team have developed AI-based solutions to control the online piracy of movies on Google-owned YouTube and various other online platforms. The company offers Anti-Piracy as a Service (APaaS) and Anti-Counterfeiting as a Service (AcaaS) solutions. The solutions have the capability to identify infringing content across Internet as well as most of the popular mobile application stores. "Our systems can search for and detect torrents, streaming media as well as downloadable content alike. "Additionally, it also keeps a track of the chain of infringing pages that enable the user to reach pirated content, thus, helping us reduce end-user access to pirated content," Shah elaborated. The young entrepreneur who in 2009 attended a seminar in Vadodara on ethical hacking and firmed up his mind to become an ethical hacker, now wants to do more - strengthen India's cyber security. Manan and his expertise in cyber forensics has helped Gujarat and Rajasthan police, Ministry of Defence and CBI Gandhinagar in safeguarding their platform against cyber attacks. "We have also helped Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter fix vulnerabilities via their bug bounty programmes," said Shah. New Delhi/Mumbai, March 31 : Being promoted as the 'Kumbh Mela' of elections, international and national tourism firms are hoping to cash-in on the world's largest polling exercise -- the Indian General Elections 2019 -- to give a boost to their businesses. Accordingly, everyone from tour operators, online sales agents and niche guide-touring firms are promoting the electoral process as a theme-based holiday package. "I think the process in itself is amazing. Just the sheer number of people voting. We have customers travelling in India at the moment and they have been following the polls," Nicholas Wood, Director of the London-based firm Political Tours told IANS. "They are interested how Prime Minister Modi has managed to maintain his popularity despite blemishes to his record - notably demonetisation and the lack of significant job creation." Interestingly, its not just the average adventure seeker but students, teachers, heritage, history and even art lovers who are flocking to destinations like Varanasi, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Delhi and Nagpur to witness the mega event. "Election tourism is new a phenomenon which is fast gaining popularity. It is being marketed as an additional attraction to those who are already planning a trip or have made their bookings for holidays in India," said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com. "As it is a major world event and international attention is focused on it, tourists have shown interest in extending their stay by adding major election battleground states and cities like Varanasi and Gujarat in their itinerary." Ahmedabad-based firm Election Tourism India, which started to sell niche political tour packages during the Gujarat assembly polls in 2012, is expecting to attract around 10,000 foreigners for the elections. "The Indian election holds everything of their interest, right from the election campaign till the announcement of the code of conduct," Manish Sharma, Chairman, Akshar Travels and Election Tourism India told IANS. "This year we have almost 1,600 confirmed bookings and are targeting approximately 10,000 tourists from across the world. The packages are designed to answer all the curiosity and amusement of the visitors regarding the world's largest democracy, its electoral procedure." The package which is spread across seven days and six nights with a cost of $500 (Rs 35,000) without airfare, will take tourists to political rallies and show them local attractions at the same time. Dipak Deva, Managing Director, TCI (Travel Corporation India) said: "If a client wants to see something of it while he or she is here, we certainly take them to a rally and explain the background and the processes. I don't think foreign tourists are interested in travelling specially for witnessing elections in India." The first phase of the 2019 general elections will be held on April 11. Ninety-one Lok Sabha constituencies from 20 states will vote on that day. The elections will be held over seven phases from April 11 to May 19, and the results will be declared on May 23. (Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in) Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston America has shown its approval of territorial theft By Robert Fisk March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Is there any other country on Earth with which America would dare collude on such a scale? Forget the special relationship with the crackpots in Britain, or the New World coming to the rescue of the Old World in the Second World War. Theres only one special relationship that matters right now and we all know what that is. Having given its blessing to all Jerusalem as Israeli property and having now handed Golan to Israel as a possession for to annex means to take possession, does it not? Donald Trump has undermined the entire foundation of land for peace enshrined in Security Council Resolution 242. And Israel is happy. A gift for Benjamin Netanyahus re-election, we are told. True, the Middle East peace process died years ago if it ever existed, or was meant to work but Trumps ostentatious signature on Israels annexation of Golan on Monday tore up the documents, the paragraphs, the very basis for the two-state Israeli-Palestinian settlement which might have ended the longest military occupation of our generation. And the United States has now given its open, public and wholehearted support to Israels side in the worlds last colonial war. And if Golan is now part of Israel because of the threat of Iran, then southern Lebanon can become part of Israel. Isnt Hezbollah also an Iranian threat? And how quickly will we see the West Bank annexed by Israel with the approval of the United States? Notice two things about the above paragraphs. Firstly, the number of times I have been forced to use quotation marks around verbs and nouns and adjectives which would normally never need them. And secondly, how one word Syria simply did not occur. Syrias loss of Golan in 1967 is so long ago and has become so normalised that in a perverse way, its real ownership had ceased to exist; Trumps recognition of Israels own annexation unrecognised anywhere else in the world merely accepted what wed all secretly gone along with. That the theft of Syrias land was now perfectly legal. Or legal. It was highly instructive that when the BBC website chose to cover the story about Trumps Golan mischief, it ran a story headlined What it all means but which did not mention Syria until the fifth paragraph. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The media, in its grovelling, cowardly, craven obeisance to Israel and its absolute fear of being cast into the accusatory hell of antisemitism has a lot to answer for. When Colin Powell told the US State Department to instruct its embassies to call the West Bank disputed rather than occupied, the American press and television almost at once switched nomenclature. And so when the State Department suddenly referred to Golan a few weeks ago as Israeli-controlled rather than Israeli-occupied, we all knew what was coming. Thank heavens, as I always say, for those brave Israeli journalists and preciously few activists and politicians who speak out against these insanities. This verbal transition, however, is neither subtle nor surprising given Americas utter surrender to all things Israeli but it is very sinister for the people of the Middle East. I was very struck by something Netanyahu said in response to Trumps signature on that outrageous Golan document: he said that the Jewish peoples roots in the Golan go back thousands of years. True. But I recalled at once that in 1982, within weeks of Israels invasion of Lebanon, Israeli troops and civil affairs officers travelled around the Shia Muslim and Christian villages of the south of Lebanon, handing out questionnaires to the Arabs. I saw them do this. The documents were long and complicated. Were there any Jewish archaeological remains on their lands, the Lebanese were asked? Had any of their older buildings any signs of Jewish habitation in previous decades or centuries? Did any hills or villages have Hebrew names? They were especially interested in the area within the triangle of Tyre, Sidon and Qana. Of course, there were many Jewish remains. Even in the hill villages of the Druze Chouf mountains, I have found the indent of the mezuzah on stone door frames, proving that their ancient owners followed the instructions of the Book of Deuteronomy. The Israelis noted these marks; indeed, some of the inhabitants pointed them out to the initially friendly Israeli soldiers. But of course, it set a precedent. What if after the next Lebanon war Israel decides that rather than occupy southern Lebanon, it will annex the region because the Jewish peoples roots in the region go back thousands of years. Yes, I know that Israel would have to defeat Hezbollah to do this an unlikely event since Hezbollah would more likely be heading across the Lebanese border into Israel. But in the 18 years in which it occupied almost all of southern Lebanon, the media never referred to it as Israeli-occupied. It was always called Israeli-controlled and the vast Israeli occupation zone was never called by this name. Instead, it was always referred to as Israels security zone. We journos had already laid the semantic groundwork for the annexation which hasnt happened yet. But this is not a story about Lebanon any more than it is about Trump himself. Indeed, watching the tomfoolery in the mother of parliaments, I find it ever more embarrassing to write about the insanity of the Trump White House. No, this is about the very act of international annexation and the wests willingness to go along with land theft unless, of course, Putin and Russia are involved. And it is about the fact let us not haggle like skinflints over definitions that the United States, in its foreign policy in the Middle East, is in hock to Israel. As many 20 years ago, I gathered together dozens of US and Israeli government policy statements on the region, jumbled them up and asked a colleague to arrange them back in their original order. Readers might try the same test: it was and is an impossible task. Im tired of the utterly false arguments about antisemitism in the United States. The country contains many anti-Jewish, anti-Arab, anti-black racists without de-semanticising the word antisemitism by using it against all of Israels critics. It doesnt need new Arab-origin legislators, with their dodgy, unpleasantly revealing remarks and their sloppy grasp of history, to understand that Americans will not and dare not complain about the dual loyalties of their countrymen and countrywomen. Just look at the US congress when Netanyahu addresses it. The representatives of the United States stand up and applaud and sit down and again stand up and applaud and sit down 29 times in 2011 and 39 times in 2015. I always watch this act of US legislative grovelling with a smile, for it reminds me of the ovations which Saddam Hussein would always receive from his beloved people and which Bashar al-Assad always received and still receives from his loyal subjects. I can well see why Middle East leaders spot parallels between the Arab world and America. And I could well understand why congress stands to attention so many times on cue when Trumps vice president, Mike Pence, says, as he did on Monday, that we stand with Israel because her cause is our cause, her values are our values, and her fight is our fight. Really? Does the United States, which fought a colonial war against the British, really stand with Israels colonial cause its colonial expansion and land thievery in the West Bank? Do Americans really stand with Israel in its constant, brutal bombardments of Palestinians and of Lebanon and tolerate and approve those war crimes which all but the Americans acknowledge to be Israels responsibility. And if they do, why did Americans bother to go to war with Saddam? Why do we bomb Syria? Theres no point in tracing the putrid history of annexation. Of the US annexation of Hawaii because it needed a naval port in the Pacific (as the Japanese noted) and its annexation of most of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. Im not even mentioning Putin and Crimea. Nor do we surely need to drag ourselves through the annexations perpetrated by the little corporal with the moustache Jacinda Ardern-like, I shall not mention his name who annexed the Sudetenland and all of Austria, the latter event accompanied by a Times editorial comparing it favourably with the 300-year-old union of Scotland and England. No, Im not comparing annexations. The Israelis are not Nazis and the Americans are not Russians and the Russians are not Israelis. But there are parallels which countries themselves draw when they choose to annex or sanctify annexations of other peoples land. All of which can be based and in most cases were based on both ethnic roots and military necessity. Today, we must learn again that old phrase facts on the ground. Israel annexed Jerusalem and Golan in 1980 and 1981 all the world (and a lot of Israelis) condemned this at the time but now Trump has snapped the land for peace equation in half. Washington has given its imprimatur to illegal land acquisition, to territorial theft. And why not when congress is in thrall to Israel? Yet why get worked up about this? By recognising Israels annexation of Golan, Trump merely recognised that Israel has annexed America. This article was originally published by " The Independent " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== America's Menacing Defiance of International Justice Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy New Delhi, March 31 : The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) is in a bad shape, with about 48 per cent of the posts in the fire fighting staff lying vacant, including over 50 per cent of fireman's posts. According to data accessed by IANS through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the total sanctioned posts of the Fire Fighting Staff is 3,312, out of that 1,583 posts are vacant. "Of the five sanctioned post for Chief Fire Officer, three are vacant. The Department is functioning with only four Divisional Officers, in place of nine sanctioned," the RTI reply said. While the fireman or fire operator is considered a key part of the department, against the sanctioned 2,367 posts for fireman, only 1,114 are filled. "A total of 1,253 posts of Fireman against the sanctioned 2,367 are vacant," it said. The situation is no better for the communication staff -- against the sanctioned post of 133, 80 posts are vacant. "A total of 65 posts for Radio Telephone Operator are vacant against the sanctioned 100. No person is assigned for the post of Communication Officer, Wireless Officer, Radio Operator, against the sanctioned two, one and six posts respectively," the RTI statement said. While the administrative control of Delhi Fire Service is with the Delhi government, as per its website, the recruiting agencies for the Department are the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB), the RTI said. "The job of a fireman is to handle the equipment assigned to them. The government is also aware of these vacancies... The training for about 500 firemen is underway and expected to be over by June," a senior DFS official told IANS. Explaining the impact of vacancies on the functioning, he said: "The only issue we face is that we have to send more vehicles to a particular place. There are ideally six persons on one vehicle. We now operate with four. "So, to cope with the situation, we have to send more vehicles from different locations across the city as the available man force is distributed across the 61 fire stations in Delhi." The official said that some fire vehicles and staff were kept as a back-up option at every fire station. "We are not seeking help from other states. We are doing our best with the available resources. The vacancies may not be affecting our functioning or performance but do have an impact on the economy as more diesel is being used with more vehicles rushing to a spot." Delhi has witnessed a number of fire incidents this year, including a blaze in Karol Bagh that killed 17 people. "The number of calls will go up in summer. In May last year, the Department received up to 150 calls a day. It is the most troubling month in Delhi," the official said. The DFS came into existence in 1942 after the amalgamation of two fire stations, which were separately functioning under the control of Delhi Municipal Committee and New Delhi Municipal Council. After World War II, the DFS had in all four stations with 14 appliances and a staff of 186, according to the official website of the DFS. (Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in) New Delhi, March 31 : From recommending what you need to buy on a shopping site to who you should be friends with on a social network, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has established itself as a guiding force in our lives. The growing importance of this technology, however, has also made people aware of the biases that have become part of it, increasing the pressure on technology companies to make amends. Google, for example has now established an external advisory council to help the tech giant develop AI technology in an ethical and responsible way. E-commerce giant Amazon this month announced that it was working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to commit up to $10 million each in research grants over the next three years focused on fairness in AI. "We believe we must work closely with academic researchers to develop innovative solutions that address issues of fairness, transparency, and accountability and to ensure that biases in data don't get embedded in the systems we create," Prem Natarajan, Vice President of Natural Understanding in the Alexa AI group at Amazon, wrote in a blog post. Biased automation tools could push disadvantaged communities further to the margins. Imagine, for example, an AI recruitment tool that considers women to be less intelligent. If a job portal employs such a tool, it is more likely to recommend males to an organisation planning to hire new people. What about the AI assistants that we have on our devices? If Google Assistant, Siri, or for that matter Alexa, talks to us in a female voice, it could make our kids believe that women - not men -- are supposed to be assistants. According to a report in the investigative journalism website ProPublica, one risk assessment tool commonly used in US court rooms was found recommending lighter punishment for white people than black people. Making AI unbiased has therefore become essential for human freedom and for ensuring equal opportunities for all and fighting discrimination. But why do AI tools show bias and reflect the prejudices which are already existing in our society? This is partly because the community that builds AI does not adequately reflect the diversity in the world. According to a 2018 World Economic Forum Report, only 22 per cent of AI professionals globally are female. "If AI systems are built only by one representative group such as all male, all Asian or all Caucasian; then they are more likely to create biased results," Mythreyee Ganapathy, Director, Program Management, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft, told IANS. "Data sets that will be used to train AI models need to be assembled by a diverse group of data engineers. A simple example is data sets that are used to train speech AI models which focus primarily on adult speech samples unintentionally exclude children and hence the models are unable to recognise children's voices," she pointed out. Making AI unbaised may not ultimately make the world fair for all, and yet it could be an important step towards fighting prejudices and creating equal opportunities. Jammu, March 31 : The battle lines are clearly drawn between archrivals Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress for the prestigious Jammu Lok Sabha seat from where BJP's Jugal Kishore Sharma is seeking re-election. In the 2014 general elections, Sharma defeated his Congress rival Madan Lal Sharma by a huge margin of 257,280 votes. This time Sharma is being challenged by senior Congress leader and former state Minister Raman Bhalla. To brighten the Congress party's chances, both the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have not fielded any candidate from Jammu. While the NC did so after working out a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, the PDP said its decision to not field any candidate from Jammu was aimed at consolidating the secular vote against the BJP. The BJP's poll campaign was kicked off on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed a huge rally in Akhnoor in Jammu district. Modi asked the voters whether they supported a government that stood by the country's "sapoots" (good sons, alluding to security forces) or those who were demanding "saboot' (proof) for India's air strikes in Balakot. The Prime Minister also stressed on India's resolve to end cross-border shelling and infiltration to bring relief to the lives of thousands of people living close to the International Border (IB) and the line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu division. While the BJP's daily poll campaign here revolves entirely around Modi's image as a strong Prime Minister, the Congress is focusing on the alleged failures of the major decisions taken by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, including demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), mushrooming of mob lynchings and the sense of insecurity among the minorities. Former Chief Minister and NC President Farooq Abdullah has been campaigning for the Congress candidate in both the Hindu and Muslim dominated areas of the Jammu constituency. Abdullah has said that the fight here was between the secular forces and those who wanted to change the very fabric of the country and its Constitution. The Jammu constituency is spread over four districts -- Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch -- with 20 voting segments. The segments are: Samba, Vijaypur, Nagrota, Gandhinagar, Jammu East, Jammu West, Bishnah, R.S. Pura, Suchetgarh, Marh, Raipur Domana, Akhnoor, Chhamb, Nowshera, Darhal, Rajouri, Kalakot, Surankote, Mendhar and Poonch-Haveli. The voting segments of Rajouri, Darhal, Mendhar, Kalakot, Surankote and Poonch-Haveli have sizable Muslim voters who are likely to rally behind the Congress candidate, mainly because of the support extended to him by the NC and the PDP. In 2014, the Muslim vote in these segments, as well as in other sections, got divided between the NC, the PDP and the Congress, thus giving a clear edge to the BJP. The other problem the BJP may face here is the candidature of rebel BJP leader Choudhary Lal Singh, who is contesting the elections after forming his own breakaway group known as the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan. Lal Singh has pockets of influence in both Samba and Jammu districts. There are 21 other candidates in the fray, including Professor Bhim Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), Badrinath of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Javid Ahmad of the All India Forward Block and 18 independents. The Jammu constituency will go to the polls in the first phase on April 11, when 10,70,014 voters will exercise their franchise at 1,380 polling booths. The voting hours have been fixed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in) New Delhi, March 31 : Courts have come to the rescue of lakhs of investors who face the prospect of losing their entire retirement savings parked in the toxic IL&FS bonds by their respective pension and provident fund trusts. Sources said that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) hearing petitions with respect to IL&FS resolution, has now asked the new management of the insolvent company to provide it details of PF and pension funds investment in individual "amber" entities. The move, legal experts said, should be seen as the court's efforts to ensure that investments by pension and PF trusts is not lost in any resolution plan for IL&FS and that these get priority even when repayment start for "amber" grouped entities where firms are expected to meet only operational payment obligations. Thousands of crores of money of more than 15 lakh employees of both public and private sector companies have exposure to IL&FS bonds. As these investments were classified as unsecured debt, funds feared that all money would be lost if all market-related risks fell on them. Under the resolution plan, the government has categorised IL&FS group companies into green, amber and red categories based on their financial position. Firms classified as "green" would continue to meet their payment obligations, while "amber" category firms can meet only operational payment obligations to senior secured financial creditors. Those under the "red" category are the entities which cannot meet their payment obligations at all. At the previous hearing on March 19, IL&FS had informed NCLAT that out of its 169 domestic companies, 50 entities (earlier 21) have been classified as green, while 13 (earlier 10) have been classified as amber and 80 as red. The total outstanding debt of the 13 "amber" companies is Rs 16,373 crore. As green group companies are meeting all their payment obligations, the fear of loss of investment in these entities is negligible. But PF and Pension funds feared that all their money would be lost in "amber" entities. The NCLAT has sought details of all financial creditors having who have raised money from PF and Pension funds and have exposure in amber entities. This will ensure that once asset-liability profiling of these group of companies is complete and the government and the new IL&FS management comes up with a repayment or resolution plan, dues to retirement funds is settled in full. As part of the process to bring amber entities also under the repayment cycle, NCLAT on Friday heard the matter with respect of four such companies: Hazaribagh-Ranchi Expressway Ltd, Jharkhand Road Project Implementation Co., Moradabad-Bareily Expressway Ltd and West Gujarat Expressway Ltd. The appellate authority asked the government and IL&FS to submit asset liabilities of each of the four entities and also detail name and payment due date for each financial and operational creditor. NCLAT will take up the matter with respect to these four amber entities on April 8. For the remaining nine amber entities, the NCLAT has asked that a similar status be prepared and kept ready for taking up their matter subsequently. More than 50 retirement funds covering over 15 lakh employees have exposure to IL&FS. PF trusts of state electricity boards, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and banks are among them. The provident and pension fund trusts have also filed intervening applications in NCLAT stating that they stand to lose all the money since the bonds are under unsecured debt. IL&FS is currently under resolution process at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The process will decide under Section 53 of the IBC the order of priority for distribution of proceeds of the process. (Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in) Bengaluru, March 31 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a tough battle in Karnataka's first phase of polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats on April 18, as the ruling allies Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) have fielded joint candidates to prevent their bankable votes from splitting at the hustings. "Though the BJP had won 6 of the 14 seats in the 2014 general elections in triangular contests, the going will be tough for it this time, as it faces our joint candidates with higher vote share prospects," a Congress official told IANS. Of the remaining eight seats, the Congress had won six and JD(S) two in the 2014 polls. Of the 28 seats in the state, BJP won 17, Congress 9 and JD(S) 2 in triangular contests on April 17, 2014, as the polling was held in a single phase then. In a pre-poll tie-up, the Congress is contesting 10 seats and JD(S) four, while the BJP is contesting 13 seats in the first phase, as it is supporting multilingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent, in Mandya, about 100 km southwest of Bengaluru, a JD(S) stronghold. The 14 constituencies in the first phase are: Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga (SC), Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar (SC), Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkaballapur and Kolar (SC). The JD(S) is in the fray in Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur and Udupi-Chikamagalur, with Congress in the remaining 10 seats, including 4 in the Bengaluru region. "As our combined vote share was 51.8 per cent against 43 per cent of the BJP in the 2014 general elections and 56.3 per cent against 36.2 per cent of the BJP in the 2018 assembly elections, our prospects of winning more seats jointly is brighter than that of BJP," claimed Congress official Ravi Gowda. The Congress has fielded 5 of the 6 outgoing lawmakers from their respective seats, barring Tumkur, which it gifted to the JD(S) as part of seat-sharing. The BJP too fielded 5 of the 6 outgoing lawmakers from their respective seats and fielded Tejasvi Surya from Bangalore South, as its six-time winner and Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar died in November, 2018. The JD(S) has fielded its supremo H.D Deve Gowda from Tumkur, his elder grandson Prajwal Revanna from Hassan and another grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, from Mandya and Pramod Madhavaraj, a former Congress minister, from Udupi-Chikamagalur. Deve Gowda opted for Tumkur to enable Prajwal to contest from Hassan which he has won for a record six times since 1991. "As joint candidates, our party JD(S) is in a strong position to retain Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur and give a tough fight to BJP in Udupi-Chikamagalur where the Congress has a good presence," JD(S) official Ramesh Babu told IANS. Similarly, the Congress hopes to retain Bangalore Rural, Chamarajnagar, Chitradurga, Chikaballapur and Kolar with the consolidation of votes of the secular allies from the dominant Vokkaliga community, backward classes, Scheduled Castes and minorities. The BJP, however, is upbeat on not only retaining the six seats it had won in 2014, but also wrest Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur and Bangalore Rural from the Congress, riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the "achievements" of its NDA government at the Centre in the past 5 years. "Just as we bounced back in 2014 Lok Sabha elections after losing the 2013 assembly elections, we are confident of winning at least 10 of the 14 seats in the first phase, as rural and urban people want Modi to continue as Prime Minister. Every vote for our party is a vote for Modi," BJP spokesman G. Madhusudhan told IANS. The BJP also hopes to get "sympathy votes" from the electorate as its 3-day government had to resign despite winning 104 seats in the May 2018 assembly elections as it fell 9 short of the halfway mark (113) for a simple majority in a house of 224 elected members. "The people will teach a lesson to the Congress and JD(S) for forging an unholy post-poll alliance to form a coalition government only to keep the BJP out of power at any cost despite having won more seats (104) than them separately," asserted Madhusudhan. As the May 2018 assembly elections threw up a hung house, with the Congress winning 80 seats and JD(S) 37, the allies formed a post-poll alliance to form the 10-month-old coalition government on May 23, 2018 after the BJP government fell on May 19 due to lack of majority in the assembly. The remaining 14 Lok Sabha in the state seats will go to the polls in the second phase, on April 23. Those contests will be in the coastal and northern regions of the southern state. Counting of votes is on May 23 in all the 28 parliamentary seats. (Fakir Balaji can be contacted at fakir.b@ians.in) Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, cannot be seen as a symbolic fight, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday. Vijayan's remarks came shortly after the Congress announced in New Delhi that Gandhi was going to contest from both the seats. "In Kerala as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we the Left will see to defeat him," Vijayan told the media reported. Kerala is slated to go to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha candidates. In reply to a question over the outcome if the UPA wins the general elections, Vijayan said: "We have already fielded our candidate and he will be taking on Gandhi." The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and it has fielded P.P. Suneer as their candidate. Vijayan also expressed his resentment against the Congress for not clinching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party which would have worked to take on the BJP. "I am sure the BJP is not going to make any inroads in Uttar Pradesh and all along Amethi has been a bastion of the Congress party." Hyderabad, March 31 : In yet another blow to the Congress in Telangana, its senior leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy on Sunday resigned from the party. A former member of Telangana Legislative Council, Sudhakar Reddy is likely to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He took the decision two days after his term as a member of the Council came to an end. In his resignation letter sent to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, he voiced his displeasure over the functioning of state leaders. He alleged that those with money power were given tickets to contest the elections while hardworking party leaders were ignored. Reddy's resignations came hours before Gandhi's arrival to kick-off the party's campaign for the April 11 elections to all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The senior leader from Khammam district is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. He might join the party at the BJP rally scheduled in Hyderabad on Monday. A few days ago, former minister D.K. Aruna switched loyalty to the BJP. She is contesting as the BJP candidate from the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha seat. The Congress is already reeling under a series of desertions. As many as 10 MLAs of the party have defected to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) this month. In the Assembly elections held in December 2018, the Congress had bagged 19 seats in the 119-member Assembly. Termas De Rio Hondo : , March 31 (IANS) A flying Marc Marquez proved unstoppable as he powered to pole, team-mate Jorge Lorenzo ready to fight forward on Sunday. Saturday's proceedings at the Argentina Grand Prix opened with free practice three session. Marquez was fast from his first lap and quickly moved to top the session and became the first rider to set a 1 minute and 38 seconds. The final 10 minutes of the session saw the customary time-attack for passage to Q2, Lorenzo finding another six tenths to lap the 4.805km-long circuit in 1'39.190, meaning both Repsol Honda Team riders moved directly to Q2 together for the first time as team-mates. Despite early jitters, the weather held for qualifying and an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and track temperature of 39 degrees Celsius helped produce a riveting Q2 session. Marquez continued to show impressive speed aboard his Honda RC213V and claimed his fifth pole position at the sixth running of the Argentina GP with a lap of 1'38.304. The reigning champion is confident in his race pace, but knows he will have to wait and see what weather Sunday brings. Jorge Lorenzo's first visit to Q2 in Repsol Honda Team colours saw him build his speed throughout the session before pushing hard at the end. Unfortunately, the Mallorcan had his best time removed due to exceeding track limits and will line up for Sunday's Grand Prix in 12th. Starting a row further forward than in Qatar presents Lorenzo with the opportunity to enter the fight at the front from the start of the race. Abu Dhabi, March 31 : In a huge relief for many expats, the UAE Ministry of Education has agreed to issue equivalency for all Indian degrees that match the set criteria, the Indian embassy here announced on Sunday. Indian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Navdeep Singh Suri said the Ministry has agreed to accept Indian academic and professional certificates after the embassy issued clarifications on the issue of the external and internal marks mentioned in mark lists. "There was lack of clarity about the fact that some of our universities issue both internal and external mark sheets as part of their degrees. These were not accepted by the UAE side, leading to considerable difficulty for those seeking jobs and even for some teachers already holding jobs," the envoy told Khaleej Times. Many Indians were caught in a tight spot after their degree certificates were rejected for equivalency, and they had approached the embassy seeking help. According to an embassy statement, Suri called on the UAE Minister of Education, Hussain Al Hammadi, to resolve the issue. "I am happy that after substantive discussions with the ministry, the issue has been resolved and equivalence will be provided to all applicants who meet other relevant requirements. I must thank the minister for his support and understanding," said Suri. "I am sure the decision by the ministry will come as a huge relief to many Indians who were struggling to get equivalence for their degrees," the Ambassador added. UAE equivalency on Indian degrees is mandatory for Indians to work in the UAE. Jerusalem, March 31 : Suspected Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip on Sunday fired at least five rockets at Israel, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said. It said the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, which is under the Hamas Islamist organisation since 2007. Anti-aircraft alarms sounded continuously in the regional councils of Eshkol, forcing residents to run for shelters, reports Efe news. The incident is the latest in a series of recent reciprocal missile launches from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes which came amid reports in various Arab media outlets that Hamas had claimed a ceasefire had been brokered by Egypt. Around 3.30 a.m., the IDF said in a statement that several Hamas posts had been attacked in response. "In response to the rockets fired from Gaza at Israel earlier this evening, IDF tanks struck a number of Hamas military posts in the Gaza Strip," the military said. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered along the Gaza border to commemorate the first anniversary of demonstrations, the "March of Return", which was launched last year. The march was aimed at to draw attention to the Palestinians' right of return to homes lost in the 1948 war and who are now inside Israel. The Palestinians also protested against Israel's blockade and urge it to help fix the chronic power outage problem. The escalation in violence between the two sides began on March 24 when a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in Tel Aviv, wounding seven members of a family, including children. The Palestinians have also started a new type of assault, launching kites or balloons with incendiary material across the border, which has caused hundreds of fires. According to the World Health Organization, a year of protests in Gaza has left thousands of people maimed and injured, including a teenager. There are estimated to be more than 6,500 wounded. The Real Costs of Russiagate Its perpetrators, not Putin or Trump, attacked American democracy. By Stephen F. Cohen March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - T he very few of us who publicly challenged and deplored Russiagate allegations against candidate and then President Donald Trump from the time they first began to appear in mid-2016 should not gloat or rejoice over the US attorney generals summary of Robert S. Muellers key finding : The Special Counsels investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election. (On the other hand, those of us repeatedly slurred as Trump and/or Putin apologists might feel some vindication.) But what about the legions of high-ranking intelligence officials, politicians, editorial writers, television producers, and other opinion-makers, and their eager media outlets that perpetuated, inflated, and prolonged this unprecedented political scandal in American historythose who did not stop short of accusing the president of the United States of being a Kremlin agent, asset, puppet, Manchurian candidate, and who characterized his conduct and policies as treasonous? (These and other examples are cited in my book War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine to Trump and Russiagate , and in a recent piece by Paul Starobin in City Journal.) Will they now apologize, as decency requires, or, more importantly, explain their motives so that we might understand and avoid another such national trauma? Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Shortly after Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union, in 1985, he released a banned film, Repentance , that explored the underlying institutional, ideological, and personal dynamics of Stalinism. The film set off a nationwide media trial and condemnation of that murderous era. Though Russiagate has generated in America some Soviet-like practices and ruined a number of lives and reputations, it is, of course, nothing even remotely comparable to the Soviet Stalinist experience. By comparison, therefore, some introspective repentance on the part of Russiagate perpetuators should not be too much to ask. But as I foresaw well before the summary of Muellers Russia investigation appeared, there is unlikely to be much, if any. Too many personal and organizational interests are too deeply invested in Russiagate. Not surprisingly, leading perpetrators instead immediately met the summary with a torrent of denials, goal-post shifts, obfuscations, and calls for more Russiagate investigations. Joy Reid of MSNBC, which has been a citadel of Russiagate allegations along with CNN, even suggested that Mueller and Attorney General William Barr were themselves engaged in a cover-up . Contrary to a number of major media outlets, from Bloomberg News to The Wall Street Journal, nor does Muellers exculpatory finding actually mean that Russiagateis dead and indeed that it expired in an instant . Such conclusions reveal a lack of historical and political understanding. Nearly three years of Russiagates toxic allegations have entered the American political-media elite bloodstream, and they almost certainly will reappear again and again in one form or another. This is an exceedingly grave danger, because the real costs of Russiagate are not the estimated $2540 million spent on the Mueller investigation but the corrosive damage it has already done to the institutions of American democracydamage done not by an alleged Trump-Putin axis but by Russsigates perpetrators themselves. Having examined this collateral damage in my recently published book War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine to Trump and Russiagate, I will only note them here. Clamorous allegations that the Kremlin attacked our elections and thereby put Trump in the White House, despite the lack of any evidence, cast doubt on the legitimacy of American elections everywherenational, state, and local. If true, or even suspected, how can voters have confidence in the electoral foundations of American democracy? Persistent demands to secure our elections from hostile powers a politically and financially profitable mania, it seemscan only further abet and perpetuate declining confidence in the entire electoral process. Still more, if some crude Russian social-media outputs could so dupe voters, what does this tell us about what US elites, which originated these allegations, really think of those voters, of the American people? Defamatory Russsiagate allegations that Trump was a Kremlin puppet and thus illegitimate were aimed at the president but hit the presidency itself, degrading the institution, bringing it under suspicion, casting doubt on its legitimacy. And if an agent of a hostile foreign power could occupy the White House once, a Manchurian candidate, why not again? Will Republicans be able to resist making such allegations against a future Democratic president? In any event, Hillary Clintons failed campaign manager, Robby Mook, has already told us that there will be a next time . Mainstream media are, of course, a foundational institution of American democracy, especially national ones, newspapers and television, with immense influence inside the Beltway and, in ramifying synergic ways, throughout the country. Their Russiagate media malpractice, as I have termed it, may have been the worst such episode in modern American history. No mainstream media did anything to expose, for example, two crucial and fraudulent Russiagate documentsthe so-called Steele Dossier and the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessmentbut instead relied heavily on them for their own narratives. Little more need be said here about this institutional self-degradation. Glenn Greenwald and a few others followed and exposed it throughout, and now Matt Taibbi has given us a meticulously documented account of that systematic malpractice , concluding that Muellers failure to confirm the medias Russiagate allegations is a death-blow for the reputation of the American news media. Nor, it must be added, was this entirely inadvertent or accidental. On August 8, 2016, the trend-setting New York Times published on its front page an astonishing editorial manifesto by its media critic. Asking whether normal standards should apply to candidate Trump, he explained that they should not: You have to throw out the textbook American journalism has been using for the better part of the past half-century. Let others decide whether this Times proclamation unleashed the highly selective, unbalanced, questionably factual journalism that has so degraded Russiagate media or instead the publication sought to justify what was already underway. In either case, this remarkableand ramifyingTimes rejection of its own professed standards should not be forgotten. Almost equally remarkable and lamentable, we learn that even now, after Muellers finding is known, top executives of the Times and other leading Russiagate media outlets, including The Washington Post and CNN, have no regrets . For better or worse, America has a two-party political system, which means that the Democratic Party is also a foundational institution. Little more also need be pointed out regarding its self-degrading role in the Russiagate fraud. Leading members of the party initiated, inflated, and prolonged it. They did nothing to prevent inquisitors like Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from becoming the cable-news face of the party. Or to rein in or disassociate the party from the outlandish excesses of The Resistance. With very few exceptions, elected and other leading Democrats did nothing to stopand therefore further abettedthe institutional damage being done by Russiagate allegations. As for Muellers finding,the partys virtual network, MSNBC, remains undeterred. Rachel Maddow continues to hype the underlying reality that Russia did in fact attack us. By any reasonable definition of attack, no, it did not, and scarcely any allegation could be more recklessly warmongering, a perception the Democratic Party will for this and other Russiagate commissions have to endure, or not. (When Muellers full report is published, we will see if he too indulged in this dangerous absurdity. A few passages in the summary suggest he might have done so.) Finally, but potentially not least, the new Cold War with Russia has itself become an institution pervading American political, economic, media, and cultural life. Russiagate has made it more dangerous, more fraught with actual war, than the Cold War we survived, as I explain in War with Russia? Recall only that Russiagate allegations further demonized Putins Russia, thwarted Trumps necessary attempts to cooperate with Russia as somehow treasonous, criminalized detente thinking and inappropriate contacts with Russiain short, policies and practices that previously helped to avert nuclear war. Meanwhile, the Russiagate spectacle has caused many ordinary Russians who once admired America to now be derisive and scornful toward our political life. The scarce good news it is that some Russian officials hope Muellers Russiagate exoneration of Trump will enable the president to resume his attempts to cooperate with Moscow. The bad institutional news is that Congress has invited, on House Speaker Nancy Pelosis initiative, NATOs secretary general to address it on April 3. That figurehead has announced a renewed attempt to bring the former Soviet republic of Georgia into the military alliance. The last such attempt led to the US-Russian proxy war in Georgia in 2008. When it was tried in Ukraine in 2013, it produced the still ongoing Ukrainian civil and proxy war. The editor of The New Yorker, itself an ardent Russiagate publication, asks whether the moral and material corruption [Trump] has inflicted will be with us for a long while. Perhaps. But the institutional costs of Russiagate are likely to be with us for even longer. This commentary is based on Stephen F. Cohens most recently weekly discussion with the host of The John Batchelor Show . Now in their fifth year, previous installments are at TheNation.com Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy New Delhi, March 31 : The Congress is gearing up to further augment its digital battle for the Lok Sabha elections in the coming days and has plans to disseminate customised content of its manifesto to various target groups. The party views social media as a critical communication asset in its battle to oust the BJP-led government from office and is coming out with catchy videos to get its message across. The party has lagged behind the BJP in finalising its election slogans for the Lok Sabha elections but has plans to maximise the social media impact in the coming days by employing advertising companies. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who has been targeting the government through pithy, sarcastic tweets, has also been giving an inkling to the party's manifesto on social media by sharing information about the promise of minimum income guarantee, farm loan waiver and steps to boost entrepreneurship and start-ups. Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said that Gandhi's "sharp, witty, humorous and fact-based questioning of the BJP has become hugely popular and has created a new benchmark in social media political discourse". "Our catchy videos are becoming a rage and going viral, which has augmented our political narrative. We believe social media will be the most critical communication asset for the Congress party. Besides Twitter, which is the default option for political messaging, we are seeing a huge traction in WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and the fast rise of Instagram," Jha told IANS. A party leader, who did not want to be named, said that social media is very useful at a time when sections of traditional media were not giving the party its due space. "The message reaches the audience directly and quickly through social media and there is traction," he said. He said that the party is not only reaching out to the youth through social media but also to other sections of the society. Jha said it was the young demographic dividend that was the biggest consumer of social media earlier but now it covers a wider population across various age groups, geographic dispersal and income levels. "This is a positive development. The BJP is in panic mode hence the brazen attempt to use public assets like railways and airlines to push political agenda. PM Modi's over-exposure in mainstream media has boomeranged. It is giving them diminishing returns," he said. Congress is expected to release its manifesto on April 2 and the party will make a big reach out through the social media. "We shall disseminate its content customized to various target groups. That's where specific bespoke approach works on social media," Jha said. He said Congress is also crowdsourcing ideas. "For instance, on Nyay (nyuntam aay yojana), we have asked for submissions of both slogan and a logo design," he said. Nyay is among the biggest poll promises of the Congress and income guarantee scheme that promises every family in the poorest 20 per cent segment income support of Rs 6,000 a month. The Congress has also zeroed in on companies that will take forward its digital outreach. Sources said the companies finalised include DesignBoard and SilverPush. It has also hired companies for media advertising. No party leader was willing to comment on the money involved in party's social media spend in the Lok Sabha elections. The party has launched 'Shut The Fake Up' campaign as part of its social media tactics to attract and involve young Instagram users. A party functionary said it is an initiative to "call out BJP regime and fake news propaganda of the last five years". The party has also been following an aggressive communication strategy and quickly responds to issues concerning the government or allegations made by BJP leaders through statements, press conferences and tweets. Party leaders are also quick to target the government over a range of issues, including unemployment, jobs, alleged corruption, farm distress, demonetisation, flawed implementation of GST, "targeting" of opponents and "fudging of data." (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) Visakhapatnam, March 31 : A former central minister, a former IPS officer who served as joint director of CBI, a film producer and a businessman will be fighting it out in the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency. An interesting multi-cornered contest is on the cards in this prestigious constituency spread over the port city of Visakhapatnam, its suburbs and rural areas in neighbouring Vizianagaram district. Candidates of five major parties are among the 20 aspirants who are in the fray in this constituency of over 18 lakh voters. D. Purandeswari, daughter of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. T. Rama Rao, is contesting as a candidate of the BJP, which she joined after quitting the Congress following Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation in 2014. Elected in 2009 from Vizag, as Visakhapatnam is also called, Purandeswari went on to become a minister in Manmohan Singh's cabinet. In 2014, she unsuccessfully contested from the Rajampet constituency on a BJP ticket after the party turned down her demand for a ticket from Vizag. A.K. Haribabu was elected from Vizag and this was one of the two Lok Sabha seats bagged by the BJP, which then fought the polls in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). With Haribabu opting out of race this time, the BJP has fielded Purandeswari, who faces a tough battle with the TDP snapping ties with her party. Among the candidates, she is facing is young businessman Sri Bharat, son-in-law of her actor brother and TDP leader N. Balakrishna. Purandeswari is the elder sister of N. Bhuneswari, the wife of the Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu. She, along with her husband D. Venkateswara Rao, began their journey together in the Congress in 2004 but the latter recently joined YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and is contesting for the Assembly. In Vizag, the YSRCP has fielded M.V.V. Satyanarayana, a film producer and promoter of MVV Builders. In 2014, YSRCP president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's mother Y.S. Vijayamma had finished the runner-up from here. The entry of former CBI joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana into the fray from Vizag has made the contest more interesting. A well-known figure in Andhra Pradesh for heading probes into several high profile cases like the Satyam scam, the OMC mining scam and the disproportionate assets case against Jaganmohan Reddy, he is contesting as the candidate of actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party. Lakshminarayana, who was the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police in Maharashtra, quit his job last year to enter politics. There was speculation that he might join TDP or the BJP or might even float his own party. He, however, finally joined Jana Sena as he believes it caters to all sections and stands for a change in politics. However, it is interesting to note that Pawan Kalyan himself will be contesting for from Gajuwaka, one of the Assembly segments here. The Congress has fielded Pedada Ramani Kumari, chief of Congress party's women's wing in Vizag. Vizag had traditionally been a Congress stronghold till 1984, when it was snatched by the TDP. The regional party won it again in 1991 and 1999. With the Congress drawing a blank in the 2014 elections due to public wrath over bifurcation, the BJP in alliance with TDP captured Vizag. Out of seven Assembly segments, the TDP had won six and its ally BJP one in 2014. The situation has since undergone a change with YSRCP making inroads while the BJP is facing rough weather over denial of the Special Category Status (SCS) to the state. The recent announcement by the Centre to create a new Southern Coast Railway Zone with Vizag as the headquarters may not help the party due to protests by various groups for bifurcation of the Waltair division to give the revenue-rich part of it to East Coast Railway headquartered in Odisha. Water supply, agriculture and migration from other parts of North Andhra to Vizag are the other major issues. (Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq) New Delhi, March 31 : In a major decision, the Congress on Sunday announced that party President Rahul Gandhi will also contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from his present constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. "I am announcing one of the happiest news. Rahul Gandhi will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala," party leader A.K. Antony said at a party briefing here. Antony said that there had been continuous request from Congress workers and also from the allies that Gandhi should contest from a seat in the South. "This demand was made from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There were deliberations here also. After that we requested Rahulji that ignoring the unanimous demand of southern states is not correct. Finally, he has given his consent," he said. He said Wayanad was found the most suitable as it is located at a tri-junction and was an ideal constituency. "It is situated in Kerala and is surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka," Antony said, adding that it will meet the demands of party workers in all the three states. Gandhi, who has been representing Amethi, won the seat by a reduced margin in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani. She is challenging him again in the constituency in the 2019 elections as well. Congress Communications incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also addressed a press conference, repeatedly emphasised on Gandhi's bonds and family ties with Amethi to negate any impression that his contesting from another seat was dilution of his links with the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family or that the party was perceiving a tough fight. Surjewala said the Congress President has always stated that he cannot leave Amethi. "He (Gandhi) has said several times that Amethi is his 'karmabhoomi' (place of work) and he is immensely attached to it. The relation is not of an elected representative but of a family member. Amethi is deeply embeded in Rahulji's heart. It is an unbreakable link which cannot be destroyed by cheap conspiracies of the BJP, " he said. Surjewala accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing divisions and said that the lives of people in south India was important to the Congress and Gandhi. Asked about the Left parties being an adversary of Congress in Wayanad, Surjewala said "this is not a fight with left or right". "This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of south India including Kerala to fight, to give befitting reply to forces who are attacking the culture, language, way of life, deep connect between north and south India which the BJP and Prime Minister have created a deep divide. "This is a fight to give message to people of south India that they are deeply valued and respected. That their culture, language, way of life, food habits, clothes, entire way of life is important to Congress and people of India asA a unified country. That's why he (Gandhi) said 'I will represent Amethi but I will also represent southern states for they represent an important part of India's way of life, India's way forward'," Surjewala said. He said no one should question the wisdom of the people of Amethi who have in the past elected late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. "They know that the country and Amethi will progress with Gandhi." On Irani's remarks that Rahul Gandhi was running away from Amethi, he said that she will complete hat-trick of defeat in this election having earlier lost from Chandni Chowk also. Asked which seat will Gandhi retain if he wins both in Amethi and Wayanad, Surjewala said that when the Congress forms a government following the polls, the party President will represent the entire country. The Wayanad Lok Sabha Assembly segments has seven assembly constituencies including three from from Wayanad district, one from Kozikode and three from Malappuram. The assembly segments are Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Kalpetta in Wayanad, Thiruvambadi in Kozhikode and Ernad, Nilambur and Wandoor in Malappuram. Senior leaders Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal were also present at the press conference. Lucknow, March 31 : Stepping up attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his decision to contest from Amethi and Wayanad in Kerala, Mohsin Raza, the lone Muslim Minister in Yogi Adityanath government on Sunday said that he has sensed his defeat from Uttar Pradesh. "For the first time he has sensed his defeat in Amethi and that is the reason why he has decided to file nomination papers from Wayanad," Raza told IANS. He said the Congress has shifted Rahul Gandhi to a safer seat, but not a single seat is safe for him across the country. Accusing the Congress of cheating the people of the country, Raza said: "They have cheated people so much that they are not able to save their traditional seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli (seat of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi)." The BJP Minister said the people will vote for his party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development work he has done across the country. He also said that the Congress has accepted defeat in the elections and thus they were leaving their traditional seats to contest elsewhere. The BJP Minister's remarks come soon after the Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad in Kerrala, besides his traditional seat of Amethi. Rahul Gandhi has represented Amethi undefeated since 2004. He is facing a stiff challenge again in Amethi from BJP leader Smriti Irani . Irani had narrowed the victory margin of Rahul Gandhi in 2014. Amethi will go to polls on May 6. Counting of votes will take place on May 23. New Delhi, March 31 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is known for her prompt replies on Twitter, on Sunday clarified that it was her who sent out the tweets and "not her ghost". The Minister's response come on a question raised by Twitter user Samit Padhy, a software engineer. "Certainly it's not Sushma Swaraj who is doing this tweets. Some PR guy is doing his/her duty for what they being paid for," Samit said in his tweet. In response, Sushma Swaraj said: "Rest assured - it's me, not my ghost." Last week, when a Twitter user asked the Minister why she calls herself a "Chowkidaar", Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet: "Because I am doing 'chowkidari' of Indian interests and Indian nationals abroad." Visakhapatnam, March 31 : In yet another show of opposition unity, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu along with his West Bengal and Delhi counterparts, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal respectively, will address an election rally here on Sunday as part of their campaign against Prime Minister Narndra Modi for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The three-hour rally will commence at around 5.30 p.m. at the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium in this port town. Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will campaign for Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at the mega rally. Banerjee arrived here in the afternoon while Kejriwal is to reach by the evening. After the rally, the three Chief Ministers will remain in Visakhapatnam to discuss the national scenario and work out strategies in the coming days. The move is part of simultaneous Assembly and Parliamentary polls which will take place in Andhra Pradesh in the first phase on April 11. Five years ago in the same location, Naidu along with Modi and film actor Pawan Kalyan had addressed a joint rally seeking mandate for the TDP rule in the state and formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government at the Centre in the 2014 Lo Sabha elections. Naidu had pulled his TDP out of the NDA in March 2018 alleging injustice being meted out to the state by the Modi government. Since then, he has been in the forefront of the proposed Grand Alliance (mahagathbandhan), trying to get together all opposition parties, including the Congress. Naidu, who orchestrated a big rally against the Modi government in Delhi, has lined up all his allies for his campaign in Andhra Pradesh against Modi at the Centre and YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh. Though many other leaders from the proposed Grand Alliance including Janata Dal-Secular President H.D. Deve Gowda, DMK chief M.K. Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdulla were invited to the rally, but were unable to attend, a TDP leader familiar with the development said. Kejriwal and Abdullah had already addressed a few meetings in the state. Gowda is expected to join the campaign for the TDP next week and more leaders from non-BJP parties are expected to canvass in support of TDP candidates in next few days. Visakhapatnam is a very important constituency like Hyderabad as it is a cosmopolitan city with a large number of people from West Bengal, Odisha and northeastern states settling there for education, employment and business activities. "We are fighting against Modi government because it did not give special status to Andhra Pradesh despite its promises. There are other many issues on which the TDP was cheated," Lanka Dinakar, TDP national spokesperson, told IANS. He said that a joint campaign by Banerjee and Kejriwal would really help garner votes in favour of the TDP. The Congress however, is staying away from the Visakhapatnam rally because the party is fighting the elections independently in all the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) New Delhi, March 31 : Actor-producer Rana Daggubati says he is truly passionate about acting as it allows him to tell stories on screen. Rana made his acting debut in 2010 with the Telugu film "Leader". He was later seen in movies like "Dum Maro Dum", "Naa Ishtam", "Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum", "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani", the "Baahubali" franchise, "Baby" and "The Ghazi Attack". Asked about his journey as an actor, Rana told IANS over e-mail: "I love acting and it's part of what I do and know. I am truly passionate about the art of acting. I started working when I was 17 and since then I have tried my hand at visual effects, acting, producing films and entrepreneurial roles. I've loved the art of storytelling and movies allow me to do so." The 34-year-old has now come up with an Amar Chitra Katha learning centre called ACK Alive. The "Baahubali: The Beginning" actor has teamed up with Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and Kishore Biyani of Future Group to create the centre. "Right now, I am balancing my different roles of being a businessman, actor and producer. Merging tech in films is my new passion. I am also associated as a director with Amar Chitra Katha. I want to be able to tell stories in a modern way and let today's generation experience these tales just the way we did when we were growing up," Rana said. The actor is now looking forward to his next Bollywood venture "Housefull 4". He had replaced veteran actor Nana Patekar after the latter was accused of sexual misconduct by actress Tanushree Dutta on the sets of 2008 film "Horn OK Pleassss". Talking about working in "Housefull 4", he said: "It's a big cast and was a party all the way. It's a very different genre from what I've done before and I'm excited for people to watch and have a great time." He is also associated with wine brand Chandon for its Party Starter 3.0 Campaign, which he described as "fun" and that it "speaks about being a party starter". "I feel the campaign presents a fun piece of what I do and what I have done in my career. The experience has been fun with this great energetic team," he said. What makes Rana a party starter? "Being a party starter totally depends on the situation and the ability to make anything fun and exciting. I believe I have it in me to add an element of party to any situation," he said. New Delhi, March 31 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said a comprehensive report on India's national security has been presented to him by Lt. General (Retd.) D.S. Hooda. "This exhaustive report will at first be discussed and debated within the Congress party. I thank him and the team for their effort," he tweeted. Hooda, the former Army Northern Command chief who directed the 2016 cross-LoC surgical strikes, would be heading a task force on national security at the behest of the Congress. The decision was announced by the Congress in February after a meeting between Gandhi and Hooda. Agra, March 31 : A total of 4,956 accidents, 718 deaths and 7,671 serious injuries were recorded on the Yamuna Expressway between August 2012 to March 31, 2018, revealed an RTI reply. The alarming number of fatal road accidents on the Yamuna Expressway has caused widespread concern, calling for effective intervention of the Central and State government agencies. Information culled out by RTI activist and Supreme Court lawyer K.C. Jain revealed that 718 deaths due to fatal accidents were recorded on the Expressway, the number of seriously injured was equally alarming at over 7,671. Speaking to IANS, Jain said: "We have written to government agencies to take effective steps to curb the menace of speed driving but our pleas have fallen on deaf years. "An independent agency should monitor movement on the Expressway and should follow up information received from the Jaypee Infotech about speed violations. We have written to the UP Chief Minister about this." Since January, more than 130 accidents have taken place at the Expressway that claimed over 50 lives. Drivers not only violate speed limits but drive without wearing helmets and seat belts, Jain said. Between August 2012 to March 2018, 2.33 crore vehicles violated speed limits, data provided by automatic surveillance gadgets and number plate readers installed at various points showed, he claimed. "But violaters are not booked and are allowed to go scot free." Data available from the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) revealed that 23.42 per cent accidents were caused due to over speeding while 12 per cent accidents due to tyre bursting. Meanwhile, Chairman of Vedic Sutram, Pramod Gautam pointed out flaws in the Vaastu design of the Yamuna Expressway. "Yamuna flows south of the Expressway which attracts negative energy. The original Agra-Delhi national highway which is north of Yamuna river is perfect and safe." New Delhi, March 31 : CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Sunday said that Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) will work to defeat Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who will be contesting from the state's Wayanad parliamentary constituency too. In a video message, the former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) chief said Congress's decision to field Gandhi from Kerala went against the party's "stated commitment" to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "In Kerala, it is the LDF, which is the main force that can fight the BJP. And Rahul Gandhi is going to Kerala to fight the LDF, which means we have to take on the United Democratic Front (UDF), of which he will be a candidate. "The UDF consists of not only Congress but Muslim League and other parties which have dubious reputation. And we shall work to defeat the UDF in all constituencies including Wayanad," he added. On Sunday morning, Congress leader A. K. Antony announced that the Congress President will contest the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad, apart from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi - the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family for many decades. Why Is The Washington Post Inventing "Warming Ties" Between Trump And Moscow? By Moon Of Alabama March 30, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Sometimes it is impossible to discern whether Washington Post writers are moronic or drunk. In a front page piece today about Russia's engagement in Venezuela the three authors include this line: In an era of generally warming ties between the Trump administration and Moscow, Russias deepening involvement in Venezuela is creating a flash point by challenging the U.S. effort to force Maduro from office. What please are the signs that we are in an "in an era of generally warming ties between the Trump administration and Moscow" ? The piece includes nothing that supports that claim. The U.S. is occupying parts of Syria against Russia's will. It is threatening Russia by positioning ever more NATO forces at its borders. Trump left the INF treaty with Russia. He opposed Russia wherever he could. Nothing of that has changed. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter In fact yesterday Bloomberg reported that the U.S. is reading new sanctions against Russia for the MI6 stunt of vanishing Sergej Skripal: The White House has received a long-awaited package of new sanctions on Russia, intended to punish the Kremlin for a 2018 nerve-agent attack on a former Russian spy in the U.K. Last week Russia deployed some 100 military technicians and cyber-defense specialists to Venezuela. They will test and probably upgrade Venezuela's S-300 air defense systems. They will also help to check the control systems of Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Plant and the Guri Dam that trice led to large scale electricity outages during the last month. Venzuela suspects that U.S. cyber attacks led to those failures. Also yesterday Trump's special envoy for Venezuela Elliot Abrams and National Security Advisor John Bolton threatened even more sanctions against Russia for its hardly existing footprint in Venezuela: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been given a list of options to respond to Russia's growing presence in Venezuela in support of Maduro, including new sanctions, said Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special representative for Venezuela. "We have options and it would be a mistake for the Russians to think they have a free hand here. They dont," Abrams told reporters at the State Department. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week said "Russia has to get out" of Venezuela and said "all options" were open to force Russia to do so after two Russian air force planes carrying nearly 100 military personnel landed outside Caracas. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton issued a second warning on Friday in a strongly worded formal statement. "We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations," Bolton said. "We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region. We will continue to defend and protect the interests of the United States, and those of our partners in the Western Hemisphere," he said. Again we ask: What please are the signs that we are "in an era of generally warming ties between the Trump administration and Moscow"? What is the purpose of making that claim? This article was originally published by " Moon Of Alabama " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy New Delhi, March 31 : In the ongoing twitter bout between the giant killer 'chowkidar' and the challenger 'berozgar", the underdog challenger won the round on March 30. The 'berozgars' delivered a killer undercut with their #MainBhiBerozgar punch that became number one national trend on twitter on Saturday. On their part, the 'chowkidars' did land some impressive punches - #MainKamalKhilaneAyaHu, #NaMoforAssam, #NorthEastforModi #Gandhinagar etc - the other leading trends of the day. The March 30 round started little after midnight. #MainBhiBerozgar landed the first punch at 1:13 am with @yuvahallabol, youth front of @_SwarajIndia, tweeting "Main hoon SSC me vyapt anniyammatta se pidit berozgar (I am a victim of the prevalent corruption in staff selection commission) #MainBhiBerozgar." As the round progressed the underdog got a shot in the arm with @INCIndia, the official twitter handle of the Congress party, joined the #MainBhiBerozgar corner. Thereafter, amid rousing replies, retweets and likes on twitter, punches and counter-punches flew wildly. Here is a punch-by-punch account: Unemployment is the most pressing issue of our time, crores of young people have no jobs & no hope under the current govt. Modi can try & distract them with political gimmicks but the youth of India have one thing to say #MainBhiBerozgar: @INCIndia. Unemployment has a direct impact on inequality. Unemployment is at a 45-year high. 73% of wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest 1% Poorest 50% saw their *wealth* increase by only 1% Don't be shocked. Do something about it! #MainBhiBerozgar: @SalmanSoz, member of congress party. Jobs are the single biggest crisis facing India's youth. Unemployment is at a 45-year high. Workforce has shrunk by 4.7 Cr 3.7 Cr Casual Labourers have lost employment, 3 Cr are Farm Labourers [NSSO]... India's says #MainBhiBerozgar, Chowkidar Stole Jobs!: @rachitseth, National media coordinator AICC. In the no-holds-barred battle that ensued, some punches hit below the belt. "India's youth aren't your salespeople and neither are they your pakodawale Mr NoMo. #MainBhiBerozgar," tweeted @IYC, the official twitter handle of the Youth wing of the Indian National Congress. Dogged 'chowkidars' took it all on their chins and managed to land some impressive counter-punches that were ranked among the other leading twitter trends for the day. Take a look: It's so heartening to see a HUGE crowd turned up to listen to the address by Hon PM Sri @narendramodi at Moran, Assam. #NorthEastforModi #MainKamalKhilaneAyaHu #Assam4BJP: @himantabiswa, Assam Finance Minster. Electrifying atmosphere at @BJP4India National President Shri @AmitShah's road show. #MainKamalKhilaneAyaHu: @BJP4Gujarat, the official twitter BJP Gujarat Pradesh. But the 'chowkidars' were clearly outmatched. During the break before the next round @_YogendraYadav, National President of the political outfit Swaraj India was seen encouraging his protege. He tweeted: Well done @yuvahallabol...Please tweet with hashtag #MainBhiBerozgar. The champion will be declared on May 23, till then the jury is out! (Vijay Krishna can be contacted at vijay.k@ians.in) New Delhi/Wayanad/Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 (IANS) The CPI-M, the main force in Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Alliance (LDF), on Sunday reacted sharply to the Congress's announcement that party President Rahul Gandhi would contest from the state's Wayanad parliamentary constituency and vowed to defeat him. Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) former chief Prakash Karat said Congress's decision went against the party's "stated commitment" to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "In Kerala, it is the LDF, which is the main force that can fight the BJP. And Rahul Gandhi is going to Kerala to fight the LDF, which means we have to take on the United Democratic Front (UDF), of which he will be a candidate. "The UDF consists of not only Congress but Muslim League and other parties which have a dubious reputation. And we shall work to defeat the UDF in all constituencies including Wayanad," he said in a video message. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also said that Gandhi's contesting from Wayanad was not "symbolic". "In Kerala, as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we, the Left will see to defeat him," he told the media in Thiruvanthapuram. State CPI-M Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Gandhi's move to Wayanad will ensure a Left victory on all the 20 seats in the state. "He is coming here because he is not confident of his win in Amethi. And the Left will show Gandhi what our power here is," he said, adding that the Left was confident of repeating its 2004 performance when they won 18 out of the state's 20 seats. The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and its candidate P.P. Suneer said that he was not alarmed by the stature of his opposing candidate. "The candidate does not matter, as elections are fought on issues. By now I have already completed three rounds of my campaign and I am on a strong footing as the backing that I have is of the Left forces, which has a good chemistry with the electorate in the Wayanad constituency," he said. Gandhi's contesting from Wayanad was greeted with excitement in Malappuram, the stronghold of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), UDF's second biggest constituent in Kerala - and where three of Wayanad's assembly segments fall in. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has given the Wayanad seat to ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), however, poked fun at the Congress President's shift to the southern state. "It's a shame for the Congress Chief to run away from Amethi and seek solace in the arms of the IUML, which is strong in Wayanad," said state BJP President P.S.Sreedharan Pillai. Senior Congress leader and former Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Sunday announced Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad. Making the announcement in New Delhi, Antony said Gandhi was not keen to contest on a second seat. "But there was a tremendous pressure from the south Indian states, the Congress party as well as from the allies that he should contest." Wayanad became a Lok Sabha constituency in 2009, and M.I. Shanawaz of the Congress won it that year by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. However, his margin dropped to 20,870 in 2014, and last year he passed away after a long illness. The seat has been lying vacant since then. Considered a safe seat for the Congress, there was a scramble between the party's various factions for a ticket to Wayanad and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had even managed to swing it in favour of his close confidante T. Siddique. However, Chandy was the first to speak of the possibility of Gandhi contesting from Wayanad last week. Wayanad will vote on April 23 and Amethi on May 6. The counting of votes for the country will be held on May 23. Srinagar, March 31 : Nirmal Singh, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said on Sunday some political parties praised Pakistan and militants for votes. Addressing party workers in the Rafiabad area of Baramulla district, Singh said: "These parties have always misled Kashmiris by telling them if they do not vote for these parties, the Centre will kill them." He said Pakistan has always supported terrorism and never tried to have a dialogue with India. "Political parties like the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress have always fooled Kashmiris for their own benefits," he said. They had been doing this since 1970 for the power and votes, the BJP leader said. Gaza, March 31 : Israel on Sunday reopened the border crossing points with the Gaza Strip after six days of closure and amid growing tensions. The commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom in the southern Gaza Strip was reopened for goods, Xinhua news agency quoted a Palestinian official as saying. The Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip was also reopened for Palestinians and foreign aid workers to travel through. Israel closed the crossing points after a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in Tel Aviv, wounding seven members of a family, including children. Earlier in the day, Palestinian militants fired at least five rockets at Israel. In response, Israel Defence Forces tanks struck a number of Hamas military posts in the Gaza Strip, the military said. On Saturday, clashes broke out as Palestinians marked the first year of the Great March of Return rally and 43 years of the Palestinian "Land Day". Four young Palestinian men were killed, while over 300 were injured in the protests. Washington, March 31 : Saudi Arabia has hacked Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' smartphone and allegedly shared personal information about his extra-marital affair to a media outlet, a veteran security consultant at the tech giant has said. The monarchy was "intent on harming Jeff Bezos" over The Washington Post (owned by Bezos) coverage of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, wrote Gavin de Becker in a first-person account published in The Daily Beast on Saturday. "Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker said. The private phone messages of Bezos sent to his lover, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, were published in The National Enquirer in October. "As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI (the parent company of The National Enquirer) was aware of the details," added de Becker. The inquiry by de Becker included a broad array of resources including extensive discussions with top Middle East experts, Saudi whistleblowers, people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (also known as MBS), and people who work with his close associate Saud al-Qahtani, among others. Saudi journalist Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Turkey's Istanbul in October 2018. "Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi's murder," wrote de Becker. Saudi Arabia has denied involvement in the Bezos affair. "In October, the Saudi government unleashed its cyber army on Bezos (and later me). Their multi-pronged campaign included public calls for boycotts against Amazon.com and its Saudi subsidiary, Souq.com," claimed the Bezos security chief. In a post on blogging platform Medium in February, Bezos accused the publisher of National Enquirer of "blackmail" and "extortion". "Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten," Bezos wrote in the post while saying that the "top people" at the National Enquirer were responsible for the extortion and blackmail. Referring to AMI's Chairman and CEO, David Pecker, Bezos titled his post "No thank you, Mr. Pecker" and alleged that AMI threatened to release compromising photos of him. "I was made an offer I couldn't refuse," wrote Bezos. "Or at least that's what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I'm glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing." Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are getting divorced after 25 years of marriage. Beijing, March 31 : Chinese technology giant Huawei, which is in the eye of a global security storm, has built a new campus in China that looks like a cluster of European cities. The campus with an old European feel is connected through a futuristic tram service that takes thousands of Huawei employees to their destinations in the faux-Europe, dotted with 12 buildings, the Efe news reported. The company has opted for the ostentatious campus in Dongguan (south) for research and development. There are replicas of Italian towers, artificial lakes and palaces. The campus houses buildings and squares that look like the ones of the medieval Europe, reflecting Huawei's infinite global ambitions despite a tough year marked by suspicions on security flaws in its devices and the arrest of its CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada. The company announced on Friday its net profit in 2018 increased by 25.1 per cent year on year to 9.3 billion yuan and invested 101.5 billion yuan for research and development. The feel at the campus is surreal. Employees, visitors and clients riding the train get down at stops named like Paris, Verona, Freiburg and Granada. The campus, spread over 1.4 million square meters, is situated on the banks of lake Songshan. It has been designed to create an idyllic work environment to motivate employees and where long-term plans of the company could be developed. According to sources, these places are undergoing heavy investment in innovation in areas of virtual reality, in smart cities, with hyper-vigilance and facial recognition,- and the Internet of Things (IoT). Joe Kelly, head of international communication, told a group of international journalists that all these new strategies and values of the company inspire self-criticism and cooperation among employees. However, the journalists raised the issues the company is facing, including the security conditions of 5G mobile connectivity. Guo Ping, Rotating Chairman of the company, said none of its products have technological back doors or nor does it have the capability to access a device without the knowledge of the user. The clarification comes in the middle of allegations that Huawei was part of Beijing's intelligence system that led the European Commission to urge countries to analyse and be alert of threats that the tech giant poses to the development of 5G data connectivity. At the moment, Huawei devices are banned in the US, Australia and New Zealand. A possible ban in other countries would be a bad news for the company, for which Europe id the biggest market. Vijayawada, March 31 : Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ultimate goal is to destroy the Constitution of India, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that his party would never allow this. Addressing two election rallies in Andhra Pradesh, he targeted Modi over the attacks on Dalits, tribals and minorities. "They are beaten and killed on streets. They are threatened every single day. The BJP and the RSS are attacking the Indian Constitution," Gandhi told a rally in Kalyanadurg in Anantapur district in the evening. Gandhi, who earlier kicked-off the party's election campaign in Vijayawada, said "divide India and steal from India" is the politics of Modi. "People are murdered and women are raped. There is atmosphere of fear. This is the politics of Narendra Modi. Divide India and steal from India," he said at a rally. "Everybody knows the ultimate goal of Modi is the destruction of the Constitution of India. We are never going to allow that. Dalits, minorities, tribals, farmers, weaker sections, everybody has a right to live in this country in peace. This country is not the personal property of one man or one organization," Gandhi added. The Congress President promised that if voted to power in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress would waive off farm loans within two days as it did recently after coming to power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. He also said if voted to power at the Centre, according special category status to Andhra Pradesh would be one of the first things it would do. Gandhi, whose party is going alone in next month's Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, avoided a direct attack on the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at Vijayawada but at the second rally, did not pull his punches. He said neither of the state's two parties put pressure on Modi. "The TDP was in alliance with Mr Modi. It should have put pressure and forced him to give special status. I understand Mr Jagan Reddy has many cases on him. I understand the Prime Minister can put lot of pressure on him," he said. Alleging that Modi declared war on poor and weak, he said the Congress would declare war on poverty. "The Congress will carry out surgical strike on poverty. We will give 'Nyay' to people of India. This is our non-violent weapon against poverty," he said, referring to the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme promised in the Congress manifesto. Gandhi said 20 per cent of the poorest people, earning less than Rs 12,000 a month will be identified and given Rs 72,000 directly in their bank account every year, adding five crore families or 25 crore people will benefit from this scheme. "Every family will get Rs 3.60 lakh in five years. I am not Modi. I do not lie. He said he will give Rs 15 lakh. It was a lie." Terming unemployment the biggest promised, he promised another "revolutionary" scheme to young men and women to start business without permissions from any government department for three years. Alleging that Modi handed over keys of Indian banking systems to the likes of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, he said the Congress would give keys to youngsters who want to create jobs. The Congress leader said the party came to power, it would spend 6 per cent of GDP on education and ensure all people have access to top quality education. Hyderabad, March 31 : Polling in Telangana's Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, where 185 candidates including Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K. Kavitha are in fray, will be conducted with EVMs only, the Election Commission announced on Sunday. The poll panel thus put to rest speculations that the ballot papers may be used for the polling in this constituency, where a large number of farmers are contesting as Independent candidates to highlight their problems. Kavitha is seeking re-election from the seat, while the Congress has once again fielded Madhu Yaskhi Goud. The Commission issued instructions to the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana to make arrangements for conduct of elections using M3 EVMs, which can accommodate names and symbols of all 185 candidates. It has also issued orders to Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) for immediate supply of 26,820 ballot units, 2240 control units and 2,600 VVPATs of M3 make to CEO Telangana. Over 175 turmeric and red sorghum farmers have filed nominations in Nizamabad as a mark of protest against the failure of the state and Central governments in ensuring remunerative prices for their produce. The turmeric farmers are also unhappy over the failure of the governments to set up the Turmeric Board. Visakhapatnam, March 31 : Showcasing opposition unity, West Bengal Chief Minister and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday appealed to people to vote only for "friendly parties" in the coming Lok Sabha election to oust the Narendra Modi government. Terming the Modi regime as "one of the most corrupt governments in the last 70 years", Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, and Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party chief, that the country is passing through an "emergency-like situation" and only the people can do something - by not voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Addressing a mega campaign rally for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium in this port town, Banerjee said: "This is a special election. Think and vote. Chandrababuji's name is synonymous with Andhra Pradesh's development. "And he will keep working for you. If there is anyone who can develop Andhra Pradesh, it is him. Only vote for those parties who are our friendly allies." Banerjee also challenged Prime Minister Modi to come and debate on issues. "You from one side and anyone from opposition. Come and debate. I am willing to take you (Modi) on. We don't bring teleprompters and prepared speeches. We will reply directly to the people's questions." "What has he done except lying to the country," she alleged, adding that in his first Lok Sabha poll, Modi was a 'chaiwallah' and in this election, he became a 'chowkidaar'. "Whose chowkidaar is he? He is chowkidaar of hoarders and those who loot the country. He is chowkidaar of demonetisation," Banerjee said. Kejriwal said that he appealed to the people, with "folded hands" to "vote carefully". "In this election, vote for Chandrababu Naidu to keep him again in power. The way Chandrababu Naidu has pushed Andhra Pradesh forward, nobody can. "Our country is going through an emergency-like situation. Narendra Modi and (BJP President) Amit Shah have ruined the country," he alleged. In Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax department have been unleashed on common people, he alleged. "There are raids to terrorise people. Over the last 70 years, Pakistan has just one dream - to divide our country. What Pakistan could not do in 70 years, Modi and Shah have done in five years." Citing demonetisation as the "biggest corruption" by the Central government, Kejriwal alleged that it all happened because Modi does not take advice from anyone, except Shah who does not know anything about finance. Citing BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj's recent address, he said: "He (Sakshi Maharaj) told people that 2019 election is the last election. There will be no election after that." "We have to save the country from Modi anyhow." Kejriwal also raised the issue of full statehood for Delhi and special status for Andhra Pradesh, telling people that this would be possible only when they don't vote the BJP in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. The two leaders joined the rally on the invitation of Naidu. Banerjee arrived here in the afternoon while Kejriwal reached in the evening. After the rally, the three Chief Ministers remained in Visakhapatnam to discuss the national scenario and work out strategies for the coming days. Andhra will have simultaneous Assembly and Parliamentary polls in the first phase on April 11. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston Chennai, April 1 : Chennai Super Kings rode a valiant innings by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and dominated with both bat and ball to defeat Rajasthan Royals by eight runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Sunday. Batting first, Chennai posted a challenging 175/5, powered by Dhoni's undefeated 75 which rescued the hosts from a difficult situation. The Chennai bowlers then put in a disciplined effort to restrict Rajasthan Royals to 167/8. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir and Dwayne Bravo claimed two wickets each. Earlier, despite some early blows, Dhoni's fighting knock (75) off 46 balls helped Chennai reach a respectable total while Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo also chipped in with 36 and 27 runs respectively. For Rajasthan, Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets while Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes picked up a wicket each. The increasing ties between some of these US Christian conservative groups and the European far right will be on display this weekend at a summit of the World Congress of Families (WCF) in Verona, Italy. Right-wing politicians and their supporters from across the continent are expected to attend including the Italian deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, who has described the WCF as a showcase for the Europe that we like. In a letter copied to the presidents of the European Council, European Commission and European Parliament, the cross-party group of MEPs has demanded action to protect European democracy against nefarious outside influences. Scottish National Party MEP Alyn Smith, who sits on the European Parliaments foreign affairs committee and signed the letter, today said: "This investigation by openDemocracy is extremely timely and shines a light on a major challenge facing democracy in Europe. Our findings are highly alarming and nobody should be in any doubt as to the insidious nature of these fundamentalist groups, he continued. No group of any kind should be able to use dark money to distort debate and to subvert democracy in Europe, least of all group such as these whose causes are deeply regressive. The Europe we like In the first analysis of its kind, openDemocracy has examined a decade of US Christian organisations financial accounts and found that several of them appear to have significantly increased their spending in Europe over the past five years. Our findings come as far-right parties aim for big wins in the upcoming European Parliament elections in May, and show how large amounts of foreign money have supported the spread of their traditional values messages. openDemocracy has reviewed hundreds of pages of financial filings for a dozen religious conservative groups that are registered in the US as tax-exempt non-profit organisations, and thus are required to disclose some information about their foreign spending. Some of these groups have been previously accused of supporting campaigns to criminalise homosexuality in Africa, draconian anti-abortion laws in Latin America and controversial projects to encourage gay people in the US to leave homosexuality. But the extent of their European activity has until now received little scrutiny. Our investigation reveals that some of these groups have: Sent teams of lobbyists to Brussels to influence EU officials Challenged laws against discrimination and hate speech in European courts Supported campaigns against LGBT rights in the Czech Republic and Romania Funded a network of grassroots anti-abortion campaigns in Italy and Spain Deployed ambulance-chasing evangelists after tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire, and in the wake of terrorist attacks Five of the conservative groups have previously been listed as partners of the World Congress of Families (WCF) network, which is meeting in Verona this week. Its not just European politicians who are concerned about them: these groups are controversial in America too. The WCF itself has been described as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremist movements and tracks this networks increasing connections with the far right. The SPLC explains that viewing homosexuality as unbiblical or simply opposing same-sex marriage is not enough to be categorised as a hate group. Groups on this list go further claiming that homosexuality is dangerous, linked to paedophilia and should be criminalised, disseminating disparaging facts about LGBT people that are simply untrue. This is, says SPLC, no different to how white supremacists and nativist extremists propagate lies about black people and immigrants to make these communities seem like a danger to society. Joseph Grabowski, a WCF spokesperson, told openDemocracy: We dispute entirely the premise [of the hate group designation]... Its an unfortunate slight for the countless Americans and the people around the world who hold the same views as we do on marriage, the nature of family and the right to life, that are part of the fabric of Christianity and also other traditional points of view, he said. The WCF is a project of the International Organization for the Family and the Illinois-based Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, whose directors include an ultra-conservative Spanish activist linked to the leader of the far-right Vox party. Other directors include a close associate of a Russian oligarch who sponsored a 2014 secret meeting in Vienna with key French and Austrian far-right leaders and an Italian politician facing corruption charges in his country. Over the last decade, the WCF has hosted at least seven major meetings in Europe, attended by hundreds of religious right activists and a growing list of far-right politicians. Its 2017 meeting in Budapest was opened by Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban. Among the conveners of this weeks event in Verona is an Italian anti-abortion group linked to the neo-fascist Forza Nuova party, whose leader is also expected to attend the WCF. Trump, the far right and the Christian legal army Two of the Trump-linked American groups examined by openDemocracy are Christian right legal powerhouses: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the American Center for Law and Justice. Together, they have spent more than $20 million in Europe since 2008. ADF supported a 2016 law in Belize making gay sex punishable with 10 years in jail They dont disclose their funders, but US journalists have previously traced at least $1 million in grants to ADF from a foundation controlled by the billionaire family of Betsy DeVos, Trumps education secretary, and Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater mercenary firm. ADF was co-founded by Alan Sears, a US Christian right leader who co-authored a book against the homosexual agenda. It is increasingly active internationally, including in Latin America. It supported a 2016 law in Belize making gay sex punishable with 10 years in jail. This group tripled its annual spending in Europe between 2012 and 2016, to more than $2.6 million a year. It now has offices in Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland and the UK, and spends hundreds of thousands of euros lobbying EU officials, according to separate transparency data. Among its European projects, the group has supported the defence of a notorious German activist who compared abortion to the Holocaust and accused specific doctors of murder. This year, ADF International also co-hosted an event with the French group La Manif Pour Tous, which has been previously been linked to the far-right party Front National. Ahead of the last European Parliament elections in 2014, La Manif Pour Tous launched a Europe for Family campaign which got 230 French candidates to sign a pledge opposing marriage equality, trans rights and sex education. Speaking to openDemocracy, a spokesperson for ADF International said they are exclusively privately funded by people from all over the world, who care about human rights and that its activities include advocating for freedom of speech in Europe. Asked for more detail about who the group gives its money to, they said: Since our advocacy involves court cases in countries where people are harassed, stigmatised, and even killed because of their religious convictions, it is our general policy not to disclose any recipients of funding in order to protect their personal safety and livelihoods. The second of the two Trump-linked groups, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), also operates through the courts. It was founded in 1990 by American televangelist Pat Robertson to oppose the American Civil Liberties Union The ACLJ has praised Putins laws banning gay propaganda A wake-up call to prevent foreign interference Under US law, the groups analysed by openDemocracy are required to publicly disclose some information about their foreign spending, but not the names of their overseas recipients, details of what activities they fund or the identities of their own funders. The $50 million figure drawn from openDemocracys analysis is also a likely underestimate of the resources that US conservatives have channelled into Europe in recent years. Data for 2018 is not yet available; meanwhile there are some important loopholes. Religious organisations registered as churches, for example, dont need to file the same disclosures. A number of other US Christian conservative groups appear to be spending money in Europe, but do not disclose this on their US filings including the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, which has coordinated the WCF network. The scale of this meddling by US extremists is shocking Caroline Hickson, International Planned Parenthood Federation Reacting to our findings, German Green MEP Terry Rintke, who sits on equality-related committees at the European Parliament, has said: This extreme extent of financial support flooding the EU is shocking especially with the European elections ahead of us." The SNP MEP Alyn Smith has said he and his fellow parliamentarians who signed todays letter have called for the mobilisation of EU institutions and member states in preventing malign actors such as those identified in the investigation from interfering in the European Parliament elections in May and beyond. Caroline Hickson, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federations European Network, said: The scale of this meddling by US extremists is shocking, but sadly no surprise to us. Every day European societies face concerted attacks by outside forces seeking to impose reproductive coercion This is utterly at odds with the European values of democracy and human rights. This is dark money coming into Europe to threaten human rights, and we're not doing anything about it, warned Neil Datta, secretary of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, describing the amounts of money involved as staggering. It took the Christian right 30 years to get to where they are now in the White House, he said. We knew a similar effort was happening in Europe, but this should be a wake-up call that this is happening even faster and on a grander scale than many experts could have ever imagined. Additional reporting by Peter Geoghegan Melbourne's continued accelerated housing downturn has overtaken Sydney to become the weakest capital city market annually, according to CoreLogic's March Home Value Index. Melbourne's housing market is now down 12.4 percent annually, now ahead of Sydney's 11.8% annual decline. Sydney's dwelling price declined 0.9 percent over March, driven by units (-1.1%). Houses in the harbour capital dropped by 0.9%, the first month since November that they haven't suffered declines over 1%. Melbourne saw its houses decline by 1.1% over March, its fifth consecutive month of more than 1% falls. Click here to enlarge. Values were down in six of the eight capital cities over the month. Hobart continued its strength, with another positive 0.6% increase in dwelling values, while Canberra held firm seeing no increases or declines. CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless noted that the market downturn has become geographically more widespread. The 0.6% drop in March was actually the smallest of the month-on-month declines since values fell by 0.5% in October last year. While the pace of falls has slowed in March, the scope of the downturn has become more geographically widespread," Lawless said. Lawless said that the housing market has recently shown some tentative signs that the downturn in dwelling values is losing some steam. RosmanSearch, Inc. is proud to announce the launch of a newly designed mobile-friendly website that provides a great mobile job search experience. In 2018, Judy Rosman (President) and Beth Dery (Recruiting and Operations Manager) both decided that upgrading to a mobile-friendly website would be a critical part of RosmanSearch's online presence in 2019. In many countries, smartphone and tablet traffic now exceeds desktop traffic, so having a mobile-friendly website made perfect sense to the two founding executives. The web content on the new RosmanSearch website job postings, textual content, visual content and the navigation menu system are readily accessible across all different platforms and, most significantly, on the much smaller screen of smartphones and tablets. Healthcare providers use the site to search for their perfect job in the fields of neurology, neuroscience and neurosurgery. The free job search app makes it easy for job seekers to use their mobile devices to browse high paying positions located in the region of the U.S. and then get hired where they want to live and work. Hiring managers who want to outsource a portion of their recruitment process to an external service provider visit the site to gather recruiting information and to contact RosmanSearch. The site also features a live chat function.This enables job seekers and hiring managers to get quick answers to their questions about jobs and recruitment services. RosmanSearch is a recruiting service that places neurosurgeons, neurologists, physician executives, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). The recruiters at RosmanSearch serve the needs of the neurosciences community by placing quality neurosurgeons and neurologists, as well as PAs and NPs for neurosurgery and neurology programs, with quality practices, academic departments and hospitals nationwide. RosmanSearch fills vacant and new APP positions with highly qualified Advanced Practice Providers. Physicians and healthcare providers use the site to help them achieve their career goals online. They can efficiently find a lucrative job, save the job details to My Favorite Positions and request more information about the position by using a computer, smartphone, Android tablet or iPad. Career-minded neurologists, neurosurgeons, physicians, executives, APPs, nurse practitioners and physician assistants begin the process of applying for a new job by submitting their CVs and resumes to RosmanSearch at http://www.rosmansearch.com. The new responsive website design, which went live in February of 2019, features an intuitive, logical and straightforward navigation system. Job seekers just click on Find A Position to search for open neurology, neurosurgery or APP positions. Neurologists looking for a better job can filter a list of neurology jobs based on keywords, the type of neurology job (subspecialty), geographical regions in the USA, employee compensation (base salary plus bonuses and incentives) and lifestyle characteristics. The ability for neurologists to use the new RosmanSearch website, to search for open neurology jobs by salary ranges, is a unique sorting function that is not available on the American Academy Of Neurology (AAN) Career Center website or the PracticeLink job board. APPs who are looking for nurse practitioner jobs and physician assistant jobs visit the site and contact RosmanSearch in order to advance their careers and increase their salaries. RosmanSearch is the leading retained and contingency search firm in the neuroscience industry in the USA. The search firm specializes in executive search, permanent placement, neurosurgery and neurology physician recruiting, APP staffing, nurse practitioner sourcing, physician assistant recruitment and staff augmentation services. In addition, the agency headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, also provides consulting services for decision makers at academic institutions, private practices and hospitals. The recruiting firm's consulting expertise covers topics such as neurology compensation, neuroscience market trends and analysis, neurosurgery program marketing, candidate interviewing, employee retention and building work volume for new physicians. For more information or to contact RosmanSearch, call 216-906-8188 or visit https://www.rosmansearch.com. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. The US Spanish-language cable network Cine Mexicano has added two films starring Mexican actor Flavio Penicheto its repertoire. Peniche, whose career spans almost 30 years, recently appeared in the telenovelas Senora Acero, Enemigo Intimo and La Querida del Centauro. The actor is part of a well-known family of celebrities, including his brother and star of telenovelas Arturo Peniche, and his nephew Brandon Peniche, who won recognition in 2012 for his role as a quadriplegic in A Refuge for Love.The actor was also involved in a tragic accident in 2003 when he shot and killed actor Antonio Velasco during the filming of a film, not knowing that the weapon was loaded with real bullets instead of blanks. The actor has been exonerated from all charges.In Sublime Symphony, a professional pianist writes a melody that throws her into stardom. Her new fame transports her into a subculture of fantasy, deception and unbridled passions.Extortion for Pleasure and Money meanwhile is the story of a corrupt politician named Junior who uses all the criminal schemes at his disposal to destroy anyone who opposes his insatiable desires for power. But certain erotic weaknesses put all their plans at risk. Meanwhile, Claudio is a young man who reveals evidence that can stop the Junior once and for all but then he discovers that the woman he loves is part of Junior's malevolent organization. Cine Mexicano is part of the Olympusat family of channels in the US and is available via most major cable providers. 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 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. A Seat at the Table, a crossover event with Grady college and Terry college, taught male and female students how to earn their place at the table and what to do with it once they are there. 'There will be no flying unless the company pays us substantial salaries and provides a road map,' the National Aviators Guild, the pilots union, said in a message to its members. Aneesh Phadnis reports. Jet Airways on Saturday, March 30, cleared the pending salaries for December, but pilots maintain they would stop flying from April 1 if full dues are not settled. The pilots union has called for a meeting on Sunday to decide further steps. The airline is yet to pay full salaries for January and February to its pilots, engineers and senior management. So far, only 12.5% of December salary was paid and on Saturday the airline credited the remaining 87.5% for the month. 'The board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline,' Jet CEO Vinay Dube said in an e-mail to staff. Stating that these are complex processes and that it has taken longer than expected, Dube wrote, 'We are only able to remit your remaining salary for December 2018'. Founder Naresh Goyal stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways on March 25 as lenders agreed to provide Rs 1,500 crore in emergency funding as part of a resolution plan. His wife Anita, too, resigned as director on the Jet board. 'We realise that this remittance does not lift the financial hardship that each of you are facing and we do not take your sacrifices for granted. We continue to work on additional funding on an urgent basis and shall advise you about the release of the remaining salary arrears as the funds come in,' Dube told the Jet staff in his latest e-mail. The pilots union has made it clear that the partial payout is not acceptable. 'There will be no flying unless the company pays us substantial salaries and provides a road map,' the National Aviators Guild, the pilots union, said in a message to its members. Just a day ago, around 200 pilots had individually written to the airline CEO, threatening to go on leave of absence and warning of legal action for non-payment of dues. Engineers too have threatened to stop work if salaries are not paid. The lenders consortium is preparing for an open auction for Jet, which has a debt of around Rs 8,500 crore. The expression of interest for the auction is likely by April 9 and final bids are expected by end of May. Goyal, whose stake has been halved from 51% to 25.5%, is learnt to be scouting for strategic partners for the airline he had founded more than 25 years ago. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which owned 24% in Jet and now is left with 12%, is expected to decide at a board meeting on Sunday, whether it wants to exit the airline completely or not. 'The BJP leadership knew I was unhappy.' 'No one came forward to speak to me. There was no dialogue at all.' 'It was as if they had shut me out.' IMAGE: Shatrughan Sinha with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, March 28, 2019. Photograph: Kind courtesy @ShatrughanSinha/Twitter Shatrughan Sinha has finally belled the cat. Abandoning the Bharatiya Janata Party where he felt sidelined and snubbed, he has joined hands with the Congress. "The Congress is the political future of India," Sinha tells Subhash K Jha. So you have finally done what we knew for some time? (Laughs heartily.) Raaz ki baat jo sab jaante the. Open Secret, Yes, I've joined hands with Soniaji, Rahul and Priyanka. I am now part of the Congress I. Why? Why? Why did I choose to join Congress I? It was a decision taken after much deliberation and thought. And why not? The Congress is the party that brought us kicking and dragging into Free India. It gave us national legends like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru... That was in the past. Where are the leaders of that stature in the Congress now? Well, we could give the same argument for the BJP. I joined hands with them because of the great leaders like L K Advaniji and Atal Bihariji. Leadership has to change. Today, the Congress is in the hands of Rahul Gandhi. He was trolled mercilessly until very recently. But Rahul has evolved in the past year or so. He is no longer ridiculed. Besides, his sister Priyanka has also joined hands with Rahul. We have to give him a chance. I was happy when he spoke to me. He said he is very happy to welcome me to the party. Yes, you and Urmila Matondkar... The more, the merrier. I think the Congress is the political future of India. It saw India through its toughest times. It is time to give them another chance. What prompted you to make the move from the BJP to the Congress I? Many factors. I was not being treated properly by the BJP. When they announced Ravi Shankar Prasadji as their candidate from my seat in Patna, something gave way inside me. I ceased being a loyal soldier of the BJP. Not that I intend to badmouth anyone from the BJP. I respect the senior leaders. They are my colleagues and friends and I am not into the politics of mudslinging. I hope they feel the same. Your daughter Sonakshi feels you should have left the BJP long ago. (Laughs.) Achcha. When did she say that? How sweet of her! I am in Muscat where they are honouring me as a cinematic legend. My family has been advising me to do the right thing in my political career. And not just they. My dear family friend Lalu Yadavji also wanted me to join hands with the Congress I. Do you think the Congress will accord you the respect you deserve? I feel welcome here. As you know, I was unhappy with my position in the BJP for a long time. The BJP leadership knew I was unhappy. No one came forward to speak to me. There was no dialogue at all. It was as if they had shut me out. I didn't have to suffer this humiliation, but I stayed on out of loyalty. But now I feel it is time to move on. What are your plans as a Congress member? To serve the country and to end the culture of intolerance that has taken over the nation. If you criticise a government policy, you are not anti-India. If you say Kashmir is burning, you are not pro-Pakistan. A MiG 27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Sunday near Jodhpur in Rajasthan but the pilot ejected safely, official sources said. The MiG 27 UPG jet took off from Utarlai airforce base and the jet experienced engine problems leading to the crash around 11:45 am in Sirohi district about 120 km south of Jodhpur, they said, adding that the pilot ejected safely. The sources said a court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. Preliminary reports indicate no loss of life and property on ground. The jet was on a routine mission, they said. The fighter aircraft crashed in Shivganj police station area near Godana dam in Sirohi district. Police and administrative officials have reached the spot to cordon off the area, said Sirohi district Superintendent of Police, Kalyan Mal Meena. 'Everyone relies on caste to win elections in Bihar.' M I Khan reports from Patna. IMAGE: Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, centre, and Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, left, after announcing the mahagathbandan's candidates for the Lok Sabha election in Patna, March 29, 2019. Photograph: PTI Photo Caste is more important than Hindutva, nationalism or unemployment in Bihar politics. Caste equations play a major role in deciding candidates and their eventual fate at the ballot box. Caste is a winnability factor, accepted in this Lok Sabha election by all parties including the ruling National Democratic Alliance's Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal United-Lok Janshakti Party and the Opposition mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-Rashtriya Lok Samta Party-Hindustani Awam Morcha-Vikasshil Insan Party. Even the Left, who claim not to play the caste card, has accepted this factor. Taking caste as a deciding factor to make or mar prospects in the Lok Sabha election, political parties in Bihar have taken care to field candidates to suit the caste equation on the ground in different constituencies. The NDA and mahagathbandhan have fielded more candidates from the dominant upper castes -- Rajputs and Bhumihars -- Other Backward Classes like the Yadavs, Muslims and Dalits. The NDA has fielded two Muslim candidates, one each from the JD-U and the LJP. The mahagathbandhan has nominated six Muslim candidates -- four from the RJD and two from the Congress. Muslims constitute over 16 per cent of Bihar's population. The BJP has fielded 10 candidates from the upper castes of the 17 seats allotted to it. It has fielded five OBCs, one from the economically backward class and a Dalit for the Lok Sabha poll. If the BJP's primary focus was upper castes, considered its traditional supporters, its ally, the JD-U, has fielded more candidates from the OBCs, EBCs and Dalits. The Nitish Kumar-led JD-U has fielded six OBCs and an equal numbers of candidates from the EBCs, two upper castes, two Dalits and one Muslim from its quota of 17 seats. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP has fielded three Dalit candidates (Paswan's brothers and son), two upper castes and one Muslim candidate. The mahagathbandhan, which has announced 32 out of 40 candidates so far, has given 16 seats to the Muslim-Yadav combination. "Of the 19 seats the RJD is contesting, the party has given 12 seats to Yadavs and Muslims, considered its traditional support base. The RJD has also decided to support another Yadav candidate Raju Yadav of the CPI-ML. The RJD has played its old card of MY (Muslim-Yadav) in this poll too," points out Ranjeev, a social activist. Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party -- a constituent of the mahagathbandan this election -- has given one of its five seats to a Yadav nominee. "There are several factors, but caste is more important. The party has to decide candidates and keeping this in consideration," says a RLSP leader. "Caste is a reality," says a JD-U leader, adding, "elections strategies are made to consolidate caste equations to win elections. Everyone relies on caste to win elections in Bihar. Elections cannot be won on mere drumming of vikas (development) alone, caste cannot be ignored." The BJP is confident of the support of upper caste voters along with non-Yadav OBCs like Nitish Kumar's Kurmi caste, EBCs and Dalits. "The BJP and JD-U are banking heavily on the EBCs, who constitute nearly 30 per cent of the state's population and the scheduled castes, who constitute 15.7 per cent," an NDA leader says. The NDA is also trying to dent RJD chief Lalu Prasad's Yadav vote bank. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Ram Kripal Yadav, one of Lalu Yadav's closest aides who fell out with him, was nominated as the BJP candidate from Pataliputra and inducted as a Union minister after he defeated Lalu's daughter Dr Misa Yadav. In 2016, the BJP appointed Nityaand Rai, a Yadav, as state party president. Earlier, the BJP appointed another Yadav, Bhupender Yadav, as the party in-charge of Bihar. Yadavs constitute nearly 14 per cent of Bihar's 110 million population. Yadavs are considered not only loyal to Lalu, but are a strong force to counter upper caste dominance in the state. In Bihar's caste-driven politics, the BJP is aware that other backward castes like the Kurmis are solidly behind Nitish Kumar unlike the Koeris or Kushwahas. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election and in the 2015 Bihar assembly poll, Narendra Damodardas Modi tried to convince Bihar voters that he hails from a extreme backward caste. It is a different matter that there is no EBC category in his home state Gujarat unlike Bihar. "It was seen as a desperate move to woo the backward castes, EBCs, Dalits and Mahadalits to ruin Lalu's aggressive social support base," says CPI-M leader Manoj Chandravanshi. The JD-U is banking on Nitish Kumar's development card and his social engineering of non-Yadav backward castes, extreme backward castes, Mahadalits. "Nitish Kumar's social support base is silent and not aggressive like the RJD," says JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. Ranjeev, the social activist, points out that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, former government officers, including those from the elite Indian Administrative Service, kept caste considerations in mind while choosing the constituency to contest the poll. R K Singh, a Bihar cadre IAS officer and former Union home secretary, contested the Ara seat as a BJP candidate. For Singh, a Rajput and native of the state's Supaul district, Ara was considered a safe seat with a strong presence of his caste and other upper castes. Ranjeev also cited the example of former Bihar police chief D P Ojha who contested the 2004 Lok Sabha poll from Begusarai, considered a citadel of his Bhumihar caste. Ojha, an iconic police officer for his aggressive stand against organised crime, particularly then RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, won just 5,000 votes as an Independent candidate. General Bajwa gets inputs from his senior officers, but he has the final word, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency. IMAGE: Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the Line of Control, February 22, 2019. Photograph: www.ispr.gov.pk On April 8, 2019 five lieutenant generals of the Pakistan army will retire -- Omer Mahmood Hayat (ordinance), Malik Zafar Iqbal (Baloch regiment), Javed Bukhari (engineers), Anwar Ali Hyder (Frontier Force regiment) and Shahid Baig Mirza (Punjab regiment). Two slots of corps commanders -- 31 Corps, Bahawalpur and 5 Corps, Karachi -- will fall vacant. This will be the second last reshuffle/promotion of three star generals that Pakistan army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa will oversee during his current term, which ends in November. The next reshuffle, due in September, will open up only three more positions for lieutenant general rank. As in most professional armies, the promotion pyramid gets very steep at senior ranks in the Pakistan army and supersession of a fair number of major generals is common. Several qualified officers are available to choose from. The chief of army staff gets inputs from his senior officers during the army promotion board, but he has the final word while picking five officers from the 15 to 20 senior most major generals. Command, staff and instructional appointments at major general rank are requisites for further promotion. Some posts are considered 'first tier' such as the director general military operations. Command of some divisions such as 10, 11 (both in Lahore), 12 Infantry (Murree), Ist Armored Division (Multan) and Force Commander Northern Area (FCNA-Gilgit) are considered prestigious. In the staff category, chiefs of staff of a strike corps (1 Corps, Mangla and 2 Corps, Multan), cice chiefs of general staff and in the instructional domain, commandants of the Pakistan military academy, Kakul, and the command and staff College, Quetta are first tier posts. Usually, officers who have served at these positions become front runners. In the last decade, the role of paramilitary forces has dramatically increased. Good and ambitious officers are now posted to command paramilitary forces. In view of this change, posts of inspector general of the Frontier Corps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, as also the rangers in Punjab and Sindh are considered first tier posts. Administrative posts such as director general of quartering and lands, budget, pay and pension, defense purchase etc are considered second tier posts. Usually, officers posted to these positions do not make it to the next rank. General Bajwa has followed a policy of rotating three star generals from field to staff appointments equitably enough, but the balance between different arms is currently a little skewed, as seven serving lieutenant generals (out of 28) are from the armoured corps, while 3 are from engineers. This suggests that no major general from these two arms may be promoted in this cycle. All five promotions this time could be from infantry or possibly one from the artillery. Regimental bonds are stronger among infantry and armored corps officers compared to other services. Capable officers from the chief's service or parent battalion/regiment get choice postings that can give them an edge. The list of eligible major generals includes many first-rate officers. Sahir Shamshad Mirza is from the Sindh Regiment. After serving in the important position of DGMO, he is currently vice chief of general staff. Kaleem Asif is from the Frontier Force regiment. He served as general officer commanding of the 12 division and was considered a favourite of former army chief, General Raheel Sharif. General Bajwa sent him out as chief of staff, southern command at Quetta (12 corps). Faiz Hameed commanded 16 division (Pano Aqil, Sukkur) and is currently DG (counter-intelligence) at the directorate of inter-services intelligence, (ISI). He is from General Bajwa's Baloch regiment, but his name became controversial when the army negotiated a settlement between the government and protesting leaders of the Tehrik-e Labaik ya Rasool who were blocking a major highway to Islamabad at the Faizabad crossing for several days. Major General Hameed signed that document on behalf of the army. Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had accused him for encouraging defections from the Pakistan Muslim League during the 2018 election. Sardar Tariq Aman is from the Baloch regiment. He served as GOC 10 division in Lahore and IGFC Baluchistan. Azhar Abbas is also from the Baloch regiment. He served as private secretary to the chief of army staff, commanded 12 division, Murree, and is currently commandant of the school of infantry, Quetta. Nauman Mahmood, currently director general (analysis) at the ISI, hails from a military family. His father, Lieutenant Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood, was killed in action in the 1971 War in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Major General Nauman was commissioned in his father's parent 22 Baloch regiment. He commanded a brigade in the tribal areas (FATA), served as chief Iinstructor at the command and staff college, Quetta and GOC, 7 division in KPK. Tahir Masood is from the Punjab regiment and is currently GOC of the special services group, Tarbela. Upgrading of command of SSG is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the past, conventionally, SSG was seen as the Pakistan army's 'muscle punch'. SSG commanders were called 'fighter types' and usually did not get promoted to three star rank. If General Bajwa decides to delve a bit deeper from the list of eligible major generals, Nadeem Ahmad Anjum, currently commandant, staff college, Quetta, and Asif Ghafoor, director general, inter services public relations could emerge as dark horses. Major General Nadeem served as IGFC, Baluchistan. Major General Asif Ghafoor has been the public face of the army and can be considered a Bajwa favourite in days when personal veneration of chiefs has become fashionable. However, his elevation may be seen as bad optics by his peers. How General Bajwa brings in a new team with requisite experience, due balance of infantry officers in senior ranks, including several from his alma mater, the Baluch regiment, will be watched with interest. 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. 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Updated on 10/7/2020 Alex Jones, who claimed the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged, may now be blaming his opinion on a form of psychosis he had in the past where I basically thought everything was staged ... even though Im learning a lot of things arent staged. According to published reports, those claims were made earlier this month when Jones was grilled during an Austin, Texas, deposition taken in connection with one of the lawsuits brought by parents of some of the 20 children killed in the 2012 shooting. Gunman Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother and six educators during the mass shooting, killed himself as police approached the school. Jones spent more than three hours answering questions posed by lawyers in a suit claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress brought on behalf of Jessie Lewis, one of the slain children, by his mother, Scarlett Lewis. The Lewis suit is just one of several lawsuits against Jones and others pending in Texas, Virginia and Connecticut. The video of the deposition was posted in two parts on YouTube. Jones often ran his hands through his neatly trimmed beard and short hair and took deep breaths, which he loudly exhaled. At one point, as he was questioned about people debunking his theory and the debates that followed, Jones said I dont live, eat, breathe and sleep this stuff. If I had it all over to do, I would have done a better job. I didnt do it on purpose to be malicious. It was not long after the shooting that Jones maintained on his InfoWars program that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, part of a government attempt to pass laws that would limit the right to bear arms. Jones has claimed the school shooting was staged by paid actors who faked the childrens deaths. The Austin American-Statesman said Jones told the lawyers during the Texas deposition, Its painful that we have to question big public events. I think thats an essential part of the First Amendment in America. But, even as he said he has come to believe over the years that the Sandy Hook shootings were real, he continued in the deposition to voice conspiratorial suspicions that the whole truth about what happened remained hidden, the American-Statesman reported. I think weve agreed before that Sandy Hook was real. It was not staged. It was not phony. You were wrong about that, said Mark Bankston of the Texas law firm of Farrar and Ball, representing Lewis, said, according to the Statesman. Well, I want to be clear, Jones replied, according to the Statesman. I believe children died. I believe there was a mass shooting. I still think that there was a man in the woods in camo. ... And just a lot of experts Ive talked to, including retired FBI agents and other people and people high up in the Central Intelligence Agency, have told me that there is a cover-up in Sandy Hook. Asked toward the end of the deposition whether people should be accountable for the people they hurt, Jones replied sometimes people claim theyve been hurt when they havent been. So you have to look at the agenda behind things. You have to balance things about why has the mainstream media lied so much, why our governments lied so much, the fact that the public doesnt believe what theyre told anymore, and are we going to criminalize questioning Jussie Smollett or WMDs or babies in incubators. And it really is the fact that weve allowed the government and institutions to become so corrupt that people have lost any compass of whats real. Bankston asked Jones about the assertion by his lawyers at a pretrial hearing in his 2017 child custody case that in his on-air persona, Jones was a performance artist. So I want to ask you, I want to know, Bankston asked. When you were making these claims about Sandy Hook, were you being a journalist, or was this all performance art? When I say things on air, I believe it, Jones said. Bankston asked Jones about his relationship with Wolfgang Halbig, described as a former Florida school security officer. Halbig, according to The New York Times, promoted a baseless tale that Avielle Richman, one of the first-graders killed in Sandy Hook, was still alive. Just this week, Richmans father, Jeremy took his life near his office of the Avielle Foundation at the Edmond Town Hall in Newtown. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that studies brain science. Earlier this month, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis gave families of the slain children the right to interview Jones under oath for five hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process. She also recommended the case be moved to the complex litigation docket in state Superior Court in Waterbury, where she will be sitting beginning Sept. 1. In another matter, a federal judge in Virginia refused to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against Jones by the Georgetown Law Schools Civil Rights Clinic on behalf of Brennan Gilmore. Gilmore was a counterprotester who filmed the car attack that killed Heather Heyer and injured 36 others during the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va. KYIV -- Comedian and political novice Volodymyr Zelenskiy secured the most votes in Ukraines presidential election but fell short of the majority needed to win outright in the first round, early results and exit polls suggest. With 21 percent of ballots counted early on April 1, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars on a TV comedy series about a teacher who becomes president after denouncing corruption, had 30 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC). Incumbent Petro Poroshenko was in second with 16.8 percent of the vote, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with about 13.3 percent The numbers corresponded closely to three separate exit polls, which showed Zelenskiy with at least 30 percent the March 31 election. All the polls put Poroshenko in second with about 18 percent, while Tymoshenko followed with about 14 percent. 'Bit Anxious' "Today a new life starts, without corruption," Zelenskiy, 41, said at his party headquarters in Kyiv shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time. Asked how he was feeling, Zelenskiy said he was a "bit anxious." "I'm a living person. My wife and friends are at my side, that makes it easier for me. It's just a huge responsibility. I understand what responsibility is, so I...I feel fine." Poroshenko said he felt "no euphoria" following the exit-poll results. "This is a harsh lesson for me and the authorities as a whole. It is a reason to work on our mistakes," he said at his campaign headquarters in Kyiv. Poroshenko also tried to put a positive spin on the exit polls, saying Russia did not want him in the second round. "My friends, today you -- Ukrainians, we -- Ukrainians, smashed Russia's scenario for the first round [of Ukraine's elections], because Poroshenko was precisely the person they did not wish to see in the second round. That failed completely." Poroshenko has fought to integrate the country with the European Union and NATO, while strengthening the military which is fighting Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country. Tymoshenko's campaign team, meanwhile, claimed its own exit polling showed her comfortably in second place. At a news conference after the polls closed, Tymoshenko called on her supporters to head to polling stations to ensure an honest count. Tymoshenko, 58, who was among the leaders of the 2004-05 Orange Revolution against a flawed presidential vote, campaigned heavily on anti-Poroshenko sentiment and appeals to populism, including pledges to cut gas prices to households by half within a month of taking office and drastically raising pensions. Ukrainians and outsiders hope the eventual winner can bring much-needed stability and reform to a country that is a key transit route for Russian gas and an ally in Western efforts to keep a resurgent Russia in check. Ukraine's Interior Ministry said it had received more than 1,600 complaints about electoral violations two hours before polls closed. It said the reported violations included unauthorized campaigning at polling stations, attempts to bribe voters, and removal of ballots. At a press conference late on March 31, Tetyana Slipachuk, head of the CEC, said there had been "no systemic violations" during the balloting. "We can say that the will of the Ukrainian people has been expressed," Slipachuk said. The CEC said by late afternoon "no systemic violations" had been reported. There are isolated instances, but they are classic for any voting process in any election campaign, CEC Secretary Natalia Bernatska told journalists. The CEC later issued figures showing turnout at nearly 64 percent. WATCH: Tymoshenko Says Exit Polls Manipulated At a Kyiv polling station, the entire Dobriyvechir family of four told RFE/RL they voted for Zelenskiy, with daughter Anastasia, 19, saying she believed the comic-turned-candidate is a "good man" who shares the same values in real life as the fictional president he plays in his hit sitcom Servant of the People. "He's going to make our country better" like he does in his show, she said. Her mother, Svitlana, said that Zelenskiy was the obvious choice for her, because life hasn't become better under incumbent Poroshenko. "Life has gotten worse in the past five years," she said. "Utility prices have gotten higher and pensioners like our grandmother can't afford to live." "Poroshenko delivered visa-free travel and the Tomos" -- the declaration that created a new, independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine -- "but otherwise he didn't do enough for us," Svitlana added. Veteran campaigners Poroshenko and Tymoshenko, a onetime gas-industry entrepreneur who was jailed over a gas deal with Russia after her second-place finish in the 2010 presidential race, both have hefty party structures behind them. Ongoing War In The East Ukrainians' interest in the election has reportedly risen over the past year, with many citing the simmering war, national unity and reconciliation, and the fight against corruption as their highest priorities. In the southeastern port city of Mariupol, near the front line of the conflict that has cost some 13,000 lives over five years, a soldier who was casting his ballot said the war is "the main question for everyone." "The country is tired of this situation, people are tired," 22-year-old soldier Sergiy told AFP. Zelenskiy has appealed to young people in particular with carefully crafted social-media messages like the crowdsourcing of a potential cabinet, and taken a tough line against corruption, including proposing a lifetime ban on public office for cheats and a tax amnesty to encourage the repatriation of offshore assets. WATCH: No Joke: A Comic And Wannabe President Critics have questioned Zelenskiy's ties to a controversial exiled oligarch whose TV station was blitzing viewers with his programs ahead of the voting. But it was unclear whether those attacks or reports linking Zelenskiy to ongoing Russian businesses and accusing him of a failure to disclose a multimillion-dollar Italian villa would tarnish his transparency credentials in the eyes of voters. Poroshenko has suffered from generally high unfavorability ratings over perceived failures to enact political and economic reforms or tackle widespread corruption, however. And more recently, some of the ultranationalists who have enjoyed relative impunity under his wartime administration turned on Poroshenko over a military-procurement scandal involving alleged profiteering by the son of a longtime ally. Chocolate Mogul But the 53-year-old chocolate mogul has also kept the broadly popular aim of further integration with Europe high on his agenda, and earlier this year he helped win autocephaly for an Orthodox Church of Ukraine to buoy his nationalist credentials. After voting alongside his family on March 31, Poroshenko said a fair vote was essential for Ukraine's progress. "This is an absolutely necessary condition for our moving forward, for the return of Ukraine into the family of European nations and our membership of the European Union and NATO," Poroshenko said. WATCH: Poroshenko Says Russia Did Not Want Him In Second Round At his final campaign rally, on March 28 in Lviv, Poroshenko told the crowd that the country had "just started to make up the losses after the crisis" brought on by Russia's 2014 invasion but vowed that "the worst, friends, is definitely over," according to AFP. None of the other 36 candidates consistently polled over 10 percent, although possible dark horses include former gas executive and ex-minister Yuriy Boyko, an opposition leader who has advocated repairing relations with Russia. All three of the leading candidates are seen as generally pro-Western. "Ukraine in any case is moving in the direction of the West," dpa quoted Vadim Karasyov, director of the Institute of Global Strategies, as saying in the run-up to the election. Five years removed from street unrest that unseated pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych after he tacked away from closer cooperation with the European Union, opinion polls suggest an overwhelming majority of Ukraine's 44 million people still want dramatic change in domestic policy. But the result will resonate well beyond Ukraine, which abuts Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, a handful of EU members to the west, and Moldova and the strategically important Black Sea to the south. Moscow could be watching closely for opportunities to undermine Ukrainian defiance in the face of the separatist threat that Moscow has stoked since Russian troops invaded Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 or to chip away at Western support for Kyiv. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose administration has depicted Kyiv's post-Euromaidan leadership as a "junta," this week declined to say "whether the election could be recognized as illegitimate," according to TASS. Ukrainian security officials warned in the final week of campaigning that "Russia intends to carry out unprecedented cyberattacks" against the country's election supervisors "in order to cast doubt on the legitimacy" of the vote. Observers like the Atlantic Council's Brian Mefford have predicted that the voting "is likely to be the cleanest and least fraudulent election in Ukraine's history." But Olha Aivazovska, who heads the Opora civil network, which has alleged campaign-funding violations and supervisory and other problems, suggested that Ukrainians were showing the "lowest level of confidence in the electoral process in the history of elections in Ukraine." If no one wins a majority outright, the top two candidates advance to a runoff on April 21. The World Bank warned last year that Ukraine's economic "outlook depends on the pace of reforms and on reaching an agreement on the [International Monetary Fund] program," which has extended billions in credit to Kyiv since the conflict broke out five years ago, crippling Ukraine's economy and devaluing its currency. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Kyrgyzstan to drop the case against a couple who is facing criminal charges for staging a peaceful protest ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Bishkek last week. Nurlan Karymshakov, 48, and Gulzana Imaeva, 38, were detained and charged with inciting national enmity after holding up anti-Putin posters outside the Russian Embassy on March 27, a day before the Russian leaders visit to the Kyrgyz capital. In a statement on March 29, the New York-based human rights watchdog said that expressing negative comments about a single person, in particular if the person is a public political figure such as the president of a country, does not amount to incitement of national enmity against the countrys people. Human rights defender Rita Karasartova told RFE/RL that Karymshakov and Imaeva were detained as they were holding posters reading "Putin is an aggressor, a murderer, an occupant," and "No to Putin's torpedoes in Issyk-Kul! No to bombs!" in reference to Russias military presence in Kyrgyzstan. The protest took place on the eve of Putins one-day visit, during which Russian and Kyrgyz officials agreed to expand the territory of Russias military base in the Central Asian country by 60 hectares, among other things. The couples lawyer, Zamir Jooshev, told HRW that police executed a search warrant at their home during which some of their belongings were seized including a laptop, posters, and money. In a pre-trial detention hearing that ended early on March 29, a judge at a Bishkek court ordered that the couple be released. Karymshakov and Imaeva should never have been detained for expressing views critical of President Putin, no matter how inconvenient for Kyrgyz authorities on the eve of the Russian presidents visit, said Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at HRW. The Kyrgyz authorities should withdraw the criminal charges without delay and close the case, she added. Thousands of Serbs joined an antigovernment march in Belgrade on March 30 for the 17th straight week in a row. The marches initially started in condemnation of a November 2018 assault on Serbian Left opposition party leader Borko Stefanovic. They later grew into demands that top officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic, should resign. The protesters have also accused the public radio and television broadcaster, RTS, of pro-government bias. Two weeks ago, they invaded its headquarters. Liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova was elected president in Slovakia's March 30 runoff. Caputova will become the country's first female head of state. Incumbent President Andrej Kiska arrived to congratulate Caputova at her campaign headquarters in Bratislava. Caputova's rival in the runoff was Maros Sefcovic, a career diplomat trained at the MGIMO college in Moscow who is currently working as the European Commission vice president in charge of energy. (CNN) Electricity slowly returned in most areas of Caracas on Saturday after Venezuela struggled through the third major blackout of March. Power went out around 7 p.m. Friday. Sirens, car horns and alarms echoed throughout the dark streets before generators began kicking in. The situation is much worse in the barrios and poorer areas of the capital, and especially outside Caracas, with many struggling with intermittent service since the first major blackout. Blackouts have become a daily occurrence across Venezuela as the economic crisis has worsened. The power outage was the talk of the town, overshadowing another round of dueling protests by supporters of embattled President Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly. Maduro and his government blame the United States and its allies inside the country, accusing them of sabotaging power plants and the electricity grid. Government officials often release pictures of damaged sections and use government officials to explain on state media what happened and why it's US President Donald Trump's fault. On the other side, Guaido, recognized as Venezuela's interim president by several countries, including the United States, sees the outages as a good example of why Maduro must go. Guaido and his supporters accuse Maduro of mismanaging the income from the country's massive oil reserves and failing to maintain public infrastructure. The cause of the third blackout has not been given, but the first two occurred because of problems at the Guri hydroelectric plant, which serves 70% of the country. The first blackout started March 8 and was not completely over until about five days later. It put most of Venezuela in the dark, stopping mass transit in the capital, shuttering businesses and gas stations and disrupting operations at hospitals. Mauro Zambrano, representative of the hospitals and clinics union of Caracas, told CNN there have been four deaths at hospitals, including two at a children's hospital. CNN has not independently verified any of the four deaths. The second blackout occurred March 25 after a fire at the Guri plant that Venezuelan Minister of Communications Jorge Rodriguez said was caused by "criminals" and their "gringo masters." The blackouts cause problems beyond electricity. As electricity fails, so does the water supply, leaving millions without access for days. In most hotels, running water is available for only short periods at certain times of the day. Shortages have been felt even in wealthier neighborhoods, with some people saying they haven't had running water for two days. Some travel huge distances to collect water at nearby rivers or streams, bathing in unfiltered, sometimes polluted and disease-ridden waters. Power outages affect all strands of daily activity. The blackouts have halted service in the Caracas subway at times and check-in at the Simon Bolivar International Airport has been done by hand several times in the past few weeks. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Venezuela darkened by third major blackout this month." The authorities in Ukraine say they have seized heroin worth about $60 million in raids in the country's center and west. National Police chief Serhiy Knyazev on March 31 announced on Facebook two raids in the Kyiv region yielding "600 kilograms of heroin worth $50 million," adding: "I have never seen so much heroin seized by the Ukrainian police." Knyazev wrote that more than 100 kilograms of the powder had been found overnight "in a professionally-equipped cubby hole in a premium-class car" outside Kyiv. He added that four people had been detained: a citizen of Moldova, Turkey, and two from Macedonia. In a separate investigation, the prosecutors office in the western Transcarpathia region said on March 30 that officers of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) had found 130 kilograms of heroin worth $10 million in a village house. Ukraine is a transit country for trafficking heroin from Afghanistan to Western and Central Europe, mainly via the Northern Black Sea route and from Russia, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. A country overview on the agency's website says that some activities relating to stocking and transhipment of heroin have been noted on the territory of Ukraine in recent years. EMCDDA also says that cocaine originating in Latin America enters Ukraine through Poland, Russia, or countries in the Middle East and West Africa. On March 21, the SBU announced that it had seized more than a quarter of a ton of cocaine worth some $51 million on a South American cargo ship that had docked in the Black Sea port of Odesa. With reporting by AFP KYIV -- At School No. 14 in the Podil district of Ukraine's capital, Yuriy Petrenko cranes his neck to peer over the shoulder of polling station chief Iryna Podlesna as she unlocks a safe, pulls out a stack of the 83-centimeter-long ballots, and hands it to a colleague. Petrenko looks like any other monitor who's here to observe today's presidential voting. A first-time observer, he has a pen and a pad of paper to note any suspicious activities. He has access to the list of the 2,252 voters registered to vote here. And he has an identification badge stamped by the Central Election Commission that officially grants him the right to watch over four ballot boxes and the vote tally once polls close at 8 p.m. local time. But take a closer look at the lanyard around his neck that holds that badge and it becomes clear he is no run-of-the-mill election monitor. As the canary-yellow text on his black lanyard shows, Petrenko is a member of Ukraine's far-right National Militia. It's a paramilitary force with a fondness for urban camouflage and black facemasks, as well as a penchant for violence to advance an ultranationalist agenda. The group's resume includes brutal attacks against LGBT people, Romany encampments, and women's rights advocates. Such attacks led the U.S. State Department to describe the organization and its political wing, the National Corps, as "nationalist hate groups" in its latest Ukraine country report on human rights. More recently, the National Militia joined the Corps in anticorruption protests targeting President Petro Poroshenko after some of his allies were accused of embezzling millions of dollars in money meant for the military. Some of those protests have resulted in clashes that have left more than 20 police officers injured. Petrenko, who goes by the nom de guerre Rocket, is a National Militia commander. But today his task -- and that of 362 other militia members granted permission to monitor the voting across Ukraine -- is not to enforce what he calls "Ukrainian order" on the streets. It is to "ensure there's no falsification" of votes, he says. "We will all behave peacefully," he says, adding with a slight grin, "As usual." 'We Will Seize The Urn' That said, Petrenko is prepared to take action if he senses foul play. "We will seize the urn and shut down the polling station" if fraud is detected, he says. After that, he adds, they would call for law enforcement and wait for them to arrive before taking any further action. He declines to say what that might be. But the National Militia's chief commander, Ihor Mykhaylenko, wrote on Telegram earlier this month that if infractions were discovered the group would be prepared "to punch someone in the face in the name of justice...without hesitation." In response to past violence and that threat of violence, a letter by G7 ambassadors leaked to RFE/RL last week was sent to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. It urged him to curb the power of what it called "extreme political movements." "They intimidate Ukrainian citizens, attempt to usurp the role of the National Police in safeguarding elections, and damage the Ukrainian government's national and international reputation," French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont, who authored the appeal on behalf of her fellow G7 ambassadors, wrote. Critics have complained that Ukrainian authorities largely turned a blind eye to the Azov movement -- at least until recently, when the groups began going after Poroshenko. Ahead of the March 31 vote, Avakov assured foreign observers that forces under his command were ready and able to quash any violence by the far-right group that might arise on election day. "We don't have any risks from radical groups either during or after the elections," Avakov told a meeting with election observers from the World Congress of Ukrainians and the National Democratic Institute on March 28. "And even if something happens at an individual polling station, this would be curbed very quickly." Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Senator John McCain who is leading the International Republican Institute's election delegation to Ukraine, told RFE/RL on March 30 that her organization was worried about the possibility of violence based on the threats from the National Militia. "We want these elections to be free and fair," McCain said. By 3:00 p.m., there were no reports of violence or intimidation from the National Militia at polling stations, although there have otherwise been reports of dozens of seemingly minor infractions. Podlesna, the chief observer at the Podil location where Petrenko is monitoring, says she isn't concerned about his presence, citing the number of other monitors and police officers positioned nearby. Meanwhile, Petrenko continues communicating with his fellow National Militia members via a WhatsApp group where they are sharing messages and photos. "They'll tell me here what they see, and we'll decide what to do together" if a violation is observed, he says. One of Russias richest women, S7 Group chairwoman and co-owner Natalia Fileva, has died in a plane crash in southwestern Germany, the S7 airline says. The airline's press service said on March 31 that Fileva, 55, was aboard a single-engine Epic-LT aircraft that crashed on approach to the small airport at the town of Egelsbach, about 10 kilometers south of Frankfurt. German police earlier said that there appeared to be three people aboard the six-seater aircraft, including the pilot of the flight. A statement said that the plane was travelling from France to Egelsbach when it went down in a field on the afternoon of March 31. The cause of the accident was still unclear. "After impact, the aircraft was completely burnt out," the police statement said, adding that the passengers will probably only be positively identified in the coming week. A representative of the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) is set to travel to the site of the crash on April 1 to "participate in the work of the investigative commission," IAC deputy chief Sergei Zayko told the TASS news agency. Fileva was listed in 2018 by the Russian edition of Forbes magazine as the fourth richest woman in Russia with an estimated fortune of $600 million. Her husband was S7 CEO Vladislav Filev. Based at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, S7 is Russia's second-largest airline after Aeroflot, flying to 150 destinations in 35 countries. "S7 Group team extends sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Fileva's family and loved ones," the company said in a statement. "The memory of her as an inspiring and sympathetic leader and a wonderful person will forever stay in the hearts of all S7 Group employees. It is an irreparable loss." Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and TASS Ministry of Health Jobs 2019 in Saudi Arabia Latest Ministry of Health Medical Posts Saudi Arabia 2021 Medical, health, mbbs and experienced personnel for the positions of Consultants, Specialists & Resident Doctors required urgently for Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia 2019. How to Apply on Ministry of Health 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. Beaches from Cancun to Mahahual prepare for Easter holiday season Cancun, Riviera Maya, Q.R. The entire coastal region from Cancun to Mahahual is getting ready for one of the busiest vacation periods of the year with a massive beach clean to remove sargasso. While the current pile-ups are not as significant as in the past, volunteers from various municipalities have still been out in full force removing the seaweed that has landed along state beaches. Virgilio Gomez, Coordinador General de Unidos por Quintana Roo, explained that Governor Carlos Joaquin has requested social participation to deal with the sargasso, adding that Unidos por Quintana Roo does that by convening organizations and groups of citizens to help conserve the cleanliness of beaches. Photo: Gobierno de Estado The organization provides drinking water and sargasso talks to volunteers, ensuring they understand the importance of removing only the seaweed and not sand, while the government provides the tools needed and a final disposal place. Gomez says that over a two-day clean, more than 130 people showed up to clean Mahahual beaches, removing one ton of seaweed from 400 linear meters. In Puerto Morelos, dozens arrived for a clean that saw the removal of five tons of seaweed. Similar beach cleans have been on-going with other resort areas including Isla Mujeres, Cancun and Playa del Carmen where beach cleans have seen the removal of the washed-up seaweed. Photo: Riviera Maya News The Secretariat of Tourism of Quintana Roo is forecasting the arrival of approximately 1.2 million national and international visitors to the region for Easter-Holy Week. The primary destinations will include Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Chetumal, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Holbox, Bacalar, Mahahual, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Jose Maria Morelos. They report the coastal region will see a 2.6 percent increase over last year. Alicia Ricalde, head of la Administracion Portuaria Integral de Quintana Roo, says that they are also anticipating between 25,000 and 26,000 ferry travelers per day over the upcoming Easter holiday season at the Cozumel and Isla Mujeres ferry terminals, where security will be increased. Semana Santa (Holy Week) or Easter, is one of the busiest vacation periods for the coastal region, beginning April 14. 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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. Lucapa Diamond chief executive Stephen Wetherall recently attended a mining conference, in Cape Town South Africa, where he met Rough & Polisheds Mathew Nyaungwa and granted him an exclusive interview. They discussed Angolas first international diamond auction under the countrys new diamond trading policy, which featured Lulo stones; the companys exploration programmes in Angola, Australia and Botswana as well as their future plans. Below are excerpts from the interview. What is your assessment of the recent auction in Angola that featured stones from Lulo, which Lucapa operates and partly owns? The excitement and interest from the market was very high following the new diamond marketing policy that was implemented in Angola. This very historic first tender included approximately 40 local and international diamantaires who were invited to view the diamonds. The viewings were very well attended, they ran for two and half weeks in January and we were very, very happy with the final bidding results (US$16.7 million achieved from the seven diamonds at an average price of US$33,530 per carat). The prices that were achieved were very strong considering that the market is currently soft and for the very first tender ever in Angola, I think everyone was very pleased with the results. When next are you going to conduct another tender in Angola? We have been discussing it with our Angolan partners and SODIAM (state-owned diamond trading company) who organised the first tender in Luanda and its likely that tenders will be conducted approximately six times a year. We are probably looking at April or May for the next Lulo tender. Now that we have the very first one under the belt, we will start accumulating select diamonds for the second tender. We recently announced the recovery of a 128 carat top-colour Type IIa diamond and a 7.5 carat fancy purple pink gem, and these will likely be included in the next Lulo tender along with a 75 carat top-colour Type IIa white recovered in late 2018 and other Specials. However, that is just Lulo, I am not sure what other producers in Angola will want to do in terms of running tenders or selecting other available channels to market, but certainly from our perspective we would be looking at about six times a year. So what is the arrangement with SODIAM? The mining company operates like any other company anywhere else in the world. All the diamond revenue goes to the mine, 100% of the revenue less royalties and marketing costs goes back to the mine, to pay its operating costs, debts, services its loan and it pays shareholders or project partners a distribution or a dividend. There is no splitting of the revenues, which is a common misconception. What the Angolan government has done in changing the marketing policy that previously required them to sell everything to or through SODIAM to preferred buyers is now provide producers with multiple channels to market. Producers can take 60% of their production and sell it to the buyers they believe will add the most value or pay the highest price for their production. Now the producers have a hand in directing the diamonds to the market. There is 20% that will need to be sold to SODIAM and also to support local manufacturing and companies through supplying them as well. The important aspect here, is these other sales will occur at a fair market price as can or will be derived by the 60% that will go through the other channels. So very, very positive changes in Angola. Full market value will now be derived by the mines and the producers will be able to re-invest more and obviously with higher revenues, higher cash-flows, higher taxes and higher royalties, the industry should prosper. I mean the benefits are enormous in terms of what it is going to achieve for Angola. How far have you gone with your kimberlite exploration in Angola? We have just completed our first full-year of our systematic drilling program, we drilled just over 90 targets about 70 of which were confirmed as kimberlites. We are waiting for approximately 40 drill core results to come back from mineral chemistry analysis and when those come back, we will add those to the results that we already have. These results determine which kimberlites we add to our list for follow-up work. We will eliminate the remaining kimberlites and also select our next batch of 50 or 60 targets to drill in 2019/2020. As you will know from our previous discussions, Mathew, we have more than 300 anomalies underlying these very special alluvial fields, so we have to systematically go through them and either promote them in terms of further interest or discard them. We believe this systematic program is the right way to go, as opposed to an ad hoc program. What is your projected output for the year in Angola? We are going to be increasing our alluvial production rates in 2019, through the implementation of a third shift. We have just concluded our general assembly meeting with our project partners where it was unanimously agreed that Lulo would run a third shift on the plant and acquire some additional fleet from its operating cash flows. This will see Lulo increase its production by over 25%, so we are quite excited about that and that should generate over US$40 million in revenue from the mine. What are you doing to get big stones on the Lulo concession? At Lulo, its not a matter of doing anything different to get larger stones on the concession, we are very fortunate that large stones are literally littered on the concession. We are also very fortunate that it doesnt require any crushing of hard rocks in an alluvial treatment plant, so we dont suffer from any major diamond breakage. We tend to recover alluvial diamonds in one piece as opposed to a few pieces. There is nothing really that we are doing to get large diamonds but naturally we are expanding our operations and we will be mining from more areas to put through the plant over the year. Obviously, at Mothae it is slightly different there as it is a kimberlite pipe and it does require crushing circuits to reduce the hard ore to manageable sizes to process. In terms of identifying diamonds before we put them through smaller secondary crushing circuits, we are using the latest technology and the x-ray transmissive (XRT) technology. We have got two XRT circuits, a fines XRT circuit and a coarse XRT circuit, x-raying the ore that has got diamonds in it before it gets sent for secondary crushing. We are also using XRT technology at Lulo as well, but it is in a slightly different capacity because we dont use any crushing circuits at Lulo. Can you talk us through your other exploration projects outside Angola? Absolutely, we are excited about the early results that we got in Australia, at the Brooking project. We had recovered some macro diamonds from stream sampling programs. From both ground and airborne surveys, we identified lamproite targets to drill and from the very first drill hole that we put in at the Little Spring Creek prospect, we recovered some 119 micro and macro diamonds from about 87kg of drill core. We followed that up with a more extensive drill program on that target which returned even greater numbers of micro diamonds, over one thousand in that drill core. While our subsequent bulk sampling results from Little Spring Creek did not meet our commercial hurdles, we believe Brooking remains highly prospective for source lamproite discoveries and there are many other targets to explore. We are also exploring in Botswana, where we have a concession in the Orapa diamond field, we have been waiting for some time for various drilling permissions, which we recently received. When exactly are you going to commence drilling the Botswana targets? We recently announced we were reviewing the timing of further work programs at Brooking and Orapa Area F, so no definitive date has been set as yet. Do you have any prior knowledge of these targets? Yes, we know the work that has been done on the Orapa Area F project already. Two kimberlites have been identified by De Beers, one of them did prove to be diamondiferous, but they didnt do much further work on that kimberlite. There is also a third target on that project to drill. Its an anomaly that we have identified through the magnetic surveys that we have conducted. What is your exploration budget? I believe the first round of drilling would be around $100 000 in Botswana. Do you self-fund your exploration activities, if not, is it easy to raise funding? We try to self-fund as much as we can and that was one of the primary reasons for building a mine in Angola. We strategised to utilise Lucapas share of cash flows from the mine to re-invest them into the kimberlite exploration. That has proved very successful and we have seen additional loan repayments and dividend streams which we utilize and re-invest into source exploration. At Orapa in Botswana and Brooking in Australia, certainly we have raised funds required for exploration from shareholders and we have also utilised some of the loan repayments that have come back to us from Lulo towards exploration. It is very tough in this current environment to raise funding for greenfields exploration. I think the industry needs to spend more on it because it needs to start looking for future supply because the big mines are maturing, and I think that supply in the not too distant future will start diminishing if we dont invest in replenishing that supply. It is a much tougher environment than it used to be when it comes to raising funds for exploration. De Beers was said to have started producing lab grown diamond jewellery to lower prices of synthetic diamonds. As a natural diamond producer, do you see any threat coming from synthetic diamonds? I think that is a question best directed to De Beers. My view, for what it is worth, is that I dont think that De Beers launched Lightbox to try to compete price-wise with synthetic diamond growers. I believe De Beers have entered this space because there is a growing demand for cheaper diamond jewellery, De Beers have the technology in-house already to supply into that demand, but importantly to price the cheaper diamonds accordingly. Ensuring there is a proper differentiation between lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds is what I believe one of the major objectives of strategy behind Lightbox is: Do not confuse the two. One can be produced at a significant rate in a laboratory or in a manufacturing facility anywhere in the world, is getting cheaper every year and as such is definitely not a store of value and as a cheaper jewellery alternative will not hold the same emotive attraction or value. On the other hand, natural diamonds are from the depths of the earth, are many millions of years old, are a finite scarce resource and as such are a store of value and emotion. De Beers strategy, I believe, was more aimed at - there is a growing demand for synthetic cheaper diamonds, but they are not natural diamonds and should be priced accordingly. They should not be marketed off the back of natural diamonds. From my perspective, do I see a threat? No, I wouldnt use the term, threat. Its a new demand for cheaper diamond jewellery, there is a growing supply and a market will develop for it. For example, when I was younger and my earnings did not allow me to afford a fancy car, I bought a lower cost car, or as I desired a watch, I had to buy a lower cost watch. Now that I have progressed along my earnings curve, I am now to able to afford more expensive luxuries that I desire. I think that is going to be the natural progression here too. So, I do not see it as a threat, it is an earlier entrance into diamonds. We must remember, that we are now two parts of the same industry and I think we need to engage in a better manner and start working together as opposed to marketing the pitfalls of each others product, its not helpful to the diamond industry at large of which we are both a part. What are your future plans? We operate in the niche higher-value end of the diamond sector as the pricing is more robust in the larger and higher dollar per carat goods, due to their scarcity. That is a major differentiating factor between Lucapa and perhaps many other larger volume producers. From our perspective, we are going to continue our growth strategy, where we are always looking for growth opportunities both in-house and new, such as moving further down the diamond value chain where we can as a company derive additional value for the operations in which we are invested. Which part in the value chain will you be looking at? We have been an explorer for many years, so really right at the beginning of the value chain. We then developed a mine, so we progressed one step further and became a rough producer selling our product at what they call the mine gate. I have previously worked with select diamantaires in partnerships where value derived from manufacturing large exceptional stones was shared between the diamantaire and the producer and I would like to similarly attract a share of the post mine gate value from our production back to the operations in which we have invested. So, we will be looking to take the next step down the value chain and into cutting and polishing. We are currently looking at partnering. We are not wanting to compete with our clients, I would like to work together with them to add value to both of our respective operations, but importantly bring a share of that value back to the mines in which we invest. So where do you envisage setting up shop? I dont think we are going to set up shop per se. I think that there are very good manufacturers or diamantaires that have their own facilities and if we can partner with them we can leverage off those facilities and their brands. There are also very good standalone outsourced manufacturers who will cut and polish for a fee. So that is the line we are initially going to go down. Unless there is a compelling business case to do so, I dont see the need to apply capital to setting up facilities and factories that are already available. There are very good and competent factories and high-end partners to work with already. Do you know when this will commence, or the project is still in gestation? We said in 2019 we would like to expand on this strategy. With the Mothae mine (in Lesotho) being commissioned and with the promise of large select diamonds coming out of that resource we will work with our government partners to see what stones would be suitable for partnering. From the Angolan government perspective, they have made it very clear that they would like local manufacturers to be supported and perhaps there is a strategy there for us to do something similar as well. So, we plan to make our first venture into it in 2019! Ms Caputova, who has almost no political experience, defeated high-profile diplomat Maros Sefcovic, from the governing party ,who is vice president of the European Commission, in a second round run-off vote. She has won about 58% of votes. Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist, lawyer by profession, is aged 45, a divorcee and mother of two. Being a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party she is expected to promote LGBTQ+ rights. She also sustains a ban on abortion. Caputova is an anti-corruption activist who rose to prominence amid the wave of protests following last years murders of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. She attracted voters who are appalled by corruption and mainstream politics, framing the election as a struggle between good and evil but resused to engage in personal attacks on her opponents. Im extremely happy about the result. Its an extremely strong mandate for me, Caputova declared. She is now Slovakias fifth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Im sending her a bouquet of flowers because I think the first Slovak female president deserves one, Mr. Sefcovic said. Amit Shah Ahmedabad, Mar 31: People saw in Prime Minister Narendra Modi a leader they had been waiting for the last 70 years, BJP chief Amit Shah claimed Saturday and asserted that this Lok Sabha polls will be fought only on the issue of who will lead the country. Addressing a rally here before filing his nomination papers for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, he said the BJP was his life, and also recalled his journey -- from being a party worker in 1982 to becoming its national president. Shah has replaced BJP veteran L K Advani, who had been winning uninterrupted from Gandhinagar since 1998, from the prestigious constituency. The BJP chief is contesting the Lok Sabha poll for the first time. Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of NDA allies, including Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present on the stage with Shah at the rally. Advertisement "This election will be fought on only one issue, and that is, who will lead this country? When I ask who will lead the country, from Himachal to Kanyakumari and from Kamrup to Gandhinagar, only one word is heard, that is: Modi, Modi, Modi," Shah said. "Why was this trust formed in just five years? Why has a Gujarat chief minister, who had not even contested a panchayat election before becoming the chief minister, became the favourite of the entire country in just five years? It is because people saw in Narendra Modi a leader that they had been waiting to have for the last 70 years," he said.Shah claimed that only Modi, the BJP and the NDA government can assure security to the country. "The question before the country is who can assure security to the country? Only one person, only one party can assure this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and NDA government can assure security to the country," he said. Shah said he was fortunate to file his nomination papers from Gandhinagar seat, which was earlier represented by leaders including Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Purushottam Ganesh Mavlankar. He said he was an MLA for five times from the region, which falls under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Advertisement "I am fortunate that BJP has made me the candidate from Gandhinagar seat that was represented by Lal Krishna Advani, Atalji and Purushottam Ganesh Mavalankar. It is this region from where I was elected MLA for five times. From this region, I successfully did electoral politics with your support," he said. Asserting that he would carry forward Advani's legacy once he gets elected from the Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency, Shah said, "Development of Gandhinagar seat is the commitment of all of BJP party workers. "Today, Gandhinagar seat is among the most developed seat in the country and I will humbly and from the bottom of my heart try to carry forward the legacy of Advaniji," he said. Recalling his days as a BJP worker in 1982, Shah said, "If you remove BJP from my life, then what is left is zero. Whatever I have received, learnt and tried to give to the country and the state is what was given to me by the BJP." The BJP chief's Lok Sabha poll debut from the Gandhinagar constituency replacing Advani marks a generational shift in the party. The state BJP feels that Shah's nomination will energise the party in Gujarat and help it win all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. British Prime Minister Theresa May offered up her job in exchange for her Brexit deal Wednesday, telling colleagues she would quit within weeks if the agreement was passed and Britain left the European Union. Mays dramatic concession that there is a desire for a new approach - and new leadership was a last-ditch effort to bring enough reluctant colleagues on board to push her twice-rejected EU divorce deal over the line. It looked like it might not be enough, as a key Northern Ireland party said it would not be supporting the deal. Mays announcement came as lawmakers held an inconclusive series of votes on alternatives to her unpopular deal. It was the first step in an attempt by Parliament to break the Brexit deadlock and stop the country from tumbling out of the bloc within weeks with no exit plan in place. Advertisement May has been under mounting pressure from pro-Brexit members of her Conservative Party to quit. Many Brexiteers accuse her of negotiating a bad divorce deal that leaves Britain too closely tied to the bloc after it leaves. Several have said they would support the withdrawal deal if another leader took charge of the next stage of negotiations, which will determine Britains future relations with the EU. In a packed meeting of Conservative legislators described by participants as somber, May finally conceded she would have to go, although she did not set a departure date. I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party, she said, according to a transcript released by her office. Anti-EU lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has clashed with May throughout the Brexit process, said she had been very clear that if Britain leaves the EU as foreseen on May 22, she will quit soon after. He said the prime minister had been very dignified. She put her case well, and reiterated that she had done her duty, he said. It was unclear whether Mays offer to resign would be enough to win backing for her deal, which was defeated by 230 votes in January and by 149 votes earlier this month. High-profile Brexiteer Boris Johnson announced soon after Mays statement that he would support the agreement, which he has previously called a humiliation. Johnson is a likely contender to replace May as prime minister. But other hard-liners said they would continue to reject the deal, and Northern Irelands small but influential Democratic Unionist Party refused to budge in its opposition to the deal. The DUPs support was seen as key to persuading other Brexiteers to back the deal. But the staunchly pro-British party fears a provision designed keep an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland after Brexit would weaken the bonds between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. We cannot sign up to something that would damage the Union, DUP leader Arlene Foster told Sky News. Asked if the party might abstain instead, DUP lawmaker Nigel Dodds tweeted: The DUP do not abstain on the Union. Two years ago, Britain triggered a countdown to departure from the EU that ended Friday, March 29, 2019. With that date approaching and no Brexit deal approved by Britain, the EU last week granted a delay. It said that if Parliament approves the proposed divorce deal this week, the U.K. will leave the EU on May 22. If not, the government has until April 12 to tell the 27 remaining EU countries what it plans to do: leave without a deal, cancel Brexit or propose a radically new path. With May clinging to her Plan A getting her deal approved lawmakers this week seized control of the parliamentary timetable for debate and votes Wednesday on a range of Brexit alternatives. The results underscored the divisions in Parliament, and the country, over Brexit. None of the eight plans received a majority of votes. The most popular were a proposal to remain in a customs union with the bloc, which was defeated 272-264, and a call to hold a public referendum on any divorce deal, which fell by 295 votes to 268. Both ideas got more support than the 242 votes secured by Mays deal earlier this month. A call to leave the EU without a deal was supported by 160 lawmakers and opposed by 400. The plan is for the most popular ideas to move to a second vote Monday to find an option that can command a majority. Parliament would then instruct the government to negotiate it with the EU. May has said she will consider the outcome of the votes, although she has refused to be bound by the result. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay urged lawmakers to back Mays deal, saying the ambiguous result demonstrates that there are no easy options here. Barclay said he had introduced a motion to have Parliament meet Friday if needed for a vote on Mays agreement, but it remained unclear whether it would go ahead. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would not accept another vote on the twice-rejected deal unless substantial changes were made. Wednesdays votes produced inconclusive results, but could push Britain in the direction of a softer Brexit that keeps Britain closely tied economically to the EU. That would probably require the U.K. to seek a longer delay, although that would mean participating in May 23-26 European Parliament elections. Many EU officials are keen to avoid the messy participation of a departing member state. But the chief of the European Council told European lawmakers that the EU should let Britain take part if the country indicated it planned to change course on Brexit. Donald Tusk said the bloc could not betray the millions of Britons who want to stay in the EU. They may feel they are not sufficiently represented by the U.K. Parliament but they must feel that they are represented by you in this chamber. Because they are Europeans, Tusk said. ____ Gregory Katz and Tobie Mathew in London and Raf Casert in Strasbourg, France, contributed. ___ Follow APs full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Ford said Wednesday it will close three factories in Russia, causing heavy job losses, as it pulls out of passenger vehicle manufacturing in the country. The U.S. carmaker said it will stop making passenger cars in Russia by the end of June, closing vehicle assembly plants in St. Petersburg and Naberezhnye Chelny, as well as an engine plant in Yelabuga. Ford said significant employee separations are required. The Ford Sollers joint venture employs around 3,700 people in total in Russia, Ford said, adding that the total number of people leaving the company has yet to be determined. The company blames a slow recovery in the Russian car market after an economic slowdown in recent years, and moves toward cheaper cars. Advertisement Ford will now focus solely on commercial Transit vans in Russia through its Ford Sollers joint venture. Russian partner Sollers will take 51 percent majority ownership of the joint venture, which was previously equally owned by both parties. Ford didnt comment on whether any of the plants could be sold. Ford Sollers has repeatedly paused or scaled back production at the St. Petersburg plant in recent years, citing low customer demand. An independent trade union operating at the St. Petersburg plant has criticized the restructuring plans and said it would try to persuade the regional government to pressure Ford to reconsider. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told the Vedomosti business daily on Wednesday that the government was in talks with Sollers about ways to support production of Transit vans at the vehicle assembly plant in Yelabuga. According to the Association of European Businesses, a trade body for foreign companies in Russia, Ford sales of cars and light commercial vehicles such as vans grew by 6 percent in 2018 to 53,234 units. That ranked Ford the 10th highest-selling brand while Lada and the Korean sister brands Hyundai and Kia led the way. However, AEB statistics show a 45 percent fall year-on-year in Ford sales in the first two months of 2019, down from 7,566 to 4,168. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Swedish authorities were raiding the headquarters of one of Swedens largest banks on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether Swedbank was connected to a massive money laundering scandal in the Baltic countries. Swedens Economic Crime Authority said chief prosecutor Thomas Langrot is probing whether 15 of Swedbanks largest shareholders illegally received information about the banks connection to the money laundering scandal before Swedish television reported on the issue for the first time last month. Swedbank confirmed the raid at its headquarters in near Stockholm. At this point of time, no individual or legal entity has been served suspicion of a crime, the bank said in a statement. We will cooperate with the authorities. Advertisement Swedish broadcaster SVT had reported last month that Swedbank customers had been able to funnel at least 40 billion kronor ($4.3 billion) between Swedbank and Danske Bank in Estonia. On Tuesday, SVT also reported that an internal Swedbank report identified major breaches of anti-money laundering rules involving its business in Estonia. It said Swedbank had accepted customers who posed a high risk of money laundering and had failed to report suspicious transactions and activities. The bank said the report was part of a wider external investigation that had been made available to authorities. Estonia has ordered Danske Bank to shut its local subsidiary after the bank admitted massive amounts of money had been laundered. Shares in Swedbank dropped nearly 7 percent in midday trading after news of the raid. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A mind-bending battle over some of the technology used in iPhones became even more muddled Tuesday when a federal trade agency handed separate victories to the embittered foes, Apple and Qualcomm. On Tuesday, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued two decisions within a few hours of each other. In one, Administrative Law Judge MaryJoan McNamara recommended blocking some iPhones from being imported into the U.S. after concluding Apples best-selling device infringed on technology owned by mobile chip maker Qualcomm. Then the full commission weighed in another case brought by Qualcomm, and overturned a ruling issued last September by another judge, Thomas Pender. Although Pender had concluded Apples iPhones had violated another patent owned by Qualcomm, the ITC decided instead that Qualcomms claim was invalid. Advertisement The full commission still has to review McNamaras decision, too. If it sides with McNamara, its unclear whether it will also impose an import ban and, if so, which iPhone models would be affected. The tangled developments are just the latest twist in a high-stakes dispute between Qualcomm and Apple over the rights to some of the technology that connects iPhones to the internet. Qualcomm applauded McNamaras findings, while Apple cheered the commission for invalidating the other patent claim. The battle between Qualcomm and Apple broke out more than two years ago after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for allegedly using its portfolio of mobile technology patents to gouge smartphone makers and stifle competition in the chip market. A federal court judge in San Jose, California, is still mulling a decision in that case, two months after presiding over a trial. Shortly after the FTC filed its case in 2017, Apple pounced with its own lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of trying to wring licensing fees for technology that it didnt really invent. Apple subsequently stopped paying royalties to Qualcomm, further poisoning the two companies relationship. Qualcomm prevailed in another round of skirmishing when a federal court jury in San Diego decided Apple should pay $31 million in damages for making several different types of iPhones that violated Qualcomm patents. The bout is scheduled to resume April 15 at yet another federal court trial in San Diego. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 57F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 35F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Colorados long-running battle over oil and gas drilling in suburban neighborhoods has erupted again, and this time the stakes are deeply personal. As state lawmakers debate whether to clamp stronger health and safety regulations on the industry, stories of loss and anxiety are emerging on both sides. Nobody should ever have to experience what my family has had to go through in this past almost two years, said Erin Martinez, whose husband and brother were killed in a 2017 house explosion linked to a well near the Martinezes home. She supports tighter rules, including one that would require a public map of pipelines like the one that bled odorless, unrefined natural gas into her basement. Advertisement But oilfield workers worry the sweeping new rules will strangle the industry and shut down one of the few remaining careers that offer a good living to people with or without a college education. All you have to do is work hard, have a good attitude, be safe, do the right thing, and you really can make whatever you want out of that chance and opportunity, said Erik Finder, who has worked in the North Dakota and Colorado oilfields for six years. Whats the alternative for all these guys that would lose their jobs? he said. Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for crude oil production and sixth for natural gas. It has struggled for years to balance its booming energy industry and its fast-growing communities, some that spill onto the rich Wattenberg oil and gas field north of Denver. In November, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have kept new wells 2,500 feet (750 meters) from homes and schools, up from the current 500 feet (150 meters). But they also handed control of the Legislature and the governorship to Democrats. Democrats are now pushing a bill that would fundamentally shift the role of oil and gas regulators from promoting production to protecting public safety and the environment. It would also give local governments new authority to restrict locations for drilling rigs, which could put some areas off-limits. Democratic leaders say the existing rules havent kept pace with drilling technology or Colorados expanding population, and they need to be updated. Their bill passed the Senate two weeks ago and is expected to clear the House as early as Friday. Gov. Jared Polis supports it. Oilfield workers and other industry supporters say they were shut out of the process and are being unfairly depicted as reckless villains. Were not just a bunch of guys that are missing all our teeth, that want to go out and party and raise hell all day and night, Finder told The Associated Press. I want Colorado to be a wonderful, safe place for families to come and ski and climb and hike and go to Rocky Mountain National Park, he said. I dont want (drillers) to just punch holes and run wild and do whatever they want. Finder said he believes Colorado can strike a balance between production and protection. Ethan Lutz, who manages a fracking crew for Liberty Oilfield Services, said the industry has become cleaner, quieter and safer in his 10-year career. It can be frustrating that a lot of people dont have a complete understanding of what goes into, quote-unquote, the oilfield, said Lutz, who has a bachelors degree from Western Colorado University. Im proud of what I do, he said. We take it seriously. We do it responsibly. Martinez, who was critically injured by the explosion that killed her husband and brother, said shes not out to destroy the industry and believes it can thrive with tougher rules. She and her family reached a legal settlement with Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum last year after investigators determined the blast was caused by natural gas from a pipeline that was severed about 10 feet (3 meters) from the house. The line was believed to be abandoned but was still connected to an operating Anadarko well with the valve turned to the open position, investigators said. Lots of good people depend on the industry for their livelihood, Martinez said in February as Democrats announced the bill. However, with great tragedies should also come great change. Human life should come first. Colorado already has some of the strictest regulations in the nation, said Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners, an independent research firm. Other states sometimes follow Colorados lead on new rules, but thats unlikely this time, especially on giving more authority to local governments, Book said. One reason is that the industry has fewer champions in the Colorado Legislature than in other energy-producing states because the vast majority of new production is concentrated in just a handful of lawmakers districts, he said. Colorado also has a more diverse economy than other states that produce comparable amounts of energy, so the industry contributes a smaller share of its gross domestic product and total jobs, Book said. Predicting the economic impact of the proposed new rules is difficult because the legislation isnt final, said Bernadette Johnson, vice president for market intelligence for Drillinginfo Inc., which provides data and analysis to the oil and gas industry. Industry-friendly Weld County, in the heart of the Wattenberg field, isnt likely to impose new restrictions, she said. But local governments closer to the cities of Denver and Boulder could raise more barriers. So what it would mean would depend on where you are, she said. ___ Follow Dan Elliott at https://twitter.com/DanElliottAP . Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A Dutch art detective said Tuesday that he has recovered a valuable painting by Pablo Picasso 20 years after it was stolen from a wealthy Saudis yacht in France. Arthur Brand told The Associated Press that he took possession two weeks ago of the 1938 painting Buste de Femme after trailing it for years in Amsterdam. Brand, a renowned sleuth whose previous finds include a pair of bronze horses sculpted for Adolf Hitler, has since handed over the painting, which he estimates to be worth around 25 million euros ($28 million), to an insurance company. It wasnt immediately clear what would happen to the painting. Brand said he knew it was the real thing as soon as he got his hands on it and peeled away two plastic bags covering the canvas. Advertisement You know its a Picasso because there is some magic coming off it, he said. But that wasnt the only reason he was convinced of its authenticity. In cases of stolen art, he said, the back of a painting can tell experts more than the front. He said that since the theft from a yacht moored in the swanky French Riviera port of Antibes, a number of forgeries had been offered to insurers and rejected. But a forger never knows how the back looks, Brand said, without specifying what was there. When I saw the back of the painting, I knew it was the real one. Brand began his latest hunt after hearing rumors about a Picasso stolen from a boat. Finally, I tracked somebody down who had had it in his possession 10 years ago and he told me which one it was, he said. And then it still took me three years to get near it. Brand said the painting had circulated in the criminal underworld of the Dutch capital. It was used as some kind of money as payment for drug and arm deals, he said. Eventually a person who had the painting in their possession decided to turn it in and reached out to Brand. Martin Finkelnberg, head of the Dutch national polices art and antique criminality team, welcomed the recovery. No arrests have been made. Finkelnberg told Dutch national daily De Volkskrant that having such a painting can be a burden and taking it to Brand is a way out. Done. Everybody happy, Finkelnberg said. The most important thing is that the artwork is back. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A San Diego-based Navy SEAL accused of committing war crimes during a 2017 deployment to Iraq is headed for court-martial, the Navy said Wednesday. Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward R. Gallagher is scheduled to be arraigned in a San Diego military courtroom Friday, said Brian ORourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest, the court-martials convening authority. Gallagher, who is a medic, is accused of killing a wounded ISIS combatant under his care and then reenlisting while standing next to the corpse, a charge sheet provided to the Union-Tribune says. He is also charged with, on another occasion, shooting two civilians a man and a woman. The Navy is also charging Gallagher with shooting at non-combatants civilians several times throughout his deployment to Mosul, Iraq, and with trying to obstruct the investigation after the unit returned to San Diego. Advertisement Charges that Gallagher used and possessed controlled substances were dropped. Gallagher killed civilians indiscriminately, a military prosecutor said as evidence was presented at a preliminary hearing in November, and the chain of command did nothing about it. Gallaghers platoon commander, Navy Lt. Jacob Xavier Portier, is accused of having knowledge of Gallaghers actions and failing to follow through with a timely investigation, but the Navy has not yet said whether he will face court-martial. Gallaghers San Diego-based attorney Phillip Stackhouse did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday morning. Dyer writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. andrew.dyer@sduniontribune.com Voters can expect to elect Ramona Unified School District (RUSD) trustees by areas defined in an Orange map in the 2020 election. The final decisions on the trustee election system and trustee election areas were made in two separate 5-0 votes by the San Diego County Board of Education, acting as the San Diego County Committee of School District Organization, on March 13. RUSD representatives attending the meeting, which was held at the San Diego County Office of Education campus in San Diego, were Superintendent Anne Staffieri, Ed.D., School Board President Dawn Perfect and School Board member Kim Lasley, and Assistant Superintendent of Education Services Theresa Grace. The unanimous approvals mean elections for the RUSD board seats occupied by Perfect and Darren Drum will be conducted by trustee areas in 2020. The new election system involves splitting the district into five divisions so that each board member will be elected by registered voters in his or her respective geographic area. The permanent system replaces at-large elections in which voters had been allowed to vote for all the RUSD trustee candidates. Advertisement The county Committee of School District Organizations approval also means no election will be held in Ramona to allow voters to decide whether to switch to a by-trustee-area election system. This is the most expeditious way to accomplish this task, said Perfect, who had preferred consulting voters on the matter. She said the 2020 RUSD trustee election will be the first time a majority of the community will not be voting for a trustee. I think we will have voters dismayed they wont be voting for a trustee in the 2020 election, Perfect said. The majority of our voters wont be voting in the 2020 election. I think people will be caught by surprise. Mike Simonson, assistant superintendent of Business Services for the San Diego County Office of Education, said three options were available to the county Committee of School District Organization in approving a trustee election map. Those were to adopt the map approved and recommended by the RUSD School Board dubbed the Orange map, approve any alternative map forwarded to the committee, or initiate the process for creating an entirely new map. The committee unanimously approved the map that the Ramona trustees selected. Four maps were considered by RUSD school board members before they endorsed the Orange map. Three maps developed by National Demographics Corp. were labeled Green, Purple and Orange, and one map developed by Ramona resident Kim Newcomer was labeled the Newcomer 2 map after it was revised to equally balance populations in each trustee area to roughly 7,000 residents. National Demographics Corp. President Douglas Johnson previously said the Purple map and Newcomer 2 map were considered polarizing options because they isolated the town center population group. Newcomer, on the other hand, had criticized the Orange map as a missed opportunity to amplify the voice of Ramonas protected class of citizens, or Latinos, living in the downtown area by breaking the downtown area into three voting areas. Staffieri addressed the county Committee of School District Organization to ask the members to support the RUSD School Boards decision to adopt the Orange map. She said RUSD School Boards unanimous approval of the Orange map in December was the culmination of a series of discussions held over five months by the board members. Staffieri indicated several positive aspects of the Orange map. She said each trustee will be representing at least four elementary schools in their trustee areas and Latinos will be grouped together to provide them with more voting power. She said she received two letters from the Hispanic community showing strong support for the Orange map. There is a minority majority area that we believe empowers the Hispanic community, Staffieri said. Attorney Kevin Shenkman had initiated the by-trustee-area election considerations by sending a letter to RUSD demanding that the district comply with the California Voting Rights Act, which requires maintaining a fair election system that does not dilute the votes of minorities. The act prohibits the use of at-large board elections if it impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice, or its ability to influence the outcome of an election. Voting within the Ramona Unified School District is racially polarized, resulting in minority vote dilution, and, therefore, the districts at-large elections violate the California Voting Rights Act, Shenkman stated in the letter written on behalf of Shenkman & Hughes of Malibu. Subsequently, RUSD held a series of public hearings to discuss revising the election system and creating voting areas. In January, Johnson said it may be possible RUSD trustees will revisit the map before the 2022 election to be able to consider 2020 census data. However, Perfect said new residential construction has been limited in Ramona in recent years, citing Paseo Village Townhomes, Willow Ridge Estates and Nickel Creek. She said population increases arising from dozens of new residential units should not drastically impact the census. There hasnt been a lot of new construction so I dont think it will be a big deal, she said. As far as Yoav Levy is concerned, the Golan Heights are Israeli and forever shall be. But that doesnt mean Levy is applauding President Trumps decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the land seized from Syria 52 years ago. This will wake up the bear, said Levy, a vintner who produces $40 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon on his Golan collective farm, Moshav Kidmat Zvi. And for what? It is provocative, agreed his companion Yael Pudik. Many of the estimated 25,000 Israeli Jews who settled in the Golan Heights as well as some of the roughly same number of Druze Arabs living there concur that the lush hills, tented date farms and sizable agricultural production here are better off in Israeli hands. Advertisement For one, who would the land be returned to? A Syria devastated and reeling from civil war? Syrian President Bashar Assad, a pariah in much of the world? What makes them nervous, however, was Trumps announcement, first on Twitter and then at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, declaring the Golan Heights to be Israeli. Levy and Pudik noted that the 100-mile border between northeast Israel and southwest Syria has remained remarkably peaceful, despite the official rancor between the two nations. And for several years, the Israeli army has helped Syrian refugees by trucking in food and building and staffing a hospital in the demilitarized no-mans zone between the two countries. Why spoil that? asked Levy, 61, an Israeli-born son of Syrian immigrants. His Bazelet HaGolan winery produces 85,000 bottles a year that win favorable reviews. Yoav Levy, left, and Yael Pudik at the Bazelet HaGolan winery in the Golan Heights. Levy wants the Golan to remain in Israeli hands. (Tracy Wilkinson / Los Angeles Times) Trump and Netanyahu said declaring Israeli sovereignty, which is illegal under international law and not recognized by most of the world, would make the Golan Heights a more secure bulwark against Lebanese militants who have made inroads into Syria, with Irans help. Many Israelis, along with former U.S. diplomats, believe the real reason is the April 9 Israeli election. Netanyahu, who faces possible indictment on corruption charges, is fighting one of the toughest reelection battles of his long political career. Photo ops and smiling declarations with Trump are an asset in Israel. Apart from a handful of U.S. members of Congress, however, there had been little pressure to weigh in on the issue of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Because settling land captured by an act of war is considered illegal under the Geneva Convention, the U.S. declaration was condemned by Russia and most of Europe, among others. Israel views the region often used as a launching pad for rockets as vital to its security. That said, past Israeli governments have negotiated to give it back in return for security assurances or normalization of relations with Syria. But after several attempts at Israeli-Syrian negotiations fell apart, Israelis began to feel increasingly entrenched in a land of yellow mustard flowers and snow-capped mountains. Its like living in Napa, said another vintner, Los Angeles-born Tal Pelter, who was raised in Israel and settled in the Golan about 15 years ago. In addition to serving as a security buffer against Syria, it has become the breadbasket of the nation. Abutting the Sea of Galilee, Israels largest supply of fresh water, the Golan is encrusted in volcanic basalt rock that helps make the soil rich enough for vintners to curate dozens of wineries producing world-class wine. Apple orchards, banana plants, dairy cows, mineral springs and kibbutzim dot the fertile plateau. The Golans Druze residents were living in Syria when Israel seized controlof the region during the 1967 Six-Day War, driving thousands to flee. (Israel in effect annexed the territory in 1981.) The Syrian Druze now living under occupation appear divided over whatto do about the Golan Heights, with some differences falling along generational lines. Older Druze, including many of the religious elders referred to as sheikhs, retain nostalgia for their homeland and want Syria to takecontrol. Several hundred staged a protest rally in the Druze city of Majdal Shams after the Trump announcement. The Golan is Syrian, and not because of anything Trump says, said Sheikh Ramez Rabah, who tends honeybees but complains Israel has restricted his ability to build. I love my country, even when difficult. Younger Druze, who have known nothing but life under Israeli occupation, do not necessarily long for a return to Syria. Dolan Abu Saleh, the twice-elected mayor of Majdal Shams, said Syrias civil war and the destruction that followed eliminated the option of going back to the ancestral homeland. No doubt that Druze and Israelis in the Golan enjoy a level of safety and security that cant be compared to life on the other side, Abu Saleh, 41, said. Each night at dinner, he says he reminds his children that while they are well fed, there are children in Syria with nothing to eat. Local elections only recently became a feature in the Golan, and many people refused to participate because they see it as an Israeli imposition. At another boutique winery, this one at the Ein Zivan moshav 3,300 feet above sea level and scarcely a mile from Syria, Pelter, the vintner who made the Napa comparison, runs a cafe serving what else? Golan wine he has produced and cheese from his goat flock. International law would beg to differ, but Pelter said he sees Israeli sovereignty over the Golan as unlike the West Bank, Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip, lands captured by Israel and claimed by Palestinians. Giving away the Golan would be like giving away Tel Aviv, he said. Customer Edi Segal, a resident of Herzliya, outside Tel Aviv, chimed in: It would be like [the U.S.] giving Texas or California back to Mexico. I wouldnt give California back. Levy, the other vintner at Kidmat Zvi, used a similar argument. And he makes no bones about what he sees as his mission in life. I am a pioneer. I am a Zionist, he said. I cannot separate the two. When Netanyahu was at the White House for the Golan declaration, he presented as a gift a case of Levys Cabernet Sauvignon. Trumps Golan decision could have unintended consequences. Critics say it will leave other Arab states more reluctant to deal with the Trump administration, notably in its pursuit of a peace agreement for Israel and the Palestinians. And the decision is a gift for Assad, a new issue around which to rally his bedraggled nation. For decades, the Syrian governments routinely strident rhetoric about taking back the Golan belied the stale peace in the area. Before the Syrian civil war, Syrian troops had rarely fired into the Golan Heights in 40 years. By 2012, when Western-backed Syrian rebels had captured major territory in southern Syria, they became the focus of Israeli overtures, despite Israels official position of staying out of the civil war, receiving supplies and possibly training. In response, Syrian state media last year began beaming images of what it said were munitions, food and medicine packages labeled in Hebrew; they were shown as proof of the rebels collusion with the Zionist enemy. Those images were often followed by Assad-ordered interviews of Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, reaffirming their fealty to Assad and the Syrian government. Times staff writer Nabih Bulos in Beirut and special correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky in the Golan Heights contributed to this report. Twitter: @TracyKWilkinson Officials in Kazakhstan say a military helicopter has crashed on a training flight, killing all 13 people on board. The Defense Ministry said the helicopter went down Wednesday in the Zhalagash region in southern Kazakhstan, east of the Aral Sea. It added that the Mi-8 helicopter was part of a formation flying from Aktau on the Caspian Sea to Shymkent near the border with Uzbekistan, as part of special forces drills. The ministry said it wasnt immediately clear if there were any survivors, but Kazakhstans interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev later tweeted that all those aboard have died. Advertisement Tokayev said he ordered an official probe into the crashs reason. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Austrian authorities have arrested an Iraqi man suspected of carrying out unsuccessful attacks on trains in neighboring Germany last year and sympathizing with the Islamic State group, officials in the two countries said Wednesday. The 42-year-old was arrested on Monday in Vienna, where he lives. Vienna prosecutors said he is suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks on railway lines in Germany in October and December 2018. In early October, a high-speed train hit a steel cable stretched over the tracks between electrification masts on the Nuremberg-Munich line. A window in the drivers cab was damaged but no one was injured. An Arabic-language note, which investigators have described as threatening but unspecific, was found nearby as well as other documents suggesting a link to IS. At Christmas, police found damage to overhead wires on a railway line in Berlins eastern suburbs as well as a note in Arabic and an IS flag. Advertisement Prosecutors and police in Berlin and Bavaria said in a joint statement that the Iraqi man is suspected of attempted murder, causing serious damage to property, membership in a terrorist organization and dangerous interference in railway traffic. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Frances foreign minister is attending a meeting of Germanys Cabinet, following up on a friendship treaty that the two European powers signed earlier this year. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said as he welcomed French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday he hoped the visit was setting in motion a long-lasting tradition. The two ministers are set to meet again in New York later this week, where Germany is coordinating its presidency of the U.N. Security Council in April with Frances presidency this month. France and Germany signed a pact in January renewing the decades-old friendship between two countries that have traditionally led European integration but also had frequent disagreements. It calls for a member of one countrys government to attend the others Cabinet at least once per quarter. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A Lithuanian court on Wednesday found the Soviet Unions last defense minister guilty of war crimes for his role in a violent crackdown on the Baltic countrys independence move 28 years ago. The Vilnius Regional Court sentenced 94-year-old Dmitry Yazov in absentia to 10 years in prison. He and 66 other Soviet-era officials were on trial for the violence that left 14 people dead and hundreds injured when Soviet troops stormed a television tower and an adjacent building in Vilnius on Jan. 13, 1991. On this historic day, justice has come. Those responsible for the death of peaceful freedom defenders have been sentenced, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said. Advertisement The defendants were citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The trial began in 2016. Only two defendants were present in court with most of the others being in Russia, which has refused to hand them over. Those present have pleaded not guilty. Russia had also rejected the Lithuania courts request to question former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The verdict comes at a time of growing military activity in the Baltic Sea region, with several reports of alleged airspace violations by Russian military aircraft and an increased presence of Russian military vessels. Lithuania and the two other Baltic countries fear that after Russias military involvement in Georgia and Ukraine, other former Soviet republics could be next. The assault on the television facilities was the deadliest Soviet action to crush secessionist movements in the Baltics. All three countries won independence later in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. They became members of NATO and the European Union in 2004. The Russian embassy in Vilnius has complained that embassy staff were not allowed to attend the hearing. The embassy said that although the hearing was open to public Russian diplomats including Ambassador Alexander Udaltsov were denied access to it without explanation. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Arab League rejected the U.S. recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and other Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel at an annual summit on Sunday, showcasing unity on one of the few issues that unites the regional bloc. Arab leaders also reiterated their commitment to resolving the conflict based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, in which they would recognize Israel in return for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, lands occupied in the 1967 war. This years Arab League summit, held in Tunisia, comes against a grim backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algerias President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudans President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Syria, a founding member, was expelled in 2011 during the early days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Advertisement Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. Calling the meeting the summit of resolve and solidarity, Host-country Tunisias President Beji Caid Essebsi decried regional and international interventions in Arab affairs. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Iran and Turkey have worsened some crises and created new problems, calling on Arab leaders to unite as one force under one umbrella against the regional interventions. One of the few things that have united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israels occupation of the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognizing Israels 1981 annexation of the Golan earlier this month. U.S. officials say both moves recognize reality on the ground and contribute to Israels security. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia condemned those policies but did not announce any further action. Thats in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemens Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. In Syria, small protests against Trumps Golan move were held and state media criticized the Arab summit. The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done, the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the U.S. and Israel. The Arab League had been expected to consider readmitting Syria, but there was no reference to the subject in the final statement. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have voiced support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. Some countries were represented by their heads of state on Sunday, while others sent lower-level delegations. The UAE sent the lesser-known Fujairah ruler Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi rather than the powerful Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed or Dubais ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the meeting, along with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki. Guterres reiterated international support for an Israeli and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, and with Jerusalem as capital of both states. There is no Plan B: without two states, there is no solution, he said. In a rare sign of easing tensions, King Salman and Qatars emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, sat at the same sprawling table at Sundays opening session. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Dohas ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. But Qatars emir left the summit after the opening session and did not address the summit or attend the closed-door meeting later in the day, according to Qatars state-run news agency. It did not give a reason for his early departure. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb In Beirut contributed to this report. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A SWAT team on Saturday arrested a man suspected of shooting and wounding a Texas state trooper after fleeing from an attempted traffic stop and then holing up in a suburban Dallas apartment for a 15-hour standoff, authorities said. Bryan M. Cahill, of Frisco, was taken into custody shortly after 5 a.m. and was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries, Lonny Haschel, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, said in an email. Once hes able, Cahill, 42, will be jailed on a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer, he said. Authorities say Cahill shot the trooper after fleeing to the Frisco apartment complex from an attempted traffic stop on a highway Friday afternoon. Haschel said Cahill fired shots at officers multiple times during the standoff, but that no one else was injured. Advertisement Cahill lives in the apartment complex, another resident, Scott Bowers, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Bowers said he rarely spoke with Cahill and that he saw police shoot Cahill. Authorities have not released details about Cahills injuries. Video obtained by the Dallas Morning News shows a trooper exchanging gunfire in the complexs parking lot. In in the video, the sound of gunfire rings out and the trooper can be seen falling, scrambling to recover and then hopping on one leg behind a Department of Public Safety vehicle. Moments later, the trooper rounds the vehicle and then falls backward, his hat flying off, before again climbing to his feet behind the SUV. The wounded trooper underwent surgery and doctors said it went well, Haschel said. The trooper was in good spirits at the hospital Saturday morning but faces a long recovery, he said. The apartment complex was still an active crime scene as of 7 a.m., he said. ___ An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that the trooper was shot after reaching the apartment complex, not during the attempted traffic stop. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Trump administration said Wednesday it will temporarily reassign several hundred border inspectors as beleaguered forces already stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border struggle to keep pace with the growing number of migrant families who are showing up at the border in poor health and turning themselves in to agents to request asylum. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said the reassignment of 750 border inspectors would mean longer waits at crossings as the busy Easter holiday nears but that it was necessary to address what he called an operational crisis. The reassigned officers will process migrants, provide transportation and perform hospital watches for migrants who require medical attention. It is unknown when they will return to their regular duties. There will be impacts to traffic at the border, McAleenan said at a news conference in El Paso, Texas, which, after years of relative calm, has quickly emerged as the second-busiest corridor for illegal crossings after Texas Rio Grande Valley. There will be a slowdown in the processing of trade. There will be wait times in our pedestrian and passenger vehicle lanes. McAleenan spoke in front of the metal fencing that separates El Paso from Juarez, Mexico, after a delay that followed the apprehension of several migrants who had crossed a shallow spot on the Rio Grande nearby and turned themselves in. Advertisement Arrests along the Mexican border jumped to 66,450 in February, up 149 percent from a year earlier, while arrests in the Border Patrols El Paso sector, which stretches across New Mexico and much of West Texas, were about eight times higher than they were a year ago. March is shaping up to be even busier. McAleenan said the agency was on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry during the month, up about 30 percent from February and about double the same period last year. About 55,000 will have arrived as families, including 40,000 children. The commissioner said the border was at a breaking point, language that is consistent with the administrations portrayal of a state of crisis. President Donald Trump last month declared a national emergency to obtain military funds for construction of his prized border wall. The political polarization continued to play out Wednesday in El Paso as a small group of protesters erected an inflatable caricature of the president and shouted in Spanish you are not alone to the migrants being led away. While arrests are still well below highs of the early 2000s, the surge of families and children has tested U.S. authorities. Customs and Border Protection is taking more than 60 migrants to the hospital each day, McAleenan said. In the previous four days, he said infants have had 105-degree fevers, a 2-year-old suffered seizures in the desert and a 40-year-old man suffering organ failure refused surgery. A few hundred yards from where McAleenan spoke, about 600 migrants were held in a football field-sized pen lined with concertina wire under the shade of a bridge that connects El Paso to Juarez. When reporters arrived, migrants lined the fence and some yelled they were hungry. Minutes later, a catering van delivered ham-and-cheese and picadillo sandwiches. The 750 inspectors will be drawn from offices across the entire U.S. border. They will remain inspectors in name but will assist in border patrol, effectively shifting work hours from ports of entry to detention work. Nationwide, Customs and Border Protection has 23,000 officers working at 328 ports of entry, including at airports around the country. But the agency has had the most trouble recruiting officers to work at southern border, where crossings were understaffed before the current surge of migrant families, largely due to low recruitment and high rates of attrition. In Arizona, the ports where most of the countrys produce comes through have struggled with low staffing, drawing the ire of trade organizations that say it slows down commerce. In El Paso, drivers can wait for hours to cross back to the U.S. The reassignment of border inspectors follows the Border Patrols unusual move to close all highway checkpoints in its El Paso sector, which stretches across 268 miles (429 kilometers) in Texas and New Mexico. U.S. officials say the checkpoint closures are a temporary measure to handle the increase in families and unaccompanied children entering the country illegally. The orange traffic cones used to divert traffic off Interstate 10 into the canopy-covered border checkpoint west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, now block the entrance, signaling to drivers that they dont have to stop. The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the entire Mexican border and another 103 tactical stops, often cones and signs that appear for brief periods, the Government Accountability Office said in a 2017 report. While checkpoints account for only a sliver of Border Patrol arrests 2 percent from 2013 to 2016 they also handled 43 percent of drug busts during that time, according to the report. At a gun range operated by the City of Las Cruces and used by Border Patrol agents, grandmother and Picacho Gun Club volunteer Cindy Pollock said she first noticed the checkpoint closures Thursday. She thought the agents might be off training. When she heard they were reassigned to process migrants, she wasnt surprised. Theres only so many officers and theres nothing they can do, said Pollock, who believes the current wave of migrants draws resources away from anti-crime efforts. My husband said Boy, just think about how many drugs are getting through today. ___ Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Astrid Galvan in Phoenix contributed to this story. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Pittsburgh City Council gave tentative approval Wednesday to gun-control legislation introduced in the wake of the 2018 synagogue massacre, an effort certain to be challenged in court by Second Amendment advocates who point out that state law doesnt generally allow municipalities to regulate firearms. The legislation would place restrictions on military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle that authorities say was used in the Oct. 27 rampage at Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 and wounded seven. It would also ban most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, and would allow the temporary seizure of guns from people who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others. The overwhelmingly Democratic council voted 6-3 to approve the bills, with a final vote scheduled for April 2. Council members who voted against the legislation called it a waste of time and money, given the uncertainty over whether it would ever go into effect. Supporters said it was worth the effort. It is the right fight to have and it is the right time to have this fight, said Democratic Councilman Corey OConnor, a co-sponsor. Advertisement The three-bill package proposed not long after the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history was watered down last week in an effort to make it more likely to survive a court challenge. State law has long prohibited municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of guns or ammunition. While one of the Pittsburgh bills originally included an outright ban on assault weapons, the revised measure bars the use of assault weapons in public places. A full ban on possession would only take effect if state lawmakers or the state Supreme Court give municipalities the right to regulate guns which even the bills boosters say is an unlikely prospect in a largely rural state where legislative majorities have been fiercely protective of gun rights. We are never going to enforce these laws, said Democratic Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, who voted no. Its a nice symbol. Councilman Anthony Coghill, a fellow Democrat who also voted no, called the legislation a distraction and said hed have a tough time facing his constituents if the city spends a fortune on lawyers. Supporters said some of the anticipated legal defense work would be done pro bono. Pro-gun advocates cast the amended legislation as an attack on the right to bear arms and said they will immediately file suit if the City Council passes the bills into law next week. All of its illegal. Pennsylvania preemption law says that no municipality, period, may in any manner regulate. And thats at the heart of what theyre doing, said Kim Stolfer, president and co-founder of Firearms Owners Against Crime. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., a Democrat, told city council members in January that while he understood their desire to curtail gun violence, their proposed remedies were unconstitutional. A spokesman said Zappala had not seen the revised legislation, and declined comment on its merits. Pittsburgh and its larger counterpart to the east, Philadelphia, have tried before to enact gun legislation, with mixed results. Both cities passed assault-weapons bans in 1993. The state Legislature quickly took action to invalidate the measures, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that city officials had overstepped. Philadelphia tried again in 2008, enacting limits on gun purchases and another ban on assault weapons. The state Supreme Court threw out both ordinances, but ruled the city could enforce three other measures: one that requires people to report lost or stolen firearms; another that empowers police to seize guns from people posing a risk to themselves or others; and a third that bans gun ownership for anyone subject to a protection-from-abuse order. Pittsburgh has had its own lost-and-stolen law for more than a decade, but its never been enforced. Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto, said the city is reconsidering that stance in the wake of the synagogue massacre and a recent announcement by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner that he intended to begin enforcing that citys lost-and-stolen ordinance. Peduto, who has long advocated for stricter gun laws, has thrown his weight behind the new legislation. Pittsburgh owes it to those murdered at Tree of Life and countless others living in fear of gun violence every day in city neighborhoods to take this cause on, McNulty said. Second Amendment attorney Joshua Prince, who represents Stolfers pro-gun group and has won a string of victories against Pennsylvania municipalities that enacted gun measures, called the latest Pittsburgh effort to restrict firearms political grandstanding and predicted it will fail. ___ Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Richmond Police are conducting an investigation after a video shows an officer shouting a mild obscenity at a group of middle-school students. The video, taken Thursday, shows an officer in a patrol car shouting Wait until your asses turn 18, then youre mine, before driving away from a group of girls. Its unclear what precipitated the confrontation. A mother of one of the girls tells newsoutlets that the officer was white and the girls were all persons of color. A police spokeswoman issued a statement saying the department takes the incident seriously. It is being investigated by internal affairs officers. Advertisement Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney called the behavior depicted in the video unacceptable. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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. For 2019, Easter is on Sunday, April 21. Many families in the United States plan to celebrate the holiday spending time with friends and family. This also means that some retailers will offer enticing Easter deals and freebies to draw in shoppers. While Easter may not have as many sales other holidays, there are still plenty of opportunities for great deals and freebies. Best Easter Deals and Freebies Whether you are looking for discounts on decor, sales on candy, or even a few freebies (including free eggs), there are tons of great Easter deals to be had. Here are some that may be worth going out of your way to land. Get a $10 Costco Shop Card Free Eggs Easter just isnt complete without some colored eggs. Luckily, you can enjoy this ritual for less, thanks to this amazing Easter freebie. If you download the Coupons.com app, you can find an opportunity for free eggs from Walmart starting on April 15. Just clip the offer, buy eggs at Walmart and send over a copy of your receipt to receive a reimbursement. Just make sure you take advantage of the deal by April 21, or youll miss out. Retailers 1-800 Flowers: Save 20 percent on select Easter gifts and plants by using the code ESTRBUNNY Amazon: You can save up to 25 percent on select candy Bass Pro Shops: Children age 2 to 10 years old can participate in a free Easter egg hunt on April 20. Plus, there are free Easter crafts for kids and free pictures with the Easter bunny from April 13 through April 21 CVS: Discounted Easter candy is available at CVS Pharmacy locations Edible Arrangements: Select fruit baskets may qualify for free delivery using code FREEDEL GiftsForYouNow: 15 percent off personalized Easter gifts with code HOP15BDM Hobby Lobby: Easter party decorations and craft items are up to 40 percent off Michaels: Many Easter craft and decor items are on sale, including some discounts of up to 50 percent or more Fields: Easter gifts are 20 percent off with code BUNNY Personal Creations: With discount code PCGIFT25, you can get personalized Easter baskets for 25 percent off Pottery Barn: Select Easter Shop items are up to 40 percent off Russel Stover: Select Easter treats are on sale for up to 25 percent off Sharis Berries: Gourmet Easter gifts are up to 20 percent off Target: The Easter weekly ad is now live, featuring $5-and-under items to boost Easter baskets and BOGO deals on candy Teleflora: Using code APRIL15, you can get 15 percent off gift baskets, flowers, plants, balloons, chocolates, and stuffed animals. For flowers, plants, or gift baskets priced $50 and higher, code APRIL10 gets you $10 off instead Things Remembered: Select personalized Easter items are on sale Walmart: Many Easter items are available at a discount Restaurants Bob Evans: For those who want to eat at home but want to simplify the holiday, Bob Evans officers a Premium Easter Feast To Go that you just heat and serve Cracker Barrel: If you would rather have your Easter dinner catered, Cracker Barrel is offering a Heat nServe Easter Family Meal to-go that can be prepared in three hours or less and serves up to 10 people Del Friscos Grille: Starting at 10:00 am, Easter brunch is available at Del Friscos Grille Macaroni Grill: Macaroni Grill is holding a special Easter brunch on April 21 McCormick & Schmicks: From 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on Easter Sunday, participating McCormick & Schmicks locations are hosting an Easter brunch buffet All of the options above can make your Easter more enjoyable while keeping it affordable too. If you are interested in any of the options above, it is important to act fast. Some items, deals, and freebies may only be available in limited quantities, so those who make arrangements first get priority. Similarly, if you want to head out to brunch, you may need to contact your nearest location and attempt to make a reservation. Popular restaurants may not be able to accommodate walk-ins for their special Easter brunch option, so contact your location and see if you can reserve a table if you have your heart set on that option. Additionally, any online orders should be handled quickly. Otherwise, depending on the available shipping options, your Easter items may not arrive before Sunday. Since Easter is still a few days away, other deals and freebies may also come available. If you have a favorite store or restaurant, monitor their sales flyers, social media pages, or email newsletters to see if any more discounts might be available this Easter. Can you think of any other Easter deals and freebies that people should seek out? Share them in the comments below. Give the gift of savings! Learn more Read More: If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. Researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a strategy to treat two of the most common inherited blood diseases -- sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia -- applying CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to patients' own blood stem cells. Described this week in Nature Medicine and in a January report in the journal Blood, their approach overcomes prior technical challenges, editing blood stem cells more efficiently than in the past. The two studies show that the gene-edited cells generate genetically corrected red blood cells producing functional hemoglobin. "We think our work defines a strategy that could lead to the cure of common hemoglobin disorders," says Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, an attending physician with Dana-Farber/Boston Children's and a senior author on both papers. "Combining gene editing with an autologous stem-cell transplant could be a therapy for sickle-cell disease, beta-thalassemia and other blood disorders." Together, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia affect 332,000 conceptions or births worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Both diseases involve mutations in the gene for beta globin protein. In beta-thalassemia, the mutations prevent red blood cells from producing enough of the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecule, leading to anemia. In sickle cell disease, the mutation causes hemoglobin to change shape, distorting red blood cells into stiff "sickle" shapes that block up blood vessels. More efficient editing The Nature Medicine study used CRISPR-Cas9 technology, in particular a Cas9 protein modified by a team led by Scot Wolfe, PhD at UMass Medical School, to optimize gene editing. In previous attempts to edit the genomes of human blood stem and progenitor cells, the efficiency, specificity and long-term stability of the edits once the cells engraft in the bone marrow have varied. The new technique improves the targeting and durability of the edits. advertisement "Efficient editing of the blood stem cell population -- ideally at rates approaching 100 percent -- is critical to achieve a durable therapeutic effect for patients," says Wolfe, a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at UMass Medical School. "Progress toward this goal has been advancing through the contributions of multiple laboratories in the scientific community. My research team, in collaboration with the Bauer laboratory, focused on improving the efficiency of delivery and nuclear entry of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to achieve nearly complete therapeutic editing of the entire blood stem cell population." Bauer's team used the strategy to make a highly targeted edit. Previous work at Boston Children's had showed that inactivating a gene called BCL11A allows red blood cells to keep producing a fetal form of hemoglobin even after birth. Fetal hemoglobin doesn't sickle and can stand in for defective "adult" hemoglobin. More recently, Bauer found a safer target: a genetic enhancer of BCL11A that is active only in red blood cells. "With our new very efficient protocol, we can edit the BCL11A enhancer in nearly all blood stem cells we collect, overcoming some of the technical challenges of editing these cells," says Bauer. "In our experiments, more than 95 percent of copies of the enhancer sequence were changed in a way we expect would be therapeutic." The strategy enabled mice carrying blood stem cells from patients with sickle cell disease to produce red blood cells with enough fetal hemoglobin to prevent cell sickling. The team showed that the gene-edited cells, infused back into the bloodstream, engrafted in the bone marrow and produced genetically corrected red blood cells. Later, when blood stem cells were isolated from these mice and transplanted into other mice, the cells engrafted again, still carrying the therapeutic gene changes. Applied to blood stem cells from patients with beta-thalassemia, the same strategy restored the normal balance of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin. advertisement The other study, published in Blood, used a similar gene editing protocol to target forms of beta-thalassemia that involve splicing mutations -- errors in bits of DNA near the beta-globin gene that change how the gene is read out to assemble beta-globin protein. In this study, nine patients with beta thalassemia donated their cells, which were manipulated in a dish. For some patients, the UMass team produced a different enzyme, Cas12a, to more effectively target their mutations. The CRISPR system efficiently made edits and restored normal splicing of the beta-globin protein in blood cells from each of the patients. Setting the stage for a clinical trial The investigators are taking steps to take their BCL11A enhancer editing strategy to the clinic. They are developing a clinical-grade, scaled up protocol for cell product manufacturing, and performing safety studies necessary for regulatory approval from the FDA. They plan to seek funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Cure Sickle Cell initiative to launch a clinical trial in patients. Dana-Farber/Boston Children's has already begun a clinical trial of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. That approach increases fetal hemoglobin production by exposing patients' blood stem cells to a lentivirus carrying instructions to knock down the BCL11A gene in red-blood-cell precursors. Bauer believes it's important to keep pursuing both approaches. "These conditions are very common inherited diseases and occur especially often in parts of the world where resources are quite limited," he says. "So we need a broad set of therapeutic options to make treatment available to as many patients as possible." Yuxuan Wu and Jing Zeng of Dana-Farber/Boston Children's are co-first authors on the Nature Medicine paper; Bauer is corresponding author. Shuqian Xu of Dana Farber/Boston Children's is first author on the Blood paper; Bauer and Wolfe are co-corresponding authors. The work was supported by the Translational Research Program at Boston Children's Hospital, the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI, NHGRI, NIAID, NIGMS, NIDDK), bluebird bio, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Collaborative Research Consortium, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the American Society of Hematology and the Doris Duke Charitable, Charles H. Hood and Cooley's Anemia Foundations. The past few days of warm and dry conditions in the Bay Area are expected to give way to several drizzling springtime showers in the coming week. Conditions that brought a deluge of rain to the region and destructive flooding to places including Guerneville in Sonoma County arent likely to return, said Steve Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But that doesnt mean the regions rainy season is over yet. Were looking for a couple of little systems to bring a little bit of rain not a whole lot, just enough to keep the flowers blooming and the grasses green, Anderson said. Just because its springtime doesnt mean it stops raining. The strongest patch of rain is expected to arrive Thursday and last through Friday, bringing with it an estimated half inch of rain in San Francisco, about 1 inch in the North Bay, including Santa Rosa, and less than a quarter inch in the South Bay. Theres a slight chance of precipitation 20 percent early Monday. But Anderson expects the skies to start opening up late Monday or Tuesday, dropping about one-tenth of an inch of rain, barely enough to wet the roads. High temperatures throughout the week are expected to hover in the low to mid-60s, with lows in the low to mid-50s. Looking out past the next few days, the region can expect a stretch of sunnier, dry conditions at least through the middle of next week, Anderson said. Since Oct. 1 the date the weather service generally considers to be the start of the rainy season 23.3 inches of rain has fallen on downtown San Francisco, he said. The average rainfall from Oct. 1 to March 31 is 20.99 inches. 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. Rainstorms in January and February dropped nearly 41 inches of rain on Santa Rosa, 133 percent above normal totals. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa In my previous column, I wrote about what happened to Carlos Yescas, an 18-year-old Latino man, when he was arrested by a plainclothes Vallejo police officer. In this one, Im going to tell you about what happened to his family after his mother posted a video of the arrest to Facebook. The video, taken by Yescas younger brother, shows disturbing force used by the officer. On Feb. 1, a day after her son was arrested on minor driving violations, Wendy Martinez was waiting at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center while Yescas was treated for back, wrist and shoulder pain from the arrest. Thats when she posted the video. On Monday morning, Martinez said, a Vallejo police officer was parked outside her home. Martinez told me the officer followed her husband, Francisco Melchor, as he drove to drop off two of her children at school. She said Melchor returned home for breakfast. On his drive to work, Martinez said, an officer followed him again, this time trailing his car until he got on the highway. As soon as he saw my husband, he followed him, Martinez said. That was scary. Im still afraid. The intimidation Martinez felt from Vallejo police is similar to accounts of intimidation that other people of color in Vallejo have described to me. All of these people have one thing in common: They have spoken out about what they say is aggressive and unnecessary force by their local officers. The family of Angel Ramos, a Latino man who was shot and killed by Vallejo police in the early morning hours of Jan. 23 at the home he shared with his family, protested the killing by organizing candlelight vigils and demonstrations outside their home. They say that in the days and months afterward, Vallejo police officers repeatedly shined spotlights into the windows of their house. They said police also parked in front of the house to flash emergency lights and blare sirens for no apparent reason. And thats not the worst of it. Alicia Saddler, Ramos sister, said that after a night of dancing at a nightclub in Suisun City, she was walking to her car when a man, who identified himself as a new Vallejo police officer, approached her. He wasnt wearing a police uniform, she recalled. But he told her the family had better stop what it was doing. The family filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Police Department that alleges excessive force and wrongful death. Saddler continues to speak out against police brutality in Vallejo. The family of Mario Romero, a black man who died after being struck 30 times by bullets fired by Vallejo officers in 2012 as he sat in his car in front of a sisters home at 4:30 a.m., also described feeling intimidated after speaking out publicly. Family members werent allowed to see Romeros body for a month. They said that months after the shooting, police officers shined lights into their homes more than once for no apparent reason. Adrian Burrell is so disturbed by his experiences with Vallejo police he feels he cannot live in his home. Burrell, a 28-year-old Marine veteran, posted a video to Facebook and Instagram on Jan. 31 showing how a Vallejo police officer slammed him against a wall and knocked him against a pole on Jan. 22 all, he says, because he used his cell phone to record the officer detaining his cousin in Burrells driveway. Burrell, who is black, said he suffered a concussion, and his video went viral. The very day he posted the video hours later, he was standing in the driveway of his Vallejo home when two police officers quickly rolled up, stopped their car in front of his home and jumped out, approaching him. Their manner their fast movements and unfriendly demeanor were unsettling to Burrell, given his recent bad experience with a Vallejo officer, he said. But he wasnt alone. Also in the driveway with him that day was his attorney, Melissa Nold. I walked over and introduced myself, and they changed their whole attitude, Nold said, describing the officers initial approach as off-putting. They identified themselves as Lt. Steve Cheatham and Sgt. Drew Ramsay, and said they were conducting an internal affairs investigation, Nold said. She told them they could schedule an interview with Burrell. Had she not been there, I dont know what the circumstances wouldve been, Burrell 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. Vallejo police said in a statement to the media that officials learned of Burrells cell phone video the day he posted it and that the Police Department began conducting an internal affairs investigation. Burrell said he no longer feels safe in Vallejo. Ive had to leave my home, he said. I dont feel like I can walk around the corner to the store or walk to the marina. I reached out to Vallejo police but, once again, did not get my questions answered. Officers did not respond when I asked about police intimidation. They did not answer my list of questions about Yescas arrest. Vallejo police Capt. John Whitney did email me Wednesday afternoon, but only to forward a statement about Yescas arrest, dated Feb. 6. I also reached out to every City Council member and told them about my reporting on alleged police intimidation. I heard back only from Hakeem Brown. But when we talked Thursday, he declined to answer questions on the record. Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan, whose district includes Vallejo, didnt respond to emails sent to her and two aides. Are the citys representatives not appalled by the $4.5 million the city has had to cough up to settle civil rights abuse and misconduct lawsuits against the Police Department in the past five years? Isnt anyone who sits comfortably at the dais angered that a growing number of their constituents feel uncomfortable in Vallejo? San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr Presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., made a point of going very public with her recent private meeting with members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Support for Israel has become a hot issue among some left-leaning Democrats, who believe the current Israeli government, led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is too far to the right and has little interest in making peace with neighboring Palestinians. So when the groups annual convention rolled into Washington, D.C., all eyes were on who would show up and who would be absent. Because of a scheduling conflict, Harris was unable to meet with the 2,000 California delegates who went to Washington. Instead, Harris sent an aide. When the progressive group MoveOn heard Harris wasnt going to attend the meeting, it included Harris and several other presidential candidates faces in an internet shout-out, praising them for not pandering to an organization that does not uphold progressive values. Coincidence or not, no sooner did the MoveOn posting appear on social media than Harris invited seven members of the California delegation to her office for a 45-minute private meeting. We were honored to meet with her, as seven of the millions of pro-Israel Americans, said group member and San Francisco political consultant Sam Lauter. 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. At the conclusion of the meeting, Harris tweeted a photo of the group, along with a message reiterating the need for a strong U.S.-Israel alliance, the right of Israel to defend itself and my commitment to combat antisemitism in our country and around the world. And just so there was no doubt, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee re-tweeted the picture. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier Instagram sent shudders through the retail industry when it announced a feature that lets its billion users buy products directly in its app. But its sales ambitions could be hampered by parent company Facebooks clumsy handling of user data and privacy. The photo-sharing service has been experimenting with e-commerce for more than a year. Users scrolling through posts have been able to click on a product tag, which reroutes them to a companys website to finish the purchase. Now, people can buy things without leaving Instagram an innovation that makes things easy for users but raises concerns about the security and sharing of peoples data given the rocky history of Facebook, which bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. The ultimate question is, do you as a consumer trust Instagram enough to hand over your credit card information? said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis, a marketing and ad agency in Chicago. Instagram started its in-app checkout feature in March by partnering with 23 companies, including Nike, Warby Parker, Uniqlo, Zara and social media star Kylie Jenners Kylie Cosmetics. Most now offer options to buy products on the app directly, with Instagram storing payment and shipping information for the customer. Hahn Lionel / Abaca Press A spokeswoman for Instagram said payment information stored in the apps checkout feature cannot be accessed by Facebook, but she declined to comment on the sharing of other user data such as age, gender, geography and buying habits. For businesses, she said, Instagram is making it as easy as possible by having a shared infrastructure such as product catalogs to power commerce across the Facebook family of apps. San Franciscan Carlina Harris isnt worried about her personal information being stored on Instagram. She has 13,000 followers and spends a substantial amount of time on the app, and she embraces what she sees as just another avenue for shopping. I bought a floppy hat through an ad that was targeted to me on Instagram, she said. It makes me happy that its easier to buy on the app itself. Still, all it takes is one gaffe to raise privacy worries. For Facebook, a 2007 experiment with tying shopping to a software feature known as Beacon caused an uproar as it inadvertently revealed purchases, like the time it broadcast a users purchase of a ring for his wife before Christmas. Facebook killed the feature in 2009 and settled a related lawsuit for $9.5 million. More recently, scrutiny of Facebooks data practices ramped up after the revelation that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which had ties to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, had obtained information from the profiles of tens of millions of users. The miscues have only mounted. This month, Facebook faced questions over storing millions of user passwords in plain text for years. Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left the company last fall amid growing tensions with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of the photo app, which they feared was losing its independence and subject to too much control by Facebook and Zuckerberg. Retailers, wary of their experiences with the likes of Amazon and Google, may have other concerns beyond data privacy. If consumer behavior shifts and people become more comfortable buying on Instagram, companies will have to contend with the loss of control in interactions they have with their customers, said Alexa Tonner, co-founder of Collectively, a marketing agency in San Francisco whose clients include Old Navy and Uber. If Instagram essentially becomes a digital storefront, the size of its reach could be scary. I think in general theres excitement tinged with a bit of worry, Tonner said. Other hurdles exist. Users can now buy only one item at a time, which can irritate those who may want more than one product per transaction and may make shipping costs relatively high for businesses. The app also has no reviews or ratings, tools consumers typically look to when shopping online. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Such issues can be easily fixed, though, and Instagrams reach is huge and growing quickly. Of its billion users, about 130 million already tap to find product tags in shopping posts each month. Thats an increase of 40 million since September, around the time a new shopping feature arrived on the apps Explore tab, which categorizes photos and videos under different topics. Instagrams closest photo-driven competitor that has been experimenting with e-commerce is Pinterest. The company, expected to go public this year, had a feature called buyable pins, which let customers purchase products without leaving the site. It did away with that feature in October in favor of pins that direct people to retailers websites the opposite of what Instagram is trying to do. Pinterest could compete with Instagram for retailers attention, especially if sellers decide they favor an approach that gives them more control over the checkout process. The company recently hired a Walmart.com executive, Jeremy King, who previously worked at eBay, though its not clear whether his hiring signaled deeper ambitions in e-commerce or just a desire to beef up the companys management ahead of its initial public offering. The biggest test for Instagram may be whether it can persuade users to shop, not just fantasize about products. It makes sense that Instagram went down this path, Goldberg said. Whether it becomes a giant e-commerce force remains to be seen. Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika Police in Colombias second-largest city have arrested a Bay Area man for allegedly possessing child pornography and offering cash over Facebook to girls as young as 13 in exchange for sexual acts. The chief prosecutors office released a video Sunday showing Thomas Renno of Fairfax being handcuffed after arriving in Medellin from San Francisco. He was making his seventh trip to Colombia since 2017, during which time he is believed to have victimized several minors. The head priest of the Corpus Christi Parish in Fremont has been arrested on suspicion of 30 counts of child sex abuse, officials said Sunday. The Rev. Hector David Mendoza-Vela, 42, was arrested Thursday and booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he is awaiting an arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court. His bail was set at $900,000. The abuse happened over an 18-month period in 2016 and 2017 and involved a child who was 14 and 15 at the time, according to Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, which investigated the case. The victims family met Father Vela through his work as their Catholic priest and became friends of his like a lot of people do with leaders in the community, Kelly said. The abuse, described only as lewd and lascivious acts, happened at the victims Hayward home and in other locations, Kelly said. He did not provide further details on the victim or the acts. The teen recently confided in an adult, who contacted law enforcement, Kelly said. One victim having the courage to come forward and report abuse oftentimes is the break that other victims need to come forward, Kelly said. That often will lead other children to disclose things and report abuse, if there is more abuse out there. Mendoza-Vela was assigned to the St. John the Baptist Parish in San Lorenzo from 2013 to 2016. He was placed on administrative leave after his arrest, according to a letter sent to parishioners from Bishop Michael Barber of the Oakland Diocese. During the investigation, Mendoza-Vela may not present himself in public as a priest nor engage in any priestly ministry, Barber wrote. While we do not have all the details, the alleged behavior is in clear violation of the Dioceses code of conduct and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Barber said in the letter. 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. Mendoza-Velas diocese of origin was in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, where he worked with altar boys and choir members in youth ministry, according to a biography on the Oakland Diocese website. He moved to the United States in 2008 and is a legal resident but not a U.S. citizen, according to the diocese. Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests passed out leaflets to parishioners Sunday asking potential witnesses and victims to come forward. They are also asking Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley to pull Mendoza-Velas passport and create a hotline for victims of clergy abuse in the county. Mendoza-Velas arrest came after another priest in the Oakland Diocese, Alex Castillo of Costa Rica, was accused of sexual misconduct on a minor and fled the country. Barber had maintained through February that no credible abuse was reported to the diocese in 31 years. The bishop of Oakland keeps saying no occurrences happened after 1988, and thats not true, said Joey Piscitelli, a Northern California leader of SNAP. Were hoping Bishop Barber is more sincere and transparent and releases information on whats actually going on, and were hoping other victims will come forward. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov San Francisco police searched Sunday for an assailant they say slashed a man with a sword after the victim tried to remove his Make America Great Again hat. The attack happened Friday night outside the Church of 8 Wheels, a popular roller skating rink in San Franciscos Western Addition. The victim was struck on the hand with the sword and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. We are still investigating what led up to the assault with the sword or edged weapon, Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesman, said Sunday. We know the suspect was wearing the hat. During the incident the hat came off of the suspect. The suspect and the weapon remain outstanding. Police initially said the victim was wearing the MAGA hat, but revised their statement Saturday. I cant speak to the discrepancy in the information, Rueca said. There was a lot of information being put out there that we were still looking to confirm so that may have led to the confusion. The red MAGA hat, which has become a universally known accessory for supporters of President Trump, was left on the sidewalk near a pool of blood. Police said the victim had tried to grab the hat when the wearer pulled out his sword and slashed the victim in the hand. Investigators have spoken with eyewitnesses and are looking for video surveillance footage, Rueca said. Scott Sweeney, 24, said he and his girlfriend were leaving a liquor store across the street from the rink about half an hour before the attack when the man in the hat came up to them and shouted homophobic slurs. Sweeney said it seemed like the man was nervously trying to figure out what to do and had a large sword tucked into a sheath in the back of his jacket. Sweeney said he didnt take the weapon seriously at first. In my mind I didnt think it was a real sword until we came out later and police were on the scene and there was blood and the hat on ground, he said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. David Miles, who goes by the nickname Sk8father and started the roller rink at the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church, said he was inside during the dispute and didnt see the attack but ran out to help the victim, who was gushing blood. I gotta do something about this, gotta up the security, he said, noting that hes considering setting up additional surveillance cameras. Even though he didnt come into the church, he could have. This could have been worse. This is the last thing you think is going to happen. Im very, very, very concerned. Police have not yet released a description of the attacker. They are asking anyone with information about the attack to call investigators at 415-575-4444. Chronicle staff writer Joaquin Palomino contributed to this report. Kimberly Veklerov and Gwendolyn Wu are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov @gwendolynawu A sword-wielding assailant wearing a red Make America Great Again hat slashed a man in the hand during an altercation outside a popular roller-skating rink in San Franciscos Western Addition on Friday, officials said. Police are searching for the attacker, who fled the scene outside the Church of 8 Wheels on Fillmore and Fell streets, leaving his victim bleeding profusely on the sidewalk outside the crowded skating spot. Investigators were searching for security video and speaking to witnesses Saturday as they tried to piece together the details of the bloody confrontation that unfolded during the rinks Friday night adults-only roller disco. Officers were called to the scene around 9:50 p.m. on the report of a stabbing, said Officer Robert Rueca, a San Francisco police spokesman. They learned that the victim, whose name was not released, had been approached by another man, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, and the two got into a verbal dispute, he said. The victim tried to grab the hat, a symbol of President Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, and the other man whipped out a sword and slashed him, Rueca said. Police originally reported that the victim was wearing the hat, but changed their statement late Saturday. Scott Sweeney, 24, said he saw a man wearing the recognizable hat with a sword tucked into the back of his jacket about 30 minutes before the attack. The man, Sweeney said, was shouting homophobic slurs at him. In my mind I didnt think it was a real sword until we came out later and police were on the scene and there was blood and the hat on ground, he said. David Miles, who goes by the nickname Sk8father and started the roller rink at the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church, was inside during the dispute. He said he didnt see the attack but ran out to help the victim. I came outside. The guy was cut, he was bleeding like you wouldnt believe, Miles said Saturday. He was just gushing blood, so we got the first aid kit from inside and tried to stop the bleeding. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Paramedics quickly arrived and took the victim to a hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Miles said officers asked him if a man dressed as a pirate had come into the roller rink, but he hadnt seen anyone like that. Miles posted pictures of the bloody aftermath of the attack on Facebook, showing the red hat near a pool of blood. The victim had apparently chased his attacker before realizing how badly he was bleeding, he said. This is the last thing you think is going to happen, he said. Im very, very, very concerned. I dont really know what to think. Police are asking anyone with information about the attack to call investigators at 415-575-4444. Gwendolyn Wu and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu, @EvanSernoffsky Goo Ha-ra at "Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC)," Saturday. Captured from her Instagram By Lee Gyu-lee K-pop star Goo Ha-ra took part in a fashion show in Japan on Saturday her first public appearance in nearly a year after an assault scandal involving her ex-boyfriend. Goo posted a video of herself on the runway of "Tokyo Girls Collection" at Yokohama Arena, on Twitter, Saturday. She wrote "Thank you everyone!" in Japanese. As of 2:40 p.m. the 16-second video had drawn nearly 30,000 viewers. Goo walks on the runway of "Tokyo Girls Collection" at Yokohama Arena, on Saturday. / Captured from Goo's Twitter This combination of file photos shows actor George Clooney in Pasadena, Calif., Feb. 11, and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in Brussels, Oct. 18, 2018. AP-Yonhap Actor George Clooney has called for the boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to the sultan of Brunei, who announced that next month his country will implement Islamic criminal laws to punish those participating in homosexual activities by stoning them to death. The Hollywood actor wrote in Deadline Hollywood, Thursday: ''Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?'' He continued that you can't shame ''murderous regimes,'' but you can shame ''the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them.'' Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah rules the oil-rich monarchy with full executive authority, and the hotels are owned by the Brunei Investment Agency. An email seeking comment was sent to the agency Friday. The hotels are The Dorchester and Coworth Park in the U.K.; Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan. The new "laws" take effect April 3. (AP) Thoroughly enjoyed Sundays in-depth article Vanishing Violence (Front Page, March 24) and the subsequent need to close the juvenile detention center. Lets turn it into a one-stop service center for the homeless. The cells would obviously be left open, but provide a bed and individual space for homeless individuals. On-site counselors, mental health professionals, drug rehabilitation, permanent housing placement, job training, and a full spectrum of services could all be provided under one roof. Lets not waste the space. Lets try to do something that makes sense for a change. Linda Woods, San Francisco Chance at redemption Everyone is assuming that it will be some Democrat against President Trump in the next presidential election, but Im hoping Sen. Mitt Romney will step up to the plate and challenge him. This will offer the Trump-supporting Republicans in this country some opportunity for redemption. Gloria Judd, San Francisco Students and bribes I am dismayed that colleges that have admitted students based on bribes or falsified test scores are debating whether to expel those students and rescind any credits purportedly earned. Dont these administrators know that these students may be gaining grades in their schools by paying other students to write original papers for them, to do projects for them or take tests for them? In fact, part of their admissions fraud may have been grades gotten by these same means. Dolores Mizis, Tiburon Insulated from tweets Regarding Levis went public last week. Here are five things to know about the company (Business, March 24): So the walls of Levis waterfront headquarters on Battery Street are insulated with denim jeans? Well if this iconic blue jeans manufacturer could figure out a way to insulate the American public from a certain Oval Office occupants toxic tweets, I would happily buy a considerable amount of shares of its stock. Vernon Greene, Oakland Reform the process Regarding the college admissions scandal: California legislators advocating the revocation of degrees, please reconsider your stance on expulsion and revoking degrees until these students, and their parents, are convicted or exonerated. Real reform can take place if the great state of California boldly and radically changes the admissions process to limit parent participation and support student independence. Neither my husband nor I had anything to do with either of our childrens college admissions. They applied, wrote essays we never saw, and signed up for their SATs themselves. If a student is ready for college, they should be capable of applying for college themselves. California cant control the admissions process of out-of-state universities, but we could set an example by reforming the process in our state. Enable students, the children of the future will thank us. Mary Baker-Hendy, San Francisco Disrespected democracy Regarding How gun rights absolutists defy law (Insight, March 24) and Why death penalty has value for reforming prison system (Insight, March 24): Two articles in Sundays edition illustrate a disrespect for the democratic process. One regarding local sheriffs disregard for enforcing new gun restrictions, the other in reference to Gov. Gavin Newsoms moratorium on the death penalty. The role of our elected and/or appointed representatives is to support and enforce the will of the people. To disrespect matters that are the dictates of the electorate is frightening with regard to its similarity to nondemocratic forms of governance. Jim Cavellini, Petaluma More time to sleep Why not change to year-round daylight-saving time while shifting school start times to one hour later for the entire year, thus giving sleep-deprived kids an extra hour of sleep? Morris Mandel, Cupertino SACRAMENTO A movement to abolish prisons run by private companies has grown over the past decade from a fringe position to a rallying cry for liberal presidential candidates and now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Activists argue that corporations motivated by profit have a perverse incentive to support policies leading to more prison time for more people and to skimp on the services they provide to inmates. Newsom joined those critics last year when he declared on hiscampaign website that for-profit prisons contribute to over-incarceration. In his January inaugural address, he promised to end the outrage that is private prisons in the state of California once and for all. Unlike his pledges to build more housing or establish a single-payer health care system, Newsom has the direct authority to make this campaign goal a reality by moving about 3,700 inmates out of four private prisons in California and one in Arizona. But to fulfill his promise, Newsom will have to confront the challenges of slimming down Californias overburdened prison system to make more space, at a time when state prisons are barely under a federal court-imposed cap for their inmate population. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle He could face a crucial decision in the coming months: A bill that would phase out Californias use of private prisons within four years is advancing through the Legislature. Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the Alameda Democrat carrying AB32, said the corporations that run private prisons put making money for their shareholders above rehabilitating inmates. Its just the wrong approach to a government service that should be public, Bonta said. California has been paying for beds at private prisons for three decades to deal with an overflow of inmates that once reached twice what its own prisons were designed to hold. It increased its dependence on private lockups after a federal court ruled in 2009 that the state was violating inmates constitutional rights by packing them into overcrowded facilities. The court told California to reduce the prison population to 137.5 percent of the intended capacity. Through policy changes such as realignment, which shifted some lower-level offenders to county jails, and Proposition 57, a 2016 ballot measure that made it easier for some inmates to seek parole, California has cut the number of prisoners and with it, its reliance on private prisons. But during that time, the call to end government contracts with prison companies has only grown. In 2016, then-President Barack Obamas Justice Department said it would phase out the use of privately run prisons to house more than 22,000 federal inmates, a policy that the Trump administration reversed six months later. Civil rights activists who generally support alternatives to incarceration have also mounted a divestment campaign against the countrys two major operators of private prisons: GEO Group in Florida and CoreCivic in Tennessee. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo banks announced this month that they would no longer provide financing for the companies. In addition to his bill to end Californias use of private prisons, Bonta has proposed legislation to require the states public employee and teacher pension funds to divest from prison companies. The retirement system for teachers announced it would do so in November. CoreCivic runs a prison in Eloy, Ariz., where more than 1,400 California inmates are housed. California has already made plans to absorb those prisoners into its lockups by June. But the states system does not yet have enough space to accommodate more than 2,200 inmates from private prisons in Kern and San Bernardino counties as well. The state prison population last month was 113,656, only about 3,300 below the court-mandated cap. Bontas AB32 would prevent the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from entering into new private prison deals starting next year. Contracts with GEO Group for its four prisons in California where state inmates are housed which cost taxpayers $60 million a year expire in 2023. The company said in a statement that the bill works against anti-recidivism goals approved by the voters. GEO is an innovator in the field of rehabilitative services, a spokesman said. Inmates in our facilities are part of our continuum of care that intensely focuses on rehabilitation programs and post-release support services, helping inmates earn their re-entry into society as productive and employable citizens. When he vetoed a similar measure by Bonta two years ago, then-Gov. Jerry Brown wrote that the state needs to maintain maximum flexibility in the short term to keep the prison population within the court mandate. Newsom spokesman Brian Ferguson wrote in an email that addressing inequities in the criminal justice system is among the governors top priorities. The governor and his staff are also working closely with corrections department officials to reduce the states reliance on out-of-state and private prisons to house inmates, Ferguson said. However, there is still more to do, and well be looking at all of our options when the time is right. Bonta said he has not had significant discussions with Newsom about his bill, but he took the governors comments in his inaugural address as a hopeful sign. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Rather than using private prisons, Bonta said, California should pay counties to house overflow inmates. The association representing sheriffs who oversee those jails, however, opposes his bill. Cory Salzillo, a lobbyist for the California State Sheriffs Association, pointed out that because of realignment, county jails already house inmates who used to be sent to state prison. As a whole, theyre more dangerous, have more physical and mental health issues, and are serving longer sentences than traditional county jail inmates, he said. Whats left in state prisons is already a more serious, potentially more violent population, Salzillo said. We presume that would be exacerbated if Bontas bill becomes law. California has been through the debate about private prisons before, when Democrat Gray Davis was governor. In January 2002, as Davis was gearing up for re-election, he said he intended to close more than half the private prisons in the state and phase out the rest as their contracts with the state expired. Opponents criticized his plan as payback to the prison guards union, which had spent more than $2 million to help elect Davis four years before. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which saw the nonunionized prisons as a threat, was then at the height of its political power. Weeks after the governor released his plan, the Los Angeles Times reported, a lobbyist for the union, in a telephone recording for members, praised Davis for following through on a campaign promise. A $251,000 donation followed. Davis denied a connection between the donations and his policy. He told the Times, I see no reason why private companies should be in the business of building prisons. Three private prisons ultimately did close before Davis was recalled in 2003. But his successor, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who clashed with the prison guards over issues including pay, soon began reopening them. In 2006, as Californias prison population peaked at more than 173,000, Schwarzenegger signed the first compact to send inmates to private prisons outside the state. The prison guards union spent more than $2.8 million on television ads for Newsom in the final two months of the gubernatorial campaign last fall. Spokeswoman Nichol Gomez wrote in an email that the union believes the state of California is responsible for people who are tried, convicted and incarcerated ... not a private corporation who answers to shareholders. The governors office did not answer a question about whether Newsom had met with representatives from the union, either during the campaign or since, to discuss its opposition to the use of private prisons. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Bonta, who received the maximum $8,800 donation from the union for his 2018 re-election, said helping prison guards was never one of my considerations for introducing legislation to end Californias reliance on private prisons. He said his bill is part of his broader goal to move California away from mass incarceration, from mass warehousing and refocus on the rehabilitation side. Weve lost sight of that over the years. The move could cost California more than $100 million annually. While it was once slightly cheaper to keep inmates in state prison, the average cost per inmate has ballooned to $81,458 a year, compared with $29,399 in a private facility. Bonta said the lower expense of private prisons is a result of corporations cutting corners with fewer support services and guards who have less training. Some might think its cheaper, but you get what you pay for, he said. Its not the way to go. Even if Newsom does ultimately sign AB32, it will not completely push private prison companies out of the state. GEO Group and CoreCivic manage dozens of city jails, county reporting centers, and federal prisons and immigrant detention centers in California. The corrections department also contracts with the companies to run parole services, substance abuse treatment and transitional housing for more than 20 counties and state prisons. Then there is a 2,400-bed facility in Kern County, which California leases from CoreCivic for about $29 million a year. It is not covered by the Bonta bill because the state runs the prison itself. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff We had an unspoken tradition in the nine-unit apartment building where I grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai). No matter who you were or where you came from, every celebration be it a wedding, birthday or festival you would always cook enough food to share with your neighbors. All differences and neighborhood grievances would be put aside. We had four Muslim families in our building, and during Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, I would keep the door to our home cracked open to let the perfume from the large pots of food cooking make their way in. By the time I was a teenager, I instinctively and very excitedly knew to expect an aromatic biryani in which potatoes and large chunks of mutton had been cooked in layers of long-grain basmati rice; a pineapple raita usually made with tomatoes and cucumbers; and sevaiyan, a vermicelli-type dessert prepared with sweetened milk. Large vats of yogurt would be brought in to prepare the raita and the marinade for the mutton. It would sit for several hours in the marinade, if not overnight, before it could be cooked. It was well worth the wait. Yogurt dahi (the Hindi word) or curds, as it is more commonly referred to in India occupies an important role in the Muslim, Hindu and Parsi communities. References to yogurt can be found in ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts dating to 6000 B.C. The Persians prepared cucumber in creamy yogurt, most likely a precursor to the Indian raita, while the cooks in the Mughal emperors kitchens used yogurt in marinades to create succulent pieces of flavorful meats. The lactic acid and dairy proteins help to tenderize the meat and to add tanginess, making it much more flavorful. When wed visit my dads family in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, breakfast would often be a chilled glass of cold buffalos milk drunk to combat the sweet taste of deep-fried jalebis, which are similar to funnel cakes but soaked in simple syrup. Lunch and dinner always included a side of plain yogurt or raita to keep the body cool. Back in my parents home in Bombay, we would either buy yogurt from the dairy near our home or make it when my parents had the time. It wasnt difficult. Youd start by boiling fresh milk and then let it cool until just lukewarm, stirring in a teaspoon or two of a previous batch of yogurt and then covering the bowl with a lid and leaving it to sit in a warm place. Within a day, the bacteria would do their work, breaking the milk sugars down to form lactic acid, which would then coagulate the milk proteins to form a white puddinglike mass at the bottom of the bowl. A watery, pale greenish liquid, the whey, floated on top. When I moved to America for grad school, I assumed making yogurt would be easy. After all, it was just fermentation. I thought all I needed was a batch of previous yogurt, a bit of warmed milk, and the right amount of heat and time. When I tried it, the consistency and texture were always off. I eventually learned to take advantage of the warmer temperatures of my oven to ferment the yogurt and to use organic, nonhomogenized milk free from any added stabilizers or fillers. Still, I have to admit that I dont make it as often as I would like. Thats partly because my Indian grocery store in Berkeley now carries several varieties of Indian-style yogurt that have the same taste and texture as the homemade kind I remember. Unlike in the U.S., where sweetened and flavored yogurts are popular, most Indians still prefer the traditional unflavored kind even when multinational companies like Dannon try to break into the market with their yogurt products. Habitual variations and preferences in food can be difficult to overcome. But sharing food at holidays and celebrations, just like my Bombay neighbors used to, is one way to welcome people to look at a familiar ingredient in a new way. Nik Sharmas first solo cookbook is Season (Chronicle Books). Twitter/Instagram: @abrowntable Email: food@sfchronicle.com Chicken Yogurt Pulao Nik Sharma Pulao, or pilaf, is a good one-pot dish that doesnt require too much fussing over. To speed up the cooking time, I presoak the rice and cook the chicken separately. A salad and a side of plain yogurt are all you need. Serves 4 to 6 The chicken 2 cups plain yogurt 2 garlic cloves 1 teaspoon garam masala (homemade or store-bought) 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 teaspoon fine sea salt teaspoon ground turmeric 2 pounds chicken, bone and skin removed and cut into pieces The pulao 2 cups basmati rice 2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil 1 large red onion, cut into thin rings Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. teaspoon fine sea salt 4 cloves 3 green cardamom pods, cracked 1 black cardamom pod, cracked 2 bay leaves 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1 serrano pepper, chopped To make the chicken: Blend the yogurt, garlic and spices together until smooth. Pat the chicken pieces dry and place them in a gallon-size zip-top bag with the marinade. Seal, shake to coat evenly, and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Transfer the chicken and marinade to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chicken is tender, 15 to 20 minutes . Remove from the heat. To make the pulao: Check the rice for any stones and then rinse in a fine-mesh sieve until the water is no longer cloudy. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover with water and let it sit for 30 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a Dutch oven, or heavy-bottomed pot with a lid, on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and salt, saute for 5 minutes, cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and cook until the onions are evenly browned, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the second tablespoon of oil, then the cloves, cardamom and bay leaves and cook for 30 to 45 seconds. Drain the rice and fry it with the onions and spices for 4 to 5 minutes, until the grains are coated with the spices and oil. Remove half of the rice from the Dutch oven. Add the chicken pieces in a layer over the rice. Add the remaining rice on top, pour the liquid from the chicken along with cup water, and cover the pot with two layers of aluminum foil to form a seal, capping it with the lid. Cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Every year around this time, people grumble about their tax bills. This year, taxpayers who lost the deduction for state and local taxes in the 2017 tax overhaul bill mainly those in California and states in the Northeast are going to grumble even more. And for some, that grousing has turned to talk of fleeing to lower-tax states. Those wealthy enough to own homes in multiple states will want to have their cake and eat it, too. Some will try to establish residency in one of the seven states that have no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. In doing so, they will reduce their tax bills substantially: up to 13 percentage points for California residents, for instance, or nearly 9 points for those in New York and New Jersey. The people trying to take advantage of this strategy have always been a target of state tax collectors, but financial advisers say states like California and New York have stepped up their collection efforts, and they urge caution for anyone considering this approach. Wealthy taxpayers have long assumed that spending a minimum of 183 days, or six months plus one day, in a residence outside a high-tax state would be sufficient to avoid taxes in that state. But advisers note that this long-held belief is not a sophisticated approach. There are some states that have strict day counts, but California is much more subjective, said Chris Campbell, a principal at Deloitte Tax. Generally speaking, you can be a resident of California for tax purposes after a few days or months. In the high-stakes game of tax collecting, states can seek unpaid tax bills that climb into the tens of millions of dollars. People who have legitimately moved to a different state have to be ready to prove their residency. But so do executives who travel around the country for work. The first requirement is proving your state residency. For most people, a drivers license will suffice. But for wealthier taxpayers who have homes in two or more states, its not so easy. There are apps like Monaeo, TaxBird and TaxDay, which count days spent in each state, alerting people when they get too close to the 183-day limit. Nishant Mittal, a co-founder of Monaeo, said one of his motivations for creating the app came from staying too long in India when he was a consultant for McKinsey & Co. U.S. citizens living abroad face their own 183-day limit for federal taxes. Mittal had been told to keep records of where he was, and he did. But that wasnt enough. When the tax authorities asked for my records, they counted the stamps in my passport, he said. I overstayed my welcome in India by two days. It became two of the most expensive days Ive ever spent in the world. Michael Kosnitzky, a partner at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who divides his time among Colorado, Florida and New York, said that counting days was insufficient and misleading. He pointed to New Yorks five-part test for determining a persons residence for tax purposes, where time spent in the state is just one part. The state also looks at the size and cost of the New York home compared with those in other states, a persons business and family ties to the state, and a category that looks at where near and dear items are kept. Traci Kratish Pumo, a managing director at accounting firm BDO who helps people establish Florida residency, said the latter was often known as the teddy bear test. Where do you keep your teddy bear at night? is one of 50 questions her firm asks clients who want to move their tax residency, she said. The more boxes you can tick, the better, Pumo said. Sometimes, they check off one or two boxes. Thats just not enough. They think they can dip their toe in their new state. When people change residency, advisers say, the first few years are the most important from an auditing perspective. The first one or two years, you shouldnt come back very much, Kosnitzky said. You have to prove that youve left. After that, the burden of proof shifts to the state. One way to prove you are gone is to classify your former home as a rental. Kosnitzky said the Internal Revenue Service generally checked to see if there had been actual rental income, for taxes and expenses to be deducted, but a brokerage agreement and a good-faith attempt to rent the property is usually sufficient. Edward Nicoll, who lives in Miami Beach and has been a Florida resident since 2015, said he had been taxed on the same income by different states on two occasions. I ended up paying them both and then tried to get a refund from them, he said, adding he had acted on his accountants advice. In one instance, I got the refund. In the other, I ended up paying double taxes because the cost of fighting the tax was not worth it. Nicoll, 65, said that he used the Monaeo app to track his days, but that it was just one component of his effort to be as transparent as he could to build a defense for future audits. Im keenly aware that avoiding taxes is something people spend a lot of time on, he said. I dont mind paying my fair share of taxes. I just dont want to pay more than my fair share or pay it twice. What someone does when he or she moves somewhere can also make a difference. Campbell said California generally allowed people to buy a vacation home in the state without becoming residents for tax purposes. But that presumption goes away pretty quickly if youre viewed as anything other than a seasonal tourist, he said. And that can be a fine line, given how easy it is for many wealthy people to work wherever they are. If you had sufficient connections to two states and another state audited you, you now have a fight on your hands, he said. Audit fees alone can range from $25,000 to well over $100,000, and thats before taxes, penalties and interest are paid. Generally, the type of income determines which state gets to tax it. Regular wages are taxed in the state where they are earned. Capital gains and dividends are taxed in the state where the person lives. But forms of compensation like unvested options and other forms of deferred compensation are trickier. They are taxed by the states where work was performed over the vesting period, said Ryan L. Losi, a certified public accountant and executive vice president at Piascik, an accounting firm. Losi said he expected to see a lot of these audits over the next few years, given the run-up in stock prices. Typically, he said, people pay the tax in the state where they are living when they exercise those options, but several years later, other states come looking for what is owed to them. As someone who has been subject to state audits, Nicoll had advice for anyone considering establishing a new state residency: Anyone who moves out now is going to be audited. People should see it as a cost for being wealthy. Paul Sullivan is a New York Times writer. Shoppers routinely use the internet to compare prices, whether for appliances, cars or hotel rooms. But online pricing remains scant for funeral services, putting bereaved and vulnerable people at a financial disadvantage because theyre unlikely to haggle over costs. Consumer advocates are hoping that may finally change because federal regulators are scheduled to take a fresh look this year at a rule that governs how funeral homes share information with the public. Advocates are encouraging an update to bring the rule into the digital age, by requiring funeral homes to post detailed prices online. We are building a consumer coalition to promote the change, said Steve Brobeck, senior fellow with the Consumer Federation of America. The federation and allies like the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes price transparency, argue that the current rule is woefully inadequate for the internet era. The Federal Trade Commissions Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide prices to consumers seeking them over the phone and to give an itemized price list to anyone requesting one in person. But the rule, which first took effect in 1984, when the internet was in its infancy, does not require online disclosure of prices. The typical cost of a traditional funeral, including viewing of the body and burial, was about $7,400 in 2017, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, a trade group. A funeral with cremation, which is increasingly popular, was about $6,300. But costs vary widely, even within the same market. Scott Gilligan, general counsel with the funeral directors association, said about 20 percent of its members generally those in larger, competitive markets posted prices online, but the association has not seen major demand for it from consumers. The groups research, he said, shows that people choose a funeral home mainly because of factors like a relationship with a particular funeral director or a homes location, with price a less important criterion. The Federal Trade Commission typically strives to re-evaluate rules every 10 years, said Patti Poss, an attorney in the commissions consumer protection bureau. The last review of the funeral rule ended in 2008, when, according to the Federal Register, the commission declined to adopt any changes. The 10-year review timeline isnt mandated, however, and the commission may adjust it, Poss said. The five-member commission, whose members were all appointed last year, has a full plate, including an inquiry into telecommunications privacy. Still, a review of the funeral rule in 2019 has been scheduled for several years, Poss said, and is supposed to happen sometime this year. She was unable to provide a date when the assessment might start, but said it would be announced on the commissions website and in the Federal Register. The commission typically seeks public comments to help determine if a rule remains relevant, and whether any changes are warranted. One factor it considers, Poss noted, is any effect of technological changes. Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, said the rule sorely needed updating. The alliance, along with the consumer federation, unsuccessfully petitioned the Federal Trade Commission in 2016 to speed up its review. Slocum said posting prices online would make enforcement of the rule far easier, since regulators are able to visit just a fraction of the countrys funeral homes to check compliance. The commission enforces the funeral rule, in part, with undercover inspections of funeral homes. It reported last year that nearly a quarter of 134 homes in a dozen states visited in 2017 had failed to comply with federal price disclosure rules. An analysis of 200 funeral homes last year by the Funeral Consumers Alliance found just 16 percent with websites included their full price lists online, although about a fourth posted some information, such as packaged services. More recently, research by the alliance and other groups found that online pricing disclosure was spotty even in California, the only state that requires funeral homes with websites to include pricing information online or to list services and note that prices are available upon request. Here are some questions and answers about funeral services: Q: What happens if a funeral home fails to properly disclose its prices? A: The Federal Trade Commission can seek civil penalties of more than $40,000 per violation. But first-time offenders can enter a training program run by the National Funeral Directors Association that is intended to help increase compliance. Q: Is there anywhere to compare funeral prices online? A: Commercial websites like Parting.com and a newer entrant, Funeralocity.com, offer funeral home searches and pricing information. Ed Michael Reggie, founder of Funeralocity, said the site let shoppers search prices at funeral homes in 100 major markets and awarded excellence status to funeral homes that met its standards and fully disclosed prices. Funeralocity, he said, earns a referral fee when users book services with funeral homes that have that status. The website says those homes agree to offer discounts to users who choose them through Funeralocity. Consumer advocates say they generally support wider availability of information online but caution that third-party websites may have financial incentives to promote one funeral home over another. Slocum, of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, also said it was difficult to keep pricing information updated since doing so required companies to call or visit the individual funeral homes. As with any website, he said, shoppers should use a healthy skepticism when evaluating services. Q: How can I manage the cost of a funeral? A: The trade commission advises consumers to gather information in advance, if possible, and to compare prices from at least two funeral homes. It notes that consumers dont have to buy a coffin from their funeral home. They can buy one elsewhere and have it delivered. AARPs website offers recommendations for holding down costs, like buying a coffin online and avoiding funeral packages that offer discounted coffins since the funeral home may make up the difference by charging more for other services. Ann Carrns is a New York Times writer. Angelina Jolie, actress and UNHCR Special Envoy, arrives to address a meeting of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial: Uniformed Capabilities, Performance and Protection at the United Nations in New York, March 29. AFP-Yonhap Actress and activist Angelina Jolie warned Friday that the world "will remain stuck in a cycle of violence and conflicts" as long as nations continue to put almost every other issue ahead of women's equality, rights and participation. Jolie, who is a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, added in a keynote address to a ministerial meeting on U.N. peacekeeping that "denying half a population representation in peace negotiations or in government is not the route to long-term stability." There are many examples around the world of successful and inspiring women, she said, "but women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war," over half the world's refugees, and "the vast majority" of victims of rape and sexual violence. If the world accepted the principle that those affected by a problem should be charged with determining a solution, Jolie said, "then the majority of the world's peace negotiators, foreign ministers and diplomats would be women." But she quickly added: "We all know the reality." The reality, Jolie noted, is that unequal power relations, "abuse of power, gender bias, violence and lack of justice" have kept many women in subordinate and vulnerable positions internationally. Actress and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie, Assistant-Secretary General for Africa, Bintou Keita (left), and Lieutenant Commander Marcia Andrade Braga, United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year arrive at the United Nations in New York, March 29, to attend a meeting of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial: Uniformed Capabilities, Performance and Protection. AFP-Yonhap In her speech to the annual meeting of foreign and defense ministers, the Oscar-winning actress focused primarily on women, but she also talked about the importance of multilateralism and the growing refugee crisis. Declaring herself a patriot who loves the United States, Jolie said she believes "in an America that is part of an international community." "Countries working together on an equal footing is how we reduce the risk of conflict," she said. "It is how we avoid the need to send the men and women of our militaries to fight and sacrifice overseas." However, "we live at a time of blatant disregard for the laws of war that forbid attacks on civilians," shed continued. Jolie pointed to missile strikes on schools and hospitals, families bombed in their homes, chemical weapons dropped on neighborhoods, besieged areas unable to get aid and mass rapes. "We seem incapable of upholding minimum standards of humanity in many parts of the world," Jolie said. "That this comes at a time when humankind is richer and more technologically advanced than ever before is all the more painful." Angelina Jolie and from left, Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt attend the premiere of the motion picture fantasy "Dumbo" at the Ray Dolby Ballroom, Loews Hollywood Hotel in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, March 11. UPI-Yonhap ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates The Louvre Abu Dhabi might seem to have all you could ask for in a world-class museum. Its acclaimed design shades its galleries under a vast dome that appears to hover over the waters of the Persian Gulf. Inside are works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, Monet and van Gogh, Mondrian and Basquiat. Yet the work that the Louvre Abu Dhabi once promised would anchor its collection is conspicuously absent: Salvator Mundi, a painting of Jesus Christ attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Few works have evoked as much intrigue, either in the world of art or among the courts of Persian Gulf royals. First, its authenticity as the product of Leonardos own hand was the subject of intense debate. Then, in November 2017, it became the most expensive work ever sold at auction, fetching $450.3 million from an anonymous bidder who turned out to be a close ally and possible stand-in for the ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Now, the painting is shrouded in a new mystery: Where in the world is Salvator Mundi? Although the Abu Dhabi culture department announced about a month after the auction that it had somehow acquired Salvator Mundi for display in the local Louvre, a scheduled unveiling of the painting last September was canceled without explanation. The culture department is refusing to answer questions. Staff members of the Louvre Abu Dhabi say privately that they have no knowledge of the paintings whereabouts. The Louvre in Paris, which licenses its name to the Abu Dhabi museum, has not been able to locate Salvator Mundi, either, according to an official familiar with the museums discussions with Abu Dhabi, who declined to be named because of the confidentiality of the talks. Officials in the French government, which owns the Louvre in Paris, are eager to include Salvator Mundi in a landmark exhibition this fall to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardos death and say they are still holding out hope that the painting might resurface in time. (A representative of the Louvre declined to comment.) But some Leonardo experts say they are alarmed by the uncertainty about the paintings whereabouts and future, especially after the announcement from Abu Dhabi that the painting would go on display to the public. It is tragic, said Dianne Modestini, a professor at New York Universitys Institute of Fine Arts and a conservator who has worked on Salvator Mundi. To deprive the art lovers and many others who were moved by this picture a masterpiece of such rarity is deeply unfair. Martin Kemp, an Oxford art historian who has studied the painting, described it as a kind of religious version of the Mona Lisa' and Leonardos strongest statement of the elusiveness of the divine. I dont know where it is, either, he added. Noting that it was never clear how Abu Dhabi might have acquired the painting from the Saudis in the first place whether by a gift, loan or private sale some have speculated that Crown Prince Mohammed might simply have decided to keep it. The Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment. The 33-year-old crown prince may not be the paintings first royal owner. Believed to have been painted about 1500, Salvator Mundi was one of two similar works listed in an inventory of the collection of King Charles I of England after his execution in 1649, Kemp said. But the painting disappeared from the historical record in the late 18th century. The painting sold at the record auction later turned up in the collection of a 19th-century British industrialist. It had been so heavily painted over that it looked like a drug-crazed hippie, Kemp said, and it was attributed at the time to one of Leonardos followers. In 1958, it was sold out of that collection for the equivalent of $1,350 in todays dollars. The claim that the painting was the work of Leonardo himself originated after a pair of dealers spotted it at an auction in New Orleans in 2005 and brought it to Modestini of NYU. She stripped away overpainting, repaired damage made by a split in the wood panel, and restored details. Among other things, one of Jesus hands appeared to have two thumbs, possibly because the artist changed his mind about where the thumb should be and painted over the original thumb. It had been exposed by scraping later on, and Modestini covered the thumb she believed Leonardo did not want. Its new attribution to Leonardo won the painting a spot in a retrospective of his work at the National Gallery in London in 2011. Two years later, a Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, bought it for $127.5 million less than a third of what he sold it for in 2017, when it was auctioned in New York by Christies. The Louvre Abu Dhabis failure to exhibit Salvator Mundi as promised has revived doubts about whether it is Leonardos at all, with skeptics speculating that the new owner may fear public scrutiny. An expert on Leonardos paintings, Jacques Franck, sent letters to the office of President Emmanuel Macron of France, raising doubts about the attribution. Macrons chief of staff, Francois-Xavier Lauch, wrote back that the president was very attentive to the preoccupations. Others have argued that the painting was so extensively restored by Modestini that it is as much her work as Leonardos. Nonsense, she said, calling these ridiculous claims. Auction house contracts typically include a five-year authenticity warranty. But the extensive public documentation and debate before the 2017 sale would make it difficult for the buyer to recover the payment by challenging the attribution to Leonardo. The anonymous buyer at the auction in New York, Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, was a little known member of a distant branch of the Saudi royal family with no publicly known source of great wealth or history as a major art collector. But he was a close friend and confidant of Crown Prince Mohammed. A few months after the auction, the royal court named Bader as the kingdoms first-ever minister of culture. Christies initially sought to guard Baders identity so closely during the bidding that it created a special account number for him that was known only to a handful of the houses executives. But contracts and correspondence obtained by The New York Times showed Bader to be the anonymous buyer. U.S. officials familiar with the arrangement later said Bader was in fact acting as a surrogate for Crown Prince Mohammed himself, the true purchaser of Salvator Mundi. The crown princes aggression and impulsiveness have recently come under new scrutiny in the West after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded he ordered the killing in fall of dissident Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents in a consulate in Istanbul. But by the time of auction, the crown prince had already shown a taste for pricey trophies, paying $500 million for a yacht and $300 million for a chateau in France. As a Times article about Baders role in the auction was about to be published in December 2017, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, possibly to deflect attention from the Saudis extravagant spending, tweeted that Salvator Mundi would be coming to its collection. Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed is a close ally of Crown Prince Mohammed of Saudi Arabia. And the chairman of Abu Dhabis department of culture and tourism, Mohamed Khalifa al-Mubarak, is a top lieutenant of the emirates crown prince. In June, Mubarak announced with great fanfare that Salvator Mundi would go on display as part of the museums permanent collection in September 2018. Having spent so long undiscovered, this masterpiece is now our gift to the world, he said in a statement reported in the Emirati-owned newspaper, The National. We look forward to welcoming people from near and far to witness its beauty. When September came, however, the exhibition was canceled without explanation and never rescheduled. Museum officials said that only Mubarak could answer questions about the painting; a spokesman for Mubarak, Faisal al-Dhahri, said that neither Mubarak nor the ministry would comment. In the meantime, any clues to the movements of Salvator Mundi have the art world abuzz. One person familiar with the details of the paintings sale said it had been sent to Europe after the completion of payment. And Modestini said she had heard from a restoration expert that he had been asked by an insurance company to examine the painting in Zurich last before further shipping. But the examination was canceled, and the Zurich expert, Daniel Fabian, declined to comment. After that, said Modestini, the trail goes completely cold. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, defended President Trumps threat to end assistance to three Central American countries and to close parts of the U.S. border with Mexico this week, saying Sunday that it would take something dramatic to prevent Trump from carrying out that plan. Why are we talking about closing the border? Mulvaney said in an interview on ABCs This Week. Not to try and undo whats happening, but simply to say, look we need the people from the ports of entry to go out and patrol in the desert where we dont have a wall. Trumps attempt to seal off the border by building a wall, and mulling the closure of ports to tamp down on immigration and drug smuggling, is at odds with a nagging reality: Smuggling activity largely comes through ports of entry, according to government data. And the presidents move to cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ignores a long-standing strategy touted by aid groups and military experts including the presidents former chief of staff that supporting those countries actually makes the border safer. Still, Trump spent the past week emboldened by the results of his attorney generals summary of a report by special counsel Robert Mueller that said that he and his campaign had not cooperated with the Russian government. The president immediately turned back to immigration as a red-meat issue for supporters before the 2020 election. Im not playing games, he told reporters during a weekend in Florida, which followed a week spent berating the Democratic Party for what he called lax immigration laws, assailing countries he accused of doing little to stop the flow of migrants traveling north, and disparaging individual migrants seeking asylum as part of a big fat con job. In February, 76,000 migrants were apprehended crossing the border an 11-year high and the crossings are expected to increase again in March. In recent weeks, Border Patrol facilities along the southwestern border have been strained to a breaking point by the large influx of migrants. The numbers are growing, in part, because travelers are hoping to make the journey north before summertime. A full or partial sealing of the border would effectively close off the United States from one of its largest trading partners. And by directing the State Department to revoke aid for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Trump is seeking to punish those countries for what he says is a failure to stop migrant caravans from making their way north. Leaders of those countries have said they are committed to solving the problem, despite what Trump has said. In 2017, the United States gave $420 million to Central American countries struggling with violence. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a nonprofit organization that supports diplomatic efforts of the United States, the three countries committed about 10 times that amount, or $5.4 billion, to improve conditions. Katie Rogers is a New York Times writer. PHOENIX Workers wont face charges after they were seen on video dragging and shoving immigrant children at a privately run shelter in Arizona, authorities said. Prosecutors in Maricopa County said theres no reasonable likelihood of proving the workers committed a crime at the now-shuttered Southwest Key facility near Phoenix. Prosecutors said none of the three children sustained physical injuries; there was no evidence of intent to injure the children; and they didnt share any feelings with investigators of being ill-treated. Ultimately, prosecutors did not have evidence to prove that any use of force was unreasonable to gain compliance or to establish that the physical health and emotional well-being of the children had been placed in danger, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office said in a statement Friday. The incidents occurred in September and were investigated by the sheriffs office, which initially didnt recommend that charges be filed but later reversed course when the Arizona Republic newspaper obtained the videos. Texas-based Southwest Key spent most of last year under criticism in Arizona after a series of investigations into abuse of children in its care. The company was eventually forced to shut down two facilities, including the one where the treatment was videotaped. Todays news is an important step forward as we resume our work in Arizona, said Geraldo Rivera, vice president for immigrant childrens services at the nonprofit. Im proud of the progress weve made together in the last few months. The shelter held children who came to the U.S. without a parent or in some cases were separated from family. Astrid Galvan is an Associated Press writer. PHILADELPHIA The City of Brotherly Love was once revolutionary when it came to clean streets, gutters and sidewalks. Benjamin Franklin began one of Americas first street sweeping programs here in the late 1750s. In 1952, the city tied with Memphis as the nations cleanest. Those distinctions are long gone. Poverty and litter often go hand in hand, and Filthadelphia is the nations poorest big city. In the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, and after mounting grumblings by residents who didnt want to move their cars, Philadelphia scrapped its residential street sweeping program, leaving it the only city of its size in the country without one. Now some neighborhoods struggling with litter have decided to take collection into their own hands. Last month, a nonprofit neighborhood group in the citys Germantown section started rounds of litter collection with its own trash truck. Other neighborhood associations are paying for human street sweepers or professional trash collection companies. The low-income Germantown neighborhood has a persistent litter problem, in addition to problems with gun violence, blight and, sometimes, a sense of hopelessness. This is us stepping up to the plate to be part of the solution, because a lot of this litter isnt something the city can control, said Jordan Ferrarini, whose group, Trades for a Difference, bought the Germantown truck. Its something being done in the community, and has to do with the psychology of the neighborhood. His group hires young people from the neighborhood to work in litter collection and hopes to expand the duties to beautification projects and plantings. The idea is to provide jobs in the neighborhood and to build a sense of community and pride, he said. City officials see no shame in neighborhood groups buying their own trash trucks to deal with litter problems. Carlton Williams, streets commissioner, said the Germantown groups idea isnt to replace they citys trash collection efforts, but to complement them. Litter is a partnership effort, he said. That is the key to success, and its great that they want to be ambitious. Were fully supportive. Mayor Jim Kenney announced in his budget address this month that hell reinvest in street sweeping, starting with a pilot program for a handful of neighborhoods this spring. However, the city still isnt planning to force residents to move their cars. Kristen De Groot is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON After losing in Congress, President Trump is counting on the courts to kill off Obamacare. But some cases are going against him, and time is not on his side as he tries to score a big win for his re-election campaign. Two federal judges in Washington, D.C., blocked parts of Trumps health care agenda last week: work requirements for some low-income people on Medicaid, and new small business health plans that dont have to provide full benefits required by the Affordable Care Act. But in the biggest case, a federal judge in Texas ruled last December that the ACA is unconstitutional and should be struck down in its entirety. That ruling is now on appeal. At the urging of the White House, the Justice Department said last week it will support the Texas judges position and argue that all of Obamacare must go. A problem for Trump is that the litigation could take months to resolve or longer and theres no guarantee hell get the outcomes he wants before the 2020 election. Was this a good week for the Trump administration? No, said economist Gail Wilensky, who headed up Medicare under former Republican President George H.W. Bush. But this is the beginning of a series of judicial challenges. Its early innings in the court cases, and the clock is going to run out, said Timothy Jost, a retired law professor who has followed the Obama health law since its inception. By the time these cases get through the courts there simply isnt going to be time for the administration to straighten out any messes that get created, much less get a comprehensive plan through Congress, added Jost, who supports the ACA. In the Texas case, Trump could lose by winning. If former President Barack Obamas health law is struck down entirely, Congress would face an impossible task: pass a comprehensive health overhaul to replace it that both Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump can agree to. The failed attempt to repeal Obamacare in 2017 proved to be toxic for congressional Republicans in last years midterm elections and they are in no mood to repeat it. The ACA now is nine years old and it would be incredibly disruptive to uproot the whole thing, said Thomas Barker, who served as a top lawyer at the federal Health and Human Services department under former Republican President George W. Bush. It seems to me that you can resolve this issue more narrowly than by striking down the ACA. Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar is an Associated Press writer. BNP Paribas Cardif Life CEO Benoit Meslet speaks during a recent interview in his office in Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Kim Bo-eun Former Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Ha Yung-ku will chair Mirae Asset Global Investments' board of directors, the company said, Friday. Ha was appointed as an outside director and the chair of the board of directors at the asset management company's general shareholders' meeting the same day. As the head of the board of directors, he will separate the board from the CEO and independently manage it. He will serve a one-year term. Ha is replacing former Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong who led the board as an outside director. Kim stepped down from the positions on March 22 due to regulations that prohibit an individual from serving as an outside director of more than two companies. The company stated Ha was appointed based on his rich experience and knowledge as a financial expert. Ha joined Citi Bank in 1981, and served as Citi Bank Korea's CEO for more than a decade. He led the Korea Federation of Banks from December 2014 to November 2017. The company has four outside directors including Ha. It formerly tended to appoint government officials as outside directors, but is recently seen to be appointing figures from the private sector. By Park Hyong-ki Exports are likely to suffer stagnant growth in 2019 on China's slowdown and downturn of the chip industry, private think tanks and analysts say. Given that facilities investment and consumer spending have stayed in the doldrums, they said falling exports will further reduce economic growth of Asia's fourth-largest economy. The country's exports are expected to drop again this month, sliding for four straight months since December 2018. The volume of outbound shipments fell nearly 5 percent to $28 billion in the first 20 days of March this year, from the same period a year ago, according to the National Tax Service (NTS). This is because of weakening exports of semiconductors, which dropped 25 percent in the same period. Should this downward trend continue, Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) forecast nearly "zero percent growth" in annual exports. Taking into account Korea's reliance on exports, semiconductors and China's economy, analysts say this could mean the country will barely be able to grow 2 percent this year, if China can't advance above 6 percent. This will be lower than the Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Institute's forecast of 2.6 percent. Global investment banks such as UBS and Barclays expect the economy to grow 2.5 percent due to falling exports. Analysts say the downturn would warrant an expansionary fiscal policy, which can boost the annual growth by 0.3 percentage points. "If the government pursues extra spending, it needs to execute it within the first half to support growth this year," said Moon Jeong-hee, an analyst at KB Securities. Exports of chips declined 24.8 percent in February and 23.3 percent in January especially due to falling outbound shipments to China amid the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In 2018, exports of chips increased nearly 30 percent. The chip down-cycle comes amid a decrease in memory chip prices and an index measuring the industry's production capacity. The index stood at 97.1 points in February, down 4 percent from January, the lowest in 43 months, according to Statistics Korea. Chips accounted for 20 percent of total annual shipments last year. Exports take up half of the GDP, according to HRI. The country's overall exports to China fell 17.4 percent in February, and 22.5 percent in January. Exports to China account for about 26 percent of the total. If Korea adds Hong Kong, they will account for 34 percent, according to the trade ministry. The chip industry's operating profit will fall 38 percent this year, according to a report by the Woori Financial Research Institute. This will spill over into other industries such as chemicals, materials and equipment. The country needs to carry out risk management and export diversification at the same time, analysts say. "It needs to be proactive in diversifying export markets even amid the slowdown," said Ju Won, a senior researcher at HRI. OAKLAND (BCN) The first black woman reporter to work at the Washington Post newspaper, a pioneer who mentored many journalists in the Bay Area and the country, discussed her six-decade career Saturday at Oakland's Kapor Center. Dorothy Butler Gilliam talked about her new book, "Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America," with Martin Reynolds, former Oakland Tribune editor and co-executive director of the Oakland-based Maynard Institute. "When I first entered the Washington Post newsroom in 1961, I dived into a sea of white men with two extra weights they didn't have to carry - race and gender," Gilliam said. "But I persevered. I had to succeed. I knew if I didn't, it would be an excuse not to hire other black women," the journalist said. When the reporter rushed to cover breaking news on short deadlines, with time of the essence, cabs wouldn't stop for her because she was black. Colleagues wouldn't speak to her on the street. She had to sleep in a black funeral home when covering civil rights issues in the South because hotels excluded African Americans. But she persisted, becoming a successful reporter, columnist and editor at the Post, working there 33 years. Though she still lives in Washington, D.C., Gilliam's Bay Area connections are strong. She co-founded the Maynard Institute, which is named for former Oakland Tribune editor Bob Maynard, another co-founder. The Institute was founded in the 1970s to educate people of color so they could get jobs in the media. Before being renamed the Maynard Institute, it used the name Institute for Journalism Education. "We (reporters) implored our editors to hire journalists of color, but they would say, 'We can't find anyone qualified,'" Gilliam said. "So we came together and founded the Institute," which began at UC Berkeley. Former Oakland Tribune reporter and columnist Tammerlin Drummond was a student at the Institute. "Dorothy was one of my first journalism teachers," said Drummond, who attended the Saturday event. Barbara Rodgers, a former reporter at KPIX-TV, a CBS affiliate in San Francisco, also attended the event. "We've all known (Gilliam) for many moons," Rodgers said. Rodgers' first job was in 1972 at a New York TV station. She was the first black female to work there, she said. "The guys did not particularly like that the newsroom culture was going to change. They couldn't talk among themselves and say 'Check out that woman's boobs' any more," Rodgers said. She added, "They finally mellowed out. But they weren't very helpful at first." 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) The Very Rev. Jay Matthews, the rector of the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland and a fixture in Oakland's Catholic community for three decades, died Saturday night of an apparent heart attack, the Diocese of Oakland announced. Priests and diocese chancery staff members found Matthews unresponsive in the cathedral rectory at about 7 p.m. and called emergency services, which took him to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, according to the diocese. Matthews, 70, was the first African-American ordained priest in Northern California, joining the priesthood in 1974, and served as pastor of St. Benedict Church in East Oakland for 26 years before taking over as rector of the cathedral, the centerpiece of the diocese, in 2015. "Father Matthews' infectious love for his faith, his parishioners and his community was a source of joy and inspiration for me," Oakland Bishop Michael Barber said in a statement. Matthews was born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland, where his family moved in 1960. The Rev. Jayson Landeza, who succeeded Matthews as pastor of St. Benedict, said in a post on Facebook that he "lovingly referred" to Matthews as "Mr. Oakland." Matthews also served as a chaplain for the Oakland police and fire departments. In 2014, the Oakland City Council proclaimed May 6 as "Father Jay Matthews Day." In a statement, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, paid tribute to Matthews' years of service to the Oakland community. "Father Jay lived a life of both faith and works - a life of love in service to others," Lee said. "We will miss his great wisdom. His passing is a loss for our entire community. "Father Jay and I were personal friends - and like for so many, he was there for me in good times and bad times." Funeral services are pending. By Bay City News Service (BCN) A Catholic priest has been arrested on suspicion of 30 counts of suspected child sexual abuse in Alameda County, authorities said Sunday. The Rev. Hector David Mendoza-Vela, parochial administrator of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fremont, is in custody at Santa Rita Jail, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The alleged abuse involved one victim age 14 or 15 over an 18-month period starting in 2016 when Mendoza-Vela was assigned to St. John the Baptist Church in San Lorenzo. The abuse occurred in the victim's home in unincorporated Hayward, sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Authorities are unaware of any other child victims, and the case has been referred to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for prosecution. Oakland Bishop Michael Barber said in a letter posted on the Corpus Christi Church website that the alleged behavior by Mendoza-Vela "is in clear violation of the Diocese's code of conduct and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." He said that while the allegations are being investigated, Mendoza-Vela "may not present himself in public as a priest nor engage in any priestly ministry." Mendoza-Vela, 42, was born in El Salvador and came to the United States, where he is a legal resident, in 2008, according to a statement by the diocese. Ordained as a priest in 2013, he's served as parochial administrator at Corpus Christi since 2016. Barber said in his letter he would appoint a temporary administrator for the parish as soon as possible. "I ask you to join with me in prayers for all involved in this situation, but most especially anyone who has been harmed," he wrote. 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. PITTSBURG (BCN) On his last day on the job Wednesday, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Carman was on his way to a meeting in Antioch when he heard the report of a fire on Highgate Way in Pittsburg. He was only a few blocks away, as it so happened, so he decided to stop by. "I thought I'd go down there and talk to the guys and say goodbye," Carman said in a Saturday interview. But this was no simple visit to a fire scene -- it turned out Carman was the first firefighter to reach this southern Pittsburg house, and the smoke coming from the house was substantial. And someone, he was told, had gone in to find a pet cat. "I was preparing to go inside without my gear," said Carman, 55, who spent five years as CCCFPD's chief. He said he thought momentarily about firefighters and police officers who had tragic final days on the job; he didn't want to be a statistic like that, he said. "You hear these stories ... about guys, 'he was almost retired ...' " Carman said. "Then this guy came walking out, and a cat was following him." The fire, in the 3900 block of Highgate, was called in at 2:54 p.m. Wednesday. CCCFPD spokesman Steve Hill said the fire started in the kitchen. Carman arrived on scene at 3:02 p.m., and reported "Single-story, single-family residential working fire." Other firefighters arrived moments later, and the fire was out by 3:13 p.m., Hill said. No one was injured, including a cat and two dogs, one of whom had been adopted just the day before, likely saving his life, Hill said. But the house was a total loss. Hill said two adults and two children were displaced, and the American Red Cross was dispatched to assist them. After Carman made sure everyone in the house was safe and alerted arriving firefighters on the overall situation, he still got to meet with firefighters. He also got to say hello to his daughter Hallie, who was riding along with one of the responding engine companies. His comrades even named the call after him - "CarmanIC." It was neat to end my career like that," he said. "It will probably be the last fire I ever respond to." 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 East Bay Regional Park District is marking its 85th anniversary with free concerts and other events, and establishing "free park Fridays" through the end of the year. Park entry and other fees will be waived every Friday from April to December. Park entrance and fees for day use parking, swimming, dogs, horse trailers, boat launching and fishing permits will all be free, park officials said this week. The park district encompasses 73 regional parks with more than 122,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The fee waiver for free park Fridays does not apply to special event permits/reservations, camping and associated fees, or state fees such as fishing licenses and watercraft inspections. The fee waiver also doesn't apply to district concessions. A Salinas restaurant owner has pleaded no contest to several charges stemming from a fatal crash in which an underage patron of the restaurant had been drinking alcohol prior to the crash, Monterey District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni announced Friday. Fernando Jimenez Hernandez, 45, pleaded no contest in two different cases to three felony charges related to insurance and payroll tax fraud, one misdemeanor charge for failing to have worker's compensation insurance and a misdemeanor charge of serving alcohol to a minor with resulting great bodily injury, according to prosecutors. Hernandez is the owner and manager of Tacos Acambaro in Salinas. On Jan. 29, 2017, 20-year-old Abraham Requena was consuming alcoholic beverages at the restaurant prior to crashing his car into a tree, according to prosecutors. Requena was killed in the crash, and autopsy results showed he had a blood alcohol level of .27, nearly three times the legal limit. During the investigation into the crash, the District Attorney's Office determined Hernandez and his staff failed to ask for Requena's identification and illegally sold him alcohol. The ensuing investigation into the business revealed Hernandez did not have workers' compensation coverage and had not accurately reported his employee wages and payroll to the Employment Development Department. Hernandez will be sentenced on Aug. 16 and faces a minimum of 180 days in jail. A San Jose man is suspected of seriously injuring another man in a fight over a gas pump in unincorporated Redwood City on Friday night. The victim was getting gas at the Quik Stop at 3401 Middlefield Road about 9 p.m. when he and the suspect, Jose Adolfo Castro, started arguing, said Detective Rosemerry Blankswade, spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. The verbal battle escalated when Castro, 23, repeatedly punched the victim, knocking him to the ground, Blankswade said. The victim was treated at a hospital, where a nurse reported the incident. The victim suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was released from care. A witness and video surveillance footage captured Castro's license plate number, and a records check revealed that later on Friday night, Castro was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in San Jose by the California Highway Patrol. The CHP officer who made the DUI arrest said Castro's clothing matched that of the suspect in the earlier gas pump assault and noted that he had fresh scratches on his face and neck area. Castro was moved from Santa Clara County Jail to the San Mateo County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of assault with great bodily injury and aggravated battery. Officers arrested an auto theft suspect who tried to elude them by dashing into the back of a Sausalito restaurant on Friday night, police said. Ernest Linton, 25, was taken into custody after a foot chase through Sausalito that ended in the preparation area at the back of an eatery on Caledonia Street, according to police. Police first noticed Linton shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, when an officer on Bridgeway spotted a 1999 Honda Civic with an expired license plate sticker. A records check showed the car had been reported stolen in San Francisco earlier in the day. Officers were following the Honda to set up a traffic stop when the car abruptly pulled to the curb and stopped in a parking space in the 1000 block of Bridgeway. Linton, the only person in the car, got out and ran onto Johnson Street towards Caledonia. During a foot chase, Linton climbed a wall to a business and ran through a closed screen door that led to a small storage/preparation room in the back of the restaurant, police said. Officers caught up the suspect and after a short struggle took him into custody. Neither Linton nor the officers were injured during the arrest. With 25 car thefts reported in March, Monterey area authorities concerned about the spike may have made a dent in the problem with the arrest this week of a suspect connected to two stolen cars. Michael Balesteri, 35, was taken into custody in Monterey on Wednesday after he was spotted driving an Acura sedan reported stolen out of Seaside earlier in the day, Monterey police said. A Monterey resident, Balesteri was arrested without incident after he parked the car on Davis Lane, police said. Law enforcement in the area had been on the lookout for Balesteri since March 17, when he was driving another Acura sedan and failed to pull over for Pacific Grove police for a vehicle code violation, police said. Instead, Balesteri led officers on a chase reaching speeds of more than 50 mph into Monterey on Hawthorne, and at one point drove on the wrong side of the road, according to police. Due to the risk posed, the police pursuit was called off, but Balesteri continued to drive recklessly and struck three unoccupied parked cars, police said. The car was ultimately disabled near Hoffman Avenue and Belden Street and abandoned there. Police discovered the car had been stolen out of Seaside on March 6 and investigators believed Balesteri was the suspected driver. Balesteri had three warrants for his arrest for vehicle tampering, possession of stolen property, possession of narcotics, and failure to appear in court. He is currently on probation out of Monterey County for possession of stolen property. There were 25 car thefts reported in March to Monterey Peninsula authorities. Marina Police had seven; Seaside police had nine; Monterey police had six; Pacific Grove had two; and Carmel police had one. 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. SANTA ROSA (BCN) Santa Rosa police are asking the public to avoid the area of College Avenue between Morgan and Mendocino avenues because of a structure fire that has closed the roadway. Police issued a community advisory on the fire and roadway closure at 8:26 a.m. No other information was immediately available. 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. A rally will be held Sunday in San Francisco to support Muslims and encourage unity in the wake of recent attacks like the March 15 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The rally, titled "Unity and Diversity: Civil Society Countering Islamophobia" is being organized by the Northern California Islamic Council and is sponsored by dozens of Bay Area civic groups and organizations. The council is "committed to continuing to raise the alarm on Islamophobia so that this violence can be stopped once and for all. No one should have to fear that their prayers in their places of sanctuary could be targeted by hateful individuals or indeed, the state itself," according to the council's announcement of the rally. The rally will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Embarcadero Plaza, at Market and Steuart Streets in San Francisco. The first black woman reporter to work at the Washington Post newspaper, a pioneer who mentored many journalists in the Bay Area and the country, discussed her six-decade career Saturday at Oakland's Kapor Center. Dorothy Butler Gilliam talked about her new book, "Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America," with Martin Reynolds, former Oakland Tribune editor and co-executive director of the Oakland-based Maynard Institute. "When I first entered the Washington Post newsroom in 1961, I dived into a sea of white men with two extra weights they didn't have to carry - race and gender," Gilliam said. "But I persevered. I had to succeed. I knew if I didn't, it would be an excuse not to hire other black women," the journalist said. When the reporter rushed to cover breaking news on short deadlines, with time of the essence, cabs wouldn't stop for her because she was black. Colleagues wouldn't speak to her on the street. She had to sleep in a black funeral home when covering civil rights issues in the South because hotels excluded African Americans. But she persisted, becoming a successful reporter, columnist and editor at the Post, working there 33 years. Though she still lives in Washington, D.C., Gilliam's Bay Area connections are strong. She co-founded the Maynard Institute, which is named for former Oakland Tribune editor Bob Maynard, another co-founder. The Institute was founded in the 1970s to educate people of color so they could get jobs in the media. Before being renamed the Maynard Institute, it used the name Institute for Journalism Education. On his last day on the job Wednesday, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Carman was on his way to a meeting in Antioch when he heard the report of a fire on Highgate Way in Pittsburg. He was only a few blocks away, as it so happened, so he decided to stop by. "I thought I'd go down there and talk to the guys and say goodbye," Carman said in a Saturday interview. But this was no simple visit to a fire scene -- it turned out Carman was the first firefighter to reach this southern Pittsburg house, and the smoke coming from the house was substantial. And someone, he was told, had gone in to find a pet cat. "I was preparing to go inside without my gear," said Carman, 55, who spent five years as CCCFPD's chief. He said he thought momentarily about firefighters and police officers who had tragic final days on the job; he didn't want to be a statistic like that, he said. "You hear these stories ... about guys, 'he was almost retired ...' " Carman said. "Then this guy came walking out, and a cat was following him." The fire, in the 3900 block of Highgate, was called in at 2:54 p.m. Wednesday. CCCFPD spokesman Steve Hill said the fire started in the kitchen. Carman arrived on scene at 3:02 p.m., and reported "Single-story, single-family residential working fire." Other firefighters arrived moments later, and the fire was out by 3:13 p.m., Hill said. No one was injured, including a cat and two dogs, one of whom had been adopted just the day before, likely saving his life, Hill said. But the house was a total loss. Hill said two adults and two children were displaced, and the American Red Cross was dispatched to assist them. Santa Rosa police needed a K-9 unit and a Taser to subdue a suspect who on Saturday led officers on a pursuit - at both high and low speeds - in a car missing a right front tire, police said. Police were told about 6:20 p.m. Saturday of "a black BMW with no tires and a shattered window" in the parking lot of the Safeway store on Fourth Street. The driver was suspected of needing medical attention and possibly of driving under the influence, said police Sgt. Hiroshi Yaguchi. Before officers arrived at the grocery store, the BMW headed away; police caught up with it - with no right front tire -- on eastbound on Montgomery Drive. The car led police on a slow-speed pursuit onto northbound Mission Boulevard and then onto eastbound Highway 12, where speeds increased dramatically, Yaguchi said, up to 85 mph. Police eventually stopped the BMW, but the suspect wouldn't get out of the car, Yaguchi said. Officers then tried to pull him out, but needed help from a police dog and a Taser to get it done, Yaguchi said. The driver, 31-year-old Micah Jamison Pearce Henry, was arrested on suspicion of felony evasion, driving under the influence of a drug, possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and a violation of Post Release Community Supervision. Sunday will be partly cloudy. Highs will be in the 60s. Northeast winds will be 5 to 10 mph, before becoming west winds at 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Sunday night will be mostly cloudy. Lows will be in the lower 50s. West winds will be 10 to 20 mph. Monday will be mostly cloudy. Highs will be in the lower to mid 60s. West winds will be 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 10 to 20 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. Financial Supervisory Service Governor Yoon Suk-heon, center, poses with KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin, left, and fintech firm CEOs during the introduction event for the anti-voice phishing app at the agency's headquarters on Yeouido in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Financial Supervisory Service By Jhoo Dong-chan Financial authorities said they will actively use artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent possible financial crimes. Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heon said the agency has developed an AI app to prevent financial crimes utilizing voice phishing methods jointly with Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) since November. During the introduction event, Friday, the FSS displayed how the AI app analyzes phone call conversations to detect possible voice phishing methods. It, then, automatically sounds an alarm or vibrates when detecting any fraudulent activities. "The AI algorithm and app will be a game changer in the agency's war against financial crimes," Yoon said during the event on the day at the agency's headquarters on Yeouido in Seoul. "Voice phishing and fraudulent text message methods will be increasingly sophisticated along with technology advancement. In order to protect the nation's financial customers, the FSS will continuously cooperate with the private sector to prevent such crimes." Major commercial bank CEOs, including IBK CEO Kim Do-jin and KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin, participated in the event on the day. "We will regularly upgrade the AI app to help reduce customers' damages from voice phishing," Kim said. The FSS said it handed over the AI app to the nation's three IT security firms during the event. "This will also boost future technology cooperation with financial security firms," Hur said. "The bank will actively look for other opportunities with these firms to provide more secure and convenient services for our customers." The voice phishing AI app will be test-operated via IBK's banking service for two or three months from April 16. The FSS said the app will be introduced to all financial customers after complementing its possible shortcomings. The algorithm used in the AI app will also be available freely to fintech and IT firms so they can introduce their own app version to protect their financial customers. Chang Kyung-hoon, center, the new KEB Hana Card chief executive, speaks to his employees at a forum held during his inauguration ceremony at Hana Financial Group's headquarters in Seoul, March 25. Courtesy of KEB Hana Card By Park Hyong-ki Pop quiz, hot shot. What are you going to do when you are facing all sorts of state restrictions in running your core business? At an internal forum at Hana Financial Group's headquarters in Seoul, KEB Hana Card's new chief executive Chang Kyung-hoon said the credit card company will need to stop being a card firm. It will have to be reborn as a totally different company. Specifically, it needs to become a digital information or data analysis firm with its key future operations focused in Southeast Asian emerging markets, Chang said at the meeting during his inauguration, March 25. The path won't be easy, and it will be challenging for a minor player such as KEB Hana Card, the country's No. 7 credit card company by profit, industry sources say. But it is also the inevitable path in the face of card transaction fee rate cuts enforced by the state regulator and stiff competition in low-cost mobile settlements. "It has become a matter of survival for any financial company facing restrictions at home that seek to boost their nonbank business portfolios," said an industry source. "As the new Hana Card chief executive mentioned, the company and any other ones eyeing overseas and digital are going to use whatever resources they have to achieve their goals." This would especially be true for Hana Financial, whose big portion of profit comes from KEB Hana Bank, as the holding group, too, wants to build its nonbanking capacity like other groups, another industry source said. "Besides Hana Card, Hana Financial Investment will need to play the leading role in the group's endeavors," the source said. "For instance, they can piggyback on the networks of PT Bank KEB Hana Indonesia and Line Financial to build their portfolios overseas." Line Financial, the fintech unit of Line mobile messenger, acquired a 20 percent stake in KEB Hana Indonesia for strategic ties in digital banking last year. Line is one of the biggest messenger services in Indonesia, and KEB Hana Bank has the biggest operation there among local lenders that entered the region. Chang said the road ahead to find and explore "new territories" and develop its digital capacity will be hard, but the company will not only use its strength but also the company and the group's resources and networks to be reborn as a global data company. He added it will further collaborate with its key shareholder, SK Telecom, the biggest mobile operator, to achieve that goal. Hana Financial has an 85 percent stake in KEB Hana Card, the rest is owned by SK Telecom. "As part of Hana Financial Group, we have been providing overseas settlement services for more than 40 years. We can further gain strength through the group's domestic and global networks, and strategic ties with SK Telecom," Chang told his employees. It will also pursue the acquisition of Lotte Card, the No. 5 card that can help boost Hana's customer data. Chang has been with Hana Financial over the past 30 years. Prior to his new post, he was the head of KEB Hana Bank's retail and future banking, and the group's strategy department. New Zealand Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said the international community places a great deal of importance on minimum standards and conditions of the prisons. Photo: File Kiwoom Bank backed by sound governance seen as strong contender By Park Hyong-ki All bids for the country's third internet banking license are in for regulatory review. Three contenders have submitted their applications. One of them noted it is still in negotiations with potential investors to set up a consortium. Therefore, it still could pull out of the bid. That just leaves the other two, which could end up in a neck-and-neck battle to become the third internet bank after K bank and Kakao Bank. Will Kiwoom Bank or Toss Bank win the prize? Or, will both be granted licenses? The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will announce it in May. Both the Daou Kiwoom-KEB Hana Bank-led and Viva Republica's Toss-led consortia are wasting no time to promote themselves that they are ready to launch "the most innovative mobile bank for low-income households and small businesses." Industry sources say on the surface, Daou Kiwoom has a better governance structure with strong capital support to provide such services. Daou Kiwoom Group, which owns Kiwoom Securities, the first online brokerage here, is said to have prepared and structured its capital and governance for internet banking ahead of its application submission. Viva's consortium, meanwhile, almost faced a collapse following Shinhan Financial Group's decision not to back Toss due to risk concerns. "It will all depend whether the regulator will pick just one or two. But from the look of things, KEB Hana-backed Kiwoom Bank with its army of strategic partners could come out strong," an industry source said. The Kiwoom Bank consortium has partners in various fields ranging from telecommunications, retail and video streaming to credit rating analysis, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Based on this governance structure, KEB Hana Bank said it would be "very fit" to run an internet bank. Viva has attracted investors such as Altos Ventures and Goodwater Capital at the last minute to replace Shinhan Financial and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance. The startup will be holding a majority 60 percent in the envisioned Toss Bank. However, this could pose a problem given nonfinancial companies can only own up to a 34 percent voting share. Viva mentioned its governance is suitable, and it will not become "another bank," and will provide tailored services using a credit model it will develop for small businesses and low-income earners. "Differentiation backed by strong capital structure will be the key to standing out not as the third bank but as the internet bank," another industry source said. It remains to be seen whether both Kiwoom and Toss will win licenses, since FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku told lawmakers recently that the FSC could pick two or only one. "The market has always seemed to view three as a nice number. For example, this country never had a fourth mobile operator even though it tried to bring one into the market," the source said. By Park Hyong-ki The country's economy will soon start reeling from a demographic shock as the population will start to decline faster this year, according to a report by Statistics Korea, Thursday. This is because of two factors the declining birthrate and superfast aging. The number of elderly people passing away is expected to exceed that of newborns beginning this year, the statistics agency noted. This will push down the population from 51.4 million in 2017 to 39.3 million in 2067. The cluster of islands and sea stacks off San Francisco are often hidden by a dense curtain of clouds. But when the fog lifts, the Farallon Islands can be seen from shore, their faint jagged forms rising out of the sea as if they were painted on the western horizon with water color. The four groups of islands total 211 acres and are only 28 miles off the coast. On boat tours, you can get close to their craggy shores teeming with birds and pinnipeds and circled by whales and sharks. The Oceanic Society is one of the groups leading weekend expeditions during whale-watching season, May through November, and reviews of the trips led by naturalists are stellar. "Breathtaking," "We saw 50-plus whales!" and "Shark attack!" are a few of the comments online. But few San Franciscans make the effort as the trips can be cold, wind-swept and turbulent, and once you arrive at your destination, you can't step on land as the islands are closed to the public to protect wildlife habitat. And so these so-close, yet so-remote islands remain a mystery, remarkable little specks of wild land within sight of a booming metropolis. Below we fill you in on a few of the many fascinating facts and tidbits from their history; maybe you you'll be convinced to make the trek. The waters surrounding the islands are notoriously dangerous and in April 2012 a 38-foot yacht called the Low Speed Chase was driven on the rocks and capsized in the annual Full Crew Farallones Race. Eight people were onboard and three survived. "Even a Navy SEAL would feel panic in that situation," Kimball Livingston, editor at large of Sail magazine, told the San Francisco Chronicle after the accident. "I'm surprised anyone survived." Native Americans called the Farallon Islands the "Islands of the Dead" and mariners referred to them as "the devil's teeth" for their ragged profile and treacherous shores. But the name that stuck was the Spanish farallon, meaning a rocky promontory jutting from the ocean. The first mention of the name is in the diary of Friar Antonio de la Ascencion who passed the area in a ship with the 1603 expedition of Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino. President Theodore Roosevelt designated three of the island groups the North Farallones, Middle Farallon and Noonday Rock a national wildlife refuge in 1909. The largest island, Southeast Farallon Island at 70 acres, wasn't part of the original refuge even though it was home to the most seabirds and marine mammals. At the time, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Lighthouse Service were among the operations on the island. Southeast Farallon was eventually added to the refuge in 1969. Today, the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge is officially part of the City and County of San Francisco and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The second ever lighthouse on the West Coast was built on Southeast Farallon in 1855. Four keepers and their families lived on the islands as they had to maintain the lighthouse 24 hours a day. Today, two of the three-bedroom homes constructed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service remain on the island. A handful of researchers and scientists with Point Blue Conservation live in one of those homes on Southeast Farallon and they have been monitoring wildlife population trends for 50 years. "With our long-term datasets, we are capable of providing the refuge with accurate trend estimates that helps the refuge manage the wildlife," says Jim Tietz, a program biologist with Point Blue who spends much of his year on the islands. "This is one of the longest running collaborations between a government agency and a non-profit organization." The remaining islands are uninhabited. Even if you wanted to sneak onto the islands, you probably couldn't. Researchers access Southeast Farallon by riding a larger boat to a smaller boat that is lifted onto the island with a crane. "It's steep rocky terrain, and surrounded by ocean currents, not to mention sharks," says Doug Cordell, a spokesperson with FWS. There is a smaller island to the west of the main island that can only be visited at certain times of year with special permission, and to get there you have to take a zip line across a channel. "It is so cool and the wildlife is so amazing," says Rebecca Johnson, a scientist with the California Academy of Sciences who has spent a total of two weeks on the islands for research. "I study invertebrates, like sea slugs and mollusks and for me seeing red and black abalones in the tide pools was a highlight." The number of birds on the islands is mind-boggling. The Farallones are home to the largest seabird nesting colony in the contiguous United States and the largest colony of western gulls in the world. They support half the world's population of Ashy storm-petrels. More than 400 species of birds have been spotted and recorded. Birds who got lost in migration, known as vagrants, often show up in the Farallon Islands. For example, an Acrtic warbler that breeds in Alaska and winters in Southeast Asia has been spotted. "On the mainland it would be a big deal but on the islands, it's not a big deal because we get so many," says Gerry McChesney, the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge manager with FWS. The bird numbers today may sound astounding but they were even more impressive before the Gold Rush when egg hunters decimated the population. Before the Farallon Egg Company set up shop in 1849, there were an estimated 1 million murres breeding. At one point across the 50 years when egg collecting was legal that number dropped down to 6,000. "They'd just drop off these crews in the spring of hearty individuals who would spend their summers climbing the cliffs of the islands, risking their lives, and then they'd sell eggs in San Francisco markets," says McChesney. Today, approximately 150,000 murres breed on the refuge. There are lots of crazy stories from the egg-hunting days on the islands, but perhaps the most intriguing is the the one about the so-called Egg War. Rival companies attempted to uproot the Farallon Egg Company, and things came to a head in 1863 when one of the competitors rallied two-dozen armed men to raid the island. The attempt failed. Two men died, four were wounded and the Egg Company continued with its businesses until selling its rights to the land in the 1870s. The federal government stopped egging on the islands in 1881. Five species of pinnipeds can be found on the islands. The northern elephant seals were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century and recolonized the islands starting in 1959. Northern fur seals were also hunted to extirpation in the 1800s. In 1996, the first fur seal pup was recorded on the refuge, according to FWS. Sharks circle the islands September through December to feed. They'll eat sea lions but their favorite food is young, blubbery elephant seals. "Over the years, the number of attacks we're seeing has declined," says McChesney. "Back in the 90s and early 2000s, they would average like an attack a day. Two years ago, they saw only like six attacks a season. Last year was a little busier. We're not exactly sure what's going on. We're also seeing a decline in the elephant seals and it could be tied to that." The island's odor is legendary and can be smelled from ships a half-mile away. The stench guano (bird poop) and marine mammal excrements emanates from the islands shores and smells similar to "furry, sweaty, salty horses," Johnson says. "Once I took a coast guard helicopter to the islands and as we approached the pilots were like.....what is that terrible smell? We could smell it inside the helicopter." The noise is also unforgettable at the peak of nesting season from May through July when birds are screeching at all hours. "People say when you're out there you need earplugs, it's so loud, says Cordell. "It's deafening." Johnson adds that even in the winter when the Western and California gulls are arriving to prepare for breeding, "They are so loud, you have to wear earplugs to sleep." House mice have also found a home on the Farallon Islands, traveling to the islands as stowaways on the ships of fur traders and egg collectors. They've multiplied over the years, and Cordell says, "There are so many now that the biologists say you can see the grass moving." U.S. Fish and Wildlife is working on a solution to eradicate the mice as they wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Hares and cats are other invasive pests that have disrupted the islands' natural harmony and they were eradicated in the 1970s. You can get a close-up look of the islands via a live webcam managed by the California Academy of Sciences. It streams from a lighthouse atop Southeast Farallon Island. It "brings reliable internet to the island and helps the biologists on the island plan out surveys so as not to disturb birds and marine mammals," says Johnson. "There is a Facebook group that identifies birds using the camera." BEIRA, Mozambique As Mozambique battles to control a fast-spreading cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit central city of Beira, international assistance is arriving. The number of cholera cases jumped to 271 over the weekend although no deaths from the disease had been reported. More than 500 people have died in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai, which slammed into Beira more than two weeks ago, according to government officials. Another 259 people died in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi, bring the three-nation total to more than 815. Authorities warn the tolls are preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. The Chinese government has sent doctors to fight the cholera outbreak in Beira, and on Sunday Chinese aid workers sprayed anti-cholera disinfectant in parts of the port city of 500,000. The World Health Organization has said some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses are expected to arrive Monday, with a vaccination campaign to start later this week. You know we came from China and our government cares very much about the situation in Beira here in Mozambique. And China has a good relationship with Africa, so the China government sent medical doctors to come and give some treatment, said Wang Shenguin, spokesman for the Chinese doctors. The U.S. military joined the international humanitarian aid efforts to Mozambique by airlifting food and relief supplies from South Africa. The first round-the-clock flights to deliver supplies from the U.N. World Food Program started Saturday and continued Sunday from King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, said Robert Mearkle, U.S. embassy spokesman. He said the commodities airlifted from Durban were from the World Food Programs internal stock. Separately from these shipments, the United States has provided nearly $3.4 million in additional funding for the World Food Program to deliver approximately 2,500 metric tons of rice, peas, and vegetable oil to affected people in Sofala, Zambezia, and Manica provinces, said Mearkle. This lifesaving emergency food assistance will support approximately 160,000 people for one month. The U.S. government has provided nearly $7.3 million in humanitarian assistance to help people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi who have been affected by Cyclone Idai, including more than $6.5 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Mearkle. Pindai Dube is an Associated Press writer. LONDON Britains Parliament is deadlocked over plans to leave the European Union. The countrys ruling Conservative Party is fractured by an undeclared leadership contest. Opposition parties are baying for an early general election. A power vacuum has paralyzed the heart of Britains government, dismaying both the European Union and the British public. In the next two weeks, British Prime Minister Theresa May will lead the U.K. through domestic and international negotiations that will decide the fate of Brexit and determine the future of generations. Her task, as its been for almost three years, is to bridge the increasingly bitter divide that separates those who want to sever links with the EU and those who want to keep the ties that have bound Britain to the bloc for almost 50 years. In any other circumstance, they would have rolled her by now, either formally or informally, said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. Shes the default because no one else wants the job. The power vacuum means May has almost no leverage as she tries to engineer a compromise with U.K. lawmakers who last week took control of the parliamentary agenda to debate alternatives to her Brexit deal, which already has been rejected by Parliament three times. The House of Commons is scheduled to vote Monday on a variety of Brexit options, with two ideas staying in the EU customs union and holding a second referendum on Brexit emerging as the most likely alternatives. While Justice Secretary David Gauke said Sunday the government would have to very carefully consider the wishes of Parliament, he also said Mays EU divorce deal is still the best alternative. Gauke said the prime minister was reflecting on the possibility of bringing it back to Parliament for a fourth vote. If the government cant bridge the gap by April 12, Britain will crash out of the EU without a plan for future relations, damaging its economy, undermining the countrys unity and diminishing its stature in the world. I think it would be very, very bad news indeed, Gauke told the BBC. I dont think the British people would thank us if we left without a deal. Both Mays Conservatives and the opposition Labor party are split between those who want to sever links to the EU and those who want to remain close to the bloc. Even so, May has been reluctant to reach out to Labor for fear of deepening the split in her own party. She feels trapped politically, said Thomas Raines, head of the Europe program at the Chatham House think tank. Each step she takes toward the Labor Party will lose her support on her right flank. Danica Kirka is an Associated Press writer. Master pansori performer Ahn Sook-sun will present "Two Loves," a new changgeuk revolving around her life and two important teachers, at the Sejong S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from April 5 to 7. Courtesy of Art Village Project By Kwon Mee-yoo Ahn Sook-sun, 70, is one of the most notable figures in the gugak (traditional Korean music) field. She is a master performer in pansori (traditional Korean narrative music) and listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23 for "gayageum sanjo and byeongchang" (singing accompanied by Korean 12-string zither). She will present "Two Loves," a new "changgeuk" (theatrical format featuring pansori vocal style), revolving around her life and two important teachers, at the Sejong S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from April 5 to 7. The changgeuk is sponsored by the Art Village Project of the Chung Mong-Koo Foundation and Korea National University of Arts. The foundation supports bridging the fine arts and village culture. Ahn Sook-sun, left, as a child / Courtesy of Art Village Project Lee Dong-yeun of Korea National University of Arts produces the performance in close collaboration with Ahn. "We did not know too much about Ahn's life, so we interviewed her several times over the last year to make this changgeuk. The plot is in chronological order, but there are some dramatic elements to spice up the story. Ahn will perform pansori as well as gayageum byeongchang and sogochum (small drum dance)," Lee said. The title may bring a passionate and romantic tale to mind, but in fact Ahn chose to focus on the two teachers who have had a great influence on her life Kim So-hee (1917-1995), also known as Manjeong, and Park Gui-hee (1921-1993), also known as Hyangsa. Ahn Sook-sun, right, with her teacher Kim So-hee (1917-1995) / Courtesy of Art Village Project "As I have become a teacher and take many pupils, I look back upon the love the two teachers gave me. When I was young, I didn't realize how much they cared for me. I thought I was doing my best and they were nagging a lot, but I felt empty when they passed away. I didn't know their great love backed me up," Ahn told The Korea Times. "Since they passed away, I can't ask them whether I am doing well on the right path when I feel stuck. I have a lot on my mind about the future of pansori and fostering the younger generation. When I have concerns, I think of the two teachers who taught me devotedly and dedicated themselves for the development of gugak and consequently want to make a performance to tell a story about them," Ahn said. Ahn Sook-sun, left, with her teacher Park Gui-hee (1921-1993) / Courtesy of Art Village Project "Two Loves" begins when Ahn starts learning gayageum byeongchang from her aunt at the age of nine. Her mother comes from a musical family in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, and Ahn was influenced by the lineage. She joined the Namwon Chunhyang Female Nongak Troupe and toured around the country, performing traditional Korean music. Kim called Ahn to join her overseas pansori performances and Ahn moved to Seoul. After coming to Seoul, Ahn starred in the Honey Bee Show at the Walkerhill Theater to make money as well. "I really admired Kim and wanted to sing like her, but I didn't expect to receive a call from her," Ahn recalled. When she damaged her vocal cords, Ahn headed to Park's gayageum training school to learn something while resting her throat and met another great teacher of her life. The two were much alike in their devotion for gugak, but also poles apart in their style of caring for Ahn. "Kim was the one who took me to hospital to get examined, while Park stewed eels for my health," Ahn said. Cast of the changgeuk "Two Loves," from left, pansori vocalist Kwon Song-hee, child actress Lee Ji-na, Ahn Sook-sun and actress Go Su-hee, pose for a photo during the press conference of the performance on March 6. Yonhap TUNIS, Tunisia The Arab League rejected the U.S. recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and other Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel at an annual summit on Sunday, showcasing unity on one of the few issues that unites the regional bloc. Arab leaders also reiterated their commitment to resolving the conflict based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, in which they would recognize Israel in return for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, lands occupied in the 1967 war. KIEV, Ukraine A comedian with no political experience was leading in Ukraines presidential election Sunday, an exit poll and early results indicated, but was far short of the absolute majority needed to win outright in the first round. With 20 percent of the ballots counted, Volodymyr Zelenskiy had 30 percent of the votes, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was in a distant second place, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with about 17 and 13 percent respectively, the national elections commission said. The results were closely in line with a major exit poll. The top two candidates will face off in a presidential runoff on April 21. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 2,100 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Zelenskiy stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral and his supporters hold out hope that he can fight corruption in real life. This is only the first step to a great victory, Zelenskiy said of the early results. Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraines endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like, said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. He showed what the state leader should aspire for fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs. Concern about the elections legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraines interior minister said his department was showered with hundreds of reports that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes. Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Yuras Karmanau is an Associated Press writer. BACOLOD, Philippines Fourteen suspected communist rebels were killed after they opened fire during raids in a central province, police said Sunday. But rights groups countered that the men were farmers and the latest victims of extrajudicial killings. Dozens of police, backed by army troops, were to conduct court-authorized home searches Saturday in Negros Oriental province when the 14 men violently fought back, officials said. A police officer was shot in the leg and wounded in the anti-insurgency and criminality sweep that also led to the arrests of 15 other suspects, they said. Regional police chief Debold Sinas said six suspected insurgents and rebel supporters escaped. Law enforcers seized three shotguns, 25 pistols, a homemade rifle, three grenades, ammunition and rebel documents in the simultaneous raids in Canlaon city, where eight suspects were gunned down, and the towns of Manjuyod and Santa Catalina, where the rest were killed in the reported gunbattles. There were 14 suspects that engaged the raiders in a shootout during the implementation of the search warrants resulting to their deaths, Sinas told the national police chief in a report. Human rights and agriculture groups condemned the killings of the men they said were farmers, including two village chiefs, and called for an independent investigation. The Federation of Agricultural Workers cited the wife of one of the dead men, Edgardo Avelino, as saying that 10 men in uniform forcibly entered their home at around midnight saying they would serve an arrest warrant. Moments after, the men reportedly gunned down Avelino and his brother, Ismael, the farmers group said. A Roman Catholic bishop, Gerardo Alminaza, said among those killed was a church minister known for his good character and some members of a church group. Atrocities committed by law enforcers, Alminaza said, will make you best recruiters for the underground movement. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the countrys south in 2017 to contain a deadly siege by Islamic State group-aligned militants and other insurgents. Although Negros Oriental lies outside the south, it is in a region 360 miles south of Manila where military and police forces have intensified counterinsurgency raids in recent years. HONG KONG Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over proposed changes to Hong Kongs extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China, where they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. They say the move would harm the Asian financial hubs attractiveness to international business. Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territorys handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights. However, changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance would expand the scope for the transfer of criminal suspects to China and remove the legislatures right to scrutinize individual extradition decisions filed by Hong Kongs chief executive. Thousands of members of the citys beleaguered pro-democracy camp marched to government headquarters on Sunday to protest the proposal. The number of people turning up speaks loads about the concerns of Hong Kong people, said Alan Leong, chairman of the Hong Kong Civic Party. Hong Kong people have complete lack of confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judicial system in China, said Albert Ho, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China. In a statement issued Sunday, Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said, These amendments would heighten the risk for human rights activists and others critical of China being extradited to the mainland for trial on fabricated charges. Rights groups warned that fear of extradition to China which routinely uses trumped-up charges of tax evasion or other economic crimes to punish political critics could stifle civil society and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, where civil liberties are already under assault from pro-Beijing groups. The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued a letter saying its members continue to have serious concerns about the proposed changes, saying they would reduce the appeal of Hong Kong to international companies considering Hong Kong as a base for regional operations. Hong Kongs international reputation for the rule of law is its priceless treasure, said the letter. HERAT, Afghanistan Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syrias civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 1,200 miles from home. He was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited, paid and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehrans ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. There, he found himself thrown into one of the wars bloodiest front lines, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of Allahu akbar (God is greatest) before each mortar blast. Iran ran an extensive drive to bring Shiites from across the region and create a network of militias to help save Assad from the uprising against his rule not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistans impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning to their homeland, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehrans influence amid Afghanistans unending conflicts. Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists, said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Iran intensified its role in Syria when Assad appeared to be losing the fight against rebels in 2013 and 2014. Tehran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops and began bringing in allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanons Hezbollah. But the largest was the force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters. Over the years, tens of thousands of Afghans likely trained and fought in it. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistans Interior Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more to assert its influence in Afghanistan, particularly as the United States accelerates its efforts to end its nearly 18-year military intervention. Kathy Gannon is an Associated Press writer. Page Content Most respondents to a 2019 survey said they'd feel comfortable working with or buying goods or services from employees who have nonviolent criminal records. But that sentiment changes drastically if fellow employees have violent criminal records, according to survey results from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). One way managers might ease discomfort about working with someone who has a violent criminal record is to understand the nature of the crime, said Ewan Watt, director of communications at the Charles Koch Institute. For instance, getting into a bar fight that resulted in minor injuries, which could be considered a violent offense, is a lot different from murdering someone. Watt was instrumental in creating SHRM's Getting Talent Back to Work initiative, a program that provides information and tools for HR professionals and employers who are considering hiring candidates with criminal records. "Each situation should be viewed independently regarding these and potential other factors," said Trent Burner, SHRM's vice president of research. "There is not a clear-cut answer to whether an organization should hire someone with a criminal background for a position. It depends on a number of factors, including the type of job and the job duties[whether] public facing, phone operator, machine operator, et ceteraand the industrysome of which have compliance-related issuesthe type of crime committed, the length of time since the crime was committed, employment history since the crime was committed, and more." Someone with a recent violent criminal history may not be considered for a customer-facing retail or restaurant position, but may be considered for remote telework or data-entry work, he said. "Likewise, someone with a violent criminal history committed 20 years ago, but who has had significant employment experience since without incident, may be considered for a job in finance, whereas someone with a financial crime and no violent criminal activity may not." Working with Colleagues Who Have Criminal Records The survey of 1,003 people in the United States was conducted March 12-18, 2019, online and by phone. Almost 3 in 4 respondents said they'd feel comfortable working for an employer if some of their colleagues have nonviolent criminal records. However, only 1 in 3 said they'd feel comfortable working for an employer if some of their colleagues had violent criminal records. Sixty percent said they'd feel uncomfortable, and the remainder said they didn't know how they'd feel. How Customers Feel Similarly, about 3 in 4 said they'd feel comfortable buying goods or services from businesses if the customer-facing employee had a nonviolent criminal record. And just over half said they'd still feel comfortable doing so if the customer-facing employee had spent five or more years in prison. When asked how they'd feel about employees who'd been in prison, those surveyed weren't told if the person serving prison time had committed a violent or nonviolent crime. But again, only about 1 in 3 said they'd feel comfortable buying goods or services from businesses if the customer-facing employee had a violent criminal record. Sixty-three percent said they'd feel uncomfortable, while the rest said they didn't know how they'd feel. [SHRM members-only toolkit: Recruiting Internally and Externally] Company Policies About 3 in 4 respondents said they'd feel comfortable working for an employer that's known to hire those with criminal records. But only 1 in 5 who are currently employed said they believed that their own organization hires people with criminal records. "This is to be expected, as many employees are not aware of their employer's policies on different hiring and managing practices," the survey authors wrote. Getting Talent Back to Work In January 2019, SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, announced the Getting Talent Back to Work initiative, which includes such co-sponsors as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association and Koch Industries. Associations and companies representing more than 60 percent of the U.S. workforce signed the Getting Talent Back to Work pledge, agreeing to change their recruiting practices to include qualified people with criminal backgrounds. "This is a group we, as business leaders, cannot afford to overlook, as 1 in 3 adults in the United States currently has a criminal background," Taylor said. "Not only is it the right thing to doto give a deserving person a second chancebut it is becoming imperative as businesses continue to experience recruiting difficulty at an alarming rate." According to recent research by SHRM and the Charles Koch Institute: Page Content The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in a dispute over whether courts should defer to a federal regulatory agency's interpretation of ambiguities in its regulations. Employers should watch this case because the outcome may affect labor and employment regulations. "The case is significant for employers because much of employment law is impacted byindeed created byfederal agencies," such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, said John Maley, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis. [SHRM members-only toolkit: Managing Equal Employment Opportunity] "Whenever an employer gets into a regulatory dispute with a federal agency, the agency has a very low bar to prevail on its interpretation," explained John Martin, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Washington, D.C. Administrative interpretations during former President Barack Obama's administration were mostly employee-friendly, Maley noted. So if Supreme Court precedent is overruled, "employers are likely to challenge many prior interpretations." Background Sometimes a regulation's language isn't clear and can be interpreted in more than one way. When such ambiguities are disputed in lawsuits, courts defer to an agency's interpretation of its own regulations if the interpretation is reasonable and consistent with the regulation. This is called Auer deference, after the Supreme Court's ruling in Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997). In the current case before the Supreme Court, Kisor v. Wilkie, a Marine who served in the Vietnam War disagreed with the Department of Veterans Affairs about his entitlement to benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. The department's decision to deny retroactive benefits was based on the meaning of the word "relevant." Although each party offered a reasonable interpretation of the word, the court deferred to the agency's interpretation based on Supreme Court precedent. The high court was asked to decide whether Auer and other similar cases should be overturned or, alternatively, whether agency deference should be limited. If the Supreme Court overturns Auer deference, "it would eliminate the heavy advantage federal agencies have in these disputes and reduce the incentive for agencies to create vague regulations that they can later interpret to their liking," Martin said. The effect of reversingor even substantially limitingthe interpretive deference that agencies have under Auer would create a significant rebalancing of power between the agencies and those opposing regulatory action, said Stuart Gerson, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green in New York City and Washington, D.C. "This would be particularly true in highly regulated industries like health care and labor and employment," he said, noting that the Department of Labor and other agencies "often avoid notice-and-comment rulemaking and issue a bevy of interpretive regulations and positions that suddenly appear in the midst of [legal] disputes and challenges." The Department of Justice recently instructed government attorneys that they may not rely on agency interpretations as legal authority. That is a significant policy change, but it doesn't prevent courts from deferring to agency interpretations when statutes or regulations are ambiguous, Gerson explained. Oral Argument The oral argument was extremely active, with strong questioning from the traditionally liberal justices who were concerned about departing from Auer deference, Maley observed. One of the concerns many justices had was the effect of overturning Auer on previous cases decided on Auer deference, Martin noted. "Would it open the floodgates on re-litigation of those cases?" Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor all defended the precedent. "So it would be no surprise if they vote to keep it," Martin said. "The conservative justices were active as well, although it was less apparent where they stand on this issue," Maley said. "My review of oral argument left me uncertain about how the court will decide this interesting case," he added. Comments by Justices Samuel Alito Jr. and Neil Gorsuch showed "they are very inclined to overturn Auer," Martin said, noting that Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. "asked questions that pleased and worried both sides." Martin predicts a 5-4 decision, with Roberts likely writing the opinion. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Just hours before the effective toll rate for Staten Islanders on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was expected to increase to $5.90, Governor Andrew Cuomo has secured state funding to maintain the current $5.50 resident toll rate, a Cuomo administration official has told the Staten Island Advance. When the MTA approved its toll and fare increases in February, the agency said that in order for the effective Staten Island resident rate to remain at $5.50, it would require an additional $6 million in state funding. All signs pointed towards the rate increasing, with the official MTA website stating that under the MTAs Staten Island Resident Rebate Program, the effective toll rate for registered Staten Island Residents is $5.90, effective 3/31/19. However, Cuomo, working alongside Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore) and State Senator Diane Savino (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn), has secured state funding that will maintain the $5.50 effective toll rate for the next two years. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is a critical link between Staten Island and the rest of New York, and residents dont deserve to be nickel and dimed every time they cross it. Freezing resident tolls for another two years is the right and fair thing to do and will ensure Staten Islanders keep more money in their pockets," said Cuomo. In 2014, Cuomo worked with Staten Island elected officials to implement the $5.50 effective toll rate for Staten Island residents, securing a $14 million deal, with $7 million coming from the MTA and $ 7 million from the state legislature. Toll increases Effective Mar. 31, The cash toll for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will increase from $17 to $19. The E-ZPass rate will increase from $11.52 to $12.24. The Staten Island Resident E-ZPass (three or more trips per month) rate will increase from $6.48 to $6.88. The Staten Island Resident E-ZPass (one or two trips per month) rate will increase from $6.84 to $7.26. The Staten Island Resident Carpool rate will increase from $3.20 to $3.40. Although Staten Island residents will be charged $6.88 or $7.26 depending on their amount of monthly trips, the Staten Island Resident Rebate Program will issue rebates making the effective rate the aforementioned $5.50. To qualify for the resident discount plan, vehicles must be registered to a valid Staten Island residential address. Commercial vehicles are not eligible for the program and residency status is subject to periodic review. For more information, visit the MTA website. "Now, Here, France" by Kim Sun-mi / Courtesy of Mimesis Publishing By Kim Ji-soo Everybody has a preferred place or country outside their homeland that they find enchanting. To Kim Sun-mi, a journalist for the Korean vernacular Dong-A Ilbo newspaper and author of "Now, Here, France" the aforementioned country is that place. Having studied French in high school in Seoul, the opposite-to-trepid reporter had a chance to study at Paris ESMOD-ISEM in 2016. "Now, Here, France" is a book that offers a diverse array of topics related to the European country from trees in Paris and in-city events to collaborations of fashion artists and technology, and education. As a mother of two, she describes her children's experience at elementary school and kindergarten there. Through these topics, the writer tries to illustrate the country's undercurrent of a focus on culture and independent thinking, and the will to continue to creatively innovate. One of the noticeable chapters is the second, titled "Innovation and Luxury." It provides a glimpse into the rapidly budding technology scene in France. The author carries the experience of participating in the annual Viva Technology in 2018, observing French President Emmanuel Macron actively seeking both a flow of manpower and investment into his country, along with global companies investing in France. It might be a model that South Korean policymakers would want to emulate as the country looks to revitalize its economy. There is also an introduction to Station F, set up by the telecom giant Iliad's Chairman Xavier Niel in the Paris 13th arrondissement that houses some 1, 000 start-up companies with a workforce close to 3,000, and built with Niel's own funds. He was mentioned as the eight richest man in France with 6.1 billion euro in 2018. Niel also founded a free coding school Ecole 42, where coding fanatics come together to teach and learn. As the weather warms in Korea and more runners are out on Seoul streets, the story about Run My City Paris, where runners run past landmarks like the Palais Garnier opera theater, should have people musing. Seoul city government officials should ponder whether they could do the same for runners here by allowing them to pass through Seoul City Hall or Sejong Cultural Center, or Korea's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, as the writer suggests. As the author noted, it doesn't have to only be Seoul famous localities such as Gyeongju, the old capital of the former Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. 935 A.D.), could very well host one too. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Elegant, smart, kind, articulate, generous, funny. Exudes warmth and class. Loyal. Words that describe Katherine Connors of Grymes Hill. Now, 2019 Advance Woman of Achievement can be added to the list. Add also, modest to a fault. I was in complete and utter shock, Kathy said in her beautifully appointed Grymes Hill home. I truly had no idea. I dont know who nominated me but I cant thank them enough. I dont think I deserve it. There are many other women on Staten Island who are far more deserving than me, but Im very grateful. Kathryn Rooney, chair of the board of trustees at Richmond University Medical Center, disagrees. Kathy has been a tremendous addition to the RUMC board since she joined in the fall of 2008. She is diligent in her preparation for all committee and board meetings, asks insightful questions and offers common sense and creative comments," Rooney said. "She has been a member of the Quality Improvement and Human Resources committees since 2008 and is a member of the Human Resources committee. Her background as a physical therapist has added an interesting and important dimension to the deliberations of the Quality committee. She also serves as chair of our ad hoc Community Relations and Marketing committee. Kathys love of our community and dedication to our hospital is obvious as she carries out her responsibilities on the board, Rooney said. Kathy is more than happy to help. " My lifetime connection to RUMC gives me great pride and satisfaction," Kathy said. My service began as a volunteer in high school, then as a student PT. The hospital launched my career as a physical therapist, administrator and public health professional. RUMC is where I gave birth to my children, and has been the place that has provided care for my family, friends and myself. My current service on the board of trustees allows me to give back to this institution that has given me so much. A lifelong Staten Islander and physical therapist by profession, Kathys community service has elevated our boroughs profile in New York City and beyond, through her decades of tireless work as a trustee on the boards of the medical center, the St. George Theatre, the Staten Island Childrens Museum, the Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corp, and Friends of THIRTEEN, of which she is the new chairwoman, to name a few. If that werent enough, Kathy was a Girl Scout leader, volunteering her time for the 19 girls in Troop 5364. She has organized opportunities for girls to attend Broadway show workshops, trips to museums, and overnight adventures. She has organized CPR and first aid training in her home for troop leaders. She managed membership and outreach to the parents in the troop. As president of the Notre Dame Academy Elementary School Parents Guild, Kathy worked on countless fundraisers, brought in informative speakers for parents and offered creative ideas to the Parents Guild. She is a founding member of the Ophelia Project at the school, a program for grades 5-8 to assist in maintaining a safe social culture to address issues of bullying, oftentimes hidden in an underlying world of peer aggression. She served a three-year term as president of the Parents Guild and prior to that, she served for five years as secretary. She also served as co-chair of the Notre Dame Academy Centennial Committee to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Grymes Hill school, and she has been an ambassador for the NDA Annual Fund for the past several years. Kathy credits her ability to serve the Staten Island community to the support of her husband, John, a prominent and well-respected attorney on Staten Island, and their three daughters: Eileen, an Stuyvesant High School and Georgetown University alumna and currently an MBA candidate at INSEAD (Institut European dAdministration des Affaires) in Fontainebleau, France; Kate, an NDA and Georgetown alumna and fourth year student at Georgetown Medical School; and Colleen, an NDA alumna and Georgetown junior, studying Healthcare Policy and Management. "With the help of John and the kids I was able to do a lot of community service work for things I was passionate about -- healthcare, education, and culture," Kathy said. "John is the perfect partner. He is successful in his own right, and supportive of everything that I do," Kathy said. "Our daughters are loving, intelligent, beautiful, accomplished and devoted to one another. They are our greatest joy." It is clear when talking to Kathy that her family is the center of her universe, that the well-being of her husband and children are paramount to her existence. All the years of raising my children, theyve always been my number one priority. Ive been blessed to be able to practice and do volunteer work because I have flexibility in my profession, which not everyone has the benefit of. Im blessed. Ive managed to cobble together a life where I have aways been available to my my family. There was a time when John and Kathy considered moving away from Staten Island. But then they found their house and decided to stay because their families were on Staten Island and his law practice, too. We were already established here, Kathy said. "So we decided that if we were going to live here, we were really going to be here. We said lets be New Yorkers and really be part of the community and get involved. We wanted our kids to ride the buses and ferry and do all the things that make living here great. Thus began Kathys long and dedicated service to the community, co-chairing galas and myriad fundraisers, including Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Project Hospitality, Notre Dame Academy Parents Guild, WNET -- Staten Island Talks Education, Moore Catholic High, and Georgetown at the Jersey Shore, which she co-founded. However, the person who influenced Kathys life the most was her maternal grandmother, Katherine Sheehan Barrett. She was an early 20th century Irish immigrant who never forgot her roots but was fiercely proud to become an American citizen, Kathy said. Her life was a shining example of the power of fortitude and resilience. She instilled in me a passion for literature and education. Kathys grandmother is responsible for sparking Kathys insatiable love of reading, without which she cannot sleep because it soothes her, as she is not the greatest sleeper. I love to read and at one point was part of three book clubs, but now Im down to two, Kathy said. "Actually, my great grandfather was a bookbinder in the 1800s in Ireland in a time when people didnt own the books, and he would allow my grandmother to read the book before he sold them. "She'd often go out and read under lampposts because there as no electricity and it was hard to read by candlelight. So when the weather was good, she'd sit under the lamppost outside her house and read, oftentimes five books a week." Professionally, Kathy credits her mentor, physical therapist Karen Walsh, for impacting her life in profoundly positive ways. Karen was my clinical instructor when I was a student and when I became a physical therapist I had the pleasure and honor of working alongside her in both the acute care and private orthopedic practice setting, Kathy shared. "Her intellect and clinical skills, along with her compassion, were inspirational to me. I should also mention that Karen set me up on a really good blind date in 1986 that resulted in marriage to the love of my life and three wonderful children." Kathy and John Connors were wed 31 years ago, a power couple by many Staten Islanders estimation, whose generosity with countless nonprofits have made them synonymous with local nonprofit philanthropy. And Kathy has made her enormous and significant body of community service look effortless, a professional woman and devoted mother and wife and a close-knit circle of friends and extended family. Maybe its in the blood. Kathy is the third-generation Connors woman to be named an Advance Woman of Achievement. Johns grandmother, Marie Connors, was selected in 1989, and her daughter, Patricia Connors Wynne, was selected the year Dr. Ruth Westheimer was guest speaker. Aunt Pat is one of my favorite women in the world, Kathy said. I was giggling when Dr. Ruth spoke at the luncheon the year she won because Aunt Pat is the holiest person I know. Grandma wouldve been OK with it, though. Aunt Pat wore Grandmas suit when she accepted the award and Kathy will be wearing a piece of her jewelry at the luncheon. Its pretty cool and Im very proud of continuing their legacy. Kathys newest role is chairwoman of the Friends of THIRTEEN, and recently travelled with WNET as a grassroots advocate to Washington in search of more funding to enrich education programming, meeting with Rep. Max Rose and others. We have $445 million in funding and are asking for $50 million more to continue to do what we are doing but also to improve further quality programming, Kathy said. Theres a big transition from television to internet. Today, kids dont really watch television the way our generation did. A lot of things are on demand so now theres a push for localism because that is where you make your greatest impact. Kathy also serves on the board of the St. George Theatre. Kathy Connors is a strong woman who lives, works, and volunteers in her community and makes a difference, said St. George Theatre co-founder Doreen Cugno, who nominated Kathy to the board of Friends of THIRTEEN. She is intelligent, so kind, and graceful, and because of her gentle and sweet ways, you just dont think she can move mountains, but boy, can she. When she involves herself in any project, especially with the St. George Theatre and the Friends of Thirteen, she gives 300 percent and nothing less. Kathy presently serves on the Friends Education Committee, a position she has held since 2010. Kathy fostered a partnership with the Northfield Bank Foundation which resulted in several grants to WNET and Friends of Thirteen for the Celebration of Teaching and Learning and Staten Island Talks Education. Kathy was co-chair, along with Doreen, of Staten Island Talks Education. Kathy also serves on the Association of Public Television Stations Leadership Council (APTS) and is a supporter of the Protect My Public Media Campaign sponsored by APTS. She also serves on WNETs Education Steering Committee, co-chair to the Friends of Thirteen, 50th Anniversary Luncheon and is in large part responsible for WNETs presence in Staten Island, which has grown tremendously since Kathy joined the board. Her knowledge of our community, having served many non-profits, has fostered new partnerships and built relationship for WNET and the Friends of Thirteen, added Cugno. I asked Kathy, a role model for many, what advice shed offer todays young women from her years of working and giving back on Staten Island. Oh, thats easy, she replied quickly. "Get involved. Dont be passive. Stop complaining and be a part of something great. Thats what I tell my three girls all the time. Learn what youre passionate about and support it. Whats better than going to a show at the St. George Theatre and feeling satisfaction in knowing you had a part in some way of bringing it there, whether its supporting the gala or being part of the capital campaign, or walking through a part of a hospital that at one point you saw the blueprints for and knowing you helped bring it to fruition. Theres no better feeling in the world. Through Kathy's unending fundraising efforts, she has collectively raised millions of dollars for these organizations. To know Kathy is to admire and respect her, for her kindness, her philanthropy, her steadfast service to Staten Island and beyond. More importantly, when speaking with her, she has a remarkable way of making you feel as if you're the most important person in the world at that moment. She is an inspiration to many to help make Staten Island a better place for all, just as she has been doing for almost three decades. Birthday: July 26, 1962 What's something people do not know about you that you'd like to share? I love to sing! Sadly, I cannot carry a tunebut it doesnt stop me. I tried out for the musical, South Pacific in high school but was rejected from the chorus. Favorite vacation: Thats an easy one: When I went to a rain forest in Costa Rica. I went zip lining 4,000 feet in the air. I went white water rafting. Hiking in the rain forest. I ate Costa Rican food. John and I went two years ago for Johns birthday. Id love to go glamping one day and go on safari. Three favorite places on Staten Island? Cloves Lakes Park. We lived in the Fountains for six years. It brought me great joy to just look out. The South Beach Boardwalk with a view of the Verrazano Bridge is awe-inspiring. Recently, John and I went hiking in the Greenbelt. It was wonderful. Where is your happy place? The beach. I take myself to the beach whenever Im feeling uncomfortable, feet in the sand, book in hand and under an umbrella. Favorite movie: "It's a Wonderful Life" Favorite quote: "Not where I breathe, but where I love, I live." -- Robert Southwell, SJ Favorite restaurants: "Restaurants starting with a "B": Bocelli, Brunos, Beso, Blue, Beans and Leaves. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Hes back. Again. Maybe. Former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm is thinking about running for Congress again. He told Politico that hes 90 percent of the way there to run. A source close to Grimm told the Advance that the former lawmaker is inching toward a decision. You can never count Grimm out. Hes a never-say-die competitor with a devoted following. But just how big that following remains is the question. Grimm gave up his seat in the House after pleading guilty to tax evasion. He did time in prison. Grimm has called the tax case against him a witch hunt. Hed paid a couple of delivery boys off the books while running a Manhattan restaurant, Grimm has said. So what? Now Grimms trying to draw parallels between his situation and the Russia collusion witch hunt that President Donald Trump has railed about. Its all about Trump in 2020. If Trump does well on Staten Island during his White House re-election campaign, then the GOP candidate against Democratic Rep. Max Rose could be sitting pretty. That makes the race attractive to Republicans, even if the tables could be turned right back against them in 2022. GOP Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is already running. GOP City Councilman Joe Borelli is looking at it. Grimm ran a primary against then-GOP Rep. Dan Donovan in 2018. Then, too, Grimm tried to staple himself to Trumps side. Then Trump tweeted out an endorsement of Donovan, even though Donovan had voted against the president on three key issues. The endorsement sucked the wind out of Grimms sails. Donovan, never known as the most energetic campaigner, trounced Grimm by almost 30 points. It was a total rebuke from the voters of Grimms own party. Have things changed that much that Grimm can turn that number around? Grimm will carry other baggage with him if he gets in the ring, including the fact that the tax case against him was about more than some off-the-books workers, no matter how much Grimm attempts to downplay it. He admitted to concealing $900,000 in receipts from the restaurant. He admitted to lying under oath while giving a deposition related to the restaurant in 2013, while he was a member of Congress. The more Grimm says witch hunt, the more these facts come into play. Not to mention the other controversies that swirled around Grimm, including that time he threatened on live television to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto off a balcony in the U.S. Capitol. When Grimm lost to Donovan, there was a feeling that voters had moved on from Grimm, that they didnt want to go back to all the drama, despite the plaudits that Grimm rightly earned for the work he did for Hurricane Sandy victims. It appeared that national Republicans in Washington werent looking for a Grimm sequel either. Has all that changed as well? And should he win a primary, Grimm would face a much more coherent Democratic Party, both on Staten Island and in D.C. Rose will have a record to run on. And the scrappy Democrat, who, like Grimm, came out of nowhere to win the House seat, has already shown that hes up for a scrum. Hell match Grimm minute for relentless minute on the campaign trail, with the might of the national party squarely behind him. Imagine the sparks if Marine combat vet Grimm squares off against Army combat vet Rose for all the marbles. Itd be a race watched from coast to coast. Grimm has never shied away from daunting odds. Hes always marched to his own drummer. The question is how many people are still willing to march behind him? STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Driving to Brooklyn just got more expensive. The cash toll for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge has risen from $17 to $19, with the E-ZPass rate increasing from $11.52 to $12.24. The Staten Island Resident E-ZPass (three or more trips per month) rate increased from $6.48 to $6.88, with the Staten Island Resident E-ZPass (one or two trips per month) rate increasing from $6.84 to $7.26. The Staten Island Resident Carpool rate also increased from $3.20 to $3.40. The effective toll rate for Staten Island residents was set to increase from $5.50 to $5.90. However, Governor Andrew Cuomo, working alongside Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore) and State Senator Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), has secured state funding that will maintain the $5.50 effective toll rate for the next two years. Although Staten Island residents will now be charged $6.88 or $7.26 depending on their amount of monthly trips, the Staten Island Resident Rebate Program will issue rebates making the effective rate the aforementioned $5.50. To qualify for the resident discount plan, vehicles must be registered to a valid Staten Island residential address. Commercial vehicles are not eligible for the program and residency status is subject to periodic review. For more information, visit the MTA website. The following toll increases will also take place on the MTAs other tunnels and crossings. Robert F. Kennedy Bridge Bronx-Whitestone Bridge Throgs Neck Bridge Hugh L. Carey Tunnel Queens Midtown Tunnel E-ZPass: Increase from $5.76 to $6.12 Tolls by Mail: Increase from $8.50 to $9.50 Henry Hudson Bridge E-ZPass: Increase from $2.64 to $2.80 Tolls by Mail: Increase from $6.00 to $7.00 Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge E-ZPass: Increase from $2.16 to $2.29 Tolls by Mail: Increase from $4.25 to $4.75 FARE INCREASES In addition to the increased tolls for bridges and tunnels, the MTA also approved a number of fare increases for buses and subways that will take effect on April 21. The MTA Board voted to maintain the base fare for New York Citys subways, buses and paratransit at $2.75, while eliminating the 5 percent bonus value received with the purchase of multiple trips. With the 5 percent bonus, the effective fare when purchasing a multiple-trip card is $2.62 per ride. With the bonus eliminated, the effective fare will match the base fare of $2.75. The express bus fare will jump from $6.50 to $6.75, with unlimited MetroCards also seeing an increase in price. Seven-day passes will increase from $32 to $33. Seven-day express bus passes will increase from $59.50 to $62. And thirty-day passes will increase from $121 to $127. The approval of the fare and toll increases is expected to net the MTA an additional $336 million in annual revenue, according to the agency. For complete information on the approved toll and fare increases, visit the MTA website. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you smell or see smoke this morning, youre not alone. Firefighters have been battling a massive blaze thats torn through more than 5,000 acres in the New Jersey Pinelands, according to NJ.com. And the smell of smoke has wafted and lingered over Staten Island -- particularly the South Shore -- as New Jersey firefighters continue to battle the blaze. Reported around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County, the fire quickly spread through the Pinelands, according to the report. The flames were fostered by high winds that fueled the blaze through the afternoon, said NJ.com. As of 10 p.m. Saturday, with 10 percent containment, the fire had grown to 5,000 acres. There have yet to be any injuries reported, and no evacuations have been done, the report says. 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! Video streaming platform Fetch TV says the uptake of the national broadband network has helped the company reach its first-ever profit and put it on track to hit 1 million subscribers next year. The maiden profit it will report this year has been a long time coming for the company which began offering subscription TV services over the internet in 2010. It has accumulated losses totalling more than $96 million since then, according to accounts lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). This includes a loss of $5.8 million last year on sales revenues of $153.6 million. Scott Lorson has high ambitions for Fetch TV. Credit:Louise Kennerley Fetch said that, year-on-year, transaction volumes have grown by more than 50 per cent, and services for susbscribers that allow them to have Fetch in more than one room have more than doubled. A vendor makes grilled cheese and skewered rice cakes. Myeong-dong is a cultural melting pot where various creative cross-cultural fusion foods are pushing aside the homegrown street food trio gimbap, tteokbokki and sundae. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na Street food in Myeong-dong adapting to international flavors By Lee Han-na Seoul's bustling shopping district of Myeong-dong has long been a hot place for international tourists. Streets there are always crowded with foreign visitors. The district is also a haven for shopaholics it is home to chic and trendy eateries, and homegrown cosmetics and almost all kinds of cuisines are available there. But there is a lesser-known aspect of the busy Myeong-dong district the delicious and innovative street foods. With an increase in foreign tourists year after year, street food there has been undergoing dramatic changes lately. The cross-cultural fusion food is pushing the traditional street food trio namely gimbab, tteokbokki and sundae out of business. Street food in Myeong-dong is adapting rapidly to international flavors. In the middle of alleys, food vendors are everywhere and different types of food are served from easy-to-grab snacks and authentic Korean cuisines to even high-end dishes you might expect in a restaurant. The variety, then the quality and ultimately the taste will capture your senses. Fried banana available in two forms: crushed (left) and whole (right) with two syrups: condensed milk and chocolate. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na "Fried banana" is the latest street food offering in Myeong-dong. Inspired by Vietnamese cuisine, a vendor introduced it just a week ago to attract tourists from Southeast Asian countries. There are two versions: crushed and whole banana and each have different tastes. Asking for anonymity, the vendor proudly shared his months of research and effort to provide the top-quality food. After many trials which sometimes led him to be burned, he successfully found the right temperature and timing to fry bananas with perfect crumbs from a recipe of seven ingredients. The tastes differ by temperature and form of the banana. There are two ways of enjoy it one with condensed milk which is the authentic way of eating in Southeast Asian countries according to the vendor, and the other with chocolate syrup. A vendor is preparing cabbage omelet in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na For cheese lovers, there is a perfect choice. Aside from the "so-tteok so-tteok" (sausage and rice cake), "rice cake and cheese in sequence on a stick" is on sale. With a rich flavor of milk, the grilled cheese and tteok are the perfect combination to soften the hotness of other street foods. Meat lovers might wonder if they can find something suitable in Myeong-dong. Unbelievably there is ready-to-go steak on the street, paving the belief that Myeong-dong is truly a cultural melting pot. Steak with mung bean sprouts is served with a special spicy sauce the vendor made. The vendor said his sauce is very popular and fellow vendors repeatedly asked if he could sell it to them, a request he has rejected. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na The vendor of the steak house has been providing the Korean beef steak for about four years. His steak is popular and he has regular clients who visit there for the food. He also shared how he made a chili-like sauce for Chinese customers who want it spicier. His spicy sauce is so popular that he says other vendors repeatedly ask if he could sell it to them. It is served with thinly sliced tender Korean beef on top of mung bean sprouts. The mung bean sprouts capture the cheesy taste of the beef maximizing the juiciness of the meat. Seafoods such as scallops, octopus, sea snails, shrimp and even small lobster are also available in Myeong-dong. Fire-grilled fresh scallops with cheese on top. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na Fire-grilled cheese scallops are one of the famous dishes in Myeong-dong. They are freshly served by putting cheese on top of the fresh scallops from the southwestern sea off the Korean Peninsula and grilling them with a strong fire for a few minutes. The owner said customers love it with hot pepper paste and vinegar. There are blanched octopus and sea snails, and skewered grilled shrimp as well. During winter, tourists also enjoy takoyaki with whole webfoot octopus in it, not to mention the tenderness of the grilled lobsters with melted cheese as a remarkable quality street food in Myeong-dong. However, it does not mean that simple yet authentic Korean street foods are unavailable in Myeong-dong. In fact, there is a twist on the traditional street food. Fusion foods croissant fish bread (left) and cabbage omelet with bacon (right). Korea Times photo by Lee Han-na Theres lots of concerns about bobby calves and what we can do to make it better to appease consumers. Theyre under a fire now. Palmer started with 18 cows. Asked if How Now was the way of the future for the dairy industry, a Dairy Australia spokesperson said it was just one way of doing things differently. Australian dairy farming systems are diverse and adapted to local conditions, the farmers operations and processor requirements for the products and markets they supply, she said. How Nows farming practice is just one approach to farming. Starting out Palmer gave up a career in music publishing to set up How Now in the small town of Wunghu, near Shepparton in northern Victoria. It was the result of two years of tossing the idea around with Sandles, a third-generation dairy farmer. So after we talked about it and did a million budgets we went and bought 18 cows and decided to just trial it in 2016, she explains. We did a little cold calling to kick sales off and went to several farmers markets and processed and sold 300 litres in our first week. It wasnt much, but it was a start. I had a firm belief that if people knew the truth about bobby calves they wouldnt chose that way and that they would pay more for their milk. We pay less for milk than we do for water in the supermarkets. I dont think anyone needs to consume two litres of milk a day. Palmer says milk should be treated as a premium. To me milk is something that should be treated as a premium. The pair spent $100,000 on setting up their farm and found a processing plant where they could additionally produce cream and cheese. Within just a couple of months of starting they won the Delicious Produce Award 2017 for the best tasting milk in Victoria. Pitted against much bigger diaries, they impressively won the same gong again in 2018 and received a silver medal at the Australian Food Awards 2018. How Nows turnover in 2016-17 and 2017-18 was $250,000 respectively. This year its projected to hit $287,500 as word of How Now spreads. Today the business produces 3000 litres per week and the milk is sold in 24 IGAs and produce stores. Pricing milk Supermarket wars saw milk prices slashed to $1 per litre in 2011, however Woolworths and Coles recently moved to raise prices after lobbying from drought-weary farmers who blamed cheap milk for decreasing farm-gate prices. Sold for between $6.50 and $7.50 for two litres, How Now is far from competitively priced. But Palmer has her eyes on the long game and says her ultimate goal is to teach other farmers how to produce milk ethically. For our business to succeed, were not looking to upscale, she explains. Were never going to have 100 cows. For us, its scaling up in a different way. Were looking to replicate. So as we get to 100 cows, which is about 30-35 cows in the dairy at a time, the plan is to replicate by finding somebody else who wants to do what we do and then supply us with milk. Palmer is planning to launch an equity crowdfunding campaign with Pledge Me, selling 20 per cent of How Now in the hopes of raising $1 million. Community legal centres in NSW are calling for harsher penalties and an overhaul of "broken" laws to protect workers from sexual harassment. The report to be released on Monday by Women's Legal Service NSW, the Redfern and Kingsford legal centres and National Association of Community Legal Centres says existing laws are failing to effectively address sexual harassment in workplaces. The report, #MeToo: Legal Responses to Sexual Harassment at Work, makes 45 recommendations including the introduction of laws to regulate the use of confidentiality clauses in sexual harassment matters and the treatment of sexual harassment as a work health and safety risk. It says civil penalties should be introduced and the six-month time limit for lodging a complaint of sexual harassment to the Australian Human Rights Commission should be extended to 12 months. Community legal centres in NSW have called for legal reform and harsher penalties to address sexual harassment in workplaces. Credit:Marco Del Grande Maria Nawaz from the Kingsford Legal Centre said sexual harassment remains under-reported in workplaces from bakeries to banking firms and supermarkets to law firms. At Ulladulla High, down on the south coast, many students were bored, disengaged and had low aspirations. But principal Denise Lofts knew something else about them, too. "They had lots of potential," she said. Ms Lofts solution was to embrace project-based learning, sending students off to explore "un-Google-able questions". They prepared Indigenous-influenced foods for local elders. They studied pest control with local farmers. One emotional project involved society and culture students interviewing residents of a local nursing home, putting their stories together and showing them to their families. "That was a deeply meaningful project," Ms Lofts said. Denise Lofts lifted the engagement of her students at Ulladulla High. As a result of her efforts, which have resulted in an increase in high HSC scores and university offers to Ulladulla High students, Ms Lofts was one of 12 Australian teachers to be awarded a Commonwealth Bank teaching fellowship. Benjamin Frenchy French is not an act you would take your mother to. Or even some of your close friends. The slender comedian with a mullet and classic Aussie larrikin attitude entered the stage to rock music and flashing lights. Early on in the piece, the Wollongong teacher-turned-comedian who built an audience via YouTube videos confessed he had a filthy mouth and told dirty jokes. From child molestation and inbreeding to erectile dysfunction and masturbation, a constant effort was made to provoke and disturb. But the show was punctuated with subtleties that made you think he might come clean and instil a moral lesson in his audience. Do as to others as you would want a priest to do to you, he said in an effort to illustrate it was unacceptable to heckle women from a car. The lesson was followed by a string of jabs at child abuse within the church and the act finished with a signature shoey skolling a beer from an audience members shoe. Parent groups and the Australian Education Union are pushing for consistency in reporting of school violence across sectors, saying non-government schools in the ACT still largely operate under a veil of secrecy. But the Catholic Education Office, which already collects some data on incidents, has revealed it is now looking to overhaul its own internal reporting policies, including introducing an online portal where teachers can directly log occupational violence in line with the public school system. Non-government schools are looking closely at the ACT government's new occupational violence reforms. Credit:Michele Mossop In the past year, the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn recorded 183 serious or "traumatic" incidents in its schools across both the ACT and NSW, according to data provided to The Canberra Times. The archdiocese, which runs 29 schools in the ACT and 27 across the border, said those numbers could include assault, serious injury and threats but also covered major vandalism, public health concerns or natural disasters as violence was not categorised in its data. During the same period, there were 16 injuries to staff involving students, some of which were accidental. Danny Brumfield, a Marine Corps veteran of the war in Vietnam, an office assistant and security guard who had been homeless, unemployed and living on the streets since 1992, has died an Alexandria, Virginia, hospital. He was 67. For 21 years after Brumfield left home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, his wife and two children had no idea of his whereabouts. They hired private detectives. No results. His daughter, Mary Elizabeth Brumfield, 14 when he left home, tried Ancestry.com, the online genealogical research service, hoping to find distant relatives who might shed light on what had happened to her father. Nothing there either. In 2013, unbeknown to Brumfields family, the city of Alexandria was doing a count of its homeless population. A social worker persuaded Mr. Brumfield to reveal his name, and an online search yielded the information that someone had been looking for a man of that name. That someone was Mary Elizabeth Brumfield. The social worker in Alexandria called and told her that her father had been found. But she still had to locate Mr. Brumfield, who had no fixed address. She learned that he frequented a Dunkin Donuts on Route 1 . The owner of a Victorian building firm, which has debts of more than $21 million, made a series of anti-Semitic remarks about a respected Melbourne construction company during a dispute over a project at the historic Kew mansion Raheen owned by the Pratt family. Steelvision, which is owned by British-born businessman David Gooley, was recently placed into administration despite receiving lucrative government grants and a $14 million contract to upgrade security at Parliament House in Canberra. Steelvision director David Gooley. Credit:Hayley Mills Mr Gooley claims to have the support of Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester, who asked Parliamentary Services and head contractor Lendlease to pay Steelvision, which is based in his electorate of Gippsland. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald revealed over the weekend that Mr Gooley had also siphoned a $400,000 grant from the Victorian government for Steelvision's new precast concrete and manufacturing facility in Morwell. Detectives inspect the murder scene in Darlinghurst, Sydney on the morning of April 1, 1962. Credit:Ted Golding First published in the Sydney Morning Herald on April 1, 1962 A man was stabbed to death and mutilated in Little Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, late last night. The murder was similar to the two unsolved "mutilation murders" last year in the Domain and Moore Park. The murdered man, aged about 36, had not been identified early today. A 15-year-old girl missing from Sydney's north shore has been found. The girl's family initially reported her missing on Friday after she did not show up at school. The girl was last seen at Artarmon railway station at 8.20pm on Thursday, and her family and police held serious concerns for her welfare as her disappearance was out of character. It's unclear where the girl was meant to be on Thursday night, and a police spokesman said officers were looking at the possibility she was with someone. About 12.45pm on Monday, the girl was found safe and well in Artarmon. The police thanked the community for their assistance. "That is why we have to invest in these things, it is not going away anytime soon," he said. The state's terror level is "probable", Queensland police's Deputy Commissioner for counter-terrorism Steve Gollschewski said. The $46m training facility at Wacol will boost police training around managing terror attacks. A new scenario centre in Brisbane's south-west will train police against a "probable" terror attack in Queensland. "There are people out there who hold extremist views that may well be motivated towards violence and our role is to prevent that." He noted that the accused Christchurch shooter, who killed 50 people in New Zealand mosques, lived "not too far from Queensland". "We have seen from the events in Christchurch recently, those tragic events, that we have to be on top of our game and we plan to be, for now and forever as long as we are policing in Queensland," Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said. Queensland Police Service has been training in taking out active armed offenders. Credit:Queensland Police Service Police minister Mark Ryan said government was also embedding 85 new counter-terrorism specialists statewide. Kim Alla, granddaughter of the late independence fighter Hong Beom-do, poses with a photograph of her grandfather, who led the Korea Independence Army to oppose Japanese forces, at her house in Spassk-Dalny, Russia, Feb. 28. Korea Times photo by Kwak Yeon-soo This is the sixth in a series of articles highlighting overseas independence fighters on the occasion of the centennial of the March 1 Independence Movement ED. By Kwak Yeon-soo SPASSK-DALNY, Russia "All his life, Hong Beom-do wanted nothing but liberation from Japan's colonial rule," Kim Alla, 77, the only surviving granddaughter of the freedom fighter, said during an interview with The Korea Times at her home in a small town in Russia. Hong, who led resistance fighters against the Japanese army, is one of Korea's most celebrated independence activists who fought for liberation during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation. He was born in 1868 in Pyongyang, in what is now North Korea, and was a hunter before organizing a resistance force named the Righteous Army. Hong and his force moved to Gando, also known as Jiandao, China, in 1910 to train anti-Japanese freedom fighters. He also formed the Korean Independence Army, in which he later served as top commander, to attack the Japanese troops that sought expansion into China. Returning to Korea in 1920, he was successful at the Bongoh Town Battle and Battle of Qingshanli. Seeking refuge from the Japanese army, Hong escaped to the Russian Far East. There, he also joined forces with the Russian army, still hoping to oppose Japan's invasion. As a result, Hong was the first Korean independence activist who was recognized by Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader from 1917 to 24. "Although my grandfather was close to Lenin, he wanted nothing not even a penny from the government for his activism while he was alive," Kim said. Hong excelled at hit-and-run tactics and earned the nickname "running Hong, flying Hong" after his clever combat strategies, according to Kim. "I heard from my mother that Hong used sheaves of paddies to make noise to lure the enemy into traps. When the Japanese rushed toward where the sound was coming from, he and his force attacked them." Hong also had to escape through a soakaway when he was discovered by the Japanese. "Ever since I was a little child, my mother told me stories of Hong, saying that someday people would come to me asking about my grandfather and I should be ready to tell them all about him," Kim said. Kim Alla, granddaughter of the late independence fighter Hong Beom-do, poses with keepsakes from her grandfather, who led the Korea Independence Army to oppose Japanese forces, at her house in Spassk-Dalny, Russia, Feb. 28. Korea Times photo by Kwak Yeon-soo A woman is in a critical condition with significant burns after firefighters pulled her from a fierce fire at a unit on Brisbane's northside overnight. Emergency services were called to Westacott Street in Nundah about 11pm on Sunday and firefighters reported the unit was "well alight" upon arrival. Flames tore through the Nundah unit. Credit:Nine/Twitter Firefighters went in and rescued a woman, aged in her 40s, from the burning residence. Queensland Ambulance Service acting operations supervisor Doug Buchanan said she suffered burns to half her body and was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition. Football writer Caroline Wilson has dismissed Eddie McGuire's coin toss comments as a "brain fade" but says it's hard to believe the Collingwood president is again in the spotlight for negative reasons. McGuire came under fire on Friday night after suggesting on air anyone who couldn't properly toss a coin should face a $5000 fine. Sydney Swans ambassador Cynthia Banham, who is a double amputee, was holding a walking stick when she threw the coin before her team's match against Adelaide. McGuire apologised at half-time during Friday's match, then ruled himself out of calling the Essendon-St Kilda match on Sunday. He has faced no other sanctions. Wilson, a columnist for The Age, said on 3AW's football show McGuire was a repeat offender and it was within the AFL's rights to take action. March was the deadliest month for shootings in Victoria in a decade, new data shows. The figures, from the Coroners Court of Victoria, track shooting homicides month-by-month from January 2009. March had the highest number of people killed in gun-related homicides, with five people killed in Melbourne in four unconnected shootings in less than a fortnight. Ben Togiai Credit:Facebook On March 1, 30-year-old Ben Togiai was killed as he left a boxing match in Kensington in an alleged gang-related shooting. Fremantle police have confirmed up to 60 vehicles were the target of a massive car tyre slashing spree in South Fremantle overnight and they haven't ruled out finding more vehicles. Residents on Hickory, Nelson, Rose, Ada and Louise Street woke to find their cars with flat tyres on Sunday morning. Residents woke to find their car tyres flat. Credit:Anton La Macchia A local resident said the tyres closest to the road were slashed on vehicles parked on the eastern side of Hickory Street. "This makes sense as the vandals would be more out of view from the houses that look onto the street," he said. An outdated Perth hospital built with similar cladding linked to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in west London, which killed 72 people in 2017, will get an overdue facelift thanks to federal government funding. Overdue upgrades of King Edward Memorial Hospital will ensure patients and staff remain safe. Credit:Fairfax King Edward Memorial Hospital, one of four Perth hospitals identified as having potentially flammable aluminium cladding during a state-wide audit, will get a further makeover after a cash injection of $15.1 million for renovations. Work to replace the cladding at WAs only tertiary maternity and gynaecological hospital started this month, with the federal-funded upgrades expected to start in coming years. Upgrades include facade repairs, work on the hospitals 13 lifts, structural reinforcement, and renewal of the fire detection and alarm systems, including power supply and back up provisions. "[I feel] remorseful, regretful. I mean, people make mistakes. And you have to pay the price for your mistake," Masri said. "What do I think should happen to me now? Whatever God decrees. I'm accepting of that. "I would prefer to be prosecuted in Australia or under international law because you have things such as human rights and justice, so that would be the preferred option." Masri insisted he travelled to Syria in January 2015 not as a terrorist but as a misguided devotee of a pure observance of Islam. The validity of his claim relies on being ignorant of IS's well-known brutality and not believing media reports. His Sydney-based stepbrother told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Masri's decision to join IS was "beyond my understanding". "We're not even a religious family to be honest," he said. A woman carries supplies from a reception area for people evacuated from the last shred of territory held by Islamic State militants, outside Baghouz, Syria. Credit:AP/Gabriel Chaim Masri, from Roselands in Sydney, met and married Australian woman Shayma Assaad in Syria. Her brother, a friend of Masri, was killed in Syria. The couple have three boys, Alae, 3, Dawood, 2, and Umayr, 1. Assad, who is most likely in one of the sprawling camps for IS wives and children in Kurdish northern Syria with the boys, is pregnant with their fourth child. Loading In contrast to the self-generated infamy of the late Khaled Sharrouf, Masri has never posted online about his time in Syria. If brought back to Australia, he would at a minimum face a charge of entering a declared terrorism area - IS's former capital of Raqqa in Syria - which carries a jail term of up to 10 years. He said he went to live in IS territory because a respected friend told him it was a place where he could start a family and "practice your religion freely". He maintains that, even after he arrived, he didn't see much violence. His explanation is that he didn't go out much. "I didn't see the heads on spikes," he said, referring to the well-known practice in Raqqa's main square. "I didn't see any heads or severed bodies and stuff like that. I wasn't the type of person to be running around the shops too much ... and I don't like to see beheadings. I don't like to see those sort of scenes. Nor do I agree with it." Its not my kids fault. Theyre just babies. They dont even know what life is. Masri said he worked in a hospital where his trade skills as a fridge and airconditioning electrician were put to use. He also defended notorious Australian doctor-turned-jihadist Tareq Kamleh, known as "Dr Jihad". "I don't know if the West is going to like this but he was a gentleman," he said of Kamleh, who he believes is dead. "[He] made a bit of a crazy video at the end but he was actually a very nice guy and wouldn't hurt a fly." He said what changed his view of IS was not the thuggery but the fact the leadership cut funding to the hospital and barred even private money from upgrading it. Even though its going to be hard for some people to believe there is a lot of people like me. A lot. "They didn't want to see progress. They didn't want to see the Islamic State move forward. It's as if they wanted to destroy it within." From then, he said, he kept his head down, insisting it was too dangerous to try to escape. He was "looked down upon" for not fighting, especially at Baghouz, but admitted carrying a Glock pistol, claiming it was for self-defence. Islamic State militants in Raqqa in 2014. Credit:AP Masri got out of Raqqa before it fell to the Syrian Democratic Forces, the mostly Kurdish army that slowly ground the terrorist military units down with US and coalition help. He said he kept moving with his family down the Euphrates Valley until the last battle at Baghouz. As well as wanting to face justice in Australia, he'd like his children to be able to live here. "It's not my kids' fault. They're just babies. They don't even know what life is," he said. Masri argues he is no threat to Australia. Asked how he feels about the country he was born in, he said: "Home. Home. Normal living. Civilised people. Clean streets. People who use their brain. And again, home. Loading "I'm an Australian citizen and Australia's a pretty fair country And they give people chances, especially if it's a first offence. I know it's a big offence, but I'm not someone who's known to have a criminal record. "I'm sure every Australian, everyone in the Parliament, and everyone who makes decisions has made mistakes. "As an Australian citizen, I think I have that right of being prosecuted in my homeland for any crime that I did." It was put to Masri that IS members would claim to be remorseful and downplay their role in the organisation because they'd prefer to be tried in their home countries than left indefinitely in Kurdish detention or handed over to the Syrian regime in Damascus. He responded that he expected to go to jail and added, "I don't expect to be out in a couple of years if I get home." Loading While he still has the same notion of Islam now that he had four years ago, he said he holds no ambition for Islamic law to be imposed on the rest of the world. Asked how he feels towards socially liberal Australians, he said, "Good luck to them. It's their life. They can do what they want." And how can Australia know he wouldn't become part of a sleeper cell? "I wouldn't be running from place to place with my family if I was a person who wanted to give up my life for the Islamic State," he said. A Shorten Labor government would aim for half of all new cars to be electric by 2030 and work with industry to lift car emissions standards in a bid to cut pollution and spur innovation. Details of Labor's "Cleaner Transport Future", to be released on Monday, include requiring half of all federal government fleet purchases to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, and for all Commonwealth-owned or leased office building to have charging capacity "where appropriate". Coming in a big way: Labor wants half of new cars sales to be electric by 2030. Credit:Daisy-Daisy The plan is partly aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the transport sector one of the steadily growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. In the year to September 2018, such emissions were about 19 per cent of national carbon pollution at just over 100 million tonnes - roughly equal second along with stationary energy and trailing only the electricity sector, government data shows. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size To the outside world Ashleigh Howe had it all: the 29-year-old ran a growing business empire providing accommodation for international university students with offices in Sydney and Shanghai. Indeed, the self-described serial entrepreneur from Potts Point was busy expanding her interests with three new businesses in China. One targeted wealthy locals hoping to send their children to summer art camps costing up to US$12,500. Ashleigh Howe is believed to have left the country to establish her new businesses. But a Herald investigation can reveal that around 100 mostly Chinese students attending university in Sydney claim that they were gouged fees by Howe's businesses. Legal advocates say these fees were unenforceable. It exposes dubious practices on the fringes of our education sector and threatens the reputation of Australias third-largest export industry. Local businesses including a high-end office landlord, lawyers and a graphic designer chased Howe for payment with a bookkeeping firm forcing the issue in 2016 by putting her business into liquidation. Liquidators won an order in the NSW Supreme Court last year for Howe to repay $689,000. Six months later, she has not paid. Howe also has a string of default judgments from Local Court proceedings against her, including one for more than $100,000, from businesses that say she promised to pay them but never delivered. People who worked for Howe in China and Australia also claim they have outstanding entitlements. Advertisement And according to liquidators, there is no evidence her insolvent company lodged $400,000 of client bonds with Fair Trading. She has been accused of trading while insolvent and entering uncommercial transactions. When contacted for comment last week, Ms Howe directed The Sydney Morning Herald to her lawyer who did not respond to detailed questions. Further investigations into Howes business by liquidators have been hindered because they believe she may have left the country. Ashleigh Howe did not lodge $400,000 of her clients' bonds with Fair Trading NSW. Credit:Fairfax Media 'A lot of the fees weren't legitimate' The pitch for international students travelling to Australia to study was enticing: well find the accommodation, arrange cleaning and even pick you up from the airport. Howe, a SCEGGS Darlinghurst old girl, set up her Student Concierge Company in 2015, offering to source accommodation for international students in Sydneys inner east, mainly around the University of NSW. It would later offer similar services under the name Global Education Advisory. Advertisement The business claimed to look after over 2000 students per year in correspondence sighted by the Herald and promised clients they would be picked up from Sydney airport and taken to their new home in our BMW X5. Hayley Stone, coordinator of Eastern Area Tenants Service, saw first-hand what happened next. Over four years until the end of 2018, around 100 students who sought accommodation from Student Concierge and Global Education Advisory around UNSW found themselves hit with exorbitant fees and aggressive retrieval tactics. They also faced difficulty getting their bond or security deposits returned, she said. An example of a fee charged in addition to an overseas student. Stone said her organisation handled 84 cases in relation to Howes businesses, noting students were required to sign an additional agreement on top of the standard agreement covered by NSW law. Its understood Kingsford Legal Centre also represented many clients. The additional agreement forced students to hand over money for a range of other fees either not stated or ordinarily included under a Standard Occupancy Agreement or Residential Tenancy Agreement. "A lot of the fees and charges that were being applied were not actually legitimate, she said. For instance, fees for end-of-lease cleaning services, registration fees, fees to cut off electricity, things like that. Advertisement During the time Malaysian international student Jien Teo, 21, stayed at the Kingsford address Global Education Advisory had arranged for him in 2017, Howe attempted to have him pay double his quarterly rent, or $12,644, weeks in advance due to currency controls in China. In the end, Jien would pay $6322 a week early. I dont have family here, so you do have this fear especially because not all international students have money, so you do have this fear of being evicted, he said. He experienced months of terse communication via text message with Howe and ultimately moved out, agreeing to pay a vacate fee demanded by Howe. For many students, getting their bond back after they decided to leave one of the properties Howe managed proved the biggest issue. Most of the problems came at the end when me and my roommate tried to get our bond, Singaporean student Jason Poh said. Poh claimed it was not until his roommate engaged a lawyer that the additional fees put to them were dropped and the pair were able to get their bond back. Kelvin Ho, a domestic student who now lives in Hong Kong, also had difficulty getting his security deposit back after being invoiced for a $440 vacate fee. Advertisement She was evasive and unresponsive in her dealings with me and only returned my bond after repeated unanswered requests to do so. I think the thing she was doing was relying on the fact that many of these students might not have good enough English - they wouldnt know where to go, Ho said. Correspondence from Ashleigh Howe to an international student. 'She disappeared' It wasnt just Howes clients who were having troubles. Her suppliers were having difficulty getting paid and contacting her. Naomi Tosic, director of The Office Space in Surry Hills, brought a case against her in 2016 after Howe leased the high-end commercial real estate the previous year and then stopped paying her invoices. The Office Space was owed about $10,000, however Tosic said their problems with Howe continued well after she disappeared. Advertisement Bangkok: Thailand's king has stripped fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of his royal decorations, citing his 2008 flight to escape serving a two-year prison term on a conflict of interest conviction and other legal cases against him. Thai media reported that the royal command from King Maha Vajiralongkorn was published on Saturday in the Royal Gazette. Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pictured in 2016 in New York. Credit:AP The move follows the general election on March 24 in which a party loyal to Thaksin claimed it won enough seats to form a coalition that would hold a majority in the House of Representatives. Final certified results will not be issued until May 9, and the Election Commission has warned there could be some disqualifications by then. Last week, a military award Thaksin has been given was revoked by the army, with the explanation that he failed to deserve the honour. Traffic speeds through an intersection at night in southern Seoul. GETTYIMAGESBANK South Korea's statistics agency forecast Thursday that the country's population is likely to peak at 51.94 million in 2028 before declining to 39.29 million in 2067. The demographic outlook came as deaths are set to outnumber births in Asia's fourth-largest economy beginning in 2019. South Korea plans to set up a government task force next month to come up with comprehensive measures to tackle demographic challenges. The number of newborns in South Korea came to 326,900 in 2018, a sharp decline from a high of 1 million in 1970, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. In 2018, South Korea's total fertility rate the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime hit a record low of 0.98, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51 million. The statistics office said South Korea's total fertility rate could remain below 1 until 2024 before edging back to above 1 in 2025 and reaching 1.27 in 2040. The agency forecast that the number of newborns in South Korea could hover around 290,000 in 2021 before falling to around 210,000 in 2067. It also said total deaths could reach more than 400,000 in 2028 before rising to 740,000 in 2067, compared with 290,000 in 2017. The decline in childbirths is blamed on a sharp fall in the number of marriages. Some young South Koreans are opting to distance themselves from life's three major milestones dating, marriage and having children because they cannot find decent jobs amid a prolonged economic slowdown. The decline in childbirths could reduce the working-age population those aged between 15 and 65 while increasing the ratio of older people, a situation that could place heavy financial burden on young people. The working-age population is expected to come to 33.95 million in 2030 before falling to 17.84 million in 2067, compared with 37.57 million in 2017. Meanwhile, the number of South Koreans aged 65 years or older could account for 20 percent in 2025 and surpass 40 percent in 2051, compared with 13.8 percent of the country's population in 2017. A country is defined as an aged society when more than 14 percent of its people are 65 or older. The statistics agency said every 100 working-age people should support 37 people who are aged younger than 15 or aged over 65 in 2017. The ratio is the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 36 mostly rich nations. But South Korea's ratio is forecast to jump to 117.8 in 2065, the highest among the OECD member states. It means that every 100 working-age people will have to support 117.8 people. (Yonhap) London: The United Kingdom may be forced to create a national unity government to end the impasse over Britain leaving the European Union, as Prime Minister Theresa May clings to the Brexit divorce agreement that Parliament has rejected three times, a senior Conservative has suggested. Former education secretary Nicky Morgan's comments came a day after the House of Commons rebuffed the prime minister's call for MPs to "put aside self and party", sending her Brexit deal to its latest defeat. The rejection leaves the UK facing the stark prospect of a chaotic departure from the EU in just two weeks - unless squabbling politicians can put aside their differences and engineer a long delay in the process of leaving the bloc. There are reports that Conservative MPs have reacted furiously to speculation that May could call a snap poll, warning her that it would split the party and exacerbate the Brexit crisis. May would need the support of two-thirds of the Commons to call the election and is likely to face a rebellion within her party ranks. Leadership contenders such as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and environment secretary Michael Gove would not wish to take the risk of losing government. If May failed to secure her party's support for a snap poll, she would have to bring on a no-confidence vote in her own government. London: Angela Merkel will this week stage her most significant intervention in the Brexit process in more than two years, as the European Union moves to shield itself from the fallout of political chaos in Britain. The German chancellor is to hold talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin on Thursday and demand a plan to protect Ireland's border should the UK crash out of the bloc without a deal, which could come as soon as April 12. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, with French President Emmanuel Macron. The EU is worried about the implications of a no-deal Brexit. Credit:Bloomberg The EU now sees this "no-deal" Brexit as a serious possibility and is focusing almost all of its work on how to contain the consequences, EU officials said. Merkel's intervention comes as relations between the UK and EU hit an all-time low after Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated in Parliament at the third attempt on Friday. EU officials say they can do no more to help the British government. Canberra: The three surviving children of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf are being held at a refugee camp in northern Syria after leaving Islamic's State's last stronghold in Baghouz before it was overrun by Kurdish fighters. Sharrouf married off his daughter Zaynab, 17, to his best friend, Mohamed Elomar, when she was just 13. Grandmother Karen Nettleton with, from left, Hoda, Abdullah and Zaynab Sharrouf. Zaynab, who has two small children and is pregnant with her third, her sister Hoda, 16, and their brother Hamza, 8, are all in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Hawl camp, according to reports. Eight other Australian women and their children are also in the camp. Gaza City: Five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel early on Sunday, the Israeli military announced, following a day of mass protests that saw Israeli troops kill four Palestinians near the territory's border. The rocket attack threatens to undermine Egyptian-mediated efforts to cement a deal that the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers hope will ease a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockage of the crowded territory. No casualties were reported and no Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rockets, though they appeared to be in retaliation for the deaths of the protesters. Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to mark the anniversary of their mass protests along the Israeli border. Seattle: Jeff Bezos' security consultant accused the Saudi government of gaining unauthorised access to the Amazon CEO's phone, as part of an effort to harm the world's richest man. In an opinion article in The Daily Beast on Saturday, Gavin de Becker, Bezos's security chief, alleged the Saudis wanted to hurt Bezos because he owns The Washington Post. The Post has aggressively reported on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, one of its columnists, who was killed in October in Turkey. US officials have concluded Khashoggi, who was critical of Saudi leaders, was killed on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. De Becker said he had turned over his findings about the Saudis and their role against Bezos to law enforcement. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos runs the global online retailer and owns the US Washington Post, a paper that has vigorously reported on the Saudi Arabian role in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Credit:AP "Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker wrote. Minneapolis: The trial of a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home is set to start on Monday. Attorneys for the Damond family display posters of Justine during a Minneapolis news conference. Credit:AP Thirty-three-year-old Mohamed Noor, who was fired after the shooting, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Experts say the case will be challenging for both prosecutors and the defence. Prosecutors must prove Noor acted unreasonably when he shot Damond. The defence plans to argue that Noor used reasonable force and acted in self-defense. Noor, 33, shot Damond after she approached his police cruiser. Damond, a 40-year-old life coach and dual Australian-American citizen, had called 911 to report a possible assault. The man accused of the Christchurch mosque attacks has lodged a formal complaint in prison, saying he has been deprived of his basic rights. A Corrections source said the prisoner complained he was being denied access to visitors and phone calls from his cell at the Auckland Prison at Paremoremo. The alleged mosque shooter appears in the District Court, Christchurch. Credit:AAP Under the Corrections Act, everyone in custody is entitled to exercise, bedding, a proper diet, one private visitor a week, a legal adviser, medical treatment, healthcare, mail, and telephone calls. But there are exceptions. Entitlements can be withheld for various reasons including being segregated or in protective custody, health and safety, and because it's not practicable. Anwar Ghani from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said anecdotal evidence suggested there had been a rise in anti-Muslim behaviour in recent years. "When there is a hot spot in global events and when Muslims are involvedwe do see the pulse of hate crime coming from certain members of the community, he said. 'Not a priority' Joris De Bres, New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner between 2002 and 2013, said he was alarmed at signs of an increase in threats against Muslims when he took up the role soon after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. De Bres said he repeatedly asked the government and police to create a central system for recording details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism. He raised the issue with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which in its 2007 review of New Zealand said the lack of records was a concern, and asked the government to collect data on complaints of racially motivated crimes. "I listed it every year I wrote at various points to government about it and it was simply said that it wasnt necessary and it wasn't a priority," De Bres said. Mosque shooting survivor Farid Ahmed addresses the national remembrance service in Hagley Park for the victims of the March 15 mosques terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, March 29. Credit:AP In its latest report on New Zealand in 2017, the UN committee repeated its concerns and requests and asked the government to provide the data for its next report as a priority. When Justice and Intelligence Services Minister Andrew Little took office in late 2017, the Human Rights Commission said in their incoming briefing the country needed a central system for recording details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism and steps taken by police were insufficient. "Understanding the scale, extent, and location of hate crimes is essential and is a prerequisite to ensuring adequate resources are available to address the issue," the briefing said. Little did not respond to Reuters' request for comment but told local media on Saturday that hate speech laws were inadequate and he would work with officials to review the legislation, including considering whether a separate hate crime offence should be created. Police said they took hate crimes seriously and were continually looking to improve the way they worked. "We are engaged in ongoing conversations with community leaders and representatives about a range of issues, including how police record allegations of hate crime and crimes of prejudice," said a police spokesperson via email. The National Party, in power from 2008 to 2017, said while in government, it introduced legislation to protect people from harmful communication online. "There are hate speech laws in the Human Rights Act, but whether data should be collected is an operational matter for Police," a spokeswoman said by email. No one was listening New Zealand has had no previous extremist mass attacks, unlike Australia, but civil society members say an underbelly of racism has always existed and may have been escalating. Anjum Rahman from the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand said the group had repeatedly alerted the government over the past five years about the rise of the extreme right and the growing threat Muslim women felt in New Zealand. "Without the data, without the measurement it's really hard to push for change ... I feel like it wasn't taken seriously because it wasn't hard data because we didn't have it," she said, adding she felt "a resistance to creating that data". One in 10 New Zealand adults has experienced hate speech online according to a 2018 study by internet safety organisation Netsafe, with people of Asian descent or who identified as 'other' ethnicity most affected. Since 2002, a law has specified judges should take hostility towards a group of people with a "common characteristic", such as race or religion, into account when sentencing. Loading A Reuters review of sentencing records found 22 such cases since 2002, most with a racial motive. Those included the murder of a Korean student, the hurling of a pipe bomb at a Sikh Temple, and threats to politicians by a non-Muslim posing as an Islamic extremist, which the judge described as a "deliberate attempt to tap into public fear about radicalised Muslims". The likely number is far higher, say human rights experts, because acessible records encompass only cases that are appealed or the most severe charges that reach New Zealand's highest courts, not the tens of thousands of cases dealt with in lower District Courts each year. One of those was a 2016 case, first reported by the New Zealand Herald, in which a Christchurch man delivered a bloodied pig's head to Al Noor mosque, which was attacked this month. Loading He was charged with "offensive behaviour" and fined $NZ800 court records show. In 2017, MPs asked police whether hate crime was increasing but were told it could not be measured because it was not recorded as a specific category, according to Parliamentary records. North Korea on Sunday released its first official statement on the break-in at its embassy in Spain by an anti-Pyongyang group, calling it a "grave terrorist attack." A spokesperson of North Korea's foreign ministry told the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, that "an illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of extortion are a grave breach of state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated." In late February, a group broke into the North Korean Embassy in Madrid and made off with computers and documents. Free Joseon, a mysterious anti-North Korea group, claimed responsibility for the break-in and said it shared some of the information obtained from the embassy with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on "their request." The KCNA reported that North Korea is "following the rumors of all hues now in the air that FBI of the United States and the small fry of anti-DPRK 'body' were involved in the terror incident." It said North Korea also expects the Spanish authorities to "carry out an investigation into the incident to the last in a responsible manner in order to bring the terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice in conformity with the relevant international law." (Yonhap) Georgetown County Councilman Austin Beard speaks to the media following a Board of Elections hearing on March 15 where it was determined his voter registration is not valid. An image purported to be a "Star Wars: Episode IX" poster is floating around on the interwebs. Our sister site GamesRadar+ picked is up here: Star Wars 9 poster leak brings out the Knights of Ren and gives C-3PO a bowcaster https://t.co/u1WCEAbBEY pic.twitter.com/BzSokf9j7JMarch 27, 2019 See more That's right C-3PO with a bowcaster. Why didn't he ever use that skill in the other movies? On a more serious note, there's a number of new characters present: a fish-head alien over Finn's shoulder, a woman with a fluttering cape next to Chewbacca, and a character that probably isn't the Purple Ranger next to Poe Dameron. According to purported leaked character sheets over at MakingStarWars.net , those last two would be "Jannah" and "Zorri." If "Jannah" sounds familiar to you, you might be thinking of the now-non-canon daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa, Jaina Solo. Naomi Ackie was previously cast for an undisclosed role in Star Wars: Episode IX, and this could be her. GamesRadar+ speculates that the helmeted Zorri is Keri Russell's character. Also in the image is a new group shot of what appears to be the Knights of Ren, who were seen briefly in Force Awakens. Check out the full poster at GamesRadar+ . "Star Wars: Episode IX" is due out December 20. Neptune's moon Triton is one of the strangest worlds in the solar system and that's why scientists are exploring mission concepts that could give them a detailed look at it. It's a large moon, the seventh largest in our solar system, and scientists think it was born in the Kuiper Belt before falling into its current location in orbit around the most distant planet. But that journey took its toll on Triton: Neptune 's gravity pulls on it so strongly that the moon's icy surface may hide a subsurface liquid ocean. And the glimpse Voyager 2 offered of its surface suggests that Triton was geologically active as recently as 10 million years ago. "They said the magic word, Triton, and I said, where do I sign up?" Louise Procktor, a planetary geologist and director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas and a scientist working on a mission concept called Trident, told Space.com. "We know enough [about Triton] to be dangerous. We know a little bit about it, but there's so much we don't know." Related: Voyager at 40: 40 Photos from NASA's Epic 'Grand Tour' Mission And of course, the best way to learn more about any object in the solar system is to visit it. Within the constraints of just a flyby mission launching in 2025 and arriving in 2038, Procktor and her colleagues believe they can photograph the moon's entire surface in a single pass. That would happen through a careful trick. On its way past Triton, the spacecraft's flight would be timed in order to see in sunlight the 60 percent or so of its surface that Voyager 2 couldn't see. After the initial approach, the spacecraft would turn its camera back to recapture the 40 percent of the surface Voyager already imaged, this time in the faint light reflected off the planet, called Neptune-shine. "People are so captivated by the idea of going to Triton, and I think one of the really big draws is the public seeing a body for the first time," Procktor said. "Just the sheer excitement of exploration is also what this mission is going to do." The feat would also mean that scientists could make real progress understanding one of the oddest worlds out there. "It's just such a weird, alien landscape," Procktor said. "It's so strange and exotic. We just think of it as this exotic, ocean world it's a real outlier compared to the others." Triton is an outlier in a multitude of ways. It orbits the wrong way and at an unusually steep angle. Then, there's the apparently very young surface, which seems to have formed about 10 million years ago in a way scientists can't really explain to date. And much of that surface is covered in what geologists have dubbed the "cantaloupe terrain" a phrase inspired by the melon's rough texture. Voyager 2 also spotted large plumes rising off the moon's surface and dark marks that could have been the remains of old plumes. That weirdness in part reflects Triton's complicated history in the solar system. Scientists believe that the moon was first formed in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of planetary debris orbiting in the outer solar system, before migrating to the Neptunian neighborhood. Related: NASA Unveils Best Map Ever of Neptune's Moon Triton (Images, Video) That's where it became such an active, dramatic world, on account of its interaction with Neptune's gravity. "This is definitely not yet another Kuiper Belt object; we're not doing New Horizons again," Procktor said. Instead, they'd be able to study its geology, pin down what compounds make up its surface, confirm whether a suspected ocean lurks inside and more. If Trident becomes a real mission, it also won't be doing New Horizons again in terms of cost. That mission cost NASA about $720 million; Trident is proposed to fall below the level of a $450 million, cost-capped program. "What's beautiful about this mission and the reason it fits in [that budget tier] is we're almost not doing anything fancy except the science," Procktor said. "We don't need to do anything mind boggling to get this off the ground." Not so for another mission concept being explored for Triton, which would build a spacecraft that launches in 2029 and touches down on the icy moon in the early 2040s. Then, it would hop across Triton's surface, sampling both its ice and atmosphere. A preliminary design for a robotic mission that could hop its way across the surface of Neptune's moon Triton. (Image credit: NASA Glenn Research Center) To be fair, the Triton Hopper concept is still firmly within the purview of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program , which specializes in mind-boggling ideas. Mind-boggling like, you know, a hopper designed to traverse territory humans have never even seen. Jason Hartwig, an engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center, and his colleagues are about a quarter of the way through a two-year grant from the program, working to design a robot that could get to Triton , then feed itself on the moon's nitrogen stores and hop across its surface, looking both up and down as it does. "Because the mission was driven to do both surface and atmosphere [sampling], that really kind of pushed us toward this hopper design ," Hartwig said. Using fuel found at Triton keeps costs down and extends the mission's life. But it also complicates matters. The hopper needs to take in gaseous or solid nitrogen, convert it to a pressurized gas, then expel it like a balloon to lift itself into a hop. But planning for solid nitrogen in particular is challenging for the team to design from afar. "Snow is a solid as much as ice is," Hartwig said. "Something like snow, piece of cake: We can just scoop it up in the tank. Something like solid ice how is the system going to behave?" Although the two Triton mission concepts are independent of each other, there's a chance they may not remain that way, thanks to the vagaries of scientific conferences. When three posters from the two mission concepts were arranged next to each other at last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, the would-be Triton explorers got to chatting with each other. Coincidentally, the hopper design is currently just heavy enough to fit on board the current Trident design, Hartwig said. The pairing would pose as many challenges as it addresses, and adding the hopper would certainly push the price tag dramatically higher. But, still. "I love that they're thinking big," Procktor said of the hopper idea, "because one day we will be hopping around on the surface of Triton." Congress ignored NASA's proposal to cancel WFIRST in fiscal year 2019, but the $312 million it provided was $60 million less than what the project needed to stay on track for a 2025 launch. WASHINGTON A NASA astrophysics mission that avoided cancellation last year could still face budget problems if it evades another termination threat this year, agency officials warned this week. NASA's fiscal year 2020 budget request includes no funding for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), the next large strategic, or flagship, astrophysics mission for the agency after the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, in its request, said that it proposed cancelling the mission because of "its significant cost and higher priorities within NASA, including completing the delayed James Webb Space Telescope." WFIRST was the top-ranked flagship mission in the latest astrophysics decadal survey, published in 2010. The spacecraft, featuring a 2.4-meter primary mirror provided to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office, is designed to carry out research ranging from exoplanets to dark matter and dark energy. The mission, currently cost-capped at $3.2 billion, is scheduled for launch in 2025. At a March 27 hearing of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), chairman of the subcommittee, asked NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about the proposed cancellation of WFIRST, noting the ability of WFIRST to work in concert with JWST. "If one was built to work with the other, why is WFIRST considered for elimination?" he asked. Bridenstine pointed out the cost and schedule overruns of JWST. "We're now getting it back on track," he said. "If James Webb isn't yet ready, preparing WFIRST right away is probably not the right approach." He emphasized the importance of having a portfolio of both large and smaller missions. He suggested WFIRST could be revived once JWST is launched. "WFIRST will be a critical mission when James Webb is on orbit," he said. The administration's fiscal year 2019 budget request also proposed cancelling WFIRST. However, the final spending bill enacted in February ignored that request, providing the mission with $312 million for 2019. That funding, though, was less than what's needed to keep the mission on schedule, Paul Hertz, director of NASA's astrophysics mission, said in a March 26 presentation to the National Academies' Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics. The budget profile established for the mission at a project milestone known as Key Decision Point B estimated WFIRST needed $372 million in 2019 to stay within budget and schedule. "This does mean that $60 million worth of work that they had been planning to do in FY '19 is being deferred into later years, which has an impact downstream," Hertz said. WFIRST is maintaining its $3.2 billion cost for now, he said, "but the risk associated with making that target has changed." Should Congress reject the administration's proposal to terminate WFIRST, Hertz said the project will need even more funding in fiscal year 2020 to remain on schedule. "We need $542 million in FY '20 to stay on track for delivering within our cost target," he said. That includes additional funding to catch up from the fiscal year 2019 shortfall. If Congress does fund WFIRST, but below the $542 million required to stay on schedule, Hertz said NASA has two options. "We will have to choose between either blowing the cost target and having a larger run-out cost because we had to slow down, or descoping something significant" from the mission, he said. In the latter case, the only significant thing that could be removed is the coronagraph, an instrument previously scaled back to a technology demonstration in order to fit the mission into the current $3.2 billion cost cap. That decision, if needed, would come when WFIRST reaches Key Decision Point C in early 2020. Despite the uncertain fiscal landscape, work on the mission continues. "Over the last year, we got a lot of things in place," said Jamie Dunn, WFIRST project manager, at the committee meeting, including awarding contracts for key elements of the spacecraft. "We're poised to make really good progress this year." A preliminary design review for the overall mission is scheduled for October. That would be followed by Key Decision Point C and formal mission confirmation, he said. "It would be good to get the required funding to pull that off." By Bahk Eun-ji Public attention has been recently focused on the abuse of propofol, an anesthetic drug, after police said they were looking into allegations that Lee Boo-jin, Hotel Shilla CEO and daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was given the drug regularly at a plastic surgery clinic in southern Seoul. Gangnam Police Station and district health authorities inspected the clinic late last month, to find out whether Lee, 48, received propofol without a "proper" prescription. Propofol is a sleep inducer used to start and maintain anesthesia, and is largely used for conscious sedation endoscopy or cosmetic surgery. It was classified as a psychoactive drug here in 2011 and it is illegal to use it for anything other than surgical procedures. Michael Jackson's death in 2009 gave momentum to public awareness of the drug in Korea. It is widely known as "milk" here because of its white color its key ingredient is not dissolved in water but in soybean oil that gives it a milk-like color. In 2013, Korean actresses Park Si-yeon, Jang Mi-inae and Lee Seung-yeon were indicted over abusing the drug for recreational purposes. Although they strongly denied the allegations at that time, speculation was rampant that more celebrities were engaged in abusing the drug. Propofol is the most common sleep inducer and is easy to use because people can recover quickly from the anesthesia state. However, it is stronger than some other drugs and can lower blood pressure and hamper breathing. In Michael Jackson's case, the doctor who gave the drug had left him unattended, which ended up killing him. Why is it dangerous? Questions about the drug include "how dangerous is it?" and "why does it cause addiction?" A 21-year-old college student in South Carolina has been found dead after she went missing early Friday, university officials confirmed. South Carolina Law Enforcement (SLED) officers have charged Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, with kidnapping and murder in connection with the death of Samantha Josephson, police said. Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina, was reported missing by friends when she didn't return home. Josephson was last seen outside The Bird Dog bar in Columbia around 2 a.m. Friday getting into a black Chevy Impala. Police believe Josephson called an Uber after being separated from her friends and was waiting outside the bar and mistakenly got inside the Impala thinking it was her ride. Around 4 p.m. Friday, the coroner responded to a body found in a wooded area in Clarendon County, police said. Hunters in the field found the body, police said. Around the same time as Columbia Police distributed the suspect vehicle information and description of Samantha, her body was found, police said. On Saturday around 3 a.m. K-9 officers were on patrol looking for the suspect's vehicle and made a routine traffic stop, police said. Officers asked the driver to step out of the vehicle at which time the suspect fled on foot. After a brief chase, officers were able to apprehend the suspect, and realized when they got back to the vehicle that blood was inside, police said. SLED officials tested the blood in the vehicle which matched the victim's, police said. Police also said the driver had a child seat in the back seat and had child safety locks on the car doors so the victim could not get out. Police said there was evidence of blood in the trunk and passenger's side of the vehicle as well as the victim's cellphone in the passenger compartment. "I met with the family and our hearts are broken. Nothing is tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered," police said. "Our prayers are with the family and friends of Samantha Josephson following the devastating news of her death," said Harris Pastides, University of South Carolina president, in a statement. "Times like these leave me searching for words of wisdom and comfort. However, I take solace that the Carolina Family is here to embrace those who are hurting." Police are still investigating and SLED is looking into video to find more details regarding the death investigation. P olice are urgently hunting a suspect after four people were stabbed in random attacks in the space of just hours in north London. Two of the four victims are fighting for their lives in hospital after the stabbings which took place in the Edmonton area between 7pm on Saturday and 9.45am on Sunday. Police say "urgent enquiries are under way" to trace a single suspect, described as a black man, around 6ft 3ins tall and of skinny build. He is thought to be wearing dark clothing, possibly a hooded top. Four people have been stabbed in a spate of knife attacks in north London / Getty Images All of the victims were attacked from behind without warning and appeared to have been selected at random due to them being "alone and vulnerable". "There is a lot of police activity underway to catch this suspect," Scotland Yard said on Sunday as they urged members of the public to stay vigilant. "Extra resources have been called upon and are on the streets now working to keep the public safe and catch the individual responsible." Timeline of the north London stabbings Saturday, March 30 7.02pm: A 45-year-old woman is stabbed in the back in Aberdeen Road, N18. She is taken to hospital in a critical condition. Sunday, March 31 0.15am: A man is stabbed in Park Avenue, N18. He is taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 3.55am: A 23-year-old man is stabbed in Silver Street, N18. He is found at Seven Sisters Tube station and was taken to hospital, where his condition is described as critical but stable. 9.43am: A man is stabbed in the back in Brettenham, N18 Road. He is taken to hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening but potentially life-changing. The police spokesman said "there is nothing to suggest this incident is terror-related" and "mental health issues may be a factor." The victims are a 45-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man, who are both critical in hospital, a man whose injuries are not life-threatening but potentially life-changing and another man whose injures are not life-threatening. A man was arrested on suspicion of GBH in Fore Street shortly before 11am but police are not certain if he is the individual behind these attacks. Police and paramedics first scrambled to Edmonton at around 7pm on Saturday to reports of an assault in Aberdeen Road. The victim, a 45-year-old woman, was found after being stabbed in her back. She is now fighting for her life in hospital. A police officer stands near the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton / Getty Images Natasha Cameron, 45, lives on Aberdeen Road and was walking home from work at a nearby casino after 10pm. She said she saw officers on her road who told her there had been a stabbing but she was unaware of the later attacks. Ms Cameron added: "I'm scared now because I always walk here from work home. Now I'm definitely taking the bus." Louisa Hall, 29, also lives on Aberdeen road, and said: "I never heard of anything like that, especially not on our road. I know in areas this is happening." Forensics teams in Edmonton / Getty Images The second stabbing took place just four hours later, when police were called to reports of a man being stabbed in Park Avenue. His condition is non-life-threatening. A 23-year-old man was then stabbed in Silver Street three hours later at 3.55am. He was found with injuries at Seven Sisters Tube station and was rushed to hospital, where he is in a critical but stable condition. The last attack took place at around 9.45am in Brettenham Road, where a man was found after being stabbed in the back. He remains in hospital with non-life-threatening but potentially life-changing injuries. A police officer and police dog in Aberdeen Road / PA Dervish Husseyin, 60, was at his friend's house on Aberdeen Road when the first stabbing took place. "I seen the woman lying down, face down," he said, adding: "She said they had beaten her up." Mr Husseyin said the woman had "blood on her back" but did not seem to realise she had been stabbed. "She said she only went out for a walk on her own," he said, describing the victim as a woman who lives locally and speaks English as a second language. Police in Edmonton / PA Acting Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Smillie from North Area Command said: Police are treating the four stabbing related incidents as potentially linked. "The four victims are all from different backgrounds and appear to have been selected at random due to them being alone and vulnerable. "All of the people he has targeted have been walking alone and he has approached from behind without warning." P olice forces in areas worst-affected by knife crime in the UK are being handed greater stop and search powers. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has announced new measures, which will be trialled from Sunday, that make it easier for police officers to search people without reasonable suspicion in places where serious violence occur. Officers at the lower rank of inspector will be able to deploy the controversial Section 60 order of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Currently, the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, which all forces are signed up to, requires a section 60 order to be signed off above chief superintendent rank and states the authorising officer must reasonably believe serious violence "will" take place. Stop and search powers are controversial with evidence of misuse and that black people are targeted disproportionately. Thousands more police officers can now authorise enhanced stop and search activity / pa Mr Javid has lifted two conditions introduced in stop and search guidance rolled out in 2014 when Theresa May was home secretary. Allowing inspectors to sign off section 60 orders will result in at least 3,000 more officers being able to authorise the use of the powers, officials estimate. In addition, the degree of certainty required has been lowered, so that the authorising officer must reasonably believe serious violence "may" occur. The Section 60 changes will initially apply in London, West Midlands, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Wales and Greater Manchester for up to a year. Mr Javid said: "Stop and search is a hugely effective power when it comes to disrupting crime, taking weapons of our streets and keeping us safe. "That's why we are making it simpler for police in areas particularly affected by serious violence to use Section 60 and increasing the number of officers who can authorise the power." Mrs May, who will host a summit on serious youth violence on Monday, said stop and search is an "important tool" in the fight against knife crime. She added: "As a whole society, we also need to take a hard look at the root causes of these crimes so we can intervene earlier and stop young people from being drawn into violence in the first place." Section 60 is often enforced after an incident of serious violence when police anticipate reprisals, or at major public events. The power was deployed at last year's Notting Hill Carnival, and during an operation outside Stratford station in east London last year. In 2017/18, police in England and Wales carried out 2,501 stops and searches under section 60, up from 631 in the previous year. Overall, police stop and search activity has plunged in recent years. As home secretary, Mrs May introduced reforms to ensure more targeted use of the powers following criticism they unfairly focused on black and minority ethnic individuals. Mr Javid has backed the tactics since his appointment last year. Home Secretary Sajid Javid / REUTERS He has already announced plans to widen the circumstances in which they can be deployed to combat acid attacks and misuse of drones. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said her force has increased its use of Section 60 in the last 18 months. She said: "Stop and search is an extremely important power for the police. "Our well-trained officers, acting on intelligence, use their powers professionally every day to remove weapons and other illegal items from the streets and to arrest violent offenders and those who habitually carry weapons." The announcement forms part of the Government's efforts to tackle surging violence after a spate of fatal stabbings prompted warnings of a "national emergency". There were 285 homicides where the method of killing was by a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March 2018 - the highest number since records started in 1946. U S police are investigating the murder of a student who was found dead in a field after she got into a car that she had mistaken for her Uber ride. Samantha Josephson, 21, became separated from her roommates during a night out in Columbia, South Carolina, police said. She got into a black Chevy Impala thinking it was her booked Uber and 14 hours later, her body was found by turkey hunters in a field 90 miles from Columbia. A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnapping, police said. Columbia police chief W.H Skip Holbrook named the suspect as 24-year-old Nathaniel David Rowland and said he was being held in jail. Police do not believe the suspect is an Uber driver and think Ms Josephson mistakenly got into the car thinking it was the Uber she had booked. Samantha Josephson, 21, is seen on the phone shortly before she disappeared / Columbia Police Department "What we know now is that she had, in fact, summoned an Uber ride and was waiting for that Uber ride to come," Holbrook said, citing CCTV footage. "We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride." He went on: Our hearts are broken, they're broken. There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered." Her father Seymour paid tribute to his daughter. He posted an image of them together on Facebook and wrote: It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this. Her college tutor Daniella Jaimes described Ms Josephson, from New Jersey as a "dedicated student with big dreams". Ms Josephsons friends, who she had been out with on Thursday evening and into the early hours of Friday morning, contacted police at 1.30pm on Friday when they had not heard from her. Suspect: Nathaniel Rowland / Columbia Police Department Turkey hunters found a body two and a half hours later in a wooded area in Clarendon Country, south-east of Columbia, Holbrook said. The body was identified as that of Ms Josephson. Police then searched for the car Ms Josephson had got into and at about 3am on Saturday when it was located, the driver got out of the car and fled from police but was quickly caught. The car Ms Josephson is believed to have got into before she was killed / Columbia Police Department Her mobile phone was discovered in the car along with liquid bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner, police said. Police have not said how she died. They have asked anyone who has any recent experiences of someone trying to "entice" them into a rideshare vehicle in recent months to report it. Saturday, March 30 7.02pm: A 45-year-old woman is stabbed in the back in Aberdeen Road, N18. She is taken to hospital in a critical condition. Sunday, March 31 0.15am: A man is stabbed in Park Avenue, N18. He is taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 3.55am: A 23-year-old man is stabbed in Silver Street, N18. He is found at Seven Sisters Tube station and was taken to hospital, where his condition is described as critical but stable. 9.43am: A man is stabbed in the back in Brettenham, N18 Road. He is taken to hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening but potentially life-changing. A taxi driver whose car was reportedly attacked by a group of armed men in north London is fighting for his life after a suspected heart attack. Police were called at around 11.35pm on Saturday to reports of a minicab driver taken ill in Amhurst Park, in Stamford Hill. A man, believed to be aged in his 50s, was treated at the scene of a suspected heart attack before being rushed to hospital. He remains in a critical condition in hospital on Sunday. Officers are investigating reports that the car he was in was attacked by a group of males armed with weapons before he was taken ill. It is believed the victim's car was followed for a short while by a white Ford Focus. At the Amhurst Park Road junction with Rav Pinter Close, the victim's car was boxed in and four or five males armed with weapons got out of their car. The group smashed the windows of the victim's car, police said, before fleeing the scene. Three passengers who were also inside the vehicle at the time of the attack were uninjured. Detective Constable James Readman said: I would like to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time of the attack or may have information regarding this incident. Although the driver was not injured directly by the suspects, it is believed he was taken ill shortly after the attack on the car. He now remains in hospital in a life threatening condition and my officers are working to identify the group of males responsible. It appears this was a planned attack and an investigation has been launched to establish the full circumstances which led to this incident taking place. No arrests have been made. " What happens in Tramp, stays in Tramp," the general manager of the exclusive London club David Fleming teases. But despite its long-standing motto, the club is infamous for hosting a plethora of superstars from the height of rock 'n' roll to the big screen and the Royal family. Now remarkable archive pictures have shown legendary faces enjoying the Mayfair disco haunt throughout the decades. Marking its 50th anniversary year in 2019, Tramp has long been a honeypot for the glamorous elite and harbours a rich history of decadent stories. The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger leaves Tramp in 1992 / Getty Images Not least when The Who drummer Keith Moon climbed up on to a 17th-century chandelier over his table and tore it from the ceiling, resulting in a 48-hour ban from the club. Reflecting on the appeal of nightlife institution, Mr Fleming said it continues to draw a legendary crowd for its offering of a home-away-from-home atmosphere with food, drink and music on request and a place to let loose. The Disco Room at Tramp From The Beatles to Frank Sinatra and Prince, music legends have descended on the club since its opening in the last fortnight of the swinging Sixties. Launched on December 18, 1969 by partners Johnny Gold, Oscar Lerman and Bill Ofner, its name was inspired by Charlie Chaplin. As Mr Lerman was married to Jackie Collins, celebrities soon swarmed to the establishment. Supermodel Naomi Campbell outside the club in 1994 / Getty Images From then on Tramp, where members descend a staircase to a basement bar, restaurant, disco and terrace, became entangled with the culture of celebrity hedonism of the Seventies and Eighties in London. Sir Michael Caine once said: I used to live in Tramp. I was in there every night givin it some of that! Founded on the ethos that everyone who walked through the doors is treated like a VIP, Tramps attentive and discrete service has kept a loyal fanbase. Michael And Shakira Caine in 1991 / Getty Images Since its inception stars from film, stage, sport and the arts have made the club their stomping ground, with the likes of Kate Moss, David Beckham and Lindsay Lohan enjoying its music, food and drink offerings to this day. In the early days, it was just normal to find The Beatles sitting next to the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra, Mr Fleming says. No one batted an eye, he added. So casual were such encounters at the club that some 20 years ago three James Bonds - Sir Roger Moore, Sir Sean Connery and George Lazenby - bumped into one another and ended up having dinner together in the clubs Zodiac restaurant, Mr Fleming added. Nowadays the club attracts A-listers from George Clooney, to Ben Stiller, Drake and Rihanna. The Terrace at Tramp / Tramp Mr Fleming said one reason celebrities are drawn back to the venue is the privacy it offers. "Drake has made so many visits because there's never paparazzi outside... we don't call the photographers to get publicity," he said. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson for her birthday party at the club in the 1990s / UK Press via Getty Images The general manager said it's also about the ambiance the club creates for guests. "Everybody is made to feel like a VIP but at the same time everyone is equal." He added: "[Drake] has his own whisky brand which we brought in for him... so he normally drinks that when he's in here." The general manager said its about creating an environment which caters to everyone, while feeling exclusive. Mr Fleming said: "It was always meant to be a place where people could let loose and party and be free." Joan Collins / WireImage He added: "It was a home away from home, and we've kept that. "A lot of the competition at the time [people wore suits], but at Tramp there was no dress code. "We wanted to have a club where you could make music requests to the DJ and the kitchen would cook them whatever - like fried eggs on toast. There was no set menu." The club holds on to this ethos today. The restaurant serves an a la carte Mediterranean-style menu, with dishes such as Chicken Milanese, however staff are still ready to fulfil visitor's requests. But it's the iconic Tramp burger - a regular 3am order by Collins - that remains the favourite of club members and celebrities alike. "We can do dinners here for high end people and they still want the burger," Mr Fleming said. "It's the best burger in London. "We get members who haven't been here in 10 years and they still want it. It's the first thing news chefs have to learn is the recipe." Tramp features a cocktail bar, roof terrace, restaurant and disco room. The nightclub will mark its 50th year with a series of events including a party on its official anniversary of December 18. A snap General Election is "not the answer" to solving the Brexit deadlock, senior Tories warned today. It comes following reports that Theresa Mays aides are at loggerheads this weekend over whether to accept a soft Brexit involving a customs union or hold a snap poll if her deal is rejected by MPs for a fourth time. Tory former minister Alistair Burt who resigned from his post last week to back indicative votes on Brexit alternatives told Sky Newss Sophie Ridge: Were all with Brenda from Bristol on this oh no, not another one. I don't see a general election now adding to the mix that we're in at the moment as anything that would be likely to be helpful to the country, whoever leads the Conservative Party or Labour Party or anyone else at the moment. Pressed on whether Theresa May should lead the Tories into another election, he replied: "The Prime Minister has already said she's expecting to leave after we get the first stage of Brexit going through, I don't anticipate a general election before that is done - so probably the answer would be no." Calling a general election?: Theresa May / EPA Conservative Party deputy chairman told the programme: "I don't think an election would solve anything. Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver. We don't want to add any more unnecessary delay." Mr Cleverly acknowledged that "sensible and pragmatic" contingency planning was taking place in case Mrs May was forced to go to the country early. "We have got a minority Government in a turbulent time," he said. In such circumstances, he said it was an "inevitable possibility" that Mrs May would lead the party into the election. Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major advised Mrs May against calling a general election and suggested a "time-limited unity government" may be required at some point. Sir John said it was "very unlikely" an election would produce a government with a clear working majority while a national unity government was not imminent. Outlining how to approach the Brexit issues, he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: "If we have a general election in the autumn, which I think is possible not certain, and we don't get a government with a clear majority then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that we're seeing in Parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected." Asked for his advice to Mrs May about whether or not she should call an election this week, Sir John replied: "Don't. I mean don't for a whole range of reasons. "The Prime Minister is blocked in on every side, I utterly can empathise with her frustration but I think a general election will solve nothing at this moment." Sir John went on: "When feelings are running high, I think a general election is pretty much the very last thing we need. We might be driven to it later but now is certainly not the moment." The warnings came as MPs prepared to take control again of the Commons timetable with a second series of "indicative" votes starting on Monday in attempt to find a alternative plan which can command a majority in the House. Many Brexiteers fear the cross-party initiative - led by former minister Sir Oliver Letwin - will inevitably lead to a "softer" Brexit and a lengthy delay, or even no Brexit at all. Theresa May: I fear we are reaching the limits of the Brexit process in this House Justice Secretary David Gauke has said the Government cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it votes for a "softer" Brexit. Gauke: May cannot ignore MPs backing for 'softer' Brexit Mr Gauke said the Prime Minister would have to look "very closely" if MPs back a customs union in a fresh round of indicative votes this week. "I think that she would need to look very closely at that," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show. In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London 1 /26 In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London A man comes face to face with a police officer PA A pro-Brexit protester faces off with police during a demonstration outside Downing Street REUTERS Pro-Brexit supporters burn a EU flag near to Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters stand in the road at Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters confront police officers securing the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters face off with police REUTERS Demonstrators march holding flags and placards during a pro Brexit rally Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster AP A man takes a photo of a Metropolitan Police officer AP Police officers clash with demonstrators Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster, AP The pro-Brexit protest was attended by thousands AP One protester wearing a Guy Fawkes march AP Police officer secure the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters stand near police AP Demonstrators clash with police officers Getty Images A far-right protester is detained by police REUTERS A Pro-Brexit supporter wearing a Donald Trump mask in Whitehall PA PA Brexit supporters march in Fulham in the final leg of the March To Leave Rally Getty Images "If Parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I don't think it's sustainable to ignore Parliament's position and therefore leave without a deal." Mr Gauke said he could not remain a member of the Government if it tried to leave with no deal, but said that Mrs May had made clear that was something she would not do. "My position is that it is not the responsible thing for a government to do, to leave without a deal in these circumstances, so obviously I wouldn't be able to remain a member the Government that pursued that as a policy. That is a point I have made on a number of occasions," he said. "The Prime Minister has been very clear that when Parliament is making it clear what it wants to do, she is not going to go down that route." The entrance to a secret marijuana farm in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. A sign at the entrance warns outsiders against entering, saying the area is used to farm poisonous snakes. Courtesy of Pyeongtaek City By Lee Suh-yoon As the spring planting season begins, police will scan the countryside with drones to look for illegal cultivation of opium poppies and marijuana plants, the National Police Agency (NPA) announced Sunday. Seasonal crackdowns on opium and marijuana are fairly routine. Growers are usually elderly people who grow small amounts as folk remedies for bodily pain. But this time, the pressure is on authorities following the recent scandal around Burning Sun, a nightclub run by K-pop star Seungri under investigation for rampant drug trafficking and supplying VIPs with rape drugs. Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Courtesy of Supreme Prosecutor's Office drug encyclopedia Earlier this month, police announced they apprehended 523 persons in a month-long crackdown on drugs following the Burning Sun scandal 30 percent up from the same period last year. Starting April, the NPA said it will strengthen screening of countryside farms with some districts using drones to scan farmlands and mountains for illegal cultivation activities. Last summer, drug control officers at North Chungcheong Province said they arrested 140 and destroyed 10,383 opium poppy and marijuana plants thanks to drones. T om Watson today said it would be inconceivable if a Labour manifesto for a snap general election did not include a second referendum. Pressed on whether a second vote would be in Labour's manifesto, Mr Watson told The Andrew Marr Show that he does not write it but noted "it seems to me inconceivable" that a "People's Vote" would not be in the manifesto if a general election was called. Asked if he is in favour of a second referendum under all circumstances, Mr Watson replied: "I think that's the only way we can bring the country back together now." He added: "It seems to me that Parliament, certainly Labour MPs, are coming together with an emerging consensus that whatever that deal looks like - and we understand there have to be compromises - if it's underpinned by a People's Vote that is the way we can bring the country back together." Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party / Getty Images Speaking separately on Skys Sophie Ridge programme, shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry agreed that there is a strong case for a second referendum but stressed that Labour wanted to respect the result of the 2016 vote and the UK out of the EU. "I think that we are likely to leave the EU but I think it is something we need to agree ourselves and I think there is a strong argument for asking people to have the final say on this," Ms Thornberry said. "I think that it is quite difficult for us to leave the European Union, most of us campaigned for Remain. I think in our hearts we want to remain, but the difficulty is that we have to square that with democracy. We are democrats above everything else." Shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry / Sky News Asked about the Commons rejecting Theresa May's Brexit deal for the third time, Ms Thornberry said Mrs May is "out of control". "Even with just days to go she is just saying 'It is my deal or no deal'. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything,"' she said. "No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined." Their comments come as a new poll found that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour have taken a five-point lead over Mrs May's Conservatives amid Brexit turmoil within the Tory party. The Deltapoll survey commissioned by the Mail on Sunday found that Labour would be on course to win 307 seats in a General Election - 19 seats short of a majority - while the Conservatives would claim 264. Responding to the poll results, Mr Watson told Andrew Marr: "It's no surprise to me that we've had a little boost in the polls because we're offering that consensus, that attempt to bring the country back together. "I'm sure that whatever the outcome of the actual withdrawal deal negotiations, if it's underpinned by a People's Vote we can eventually win a consensus if that's the right way forward." A Labour party spokesman said: "In line with Labours policy and conference decision, we will continue to seek a majority in parliament for a close economic relationship with the EU to break the deadlock or a public vote to avoid a damaging Tory Brexit or a no deal outcome. T ory MPs are warning Theresa May that they will resist any attempt to hold a snap general election to try to break the Brexit crisis engulfing the party. Mrs Mays aides are said to be at loggerheads this weekend over whether to accept a soft Brexit or call a general election. Her team want to put her Brexit deal back to the Commons for a fourth vote early this week and if it fails again, some of her most senior aides are pushing for her to call a snap poll. Brexiteer cabinet ministers are reportedly poised to resign if Mrs May accepted a soft Brexit involving a customs union or a long delay to the EU exit which involves taking part in the European elections. One-hundred-and-seventy MPs and ministers have signed a letter urging the PM to secure a swift departure from the EU and pursue a no-deal exit rather than accept a soft Brexit. But at least six cabinet ministers in the Remain camp are prepared to quit if she allows the UK to crash out of the EU without a deal, according to the Sunday Times. Theresa May would need a two-thirds 'super majority' in the Commons in order to hold a General Election / AFP/Getty Images After MPs rejected Mrs Mays deal again on Friday by 58 votes, the PM said there would be "grave" implications and, in a hint at a general election, warned they were "reaching the limits of this process in this House". Her comments set alarm bells ringing among MPs who fear the party is in no state to fight an election. Mrs May would effectively be a lame duck leader - having said she will stand down once she has got Brexit through - and voters would be voting "blind" not knowing who her successor would be. Brexit: Crowds attend Leave protests in Westminster Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan told The Observer: "If we have a general election before Brexit is resolved, it will only make things worse." Under the terms of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister needs a two-thirds majority in order to call an election. However, after her disastrous decision to go to the polls early in 2017, Tory MPs made clear they would not be prepared to support her in doing so again. Pro-EU backbencher Antoinette Sandbach, who backs a second referendum, told The Observer: "The answer is not a general election, and I would vote against that. We need to find a way forward in Parliament." Her comments were echoed by Mark Francois, the deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, who told the paper there was "not a chance" MPs would back an election under her leadership. "Of course they wouldn't - not after last time. And remember, she needs a super majority to do it," he said. In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London 1 /26 In pictures | Pro-Brexit march in London A man comes face to face with a police officer PA A pro-Brexit protester faces off with police during a demonstration outside Downing Street REUTERS Pro-Brexit supporters burn a EU flag near to Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters stand in the road at Trafalgar Square PA Pro-Brexit supporters confront police officers securing the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters face off with police REUTERS Demonstrators march holding flags and placards during a pro Brexit rally Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster AP A man takes a photo of a Metropolitan Police officer AP Police officers clash with demonstrators Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters clash with police after their rally in Westminster, AP The pro-Brexit protest was attended by thousands AP One protester wearing a Guy Fawkes march AP Police officer secure the gates of Downing Street AFP/Getty Images Pro-Brexit protesters stand near police AP Demonstrators clash with police officers Getty Images A far-right protester is detained by police REUTERS A Pro-Brexit supporter wearing a Donald Trump mask in Whitehall PA PA Brexit supporters march in Fulham in the final leg of the March To Leave Rally Getty Images Nigel Evans, executive secretary of the backbench Conservative 1922 Committee, said the Cabinet would block it. "I don't believe the Cabinet would allow her to do it," he told the paper. "Theresa May cannot call an election, she cannot be the leader who would lead us into it. The party would not tolerate it." The warnings came as MPs prepared to take control again of the Commons timetable with a second series of "indicative" votes starting on Monday in attempt to find a alternative plan which can command a majority in the House. Sir Oliver Letwin MP is leading the cross-party initiative on 'indicative votes' / EPA Many Brexiteers fear the cross-party initiative - led by former minister Sir Oliver Letwin - will inevitably lead to a "softer" Brexit and a lengthy delay, or even no Brexit at all. With frustrations growing on all sides at the continuing deadlock, it emerged that 170 Tory MPs had written to the Prime Minister demanding a swift departure - with or without a deal. The letter was said to have been signed by 10 members of the Cabinet - including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid - and 20 other ministers. Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis confirmed the existence of the letter, saying: "I haven't signed the letter. I do know about it." The letter followed a warning by the Prime Minister that an extended delay to Brexit was "almost certain" if her deal does not go through. Following the defeat on Friday, she warned the Commons would not allow Britain to leave without a deal on April 12 - the new deadline set by the EU. M ore than half of Conservative MPs have demanded that Brexit should not be delayed by more than a few months as Theresa May faces a rebellion within her own Government. The Prime Minister has reportedly received a letter calling for Britain to leave the European Union soon, even if it means a no-deal Brexit. It was signed by 170 of the 330 Tory MPs and sent to Mrs May after her withdrawal deal was rejected for a third time on Friday, according to The Sun. As many as 10 Cabinet ministers - including Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt - and 20 other members of Government are believed to have signed the letter. It called on May to bring her deal back to Parliament for a fourth vote, with the threat of a general election if it is rejected again. Home secretary Sajid Javid / Andy Rain/EPA A source close to the signatories told paper: The letter reaffirmed our commitment to the manifesto, and to the PMs own determination to seek a short extension to article 50 that avoids the EU elections. One Brexiteer minister who signed it said Two thirds of the parliamentary party have sent the PM a very clear message. We want to leave the EU on April 12 or very soon afterwards. The nuclear option that she must now consider is to bring back her deal, with a confidence motion attached to it. If it is voted down again, then we will vote to dissolve Parliament and have a general election. Brandon Lewis, a Cabinet member and chairman of the Conservative Party, said he was aware of the letter, though he had not seen the final text or the signatures. Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs / Rex Features "We should be doing everything we can to leave the European Union in good order as quickly as we can, as we said in our manifesto and as we've said to Parliament," Lewis said. "I think the deal is the right way to do that." Mrs May survived a no-confidence motion within the Conservative party by 83 votes in December. I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, she told MPs who voted her deal down. Her remarks appeared to signal that she is prepared to call a General Election to try to break the deadlock. J eremy Corbyn's Labour have taken a five-point lead over Theresa May's Conservatives amid Brexit turmoil within the Tory party, according to a new poll. After weeks of internal conflict within the Government and three failed attempts by the Prime Minister to pass her Brexit deal, a Deltapoll survey commissioned by the Mail on Sunday has found that public support for Labour stands at 41 per cent, with the Tories on 36 per cent. The poll found that Labour would be on course to win 307 seats in a General Election - 19 seats short of a majority - while the Conservative party would claim 264. Although Labour would be short of a majority, a General Election with these results could see Mr Corbyn in Downing Street if he makes a deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP). Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with prospective parliamentary candidate Ruth Jones / PA The findings come after the Labour leader accused the Government of "running down the clock" and "bullying" MPs in order to force through Mrs May's divorce deal during a visit to South Wales. Speaking in Newport yesterday, he said: "The absolute priority at the moment is to end this chaos the Government has brought us to by their endlessly running down the clock and basically bullying and threatening people. "The bullying hasn't worked the threats hasn't worked. It's time now for the sensible people to take over." Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn / EPA The Mail's poll also found that 41 per cent of people think Mrs May should resign, 23 per cent think she should after MPs pass her deal, while 22 per cent think she should stay. The most popular person to replace Mrs May was found to be former foreign secretary Boris Johnson at 15 per cent, while Home Secretary Sajid Javid followed at 6 per cent. The results come as several senior Tories appear to have begun manoeuvres to replace Mrs May after another defeat reignited speculation that her days in Downing Street are numbered. Theresa May leaves after attending a church service on Sunday / AFP/Getty Images A number of party heavyweights have articles and interviews in the Sunday papers that suggest they are starting to set out their stalls in anticipation of a leadership contest. The first Cabinet minister out of the blocks is Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who has called for the Conservative party to "remodernise". Other Cabinet ministers tipped to join the race when the time comes include Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom. Another former Cabinet minister, Justine Greening, said she "might" run for the Tory leadership. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she said the party needed a leader for the "2020s, not the 1920s". "It's 32 years since we had a landslide and we have to answer the question about why we have failed to connect with people and their ambitions," she told the paper. T he husband of jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, jailed on spying charges, has delivered flowers to the Iranian Embassy in London to mark the third Mother's Day since she was imprisoned. She was arrested with her infant daughter Gabriella on April 3, 2016 at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport as she prepared to board a plane back to the UK after visiting relatives. Speaking outside the embassy, Richard Ratcliffe said: "We've come to deliver her a Mother's Day card, because obviously we can't do that in person, and to deliver 155 bunches of flowers, one for each week she has been held. "Flowers, partly because it's a Mother's Day tradition, also because that's what people are given when they've been released from prison [in Iran]." Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, is serving a five-year sentence in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison after she was convicted of membership of an illegal group. Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of the jailed UK-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, delivers a mothers day card and flowers to the Iranian Embassy. / EPA The trial by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran was widely condemned as unfair and she strenuously denies the charges against her. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt granted Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection earlier this month, and her husband said they are grateful. "It's clear that Jeremy Hunt has taken a personal commitment to Natalie's case and he's made some clear statements," he said. "Before he granted her diplomatic protection he went to Tehran. He's done a lot to make it clear that he cares and this is a priority. "He's not done everything that we've wanted, but he's also been clear that he's not going to. As a family we're appreciative of all he's done." Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, holding her daughter Gabriella. / PA Speaking about his four-year-old daughter, who is currently living in Iran, Mr Ratcliffe said: "I spoke to Gabriella yesterday and there's a prison visit today. We're going to draw a card together for Granny, my mum. "For her, it was Iranian New Year last week, so that was the big occasion that she wanted her mummy back for. That not happening, amongst a number of times that it hasn't happened, has meant that she hopes for things but I don't think she takes her parents' promises entirely seriously these days." When asked about the stress the process has caused him and his wife, he said: "Sometimes you speak to her and she seems fine, and sometimes she's really bleak and dark and threatening all sorts of things - but yesterday she was fine. "Often she decides that she needs to take matters into her own hands, she had that hunger strike to get medical treatment which hasn't been provided. "She does threaten every so often that 'I'll do it again' and it'll be an escalation from last time. I do live a bit in fear of what will happen. A young girl looks at flowers alongside a giant Mother's Day card left on the steps of the Iranian Embassy. / PA "If you don't sort it, there will be consequences. Hopefully that's an empty threat and it doesn't happen but sometimes she's in a dark place. "[The whole experience] has brought us closer together because we've had to survive it. I'm hugely proud of the fact that she's kept going, she's kept her dignity." Among those laying flowers outside the embassy were his parents John and Barbara Ratcliffe. Mrs Ratcliffe, 68, said: "We're feeling sad, but cross. Why should this have happened to them? What's our family done to anybody? "That poor little girl. She's now got a different mummy and she'll have another different mummy when she comes out. "The support from everybody is helping us through, it is really terrific. We just spoke to one lady who said: 'I can see my (her) child any day. Naz can't see her mum."' A Foreign Office spokesman said: ""It is deeply disappointing that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be spending yet another Mother's Day without her daughter Gabriella. A British teenage ISIS recruit nicknamed Osama bin Bieber has reportedly been executed by the terror group for being a spy. Mohammed Ismail, who acquired the nickname because of his youthful looks, was 18 when he left Coventry to join ISIS in March 2014. He has been killed by the terror group for giving away the movements of Nasser Muthana, an aspiring doctor from Cardiff, who became a leading Isis recruiter and propagandist, according to the Sunday Times. Muthana, who was on a Pentagon kill list, died in a precision air strike in Mosul, Isiss former stronghold in Iraq. The terror group believed Ismails spying resulted in Muthanas death. Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fire a cannon on the frontline of battles in the Islamic State group's last remaining position in the village of Baghouz / AFP/Getty Images He apologised on camera and his final moments were captured on film, according to the newspaper. It is not known how he was killed. A comedian with no political experience held a comfortable lead in Ukraines presidential election, an exit poll suggested, but he fell well short of the absolute majority needed to win outright in the first round. The poll said incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was in a distant second place, closely followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 1,600 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Mr Poroshenko said on Sunday the elections were free and satisfied international standards. Incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko received 17.8 percent of the nationwide vote. / AP Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, led the field of 39 candidates with 30.4 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll. Mr Poroshenko tallied with 17.8 percent support and Ms Tymoshenko had 14.2 percent, it said. The Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov public opinion organisations poll claimed a margin of error of 2.5 percentage point The top two candidates will face off in presidential runoff on April 21. Final results in Sunday's first round are expected to be announced Monday morning. "Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko leaves after casting her ballot at a polling station in Kiev. / EPA "He showed what the state leader should aspire for - fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs." Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraine's endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Concern about the election's legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Mr Poroshenko and Ms Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes. Like the popular character he plays, Mr Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. "A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kiev. "A life without corruption, without bribes." F ormer American vice president Joe Biden has said he does not believe he ever acted inappropriately towards women but will "listen respectfully" to suggestions that he did. Mr Biden, who is currently deciding whether to join the 2020 presidential race, released a new statement in response to allegations from a Nevada politician that he kissed her on the back of the head in 2014 and made her uncomfortable. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately," he said. "If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention." White House counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested Mr Biden consider apologising. / AP The allegation was made in a New York Magazine article written by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor. Going on the attack against the prospective 2020 contender, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Ms Flores was "quite bold" to "go up against the highest levels of her political party" with the allegations and suggested that Mr Biden should consider apologising to Ms Flores. "If anybody just types in `Creepy Uncle Joe Videos' you come up with a treasure trove," Ms Conway told "Fox News Sunday." Barack Obama and Joe Biden / Getty Images "I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes. His party calls it completely inappropriate," she said. Some of the Democratic presidential candidates have expressed support for Ms Flores, but they have not said it disqualifies Mr Biden from joining the race. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a candidate for president, said she had "no reason not to believe" Ms Flores' allegations. In the New York Magazine article published on Friday, Ms Flores wrote that she and Mr Biden were waiting to take the stage during a rally in Las Vegas before the 2014 election. "I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. `Why is the vice president of the United States touching me?"' Ms Flores wrote. "He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head." O ne of Russia's richest women, S7 Group co-owner Natalia Fileva, has died in a small plane crash in Germany, the Russian airline operator said. Ms Fileva, 55, was on board a single-engine, six-seat Epic LT aircraft that crashed in a field as it approached the small airport at Egelsbach, a town in south-western Germany, the airline's press service said in an email. German police said there appeared to be three people on board the plane, including the pilot of the flight, which originated in France. They said the two passengers were believed to be Russian citizens but that positive identification of the occupants would require further investigation. German aviation authorities were probing the cause of the crash. Egelsbach is about 10 kilometres south of Frankfurt. Emergency services among burnt out debris of a small aircraft on a field near the small airport of Egelsbach. / AP The business publication Forbes.ru estimated Fileva's fortune at 600 million US dollars (460 million). "S7 Group team extends sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Fileva's family and loved ones," the company said in a statement. "The memory of her as an inspiring and sympathetic leader and a wonderful person will forever stay in the hearts of all S7 Group employees. It is an irreparable loss." Based at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, S7 is part of the Oneworld alliance and flies to 150 destinations in 35 countries. The plane crashed when approaching the airport killing four people. / AP The crash was also linked to other deaths in Germany. The dpa news agency, citing police, reported that two people died on Sunday and three others were seriously hurt when a police vehicle that was responding to the plane crash with flashing lights and sirens was struck head-on by another vehicle several kilometres from the crash site. A nti-corruption candidate and liberal environmental activist Zuzana Caputova has been elected as the first female president of Slovakia. Ms Caputova, 45, who is a newcomer to politics, defeated high-profile diplomat Maros Sefcovic in a run-off vote on Saturday. She won 58 per cent of the vote with Mr Sefcovic on 42 per cent. He conceded defeat and congratulated his rival. "I'm extremely happy about the result," Ms Caputova said. "It's an extremely strong mandate for me," she said. "Zuzana, Zuzana," her supporters chanted. Victory: Zuzana Caputova / REUTERS Ms Caputova attracted voters who are appalled by corruption and mainstream politics. She only recently became vice chairman of the Progressive Slovakia, a party so new it has not had a chance to run in parliamentary elections. Ms Caputova resigned from her party post after winning the first round of the presidential vote two weeks ago. She becomes Slovakia's fifth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The president of the nation of 5.4 million people has the power to pick the prime minister, appoint Constitutional Court judges and veto laws. Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, however. The government, led by the prime minister, possesses most executive powers. A lawyer by profession, Ms Caputova is a rising star of Slovak politics. She became known for leading a successful fight against a toxic waste dump in her hometown of Pezinok, for which she received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2016. Presidential candidate Maros Sefcovic / AFP/Getty Images A divorced mother of two, she is in favour of gay rights and opposes a ban on abortion in the conservative Roman Catholic country. She was also part of a campaign in 2017 that led to the annulment of pardons granted by former authoritarian Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. Sefcovic, 52, is a career diplomat who was supported by the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party led by former populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, a major force in Slovak politics that was tarnished by corruption scandals. He campaigned on a traditional family values ticket. Popular incumbent Andrej Kiska, who did not stand for a second term, backed Ms Caputova in the vote. By Park Si-soo Seoul City will host a job fair for marriage immigrants on April 5. The free event will take place at 1 p.m. on the basement floor of Seoul City Hall. The in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu will co-host the event. Companies recruiting interpreters, translators, foreign language trainers, call center workers or lecturers on multiculturalism will open their booths for on-site job interviews. Last year alone, 176 marriage immigrants landed a job through the event, which Seoul has hosted once or twice a year, according to officials. Various consultations for job hunting, labor and other work-related issues will be offered. For more information, call the center (02-845-5433) The Liberals want a strong Romania and it can only be built by strong Romanians, National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ludovic Orban said in Cluj-Napoca on Sunday. Orban participated in a meeting with the north-west region's local elected, with over 6,500 people attending, to whom the candidates in the elections to the European Parliament were presented. "We, Liberals, want a strong Romania and a strong Romania can only be built by strong Romanians, who are standing on their own, who are dedicated, who have faith and who really have the force, hard work and determination to build a paradise on Earth in this country," Orban said. The 3-billion-euro loan recently drawn by the Government "has the highest cost of Romania's history," the interest being almost 2.2 billion euro, Pro Romania party Chairman and former PM Victor Ponta told a press conference on Sunday according to Agerpres. He spoke of the 3-billion-euro loan which the Government, the Finance Ministry took in only one day. "Besides the amount value, it is definitely the biggest loan ever taken by Romania in one single day, 3 billion euro, it is the longest term, 30 years, and has the highest cost of Romania's history (...), as we speak today we'll pay a 2.2 billion euro interest during the credit," he said.At the same time, the Pro Romania leader said the loan in question was taken for "current expenses.""If this loan had been taken for an investment (...), it is a loan I would have praised (...). Unfortunately, as you know, the 3 billion are for current expenses, namely pensions, salaries and other expenses... they will be gone, there will be nothing left behind. Only a 5.2 billion euro debt, which we all have to pay," Ponta pointed out.He said that, if such a credit had been made for a certain project, Romania could have borrowed from the European Investment Bank (EIB) or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)."If we had had a project to ask money for, we could have borrowed money from the international financial institutions, the EIB, the EBRD, at half the interest, maybe less than half. But if you don't have projects, you go and take money from banks, and banks give it to you at a huge interest. (...) We borrowed 3 billion, we give back 5 billion and we don't do anything with the money," Ponta said.The Public Finance Ministry on Wednesday borrowed 3 billion euros following the launch of a new series of bonds under the "Medium Term Notes" security issue programme. According to the Order published in the Official JOurnal, the issue was administrated by Citigroup Global Markets Limted, Erste Group Bank AG, ING Bank N.V, JP Morgan Securities plc and Societe Generale. The amount corresponding to the issue will be used for funding the budget deficit and refunding and early reimbursement of governmental public debt. Some hundred persons protested on Saturday evening in the University Square against the ruling coalition and in support of former National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) chief Laura Codruta Kovesi according to Agerpres. Most protesters were on the sidewalk and in the park in front of the National Theatre. They chanted "Thieves!," "Resign!," "Justice, not corruption," "10 August," "PSD, the red plague," "Romania, wake up!." Furthermore, the participants in the protest displayed placards with messages such as "All for justice" or "Codruta, don't forget, the street is on your side." The protesters also waved tricolour flags and a big EU flag was unfolded on the pavement.Traffic in the area was normal and Gendarmerie teams were present on site. By Jung Da-min Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will meet in Washington, D.C., Monday (early Tuesday in KST), to discuss security on the Korean Peninsula. It will be their first face-to-face talks since Shanahan took office, following their telephone conversation on March 2 when they agreed to meet soon. During the meeting, Jeong and Shanahan will also evaluate the joint Dong Maeng exercise that ended on March 12. The exercise replaced a larger-scale Key Resolve command post exercise, which was canceled as a gesture toward ongoing peace efforts on the peninsula. The U.S. and South Korea have suspended three major join exercises Key Resolve, Foal Eagle and Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) replacing them with Dong Maeng exercises and other training. The transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) back to South Korea is also on the agenda. After his meeting with Shanahan, Jeong will also visit the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to meet experts on Korean issues. On Tuesday, Jeong will also meet U.S. lawmakers including Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, and Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to call for congressional support for the alliance. Meanwhile, the inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) made last Sept. 19 has been stalled since the unfruitful Hanoi summit, where the U.S. and North Korea failed to bridge differences over the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization and Washington's sanctions relief. North Korea has not responded to the South's request to send a taskforce to a planned joint project to excavate war remains in the border area, which was slated to begin April 1. The defense ministry said it would independently initiate the excavation project at Arrowhead Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, while still waiting for the North's response. Bruce Cumings speaks with The Korea Times and KBS World during a joint interview held at the broadcaster in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, March 29. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min By Jung Da-min The only way for the United States to steer North Korea in a better direction is to embrace it, giving it a chance to join the world economy, according to Bruce Cumings, a history professor at the University of Chicago. In a joint interview with The Korea Times and KBS World Radio in Seoul, March 29, the renowned Korea expert said the U.S. should normalize relations with North Korea and declare an end to the Korean War as early as possible. Cumings was visiting Seoul as one of the keynote speakers at a forum commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1919 March 1 Independence Movement. "Particularly, it needs to take economic measures to bring North Korea into the world economy, so they can be captured by the same gravity that China and Vietnam have been captured by," Cumings said. "That's the only way North Korea will ever change." Cumings said South Korea could facilitate peace talks with North Korea by inviting its leader Kim Jong-un to Seoul. "For Kim, who allegedly has switched from his military first and nuclear policies to one-end to build up the North Korean economy, it'd be good for him to get a good look at Seoul and immense development here," he said. "North Korea, if it wants to get off the mark economically and develop, needs every kind of help from South Korea." Cumings also shared his critical views about security advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Trump has made a great progress in the denuclearization talks with North Korea, but may do a better job without hardliners. He said Trump could have made an "interim" deal regarding denuclearization at the last summit with North Korean leader Kim in Hanoi without the hardliners. "I think Trump needs to sort out his advisers, particularly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton," Cumings said. "Trump needs to lead (the denuclearization talks) and there's no reason why he couldn't have made that deal in Hanoi as an interim deal. It wasn't a bad deal really." Cumings said this is a very dangerous situation as Bolton and Pompeo have been on record, especially Bolton for more than 20 years, saying the real answer to the North Korean problem is to get rid of the North Korean regime. "This does not help the U.S. dealing with the North Korean leadership. I don't see how Trump can go forward with the third summit or some kind of deal with North Korea until he gets his advisers on board." He said many people have been waiting to overthrow North Korea or for the country to collapse for his entire lifetime and it hasn't happened, showing it is not the way to deal with the country. "The way to change North Korea in a better direction is to bring it out of its isolation," he said. Despite the failure of the Hanoi summit, Cumings said he still gives Trump credit for what he has achieved since he was elected as president. "It's very important that North Korea quit testing in November 2017, right at the point where they had shown that they had nuclear weapons and an intercontinental ballistic missile," he said. He said Trump's innocent approach to North Korea is different from what he had witnessed with past administrations of the U.S. and South Korea and far from the Washington intellectuals. "Most happened in the last 75 years has been very predictable, because of the confrontation between North and South and sometimes it seems nothing ever changes. You get the progress with Kim Dae-jung and Clinton, you get regress with Bush and Lee Myung-bak and so on," he said. "Trump is very different in that he looks at Korea with innocent eyes. There's nothing innocent about Trump but he doesn't really know about history but wants to make an impact and he doesn't like the foreign policy establishment and what it thinks about Korea." Chaining Americas Destiny to the Chaos of Ukraine The three leading candidates in this election, current President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and literal clown Volodymyr Zelensky outdo each other in their expressed hatred of Russia. The presidential elections in Ukraine have rightly been described as a race between three neo-Nazis, each more of a Russia-hating racist than the rest. Whichever one of them wins, the United States and the entire NATO alliance are mortally committed to supporting an extremist, out-of-control and desperate failing regime that would not hesitate to pull America into a thermonuclear war for its own selfish ends. The parallels and lessons to be drawn from the beginning of both the terrible world wars of the past century are striking. In 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of the obscure and unstable provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Gavrilo Princip, an idealistic, murderous young fool in a plot backed by Deep State elements in the Serbian government. The Serbian government and monarchy was torn apart between two feuding factions, each of which routinely slaughtered each other, including women and children in horrific massacres. Nevertheless, the Russian government felt a strong sense of Orthodox Christian and Slavic identification with the Serbs. So when the Austro-Hungarians decided to crush them, St. Petersburg declared war on Austria-Hungary, which in turn brought in Germany as Viennas ally. In World War II, Adolf Hitler was determined on his mad and wicked scheme to conquer all the plains of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and literally annihilate the Russian as well as Jewish peoples. (Recent research has shown that as many as 20 million Slavs, overwhelmingly Russian, were deliberately murdered in 200 smaller and little known extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Russia and Belorussia.) Still, it was the instability and recklessness of the racist Polish nationalist government, which persecuted Russians and Ukrainians as well as Jews in race laws that British historian Paul Johnson compared to those of Apartheid-era South Africa that triggered the world war. The Poles refused to make any sane and sensible defense agreement with the Soviet Union, the only nation that could protect them. They madly thought Britain and France on the other side of Europe would magically be able to protect them. Today, it is Ukraine that plays the fateful role of potential powder keg for a global explosion that Serbia did in 1914 and Poland in 1939. Just as the Serbs were driven insane by their passionate hatred for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Poles by their own loathing for the Soviet Union and the Russian people, the clique that rules Ukraine today and controls its election process hates modern Russia. The three leading candidates in this election, current President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and literal clown Volodymyr Zelensky outdo each other in their expressed hatred of Russia. The US political class mindless and its appalling cowardly, ignorant and sheer lazy mainstream media swallows the Big Lie that Ukraine is a virtuous and stable democratic nation: The USbacked and orchestrated violent coup detat of 2014 in Kiev notwithstanding. Yet an American polling organization, Gallup, reported in March that Poroshenko retains the trust and credibility of only 6 percent of the Ukrainian people who have suffered his total incompetence for the past five years. According to Gallup, the Ukrainian political system cobbled together on Washingtons orders after the 2014 coup does marginally better: A whopping 12 percent of the Ukrainian people trust it, which means 88 percent of them dont. Yet it is this corrupt, violent and chaotic shambles of a state that is leading the United States and all of NATO into a fateful collusion with Russia that could escalate into global thermonuclear war. In 1914, the rulers of Russia were obsessed with supporting Serbia. In 1939 the rulers of Britain and France were obsessed with supporting Poland and would not countenance a real alliance with the Soviet Union because the Poles opposed it. Today, Ukraine is the focus of the Wests ignorant, incompetent do-gooder obsessions. It does not really matter whether Poroshenko, Tymoshenko or Zelensky wins the joke election in Kiev: All of them are local radicals, extremists and gamblers with no sense of responsibility or obligation to their mindless protectors in the West at all. All of them are so filled with hatred of the Russian people and its leaders that they would eagerly fan the flames of thermonuclear conflagration if they thought it would get them even a minor territorial favorable adjustment on the Don. Friedrich Nietzsche famously predicted that whom the gods would destroy, they first made mad. The leaders and guides of the American people are fulfilling that vision now in their passion to wage war, come what may, for the frauds, crooks, gangsters and confidence artists they support to lead Ukraine. Nietzsche was no Christian. But Jesus issued the same warning even more vividly. Pigs filled with devils, he observed, madly galloped off the edge of a cliff. The Golan: A Disastrous Trump Declaration Netanyahu and Trump have now formally set a dangerous global precedent, which de facto renders any global order, including International Law and the United Nations, irrelevant. For the indigenous people of the Levant, three major Declarations have brought them historic, catastrophic damage. The First Declaration was God giving the land of the Indigenous People to the Chosen People. The Second Declaration, widely referred to as The Balfour Declaration, was the 1917 decision by the British Government to establish a national home for the Jewish people in the Indigenous Peoples Palestine. The Third Declaration, was Trumps announcement this week, illegally, immorally and at the expense of the Indigenous People, granting the Israeli-Occupied Syrian Golan to the Chosen People, the Jews. Two thirds of the Syrian Golan have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 War. After the War, Lord Caradon, the British ambassador to the UN, sponsored a resolution, supported by Arthur Goldberg, the American ambassador, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council as Resolution 242. In its preamble, Resolution 242 asserts the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war. An operative paragraph calls upon Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the War. Irrespective of the controversy as to whether withdraw from territories means all the territory or part of the territory, the Resolution asserts the principle of Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan. This resolution was subsequently followed by Security Council Resolution 338, adopted after the Arab-Israeli 1973 War, reaffirming the principles enunciated in resolution 242. Other resolutions were adopted affirming the principle of Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Following the Madrid Conference of 1991, peace negotiations commenced between Israel and Syria based on the Land for Peace formula. The basis for negotiations presumed Israeli withdrawal from the Golan and peace between the two states. In addition to the formal and public negotiations between the Syrian and Israeli delegations, there were many secret Track Two Diplomacy negotiations in which I personally participated. Some of the Israelis I encountered were very close to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. All the Syrian-Israeli negotiations were based on the premise of Israeli withdrawal from the Golan for peace; which implied, very clearly, an Israeli admission that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory. This admission by Israel lasted for 52 years. Irrespective of the truth, morality, legality, American national interest and in violation of International Law, international consensus, and a multitude of UN resolutions, Netanyahu recently, and suddenly, decided that the Golan belongs to Israel. This was further ratified by the farcical tweet of US President Donald Trump. The tragic content of this declaration may only, arguably, be matched by its medium of delivery; Twitter. Trumps con job of a tweet stated: After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israels Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability! To add further insult, a resolution was submitted to the US Congress stating: It is in the United States national security interest to ensure that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights [] The fate of the resolution is not in doubt, particularly in view of the Jewish control of the Congress; it has been said that Congress is Israeli occupied territory Netanyahus ludicrous claim that the Golan belongs to Israel and Trumps ratification and complicit lunacy raises two very dangerous concerns. First, if the Golan belongs to Israel, and it liberated two thirds of it in the 1967 War, as Netanyahu claims, it stands to reason that the remaining one third of the Golan occupied by Syria also belongs to Israel and should be liberated. Second, since there is no international border within Syria and the Golan, a province, Netanyahu and Trump may equally once again unilaterally, illegally and immorally designate any Syrian contiguous territory as part of the Golan. The two have now formally set a dangerous global precedent, which de facto renders any global order, including International Law and the United Nations, irrelevant. Since the Israeli occupation of the Golan, no Israeli government or American administration ever hinted that the Golan is sovereign Israeli territory. The Israeli governments, with American support, always expressed the willingness to withdraw from the Golan in exchange for peace; the contentious point was always the line of withdrawal. During the Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations, the Syrians were not willing to surrender even a small fraction of the Golan. Trumps handing over of the Syrian Golan to Israel is the last nail hammered in the coffin of the peace process. Reflecting on this dangerous and destabilizing regional development, I cannot help but wonder if Netanyahu claims sovereignty over the Syrian Golan, what is to stop him from claiming the historically and religiously more relevant Judea and Samaria. What is to stop Trump from ratifying and enforcing these claims. As according to Judaism, Gods promises of Judea and Samaria would mean an eventual Israeli annexation of the West Bank and the establishment of Great Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. What the under-investigation conmen, Netanyahu and Trump, have done, and the US Congress will follow soon, is not a panacea for regional stability; it is a road map for permanent upheaval: The paradox of an irresistible force colliding with an immovable object. The U.S. Army has ordered over 600 Black Hornet PRS (Personal Reconnaissance System) helicopter UAVs. The PRS is a larger (12.3 cm/4.8 inch rotor diameter) and heavier (33 g, 1.16 ounce) version of the original PD-100 model that was both smaller (10 cm/3.9 inch rotor diameter) and lighter (16 g, about half an ounce). The Army and Marines had tested PD-100 in 2015 and concluded that they needed some night vision and encrypted communications before they could buy. FLIR, the manufacturer noted that many of their existing and prospective military customers had made similar suggestions so the PRS model was developed. What makes any model of the Black Hornet so useful is that is virtually undetectable at night because it is battery powered (for up to 25 minutes per sortie), can operate autonomously and can now transmit pictures and video back to the operator via an encrypted datalink or store them onboard for viewing when the UAV returns to the operator. A cellphone size controller enables the operator to view images. The Black Hornet is stored in a small box that can be attached to the troops' webbing like ammo or other gear already is. When recharged the UAV is launched from that box and can be controlled up to 2,000 meters from the operator, who can also zoom the camera. The Black Hornet also carries GPS, a thermometer, compass and altitude sensor. PRS max speed is six meters a second (21 kilometers/13.5 miles an hour) and max altitude is about 500 meters. In Afghanistan, British and American special operations troops found the PD-100 ideal for reconnaissance and spotting snipers as well as searching inside buildings or cave entrances. Even though the commandos had night vision gear they cant normally see around corners or on the other side of walls or other obstacles. Since the enemy could not see or hear the PD-100 at night they were often taken by surprise because they thought they were well hidden in the dark. The new thermal night vision is lower res (160x120 pixels for pix or video) while the day camera is good for 1600x1200 for pix and 640x480 for video. The lower resolution night vision image has not proved to be a problem. The PRS can stay in the air for up to 25 minutes per sortie depending on how much time it spends hovering (low battery use) or moving high and fast (uses a lot more battery power). It takes about 25 minutes to charge a Black Hornet (from the carrying case) so you can have one in continual use by constantly recharging one while the other is in action. The Black Hornets are made of hard plastic and one can be ready for action in less than a minute. A complete system (two UAVs and the controller) weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 pounds). The body of the Black Hornet is designed to handle winds well, making it quite stable for its size. The PRS can handle sustained winds of up to 27 kilometers (17 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 36 kilometers an hour (23 miles an hour). With these upgrades has become ultimate infantry UAV because of its capabilities and stealth. The Black Hornet is ideal in urban areas or forests. Since 2013 a growing number of countries have been spending a lot of money (up to $200,000 each early on) for the Black Hornet. Developed by a Norwegian firm and first used in by British commandos in Afghanistan during 2013, it was noticed by other special operations personnel there, especially U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) operators and by 2014 American troops were testing Black Hornet, suggested some new features and by 2015 were testing them in combat. By then the British had bought over 300 Black Hornets. Despite the high cost, in the hands of well-trained troops it increased combat capabilities considerably and saved lives for the troops using it. By 2019 over 5,000 Black Hornets had been purchased by military and police forces in more than 20 countries, most of them NATO members. The price has come down with the PD-100 going for about $40,000 each and the PRS for about 50 percent more. The military buys large quantities and gets volume discounts. The recent U.S. Army purchase is to equip small units for special situations, like night patrols or any recon in urban areas. It takes about 20 minutes to learn how to use Black Hornet. Special operations troops get to use their Black Hornets regularly and are used to being enterprising and inventive and they quickly developed many new uses. While becoming an expert user can take hundreds of hours of combat experience, new users have confirmed that basic operating skills can indeed be mastered in less than 20 minutes and there is apparently computer simulator software so owners can develop skills. By 2015 the manufacturer had figured out how to get a night vision vidcam on the PD-100 but the encrypted data link took a little longer. There were also efforts to reduce the high cost and that has been achieved as well. Originally the PD-100 cost over $100,000 each. The high-cost initial cost was due to many custom parts as well as the need to recover development costs and use skilled people to hand-assemble each one. UAVs like the PD-100/PRS and larger ones (like Raven) that can still be carried by the infantry had a bigger impact on infantry operations than the wide use of after aerial reconnaissance a century ago that revolutionized warfare, for generals and colonels but not for small infantry units. About a century after the first aircraft flew this new, tiny and radical new aerial technology took air recon to a new level. That level is low, a few hundred meters off the ground. It all began in the American military after September 11, 2001 when the concept of tiny UAVs rapidly developed into a fleet of nearly 6,000 small (under ten kg/11 pounds) UAVs in use by American ground troops. Traditional U.S. military aviators, and the 10,000 manned aircraft they operate were somewhat disdainful of these tiny, unmanned, aircraft. But for the troops on the ground, they are a lifesaver and the key to many victories. This sort of thing has happened before. Just as the first recon aircraft a century ago changed the way armies fought, the micro-UAVs have changed the way small units of soldiers fight. A century ago the aerial observers reported to generals and their staffs. The commanders with troops in contact with the enemy rarely got the aerial photos and whatever information they got was hours or days old when it reached the front lines. In the late 20th century the army began using its own helicopters and light aircraft, with observers talking to commanders below via radio, to give the troops some immediate intel on the enemy. But now UAV video goes to platoon or company commanders, or the leader of a small Special Forces team in real time. The lightweight, hand-launched Raven UAV can only stay airborne about an hour per sortie, but troops have found that this is enough time to do all sorts of useful work, even when there's no fighting going on (which is most of the time). The Black Hornet proved to be even more useful because when used by an experienced operator it can remain undetected by the enemy, who is then vulnerable to all manner of nasty surprises. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy did not want to confront U.S. troops directly (this tends to get you killed). So there was an unceasing effort to set up ambushes, plant mines and roadside bombs, and fire rockets or mortars at American bases. All of these activities were much less effective against troops equipped with Raven or similar UAVs. U.S. troops learned how to think like the enemy, and quickly figured out the best ambush positions, or places to plant mines or fire rockets. By sending micro-UAVs over these spots periodically the enemy was put in danger of being spotted. The enemy knew that usually led to a prompt attack from American mortars or helicopter gunships. These mind games, of sneaking around trying to get a shot off at the Americans, was more stressful and dangerous if the U.S. troops had Ravens. And most of them did by 2007. By 2012 the U.S. Army had over 5,000 RQ-11 Raven UAVs, which were popular with combat and non-combat troops alike. The army developed better training methods which enabled operators to get more out of Raven. Combat troops use it for finding and tracking the enemy, while non-combat troops use it for security (guarding bases or convoys). In both cases, troops have come to use the Raven for more than just getting a look over the hill or around the corner. The distinctive noise of Raven overhead is very unpopular with the enemy below and is often used to scare the enemy away or make him move to where he can be spotted. The current model, the Raven B (RQ-11B), was introduced in 2007, a year after the original Raven entered service in large numbers. This UAV is inexpensive ($35,000 each) and can stay in the air for 80 minutes at a time. The Raven is battery powered (and largely silent unless flown close to the ground). It carries a color day vidcam, or a two-color infrared night camera. It can also carry a laser designator. Both cameras broadcast real-time video back to the operator, who controls the Raven via a handheld controller, which uses a hood to shield the display from direct sunlight (thus allowing the operator to clearly see what is down there). The Raven can go as fast as 90 kilometers an hour but usually cruises at between 40 and 50. It can go as far as 15 kilometers from its controller, and often flies a preprogrammed route, using GPS for navigation. The Raven is made of Kevlar, the same material used in helmets and protective vests. On average, Raven can survive about 200 landings before it breaks something. While some Ravens have been shot down, the most common cause of loss is losing the communications link (as the aircraft flies out of range) or a software/hardware failure on the aircraft. Combat losses have been high, as nearly 20,000 have been built and most of those have been lost in training or the battlefield. A complete system (controller, spare parts, and three UAVs) costs $250,000. The UAV can be quickly taken apart and put into a backpack. It takes off by having the operator start the motor, and then throwing it. This can be done from a moving vehicle and the Raven is a popular recon tool for convoys. It lands by coming in low and then turning the motor off. Special Forces troops like to use it at night, because the enemy cant see it, and often cant hear it either. The controller allows the operator to capture video, or still pictures, and transmit them to other units or headquarters. The operator often does this while the Raven is flying a pre-programmed pattern (using GPS). The operator can have the UAV stop and circle, in effect keeping the camera on the same piece of ground below. The operator can also fly the Raven, which is often used when pursuing hostile gunmen. Raven and nearly a thousand slightly larger UAVs don't get much publicity, but they have a larger impact on combat than the few hundred much larger (Shadow, Predator, Reaper) UAVs. These big, and often armed, UAVs carry out vital missions but comprise a tenth of the airtime that the micro-UAVs rack up. Moreover, these smaller UAVs have opened up lots of other possibilities. There are already small, single-use UAVs that are basically guided bombs. Even smaller UAVs can be used for spying, as well as battlefield recon. These little aircraft are having an enormous impact on warfare, rivaling what happened a century ago. One additional problem was discovered when major combat operations for the army and marines ended in 2008. Budgets were cut and that created the usual pressure to keep expenses low. This was a problem for UAVs like Raven, some of which got destroyed even during training. Naturally, restrictions were put on use of Ravens in peacetime. This proved to be a mistake because when these units did get sent back into combat commanders found that they had many troops unfamiliar with using Raven and not only used them less effectively but lost more of them due to operational causes or enemy action. Many troops preferred inexpensive quadcopters, which they bought themselves. There were soon bans on using these because they were had unencrypted comm links and most were made by Chinese firms. Those rules are still in effect but many combat commanders quietly allow troops to use them with the knowledge that it was easier to obtain forgiveness than ask permission. Even with the unencrypted comms and threat of hidden Chinese features (that would cripple the quadcopters in combat), the troops were successful with the quadcopters used against irregulars and for base security. After all many Islamic terrorists and other irregular forces (even bandits and criminals in general) used the same quadcopters. But specialized UAVs like Black Hornet were not commercial items and the PRS models were only sold to military or police organizations. Two of seven nominees quit due to alleged ethical lapses By Lee Min-hyung Cho Dong-ho Choi Jeong-ho President Moon Jae-in canceled nomination of KAIST professor Cho Dong-ho as science and technology minister, Sunday, hours after Choi Jeong-ho withdrew as land and transportation minister nominee. Kiwi drift couple Drew and Jodie Donovan received a call-up to fly to China to join top local drift team NND for the first two rounds of this years China Drift Championship. The invitation came from China-based Moroccan drifter Simon El Alaoui Zidane, who through the pre-season has been piecing together a group of international guest drivers to help grow the profile of the sport in his adopted home country. Globe-trotting Kiwi engine tuner Ross Honnor from New Plymouth, whose 16-year-old son Liam has also been invited to join the team, was the person who initially put Drew and Jodies names forward. It was only when their local D1NZ series sponsor, bitcoin consultancy and trading platform Cryptopia, suffered a multi-million dollar hack recently, that the Tauranga-based couple were effectively free to take up the China opportunity, says Drew. Jodie and I secured the Cryptopia backing to compete in the D1NZ series here this season and all our efforts were focused in that direction. When Cryptopia got hacked, obviously they had to cut their marketing spend, and without their sponsorship of both our cars we couldnt afford to continue with our D1NZ campaign this season and both of us were actually wondering what we were going to do next when Simon got in touch. Though they will have to wait until they get to China to nut out the finer details, Drew and Jodie know where the team is based, Shenzhen near Hong Kong, where the first two rounds of the China Drift Championship are being held. That said, there has already been talk about the possibility of Drew and Jodie returning later in the year to contest rounds of the D1GP China series. However, right now the Kiwi husband and wife pair are doing the 101 things you have to do before travelling to another country to compete, and are not looking too far ahead. Yes, its very much one-step-at-a-time at the moment. And I dont really think it has sunk in the opportunity Jodie and I have been presented with. It will, obviously, once we get there, and get to see the cars we are going to drive, and the venue the first round is going to be held at. Says Drew. Obviously, both Jodie and I have competed overseas before, but in each case then weve known about the tracks, the other drivers, and the level of competition. All we know about China is that the sport has taken off in a big way there and that rather than run on circuits like we generally do here they run on temporary tracks in stadiums or huge car parks. The cool thing though is that all Jodie and I have to do is drive - which is very different to how, by necessity, weve always done things in the past here at home. Waikato Are you an Ex carpenter or cabinet maker, looking for a change? We are in need of an Yard Supervisor to work along side... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Rubbish is alight at a north Waikato landfill, and a helicopter has been called to help douse it. Firefighters were called to the Hampton Downs landfill between Meremere and Te Kauwhata at around 10.00 am on Sunday. The rubbish fire was about 30 metres by 40 metres in size, Fire and Emergency northern communications shift manager Scott Osmond says. A helicopter had been called and two pumps and four tankers were already at the scene. Firefighters recently had another callout to the landfill, Scott says, on Thursday. The landfill is at the end of Hampton Downs Road and is operated by EnviroWaste, and the company was working with the fire service. The landfill is the largest of five operating in the Waikato region, Waikato Regional Council information says. "The capacity of the Hampton Downs landfill is 30 million cubic metres and it is consented for 25 years, with 19 years remaining." -Stuff.co.nz/Libby_Wilson UPDATED 9.31AM: A severe weather watch for heavy rain in the Bay of Plenty has now been upgraded to a warning. The MetService says heavy rain is forecast for eastern Bay of Plenty, the Gisborne ranges, Mount Taranaki and the Tararua Range. Severe gales for Wellington. "An active front over central New Zealand continues to move northeastwards across the country today and during Tuesday morning. "It's preceded by a strong and moist northerly flow, and is expected to bring a period of heavy rain to much of the North Island, and a period of severe northerly gales to Wellington." Heavy Rain Warning Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous. Area: Bay of Plenty east of Opotiki, and the ranges of Gisborne Valid: 12 hours from 9pm Monday to 9am Tuesday Forecast: Expect 90 to 130mm of rain, with the largest accumulations about the ranges. Peak rates of 30 to 40mm per hour, especially in thunderstorms. Changes: Upgraded to a full warning. Area: Mount Taranaki Valid: 9 hours from 9am to 6pm Monday Forecast: Expect 110 to 150mm of rain, this is in addition to the rain that has already fallen. Peak rates of 30 to 40mm per hour, especially in thunderstorms this afternoon. Changes: Upgraded to a full warning. Area: The Tararua Range Valid: 9 hours from 9am to 6pm Monday Forecast: Expect 70 to 100mm of rain. Peak rates of 20 to 30mm per hour, especially in thunderstorms Changes: Upgraded to a full warning. Strong Wind Warning Strong wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures. Driving may be hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles. Area: Wellington, including the Remutaka Hill Road Valid: 4 hours from 9am to 1pm Monday Forecast: Severe north to northwest gales gusting 120 km/h in exposed places. Changes: Upgraded to a full warning. EARLIER: Heavy and thundery showers are in the forecast for the Bay of Plenty this evening. The MetService says showers are turning to rain this afternoon, possibly heavy and thundery in the evening. A severe weather watch is in place for the Bay of Plenty, with heavy rain forecast for the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty from Opotiki westwards and Rotorua. In the 10 hours from 4pm Monday to 2am on Thursday, a period of heavy rain, with possible thunderstorms, is forecast. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria. An active front moves across the country from the Tasman Sea overnight Sunday and during Monday, says the MetService. Its preceded by a strong and moist north-northwest flow, and is expected to bring a period of heavy rain to northern and western parts of the country. The heaviest falls are expected about Westland from Otira southwards and the ranges of northwest Nelson, where a warning remains in force. The heavy rain Watch for northern Fiordland has now been upgraded to a full warning. This watch is for the possibility that rainfall accumulations may approach warning amounts in Westland north of Otira, Buller, Nelson excluding western ranges, northwestern Marlborough, the Tararua Range, and the central North Island from Taranaki east across Tongariro National Park to Bay of Plenty, and north to Coromandel and Waikato during Monday. In addition, the watch also covers the possibility that north to northwesterly winds may rise to severe gale strength in Fiordland, Southland, Otago excluding Dunedin and North Otago, Canterbury High Country and Wellington during Monday. Gale westerlies are also expected for southern Fiordland, and coastal Southland behind the front until Monday afternoon. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrives at Incheon International Airport, Sunday, from Washington, D.C., where she held talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Kim Hyun-jong, second deputy chief of the National Security Office Western Bay of Plenty residents are invited to get back to basics and see how vintage machinery and equipment made the world spin in years gone by at 2019s Crank Up Day in Katikati. Hosted by the Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club, the April 7 event has a timber theme, with demonstrations and items on display paying tribute to New Zealands early timber industry. Milling of NZs extensive native forests was one of the earliest industries in the European settlement of the country. As the new colony established, timber was the most common building material and vast areas of native forest were cleared. Tauranga Vintage Machinery Club member Eric Green says the event will include machinery and equipment that pays homage to the early years of NZs timber industry think timber jacks, saws, old axe heads and the like. Club member Michael Coopers two bulldozers a D6 and a D9 will be doing various tasks, like winching a large hunk of gumtree we cut down the other day, and there will be different timber saws for cutting wood, he says. We also hope to have a display of old saws from the late Jim Pendergrast of Te Puke, courtesy of his family. He had a long history of working in timber. He worked hard, splitting logs for posts and battens for his own land and to sell to other farmers. The usual vintage tractors, stationary engines and bit and pieces will also be on display or doing demonstrations on the day. I have an old sheep shearing plant, which I got going the other day, says Eric. George Winter will shear sheep with it in an onsite demonstration. Club president Larry Williams will have two tractors including a Mogul that is more than 100 years old at the event, which is hosted on Michael Coopers property. Free hay rides will be running, plus the popular tug of war, which pits people against a small tractor or bulldozer. Eric says the club hopes to attract all ages to the event, because there is something for everyone. Katikati Scouts have a barbecue on offer, but people are welcome to bring their own food as well. We also have the Legion of Frontiersmen J Troop Katikati, led by Val Baker, directing car parking for us. The Tauranga Vintage Machinery Clubs Crank Up Day is on Sunday, April 7, from 10am-3pm on Hot Springs Road, Katikati. The event will be signposted from State Highway 2. Admission is by donation, and children can enter for free. SODUS, N.Y. -- A 4-year-old South Carolina girl who was reported missing has been found safe, according to the Wayne County Sheriffs Office. Deputies found Aubri Henning in the Town of Sodus, and her mother, Nakisha Harris, was arrested Saturday night, deputies said. Harris was taken to the Wayne County Sheriffs Office and will be arraigned on a fugitive from justice charge, deputies said. The girl was initially reported missing after her Harris picked Aubri up on March 6 and fled to New York, deputies said. Henning was reunited with her father, who traveled to New York from South Carolina, deputies said. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two people were shot on the 100 block of Merriman Avenue on Saturday night, according to Syracuse police. Officers were called to Merriman Avenue at 9:41 p.m. for a report of shots fired, police said. One victim was located at 116 Merriman Ave., police said. Officers also found shell casings at the scene. Shortly after, an AMR ambulance was flagged down on East Adams Street, near Upstate University Hospital, for a patient who said he had been shot, according to scanner reports. He said hed been dropped off there after the shooting, according to scanner reports. The man had two gunshot wounds, according to scanner reports. Police say the victims conditions are not able to be released at this time." Officers are investigating the shooting and ask that anyone with information call the Syracuse Police Departments Criminal Investigations Division at 315-442-5222. All calls remain confidential. Anonymous tips can be submitted using the SPD Tips app. By CAROLYN HAX Dear Carolyn: Im a mess. Ive been with my partner for over four years and Ive been emotionally abusive in the way that I keep breaking up with her and then getting back together just to break up again. I think Ive done it at least 10 times, starting around eight months in. Usually she talks me into staying with her, but on at least two occasions I've changed my mind and asked to be taken back. It's terrible for her self-esteem. Also, I am resentful toward her. Small things really irk me, like her obsession with childish things, and her at-times-poor English. She is a beautiful, loving, caring, supportive person and we share many interests. But I have to stop myself occasionally from treating her like a child. I am in my early 30s and she is mid/late 20s. I become cold at times and embarrassed by her in public, which I feel awful about. She loves me so much -- why can't I just love her back unconditionally, and with the respect a person deserves? We often both make progress in our communication and understanding, but I feel trapped in this cycle of losing control and running away from the relationship, making up, suffering through healing together and then leaving again when things seem to be going well. I can't think of any way to break the cycle other than to leave for good, but I know she would rather I stay and try to work on my issues, even though I will likely hurt her again. I love her and would miss her like crazy but at the same time she drives me up the wall. Help. -- Abusive Mess Hax: When you feel -- and therefore are, for all practical purposes -- unable to stop yourself from hurting someone, then you need to get good therapeutic care. I dont consider this open to debate. Look up reputable therapists, pick some, call. Today. To help the process along, I would like to challenge a couple of assumptions you've made: -- "She loves me so much." She has a strong attachment to you for sure, but what you describe is dependency. Hers on you, yours on her. Mistaking that for love is one of the reasons you're on your fourth year of misery together and staring hopelessly at more. -- "Why can't I just love her back?" The "why" doesn't matter after the "what" of your not loving her. It's the end of any inquiry, not the beginning. -- I know she would rather I stay. Do you? Even if she is telling you that explicitly, it is a conditional (and therefore ill-advised) preference, that youll stay and transform into the partner she wants you to be. Since you have abundant proof that wont happen and zero proof it will, you can honestly project that you wont meet her conditions -- and so reasonably conclude she doesnt want you to stay. Not on the terms youre able to offer her. -- Implied throughout is that her enjoying, loving and wanting you are reasons for you to stay. No. Those would be reasons for her to stay. Her reasons govern her, and your reasons govern you, and any overlap is a boundary issue. Good issues for therapy all, by no coincidence -- especially the last. Dear Carolyn: My husband had two kids by his first wife, one with me. Our child, early 30s, is engaged to be married. She has had no contact with his older child; none of us has. His second child also only contacts Dad when drama occurs, maybe one or two times a year, causing uproar. Our daughter doesn't want to invite either half sibling to the wedding. Dad is pushing for her to invite the second one. I side with my daughter because nothing good ever comes from this contact. What say you? She hasn't had any contact with this sibling in probably two to three years. For what it's worth, this sibling is 15 years older. -- Stuck Mom Hax: Your daughter is an adult who can invite, or not invite, anyone she wants to her wedding. Not just a new adult, either, but a seasoned one -- not that it changes my point. Her decisions may come with consequences, but those are for her (and her intended) to anticipate, accept and absorb. Therefore, you are not "stuck." You are in an excellent position, though, to remind your daughter and husband both that she is an adult who can invite, or not invite, anyone she wants to her wedding, and take responsibility for any consequences. Any further discussion of this sibling's inclusion is for your daughter and husband to have between them. If you have his attention, though, then I also recommend recommending to him that he drop it. He has stated his position clearly on a decision that's not his to make. It would likely serve all of you best if he recognized that by saying his piece, he's done his part appropriately and in full. Email Carolyn at tellme@washpost.com, follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/carolyn.hax or chat with her online at 9 a.m. Pacific/noon Eastern time each Friday at www.washingtonpost.com. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group After almost two years of investigating, Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to the Department of Justice. Attorney General William Barrs four-page summary of the report said the special counsel did not find there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mueller did not make a judgment on whether the president obstructed justice. The president took it as a complete exoneration, even though Mueller expressly said it should not be interpreted that way. Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Adam Schiff, agitated to see the whole report before dropping their investigations of the president. Americans may get to make up their own minds soon; by the end of the week, Barr said a redacted version of the report would be made public in mid-April. Other news in this weeks cartoon commentary include: Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss short-lived plan to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics; the Trump administrations decision to ask the courts to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, based on a judges ruling that it is unconstitutional; and the uproar over a Chicago prosecutors decision to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett, the actor accused of faking a hate crime assault. Cartoons were drawn by Bill Bramhall, Chan Lowe, Dan Wasserman, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, Phil Hands and Joel Pett of Tribune Content Agency; Tim Campbell, Mike Lester, Signe Wilkinson and Jeff Danziger of the Washington Post Writers Group; and Tom Toles of Andrews McMeel Syndication. More editorial cartoon galleries. Do you pay your property taxes on time and in full? Sucker! Thats the implicit message being sent by 2,500 or so Syracuse property owners who are two years behind on their Onondaga County property taxes. The city publishes the list every spring, warning delinquent taxpayers that their properties could be seized if they dont pay up. Another list in the fall publicizes the property owners who are behind on their city and school taxes. In a city where half of properties are exempt from property taxes, every little bit of lost tax revenue hurts. The public record of tax-delinquent properties gives owners one last chance to make good on their debts, lets other property owners see who isnt paying their taxes and keeps the pressure on city government to collect those back taxes. The list of tax delinquencies doesnt discriminate between scofflaws who cant afford to pay their taxes, due to illness or job loss or just plain poverty, and those who could afford to pay, but dont. We could forgive the former. The latter deserve all the disapproval we can muster. Take Sky Armory, an event space in Armory Square. The owners fell behind on their county and city taxes while making improvements to the building that came in over budget. At the same time, Sky Armory was seeking a state economic development grant to expand the business. Staff writer Michelle Breidenbach exposed their unpaid tax bill in a front-page story last Tuesday. On Wednesday, the owners paid in full their tax debt of $77,380. On Thursday, the venue hosted a Progress Breakfast featuring Mayor Ben Walsh. Ironically, that means Sky Armory can get its $400,000 state grant now one that comes out of the taxpayers other pocket. The citys top property tax scofflaw in 2017 was the owner of the former Syracuse Developmental Center on Wilbur Avenue. The derelict property is mixed up in an international corruption scandal involving alleged money-laundering by a public official in Kazakhstan. You cant make this stuff up. What other interesting tidbits lurk in the list of 2,500 properties? You can search for yourself. As published in the newspaper, youd need a lot of patience and good eyesight to read through page after page and row upon row of tiny type, arranged only by ward and district. The online database that Breidenbach built lets you sort the list by property owner, address and amount of unpaid taxes. No one likes to pay property taxes. Most of us pay our taxes anyway. Taxes are the price for living in a functioning community where police patrol the streets, firefighters respond to emergencies, the trash gets picked up, the roads are plowed, water comes out of the tap when you turn it on, and children are educated. The public welfare falters if taxpayers evade their obligation to support it. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the State Department's budget request for 2020 in Washington D.C., U.S., March 27. Reuters U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he hopes the leaders of the United States and North Korea will be able to meet again "before too long" following their no-deal summit in Vietnam last month. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held their second summit in Hanoi in late February to try to advance a broad denuclearization agreement they reached at their first summit in June last year. The Hanoi summit ended without a deal due to disagreements over the scope of North Korea's denuclearization and sanctions relief from the U.S. "I hope there will be a next time before too long," Pompeo said at an event hosted by the National Review Institute. "Chairman Kim has made these promises. ... Ultimately, the proof will be whether we can convince him that it's the right strategic direction for him and his country," he said, referring to the North Korean leader's stated commitment to denuclearize. The top U.S. diplomat shared his impressions of the young North Korean leader, whom he met for the first time as director of the Central Intelligence Agency in April. "He also knows that he's young and wants to make sure that North Korea has a future," Pompeo said. "So when he engages with you, he does so in a way that reflects the nature of a long trajectory for North Korea. That is, he knows, in his early 30s, that he's got to run this country for some time. He's thoughtful about how he's approaching this." (Yonhap) Posted on Friday, March 29, 2019 KINGSVILLE (March 29, 2019) When Paul Mobley set out to capture the soul of our countrys farm communities, he encountered an enduring rural culture that remains rooted in the principles of tradition, family, integrity and hard work. The results of his cross-country trip will be on display in his American Farmer exhibit at the John E. Conner Museum on the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus beginning Saturday, April 6, through Friday, May 24. American Farmer features 45 prints by photographer Mobley that were shot on a cross country trip from Alaska to Florida in 2006 and 2007. He and his camera were welcomed time and time again into the homes of hundreds of farm families. Mobley came to know the independent farmers spirit from both behind the lens and across the dinner table. He sought the elusive spirit of agriculture, looking for subjects that mirrored the projects sense of risk and independence. The resulting images show farmers with a strong sense of where they belong, a close connection to the land and their day-to-day work as it reflects the rest of the world. Out of a collection of more than 200 of these portraits, ExhibitsUSA has distilled a selection of 45 iconic portraits showing the geographic and cultural diversity of the American Farmer. This vivid portfolio is accompanied by anecdotes and memories in the farmers own words that are both a testament to the enduring hospitality and a moving glimpse into the hardships and joys of a quickly disappearing way of lifeone that once defined our national identity and now struggles to remain vital. Mobley is an American photographer who has traveled from remote Alaskan villages to the majestic palaces of Croatia to find the face of a thousand words. Mobleys first book, American Farmer: Portraits from the Heartland, was first published in the fall of 2008 by Welcome Books and received the 2009 Western Heritage Award for Best Photography Book from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The museum is located at 905 W. Santa Gertrudis Ave. Museum hours are 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. Saturdays; and closed university holidays. Admission to the museum and exhibit is free but donations are appreciated. About ExhibitsUSA This exhibition is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. ExhibitsUSA sends more than 25 exhibitions on tour to over 100 small- and mid-sized communities every year. These exhibitions create access to an array of arts and humanities experiences, nurture the understanding of diverse cultures and art forms, and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in local communities. For more about ExhibitsUSA, email MoreArt@maaa.org or visit www.eusa.org. About Mid-America Arts Alliance Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region and beyond. Additional information about M-AAA is available at www.maaa.org. -TAMUK- Why it matters: For quite some time reports have indicated that Apple intends to design its own custom ARM-based processors for future devices and ditch Intel. However, that move might be hampered a bit, as CNET reports that Gerard Williams III has left the company as of February. It would certainly be a mistake to attribute Apple's processor design success to a single engineer, but Williams has worked on every A series chip from the A7 through the A12X. The absence of his presence will be significant. Gerard Williams III, who was Apple's senior director in platform architecture and a key semiconductor engineer responsible for the A series processor development, has left the company CNET reports. Williams reportedly left in February, after a nine year stint with the company. Before starting with Apple in 2010, Williams worked at Arm for 12 years. Williams worked on custom CPU cores for Apple before pivoting to overseeing the entire development of the SoC (system-on-a-chip) itself. Williams spearheaded development of every A series chip from Apple's first 64-bit processor, the A7, all the way to Apple's recent A12X. The A7 first appeared in 2013, powering the iPhone 5S while the A12X currently powers the iPad Pro, which Apple boasts is faster than 92 percent of mobile computers -- a claim that certain benchmarks support. Williams' departure will certainly be a sting for Apple, as his work on 64-bit mobile has been industry leading, and his name appears on more than 60 patents. Apple lost another key engineer in 2017, when Manu Gulati left to work on custom chips for Google's Pixel devices. Williams would assume Gulati's role, and remain there for two years. Apple losing Williams comes as the company is making a push towards designing custom silicon for future devices, purportedly as early as 2020. It is unclear how Williams' departure will affect Apple or what Williams' future plans are. In context: Twitter has long grappled with what to do with tweets from high-profile users who break the rules. The company has faced calls to ban figures like President Trump over concerns about hate speech and bullying, but has resisted on the basis that such tweets are newsworthy. So now Twitter is looking into new labelling methods to contextualize rule-breaking tweets. One of the biggest factors for the rise of Twitter was that it could function as a way for people to interact with major public figures. The blue tick to authenticate high-profile users like celebrities and politicians meant for the first time people would have an instant means of communicating with their heroes. But over time that functionality has morphed from a blessing to a curse in many ways. In 2017 Twitter stopped awarding new blue ticks, as they felt they were conferring status or validity to owners of ticked accounts. They realised that the blue tick could be seen as Twitter endorsing content that they deemed troubling. But that wasnt the only problem. For years now Twitter has been faced with a conundrum: what to do with content that breaches their terms of use, but was written by high-profile, newsworthy sources? If they leave such posts up, they are tacitly agreeing that bullying, hate-speech or threats are legitimate ways to communicate on their platform, but if they remove the posts they risk interfering with public discourse (and, probably, losing users in droves). Twitter has indicated that it is looking into new methods to label and disclose individual tweets that breach their rules but should stay live for discussion. In an interview with The Washington Post this week, Vijaya Gadde, global lead for legal, policy, trust and safety at Twitter, laid out one possibility for how the system would work. She suggested a warning could overlay rule-breaking tweets that users had to click and acknowledge before they could read the content, such as this Tweet contains potentially dehumanizing speech. Its an interesting approach, and one that could bring consistency. In February Twitter faced calls of hypocrisy after hiding a tweet from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei after it breached rules by renewing the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. Dogs and other companion animals such as ferrets could be carriers of several types of deadly flu viruses, a new study in Korea revealed. People and animals are typically capable of carrying viruses, bacteria, and fungi, but a scientist from Korea University has called for stricter monitoring of dogs and other companion animals because they could be carriers of human influenza strains. "Until now, dogs were considered neglected hosts in the field of flu research," said Dr. Daesub Song, an associate professor at Korea University. Song explained that after the first report of interspecies transmission, dogs should be monitored for surveillance. Dogs And Ferrets Are Carriers Of Influenza Strains In a study that spanned 10 years, Song found that several cases of viruses that crossed the host barrier, which was an animal, were recorded. Most particularly, the H3N2 bird flu crossed over from dogs and developed into the Canine Influenza virus (CIV). Such a case was found in a dog seven years ago. In his research, Song said the H3N2 CIV could combine with H1N1/2009 to form a new virus called CIVmv. The H1N1/2009 virus is known for causing the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic. The emergence of a new virus is concerning, said Song. Since this is a new virus, those who come into first contact with it will not be immune, and if the virus spreads from dogs to humans, it could potentially spread quickly to the population. In the study, Song and his colleagues tested the CIVmv strain in ferrets and found that since ferrets and humans have similar flu receptors, the virus can spread quickly. Because of this, ferrets are considered to be the most reliable model for predicting and evaluating the risk of human influenza viruses. Song said the virus spread between ferrets more quickly compared to other influenza viruses. Song found that dogs and ferrets that were infected by CIVmv strains displayed typical symptoms of respiratory disease, such as breathing difficulties, congestion, runny eyes, coughing, lethargy, sneezing, and appetite loss. Is It A 'Deadly' Virus? Some experts say that dogs can transfer the flu to humans simply by sneezing, although some believe that the virus is not deadly. Animal influenza expert Dr. Janet Daly from University of Nottingham said the odds are slim that dogs will transfer a canine virus to humans, but it is still a possibility. "We do need to keep an eye out for occasions when both a dog and their owner have flu-like symptoms," said Daly. The CIVmv virus not only affects dogs and ferrets, but it also affects cats, the study revealed. Song investigated an outbreak that happened in an animal shelter, where 100 percent of cats were infected and 40 percent of them died. The development of the virus in cats is also worrisome because this means that CIV can spread to different animal species. This is the reason why researchers are raising concerns for the virus, as it can spread to companion animals, which are very close to humans. The potential risk for a new strain to develop is high, the researchers said. Will There Be A Vaccine? Song and his colleagues are trying to develop a vaccine against the CIVmv strain, but due to the high level of mutations, such vaccines are still very hard to develop. Martin Astley | Flickr 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In the runoff fight between a logger and a local businessman, Roy Adams won out Saturday. Adams secured 54 percent of the vote, with his Republican opponent Dennis Aucoin garnering 46 percent. With all 64 precincts reporting, Adams got 2,925 votes to 2,529 for Aucoin. Unofficial turnout was just over 17 percent for the election. [RELATED: See full coverage of Baton Rouge-area March 30 elections] The District 62 State Representative seat was narrowly missed by Aucoin, whose 45 percent vote in the Feb. 23 election was just shy of the 50 percent he would've needed to secure the seat. Instead, the race went to a runoff between him and the next-closest candidate, Adams, an Independent, who took 31 percent of the vote in February. Adams is a Jackson native, and ran for the seat after spending decades hearing the woes of locals while he helped run the family grocery store, Adams Enterprises. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up He doesn't have any prior political experience in his background, but said he's long been committed to the community. He said if elected he would be a full-time representative. He highlighted education and infrastructure in Zachary as his biggest platforms while campaigning. Aucoin is the owner of Slaughter Logging and served for eight years on the East Feliciana Parish Police Jury. He ran on the platform of ensuring a conservative Republican in the seat, and said he wants to push for industry further north of Baton Rouge. You can go south of Baton Rouge and its industry from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and we dont really have a lot of it further north, he told The Advocate in February. I would like to get more industry into our area but we really need better roads to do that. District 62 covers large portions of East and West Feliciana parishes, and the northern part of Zachary. The seat was vacated in December when former state Rep. Kenny Havard was sworn in as parish president in West Feliciana. Advocate staff writer Jacqueline DeRobertis contributed to this article. The DMZ (demilitarized zone) viewed from the Cheolwon Peace Observatory in Cheolwon, Gangwon Province. GETTYIMAGESBANK South Korea will independently begin spadework to excavate Korean War remains in the Demilitarized Zone next week in the absence of a North Korean response to its call to conduct what is meant to be a joint project, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday. Under last year's bilateral military accord aimed at reducing tensions and building trust, Seoul and Pyongyang are set to carry out the project in the Arrowhead Ridge, a notorious battle site during the 1950-53 conflict, from April through October. But the North has remained silent about Seoul's request to start the excavation as planned. It has appeared lukewarm about the enforcement of the military accord since the no-deal summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and its leader, Kim Jong-un, in Hanoi last month. "(South Korea) plans to start conducting additional demining operations and basic excavation work (in the ridge) south of the Military Demarcation Line on April 1," the ministry said in a press release. "(The independent work) is designed to prepare in advance for the inter-Korean joint excavation project that the two sides are set to carry out in the Arrowhead Ridge area under the Sept. 19 military accord," it added. The two Koreas' defense chiefs signed the military accord at the close of the third summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim in Pyongyang last September. It entails a series of confidence-building and arms control measures. Under the accord, the two sides were supposed to exchange lists of the staff for the excavation project by the end of February. But they missed the deadline as Pyongyang was then preoccupied with the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi. Seoul sent the list of its own excavation staff to Pyongyang on March 6, but the communist regime has yet to respond. The defense ministry also said that it will put on hold a decision to allow full civilian access to the Han River estuary until the two Koreas work out detailed plans for free navigation along the waterway where civilian access has been restricted due to military tensions. The military accord also includes a decision to seek military measures to ensure the safety of the Han River estuary that ship operators have hoped to use for tourism, ecological protection and the collection of construction aggregate. In January, the two sides agreed to start allowing civilian ships to navigate through the estuary on a trial basis in April. (Yonhap) A man and woman were arrested Friday for their role in a March 5 double shooting and attempted armed robbery on College Drive, Baton Rouge police reported. Alyssa Spikes, 25, of Pearland, Texas, and Rondell Hill, 23, of Baton Rouge, were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish prison on attempted first-degree murder, illegal use of weapons and armed robbery/attempted armed robbery, use of firearm. +11 BRPD: College Drive shooting late Tuesday was attempted armed robbery; two suffered minor injuries The College Drive shooting late Tuesday occurred during an attempted armed robbery in the Albertson's parking lot, said Baton Rouge police spo Police responded to an incident at the Walmart store on College Drive on March 5 where they discovered two men, ages 23 and 26, suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the victims later revealed that the two had been in the middle of a narcotics transaction in the adjacent Albertsons parking lot when a man, later identified as Hill, shot at them, then fled in a car driven by Spikes. According to the report, the victims managed to drive to Walmart for help after they were wounded. When detectives searched the Albertsons parking lot, they found a State of Texas citation on the pavement for a red 2014 Hyundai Elantra. Records indicate Hill had leased it for the past few months. During its first go-round, leaders of the petition drive to create a City of St. George vigorously and repeatedly attacked the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. And school system leaders responded in kind. But this time, both sides have remained largely silent even as a second petition drive has raged for the past 13 months ago. St. George supporters have mostly avoided mentioning schools publicly since launching their second petition drive in March 2018, even though their goal is the same as it was the first time: to carve a St. George school district out of the parish school system. Backers say school talk now, though, is premature. It was hard to discuss down the road when you have gotten past Stage 1, said Andrew Murrell, an attorney and spokesman for the St. George campaign. Stage 2 is coming, though, on Oct. 12. Thats when the 86,000 voters in the unincorporated area of the southeastern part of the parish that would make up the new city of St. George will get a chance to vote on incorporation. School leaders have stayed mostly quiet this time, even though a new St. George school district would have a substantial impact on the parish school system. If the school boundaries match those of the proposed city, the new district would take with it more than $85 million in state and local tax revenue and would displace almost 4,000 students, according to the latest available estimates. There are six traditional public schools in the proposed St. George city limits. The most impacted would be Woodlawn High School, where 446 of its 1,210 students currently live outside the proposed city. School Superintendent Warren Drake has had something to do with the more restrained approach to dealing with the St. George school issue over the past year. The veteran educator spent a decade leading the Zachary school district, which broke away from East Baton Rouge Parish schools in 2003 and quickly shot to the top of the states academic rankings. St. George aims to form the fourth breakaway school district in the parish, joining Baker, Central and Zachary. In June 2015, Drake returned to take over the parish school system, where hed spent most of his career before heading to Zachary. Local leaders hoped he might successfully avert a second St. George petition drive, and he promised a more conciliatory approach. I want the same thing they want, Drake said at the time. I want our schools to be better. Drake, favorite to lead Baton Rouge schools, draws praise from wide array of admirers Warren Drake, the favorite to become the next East Baton Rouge Parish schools superintendent, has left a long trail of professional admirers a The three years prior to Drakes return had been ones of constant acrimony, starting with unsuccessful attempts in 2012 and 2013 to create what was then called the Southeast Community school district. Drakes predecessor, Bernard Taylor, had just been hired in spring 2012 and he immediately went to the Legislature to testify against the new proposed district. Taylor spent much of his three-year tenure as superintendent combating the idea. In summer 2013, after a second loss at the Legislature, where a two-thirds majority was required, school breakaway supporters changed course, deciding to follow the example of Central and incorporate as a new city. Central had been initially rebuffed at the Legislature. To overcome that opposition, Central incorporated in 2005 into a city, and the following year supporters won first legislative and then voter approval to create a new Central school district, which opened in 2007. Using that same logic, breakaway supporters hoped that if unincorporated southeast Baton Rouge became its own city, they too could overcome its critics in the Legislature and win a school district. The first St. George petition drive, which ended in 2015, came up 71 signatures short. Drake promised then to meet regularly with St. George backers and said he'd try to address their concerns where he could. He said he'd also work to steadily improve the school system as a whole so voters in the area would see less need to break away. If theres another time to vote, people will take a look at their schools and say, This is what weve been looking for, Drake said. Since then, Drake has met multiple times with St. George leaders. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Through our conversations, weve made a lot of changes that needed to be made there, Drake said in an interview with The Advocate. Changes Drake pointed to included: Placing several new principals and assistant principals at schools in the area and in 2017 and creating new magnet programs at Woodlawn middle and high schools. Starting construction on a new $32.9 million K-8 school on vacant property in the Jefferson Terrace, to be completed in 2020, and completing last year a new $1.2 million four-classroom addition at Shenandoah Elementary. Planning $80 million in construction that will see two to three new schools built in south and southeast Baton Rouge, using part of a 1 cent sales tax renewal for education approved by voters in April 2018. The opening in August of a new charter school, BASIS Baton Rouge, next to Womens Hospital in Airline Highway. Operated by Arizona-based BASIS Schools, which has several high schools that make national rankings annually, its new Baton Rouge schools has already proven popular and is seeking to open a second campus in Baton Rouge. Drake also argued that several schools in the St. George area have improved academically during his tenure. Warren has been very open and receptive, its been very cordial and receptive, Murrell with St. George acknowledged. But, Murrell said, the overall improvement that Drake promised has yet to occur, noting that East Baton Rouge still ranks near the bottom in a state that ranks near the in education as well. We feel like a smaller school district would be more receptive to the needs of the students, he said. In 2018, East Baton Rouge Parish schools ranked 52nd academically out of about 70 traditional school districts across Louisiana, down from 44th in 2015. In their first petition drive, St. George supporters talked about building as many as six new schools in addition to the 11 they would take over and promised to offer a mix of traditional and magnet programs. They also published a map of the proposed school district a map that was larger than the proposed city they were then proposing and took in territory within the city limits of Baton Rouge. This time around, St. George supporters have published nothing specific about their school plans. M.E. Cormier, one of the leaders of Better Together/Residents Against the Breakaway, which opposes St. George, said that is a critical omission and the lack of a plan for public schools should concern potential supporters. They are still using that propaganda to sell their city, and there is no substance behind that promise, Cormier said. Like the superintendent, the parish School Board has mostly stayed quiet this past year when it comes to the latest St. George incorporation effort. School Board President Mike Gaudet said schools have not figured much into the discussions surrounding the latest St. George petition drive fourth, fifth, or sixth on the lists of the things they talk about. In any case, Gaudet said, the prospects of a St. George school district is well down the road. We kind of see a (St. George) school system being a minimum of three to five years in the future, even it it would pass, he said. Consequently, it would be hard for us to make any plans around. +2 Baton Rouge school board member signed St. George petition so 'we can move forward' East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Jill Dyason, who represents much of what could become the city of St. George, passed on the first The school question, however, will return in a big way if voters say yes Oct. 12 to the City of St. George. Murrell said forging a path towards a new St. George school district will be one of the first orders of business for St. George in addition to forming a city government. Forming a school district wont be easy, though, perhaps even tougher than forming a city government. To qualify for state education funding, like previous breakaway school districts, the new St. George school district would need not only a two-third votes of both chambers of the Legislature, voters both statewide and across East Baton Rouge Parish will have to approve it as well in a public referendum. Editor's note: This article was changed on Sunday, March 31, 2019, to note that there are six traditional public schools in the proposed St. George city limits. Incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, in absentia, took it on the chin when his Republican challengers gathered last week on the same stage for the first major forum in the gubernatorial campaign. U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, of Alto, and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone listed for the friendly crowd at the Pelican Institute for Public Policy event what they called Edwards shortcomings, including the expansion of Medicaid. Within days of taking office in 2016, Edwards ordered that the government-paid health insurance program raise its income-based eligibility requirements, which has allowed nearly a half million previously uninsured or underinsured people access to the government-paid health insurance program. Republicans claim a recent legislative audit shows millions have been spent on people who make too much money and shouldnt have been enrolled. The taxpayer is getting hosed over and over, Abraham told the luncheon audience. Its a potent issue likely to come to a head this week when the Republican-majority Legislature will be given the opportunity to subpoena the Edwards administration for the tax return information that could show just how many Medicaid enrollees reported making too much money to qualify. Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera issued a report in November suggesting the state paid up to $85 million over 20 months on providing health care coverage for such people. He asked the Department of Revenue through the Task Force on Coordination of Medicaid Fraud Detection & Prevention Initiatives for statistics from income tax returns, which he says would provide better calculations than using wage information. But Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson has refused, citing state law that she says opens her to criminal prosecution for releasing information about filers who claim a certain income on tax returns and different income on Medicaid applications. The definitions for income on the two forms differ. Attorney General Jeff Landry, a frequent Edwards critic, issued an opinion last week saying Robinson misinterprets the law, noting that Purpera is asking for statistics in income ranges that are gleaned from tax returns not the identities of the taxpayers. Purpera said he would present Landrys opinion on Tuesday to the Legislative Audit Advisory Council, which has the power to subpoena the Revenue Department for the statistics. But the issue goes beyond Landrys most recent opinion and Robinson has asked Landry for some clarifications. Another opinion issued about a year ago determined that tax information could not be used in an audit. Its not merely statistics but taking information from one entity, the Louisiana Department of Health, and comparing that to information on personal income tax returns, which sounds a lot like an audit, she said. Some legislators have repeatedly tried to pass a bill that would add the Legislative Auditor and others to the exemptions of that state law. The bills have been repeatedly rejected. Robinson said this is an end-run around existing law to make a point about Medicaid expansion. This is about politics, she said. The image that bothers critics is of thousands of dastardly scofflaws ripping off hardworking patriots to exploit those sweet Medicaid benefits. What Medicaid data should Revenue Department share with legislative auditor? Auditor wants more Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said Tuesday he would challenge an Edwards administration interpretation that state law forbids di And while certainly a few providers have floated paper for work they didnt do and a handful of enrollees may have sold their prescription medicine, the big numbers that so enrage the base come from people making too much money to be enrolled in Medicaid. And thats an unintended consequence of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal privatizing Medicaid administration. Medicaid is insurance coverage for people who meet specific income criteria based on the size of the family $28,680 for a family of three. A few years ago, the state-federal program paid doctors, hospitals and clinics directly for services provided. Now, the state pays private companies by head count to provide managed care, which is supposed to give patients a more holistic treatment plan. In the past, if Medicaid enrollees got a job or a promotion with earnings that exceeded specifications, perhaps even got coverage through their new employer, theyd just stop using Medicaid. No services, no additional tax dollars spent. But under the new managed care system, the state continues to pay the private companies as long as the person remains on the rolls, even when that person is no longer qualified and probably isn't using Medicaid anymore. Say there are 1,700 people who paid taxes on incomes over $100,000 a year but are still on Medicaid rolls. Thats about $1 million wasted dollars. Publicly acknowledging that many $100,000 recipients still on Medicaid rolls and being paid for by the state would no doubt launch an avalanche of criticism directed solely at Edwards. But you also can bet those pushing this agenda won't be saying: Oops, didnt consider that when we all supported privatization a few years back. When Louisiana in 2016 joined the majority of states expanding Medicaid insurance coverage for the working poor, it turned out to be a good mo For the second time in as many years, Louisiana voters could be asked to amend the state's constitution to provide property tax relief. But this time around, the tax break would apply only to people in New Orleans. State lawmakers will consider during this year's session a ballot issue aimed at easing the cost of living in New Orleans by exempting certain residents from some property taxes. The bill, prefiled by state Sen. Troy Carter at Mayor LaToya Cantrell's request, would leave it up to city officials to decide just who should be exempt and from what. If passed, the idea would be pitched to voters statewide on Oct. 12 less than a year after they signed off on a proposal to phase in tax increases for certain homeowners all across the state. We are envisioning a policy that will offer relief to homeowners who earn less than the area median income by freezing property taxes, and will help incentivize home purchasing by including short-term property tax exemptions," Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell said. The proposal, which was included in a draft copy of the mayor's legislative agenda obtained recently by media outlets, comes amid housing advocates' calls in recent years for policymakers to address an affordable housing shortage in the city. It also comes a month after the City Council urged the Legislature to ease the tax burden on longtime New Orleanians who have seen their assessments and therefore their tax bills rise after renovations on nearby homes, in many cases only so that the properties can be used as short-term rentals. In a February resolution, council members said they wanted to provide relief to residents whose tax bills have doubled in one year, who have lived in the city since 2004 and who have low to moderate incomes. Low to moderate income was defined as earning no more than 120 percent of the area's median income. In 2018, that would have been a family of four with income up to $78,720. Senate Bills 79 and 80 would leave it to Cantrell's administration to decide if those or some other criteria should apply. Tidwell shared at least some of the administration's ideas for the exemptions in a recent interview, though he didn't say when those plans might be final. He said the city wants to aim at least some of the exemptions at first-time homeowners who are purchasing homes with loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration typically people with lower incomes. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The city-managed tax relief could also be "simpler, more transparent and more equitably distributed" than the payment-in-lieu-of-taxation, or PILOT, arrangements now given to developers who agree to create affordable housing, Tidwell said. Those deals, which are also offered to firms that promise to employ local residents, are managed by the city's Industrial Development Board, a board with 15 members appointed by the mayor and City Council. "This can also be a tool to incentivize building and maintaining affordable housing programs that are simpler, more transparent and more equitably distributed than PILOT programs, allowing smaller developers to be more competitive," Tidwell said. While the city works out the program's mechanics, voters in October would be asked simply if New Orleans can exempt its property from "all or part of ... taxes that would otherwise be due." The purpose would be to promote "affordable housing." The idea has drawn criticism from at least one lawmaker who questioned asking voters to approve a new tax relief measure so soon after a similar request went out last year. "Logistically, that could be difficult, considering we just amended the constitution less than a year ago, and we don't know how that's working out," state Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, said shortly after the council issued its resolution. Morrell authored last year's measure asking state voters to phase in property taxes for Louisiana residents experiencing tax hikes of 50 percent or more in a single year. In the interview, he also questioned the wisdom of asking voters across the state to approve a "New Orleans-specific remedy for a New Orleans-specific problem." Carter could not be reached for comment. But City Councilman Jay Banks, who built his campaign around a pledge to reduce housing costs, called the measures a way for the city to help residents who are routinely slapped with tax bills they can't afford. "I don't see why this should be a hard sell for anybody, because it doesn't hurt anybody," Banks said. "In fact, it helps people who have been put in positions where they can't stay in their family homes, which is just wrong." The session begins April 8. The bills have been referred to the Senate's Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. A pair of Tulane University graduate business students won the $50,000 grand prize at the finale of this year's New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, with their pitch for RentCheck, a start-up that aims to eliminate tenant-landlord friction over security deposits. The pitch contest capped off the 11th year of the entrepreneur event, which this year was co-produced by New Orleans start-up incubator Idea Village and Tulane's A.B. Freeman School of Business. Early indicators pointed to the number of attendees at this year's event topping last year's record of 2,000, nearly half of whom were entrepreneurs seeking funding, said Camille Rome, a spokesperson for the event. Lydia Winkler and Marco Nelson delivered a slick pitch for their app that allows both renter and landlord to do a virtual walk-through and sign-off on time-stamped pictures showing the condition of the property at the start and end of the lease. They then handled a tough Q&A session, in the style of the television show "Shark Tank," from a panel of experienced investors that included Jim Coulter, the billionaire founder of TPG Capital; Shelly Porges, founder of the Billion Dollar Fund, aimed at helping female entrepreneurs raise money; and Patrick Comer, founder and CEO of Lucid, New Orleans' most successful recent tech company. Coulter, for example, quizzed the pair on whether their app was the basis for a fully fledged company or just a nice feature that could be easily replicated by Zillow or some other company already in the business. But they described a strategy to solve a laundry list of tenant-landlord problems, as well as to offer escrow account services, that could attract large property companies, banks and others as partners rather than competitors. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up In the end, it was an open-invitation audience at the Ace Hotel that decided the winner by electronic vote, with RentCheck beating out West Monroe resident Josh Johnston's pitch for TrayAway, which is an app for hotels to facilitate quick room service clear-away, and Vignesh Krishnan, a former Lucid employee who pitched a data-filtering product for the market research industry. "Marco has been here in New Orleans eight years, and I've been here four, and we're committed to growing our business as part of the New Orleans start-up community," Winkler said. The prize money will help them reach their goal of raising $150,000 in capital to fund their next phase of growth. "The pitches keep getting better and better, and it was great this year that we had companies from the hospitality industry, as well as property and data security," said Coulter, adding that a winning (or losing) pitch is only the start and noting that Lucid was only a runner-up in the first Entrepreneur Week event. "In a long investing career, what I've learned is that you don't get married after the first date and you don't invest in a start-up after a 10-minute pitch," Coulter said. It is high time we decided what to do with those confounded Confederate statues. +5 Monument supporters have a plan for Lee Circle, including laudatory plaques about Lee A pair of men who opposed the toppling of Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue from Lee Circle want New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to replace the Co So long as they sit in limbo aka a New Orleans East warehouse half the city, having opposed their removal two years ago, will feel betrayed. The other half will fear Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard will one day be restored to prominence. The fourth casualty of the ordinance allowing the removal of memorials deemed a nuisance will clearly never see the light of day again, however. The Liberty Monument, a granite obelisk erected in 1891 to honor the White League's 1874 uprising against the Reconstruction government, has no defenders in polite society, having long served as the rallying point for white supremacists. A splash in the river one night, and no questions asked might be the ideal solution. James Gill: Finding a home for Robert E. Lee that everyone will agree on If politics is the art of compromise, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser could hardly wish for a sterner test of his talents. As for the statues, their fate has been mulled by Mayor LaToya Cantrell's Monument Relocation Committee, which, had it been given its druthers, would never have disturbed them in the first place. Its most prominent member is Frank Stewart, who is quite an expert on memorials, having made a large chunk of his considerable fortune in the funeral and graveyard business. Stewart, who sees no contradiction in honoring Confederates and abhorring slavery, took out newspaper ads lambasting then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu for destroying history and taking the statues down. Landrieu, according to Stewart, was hoping that the attention he garnered as the scourge of the Confederates could be parlayed into a cabinet post in the upcoming Hillary Clinton administration. That would have made Landrieu a chip off the old block, his father Moon having been HUD secretary under Jimmy Carter, but once Donald Trump pulled off a surprise in the presidential election, bashing the Lost Cause was no way to win favor. Bashing Mitch Landrieu didn't do much good either. Landrieu remained confident the monuments glorified the defenders of slavery and were unfit for public display in a diverse metropolis. And do not doubt that the row over Confederate monuments arouses strong passions. Stewart and Mitch Landrieu remain estranged because of it. Report: Group that pushed for Confederate monument removal wants Zulu to halt blackface Take Em Down NOLA, a group that has pushed for the removal of Confederate symbolism in New Orleans, has scheduled a news conference Thursday Stewart, having vainly called on Mitch Landrieu to put Davis, Lee and Beauregard back on their pedestals before he left office, then lobbied to find them a new home in New Orleans. That was never going to wash with Take 'Em Down Nola, the group that campaigned for their removal and is now agitating for a further purge of allegedly offensive historical figures such as Andrew Jackson. Last year, when Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser suggested to Cantrell that the statues be accommodated at the Houmas House Plantation in Ascension Parish, Stewart said the relocation committee remained committed to keeping them in New Orleans. The most logical site seemed to be Greenwood Cemetery, home to the mortal remains of many a Confederate soldier. Stewart has now come round to Nungesser's point of view, in part because the statues will always be a divisive issue in New Orleans and would represent a constant risk of vandalism. Stewart says he had never been to Houmas House before Nungesser came up with the idea, but was sold on the place once he clapped eyes on it. Nungesser, who regards the statues as a tourist draw and therefore takes a ministerial interest in rehousing them, is second cousin to the owner of Houmas House, Kevin Kelly but says consanguinity had nothing to do with his recommendation. Kelly, who says he first met Nungesser five years ago, offered to pay the cost of transporting the statues to his plantation, where a museum devoted to steamboats and life on the Lower Mississippi is under development. Kelly says he will return the statues if the city ever wants them back, which seems unlikely. Grace Notes: Cantrell's idea for Confederate monuments -- let supporters create plan, pay to execute it The most newsworthy nugget out of New Orleans Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrells extensive interview with Gambit in this weeks issue is that the n Houmas House is about as splendid a plantation as you will find in Louisiana, and attracts 120,000 paying customers a year, Stewart says. Some 70 miles upriver from New Orleans, it might be an ideal repository for statues that hardly anyone, it seems, wants ever to be seen again in New Orleans. Looks as though the problem is solved. Email James Gill at Gill1407@bellsouth.net. Kim Hyun-chong, the new No. 2 deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office, heads to Terminal No.2 at Incheon International Airport before departing for Washington, Saturday. Yonhap A senior South Korean presidential official departed for Washington, Saturday, to meet with U.S. officials to prepare for the summit between the two countries' leaders slated for next month. Kim Hyun-chong, the new No. 2 deputy chief of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office, headed to the U.S. for meetings with White House National Security Council and congressional officials. Natalia Fileva, a co-owner of Russia's largest private airline and one of the country's richest women, died in a plane crash in Germany on Sunday, according to the company. Natalia Fileva had an estimated net worth of $US600 million. Credit:AP Fileva was a major shareholder in S7, which began growing into a major carrier in the 1990s and is Russia's second-biggest airline after Aeroflot. "The circumstances of the tragedy aren't known yet," S7 said in a statement. The single-engine Epic LT aircraft carrying Fileva, 55, went down while approaching the airport at Egelsbach, southwest of Frankfurt, according to S7. She was the wife of company chairman Vladislav Filev. Egelsbach is a small airfield often used by passengers seeking discretion. According to Forbes, she has an estimated wealth of around $US600 million ($842 million). Luke Kidgell is a textbook example of how to forge a career via social media. The 23-year-old comedian danced onto stage with his tambourine in hand, a gimmick he carries around the world, posting photos to Instagram outside monuments. The crowd cheered at his arrival and after some audience interaction he discovered two women had came two hours early to secure front-row seats. Whyd you do that? asked Kidgell. Commitment, they replied. The act followed the structure of sharing a number of stories from his travels, including a repeat Uber driver in Canberra to entrepreneurial potential in Thailand. He repeatedly remarked how stupid he was, which seemed to gain some validity when he slipped in that Thailand was a country in Indonesia and made cheap jabs at minorities, from the disabled to people living with AIDS. But with over 400,000 online fans and a radio show on Fox FM, its worth checking in to see what all the fuss is about. "These emotions and views don't start with social media companies but are amplified by them," she says. "But as a society we need to think seriously about what we can do because something has broken in a big way." The decision to leave a child unvaccinated, she points out, is not just a threat to them, individually, but also to the so-called "herd immunity" - the resistance among any given population to a disease. The Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov School, where a measles outbreak caused by an unvaccinated child infected more than 20 people, in Brooklyn, New York. Credit:New York Times "I think it is irresponsible to not vaccinate," she says, given measles is deadly in one in every 1000 cases, while infection can damage the entire immune system and lead to serious complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Although Larson admits Rockland County's public ban is perhaps a step too far, "I wouldn't wait until there is a crisis", she says. "If I were in government I would seriously consider putting requirements in place. Going to school, I don't think it's unreasonable to say a child needs to be vaccinated because they put others at risk." Rebecca Whitfield (not her real name) has just returned to her home in the English county of Hampshire with her partner and three-year-old son from a five-week trip to Thailand (she eschewed travel jabs). A therapist, Whitfield decided not to vaccinate her son after seeing the children of friends react badly to jabs but also, she says, because he was born two months premature and she did not want to subject him to any more needles once he left hospital. Ann Rowland sorts immunisations as she waits for a patient in Portland, Oregon. Credit:New York Times "The way we live our life is to stay well and really focus on being healthy," she says. "There are vaccinations now for things that wouldn't even make a child that ill. I don't want him to suffer, obviously, but he never gets ill. I really don't understand this need to protect ourselves from things that won't do our child too much harm." Stressing she is "pro-choice rather than anti-vaccine", she admits she has been criticised for her approach and lost one friend altogether. Another mother from an affluent area of south London (who also wishes to remain anonymous), says she, too, is wary of admitting that she hasn't vaccinated her five-year-old daughter. "There's not enough information out there," she says. "You're just told, if you don't vaccinate your kids they'll get measles, and you're a stupid hippy. You're chastised by the health system if you don't do things by the book, in the same way as if you don't breastfeed. It's really hard as a parent to navigate." Certainly, the public health community has little time for such arguments. According to Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, "one unvaccinated child is one too many" and recent measles outbreaks are a sharp reminder of how serious the disease can be. A nine-year-old rolls up her sleeve for a vaccination in Oregon in February of this year. Credit:New York Times "We need to cut through the fake news, with evidence-based, easy-to-understand health advice for patients," she says. "They should feel equipped and confident to challenge any spurious claims they might encounter so that they can make sensible, informed decisions about the long-term health and well-being of their children." The spectre of British doctor Andrew Wakefield, drummed out of the British medical profession for his 1998 paper that made a link between MMR and autism, still looms large over the vaccine info-wars. Twenty years on, he has rehabilitated his reputation in the US to such an extent that he is in a relationship with supermodel Elle Macpherson, and has amassed avowed supporters who fervently believe his professionally debunked claims. Anna Merlan, a US-based journalist and author of a forthcoming book, Republic of Lies, on the rise of conspiracy theorists in America, has interviewed Wakefield, shadowed him giving talks on a cruise ship and attended a sell-out screening of his documentary, Vaxxed, in New York. "He is very charismatic and feeds into long-standing suspicions [in the US]," she says. Whenever asked about his exile from Britain, she says he is "able to skilfully talk about it as a vendetta against him by a medical establishment who felt he was getting too close to the truth". Del Bigtree, a producer and co-writer of the film Vaxxed, is filmed at the premiere in New York on April 1, 2016. Credit:New York Times Campaigners hope such voices will soon be muted. Earlier this month, Facebook agreed to ban adverts with anti-vaccination content while Instagram says it will also introduce controls. Just over 13 degrees in the city now ahead of a mostly cloud top of 17. Never fear - it's back in the 20s from tomorrow. Friday is a positively summery 27. Still messy on the trains. They're on the buses between Mordialloc and Frankston for the first day of the month-long Metrol Tunnel building blitz. Elsewhere, there are minor delays for Hurstbridge, Sunbury, Upfield and Werribee. Watch out for delays around Flemington, thanks to a truck stuck under the bridge on Racecourse Road. Delays also around Blackburn South, with roads blocked after an earlier stabbing, and on EastLink after an earlier smash. That's all from us. We'll be back from 6am tomorrow. Be kind to yourself. Show curator Sia Smyth says the works are selected by subject specialists and judged on relevant criteria in categories including engineering, systems engineering, design, industrial design and graphic design. Only students who receive an A or A+ in their design-based VCE course including visual communications design, film, and creative and digital media are eligible to have their designs displayed, which provide "brilliant examples of top-level work for other students", according to Smyth. "The showing of the folios is actually more valuable than the final work, because it shows the process of how these students have arrived here they look into the mind of the designer, finding out how they arrived at the final product, the research they did and all the ideas they threw out." Smyth says the Top Designs program facilitates solid links between design-interested students. Zoe, the woman responsible for the graphic design of the Top Designs showcase, was a former student entrant in the program. Smyth emphasises the prototypes aren't pie-in-the-sky ideas. Students need to submit a detailed "production plan", including research on whether there is a market for the product, who their end user is, and everything in between. An inner-city Melbourne council is set to vote in favour of a move that could result in minimum standards for apartment sizes, amid concerns over the proliferation of "dog-box" apartments across the city. On Tuesday night, Yarra City Council which includes the suburbs of Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond will vote on a motion to take the first step towards changing local planning laws to mandate all apartments are built to a minimum floor size. Mandated minimum floor sizes a policy supported by many tenants' associations that was implemented in Sydney more than a decade ago would limit the lucrative practice of developers mass-selling cramped apartments at high profit margins. Yarra Council is moving towards mandating minimum sizes for apartments. Credit:Craig Abraham The motion, put forward by councillor Stephen Jolly, will call on council officials to report on the process required to mandate minimum sizes for apartments and recommend the best way to implement the changes. Canberra's light rail created more than 4500 jobs during its construction - 1000 more than predicted - as the focus shifts to stage two of the project. The Civic to Gungahlin line will start taking passengers in three weeks, nearly three years after the project broke ground. Stage one light rail construction, as seen from City Hill last year. More than 4500 people worked on the project over the last three years. Credit:Elesa Kurtz A jobs analysis by Ernst and Young in 2014 predicted the light rail project would deliver a gross 3560 jobs during construction, employing 900 workers at its peak. But new data shows as of February, Canberra Metro had inducted 4637 workers and contractors on the project, excluding Transport Canberra staff. A new team will hit the streets of Canberra to hand out on-the-spot fines to irresponsible dog owners and illegal dumpers. City Services Minister Chris Steel said six new compliance officers would target trouble spots around the city, amid growing calls for the government to better enforce its regulations covering off-leash dogs and dangerous dogs. Dog owners and illegal dumpers are on notice - a new team is being created to hit hot spots and hand out on-the-spot fines. Credit:Fairfax The government has also come under fire for failing to enforce rules around sandwich boards, with the Canberra Blind Society describing Garema Place as a minefield. The team will police laws around dogs, illegal dumping, tree damage, verge maintenance, moveable signs and the use of public land. Labor will ban the use of Kyoto credits to meet Australias Paris climate commitments in a key decision that opens up a gulf between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on the environment just weeks out from the federal election. Ridiculing the Coalition's use of carryover credits as fake action on climate change, Mr Shorten will end months of secrecy on Monday by unveiling how Labor plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 if elected in May. The decision is part of a broad policy platform that includes subsidised solar batteries for 100,000 homes, a $10 billion boost to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and a national electric vehicle target of 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030. Labor leader Bill Shorten knows environment policy carries political risk. Credit:AAP Environmentalists have criticised the Coalitions decision to carry over the credits Australia will gain from beating its 2020 goal under the Kyoto Protocol, which effectively reduces the effort needed to meet Australia's more recent Paris commitments. Kiev: Ukrainians began voting in a presidential election on Sunday in which a comedian with no political experience and who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series is tipped to win the first round. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, who is appealing to voters fed up with entrenched corruption, has consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. At stake is the leadership of a country on the front line of the West's standoff with Russia after the 2014 Maidan street protests ejected Poroshenko's Kremlin-friendly predecessor and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, pictured on Friday, March 29, could see art become reality if his bid for president is successful. Credit:Bloomberg Investors are watching to see if the next president will push reforms required to keep the country in an International Monetary Fund bailout program that has supported Ukraine through war, sharp recession and a currency plunge. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo smile after their meeting in Washington D.C., March 29, the first minister-level bilateral diplomatic discussions since the second U.S.-North Korean summit held in Hanoi in February. Yonhap South Korea and the United States are completely aligned on their end goal when it comes to diplomatic efforts with North Korea, Seoul's top diplomat said Friday after talks with her American counterpart. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in Washington earlier in the day for her first meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo since the failed summit last month between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. At a press conference after the talks, Kang said the two sides discussed the current situation with North Korea and pending matters between the allies, including the issue of cost-sharing for U.S. troops in South Korea and Seoul's request to extend a waiver for oil imports from Iran. "Through today's discussions we were able to reaffirm that South Korea and the U.S. are completely aligned on our end goal when it comes to our policy toward North Korea," the minister said. "The most important thing at this stage, following the North-U.S. summit in Hanoi, is to resume negotiations between North Korea and the U.S.," she added. The second summit between Trump and Kim broke down due to disagreements over U.S. demands for North Korea's complete denuclearization and North Korean position of a phased disarmament accompanied by significant sanctions relief. Bratislavia: Riding a wave of public fury over corruption, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova has won Slovakia's presidential election, bucking a trend that has seen populist, anti-European Union politicians make gains across the continent. Zuzana Caputova speaks after casting her vote at a polling station in Pezinok, Slovakia, on Saturday. A pro-European lawyer, she will become the country's first female president. Credit:AP Caputova who said she would take a "clearly pro-European stance" won 58.4 per cent of the vote against Maros Sefcovic, currently the EU's energy commissioner, according to the official results released on Sunday. Caputova, 45, will become Slovakia's first female president following the run-off, which was dominated by discussion of corruption and change. She will be sworn in on June 15. The president-elect has been repeatedly criticised by the church and other conservative groups for her pro-choice stance on abortion and her support of homosexuality and equal rights, but said her victory in the first round showed that Slovakia is not as conservative as many people believe it is. Washington: Former US vice-president and potential Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden says he did not believe he had acted inappropriately after a female activist alleged he made her feel uncomfortable by kissing her at a campaign event in 2014. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. Former vice-president Joe Biden last week. Credit:AP "And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention," Biden said. "I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will." Mexico City: President Donald Trump plans to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to three Central American countries in retaliation for what he called their lack of help in reducing the flow of migrants to the US border. The move was one of Trump's harshest yet as he escalates a confrontation with Mexico and Central America over a surge in irregular migration, largely involving children and families seeking asylum. Trump has already warned that he could close the US-Mexico border - or at least large stretches of it - next week unless Mexico takes further steps to halt migrants heading north. The State Department said in a statement Saturday that it would be "ending . . . foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle" - a region representing El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - for the past two years. The aid affects nearly $US500 million ($680 million) in 2018 funds and millions more left over from the prior fiscal year. Bounnhang Vorachith (second from right), general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and president of Laos, inspects Saysettha Comprehensive Development Zone in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, March 7. Xinhua-Yonhap A senior North Korean official met Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith and discussed expanding ties between the two countries, Pyongyang's state-run media said Saturday. Ri Su-yong, who is in charge of international affairs at the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), arrived in Laos, Wednesday, after spending a day in Beijing for a layover on his way to the Southeast Asian country. "Bounnang Vorachith expressed full support for the efforts made by the WPK and the government of the DPRK for the building of a powerful socialist country and peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the world," Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said. North Korean ruling party senior leader Ri Su-yong, part of a visiting delegation led by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, visits the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 1. AP-Yonhap Former Officer Gets Over 5 Years in Prison for Assaulting Suicidal Patient in Hospital, Dealing Drugs: Reports A former New Jersey police officer who admitted to dealing drugs was caught on camera assaulting a man twice. According to NorthJersey.com, the former Paterson officer, Ruben McAusland, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for both crimes. The New York Post reported that the patient seen in a viral video was suicidal. This police officer struck a suicidal hospital patient multiple times while another cop recorded the attack on video, officials say. Now he's going to jail. Posted by NJ.com on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 In the clip, McAusland is seen slapping the man twice as he tells the former officer, Do it! Do it! The other man was identified as Andrew Casciano, who had just attempted suicide in March 2018, before he was taken to St. Josephs Regional Medical Center. U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito said McAusland first met the patient, who was in a wheelchair, in the waiting room of the hospital. He pushed him and punched him in the face, NJ.com reported. McAusland then put on a pair of gloves and struck Casciano twice, according to the report. This video, made public in federal court in Newark, shows a Paterson police officer brutally beating a patient at St. Posted by NorthJersey.com on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Another officer in the case is awaiting charges for filming the hospital room assault on his cellphone. Meanwhile, Carpenito said McAusland pleaded guilty to selling heroin, marijuana, and crack cocaine that he stole from a crime scene, NJ.com reported. Through prosecutions like this one, police officers like McAuslandwho dealt drugs, stole from a crime scene, and viciously attacked a person who sought help from the Paterson Police Departmentare removed from positions where they can violate the public trust and deprive others of their civil rights under color of law, Carpenito said in the statement. A New Jersey police officer was sentenced for drug dealing and a videotaped violent attack on a man who had just attempted suicide, authorities said. Posted by NBC News on Friday, March 29, 2019 On March 27, U.S. District Judge William H. Walls said McAusland will face three years of supervised release and has to pay $32,982 in restitution, according to NJ.com. NorthJersey.com reported that Casciano has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the city in the hospital assault case. McAusland Speaks Out The former officer issued a statement about his sentencing last week. Im very embarrassed and ashamed, said McAusland at the Newark Federal Courthouse, reported the Paterson Times. A judge asked him why he did it. McAusland said the person he had sold drugs to was a friend from high school, and his attorney claimed that sometimes officers have a difficult time separating themselves from relationships formed while at school. I didnt want to detach myself from my friends, McAusland said, according to the Times. A prosecutor also said he cooperated with an FBI investigation into his crimes, and very quickly admitted what he did when he was approached by agents. But Judge Walls wouldnt accept the prosecutors argument. I have more sympathy with the common guy on the corner that we pick up than this police officer, said Walls, adding that McAusland refused to testfiy and didnt provide more information about allegedly corrupt officers in the Paterson Police Department. According to the Times, McAusland was hired in 2014 and was making about $49,000 per year. Attorney John Whipple said McAusland picked the wrong profession. I think Ruben was encouraged to become a police officer when in fact that wasnt his lifes aspiration, explained Whipple, saying he chose the wrong profession. His brother is a longtime officer. He must be punished. The punishment must sting, said Walls. He has to pay the price that will deter others, hopefully. 34 Percent of People at Trumps Michigan Rally Were Democrats: Campaign Manager More than a third of the crowd at President Donald Trumps recent campaign-style rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, consisted of Democrats, according to 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale. Of the total 100,000 people who registered for the March 28 event, 14,000 filled the Van Andel Arena to capacity, while nearly 20,000 were outside, Parscale said on Twitter. In a televised segment, Parscale told Fox News that hes harvesting nearly a million voters data information in key swing states every month. He said they were able to calculate data from the Michigan rally because they required all participants to register with their cell phone number, which they then linked to the voter file to know exactly how they voted in the past. Ready to rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Over 100k RSVPs with 14K indoors and nearly 20k in the streets. @realDonaldTrump continues to host the biggest rallies in history! https://t.co/wxx6HUvkkC Brad Parscale (@parscale) March 28, 2019 I believe it was 34 percent of the people who came to the Michigan rally were Democrats. I think that is a significant number, Parscale said March 30. Almost half had only voted once in the last four elections. The Michigan rally was the first such event since special counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his nearly two-year investigation. Trumps opening rally of the year in El Paso, Texas, drew an even higher percentage of Democrats, at 50 percentmore than any of the presidents campaign events since the 2016 election. Data from the Republican National Committee on the El Paso rally also revealed that among the roughly 30,000 people who had registered online, an estimated 70 percent were Hispanic. Parscale noted the similarities between the two rallies, which were roughly a month apart. From this Michigan rally, you can also see in the data, just like we saw in the El Paso rally, we saw new people comingDemocrats, 30, 40, 50 percent Democrats, we saw blue-collar Democrats, African Americans, Latinos, you see [Trump] expanding. As a result of what Trump has done for the economy and the lies and deceit the Democratic Party has fed its base, Trumps 2020 voter map is looking good, Parscale said. I think Minnesota is in play, I think New Hampshires in play, I think New Mexicos in play, I think Nevada is back in play, he said. I think the president is in a very good position in 2020 to open up the map. Speaking at the Michigan rally, Trump put those behind the nearly two-year-long Russia investigation in the spotlight and addressed his vindication via the Mueller report, which concluded that he and his campaign associates didnt collude or coordinate with Russia in its effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. He described the Russia investigation as a sinister effort made by opposition forces. Their fraud has been exposed and the credibility of those who pushed this hoax is forever broken, Trump said in Michigan. And theyve now got big problems. All of the current and former officials who paid for, promoted, and perpetuated the single greatest hoax in the history of politics in our country, they have to be accountable, he said. A group of Japanese far-right activists holds an anti-Korean demonstration in Kyoto, March 9, to commemorate its first rally at an elementary school in the city in 2009. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won A group of Japanese far-right activists staged an anti-Korean demonstration in Kyoto, March 9, to commemorate its first rally held at a local Korean school tied to North Korea in the same city in 2009. They belonged to an ultranationalist group called Zaitokukai which held three demonstrations near the school back then, scaring young students with discriminatory remarks and violence. Japan enacted an anti-hate speech law in May 2016. Since then, the number of racially-biased protests has decreased and municipal governments also started to pass ordinances banning hate speech. But such actss against ethnic Koreans living in Japan, or "Zainichis," resurfaces whenever negative North Korea-related issues emerge. The first generation of these Koreans went to Japan during the latter's colonial occupation of Korea. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Koreans were urged to choose an ideological side between South and North Korea. Many took South Korean or Japanese nationality while 30,181, as of June 2018, still lived in Japan without any official nationality, according to Japan's Justice Ministry data. These stateless people chose to live as such until the day Korean unification comes. Most, having suffered poverty and discrimination in the past, lean toward North Korea because of support from Pyeongyang to set up schools. These schools are mostly run by the pro-North General Association of Korean Residents, or Chongryon. The internet has made it easier for extremists to gather. The anti-Korean extremist movement grew after the emergence of Shinzo Abe's conservative administration, and following former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitting in 2002 to the abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s. Participants answer questions at a book release event in Seoul, March 16, on anti-Korean demonstrations by Japan's ultranationalists and hate crime issues. From left are Nakamura Il-song, a journalist and author of the book "Korean School Raid in Kyoto"; Jung Mi-young, a translator; and Toyofuku Seiji, an attorney for a Korean school. / Courtesy of Mongdang A stack of surveillance equipment is displayed at the international exhibition on public safety and security in Shanghai on April 27, 2011. (Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images) US Pension Funds Should Worry About Financing Rights Violations, Cyber Espionage Commentary Billions of dollars in foreign capital are about to pour into Chinese companies. Some of those funds will eventually make their way to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its security apparatus, and its military apparatus. Global index provider MSCI recently announced that it would increase the allocation of China A-shares in its global and emerging markets indices by the end of 2019. That means many passive funds and exchange-traded funds will be set to purchase swaths of China A-shares in 2019, flooding Chinese companies and stock markets with foreign capital. One such company that will enjoy an expanded ownership base is Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., the worlds biggest maker of surveillance equipment. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed Hikvision makes surveillance technology used in concentration camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where more than 1 million oppressed Muslims, according to the UN and U.S. State Department, are said to be detained by the Chinese state. Pension Fund Ownership Several major institutional investors already own substantial shares in Hikvision. The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), the nations second-largest pension fund with $227 billion of assets, owned 4.4 million shares worth $24.4 million as of its June 30, 2018 disclosure of its assets. Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ), the investment firm that manages several public pension plans of the Canadian province of Quebec totaling approximately $232 billion of assets as of Dec. 31, 2018, disclosed that it owned $81 million worth of Hikvision shares as of Dec. 31, 2017. Hikvision, which grew out of a government research lab in 2001, is a major supplier to numerous state-sponsored surveillance projects across China, including the national Skynet Project. Six years ago, the company expanded into the retail and home market, by launching a line of video surveillance equipment under the brand EZVIZ. Hikvisions biggest single shareholder, at 42 percent, is state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corp. China Electronics Technology develops communications and electronic technology for the Chinese military and is tasked with developing software for visual identification, and was recently included in a list of Chinese entities subject to U.S. export controls due to its significant risk to U.S. national security. Ownership in Chinese companies with extensive links to the CCP is apparently prevalent across U.S. pension funds. The New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYTRS)one of the biggest pension funds in the United States with $120 billion of assetsholds approximately $4 million worth of shares in China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, as of Dec. 31, 2018, according to a fund statement. China Unicom is a state-owned telecommunications operator in China, providing landline and mobile communication network. Subsidiaries of China Unicom are also publicly listed on the exchanges of Hong Kong and Shanghai. China Unicom provides internet connection in North Korea, providing critical infrastructure and equipment for the Communist state and its ability to stage international cyber attacks against other nations. Theres also evidence from security researchers that several long-running hacker groups are sponsored by the Chinese state intelligence apparatus and China Unicom acting as the main internet service provider. In some instances, We have observed a few cases of the attackers mistakenly accessing victim machines without a proxy, potentially identifying the true location of the individual running the session, according to a 2018 SecurityWeek report. In all of these cases, the net block was 221.216.0.0/13, the China Unicom Beijing Network, Xicheng District. These cyber espionage efforts were collectively nicknamed the Winnti Umbrella according to security experts, and have been running at least since 2009. The attacks begin with a phishing bait, which seeks to install malware onto corporate and organizational networks to collect data. Investing Ethically This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. But its unfortunateto put it charitablythat certain pensions with public funding choose to financially back Chinese firms with obvious CCP ties that are clearly adversarial to the interests of the United States and Canada. In the 2017 CDPQ annual report, the word ethics appears 27 times throughout the document. In its introduction, CDPQ states that being conscious of our impact and of the world that we will leave to future generations as a fundamental value. CalSTRS says on its website that its committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices and acquire goods and services in the best interest of CalSTRS. However, financially backing a company whose chief business is aiding the persecution of millions of ethnic minorities doesnt seem to align with those values. Similarly, NYTRSs annual report states that it is committed to the highest ethical standards of conduct, as it strives to guard the privacy of stakeholder information and invest ethically to maximize income and minimize risk. Perhaps NYTRSs diligence into China Unicom failed to uncover China Unicoms involvement in cyber espionage that directly attacks the privacy and digital security of Americans and U.S. businesses. At the minimum, the pension funds should already know that no matter how many shares are privately owned, key decision-making and de facto control at these Chinese companies lie entirely with the CCP. And as pension funds step up their investor activism, they must take a more critical look at their international holdings. Some U.S. politicians are putting pressure on the federal government to take action. Last year, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to impose sanctions on individuals and companies involved in constructing and operating detention centers in Chinas Xinjiang region. His letter, which is endorsed by senators from both political parties, mentioned Hikvision and China Dahua Technology by name. But awareness at a more micro level is still lacking. Investors should understand that every major Chinese company, especially those involved in areas that touch on key regime interests like military, security, and cyber, must answer to the CCP and to Beijing. The Party agenda and its politics are as deeply ingrained in business as profit-making. As Chinese companies begin to tap international debt and equity capital markets more broadly, investors must understand that their money is aiding and abetting the Chinese companies actions, and the actions of the ultimate beneficiary of such capitalthe CCP. At least some fund managers are taking a critical look at their portfolio investments. One portfolio manager who recently sold out of Hikvision told the Financial Times, A lot of investors talk about ethical investing but when it comes to Hikvision and Xinjiang, they are happy to fill their boots. It is pretty hypocritical. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the First State Democratic Dinner in Dover, Delaware, on March 16, 2019. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) Biden Accuser Wants Him to Acknowledge Wrongdoing Over Alleged Incident Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on March 31 denied ever acting inappropriately after allegations came out that he made a woman uncomfortable when he kissed her at a campaign event back in 2014. But the accuser responded the same day, saying she wanted Biden to change. In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort, Biden said in a statement. And not onceneverdid I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention. Biden said he did not recall the 2014 incident. Former Nevada state assemblywoman Lucy Flores responded to the new statement and said it was certainly better than the initial response from Bidens spokesman, Bill Russo, on CNNs State of the Union. Russos initial statement said, in part, that Neither then, nor in the years since, did (Biden) or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes. Flores said she was glad Biden was willing to listen, but noted that she wants him to acknowledge more of what happened. If he is saying that he never believed that that was inappropriate, then frankly I think thats a little bit of a disconnect, she said. I want him to change his behavior, and I want him to acknowledge that it was wrong, she continued. In an op-ed posted on The Cut on March 29, Flores detailed how she felt Biden get closer to her from behind at a campaign rally. Biden was there to offer his support in her bid for lieutenant governor in Nevada. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, I didnt wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. I couldnt move and I couldnt say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience, she wrote. In describing the incident, she told CNN that the Bidens actions were completely inappropriate and not normal in a professional setting. She said she believes his alleged behavior was disqualifying for Bidens likely run for 2020. Biden has not yet made any formal announcement but has indicated that he has been considering whether to run or not. Weeks ago, Biden had a slip of the tongue and almost announced running for president as he gave a speech to a dinner gathering of Democrats in Delaware. Biden failed to develop a strong base of political support in his two previous presidential runs, dropping out of the race both times. If he were to be elected, he would be 78 years old when taking office, which would make him the oldest president-elect in U.S. history. He grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and has spent more than four decades in Washington, mostly as a U.S. senator representing Delaware. Flores also argued in her response that is not the first time that Biden has interacted with woman inappropriately. I just cant imagine that there was never a situation where someone said to him, Mr. Vice President, you probably should stop doing that. You should probably stop touching women in that way. You should probably keep your hands to yourself,' she told CNN. Despite not having announced a presidential run, Biden is the clear frontrunner in all major polls tracking possible 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, including Morning Consult, Monmouth, Harvard-Harris, and Emerson. According to a RealClearPolitics average, Biden leads at 29 percent, as self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) trails far behind at 22 percent. Bryce McIntosh (L) and Noah McIntosh (R). McIntosh was charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture in the death of Noah McIntosh, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin on March 28, 2019. (Corona Police Department/AP) California Dad Charged in Boys Murder Allegedly Bought Acid, Trash Can, Bolt Cutters: Officials Community mourns the loss of boy A California father who was charged in the death of his son allegedly bought bolt cutters, a 32-gallon trash can, and a corrosive substance. Bryce McIntosh was charged on March 28 in the death of 8-year-old Noah McIntosh, who is still missing, ABC7 reported. Officials believe Bryce McIntosh purchased the items before the boy went missing, according to court documents obtained by the ABC affiliate. Detectives have searched at locations in Temescal Valley, Aguanga, and Murrieta, which are located in Riverside County. The evidence collected at the sites were enough to charge McIntosh with murder and a special circumstance of torture, detectives said. According to the Daily Bulletin, he entered web searches for sulfuric acid, lye, and other types of acid. Other evidence that led to the charges against McIntosh, 32, include his cellphone, computers, electronic devices, and storage devices, ABC7 reported. McIntosh is accused of going to a Lowes hardware store in Corona before purchasing the items. The trash can he bought matched one located by police on March 16, said the court document. Noahs mother, Jillian Godfrey, was also taken into custody in the case on willful child cruelty charges, ABC7 reported. In a news conference this week, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said McIntosh could face the death penalty in the case. Im still hopeful that investigators are going to locate (Noahs remains), he told the Daily Bulletin. We are very confident that its a homicide case. We are very confident that the individual that weve charged is responsible for Noahs death. This office has experience trying no-body homicides, and if we have to, we will try this as a no-body homicide, he explained. The Press-Enterprise reported that Bryce McIntosh is being held on $1 million bond, and he will appear in court on April 2. Godfrey, meanwhile, is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond. She will make her next court appearance on April 8. Community Mourns According to a local report, residents of Corona mourned the loss of the boy, wrapping blue ribbons around poles, posts, and trees near where Noah lived. Blue was the childs favorite color. It was a lot of process, said Kellie Ball, longtime Corona resident, told the Press-Enterprise. Before (the announcement) you still had some hope. You still wanted to believe he could be OK. Now is the time to process and reflect and respect the family. Hope turned to sorrow after police said they believed Noah was dead.. Posted by The Press-Enterprise on Friday, March 29, 2019 Every time I saw updates, and see the blue ribbons around the city a tear comes to my eyes, wrote local CJ Hartsock. I didnt know this young man. I dont think our family is 1 degree or 10 degrees from this family, their house or his school. I am so sad, angry, sickened with this child I never knew. I am so, so sorry for his sister and (sic) Grandfather who provided Noahs sense of family. Rest In Peace little man. It is with heavy hearts the Corona-Norco Unified School District mourns the loss of Todd Academy student Noah McIntosh, a message from the Corona-Norco Unified School District said, according to the publication. School officials extended their deepest condolences go out to the families and friends who are affected by this unspeakable tragedy. There is no question that news of this nature affects our entire community, the statement read. Together, we honor and pay tribute to Noah for being a wonderful loving boy. Staff members and students will be able to speak with counselors as we all grapple with this terrible loss, the school statement said. Oscar Host Chris Rock performs his monologue to open the 77th Academy Awards telecast in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2005. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) Chris Rock Slams Jussie Smollett: Youre Jessie From Now On Chris Rock slamed Jussie Smollett at NAACP awards: What the hell was he thinking? Comedian Chris Rock pilloried Empire actor Jussie Smollett on March 30 after he was apparently told not to make any jokes about him. They said No Jussie Smollett jokes What a waste of light skin. Do you know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here! Id be running Hollywood, said Rock at the NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood, California, according to CBS News. Rock said: What the hell was he thinking? Youre Jessie from now on. You dont get the u no more. That u was respect. You aint getting no respect from me! Smollett has been in the midst of controversy for weeks. The actor is accused of staging a racist attack on himself in January in Chicago to promote his career. A number of news outlets, celebrities, and politicians echoed his claims before police accused him of lying about the attack. Smollett said that two men approached him, beat him, and then threw bleach on him before shouting, This is MAGA country, in reference to President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan. But last week, prosecutors dropped all charges against the actor while Chicago police, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and others decried the move. Smollett also allegedly sent threatening letters to himself. Chicago officials said on March 27 that the city is planning to bill him $130,000 for the cost of the investigation, CBS reported. The city feels this is a reasonable and legally just amount to help offset the cost of the investigation, Bill McCaffrey, spokesman for the departments legal department, told Deadline Hollywood. The City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department take seriously those who make false statements to the police, thereby diverting resources from other investigations and undermining the criminal justice system, the letter from the legal department also said. Ultimately, the Chicago police investigation revealed that you knowingly filed a false police report and had in fact orchestrated your own attack. Meanwhile, Emanuel said he thinks Smollett created a hoax. Given that he doesnt feel any sense of contrition and remorse, Emanuel told reporters. My recommendation is that when he writes the check, in the memo section, he can put the words, Im accountable for the hoax. Countering Foreign Espionage Requires Better US CooperationRep. Jim Banks Espionage and influence operations by foreign nations, notably China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, pose a serious threat to Americas security. In this installment of American Thought Leaders, Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek talks with Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who serves on both the House Education and Labor, and Armed Services committees, about how the United States can better defend itself against these threats. Banks discusses the need for greater cooperation among U.S. agencies as well as the threats posed by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE, and also about how legislation that Banks recently introduced, the bipartisan Protect Our Universities Act of 2019, fits into all of this. Jan Jekielek: You recently introduced the Protect Our Universities Act of 2019, which I thought was fascinating, especially because it has to do with basically preventing theft of sensitive information as its described by foreign nations, and you single out China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. I guess my question is: Arent there safeguards to prevent this already? Rep. Jim Banks: Sadly, not nearly enough. Recently, there have been a number of reports about the growing influence of espionage, especially from China, on our college campuses, which also host sensitive research funded by the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and other intelligence agencies. What weve learned is that those safeguards dont exist. That was the impetus for introducing our bill. There was a recent report that said that the Confucius Institutes on 100 different college campuses in America had received over $158 million of funding. And we know that there is a concerted effort, by China especially, to target those colleges that also perform sensitive research. Our bill has three main parts, but all of those parts are better safeguards to protect our secrets, our research, and even to protect the influence that these Chinese entities have on college campuses that oftentimes are sought to normalize their behavior, and normalize the actions of Chinese companies like Huawei or ZTE. Our bill dives into a lot of that. Im happy to talk more in depth about each of those parts. Mr. Jekielek: Why dont we jump into that. You have these three prongs, right? One is that youre going have an interdepartmental task force, led by the Department of Education. The second one looks at foreign nationals working at universities. The third part is certain technologies being specifically looked at so they cant be compromised. Rep. Banks: Lets start with the task force. Yesterday, we questioned acting Defense Secretary [Patrick] Shanahan in the House Armed Services Committee, and, uniquely, I serve on the Armed Services Committee and I serve on the Education Committee in the House. So, I have an interesting vantage point in questioning officials from both the Department of Education and the Department of Defense. So, yesterday we had acting Secretary Shanahan and I asked him point-blank, Have you ever engaged with [Department of Education] Secretary [Betsy] DeVos about the growing influence of espionage on college campuses by Chinese entities like Confucius Institutes, Huawei, and other entities. And his answer was a big, fat no. Thats startling in and of itself. Now, the Defense Department has a task force of its own that dives into these issues, but they dont relate well or involve the Department of Education. And because the Department of Education is intimately involved in these issuesa number of their reporting requirements go through the Department of Educationwe found that theyre very ill-equipped to address these very serious issues. Thats what our task force would require them to do. Last summer, I wrote a letter to Secretary DeVos and encouraged her to dive more deeply into these issues to receive a briefing from the Intelligence Committee, which she did, and also to encourage her to set up a task force like this. Nothing has happened since then. Thats why we introduced the bill to force the Department of Education, if theyre not going to do it on their own And I understand they have a lot of other issues that the Department of Education is involved with. This isnt a traditional role of the secretary of Education, not something that maybe any other secretary of Education has ever dived into before. But if theyre not going to do it on their own, Congress needs to force them to do it instead. Mr. Jekielek: So do you feel the awareness is already there, just the cooperation between the departments? Because this issue affects almost every department, it would seem. Is that the biggest issue: the cooperation? Rep. Banks: Well, when it comes to college campuses specifically, college campuses are such a natural home for this type of sensitive research. Something that, by the way, the Pentagon and the Intelligence Committee want to continue to rely on college campuses to perform this type of sensitive research, because its valuable to the cause. When it comes to that, the Department of Education needs to be more aware of the threat, and needs to find ways to create better safeguards. There are a handful of reporting requirements, so when Huawei gives a grant to a college campus, that has to be recorded or reported to the Department of Education. But we need to set up better parameters to protect the infiltration of that type of research that occurs on those campuses to better protect our secretsour intellectual propertybut also our intelligence and national security secrets as well. Mr. Jekielek: OK. Why do you single out Huawei and ZTE, for example? Rep. Banks: Theres no question that these entities are snakes in the grass, if you will. These entities, theyre active in this regard, especially Huawei, in giving tens of millions of dollars to American universities. That is a part of a larger scheme to infiltrate the very fabric of American institutions, including college campuses. So, its easy to single them out because we know what their tactics are. Many of us have been briefed both on the unclassified side and the classified side on the types of activities these entities are up to. Now, that being said, in the last National Defense Authorization Act, which we passed last year, we banned these technologies from being used on military installations. So, a simple question to get to a second part of the bill: Why would we not ban their use on college campuses when directly related to our DOD and intelligence community-funded sensitive research at the same time. Its a no-brainer that thats what we should do. Mr. Jekielek: For the benefit of our audiences, whats the difference between Huawei and ZTE and say, perhaps, a comparable U.S. company? Rep. Banks: You know that youre probably getting beyond my technical expertise of what these telecommunications companies do and what theyre capable of. Mr. Jekielek: More like about their role in society. Rep. Banks: At the end of the day, they are companies that are funded by the Chinese Communist Party, which says in and of itself, that they have a motive thats very different than any American company that is operating in a capitalistic environment in the United States. So they have a motive to infiltrate the United States, in this case, seeking to obtain sensitive research or information that can be best used for the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party. Mr. Jekielek: So, what do you make of a number of European countriesI believe Germany is seriously exploring thiskind of opening the door? Given what youre saying, it seems almost ludicrous. Rep. Banks: Its deeply troubling [that] Germany, especially, would adopt Huawei or ZTE as part of their 5G solution. I was in Munich last month with Vice President Pence, who gave what I thought was a historic speech. And he warned our European allies that if you choose to turn to the East, youre doing it as a slap in the face to the United States of America and the West. And we wont stand by idly and watch our allies choose Huawei or ZTE as a solution [that isnt] in the best interest of the United States and the Western world and Western values. This administration has been tough on that note, and theyve put the word out to our allies that we wont stand by idly if they make that poor decision. Mr. Jekielek: As you say, this isnt just a slap in the face to America. It feels like a slap in the face to their citizenry. This is a much bigger deal than any one nation. Rep. Banks: If China doesnt respect the human rights of their own people, why would we think that they would respect the human rights or the privacy of Americans or any European country that would choose to operate using technologies from companies like Huawei or ZTE. [They] are snakes in the grass that are being used as tools of espionage on behalf of the Chinese communist government to seek out information that is useful to China. Its a no-brainer to ban these entities, at the very least, from being involved in sensitive research on college campuses, which is a small step. These [are] small steps that our bill seeks to take. Mr. Jekielek: Among the issues that this bill addresses is basically foreign nationals from, specifically, these four nations that you identify. Why did you pick these four nations? Rep. Banks: These four nationsNorth Korea, Iran, Russia, and Chinaare clearly our greatest adversaries on the global stage today. And for that reasonand because we know their tactics and capabilitieswe know that these are the countries that would seek to infiltrate important or sensitive research of the United States and that they could gain from that infiltration or espionage. It makes great sense that we would create better safeguards for foreign nationals from those countries from being involved in sensitive research. So, we take a small step as far as the third part of our billto ban those foreign national students from being involved in sensitive research outside of their scope of study, by the way. We also create a caveat that these students can go to the Director of National Intelligence and receive a waiver, if the DNI determines that these students, for some reason, should be involved in that research. This is a common-sense step, to protect our secrets by banning those students who have no business being involved in this type of research to begin with. Mr. Jekielek: What is it that alerted you to the need for this in the first place? You mentioned that theres no safeguards. That sounds very troubling. Rep. Banks: Well, maybe not to go that far. There certainly arent sufficient safeguards to protect our research. I think what the the epiphany for me was the letter that we wrote to Secretary DeVos, and a better understanding that the Secretary of Educationwho has a major job that doesnt dive deeply into national security issuesdoesnt have senior-level aides who even have security clearances to be briefed in a classified setting about some of these important subjects. Mr. Jekielek: Like the Confucius Institutes. Rep. Banks: Like the Confucius Institutes, thats right. So, the epiphany for me was better understanding the lack of resources at the Department of Education, the lack of time or availability to become better invested in these issues. So, that was an important moment for me, again, having a foot in both worldsDepartment of Education and serving on the Armed Services Committee, working with the Pentagon. And then, over the past year, the growing number of stories in a number of publications, including our very own, that have dived into this subject as well, about the unprotected nature of our sensitive research that occurs on so many campuses around the country. Once again, 100 universities of America receiving over $158 million in funding from Confucius Institutes alone is an alarming figure. Now, if there is one good note, its that in the weeks since weve introduced this piece of legislation, more universities in America have become aware of the problem than before. Were hearing from a number of universities that are concerned that have influences of Confucius Institutes, or theyve received large Huawei grants and are beginning to figure out that they need to unravel themselves from that influence. And thats a good thing. We want more universities to 1) become aware and 2) find ways to quickly drop these entities and these influences on their campus. Were going to find other ways to force them to do that as well. I mean there are many many colleges around the country that receive other types of DOD-funded grants. They should choose one or the other. Either receive grants for the research or cut ties with these different entities; thats what we want to encourage them to do. And many of them are. Mr. Jekielek: So youre basically seeking to empower the Department of Education here to be able to handle this? Rep. Banks: In many ways, yes. Absolutely. To empower them to do that, but also to bring the right people to the table as an interagency function, so that the Department of Education is interacting with the intelligence communitywith the Pentagonto better understand the threat and how to address it. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. American Thought Leaders is a new Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Dog the Bounty Hunter Defends Jussie Smollett and Lori Loughlin Duane Dog the Bounty Hunter Chapman defended celebrities Jussie Smollett and Lori Loughlin after their high-profile run-ins with the law. On the Domenick Nati Show, Chapman said Smolletts crime didnt really have a victim and got blown way out proportion. Smollett, who appeared on Empire, is accused of staging a hate-crime attack on himself in Chicago. In the alleged incident, he said he was assaulted by two men at night before they told him this is MAGA country. Police accused him of perpetrating a hoax, but prosecutors dropped the case last week to the chagrin of numerous Chicago officials, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The criminal justice system They love to pick on celebrities, Chapman said of the incident, Fox News reported. [Smollett] walked away with a slap on the hands and Im sure if they had enough solid concrete evidence theyd have prosecuted him. But they didnt. Anybody else theyd have said, False police report? $25 fine, but they blew this up across the country, he explained, adding, Any kind of celebrity, theyre going to pay double or triple than a normal non-celebrity. Murderers get out for less. Sexual assault of a child gets out for less. What a crock of crap that was, Chapman said. Chapman touched on the alleged MAGA country remark, which was in reference to President Trumps Make America Great Again campaign slogan. Anything [the media] can get against President Trump, theyre gonna use. I feel so sorry for the guy. And if he made that stuff up and did all that, then you know, hes already said he was sorry and already paid for it in quadruple. Waste of time to even complain about it, he said, reported Fox. Chapman also reacted to Loughlins case, where she is accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get her two daughters into the University of Southern California. He stated, Who would have ever known thats illegal? That if you pay extra for your kid, because you may have extra Whoever went after [celebrities], Id like to see where their kids are at [in college]. A judges kid, a prosecutors kid Im sure there were some kind of favors [exchanged]. Chapman went even further. Bonds on celebrities are outrageous, Chapman added. You get a regular person whos not a celebrity, they walk away These ladies allegedly paid a little extra for their kids? He was referring also to Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, who was accused of a similar crime earlier this month. No one was hurt, there were no victims. Judges want to get in the news They someday want to run for another office. The motivation behind it is not justice. The motivation behind that kind of stuff is personal gain, he said. However, at least several parents and students would likely disagree with his assertion. The Los Angeles Times reported that two Stanford students filed a class-action lawsuit against eight colleges ensnared in the admissions scandal. Stanford, USC, UCLA, the University of San Diego, the University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University, Yale University, and Georgetown University are named in the lawsuit. Those are the colleges named by federal officials. Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods, who both go to Stanford, claimed that they were among the students cast aside in the admissions process. Had she known that the system at Yale University was warped and rigged by fraud, she would not have spent the money to apply to the school, the lawsuit stated. She also did not receive what she paid fora fair admissions consideration process. Praises Trump In the same interview, Chapman voiced his support for President Trump, adding that he agrees with the presidents border wall proposal. I think hes going a pretty bang-up job, the reality TV star said. I know that there needs to be a wall. Eighty-five percent of the drugs fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine come from Mexico, he added. Even if the border wall stops a quarter of the drugs coming through, its going to save lives, Chapman noted. Linda Witkerson, 48, pleaded guilty to a range of charges in connection with an incident in which an employee was choked at a Taco Bell restaurant in Portland, Ore., on June 3, 2018. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office) Ex-Taco Bell Manager Gets Three Years Probation for Choking Pregnant Employee A Taco Bell manager in Portland, Ore., has been sentenced to three years probation for choking a pregnant employee. Linda Witkerson, 48, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and strangulation in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday, March 29, according to the Oregonian newspaper. The defendant was also ordered to pay a $250 fine, attend anger management classes, and perform 100 hours of community service. The judge ordered Witkerson not to have any contact with 29-year-old Mary Hulett, the former co-worker. Im glad there was at least some kind of punishment for what she did, Hulett told the Oregonian newspaper. I think she got what she deserved. Taco Bell released the following statement in response to the incident, according to KATU: Taco Bell and the franchisee who owns and operates this location do not tolerate this type of behavior. This manager was terminated at the time of the incident and no longer works for the franchisee. The Incident The victim told the court that when she was employed at the Portland International Airport Taco Bell, Witkerson was rude to her because of the frequent breaks she took due to her pregnancy, KATU reported. On June 3, 2018, Witkerson and Hulett got into an argument over a food order. Hulett, who was four months pregnant at the time, ordered some food while she was on a break. Witkerson canceled the order and the two argued. Video shows Hulett going into an office, with Witkerson soon following. The two are seen in a heated exchange. Witkerson walks away from Hulett and slams the door in her face, according to the footage. Hulett is seen opening the door and continuing to argue, after which Witkerson walks back and slams the door shut a second time. Witkerson then walks back into the room and puts her hands on Huletts neck, as if to choke her. The pregnant employee then shoved the manager away. I didnt know when she was going to take her hands off my throat, and I was in fear for my child, Hulett told the Oregonian/OregonLive. Im just glad she let go and my son was born healthy. It was wrong for me to call her the [expletive], but that doesnt justify you putting your hands on someone, she continued. Hulett no longer works for Taco Bell. Bomb Squad Called to Taco Bell On Jan. 26, a Taco Bell restaurant was evacuated and the bomb squad called in when a Florida magnet fisher accidentally snagged a rusty old hand grenade, put it in his girlfriends trunk and drove to a nearby Taco Bell. The Ocala Police Department warned the public to steer clear of the scene. Be advised that the Taco Bell on East Silver Springs Blvd. has been evacuated, following a report of an explosive device located in a vehicle on premises, said the police in a statement on Jan. 26. At 5:01 p.m. a caller informed dispatchers that he had found a hand grenade while magnet fishing in Ocklawaha, put it in his trunk, and drove to Taco Bell in Ocala. The police said in a later statement the rusty object was verified as an authentic World War II hand grenade. The bomb squad removed the grenade without incident and advised it would be disposed of properly, said the police in an update. Taco Bell has reopened. According to a separate police report, the grenade was destroyed as a precautionary measure. The man and a woman were fishing for precious metals with a magnet when they picked up the grenade. The man put it into a plastic 5-gallon bucket, which he placed into the trunk of his girlfriends vehicle. According to Gizmodo, the report states, Both individuals later drove into the Ocala city limits, parked at the Taco Bell on East Silver Springs Boulevard, and notified law enforcement of their discovery so it could be recovered. Epoch Times reporter Simon Veazey contributed to this report. An AR-15 style rifle is displayed at the Firing-Line indoor range and gun shop, in Aurora, Colo., on July 26, 2012. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo) Judge Blocks Californias High-Capacity Ammunition Ban SACRAMENTO, Calif.High-capacity gun magazines will remain legal in California under a ruling on March 29 by a federal judge who cited home invasions where a woman used the extra bullets in her weapon to kill an attacker while in two other cases women without additional ammunition ran out of bullets. Individual liberty and freedom are not outmoded concepts, San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez wrote as he declared unconstitutional the law that would have banned possessing any magazines holding more than 10 bullets. California law has prohibited buying or selling such magazines since 2000 but those who had them before then were allowed to keep them. In 2016, the Legislature and voters approved a law removing that provision. The California arm of the National Rifle Association sued and Benitez sided with the groups argument that banning the magazines infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Benitez had temporarily blocked the law from taking effect with a 2017 ruling. Chuck Michel, an attorney for the NRA and the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said the judges latest ruling may go much farther by striking down the entire ban, allowing individuals to legally acquire high-capacity magazines for the first time in nearly two decades. Were still digesting the opinion but it appears to us that he struck down both the latest ban on possessing by those who are grandfathered in, but also said that everyone has a right to acquire one, Michel said. Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that his office is committed to defending Californias common sense gun laws and is reviewing the decision and evaluating its next steps. The goal of the California law is to deter mass-shootings, with Becerra previously listing as an example the terrorist assault that killed 14 and injured 22 in San Bernardino. Benitez, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, called such shootings exceedingly rare while emphasizing the everyday robberies, rapes, and murders might be countered with firearms. The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, named after a former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting, is also still evaluating whether the decision applies more broadly, said staff attorney Ari Freilich. Becerra previously said similar Second Amendment challenges have been repeatedly rejected by other courts, with at least seven other states and 11 local governments already restricting the possession or sale of large-capacity magazines. The conflicting decisions may ultimately be sorted out by the U.S. Supreme Court. Benitez ruled that magazines holding more than 10 rounds are arms under the U.S. Constitution, and that the California law burdens the core of the Second Amendment by criminalizing the acquisition and possession of these magazines that are commonly held by law-abiding citizens for defense of self, home, and state. Benitez described three home invasions, two of which ended with the female victims running out of bullets. In the third case, the pajama-clad woman with a high-capacity magazine took on three armed intruders, firing at them while simultaneously calling for help on her phone. She had no place to carry an extra magazine and no way to reload because her left hand held the phone with which she was still trying to call 911, the judge wrote, saying she killed one attacker while two escaped. By Don Thompson Ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) during a hearing about the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 14, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Feinstein Displeased as White House Pushes 9th Circuit Nominees Without Consulting Her Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) expressed her displeasure about the White Houses push to consider two new nominees for the left-leaning 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Nominees Ken Lee and Dan Collins were reportedly picked by the Trump administration without input from Feinstein or Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). In the past, the White House has sought to obtain a so-called blue slip of approval from home-state senators before the nominations. I take it that without notice or discussion, the blue slip is essentially dead, Feinstein said on March 27, reported Fox News. This change in practice not only harms the Senate, it harms the federal judiciary, she said. And I wish we couldve had an opportunity to discuss it. I really believe its a mistake. Feinstein said the blue slip practice has been around for about 100 years. The Senate confirmed only five judges with only one blue slip, and the last one was in 1989 and in 100 years the Senate had never confirmed a judge without two blue slips, she continued. In February, Seattle lawyer Eric Miller was confirmed to the 9th Circuit by a vote of 53-46. Feinstein stated, There is no justification for disregarding Democratic blue slips. Democratic senators have made and continue to make good faith efforts to find consensus picks for the circuit courts, Fox reported. As Senator Harris and I have made clear, weve been willing to work from the start with this president to choose consensus, mainstream nominees to the 9th Circuit, Feinstein said. One of the things Ive learned is: what goes around, comes around. I had hoped that we would be able to work in a very cooperative way. Regarding the nominations to the court in January, Harris and Feinstein released a joint statement. We are deeply disappointed that the White House has chosen to re-nominate Daniel Collins and Kenneth Lee to the Ninth Circuit. We made clear our opposition to these individuals and told the White House we wanted to work together to come to consensus on a new package of nominees, it said. On March 30, the newest 9th Circuit judge, Ryan Nelson, was sworn in, reported The Associated Press. Ryan Nelson, a longtime Idaho Falls resident and attorney for Melaleuca, Inc., was nominated by President Trump to the 9th Circuit in May. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 51-44. The Post Register reports that during his investiture ceremony in Idaho Falls, Nelson said he believed the courts should be the weakest branch of the government. He said the courts had gained more power than intended over the years. Outrageous Trump has repeatedly blasted the 9th Circuit, and two years ago, stated that he was absolutely looking at breaking it up. There are many people that want to break up the 9th Circuit. Its outrageous, Trump said in 2017. Everybody immediately runs to the 9th Circuit. And we have a big country. We have lots of other locations. But they immediately run to the 9th Circuit. Because they know thats like, semi-automatic, Trump added. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handles federal appellate cases for most Western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Republicans have criticized the 9th Circuit because of its massive geographical reach and left-wing leanings. In November, Trump said there have been a lot of bad court decisions from the 9th Circuit, which has become a big thorn in our side. Its a terrible thing when judges take over your protective services, when they tell you how to protect your border. Its a disgrace, he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Chaim Teller (L) and Yante Teller were allegedly kidnapped by members of the Lev Tahore Jewish sect and rescued in Tenango del Air, Mexico, on Dec. 28, 2018. (New York State Police) Fifth Member of Jewish Sect Arrested in Child Kidnapping Plot Federal authorities have arrested another member of an extremist Jewish sect in what the FBI has called a new plot to abduct two New York children who recently fled the ultra-orthodox group called Lev Tahore. Members of the cult had earlier vowed to re-abduct the children, whose mother had already rescued them three times from the Guatemala-based group, The New York Post reported. Sect leaders reportedly threatened the childrens mother, Sara Helbrans, according to an indictment reported on by The Post. An unnamed boss of the group allegedly said in a telephone call secretly recorded by Helbrans that the cult members would fight the mother until the last drop of blood and that they will fight her to the death. Matityau Moshe Malka appeared in federal court in White Plains, New York, on Tuesday, March 26, on kidnapping and obstruction of justice charges, The Associated Press reported. The FBI said Malka and other members of Lev Tahor planned to abduct 14-year-old Yante Teller and her 12-year-old brother Chaim Teller three months after they were returned to their mother in upstate New York after earlier being kidnapped and rescued. Malka is one of five alleged cult members arrested in the kidnapping plot. Previous Kidnapping Authorities charged four members of the Lev Tahore sect in December with abducting the same boy and girl and taking them out of the country. The children were found in the Mexican town of Tenango del Aire. Thankfully, the kidnappers were no match for the perseverance of the FBI, the New York State Police, and Mexican authorities, and the children were recovered this morning after a nearly three-week search, said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in a Dec. 28 statement. The children were reunited with their mother in New York. Mother Spoke Out Against Extremism Federal investigators said in court filings cited by The Post that the childrens mother had been a voluntary member of Lev Tahor but escaped from the group after its leadership became increasingly extreme. Prior to her escape, the mother spoke out against the growing extremism within Lev Tahor, the complaint reads. The mother indicated that it was not safe to keep her children there. In the criminal complaint, FBI Agent Jonathan Lane referred to reports of Lev Tahor subjecting children to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Denis Baraby, the former director of Youth Protection Services for the Laurentides region, which has investigated Lev Tahor, told The New York Post of witnessing disturbing conditions during visits to Lev Tahor homes, including urine-soaked mattresses and insects. Medical services, proper hygiene, proper food was not provided for these children, Baraby said, adding he and his co-workers were shocked by the childrens living conditions. The mother was granted custody of the children after entering the United States. I am very worried, afraid, and concerned that the father and his fellow members of the cult will try to kidnap the children and compel the children to return to the cult, where they are in danger of malnourishment, corporal punishment, and forced to marry persons much older than them, she wrote in a Nov. 14 custody filing in Brooklyn Family Court, according to The Post. She sought custody of her children and an order of protection against her husband. Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said, As alleged, the defendants are leaders and members of Lev Tahor who kidnapped two innocent children to continue their lives with the group in violation of a legitimate, court-ordered child custody arrangement. Berman said, These charges and arrests send a clear message that if you are involved in child abduction we will find you and bring you to justice. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Saab International Technology Korea Vice President and Head of Marketing and Sales Martin Malmfors poses before Korean Air Force's Black Eagles aerobatic team T-50 aircraft during ADEX exhibition at Seoul Airport in Seongnam in 2017. Saab, a Swedish defense and security company, participated in the 2017 exhibition. / Courtesy of Martin Malmfors By Yi Whan-woo It is not surprising to run into non-Koreans who are aware of Arirang, Korea's probably most popular folk song, amid growing international interest in Korean culture. But Martin Malmfors, Saab International Technology Korea's vice president and head of marketing and sales, still stands out. The well-traveled exec can fluently sing Arirang, play the piece on clarinet and recite the historical and cultural significance behind its lyrics. This was the case for the Swede when he was asked by the Embassy of Sweden in Seoul to represent the Swedish business community and perform a Korean song of his choice at the 60th anniversary reception for Sweden -Korea relations at the Seoul Museum of History on March 11. "When it came to my selection of music, I did not have to hesitate at all," Malmfors told The Korea Times in an email interview, March 19. "For me, no other piece of Korean music summarizes and represents better the memories and strong emotions that I have developed in Korea over the past 15 years." He referred to Arirang as "a true testament" of Korean passion and love as well hardship and suffering that the Korean Peninsula has endured for centuries. "Not only does Arirang have a beautiful melody, but also some deeply symbolic lyrics which so well capture the soul, spirit and heritage of the Korean people," he said. Saab International Technology Korea Vice President and Head of Marketing and Sales Martin Malmfors plays Arirang on clarinet during a reception to mark the 60th anniversary of Sweden-Korea diplomatic relations at the Seoul Museum of History in Seoul, March 11. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo Living in Seoul since 2004, he became interested in Arirang in August 2005 when he visited North Korea as member of the European Union business delegation and had a chance to watch the Arirang Festival, a mass games event with tens of thousands of gymnasts and dancers. It was held to mark the 60th anniversary of Liberation Day on Aug. 15, one of the few holidays celebrated in both Koreas after the peninsula was freed from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. "It was truly a mesmerizing once-in-a-lifetime experience to be allowed to personally witness such a spectacle first-hand," he said of the festival, which is known for huge human-pixel images created by 30,000 schoolchildren using colored boards. "Immediately upon my return to Seoul I made some further research on the Arirang song. It then became very clear to my why this song has been dubbed as the unofficial anthem of Korea and twice listed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list." Malmfors said, following his trip to the North, Korean traditional music or gugak, especially pansori, shin-gugak and fusion gugak, "has played an important role in my endeavors to learn more about Korea." Malmfors, 48, considers himself blessed and fortunate to be experiencing the "Korean wonder in-the-making" and promoting Korea worldwide. "I strongly believe that we, both as countries and peoples, have so much to learn from and be inspired by each other. Therefore, it has come very naturally to me to try my best to assist in informally promoting Korea in Sweden and vice versa," he said. Saab International Technology Korea Vice President and Head of Marketing and Sales Martin Malmfors, right, poses with his wife, Sun-mi, left, and their son, in this photo taken early this year. / Courtesy of Martin Malmfors He said his Korean wife, Sun-mi, has inspired him to have particular interest toward Korean culinary culture and food heritage. He pointed out his wife is from Wando, South Jeolla Province, known for its delicacies and rich culinary history, and that she has exceptional cooking skills. This led him to open Moi-Copenhagen (www.moikorean.com), a Korean restaurant in Copenhagen, Demark, in April 2018, jointly with David Mill, the chef and owner of Grand Hotel Molle in Sweden. It is run by Kim Hee a Korean chef who runs several restaurants in Seoul, including the popular "Moi Kitchen" in Hannam-dong. Commenting on the 60th anniversary of Sweden-Korea ties, Malmfors said it "gains even further symbolic importance and reason to celebrate" considering 60 years, or hwangap, is a full big cycle in the lunar calendar and is a particularly important period of time in Korean culture. "I have had the fortune to be involved with and get to know Korea during only a brief part of this period. But nevertheless, I sense a vast and positive change just during the past decade," he said. "So, let that positive change and the strengthened ties between our countries continue to thrive for many more hwangaps to come. This is just the beginning!" A former intelligence officer at Swedish Air Force, Malmfors has been working for Saab, a Swedish defense and security company, since September 2016. He previously worked for EUKOR Car Carriers, a Scandinavian-Korean shipping company dealing with global shipments of Hyundai and Kia automobiles. Florida Woman Arrested for First Degree Murder in Execution-Style Killing A Florida woman was arrested on March 29 and charged with the first degree murder of a young man in what has been described as an execution style killing. Homicide detectives of Polk County Sheriffs Office took the suspect, 28-year-old Heather Tyler of Pirates Way in Lakeland, into custody after processing the murder scene following several tips and leads. Tyler has been charged with the capital felony of first degree murder, tampering with evidence, and grand theft of a firearm. She was booked into the Polk County Jail and is being held on no bond. On the Polk County Sheriffs twitter page, Tylers mugshot was posted with the tweet: Weve arrested 28-yr-old Heather Tyler of #Lakeland for the cold-blooded first degree murder of 21-yr-old Joseph Witherington. He would be alive today if not for her viciousness. His family & friends are in our prayers. Weve arrested 28-yr-old Heather Tyler of #Lakeland for the cold-blooded first degree murder of 21-yr-old Joseph Witherington. He would be alive today if not for her viciousness. His family & friends are in our prayers. Sheriff Judd. Read the release: https://t.co/s0dDxduF7N pic.twitter.com/lgxGghourM Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) March 30, 2019 Account of Events According to the police report, the young man, 21-year-old Joseph Witherington, was with Tyler at her house for a few hours on March 27 before driving with her in his friends blue Kia to a local convenience store and then out to 80 Foot Road in Alturas. It was at this time that Tyler shot Witherington in the back of the head, while he was driving, from the back seat of the car. Once the car came to a stop, Tyler exited the vehicle and shot Witherington again in the head. Heather Tyler made a conscious decision to shoot the decedent a second time, although he was incapacitated from the first gunshot wound to the head, the police report said. On the morning of March 28, Witherington was found dead in the drivers seat of the car by orange grove caretakers in a grove on Mud Lake Road. The car belonged to a friend of Witheringtons who let him borrow it often. A pair of womens flip-flops was found closeby. Tyler later admitted to detectives that the flip flops were hers and that she was with Witherington during that time. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be homicide by two gunshots to the head. Regardless of Heathers many reasons and excuses, we know that she executed Joseph Witherington by shooting him in the back of the head while he was driving down a dirt road between orange grovesand that is first degree murder and we have charged her accordingly, said Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff in the police report. Clearly the evidence, witnesses, and her admissions confirm that she committed cold blooded first degree murder. Josephs family and friends are in our prayers. If not for the vicious act by Heather Tyler, he would be alive and well today. Several Versions The police report stated that Tyler did not provide a motive or a clear account of the events. Tyler gave detectives several versions of events from inside the Kia that evening, but the evidence and witness statements confirm that she shot him in the head while he was driving, said the police report. She shot him again after the vehicle came to a stop. She then took his wallet and fled the scene, leaving her shoes behind, and burned her clothes that had his blood on them. She did not give detectives a clear motive for the killing. The police report also says that Tyler tampered with evidence by burning the clothes that she was wearing at the time of the shooting. Tyler said the clothing had blood on them and possible evidence of a homicide was destroyed when she intentionally burnt them, the police report said. Tyler also removed other evidentiary items from the scene with the intent to destroy them. Witheringtons sister posted on her facebook account a picture of Tyler with the comment, This is the Evil monster who shot my brother for no reason! I hope you get the death penalty! #justiceforjoey Thank you Polk County Sheriff Department. This is the Evil monster who shot my brother for no reason! I hope you get the death penalty!#justiceforjoey Thank you Polk County Sheriff Department Brandy Witherington 2019329 Witheringtons brother also shared the post saying, This monster took my brothers life. Thank you Polk County Sheriff Office. We got #justiceforjoey you shot my brother for nothing you monster you deserve life! The investigation is ongoing and the Polk County Sheriffs Office is not releasing information about the witness. From NTD.com Former ICE Chief Slams Maryland for Sanctuary Legislation WASHINGTONTom Homan, the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said politicians who enact sanctuary policies on the premise of protecting immigrant communities end up doing the complete opposite. Because if ICE can get the bad guy in a county jail, its done and its over, Homan told The Epoch Times on March 14. But when they release a bad guy from the county jail now, ICE has to go find that guy, which means theyre going to go into the community where theyre probably going to find others, others that werent even on their radar. Number two, when you release a criminal alien back to the street, hes going to reoffend in the very community in which he livesthe immigrant community. A raft of bills being considered in the Maryland legislature would essentially turn the state into a sanctuary for illegal aliens by shielding them from immigration enforcement. One bill, House Bill 913 (HB 913), goes so far as to prohibit local and state jail officials from cooperating with a detainer lodged by ICE. A detainer is a request for an illegal alien to be held until an ICE agent can take custody, or for the jail to notify ICE when an illegal alien is to be released from custody. Under HB 913, ICE would instead have to produce a federal judicial warrant. Both require probable cause, but a judicial warrant requires a judge to sign off. The bill would also prevent correctional officers from supplying ICE with the address of a person released from jail and their time of release, said Maryland House Delegate David Moon, a Democrat and HB 913 sponsor. However, they would not restrict ICE from accessing this information, Moon said. I do not consider this as a sanctuary bill. Fifty-six Democrats co-sponsored the bill. I dare any of these politicians to go to the immigrant community and ask them this one simple question: Where would you rather have ICE operatingin our county jail or in your neighborhood? What do you think theyre going to say? Homan said. You cant say prioritize criminals, but were going to be a sanctuary and you cant come in our jail. You cant say it both ways. It just dont make sense. In fiscal 2018, ICE arrested more than 138,000 aliens with criminal histories. Of all arrests made, 87 percent were of convicted criminals or those with pending criminal charges. Most alien criminals are picked up in jails, but, increasingly, ICE has had to operate in the community as more sanctuaries emerge. California paved the way in 2018 when it enacted sweeping sanctuary legislation, but at least 180 cities and counties across the country have similar policies. Other states that have sanctuary policies include Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermontsome of which simply state they wont honor any ICE detainer requests, according to a map and list on the Center for Immigration Studies website. For ICE, access to jails and being told when criminal aliens are about to be released are matters of safety and efficiency. The agency has 6,000 agents in the country to find and remove immigration violators, especially criminals, gang members, and potential terrorists. Its simple math. Its operational necessity. Because one officer can sit in a county jail and process 10 criminal aliens a day, Homan said. But when you release those 10 criminal aliens a day, now weve got to send a whole team to arrest somebody on their turf, who has access to who-knows-what weapons. So weve got to send a lot more agents in that area to do the same job a few used to do in the county jail. So it doesnt make sense. Detective Nick Rogers said Denver adopted sanctuary policies in October 2017. We were informed that if we communicated with ICE, we were subject to discipline, up to and including termination, Rogers said in a congressional hearing last year. We were also told that if we violated the ordinance, we were subject to criminal prosecution and would be fined up to $999 and a term of incarceration not to exceed 300 days in jail. Rogers said he can now no longer contact the same ICE agents he has worked with for years. ICE agents are now only granted the same access as the general public to city-owned law enforcement facilities. Rogers said he used to have a briefing with the ICE agents in his office to go over tactical plans for drug arrests involving illegal aliens. Those ICE agents were welcomed in the front door, he said. They dont even come in the parking lot anymore. MS-13 in Maryland Maryland is a hotbed for the violent transnational gang MS-13, which ICE is tasked with dismantling. A 19-year-old known MS-13 gang member was charged with the gruesome murder of a man in Montgomery County late last year. Miguel Angel Lopez-Abrego, along with nine other MS-13 members, stabbed the victim more than 100 times, decapitated and dismembered him, and ripped his heart out before throwing him into a grave in Wheaton Regional Park, court documents said. In another case, Maryland MS-13 member Raul Ernesto Landaverde-Giron was sentenced in August last year to two consecutive life sentences for a laundry list of violent crimes, including murder. Landaverde-Giron earned a promotion within the gang for his participation in the murder. Evidence presented at the trial showed that MS-13 members planned and committed numerous crimes, including murders and attempted murders in Prince Georges and Frederick counties between 2012 and 2016, according to the DOJ. Gang members also extorted from owners of illegal businesses, among other crimes. The majority of MS-13 gang members are in the country illegally and many enter as unaccompanied minors on the southern border. On March 22, Border Patrol agents in Texas arrested a Salvadoran national after he entered the United States illegally. They discovered he was an MS-13 gang member with a prior arrest for theft in Maryland. On March 24, Border Patrol discovered that a Honduran national traveling with a 3-year-old child had a prior conviction for rape in the second degree in Baltimore. Sanctuary Effect Homan said that once Californias sanctuary policies went into full effect, he saw a change. I noticed that theres case after case after case of criminal illegal aliens released from jails across California who didnt notify us before the release, he said. Many of them reoffend. Half of them will reoffend in the first year; up to 75 percent will reoffend within five years. Homan cited a recent murder in San Jose. Known gang member Carlos Eduardo Arevalo Carranza allegedly killed a 58-year-old woman in her home on Feb. 28. Nine prior detainers lodged by ICE had been ignored by local officials. If they would have honored our detainer, that person would have been out of this country and unable to murder that [woman], Homan said. All were asking is: Before you release him, call us. We may be interested in him, especially if hes in the country illegally. Thats all were asking for. They dont have to hold them a minute past what they would normally hold them. He said Maryland, as with what happened to California, would result in having more ICE agents assigned to the state if the sanctuary policies become law. A committee vote on HB 913 hasnt yet been scheduled, but if it passes, it would move to the House floor for a full vote before advancing to the Senate. Fox Apologizes for 3 Mexican Countries Gaffe Fox & Friends apologized for a headline that incorrectly said, Trump Cuts Aid to 3 Mexican Countries. It was in response to President Trump cutting aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador amid mass migration into the United States. Those countries are located in Central America. We want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show, said co-host Ed Henry on March 31. We had an inaccurate graphic on screen we just want to be clear the funding is being cut off to three Central American countries. We apologize for the error, it never should have happened, he added. Fox corrects:We want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show. We had an inaccurate graphic on screenwe just want to be clear the funding is being cut off to three Central American countries. We apologize for the error it never should have happened. pic.twitter.com/oYktCeVYMd andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) March 31, 2019 According to Newsmax, the gaffe was on the air for 30 seconds. Mother of All Caravans Trumps move to cut foreign aid came days after Mexican Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero warned that the mother of all caravans could be coming to the United States from the three Central American nations. We have information that a new caravan is forming in Honduras, that theyre calling the mother of all caravans, and they are thinking it could have more than 20,000 people, Sanchez Cordero said on March 27, reported The Associated Press. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson also noted on March 30 that there is a crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that the number of apprehensions has exceeded anything he experienced when he served under former President Obama. By anyones definition, by any measure, right now we have a crisis at our southern border, Johnson said during an interview on Fox News. On CNN, White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney said on March 31, If were going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more. Honduras could do more. Nicaragua could do more. El Salvador could do more, Mulvaney stated. The chief of staff said the number of people pouring across the border is historic, and he questioned whether U.S. foreign aid even works. Why are the people still coming? Why are these historic numbersagain, 100,000 people will cross the border this month alone? That isthat is a crisis. Its a humanitarian crisis. Its a security crisis, he said. Close the Border? Trump in February declared a national emergency to secure funds to build a wall along the border. Trump then vetoed a Congress-passed resolution to void his declaration, and the House failed to override it. Trump on March 30 called on Mexico to use strong immigration laws to staunch the flow of migrants. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico! he tweeted. Overcrowding? ICE and Border Patrol have reported there is overcrowding at their detention facilities. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Kevin McAleenan, explained that two-thirds of the inflow are children and families from Central America who are almost guaranteed to be released to remain in the U.S. indefinitely even though 8590 percent of them will eventually have their asylum claim denied. He said this is different from the high numbers in the 1990s and 2000s, as last time we had crossings near this level, they were almost all adults from Mexico who could be swiftly repatriated. Janita Kan contributed to this report. Heres the Most Expensive Drug in the United States: Report This week, a report revealed what is currently the most expensive prescription drug in America. GoodRx, a website that tracks high-dollar drugs, listed the most expensive medications in the United States, as of May 2018. It said Actimmune, which costs $52,000 per month, was the most costly, reported Readers Digest. The drug is used to treat osteopetrosis, a bone disease, as well as chronic granulomatous disease, an immune disorder. Patients who take Actimmune typically use about 12 vials per month at a list price of $4,360, according to Readers Digest. Drugs like these are oftenbut not alwayscovered by insurance, stated Doug Hirsch, co-founder GoodRx, to the magazine. Youll first have to spend your own money up to your deductible before the coverage kicks in, which can often be thousands of dollars. Then, these drugs are often covered by coinsurance instead of a flat copay, meaning youll pay some percentage of the cost of this drugeven 10 percent of a $40,000 drug is $4,000. Next on the list is Daraprim, which pharma bro Martin Shkreli raised from $13.50 to $750 per pill several years ago. It can cost $45,000 per month. Daraprim is generally given to AIDS and transplant patients. No. 3 was Cinryze at $44,140. The drug treats hereditary angioedema, which is a rare disease that causes throat, face, and hands swelling, according to the report. Most very expensive drugs do not have alternatives, thus the manufacturer can charge whatever they like, Hirsch told the publication. After that is Chenodal, at $42,570 per month, or $473 per pill. Some patients take as many as 210 per month. There are many patient assistance programs to offset the cost, although they also have limitations, Hirsch noted. Costing $42,137, Myalept was the fifth most expensive drug in America, the report said. Its the only available drug to treat lipodystrophy, a condition where there is an abnormal distribution of fat in the body, MedicineNet noted. Most patients take about 10 vials of Myalept per month, which cost in excess of $4,000 each, said Readers Digest. Drug Prices Unacceptable The Washington Post recently reported that medication prices rose about 57 percent on average between 2006 and 2014. Prescription drugs with no generic equivalent rose by 142 percent in the same time period, the report said. President Trump several weeks ago made note of the skyrocketing drug prices. It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place, Trump said during the State of the Union. This is wrong, unfair, and together we will stop it. I am asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients, Trump added. We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs way down. Days before the speech, the Trump administration proposed the requirement that health insurance companies and middlemen give consumers discounts they can get on prescription medication. The proposal would view rebates worth billions of dollars that drug makers pay to middlemen as illegal kickbacks. This is an incredibly important proposal that could fundamentally change how drugs are priced and paid for at pharmacies, Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, told the New York Times in late January. The current rebate-based system rewards higher list prices, enriches middlemen and drives up patients costs. We are taking action to encourage the industry to shift away from the opaque rebate system and provide true discounts to patients at the point of sale, Mr. Azar added. Reuters, meanwhile, reported on Jan. 2 that nearly 30 drug manufacturers have taken steps to raise the prices of their medicines in January, ending a self-declared halt to increases made by a pharma industry under pressure from Trump. Twenty-eight drugmakers filed notifications with California agencies in early November, disclosing that they planned to raise prices in 60 days or longer. Under a state law passed last year, companies are required to notify payers in California if they intend to raise the list price on any drug by more than 16 percent over a two-year period. Reuters contributed to this report. Man Who Raped Kansas Girl While in US Illegally Faces More Charges: Reports A man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor under the age of 14 was reportedly charged with re-entering the United States illegally. Simon Rochel-Cervantes spent seven years at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility for rape and aggravated intimidation of a witness, reported the Salina Post. He was released on Feb. 19, 2019, U.S. Attorney spokesman James Cross told the Salina Post. Simon Rochel-Cervantes was convicted of raping a child in Sedgwick County in 2006. He was taken into immigration custody after he was released from a Kansas prison earlier this month. Posted by Wichita Eagle on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 The 46-year-old was then taken into federal custody on March 5, 2019 in Sedgwick County, Kansas, according to the DOJ. He was charged with unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a statement on March 26. Rochel-Cervantes faces as many as two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for breaking immigration laws. According to KAKE-TV, he is currently being held in Butler County, Kansas. The Kansas sex offender registry stated that his victim was 11 years old, and the assault took place in Wichita. Other details about the case werent provided in the registry. Sedgwick County prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint that he had sex with an 11-year-old child on Jan. 1, 2006, then intimidated witnesses. Documents filed in district court indicate the child was a girl. Rochel-Cervantes pleaded no contest later that year to rape and aggravated intimidation of a witness, Kansas.com reported. For the sex assault case, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison before his release. A man from Mexico who raped an 11-year-old Kansas child now faces a charge of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported. Posted by KAKE-TV on Thursday, March 28, 2019 Its not clear when Rochel-Cervantes, a Mexican national, re-entered the United States before the 2006 child rape conviction. The Salina Post reported that Rochel-Cervantes, a Mexican national, was previously removed from the United States in February 2000. Its also not clear whether Rochel-Cervantes left the country after he was released from prison earlier this year and re-entered the U.S. Obama DHS Secretary Notes Crisis on Border Jeh Johnson, the former homeland security secretary during the Obama administration, said on several recent television appearances that there is a crisis at the Southern border, adding that the number of apprehensions has surpassed anything he had seen during his time as the departments head. By anyones definition, by any measure, right now we have a crisis at our southern border, Johnson said during an interview on Foxs Cavuto LIVE on March 30. According to the commissioner of CBP, there were 4,000 apprehensions in one day alone this past week, and were on pace for 100,000 apprehensions on our southern border this month. That is by far a greater number than anything I saw on my watch in my three years as Secretary of Homeland Security, he added. The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Kevin McAleenan, said during a press conference this week that federal agents caught 4,117 people who were either trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally or through a border crossing on March 26. Janita Kan contributed to this report. Jeanine Pirro, arrives at the Trump Tower for meetings with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in New York on Nov. 17, 2016. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images) Jeanine Pirro Returns to Fox News, Calls for Punishment of Trump Accusers Judge Jeanine Pirro returned to her Saturday night Fox News show two weeks after controversy erupted over her remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), which drew condemnation from Fox. On March 30, Pirros opening statement touched on special counsel Robert Muellers report that found no evidence President Trump colluded with Russia. Unless we make an example of the traitorous, treasonous group that accused Donald Trump of being an agent of the Russian government and as they spewed their hate I want to know who the unmasking, who did the leaking, and if we dont have a consequence of the highest level of government are not held responsible for this then it is a blueprint for a future effort to overthrow the government, Pirro said on her show. Dont be satisfied with the Mueller report. This is bound to happen again b/c these arrogant, condescending, lying, leaking haters of you,me & the America that doesnt have power, will do it again. And the only way to stop them is with justice. True justice- behind bars justice. pic.twitter.com/72aPr7ozmR Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 31, 2019 The former prosecutor and judge told her audience that they shouldnt be satisfied with the report. This is bound to happen again because these arrogant, condescending, leaking lying haters of you and me and the America that doesnt have power will do it again unless we stop them in the only way to stop them is with justice, true justice and that is behind-the-bars justice, Pirro said. Before her return this weekend, her show was off the air and she didnt tweet after questioning whether Omar was more loyal to Muslim Sharia law than to the U.S. Constitution after Omar made what many believed were anti-Semitic remarks. Pirros remarks drew a swift rebuke from Fox News. Ive seen a lot of comments about my opening statement from Saturday nights show and I did not call Rep. Omar un-American, Pirro said after Fox condemned her statement about Omar. My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you dont support the Constitution. I invite Rep. Omar to come on my show any time to discuss all of the important issues facing America today. Her return came days after she was not able to go on Fox host Sean Hannitys show due to a family emergency. Before I go, I had promoted yesterday and on my radio show today that Judge Jeanine Pirro would be joining us tonight on the program, he said, according to the Daily Mail. She had a really serious family emergency come up, couldnt be with us. I dont know the nature of it. We always pray for her. Pirros program didnt air on March 16 and March 23. Fox didnt issue a public statement about the matter. Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well. Fox .. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019 In mid-March, Trump denounced the move, calling on Fox to resist in the face of a social media backlash. Bring back @Judge Jeanine Pirro, President Trump tweeted. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well. Additionally, Trump said Fox should stay strong and fight back with vigor. Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, dont give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die! Mohammed Ismail, who was nicked nicknamed Osama bin Bieber due to his youthful appearance, joined the ISIS terror cult when he was 18 years old. (Facebook) Jihadi Recruit Nicknamed Osama bin Bieber Killed by ISIS for Spying A teenage ISIS recruit nicknamed Osama bin Bieber for his youthful appearance has reportedly been executed by the terror group for being a spy. Mohammed Ismail was 18 when he left the British city of Coventry to join the jihadi terror cult in March 2014. Ismail was killed by his fellow jihadis supposedly for giving away the movements of Nasser Muthana, a high-profile ISIS recruiter and propagandist, according to the Sunday Times. Muthana was killed in a precision air strike in the Iraqi city of Mosul, a former ISIS stronghold. According to the report, ISIS operatives were convinced Muthana was successfully targeted due to Ismails espionage. The jihadi recruits last moments alive were recorded on video, in which he apologized, according to the newspaper. His execution is believed to be the first known ISIS killing of a suspected British spy. No information was immediately available as to how Ismail was killed. Update on British ISIS Bride Shamima Begum The husband of jihadi bride Shamima Begum, who remains in a Syrian refugee camp, recently complained to the Sunday Times that shes just alone, heartbroken. Yago Riedijk, 27, spoke to the publication from a detention facility in northern Syria. Riedijk joined the jihadi terror cult in 2014 and married Begum a year later when she was just 15 years old. Begums return to Britain was blocked by UK authorities on grounds of her posing a security risk. Her family launched a legal challenge to the British governments decision to strip her of citizenship and effectively prevent her from entering the country. The 19-year-old Begum surfaced in a refugee camp last month, where she appealed to be allowed back into the UK, claiming in an interview with Sky News that during her four years with the jihadis she was just a housewife and never did anything dangerous. No Regrets Begum said in an interview with The Times of London that while she did not agree with everything the terror group had done, she has no regrets about joining ISIS and suggested that air strikes against the terror group in Syria somehow justified the Manchester Arena terror attack. Its a two-way thing, really, she told the BBC, adding that the suicide bomber that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was a kind of retaliation for bombardments of ISIS-held enclaves, adding, So I thought, ok, that is a fair justification. "I didn't want to be IS poster girl" London teenager Shamima Begum, who fled to join Islamic State group in Syria, says she now wants the UK's forgiveness [Tap to expand] https://t.co/9KwR4TYUqA pic.twitter.com/JWsgeHHppl BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 18, 2019 Asked about her take on the particularly graphic atrocities the jihadi extremists are known to have carried out, Begum told The Times of London that seeing beheaded heads in bins did not faze her. When asked by a Sky News reporter, Did you know what Islamic State [ISIS] were doing when you left for Syria? Because they had beheaded people. There were executions, she replied, Yeah, I knew about those things and I was okay with it. Potentially Very Dangerous Security experts such as British intelligence service head Alex Younger have warned, however, that would-be returnees like Begum were potentially very dangerous because they were in that sort of position, people like her were likely to have acquired certain skills or connections. Survivors and other victims of the murderous cults reign of terror, meanwhile, are furious at the prospect of ISIS women getting a sympathetic hearing in the Western press, or worsea free pass. Ali Y. Al-Baroodi, who survived ISISs bloody occupation of Mosul, told the Jerusalem Post that claims on the part of jihadi brides that they were just housewives, as Begum has insisted, are not credible. It was hell on Earth and every single one of them made it so, he said, asking sarcastically if perhaps local victims of the jihadi women should apologize for disturbing their stay there. [ISIS] demolished cities and hundreds of mass graves, [and left] thousands of orphans and widows, he added. Its impossible to muster sympathy for her, author and academic Idrees Ahmad wrote in reference to Begum, according to the Post. She went to Syria as a colonizer, several months after ISIS beheaded journalists and aid workers. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building to testify to the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 17, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Judge Orders Justice Department to Hand Over Comey Memos A federal judge ordered the Department of Justice to hand over memos drafted by former FBI Director James Comey in which he recorded the details of his one-on-one conversations with President Donald Trump. Judge James Boasberg ruled in favor of CNN, The Daily Caller News Foundation, Judicial Watch, and others in ordering the Justice Department (DOJ) and the FBI to turn over the memos to the court by April 1. The memos in question include those Comey leaked to a friend with the intention of triggering the appointment of a special counsel. At least one of the memos contains classified information, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The New York Times published an article based on Comeys leaked memos on May 16, 2017, a week after Trump fired him. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller the day after The New York Times article. Government watchdog groups and the media have been fighting to obtain the memos since their existence was revealed. CNN sued the FBI and DOJ on June 15, 2017, promptly after the government failed to turn over the memos via a Freedom of Information Act request. As recently as March this year, the DOJ has argued that the release of the memos would interfere with the special counsel investigation. Attorney General William Barr announced that the special counsel finished his investigation March 22, clearing the path for the release of the memos. Six of Comeys nine memos have been released to the public but include redactions. The removal of the redactions could reveal which foreign leader called Trump first to congratulate him on the election victory, whether there was a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to spy on then-national security adviser Michael Flynn, and other items. A group of 11 House Republicans referred Comey for criminal investigation in April last year over the leaking of the classified memo. The lawmakers also accused Comey of investigative misconduct and obstruction in the Clinton-email probe, as well as lying under oath about his decision to exonerate the former secretary of state. Comey headed the FBI while the bureau conducted the investigations of both Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Trump fired Comey on a recommendation from Rosenstein, who wrote that Comeys removal would restore public confidence in the FBI. Comey faces additional scrutiny from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is delving deeper into the events that led up to the FBI obtaining a warrant to surveil former Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Comey signed off on three of the four applications even though the FBI was aware that the core evidence in the document came from an unverified dossier compiled by a former foreign spy and was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Trump has called Comey a dirty cop and a leaker. Trump recently highlighted Comeys leaking of the memos, remarking that it was totally illegal. A picture taken on Jan. 22, 2014, in Paris, shows the logo of the U.S. fast-food restaurant Mac Donald's. (Kenzo Turibouillard/AFP/Getty Images) Man Snorts White Powder Off Table at McDonalds as Children Look On Staff at a McDonalds restaurant in Scotland struggled to deal with two men who were snorting white powder off a tabletop as parents and children looked on in shock. The disturbing scene was witnessed by Chloe McCree, 26, who was at the McDonalds in Kilmarnock with her children on March 29, according to The Sun. I could not believe my eyes, McCree told the British tabloid. The paper published a photograph of the two menreportedly snapped by McCreeshowing one of them huddled over a line of white powder as the other looked on expectantly. Two staff members are seen standing by the table, with faces blurred. The woman told The Sun that she saw one of the men using a card to break up the suspicious powder and then hold up a leaflet to hide the other as he leaned over for a snort. McCree told the paper that one of the staff members shouted at the men as one inhaled the unknown substance, saying: What are you doing? There are kids in here! Brazen lout snorts line of white powder off table at McDonalds packed full of children https://t.co/jfXlzbzR29 The Sun (@TheSun) March 31, 2019 The two men reacted with aggression, McCree told the paper. The guy taking the lines actually jumped up and claimed it was for his diabetes, she said. Thats just crazy. The father of a child at the restaurant finally intervened, McCree said, and kicked out the two. The paper said McDonalds had issued a statement following the incident, confirming that police had been called out to the restaurant and saying the company would cooperate with any investigation. Razor in Happy Meal? A man who took his 4-year-old son to a McDonalds drive-thru for a Happy Meal was reportedly shocked to discover a razor blade inside. Scot Dymond told Channel3000 that his son, Emmett, made the unwelcome discovery after they got home. Dymond said when his son looked inside the bag, he discovered a handheld scraping tool with a sharp razor blade attached. Boy finds razor blade in Happy Meal at Wisconsin McDonalds >> https://t.co/S1xN0Ofzw4 pic.twitter.com/rSIET0qBGm KOLD News 13 (@KOLDNews) March 5, 2019 A Columbus dad says instead of a happy meal toy, his 4-yo son got this unhappy surprise from the local McDonalds. Police believe this razor, used as a cleaning tool, made its way into the happy meal box by mistake. @WISCTV_News3 #news3now pic.twitter.com/bL1Cpg0abr Madalyn ONeill (@news3madalyn) March 4, 2019 The manager said they were sorry, and they could comp us a free meal, the father said to WMTV. Dymond spoke to the police department in Columbus, which confirmed that it was indeed a scraper tool. Police officers asked parents to be vigilant about double-checking any Happy Meal bags handed out to children. Always be aware of what youre giving your children, Lt. Dennis Weiner told WMTV. Give it an extra eye. Hard As a Rock A McDonalds customer posted a video on Facebook that he alleges portrays a very hard McGriddle sandwich. Edwin Edl went to a McDonalds in Singapore to purchase the product on Friday, March 29. Proudly present to you Sausage McRock with egg, Edl wrote, Fox News reported. I usually dont do this. But this is way too funny for me not to share!! But thank you McDonalds for making my Posted by Edwin Edl on Friday, March 22, 2019 In the video, hes seen trying to stab the griddle with a plastic fork, which bends. The food remains unpunctured. He also uses a metal fork, which bends, as well as a screwdriver. He then uses a hammer and a nail, which penetrates the apparently rock-hard sandwich. Edl, in the Facebook post, claimed he didnt freeze it before making the video. Some Facebook users had suggested otherwise. McDonalds customer stuns social media users with videos of Sausage McRock breakfast sandwich.Dude gats rock hard Posted by KTXR FM 101.3 The Outlaw on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 For those who are asking, I did not put into the freezer or do anything to it. It came the way it is. Thanks!! he wrote. Edl said that both McDonalds and GrabFood contacted him and did an excellent job on customer handling service. McDonalds has not issued a public statement about the matter. Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report. Mom Issues Warning After Baby Is Strangled by Baby Monitor Cord A mother in the United Kingdom issued a warning to parents of young children after her 1-year-old daughter, Jessica, died in a tragic accident. Danielle Duggan of Shipdham, England, said she is mourning after her little girl died when the cord of her baby monitor strangled her, the New York Post reported on March 26, adding that the incident took place in October 2018. Her daughter, who was 18 months, was set down for an afternoon nap. Duggan had placed the monitor on the top of a shelf in her daughters room. "I would urge that parents are really careful when setting up their monitors. A few years ago people were worried about blinds near cots, but we never had that." The Sun 25 2019 Duggan and her husband, Jason, stated that they had tried to ensure that the monitor and the cord were secure, but while the parents were out of the room, the baby girl apparently grabbed the wire and managed to strangle herself. When her parents noticed, they called emergency services, untangled the wire, and performed CPR. The child was rushed via ambulance to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. I would urge that parents are really careful when setting up their monitors, Duggan told The Sun publication. A few years ago people were worried about blinds near cots, but we never had that. She said that nothing in her room changed for a year. The wire was always out of reach it was a corner shelf above her cot and the camera was at the back of the shelf, and the wire was tucked behind the shelf and tacked all the way down the wall and it was plugged into an extension lead underneath her cot, she said. The coroner and the police think that she had seen the extension lead and pulled the extension lead up from underneath, the mother added, Yahoo reported. The wires then got enough slack in it that she got the wire around her neck then the weight of the extension lead dropped and it cut off her air supply. Six months after her death, she said, We are just urging parents to be extra cautious you have to box in everything. Coroner Yvonne Blake said that the cause of death was compression of the neck by ligature. The couple created a GoFundMe page after the girls death raise money for the air ambulance that attempted to save their daughter. The air ambulance service is all run by charity and due to the amazing care they gave our daughter, we would like to raise money for them in the hope that the money will help others when needed, they wrote. CPSC Warning U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a warning. We began warning you about baby monitor cord dangers. CPSC knows of seven deaths and three near strangulations since 2002 involving video and audio baby monitors. The monitors and cords were placed within a childs reach. You need to know about cord hazards, so you can prevent your baby from strangling in a cord, the agency wrote. It called on parents to take a look around the crib and note the location of the monitor cord. Remember, at least 3 feet away is where your monitor should stay, the CPSC stated. Yes, 3 feet. As in 3 big feet 3 Feet is also about the width of your babys crib plus 6 inches. Duggan said that if she were to have another child, they would get a wireless baby monitor. If we were to have another baby we would get a wireless one. But its not just wires that you have to be careful about its phone changers and other cords around the house, Danielle said. Just think outside the box when it comes to your toddlers safety. They will get into anything. even things you wouldnt think of, as we know with Jessica. Were urging parents just to box up everything you can, Jason Duggan added. In 2015, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association said that parents should build a safe zone that is around three feet around their childs crib. By Don Pramudwinai In the digital age and present context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), we often hear about "big data" and the "Internet of Things (IOT)," which to some, may sound highly technical and virtually digital. While Thailand is fully aware of the opportunities and challenges that come with modernity, we also seek an all-encompassing human dimension of inclusive development, particularly during our year as ASEAN Chair. This is why we came up with the theme "Advancing Partnership for Sustainability," to promote the "Sustainability of Things (SOT)," which means sustainability in all dimensions. Sustainable development is an overarching concept that is directly related to SOT. However, the first aspect of sustainability that usually comes to mind of the public is environmental sustainability, which is a significant component of the concept and part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or SDGs. These 17 SDGs are simply grouped into 5Ps with the ultimate goal to save the planet, foster peace, create prosperity, enhance partnership, and nourish our people. With regard to the "planet," fresh air and clean water are among the basic yet fundamental essentials for human beings and all other creatures that share this world with us. Sadly, Mother Earth has been harmed and taken for granted by humans more than anyone else throughout history. The fact that several SDGs give importance to the rehabilitation and conservation of our planet reflects the rising environmental concerns and the call for a more balanced development, widely known as the concept of "circular economy," which is gaining ground globally. Thailand recognizes that enhancing environmental sustainability is inextricably linked to social and economic development, and is one of the key conditions for sustainable development. We have therefore adopted measures to conserve, restore, and manage our natural resources and environment in a more sustainable manner, and included these elements in our 20-Year National Strategy Framework (2017-2036). For instance, Thailand has launched the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Roadmap on Mitigation (2021-2030) to ensure that we meet our targets on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 25 percent by 2030. Some progress has been made so far. Last year, we managed to reduce the emission of 45.72 million tons of carbon dioxide or 12 percent of the targeted 7 to 20 percent by 2020. Moreover, about 24 hectares of coral reefs and 880 hectares of mangrove forest were rehabilitated, and the use of over 435 million plastic bags was reduced since 2017. Beyond our national undertaking, Thailand has consistently advocated cooperation on environmental issues with the global community to derive the long-term benefits. An example is our firm commitment to the Paris Agreement to address climate change. At the same time, Thailand has been cooperating with all partners on the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and best practices. Sustainable development is a global agenda that requires concerted efforts, and Thailand is in the position to drive it forward this year. In addition to being ASEAN Chair, Thailand is also ASEAN Coordinator on Sustainable Development Cooperation, actively identifying the complementarities and promoting closer coordination between ASEAN and the United Nations. One substantial outcome is the "Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Action" which identifies possible synergy and means to strengthen ASEAN Community-building while attaining several SDGs simultaneously. A recommendation from the Complementarities Report that will be realized fully this year is the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue in Thailand. The Centre will be funded by the Royal Thai Government and will help coordinate activities and projects related to the Complementarities Initiative, while linking up with similar centers in ASEAN Member States to form a network of centers in support of regional sustainable development efforts. During its ASEAN Chairmanship, one of the sustainable development agendas that will be addressed is marine environment. Thailand is greatly concerned with the problem of marine debris and its impact on the environment. We truly believe that urgent action is needed. Researchers have found a marine debris or "garbage patch" in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a size larger than Bangkok. This debris is eaten by fish, which is then consumed by humans, thus causing severe health problems. News reports of sea animals like whales and turtles suffering from eating indigestible waste are only a fraction of the annual 100,000 deaths of marine animals due to this problem. In addition, marine debris affects the promotion of environmentally friendly tourism and thus affects the contribution of the tourism sector to national development. A research by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand found that rubbish that is thrown into the sea can travel all over the world. It is therefore imperative that we have a platform for discussions and collaboration to tackle the problem. A technical working group meeting among ASEAN members was held in November 2017 while the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris and ASEM High-level Meeting on Marine Sustainability will be held on March 5, 2019 and March 7-8, 2019, respectively. Thus, Thailand is advancing partnership for sustainability by starting with environmental sustainability, and will expand to other areas throughout the year. The benefits of sustainable development are countless but each country should embark on its own path and determination to achieve the goals. In Thailand's case, the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) was adopted as its home-grown approach. This philosophy, conferred by His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, proposes a "thinking process" consisting of three parts - analysis on the cause of the problem, identification of practical solutions, and the implementation of the selected solutions. SEP is mainstreamed in Thailand's policy both at the national and international levels. It has been a guiding principle in Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Plans since 2002 and its application to achieve sustainable development. Thailand has shared this philosophy with many countries as an alternative approach to achieving SDGs through the provision of training courses and the establishment of several cooperation projects in Asia and Africa. In conclusion, Thailand's commitment towards sustainable development is steadfast as demonstrated in our past achievements and contributions nationally and internationally. We are committed to do more. The agenda will be particularly important during our ASEAN Chairmanship and Thailand looks forward to working with colleagues in ASEAN and beyond in a global partnership as set forth in SDG Goal 17. Don Pramudwinai is the minister of foreign affairs of Thailand. Exterior of the 18th Judicial District Court building in Wichita, Kan., in May, 2018. (Google Maps Street View/Screenshot) Mom Who Abused 3-Year-Old Son, Buried Him in Concrete, Goes to Jail for 25 Years A mother will spend up to a quarter of a century behind bars after being found guilty of severely abusing her son and burying his dead body in concrete, a Kansas court ruled on March 28. Miranda Miller said at a hearing in the 18th Judicial District Court that she had failed as a mother to protect her son Evan Brewer, 3, from months of abuse from herself and her live-in boyfriend, Stephen Bodine. Miller accused Bodine of controlling her through domestic violence, mental abuse, and drugs, according to the Wichita Eagle. Investigators believe Bodine killed Brewer in May 2017 before hiding his body. Prosecutors claimed little Evan was forced to stand naked and chained for hours while being taunted and slapped even when he cried. His body was discovered in concrete after the couple moved out of their rental home in Wichita. Miller pleaded guilty in late 2018 to second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, child abuse, and aggravated endangering of a child. As part of her plea deal, she testified against Bodine, who was earlier convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse, and is already serving a sentence of 109 years and six months in prison. Miller confessed she should have called police when the abuse first started. At the time, I did what I thought was best, she said. In the end, I failed as a mother to protect my child. I will live with that the rest of my life. Her attorney, Steven Wagle of Steven Wagle Law Offices, appealed for Sedgwick County District Judge Stephen Ternes to give Miller a lighter sentence, saying that Bodine was controlling her. However, the judge and Evans relatives did not accept that this was a factor that would reduce Millers sentence. While I did hear your statements, I must say after hearing the evidence in the trial that you are more than a mother who failed to protect her child, Ternes said. You actively participated in his murder. Judge sentences Evan Brewers mom to 25 years: You actively participated in his murder https://t.co/saQHyuLble The Kansas City Star (@KCStar) March 28, 2019 Dozens of witnesses were called on during Bodines trial, and prosecutors presented more than 550 pieces of evidence, including parts of the concrete tomb, videos, and photos showing Evan being abused. Evans father, Carlo Brewer, appeared as a witness and said he was prevented from seeing the boy just weeks before he died. The day Evan was found, I was in disbelief and denial. I thought there was no possible way that anyone, even the worst individuals, could look into his beautiful, innocent eyes and harm him, Carlo said. I didnt believe that a mother was harming or allowing someone to harm their child the individual who gave birth to this child betrayed him and was his predator. A Kansas woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing her son and encasing his body in concrete. https://t.co/ygyOjI9fBL WLS-AM 890 (@wlsam890) March 29, 2019 The Murder According to Miller, Evan died sometime between May 18 and 23, 2018. On the day he died, Evan would not eat, prompting Bodine to hit him so hard that the boy became unresponsive. Bodine then proceeded to take Evan into the bathroom where Miller tried to perform CPR on the boy for 45 minutes without success. She later asked where her son was and Bodine informed her Evan was already gone because they could no longer take care of him. Miller said sometimes she would spank her son, but Bodine would take over if he didnt feel like I was being hard enough on Evan. Miller said she saw Bodine mix several bags of concrete and bury Evans body in it a few days later in the laundry room. Stephen wanted to hurry up and take care of Evan before he started to smell, she said. The official autopsy could not determine a specific cause of death because the boys body was too badly decomposed by the time it was found, according to the forensic pathologist. Kansas mom gets 25 years in death of son found in concrete https://t.co/x3YX4NbnSJ pic.twitter.com/plw6mhOZt1 MagaFirstRadio (@Maga1Radio) March 28, 2019 The Associated Press contributed to this report. Poachers Filmed Shooting Bear, Cubs in Alaska Den Warning: Disturbing Content Poachers in Alaska were filmed killing a hibernating mother bear and cubs in footage released by the Humane Society. Andrew Renner was sentenced to three months in jail earlier this year and was barred from hunting for a decade for the incident. His son, Owen Renner, received a 30-day suspended sentence and is required to perform community service, reported GlobalNews. The incident took place in April of 2018 but the video footage was only released this week. The Alaska Department of Public Safety released the video after a public records request from Humane Society International. After the poaching, the men are seen pulling the mother bear from the den. Activists released the footage Posted by The Independent on Thursday, March 28, 2019 Theyll never be able to link this to us, the son could be heard saying in the video. They didnt know they were being recorded. The U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had set up a camera outside the bear den as part of a study. The camera captured the Renners returning to the scene before grabbing the bear collar, shell casings, other items, and then they grabbed the cubs bodies. I gotta go in the den and make sure theres no little parts, right? Andrew Renner said. Yeah, that would be a good idea, his son replied. Video shows the cowardly poachers shooting the sleeping mother bear at point blank range while the cubs cried. Posted by UNILAD on Thursday, March 28, 2019 When the two were arrested, Assistant Attorney General Aaron Peterson said it was among the most egregious poaching cases hed been involved with. Protection of natural resources in this state is of paramount importance. By protecting the wildlife and ensuring a biologically appropriate number of animals are present across any given location, we protect the very culture of Alaska. But without active game management, vigorous enforcement of the regulations, and significant sentencings for wildlife violators, the big game in Alaska can be wiped outand the sport, subsistence, and cultural traditions of Alaskans gone with them, he said in a statement in January. He added that people must know that poachers will be required to pay large fines and restitution for the illegal killing[s]. The bears den was on Esther Island in a national preserve, according to reports. A video of the shooting can be viewed below. (Warning: Disturbing content): Other details about the case were not provided. Bear hunting, which dates back tens of thousands of years, is legal in a number of U.S. states but typically only during certain times of the year and in certain places. China Boosts Illegal Wildlife Trade Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is rapidly expanding worldwide as a key pillar of the countrys One Belt, One Road initiative but conservation groups say demand for treatments using animal products is driving a surge in illegal trafficking of wildlife, Reuters reported on March 28. One of the most alarming characteristics of wildlife trafficking is the growing use of threatened species in traditional medicines, conservation group ADM Capital Foundation said in a recent report. Worth some $60 billion a year, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) Bulletin, and growing at around 11 percent annually, according to IBIS World, practices such as acupuncture and herbal supplementation are finding acceptance globally. Species including pangolin, rhino, saiga (antelope), sea horses, moon bears and tigers are some of the animals critically endangered by the trade, according to wildlife organizations. Gui Zhen Tang, which owns the biggest moon bear breeding center in southern China, has permits for extracting bear bile, according to its website. Real Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine encompasses many different practices, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, tai chi, and qi gong (practices which encompass smooth movements, meditation, and mental focus). It is based on the ancient philosophy of Taoism and has a history of over 2,500 years. Chinese medicine balances the bodys innate life forces of yin and yang, with the objective of restoring the bodys natural state of health by achieving harmony between the human body and nature. According to principles of traditional Chinese medicine, the health of ones body is related to ones mind. Taoism preaches the virtues of compassion, frugality, and humility. They are connected to Jing (essence), Qi (vital life), and Shen (soul), which are the substances necessary for maintaining life. Modern day traditional Chinese medicine has far departed from its founding Taoist principles, its practice reduced to a shell of what it once was without compassion and harmony as its guide. Epoch Times writer Elizabeth Li and Reuters contributed to this report. Actor Jussie Smollett (R), listens as his attorney, Patricia Brown Holmes, speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after prosecutors dropped all charges against him, on March 26, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Prosecutor Welcomes Outside Review of How Her Office Handled Jussie Smollett Case Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx now indicates uncertainty about the strength of evidence and testimony that underpinned charges against Jussie Smollett, and she welcomes an outside review of how her office handled the case, she wrote on March 29 in The Chicago Tribune. Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx welcomes outside investigation of Jussie Smollett case https://t.co/1o6GEH7xmx pic.twitter.com/HFxKwAe7YI CBS News (@CBSNews) March 30, 2019 Foxx defended her offices decision to drop 16 felony charges against the Empire actor, who was accused of staging a hate crime attack on himself. In exchange, he agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bail and complete community service. Smollett, 36, has maintained that he has been truthful and consistent about the assault. There were specific aspects of the evidence and testimony presented to the office that would have made securing a conviction against Smollett uncertain, Foxx wrote. In determining whether or not to pursue charges, prosecutors are required to balance the severity of the crime against the likelihood of securing a conviction. For a variety of reasons, including public statements made about the evidence in this case, my office believed the likelihood of securing a conviction was not certain, she wrote, without elaborating on what matters might have been problematic. Foxx just two days earlier had said her office believed that they could prove (Smollett) guilty, she told CNN affiliate WLS. Foxx stepped away from the case in mid-February, when it became clear Smollett had gone from victim to suspect, she told WLS. In her op-ed, Foxx also reiterated another factor in her offices decision to dismiss the charges: that disorderly conduct charges are Class 4 felonies, the least serious category. These felonies are routinely resolved, particularly in cases involving suspects with no prior criminal record, long before a case ever nears a courtroom and often without either jail time or monetary penalties, she wrote. Any prosecutor, law-enforcement leader or elected official not grandstanding or clouded by political expediency understands the purpose of sentencing guidelines. Foxx defends sealing records in the case Foxx also doubled down on the widely criticized decision by her office to seal public records in the case. The Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association claimed Foxx falsely informed the public that the uncontested sealing of the criminal court case was mandatory under Illinois law. Foxxs office fundamentally misled the public on the law and circumstances surrounding the dismissal, the group said Thursday in a statement. President Trump wrote on Twitter: FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019 NEW: Chicago Police Union announcing a protest of @SAKimFoxx Monday pic.twitter.com/WwhQuPbOsR Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 28, 2019 State law, Foxx countered, allows Smollett to have the records sealed. Smollett chose to pursue that avenue, and so my office is barred from releasing those records without his approval, she wrote. Foxx, in office since late 2016, said the decision to drop the charges also reflected her campaign promise to reform the criminal justice system in the nations second-most populous county. I was elected on a promise to rethink the justice system, to keep people out of prison who do not pose a danger to the community, she wrote. I promised to spend my offices finite resources on the most serious crimes in order to create communities that are both safer and fairer. Our community is safer in every sense of the word when murderers and rapists are locked away, she wrote. Casting criticism of her office as a political matter, Foxx also said she would welcome an independent review of how it handled the case. The citys police union has called for a federal investigation to determine the extent of Foxxs involvement, Meantime, a top GOP lawmaker has asked Illinois attorney general to review the prosecution, and President Donald Trump has said the FBI and Justice Department will review the Smollett case. UT-OH, AND THIS TRACES DIRECTLY BACK TO MICHELLE OBAMA. SAY SO LONG 2020 BID Former Deputy Asst. Attorney General: Kim Foxx Faces Up to 20 Years in Jail if Convicted of Corruption https://t.co/vfmcLrtdNV via @BreitbartNews Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 29, 2019 Since it seems politically expedient right now to question my motives and actions, and those of my office, let me state publicly and clearly that I welcome an outside, nonpolitical review of how we handled this matter, Foxx wrote. I am not perfect, nor is any other prosecutor out there, but ensuring that I and my office have our communitys trust is paramount. The Sears logo is seen outside a store in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., October 10, 2018. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Report: Sears Cutting Life Insurance Benefits for as Many as 90,000 Retirees Sears told as many as 90,000 of retired employees in March that it is ending their life insurance policies, reported CBS News. Ron Olbrysh, the chairman of the National Association of Retired Sears Employees, told CBS that the firm sent letters to eligible retirees, saying their benefits ended on March 15. Olbrysh said he didnt get the notice until March 20. Its not clear how many of the 90,000 retirees lost their life insurance policies. According to the CBS report published on March 27, some of the policies were worth at least $5,000, and some ranged between $8,000 and $10,000. A 91-year-old retiree, who worked at Sears for 37 years, said he had to pay $3,000 a year to maintain to maintain his coverage, according to Olbrysh, adding that the premium would not be competitive in the marketplace. We feel they are violating a 2001 settlement agreement that said retiree life insurance could only be dropped if Sears went out of business and liquidated its inventory, Olbrysh told the network. The National Association of Retired Sears Employees is considering suing the chain over the move, Olbrysh said. However, he noted that it might not be prudent to to file a lawsuit against a company that is dying like Sears. Sears sent letters to people in their 80s that had had [life insurance coverage for] a long time, said John Freeman, who retired from Sears about 17 years ago, and leads a retirees association chapter in New York state, CBS reported. Another retiree, Tom Dowd, said he worked for the firm for decades before he retired in 1998. I spent my adult life there, Dowd told the Chicago Tribue via The Hill. And if nothing else, that requires a little bit of dignity as opposed to a letter saying your benefits are gone, and heres how much you can pay to get them back. A report on benefits Olbrysh had received said the firm paid some $16.6 million in life insurance premiums for retirees in 2017, saying that the average age of those affected is about 80. Some are in their 90s, he told CBS. Bankruptcy Action The move comes about two months after Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert won a bankruptcy action with an improved takeover bid of roughly $5.2 billion, which allows Sears to keep its doors open, Reuters reported. Lamperts bid, boosted from an earlier $5 billion offer, prevailed after weeks of back-and-forth deliberations that culminated in a days-long bankruptcy auction held behind closed doors. The billionaires proposal, made through his hedge fund ESL Investments Inc., will save up to 45,000 jobs and keep 425 stores open across the United States, Reuters reported in January. US national flag waves on the building of the embassy of the United States of America (R) in Moscow on April 2, 2018. (VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images) Russia Flies Over US Military Locations Under Treaty, After Being Denied Last Year A Russian aircraft recently flew over military facilities across the United States as part of a surveillance flight permitted under the Treaty on Open Skies, several months after U.S. officials denied access to two Russian reconnaissance planes last year. The Tu-154 aircraft (referred to as Careless by NATO) flew over a number of strategic points in the western part of the United States on March 28 and 29, including the highly secure Nellis Test and Training Range (NTTR) in southern Nevada, the location of Area 51, The Drive reported. Other military locations the Russians flew over included Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Fort Irwin, and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The Russian aircraft were equipped with surveillance materials, including optical and video cameras. On past missions, the aircraft were also permitted to have infrared line-scanning devices and sideways-looking Synthetic Aperture Radar, according to InMilitary. Panoramic cameras on the aircraft also help to gather a wide array of imagery along their flight path. As part of the Open Skies Treaty, the United States has to inspect the Tu-154 aircraft before it can fly. On the aircraft itself, U.S. observers are aboard to ensure the Russians are in compliance with the treaty. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence to all 35 nations signed on as participants. through observing military or other activities of concern to them. The recent fly-by was the first Open Skies mission conducted by Russia this year. The United States has already conducted three surveillance missions over Russia this year. In August 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act that suspended funding for the treaty until Russia fully complies with the obligations. Although the funding was cut, a State Department official later clarified that the United States was not suspending its participation in the treaty. Russia said that the United States blocked access to two Russian Tu-214ON surveillance planes in September last year, and said the United States gave no explanation for the refusal. The aircraft had contained surveillance technology that U.S. politicians raised concerns about previously. The State Department didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The rejection came after the U.S. House Armed Services Committee dropped a proposal from the U.S. Air Force to replace two of its own surveillance OC-135 aircraft with new planes in May 2018. The replacement, if it had gone through, would have marked the first new aircraft used by the United States in the treaty since 1967, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative. It is based on complete territorial openness, on the use of unarmed observation aircraft, on sensors on board those aircraft, and on quotas of observation flights which each State Party is willing to accept, and entitled to conduct, annually, according to the State Department. Some of the other nations include Turkey, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, and Germany. Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said the Russian crew was scheduled to leave the United States by March 30, after arriving on March 27. A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, Calif., on March 26, 2019. (Mike Blake/Reuters) Southwest to Keep Boeing 737 MAX Off Schedules Through May Instead of April 20: Company Memo SEATTLESouthwest Airlines Co said on Friday it was pulling its Boeing Co 737 MAX jets from flight schedules through May, extending its earlier timeline from April 20, according to a company memorandum seen by Reuters. This will impact the lines in May, but, now that the decision has been made, we can construct our schedule without those flights well in advance in hopes to minimize the daily disruptions, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association and the company said in the joint memorandum. Boeings top-selling 737 MAX jetliner has been grounded in the wake of two deadly crashes involving that model in five months, one in Indonesia last October and another on March 10 in Ethiopia. Software Upgrade Chicago-headquartered Boeing has promised a swift update of software, but regulators in Europe and Canada are shifting away from previous reliance on FAA vetting, saying they will now seek their own guarantees of the MAX planes safety. Aviation experts suspect an automated system, meant to stop stalling by dipping the nose, may be involved in both cases, with pilots struggling to override it as their jets plunged downwards. But they stress neither investigation is complete and crew actions and training will also be closely scrutinized. As Ethiopian investigators pored over black box data from their crash, sources with knowledge of the doomed Lion Air cockpit voice recorder revealed how pilots searched a manual to figure out why they were hurtling down to sea. Investigators examining the Indonesian crash want to know how a computer ordered the plane to dive in response to data from a faulty sensor and whether pilots had enough training to respond appropriately. Boeing has said there was a documented procedure to handle the problem. A different crew on the same plane the previous evening had the same situation but solved it after running through three checklists, though they did not pass on that information to the doomed Indonesian crew, a preliminary report in November said. Regulators want to be absolutely sure of Boeings new automated control system, known as MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System), and that pilots are fully prepared to handle it. MCAS is meant to prevent a loss of lift which can cause an aerodynamic stall and send the plane downwards in an uncontrolled way. Facing high-profile scrutiny, Boeing reshuffled executives in its commercial airplanes unit to focus on its response. The FAA said its robust processes and full collaboration with the aviation community were key to safety worldwide. As with the Indonesia flight, the Ethiopian crew radioed about control problems shortly after take-off and sought to turn back, struggling to get their plane on track before it hit a field. Ethiopias civil aviation head Wosenyeleh Hunegnaw said he expected a report on the investigation within 30 days. For now, more than 350 MAX aircraft are grounded, and deliveries of nearly 5,000 moreworth more than $500 billionare on hold. Development of the 737 MAX began in 2011 after the launch by its main rival of the Airbus A320neo. The MAX entered service in 2017. While some airlines are worried about the impact on profits, they have been able to keep services going, swapping MAX planes for others, or using partner carriers. By Eric M. Johnson Marie Ricciardi (L), Andrea Ricciardi, and Roy Reese at The Palace Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut on March 30, 2019. (Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times) STAMFORD, ConnBrightly colored costumes catch the eye as dancers float across the stage before a dazzling backdrop depicting the heavens. This opening scene of the production of Shen Yun Performing Arts transfixed audience members at the Palace Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut on March 30. The next two hours they were taken on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese history, told by a combination of dance, music, and song. Among the audience members was Roy Reese, superintendent of schools at Washingtonville School District in New York and stage lighting designer, who attended the performance with Andrea Ricciardi, a school administrator, and Marie Ricciardi, a retired accountant. It was outstanding, said Reese. It was gorgeous. The movements were just beautiful. They were like gliding across the stage. Just simply beautiful, said Andrea. It was so different. It was fantastic, said Marie. Shen Yun Performing Arts is the premier classical Chinese company, founded with a goal to showcase traditional Chinese culture to audiences worldwide. Its program includes a mix of classical Chinese dance vignettes, vocal soloists, and dance-based storytelling. Reese, who is a lighting specialist for theaters, was impressed with each component of the stage production. The lighting, the choreography, the acrobatics, the music was phenomenal, he said. However, as a lighting professional he was particularly interested in that aspect of the performance. Reese was so curious about the lighting that he even went down to the stage after the performance, as he was seated at the back of the theater, to inspect the setup. I had to see that, its excellent. Yes, I even learned something, he said. Asked about what he learned, he said: I like the way the lights came up center stage toward the end of each piece. It was excellent. The interaction between the 3-D backdrop and the lighting, which may not have been apparent to the casual eye, also intrigued the lighting designer. I also like the way that projection was not interfered with [by] the lighting, Reese said. Because they kept [the] upstage dark and all the lighting was mostly downstage. It was subtle upstage but very bright downstage. The backdrop itself was also a stand-out for Reese. Ive never seen projection like that in any theater, he said. It was phenomenal [the] way that the projection coordinated with the movement on stage. It was great. Finally, as with many other audience members, Reese was drawn to the vibrant colors permeating the performance. There were no ways to describe the color, from the costumes to the scenery in the back, he said. Overall, the artistry of the performance left a firm impression on Reese., who looked forward to Shen Yuns new production next season. I cant wait to next year to see the other show. With reporting by Sherry Dong. 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. Jussie Smollett (Left),the "Empire" actor turned himself in early to face a charge of making a false police report when he said he was attacked in downtown Chicago by two men who hurled racist and anti-gay slurs and looped a rope around his neck. on Feb. 21, 2019 .(Chicago Police Department via AP) Television Personality Steve Wilkos (Right) attends the NBCUniversal press day during the 2016 Summer TCA Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on August 2, 2016. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Steve Wilkos Invites Jussie Smollett to Take a Lie Detector Test on His Show Television personality Steve Wilkos wants Jussie Smollett to come on his show so that the actor can clear his name once and for all. Wilkos invited the disgraced actor to appear on The Steve Wilkos Show and take a lie detector test during an interview released Friday on The Breakfast Club. When this first went down, I said, Man, that case is bulls**t man, Wilkos said. It just makes no sense. Everybody is so outraged about whats happening now. But, my thing is, he didnt kill anybody. He didnt rob anybody. Wilkos used to be a Chicago Police Department officer and said that there are cases that are handled similarly to Smolletts. On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped all charges against the actor. Hes high profile, but if he were Joe Shmuckatalie, no one would care about it, Wilkos said. Wilkos claimed he wasnt sure if Smollett was innocent, but offered what he thought would be the best way to prove it. Come on my show and take a lie detector test, whether you set this up, Wilkos offered during the segment. The charges against Smollett were reportedly dropped because he had completed two days of community service, according to prosecutors. By Lauryn Overhultz Suspect Arrested in South Carolina University Students Death COLUMBIA, S.C.Police arrested a man Saturday, March 30, in connection with the death of a college student who apparently got into the suspects car thinking it was her Uber ride. Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was arrested early Saturday after a police officer noticed him driving a black Chevy Impala, the same type of car that Samantha Josephson got into as she left a bar shortly after 2 a.m. Friday in the city of Columbias 5 Points area, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a news conference. Rowland tried to run, but the officer was able to catch up to him, Holbrook said. When they returned to the car, he said, the officer saw what appeared to be blood in the car. We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride, Holbrook said of Josephson, noting that surveillance video captured her getting into the car. She opened the door and got into it and departed with the suspect driving. Rowland will be charged with murder and kidnapping, Rowland said. It was unclear if he had an attorney. Holbrook said hunters found Josephsons body late Friday afternoon off a dirt road in rural Clarendon County, which is about 65 miles southeast of Columbia. Samantha Is No Longer With Us: Father Josephson was confirmed dead on Saturday morning. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write these words this morning, USC president Harris Pastides said in a statement addressing the Carolina family. Our prayers are with the family and friends of Samantha Josephson following the devastating news of her death. Times like these leave me searching for words of wisdom and comfort. However, I take solace that the Carolina Family is here to embrace those who are hurting. A Facebook post written earlier in the day by Samantha Josephson, Samanthas father, also confirmed the sad news. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten, he wrote. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this, read the post. It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest Posted by Seymour Josephson on Saturday, March 30, 2019 Samantha was a senior political science major at USC, WAFB-TV reported. According to the Columbia Police Department (CPD), Samantha was last seen by friends at 715 Harden Street between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. in the morning of March 29. Loved ones have not been able to make contact with her since. Theyre worried about her well-being & safety, CPD said in a Twitter post. #CPDSCInvestigates | Missing Person Alert: 21-year-old Samantha Josephson was last seen by friends at 715 Harden St. b/w 1:30 & 2:00 this morning. Loved ones have not been able to make contact with her since. Theyre worried about her well-being & safety. pic.twitter.com/PITpUh1eUh Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 CPD also posted a picture of Samantha when she was last seen on Harden Street talking on the phone. Contd: Heres another picture of Josephson when she was last seen on Harden Street talking on the phone. Pay close attention to what she was wearing early this a.m. Call @MidlandsCrime at 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your helpful tips regarding her whereabouts. pic.twitter.com/PZSokgwFYN Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 Special Victims Unit investigators from CPD believe that Samantha was seen getting into a dark-colored, newer model Chevy Impala along Harden Street shortly after 2:00 a.m. on the day she was reported missing. Contd: Special Victims Unit investigators believe that shortly after 2:00 a.m., Josephson was seen getting into this newer model Chevy Impala along Harden Street. Family & friends have been trying to locate her ever since. Again, call @MidlandsCrime 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your tips. pic.twitter.com/3211Wjx6PK Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 In his statement, Pastides encouraged USC students to travel in groups and stay together in his statement. As you make plans for the weekend, remember the tenets of Stand Up Carolina: look out for one another, be active bystanders. Travel in groups and stay together. If you have not already done so, download the RAVE Guardian safety app, set up your profile and learn how to use it, he said. The Associated Press and The Epoch Times Reporter Allen Zhong contributed to this report. Drive through customers wait in line at a Chick-fil-A resturant in Fort Worth, Texas , on Aug. 1, 2012. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images) Texas AG Investigating Chick-Fil-As Exclusion at Airport AUSTIN, TexasTexas attorney general opened an investigation Thursday into San Antonios decision to exclude Chick-fil-A from opening airport concession facilities due to the fast-food chain owners record on LGBT issues. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the investigation in a letter to San Antonio officials and stated his office will examine whether Texas second-largest city violated state law with the rejection. Paxton called the move the opposite of tolerance and a discriminatory decision based on the religious beliefs of the chains owners. The Constitutions protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-As chicken, Paxton said in the letter. Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport. Texas attorney general opened an investigation Thursday into San Antonios decision to exclude Chick-fil-A from opening airport concession facilities due to the fast-food chain owners record on LGBT issues. https://t.co/SscyfF7APS KRIS 6 News (@KRIS6News) March 29, 2019 The attorney generals action comes after the San Antonio City Council voted 6-4 last week to block Chick-fil-A from getting a new concession contract at the airport. The councilmembers voted instead for city staff to find another company for the contract. The Citys Attorneys Office is reviewing the letter. I am withholding comment until we have had adequate time to analyze it, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in an emailed statement. Councilman Manny Pelaez said at the meeting that Chick-fil-A has a history of funding organizations that lobby against gay conversion therapy. Pelaez said approving the restaurant would help them fund those efforts by making money off of our airport. Paxton also told San Antonio officials he asked Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to investigate whether the citys actions violated federal law and regulations prohibiting religious discrimination by federal grant recipients. Paxton has made religious freedom battles a focus of his office since being elected in 2014. The Atlanta-based fast-food chain has faced opposition elsewhere over donating millions over the years to groups that oppose changing the definition of marriage to encompass same-sex couples. In 2012, the companys chief operating officer criticized same-sex marriage, prompting some politicians to block the chain from expanding in certain areas. Earlier this month, a dean at Rider University in New Jersey resigned over the schools decision to not consider bringing Chick-fil-A to campus because of its views on LGBT issues. By Clarice Silber (This video provided by Republic of Korea Air Force shows a welcoming ceremony for the arrival of two F-35A fighter jets, South Korea's first stealth fighter jets, at a military base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday afternoon.) An F-35A, South Korea's first stealth fighter jet, arrives at a military base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday afternoon. Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Administration Program By Jung Da-min The first two F-35 stealth fighter jets for South Korea arrived at 2:35 p.m. Friday at a military air base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. The arrival came after the United States approved a plan to export Lockheed Martin's latest F-35 jets to South Korea. South Korea had agreed to buy 40 F-35A stealth jets. The complete delivery of the jets will be done by 2021. In 2014, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) clinched the deal, which has a value of 7.4 trillion won ($6.5 billion). The first batch of the jets departed from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on March 22 (local time). After maintenance and technical checks, the jets will go into operation in April or May, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Eight more F-35As are expected to arrive in South Korea by the end of this year. The arrival of the stealth jets helped the country join the ranks of Asia's few radar-evading warplane operators that include China, Japan and Russia. "We expect the deployment of the stealth fighter jets could enhance the Air Force's operational capabilities by strengthening military readiness posture against possible threats from all fronts," DAPA chief Wang Jung-hong said. Citing the fighter jet's decoy operational scenario and capability, military officials say the jets will play a bigger role to serve as a centerpiece of South Korea's strategic targeting scheme, previously called "Kill Chain," to defend against North Korea's possible aggression. In 2016, when geopolitical tensions were high on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea's fifth nuclear test happened on Sept. 9 that year, the government announced its three-axis defense system including the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike program, as well as the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR). Seoul later redesigned the three-axis defense system as the current administration of President Moon Jae-in is moving ahead with its "engagement-centric policy initiatives" toward North Korea. An F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet, one of the two fighter jets which arrived in South Korea on Friday afternoon, is on its way to the Republic of Korea Air Force's key base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, after departing from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on Wednesday. Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Program Administration Texas Boy Who Went Missing in 2017 Is Found in Florida: Police A Texas boy who went missing was found safe in Florida about a year and a half later, said police. Joshua Graham, 9, was located in a suspicious vehicle in Sanford, Florida, with his noncustodial parent, Kenneth Graham, reported ABC13 in Houston. Regardless of the circumstances, the feelings of loss and devastation are indescribable when any child is taken from a parent, Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith told WFTV. A 9-year-old Texas boy who had been missing since 2017 was found Saturday morning with his father in Sanford, according to Sanford police. Posted by Orlando Sentinel on Saturday, March 30, 2019 The boy and Graham left in late 2017 without the father notifying his wife about the decision, according to police. Joshuas mother had sole custody of the boy at the time, ABC13 reported. He was filed as a missing person with the status of abducted by noncustodial parent, said officials in Texas. The boy was 7 when he was last seen. Posted by Fox 8 News on Sunday, March 31, 2019 Smith commended law enforcement for its efforts in tracking down the boy. The officers and investigators involved in this case are delighted to have played a significant role in reuniting this mother with her child after two long years. I am proud that the officers responding to this call quickly identified that something didnt seem right, and those instincts led to this happy conclusion, the chief said, WFTV reported. Joshua is now in the custody of Child Protective Services and is waiting for his mother, officers stated. #BREAKING: A Texas boy missing since 2017 was found early Saturday morning in Sanford, according to police. Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Saturday, March 30, 2019 Sanford Police stated that Graham isnt in custody, and hes not facing criminal charges. However, Texas authorities said criminal charges may be filed against him. Investigators calling on anyone with information regarding this case to contact Sanford Police Department or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS or visit www.crimeline.org. #Media #Breaking Sanford Officers Locate Juvenile Missing Out of Texas Since 2017 Chief Cecil Smith stated: Regardless of the circumstances, the feelings of loss and devastation are indescribable when any child is taken from a parent. https://t.co/BU7M3hnVw6 pic.twitter.com/saJxuv26KH Sanford Police (@SanfordPolice) March 30, 2019 Missing Children in the United States There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBIs National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement authorities, they must be entered into the database. In 2016, there were 465,676 entries. This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated that would also be reflected in the total, the center said. In 2017, the center said it had assisted officers and families with more than 27,000 missing children. In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways and 5 percent family abductions. Nancy McBride, the executive director of Florida Outreach at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said 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 is not the best. About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely to be victims of child sex trafficking, the center said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) hold a news conference for their proposed "Green New Deal" at the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 7, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) The Green New Deal as Americas Great Leap Forward Commentary Peggy Noonan, in a recent Wall Street Journal column, pointed to disturbing similarities between our times and those of Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution. Likewise, there are alarming similarities between the goals of Maos 1958 Great Leap Forward and those of the proposed Green New Deal, which offer hard-learned lessons from history to any who will notice. The Great Leap Forward and the Green New Deal share the same simple goal: radically transforming the nations industrial and agricultural sectors to meet the most advanced standards of efficiency, while also restructuring society to be in accord with enlightened ideals of justice. They also share similar means for achieving that goal: marshaling the collective resources of the entire nation as in wartime, and regulating, through centralized planning, the equitable distribution of those resources in order to overcome an existential threat. Maos Great Leap Forward led to the greatest man-made disaster in recorded history. Staggering estimates range from 23 million to 55 million people dying, mostly from starvation because of the unquestioned crackpot policies of Maoist ideology. Inherent in the logic of the climate-change issue is urgency. Thus, also in the strategy of the Democrats push for the Green New Deal is immediacy. What is needed, though, is sober deliberation and, crucially, tolerance for dissent. The parallels between the rhetoric promoting the Green New Deal and the realities that became the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward are too similar and the risks too high to ignore. Martial Rhetoric to Marshal Action Like the proponents of the Great Leap Forward, the advocates of the Green New Deal mix martial rhetoric with claims of universal participation and advantage to describe the scale they believe is necessary to achieve their colossal ends. Put organizations on a military footing, put actions on a war footing, put life on a collective footing, and Everybody is fully occupied in production, the trade sector is also fully occupied for everybody read two propaganda posters from 1958 China. Similarly, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has said, the Green New Deal we are proposing will be similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan. Likewise, the authors of the Green New Deal boasted (before it was scrubbed from Ocasio-Cortezs website) that the Green New Deal resolution a [sic] 10-year plan to mobilize every aspect of American society at a scale not seen since World War 2 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and create economic prosperity for all. Maoist ideology required China to match and surpass the development of the West and the Soviet Union. This would be possible, Mao believed, by exponentially increasing Chinas steel manufacturing capacity. He believed he could transform Chinas massive population into an army of industrial workers. Mao imposed quotas on their labor to achieve his ambition. Kitchen woks and massive amounts of human toil went into the makeshift backyard furnaces, but very little useful steel came out. The American socialists envision a similar goal. Their plans include wanting to upgrade or replace every building in the U.S. for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, and to totally overhaul transportation so that high-speed rail can replace air travel. As a sobering example of such an enterprise, Californians dream of a high-speed rail crashed into an expensive reality recently. Lets be real, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, the current project, as planned, would cost too much and take too long. Conquering Injustice The Roman poet Horace wrote: Drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she hurries back; And will burst through your foolish contempt, triumphant. Another similarity between the designs of the Great Leap Forward and those of the Green New Deal is a dangerous contempt for nature in the name of correcting unjust imperfections in society. After mobilizing the whole Chinese population and organizing them into classless communes, Mao directed his hubris at nature itself. During what he called The Four Pests Campaign, Mao tried to eradicate sparrows, who stole from China by eating seeds meant for human consumption. The Chinese peasants met their quotas and killed about 1 billion sparrows. Birds also eat insects, though. The next year, a massive population of locusts devoured much of the smaller-than-usual wheat crop. In another astonishing example of hubris, Communist Party leaders believed that the bends in a certain river were an inefficient waste of land, so they set out to straighten the river. A huge army of peasants was directed to dig a new river bed. When the digging was complete, the water was released, and it immediately disappeared into the ground, since there was no sediment in the new riverbed to hold it. These are only two of many examples. They display a total disregard for the natural order and practical limitations. As a result, untold millions of people starved to death. Likewise, the authors of the Green New Deal exhibit a similar ambition for justice, mixed with hubris. They note, Any large-scale transformation of society can create the risk of some people slipping through the cracks. Thus, the plan aims to solve the problem of climate change, while creating a new era of shared prosperity. As Ocasio-Cortez explains, the heart of the Green New Deal is about social justice. The Green New Deal is still unimplemented and in a vague planning stage. Yet, one can see that in order to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, the plan requires a disregard for the natural order and practical limitations on the scale of the Great Leap Forward. This disregard is evident in what the Green New Dealers say they hope to achieve. They aspire to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes; to guarantee a job with family-sustaining wages; and to provide high-quality health care, housing, economic security, and clean air, clean water, healthy food, and nature to all. In short, it aims to reorient our entire economy while ensuring every person in the U.S. benefits from this enormous transformation of our society. One of the single greatest causes of the disasters of the Great Leap Forward was the climate of hostility toward any criticism of Maos ideas. Top-level officials nodded approval in silence. Provincial bureaucrats made false reports about meeting and exceeding grain and rice quotas. Meanwhile, millions silently starved to death. With a few notable exceptions, most Democratic lawmakers, including presidential hopefuls, have already pledged support for the Green New Deal. Given the sharp edge of the division in our country right now, a climate of hostility toward criticism of such revolutionary legislation as the Green New Deal could be disastrous. Thus, cultivating and maintaining clean air for serious debate is climate change that both supporters and opponents of the Green New Deal should get behind. Clifford Humphrey is originally from Warm Springs, Georgia. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate in politics at Hillsdale College in Michigan. Follow him on Twitter @cphumphrey. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. This Colorado Sheriff Is Willing to Go to Jail Rather than Enforce a Proposed Gun Law Denver, Co.Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams disagrees so much with a gun bill making its way through the Colorado legislature that hes willing to go to jail rather than enforce it. Its a matter of doing whats right, he said. Hes not the only one who feels so strongly. The controversial red flag bill aims to seize guns temporarily from people who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Colorados state Senate passed the bill Thursday by a single vote, without any Republican support, and the bill is expected to pass the House, possibly this week. With Democratic majorities in both chambers, state Republicans have too few votes to stand in the way. But more than half of Colorados 64 counties officially oppose the bill. Many have even declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuary counties in protest. Failure to enforce a court order to seize a persons guns could mean sheriffs being found in contempt. A judge could fine them indefinitely, or even send them to jail to force them to comply. Reams says its a sacrifice hed be forced to make. What is the Bill? Colorados extreme risk protection order bill would allow a family member, a roommate, or law enforcement to petition a judge to take someones firearms if they are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. The push for legislation followed the death of Zack Parrish, the 29-year-old Douglas County sheriffs deputy killed in 2017 by a man with an arsenal of weapons who authorities said had a history of bizarre behavior, including threats to police. Parrishs former boss, Sheriff Tony Spurlock, has been one of the most vocal advocates of the bill and says he believes it could have prevented Parrishs death. Democratic House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, one of the bills primary sponsors, agrees. The other House sponsor is Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son, Alex, was killed in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting in 2012. Garnett says he wont lose any sleep if Reams or another Colorado sheriff opts for jail instead of enforcement of a court order. What Im going to lose sleep over is, if thats the choice that they make and someone loses their life, someone in crisis goes on a shooting spree, (or) someone commits suicide because a gun wasnt taken away, he said. Whats So Controversial? Gun rights activists, and an increasing number of law enforcement leaders, say the bill goes too far. David Kopel, a constitutional law expert who has written extensively about gun policy in the United States, says he thinks the bill is generally a good idea but that he has serious reservations about how it is writtenin part because of outside influence. The gun ban lobbies are getting more and more extreme and aggressive, he said. The bill allows a judge to order a persons guns to be seized before the person has a chance to appear in court. The bill does require a second hearing with the gun owner present to be held within 14 days, where the owner could make a case to keep the weaponsbut if the owner is unsuccessful, a judge could order the guns seized for as long as a year. Kopel said it would be difficult to prevent a nightmare scenario in which someone misuses the law to take guns away from a person they intend to target violently. The burden of proof is lowpreponderance of the evidence, which is the same standard used in civil cases, and a much lower bar than the criminal standard, beyond a reasonable doubt. Reams said he also worries about the potential to aggravate an already volatile person by taking their weapons. Going in and taking their guns and leaving the scene, I cant see how that makes them less of a risk. It just takes one tool away, said Reams, arguing that a person bent on hurting someone could do it with a knife or a car. In 2018, a man near Baltimore was killed after officers showed up to seize his weapons based on a court order and he became irate, police said. Garnett dismissed concerns about the bill. The opposition is always there. It will always be there and theres nothing, theres no amendments or any changes that could be made to bring the sheriff from Weld County onboard, he said. Reams concedes he would still never support the bill, even with amendments. Counties Fighting Back A total of 32 counties have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuary, or preservation, counties or passed similar resolutions. Most vow support for their sheriffs and state that no resources or money will be used to enforce unconstitutional laws. Another two counties already had similar resolutions on the books, and one other has sent a letter to the legislature declaring its opposition. Even Douglas County, where Deputy Parrish was killed, passed a similar resolution pledging that no county resources would be used in the enforcement of the red flag law, despite Sheriff Spurlocks support for the legislation. Were putting a line in the sand for what we believe right now is support (for) constitutional laws, said Douglas County Commissioner Roger Partridge at a contentious meeting in March. Why would you tell a law enforcement officer they could not enforce the law because you didnt like it? Thats craziness, said Spurlock. The idea of a sanctuary county is more of a political move than it is a legal move, said John Campbell, a law professor at the University of Denver. What Happens Next? The bill wouldnt officially come into force until next year, but El Paso County is planning to launch a legal challenge as soon as it is signed into law. In a statement, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said he is confident that when and if the time comes, all law enforcement officials will follow the rule of law. But Reams is steadfast. Ive explained that time and time again, he said. Im not bluffing. Demonstrators march during a protest to demand authorities scrap a proposed extradition bill with China, in Hong Kong, China on March 31, 2019. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu) Thousands Protest Hong Kongs Plans to Open Extradition to China HONG KONGThousands of people protested in Hong Kong on March 31 against a government plan to change extradition laws, fearing an erosion of personal freedom and the citys status as an international business hub. The Hong Kong government proposal, announced in February, would grant the citys leader executive power to send fugitives to jurisdictions not covered by existing arrangements, including mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau, to be determined on a case-basis. Protest organizers said 12,000 people took the streets, while police estimated the crowd at 5,200 at its peak. Hong Kong people all have to bear the negative consequence of this ordinance. This carries the risk of personal freedom being restricted, Lam Wing-kee, a bookseller who said in 2016 he was detained by Chinese agents, told the crowd. The government said last week it will present the amendments to legislators on April 3. Widespread Opposition The proposed changes were sparked by a high-profile murder in Taiwan last year, in which a Hong Kong man allegedly strangled his pregnant girlfriend during a holiday and fled back to Hong Kong. However, its the addition of mainland China in the reforms that has triggered strong opposition by some lawmakers, legal and rights groups, who fear that it could be exploited by Beijings Communist Party leaders and hurt Hong Kongs judicial independence. We are gravely concerned that anyone extradited to China will be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and other grave human rights violations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor wrote in an open letter to Carrie Lam, the citys leader, on March 31. Since Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee that it would enjoy a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not allowed in mainland Chinaa policy known as one country, two systems there has been no formal mechanism for the surrender of fugitives to mainland China. Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee told reporters last week the government had no plans to scrap the bill. It is not an easy decision, but it is a cautious, careful, and serious decision, he said, adding that the Hong Kong government has the sole right to decide whether or not to process (extradition requests). Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, associate professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University, disputed the governments claims that the proposed amendments merely sought to fill a gap in Hong Kongs existing laws. What the Hong Kong officials are doing is not closing a loophole, but destroying the firewall that provides protection for us. When they attack this firewall squarely, it is equivalent to destroying the one country, two systems policy which would eventually lead to our self-destruction, Chan said at a press conference on March 24. Dixon Sing Ming, associate professor of social sciences at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, pointed out that the Chinese regime could exploit such laws during diplomatic or other disputes with Western countries. Any Western political or business figure who travel via Hong Kong may be targeted for extradition, he said at the same press conference. Hong Kong will no longer be a politically neutral place independent of the influence from mainland China. Hong Kongs business community has also expressed concern over the inclusion of economic and financial crimes in the bill. The government later removed nine types of crime relevant to bankruptcies, financial trading, and intellectual property. But there is still a risk of rendition to jurisdictions that do not share Hong Kongs level of protections for the legitimate rights of defendants, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said. We strongly believe that the proposed arrangements will reduce the appeal of Hong Kong to international companies considering Hong Kong as a base for regional operations, the chamber said in a statement on March 29. By Jessie Pang and Noah Sin. Epoch Times staff writer Olivia Li also contributed to this article. Trump Campaign Focuses on Exposing Socialism President Donald Trumps reelection campaign will focus on exposing a dramatic shift toward socialism among the Democratic candidates while spotlighting the successes of the presidents administration, Kayleigh McEnany, press secretary for the Trump 2020 campaign, told The Epoch Times. McEnany said it would have been unimaginable a decade ago for Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, to push for the radical proposals embraced by every major Democratic contender for the 2020 election. Every single member of the 2020 Democratic field will emerge with the scourge of socialism attached to them. They all want government takeover of health care, of energy, and with the Green New Deal. They want these radical proposals, she said. According to McEnany, the campaign didnt plan to take on socialism, but is making the adjustment given that the majority of the Democratic field has embraced the ideology. We thought that debate ended in the 1980s. We thought it ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but here we are today with Democrats wanting to take us the way of Venezuela, she said. So were all very keenly focused on socialismevery single one of us in the campaign. Of the eight Democratic presidential candidates who have officially declared their intention to run and are polling at 1 percent or more, seven support the socialist Medicare for All and Green New Deal policies. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is the exception among them, although even she has co-sponsored the Medicare for All bill and views the Green New Deal as a key long-term goal. Were going to expose it, McEnany said. You know, the facts dont lie. Bernie Sanders back in 2013 and back when he was proposing legislation on single-payer health care, he had zero cosponsors. Now he has virtually the entirety of the Democratic field. Same for free college and all of these socialists proposals that would cost our economy tens of trillions of dollars, raise everyones taxes, completely explode our debt. This is socialismits wrecked economies, its destroyed personal freedoms, and now its amazing to me that on a Democratic debate stage you are going to hear the word socialism. Only 18 percent of Americans view socialism in a positive light. While polling data for Medicare for All suggests that Americans support it, the approval rating drops significantly when the policy is described as socialized medicine or if respondents learn that the policy will result in tax increases and the elimination of private health insurance. Support for socialism is highest among the younger voters. McEnany believes this is because the millennial generation was excluded from the economy during the Obama years. My peersIm a millennialmy peers couldnt find jobs, they couldnt find well-paying jobs, certainly couldnt find a use for their college degrees, McEnany said, adding that the trend is changing under Trump. Finally what were seeing is that millennials are having access to the job market, finding jobs, being able to leave their parents homes, being able to no longer delay life decisions like marriage and having kids, she said. So millennials had it tough. And now, finally, theyre getting opportunity thanks to President Trump. The campaign will take the message of the administrations success to the social media platforms where millennials spend much of their time, including Facebook and Twitter. We do think that some millennials will come around and say, Hey, yeah, Im way better off today than I was four years ago. And that means Ive got to vote for President Trump,' McEnany said. Epoch Times staff member Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report. Trump 2020 presidential campaign is now selling "Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff" T-shirts. (Trump Make America Great Again Committee) Trump Campaign Starts Selling Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff T-shirts Amid Calls for Schiffs Resignation Trumps 2020 campaign team has started selling Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff T-shirts after the president coined the name at a recent campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Little Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff. He spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking. He should be forced to resign from Congress! Everyone should buy a Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff shirt today! the official Trump team tweeted. Little Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff He spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking. He should be forced to resign from Congress! Everyone should buy a Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff shirt today! BUY Now: https://t.co/5SMsrJC8nU pic.twitter.com/v3Vvmma0e6 Official Team Trump (@TeamTrump) March 29, 2019 The T-shirt is being sold on the campaigns website for $28 and features Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) with a pencil as a neck. The president criticized the House Intelligence Committee chairman for repeatedly making claims that Trump colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. At the rally on March 28, Trump nicknamed the Democratic congressman little pencil neck Adam Schiff and described him as not a long ball hitter. Schiff was one of the leading voices among the Democratic Party that pushed the collusion claims. He previously claimed on television that theres plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight. Despite his claims, he has not released any evidence even though he has the authority to do so as the chair of the intelligence committee. After Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded its 22-month long investigation this month and found that there was no collusion, President Trump and Republicans have been calling for Schiff to resign from Congress. Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019 Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress! Trump wrote on Twitter on March 28. Moreover, nine Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee sent Schiff a letter calling on him to step down from his post as chairman of the committee. Your repeated public statements, which implied knowledge of classified facts supporting the collusion allegations, occurred at the same time anonymous leaks of alleged intelligence and law enforcement information were appearing in the media, the letter stated. Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as chairman of this committee As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duty in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee, the letter concluded. The two-page letter was signed by Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), Rep. Michael Conaway (Texas), Rep. Michael Turner (Ohio), Rep. Brad Wenstrup (Ohio), Rep. Chris Stewart (Utah), Rep Eric Crawford (Ark.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Rep. Will Hurd (Texas), and Rep. John Ratcliffe (Texas). GOP letter asking Schiff to resign as House Intelligence Committee chairman: pic.twitter.com/QfRbnfD1cO Kristina Wong (@kristina_wong) March 28, 2019 Despite Muellers findings that there is no evidence of collusion, Schiff still believes it exists. Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy, notwithstanding Russian offers to help Trumps campaign, their acceptance, and a litany of concealed interactions with Russia, Schiff wrote on Twitter, without offering evidence. I trust Muellers prosecutorial judgment, but the country must see the evidence. Mueller spent two years investigating obstruction of justice and found evidence that does not exonerate Trump. Barr took two days to set aside that evidence. The entire report must be published and evidence provided to Congress so the American people can judge for themselves. Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 24, 2019 Mueller spent two years investigating obstruction of justice and found evidence that does not exonerate Trump. Barr took two days to set aside that evidence, he added. The Californian congressman brushed away calls for resignation, telling CNN that he was more than used to attacks from my GOP colleagues and I would expect nothing less. Report to be Released by Mid-April Attorney General William Barr said on March 29 that he expects to release a redacted version of Muellers report by mid-April, if not sooner. Barr says in his letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) that the report is almost 400-pages long, without counting tables and the appendices. NEW: AG Bill Barr told Congress today that he anticipates releasing special counsel Robert Muellers report by mid-April, if not sooner. The report is nearly 400 pages, Barr says pic.twitter.com/JhkaT3Rpqa Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 29, 2019 I share your desire to ensure that Congress and the public had the opportunity to read the Special Counsels report, Barr wrote. This update comes as lawmakers and members of the public call for the release of the final report. Barr has already sent a four-page summary (pdf) of the principal conclusions on March 24, which did not find proof that Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It also concluded that the special counsel didnt provide enough evidence to substantiate that the president obstructed justice. The Epoch Times Bowen Xiao and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen (2nd L), Honduran Security Minister Julian Pacheco (L) and Guatemalan Minister of Government Enrique Degenhart attend the V Meeting of Ministers and Secretaries of Security of the Northern Trialgle and the US in Tegucigalpa on March 27, 2019. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images) Trump Follows Up on Promise to Cut Aid to Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala President Donald Trump has ordered the stopping of aid to the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, after criticizing them for failing to stem the tide of their citizens traveling north and entering the United States illegally. Trump has mentioned stopping the aid several times since at least October and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has now instructed the department to do so. At the Secretarys instruction, we are carrying out the Presidents direction and ending [fiscal year] 2017 and [fiscal year] 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle, a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement. We will be engaging Congress as part of this process. About a million citizens of the three countries have been caught by Border Patrol between fiscal years 2013 and 2017 (pdf) trying to enter the United States illegally. American taxpayers gave the countries nearly $2.3 billion in aid in those years. Since 2017, the apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally has substantially increasedup from less than 416,000 in fiscal 2017 to over 521,000 last year. In fiscal 2019, the inflow is on pace to reach nearly a million illegal aliens, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on March 6. The largest group of the migrants continues to be from the Northern Triangle. Ive ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador, Trump told reporters in Florida on March 29. No money goes there anymore. The United States has tried for years to aid the Central American countries in developing stable political and economic systems. Trump, however, appears to demand concrete steps to stop the migration now. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money and were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us, the president said. The White House referred inquiries about the aid to the State Department. From Warning to Action Trumps likely first warning of cutting the aid came in an Oct. 16 tweet, where he warned Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez that the aid to Tegucigalpa will stop unless a migrant caravan that had been traveling from Honduras north through Mexico was stopped and turned around. The caravan wasnt stopped and eventually led to thousands of the migrants storming the border near San Ysidro, California, on Nov. 25. Some migrants were caught on video throwing rocks at border security officers and breaking through border barriers only to be repelled with tear gas and/or pepper spray. The migrants broke through the fence and were repelled with pepper spray smoke pellets. #MigrantCaravan pic.twitter.com/pC8dDFRfOy The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) November 25, 2018 The migrants broke through riot police and are trying to get through any gap possible. pic.twitter.com/IBNoz9WY1i The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) November 25, 2018 Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money, Trump wrote in a Dec. 28 tweet. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countriestaking advantage of U.S. for years! ..Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries taking advantage of U.S. for years! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018 Indeed, more caravans have formed since, getting help from open border nonprofits and the United Nations. The Central American border crossers commonly surrender themselves to the Border Patrol and then request asylum, but only about one in 10 is ultimately found eligible to remain in the United States legally. Trump signed a national emergency declaration on Feb. 15 calling the southern border situation a crisis. The move enabled Trump to transfer funds from the Department of Defense toward constructing a wall on the southwest border. The White House so far has secured $8.1 billion toward border wall construction. Of the total, Congress approved $1.4 billion, while Trump ordered the reallocation $3.1 billion from the treasury and defense departments, and reallocated $3.6 billion from the military construction budget. The Pentagon authorized $1 billion for border wall construction on March 25. The funds are designated toward the construction of 57 miles of fencing in the Yuma and El Paso border sections. El Paso has seen a 500 percent surge in illegal alien apprehensions this fiscal year. Border patrol agents in El Paso caught more than 400 illegal aliens in the span of five minutes on March 19. The number of illegal aliens apprehended and turned away at the southwest border continued to climb in March to levels unseen for years. From December 30, 2018, to March 17, more than 23,000 illegal aliens were arrested or turned away at the border, more than double the total during each of the previous four years. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. With no space to house the overflow of illegal aliens, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has released more than 100,000 illegal alien family members into the interior United States so far this year. Many are arriving in large groups at the border, a new trend. Epoch Times staff writer Ivan Pentchoukov contributed and Reuters contributed to this report. VANCOUVER, CanadaUkrainian violinist Yuri Zaidenberg felt the colors and sounds and sheer energy of the artists wash over him as he sat in audience of Shen Yun Performing Arts, and he was filled with excitement. I was so excited after the performance, a very expressive and colorful [event] with colors and [such] effect. For me, it was something special, Zaidenberg said at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, on March 30. Zaidenberg has performed all over the world as a concert soloist, in chamber ensembles, and as concertmaster in various orchestras, and has also maintained a busy teaching career over the decades, not just of violin practice, but of music psychology and pedagogy. Thus the intricacies and methodology of New York-based Shen Yuns unique orchestration were not lost on Zaidenberg, who said of course he had to pay attention to the orchestra, and whole-heartedly enjoyed the musical experience. Its special, Zaidenberg said. They have a very good ensemble, and excellent conductor, he added, pointing out the soul-stirring erhu in the otherwise classical Western symphony, and the Chinese pentatonic scale used in the orchestral arrangement. Zaidenberg said they were not a beat, not a note out of place, and the music transported him to China. The energy of the performance, of all the artists involved, left such an impression on Zaidenberg that he said the performance left him rejuvenated. Shen Yuns mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinas divinely inspired civilization through the arts, and Zaidenberg felt they succeeded. He pointed out many aspects of the production he felt were unique. I was impressed very much their energy which is coming from the stage, with a lot of colorful things in connection with [the backdrop], its like they coming from [a] movie to the stage, Zaidenberg said. Shen Yuns backdrop is digitally animated, allowing performers to seemingly step from stage to screen, from heaven to earth and back. It was unlike anything Zaidenberg said he had ever seen before. This is kind of extending this stage much higher to the skies, he said. One moment a dancer would be floating across the stage, and a few steps later he would see them leap into the sky. This is really great. Zaidenberg also pointed out that the production required tremendous coordination between many people, with 20 pieces of original music, scores of costumes that changed with every dance and story, the settings drawn for every dance, and so on. He marveled at the choreography of the nearly-20 dance vignettes, and the artistry of every aspect of the production. This changing from one stage to another stage gives a sense of a kaleidoscope, nonstop, your attention just pulling one to another, he said. Zaidenberg said it brought a smile to his face, to witness the level of art brought forth by 5,000 years of civilization in China It brings lots of energy to the audience, Zaidenberg said. Its something new, its changing I was wowed. They, together [are] a great ensemble. With reporting by Sunny Chen. 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. Hillary Clinton delivers her concession speech in New York after being defeated by Donald Trump on Nov. 9, 2016. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images) Watchdog Sues to Learn If Every Clinton Email Was Sent to Foreign Entity A government watchdog group sued the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on March 27 seeking documents related to an alleged FBI coverup of a lead in the Clinton email investigation, which suggested that virtually every email Hillary Clinton sent during her tenure as secretary of state was forwarded to a foreign actor. Judicial Watch, a conservative foundation, filed the lawsuit after ODNI failed to produce documents responsive to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on July 13, 2018. Judicial Watch filed the FOIA on the heels of an explosive committee hearing on Capitol Hill featuring former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. During the hearing, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) accused Strzok of ignoring a major Clinton email investigation lead from the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG). The inspector general discovered an anomaly on Hillary Clintons emails, Gohmert said, with nearly every single email going to an address that was not on the distribution list. Gohmert didnt disclose the entity to which the emails were forwarded, describing it as a foreign actor other than Russia. Where Were Emails Going? According to Gohmert, inspector general investigator Frank Rucker and attorney Janette McMillan relayed the lead during a meeting with four FBI officials, including Strzok and Dean Chappell. The Judicial Watch lawsuit seeks to force the release of documents it has sought since July 2018, which include all records and communications related to the meeting between the FBI and the ICIG. Our lawsuit could further expose how anti-Trump activists like disgraced FBI official Peter Strzok bent over backward to protect Hillary Clinton from having to answer for her national security crimes, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. The scandal of the illicit Trump spying is directly tied to the Deep State protection of Hillary Clinton. Despite the alarming nature of the lead, several senior FBI officials involved in the Clinton email probe claimed to have no memory of the referral. According to a review of transcripts of House testimonies, some of which havent yet been released to the public, senior FBI officials, including Strzok, Lisa Page, Bill Priestap, Jonathan Moffa, John Giacolone, and James Comey, all claimed to remember nothing about the ICIG referral. Every official above Strzok in the chain of command was, at different times, either moved to other investigations or offices and some retired before Comey ultimately concluded the probe by publicly exonerating the former secretary of state. At least two of the three officials who reportedly attended the ICIG meeting with Strzok were also moved from the probe before it concluded. President Donald Trumpwho as commander in chief has unlimited access to classified informationsuggested in August last year that Clintons emails were obtained by China. Hillary Clintons Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier, etc.), their credibility will be forever gone! he wrote on Twitter. The president was likely responding to a report released days earlier by the Daily Caller, citing two anonymous sources, claiming that a Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington area obtained nearly all of Clintons emails. Unauthorized Email Server The firm received Clintons emails in real time using a code embedded on a private, unauthorized email server she used for government work while she was secretary of state, the report alleged. Fox News confirmed the Daily Caller report, citing two anonymous sources. It isnt clear if the Fox sources are different from those used by the Daily Caller. Notably, two of the other FBI officials who likely attended the meeting with the ICIG had expertise in Chinese espionage, a factor which may have initially contributed to their selection for the Clinton email team. Chappell, an FBI section chief, was cited among experts on Chinese espionage in a Fox News article published two weeks after the start of the Clinton email probe. Counterespionage Section Chief Charles Kable, who may also have attended the meeting, led investigations against known and suspected Chinese intelligence officers in the U.S. for a year and five months starting in 2009, according to an FBI promotion notice and his LinkedIn profile. When contacted for a comment about the allegation that FBI ignored the lead, Chuck McCullough, who served as the ICIG at the relevant time, said he never alleged that the FBI ignored any leads. Having spent 10 years of my life as an FBI special agent, I presumed they would take appropriate action with respect to whatever information I gave them. I did not follow up with them to ensure that was the case, McCullough told The Epoch Times on Jan. 29. Lee Boo-jin, a daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and the head of Hotel Shilla, leaves the hotel in central Seoul after participating in it's regular general meeting of shareholders, Thursday. / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heun Police are looking into suspicions that Lee Boo-jin, a daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and the head of Hotel Shilla, regularly abused propofol, a controlled substance used as a sleep inducer for surgery and other medical procedures. Officials at Gangnam Police Station in southern Seoul, Thursday, visited the plastic surgery hospital where Lee allegedly received propofol, to check the facts regarding the allegations, together with officials from the regional public health center. The move follows a media report the previous day, which raised the allegations based on testimony from a former staff member at the hospital. "We are conducting an investigation of the hospital regarding its propofol management," a police officer said. "Following the results, we will decided whether to question Lee or not." According to the report by Newstapa, Lee was regularly given propofol at the hospital from January to October 2016 while the witness worked there. The former employee said Lee received the substance in a VIP room at least twice a month. NORWALK A man who went to jail for possessing a machine gun has again been arrested on firearms and drug charges. On Friday, police arrested Sentrell Bookhardt, who was on federal supervised release and being monitored by Connecticut Parole after being released from prison, according to police. Norwalk Special Services Division Commander Lt. Marc Lepore said the department received information allegedly implicating Bookhardt in a South Norwalk crack cocaine selling operation. Bookhardt was identified by a police patrol on North Main Street around 5 p.m. on Friday, at which point police stopped to speak to him, according to Lepore. They stepped out to speak with (Bookhardt) and, based on his history, they wanted to make sure he didnt have any weapons on him. He wouldnt allow them to pat him down, so he was detained, Lepore said. Police said they located a loaded .38-caliber pistol, four grams of crack cocaine and a wad of cash in his possession. Bookhardt allegedly resisted arrest at the time of the incident, but was eventually placed in a cruiser after a brief struggle. No one was injured during the arrest. Bookhardt was a known member of the MGs, a Norwalk street gang, when he was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 on charges that he possessed an unregistered machine gun. He was also found guilty in 2010 on drug, firearm and other charges from a 2009 arrest in the city, according to court records. For this latest incident, Bookhardt, of Howard Avenue, Bridgeport, was charged with sale of a narcotic substance, carrying a gun without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a pistol, possession of a controlled substance within 1,5000 of a school, sale of a controlled substance within 1,5000 feet of a school, possession of a controlled substance and interfering with an officer. He was held on $500,000 bond and given a court date of April 8. An Open Letter to the Public: On Sept. 5, 2017, my husband Officer Phil Roselle went to work as he did for the past 31 years of his life. On that day, during a prescheduled firearms training, my husband was accidentally shot by a co-worker. Phil thankfully was not killed, but subsequently suffered career-ending injuries and has been unable to return to work. Since that day Phil has been battling a number of permanent medical issues directly related to the shooting incident. During this past year, Phils pay was shut off for three consecutive months and he was forced to use his accumulated sick time and vacation time. I would like to point out that Phil has lost his ability to earn extra pay (overtime, court time and extra work). I have been advocating on behalf of my husband (because he is too weak to fight) for an entire year to attempt to get justice for my husband. Unfortunately, we cannot take legal action against the city of Norwalk to recoup money/damages that weve lost due to indemnification. Our living expenses keep increasing, yet our income and ability to earn has been compromised by this tragic and preventable shooting incident. Over the past year, I have had the occasion to speak with the Chief of Police as well as Mayor Rilling about Phils declined medical condition as well as to discuss the possibility of an alternative retirement package (Special Legislation disability retirement) that the City of Norwalk can create that would help my husband and my family. Initially, both the chief and Mayor Rilling pledged their unwavering support for my husband. They did so verbally and during a televised news interview on News 12. I have been working tirelessly over the last five months with several lawmakers at our State Capitol to create legislation that would provide permanently injured first responders with 100 percent disability pay. When a police officer dies in the line of duty, their family members are afforded (rightfully so) statutory and state benefits to include their loved ones full salary along with tax-free federal and state payouts. Why is it that our permanently injured first responders who survive get punished for living? As it stands now, my husband will only receive 75 percent of his pay (taxable) because he survived? I believe this is unjust and wrong. For these reasons, I am fighting for 100 percent disability pay for all permanently injured first responders in the State of Connecticut. Recently Phil was notified that the City of Norwalk is forcing him to retire with 75 percent of his pay, even though they are well aware that we have pending legislation that would provide my husband with 100 percent of his base pay. There is a contract in place under the Norwalk Police Department collective bargaining agreement that allows for 18 months of compensation once it is determined that an officer is permanently disabled and not able to work again. I find it appalling that Mayor Rilling pledged his support and now has turned his back on his officer (my husband) who dedicated 30-plus years of service to the city he loves. In my opinion, this is the ultimate act of betrayal. My husband is completely devastated by the mayors decision to commence a forced retirement knowing that there is pending legislation that could help Phil and our family. Debbie Roselle is a resident of Norwalk. Police investgators leave a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul with a box of seized materials, Sunday, after an eight-hour search amid an allegation that Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin habitually received injections of propofol there. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo Police searched a plastic surgery clinic, Saturday, as part of an investigation into an allegation that Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin habitually received injections of propofol, an intravenous short-acting anesthetic. Lee is also the oldest daughter of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency carried out an eight-hour search at the Gangnam-based clinic from 6:30 p.m., Saturday, and confiscated Lee's medical records and the clinic's drug control records. They conducted a digital forensic analysis to restore deleted data, as well. Later in the day, police announced they had booked the head of the clinic on the charge of violating the Medical Law. The search came three days after the drug abuse allegation was first reported by a local media outlet, citing a former employee of the clinic. According to the report by Newstapa, Lee was regularly given propofol at the hospital from January to October 2016 while the witness worked there. The former employee said Lee received the substance in a VIP room at least twice a month. EDWARDSVILLE Three veterans from the Alton-Wood River area have filed suit against major drug companies, distributors and drug stores, claiming the firms over-promoted opioids, leading to them becoming addicted. Joel Biship, of Wood River, Dean Colman, of Alton and Pete Lavite, of Wood River, have named major drug manufacturers, such as Purdue Pharma, wholesale distributors such as McKesson and retailers, such as Walgreen Co. The suit claims the companies targeted veterans for their own financial gain, especially after Sept. 11, 2001. They allegedly targeted veterans because they were more likely to suffer from chronic pain. As an example, Purdue allegedly paid $200,000 to the Veterans Affairs Pain Management team to create pro-opioid propaganda, the suit claims. The firms allegedly promoted a publication titled Exit Wounds, which characterized opioids as underused and the gold standard of pain medications. The publication was aimed specifically at returning veterans. In 2009, military doctors wrote four times as many prescriptions for narcotic pain pills as they had in 2001, the suit claims. Bishop was a machine gunner in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006. After coming home, he sustained injuries to his back, feet and calf, according to the complaint. He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and was prescribed opioids, such as morphine and oxycodone. After becoming addicted to opioids, veteran Bishop became ensnared in addiction and suffers with that addiction and substance abuse dependence, the suit alleges. The addiction allegedly caused a wide variety of emotional problems. Colman is a veteran of the Marine Corps who served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield in 1989 in Iraq. In 1999 he underwent surgery to repair his cervical spine. He was also given opioids, such as Oxycontin and hydrocodone. He also became addicted and suffered injuries, the suit claims. Lavite was a Marine who served from 1986 to 1990 in Japan. He was prescribed opioids in 2002 and became addicted, the suit claims, After becoming addicted to opioids, veteran Lavite began purchasing opioids through illicit means to support his addiction. Purdue is one of several drug companies which allegedly used deception to market opioids, the suit claims. The plaintiffs claim the firms spread aggressive and false marketing aimed at leading doctors, distributed false and misleading literature about opioids, distributed biased treatment guidelines that called for more widespread use of the drugs than science justified, sponsored continuing medical education programs that spread deceptive messages about the drugs, and otherwise spread deceptive information about the benefits and risks of opioids. Specifically, the firms downplayed the risk of addiction and denied the risks of taking increasingly higher doses of opioids. The suit claims the firms were warned by government regulators on numerous occasions about the lack of support for their claims. The suit claims the firms recruited hundreds of sales representatives and trained them to sell opioids for uses that were not safe. The firms allegedly intentionally stigmatized addicts that the addicts are reckless criminals in order to conceal the drugs true nature. The distributors allegedly ignored state and federal laws aimed at addressing the expanding use of the drugs and supplied them to suspicious doctors and failed to report suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Agency. The veterans are represented by Edward W. Unsell of East Alton, Edward M. Tjaden of St. Louis and Greg Shevlin of Belleville. THE ISSUE: Lax regulation may be a factor in the crashes of two Boeing 787 Max 8 jets. THE STAKES: The consequences of small government can loom large at 30,000 feet. In the days after a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed in Ethiopia on March 10 the second to go down in six months dozens of countries ordered the planes grounded, with one particularly conspicuous holdout: the United States of America. Even as at least 27 airlines had stopped flying Max 8, the Federal Aviation Administration was saying there was "no basis to order grounding the aircraft," 157 lives in Ethiopia and 189 souls in Indonesia notwithstanding. It took three days after the crash for the FAA to finally decide it had a basis or, it almost seemed, that it had no excuse to keep delaying. In the days since, there has been time for reflection on what the two tragedies exposed about what's wrong with regulation in the U.S., not just in aviation, but in other areas as well. It has become clear that while the problems didn't start with President Donald Trump, his approach has made things worse. The most deep-rooted problem goes back to the birth of federal regulatory agencies in the late 1800s, starting with the Interstate Commerce Commission, created in response to complaints from farmers and merchants about high prices and abuses by railroads. The ICC and later commissions quickly came to include representatives of the industries they were to regulate, their expertise supposedly being needed. The potential for conflicts of interest, though, was just as quickly visible. Further complicating things are often conflicting roles: Regulatory commissions and agencies that oversee industries often are expected to also foster them in global markets. Mr. Trump has taken the industry-friendly regulatory approach to new heights or lows, from a public protection point of view. It's not just the absurd appointments he has tried to make like naming his personal pilot to head the FAA or choosing a White House physician who gave him a flattering check-up to run the Veterans Administration. It's the many other appointments of aviation, Wall Street, education, and energy lobbyists, executives and directors to top roles in the FAA, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Interior, Education, Commerce, and Agriculture departments. To one degree or another, they share the anti-regulation mindset that demands we trust industry and supposedly free markets to act out of enlightened self-interest for the good of all. That faith is hard to sustain when a company like Boeing offers critical safety features which could have prevented two crashes that claimed 346 lives optional, and for an extra cost. When airlines, looking to squeeze every dollar of profit they can, decide not to spend that extra money. When pilots are given courses on iPads instead of flight simulators, and are not trained to deal with the very crises that led to these crashes. And when the FAA still insists that its strategy of saving money by letting aircraft manufacturers inspect and certify their own jets is better than spending $1.8 billion a year out of a more than $4 trillion federal budget to hire government inspectors instead. You know, people whose only loyalty is to the job of protecting the public. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com See More Collapse All worth contemplating, if not praying over, the next time you fly. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Glenn Chapman (Agence France-Presse) San Francisco, United States Sun, March 31, 2019 08:04 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87309fd6d 2 Science & Tech Facebook,social-media,New-Zealand-shooting,live-streaming,privacy Free Facebook on Friday said it is tightening live video streaming rules in response to the service being used to broadcast deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand. The Christchurch attacks -- carried out by a self-avowed white supremacist who opened fire on worshippers at two mosques -- claimed 50 lives. Many people have "rightly questioned how online platforms such as Facebook were used to circulate horrific videos of the attack," chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an online post. "In the wake of the terrorist attack, we are taking three steps: strengthening the rules for using Facebook Live, taking further steps to address hate on our platforms, and supporting the New Zealand community," she added. Facebook is looking into barring people who have previously violated the social network's community standards from livestreaming on its platform, according to Sandberg. The social network is also investing in improving software to quickly identify edited versions of violent video or images to prevent them from be shared or re-posted. "While the original New Zealand attack video was shared Live, we know that this video spread mainly through people re-sharing it and re-editing it to make it harder for our systems to block it," Sandberg said. "People with bad intentions will always try to get around our security measures." Facebook identified more than 900 different videos showing portions of the streamed violence. Hateful nationalism The social network is using artificial intelligence tools to identify and remove hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, according to Sandberg. Those groups will be banned from Facebook services, she said. Read also: Facebook bars white nationalism, stepping up hate speech curbs Facebook this week announce it would ban praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism as part of a stepped-up crackdown on hate speech. The ban will be enforced starting next week on the leading online social network and its image-centric messaging service Instagram. "It's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services," the social network said in a statement. Facebook policies already banned posts endorsing white supremacy as part of its prohibition against spewing hate at people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion. The ban had not applied to some postings because it was reasoned they were expressions of broader concepts of nationalism or political independence, according to the social network. Facebook said that conversations with academics and "members of civil society" in recent months led it to view white nationalism and separatism as linked to organized hate groups. People who enter search terms associated with white supremacy will get results referring them to resources such as Life After Hate, which focus on helping people turn their backs on such groups, according to Facebook. Amid pressure from governments around the world, Facebook has ramped up machine learning and artificial intelligence tools for finding and removing hateful content. "We are deeply committed to strengthening our policies, improving our technology and working with experts to keep Facebook safe," Sandberg said. "We must all stand united against hate and work together to fight it wherever and whenever it occurs." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nedi Putra AW (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya, East Java Sun, March 31, 2019 13:00 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730aa224 1 Art & Culture House-of-Sampoerna,music,history,exhibition,surabaya,East-Java,destination Free Celebrating National Music Day, which falls on March 9, the House of Sampoerna in Surabaya, East Java, is hosting an exhibition entitled "Indonesia Plays Music" from March 20 to April 28. Surabaya is home to prominent Indonesian musicians such as Dara Puspita, Panbers, Gombloh and jazz maestro Bubi Chen. Visitors marvel at the items displayed in the museum. (JP/Nedi Putra AW) House of Sampoerna manager Rani Anggraini told The Jakarta Post during the exhibition opening that the event was the result of a collaborative effort between the museum and several parties, including the Surabaya city administration, the Indonesian Music Museum and the Mpu Tantular Museum. Read also: 5 must-visit destinations in Surabaya More than 150 items are on display to members of the public who are seeking to explore the country's music history, starting with the discovery of Nekara, an ancient two-headed drum made of bronze through the development of music until today's digital and multimedia age. A visitor enjoys listening to a digitalized music cassette at the exhibition. (JP/Nedi Putra AW) "We're also cooperating with the Surabaya city administration to hold a thematic tour program, a Surabaya Shopping and Culinary Track called 'Surabaya Melody', with which visitors will be taken to the House of Sampoerna and WR Soepratman's grave and museum on March 31 and April 6," Rani said. She added that the exhibition aims to broaden the public's knowledge of Indonesian music history, as well as increase people's appreciation of traditional musical instruments. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Sun, March 31, 2019 10:06 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730a1a3a 2 Environment Sydney,Earth-Hour,conservation,environment,Australia,Sydney-Opera-House Free The Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge were plunged into darkness for an hour Saturday to raise awareness about climate change and its impact on the planet's vanishing biodiversity. The 13th edition of Earth Hour, organised by the green group WWF, will see millions of people across 180 countries turn off their lights at 8:30 pm local time to highlight energy use and the need for conservation. "We are the first generation to know we are destroying the world. And we could be the last that can do anything about it," the charity said. "We have the solutions, we just need our voices to be heard." WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O'Gorman told AFP that "Earth hour still is the world's largest grassroots movement for people to take action on climate change". "It's about individuals taking personal action but joining with hundreds of millions of people around the world to show that not only do we need urgent action on climate change but we need to be protecting our planet," he added. Dozens of companies around the world have said they will join in this year's switch-off. Read also: Earth Hour adjusted to presidential debate The event comes after some of the most dire warnings yet on the state of Earth's natural habitat and species. WWF's own "Living Planet" report in October said that 60 percent of all animals with a backbone -- fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals -- had been wiped out by human activity since 1970. Another dataset confirmed the depth of an unfolding mass extinction event, only the sixth in the last half-billion years. Paris's Eiffel Tower, New York's Empire State Building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa and the Acropolis in Athens are among the 24 global landmarks that will take part in Earth Hour. Last year's event was observed in more than 7,000 towns and cities in 187 countries, according to organisers. While the lights-off event is a symbolic gesture, Earth Hour has led successful campaigns over the past decade to ban plastics in the Galapagos Islands and plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 07:09 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87309f0f3 1 Science & Tech The-Tor-Project,privacy,anonimity,Internet Free It was 2013 when Edward Snowden, a then-National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, flew to Hong Kong to meet with journalist Glenn Greenwald. Snowden disclosed information about the United States government and other countries who put their citizens and people abroad under mass surveillance. Snowden is also said to be among supporters of The Tor Project. Without Tor, the streets of the internet become like the streets of a very heavily surveilled city, Snowden said on Tor Project blog. Established in 2016 as a non-profit organization, The Tor Project is free, open-source software operated by servers worldwide. Believing that the network is decentralized, the software protects its users anonymity and privacy by relying on the servers run by volunteers in different countries, among them France, the US, Germany and Canada. The Tor Project is said to currently have around 2 million users daily. When youre connected to the Tor network, your connection will be passed in three servers around the world, [] each part of the server only knows a piece [of] information about you, said Gustavo Gus, a representative of The Tor Project, during a presentation at Tor Users Meet Up at PurpleCode Space in late February in South Jakarta. When using Tor as your browser to open your social media accounts, for instance, you will be connected to the first server that only knows your location. The first server will then connect you to the second server that passes the traffic to the third server without knowing your location or the website you will be visiting. Meanwhile, the third server only knows that someone is using the Tor network and visiting a certain website. It does not know your identity as well. Read also: Snowden issues surveillance warning to Israelis Your anonymity and privacy are shielded from other parties, including the government and marketers. It can be used by people who want to protect themselves from identity theft, people who study sensitive topics, people who live in a country that applies internet censorship, journalists who want to build safe communication with their sources and human rights activists. However, sometimes technology can be a double-edged sword. A number of people use the software to access deep web, a part of the internet that is not included by mainstream search engines. The problem with this concept is that theres no deep web because everything is on the internet and [] you have the search engine giants like Google, Duck Duck Go and Bing. Everything that isnt included on the search engines is deep web, said Gus. So if you have mail in your inbox, its the deep web. [] If you have local network to share files and work, its part of the deep web. The concept is so vague, so generic. Gus added that crime syndicates would still go online even if The Tor Project did not exist, one way of which was by hacking other peoples computers. Hence, it is important to focus more on the humanity side as the software was built to protect human rights and its defenders. Additionally, he also criticized governments that tended to block websites without educating its citizens. [] When the government blocks websites, people try to find new tools to unblock them. Its how the government loses control of the situation, said Gus. They could educate people to use internet in better ways. Basically what theyre doing is promoting the websites. (mut) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Nation/Asia News Network) Bangkok Sun, March 31, 2019 14:04 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730ac2f1 2 Environment Thailand,environment,pollution,chiang-mai,smog Free An academic has called on the government to declare a state of emergency in Chiang Mai and most of Thailand's northern provinces over 'disastrous' levels of smog. Residents in the north are advised to stay inside air-conditioned buildings and avoid all outdoor activities as some areas of Chiang Mai recorded levels of PM2.5 - particulate matter fine enough to enter a person's bloodstream through the lungs - beyond 700 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m) of air on Saturday morning. Witsanu Attavanich, a lecturer at Kasetsart University, said any level over 500 is hazardous and far beyond the capacity of local authorities to cope. The central government needs to step in now and declare a state of emergency, he said. "Such a disastrous level of PM2.5 is probably the highest level ever recorded in Thailand," Witsanu said. Read also: Southern Asians unaware of deadly health risks from polluted air "No need to consider the level of threat from such dangerously hazardous air pollution on our health, as breathing in only 100 micrograms of PM2.5 is considered to be very harmful even for healthy people." In January, all schools in Bangkok were temporarily shut down when the PM2.5 level was around 70 to 120 micrograms. But, so far, except for the creation of "safe zones" in Chiang Mai city centre, no such emergency procedure has been ordered by the Chiang Mai Provincial Authority. Professor Kwanchai Suparatpinyo of Chiang Mai University's Research Institute for Health Sciences said the situation was critical. He cited the many forest fires that ravaged Chiang Mai and the northern region as well smog from neighbouring countries as the causes. He urged residents, especially small children, elderly persons and pregnant women as well as those with chronic ailments such as allergies and heart disease, to stay indoors and refrain from all outdoor activity. Meanwhile the Pollution Control Department (PCD) put the 24-hour average of PM2.5 between 36and 239 micrograms per cubic metre of air in nine northern provinces. Tambon Jong Kham in Muang Mae Hong Son was worst off at 239 mcg, followed by Wiang Phang Kham in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district at 224 mcg. Tambon Wiang in Muang Chiang Rai cited 98 mcg, while Chang Pheuk and Sri Phum in Muang Chiang Mai cited 172 mcg and 168 mcg respectively. Topics : This article appeared on The Nation newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post By Kim Jae-heun Seoul's annual, Bamdokkaebi Night Market, has grown in size and diversity this year. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it will operate the market every Friday to Sunday from April 5 to Oct. 27. This year, the night markets in Yeouido, Banpo and Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) will open on April 5 and then Cheonggye Stream a day later. The market at Oil Tank Culture Park will open in May. Seoul City is also planning a Christmas Market in December at those locations. Some 190 food trucks and 360 handicraft merchandisers will participate in the night event and citizens will be able to use credit cards to pay for purchases. The city government encourages people to use "Zero Pay," a mobile QR code-based payment system, and those using it will receive 1,000-won worth of points in return. Each night market venue has its own concept including "world night market" on Yeouido, "romantic moonlight market" in Banpo, "youth runway market" in DDP and and "time tour market" at Cheonggye Stream. They will host various attractions from traditional performances to magic shows and street busking. In Korean folklore, "bamdokkaebi" is a goblin-like creature that appears only at night. The local government named the weekend night markets after the mythical creature. Last year, Seoul City earned 11.7 billion won in sales with the markets featuring 189 food trucks and 317 teams of small business. The markets may be closed if there is rain or heavy fine dust, so citizens are advised to check the schedule before visiting at or , the city government said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Matthew G. Miller, Selina Wang and Sarah Frier (Bloomberg) Sun, March 31, 2019 11:32 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730a7797 2 Science & Tech Mark-Zuckerberg,Facebook,Internet,security,privacy Free Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called for new global regulations governing the internet on Saturday, recommending overarching rules on hateful and violent content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. In a statement that was also published as an op-ed in the Washington Post, Zuckerberg said the company is seeking regulations that would set baselines for prohibited content and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a minimum. "We have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services," he said. "That means deciding what counts as terrorist propaganda, hate speech and more. We continually review our policies with experts, but at our scale well always make mistakes and decisions that people disagree with." Zuckerbergs comments mark his most visible effort so far to shape the discourse around the way the company collects information, uses and disperses it around the world. Government probes Facebook has been the target of probes by various governments after news broke about a year ago that it allowed the personal data of tens of millions of users to be shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Earlier this month, it came under fire for taking too long to take down a live video of a shooting in New Zealand and allowing it to be circulated across the internet. Millions of users also had personal information accessed via a recent breach. Over the past year, lawmakers have focused greater scrutiny on the company and its immense influence, asking its executives -- including Zuckerberg -- to testify in front of Congress to explain the proliferation of misinformation, hate speech and election manipulation on the platform. In his post, Zuckerberg proposes that "regulation could set baselines for whats prohibited and require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum." The tech industry has long said that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is vital to its ability to operate open platforms. The provision exempts companies from being liable for user-generated content. Content scanning Facebook built a content-scanning system that over the years has added rules based on reactions to changes in user behavior or public uproar after an incident such as the New Zealand mass shooting. Last week, the company moved to ban content that references white nationalism or white separatism from the platform. When the websites users or computer systems report posts as problematic, theyre sent to one of the companys 15,000 content moderators around the world, who are allowed to take content down only if it violates a rule. Read also: Indonesia slams Facebook, Instagram for 'sluggish' efforts in filtering content But that process is not always precise. "Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," Zuckerberg wrote in Saturdays post. "Ive come to believe that we shouldnt make so many important decisions about speech on our own." Zuckerberg said Facebook would welcome common standards for verifying political actors, citing practices deployed by advertisers in many countries of verifying identities before buying political ads. He also suggested updating laws to include "divisive political issues" in addition to candidates and elections. Every day we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks, he said. But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldnt ask companies to make these judgments alone. The billionaire said itd be good for the internet if more countries adopted rules such as the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation as a common framework. Facebook has an incentive to play a strong role in the debate around technology companies data regulation. The companys rapid revenue growth and billions of dollars in profits are fueled by collecting numerous data points around its customers and making that easily available to advertisers. Instagram spinoff Progressive groups have been urging the Federal Trade Commission to carve up Facebook and split off its popular services Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger into their own companies. In January, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is planning to integrate the chat tools of those products, making a breakup harder to accomplish if the services are more tightly intertwined. The move has also increased concerns about transparency into how Facebooks data collection works. Privacy regulations "should protect your right to choose how your information is used -- while enabling companies to use information for safety purposes and to provide services," he said. "It shouldnt require data to be stored locally, which would make it more vulnerable to unwarranted access." Zuckerberg also said there should also be rules guaranteeing portability of data that protects information when it moves between services. The Facebook chiefs statement was in keeping with his efforts this year to frame the companys more critical problems as part of broader issues for the internet at large. Zuckerbergs willingness to embrace regulation could pave the way toward taking the thorniest problems about speech and privacy out of Facebooks hands -- or at least give the company more time to solve them. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 14:26 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730acb71 1 City fire,Fire-and-Rescue-Agency,firefighters,fire-engine,fire-incidents,jakarta,toll-road,TollRoadOperator Free A fire broke out under the Pluit toll overpass at kilometer 25 in Pejagalan, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, on Saturday at 8.56 a.m., destroying around 100 semipermanent homes. No casualties were reported. Firefighters and 12 fire engines were rushed to the scene and by 10.45 a.m., the fire had been extinguished. North Jakarta secretary Desi Putra said that the fire might have been caused by a stove from one of the semipermanent buildings under the overpass. Weve made sure that there were no casualties. Around 100 houses were destroyed by the fire, Desi said on Saturday in a written statement. However, according to the Jakarta Fire and Rescue team, one person suffered minor injuries and had been brought to Pejagalan Hospital to receive treatment. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvno_OYjIcu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link The North Jakarta municipality has declared a three-day emergency for those affected by the fire, distributed food and clothes to some 300 people, as well as erected temporary shelters. Meanwhile, toll operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) Tbk assured that the overpass was safe for operation and the company would place extra security around the affected toll road section. CMNP corporate secretary Indah Dahlia Lavie said the company would examine the toll overpass and repair sections affected by the fire. We apologize for the inconvenience [of] heavy vehicles passing the toll road and the closure of lane 3 from Ancol to the Soekarno-Hatta Airport and vice versa, Indah said on Saturday in a written statement. Indah urged motorists to be patient of possible long lines and to obey traffic laws. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 13:24 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730ab7f7 4 City Depok,mosque,gold,tourism,tourist-destination,West-Java Free Businesswoman Dian Djuriah Rais, founder of popular tourist destination Dian Al Mahri mosque in Depok, West Java province, popularly known as the Golden Dome Mosque, died early on Friday morning. She was 70. Depok Deputy Mayor Pradi Supriatna confirmed the news, saying that Dian, who was also known as Dian al Mahri, had died at Pondok Indah Hospital in South Jakarta at around 2:15 a.m. She had been receiving treatment for pneumonia for the past week. She was later buried in the grounds of her namesake mosque. Hundreds of people attended her funeral on Friday afternoon. Pradi said he was deeply saddened by the news, calling Dian a true inspiration for all. Her masterpiece, the Golden Dome Mosque, is very popular in the country, even abroad. It is an icon of Depok city, Pradi said as quoted by kompas.com. Dian Al Mahri Mosque sits on an 8,000-square-meter plot of land and has five domes coated with 24-carat gold. Dian and her husband, Maimun Al Rasyid, financed the mosques construction and development. It was designed by architect Uke Setiawan. Construction started in 2001 and finished by the end of 2006. Since it opened, the mosque has been the most popular tourist destination in, attracting domestic and foreign tourists. The mosques presence has also helped generate income for residents living nearby. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tony Gamal-Gabriel (Agence France-Presse) Syria Sun, March 31, 2019 14:03 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730ab9f4 2 World Syria,Iraq,Al-Hol-camp,IS,ISIS,Islamic-State,extremism Free Clashes with guards, violent factional quarrels and a new strain of ultra-extremism -- the Islamic State group's territorial "caliphate" may be defeated, but a camp in eastern Syria is emerging as a fresh jihadist powder keg. Dislodged in a final offensive by a Kurdish-led ground force and coalition air strikes, thousands of wives and children of IS fighters have flooded in from a string of Syrian villages south of the camp in recent months. Among the hordes of Syrians and Iraqis, some 9,000 foreigners are held in a fenced section of the encampment, under the watch of Kurdish forces. When they want to go to the camp's market or receive aid rations, these high-risk prisoners are escorted by armed guards. But tensions are rife among the foreigners themselves. "We don't have the same mentality -- they (the extremists) want to impose their vision of Islam," said Vanessa, who came to Syria from her native Guyana as a convert in 2013 with her husband and children. "They say that we are infidels," the gangly 36-year-old said, singling out the camp's Tunisians as especially "extreme". The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that rules much of northeastern Syria is urging countries of origin to take back their citizens. The women and children need to be "re-educated and reintegrated by their home countries," said Kurdish official Abdel Karm Omar. Otherwise, he warned, they will become "the terrorists of the future". 'These people scare me' Under IS's so-called caliphate -- declared in 2014 over large swaths of Syria and neighboring Iraq -- minors were systematically indoctrinated and even exposed to public executions. In a gesture of continued loyalty to IS, some children at the camp -- a few grinning, others staring coldly -- pointed their index finger to the sky in front of AFP reporters. One woman threatened to hit a cameraman, but others -- anxious to return home and declaring they regret joining IS -- were keen to talk. Some of the Tunisians and Russians interned at Al-Hol have adopted "very extreme beliefs", confided a Belgian woman who came to Syria in 2013. "These people scare me," she said. Even just "talking to the guards, or requesting to go to the market, can make us infidels" in their eyes, she added. Once someone is labelled a non-believer, these women decree it lawful to strip the person of their belongings, the Belgian said. "They can burn our tents and do whatever they want to us." But tensions are not limited to the foreigners' section. A few days ago, a confrontation escalated in the main area, populated by Iraqis and Syrians. Kurdish police were forced to intervene. Some of the residents "threw stones" at their fellow residents, a policeman told AFP, without giving his name. Nabil al-Hassan, who heads the camp's communications, insisted the "security situation is under control". But, he admitted, major logistical challenges give rise to "problems", including tensions over access to tents and aid. 'It's not mine' Heavily pregnant Lamia, 21, told AFP she is steadfast in her loyalty to the IS cause. "We remain with the [Islamic] State," said the former resident of Manbij, a northern Syrian town that was occupied by the jihadists until the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces prevailed. Lamia wants to go back to her hometown and has been at the camp for a month; her first husband was killed in combat, the second is in prison. Back at the entrance to the foreigners' area, several women including Algerians and Ukrainians gathered at the gate, insisting it was their turn to go to market. Blonde children and those from central Asia mingled in the dust. The women returned from the market hauling trolleys full of eggs, potatoes, nappies, and gas cylinders. Everything is meticulously searched by the guards, who are instructed to confiscate, log and store unusually valuable items and mobile phones. These "security measures" are needed to stop residents stealing from each other -- and from smuggling goods or cultivating contacts in the outside world -- Hassan said. Delving through a black handbag, the guards retrieved a phone and small piece of paper with a contact number scrawled on it. "It's not mine, it belongs to my friend," the Tunisian owner insisted. A little later, in another bag, the guards dug out a ring and a hefty gold chain, carefully hidden in a tiny plastic bag. The dismayed owner gripped the sentinel's hands in an attempt to prise back the items, to no avail. "She's not coming back inside. Take her to the cell," the guard said. The woman clung to the wire fence and wailed. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 15:47 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730b049b 1 Business airfare,Regulations,transportation-ministry Free The Transportation Ministry has issued two new regulations on airline tickets that will determine the calculation of airfares and price ceilings. The two regulations are in the form of Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 20/2019 on airfares for domestic commercial airlines and Ministerial Decree No. 72/2019 on airfare ceilings, which is a derivative regulation of the former. According to Nur Isnin Istiarto, secretary to Transportation Ministry's civil aviation directorate general, all regulations that serve domestic flights must refer to the new regulations in determining airfares. "Airlines also need to take into account input from users as well as regulations on customer protection and fair competition, Isnin said, adding that airlines also needed to disseminate their new airfares. Under the new regulation, the price floor for airplane tickets must be 35 percent of the price ceiling, compared to 30 percent in the previous regulation. Transportation Ministry spokesperson Hengki Angkasawan said the two regulations were a revision of Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 14/2016 on airfares. Previously, calculations for the price floor and ceiling were determined by Ministerial Regulation No 14/2016, but it has been separated into two regulations, he added. With such a separation, Hengki said, the Air Transportation Directorate General could conduct a review every three months or at any time to help the sustainability of the aviation business. The government issued the new airfares regulations after it saw that airlines were reluctant to respond to a call made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to decrease ticket prices and help boost tourism. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington Sun, March 31, 2019 15:41 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730af66c 2 World jeff-bezos,The-Washington-Post,Amazon,Crown-Prince-Mohammed-bin-Salman,Mohammed-Bin-Salman,Jamal-Khashoggi,Saudi-Arabia,US,Turkey Free The investigator hired to look into the release of intimate images of Jeff Bezos said Saturday he has concluded that Saudi Arabian authorities hacked the Amazon chief's phone to access his personal data. Gavin de Becker linked the hack to extensive coverage by The Washington Post newspaper, which is owned by Bezos, of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul last year. "Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker wrote on The Daily Beast website. He said that while the brother of Bezos's mistress was paid by the National Enquirer scandal sheet for the release of the information, his role may have been a red herring, and the plot went far beyond one man seeking to cash in. "It's clear that MBS considers The Washington Post to be a major enemy," de Becker wrote, referring to the oil-rich kingdom's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the US Senate, after a closed-door briefing by the CIA, named as "responsible" for the murder. But de Becker did not specify which part of the Saudi government he was blaming for the hack, and gave few details about the investigation that led him to the conclusion that the kingdom was responsible. The results, he wrote, "have been turned over to federal officials." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 10:44 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730a4881 1 Politics Joko-Widodo,Prabowo-Subianto,2019-presidential-debate,2019-presidential-election,#2019PresidentialElection,#2019GeneralElections,#PresidentialDebate Free The fourth presidential debate between incumbent Joko Jokowi Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto on Saturday unexpectedly provided a stage of heated arguments and laughter, too. As the candidates delved into ideology, governance, security and foreign affairs, they confronted each other on the issues, found common ground on being victims of smear campaigns and finally, vowed to cherish their friendship. Unlike the previous debate, Prabowo got personal and fiery as he talked about his commitment to Pancasila while facing allegations that he supported pro-caliphate groups. My mother was a Christian. I was born from the womb of a Christian, he said, emphasizing that Pancasila is a foundation that should be instilled in younger generations. The former army general, the son-in-law of former president Soeharto who was dismissed from the force after the fall of the countrys longest-serving president, criticized the countrys military and defense, calling them weak and claiming that government spending was too low. At some moments, Prabowo appeared to be tough on the audience. He even said, So, youre laughing? I say that Indonesias defense is weak and youre laughing? Go ahead and laugh. Jokowi appeared to be more poised and reserved, throwing jokes while emphasizing his point. We need a Dilan [digital melayani or digitally serving] government because service is also about speed, he said in the governance session, in a direct reference to a popular character in a blockbuster coming-of-age movie. Both Prabowo and Jokowi lamented how misleading information and hoaxes had tarnished their image. Prabowo denied a rumor saying that he was in a position to support the establishment of a caliphate in Indonesia. Meanwhile, Jokowi said he had been a target of hoaxes for the past four and a half years, since being elected president, including accusations of being a communist. Jokowi also criticized politicians who proliferated hatred. Lets show that we are good leaders who never insult one another. Lets be great examples of tolerance and friendship to the young generation, he said. Jokowi gave a warm closing to the night. Pak Prabowo, I love to ride my bike. When Im riding my bike, the bikes chain often breaks. But please rest assured that the chain of friendship between us will never be broken, he said. Prabowo apologized for raising his voice during the debate in his closing statement, saying that it was because the audience would not like a too-friendly debate session. Im sorry if my voice was too loud because Im half Banyumas and half Minahasa. You are from [Surakarta], so youre soft-spoken. People from Banyumas are like the Batak people of Java, he said. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 14:24 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730ac869 4 Business Penang,medical-tourism,Malaysia,Banda-Aceh,hospital,health-service Free Malaysia-based Kumpulan Penguatan Johor (KPJ) Penang Hospital has opened a representative office in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, amid an influx of Indonesians seeking medical treatment in the neighboring country. Banda Aceh Mayor Aminullah Usman said the citys partnership with KJP Penang Hospital was expected to accommodate the regions needs for high-quality health services, as well as boost tourism. Id like to thank [the investors]. I have high hopes for the future opening of a KPJ Penang Hospital branch in Banda Aceh, Aminullah said as quoted by Antara news agency during a launch for the representative office, which was attended by various executives from the hospital and local officials in Banda Aceh on Saturday. According to Aminullah, the representative office would offer special accommodation options to the Aceh public seeking medical treatment in Malaysia. The office would provide the people of Aceh with immediate access to transportation, hotels, and communication with doctors as soon as they arrive in Penang, he said. KPJ Penang Hospital chief executive director Encik Zabidi said the hospital would provide free pick-up services from the airport to the hospital, as well as free hotel stays to patients from Aceh and their families. The hospital previously struck a deal with city-owned Meuraxa Hospital and Dr Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh. We hope the partnership with the Banda Aceh administration will also improve the quality of city-owned hospitals, Encik said. Aminullah said the city administration would always be at the forefront of accessible health services in Aceh. Furthermore, he said he would welcome foreign investors seeking opportunities in various sectors, including health, education, fisheries and tourism as an effort to bolster the citys economy. Many Indonesian patients suffering from chronic illnesses have flocked to hospitals in neighboring Penang in recent years. Osrinikita Zubhana, the Indonesian Consulate General spokesperson in Penang, said several Penang-based hospitals such as Gleneagles Hospital had been popular among Indonesian patients largely arriving from Jakarta and Medan. Gleneagles Hospital is one of the hospitals in Penang which have regularly treated an influx of Indonesian patients. The hospital boasts a number of renowned medical experts and specialists, she said, as quoted by Antara news agency. She added that other medical facilities in Penang, such as Adventist Hospital, Lam Wah Ee Hospital, Island Hospital and Loh Guan Iye Hospital, were also popular choices among Indonesian patients. (rfa/evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Bangkok Sun, March 31, 2019 15:48 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730b04e2 2 SE Asia Thailand,Thaksin-Shinawatra,Vajiralongkorn,election,democracy,royal Free The Thai king has revoked the royal decorations of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, citing his conviction and "extremely inappropriate" flight from the country, according to an announcement published Saturday. The statement in the Royal Gazette from King Maha Vajiralongkorn comes almost a week after the country held its first election since a military coup in 2014 installed a royalist junta. Pheu Thai, a political party linked to Thaksin, is now jostling with the junta-backed Phalang Pracharat for the right to form a government. The billionaire told AFP in an interview last week that the election was "rigged". The royal statement said the king "recalls the royal decorations" from the former premier "because Mr. Thaksin was convicted by the Supreme Court". "Moreover, he has fled the kingdom which is extremely inappropriate behaviour." The ex-premier was stripped of the "illustrious order of Chula Chom Klao", typically bestowed for service to the country. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and fled the country in 2008. He was convicted in Thailand on corruption charges. His sister Yingluck became prime minister in 2011 before being removed in the coup three years later. King Vajiralongkorn had issued an announcement on election eve calling for Thais to support "good" people to prevent "chaos" -- a declaration replayed right before polls opened on March 24. The monarch also sent jitters across the country in February after a party linked to the Shinawatras nominated Princess Ubolratana as a candidate for prime minister -- which he swiftly called "inappropriate" in a royal rebuke. The party was dissolved and its executives barred from political life for 10 years. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, but the palace holds unassailable powers and is shielded from criticism by a harsh royal defamation law. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, April 1, 2019 05:02 987 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730b823b 4 News East-Nusa-Tenggara,digital-library,tourism,travel,destination Free As the country doubles its efforts to attract more tourists through various avenues, the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration has prepared a digital library dedicated to resources on local tourism. The regions Creative Economy and Tourism Agency head, Watan Darmawa, said such a move was expected to provide easy access to people looking to learn more about NTTs natural wonders, which, in turn, would boost local tourism. We are in the process of establishing a digital tourism library, which will be filled to the brim with various detailed information about tourism in NTT, Watan said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara. He added that the potential of rapid digital development had to be harnessed to promote tourism more effectively. The digital library would be ready available to potential tourists through internet-enabled smartphones or computers, Watan said. Tourists flying to NTT will have access to a treasure trove of information on natural and cultural highlights in the region. Read also: Six festivals to watch out for in East Nusa Tenggara He said the digital library would also serve as an information center promoting various handcrafted products unique to the region. For instance, information about Nemberala Beach in Rote Ndao regency will promote handcrafted souvenirs in the area such as traditional fabrics and food. Watan added that the digital library was expected to improve the experience of exploring and discovering natural and cultural gems in the region, following complaints from tourists about the lack of references. The digital library initiative will complement our continued efforts to promote local tourism at various international events. NTT Governor Victor Laiskodat expressed his optimism about tourism prospects as Labuan Bajo in West Manggarai regency was touted as a new Bali. He believed that tourism was the only sector that could give development in the province a huge boost. In addition to Labuan Bajo, the province is home to many other destinations, including Kupang, Alor, Rote, Ende and Sumba, as well as the popular Komodo National Park. (rfa/kes) A thick blanket of fine dust fills the sky over the Han River as levels in the Seoul metropolitan area hit "bad" Wednesday morning. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued an ultrafine dust warning at 8 a.m. after the particulate matter concentration reached over 75 micrograms (ug) per cubic meter for two hours. Yonhap Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, March 31, 2019 17:07 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730b2180 4 News culture,festival,Bangka-Belitung,tourism,travel,Bangka-Culture-Wave-Festival Free The annual Bangka Culture Wave Festival is set to make a splash this year. The festival, which will runs from April 2 to 7, showcases the multi-ethnic Bangka natives who are of Malay, Chinese, Dutch, Javanese and Arabian heritage, among others. Bangka Belitungs planning and research board head, Ferry Insani, said the government had pulled out all the stops to ensure that the festival would be jam-packed with colorful events and performances. The festival will also boast numerous workshops and bazaars, as well as artistic performances such as live painting demonstrations, traditional dances, and a colossal Chinese theatrical performance, Ferry said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. He added that the festival was part of a concerted effort to lure more tourists to Bangka. The regional administrations other bids to promote local tourism include the Sungailiat Triathlon, which takes place in June. Read also: The hidden gems of Bangka Island We hope that the festival will help Bangka achieve the same level of popularity that Belitung has enjoyed, multicultural division head Esthy Reko Astuti said during an address at the Tourism Ministry. With a theme dubbed Homecoming, this years iteration of the festival will be held in DeLocomotief, Tonaci Tourist Beach, Sungailiat, Bangka Island. Festival goers will be treated to a line-up of various music and dance performances showcasing Bangkas cultural wealth at seven main events including the Bangka Wave Carnival, Bangka Ethnic Wave Performance Festival, Bangka Ethnic Music Festival, and Bangka Art Wave. In addition to these performances, the festival will also host various traditional dance, painting, vlogging, photography and mahjong competitions. This years venue, which is relatively close to Depati Amir Airport, is expected to allow easy access for tourists. The festival committee expects to welcome 5,000 foreign tourists and 50,000 domestic visitors. (rfa/kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Seoul Sun, March 31, 2019 10:30 988 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8730a40d4 2 News Korean-Air,travel,peanuts,allergy,health,#health,Airlines Free Korean Air Lines said on Sunday it has stopped serving peanuts as snacks to customers in response to a recent incident when two teenage brothers were unable to board a flight because of a peanut allergy. The brothers' parents said in media reports earlier this month that their sons were removed from a flight because the South Korean airline was unwilling to accommodate a serious peanut allergy. The brothers were travelling from Atlanta to the Philippines but were stranded in Seoul after Korean Air did not agree to a request to stop serving peanuts around the teens because the older brother has a severe peanut allergy, media outlets including USA Today and Good Morning America reported. Korean Air has had an assorted history with nuts in recent years, with its image tarnished by the infamous "nut rage" scandal of 2014. Chief executive Cho Yang-ho's eldest daughter, Heather Cho, made headlines when she lost her temper over the way she was served nuts in first class and ordered the Korean Air plane to return to its gate at a New York airport. Read also: Korean Air to raise refund fees after K-pop fans get the picture, get off The carrier's shareholders removed Cho Yang-ho from its board in a landmark vote on Wednesday over scandals stemming from the nut rage case. He became the first founding family member of any South Korean corporate giant to be forced off a board. Korean Air will remove food that contains peanuts from in-flight meals in several weeks, the company said in a statement. "The decision to stop peanut products and peanut ingredients is the minimum safety measure for peanut-allergy passengers," it said. 5 hours ago Are These 3 Old-School Companies Worth A Fresh Look? In the flurry of newly public companies posting big price gains, its easy to overlook long-established companies like Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT), and Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) that are flashing technical and fundamental strength. Its true that companies that went public within the past 15 years are often among the markets biggest gainers. Read Article One of 10 intruders who entered North Korea's embassy in Madrid by force on Feb. 22 contacted the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation days afterwards, Spain's High Court said on Tuesday (March 26). Spain's Interior Ministry had previously said police were investigating an incident at the embassy, but gave no details except to say that a NorthKorean citizen had been injured and that no one had filed a complaint. In an official document based on the investigation, the High Court said on Tuesday one of the group, a Mexican citizen resident in the United States, had contacted the FBI on Feb. 27 in order to pass on information regarding the incident at the embassy, including audiovisual recordings. The intruders had included citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea, the High Court also said in the document. The Mexican citizen said he had carried out the raid voluntarily and he did not identify his companions, the court document said. The group checked the embassy for arms before leaving the premises, at which point they separated into four groups and headed for Portugal. The Mexican flew from Lisbon to New York. There was no immediate comment on the matter from the U.S. State Department. (Reuters) A software engineer, a best-selling author, a public affairs veteran and two lifelong educators will honor Central Michigan University students with their wisdom during springs commencement ceremonies. The speakers who will deliver an address at one CMUs five commencement ceremonies are: Raymond Cross, president of the University of Wisconsin System. Subir Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group LLC. Sarah Rowley Opperman, retired vice president of global government affairs and public policy at The Dow Chemical Company. Joseph Mancewicz, senior software engineer at NVIDIA. Darrell Kirch, president and CEO of the American Association of Medical Colleges. Raymond Cross, 81, president of the University of Wisconsin System, will address doctoral graduates at the 4 p.m. May 3 commencement in Warriner Halls Plachta Auditorium. The former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin-Extension is responsible for UW Systems $6 billion annual budget and leads its workforce of 39,000 faculty, staff and graduate assistants. Before his time in Wisconsin, he served as the president of Morrisville State College in New York and Northwest Technical College in Minnesota, helping to develop new academic programs, incorporate technology, and promote entrepreneurialism and innovation. In addition to his career in academia, Cross has worked in the private sector as a design engineer; small-business owner; and consultant to business, industry and government. He was awarded four medals for his service in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Cross, who received his masters degree in industrial education from CMU, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. International best-selling author and management consultant Subir Chowdhury will speak at the 9 a.m. May 4 commencement for undergraduate and graduate students at McGuirk Arena in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center. Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group LLC, is recognized as an international authority on quality and management. His 15 published works combined have sold more than one million copies and are published in 20 different languages. Chowdhurys latest book, The Difference: When Good Enough Isnt Enough, was recognized as a USA Today best-seller and a national best-seller in India. As a philanthropist, Chowdhury has focused on the education of the less fortunate of the world through the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation, a nonprofit that has donated millions of dollars to educational institutions since 2006. Chowdhury is a recipient of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Gold Medal, the Society of Automotive Engineers Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering, and the American Society of Qualitys Philip Crosby Medal. The CMU Alumni Association recognized Chowdhury with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. Chowdhury, who received his graduate degree in industrial management from CMU in 1993, will receive an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree. Sarah Rowley Opperman, retired vice president of global government affairs and public policy at The Dow Chemical Company, will speak at the 1:30 p.m. May 4 commencement for undergraduate and graduate students at McGuirk Arena in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center. She has been recognized as both a leader and an advocate of professional development for women and is the recipient of several awards, including The Dow Chemical Companys Genesis Award, the ATHENA Award from ATHENA International and the Midland Business Alliance Chairmans Award. She is a CMU alum who served on CMUs Board of Trustees for eight years, including two as chair; was inducted into CMUs Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006; and was the 2018 recipient of the Dick Enberg Alumni Commitment Award. She, along with her husband, Daniel Opperman, gave $1 million to her alma mater to expand CMUs nationally recognized leadership experiences and to benefit Park Library. Opperman earned her bachelors degree in journalism and business from CMU in 1981 and will receive an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree. Joseph Mancewicz is senior software engineer in NVIDIAs Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence group. He will speak at the 6 p.m. May 4 commencement for undergraduate and graduate students at McGuirk Arena in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center. Before joining NVIDIA, Mancewicz worked for Rhythm and Hues Studio for 18 years as principal graphic scientist and senior software engineer. He played an integral role with the special effects team that contributed to two Academy Award-winning movies in the category of Best Achievement in Visual Effects: The Golden Compass and Life of Pi. He was one of two engineers recognized for the development of Voodoo software, a character animation tool set. Voodoo was selected for a Technical Achievement Award by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014 and for the design, architecture and implementation of the Rhythm and Hues rigging system in 2018. Mancewicz earned his bachelors degree in physics from CMU in 1992 and will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Darrell Kirch, president and CEO of the American Association of Medical Colleges, will speak at the 1 p.m. College of Medicine commencement May 5 in Warriner Halls Plachta Auditorium. At Pennsylvania State University, Kirch served as senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine and CEO of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, with his period of leadership recognized as a time of innovation and major growth in clinical activity and research funding. An advocate for medical education, he has served as a member of the AAMC Council of Deans Administrative Board and chair of the American Medical Association Section on Medical Schools. As a psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist, Kirch conducted research on the biological basis of and clinical treatments for severe neuropsychiatric disorders. During his time as the acting director of the National Institute of Mental Health, he received the Outstanding Service Medal of the United States Public Health Service. Kirch has received the Gold Humanism in Medicine Medal from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and was named a Distinguished Life Fellow by the American Psychiatric Association. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. The latest government statistics point to some scary scenarios the country may face due to a swift population decline in the coming years. According to Statistics Korea, the nation's population is expected to decline starting from 2029, after peaking at 51.94 million in 2028. It is worrisome is that the timing of the decline will start about three years earlier than initially expected. The decline is a serious problem for the economy and fiscal management. In particular, the working-age population is expected to shrink continuously with the rise in the elderly population. With the rise in the proportion of elderly people, the nation will have to spend more on welfare, resulting in more tax burdens for the working population. One reason for the swift decline is the low birthrate, which is expected to fall to 0.87 children per woman this year, and 0.72 children per woman in 2022. With the lack of support for working mothers and the dysfunctional childcare and education system, Korean women are increasingly distancing themselves from raising children. There is no doubt that the population crisis is one of the biggest problems Korea faces. But the Moon Jae-in administration has not responded to the crisis properly. It is urgent for the government to approach the issue with a long-term outlook, focusing on preparing better conditions to raise families. It has been just over a year since a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool in Parkland, Florida. On that day 17 people were killed and 17 more injured. In the last few weeks, three suicides have brought into focus the impact of such atrocities on the victims left behind. On March 17 Sydney Aiello, who was a senior at the time of the Parkland shooting, died. Her mother told media her daughter had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivors guilt since the shooting. Just a week later, another student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a sophomore, was found dead by an apparent suicide. And Jeremy Richman, a father who lost his daughter Avielle in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which 20 first grade students and six adults were killed, was found dead earlier this week from a suspected suicide. The suicides have left the communities of both Parkland and Newtown, Connecticut grieving for a second time, in what experts say may have been a case of survivors guilt. (Survivors guilt) is a set of symptoms that people experience when they have survived a life-threatening situation and other people did not. It is commonly experienced by people who survive things like mass shootings, airplane crashes, rape, terrorism, combat, and death of a loved one including to suicide. It is also seen in people who have lived through natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, and floods. It was first identified in people who survived the Holocaust. Survivors guilt is no longer a formal psychiatric diagnosis but is a component of PTSD, Nadine Kaslow, PhD, former President of the American Psychological Association and Professor and chief psychologist at Emory University School of Medicine told Theravive. Survivors guilt may have a short-term or a lasting impact on peoples psychological well-being. It is particularly concerning when it significantly impacts a persons ability to function or when someone has significant doubts about the meaning and purpose of their life, she said. Potential signs of survivors guilt include a person holding a belief they could or should have done things differently, even if they were not at fault, thinking they should have died instead of other people, sleep problems, flashbacks to the traumatic event, lacking motivation, irritability, feelings of helplessness or intense fear, as well as a range of physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches, and suicidal thoughts. The symptoms can vary among survivors and can be present or intensify at different times. After the Parkland shooting, at least one teacher expressed concern that students werent given enough mental health support in the wake of the tragedy. Experts say the right kind of support differs for everybody, and schools and other institutions should ensure a variety of help is available. Some people will be helped by talking about the tragedy and their feelings. Others will find it painful to relive the experience. Some people will feel comfortable talking to a mental health professional, while others may be put off by the stigma of mental illness. Some people will feel more comfortable talking to a clergy-person or a friend or a family member. Finally, people's need for help and willingness to accept it will vary over time. All that institutions can do is to try to create as many avenues toward help as possible, and to make it easy, confidential, and user-friendly to get help when it is wanted, Joel A. Dvoskin, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, told Theravive. With the recent suicides occurring so close together, many have questioned whether the victims were influenced by the deaths of others. Kaslow says this is a possibility in cases like this. The three tragic deaths in close succession was extremely disturbing and upsetting. While not talking about death by suicide is not healthy and leads to bad outcomes, there is also evidence of what is called suicide contagion, especially among young people, she said. Kaslow says in the aftermath of a tragic and traumatic event like a shooting it is important those who survived feel a connection to their community. Memorial events are an important part of this process. The healing process following a traumatic event comes in three stages and requires different kinds of support. In the acute phase immediately following the incident, Kaslow says survivors need resources like psychological first aid, in the intermediate phase in the days and weeks afterwards, survivors need mental health care and information sharing so they can regain a sense of empowerment and control. In the long-term stage, the phase in which the people who recently died were in, support needs vary but are extremely important. In the long-term phase, many people will just need intermittent mental health support or no support at all. However, others may need more intensive mental health interventions or substance abuse treatment, Kaslow told Theravive. People in the community need to check in with survivors of tragedy periodically to see how they are doing, even years after an event has occurred, because these individuals, no matter how resilient they are will suffer from their losses for the rest of their life. NORRISTOWN It can be traumatizing being a victim. Working through a traumatic experience is hard enough on its own. That experience can be even more overwhelming when other factors begin to play a role in that healing process. Thats where Victim Services of Montgomery County comes in. The nonprofit organization, which started in 1974 as a grassroots volunteer effort of women to assist victims of sexual violence, has since grown substantially and works with around 2,500 victims of crime per year. Services provided by the organization are given regardless of whether an individual has reported an incident to law enforcement. Services are free and confidential and are not insurance based. They also vary widely depending on the needs of the individual. Some of those services include a victim advocate program and different counseling settings. Our victim advocates can assist clients that have made police reports or are anticipating, contemplating whether they want to do that or if its a safe option. So our advocates can walk through the criminal justice system, help them navigate it, because its confusing and overwhelming and theyre already survivors of some sort of trauma. So it often feels for our clients that theyre not approaching it alone, said Erin Milbourne, direct services supervisor for Victim Services of Montgomery County. With counseling and therapy, we see children 5-18. Were able to do up to a year of free trauma focused treatment. We also have a family therapy program thats free. But Victim Services of Montgomery County isnt limited to assisting victims of sexual crimes. The organization helps victims of more than 40 different types of crimes ranging from burglary and identity theft to kidnapping and homicides. We can help with any other violent crimes, any crime in general except domestic violence. We have sister agencies that help with that, explained Milbourne. We see children and adults of sexual violence and other crimes. Some of those other crimes are families of homicide victims, victims of robbery, assault, ID theft, harassment, you name it and we can help in some way. Victim Services also offers prevention education in addition to their other therapeutic programs. Prevention topics include child sexual abuse, bullying, bystander intervention, campus sexual assault, healthy relationships and more. Existing programs surrounding these topics do exist but they can also be used to customize a program for schools and community groups on preventing sexual violence and other violent crimes. We have these prevention programs free of charge. We speak about preventing sexual violence whether its sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual assault. We speak to as young as pre-school age all the way up to college age and adults in an age appropriate way. We speak to not only students but staff and faculty at schools and institutions about their policies and holding powerful people accountable, said Jessica Rice, community education programs supervisor. Assisting victims with the healing and criminal justice processes is a large enough undertaking on its own, but still the group has set more goals for itself. Staff with Victim Services agree that they constantly look to be not only a form of help for those in crises but a recognizable resource for the community. As our executive director likes to say, people know where the local hospital is even if you may not have a physical ailment. But everyone knows where those centers are. So our hope is that when we talk more about victim services, people are aware so that they dont have to search and find resources at the time of crime but they know, said Milbourne. I think people may not come here, simply because they dont know about us, said Milbourne. And Milbourne isnt wrong. One such case in which a victim was tremendously helped by their services occurred after she sought help for a problem she had been dealing with most of her life. She spoke on the condition of anonymity. Im an incest survivor and also a rape survivor and I was raised in a white upper middle class world many decades ago when none of this was ever talked about. You kept it a secret. I never thought to tell anybody, she explained. The victim said she had received counseling over the years for various things in her life but started experiencing nightmares in 2016. Knowing they were related to past traumas, she then decided to seek help, not knowing that Victim Services of Montgomery County even existed. I knew I needed counselling for my sexual assault instead of other issues. I started looking around to see if I could find therapists who specialized in that and I was not getting anywhere, she said. I finally called Women Against Rape in Philadelphia and they told me there were services all over the state in every county for this and that since I lived in Montgomery County, Victim Services was the place I could go. I came and met this wonderful therapist where for the first time in my life I felt like I could be honest and tell her everything that I had been through and I was totally accepted. I didnt feel ashamed or even if I expressed that, I was immediately told that none of it was my fault. Since seeking help from the center, she says she lives a healthier life and has a deeper understanding of why she makes the choices she makes. The reason Im doing this is that I can bring other women to this place to heal from this experience. I want that for them and I hope they will get it a lot earlier in their life than I did. I am grateful that I will live my life in a much more healthy place than I lived my previous life. I want all women to know that none of this is their fault and that the damage that was done to them can be helped, she said. With that very same goal in mind, Victim Services of Montgomery County works year round to raise awareness about their services and these difficult topics. Its really important that we continue to talk about sexual assault. Weve been making really great strides with the Me Too movement. We need to continue to call out behaviors that are inappropriate and create this new social norm where all of us are responsible for preventing sexual assault, said Lauren Uhl, volunteer recruitment and community outreach coordinator with Victim Services. A particularly busy time for them will begin in April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, when several events and programs will be taking place: Day of Action- (April 2) Victim Services encourages everyone to wear teal to help raise awareness of sexual assault and start a conversation about consent using #SAAM and #MontcoSAAM on social media. Start By Believing Day (April 3)- A nationwide pledge drive to end silence and change the response to sexual assault. Communities for Consent (April 4, 9 and 22)-Learn about prevention strategies at the Norristown Public Library. 29th Annual Homicide Vigil (April 9)- Vigil honoring victims and police officers who have lost their loved ones due to violent crimes. Begins at 5:30 p.m. at Montgomery Township Community and Recreation Center. SAAM at the Library (April 9, 26)- Explore books, media and resources about sexual assault at the Norristown Public Library. Volunteer Information Session(April 16)- Learn how to become a volunteer at Montgomery Countys sexual assault and crime victim center. Held at the Norristown Library. Mandated Reporter Training (April 24)-Complete state-approved training for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect at Victim Services Office. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (April 25) Virtual SAAM Run/Walk (All of April)- Run or walk anywhere in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and submit a donation to Victim Services Center. Event details can be found at www.victimservicescenter.org/SAAM Victim Services of Montgomery County is funded through a combination of state and local funding as well as community donations. Monetary donations can be made at any time to Victim Services of Montgomery County by visiting their website at www.victimservicescenter.org/donate. Anyone in need of support can call their 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-888-521-0983. By Jason Lim After being promoted from a provincial-level park to a national park, Taebaek National Park authorities are pursuing a policy of cutting down the Japanese larch trees and replacing them with indigenous Korean trees. Currently, they estimate that there are about 500,000 Japanese larches in the park, consisting of 11.7 percent of the entire tree "population." Starting in 2021, the park plans to spend about U$4 million for this project over 5 years. A park spokesman is quoted as saying that it's only appropriate, especially since Taebaek is considered a "holy" site for Koreans, to get rid of any foreign trees and replace them with Korean ones. This also is in line with the overall national park policy. Let me translate. A Korean national park is cutting down a tree because it's Japanese. I didn't realize that a plant could have a nationality, but here we are. Seoul Metropolitan Government recently introduced an ordinance that would prohibit the city government and Seoul's Office of Education from buying goods made by "war criminal" firms. By this, they mean manufacturers who are accused of benefitting from forced labor conscription or other economic exploitation that Imperial Japan perpetrated against Korea during colonization. While the ordinance didn't make it out of the committee, it's pretty astounding that it was even conceived, let alone introduced. The Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly similarly invited public comments on a proposed ordinance that would mandate labeling of goods owned by all the schools within the province with a sticker proclaiming that the product if it was produced by one of 284 manufacturers listed as Japanese collaborator firms or by companies that benefitted from investments by the said firms was made by a "war criminal" company. This is happening in 2019. You'd be tempted to dismiss these anti-Japanese efforts as irrational outliers by rogue politicians looking for populist support. You'd be mistaken. Unresolved resentment over legacies of Japanese collaborators is, dare I say, a foundational national narrative in modern Korean society. It's as mainstream as they come. In his March 1st speech commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Korea's independence movement, President Moon said, "Fellow Koreans, wiping out the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators is a long-overdue undertaking. Only when we contemplate past wrongdoings can we move toward the future together. The task of setting history right is what is needed to help our future generations stand tall. Firmly upholding the national spirit is the state's responsibility and duty." These "vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators" are blamed as the main reasons for the inequality and inequities of today's South Korean society. The narrative is as follows: after the independence, the occupying U.S. authorities, for logistical and ideological reasons, allowed Japanese collaborators to remain in their privileged positions. The Japanese collaborators took advantage of this opportunity to reinforce their positions, protect themselves from being punished and purged, and distort the system in their favor to ensure that their families would continue to thrive. Worse, they rebranded themselves as rabid "anti-communists" to cater to their American patrons in the Cold War context, further gaining favor and wealth. These families now form the core of South Korea's elite and are running the country as an invisible power behind the throne. This narrative is not wholly without justification. However, the organic complexities of relationships and allegiances in post-independence Korea have devolved into a more simplistic black and white story of evil Japanese collaborators taking on the role of the boogieman or Korea's version of the omniscient Freemason's, not only subverting long-awaited justice but perpetuating injustice to their own ends. Then it gets interesting. In the same speech, Moon said, "The Japanese imperialists labeled independence armies as bandits and independence activists as thought offenders to justify their crackdowns. The word "Reds" originated from them Hostility between the left and the right and ideological stigmas were tools used by Japanese imperialists to drive a wedge between us. Even after liberation, they served as tools to impede efforts to remove the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators." So, we now have the societal formula whereby successful elites are equated to Japanese collaborators. And these are the same people who are also responsible for the left vs. right division in Korea. The elite vs. the people. Left vs. Right. Koreans vs. Japanese. These fault lines have now merged into one fissure riven apart by the unjust legacies of the Japanese collaborators. And Korea's original sin is not having purged the country of these traitors when Korean became independent. The problem with original sin is that it never goes away. It's inherited and universal. And the only way to overcome the original sin is to be redeemed by a Messiah. It's not a coincidence that messianic language is often used by the progressives when describing President Roh Moo-hyun and Moon. Unfortunately for Korea, messiahs take their time to show up. And I am not sure divine comeuppance is a good national policy. Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. While it should seem like another needless diversion from the real issues that eat away at the heart of a nation teetering on the brink of a modern-day Civil War, Im willing to give the premature speculation about the 2020 election a pass right now. The stakes are simply too high to ignore the conjecture. One thing is clear, no matter how these news network talking heads try to spin it, they cant do the dirty work and win over fickle hearts and minds. California Sen. Kamala Harris and other female candidates namely Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota receive plenty of free airtime, but are failing to gain much traction in the polls. These same polls show former vice president Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders hovering up around 26-28 percent as co-leaders. Even the appearance on the scene of Texas Congressman Beto ORourke has not done much to alter this early horse race, one which also had the so-called experts quickly to decrying the lack of diversity. They wonder, openly, about the problem of something other than another old white man trying to knock your president (not mine) off his good ol boy perch. What the experts are really trying to articulate is that the Democrats, if they want to rally the support that will result the necessary turnout in key swing states to stem the tide of madness, there must be a total flipping of the script with a candidate coming from out of the historical box. In the case of Biden, I get it. He is an old-school Democrat who served, dutifully, as Obamas second in command. But he has a long track record, and a lot of it is not only centrist but more than a bit Old White Mannish. That leaves Sanders. First, a disclaimer. If you know me, you already know he is my chosen candidate going back to his unexpected serious challenge to Hillary Clinton. Two points about Sanders that I want to point out, as I dont hear them enough if at all when the field is evaluated. He may be an old white guy in appearance, but he shouldnt be easily passed off as such. As exemplified by support among young voters, ranging from white college kids in the heartland to female Latinas in California, his ideas are perhaps the youngest of any candidate in the field. And, while it may not PC or convenient to go there, he is also a minority, too. If we felt the earth move and Sanders claimed both the nomination and the White House, he would be the first Jewish president. And that would be quite an accomplishment, perhaps more than other groups (in the U.S., there are more women than men, for example, and more women of color than total Jews). Because of decades of intermarriage, it is impossible to pin down exactly how many Jews there are in the United States, but the number is believed to be in the range of 5.5 and 8 million. That sounds like a lot until you break it down to its percentage somewhere between 1.7 and 2.6 percent of the total population. His serious run for the White House was made even remarkable considering he did well where the Jewish population is not heavily concentrated. Sanders won in states where he may have been the first Jew most residents had seen outside of maybe a Seinfeld rerun. Im talking about Oklahoma and North Dakota and West Virginia, where Jews make up 0.1 percent of the population (he barely lost South Dakota, where there are less than Jews, around 250, than there are at the King of Prussia mall right now). Flukes? How about Utah and Wyoming, where Jews make up a whopping 0.2 percent of the population. He won those and several others with percentages around 1 percent. This was one of the biggest untold stories of the last primary season, and it shouldnt be hushed up again. Jews have suffered their own unique forms of persecution and degradation in their American experience, and it is far from a thing of the past. Anti-Semitic incidents are way up during the era of your president (not mine), as we have the chants of Charlottesville ringing in our ears and the shooting up of Pittsburgh synagogue last October weighing on our hearts. All the talk about women candidates, including women candidates of color, is important. ORourke comes in the side door as at least a young white guy trying to draw JFK comparisons. Sanders, unlike Biden, is unique in many ways. He is an Independent, as a Democratic Socialist from a small New England state (where Jews make up 1 percent of the population). He is older, yes, but attracts the aforementioned young voters who dont seem to care about his ethnicity. But the media should care if only because a possible election would make history as much as that of a woman or someone else of another ethnic group trying to prove that anyone but an old white man can grow up to be president. It is the rarest of things for the same model of passenger aircraft Boeing Co.s bestselling 737 Max to crash in what appears to be a similar way in different parts of the world within just five months. Those tragedies have cost the lives of a total of 346 passengers and crew, including 18 Canadians, on doomed flights operated by Lion Air in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines in east Africa. Testimony on Capitol Hill this week about the ill-fated flights might have further unnerved even veteran frequent fliers. So, its worth noting that flying is by far the safest means of travel. In 2017, there were no deaths on airline flights worldwide. By contrast, this newspaper has calculated that 42 pedestrians and five cyclists were killed on Toronto streets last year. In this town, at least, walking is more dangerous than flying. But urgent questions have arisen over Boeings rushed development of the 737 Max, and about credulous aviation regulators who certified the new plane on Boeings word that it was a modestly tweaked 737. The entire global fleet of 371 737 Max aircraft has been grounded for three weeks. It is likely the plane wont return to service until the summer, as investigations continue into the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 on Oct. 29 and of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10. Many parties are complicit in these tragedies, whose cause might trace in part to profit maximization and complacent regulation. Boeing Co.: The 737 Max was designed in a hurry to counter a threat to Boeings workhorse 737 from Airbus SE, whose planned A320neo was intended to cut into the 737s market share. Boeing responded with a 737 Max whose larger, fuel-efficient engines would have to be placed higher and farther forward on the wings to provide adequate ground clearance. That configuration risked destabilization in certain manoeuvres notably tight turns at lower speeds in which the nose of the aircraft would be pushed up. When an aircraft reaches too steep a vertical angle, it can stall, and go into an unrecoverable nose dive. To counter that phenomenon, Boeing devised an anti-stall software program to automatically force the nose of the plane down if it detected undue lift. Inside Boeing, the program was called the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, or MCAS. To simplify the system, Boeing decided that MCAS should be fed data from only one of the planes two fuselage-mounted sensors that monitor the planes angle of ascent or decent, depending on which of the two redundant flight control computers was active on that flight. The decision streamlined the system, but also made the aircraft vulnerable to faulty data provided by a single sensor. A primary theory for investigators of the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 is that its MCAS system was receiving faulty data, sent by the sensor on the pilots side of the aircraft. The erroneous data was signaling that the plane was at too steep an angle, and the flight-control system was automatically trying to correct for it. Pilots routinely override faulty data, and can maintain the desired trajectory by taking manual control of the planes stabilizers, located in the tail. But the Lion Air Flight 610 pilots didnt know that MCAS existed and might have been the cause of their planes nose-dive. According to the flight data recorder from Lion Air Flight 610, the nose of the plane pitched down more than two dozen times in the few minutes available to the pilots to prevent disaster. Preliminary investigation of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash points to a similar malfunction. In the aftermath of the Lion Air crash, Boeing argued that by following the aircrafts emergency procedures checklist, the pilots could have regained control of their plane. But the checklist doesnt mention MCAS, and what to do if it is putting your plane into a nose dive. This month, pilots using flight simulators to re-create the Lion Air emergency found they had less than 40 seconds to override the 737 Maxs automated flight-control system and avert catastrophe. Even extending the response time to several minutes might not be enough to regain aircraft control, John Cox, an aviation safety expert and former 737 pilot, told the New York Times this week. There is a limited window to solve this problem, Cox said, and this crew didnt even know that this system existed. Boeings sales pitch for the 737 Max included the claim that airlines would save millions of dollars per fleet from not having to retrain pilots on the new flight-control system. If Boeing minimized the risks of its new design to sell more planes, that would be an extraordinary corporate scandal, Bloomberg editorialized March 24. It could also be, pending the results of the crash investigations and government inquiries into how the 737 Max was designed and certified, that Boeing executives genuinely believed they had made only a modest modification to a flight-control system well-known to 737 pilots, an adjustment that pilots neednt be told about. Then again, Boeings current actions speak for themselves. Boeing is rushing development of a software patch for the MCAS. Among other changes, it will take data from both aircraft-angle sensors, which experts say should have been done in the first place. And after long insisting pilots dont need specialized retraining for the 737 Max, Boeing is offering to compensate airlines for that training. The regulators: In certifying the 737 Max, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was convinced by Boeings assertions that the new aircraft would not require pilot retraining. The chief European regulator, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EUASA), effectively replicated the FAAs certification of the 737 Max, as did Transport Canada, in 2017. Today, a humiliated FAAs certification process is under investigation by a sister agency, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). And the EUASA and Transport Canada have each pointedly said they will conduct their own tests of Boeings proposed software upgrade regardless of what the FAA concludes. The FAA has long been accused of regulatory capture, of obliging the aircraft makers and airlines it is supposed to regulate. A dysfunctional U.S. aviation regulation system was the focus of hearings on Capitol Hill this week. But genuine reform transferring aircraft certification and safety to a new agency or to the highly regarded NTSB is unlikely anytime soon. On March 17, a Boeing still in a defensive crouch said aircraft certification processes are well established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs. That was among the series of non-apology apologies issued by Boeings Chicago head office since March 10. The loved ones of 346 victims of a flawed aircraft certification process might disagree with that assertion. Read more about: A recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has shot me back nine years. Scattered images. A naked boy spinning cartwheels on the banks of a strangely named river. The rain moving in. A vast bridge. A gate slamming shut. A desperate woman attempting to wedge herself through that gate, as if she were cattle. A Dominican child slapping the face of a Haitian child, just because he could. The fragments could be assembled then into an economic narrative. The Massacre River, which subsumed the corpses of Haitians slaughtered by the Dominican dictator Trujillo in 1937, is spanned by a bridge that connects Ouanaminthe in northeastern Haiti to Dajabon in the Dominican Republic. Nine years ago there was no more apt a vantage point from which to view the contrast of the scorched economy of Haiti against the relative flourishing of the DR. An economic chasm, in the words of the CSIS report released this month, separates the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola. Until the mid-20th century, both had roughly the same GDP. The population of the two countries today is approximately the same, at close to 11 million. Yet the DRs economy is 10 times the size of its neighbour. The average per-capita income in the DR is $7,000 (U.S.), still low by regional standards, but riches compared with the average Haitian income of $765. The bridge across the Massacre River is open to Haitians just twice a week. The scene: a crush of Haitians pulsing past, pulling empty carts, pushing wheelbarrows, or balancing plastic crates or basins on their heads. I am quoting now from the CSIS report. The Haitians seek eggs or Brunswick sardines or shoes. Perhaps a bag of flour. Or pay a premium to be able to sell their own wares. For of course the market is on the Dominican side. And the gate slams shut. There is no space to recount the tragedies of Haiti here. But the non-profit think tank has zeroed in on the border as a potential pivot point, a place through which customs revenues could be increased, corruption reined in, local development strengthened. The borderlands evolved decades ago, from disputes between the two countries to a commingling of Haitians and Dominicans. Some Haitians became elite members of Dominican communities as businesspeople, professionals, and property owners, the report notes. Until, that is, Trujillo directed the slaughter of as many as 15,000 Haitians, cleansing the region. Dominican plantation owners were free to continue to transport Haitian sugarcane workers across the border. Cross-border trade between the two countries in modern times cant seriously be called trade. CSIS cites 2015 statistics, a year in which the DR exported $1 billion worth of goods to Haiti, while importing just $4 million worth. Two years later that chasm had shrunk, but only slightly. The lower value of official exports from the DR can be attributed to the banning of 23 goods by the Haitian government. The list includes rebar, pasta, beer, cooking oil. Yet many of these goods continue to be sold at the Dajabon market. Just what the Haitian government is trying to accomplish with this measure is unclear. CSIS quotes a steel spokesperson saying that the ban has caused informal trade to explode. Regardless, lost revenues to government coffers have been estimated to run in excess of $400 million annually at a time when foreign assistance has decreased dramatically and the country remains in desperate need of infrastructure improvements. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that external donations to Haiti will contribute $400 million this year and annually through 2021 from a peak of $2 billion in the 12 months following the 2010 earthquake. Capital expenditures fell by half between 2012 and 2016. Corruption is endemic in both countries. And both governments are embroiled in financial scandals. (The Odebrecht corruption scandal throughout Latin America includes $92 million in alleged bribes paid by the Brazilian construction giant to Dominican politicians. The ongoing PetroCaribe scandal in Haiti refers to the misappropriation and misuse of a near $2-billion fund that was to be directed toward major projects.) Corruption in the borderlands is as one might expect. The two governments do not work in concert to reinforce legitimate trade. Dishonesty is hard to resist when you are struggling to pay school fees and see colleagues building houses or buying cars, says an unnamed economist in the CSIS report. Adds a Haitian industrialist: Were not talking about goods crossing the border via motorbikes. Were talking about large trucks travelling with armed guards. Yet each needs the other. Haiti needs Dominican products and know-how; the Dominican Republic needs Haitian workers and foreign market access. Facilitating formal trade would stimulate investment, creating jobs on both sides of the border. It would also increase the tax revenues needed as Haiti copes with declining foreign assistance. The reports recommendations include opening binational markets on the Haitian side of the border, relaunching efforts to establish a joint border development plan, including a fund aimed directly at encouraging agricultural exports, creating joint facilities for customs officials and police officers to strengthen customs collection, implementing bilateral agreements on digital information sharing between the two customs agencies and expanding the Polifront border police. (Canada has been a primary partner in supporting the border police unit in clamping down on smuggling and reinforcing the rights of migrants.) Neighbouring countries with histories as strife-torn as these two have been able to set aside their differences to promote trade along their common borders, the reports authors point out. With international help, Haiti and the DR can work together to combat corruption and to provide impoverished border communities with better jobs, infrastructure, and services. Thats CSIS speaking. Canada should be listening. MONDAY Top Chef Canada Watch this if: Youre hungry for another season of kitchen competition. The knives are out, literally, as the food series kicks off its seventh season with a new cast vying to be named best chef in the country. The twist this go-round is that three contenders compete for the 12th and final spot in the contest. As always, the heat is on as the chefs vie to please the palates of the judges. Frankly, Im not sure Id be able to boil an egg properly if I had to stare down Mijune Pak. (Food Network at 10 p.m.) Debra Yeo WEDNESDAY Angelique Watch this if: You think every month should be Black History Month. Marie-Joseph Angelique was born in Portugal around 1705. By the time she was around 20, she was a slave in Montreal, but she wasnt afraid to let those around her know what she really thought of her masters. In 1734, she was charged with arson for allegedly setting a fire that destroyed 46 buildings in the merchant quarter of Montreal, was found guilty, tortured and executed, but her innocence or guilt is still unknown. Lorena Gales play Angelique tells Marie-Josephs story through a mix of historical documents and contemporary references, and looks at Canadas true history of slavery and its ongoing effects. (Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, 8 p.m., on until April 21) Carly Maga Ariana Grande Watch this because: Its the weeks, maybe the whole years, biggest, teariest singalong. You know a pop star is big when her fans have their own handle, so yeah, the Arianators will be out in full voice for this return from the biggest diva-in-waiting around. A lot has gone on since her last show here two years ago, including the Manchester bombing, her ex Mac Millers death, her engagement and breakup with SNLs Pete Davidson and a pair of mega-streaming records. Those moments dark and light inform it all, but she never forgets the trappings of a really big show: lots of dancing and costume changes. Shes back in June for a second helping of this same Sweetener tour. (Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St., 8 p.m.) Chris Young Contemporaneity 3.0 Watch this if: You want your time, and contemporary dance, reclaimed. In dance, contemporary is commonly used for a style thats white, North American or European. This collaboration between Anandam Dancetheatre and Toronto Dance Theatre challenges that assumption. One piece, Reclaiming My Time, comes from the local collective Mix Mix and draws inspiration from U.S. politician Maxine Waters. Its company of Indigenous, racialized, female, non-binary, queer and trans dancers aim to reset the power imbalances in American and Canadian society. Joining the bill are Nova Dances Svaha Study I and Philosophical Enactments 1 from Indias Padmini Chettur. (Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St., 8 p.m., on until April 6) CM The Silence of Others Watch this if: Topical and hard-hitting docs are what youre after. The Human Rights Watch Film Festival, TIFFs annual series of features and docs that delve deep into some of the worlds toughest social and political issues, returns with another set of stories that need to be told. Many belong to the still-suffering victims of the Franco regime that ruled Spain for decades. Their past experiences and their present-day efforts to seek justice get some much-deserved attention in The Silence of Others, an award-winning doc that was an audience fave at Hot Docs last year. It will be introduced at the Lightbox by Nick de Pencier and Jennifer Baichwald, honourees at this years festival. (TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 8 p.m.) Jason Anderson THURSDAY Kopernikus Watch this if: You want to see Canadas most famous unknown opera. Montreal composer Claude Vivier was an amazingly captivating character: adopted at 3, kicked out of priesthood preparatory school for lack of maturity, openly gay, murdered in Paris at 35. He wrote only one opera, Kopernikus, which is just as enigmatic. It follows a womans journey to the afterlife as a ritual for the dead, using French, German and a made-up language meant to, according to a critic, hypnotize the spectator. One of Canadas leading opera companies, Against the Grain Theatre, brings Canadas most-performed opera, still mostly unknown here, to Toronto after its premiere at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2017. (Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave., 8 p.m., on until April 13) CM FRIDAY Shiraz: A Romance of India Watch this if: You want to see a refurbished jewel in the history of Indian cinema. The Toronto Silent Film Festival kicks off with a film thats fascinating for all kinds of reasons. Originally released in 1928, Shiraz: A Romance of India presents an all-Indian cast (including movie legend Himanshu Rai) in a loose adaptation of the 17th-century love story that led to the building of the Taj Mahal. Ambitious and lavish, this made-in-India epic looks more opulent than ever thanks to a new restoration by the British Film Institute. The TSFF is ready to host its Canadian debut, complete with the world premiere of an original score performed live by Ensemble Polaris. (Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., 7 p.m., festival on until April 8) JA Ellis Watch this for: A triple shot of bands from a triple-shot town. From Simply Saucer to the Arkells, Hamilton has been represented here going way back. Heres a chance to sample three of the latest, each fronted by a woman worth keeping tabs on. As Ellis, Linnea Siggelkow bulked up her songs of resilience with the addition of three bandmates last year, and the shoegazey results mark them out as the most reflective here of Steeltowns danker side. At the top of the bill, foursome Ellevator gets lift from the raw vocal power of Nabi Sue Bersche, while opening trio Basement Revolver punch way above their weight thanks in part to Chrisy Hurns sad siren pipes, very much in the vein of Molly Rankin. (Longboat Hall, 1087 Queen St. W., doors 8 p.m.) CY SUNDAY Killing Eve Watch this if: You want more of the dream team of Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. Not even a stab wound to the gut can curtail the obsession that MI6 agent Eve Polastri (Oh) and serial killer Villanelle (Comer) have for each other. With Villanelle on the loose again, she and Eve renew their cat and mouse chase and we, the viewers, get to once again enjoy the twisty and darkly humorous drama that won Oh a Golden Globe. (And maybe the U.S. TV Academy will smarten the hell up and give her an Emmy this year, too.) (Bravo at 8 p.m.) DY In Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, Mark Bourrie explores the life of a man often simplistically called an explorer, fur trader or adventurer. The fearless, unscrupulous Radisson was also, fortunately for us, a chronicler of his experiences. It started with a nosebleed. On a spring day in 1652, 15-year-old Pierre Radisson and two of his friends left the relative safety of the French fort and fur-trade post of Trois-Rivieres to hunt ducks in the marshes along the St. Lawrence River, upstream from their small settlement. Each boy had a fowling piece a sort of shotgun and some, including Radisson, carried pistols. Radisson had arrived in the colony the year before, on May 24, 1651, possibly as a refugee from the most recent civil war in France. France, like the rest of Europe, wasnt a good place to be living at the time. The Fronde, the violent revolts by the French aristocracy against the boy-king Louis XIV and his ministers, were still unfolding when Radisson was shipped to Quebec. The Indigenous people of eastern North America, who far outnumbered the French, were going through their own agony of war, plague and resistance. The settlers of Quebec, New England, New Netherland (now parts of modern New York and adjacent states), and New Sweden (most of modern New Jersey) were in no position to take much Indigenous land, but the colonies were conveyers of cultural and physical viruses that would eventually destroy the Indigenous nations. By 1652, the French had picked the losing side in a long, vicious war by attacking the Iroquois and allying with the Algonkians and the Huron. Trois-Rivieres was just a little fort surrounded by longhouses half-full of hungry Huron refugees. The Iroquois kept up a permanent siege at Trois-Rivieres, but they were mostly unseen, as they rarely left the cover of the forest. Radisson and his friends were well aware of the danger when they left Trois-Rivieres, yet they were utterly reckless; willing, it seems, to risk their lives for some ducks. They decided two of them would walk through the woods to look for hidden Iroquois while one shot birds along the shore while keeping an eye out for anyone approaching by water. They passed through some fields west of the town then took the high ground along the river for about a mile until they came across a Frenchman herding a few cattle in a clearing hacked out of the bush. The cowherd hadnt seen any Iroquois, but he warned the young hunters to stay away from the woods, where the Iroquois sometimes seemed to spring, fully formed, from the earth. As they walked away from the farmer, Radissons nose began to bleed. He should have taken that as a sign. Instead, he and his friends moved down to the riverbank. Radisson was an impetuous, adventurous, even reckless boy, but if he had seriously weighed the dangers against the benefits his life for some ducks he would never have made the trip. The quest for tasty, fresh food was, however, one of the driving forces of Radissons life. The hunting was good, and Radissons two friends were quickly satisfied that they had enough ducks. Radisson, however, wanted to keep going and get as many birds as he could drag back. The talk got nasty. Radisson told his friends they were timid, childish, and that he didnt like them anymore. He laughed at them as they turned back toward home. Once alone, Radisson became even more careless, abandoning what seemed to be the safety of the marshes in search of something more, maybe some bigger game like deer or moose. But there were no big animals on that stretch of shore, so Radisson, with his bleeding nose, wandered farther and farther, picking off a bird or two here and there. Then, with the day more than half gone, he traced his way back, collecting three geese, 10 ducks, a crane, and some teals that hed hidden. He was about half a mile from where hed left his friends, loaded down with his gun, two pistols (one of which was wet and useless), and all those birds when he heard a noise in the woods. He reached into his belt, felt the wet pistol, found the dry one, and fired it into the trees. He then loaded the gun again and went into the woods, about 30 paces from the riverbank and the marshes. Radisson saw nothing in the forest. He collected more of his stashed birds and kept walking, oblivious to the Mohawk warriors [one of the five Iroquois nations] shadowing him from the back of the treeline. Theyd probably followed him for hours to see how he handled himself in the woods. Nearer to the village, Radisson came across a flock of ducks. As he crawled through the rushes to get off a clear shot, he came across his two friends who lay naked and dead in the marsh grass, their hair standing on end. One had been hit by three bullets and struck twice with a hatchet. The other had been run through several times with a sword, then brained with an axe. Radisson felt terror surge through his body, and his nose began to bleed again. He crouched down and tried to get through the mile-long marsh grass to the fields around Trois-Rivieres. When he stopped to load his gun again, he heard the sound of gunfire close by, followed by war cries. Radisson kept moving. Suddenly, all around him, 30 Iroquois warriors rose from the grass and from behind the bushes. Radisson fired some birdshot into them, slightly wounding a man, then shot his pistol, hitting no one. He had no time to reload before the warriors were on him. But the Iroquois did not hurt Radisson. They just made him sit down. Several of them talked for a while, then one grabbed Radisson by the hair and pulled him along the river, back the way he had come, to a campsite four miles upstream. Radisson was made to sit by the fire while the Iroquois stripped him, went through his things, took what they wanted, then tied a rope around the teens waist that symbolized his captivity. They gave him back his shoes, and, presumably, some clothes, since he never complained of being naked and cold. Some of the Iroquois looked Radisson over and laughed, comparing their brown skin to his whiteness, and began cooking stews of boiled meat and cornmeal. They gave some to their young captive, who didnt like the taste or the smell but kept his culinary opinions to himself. Some of the warriors began combing Radissons hair and greasing it. They painted his face red, probably with a mixture of animal fat and ochre, and appeared quite thrilled with their work. Radisson didnt know that the red paint identified him as a candidate for adoption. The Mohawks seemed to have liked what they saw: a brave and capable young hunter with enough spunk to shoot back, even when there was no hope of escaping capture or death. Radisson hadnt surrendered out of cowardice, but had gone down fighting. Radissons charisma also attracted the Mohawks. Whether it came from his obvious bravery, his openness to Mohawk culture, or from a cheerfulness and eagerness to please, he quickly won his captors over and was treated as a special person. This was before Radisson learned their language and showed them that a persuasive, enthusiastic, open-minded and adventurous man was forming inside the boy. He was also something of a fussbudget and a gourmand. Radisson, who complained all his life about various culinary assaults upon his mouth and stomach, couldnt keep down the food the Iroquois gave him. This seems to have disappointed and upset his captors, who were quickly morphing into hosts. One of them fetched clean water, heated some corn with hot sand, crushed the corn between some rocks, then boiled it with a bit of fresh meat. This new concoction suited Radissons stomach, which was used to bread and gruel, and fresh or salted pork and beef. On the first night, Radisson was tucked in for bed, untied, between two Iroquois. He slept soundly, and dreamed of drinking beer with the Jesuits at Quebec. In fact, he slept so well that the Iroquois had to prod him at dawn to wake him up Despite being well cared for Radissons self-pitying account of his abduction makes clear he was never treated with anything but kindness during his first days as a prisoner, making his story a rarity among European and Indigenous survivors of Iroquoian captivity he still felt lousy from eating strange food and being covered with grease and paint. By sunset on the second day, the Iroquois who had taken Radisson had been joined by other raiding parties and reached the mouth of the Richelieu River, near Sorel, where there was plenty of game. By now there were 250 men in this new, big war party, enough to be a serious threat to the French settlements in the St. Lawrence Valley, had the Iroquois intention been to exterminate and not just raid for prisoners. So far, the smaller war parties had been very successful at catching Hurons, but Radisson was the only Frenchman among the prisoners. As the army grew, Radisson worried that some of the Iroquois would not be as kind as his captors. Chagon, one of them said to Radisson, who didnt yet understand a word of Mohawk. Radisson would later find out that the word meant cheer up. Radisson did have the social skills to realize the Iroquois warriors preferred the company of happy people to that of whiners and complainers, so he did his best to smile. The youngest members of the Iroquois force were especially intrigued by Radisson. They kept grooming and painting him, and even tied his hair into a sort of double ponytail using a piece of red leather as a cord, a look that Radisson seems to have liked because he kept the style as his hair grew longer. For someone who was supposed to be a prisoner, Radisson was having a pretty good time. Within a couple of days, Radisson was roaming freely throughout the Iroquois camp, going into their bark houses and meeting people, including women, from the other war parties. Quickly realizing that Radisson had an ear for languages, the Iroquois began teaching him words and helped him practise until he could pronounce them properly. They also saw that Radisson had a Europeans taste for salty food, so they collected all the salt they had and gave it to him to season his meals. The Iroquois also liked to hear Radisson sing. Having heard the singing of the Algonkians, who were allied with the French, Radisson borrowed their cadence and tones and added French words. When Radisson sang his songs, the Iroquois warriors became silent. Writing about this time 15 years later, when he was in his early thirties, he never once mentioned missing his family or the people back in Trois-Rivieres. His description of his captivity among the Iroquois makes it clear that Radisson liked them, and that they, in turn, were both flattered and intrigued by the young man. The historic literature has many stories of 17th-century prisoner ordeals of Indigenous people and Europeans captured in eastern North America none of which involves captives having fun. Radisson did. His writings about life among the Iroquois have very few of the usual insults and slurs against Indigenous people that show up in the books written by Champlain, the Jesuits, and the few other Europeans who left a record of their time in the Great Lakes country. Radissons accounts differ because its obvious he respected the Iroquois, enjoyed their company, and didnt succumb to the depression that overwhelms most prisoners. The Iroquois applied psychological pressure and sometimes great cruelty to coerce prisoners into conforming to the rigid cultural expectations of their society, and to dampen any resistance. Assimilation and adoption was the eventual reward for those deemed worthy. Radisson didnt need coercion. He leapt right in. (Radisson stayed with the Mohawks for at least a year and a half. He was adopted by a wealthy family and joined a war party to the Ohio River before defecting to the Dutch in New York. After a short time in New Amsterdam (New York City), he sailed to France and was back in Quebec in the spring of 1653). A replacement aircraft for a grounded Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 Max was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans on the weekend, sparking anger among passengers who complained they were stranded for hours. In a statement on Sunday, the charter airline confirmed the Boeing 767-300 en route from Toronto to Cancun, Mexico, was diverted on Saturday due to an unspecified mechanical issue. However, Sunwing normally has no connection to the New Orleans airport, creating logistical issues for the 239 people aboard, the company said. We didnt have our staff on the ground to support communications, the company said in a statement. Because of the unplanned nature of the landing, the airport was very busy and it took many hours to find a secured area for our customers to deplane to. Passengers aboard Flight WG511 took to social media to vent their frustrations at being stranded aboard the aircraft for hours, then for several more hours in a holding room at the airport. One passenger, Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern, a vice president with Canada Lands Company, tweeted that passengers had been locked in the airport basement for more than seven hours without any information. Read more: Opposition MPs demand inquiry into certification of Boeing 737 Max in wake of fatal crashes Did the Boeing 737 Max get enough scrutiny from aviation regulators? WestJet sticking with Boeing 737 Max once planes certified to fly No one from the crew is to be seen, Gomez Wiuckstern said. The call centre says, We are working on it, keep waiting. Stuck at New Orleans in a basement which feels like a detention centre with no idea what is happenings, tweeted another passenger, Robert Liu. Sunwing said it had leased the Boeing 767 from Eastern Airlines to help maintain its flying schedule after regulatory authorities recently grounded the 737 Max. The grounding followed deadly crashes off Indonesia and in Ethiopia killed 346 people. Suspicion has fallen on an automated system designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling by pitching the nose of the plane down. Sunwing said it provided its stranded passengers with water service, snacks and pizza while it sought to replace the aircraft. That ultimately happened Saturday night with a plane sent from Miami. Everyone was then flown to Cancun, the agency said. We are very apologetic for this unfortunate start to their vacation and have compensated accordingly, Sunwing said. Sunwing Airlines bills itself as an award-winning leisure carrier that flies out of 33 airports across Canada and the U.S. using more than 40 Boeing 737-800 and the now-grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. It mainly flies to vacation destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Florida. Read more about: The body that handles complaints about the behaviour of federally appointed judges is in need of both internal and legislative reform to streamline what is now a cumbersome disciplinary process, Canadas top judge says. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said he would be launching this week a sweeping review of the Canadian Judicial Council, which has come under harsh criticism for some of its actions. Ive always said this judicial conduct process is much too long, much too expensive, and it should be corrected, Wagner said from Ottawa. We will look at our own internal management at CJC to decide whether there are not things we can do without legislative amendments within our own management to improve things. Wagner said he is reaching out to senior judges across the country to garner their views on what changes are needed. Areas include the councils mission, how its various committees are appointed, and the crucial role of the executive director, who wields significant power as complaints gatekeeper. Everything is on the table, Wagner said. Last year, a former senior Manitoba justice and dozens of lawyers reacted angrily after the executive director, Norman Sabourin, initiated action against a prominent Ontario Superior Court judge who, with the blessing of his superiors, had accepted a six-month law school deanship at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. The council later ruled that Justice Patrick Smith had committed judicial misconduct but urged no further action. Read more: Judge rules mom can collect $15,000 in legal costs one day after Star writes about nearly two-year delay Judges work for Black Canadians advocacy group was not improper, discipline hearing told Judge who questioned lawyer about pregnancy among recent judicial council complaints In a letter to Wagner, who is head of the council, Sen. Murray Sinclair said last fall he was deeply troubled by the Smith review and urged council to reflect on its own role and mandate. Separately, 36 lawyers in Thunder Bay criticized what they saw as the outrageous persecution of the judge, while lawyer Brian Gover, who represents Smith in ongoing court action against the council, said the legal community had been shocked. The CJC is facing a fierce counter-attack such as they have never seen before, Gover said at the time. The review comes amid a parallel effort by the council to update its ethical guidance for judges something last done more than 20 years ago. The council has asked for public input on a range of issues, such as whether judges should be on social media or whether there should be restrictions on the work they do after leaving the bench. Wagner, who became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada 15 months ago, said he has long wanted to look at how the judicial council and the courts themselves were working. The aim, he said, was to modernize both to ensure they were efficient, relevant and able to meet emerging challenges such as the growth in self-represented litigants. Its a good thing to look at those issues when society has evolved, has changed. Expectations have changed also. I thought it was a good time to look at it. Its a major work to make sure that the judiciary is still relevant. Wagner said he did not favour judges engaging on social media and potentially compromising their status as aloof from social and political debate. At the same time, he said, the courts and other judicial entities, as the Supreme Court does, should use social media to disseminate their messages and decisions We need to be relevant, Wagner said of the ethical guidance update. This is a parallel exercise and, at the end of the day, it will be successful but we need major reforms for judicial conduct. While one of the survey questions touches on the situation Smith found himself in, Wagner said he could not discuss specific cases that are before the courts but said discussing reforms was important. He noted that his predecessor Beverley McLachlin had asked for legislative changes to enhance the councils work. Judges who are subject to a complaint and citizens need to know what to expect and that complaints will be handled expeditiously, the chief justice said, adding the current process is very heavy. If the judge has to be removed, he has to be removed quickly and without too much cost to society, Wagner said. We need reforms. Parliament should find a way to make sure that these matters dont drag for too long and arent too expensive. A spokeswoman said the council welcomed the review and had already begun adding clarity and transparency to its work. We have presented a number of proposals to the Department of Justice that would lead to a more efficient and less costly process, Johanna Laporte said. Wagner said he hoped to be able to announce the results of the review within the next several months. Neither the justice minister nor Ministry of Justice had any comment. Torontos city councillors were told a one-stop extension of the TTCs Bloor-Danforth subway line in Scarborough would cost $3.35 billion when they debated approving the proposal in March 2017 even though city officials already thought it might cost as much as $900 million more, according to internal documents obtained by the Star. Months before the debate, senior city staff had already calculated the final bill to be somewhere between $4.08 billion and $4.26 billion, which was well beyond the $3.56 billion available for the subway. The province claimed last week that preliminary estimates for the Scarborough subway and one other line had at least doubled, which the city denied. But TTC officials told councillors on Wednesday that the total estimate is just shy of $3.9 billion double the initial, roughly $2-billion estimate that Mayor John Tory and Jennifer Keesmaat said it could be built for despite doubts from senior city staff. Additional costs, such as debt servicing and some contingency funds, remain unknown. Staff have not provided a detailed breakdown, but are expected to report out on the updated cost this week. For the first time on Wednesday, TTC officials acknowledged to council that the total in March 2017, when considering all costs, was also $3.9 billion and that it was more than the citys budget. Former city councillor John Campbell told the Star that he understood the cost of the one-stop subway plan to be around $3.3 billion when council debated whether to approve it. Read more: Scarboroughs one-stop subway: This was a bait and switch Opinion | Edward Keenan: Doug Fords road map will not lead Toronto to transit utopia How Fords transit plans could impact Toronto I never had any sense whatsoever that it would be any more than the amount that they quoted, Campbell said. If someone had told me $4 billion hindsight is 20/20 Im reasonably confident I would say, forget it. The decision to move forward with the one-stop plan passed then with a 26 to 18 vote. The debate and the cost estimate came at a sensitive time. Mayor John Tory was openly planning to seek re-election, and a central plank of his 2018 campaign would be the promise to build the one-stop, six-kilometre subway extension into Scarborough. Today, Tory stands by the plan. City council has voted to move ahead with Torontos transit network plan that includes the relief line and the subway extension further into Scarborough, his spokesperson Don Peat said in an email. And that plan was overwhelmingly endorsed by Toronto residents in the October election when they voted to re-elect Mayor Tory. But even as the $3.35-billion estimate was being debated in public, emails obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request reveal that senior city officials were treating the proposal as though its cost exceeded $4 billion. Updated project costs are now $4.08 (billion), Mike Logan, program manager in the city planning divisions transportation unit, wrote to Keesmaat, who was then the citys chief planner, on Dec. 22, 2016. That was $920 million more than the $3.2 billion estimate council was given in July 2016, Logan noted. The increased costs will end up being the focus of the report they were working on, he predicted. Logan also sent Keesmaat a cost estimate history, which he said had been produced by the city managers office. It pegged the estimated cost at $4.26 billion, after accounting for the risk of schedule or construction complications and other costs. Another reference to the higher estimate appears in a document produced by the city managers office in January 2017, which presents the cost for the subway extension as ~$4B. The final staff report, which was twice delayed, stated that the costs had increased to $3.35 billion. That figure was critical because any estimate that was significantly more than the original budget of $3.56 billion would have set off alarm bells at council, where the subway project has long been contentious. Outgoing TTC chief executive officer Andy Byford said as much to the Globe and Mail in a December 2017 interview, noting that if the cost ballooned beyond the $3.56 billion, the debate about whether to extend the subway at all would need to be re-opened something Tory has vowed will never happen. Breaking that budget, Byford told the Globe, definitely should then re-open the debate about should there be a timeout, should we look again at the alternative, which would be an LRT. The staff report noted that $3.35 billion was for hard construction costs only, and did not include necessary costs to finance the project or contingency funds. But while several additional costs were listed later in the report, they were not tallied in the overall cost presented to council. City staff did not tell councillors that accounting for those costs would put the project at $3.9 billion. City officials suggested on the floor of council in March 2017 that the subway could still come in below budget. When asked about what funds were still available for the promised Eglinton East LRT, city manager Peter Wallace replied: If the cost of the subway comes in lower than the original cost of the $3.56 (billion), there will obviously be residual funding available. City spokesperson Brad Ross said the estimate reported in March 2017 was validated by the TTC for reporting purposes. It is not unusual for drafts to be developed, reviewed and then revised upon review, Ross wrote in an email to the Star. Keesmaat, in her response to the Stars questions for this and an earlier story, did not address specific questions about the $4-billion totals. When asked about the estimates at or over $4 billion, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green referred to the costs spelled out in the March 2017 report. He described everything apart from $3.2 billion for construction and $110 million for financing as optional. For example, additional costs of $305 million stated in both the internal records and March 2017 report are for contingency funds in case of schedule delays or construction cost overruns. The staff report says such allowances had been recommended by two external consultants. City staff are expected to be as clear as possible when councillors are making multi-billion-dollar decisions, said Councillor Josh Matlow, who has pushed for a value-for-money comparison of the subway and LRT plans. For some reason, a choice was made to bury the costs. The public was misled. Why? Torontonians deserve answers and, even more importantly, an honest transit plan that supports our quality of life rather than political campaigns. Last week, the Ford government announced plans to radically change four lines being planned by the city, including the subway in Scarborough. The province would return the line to the three-stop version boosted by Premier Doug Fords late brother and the former mayor Rob Ford in 2013. That plan was last estimated to cost $4.6 billion in 2016, with work stopping after council decided to move forward with the one-stop plan. The Star earlier reported that Tory and Keesmaat promised council a two-for-one deal when they said both the one-stop subway extension and a multi-stop LRT along Eglinton Ave. East could be built within the same $3.56-billion funding envelope. Today, the Eglinton East LRT remains completely unfunded. The seven-stop LRT would have been fully funded by the province to replaced the aging Scarborough RT, running in its own corridor from Kennedy station to the Scarborough Town Centre and north to Sheppard Ave. It was estimated to be completed by 2019 when the plan was scrapped by city council during the Ford administration. Read more about: KIEV, UKRAINEA Ukrainian comedian who plays an accidental president on television delivered a walloping rebuke to the countrys political class in the presidential election Sunday by emerging first in a crowded field of candidates, exit polls indicated. The comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, 41, captured more than 30 per cent of the vote, according to two authoritative exit polls. It was a strong showing by a maverick with no political experience, though far below the 50 per cent needed to win the first round outright. If exit polls translate into real votes, Zelensky will face President Petro O. Poroshenko, who emerged second with around 18 per cent, in a runoff in three weeks, on April 21. Yulia V. Tymoshenko, a former prime minister making her third bid for the presidency, was third with about 13 per cent. Official results are not due until Monday, and there will most likely be challenges, but the exit polls all reflected roughly the same results predicted by surveys before the vote. Turnout was estimated at about 63 per cent in an electorate of 30 million people, slightly ahead of the 60 per cent who voted in 2014. After the polls closed, Zelensky and Poroshenko lost no time in attacking each other. I want to thank all Ukrainians who voted today not just for kicks, said Zelensky, taking a dig at Poroshenko for saying the incumbent alone should be taken seriously. This is only the first step toward a great victory. Poroshenko said that the time for jokes was over and that Zelensky would make just the kind of weak president sought by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the bogeyman of Ukrainian politics. He dreams of a soft, submissive, gentle, giggling, inexperienced, weak, ideologically amorphous and politically uncertain president, Poroshenko said. Will we gift him this? Poroshenko, a chocolate tycoon who is among the richest men in a country dominated by oligarchs, appeared to offer a tacit admission that younger voters had abandoned him in droves. He said he had heard and understood their desire for a faster pace of change. It was a stunning result in an election that will help to determine the future of a country that has become the European front line in a new era of confrontation between Russia and the West. The grinding war it has spawned has left 13,000 dead and displaced millions since 2014. The fact that Ukraine works as a real democracy, albeit a troubled one, is often cited as perhaps the most important aspect of the election. Unlike the Potemkin elections in neighbouring Russia and Belarus, the contest in Ukraine offered voters a real choice, with the outcome unknown. A standout in a field of 39 candidates In a crowded field of candidates, most of them politicians, Zelensky stood out as the star of a popular television series in which he plays a schoolteacher who is unexpectedly propelled into the presidency after his anti-corruption tirade goes viral. He is doing well because there is a widespread mood in Ukraine of alienation from politicians and the political class, which is not unique to Ukraine, said Robert Brinkley, a former British ambassador to Ukraine who is now chairman of the Ukrainian Institute in London, an educational and cultural centre. In southern Kiev, Artem Nechyporuk, 26, a computer programmer, emerged from a polling station on what was the first warm day of spring to say that he supported Zelensky. He is the only candidate who is not contaminated with our politics, he said. That is why he is the only candidate for me. Fresh-face appeal, but ties to an oligarch The basic knock on politics in Ukraine is that ever since the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it has been run by a government of oligarchs for oligarchs. Despite anti-government uprisings in 2004 and 2014, the countrys fundamental character remains unchanged. Avenues for the abuse of government contracts and other corruption have been reduced but not eliminated, and the stigma of graft dogs the entourage around Poroshenko. Ukrainians seem more fed up than ever. A mere 9 per cent say they have confidence in the government, and 91 per cent see it as corrupt, according to a Gallup poll conducted in March. That gave rise to Zelensky, who has blurred the lines between his television character and his candidacy. His show, The Servant of the People, became the name of his party. Many voters say they feel as if they know him after watching him on television for years, similar to what many Americans say about President Donald Trump. Despite his fresh-face appeal, however, questions hang over Zelensky. Some wonder if he may be a surrogate for Ihor V. Kolomoisky, an oligarch and bitter rival of Poroshenko who moved to Israel after becoming embroiled in a banking scandal that cost Ukraine $5.6 billion (U.S.). Although Zelensky has been a business partner with the oligarch through television and announced his candidacy on Kolomoiskys channel, both men have denied any covert link. The campaigns The electorates main concerns are issues like raising wages and unemployment, as well as the war in eastern Ukraine. No candidate has offered a detailed blueprint to solve those issues. Poroshenko, 53, has wrapped himself in the flag, campaigning under the slogan Army, Language, Faith. His campaign emphasized that he had restructured the army to strengthen it in its confrontation with Russia and had pulled the Orthodox Church in Ukraine out of Moscows orbit. I am voting for Poroshenko because he has already demonstrated his ability to do things, not just words, Nataliia Pavlik, 72, said after voting in Kiev on Sunday. She cited the ability to travel in Europe without a visa, church autonomy and the army as important considerations. He raised it from the ashes, Pavlik said. I want him to anchor all of this for the next five years. Former Prime Minister Tymoshenko, 58, adopted populist positions like plans to cut gas prices in half and to raise wages, without saying how to pay for them. Tymoshenko and Poroshenko have been rivals for years. The view from the Kremlin The Kremlin has depicted the election as a farce. Poroshenko was elected president in 2014 three months after his predecessor, Viktor F. Yanukovych, fled to Russia in the face of the uprising. Poroshenko has made confronting Russia the centrepiece of his presidency, and Russian state television invariably presents him as a corrupt buffoon working for the West. But Russia has not made any pronouncements about whom it supports, which would doom any candidate. The infrastructure needed to vote was not set up in Crimea, which Russia annexed, or in the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, or for expatriate workers in Russia itself, leaving several million voters without polling stations. Read more about: CORNING, MO.The widespread, severe flooding in the Midwest over the last month has exposed the vulnerabilities in a levee system that is now so full of holes that many here ruefully describe it as Swiss cheese. With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection. Breaches everywhere: multiple, multiple breaches, said Tom Bullock, the top elected official in Holt County, Missouri, where crews were rushing last week to patch a leaking levee that, if it failed completely, would flood the small town of Fortescue. And with the fear of more floods in the coming years and perhaps even the coming weeks many people said living and farming near the water might not be viable much longer without major changes. We cant keep this up and make a living, Michael Peters, who grows corn and soybeans on fertile bottomland in northwest Missouri, said last week after trying to find a path to his submerged farm in a motorboat. On the river-specked Midwestern prairie, the thousands of miles of levees are an insurance policy against natures whims that, at their best, keep cropland and towns dry, floodwaters at bay and the agriculture-driven economy churning. But the levees are aging, subject to uneven regulation and, in many cases, never designed to withstand the river levels seen in the last decade. The recent flooding which has devastated farms, roads and Native American reservations has pushed to the foreground a debate that has raged quietly for generations. It boils down to this: How should the rivers be controlled, who should make those decisions and how much protection should be given to those most vulnerable? Many of the levees, usually earthen and topped with grass, were built by farmers decades ago and are now managed by a patchwork of local government agencies known as levee districts that often do not co-ordinate or even follow the same rules. With increased flooding in the past few years, the levees are being tested more frequently than ever before, straining the finances and expertise of some of those districts. The levee situation has become so grave that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the countrys levee system a D grade in 2017, suggesting $80 billion (U.S.) in investment over 10 years. When the next one comes along bigger, they either fail or are overtopped again, said Nicholas Pinter, an expert on rivers and flooding at the University of California, Davis. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees infrastructure on the Missouri River and some of its tributaries, at least 62 levees had been breached or overtopped in the Midwest in March, and hundreds of miles of levees had sustained damage. When they run water over the top of them, theres not anything you can do, said Pat Sheldon, president of a rural levee district in southwest Iowa that was still paying off repairs from the 2011 flood. This time, Sheldon said, the damage to the levees was much worse, perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Its terrible, said Sheldon, whose farm was also cut off by the water. In Missouri, Bullock pointed out a levee that last week had been split open and consumed by the river. A large log swirled in the water near where the earthen berm should have been. I dont know what were going to do this time, he said. The Army Corps of Engineers, which helps determine water levels by operating a series of dams on the Missouri River, tries to balance the needs of many who use the rivers it manages, including farmers, barge shippers, endangered animal species and people who use the water for recreation. Those interests are sometimes at odds, and have been the subject of decades of litigation. Corps officials say they are not allowed to change the congressionally authorized purposes of the reservoirs, though they had been most focused on limiting floods for the past year. The Corpss No. 1 priority in its operations is life safety, said Maj. Gen. Scott A. Spellmon, the Corpss deputy commanding general for civil and emergency operations, in a statement. Our current focus is to protect life, mitigate risks to flooding events and repair damages due to the recent events in the basin. In places like Holt County, where the floods keep coming and the levees keep breaking, there is little patience for the Corpss approach. Last year, landowners from four Midwestern states won a lawsuit against the agency that claimed the repeated floods amounted to a seizure of their property. Were ground zero: We get the full shot, said Roger Ideker, whose family owns farmland in Holt County along the banks of the Missouri River and was the lead plaintiff in that lawsuit. This week, the closest Ideker could get to his land was a two-lane road a few miles away that was now functioning as a boat ramp. Buildings in the small town of Corning were visible half-submerged in the distance. Our levees are big and theyre good, Ideker said, but they were no match for this new normal. Every event seems like its higher. Its higher water. You build the levee higher. And the next time you build it higher. You cant keep up with it. The situation has been exacerbated by wetter rainstorms, which are expected to worsen over time and have been attributed to climate change. There are layers that come together when big events like this happen its never just one thing, said Barbara Mayes Boustead, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who contributed to a 2018 federal report on climate change. Tom Waters, chairman of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association, which advocates for landowners and others along the rivers, called for easing federal regulations and building bigger flood protection in rural areas. Were seeing more water in the river, but we havent improved the infrastructure, said Waters, who farms along the Missouri River east of Kansas City, Missouri. Basically, when it comes to levees and flood control protection, were still driving on gravel roads and were trying to handle interstate traffic. But building ever-higher levees is not a panacea: Keeping water out of one area only means it will go somewhere else. In the early 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers and towns along the Mississippi River followed a levees only policy that meant building higher and higher walls, leaving the river no way to release its power. That strategy failed spectacularly in the Great Flood of 1927, which inundated 27,000 square miles and displaced a million people. In the aftermath, officials built a more complex Mississippi River system that included a network of spillways and flood ways, as well as other tools, along with the levees. In the areas hardest hit this past month, where levees are shredded and livelihoods shattered, many blame the Corps. In recent weeks, politicians from some of the flooded states have become vocal critics of the river management plan and called for the prioritization of flood control. Sen. Josh Hawley said in a statement that the Corps was hamstrung by radical environmentalist lobbyists that are forcing the agency to prioritize wildlife over farmers. Sen. Chuck Grassley cited the town of Hamburg in his state, which staved off the river in 2011 by bolstering its levee but flooded this year after trying and failing to keep its increased protection. The No. 1 priority of the Corps should be flood control flood control, period, Grassley said on the Senate floor. The devastation to the levees has left much of the Midwest with nothing to hold back the waters from even a relatively minor flood, which forecasters have warned is possible in the weeks ahead. If we have a wet spring, Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri said, this problem is going to get worse, and in that process were not going to have time probably to repair these levees. As water recedes, at least for the moment, and the conversation shifts to recovery, many in the river bottom said they planned to stay and rebuild, hopeful that policies might change. Others said these levee breaks were probably their last. Its not that I dont want to be here, said Rhonda Hunziger, the mayor of Craig, Missouri, population 230, where residents piled sandbags through the night in a spirited but futile attempt to save their town from the Missouri River after surrounding levees burst. Depending on what the insurance company decided, Hunziger said this could be the flood that forced her to higher ground. I have lived with floods my whole life, she said while staring out at the brown-hued water covering her nearly empty town. And I am about ready to get off the bottom. Read more about: According to the Ministry of Unification, 71 percent of North Korean refugees are female, 29 percent are male. This edition of "Voices from the North" presents three refugee males discussing how they have adjusted to South Korea, and how English has had a role in that adjustment. The next edition of "Voices from the North" will present three refugee females discussing similar issues. ED. Yoo-chul escaped from North Korea in 1997, arrived in South Korea in 2005 Honestly, I'm tired of living in South Korea's competitive society. The longer I stay, the more stressed I get. I think part of it is because I have lived abroad where things are much slower. I am now at an important point in my life. I want to sharpen my English so I can get a better job to save some money, then I can decide if I will live abroad or become a farmer. I am thinking about living in a Third World country where I can be free and with people who are happy. When I lived in Cambodia, the people were happy with what they have. Here in South Korea, people are constantly under stress, angry, their faces look so scary. Many people don't believe me when I say I might become a farmer, but I love nature; the countryside is so beautiful. When I arrived, I was surprised to see trees in so many places in South Korea. There were even trees on the streets and around apartment buildings. I worked on a farm before, and even though it was tough, I could be at peace with myself. I do need to improve my English even for that life. Ever since I escaped from North Korea, I have seen so many times that I needed English. The first time was when I arrived at Thailand. I stayed at a place provided by a Korean church; they told us that English would be really important. I wasn't sure how else to survive here, so I made that my focus after I arrived. Living abroad definitely opened my mind. I feel like I didn't learn anything in North Korea except to obey others. When I was learning English, I learned a lot of dirty words. I couldn't wait to use them. I had many cases where others got embarrassed, but it was liberating for me. Sometimes people might be embarrassed by things North Korean refugees say or do, but I think they can't understand what it is like not to have freedom, not to have the freedom to leave a country or even your hometown when you want to do so. That may be part of my struggle in South Korea; it still seems that I need to obey. Instead of being punished by the government's police, it seems that the unofficial police officers here are everyday people who will condemn and try to shame you for being different. Doo-Hwan, escaped from North Korea in 2013, arrived in South Korea in 2014. I'm studying engineering. It is a struggle now because of English. I think I didn't take it seriously when I came here, but now it is an emergency for me. When I have lectures, I listen so hard that I get a headache. Last year was difficult. My classmates could respond to the professor in English, but even when I could understand I could only answer in Korean. I escaped to South Korea to join my father here, I had been a top student in North Korea at a special school, and I assumed that I would be able to handle things here in South Korea. In reality, I struggled. Perhaps because of my pride, I applied for the regular admissions process that South Korean students use, rather than using the process allowed for North Korean refugees. Then I failed it. Studying here can be difficult, and I think people don't realize how much North Korean refugee students are struggling here, especially with English. My most difficult moment came when I had to admit that I was not a special student anymore like I was in North Korea, that I am just a normal student here who is struggling. It isn't only English, but English is an extra punch to my head as I go through my university classes. When I study with my English teachers, I love every moment they speak to me in English. I don't want to look greedy, but I want to get every single word of English that I can into my ears and head, so hopefully I can survive when I get back to my university classes. I hope one day I can be able to study abroad, there are many opportunities for me to expand my mind and find a place where I can enjoy my life. Hyong-ki, escaped North Korea in 2013, arrived in South Korea in 2018 The most important thing to me now is learning. One thing that is really taking up a lot of my time is learning English. Ever since I escaped from North Korea, I have been reminded so many times why English is so important. I arrived last year; I quickly realized that English will be part of my freedom and opportunities. When I arrived at Thailand, I didn't know any English except for a few simple vocabulary words. I needed to find a shelter, but I couldn't communicate. Of course, the people I met couldn't speak Korean. It might seem funny to some, but when I was in North Korea, I had really believed North Korea was at the center of the world. I am now attending a refugee school in South Korea, next year I hope to get accepted into a university. I'm afraid that I will fail, so I am so focused on English now. I am so happy that the TNKR tutors only use English. It should get me prepared when I have university classes in English. I learned Chinese when I was in China and I guess if I can speak English that it will help me with my future career. I am taking every opportunity to sharpen my English ability. So far, I can't say that I have really adjusted to South Korea. I spend most of my time at the refugee school. I am studying and learning so many things trying to catch up to what I missed and learning more so I can be prepared for the next stage of my life. One thing I have learned that is completely new is religion. I didn't know anything about it when I was in North Korea. That is really a surprising thing for me. Sometimes it feels like Kim Il-sung was supposed to be North Korea's Jesus, that he placed himself in that role. I haven't become a deep believer, but I am happy to have the freedom to accept or reject things. That is better than being kept ignorant and having others decide for me. Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, was the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and the winner of the Global Award from Challenge Korea 2017. TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee translated the remarks of refugees from Korean to English. ISTANBULTurkeys main opposition party appeared poised to win mayoral races in Ankara, the capital, and several other cities in local elections on Sunday, dealing a significant setback to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he campaigned relentlessly for his partys candidates but faced a voter backlash over his management of the economy. Erdogans ruling party claimed victory Sunday in Istanbul, Turkeys largest city, even as official tallies showed a razor-thin margin in the contest. Later on Sunday, though, Erdogan appeared to suggest that his party may have lost Istanbuls mayoral race. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, said its candidate was ahead as he urged supporters to stay at the polls. Erdogan, speaking to reporters on Sunday night, said his Justice and Development Party and an allied party had captured the majority of votes in the nationwide contest a continuation, he said, of his partys electoral dominance since 2002. At the same time, he appeared to acknowledge the symbolic weight of the losses in Ankara and other cities. We will accept that we were not successful in the places that we lost, he said. Later, speaking in Ankara, he said, Tomorrow morning, we will start our work to detect our shortcomings. Read more: Mayoral races test Turkeys Erdogan amid economic downturn Turkey reaffirms commitment to Russian S-400 defence system Ahead of vote, Turkeys Erdogan says US attacking economy The election for mayors, municipal council members and other local posts represented the first nationwide referendum on Erdogans leadership since he won a presidential poll in June. Since then, Turkeys economy has slipped into a recession for the first time in a decade, leading the government to defend policies that have unnerved investors and sent prices soaring. A crackdown on the governments opponents that intensified after a failed coup in 2016 has added to the domestic unease and has also troubled Turkeys relationships with Western allies, causing sharp fluctuations in the Turkish lira and putting investors on edge. Erdogans own position was secure. Even so, he raced across the country in recent weeks, attending campaign rallies at a punishing clip that he referred to Sunday as a marathon. His bellicose rhetoric red-meat appeals to his conservative Muslim base and menacing language levelled at his opponents, some of whom he labelled terrorists underscored the stakes in the election. It is a matter of survival, Erdogan said of the poll at a rally in a working-class district of Istanbul on Friday. But even as the president framed the elections in terms of national security, many voters did not buy it, said Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political analyst and author of a blog called the Yetkin Report. The pollsters were telling us that 80% were seeing the economy namely the cost of living and unemployment as the biggest problem, he said. This is a major loss. If the toll includes Istanbul, finally five big cities of Turkey, including Ankara some 40 per cent of the population would be under opposition control, potentially creating governing problems for Erdogan, he said. The Turkish elections at one point threatened to become an international diplomatic crisis, when Erdogan was criticized by officials in New Zealand for repeatedly airing footage at his rallies of the mosque shootings in Christchurch that killed 50 people in March. The Trump administration was closely watching the ballot and hoping that a catalogue of disputes with Ankara including arguments over the war in Syria and Turkeys purchase of a Russian air defence system would quiet once Turkeys caustic campaign season had come to an end. Read more about: WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of staff, defended U.S. President Donald Trumps threat to end assistance to three Central American countries and to close parts of the U.S. border with Mexico this week, saying on Sunday that it would take something dramatic to prevent Trump from carrying out that plan. Why are we talking about closing the border? Mulvaney said in an interview on ABCs This Week. Not to try and undo whats happening, but simply to say, look we need the people from the ports of entry to go out and patrol in the desert where we dont have a wall. Trumps attempt to seal off the border by building a wall, and mulling the closure of ports to tamp down on immigration and drug smuggling, is at odds with a nagging reality: Smuggling activity largely comes through ports of entry, according to government data. And the presidents move to cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ignores a long-standing strategy touted by aid groups and military experts including the presidents former chief of staff that supporting those countries actually makes the border safer. Still, Trump spent the past week emboldened by the results of his attorney generals summary of a report by special counsel Robert Mueller that said that he and his campaign had not cooperated with the Russian government. The president immediately turned back to immigration as a red-meat issue for supporters before the 2020 election. Im not playing games, he told reporters during a weekend in Florida, which followed a week spent berating the Democratic Party for what he called lax immigration laws, assailing countries he has accused of doing little to stop the flow of migrants travelling north, and disparaging individual travellers seeking asylum as part of a big fat con job. Read more: Analysis | Trump gets fact-checked by a cathedral during a 57-false-claim week Republicans on attack after attorney general says Mueller found no Trump conspiracy Republicans maintain that they are working on a plan to replace Obamacare In the interview, Mulvaney criticized Jeh Johnson, who led the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, for saying in an interview last week that the situation at the border was truly in a crisis. In February, 76,000 migrants were apprehended crossing the border an 11-year high and the crossings are expected to increase again in March. We hate to say we told you so, Mulvaney said. We need border security, and were going to do the best we can with what we have. In recent weeks, Border Patrol facilities along the southwestern border have been strained to a breaking point by the largest influx of migrants in years. The numbers are growing, in part, because travellers are hoping to make the journey north before summertime. Officials in El Paso, Texas, resorted to creating a makeshift encampment under a bridge last week when the main border processing facility in the area was strained to 400 per cent of its capacity. A full or partial sealing of the border would effectively close off the United States from one of its largest trading partners, and it could leave American citizens who cross back and forth with a sluggish or potentially nonexistent system of returning to the United States. Trump will travel to Calexico, California, to tour the border on Friday. Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement on Friday that she had asked volunteers to add more support at the border, and suggested that American citizens may encounter difficulty getting through as a result. And by directing the State Department to revoke aid from the three Northern Triangle countries, Trump is seeking to punish those countries for what he says is a failure to stop migrant caravans from making their way north. Leaders of those countries have said they are committed to solving the problem, despite what Trump has said. In 2017, the United States gave $420 million (U.S.) to Central American countries struggling with violence. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a non-profit organization that supports diplomatic efforts of the United States, the Northern Triangle countries committed about 10 times that amount, or $5.4 billion, to improve conditions. American aid to Central America is not charity, but an investment in our national security, Liz Schrayer, president of the coalition, said in a statement. The idea of suspending the relatively small, but essential foreign assistance to the region will only exacerbate the root causes driving people to flee their homes brutal violence, hunger and instability. In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNNs State of the Union, who pointed out to him that experts within the presidents own administration have said aid money has helped curb violence in and migration from El Salvador, Mulvaney shrugged off the data from career staffers and said the money had not done enough. If were going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more, he said. If its working so well why are the people still coming? Mulvaneys comments represent a rightward shift for an administration that has already taken a publicly hard-line stance on immigration. In May 2017, John F. Kelly, the presidents former chief of staff and former top officer of the militarys Southern Command, said during an Atlantic Council meeting that his experience showed him that partnering with Northern Triangle countries was key to securing the border. If we can improve the conditions the lot of life of Hondurans, Guatemalans, Central Americans, said Kelly, then speaking in his capacity as Homeland Security secretary, we can do an awful lot to protect the southwest border. Read more about: The U.S. may finally sell Taiwan the warplanes it has sought for more than a decade to defend against China. Their arrival would deal more of a political shock than a military blow to Beijing. Trump administration officials have given tacit approval to Taipeis request to buy more than 60 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16s, according to people familiar with the matter, setting the stage for the first such deal since 1992. While a few dozen fighter jets would hardly tip the military balance against the increasing powerful Chinese military, it would signal a new American willingness to back the democratically run island. For Beijing, it would be a huge shock, said Wu Shang-Su, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. But it would be more of a political shock than a military shock. It would be, Oh, the U.S. doesnt care how we feel. It would be more of a symbolic or emotional issue. The potential sale is among several gestures of U.S. support for Taiwan in recent months, even as President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping near a deal to end the costly trade war. The U.S. also sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait and accommodated President Tsai Ing-wens stopover in Hawaii last week, drawing protests from China, which denounced the moves as extremely dangerous. Renewed U.S. interest in Taiwan follows growing calls in Washington for a whole-of-government effort to prevent China from surpassing American military and industrial dominance. Perhaps nowhere has the power shift been felt more than on Taiwan, an island of 23.6 million people that China aims to eventually control despite 70 years of divided rule. China has directed its industrial strength toward huge investments in military hardware over the past two decades, building a world-class navy and filling its coastline with missiles capable of hitting Taiwanese targets. The country spent 23 times more than Taiwan on defence in 2017, up from double in 1997. Read more: Trump tweets that FBI and Justice Department will look into outrageous Jussie Smollett case Trumps Fed pick owes $75,000 in unpaid federal taxes Executive ordersTrump loves to sign them, but they seldom have much effect New F-16s wont change the fundamental balance of capabilities across the strait, nor will it eliminate the threat that China poses to forcibly absorb a democratic Taiwan, said Scott Harold, an associate director of Rand Corp.s Center for Asia Pacific Policy. Taiwan will continue to need to invest in missiles, electronic warfare, mines and other advanced conventional and asymmetric capabilities designed to deter, and if necessary defeat, any Chinese effort to use coercion to compel unification. Rand analysts argued in a 2016 report that Chinas sophisticated short-range ballistic missiles could cut every runway at Taiwans half-dozen main fighter bases and destroy essentially all parked aircraft in a conflict. Any planes that made it in the air could face Chinese pilots flying jets such as the J-20, a fifth-generation stealth fighter considered to be a rival to Lockheeds advanced F-22s and F-35s. Still, the F-16 sale would represent a shift by the U.S., which is obligated to sell arms of a defensive character to Taipei under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. Presidents since Bill Clinton have repeatedly rebuffed Taiwans requests for new fighter jets and other advanced weapons systems that could provoke Beijing, with Barack Obama agreeing in 2011 to merely upgrade its aging F-16 fleet. Tsai said during her visit to Hawaii on Wednesday that a fighter jet deal would greatly enhance our land and air capabilities, strengthen military morale and show to the world the U.S.s commitment to Taiwans defence. The F-16Vs requested by Taiwan are promoted as the worlds most advanced fourth-generation jet, including the latest radar and avionics, even though the original F16 model has been in service for more than 40 years. The aircraft would help the island respond day-to-day incidents such as air space incursions that fall short of open war and mop up data during routine patrols. China, which suspended military exchanges with the U.S. in response to previous sales, protested the F-16 move. The foreign ministry said the country lodged stern representations with U.S. while the defence ministry warned against moves that undercut the contention that the mainland and Taiwan are part of one China. Any words or actions that undermine the one-China policy are tantamount to shaking the foundation of China-U.S. relations, are inconsistent with the fundamental interests of China and the United States and are also extremely dangerous, Senior Colonel Wu Qian said at a briefing Thursday in Beijing. The sale could be calibrated to test Chinas bottom line without breaching it. Xi, the Chinese president, would have to decide whether to risk his trade pact with Trump or even an open conflict between two of the worlds most powerful militaries to prevent the sale of a few dozen jets. The U.S., meanwhile, refused Taiwans request for F-35 fighter jets. Not only would the costly aircraft strain Taiwans defence budget, a deal for Americas most advanced military technology would be more likely to provoke Chinas ire. Its better for us to have F-16s as a first priority, Feng Shih-kuan, who served as defence minister under Tsai until February last year and is now at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research. We wont feel any sadness if we dont get F-35s. Read more about: Some migrant children who travelled alone up to the U.S. border have not been allowed to request asylum despite assurances from federal immigration officials that they prioritize unaccompanied minors. As a result, a backlog of children waiting to ask the U.S. for help has formed in Tijuana with many saying that they were turned away from ports of entry by U.S. and Mexican officials working together. Though asylum seekers have had to line up in Tijuana for their turns to ask the U.S. for protection for well over a year, Customs and Border Protection has said children travelling without adults arent supposed to have to wait in that line because it considers them to be a vulnerable group. Now, at least 50 children are in a line of their own. Many have been waiting for months. Nicole Ramos, an attorney working with Al Otro Lado, a legal services organization that supports migrants in Tijuana, said she first noticed young people having more difficulty getting to U.S. soil in August 2018 when Mexican immigration officials began intercepting migrant children before they reached the port of entry gates guarded by CBP. Some ended up in custody of the National System for Integral Family Development, Mexicos child protective services. Children from countries other than Mexico are often deported after they end up in that agencys custody, Ramos said. Read more: Migrant families overwhelm San Antonio bus stop, shelters Caravan of 40 Salvadoran migrants sets out for US border Mexico braces for new caravan of Central American migrants A representative of the agency could not be reached for comment. Stories of migrant children travelling through Mexico getting caught by immigration officials and sent home have surfaced for years. Under Mexican law, minors cannot travel or leave the country without being accompanied by a legal guardian or parent. Because of the recent interventions from Mexican officials at the ports of entry in Tijuana, some children have ended up staying at shelters around Tijuana, particularly at Casa YMCA, which takes only unaccompanied children. Others ended up homeless in the city, Ramos said. In recent weeks, Ramos said her organization was able to escort children, a few at a time, through the ports of entry to CBP for processing. She prioritized children who she felt were the most vulnerable, such as those who didnt have places to sleep. Volunteers gave the children clothes to make them look like middle-class children heading for a visit to the U.S. rather than migrant youth seeking asylum in order to avoid confrontation with Mexican officials, Ramos said. But on March 21, three children accompanied by Al Otro Lado volunteers were again forced to turn back because of actions by Mexican and U.S. officials, Ramos said. The children and volunteers arrived at Chaparral, the port of entry on the Mexican side that corresponds to San Ysidros PedWest, a little before 7 p.m., Ramos said. An attorney among them spoke with U.S. officials who stood on the other side of a gate on the border between the two countries, informing CBP that the three children one from Mexico, one from Honduras and one from Guatemala were unaccompanied minors seeking protection from the United States. The officials asked the group to stand to one side and wait for a supervisor to come, Ramos said. About 10 minutes later, a Mexican security official told the group to leave, Ramos said. The volunteers told him that theyd been instructed to stand there and wait. One of the volunteers approached CBP again to ask how much longer they would need to wait for the supervisor. An official told them that because they were still in Mexico, they would need to listen to instructions from Mexican officials, Ramos said. The children would have been on U.S. soil but for the fact that CBP officers were preventing them from doing so, Ramos said. After more Mexican officials arrived, telling the group that they would call the police, the boys got scared about getting deported, Ramos said. The group had been at the entry to the U.S. for about an hour, and the CBP supervisor still had not come. In the end, the volunteers took the children back to the shelter where they had been staying in Tijuana. These children are incredibly psychologically damaged from being forced to wait for months in Tijuana and are growing desperate, Ramos said. Many discuss throwing themselves over the wall. It should not be that children must risk their lives because the adults in two governments cannot find it within themselves to act in accordance with federal and international law recognizing the rights of these children to migrate in search of protection. Volunteers escorting minors to the border experienced similar incidents late last year, which led Al Otro Lado to ask for members of Congress to accompany several children to Otay Mesa Port of Entry in December. When asked about incidents of children being turned away at the border, including the one in March, CBP pointed to the numbers of unaccompanied children the agency has processed over the past several months. According to its website, CBP officials along the California border have processed 950 unaccompanied children at ports of entry so far in fiscal 2019. Thats up 62 per cent from the 589 that came to California ports of entry during the comparable time in fiscal 2018. California ports of entry received more unaccompanied children in February, the month in which Ramos said more children were able to cross, than in any other month under the Trump administration. This week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that because of the numbers of families and unaccompanied children arriving, she would divert staff resources from other border security work to manage the arrivals. In a letter to Congress, she called on legislators to make it easier to deport unaccompanied children quickly. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union published a report, along with a complaint to the Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general, finding that unaccompanied children, among other asylum seekers, are being turned away from ports of entry in Texas. Attorney Ramos worries that more children will choose to cross illegally because they are tired of waiting and of being turned back at the ports of entry. A 15-year-old boy from Chiapas, a state in southern Mexico, said hes tried to approach U.S. officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry a number of times. He was ignored, he said. In mid-January, Mexican immigration officials stopped him when he was walking down a long hallway toward the U.S. inside the port and brought him to Casa YMCA. The children staying at the shelter now are afraid to go outside its gates. Several of them knew two Honduran boys who were tortured and killed in Tijuana in December when the boys ventured out of the shelter. Tijuana feels dangerous, a 16-year-old boy from Honduras said in Spanish. I dont want to be here. The children, mostly teenagers, do their best to distract themselves with skateboards, games and educational sessions, but the waiting is hard. Their dreams for the future for some its a career in chemistry or architecture, for others its simply finding a job and learning English are what keep them going. I have a hope that Ill be able to cross, and with Gods guidance, it will turn out well, said a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who came with the caravan. Read more about: RABAT, Morocco - Pope Francis sought Sunday to encourage greater fraternity between Christians and Muslims in Morocco, telling his flock that showing the countrys Muslim majority they are part of the same human family will help stamp out extremism. On his second and final day in Morocco, Francis told Catholic priests and sisters that even though they are few in number, they shouldnt seek to convert others to Christianity but rather engage in dialogue and charity. In this way, you will unmask and lay bare every attempt to exploit differences and ignorance in order to sow fear, hatred and conflict, he said. For we know that fear and hatred, nurtured and manipulated, destabilize our communities and leave them spiritually defenceless. Francis has stressed a message of Christian-Muslim fraternity during his first trip to Morocco, a majority Muslim nation of 36 million. Proselytism is a sensitive topic in religious discourse in the North African nation, even though Christians, Muslims and Jews have coexisted peacefully here for centuries. After reaching out Saturday to Moroccos Sunni majority, Francis turned his attention Sunday to the countrys Christian minority, celebrating a Mass for about 10,000 people representing 60 countries, many of them sub-Saharan African migrants and other foreigners. In his homily, delivered in his native Spanish and translated into French, Francis urged them to resist the temptation to sow division and confrontation and instead remember we are brothers and sisters. Experience tells us that hatred, division and revenge succeed only in killing our peoples soul, poisoning our childrens hopes, and destroying and sweeping away everything we cherish, Francis told the faithful, who gathered in a sports arena in Rabat. Francis aim was to highlight the constructive presence of Christians in Moroccan life and how they are part of its human fabric alongside Muslims and people of other faith. He started his day Sunday by visiting a social centre run by Catholic religious sisters that serves a poor Muslim community south of the capital, Rabat, with medical, educational and vocational services. The Temara centre operates a preschool, treats burn victims, trains women in sewing and provides meals for 150 children a day. Catholic teachings are not taught at the preschool. Their teachers are all Muslims and speak in Arabic and they prepare them on Muslim religion, said sister Gloria Carrillero. We did not come here with the purpose of doing proselytism. We came here just to help. Catholics represent less than 1 per cent of Moroccos population and most are foreign-born migrants. Morocco also has up to 6,000 homegrown converts to Christianity who are obliged to practice their faith privately because Morocco prohibits Muslim conversions. These Moroccan converts often celebrate Masses in their homes and hide their religious affiliations for fear of prosecution and arrest. Yet many flocked to Francis afternoon Mass in a Rabat sports stadium Sunday with the hope that the popes visit would compel Moroccan authorities to be more tolerant of religious diversity. With this visit, we want to tell the pope and the Moroccan society that we are proud to be Christians, said Moroccan Christian Adam Rbati, who was attending the Mass with his Christian wife and newborn son. It might not change much, but it will certainly create the space for future positive change. Francis touched on the issue of religious freedom in his opening speech to King Mohammed VI on Saturday, urging Morocco to move beyond just freedom of worship to true respect for an individuals faith. That is why freedom of conscience and religious freedom which is not limited to freedom of worship alone, but allows all to live in accordance with their religious convictions are inseparably linked to human dignity, he said. In a speech to Catholic priests in the city cathedral Sunday, Francis drew applause when he told them they should not proselytize. The church grows, he said, when people are attracted to its message, witness its charity and engage in dialogue as part of a human family. He called for prayer in the name of this fraternity, torn apart by the policies of extremism and division, by systems of unrestrained profit or by hateful ideological tendencies, which manipulate the actions and the future of men and women. Among the priests on the altar to greet the pope was the Rev. Jean-Pierre Schumacher, the last survivor of the Tibhirine monks. Schumacher and his brother monks had decided to stay in their monastery in Tibhirine, Algeria, alongside locals during the countrys civil war, despite the threats against them. Seven monks were abducted and beheaded in 1996, their skulls discovered nearby. A radical group was blamed for their beheadings, but some observers have suggested that Algerias military was responsible. Francis kissed Schumachers hand in a sign of respect, and the stooped 95-year-old priest reciprocated. Last year, the seven monks and 12 other religious sisters and Catholics killed during Algerias civil war were beatified in Algiers. TUNIS, Tunisia - The Arab League rejected the U.S. recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights and other Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel at an annual summit on Sunday, showcasing unity on one of the few issues that unites the regional bloc. Arab leaders also reiterated their commitment to resolving the conflict based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, in which they would recognize Israel in return for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, lands occupied in the 1967 war. This years Arab League summit, held in Tunisia, comes against a grim backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algerias President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudans President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Syria, a founding member, was expelled in 2011 during the early days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Representatives from the 22-member league minus Syria jointly condemned President Donald Trumps recognition of Israels annexation of the Golan Heights and his decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. In their final statement after the daylong summit, the leaders affirmed that the Golan, a strategic plateau once used to shell northern Israel, is Syrias occupied territory. At the opening of the summit, King Salman said Saudi Arabia absolutely rejects any measures undermining Syrias sovereignty over the Golan Heights and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. He added that Irans meddling was to blame for instability in the region. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and back opposing groups in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. Calling the meeting the summit of resolve and solidarity, Host-country Tunisias President Beji Caid Essebsi decried regional and international interventions in Arab affairs. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Iran and Turkey have worsened some crises and created new problems, calling on Arab leaders to unite as one force under one umbrella against the regional interventions. One of the few things that have united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israels occupation of the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories that the Palestinians want for their future state. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognizing Israels 1981 annexation of the Golan earlier this month. U.S. officials say both moves recognize reality on the ground and contribute to Israels security. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia condemned those policies but did not announce any further action. Thats in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both face Western pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemens Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. In Syria, small protests against Trumps Golan move were held and state media criticized the Arab summit. The Golan is not awaiting support from the Arabs, and not a statement to condemn what Trump has done, the Thawra newspaper said in an editorial that accused Arab leaders of taking their orders from the U.S. and Israel. The Arab League had been expected to consider readmitting Syria, but there was no reference to the subject in the final statement. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have voiced support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. Some countries were represented by their heads of state on Sunday, while others sent lower-level delegations. The UAE sent the lesser-known Fujairah ruler Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi rather than the powerful Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed or Dubais ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the meeting, along with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki. Guterres reiterated international support for an Israeli and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, and with Jerusalem as capital of both states. There is no Plan B: without two states, there is no solution, he said. In a rare sign of easing tensions, King Salman and Qatars emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, sat at the same sprawling table at Sundays opening session. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Dohas ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. But Qatars emir left the summit after the opening session and did not address the summit or attend the closed-door meeting later in the day, according to Qatars state-run news agency. It did not give a reason for his early departure. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb In Beirut contributed to this report. BENI, Congo - Voters who were not given the chance to take part in Congos presidential election because of the Ebola epidemic and violence cast legislative ballots Sunday amid continuing resentment. Residents in eastern Congos cities of Beni and Butembo were not included in the January presidential vote. At the time government officials said the decision was made because of Ebola, although the current outbreak remains a threat, with the number of cases still increasing this past week. Voters had to wash their hands before entering polling stations Sunday in an effort to prevent disease transmission. Ebola, a highly deadly virus, is transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of sick people. Malikidogo Kathembo, a 48-year-old farmer, cast his ballot in Beni for national and regional legislatures though he remains upset about what happened in January. Kathembo remains skeptical about the reason given for preventing the people of Beni from voting in the presidential election. We voted today in spite of Ebola so why did they refuse (in January) to let us vote? he asked. I think it was a political move to block us out. Polling stations also were open in Butembo, now the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic that is now the second deadliest in history with more than 1,000 deaths. And voters could take part Sunday as well in Yumbi, where the January vote was called off because of intercommunal violence. The decision to cancel the presidential elections in areas hit by Ebola only further deepened the suspicion that the epidemic was being used for political or financial gain, observers say. Health workers have struggled to get sick people to seek treatment in health centres, resulting in those with Ebola infecting others as a result. A study published last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal found that one-fourth of the people surveyed back in September in Beni and Butembo believed Ebola wasnt real. ___ Associated Press writers Saleh Mwanamilongo in New York and Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report. MANAGUA, Nicaragua - An opposition group said that Nicaraguan police arrested several anti-government demonstrators and that three were wounded by gunfire on Saturday, just a day after official negotiators promised to release people detained in earlier protests and to permit demonstrations. Haydee Castillo, part of the leadership of the National White and Blue Union, said riot police arrested 10 peaceful demonstrators at a shopping centre and said at least three protesters were hit by gunfire as they tried to flee from police. She said another protester was arrested in the city of Leon. The National Police did not report the number arrested, but said violent groups disturbed public order and later attacked an armed man it said was the victim of an attempted lynching. A day earlier, negotiators for President Daniel Ortega signed agreements with the Civic Alliance opposition coalition ratifying commitments to release and drop charges against hundreds of people considered political prisoners by the opposition. They also promised freedom to demonstrate following months in which even small protests have often been broken up by police. The Civic Alliance issued a statement saying the government violated the agreement with Saturdays new arrests and several Catholic Church leaders denounced the action. It is outrageous that once again in Nicaragua police and violent civilians attack, arrest and injure civilians who are demonstrating peacefully, said Silvio Baez, the auxiliary bishop of Managua. The opposition says more than 640 people are being held for political causes, jailed in protests that broke out in April against Ortegas government. The Inter-American Human Rights Commission says 325 people have died in the protests and more than 50,000 have fled the country. BOGOTA - Police in Colombias second-largest city have arrested a California man for allegedly offering cash over Facebook to girls as young as 13 in exchange for sexual acts. The chief prosecutors office released Sunday a video showing Thomas Renno being handcuffed after arriving to the city of Medellin from San Francisco. He was making his seventh trip to Colombia since 2017, during which time he is believed to have victimized several minors. According to investigators, Renno allegedly used three Facebook profiles to contact girls and offer them up to $100 to accede to his propositions. He also used the social network to share explicit photos and pornographic material. Phone messages left at what is believed to be Rennos home in Fairfax, California were not returned. Renno had legal residency in Colombia. HONG KONG - Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over proposed changes to Hong Kongs extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China, where they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. They say the move would harm the Asian financial hubs attractiveness to international business. Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territorys handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights. However, changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance would expand the scope for the transfer of criminal suspects to China and remove the legislatures right to scrutinize individual extradition decisions filed by Hong Kongs chief executive. These amendments would heighten the risk for human rights activists and others critical of China being extradited to the mainland for trial on fabricated charges, Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Sunday. The amendments would tarnish Hong Kongs reputation for the rule of law, and should be scrapped, Richardson said, adding that the legal changes would put Hong Kong people at risk of torture and unfair trials. Those concerns were reflected in a letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam authored by Human Rights Watch along with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the local branch of Amnesty International. The groups warned that fear of extradition to China which routinely uses trumped-up charges of tax evasion or other economic crimes to punish political critics could stifle civil society and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, where civil liberties are already under assault from pro-Beijing groups. In recent years, several people connected with a Hong Kong publishing house that produced unflattering books on mainland Chinese leaders have appeared in Chinese police custody after apparently being abducted, along with a prominent business person wanted on the mainland. Unlike China, Hong Kong is subject to the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as customary international law, which prohibit returning people to places where there is a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, and other serious human rights violations, the letter said. Separately, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued a letter saying its members continue to have serious concerns about the proposed changes, saying they would reduce the appeal of Hong Kong to international companies considering Hong Kong as a base for regional operations. Hong Kongs international reputation for the rule of law is its priceless treasure, said the letter. ___ Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report. Boeing Co. expects to soon have a software fix to the problem believed to have caused two of its 737 Max planes to plunge into deadly nose-down crashes in the past five months. But beyond solving the software glitch, troubling questions remain about the Federal Aviation Administration's ability to regulate safety of the airline manufacturers. At issue is the FAA's practice of relying on aircraft makers to essentially certify their own planes for flight. Currently, airline manufacturers perform the safety tests and inspections, while the FAA oversees their work. During a Senate hearing last week, FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell defended a program that allows manufacturers to certify their own products, telling lawmakers it has resulted in safe aircraft designs. The program known as Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) saves time and money: Elwell said the agency would need 10,000 more employees and an additional $1.8 billion a year to complete the work now done by designated airline industry employees. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said at the hearing that leaving the airlines in charge of safety puts "the fox in charge of the henhouse," and promised to introduce legislation to change the system. Blumenthal said the FAA's decision to do safety on the cheap is "neither safe nor cheap." Outsourcing the safety certification to the airline manufacturers stretches back decades. During that time, the safety record of Boeing and Airbus the two dominant airline makers has been strong. But questions have been raised repeatedly about the cozy relationship between the FAA and the airline manufacturers. The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general released an audit in 2011 that flagged the FAA's oversight of the ODA program in which the manufacturers handled 90 percent of the safety certifications. The audit said the FAA needed to improve its oversight, including better monitoring and training of agency workers. In 2012, the Transportation Department's watchdog found FAA employees complained their managers had "too close a relationship with Boeing officials," and that agency bosses did not always back efforts to hold the manufacturers accountable. A 2015 audit by the inspector general found the FAA lacked adequate staffing to oversee the ODA program. In the case of the 737 Max planes, Boeing rushed to develop a fuel-efficient jet to compete with a new Airbus model announced in 2010. An engineer who worked on the 737 Max project told the New York Times the timeline to develop the plane was "extremely compressed," adding "it was go, go, go." The Seattle Times reported Boeing's original safety analysis for a new flight control system on the Max 737 contained crucial flaws. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao requested the inspector general conduct an audit to see how the 737 Max was certified. Federal prosecutors also are investigating the plane's development. The FAA was slow to ground the 737 Max after the two crashes, following the lead of other countries and raising questions about pressure from Boeing. Going forward, the FAA must take steps to ensure independence and safety are its top priorities. The above editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. HERAT, Afghanistan - Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syrias civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from home. He was one of tens of thousands of Afghans recruited, paid and trained by Iran to fight in support of Tehrans ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. There, he found himself thrown into one of the wars bloodiest front lines, surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, under fire from Islamic militants so close he could hear their shouts of Allahu akbar (God is greatest) before each mortar blast. Iran ran an extensive drive to bring Shiites from across the region and create a network of militias to help save Assad from the uprising against his rule not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces. Mehdi and other soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistans impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning to their homeland, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehrans influence amid Afghanistans unending conflicts. Here in Afghanistan we are afraid. They say we are all terrorists, said Mehdi, now 21 and back in his home city of Herat. He spoke on condition he not be fully identified for fear of retaliation. He wouldnt meet The Associated Press at home or in public only in a car parked in a remote, mostly Shiite neighbourhood. Even there, Mehdi kept his face obscured with a scarf, glancing suspiciously at every passing car. Afghan veterans returning from Syria are threatened from multiple sides. They face arrest by security agencies that view them as traitors. And they face violence from the brutal Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, which views Shiites as heretics and vows to kill them. Last May, IS gunmen burst into Herats Jawadia Shiite mosque, opening fire and setting off their suicide belt explosives among worshippers, killing 38 people. Just knowing people who fought in Syria can land someone in jail, said a local elder in a village near Herat. He spoke on condition of anonymity for that reason. Eight men from his village were killed fighting in Syria, but there are no graves for them here. All were buried in Iran, he said. Iran intensified its role in Syria when Assad appeared to be losing the fight against rebels in 2013 and 2014. Tehran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guard troops and began bringing in allied militias. The most well-known and most powerful was Lebanons Hezbollah. But the largest was the force made up of Afghans, known as the Fatimiyoun Brigade, which experts have estimated numbered up to 15,000 fighters at any one time. Over the years, tens of thousands of Afghans likely trained and fought in it. Most of them are from Afghanistans ethnic Hazara minority, who are among the countrys poorest. Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan, says a senior official in Afghanistans Interior Ministry who is familiar with government intelligence. The official was not authorized to brief reporters and so spoke on condition of anonymity. The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more to assert its influence in Afghanistan, particularly as the United States accelerates its efforts to end its nearly 18-year military intervention. Expect the Iranians to reconstitute their militias inside Afghanistan at some point, warned Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, a site devoted to coverage of the U.S. war on terror. Iran does not discard assets in which it invests time, treasure and expertise. Afghanistan is already tormented by an overabundance of armed groups, many divided on ethnic lines. They include militias loyal to several warlords, who are aligned with the government but often at odds with each other. There are also the Sunni militants: Taliban insurgents rule in nearly half the country, and the Islamic State affiliate has proven to be a stubborn enemy, even in the face of relentless U.S. bombing raids. All those factions could turn their massive arsenals on each other after a U.S. and NATO withdrawal. It has happened before. In the early 1990s, factions of the U.S.-backed mujahedeen who took power after the Soviet withdrawal turned on each other in fighting that levelled large parts of the capital, Kabul, and killed an estimated 50,000 people. Iran will likely seize on any turmoil to mobilize the Fatimiyoun with the very real pretext that Afghan Shiites need a defender, said Michael Kugelman, Asia Program deputy director at the Washington-based Wilson Center. If Afghanistan is plunged into more unrest, the Iranians would have a strong motivation to help a Shia force that would face intensified threats from the Taliban and especially ISIS, he said, using an alternate abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Iran is already supporting Syria war veterans living in Kabul and in central Afghanistans Hazara-dominated region of Bamiyan, said the Interior Ministry official. He said Afghan intelligence agencies have identified senior Iranian government officials who are managing the activities of returning fighters, including providing them arms and money and building a structure for quick re-mobilization if needed. Afghan warlord Abdul Gani Alipur, an ethnic Hazara, is also implicated in aiding Iran, he said. Alipur was arrested late last year on charges of having an illegal militia, but he was released after thousands of Hazaras protested. Most of those who joined the Fatimiyoun Brigade were driven by hopelessness and poverty, not loyalty to Iran, said Reza Kasimi, a researcher with the independent Kabul-based research group, Afghanistan Analysts Network. The first thing is that most of these people dont see a future for themselves in Afghanistan, he said. When Mehdi went to Iran in 2015, he worked, mostly on construction sites, to earn enough money to make a run for Europe. But by the time he did, Europes borders had closed. I was very disappointed. I had come to Iran to go to Europe, to study, to have a better life, but I was still there, with nothing, Mehdi said. An Afghan friend suggested they enlist for Syria. As a fighter for Iran, they could earn the equivalent of $900 a month. At the time Mehdi was making barely $150 a month. I thought about it and I made my heart strong, like a raging river, Mehdi said. I decided, Live or die, Ill go. They reported to a recruitment centre in Tehran. There, officials gathered his personal details the names of his parents and relatives and the street where he lived in Herat. I understood they wanted all that information if I died, he said. He and other Afghan recruits were flown the next day to Irans southern Yazd province, where they underwent 27 days of training under the Revolutionary Guard. Mehdis marksmanship impressed the trainers, and he was made a sniper. When it was over, Mehdi was flown to Damascus with around 1,600 other new recruits. In Damascus, the recruits opened bank accounts where their salary would be deposited. They were taken to the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, a site outside Damascus revered by Shiites, for final blessings before battle. The next day, they were taken by bus to the northern city of Aleppo and sent immediately to the front. There, Mehdi was thrown into one of the fiercest battles of the war a campaign that began in the spring of 2016 against Islamic militant factions, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, over the town of Khan Toman and nearby villages on Aleppos edge. It was a fight that showed the international nature of the war. Among the militants were Syrians, Iraqis, Chechens, Turkmens, Uzbeks and other foreign jihadis; on the other side were Syrian government troops, Iranian soldiers, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiites and Afghans, backed by Russian warplanes all battling for a piece of Syrian land. The fighting went on for months and it is estimated hundreds on both sides were killed or wounded. On a single day, militants killed an estimated 80 pro-government fighters, including at least 13 Iranians and dozens of Afghans, Iraqis and Lebanese. In the end, the militants held Khan Toman, as they do to this day. Mehdi described terrifying bloodshed. He said in one battle, 800 Afghans were sent to the front line and only 200 returned alive and unwounded. Often in the morning I saw seven, eight dead bodies. he said. For the first couple of days I was very scared. The explosions were so loud. Another Afghan veteran of the same battle, Abdullah, said he still has nightmares of the dead, their limbs missing. He said the Afghans were sent as cannon fodder. I saw Afghan fighters rolled over by tanks the way someone steps on ants, he told the AP in Kabul. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere. Mehdi returned to Afghanistan a year ago, and his life has changed little from when he left. He remains poor and unable to find a job. After nearly 18 years and more than $1 trillion spent by the United States, Afghans are only getting poorer. According to a 2016-17 Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey, co-sponsored by the European Union, 55 per cent of Afghans live below the poverty level, compared to 38 per cent in 2011-12. Mehdi spoke bitterly of his lack of options. Hes considering re-enlisting for Syria. The brigade is still operating there, and some Afghan veterans stayed in Syria to find jobs, mostly in construction. I dont know what my future brings, he said. Maybe I become a thief or maybe I go back to Syria. ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report. TOKYO - North Korea said Sunday it wants an investigation into a raid on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a grave terrorist attack and an act of extortion that violates international law. The incident occurred ahead of President Donald Trumps second summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. A mysterious group calling for the overthrow of the North Korean regime has claimed responsibility. The Norths official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that an illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and an act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated. He claimed an armed group tortured the staff and suggested they stole communications gear. The 10 people who allegedly raided the embassy in Madrid belong to a mysterious dissident organization that styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty. The leader of the alleged intruders appears to be a Yale-educated human rights activist who was once jailed in China while trying to rescue North Korean defectors living in hiding, according to activists and defectors. Details have begun trickling out about the raid after a Spanish judge lifted a secrecy order last week and said an investigation of what happened on Feb. 22 uncovered evidence that a criminal organization shackled and gagged embassy staff before escaping with computers, hard drives and documents. A U.S. official said the group is named Cheollima Civil Defence, a little-known organization that recently called for international solidarity in the fight against North Koreas government. Spain has issued at least two international arrest warrants for members of the group. ___ Talmadge has been the APs Pyongyang bureau chief since 2013. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @EricTalmadge KIEV, Ukraine - The Latest on Ukraines presidential election (all times local): 11:10 p.m. Ukraines central elections commission says nearly 64 per cent of the countrys registered voters took part in the presidential election. Only fragmentary results from the election had been reported three hours after the polls closed. Full preliminary results are expected to be announced on Monday morning. Exit polls indicated that Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a television comedian without previous political experience, would lead with about 30 per cent of the vote, well short of the absolute majority to win in the first round. Most exit polls showed incumbent Petro Poroshenko in second place, meaning he would face Zelenskiy in a second round on April 21. No voting was held in the parts of eastern Ukraine under the control of Russia-backed separatist rebels or in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. ___ 9:25 p.m. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says his apparent poor performance in the countrys presidential election is sobering. Most exit polls show Poroshenko trailing in second place behind comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy with support of 20 per cent or less. That would be enough to put him into a runoff with Zelenskiy on April 21. Poroshenko has said at a news conference after the polls closed that I dont feel any kind of euphoria. I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities. ___ 9:15 p.m. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the comedian whom exit polls show leading Ukraines presidential election, says he has made a major step toward victory. Exit polls indicated Zelenskiy would get about 30 per cent of the vote, far short of the absolute majority needed to win the first round. Most exit polls said incumbent Petro Poroshenko received the second-biggest support, which would put him and Zelenskiy in a runoff on April 21. Zelenskiy told journalists after the polls closed that this is only the first step toward a great victory. He denied that his campaign would co-ordinate with the forces of any of the other 37 candidates on the first-round ballot. He said that we are young people. We dont want to see all of the past in our future. ___ 8:55 p.m. Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko is disputing several exit polls that showed her failing to get enough support in Sundays election to qualify for a runoff. Several exit polls showed comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy and incumbent Petro Poroshenko as the top two vote-getters. The polls indicated Zelenskiy would get about 30 per cent of the votes, ahead of Poroshenko but far away from the 50 per cent needed to win in the first round. However, Tymoshenkos campaign staff said its own exit polling showed her in second place. At a news conference after the polls closed, Tymoshenko called on her supporters to head to polling stations to ensure an honest count. ___ 8:10 p.m. An exit poll shows comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the lead in Ukraines presidential election but his support is well short of the majority needed to win in the first round. The exit poll released Sunday after voting stations closed indicated that Zelenskiy received about 30.4 per cent of the nationwide vote, followed by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 17.8 per cent and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with 14.2 per cent support. The poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov Center public opinion organization was based on nearly 18,000 responses to questioning at some 400 polling places as of 6 p.m., two hours before the polls closed. The poll claims a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. A runoff between the top two candidates in the race will take place on April 21. ___ 6:40 p.m. Ukrainian police say they have received more than 1,600 complaints about electoral violations in the presidential election. A statement Sunday by Ukraines Interior Ministry on Facebook said the complaints had been received by 6 p.m., two hours before polling stations were to close. It said the reported violations included unauthorized campaigning at polling stations, attempts to bribe voters and removal of ballots. Opinion polls have shown Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, leading a field of 39 candidates in the presidential race. The polls also had Zelenskiy outpacing incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the other top candidates, by a broad margin ___ 3:15 p.m. Ukrainian citizens living in Poland are lining up to vote in their countrys presidential election. It is the first Ukrainian election since the arrival in recent years of large numbers of Ukrainian workers and students seeking higher wages and better opportunities in the neighbouring European Union country. People lined up at the embassy in Warsaw and at three other consular points across Poland on Sunday and cast their ballots, choosing from a field of 39 candidates. Igor Isajew, editor of a news portal for Ukrainians in Poland, PROstir.pl, said that many other Ukrainians in Poland remain unable to vote because they live too far from the polling stations. While there are no opinion polls tapping into the views of Ukrainians in Poland, Isajew sees signs that a higher percentage of Ukrainians in Poland than in Ukraine favour incumbent Petro Poroshenko due to his pro-European credentials, despite corruption allegations. ___ 7 a.m. Voters in Ukraine are casting ballots in a presidential election after a campaign that produced a comedian with no political experience as the front-runner and allegations of voter bribery. Opinion polls have shown Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, leading a field of 39 candidates. The polls also had Zelenskiy outpacing incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the other top candidates, by a broad margin. Voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, cast her ballot for the comedian. She says Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like. If no candidate secures an absolute majority of Sundays vote, a runoff between the two top finishers would be held April 21. WARSAW, Poland - An American visitor to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp attempted to steal a metal part of the historic rail tracks where prisoners were unloaded, officials said Sunday. The 37-year-old man has been charged with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance, according to Malgorzata Jurecka, a police spokeswoman in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim, which was under German occupation during World War II. The crime can be punished with up to 10 years in prison. Jurecka said the man admitted his guilt but has been released as he awaits further steps. Pawel Sawicki, a spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum, said the memorial museums security team became aware that the man was trying to remove the metal element on the historic rail tracks and then alerted police. The memorial site has faced multiple attempts of theft and vandalism in recent years. The most dramatic case was the 2009 theft of the sign with the Nazi slogan Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Will Set You Free) at the death camps main gate. It was found cut into pieces and was eventually repaired and stored in a safe place. A replica is now in its place. Some 1.1 million people were killed during World War II at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious of Nazi Germanys death camps. Most of the victims were Jews but many Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs and others were also killed there. BEIRUT - A Turkish soldier was killed in a mortar attack on Sunday near the northern Syrian town of Afrin, the Turkish ministry of defence said, blaming the attack on terrorists and responding with a barrage of shelling. The ministry said another soldier was wounded in the attack, and that Turkish forces had struck back against terrorist targets. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said Turkey shelled at least three villages north of the town of Afrin, mainly causing material damage. Turkey and allied Syrian fighters took control of Afrin last year, expelling local Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers terrorists. The Turkish takeover set off a series of attacks against Turkeys presence in the originally Kurdish-dominated areas. The Observatory said at least 140 Turkish shells hit the villages. The area north of Afrin is controlled by the Syrian government, but Kurdish militia fighters have maintained some presence there. The Kurdish-run Hawar news agency also reported the shelling but gave no details on casualties. COLUMBIA, S.C. - Police arrested a man Saturday in connection with the death of a college student who apparently got into the suspects car thinking it was her Uber ride. Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was arrested early Saturday after a police officer noticed him driving a black Chevy Impala, the same type of car that Samantha Josephson got into as she left a bar shortly after 2 a.m. Friday in the city of Columbias 5 Points area, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a news conference. Rowland tried to run, but the officer was able to catch up to him, Holbrook said. When they returned to the car, he said, the officer saw what appeared to be blood in the car. We believe ... that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride, Holbrook said of Josephson, noting that surveillance video captured her getting into the car. She opened the door and got into it and departed with the suspect driving. Rowland will be charged with murder and kidnapping, Rowland said. It was unclear if he had an attorney. Holbrook said hunters found Josephsons body late Friday afternoon off a dirt road in rural Clarendon County, which is about 65 miles (105 kilometres) southeast of Columbia. LOS ANGELES - The Latest on the 50th annual NAACP Image Awards presented Saturday in Los Angeles (all times local): 8:30 p.m. Beyonce was named entertainer of the year at the 50th annual NAACP Image Awards ceremony that highlighted works by entertainers and writers of colour. After Beyonce accepted the award Saturday night at the Dolby Theatre, the superstar paid homage to the people who were nominated in the same category as her. She beat out LeBron James, Regina King, Chadwick Boseman and Ryan Coogler. Beyonce released a joint album last year with her husband, Jay-Z, called Everything is Love. The prolific singer also paid tribute to historically black colleges and universities, as well as the dance troupes and step teams at HBCUs during her groundbreaking two-hour Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance. She also performed Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is known as the national black anthem, at the festival and donated $100,000 to four black universities shortly after her performance. ___ 8:15 p.m. Black Panther was awarded for best motion picture at the 50th annual NAACP Image Awards. The Marvel blockbuster hit beat out BlacKkKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, If Beale Street Could Talk and The Hate U Give on Saturday night at the Dolby Theatre. The superhero film was a box-office hit domestically and a cultural phenomenon. It earned $700 million domestically during it theatrical run. Black Panther won several other awards, including best actor in a motion picture (Chadwick Boseman), supporting actor in a motion picture (Michael B. Jordan) and directing in a motion picture (Ryan Coogler). ___ 8 p.m. Jay-Z received the Presidents Award for the rappers public service achievements at the 50th annual NAACP Image Awards. The rapper quoted Abraham Lincoln after he accepted his award Saturday night at the Dolby Theatre. He then dedicated his trophy to his 93-year-old grandmother Hattie White, saying Shes so full of life. Jay-Z also paid homage to women in his life including his wife, Beyonce, who smiled while her husband made his speech. Jay-Z was recognized for his achievements through his Shawn Carter Foundation and serving as co-founder of the REFORM Alliance. He executive-produced the documentaries Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story and Time: The Kalief Browder Story along with an animated documentary short called The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail, which highlighted the unfavourable treatment of black and Latino people when it comes to drug-related crimes. ___ 6 p.m. The 50th annual NAACP Image Awards have kicked off at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. Anthony Anderson returned as host of the show honouring entertainers and writers of colour on Saturday. He opened the awards speaking about black excellence in film, hoping his behaviour doesnt get him removed as host and made several jokes including one about Kanye West not being invited to cookouts. The awards ceremony is airing live on TV One. Donald Glover, Beyonce and Black Panther will be honoured and vie for awards in a night where Jay-Z will receive the Presidents Award for his public service achievements. Glover is nominated for acting and directing on Atlanta, which is up for best comedy series. Glovers alter-ego, Childish Gambino, is nominated for top male performer, and his song This is America is nominated for best video and song. ___ 11:31 a.m. The NAACP will celebrate its 50th Image Awards by paying homage to stars including Donald Glover, Beyonce and the film Black Panther. Anthony Anderson returns as host of the show honouring entertainers and writers of colour at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday evening. It airs live on TV One. Glover is nominated for acting and directing on Atlanta, which is up for best comedy series. Glovers alter-ego Childish Gambino is nominated for top male performer and his song This is America is nominated for best video and song. Black Panther is nominated for 14 awards, with star Chadwick Boseman and director Ryan Coogler contending for entertainer of the year along with Beyonce, LeBron James and Regina King. One nominee whos not planning to attend is embattled Empire actor Jussie Smollett. ATLANTA - Authorities say a police officer fatally shot a man who showed a gun while being chased in woods in Atlanta. Atlanta Police told news outlets the officer was flagged down by someone who heard gunshots around a strip club about 1 a.m. Sunday near Interstate 85 in southwest Atlanta. Police say the officer found the man, who ran into the woods. Authorities say the officer fired his weapon after he saw a gun in the mans hands. The identities of the man killed and the officer have not been released. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating. HARTFORD, Conn. - Some state lawmakers and business leaders hope this could be the year to better promote Connecticut as a tourist destination following years of tight budgets. Ideas include overhauling the states slogan, Connecticut: Still Revolutionary; devoting more of the state hotel tax to tourism promotional efforts; improving signage for attractions; creating a five-year strategic tourism plan; and reopening welcome centres or expanding their hours. Advocates contend the state is losing out to other states in the battle for much-needed tourism dollars. I think theres a lot of bipartisan support for improving our tourism marketing and for better supporting our tourism industry across the state, said Rep. Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the General Assemblys Commerce Committee. I think unfortunately its come down to our difficult budget deficits. Simmons committee recently advanced wide-ranging legislation aimed at boosting the tourism industry in Connecticut, including the states promotional efforts. Were getting crushed by other states for marketing, she said. A 2018 Tourism Marketing Review , released in January by the Connecticut Office of Tourism, shows Connecticuts budget is vastly outpaced by the seven nearest states, which are spending a combined total of $114 million on tourism marketing to reach similar target audiences. Connecticut is currently spending more than $4 million a year, while Rhode Island is spending $5.5 million; Massachusetts $10 million and New York $70 million. Only Vermont is spending less in the region, at approximately $3.1 million a year, according to the report. Various entities, ranging from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Tourism a group of industry leaders led by Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz of Berlin to the tourism policy committee that advised Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont during his transition, have called for greater investment in tourism promotion. Theyve also called for transferring 25 per cent of state hotel tax revenue to the states tourism account, compared to the current 10 per cent. That would bring tourism marketing to pre-recession levels of about $31.6 million, according to Lamonts advisers. Unfortunately, it appears that we have lost our way in promoting and benefiting from this economic generator, wrote Ed Dombroskas, the former executive director of the Connecticut Office of Tourism and a member of Aresimowiczs commission, in written testimony to state lawmakers. Instead of expanding, recent statistics show our tourism economy is declining. A series of unfortunate decisions have had the effect of communicating to potential visitors from out of state and across the country and world that we are not interested in welcoming guests and businesses. A former businessman, Lamont has voiced support for the states tourism industry, which is linked to about 80,000 jobs in Connecticut. He has also appeared somewhat receptive to spending more money on tourism promotion. Lamonts proposed budget transferred $250,000 from the now-shuttered Connecticut Open tennis tournament to the statewide tourism marketing account, for a combined total of about $4.4 million a year. But the new governors two-year, $43 billion plan still transfers only 10 per cent of hotel tax revenues to tourism, even though it increases the states hotel occupancy tax rate from 15 per cent to 17 per cent a move opposed by the Connecticut Lodging Association, which notes Connecticut already has the highest state hotel tax in the region. To increase, would only push visitors to neighbouring states and result in loss of revenue, the association warned in written testimony. Aresimowicz, who supports a greater focus on tourism, said last week that it remains unclear whether more revenue from the hotel tax will be shifted to tourism this year. Its just what can we manage as we work through the priorities, he said, referring to upcoming budget negotiations. It will be considered. WASHINGTON - The Latest on former Vice-President Joe Biden (all times local): 4:20 p.m. Former Vice-President Joe Biden is defending his interactions with women, saying he doesnt believe hes ever acted inappropriately. But a Nevada politicians assertion that Bidens kiss on the back of her head in 2014 made her feel uncomfortable has prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign. In a statement on Sunday, Biden said it was never his intention to make women feel discomfort. The woman, Lucy Flores, wrote about the encounter for New York Magazine. Flores tells The Associated Press that she had been mulling coming forward for years. She says the tipping point for her was Bidens meeting in March with 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. ___ 9:45 a.m. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway is criticizing former Vice-President Joe Biden after a former Nevada state legislator alleged he inappropriately kissed her on the back of her head in 2014. Conway described the woman, Lucy Flores, as quite bold to go against the highest levels of her political party with the allegations and said Biden now has a big problem. Biden, a Democrat, is considering running for president in 2020. Conway tells Fox News Sunday that quote, He calls it affection and handshakes. His party calls it completely inappropriate. Conway suggested that Biden should consider apologizing to Flores. Flores, who was Nevadas Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, wrote in New York Magazine that she felt uncomfortable with her interactions with Biden. ___ 9:30 a.m. Former Vice-President Joe Biden says he doesnt believe he ever acted inappropriately toward women but will listen respectfully to suggestions he did. Biden, who is deciding whether to join the 2020 presidential race, faces allegations from a Nevada political candidate that he kissed her on the back of the head in 2014 and made her uncomfortable. In a new statement released Sunday, Biden says: In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once never did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention. The allegation was made by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor. Korean Air should improve transparency, corporate values Korean Air CEO and Chairman Cho Yang-ho suffered a setback Wednesday as shareholders of the country's largest airline firm failed to support his reappointment bid as an executive director. This marked the first time any chaebol chief has been ousted in a shareholder vote. The shareholders' action should thus serve as a stern warning to Cho who has been accused of doing nothing to enhance corporate value or protect stakeholders' rights. He is also facing allegations of dodging inheritance tax and embezzling company funds. To add insult to injury, Cho's wife has come under investigation for assaulting employees and hiring foreign housekeepers illegally. His two daughters have also invited public ire by abusing employees. His oldest daughter, Heather Cho, earned an ill reputation for the infamous "nut rage" incident in 2014 when she was serving as an executive vice president of Korean Air. Last year, Cho's other daughter grabbed the headlines with her alleged violence toward company staff and others. Simply put, the shareholders turned their backs on the Cho family for their arrogant and spoiled behavior which has not only tainted the image of the national flag carrier but also undermined the company's governance structure. Their refusal to approve Cho's reappointment has set an unprecedented example. It sends a clear message: Any incompetent and exploitative chaebol owners should step down. For this reason, some pundits and market watchers called the shareholders' action a revolt against chaebol. It can also be compared to an economic version of the "Candlelit Revolution" that led to the ouster of the incompetent and corrupt former President Park Geun-hye. In this sense, the vote against Cho represents a victory for shareholders who no longer want to play the role of rubber stamp. It is a direct result of shareholder activism. The National Pension Service, the second-largest shareholder in Korean Air, deserves praise for standing up to the chaebol CEO. The NPS joined hands with small shareholders as well as foreign investors including pension funds from the U.S. and Canada. Local civic groups such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy also waged a campaign against the Cho family. Now the case should be a starting point for the reform of Korean Air as well as other family-controlled chaebol. Cho should step down and let professional managers and executives take over management, as he cannot save the troubled airline and Hanjin Group. He should take decisive action to separate ownership and management to improve transparency and accountability. The NPS, the world third-largest pension fund operator with 664 trillion won ($575 billion) in assets, needs to play a greater role by actively exercising its voting rights and participating in companies' decision-making procedures. For this, it should make the best of the so-called stewardship code to better protect the interests of all shareholders and offer a stable return to its subscribers. In addition, the Korean Air case should give an impetus for the Moon Jae-in government's chaebol reform that seeks to remedy the concentration of economic power in the hands of a small number of owner families. It is urgent to create a level playing field to allow all players, big and small, equal opportunities. In oh-so-pricey New York, a one-night stay at a Courtyard by Marriott can cost north of $1,000 during peak periods such as New Year's Eve. If you're seeking some semblance of smart design or luxury, good luck finding a halfway-decent room for under $500 a night. But after years of pushback from developers dead-set on maximizing per-room revenues, hoteliers are finding a new way to offer more bang for travelers' bucks all across Manhattan - whether they're looking to pay $200 a night or $2,000. New brands such as Sister City, a spinoff of the hyper-successful Ace Hotels, and Equinox, with its fitness-first concept, are being incubated in Manhattan's fastest-evolving corners, from the Lower East Side to Hudson Yards. Other upstarts are offering edgy design schemes and starter rates on par with Holiday Inns. Meanwhile, rarified brands Six Senses and Aman will soon push the city's standards of luxury to even higher planes when they make their U.S. and east coast debuts. The variety of these openings is alone noteworthy; their volume is practically unprecedented. Getting there hasn't been easy. You can thank land values and density-related zoning rules for that, says leading hotel consultant Bjorn Hanson. Developer Mitchell Hochberg, president of Lightstone Group, the force behind 165 hotels in the U.S., says those two barriers to entry have raised building costs in the city to $1 million per room. The end result is expensive, bland, shiny boxes with a handful of notable outliers. (Among the ones we love are socialite havens the Mark and the Carlyle, and swish newcomers such as the Baccarat, the Whitby, and Four Seasons Downtown, with its Calatrava station views.) In short, New York's hotel scene has long struggled to feel as innovative as the city around it. Not anymore. Two main factors are changing the economics - and thus, the offerings - of hotels in New York. The soft real estate market, for one thing, has residential developers partnering with ultra-luxury hotel brands. Four Seasons' chief executive Alan Smith said at a travel industry conference in fall 2018 that his branded residences generate 30 percent premiums to competitive products in the market, a figure corroborated by London property-consulting company Savills Plc. Hanson estimates that number as closer to 10 percent in New York, but agrees that branded residences command top dollar in a red-hot market while incentivizing sales in a slower one. For a bonus, multimillion-dollar condos greatly offset those hefty hotel development costs. That's the thinking behind Aman's long-awaited entry to New York, which will include 83 hotel rooms and 20 apartments-including a $50 million penthouse-in the Crown Building on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue. When it opens late next year, its guests be paying upwards of $2,000 per night for an entry-level room (possibly a city record breaker). Aside from their Zen-inspired quarters they'll have access to a members' club and medi-spa stocked with a new line of Aman skincare products. Southeast Asian resort brand Six Senses is also taking the residential-hybrid approach for its first American property, right off the High Line at 10th Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets. Opening Summer 2020, it'll have 138 rooms in one of two branded residential towers designed by Bjarke Ingels, all with access to a 15,000-square-foot spa that includes a rooftop farm and "modern New York bath house." Meanwhile, on the boutique hotel front, the second factor - the growing importance of common spaces (rather than rooms) to a hotel's bottom line - has operators learning to do more with less. Newer "micro-hotels" balance tight room layouts with high-design standards and larger, more enticing common spaces. It started with Arlo Hotels - a brand that debuted in Hudson Square in 2016 and will have three Manhattan outposts when its midtown location opens next year-and was followed by Moxy, Freehand, CitizenM, and Ace Hotels offshoot Sister City, all in the past year. "People don't tend to hang out in their rooms, anyway," says Lightstone Group's Hochberg, who developed the newly opened Moxy Chelsea. Instead, they hang out at Feroce, an all-day, street-level restaurant run by Tao Group; they can also head upstairs to a modular lounge space whose furniture is designed to collapse or expand, so that guests can use it for co-working, meetings, or happy hour drinks. "So much space is wasted in a traditional hotel," Hochberg explains: Maximizing value from each square foot is essential to maintaining his (and his guests') bottom line. Sharan Pasricha, chief executive officer of hospitality development company Ennismore, shared that philosophy when opening New York's first outpost of beloved London brand Hoxton in Brooklyn in fall 2018. "Today, you can extract value by monetizing every bit of space. Rooftops have become revenue-generating. Ground floors have become community melting pots. Bakeries, flower stores, coffee shops-they're all revenue-generating toys, as we call them," he explains. Give people all those venues to play and spend money in, and you can maximize profit with smaller rooms and lower prices. But what happens after the opening buzz dies down, or operational costs start trending upward? When Ian Schrager opened the Public in the Lower East Side nearly two years ago, he called it his most "democratic" project to date, with $150-per-night rates. Now its rooms are consistently listed at $375. At Sister City, where introductory rates started at $99 just a few weeks ago, late-spring prices are already approaching the $300 mark. And at Moxy Chelsea, $159 starting rates are inching closer to $400. Citywide occupancy rates still exceed national averages by roughly 20 percentage points, says hotel consultant Hanson, with 6 million room occupancies in New York projected for this year alone. This means demand is high - and even "democratic" hoteliers can be tempted by the city's favorable ratios of supply and demand. Still, value is increasingly important to these hotels' missions. A twist on the loyalty program at Sister City encourages guests to sign up for free memberships and book directly with the hotel to get discounts, sidestepping costly commissions to big booking sites such as Expedia or Kayak. And at CitizenM's new location on Bowery near the New Museum, modular construction was used to keep building costs-and therefore, room cost-low. Hochberg says Moxy won't work if he lets the prices balloon any further. "In a down market, people are going to gravitate to a more affordable product-that's an easy one to predict. But we're in a business of repeat customers, and our guests will only come back if they think they're getting great value for their money." New York's latest entries, and how to choose between them. --CitizenM New York Bowery: Floor-to-ceiling windows add light and downtown views to the small but functional rooms, and clever conveniences include 24/7 food and beverage service. (Just in case you want to take the "city that never sleeps" thing literally.) --Equinox Hotel: Officially taking reservations now for its opening in June, it will have access to a 60,000-square-foot gym with a 25-yard, indoor, saltwater pool. (And yes, there's a SoulCycle just downstairs.) --Freehand Hotel New York: Book a suite to avoid feeling as if you're sleeping in a gussied-up dorm room. Then set your alarm earlier than you need to: Breakfast here is one of the best in the city. --Hoxton Williamsburg: The rooms are "cozy" and the commute from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, can be brutal. Still, there are fondue dinners in heated geodesic domes throughout the winter and power outlets near sun loungers for outdoor co-working come summer. In other words, your colleagues will happily come to you. --Made Hotel: Lots of outdoor spaces (including the rooftop tiki bar, Good Behavior) and a central (if slightly offbeat) location on West 29th Street make it an appealing midtown option. --Moxy Chelsea: The most successful outpost of this budding Marriott brand, it has an airy solarium behind the second-floor bar where you can plug in before happy hour, as well as modular co-working spaces designed by Rockwell Group. --Park Terrace Hotel: If you'd rather feel as if you're staying in a luxury condo than a hotel, this new entry off Bryant Park will hit the spot. --Ritz-Carlton Central Park South: The classic property is about to wrap a top-to-bottom renovation; for luxury-seekers, its knockout park views and generously proportioned rooms will be a respite from the micro-hotel trend. --Sister City: The stripped-down website exemplifies the brand's hyper-minimalist approach. It takes design cues from Japanese bento boxes and Finnish saunas, and uses connections to nature (lots of plants, real-time video projection of the sky) to feel like an urban escape. --Times Square Edition: Ian Schrager's latest project includes a handful of ambitious restaurants by John Fraser, a black-and-white-on-white color scheme, and Blade Runner-style terraces that make Times Square look tiny. You don't have to make leather handbags or silk scarves to join the top ranks of France's ultra-rich. The Besniers have done it in the most Gallic of ways. They're the family behind Laval-based Groupe Lactalis, the world's biggest cheesemaker. The three siblings who own the closely held company -- Emmanuel, Jean-Michel and Marie -- are now collectively worth $18.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. Jean-Michel and Marie joined Emmanuel among the world's 500 richest people this month and now comprise the biggest number of billionaires from one French family in the index. Their combined wealth increased almost 10 percent this year after Lactalis reported 2018 revenue of $20.8 billion. That puts them closer to the $200 billion collective net worth of the luxury goods titans who dominate France's wealth rankings, such as LVMH's Bernard Arnault and Kering's Francois Pinault. Lactalis doesn't disclose consolidated financials, but spokeswoman Caroline Hopu provided the latest results in a March 11 email. She declined further comment. Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Besnier, 48, and his siblings are the third generation of the family to control the business, known for its household President brand of brie. Labeled Lactalis' "invisible boss" by France's media because of his low profile, Emmanuel has become the focus of increasing attention in recent years. He made a rare public statement last year after more than 35 children across Europe fell ill from contaminated baby food from Lactalis. The company is tight-fisted with the dairy farmers that produce the raw material for its wealth. Lactalis paid lower prices on average to its French milk suppliers in the past two years than rivals Danone, Savencia SA and Sodiaal, according to the LTO international milk-price comparison. The company ended a 2016 conflict with farmers by consenting to a monthly minimum price of 30 euro cents for a liter of milk. "The problem is that Lactalis aligns itself with prices paid by cooperatives," said Boris Gondouin, a dairy farmer and French member of the Brussels-based European Milk Board. "Were our cooperatives willing that farmers be paid more, they'd do it and Lactalis would have to follow the rule." The Besniers join Canada's Lino Saputo and the U.S.'s Jim Leprino to have dairy-based fortunes. Like their CEO brother, Jean-Michel, 51, and Marie, 38, shun public appearances. Emmanuel took over the company's reins at age 29 after his father, Michel, died from a heart attack in 2000. Since then, he's overseen a string of acquisitions, including last year's agreement to buy an infant-formula business for 740 million euros as Lactalis targets China's baby-food market. "To the average consumer, nobody knows Lactalis," said Liz Thorpe, a U.S.-based food consultant and author of books on cheese. "They know more instead about the company's portfolio of brands," such as President and its Galbani mozzarella products. "I'd say that Lactalis dominates the American consciousness when it comes to French and Italian cheese," she added. --- Bloomberg's Rudy Ruitenberg contributed to this report. Soy sauce and noodle soups aren't the most natural flavor pairings for chocolate, but a rising crop of artisanal chocolate makers are daring to try-and succeeding-in the unlikeliest of places. In Ho Chi Minh City, artisans are creating world-class chocolate bars and adding a splash of spices for a "pho" confection. Chocolate-makers in the Philippines are mixing soy sauce with their sweets, while in Indonesia chocolatiers are producing cocoa with a "tobacco aftertaste." Nearly all these chocolatiers identify as bean-to-bar, or single-origin confectionery factories, sourcing locally from small cocoa farms and then roasting and fermenting the beans to perfection. While concocting their own regional flavors, these chocolate makers have much in common: They are risk-taking pioneers. "The whole chocolate scene in Southeast Asia is very new," says Vincent Mourou, who gave up an advertising agency career in San Francisco about nine years ago to make chocolate in Vietnam. "We turned many heads. Vietnam didn't do chocolate." Indeed, they have their work cut out for them in tropical climes, where chocolate melts as fast as ice on hot humid days. But perhaps the tougher challenge is wooing domestic consumers, who are not known as the biggest fans of the cocoa treat. Asians eat much less than North Americans and Europeans, who devour more than half of the world's chocolate every year-5.4 million tons of confectionery, compared to the Asia Pacific's mere 867,000 tons, according to Euromonitor International. Here's a look at the growing crop of artisans gaining local followings as they garner gourmet awards from London and Paris and slowly win over chocolate lovers worldwide. --Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat, Vietnam Marou's cacao beans are distinctly Vietnamese, coming from a half-dozen provinces in locations ranging from the Mekong Delta, with its sediment soil, to the red volcanic earth of the Central Highlands' Lam Dong province. The different soil types give each single bean a distinct flavor, while the blended, finished chocolate, wrapped by hand in art deco designed paper, bursts with notes of fruit and spices. Most intriguing is its pho chocolate, a distinctly Vietnamese communion of dark chocolate with star anise, cardamom, coriander, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper-a classic melange in the country's famous soup, without the beef. The inspiration for the sweet concoction came from a pho vendor near the chocolate factory who was grilling fresh spices for her soup noodle dishes. The Ho Chi Minh City-based company exports in small quantities to around 20 countries, mostly in Western Europe, North America, and North Asia. It has garnered global honors, from the Salon du Chocolat in Paris to the annual Academy of Chocolate Awards. "Any chocolate that is made not using bulk West African cacao is, almost by definition, a specialty product," ex-banker and Marou co-founder Sam Maruta says. "The emergence of tiny craft chocolate makers using scarce local cacao resources, as we do, is a very niche phenomenon." The bars carry the price to match, up to $6.50 a bar. The company pays cacao farmers $4,100 a ton, almost double the market price. Marou's founders were looking for an adventure when they hit upon the idea of tapping Vietnam's small but dedicated cacao farmers to create a global chocolate brand. They had no consultants and no road maps for making chocolate in the country's sweltering climate. They built their own cracker, which splits the beans, and their own winnower, which separates the cracked shells from the cacao nibs. The two founders turned Maruta's home kitchen into something of a chocolate laboratory; they created 55 batches from February 2011 to October of that year before creating their version of the perfect chocolate. "We kept a journal for each batch test-almost like a science experiment but with chocolate," Mourou recalls. "Between batch tests, we would change only one variable at a time." They made their first sale in late 2011 and now are producing six tons of chocolate a month, a figure they expect to reach 10 tons a month next year. The company forecasts 30 percent to 50 percent sales growth this year. "People at first thought we were crazy, giving up our careers to go into chocolate-making and doing it here," says Mourou, who studied neuroscience in college. He's standing in a grove of Mekong Delta cacao trees, which in turn are shaded from the intense sun by coconut palms. (Fun fact: His father, French scientist Gerard Albert Mourou, was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics last year.) Their answer to the sweltering heat? Lots of air-conditioning, 8-foot high dehumidifiers, and a meticulously timed route to Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport for the completed bars. They insist their chocolate, packed tightly in four-layer cardboard boxes, is the last pickup of the day and will make it onto the plane in about three hours. (Large orders go by ship in refrigerated containers.) --Krakakoa, Indonesia Krakakoa Chief Executive Officer Sabrina Mustopo, a former McKinsey analyst focused on climate change and agribusiness, says she founded her six-year-old company to help Indonesian farmers find a bigger domestic market for their cacao beans. "We looked at the macroeconomic trends, and there is a very strong correlation between [gross domestic product] and per capita consumption of chocolate." Indonesia's growing middle class and an expanding economy provides farmers with a new and lucrative market. Krakakoa works with small-plot farmers in Lampung province, about 250 kilometers northeast of Jakarta, training them to plant and harvest the beans sustainably and then sell them to Krakakoa at an above-market price of $3,000 a ton, which ensures a good income for the farmers. The typical fermented beans they buy cost up to $4,200 per ton. The first collection of $4 bars (an upscale price point for the country) was built around the idea of Indonesia as the "spice islands," with flavors of sea salt, pepper, chili, cinnamon, and ginger. Their most popular product is a sugar-free, 100 percent dark chocolate bar made from Sumatra beans-which is deliciously bold and tart. --Chocolate Concierge, Malaysia Ong Ning Geng taught 3D design at a university in Illinois before returning to his homeland in 2010 to make a quality chocolate from Malaysian ingredients. "It took me a couple of years to find out how to make it and then another couple of years to source for the right quality of beans," he says, driven by curiosity to see what a high-quality, locally sourced product could be. He founded Chocolate Concierge in 2015. Ning sources from local farms, including some operated by indigenous peoples from central Malaysia. He also jointly owns farms, so he can control the fermentation process, which imparts varying floral, fruity, nutty, or earthy flavor notes. Chocolate Concierge exports beans and chocolate in small quantities to Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. "I love Malaysian produce," says Ning on a visit to his cacao farm in Batang Kali, Selangor, an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur. Tiny flies, which pollinate the cacao fruit, swarm the trees, which were rehabilitated after being abandoned by farmers years ago. "I like things that have a connection with nature, what I can see and touch. In my mind, it's also consuming more responsibly when we consume more locally." He ferments some of his cocoa longer than anyone in the world-71 days vs. the standard six, he says, to give it a different taste profile-and creates flavors based on popular Malaysian nibbles such as tangy asam laksa (spicy noodle soup), sweet onde onde (glutinous rice balls), and cendol (an iced dessert with string-like green jelly) that appeal to the Malaysian palate. The hope is that his $7 bars and $1 truffles can stoke a taste for a new local treat. "If you wave a cocoa fruit in front of 20 Malaysians from different walks of life, more than half of them would say, 'Hey, when I was growing up, I remember walking by a cocoa tree, or eating a cocoa fruit, or my neighbors or family were harvesting cocoa,'" says Ning. "But they have not made that same connection to what they know as cocoa and to what they know as chocolate." --Theo and Philo, the Philippines Philo Chua, owner of Theo and Philo Artisan Chocolates, left his job as a web developer in the U.S. in 2007 at the age of 28 to return home and take a crack at chocolate-making in the Philippines. He wanted to produce something world-class, without the palm oil or other additives typical of the region's mass-produced candy. He researched chocolate on the internet, watched online instructional videos, and lurked in discussion threads to find people who could link him to cacao bean suppliers. After three years of perfecting his recipe and setting up a small factory using his savings, he came out with the Philippines' first bean-to-bar single origin chocolate bars in 2010. He experimented by adding candied lime peel and whole peppercorns-a hit-and even ripe banana, whose flavor didn't register well until he added caramel and sesame seeds to replicate the taste of a beloved fried-banana snack called turon. Indeed, his most popular flavors are inspired by Filipino dishes and snacks, including adobo (a salty, vinegary meat stew), calamansi (key lime), and salt-flecked green mangoes. Their $2 adobo milk chocolate bar, with hints of soy sauce, and a black sesame and cashew variety have won awards from European and U.S. chocolate institutes. These distinctive flavors and word-of-mouth marketing helped propel his business into a multimillion-peso enterprise that now exports products to Japan and the U.S. "We introduced something unique to the market, and we saw people responding to it. We want to experiment with more flavors that are iconically Filipino," Chua says. The Trump administration is proposing to allow year-round sales of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol, seeking to calm a dispute that has riled two politically important blocs the oil industry and corn farmers. The proposed rule change by the Environmental Protection Agency would fulfill a pledge that President Donald Trump made to U.S. corn farmers, for whom ethanol is an important driver of demand for their crops. Many environmentalists oppose any expansion of the ethanol industry, saying the increase in corn production has polluted waterways and destroyed habitat. Federal law for more than a decade has mandated that oil refineries mix ethanol into their fuel. The Trump administrations former EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, had angered lawmakers, growers and ethanol processors in Iowa and other key election states by granting a spate of exemptions sparing refineries from that mandate. The dispute sparked a billboard campaign and at least one tractor rally by angry farmers in the Midwest last year, threatening to erode what has been a base of support for Trump. Tuesdays proposal would allow sale of fuel mixed with a higher blend of ethanol year-round, ending a summertime ban imposed out of concerns for increased smog from the higher ethanol blend. The proposal absolutely is moving in the right direction, said Geoff Cooper, head of the ethanol industrys Renewable Fuels Association. Ethanol supporters would keep a watchful eye on the EPAs current administrator, Andrew Wheeler, as Wheeler weighs whether to grant future exemption requests from refineries, he said. Beyond increasing the amount of ethanol allowed in vehicle fuel, the EPA is proposing regulatory changes in the ethanol program. A group representing oil refiners and other oil industry partners, the Fueling American Jobs Coalition, spoke positively of the EPA proposal. The Trump administration was striking a careful balance between the need to maintain jobs and investment in the vital refining sector and the desire of some in the biofuels sector to expand the use of higher blends of ethanol, the oil industry group said in a statement. Only a small fraction of U.S. gas stations currently sell the higher-ethanol blend, called E15. The rule, if the administration puts it into effect, isnt expected to have any big immediate effect on ethanol sales, but would signal the marketplace to take another look at the fuel blend in the longer term, Cooper said. Environmental groups contend the U.S. Clean Air Act prohibits year-round sales of E15, and court challenges are expected. Conservation advocates and some researchers say the ethanol mandate has been unexpectedly devastating for the environment. The increased demand for corn led farmers to plow millions of additional acres of land depriving monarch butterflies and countless other species of habitat. Farmers also upped their use of nitrate-containing fertilizers, which pollute waterways. Any future expansion of ethanol use would expand corn production, resulting in more nitrogen fertilizer use, more pollution of waterways, and more losses in habitat, said Aaron Smith, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax's office said Sunday that he has passed two polygraph tests that show he was truthful when he denied allegations of sexual assault made against him by two women. The tests were administered Friday by a retired FBI polygraph expert and showed Fairfax, a Democrat, answered truthfully in denying that he engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity with each of his accusers, said Barry Pollack, an attorney for Fairfax. Fairfax, 40, has maintained that he did not assault the women, whose allegations became public in February as the Virginia statehouse was roiled by scandal in the aftermath of revelations about a racist photo in Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook. That was followed by an admission from Attorney General Mark Herring, also a Democrat, that he wore blackface to imitate a rapper during a college party in 1980. For brief time, it appeared Northam might step down and Fairfax might rise to the state's top post and become Virginia's second black governor. But the allegations drew calls for his resignation, and Northam did not resign. The first allegation against Fairfax came from Vanessa Tyson, now a college professor, who accused the lieutenant governor of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a hotel room at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. A second woman, Meredith Watson, said Fairfax sexually assaulted her in 2000, when they were both undergraduates at Duke University. Fairfax has said both encounters were consensual. Fairfax has publicly called for a law enforcement investigation of the allegations, though he has not received an indication that one is underway, said Lauren Burke, a spokeswoman. He took the polygraph tests as a way to clear his name and reputation, she said. Burke said there was no particular reason for Fairfax taking the polygraph at this point, nearly two months after the scandal broke. "We just had to schedule it, and that's the date that came up," she said. She said the timing was not keyed to interviews with Fairfax's two accusers, which are expected to be aired Monday and Tuesday on "CBS This Morning"; she said the office did not learn of the airing schedule until late last week. The Friday polygraph tests were done by Jeremiah Hanafin, who Pollack said was used by Tyson's attorney, Debra Katz, while she represented Christine Blasey Ford when she came forward with allegations about now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Hanafin gave Fairfax a test related to each of his accusers, Pollack said. The examination was conducted in a standard format, with control questions and questions focused on each accuser's allegations. In one test, Fairfax was asked whether Tyson was "crying at any time while she was in your hotel room," Fairfax said "no," and that was found to be truthful, Pollack said, adding that Tyson has said she was crying and shaken while she was with Fairfax in the hotel room. In a question about the Watson allegations, Fairfax was asked whether Watson gave "any physical or verbal indication she did not want to have sexual contact" with him, and he said "no." That answer was deemed truthful, Pollack said. "The lieutenant governor has told the truth throughout: that the allegations are simply not true," Pollack said. "The allegations are serious, they deserve to be heard; but a fair, professional and impartial investigation of the facts will demonstrate that the allegations are not true." Representatives for Tyson and Watson could not immediately be reached Sunday. - - - Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. Angela Merkel will this week stage her most significant intervention in the Brexit process in more than two years, as the European Union moves to shield itself from the fallout of political chaos in Britain. The German chancellor is to hold talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin on Thursday and demand a plan to protect Ireland's border should the U.K. crash out of the bloc without a deal, which could come as soon as April 12. The EU now sees this as a serious possibility and is focusing almost all of its work on how to contain the consequences, EU officials said. Merkel's intervention comes as relations between the U.K. and EU hit an all-time low after Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated in Parliament at the third attempt on Friday. EU officials say they can do no more to help the British government. The bloc has given the U.K. about another week to notify of the way forward, as it prepares an all-important summit in Brussels on April 10. May, who might make a fourth attempt to win Parliament's support for her deal this week, is considering calling a general election to help break the Brexit deadlock. Her cabinet is split, with some ministers urging her to take the U.K. out of the EU without a deal on April 12 and others saying they'd quit if that becomes her policy. Merkel's talks with Varadkar come amid increasing concern in Germany that Ireland hasn't made sufficient preparations to protect the Irish border - the EU's new external frontier after Brexit - in the event of no deal. At an EU summit 10 days ago, Merkel admonished Varadkar for Ireland's lack of a plan, officials said. Ireland still doesn't acknowledge how urgent the situation is, according to one of the officials. After trying to remain above the Brexit fray since negotiations between the U.K. and EU began almost two years ago, Merkel is becoming much more active, as the threat of no-deal looms. Underlining the frustration in Berlin with the situation, Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth on Saturday accused "90 percent" of the British cabinet of having "no idea how workers think, live, work and behave" because they were "born with silver spoons in their mouths." Merkel's role will also prove crucial if the U.K. requests a long Brexit extension. Germany is one of several countries willing to give Britain time, especially if May calls a snap election, according to officials. French President Emmanuel Macron has argued against such a move. Approving a Brexit delay would have to be unanimous among the 27 EU leaders. The critical need to prevent a "downward spiral" from turmoil in London and a potential no-deal exit from damaging the rest of Europe is now the priority of the EU's 27 remaining governments, according to a diplomatic note of talks between envoys in Brussels last week. The Irish border issue has become an almost intractable problem. The EU's proposed "backstop" arrangement, contained in the Brexit deal rejected three times by the British Parliament, is aimed at preventing the need for infrastructure and visible checks on the frontier by keeping the U.K. in a customs union with the bloc until a replacement solution is found. But Ireland, which insists there can be no return to a hard border - a symbol of decades of violence which ended with a peace accord in 1998 - has been reluctant to spell out what would happen if the Brexit deal fails. The EU will oblige Ireland to check the flow of goods across the frontier because of Ireland's place in the bloc's customs union and single market, but officials are working on ways to ensure this can happen as much as possible away from the border, people familiar with the matter said. --- Bloomberg's Alex Morales and Iain Rogers contributed to this report. Throne room, circa 1900-1920. By Robert Neff The Boston Sunday Post, November 29, 1903. On Jan. 29, 1903, a small Wisconsin newspaper, the Daily Telegram, printed an article it had found in the Japanese Gazette that captured the world's attention for the next decade the story of Emily Brown. According to the article, Emily Brown, the daughter of an American missionary in Seoul, was to be crowned Empress of Korea after her wedding to Emperor Gojong later that month. Once crowned, she would give up her former name and adopt the Korean name of Om, meaning "Dawn of the Morning." The article went on to note that "in consideration of the important part her majesty will play in politics of the Corean court, the government of Japan will send a member of the Mikado's family to represent his empire Sir Claude MacDonald will represent Great Britain, and there will be three representing the United States government including Minister Horace N. Allen." Over the next couple of months the story of Emily Brown's wedding to Emperor Gojong captivated not only the American press but also the press in Europe. No one had ever heard of this simple American girl and many were eager to learn more, especially her past. Fortunately, the American newspapers were able to supply it. The Wisconsin newspaper that broke the story was also one of the first to publish her past: "Emily Brown was born in Appleton [Wisconsin] about 1860, her father, Rev. Herbert Brown, being a Presbyterian missionary, who lived here only a few months and her mother a remarkably beautiful woman. "When Emily was about 15 years old her father went as a missionary to Corea and is said to have been the first Protestant missionary to settle in the capital city of Seoul. His wife and child went with him. "Emily sang in the mission church and, learning the language rapidly, came to be used as an interpreter in church dealings with the government. Her beauty was reported to the Emperor and he commanded her to enter his harem, which she indignantly refused to do. "About two years later she concluded to accept the Emperor's protection and went to live in the palace after securing from the Emperor a solemn promise of marriage when affairs of state would permit. This promise was kept soon after she bore the emperor a son." It wasn't until October that the first tantalizing account of the wedding was published in The London Daily Mail. It described the houses of Seoul as being all closed by royal decree and the citizens of the city kneeling at their doors, a new broom in each hand symbolizing their subjection, as the royal wedding procession passed. King Gojong (later emperor), 1883-1884. Perhaps the best known and fullest account of the wedding appeared in the Boston Sunday Post on Nov. 29, 1903: "At the entrance to the palace were stationed a great squad of the imperial guard, who, armed with hatchets at the end of poles, prevented the throng from crowding in too close. All along the proposed line of march similar guards were placed. In the narrow streets immediately surrounding the palace the Emperor's army awaited a signal to march. "The signal was finally given. At the head of the procession moved the generals of the army and the most favored troops. When a thousand or more soldiers had passed, trumpets blared, the palace gates were thrown wide open, and in glittering helmets and armor of five hundred years ago out marched the Emperor's bodyguard. "Following the bodyguard came the attendants in dazzling silks and waving plumes. "Finally with a deafening din of drums, two chairs emerged. In one of these chairs sat the Emperor Yi Hi [Gojong] and in the other Emily Brown, Empress of Corea. "Never before had a civilized being been appareled as she was. From head to foot she was covered with gems and silk so thick that they fell in folds like heavy woolen cloth. "Above the royal chairs waved a banner with a flying dragon fourteen feet long. Under the banner was an immense red parasol, indicating to the people that their monarch had shared his power and throne with the woman by his side." "Korea Through Western Eyes." The American public, especially young women, was infatuated with the life of this young American girl and her life of pomp and splendor. Living in a 400-year-old palace with 500 guards and 2,000 retainers apparently appealed to many young women. The American embassy in Seoul was flooded with hundreds of letters from applicants, foreign and American, who desired to become wives of Korean nobility. "The fact the Emperor already has somewhere between ten and 100 wives deters the applicants for wifehood not at all. From their letters they seem to feel that what would be entirely disgraceful in the countries of their birth would become the proper thing here. "Photographs, too, have been received by hundreds. Most of them are of women who are pretty, and the letters accompanying them lay great stress on this fact. That the Korean standard of beauty differs materially from that of Western nations is another thing, which the fair applicants overlook." Of course, being a foreign empress was dangerous. In 1903, an article in the Russian newspaper Novoe Vremya claimed that several Korean officials were plotting to murder her. This story was also picked up in the United States: "The courts, both in Peking and Tokio, have shown the new empress the highest honors, and she has so far managed to hold her own, though her path is beset by many dangers, and only the other day she was saved from the fate of her predecessor by the arrest of several Korean ministers and high dignitaries who were suspected of being concerned in a plot against her." Perhaps, in answer to these perceived threats, an editorial in The Sketch wondered at what the political result of the union would bring: "The Monroe or some similar doctrine may be invoked to justify America in seizing Korea in the interests of the American woman and children, to save them from the aggressive Muscovite or [the] aspiring [Japanese]." When Emperor Gojong abdicated his throne, Emily's plight became dire and newspapers portrayed her as "riding astride on a diminutive donkey" her status no longer regal. The humiliation of her fate ended with her death in 1911. An American paper reported: "Emily Brown was the Emperor's favorite wife, and her son was made the heir apparent, and, but for the annexation of Korea by Japan, he would have become Emperor on the death of his father." Emily Brown's story is interesting but, unfortunately, it is just that a story. There was no Emily Brown. Like all captivating stories, it was filled with half-truths and outright lies (there are actually three versions of the story). Throne room, circa 1899/1900. The cattle ranchers and farm bureaus of America are not going to give up their hold on the word meat without a fight. In recent weeks, beef and farming industry groups have persuaded legislators in more than a dozen states to introduce laws that would make it illegal to use the word meat to describe burgers and sausages that are created from plant-based ingredients or are grown in labs. Just this week, new meat-labeling bills were introduced in Arizona and Arkansas. These meat alternatives may look and taste and even bleed like meat, but cattle ranchers want to make sure that the new competition cant use the meat label. The word meat, to me, should mean a product from a live animal, said Jim Dinklage, a rancher and president of the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, who has testified in support of meat-labeling legislation in his state. The push for state labeling laws is a reflection of how quickly startups like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which produce burgers from plant-based ingredients, have grown to challenge the traditional meat industry. Sales of plant-based meat substitutes increased 22 percent to $1.5 billion last year, according to Euromonitor International, a market research firm. Other startups are getting closer to being able to create chicken nuggets and sausage from actual meat cells grown in a lab. Even though it is not yet commercially viable, traditional meat producers are worried the lab-grown meat could eventually become a low-cost alternative with little regulatory oversight. About a year and a half ago, this wasnt on my radar whatsoever, said Mark Dopp, head of regulatory affairs at the North American Meat Association. All of a sudden, this is getting closer. This is likely to happen in the near future, and we need to have a regulatory system in place to deal with it. Meat producers say they dont want to lose control of labeling like the dairy industry, which lost its battle to keep almond and soy producers from using the word milk on their beverages. Egg and even mayonnaise producers have faced similar fights. Almonds dont produce milk, said Bill Pigott, a Republican state representative in Mississippi who wrote the legislation there. He owns a farm that has produced both dairy and beef. But his worries have gone beyond almond and soy liquids being labeled milk. The fake, lab-produced meat is a little bit more of a science fiction-type deal that concerns me more, Pigott said. He introduced his bill in January after the local association of cattle ranchers contacted him. It passed in the states House and is waiting for debate in the state Senate. The various legislative efforts are likely to face tough challenges and not just from vegetarians. A bill in Virginia was voted down after lawmakers received a letter from the National Grocers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Plant Based Foods Association that defended increasingly popular products. It said requiring new and unfamiliar packaging would only confuse shoppers and frustrate retailers at a time when demand for such options is at an all-time high, growing at 23 percent a year. The most restrictive proposal, in Washington state, would make it a crime to sell lab-grown meat and would bar state funds from being used for research in the area because some lawmakers say not enough is known about it to consider it safe. The bill has not yet come up for a vote. Surprising coalitions are forming around the future of lab-grown meat. The North American Meat Association has said it wants lab-grown meat to be referred to as meat to ensure that new products are not able to shirk any of the regulations applied to traditional meat. And most large meat companies have stayed out of the debate. Some of them, including Tyson and Cargill, have made investments in lab-grown-meat startups. In Nebraska, a meat-labeling bill was written by Carol Blood, a Democratic state senator from suburban Omaha. Despite her last name, Blood has been a vegan for years. She said she had decided to pursue her bill after overhearing two women in her local Fresh Thyme supermarket expressing confusion about whether a package of Beyond Meat burgers contained animal flesh. I dont care that it says burger I care that it says its meat, Blood said. I have this thing that sticks in my craw when people are trying to be deceitful. Beyond Meat is not, in fact, produced with any meat. It gets its trademark bloody look from beet juice. We provide the consumer with meat made from plants, and believe that it is reasonable for the consumer and for us to refer to our products as plant-based meats, the chief executive of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown, said in an email. Last year, Missouri passed the first law that barred companies from misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry. That law has been challenged in court by the company Tofurky, which specializes in tofu and other soy-based foods, as well as the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. Sarah Sorscher, who works on regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said there was little evidence that consumers were confused by the labeling of alternative meat companies. We think the issue of whether they use a term like meat is a proxy for this bigger issue, which is that the meat industry is concerned about competition from these products, Sorscher said. The bills dont seem to be directed at solving a problem in the marketplace. It is about fighting off competition. Beyond Meat has received assurances from the authorities in Missouri that its labels are clear that the product is not meat and will not run afoul of the new law. The Good Food Institute, which represents both plant-based meat companies and cell-based-meat startups, has scrambled to get employees and lobbyists to state capitals where laws are being considered. Jessica Almy, policy director for the organization, said she believed that most of the state laws and proposals would be rendered moot if and when the Agriculture Department weighed in on labeling for lab-grown meat, which it promised to do last year. Still, she argues that the state-mandated labels could create more confusion for consumers. There is no truthful way to refer to it without using meat terms, Almy said. Dinklage, the Nebraska rancher, said he was also interested in providing clarity to consumers. He also wants to protect a livelihood that is growing harder all the time. Just think what it actually costs eventually in a lab as compared to running a ranching operation, he said. It would be a lot cheaper and that puts me out of business. CHARIHO: Charihos girls and boys soccer teams both won Division II titles in dramatic fashion. The girls won in penalty kicks and the boys in the final two minutes of double overtime. The football team reached the D-III title game, as did the field hockey team. The girls volleyball team played in the D-II semifinals. Erin vonHousen was All-State in girls cross country. STONINGTON: Stoningtons boys soccer team earned its second straight Class M state title, closing the season with 21 straight victories. The field hockey team lost in the Class S title game. WESTERLY: Westerlys girls volleyball team reached the Division III semifinals, losing to eventual champion Scituate. The football team played in the D-II semifinals. The girls soccer team reached the D-III semifinals. Jake Serra and Kaya West were All-State in cross country. WHEELER: Wheeler boys and girls soccer teams qualified for the Class S state tournament. Vote View Results Barclays boss Jes Staley was dealt a fresh blow last night when it emerged that the New York fund part run by the investor made famous in The Big Short is betting on a fall in the bank's share price. Steve Eisman was played by Steve Carell in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film which also starred Brad Pitt and Christian Bale. He now works for Neuberger Berman, but made his name as a hedge fund boss who cashed in by foreseeing the US housing market collapse that triggered the 2008 crash. Ominous sign: Short-selling is a trading tactic where investors borrow shares, sell them and later buy them back at a lower price to make a profit The Mail on Sunday revealed in December that Neuberger Berman was betting against Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland over Brexit fears. Now it has emerged that Eisman's firm is also shorting Barclays. Short-selling is a trading tactic where investors borrow shares, sell them and later buy them back at a lower price to make a profit. Neuberger Berman's Absolute Return Multi-Manager Fund has placed a bet worth 340,000 against Barclays shares. The company has also ramped up its short positions in Lloyds and RBS, which are now worth 360,000 and 420,000 respectively. Its bets against UK banks top 1.1 million, according to short-selling data firm Breakout Point. Neuberger Berman declined to comment on the short position taken by the fund, which is run by several managers including Eisman. However, last month Eisman revealed he was shorting another British bank amid the Brexit chaos though he declined to name the target. He said at the time that 'nobody has a freaking clue' what would happen with the EU negotiations. Steve Carell (right) played Steve Eisman in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film 'The Big Short' Eisman told the BBC in January: 'The only thing that I know for sure is that the people who invest in the UK believe strongly that the ramifications of a hard Brexit are very bad and they believe that a recession will take place in the UK and that would clearly be negative for banks of the UK.' Barclays has been battling corporate raider Edward Bramson, who has built up a 5.5 per cent stake and is pushing for a seat on the board. Last week, chief executive Staley took charge of the prized investment banking arm, ousting boss Tim Throsby after just two years in the post. Staley said returns were getting better and the performance last year was improved 'but not yet where we need it to be'. Barclays declined to comment. Meanwhile, Neuberger Berman is also shorting Canadian banks and has sounded the alarm about the housing market in Canada. Eisman said: 'This is not The Big Short: Canada. 'I'm not calling for a housing collapse. I'm calling for a simple normalisation of credit that hasn't happened in 20 years.' Protestors marched through the streets of Swindon yesterday calling for the Honda factory to be saved. The Japanese car giant surprised the local area and the wider industry last month when it revealed plans to close its Wiltshire plant in 2021. The shutdown would rob the factory's 3,500 workers of their livelihoods and there are fears for 12,000 further jobs in the automotive supply chain and local area. On the march: Campaigners rallied in protest of the closure of the Honda plant in Swindon at the weekend. The Japanese car manufacturer had announced closing the car plant in Swindon in 2021 with the loss of an estimated 3,500 jobs Unite, the union which is fighting to save the jobs of its members, yesterday led a march through Swindon to protest against the closure. The union is working with the Government on a plan to try to persuade Honda to reverse its decision to leave the UK. Last week, 32 MPs signed an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to take 'urgent action' to keep Honda in Swindon and develop a viable plan to maintain the UK's automotive strength. Britain's car sector has enjoyed a golden era this decade and it is thought to be supporting more than 800,000 jobs. Workers from the factory receiving a police escort as they marched through the Wiltshire town on Saturday Distant memory: The Japanese car giant surprised the local area and the wider industry last month when it revealed plans to close its Wiltshire plant in 2021 Unite, the union which is fighting to save the jobs of its members, led the march through Swindon to protest against the closure But experts fear Brexit uncertainty and global changes to the industry which is under pressure to switch from producing vehicles with petrol and diesel engines to those powered by electricity risk leaving the UK behind. Honda says it wants to focus on making electric cars in Japan and China and then import them into Europe. Business Secretary Greg Clark has said he will continue with his attempts to persuade Honda to reverse its decision to pull manufacturing from the UK. The Japanese company builds 160,000 Honda Civics a year at the UK car plant, which is the only auto factory it has in the EU. Some 12,000 jobs are at risk when you consider the wider supply chain to the facility By Do Thanh Hai Do Thanh Hai The following companies are subsidiares of Bayer Aktiengesellschaft: AB Seeds Ltd, AB Seeds Sales (2006) Ltd, AO Bayer, Adverio Pharma GmbH, AgrEvo Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, AgraQuest Inc., Alcafleu Management GmbH & Co. KG, Algeta, Artificial Muscle Inc, Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Athenix Corp., Atlantic Breeders S. A. R. L., BUS C.V., Bayer (Proprietary) Limited, Bayer (Schweiz) AG, Bayer 04 Immobilien GmbH, Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fuball GmbH, Bayer A / S, Bayer AB, Bayer AS, Bayer Agriculture BVBA, Bayer Agriculture Limited, Bayer Algerie S. P. A., Bayer Altersversorgung GmbH, Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Bayer Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Bayer B.V., Bayer Beteiligungsverwaltung Goslar GmbH, Bayer Beteiligungsverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. 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Ltd, Siebte Bayer VV GmbH, Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, TECTRION GmbH, TOO Bayer KAZ, The Climate Corporation International SA, TravelBoard GmbH, UAB Bayer, Vierte Bayer Real Estate VV GmbH & Co., WeatherMe OU, Zeptosens, Zoner.ag, Zweite Bayer Real Estate VV GmbH & Co., and Zweite K-W-A Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. 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The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More From left are Wei Gu-yeon, a fellow at Samsung Research, and Jang Woo-seung and Kang Sung-chul, senior vice presidents of Samsung Electronics, who are newly recruited professionals in AI, big data and robots. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By Baek Byung-yeul William Kim, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics POTTSTOWN That officials have been struggling with discipline and behavior issues at Pottstown Middle School for the last several years is no secret. But when bullets ripped through a West Street home one Sunday evening in an incident connected to what police and school leaders say is a long-running dispute among eighth graders, the discussion reached a whole new level. Parents such as Krystal DiPietro, who last year organized a large group to alert the school board to ongoing bullying problems at the middle school, posted on social media that it was only a matter of time before something escalated to this point. I told them last year (almost exactly a year to the day) that the issues Pottstown middle and high school are having are only going to get worse. I asked them to be proactive and not reactive but here we are, she posted. Now there is more media coverage than before I really hope this forces the school board and the superintendent to do the right thing by all these students and staff that have to brave these hallways on a daily basis, she posted. Others charge the police with being ineffectual as well. The school district and the police department knew that this was going on and allowed it to continue to the point were it elevated to a shooting, Jessica Hill-Robinson posted on The Mercurys Facebook page. What were they waiting for a murder or a suicide? These are all legitimate questions, so we put those questions to Pottstown Police and School officials. Police Response Police Chief Michael Markovich, who has been in officer in Pottstown for 20 years, said his officers frequently arrest misbehaving students outside the school. Because they are minors, their names and the specifics of the charges are usually not released. But Markovich did release data on juvenile arrests over the past four years. A Mercury analysis shows an overall 32 percent drop in arrests in 12 criminal categories ranging from forcible rape to curfew violations over the last four years; although there was a 16 percent increase in arrests from 2017 to 2018. The analysis also shows a clear uptick in arrests as students enter the age groups of 10 to 12 years of age and 13 to 14. The kids being picked up by police now are getting younger and have less respect than they did 20 years ago Markovich said. You see them walk down the middle of the street, obstructing traffic and bumping passing cars. I have seen them go up onto porches and kick peoples doors, he said. Currently, police have one resource officer who divides his time between the high school and middle school; and it might be time for us to talk to council and the school board about adding another, Markovich said. He also said in the past, police officers shot video of kids on the street and put a full shift into the area of the middle school, including officers on foot and on bike patrol, at dismissal time. Shooting video helped and it might be time to do some of those things again, but that will probably cost a lot of money in overtime, he said. More Female Offenders Markovich said another trend the department has observed is more violent behavior among teen girls. This is the case in the dispute which led to the home on West Street being shot up as both sides of that situation are female, and previous arrests have been made involving those individuals, Markovich confirmed. Another example can be found in the March 20 stabbing on High Street in which police allege a 33 year-old man was stabbed in a conflict with a group of four young women. Arrested were Nashay Walker, 18; Candace Borders, 21; Tiera Griffy, 23, and a juvenile female whose age was not disclosed. All four are from Pottstown. Parents Making it Worse Markovich also observed that police get less help from parents than they used to. By the time police get involved, they are coming in on the tail-end of a dispute that has some history and its not always easy to tell who is at fault, Markovich said. Sometimes you just have to arrest everyone involved. It might not seem fair, he acknowledged. We need help from the parents, but there have been times when we call them and they make things worse, Markovich said. Weve had officers see parents who are actually encouraging the kids to fight and thats very frustrating. School Response Stephen Rodriguez is also very frustrated. And he is not alone. I was on the phone this morning with a teaching professional who was literally in tears telling me that all the good things we are trying to do in the middle school the public is just ignoring because of this, he said during an interview Thursday. Rodriguez, Middle School Principal Brian Hostetler and Director of Community Relations John Armato met with a reporter to discuss the incident and the school districts tactics for dealing with bullying and bad behavior. Rodriguez says that contrary to the narrative on social media, that the district did not do nothing in terms of the running dispute that erupted in gunfire. We have followed up multiple times to try to deal with this particular conflict, he said. The Mercury received no response to a message offering an opportunity for an interview and comment sent earlier this week to the parent who said it was her home that was the target of gunfire. Middle School Discipline On the discipline side of the equation, Rodriguez said since he has taken the helm at the district, the middle school added a dean of students, Beth Burkhimer, and a security guard. And, since 2014 when the fifth grade was put into the middle school, two assistant principal positions have been added. Currently, Kim Boswell is the assistant principal for the fifth and sixth graders; and Mike Ishler is the assistant principal for the seventh and eight graders. But as one-year veteran Hosteler recently pointed out to the school board, those key positions have seen a lot of turn-over in the past two years, as well as a lot of turn-over in teachers. At the March 21 school board meeting, Hostetler said nearly 40 percent of the staff has been there less than five years and another 5 percent are retiring this year. Further, there have been seven different administrators in the building in the last 18 months, Hostetler included. Two years, ago, middle school teachers complained to The Mercury that discipline was administered inconsistently. Hosteler said he is working now to ensure that the discipline is consistent so the data reflects that. So when he presented four years of discipline statistics to the school board at the March 21 meeting, he warned that the figures might be open to different interpretations. Interestingly, the 2018-2018 school year shows the highest number of discipline referrals, and those two years coincide with the lowest number of arrests by borough police. That said, Hostetler told The Mercury he would estimate that 95 percent of the students do the right thing 90 percent of the time. I would say its about 3 to 5 percent not following the rules. Support and Positive Behavior Although the school district does not put all its eggs in one basket in terms of teaching appropriate behavior, a lot of those eggs are in a district-wide curriculum called Social Emotional Learning, or SEL. It succeeds a program called Restorative Practices, and Rodriguez said SEL is like Restorative Practices on steroids. Hostetler said SEL not only follows the Restorative Practices methodology for resolving conflicts, it also involves coping strategies for dealing with issues in the moment, and not just after-the-fact. Perhaps more importantly, it guides children through identifying and talking about the feeling anger, frustration, discouragement that is fueling a behavior and how to process it best. I sat in on one teacher-led scenario where a student took something from a friends locker; they needed a pen, Rodriguez said by way of example. In that kids mind, she just borrowed it and planned on returning it, but the other friend can look at that as you stole my stuff, and they work through how a misunderstanding can get blown out of proportion. Pottstown begins teaching these concepts in elementary school but Hostetler told the school board that while middle school-age students understand the concepts, they struggle with putting them into practice, with regulating themselves and their behavior. That behavior is reinforced by giving out Trojan Tickets to well-behaved students who get to attend Terrific assemblies, said Hostetler. Focus on Girls Schools officials have also made note of the uptick in violence among the female students. Hostetler said the YWCA Tri-County Area has a club for girls called Girls in Charge, and another one called Girls Today, Leaders Tomorrow, both of which empower girls by showing them what leadership looks like, and providing them with good role models. A program called Girls on the Run, which began with some fanfare a few years ago and helped girls prepare to run a 5K as a confidence-building exercise petered because the funding disappeared, Rodriguez said. Another YW program called The Art of Yoga Project is teed up to start next year. A program is called i-Succeed is conducted after school, providing enrichment programs for students who might not otherwise get them. Mentors and Counselors Also in the planning stage is a program called WEB, which stands for Where Everyone Belongs. It is staged by the Boomerang Project and funded through a Pennsylvania 21st Century Learning grant and teaches seventh and eighth graders how to be mentors and role models to incoming students. From the first day of school, theyll show them how to open lockers and where everything is, said Hostetler. It will be a year-long thing. Two adult mentor programs are being undertaken; the Created for Greatness Series by Pottstown activist David Charles, and the Molding Men program spearheaded by Terrance Shawell. Charles program is a work in progress, its very relational said Hoistetler, noting that Charles is trying to let the students take a leadership role and determine the direction they want to head in, rather than being dictated to by an adult. Additionally, the middle school has two school counselors, who are in charge of two grades each and are geared more toward the students academic needs, said Hostetler. Last year, the district added two additional counselors provided by Creative Health, who are more tapped into the students emotional needs. And that can be in-school, evolve to involve the whole family through wrap-around services, Rodriguez said. Creative Health CEO Andrew Trentecost is also spear-heading a new initiative called The Hub, said Rodriguez. It will gather the various agencies in town and specific troubled students will be discussed. And maybe the YWCA will say, Ill take that student, I have a program that can help, or maybe there is a Creative Health program that can help, Rodriguez explained. It will be solutions-oriented and will focus on the middle school. So there is no shortage of programs and efforts to get behavior at the middle school under control, but it remains an open question how many of them work. That can be a hard thing to measure, said Rodriguez, who noted that when prevention works, it is invisible because the behavior you are trying to stop isnt happening. Nevertheless, he said the district continues to evaluate its efforts and remains open to new ideas, or ways to improve existing programs. Family is Key Rodriguez and Hostetler both said family and home life is often the driving force behind a students behavior. We can model all the appropriate behavior we can squeeze in between 8 a.m. and 2:25 p.m., but if it isnt being reinforced at home, everything were doing in school begins to unravel as soon as the child gets home, Hostetler said. And it doesnt help, said Rodriguez, when, as Markovich noted, parents are not only encouraging appropriate behavior, but are actually escalating conflicts. We have had parent encounters and actual parental involvement, when adults are beating up on students, Rodriguez said. How do you get students to behave appropriately when the adults dont? Hostetler said. The Role of Social Media New to the age-old equation of hormones and teen angst that is middle school is the technology of our age, said Armato. When you and I went to school, if there was a conflict at school, it usually didnt follow you home, he said. Maybe it cropped up again at the playground or somewhere else, but its very different now. Thanks to the wonders of Instagram, Twitter and yes, sometimes even still on Facebook, conflicts can be all-day every day, with a whole crowd of students joining in, empowered by the detachment of the platforms to say things they might not in person. We block social media on campus, said Rodriguez. But I can guarantee you, at 1 in the morning, this stuff is still going full-tilt, on social media said Armato. Lets remember, said Rodriguez, the thing that has brought us all here today didnt happen at school. It happened on a Sunday at someones house. Rally and Protest As so often happens in Pottstown in the wake of a shooting, a rally to try to pull the community together is being organized. The Band Against Bullying rally will be held on Sunday, April 28 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Smith Family Plaza opposite Pottstown Borough Hall on High Street. On Thursday, April 25, a peaceful protest is also being planned for Pottstown High School from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. prior to the next scheduled Pottstown School Board meeting. Competitive colleges had already begun changing the racial makeup of their campuses as the civil rights movement gained ground, but the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, and the resulting student strikes and urban uprisings, prompted them to redouble their efforts. They acted partly out of a moral imperative, but also out of fear that the fabric of society was being torn apart by racial conflict. They took chances on promising black students from poor neighborhoods they had long ignored, in addition to black students groomed by boarding schools. Those who were able, through luck or experience or hard work, to adapt to the culture of institutions that had long been pillars of the white establishment succeeded by most conventional measures. Others could not break through because of personal trauma, family troubles, financial issues, culture shock the kind of problems felt by many white students as well, but compounded by being in such a tiny minority. And universities at the time, they said, did not have the will or the knowledge to help. "I think it's a fair question to ask: Did we really understand or know what we were doing, or could we have predicted what the issues would be?" said Robert L. Kirkpatrick Jr., who at the time was dean of admissions at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, which was part of these early efforts. "The answer is no. I think we were instinctively trying to do the right thing." Columbia an Ivy League campus right next to Harlem was a particularly revelatory setting. Perhaps nowhere else were the divisions more striking between the privilege inside university gates and the troubles and demands of black people outside them. The New York Times tracked down many of the nearly 50 black students in Columbia's Class of 1973, who arrived on campus as freshmen in 1969, when the number of black students admitted to Columbia more than doubled from the year before. About half of those who enrolled received their degrees four years later. Many went on to comfortable lives and professional success. Eric H. Holder Jr. became the first black attorney general of the United States. But others strayed from prescribed paths. The debate over race in college admissions only intensified. By the late 1970s, colleges began emphasizing the value of diversity on campus over the case for racial reparations. Today, Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are facing legal challenges to race-conscious admissions that could reach the Supreme Court. The Trump administration is investigating allegations of discrimination against Asian-American applicants at Harvard and Yale. University officials who lived through the history fear that the gains of the last 50 years could be rolled back. One of them is Lee Bollinger, the current president of Columbia, who first arrived on campus as a law student in 1968. "In that time, there was a sense, pure and simple, that universities had to do their part to help integrate higher education," Bollinger said. "We are still on that mission, but the sense of purpose and urgency and connection to the past have dissipated." The musician Les Goodson, now 67, grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn, and in those days he was known as Ervin. His mother was a housekeeper for a wealthy family on Park Avenue; his father was a tailor and owned a dry-cleaning shop for a time. He took an early liking to music, learning to play the viola from Cora Roth, his fifth-grade teacher, who still remembers him as "a pure soul." In college, Goodson realized that he could reinvent himself, and began going by Les, his middle name, instead of Ervin. He wanted to be a photographer. Not much in the course catalog spoke to him. "If you go back and look at that blue book, all the courses I would say 95 percent were Eurocentric," he said. The only black professor he can remember was Charles Hamilton, a political scientist who collaborated with Stokely Carmichael, the civil rights leader, to write about the Black Power movement, which Goodson said influenced him. Columbia's first black department chair, Elliott Skinner, in anthropology, would not be named until 1972 the year Goodson dropped out. "Nothing stopped me from finishing," Goodson said. "I just did something else." He returned to college and received a bachelor's degree in history from Lehman College in 2003, then completed most of a master's degree. A few years ago, Goodson was rejected from a Columbia doctoral program. Goodson has not strayed far from the Columbia orbit. Every Wednesday night, his four-piece band, the Les Goodson Intergalactic Soul Jazz Band, performs at Paris Blues, an old-fashioned dive bar just a 15-minute walk from campus. What he whimsically calls his "penthouse," a fifth-floor walk-up in central Harlem, is a few blocks farther. "Columbia," he said, "it changed my whole life." 'I didn't notice being black' While civil rights leaders pressed colleges to admit more black students, the big push came after the assassination of King on April 4, 1968, followed by uprisings in more than 100 cities and student strikes. The radical politics of 1968 came too late to affect the admissions decisions that fall. But in 1969, the number of black students recruited and admitted to Ivy League universities and their sister schools rose sharply, in many cases by more than 100 percent. From 1968 to 1969, the number of students recorded as black who applied to Columbia rose to 220 from 121, the number who were admitted rose to 130 from 58, and the number who registered rose to 48 from 31 out of a total class of about 700. (All of them were men; Columbia College did not begin admitting women until the 1980s.) Some black students in that class resisted being cast as emissaries of racial understanding. Gregory Peterson did not see himself in any racial framework. "I shied away from anything that was like a 'black' group," he said, "because I didn't grow up that way." He and his twin brother, Maurice, were in advanced classes in predominantly white schools, although they were part of the black middle class in Queens. Their father owned a barbershop; their mother was a teacher. At Columbia, Peterson was an English major, and mixed with white students. He discovered his gay identity, though he remained closeted. "I was so busy having problems being gay that I didn't notice being black," he said. After graduating in 1973, Peterson spent a few years in the arts before "the rational side took over," and he went to Columbia Law School. He went on to become a corporate lawyer. His brother, who also graduated from Columbia, owns a spa. Peterson and his husband now live on a high floor of a prewar building at a prime Manhattan location. The fugitive Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. In July 1972, Eldridge McKinney, a black sophomore at Columbia, shot the dean of students several times with a .38-caliber handgun. McKinney had been suspended for bad grades, and was angry that he was not reinstated, police said. The dean, Henry S. Coleman, was badly wounded but returned to work. After the shooting, McKinney's mother and Roy Innis, the civil rights leader, publicly pleaded with him to turn himself in. Charged with attempted murder, he disappeared. His friends believe that he has been living under an assumed name and identity for nearly 47 years. McKinney, nicknamed E, became something of a legend. Some black students quietly cheered him on, understanding his rage. "E was sort of like a semi-hero at the time, because apparently he got away with it," Goodson said. Darryl T. Downing, a black classmate of McKinney's, stepped forward to defend him in 1972. He told The Times back then that McKinney wanted to be a lawyer, but found Columbia to be a hard adjustment. "Columbia is not the situation we're used to," Downing, who went to a neighborhood public school in New York City, said then. "But we felt we were lucky to be here, so we got together to adjust." Black and Hispanic alumni from those days recall forming tight bonds because they were so few. They studied together. They went to their own parties. "We had massive massive study groups, where everybody would pile into a black lounge," Downing said. Many black students felt pulled in two directions assimilation or resistance. "I think that's still an open question in some people's minds: Are you expected to stay with your ghetto identity and the world has to adapt to you?" said Julius Gonzalez, the son of Cuban factory workers in West Harlem, and a member of the Class of 1973. "Or do you make a few adjustments and adapt more to the outside world?" 'Proving them wrong' Despite how hard it could be to adapt, there were many success stories among the black students in the Class of 1973. Gonzalez, whose factory-worker parents had grade-school educations, got an MBA from Harvard and became a financial officer in energy ventures abroad. He is now retired and living in Florida. Gary Friday, son of a beer distributor in Philadelphia, became a neurologist. Eric Coleman, whose widowed mother straightened and curled hair in her kitchen and took in laundry, is a state judge in Connecticut. But many names disappeared from the class directory between freshman and senior years. "Sometimes I look through a list of people who actually graduated," Friday said. "A lot of people are missing." About half the students recorded as black in the class 25 of the 48 received diplomas in 1973. Seven more got their degrees later, and one graduated early. The common perception that professors made allowances for minority students was false, Gonzalez said. If anything, being black invited tougher scrutiny. "Some of these guys smirked and looked at you and said, 'What are you doing here?,'" he said. "You had to prove them wrong." It was the dawn of a series of legal battles over allegations of "reverse racism" against white students, beginning with Marco DeFunis, a white student rejected by the University of Washington Law School in 1971. The Supreme Court found the DeFunis case moot in 1974 because the plaintiff was graduating. Since then, the Supreme Court has consistently upheld the right of colleges to use race as one factor in admissions. But what happened 50 years ago changed admissions forever. In some ways, affirmative action has become more sophisticated over time, as diversity has become an established principle, and schools barred by law from using racial quotas have sought an ideal mix of students that is more reflective of society. Colleges often turn to private schools to find even poor black and Hispanic students, because "they have the cultural and social capital to succeed on campus," said Anthony Abraham Jack, a professor of education at Harvard and author of "The Privileged Poor." Gonzalez said he saw the difference among the younger generation of black and Hispanic students: "They act like, 'Yeah, I belong here.'" She had been told that childbirth was going to be painful. But as the hours wore on, nothing bothered her even without an epidural. I could feel that my body was changing, but it didnt hurt me, recalled the woman, Jo Cameron, who is now 71. She likened it to a tickle. Later, she would tell prospective mothers, Dont worry, its not as bad as people say it is. It was only recently more than four decades later that she learned her friends were not exaggerating. Rather, there was something different about the way her body experienced pain: For the most part, it didnt. Scientists believe they now understand why. In a paper published Thursday in The British Journal of Anaesthesia, researchers attributed Camerons virtually pain-free life to a mutation in a previously unidentified gene. The hope, they say, is that the finding could eventually contribute to the development of a novel pain treatment. They believe this mutation may also be connected to why Cameron has felt little anxiety or fear throughout her life and why her body heals quickly. Weve never come across a patient like this, said John Wood, the head of the Molecular Nociception Group at University College London. More for you American farmers confront a mental health crisis Scientists have been documenting case studies of individuals who experience little or no pain for nearly 100 years. But the genetic mutation that seems to be responsible for Camerons virtual painlessness had not been previously identified. The study emerged amid major developments in the emotionally charged debate over how to responsibly treat pain. On Thursday, New York state filed one of the most sweeping legal cases yet against the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin. And it was yet another reminder that we need less addictive alternatives for chronic pain, said Dr. Stephen G. Waxman, a neurologist at Yale and author of Chasing Men on Fire: The Story of the Search for a Pain Gene. Waxman was not involved in the recent paper but he also studies people who have rare mutations that alter their experience of pain. Each of these mutations teach us something, and point to a particular gene as a potential target for new and more effective pain medications, he said. The sequence of events that led scientists to investigate Camerons genes began about five years ago. She was living a happy, ordinary life on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland with her husband, she said. After a hand operation, a doctor seemed perplexed that she was not experiencing any pain and did not want painkillers. I guarantee I wont need anything, Cameron recalled telling Devjit Srivastava, a consultant in anesthesia and pain medicine at a National Health Service hospital in northern Scotland and one of the authors of the paper. A few follow-up questions revealed that Cameron was unusual. At 65, she had needed to have her hip replaced. Because it had not caused her pain, she had not noticed anything was amiss until it was severely degenerated. Cuts, burns, fractures these did not hurt either. In fact, it often took the smell of burning flesh or her husband identifying blood for her to notice something wrong. She also reported that eating Scotch bonnet chili peppers left only a pleasant glow. Srivastava referred her to University College Londons Molecular Nociception Group, a team focused on genetic approaches to understanding the biology of pain and touch. They had some clues for her. In recent decades, scientists have identified dozens of other people who process pain in unusual ways. But when Dr. James Cox, a senior lecturer with that group and another author of the new paper, inspected her genetic profile, it did not resemble that of others known to live without pain. Eventually he found what he was looking for on a gene the scientists call FAAH-OUT. All of us have this gene. But in Camerons case, the patient has a deletion that removes the front of the gene, he said. Additional blood work confirmed this hypothesis, he said. Cameron said she had been shocked by the interest in her case. Until her conversation with Srivastava, pain was not something she thought about. Perhaps it helped that even though she burned and cut herself quite often, her injuries rarely left scars something else that scientists believe is connected to the mutation. A number of articles have been written about parents of children with similar conditions. Many live in fear that without pain, their children wont learn how to avoid hurting themselves. Her parents never made it an issue, she said. She suspects this may be because she inherited the mutation from her father. I cant remember him needing any painkillers, she said. I think thats why I didnt find it odd. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Unfortunately, because he died before the discovery, it will remain unknown whether he carried the mutation. Her mother does not share it. Neither does her daughter. Her son has the same microdeletion in FAAH-OUT, but does not have the other mutation that confers reduced FAAH function, Cox said. In other words, her son shares some, but not all, of her pain insensitivity. Scientists are also intrigued by Camerons extraordinarily low anxiety level. On an anxiety disorder questionnaire, she scored zero out of 21. She cannot recall ever having felt depressed or scared. I am very happy, she said. In retrospect, she sees how her genetic disposition may have aided her at work. After years as a primary-school teacher, she retrained to work with people with severe mental disabilities. Erratic, aggressive behavior never riled her, she said. But though having this mutation may sound like a dream, there are downsides. One is that she is quite forgetful; prone to losing her keys and her train of thought midsentence. The other is that shes never felt the adrenaline rush that other people talk about, she said. The researchers said they would now focus on trying to better understand how FAAH-OUT works so that they can design a gene therapy or other pain intervention around it. Turning a discovery of this sort into an actual pain or anxiety treatment requires many steps, many years and many millions of dollars. Its rare for a product to emerge. But its not unprecedented, Waxman said. As a reminder of how an individual with an unusual genetic makeup can shape the future of medicine, he pointed to statin drugs. They were developed largely on the basis and discovery of incredibly rare families where everyone was having heart attacks in their 20s, he said. Whether it will be Camerons mutation or another individuals mutation that directs the future of painkillers, its too early to say. But Im reasonably confident that the lessons we are learning from the genes involved in pain will lead to the development of an entirely new class of pain medications, he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. ALBANY - Counties outside of New York City will split $160 million in new internet sales tax revenue as part of the final budget deal struck on Saturday night. The projected revenue, however, is less than what counties were expecting when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled his plan in January to ensure sales taxes were collected on all online purchases. The shortfall stems from an agreement to divert nearly $60 million of the counties' share to offset a proposed cut by the governor in state aid to towns and villages across the state. The projected distribution of the new revenue was not available on Sunday morning. The shifting of sales tax revenue was initially proposed in the governor's February budget amendments after municipalities and state lawmakers rallied against the proposed cut in state aid. Association of Towns of the State of New York Executive Director Gerry Geist called the planned cut "draconian" and argued the affected municipalities were being treated like "second-class citizens." But the idea to use county revenues to make up the state aid was not well received either at the time, with Geist saying it pitted local governments against each other to "the detriment of New Yorkers." On Sunday, New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario said the shifting of funds was acceptable. "We think it's a fair compromise," he said. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The effort to collect sales taxes on all online purchases is a fight that goes back three years, and had been beaten back by Republican state lawmakers when they controlled the state Senate. "We are grateful for the governor's steadfast leadership to protect main street businesses," Acquario said. "That is a significant accomplishment and it was not an easy accomplishment" He also noted that the state budget didn't appear to shift additional costs to county governments and provided an additional $48 million in new revenue by eliminating a sales tax exemption for energy service companies. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 ALBANY Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders worked to clear a final roadblock to consensus on New York's $175 billion spending plan late Saturday night, as details of a potential compromise on publicly financed elections began to filter out of the negotiating room. The original Fair Elections Act, backed by the governor and the Senate Majority, would create a 6-t0-1 public matching system for small donations to candidates for state office in order to counteract the influence of big money on the state's electoral system. A deal on the table Saturday would create a commission, tasked with the creation of a public matching system for all legislative and statewide offices, costing approximately $100 million a year, by 2020. The entity's recommendations will be binding, unless the Legislature intervenes, but would not go into effect until at least 2022, according to a source close to budget discussions. Activists are concerned that the language on the table does not include enough parameters for the commission, such as mandating a 6-to-1 dollar matching ratio, or identifying an oversight body. It's also not clear whether the public matching system would be joined by lowered contribution limits, as Cuomo's executive proposal required. Dave Palmer, campaign manager for Fair Elections NY, warned that a "bad deal" was in the works on Twitter Saturday night. Fordham Law Professor Zephyr Teachout, who in recent years has launched progressive campaigns for governor and attorney general of New York, also sounded the alarm, urging lawmaker not to "settle for terrible." "If the bad #fairelections deal goes through we could end up with something called public financing but is useless in combatting corruption: a 2 to 1 match (not incentivizing different behavior), outrageously high limits, only applied to some offices, and no independent enforcer," she tweeted. The Assembly Democrats supported the public matching system in past years, when a Republican-controlled Senate prevented any campaign finance reforms from advancing in the Legislature. Some Assembly members in marginal districts are concerned that overhauling the system would put their seats at risk. The governor, in a statement to the media late Saturday afternoon, pressed the Assembly leadership to bend on the issue, noting the conference's past positions. The objective of his aggressive agenda is "to make progress and to actually expose the differences where progress cannot be made," Cuomo said. "New Yorkers are watching and will now know whether their elected officials are truly progressive or great pretenders." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. The commission may also examine fusion voting, the practice of allowing small third parties to cross-endorse major-party candidates, which enables minor parties to thrive in New York, and automatic voter registration. Ending fusion voting would deliver a blow to the progressive Working Families Party, which has had a particularly rocky relationship with the governor since endorsing his progressive primary opponent Cynthia Nixon in 2018. Consensus between the leaders has been reached on other controversial issues, such as the creation of a permanent property tax cap, criminal justice reform including the elimination of cash bail a plastic bag ban and state codification of Affordable Care Act protections. On Friday, leaders broke through an impasse on education aid, increasing schools funding by 3.7 percent, or about $1 billion. The bump is about $50 million above Cuomo's proposal, but significantly lower that the $1.5 billion spending hike sought by legislative leaders for schools. The pending budget deal allocates $12 million for the city of Albany, as it did in past years. "We understand the unique needs of Albany. This funding will help protect taxpayers and help ensure they are not unfairly burdened for living in the the capitol of this great state," Cuomo said in a statement. If you believed someone is a "scoundrel," would you care that that their family, friends and some former co-workers who haven't seen the person in more than 25 years thought he was a nice guy? It's a question worth asking this week as Todd Howe, the former government insider and consultant, is about to be sentenced on Friday for his guilty pleas to multiple felonies in connection with the Joseph Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros corruption trials last year. At this point, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni is more than a little familiar with Howe, the Rensselaer County-bred former aide to late Gov. Mario Cuomo and later for Andrew Cuomo when the current governor was federal housing secretary. Caproni listened in February 2018 when Howe testified that he had a "come to Jesus" moment to start doing the right thing. "I have done nothing but tell the truth since I had my come-to-Jesus meeting with my attorney in June," Howe testified, referring to June 2016 and his decision to cooperate with the government. Of course, that wasn't quite true. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Todd Gitner, Howe later admitted that in October 2016, he scammed his credit card company for the cost of a night stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Howe was in New York at the time to discuss his cooperation with prosecutors. Caproni was in court when Howe admitted to his lengthy history as a deadbeat -- and that he even once stiffed his family's dog walker. The judge knows Howe is an admitted embezzler of more than $1.7 million from his former employer, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. The judge knows Howe was a conspirator in the "Buffalo Billion" corruption case against Kaloyeros, SUNY Polytechnic Institute founder, and in the bribery-related case against Percoco, former top Andrew Cuomo aide. In open court, Caproni referred to Howe as a "scoundrel" and was mystified why the defendants got in bed with him, so to speak. So what have defense attorneys done as Howe is about to be sentenced? They have told the judge about people who think Howe is (or was) a great guy and that he deserved time served. Should the judge really care what former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, who knew Howe when Howe was an aide to Mario Cuomo, has to say? Lundine, who was lieutenant governor from 1987 to 1994, told the judge in a letter he has not any recent contact with Howe but that Howe exhibited "integrity and high character." It seemed "improbable to me that Todd has fundamentally changed" since he knew him, Lundine wrote. Should the judge care that retired State Police trooper Lloyd Wilson thinks the Todd Howe he knew was honorable? Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. "I have spent much of my adult life in law enforcement and one of the traits I have developed . . . is being able to determine fact from fiction," wrote Wilson, who was a staff inspector for the State Police. "Having known Todd as long as I have, I can unequivocally say that the actions taken by Todd are not who he truly is." Wilson added: "But my law enforcement experience also forces me to recognize that good people can do bad things for many different reasons and often without anyone knowing. But that is where the fact and fiction come in. I believe it is a matter of fact that Todd made a series of poor choices, but at his foundation, he is a solid individual who cares for and loves his family and friends and honestly looks for ways to make our society better . . . I would ask that you extend leniency to Todd so that he is able to remain with his family, continue working and bring that knowledge and positive energy that he has always demonstrated back to the community in which he now resides." The letters from Howe's family (his wife and children) and friends capture the feelings of the people closest to Howe. But it's worth remembering that this isn't Caproni's first rodeo, so to speak. She has read and heard countless defendants' family members and friends also attest to their loved ones' supposedly true ways as the person is headed to federal prison. Similar approaches didn't seem to work for Percoco before he was sentenced by Caproni. The judge handed him six years and called him a "bully." The one thing that perhaps could make a difference with Caproni is that Howe's cooperation led to the convictions of Percoco and Kaloyeros and other associates. The judge, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, understands that to get convictions, the government at times must make deals with nefarious characters to get the convictions of bigger fish. And even though Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg made no excuses about Howe's corruption and later admission that he ripped off his credit card company, she let the judge know that Howe delivered for the prosecution. "Howe was nonetheless a productive and helpful cooperating witness in an important public corruption case that sent a powerful deterrent message," Echenberg stated. So there's a chance for Howe. Washington Border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of a top government effort to address the swelling number of Central Americans arriving in the country, a Trump administration official said Saturday. It was the latest attempt to ease a straining immigration system that officials say is at the breaking point. Hundreds of officers who usually screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry were reassigned to help manage migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department and sent a letter to Congress late this past week requesting resources and broader authority to deport families faster; she also met with Central American and Mexican officials. The efforts are being made while President Donald Trump is doubling down on threats to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border entirely, a move that would have serious economic repercussions for both the U.S. and Mexico but wouldn't stop migrants from crossing between ports. His administration also announced it was cutting aid to the Central American countries home to most of the migrants. Right now, about 60 asylum seekers a day are returned to Mexico to wait out their cases, the official said. They are allowed to return to the U.S. for court dates. With a backlog of more than 700,000 immigration cases, asylum seekers can wait years for their cases to progress, and officials say some people game the system in order to live in the U.S. Officials hope to have as many as 300 people returned per day by the end of the week, focusing particularly on those who come in between ports of entry, said the official, who had knowledge of the plans but was unauthorized to speak publicly. But the process has been slow-going. The plan has already been marred by confusion, scheduling glitches and an inability by some attorneys to reach their clients. Plus, U.S. officials must check if asylum seekers have any felony convictions and notify Mexico at least 12 hours before they are returned. Those who cross illegally must have come as single adults, though the administration is in talks with the Mexican government to include families. Children are not returned. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Homeland Security officials have been grappling with an ever-growing number of Central American children and families coming over the border. Arrests soared in February to a 12-year high and more than half of those stopped arrived as families, many of them asylum seekers who generally turn themselves in instead of trying to elude capture. Guatemala and Honduras have replaced Mexico as the top countries, a remarkable shift from only a few years ago. Migrants from Central America cannot be easily deported, unlike people crossing from Mexico. Mexico has been treading lightly on the subject. After Trump lashed out, saying Mexico and the Central American nations were "doing nothing" about illegal immigration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country would do everything it could to help to maintain a "very respectful relationship" with the U.S. government and Trump. A Starbucks Coffee location / Korea Times file By Kwak Yeon-soo Starbucks Coffee Korea CEO David Song / Courtesy of Starbucks Korea [March 30, 2019] Daymond John, Founder and CEO of FUBU and co-star of ABC's Shark Tank, Delivers Keynote Speech at LegalShield's "A Better World" International Convention LegalShield, one of North America's leading providers of affordable legal plans for individuals, families and small businesses, kicked off its annual international convention themed "A Better World" at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. Keynote speaker Daymond John, founder and CEO of FUBU and co-star of ABC's Shark Tank, shared his unique goal-setting and achievement strategies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190330005015/en/ Daymond John delivers his keynote speech at LegalShield's "A Better World" international convention. (Photo: Business Wire) The event brings together more than 5,000 LegalShield Associates across the U.S. and Canada for three days of professional development, training and networking. In the keynote speech, Daymond shared his keys to success with convention attendees, including establishing the right mindset and following a few fundamental principles - his five "S.H.A.R.K. points." "Sales is everything. When you have a good product like LegalShield and you are changing lives and protecting people, the easiest thing in the world is to sell the tuth," said John to thundering applause. "Successful entrepreneurs act, learn, repeat and they keep grinding and I have come to know that CEO Jeff Bell and his LegalShield leadership team demonstrate those tenants!" In addition to his role on Shark Tank, John is widely recognized for his accomplishments as an entrepreneur and branding expert following the success of his groundbreaking lifestyle brand, FUBU which went on to eclipse more than $6 billion in global retail sales. He was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under the Obama Administration and is a two-time New York Times Best Selling Author, most recently for his book Rise and Grind. John remains committed to helping aspiring entrepreneurs, which landed him the affectionate nickname of "The People's Shark." In recognition of his impact in the entrepreneurial space, John has been bestowed the NAACP Entrepreneurs of the Year Award, the Congressional Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship and more. "LegalShield is thrilled to have Daymond John speak to our associates about his extensive business experience and love of entrepreneurship," said Jeff Bell, CEO of LegalShield. "His fundamentals for success in business and life are invaluable and empower our convention attendees to make a positive change in every aspect of their lives. We look forward to using his advice to make the world a better place." Other speakers at the 2019 LegalShield "A Better World" Convention included Indiana Attorney General Curtis T. Hill, LegalShield CEO Jeff Bell, CEO of Addison Leadership Group, Inc. and member of LegalShield's Board of Directors, John Addison. About LegalShield A trailblazer in the democratization of affordable access to legal protection, LegalShield is one of North America's largest providers of subscription legal plans covering more than 4.375 million people. IDShield's identity theft solution for individuals and families has more than one million members. LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. In addition, 34,000 companies offer LegalShield and IDShield plans to their employees as a voluntary benefit. Both legal and identity theft plans start for less than $25 per month. LegalShield's legal plans provide access to qualified law firms and their attorneys with an average of 22 years of experience in family matters, estate planning, financial and business issues, consumer protection, tax, real estate, benefits disputes and auto/driving issues. Unlike other legal plans or do-it-yourself online services, LegalShield has dedicated law firms in 50 states and 4 provinces in Canada that members can access at a fraction of typical law firm hourly rates. IDShield provides identity monitoring and restoration services and is the only identity theft protection company armed with a team of Licensed Private Investigators to restore a member's identity. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190330005015/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 31, 2019] RISC-V Foundation Announces Agenda for Free, Half-Day Getting Started with RISC-V Events RISC-V Foundation: WHAT: The RISC-V Foundation will be hosting a series of free "Getting Started with RISC-V" events across North America. WHERE: The Conference Center at Waltham in Boston, Mass.; Commons Conference Center in Austin, Texas; AV Irvine in Irvine, Calif.; Western Digital in Milpitas, Calif. WHEN: Monday, April 1 to Thursday, April 4, 2019 DETAILS: The RISC-V Foundation in collaboration with the Linux Foundation (News - Alert) is hosting a series of free, half-day "Getting Started with RISC-V" events to showcase innovative RISC-V implementations from members of the RISC-V Foundation. These half-day events will feature RISC-V Foundation members Andes Technology, Antmicro, Dover Microsystems, Hex Five Security, Imperas, Microchip Technology (News - Alert), SiFive and Western Digital. Getting Started with RISC-V Agenda 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. PT : Welcome and Check in : Welcome and Check in 9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. PT : What is RISC-V?, RISC-V Foundation : What is RISC-V?, RISC-V Foundation 9:15 a.m. - 9:35 a.m. PT : Platform Security-A Detailed Comparison of RISC-V to ARM's (News - Alert) TrustZone, Hex Five Security : Platform Security-A Detailed Comparison of RISC-V to ARM's (News - Alert) TrustZone, Hex Five Security 9:35 a.m. - 9:55 a.m. PT : Bring Real-Time to Linux with RISC-V Based SoC FPGA, Microchip Technology : Bring Real-Time to Linux with RISC-V Based SoC FPGA, Microchip Technology 9:55 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. PT : Hardware/Software Co-Design with the Open Source (News - Alert) Renode Framework and RISC-V, Antmicro : Hardware/Software Co-Design with the Open Source (News - Alert) Renode Framework and RISC-V, Antmicro 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. PT : Break : Break 10:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. PT : Taking RISC-V into High-Performance Sockets with Custom Instructions, Andes Technology : Taking RISC-V into High-Performance Sockets with Custom Instructions, Andes Technology 10:50 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. PT : Custom Instructions and Architecture Optimization for RISC-V, Imperas : Custom Instructions and Architecture Optimization for RISC-V, Imperas 11:10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. PT : Is There a Hole in Your RISC-V Security Stack?, Dover Microsystems : Is There a Hole in Your RISC-V Security Stack?, Dover Microsystems 11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. PT : Break : Break 11:45 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. PT - SweRV Core, Production Grade, Open Source RISC-V Core, Western Digital (News - Alert) - SweRV Core, Production Grade, Open Source RISC-V Core, Western Digital (News - Alert) 12:05 p.m. - 12:25 p.m. PT - Innovation Unleashed: Solutions and Silicon Enabling the Intelligent Edge and Linux, SiFive - Innovation Unleashed: Solutions and Silicon Enabling the Intelligent Edge and Linux, SiFive 12:25 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. PT - Lunch Boston : April 1 at the Conference Center at Waltham - please register: here. : April 1 at the Conference Center at Waltham - please register: here. Austin : April 2 at the Commons Conference Center - please register: here. : April 2 at the Commons Conference Center - please register: here. Irvine : April 3 at AV Irvine - please register: here. : April 3 at AV Irvine - please register: here. San Francisco Bay Area: April 4 at Western Digital in Milpitas- please register: here. For press interested in attending and scheduling meetings with the RISC-V Foundation and member companies, please email: [email protected]. To learn more about the RISC-V Foundation, the free and open RISC-V architecture and membership information, please visit: https://riscv.org. About RISC-V Foundation RISC-V (pronounced "risk-five") is a free and open ISA enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. Founded in 2015, the RISC-V Foundation comprises more than 235 members building the first open, collaborative community of software and hardware innovators powering a new era of processor innovation. 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. The RISC-V Foundation, a non-profit corporation controlled by its members, directs the future development and drives the adoption of the RISC-V ISA. Members of the RISC-V Foundation have access to and participate in the development of the RISC-V ISA specifications and related HW / SW ecosystem. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190331005001/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 31, 2019] Imvax Announces Positive Results from Clinical Trial of Novel IGV-001 Autologous Cell Vaccine in Treating Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Median overall survival was 21.9 months for highest vaccine dose vs. 14.6 months in published standard of care studies Median progression-free survival was 10.4 months vs. 6.9 and 5.4 months in published standard of care studies Results presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 ATLANTA, March 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imvax, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel patient-specific vaccines and immunotherapy strategies, today announced positive results from an ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial that demonstrate treatment with IGV-001, the Companys novel autologous tumor cell vaccine, outperformed standard of care (SOC) with prolonged overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The results, which were presented today in an oral presentation during the Advances in Novel Immunotherapeutics session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019, support the continued development of a new immunotherapy paradigm for the treatment of GBM. Our results clearly demonstrate that this new investigational vaccine shows promise when compared to standard of care therapy as currently practiced, said neurosurgeon David W. Andrews, M.D., co-founder, Chief Medical Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of Imvax, and Anthony Alfred Chiurco, MD Professor of Neurological Surgery, Vice Chair of Clinical Services at the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience at Jefferson. The Phase 1b trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of IGV-001, an autologous vaccine made from patients tumor cells and an antisense formulation, in adults with newly diagnosed GBM. Thirty-three patients received one of four vaccine exposures. SOC treatment (i.e., radiotherapy and temozolomide) was initiated four to six weeks after vaccine administration. The primary endpoint was safety and the secondary endpoint was tumor response. Exploratory objectives included assessment of PFS, OS and immune markers. A historical comparator group comprised of 35 newly diagnosed GBM patients treated at the same center evaluated SOC alone. Dr. Andrews said, The Imvax vaccine demonstrated striking tumor regression in over one-third of trial patients that was associated with clinical improvements. We initiated the Phase 1b trial in 2015 and are pleased to report that eleven patients who participated in the trial have returned to active, vigorous lives. Treatment with IGV-001 was well tolerated, and 15 of 33 patiens (45.5 %) experienced no tumor growth as of March 1, 2019. Moreover, the cohort treated with the highest vaccine dose demonstrated an improvement of 7.3 months in OS (21.9 months vs. 14.6 months per Stupp1) and 3.5 months in PFS (10.4 months vs. 6.9 months when compared against the historical comparator group; p=0.031) against SOC treatment alone. The most prominent survival statistics included those patients with DNA methylation of the MGMT promoter which favors temozolomide treatment. However, PFS for methylated patients was three-fold longer (30.9 months vs. 10.3 months for historic SOC patients per Hegi2). This finding is under further investigation for its benefit. Cancers originate as a disease of the cell but their progression is often associated with disorders of the immune system, said immunologist D. Craig Hooper, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Imvax, and Researcher, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health. This is certainly true for patients with glioblastoma multiforme where the growth of cells that should be effective targets for therapeutic immunity appears to be dependent upon altered immune function. Our approach is to inhibit aberrant immune mechanisms induced by the tumor cells at the same time as vaccinating with the patients own tumor antigens. Restoration of the patients ability to mediate an appropriate immune response together with the use of a truly personalized array of tumor antigens provides us with the best chance of generating effective anti-tumor immunity. Andrew E. Sloan, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair Department of Neurological Surgery at University Hospitals, Cleveland Medical Center, and Director, Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, Cleveland Medical Center & the Center of Excellence for Translational Neuro-Oncology, UH Seidman Cancer Center, said The data presented at AACR suggests that IGV-001 prolonged both progression-free and overall survival, particularly in the group of patients with methylated MGMT. Notably, it appears to work in both patients with imaging complete resection as well as in patients with subtotal resection, which has been a challenge in previous generations of immunotherapy for GBM. I look forward to further evaluation of this vaccine as a novel treatment for glioblastoma. Dr. Sloan played no part in the clinical trial, nor does he have an association with either Imvax or Thomas Jefferson University. IGV-001 has been developed over the past 20 years at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where three Phase 1 trials directed by Drs. Andrews and Hooper have now demonstrated efficacy and safety. Dr. Andrews added, After devoting nearly two decades to this novel vaccines research and development, we believe this lethal cancer is one significant step closer to becoming an effectively managed condition. We look forward to initiating a multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial later this year. References: 1. Stupp R, et al (2009). Lancet Oncology, 10(5), 459466. 2. Hegi ME, et al (2005) N Engl J Med, 352(10), 997-1003. About IGV-001 IGV-001 is a first-in-class autologous vaccine in development for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a lethal and common type of brain tumor. Based on early clinical research, one treatment with IGV-001 has the potential to trigger a multi-pronged immune response, including a short-term innate immune response followed by longer-term powerful adaptive immune activity, that is selectively directed at the patients tumor cells. IGV-001 has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of malignant glioma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. About Imvax, Inc. Imvax is a discovery and clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel patient-specific vaccines and immunotherapy strategies for the treatment of malignant gliomas and other cancers with unmet medical needs. Imvaxs lead product candidate, IGV-001, is an autologous tumor cell vaccine that delivers a multi-pronged response against tumor cells by leveraging the patients immune system as a defense mechanism. Imvax is based in Philadelphia, PA. For additional information, please visit www.Imvax.com . Media Contacts: USA Tony Plohoros 6 Degrees 1-908-591-2839 [email protected] Europe Alexandre Muller Dynamics Group +41 43 268 32 31 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Cleaning Up The Neighborhood Most dangerous neighborhoods in KC receive spring cleaning KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Eleven of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri, got a spring cleaning Saturday as volunteers picked up trash in an effort to improve the communities in some small way. It's called the Urban Core Cleanup and, in addition to picking up trash, the group's goal also is to sweep away crime. EPIC Crash Scene Today 3 injured following wreck involving semi-truck on I-70 KANSAS CITY, MO. (KCTV) --- Three people were hurt following a crash involving a semi-truck and car on Interstate 70 and Blue Ridge Cutoff. The wreck happened on I-70 westbound around 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. According to police, an investigation determined a westbound Ford Focus left the road and struck a barrier in the area. Many Parking Lot Mistakes This Spring Couple expecting twins marries before Royals game at stadium KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It was a cold and rainy Saturday for tailgaters at the Kansas City Royals game. But that didn't stop one couple's family and friends from gathering for what they thought was a gender-reveal party in the parking lot before a game against the Chicago White Sox. Downtown Loves Fanboys Fandoms collide in Kansas City There was an unusual combination of people roaming KC on Friday as the worlds of several fandoms collided. Classy Cowtown Dancing BWW Review: NEW MOVES 2019 at Kansas City Ballet The 2019 New Moves show of the Kansas City Ballet once again brings us an impressive display of works by new and emerging choreographers. The Best It Will Get Soler, Royals beat White Sox 8-6 on a raw day for 2-0 start KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Jorge Soler had three hits and three RBIs, Alex Gordon scored three runs despite not getting a hit and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox 8-6 on a wet, cold and windy Saturday. Meet The New Kangaroo Honcho UMKC introduces Billy Donlon as new men's basketball head coach KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri-Kansas City officially introduced former Northwestern assistant Billy Donlon on Friday. Donlon will take over its men's basketball program, which has never qualified for the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level. At the press conference, Donlon expressed his gratitude for being hired and his goals for the future. Quick look at the world's biggest panty merchant refusing to change with the times for better and and worse. Take look:Closer to home, these news links are worth a look tonight . . .And this is thefor right now . . . TRENTON A Diocese of Trenton priest with close ties to Hamilton Township has been removed from public ministry due to allegations he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s and 1980s. The Rev. Gregory D. Vaughan, who had various assignments in the region, including at St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish on South Broad Street in Hamilton, denies the allegations, according to the Diocese of Trenton. The diocese, however, found the allegations to be credible and immediately ousted Vaughan from the ranks of public ministry, the diocese announced Saturday in a statement. On Sunday, March 17, the diocese received some very troubling news during the Saint Patricks Day festivities: A sexual abuse allegation against Vaughan accusing him of violating a minor. The alleged abuse dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s when Msgr. Vaughan was a parochial vicar in St. Ann Parish, Keansburg, the diocese said in its statement about the Roman Catholic monsignor. In the interest of protecting the victims privacy, the diocese will not disclose further details of the alleged abuse. This is the first and only allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Msgr. Vaughan reported to the diocese. Since his ordination in 1972, Vaughan has served his priestly ministry exclusively in the Diocese of Trenton, with assignments in the following parishes: St. Ann; Keansburg; St. Charles Borromeo, Cinnaminson; St. Mary, Middletown; St. Raphael, Hamilton, and St. Catharine, Holmdel. Additionally, Vaughan formerly served the diocese as vicar for Catholic education; chancellor; vicar general; moderator of the curia, and director of vocations, according to the Diocese of Trenton, which said it will notify every parish where Vaughan once served that he is no longer permitted to practice ministry due to the allegations of sexual abuse on a minor. Vaughan has served as pastor of St. Catharine Parish in Holmdel since 2013. Bishop David M. OConnell took swift action to remove Vaughan from that position in light of the serious allegations. The diocese says it immediately reported the allegations to the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office. The diocese encourages anyone who has been sexually abused as a minor by a representative of the Catholic Church to report the abuse to the appropriate law enforcement agency and to the diocese through its abuse hotline: 1-888-296-2965 or via email at abuseline@dioceseoftrenton.org. Seen is an aerial view of Wonsam-myeon, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where SK hynix will construct a semiconductor cluster. / Korea Times file By Baek Byung-yeul SK hynix will invest 1.22 trillion won ($1.07 billion) as part of the firm's growth sharing plan with its partnership firms which will be housed in its new semiconductor cluster near Seoul, the chip maker said Thursday. The announcement came a day after the government approved the firm's semiconductor cluster development plan with an investment of 120 trillion won ($106 billion) in Yongin, just south of Seoul. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in February to relax regulations that restrict the size of industrial zones in the Seoul metropolitan area and a committee under the land ministry decided to allocate lands in the city to SK hynix. With the plan, SK hynix will build four semiconductor fabrication plants in the cluster after the factory site is organized in 2022. The cluster will feature more than 50 partnership companies of SK hynix and is expected to create 17,000 new jobs and 188 trillion won in added value, according to the government. As part of its growth sharing plan, the firm will create a financial support fund worth 300 billion won in 2022 when it will begin the construction of its first semiconductor fabrication plant in the cluster. The mass production at the new cluster is expected to begin in 2024. The firm will also invest 638 billion won to establish a center for growth sharing. Tentatively titled WeDoTech Center, the organization will provide various kinds of financial support to the partnership firms such as localization of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The rest of the 280 billion won will be used to support R&D projects of the partnership companies. SK hynix said the growth sharing plan will strengthen the country's semiconductor industry ecosystem. "The growth sharing program will help increase the localization rate of homemade semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which currently remains at only 20 percent," Kim Jeong-ki, vice president of the firm's PR office, said. "We will continue to contribute to the development of the country's semiconductor industry." SK hynix has pushed ahead with the cluster development plan in response to rapidly growing chip demands from all across the world. It already has operated its domestics chip manufacturing lines in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province and Cheongju, North Chungcheong. Under its business plan, the newly built Yongin cluster will become a center for DRAM memory chips while the Icheon plant will focus on R&D projects and the Choengju plant will serve as a manufacturing hub for NAND flash memory chips. The Democratic Party is starting to resemble Jonestown and its presidential candidates to resemble cult leader Jim Jones. The party cult is serving up a big tub of Kool-Aid labelled Climate Change. The question is, how many Americans can be enticed to imbibe? The Cult of Climate Change maintains that humans have just a dozen years to repent their sinful, pollutin ways. Or else. Or else theres gonna be an apocalypse thatll make Revelations look like a Sunday school picnic, according to the cult. Even the less whacky of the presidential candidates are going all-out on the Climate Change Kool-Aid pitch. Typical of cults, the new Jonestown/Democratic climate madness rests precariously on wobbly propositions. Especially these two: 1. Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that human activity is turning the entire planet into a Congolese jungle or Sahara Desert and doing so at a breakneck pace. 2. We know for certain what to do about this we need only to muster the resolve to do it. To tackle No. 1 first, even if were true that 97 percent of scientists believe humans are on the verge of destroying the planet, that would hardly be an argument-clenching observation. (Its in fact not true. But more on that shortly.) Consensus science is an extremely pernicious concept, author Michael Crichton once observed. Consensus is not the business of science, he noted, its the business of politics. Besides being an entertaining storyteller, Crichton was a pretty smart fellow, a Harvard-trained MD. A global-warming skeptic himself, he noted: The greatest scientists in history are greatest precisely because they broke with the consensus. As regards climate change, it has become, he observed, the first refuge of a scoundrel, an angry mob shouting with the aim of silencing debate and squelching dissent. Skepticism is losing ground as the watchword of science it once was. The motto of the Royal Society, the worlds oldest scientific organization, is Take no ones word for it (Nullius in verba). The Climate Change Cults motto is, Take our word for it! Or else. All who fall short of being Kool-Aid-guzzling climate alarmists are tarred with the label deniers, a calumny meant to liken them to creeps who say there was no Nazi Holocaust. In any event, the oft-repeated 97 percent consensus claim is plain b.s. Typically, no source for the claim is cited. The claim is merely asserted. In rare instances when a source is cited, the claim is attributed to a 2013 study by Queensland University researchers in Australia. The authors of that study say they sifted through the summaries of 11,000 research papers on climate change. What the study actually reported finding was that 66.4 percent of the papers took no position on global warming at all, one way or another. Roughly one-third of the papers summaries (32.6 percent) indicated support for the proposition that humans are contributing to global warming, at least to some extent if not necessarily apocalyptically. So how do you get a 97 percent consensus on disastrous, man-made climate change out of those numbers? Well, you dont. Yet the 97 percent consensus figure is invoked without challenge, in the manner of religious ritual. A choir-like news media reinforces the number by repeating it endlessly. Just about every news story on the subject manages to work in a mention that a supposed 97 percent scientific consensus agrees that human activity is turning Earth into a parched, desiccated, uninhabitable globe with human extinction looming just around the corner. But, in contrast, as skeptics note, you never see any mention in news stories of a cautionary note from the U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the worlds leading global-warming alarmist organization. The cautionary note occurs in the Scientific Section of the 3rd IPCC Report (2001), under the title, Predictability in Chaotic Systems. It states: In climate research and modelling we should recognize that we are dealing with a nonlinear chaotic system and therefore that THE LONG-TERM PREDICTION OF FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT POSSIBLE. (Emphasis added.) In fact most deniers are not deniers at all. They are sensible, reasonably well-informed people who simply say the complex topic of climate is clouded by scientific unknowns, and in any event that theres no simple, easy solution just waiting there for us to apply it. Which brings us to Fallacy No. 2. Fallacy No. 2 maintains that there is indeed a simple, easy solution at hand: We need merely substitute renewable energy windmills, solar panels and such for energy generated by icky carbon fuels like oil, coal and natural gas. Relying on sustainable energy, on green energy, sounds alluring. But think twice about it if you prefer flipping a switch to lighting a whale-oil lamp. Or if you prefer taking the car to the convenience store for a gallon of milk instead of hoofing there on a cold, rainy night. Oil, coal and natural gas all nasty fossil fuels may indeed be factors affecting climate to some extent not yet precisely ascertained. (Also known to affect climate are such natural phenomena as solar activity, oceanic-atmospheric exchanges and plant and animal respiration and decomposition.) Whatever exactly the role of fossil fuels on climate, theyre definitely significant factors in an economy that yields the cornucopia of food and other products we all take for granted. Also, icky carbon fuels run the economy that produces the wealth that funds the research that, one day, hopefully, leads to clean, plentiful energy. Theres no such thing right now. And earnest assertions to the contrary, such as those made by the wide-eyed ingenue, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, dont alter this reality. Curtailing bovine flatulence and limiting burger consumption by government decree simply wont deliver us to the Promised Land of carbon-free energy. You may fantasize how youd like to swing on a star and carry moonbeams home in a jar, as the old song had it, but fantasy is no substitute for practical policy. The fantasy solution of the Cult of Climate Change is summed up by glib bumper stickers, such as: Live Simply That Others May Simply Live. Alas, renewable-energy paradise is not a nirvana easily achieved by merely scowling at the mention of ExxonMobil. Or by driving around Princeton with your nose aloft in your hybrid with its bumper sticker proclaiming,There Is No Planet B. The plain, obvious, undisputed truth is that wind, solar and other renewables cant generate the energy the world needs, or come even remotely close to doing so. Meanwhile, unless theres a global economic crash a new Dark Ages the worlds demand for energy goes on increasing. Assuming only moderate world economic growth, total energy global needs will rise 30 percent by 2040, the International Energy Agency says. And theres no scenario that projects renewables as being able to meet demand any time in the foreseeable future. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and hedge-fund mogul Tom Steyer may privately jet to their Swiss conferences urging energy rationing upon the peasant deplorables. But the plutocrats snooty virtue-signaling wont alter the energy facts of life any more than Beto ORourkes or Cory Bookers sanctimonious posturing will. Even after years of being hyped and subsidized as the savior of the planet, renewable energy provided just 12.2 percent of primary U.S. energy consumption in 2016. (USEIA.) Even with the growth of renewable energy sources, fossil fuel will still provide most of the electricity in the United States, the USEIA adds. The Obama Administration, from 2009-2015, emitted countless megatons of greenhouse gas via its verbiage heralding the wonders of renewable energy, not to mention expending $150 billion in public funds promoting wind turbines and the like. Yet government projections are that, even taking into account ongoing future growth in renewables, fossil fuels in 2040 will still be providing 77 percent of energy needs. (Demonic coal itself will still be supplying a significant 22 percent of energy, unless, that is, the world opts for the Dark Ages over further use of the villainous fuel.) Plans for climate utopia overlook such huge factors as China and India, even though climate change purports to be a global issue. Environmental utopians prefer to focus their proposed edicts on America, which by the way since 2005 has reduced carbon emissions by 758 million metric tons, while Chinas emissions grew by 3 billion metric tons and Indias by 1 billion. Its projected that Chinas use of coal to generate electricity, according to its own energy plans, will leave its coal-consumption rate four times greater than Americas. Which is to say will give China a massive economic edge in a competitive global market. Hear out what Michael Shellenberger environmental activist, co-founder of Environmental Progress has to say on the topic of renewables. Wind and solar, he says, deliver way too little energy for the space they take up. Energy efficiency output is measured by generation-density, and renewables are sorely lacking in it. If you want density-of-energy output with clean air, the way to get it is with nuclear power, he says. But, of course, environmental pressure groups are having none of that. Shellenberger adds, incidentally, that nuclear energy also actually is the safest of all options. He cites major studies concluding that such nuclear energy as does exist has saved millions of lives by avoiding emissions that other energy sources cant. Shellenberger himself once led a quixotic crusade in support of a $300-billion sustainable-energy pie-in-the-sky quest. But the fact is, he concedes, that no amount of technological innovation will solve the fundamental problem with renewables. The fundamental problem is this: The sun simply doesnt always shine nor does the wind always blow wherever solar panels and turbines are installed. And energy-storage technological limitations associated with wind and solar rudely intrude upon the renewables fantasy. Beyond these limitations, Shellenberger notes, the renewables movement has been accompanied by a sort of bait-and-switch con. Icky fossil fuels have been slyly enlisted to subsidize the uneconomical nature of renewables. The upshot of this has been that states boasting loudest of their renewables initiatives e.g., New Jersey and California just happen to have the most extortionate utility rates. As California aggressively pressed ahead with an all-out renewables program, the states utility rates skyrocketed, 2011-2017, five times more than rates did for the rest of the nation. Shellenberger notes a similar result in France, when environmentalist Eurocrats pressured it to ease off nuclear generation and go big on renewables. Likewise, when Germany went on a renewables binge, its utility rates soared 50 percent, he points out. The renewables fairy tale, however, has not been the work-product of environmental activism alone. The big corporations, including utilities themselves, play along with the renewables moonbeams-in-a-jar fantasy. In doing so, they apparently hope to spare themselves the annoyance of seeing their headquarters overrun by hectoring protesters shrieking that the end of the world is nigh. Meanwhile, Shellenberger notes, the big swaths of land that solar requires, and the looming site of giant wind turbines, prompt ferocious NIMBY opposition. Especially in the pricier real estate neighborhoods. Youll not likely see, any time soon, monster wind turbines casting a shadow over any of Leonardo DiCaprios palatial estates or solar arrays taking up acres of property in any of the neighborhoods where Tom Steyer rests his regal head at night. Such virtuous oligarchs will, though, go on lecturing the deplorables on how they should be willing to forego some of the conveniences of modern life to save the planet. They are saying, in other words, that it turns out that whats good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander after all. South Africa: Tourism graduates urged to empower themselves Tourism Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe has urged graduates of a government funded programme to use the skills obtained in the course to empower themselves. Thabethe made the remark on Friday in the Free State while officiating the graduation ceremony of 96 learners, who successfully completed the departments Hospitality Youth Training Programme. The graduation was held at the iconic Naval Planetarium in Bloemfontein. The learners from Xhariep and Thaba Nchu received NQF level 2 and 4 qualifications in Accommodation, Food and Beverage Services. The Tourism Department approved a budget of R4 million to capacitate 100 leaners from the Free State under its Hospitality Youth Training Programme. Learners, who successfully completed the 12-month, course received CATHSSETTA accredited NQF level 2 certificates in Accommodation Services, and NQF Level 4 certificates in Food and Beverage Services. More than 500 learners have graduated from the programme in the 2018/19 financial year. Thabethe applauded the graduates for taking advantage of the learning opportunities presented by democracy and reminded them to play an active part in building a better country. Today, we acknowledge your accomplishment in seeking opportunities to empower yourselves to enter the workplace. Your efforts are not only a reflection of your will to succeed they are an affirmation of your active participation in building a better country. This year, we are celebrating 25 years of democracy. I urge you to continue to look for opportunities to empower yourselves beyond this point, so that your families and communities can share in the greater benefits gained from freedom, said Thabethe. Speaking on behalf of the graduates, Zenith van Wyk expressed her joy in being afforded the opportunity to participate in the Hospitality Training programme, as it broadened her perspective on the multiple career paths in the tourism industry. We have learnt from the Hospitality Training Programme about the importance of service excellence and professionalism in the tourism industry. The practical training opened our eyes to the vast range of career opportunities that we can pursue beyond our current qualification. With a little hard work and dedication, we will make a difference in the tourism industry in our province, said Van Wyk. For more information on the skills development programmes implemented by the Department of Tourism for the youth, visit www.tourism.gov.za. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu bangs the gavel at a general meeting of shareholders at KT R&D Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of KT By Jun Ji-hye KT held a general meeting of shareholders, Friday, with unions and civic groups gathering in front of the meeting venue and calling on KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu to step down. About 50 members of unions and civic groups staged protests two hours before the beginning of the meeting, claiming Hwang should take responsibility for recent controversies, including allegations that he offered sizeable payments to powerful people for lobbying. "Chairman Hwang has focused only on privatizing KT for the past five years," said one group comprised of KT's former and incumbent employees. "KT has recently faced a management crisis due to the CEO risk, but what Hwang is doing is just keeping himself in office." Protesters also called on prosecutors to carry out thorough investigations into the allegations. About 100 security guards were hired to block the front gate of the meeting venue. Last year, journalists were allowed to enter the meeting to collect news, but were not allowed to do so this year. They could watch the meeting through a monitor in a separate room. Hwang encountered booing and criticism during the meeting as well. A shareholder said, "KT employees are suffering from low morale following a fire at a KT building in Ahyeon-dong and allegations over the firm's unfair hiring. Hwang should resign if he really cares about employees and the people." The fire broke out in the basement of the KT building in Ahyeon-dong, western Seoul, last November, causing unprecedented internet and phone disruptions. Another shareholder claimed recent controversies surrounding the mobile carrier have resulted in a fall in the firm's stock prices, saying, "Stock prices will increase only after Hwang leaves." Hwang kept mostly silent while listening to criticism from shareholders, nodding his head several times. He made remarks only regarding the fire, saying, "I feel truly sorry about the Ahyeon-dong fire. KT has been preparing measures to prevent the recurrence of such accidents." Hwang refused to comment on the ongoing investigation of the persecution, saying the issues were unrelated to agenda of the general meeting of the shareholders. During the meeting, five agenda were approved including the appointment of two new executive directors Kim In-hoe, president of KT's corporate planning group, and Lee Dong-myun, president of KT's future platform business group. The two presidents have been cited as leading candidates to become the next leader of the country's largest broadband service provider as Hwang raised hopes for an in-house figure, not an outsider, to succeed him. An executive director is cited as the post closest to the next chairmanship, according to industry sources. editorial@tribune.com Amritsar, March 30 BBK DAV College for Women organised a one-day UGC-sponsored national seminar on The Massacre that shook the Empire: Revisiting History of Jallianwala Bagh to commemorate the 100th year of the terrible tragedy. Satish Kumar Sharma, Director Colleges, DAV CMC, New Delhi, was the chief guest. Principal Pushpinder Walia termed the Jallianwala bloodshed a heinous crime against humanity. Walia brought alive the scenes from the gory past with her soulful recitation of Nanaks Singhs Khooni Baisakhi and The Historic Dialogue between Hunter & Dyer. Satish Kumar Sharma paid tributes to the martyrs. Prof Sukhmani Bal Riar traced the historical importance of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and connected it with the nationalist struggle which the Indian National Congress waged since 1885. She also talked about Punjab being an important province of the British era in terms of recruitment for their Army. Prof Sucheta Mahajan from Jawahar Lal Nehru University presented a paper on the conditions prevailing after the masscare. Prof Rajeev Lochan, Panjab University, Chandigarh presented his view on Gandhian ideology. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 30 A Himachal Pradesh-based NGO, Kalgidhar Society, has installed a solar plant of 1.2 MW capacity at Akal University, Talwandi Sabo. The grid of the model project is expected to meet 80 per cent of the power demand of the university. It will save 1,200 tonnes of carbon emission annually, thereby contributing to the clean and green environment. The grid has been installed at a cost of Rs 5.2 crore and generated power will be consumed, while excess electricity will be sent to the grid via net metering. Dr Gurmail Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Akal University, said, A total of 3,750 panels have been set up under the project in around 1.2 lakh square feet area spread across 14 locations. The annual savings of the power bill will be more than Rs 1 crore. Overall, more than 84 per cent of the electricity bill of the university will get reduced. The carbon reduction impact of the project during its lifetime is equivalent to planting of 82 thousand trees which will add to energy and environmental conservation on the planet. Kalgidhar Society has set up 59 solar power plants so far in its academic institution in the region in order to meet its energy demand from clean fuel. This roof-top solar power plant will be inaugurated by Jatindra Nath Swain, managing director, Solar Energy Corporation of India, on April 2. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Akash Ghai Tribune News Service Mohali, March 30 Balwinder Singh, the accused in the murder of 36-year-old Neha Shoree, had made at least two rounds of the victims office before giving a shape to his nefarious design. A tea vendor, who runs a shop in front of the Nehas office building in Kharar, identified Balwinder Singh after seeing his photographs. She told the police that she saw him visiting the place twice before the incident. Inspector Bhagwant Singh, SHO, Kharar police station, said the murderer conducted the recce in recent past after purchasing a .32 bore pistol from Verma Gun House at Ropar on March 12. The police said it was the arms dealers responsibility to provide sale details to the police at the earliest, but before it could be done, the accused took a life. The accused was issued arms licence a day before he purchased the weapon used in the crime, said the SHO. The firearm was purchased for Rs 92,000, added Inspector Bhagwant Singh. He added that after the victim had cancelled his drug licence around 10 years ago, Balwinder Singh never sought its renewal. His licence was cancelled as Neha, who was a drug inspector then, had recovered at least 36 banned drugs from his medical store, which the accused had been running in Morinda then. The accused nursed the grudge against Neha, which proved fatal for her. The cop said the assailant could be termed as psychotic and depressed. Balwinder Singh was working as an attendant at a private hospital at Kurali. Meanwhile, the police are checking the call details of both the victim and the accuseds mobile phones. Morinda-resident Balwinder Singh is survived by two daughters and a son. His eldest daughter is pursuing MBBS in Ukraine while his son runs a video game parlour in Morinda. His anotehr daughter, who is the youngest in the family, studies in Class XII. Arms licence issued in poll code violation? While questions are being raised over the accused getting an arms licence on March 11, a day after the model code of conduct came into force, Ropar DC Sumeet Jarangal clarified that the due date by which the licence was to be delivered to the recipient was March 6. The entire system is computerised and we have to adhere to the stipulated timeframe. The poll code does not debar provision of services. We had delivered the licence to Balwinder on March 8, but because of the weekend the relevant information was entered into the computer system on March 11, he said. It was a planned killing: Police ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Our Correspondent Kharar, March 30 The bodies of Neha Shoree, zonal licensing authority, and her assailant Balwinder Singh were handed over to their families after post-mortem examination at the Civil Hospital here today. Senior Medical Officer Surinder Singh said the autopsies were conducted by a board of three doctors. Two bullets were found in the womans body and she apparently died due to multiple gunshot wounds. He said a bullet had entered her chest from the left side, causing a lot of bleeding. Meanwhile, Nehas father Capt KK Shoree (retd), who came here to collect the body, said his daughter was a courageous and honest officer. She acted tough against offenders. He said it was astonishing that there was no security arrangement in the drug administrators office and anybody could enter it freely. Capt Shoree suspected that there might be a conspiracy behind the murder. He said he does not agree that she was killed because of 10-year-old enmity. He demanded a top-level inquiry into the murder. Meanwhile, Balwinder Singhs son Simran Singh and brother-in-law Harjeet Singh told mediapersons at the Civil Hospital that he was a BAMS degree holder and always remained aloof. The accused did not even talk much with his family members. They said he was mentally disturbed as earlier he was the owner of a shop and a hospital, he had to work at a hospital in Kurali after his licence was cancelled. They said he did not go to work yesterday. The assailants family members said they had no knowledge why he committed the murder nor they knew anything about the revolver purchased by him. Meanwhile, members of the Kharar Chemists Association kept their shops closed for two hours in the morning to protest against the drug officials murder. Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh speaks during a news conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Microsoft Korea By Jun Ji-hye Microsoft Korea is seeking to vitalize an artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Korea through keen cooperation with government agencies and enterprises here, the head of the IT company said Friday. During a media conference in central Seoul, Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh said multi-pronged cooperation in politics, society and culture is necessary to maximize benefits from AI, suggesting the firm's vision to play a role in laying the groundwork for the nation's comprehensive development. "AI would be the last stop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Koh said. "Humans can obtain information and insights from AI and data analytics. AI will create a substantial amount of added value." Koh announced four plans to achieve the firm's goal of supporting Korea's growth through AI enabling digital transformation, building coalitions for responsible innovation, closing the skills gap and enhancing employability, and creating sustained societal impact. The CEO noted his company has been working to enhance cooperation with government agencies, industries and academics here to build coalitions for responsible innovation. AI technology can also contribute to resolving a variety of social issues and supporting the underprivileged including those who are visually impaired, he said. "Our strategy is to build a best-in-class platform and productivity services for an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge infused with AI," Koh said, stressing Microsoft has invested in AI strategically and begun basic research in national language, speech and vision in 1991. During the conference, the firm also unveiled the results of its survey assessing Korea and the Asia Pacific region's growth potential through AI. The firm noted 72 percent of the respondents of its survey said AI is instrumental to enhance an organization's competitiveness in the next three years. But only 9 percent of organizations in Korea have adopted AI as a core part of their business strategy, while 19 percent have started experiments with AI as part of their strategy. The survey also showed Korea was ahead of the Asia Pacific region in terms of investment and data, but was behind in culture and strategy dimensions. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 30 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has drawn up a list of dos and donts to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates till the completion of the Lok Sabha elections. Dr Inder Jeet, Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, said here that the political parties and the contesting candidates must strictly follow these instructions. Referring to the dos, Inder Jeet said to ensure a level-playing field, public places such as grounds and helipads must be available impartially to all parties and the contesting candidates. He added that during the elections, criticism of other political parties and candidates should be restricted only to their policies, programmes, past records and works. The right of every individual to a peaceful and undisturbed domestic life should be fully safeguarded. The local police authorities should be fully informed and necessary permission be taken well in time for the venue and the time of meetings. The restrictive or prohibitory orders in force, if any, at the place of the proposed meeting should be fully respected, he said. Inder Jeet said permission must be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any other such facilities for proposed meetings. The time and place of the start and termination of any procession and the route to be followed should be finalised in advance and prior permission obtained from the police. The passage of the procession must not hinder traffic. He added that cooperation should be extended to all election officials to ensure a peaceful and orderly poll. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 30 Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala said on Saturday that senior ministers of the state had not been recommended for Lok Sabha ticket. The final decision rests with the central party leadership, he added. Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma had been eyeing the Karnal Lok Sabha seat. Barala, while addressing mediapersons at the party office in Chandigarh, refused to comment on Sharma or any other minister of Haryana as a probable for the Lok Sabha ticket. He added, The ticket will be announced next week. The recommendations have been sent. On the possibility of an alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), he said, There is no chance. Asked whether he could contest, he said that he was a worker of the party and it was up to the party to decide. On Rahul Gandhis visit to Haryana, he said that the only thing it could achieve was that all leaders hopped on to the bus. On the chowkidar chor hai jibe, Barala said, We will not tolerate if unsavory words are spoken about the Prime Minister. He added, People of India know who is chor and who is chowkidar. There are no allegations against the Prime Minister. He has done a lot for the country. On the other hand, Congress leaders are out on bail in corruption cases. People know that the chowkidar is pure. The BJP will hold main bhi chowkidar programmes in all 10 Lok Sabha seats of the state. Screens will be put up for the Prime Ministers address at 11 venues in the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be present in Gurugram and Barala will participate in the function in Faridabad. Every citizen who vows to fight against corruption, casteism and unemployment is a chowkidar, said Barala. editorial@tribune.com Tribune Reporters Panipat, March 30 Senior Congress leader and state incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday claimed that people had set the mood for parivartan (change) and were excited to oust the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state. The former Union minister, accompanied by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was interacting with mediapersons here on the fifth day of the parivartan yatra. Azad claimed that there was no factionalism in the state Congress and all leaders at the national, state, district, block and village level were united. He said they had visited cities, small towns and even dhanis during the bus yatra. He asserted that there was no groupism in the party and they had only one Congress group facing the BJP. He said all senior leaders, including Hooda, state party president Ashok Tanwar, Rajya Sabha member Kumari Selja and former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, were part of the team covering the state by bus. Azad said their aim was to make people aware that change was needed at the Centre and in the state. People were being harassed due to the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state, he alleged. He claimed that people in Haryana were excited and wanted to oust the governments at the Centre and in the state. The Congress would win all 10 seats in the state, he claimed. Asked about Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnois absence from the bus, Azad said any senior leader could have some personal work. Taking on Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattars road show in the state, Hooda claimed that the event was a flop show and people had rejected BJP leaders. He said empty chairs were seen in Matanhel village of Jhajjar district during a rally addressed by Khattar on Thursday. He said the Chief Minister had to address the gathering despite empty chairs. Tanwar said all segments, including government employees, businessmen and farmers, had been supporting the parivartan yatra. He claimed that the party would win all 10 seats in the state. Gohana (Sonepat): During a rally here as part of the parivartan yatra, senior Congress leaders alleged that the BJP was pro-capitalist in its policy decisions. They stressed that the Congress had been protecting the interests of the farming community whereas the BJP had taken care of only the rich. Azad recalled the relationship of the Congress with farmers during the stewardship of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Hooda alleged that the BJP was trying to terrorise leaders of the Congress by using the National Investigation Agency. We are not afraid of such threats and will continue to work for welfare of the people, he said. Tanwar said the Congress was a united party and all of them would work to defeat the BJP and candidates of other parties in the Lok Sabha elections. Rohtak: Addressing party workers during the parivartan yatra, Azad exhorted Congress workers to pull up their socks and ensure the victory of party candidates on all Lok Sabha seats. As you can see, all senior Congress leaders of Haryana are not only travelling by the same bus, but are also seeking votes for each other. You have to apprise people of this united face of the party. We are getting an overwhelming response from people and will win all 10 Lok Sabha seats, he said. Addressing public gatherings on the way, Azad said the Congress had an ages-old relationship with farmers and had taken pro-farmer decisions whenever it was in power. Not invited to yatra, say former ministers Rohtak: Former state ministers and Congress leaders Subhash Batra and Krishan Murti Hooda have stated that they had not been invited for the ongoing parivartan yatra of the party. In a media interaction here on Saturday, Batra and Krishan Murti lamented that despite being senior leaders of the Congress, they had not been accorded due regard in the party organisation. We will meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi and apprise him of the goings-on in the Haryana unit of the party, they said. The former ministers, however, denied having any plans to quit the Congress or join the BJP. While Batra is considered close to state Congress president Ashok Tanwar, Krishan Murti has been a member of the camp of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. editorial@tribune.com Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, March 30 With the filing of nominations yet to begin, the Election Commission has received 172 complaints of violation of code of conduct till March 29 of which 119 have been received by the state Chief Electoral Office (CEO) while 63 marked to district returning officers. Eight complaints, sent to the Election Commission of India, have been referred to the CEO for inquiry while the Opposition Congress has filed 12 complaints followed by nine complaints by the ruling BJP and one complaint each by the CPM and BSP. The maximum number of 80 complaints have been made through the public. Of 109 complaints received by the CEO, 51 have been disposed of and remaining 58 are under consideration. Of 63 complaints received by district returning officers, 33 have been disposed of while 30, pertaining to Kangra (8), Mandi (7) Hamirpur (5), Solan and Una (4) each and Shimla (2) are being looked into. Shyam Saran Negi (102) from Kalpa, the first voter of Independent India, had complained that his photograph and name was being used by a BJP leader on the social media prefixing chowkidar in his name and seeking vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said he had not authorised any political party or individual except the government to use his name. The Congress had made a complained against the Speaker for attending BJP meetings and said it was the violation of poll code while the BJP had filed a complaint with the State Election Commission against the fake video uploaded on official Twitter handle of the Himachal Congress, showing transport union leader being beaten by the public as BJP MLA. Most complaints are of general nature like government officials working for political parties and non-removal of posters and hoardings, said CEO Devesh Kumar, adding that no complaint regarding the use of Army personnel for electoral gains had been received. The government had warned its employees against posting campaign material in favour of any political party or leader on the social media. editorial@tribune.com Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, March 30 The likely absence of Anil Sharma at the BJPs function at Bhambla in Sarkaghat tomorrow, as part of poll campaign of sitting MP Ramswaroop, could trigger action against the Power Minister whose son Ashray is the Congress nominee from Mandi. Having declared all its candidates from four parliamentary seats, the BJP will launch its campaign Mein Bhi Chowkidaar Hoon in all segments tomorrow in the presence of its senior leaders. Anil has declined the BJPs request to be present at Bhambla village in Sarkaghat in the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. I have expressed unwillingness to be present at the function because I cannot criticise my father and son. I am committed to work for the party, but anywhere outside Mandi, said Anil. He said he had conveyed his decision to general secretary Ram Singh, in charge, Mandi parliamentary segment. Sources in the BJP said the state leadership had apprised the party high command about Anils stand, whose son Ashray had been given ticket by the Congress. The ball is now in the court of the high command and we will act as per their directions on dropping or letting Anil Sharma continue, said a senior leader. Anil is facing a piquant situation as it will be uncomfortable for him to be part of BJP nominee Ramswaroops campaign where his father and son will be the prime target. Transport Minister Govind Thakur, in a statement today, termed Sukh Rams return to the Congress as political opportunism. He said the voters could see through this kind of dynastic politics and they would give a befitting reply to people like Sukh Ram and Virbhadra who had been political foes all their lives and now had buried the hatchet for personal gains. The statement, issued by Govind Thakur, makes it clear that the BJP will hit out at Sukh Ram on the issue of corruption, political opportunism and dynastic politics. As such, it is bound to be embarrassing for Anil Sharma. Most BJP leaders are against the continuation of Anil Sharma in the Cabinet and feel he must be dropped. However, the final call is to be taken by the central leadership. State president Satpal Singh Satti had stated that he could understand the predicament of Anil and the decision on his continuation in the Cabinet would be taken by the central leadership. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Solan, March 30 Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said the youth should vote for the countrys future, which was safe only in the hands of PM Narendra Modi. Addressing Yuva Morcha Sammelans in Solan and Dharampur today, he said the first-time voters were confused as a plethora of issues were at play in the poll. He urged the party functionaries to take forward four to five key issues rather than loading the voters with a gamut of achievements. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the party was in a mess as its leaders were reluctant to contest and they were throwing the gauntlet at each other. He said he wondered if those given ticket were keen to contest or not. Thakur while lauding the role of Narendra Modi in dealing with its hostile neighbour Pakistan said Modi had given them a befitting reply through the air and surgical strikes, but it was lamentable that the Congress had raised questions over these brave feats. He even mocked at their failure to put up effective slogans and said their opt-repeated chawkidar remark had backfired. He elaborated on various development initiatives of the Modi-led Central government as well as his state government, urging the youth to vote for the partys nominee, Suresh Kashyap. Sitting MP Virender Kashyap, in his address, took exception to the media reports, saying his ticket had been snatched and that the party had assigned him a different role. He clarified that he wholeheartedly supported Suresh Kashyap. Suresh Kashyap, BJPs nominee for the Shimla, also spoke on the occasion and urged the young voters to support him in his maiden Lok Sabha poll. There were a few yuva morcha activists than the students who had been roped in to attend the sammelan by the BJP. The students got restive when the programme extended for hours and a majority of them were seen scrolling their cellphones. Anil should campaign for BJP: CM Responding to media queries, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said their Cabinet colleague Anil Sharma had won on BJP ticket and should campaign for the party. He would have to decide his future course of action as his son had been given Congress ticket and his father too had re-joined the party. editorial@tribune.com Ravinder Sood Palampur, March 30 Residents of Jamerela village, 30 km from Palampur (Baijnath sub-division), today threatened to boycott the elections in protest against the failure of the state government to construct a road, which was washed away in the monsoon. Villagers said they had constructed a make-shift bamboo staircase to reach their houses situated on the hilltop. They said for the last eight months, they had been moving from pillar to post to get the road constructed. They also met the Kangra Deputy Commissioner, Baijnath SDM, Executive Engineer, PWD, but to no avail. Now, they have finally decided to boycott the elections, saying they would not allow any leader to enter the village. The villagers said they had also visited the office of local MLA Mulakh Raj Premi several times, but were given false assurances every time. Children are unable to attend school and it has become difficult to take patients to hospital. As there is no road connectivity, the villagers are not getting daily essentials. The PWD had constructed the road in August 2017. However, it was washed away during the monsoon. Although the MLA, the SDM and other state government officials visited the village several times, no steps were taken to construct the bridge, a villager said. Executive Engineer, PWD, Baijnath, said he had sought funds to construct a new road, but the state government was yet to release the same. editorial@tribune.com Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, March 30 Over two months after Baramulla was declared the first militant-free police district in the valley, an unidentified gunman today shot dead a 35-year-old shopkeeper in the town. The killing took place at a time when security in north Kashmir has been beefed up ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 11. Arjumand Majeed Bhat, aka Raju Mistry, was shot multiple times by the gunman inside his chemist shop in the main chowk of the Baramulla town. The shop of Bhat was undergoing renovation. As per preliminary information, the militant went inside the shop and shot him many times. He died on the spot, a police official said. We suspect another militant was also at the shooting site. Soon after the shooting, many contingents of security forces reached the spot to trace the attackers involved in the incident. Bhat, a resident of Khwajabagh in Baramulla, was also the coordinator of a local drug de-addiction centre and had been delivering lectures on drug abuse at workshops. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Police sources said in the past, Bhat had also faced threats from militants. The civilian killing took place two months after J&K Police declared Baramulla as the first militant-free police district of the valley. On January 23, three local Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, Suhaib Akhoon, Mohsin Bhat and Nasir Darzi,all residents of Baramulla district, were killed in a gunfight with joint forces on the outskirts of Baramulla town. With this (killing of three militants), Baramulla has become the first district in Kashmir with no surviving militant as on date, a police statement which was issued after the gunfight said. shalender@tribune.com Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 30 In an apparent Pulwama-style terror attack bid, a Santro car allegedly rammed into a CRPF convoy today morning, leading to a mysterious blast on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, near Banihal, triggering panic among motorists. No one was injured. The police said suspicious material had been recovered from the scene, indicating a possible terror plot to blow up a CRPF vehicle that was part of the convoy. The incident occurred at Tethar village, 7 km from Banihal town, around 10.30 am when the convoy was heading towards Jammu from Srinagar. CRPF spokesperson Ashish Jha said: Around 10.30 am, an explosion took place in a civil car near Banihal, while a CRPF convoy was on the move. The car caught fire and caused slight damage to the rear end of a CRPF vehicle. No injuries were caused to CRPF personnel. The incident is being investigated. A senior police officer said the car driver fled the scene and a manhunt had been launched to nab him. On whether the blast was on the lines of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans, the officer said: We have recovered some suspicious items that point towards a terror plot theory. The material could be used in manufacturing explosives. It looks like a failed attempt of suicide bombing. Preliminary reports suggest the explosion could have been caused by a gas cylinder inside the car, but this is based on initial examination of the wreckage, the officer said. FSL teams are collecting evidence, said Ramban SSP Anita Kumar. Jawan INJURED in grenade attack Anantnag: A CRPF jawan was injured when militants lobbed a grenade at a bunker in Pulwama town of south Kashmir on Saturday afternoon. The injured jawan has been identified as Constable Suraj Chand Narjary of 182 Battalion. He has received splinter injuries and is out of danger, a health official said. TNS uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 31 Major Leetul Gogoi, who is facing court-martial proceedings, is likely to lose seniority as a punishment for fraternising with a local woman in Srinagar last year. Army officials here in Delhi confirmed that the court-martial proceedings against Major Gogoi had been completed and the same will need to be okayed by the Army headquarters. Major Gogoi will have the option of appealing against the verdict. Loss of seniority would mean Major Gogoi would not pick up his next rank of Lt Colonel as per schedule on completing 13 years in service. The delay in his promotion will depend on the quantum of loss in seniority that is finally okayed. The court martial was ordered in August last year after a court of inquiry against Major Gogoi had issued orders to initiate disciplinary action on two counts for fraternising with locals in spite of instructions to the contrary and being away from the place of duty while in an operational area. Major Gogoi was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on May 23 last year from a Srinagar hotel along with a local woman and another soldier. The detained woman was 19 years old and had gone with the officer of her own volition, Jammu and Kashmir Police had said. Hence, no police case was made out. However, the Army rules did not allow Major Gogoi to be let off without punishment. During the court-martial proceedings, the woman had expressed her unwillingness to depose and informed the Army authorities that she had given a statement before a magistrate and the same should be treated as her final stand. She also said that she had become a friend of the Army officer through his fake Facebook profile where he had named himself Ubaid Arman. The court-martial process against his driver, Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, was also completed recently in the Kashmir valley and he is likely to be given a severe reprimand. Immediately after the incident came to light last year, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had said exemplary punishment would be given to Major Gogoi if he was found guilty of any offence. Major Gogoi hit the headlines after he tied a man to a jeep purportedly as a shield against stone-pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha byelection on April 9, 2017. Gen Rawat had then awarded him and supported his act. GM's shuttered plant in Gunsan / Korea Times file General Motors Co. on Friday signed an initial deal with auto parts makers to sell off its shuttered plant in Gunsan, the U.S. automaker's South Korean unit said. GM signed an initial agreement with a consortium, including Hyundai Autotech Co., to hand over the four-assembly-line factory in the industrial port city located 270 kilometers south of Seoul, GM Korea Co. said. The company didn't provide the value of the contract. The acquisition price reportedly reached 200 billion won (US$176 million) for the 260,000-unit-a-year plant. The MS Autotech consortium plans to turn the plant into an original equipment manufacturer to produce electric vehicles (EVs) that will be marketed by other companies, industry sources said. The consortium has recently attracted investments from a European carmaker that could lead to the production of EVs for both domestic sales and exports, they said, adding it will take one to two years before the plant begins production. MS Autotech could not be reached for comment on the deal. MS Autotech, a major subcontractor of Hyundai Motor Co., began to supply hot stamping components to U.S. carmaker Tesla Motors Inc. last year. The Detroit carmaker shut down the Gunsan plant in May last year due to a low utilization rate and the need to cut back on outlays. The move was in line with GM's larger global reorganization programs. The Gunsan plant, which opened 23 years ago, produced two Chevrolet models -- the Orlando SUV and the Cruze compact -- for sale at home and abroad. The GM plant and its 135 subcontractors hired a combined 13,000 workers, representing 20 percent of the city's overall employment. Of 2,000 plant workers, 1,400 left the company after accepting a severance package and 400 were relocated to plants in Bupyeong and Changwon or have been awaiting opportunities to work again. The closing down of the plant hit the city hard as it was already struggling with the closure of a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in 2017. GM holds a 77 percent stake in GM Korea, with the state-run Korea Development Bank and SAIC Motor Corp. controlling 17 and 6 percent, respectively. (Yonhap) editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Jammu, March 30 A day after the Centre constituted a multi-disciplinary Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) involving six different agencies to investigate terror-funding channels, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Saturday said the TMG would help wipe out militancy from the state. Terror-funding and terrorist organisation sympathisers are everywhere...they need to be dealt with sternly. Unless they are dealt with, terrorism cannot be wiped out, Malik said while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function here. On Friday, J&K wing of the Union Home Ministry had constituted a TMG, headed by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), CID, J&K police, as chairman, which involved the officers from Intelligence Bureau (IB), J&K, CBI, NIA, Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. It would also ensure action against hardcore sympathisers amongst government employees who are providing covert or overt support to such activities. To a query whether government employees were under the scanner, the Governor said, I am not talking about employees. I am talking about all those people who are connected with them (terrorists), who are supporting them and who are their sympathisers. The Union Home Ministry, in its order, said the TMG would ensure synergised and concerted action against terror-financing and other terror-related activities, in Jammu and Kashmir. editorial@tribune.com Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, March 30 The Congress on Saturday received a setback as party stalwart and former minister Sham Lal Sharma, along with hundreds of his supporters, joined the BJP. BJP national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna inducted Sharma, known for his pro-Jammu stance, into the BJP and exuded confidence that with his joining, Jammu would be Congress mukt. The Congress leadership in J&K is brazenly involved in competitive separatism with the PDP and NC by sacrificing wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions, Sharma told The Tribune after joining the BJP. It appears that the Congress leadership has mortgaged the party in J&K to pro-separatist NC and PDP. The nationalist people in the party are feeling suffocated, he said, adding, It was difficult for people like me to work in the party. Whenever I raised issues related to Jammu or Ladakh, my party never supported me. Instead of working as a bonded labourer in a suffocated atmosphere, I decided to quit the party, he said. Known for being a strong votary of the rights of minorities in J&K, Sharmas joining is being considered as a major jolt to the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. A two-time MLA, he was a Cabinet Minister in the previous NC-Congress government headed by Omar Abdullah. During his tenure as a minister and legislator, he vociferously raised issues related to the Jammu region, both inside and outside the state legislature. For the last couple of years, Sharma was facing resistance for taking a tough stand on Jammu-related issues. He was expected to join the BJP during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Akhnoor on March 28 but this did not materialise as the Congress leadership had reportedly made a commitment to him for an important assignment in the party. The Congress leadership in J&K is brazenly involved in competitive separatism with the PDP and NC by sacrificing wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions. Sham Lal Sharma, BJP Leader shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Tribune Web Desk Chandigarh, March 31 Bollywood actor Salman Khan is known for his Being Human nature; whether its welcoming new talent in the industry or giving people a second chance. Recently, the veteran choreographer Saroj Khan complained that B-town wasnt offering her any work in films. And, the minute Salman became aware about the situation he invited Saroj home. Naturally, she met him and shared a picture with him on her Instagram handle. She wrote: It was a pleasure meeting you after so long @beingsalmankhan! God bless you always my darling!. Saroj revealed that the 53-year-old actor asked her what she was doing these days. She informed him that she didnt have any work in films and was teaching Indian classical dance to young actresses. On hearing this, Salman was taken aback. Instantly, he said that she would soon work with him. Saroj added that she knows Salman is a man of his word, and so, she believes that he will offer her a film. gspannu7@gmail.com Jaipur, March 31 The contest for the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat is a fight within the family as BJP candidate and Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and Congress Madan Gopal Meghwal are cousins. While Congress candidate is in the fray for the first time, the BJP candidate Arjun Ram Meghwal will be contesting to retain the seat, which has been the saffron partys stronghold from the last 15 years. Actor Dharmendra had represented the seat in 2004. Both the candidate have served the government through administrative services. Arjun Ram entered politics in 2009 after resigning from the IAS whereas Madan Gopal took VRS from IPS before the assembly election in 2018. Arjun Ram is two consecutive times BJP MP from Bikaner seat. He had defeated Congresss Shankar Pannu with over 3 lakh votes in 2014 Lok Sabha election and considered a heavyweight in the BJP. He is elder son of my aunt (Mausi) and is also elder to me. We believe in different ideologies. I am a strong Congress worker whereas he is a staunch BJP man. I may be first timer but I am accepting the challenge, Madan Gopal said. The BJP leader is presently facing infighting within the party as the former minister and BJP veteran Devi Singh Bhati has been opposing his candidature from the seat accusing him of working as an agent of the Congress. The battle on the seat also gets tougher this time as CPIM has given ticket to a strong candidate, Sheopat Ram, who fought the election unsuccessfully from Raisingnagar seat. Caste equation between upper castes, which are in sizeable number, and reserved castes too will play a major role on the Lok Sabha seat comprising eight assembly seats of which seven are in Bikaner district and one seat Anupgarh falls in Sriganganagar district. Presently, BJP hold four Anupgarh, Nokha, Lunkarnsar, and Bikaner east where as Bikaner west, Kolayat and Khajuwala seats are with Congress while Dungargarh seat was grabbed by CPIM in the recent assembly election. PTI amansharma@tribunemail.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed "chowkidars" across 500 locations in the country and also via television channels during his Main bhi chowkidar campaign in the packed Talkatora indoor stadium here on Sunday. The PM said it is natural that the programme was being watched keenly given the coming Lok Sabha elections. In 2014, I was not well known. I was known as Chief Minister for which my critics were mostly responsible for which I am thankful to them, he said. It is because of their criticism that people became curious to know about me. I was wondering what would I tell people when I go across the country. Then I decided to tell them that I would be their chowkidar, I would ensure to safe keep their money and resources and would fulfil my responsibilities as a chowkidar of the country, he said. However, some people have mental restrictions, they believe chowkidar wears a topi , carries a stick, PM Modi said. This is the limitation of their soch, thinking, he said taking a jibe at Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi heading the "Chowkidar chor hai" campaign against PM Modi. Chowkidar is a spirit, a bhawna (feeling), he said invoking Mahatma Gandhi who talked of trusteeship. Everyone who works for the country is a chowkidar, he said. If this feeling becomes entrenched in every citizen of the country no one will be able to loot the country, he added The country has given me so much support in my endeavour that I have not looked back since then. I am sure the country wants a chowkidar not a raja, maharaja which is why the number of chowkidars is increasing and gaining strength ," he told a cheering , enthusiastic crowd in the packed Talkatora stadium before the interactive session with the audience. A Delhi University student, Apoorva Thakur told him there was no doubt in her mind that he would return to power. What do you expect from us when you take oath this time, "she asked the PM. To this, the PM said he was happy that youth thought far ahead. While politicians were thinking what would happen in polls you are already thinking of the oath-taking ceremony . "When I take oath with me 130 crore people would take the oath. Together, we have managed to make clearness a reality. We can together resolve all our issues together," he said. On Balakot air strikes The interaction via video conferencing saw a CA from Mumbai praising PM Modi for changes in the system like GST. Calling the Balakot air strike a "kamaal", he asked where did he draw strength to take such a strong decision. Were you not worried if it went wrong how would it affect your political career, he asked. "Balakot was executed by Armed Forces of the country . In 2014, there was a long queue of prospective PMs and it is growing. If I thought about my political future I would not be Modi. If I had to run taking care of my political gains and losses there was no need of a Modi. There are many who would have done that. For me country is the supreme, the PM said. The country has given me complete mandate after a long time. I was able to take the decision because I believe in the country's armed forces. I knew they would not have let me down, he said in response. "The onslaught against the country was carrying on for long I decided to strike where it was originating , inside their 'maidan', territory. For me, elections are not a priority, my country is. Pakistan may have reconstructed the area to make it appear like a school and to make it appear as if nothing happened. The problem is when some people in our country question it," he said. On question regarding his plans to take on corruption, Modi said, Those who have looted the country will have to return every paisa. I have been able to take majority of corrupt to the doors of the jail, wherever thier property is will be confiscated. Taxpayers have to be honoured and those who do wrong should not be spared. I promise that no one who has looted the country will be spared," he said. On when will India be counted among developed nations, he said if the country had been channelised in right direction after Independence it would have happened long time back. We were in 11th position in the world's economy today we are at number six. Today we are at the doorstep of five-trillion economy club and will reach there soon. We have wasted lot of time on India-Pakistan issues. Pakistan will die its own death. We should be competing with the world's top countries. We have everything to achieve greater heights and we will do that," he said. BJP's top leaders participated in the programme via video conferencing at 500 places. 'Mission Shakti an achievement of scientists' On Mission Shakti, he said it had nothing to do with elections. It is an achievement of the country's scientists. Explaing in detail its importance, he asked whether India should have waited for it. When others did it openly why should we have done it secretly, he said while taking a jibe at oppostion leaders who said it should have been carried out in secrecy. "Was it possible to carry out such an operation in secrecy . Besides other countries should also be aware of India's power and capabilities but because I am the PM, they (opposition ) has to criticise me," he said. Lashing out at the Congress , he said their lies were "seasonal" . When elections were going on in Delhi, they started spreading lies about attacks on churches. Likewise in Bihar they spread lies that reservation would be stopped, he said. It is easy to counter their, speak the truth and the victory will be yours, he tells people, accusing the Congress of "misleading the nation". The Prime minister said some people think the country is their property and they have not been able to digest a "chai walla" as the PM. There have only been two instances when India has had prime ministers who did not "come from the Congress gotra". "Because of DBT and Adhaar we have saved Rs 1 lakh crore of the country. For us it was direct benefit transfer and for them it was direct bicholia (middleman) transfer, obviously they (Congress) is upset," he said. Odisha will surprise India and become second Tripura, he told workers in the state where the BJP has only one of the 21 seats. He asked workers to contact first-time voters and spread the correct information to people. Prime Minister Modi said the BJP will not give false promises like other parties. "Many parties know they are not coming to power so keep giving false promises to people," he told a first-time voter who wanted to know why should she vote for BJP. "First look at the track record of those making false promises," he said launching a direct attack against the Congress party lineage. "My first five years have been spent in filling the potholes, the next five years will be spent in building a grand building. My first five years were spent in fulfilling the basic requirements and next five years will be spent in addressing the dreams and aspirations." "In 2022, 75th year of India's Independence, every Indian will have a house to stay, farmers incomes will be doubled. There are many dreams I have to fulfil," he said asking people to take forth the "chowkidar spirit" and take the country to new heights. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 30 For the second time in a week, the Election Commission has issued a show-cause to the Railways over the violation Model Code of Conduct (MCC), asking it to explain its position on the use of paper tea cups in a train with Main Bhi Chowkidar slogan. Sources in the EC said the Railways have been asked to explain the prima facie violation of the model code. It has also been asked to explain the person responsible for it. The Railways had yesterday said they had withdrawn the cup and penalised the contractor soon after the matter came to light after the cups image tweeted by a passenger went viral. The EC is learnt to have invoked the party in power clause of the poll code in the case as it could be averred that party in power is using government transporter for election publicity. Reports that tea has been served in cups labelled as Main Bhi Chowkidar have been investigated. This was without any prior approval of IRCTC. Explanation has been sought from supervisor/pantry incharges over lack of devotion to duty. One lakh fine has been imposed on the service provider. Show cause notice has also been served to the service provider for this misconduct, IRCTC had said in a statement on Friday. This particular cup was found on board Kathgodam Shatabdi (12040). Tea was served twice in these cups and this alleged violation had come just a few days after the Railways was found in violation of the code when it was found to be issuing tickets with PM Narendra Modis pictures, which the government transporter claimed was unintentional and inadvertent. shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Baghpat/Kairana (UP), March 31 Tractors loaded with cane waiting to be crushed line the roads across swathes of western Uttar Pradesh, telling the bitter story of sugarcane farmers caught in a pincer trap of unpaid dues and low prices. With posters, buntings and rallies, the clamour of poll-time campaigning is all around in the area famed as the country's sugar bowl but the very word election strikes a sour note for many farmers. The sounds of NOTA (none of the above) appear to drown out any promises being made by parties with farmers saying they are tired of promises and don't know whom to trust. "We will go for NOTA, said a frustrated Om Singh, a sugarcane farmer in Kairana for 30 years but unable to feed his family. Thousands of cane farmers in the area, which produces over 50 per cent of the country's total sugarcane produce and will go to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 11, are awaiting payments of over Rs 9,000 crore from sugar mills pending for over a year. Each grower has dues of at least Rs 1.5 lakh. The constituencies of Kairana, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar collectively have 11 sugar mills. Tractors stacked with cane waiting to be crushed in the mills are a recurrent sight. Satyaveer, 55, sitting outside the Ramala sugar mill in Baghpat for over 18 hours to get part of his produce weighed, said the non-payment of dues signals the end of his livelihood. "My family has been producing sugarcane for over five decades. It has always been my livelihood and a way of living for me and my family. But it is being killed by fake promises of the BJP and others in authority, Satyaveer said. The mill manager tells us we will get our dues when government gives them theirs, said Satyaveer who has dues of over Rs 2 lakh. Farmers in nearby Khatauli are also belligerent about the low minimum support price (MSP) and blame the BJP government in the state as well as the Centre for making false promises. Rajpal Singh said he grows nearly 400 quintals (one quintal is 100 kg) of sugarcane in a year but is unable to provide for his family. "We sell sugarcane at Rs 325 per quintal. The government should increase the MSP to at least Rs 450 per quintal, Rajpal Singh said. "There are huge costs involved in growing sugarcane. A 150 ml medicine bottle which is used three times in one crop alone costs Rs 1,800. My pending dues are around Rs 1.5 lakh. We cannot sell our harvest to anyone else but the mills, he said. The farmers are crying injustice on the part of sugar mills, saying there is a fixed period of 14 days within which the farmers are supposed to be paid their dues. "Such deadlines need to be kept. There should be a strict implementation of law on those mills that violate this provision, said Rajpal Singh. Sugar mills have a different story to tell. Vinod Kumar, manager of the Ramala sugar mill in Baghpat, said there is surplus production and less demand. They can neither refuse the farmers their produce of sugarcane nor pay them because of their own financial crunch. "I cannot reveal much but we are unable to sell sugar from the mill. The price of sugar is not decided by this mill but the government. We get orders from Lucknow. The current rate of sugar per quintal is Rs 3,105, that is Rs 31.05 per kg, he said. Hoping to get their voices heard, farmers blocked the Muzaffarnagar highway in January this year, halting work on a flyover in Khatauli. But it was to little avail, they said. Farmers in the sugar belt said they are also facing a crisis on the loan front as banks don't fix price of their land correctly. "The market rate of per bigha land is Rs 3 lakh but banks lend money at the rate of Rs 15,000 per bigha, said Rajpal Singh. A bigha is a local measurement of land that varies from place to place. The cane growers are unhappy with the Narendra Modi government scheme to give Rs 6,000 each annually to 120 million farmers with less than five acres land each. "Rs 6,000 in a year is nothing. With our dues not being cleared such schemes are useless, said Rajpal Singh. The distressed farmers said the government should set up ethanol factories to help them earn more. "We produce surplus sugarcane which results in surplus sugar. The government should ensure the price of sugar does not come down in the market because of excess production. "If the government allows us to use the extra sugarcane to produce ethanol, the issues of MSP and the market price can be resolved, said Dharmendra, leader of the Bharat Kisan Union, based in Muzaffarnagar. The issue of attacks by stray cattle is also leading to huge losses, farmers said. "Stray cows and bulls enter the fields and damage crops but farmers cannot do anything about it because they can get arrested if they touch the cattle, said Adil, a resident of Khatauli village, taking a dig at the government's gau raksha policy. "Cows are a menace in sugarcane farms. We work hard to sow and water the crops but these stray cows, which cannot be touched under BJP rule, damage it all, added Sharda, a farmer's wife, labelling all leaders liars. Sugarcane farmers will play a key role in the upcoming elections in the three constituencies of Kairana, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar. The eight constituencies in the region also include Meerut, Bijnor, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. In 2014, all eight seats went to the BJP. There was a bypoll held in Kairana subsequently that went to the RLD. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Yash Goyal Jaipur, March 31 A MiG-27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Sunday near Jodhpur in Rajasthan but the pilot ejected safely, official sources said. The MiG-27 UPG jet took off from Utarlai Air Force base and the jet experienced engine problems, leading to the crash around 11:45 am in Sirohi district, about 120 km south of Jodhpur, they said, adding that the pilot ejected safely. The sources said a court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. Preliminary reports indicate no loss of life and property on ground. The jet was on a routine mission, they said. The aircraft is believed to have developed problems in its engine. "We rushed with the fire fighter van to extinguish the fire and issued an alert for the pilot who was last seen parachuting over a field in Sirohis Sheoganj town, SP said. The pilot later found and taken to a military hospital. The fighter aircraft crashed in Shivganj police station area near Godana dam in Sirohi district. Police and administrative officials have reached the spot to cordon off the area, Sirohi district SP, Kalyan Mal Meena, said. shalender@tribune.com Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 30 President Ram Nath Kovinds ongoing visit to Bolivia today marks another step in Indias bid for a strategic breakthrough in Latin America. Kovind is next scheduled to visit Chile where his top talking point with President Sebastian Pinera will be the same as with Bolivian President Evo Morales a pie from the famed Lithium triangle spread over three countries, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. India had sewn the Argentina end up with a visit by its President Mauricio Macri to New Delhi last month. Lithium is a much sought rare metal for airplanes and batteries and its demand is forecast to climb as stricter emission rules compel the world to migrate from fossil fuel to battery-powered electric cars. As Venezuela and its oil become less attractive, India is also displaying interest in Bolivian and Brazilian oil. Kovind during his talks in La Paz sought to make India useful in an ambitious multi-country railway project that would link both these countries. It will especially be a boon for the landlocked Bolivia since the railway, cutting across the heart of Latin America, will give it access to both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Interestingly, both Chile and Bolivia have been trying to balance Chinese interest in both the railway project and lithium mines by involving other countries. Bolivia recently overlooked a Chinese claim while awarding a Lithium mining project to a German company. The pressure on fellow socialist and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has made Morales politically vulnerable. As the Indian $100 million credit line will help the Bolivian President shore up his political support base by investment in the health sector, India can expect an easier entry into the lithium and hydrocarbon sectors. Bolivia has acknowledged the importance of the visit by honouring the Indian President with its highest distinction, the Condor of the Andes in the Grand Collar grade. Though in Latin American politics Chile belongs to the pro-US camp, Kovind will also touch on cooperation in the lithium sector. Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, a consortium of three Indian PSUs, has already visited Bolivia, Chile and Argentina to assess the prospects of cooperation with these Lithium triangle countries. Famed league shalender@tribune.com New Delhi, March 30 An Indian man died and his wife sustained injuries after they were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich in Germany, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashants brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, Swaraj tweeted. The Minister said she had asked the Indian mission in Munich to take care of the couples two children. Further details of the incident and the couple were not immediately known. Meanwhile, asked by a Twitter user why she, the most sensible BJP leader, had added the chowkidar prefix to her name on the microblogging site, Swaraj tweeted, Because I am doing Chowkidari of Indian interests and Indian nationals abroad. PTI Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest carmaker by sales, plans to recall 16,487 Veloster hatchbacks sold in the United States and Canada to fix faulty software, a U.S. government agency said Saturday. In its investigation into fires in Hyundai vehicles that were not involved in crashes, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that faulty software in the 2013 Veloster built from April 26, 2012, through Oct. 16, 2013, could lead to engine stalling or even fires. "The engine management software may cause premature ignition of the air/fuel mixture in the engine. The resulting excessive cylinder pressure may damage the (1.6-liter turbo) engine (of the Veloster)," NHTSA said. Dealers will update the software at no cost to owners, and Hyundai will begin notifying affected owners of the vehicles on May 13, it said. (Yonhap) shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com New Delhi, March 31 Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, on Sunday said he decided to go with the Congress as it was a national party in the "true sense" and family friend Lalu Prasad also advised him to do so. He said leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, wanted him to join their respective parties, but he had made it clear that whatever be the situation, the constituency he would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib. The actor-turned-politician, who has been criticising the Modi government for long, said it was "painful" for him to leave the BJP with which he has had such a long association, but was disturbed at the treatment meted out by the party to stalwarts such as L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha. The BJP has not fielded party veterans Advani and Joshi in the Lok Sabha polls. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Sinha said he had won from Patna Sahib in 2014 on his own merit, without support from the party and feels that this time he could break his "previous records" in terms of victory. He slammed the BJP's leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah saying earlier there was "lokshahi" (democracy) and now there is "tanashahi" (dictatorship) in the party. "There used to be collective decision during Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji's time. There was democracy in the true sense. But now, there is the case of one-man show and two-man army," said the 73-year-old leader, who is in Muscat where he is being honoured as a cinematic legend. Asked why he decided to go with the Congress, Sinha said there were several reasons such as it is the grand old party which has had great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The party also has a great contribution in the country's freedom movement, the sitting MP from Patna Sahib said, adding another reason was that it is a national party in the "true sense". "Our family friend (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad also suggested 'you go there (to the Congress). We are there with you and will be together politically also'. It was done with his (Lalu Prasad's) permission and in agreement with him," said Sinha, who won the Patna Sahib seat back to back in 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls. He said an important factor is that the Patna Sahib seat has gone to the Congress quota in the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) seat sharing and he had said that whatever be the situation, the constituency for him fighting the polls would be the same. "Many people like (TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee, (SP president) Akhilesh Yadav, and (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal among others, wanted me to be in their party. But I had to come to this place because I had said that whatever be the situation, the location will be the same," Sinha said, adding that the Congress was a great party. On claims by BJP leaders that he got votes in Patna due to the party, the former Union minister said, "I would like to say that in the last election it was not just Modi 'leher' (wave) but Modi 'qahar' (destruction) on certain seats like we saw Shahnawaz Hussain losing from Bhagalpur. Arun Jaitley had a humiliating defeat." Sinha said he purposely did not call top BJP leaders such as "friend, philosopher, guide" Advani, Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh in the 2014 polls for campaigning. "I did not even call my own daughter Sonakshi Sinha so that people don't get to say things. I won on merit, on principles, without anybody's support or help. They (the BJP) did not give me the help they were giving to other candidates, they did not give me any help," he alleged. "Despite the Modi leher or qahar in the entire country, by the grace of the people of Patna, in my victory, I had the highest vote share percentage in the country," Sinha said. Asked how he sees the impending clash with senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Patna Sahib seat, Sinha said the Union minister is like a family friend and he has respect for him. Asserting that he doesn't want to comment on personalities as he has only spoken about issues, Sinha said, "For Ravi Shankar Prasad I can only convey my best wishes. After all, the people of Patna will decide. We will accept the verdict. I have a feeling that by the grace of God and with great support from the people, I could be breaking my previous records also in terms of victory." He also hailed Rahul Gandhi's leadership qualities, saying the Congress president is a man to be watched for his vision and dynamism. "The way he has taken up issues boldly, he has proved himself and in one year as Congress president he has won three states despite EVMs and many hurdles. He is the originator of the most popular slogan'chowkidar chor hai'," Sinha said. On whether Gandhi could be the next prime minister, Sinha said it all depends on the blessings of the people the number of seats Congress gets. "Rahul Gandhi has all the capabilities," he added. Sinha alleged that the BJP had been threatening him for long that it will take action against him. "I kept on reminding them that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. They have taken so-called action (of not giving ticket), so it is high time for an appropriate reaction," Sinha said. Sinha met Rahul Gandhi here last week and is set to join the Congress on April 6. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, March 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying its leaders indulged in corruption and kept personal interests above national interests. He also alleged that the previous government lacked political will to test fire the anti-satellite missile despite the country having the capability to build it. The Prime Minister also took on the entire Opposition, saying they were chosen for the task by the people, but they failed to live up to their responsibility. He alleged that the Opposition raked up all the wrong issues like national security and seeking proof of Balakot air strike thus questioning the armed forces. He only referred to proof but did not mention air strike or Balakot. Why seek proof ... why talk in favour of Pakistan, he quipped. Modi also said that his government has the political will to withstand pressure and take immediate decisions in national interests. Delaying decisions of national interests amounts to criminal negligence, he said at the launch of a news channel here. Noting that his government believes in commitment not confusion, Modi alleged that those who earlier ran the country created hurdles in the path of development due to corrupt behaviour. He alleged that these in power in the past chose personal interest before national interest. Were not they responsible to make things (system) fool-proof to check corruption ... but the intent was not honest, he claimed. He said the then government delayed the decision on forming a special investigation team to probe black money. We decided to set up the SIT in our very first Cabinet meet, he said. He alleged that the previous UPA government took little initiative in bringing back black money and entered into weak agreements with foreign governments in this regard. Now we have reworked agreement with Mauritius ... Switzerland will now provide information (on black money of Indians) on realtime basis from this year, he said. He alleged that while the previous government gave scams such as 2G spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games, Bofors howitzer and AgusthaWestland helicopter, his dispensation is moving about things in a very transparent manner. Without naming the Rafale jet deal, he said the Supreme Court found nothing wrong in his governments defence preparedness after going through documents. Without naming former Union minister P Chidambaram, PM said the Congress leader thinks he is very intelligent. He said the Asat launch should have been kept a secret. By that yard stick, why was the Pokhran (nuclear test) not kept a secret (during Congress rule in 1974) ... I can understand the visits to courts (in alleged cases of corruption) can be kept a secret, he said taking a dig. Referring to black money, he said when the government was framing The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he was under immense pressure by those who knew it would hit them hard. There was phone banking then. A phone call would go and banks would issue loans. Then more loans were issued to pay back the previous loans ... we have changed that, he said. In an oblique reference to fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, he said properties worth more than the scam he had allegedly indulged in have been attached by investigative agencies. Addressing the gathering, he said his government has decentralised things and focus in now on states. Earlier, everything was launched at Vigyan Bhawan, he said. Referring to Hyderabad House where government hosts foreign heads of states and governments, he said they are being hosted outside Delhi. International platforms where Pakistani propaganda used to echo now listen to India and our views find a place, he said. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 31 Bharatiya Janata Party leaders may be mocking Congress president Rahul Gandhis decision to contest two seats these parliamentary elections, but several of the partys own leadersincluding Prime Minister Narendra Modihave done exactly that. The Congress announced on Sunday that Rahul Gandhi would contest from Kerala's Wayanad, apart from Amethihis current constituency. Modi, the face of BJPs elections for a few years now, contested two seatsVadodara in his home turf, Gujarat, and Varanasin the 2014 general elections. His decision to contest Varanasi bolstered BJPs sweep in Uttar Pradeshthe party won 71 of the states 80 seats, while its ally Apna Dal won two. Modis decision was primarily aimed at demonstrating his mass appeal. Modi and Rahul arent alone. One of BJPs tallest leaders, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, contested two seats Vidisha and Lucknowin 1991. His fellow partyman, and later deputy, LK Advani contested two seatsNew Delhi and his traditional Gandhinagarthe same year. Rahul Gandhis mother Sonia Gandhi contested Bellary and Amethi in 1999. Rules require candidates winning both seats to forgo one, as Modi did with Vadodara. Of course, there are critics of this practice. There is currently a petition in the Supreme Court based on a Law Commission report to restrict candidates to contest one Lok Sabha seat. The petition is based on a recent Law Commission report that suggests disallowing candidates from contesting two seats. The Election Commission recently told the Supreme Court that it stuck to its 2004 stand that favoured an amendment to Section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to ensure that a candidate was not allowed to contest from more than one seat. It repeated its previous stand that candidates contesting from two seats should bear the cost of byelections in the seat they decide to forgo. Section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, prevents candidates from contesting more than two seats in any elections. Some previous examples: Narendra Modi-Vadodara and Varanasi, 2014 Atal Bihari Vajpayee-Vidisha and Lucknow, 1991 LK Advani- New Delhi and Gandhinagar, 1991 Sonia Gandhi- Bellary and Amethi,1999 Mulayam Singh Yadav- Azamgarh and Mainpuri, 2014 Lalu Prasad Yadav- Saran and Pataliputra, 2009 uttara@tribuneindia.com Chevella (Telangana), March 31 "He is the richest candidate in the state. He doesn't need power to earn money," says a farm labour Shivamma who has come to listen to Congress' Konda Vishweshwar Reddy at Tangedapally mandal in Chevella Lok Sabha constituency. As groups of people gather at a venue in the summer heat, Reddy, who has assets worth Rs 223 crore, steps out of his Innova car in his simple attire and casual footwear. An engineer-turned-entrepreneur, Reddyson-in law of C Pratap Reddy who is the founder-chairman of the Apollo group of Hospitalsarrives at the venue to address a gathering of 150 people and the moment a Congress worker picks up a mike to start the programme, the power goes off. "The power cuts were there, but this has been happening at Reddy's campaign venues over the last few days," claims Shakeel Ahmed, ex-sarpanch of Pudur mandal. He accuses the TRS government of creating hurdles for Reddy who was elected on TRS ticket in 2014 but quit the party and is contesting against TRS' G Ranjith Reddy, a non-local candidate. Vishweshwar Reddy is the grandson of former Andhra Deputy chief minister Konda Venkata Ranga Reddy. The district of Ranga Reddy, formerly known as Hyderabad Rural, was renamed after this Congress leader. After a few minutes, the programme finally starts and the crowd cheers as Vishweshwar Reddy stands up to speak. "I did not switch party, Im where I was earlier. But the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has changed its ideology. "Congress works for the poor and Sonia Gandhi (UPA chairperson) gave us Telangana," he said appealing the gathering to vote for the hand symbol. "If you vote for Congress, Rahul Gandhi will become prime minister. If you vote for BJP, Narendra Modi will become PM. If you vote for TRS, who will become PM?" he asks and the crowd responds saying "no one." As he ends his speech, he passes through the crowd giving high-fives and heads to the next stop to address another public meeting. "A person like him does not need to bribe to get votes," quips Shivamma, as she prepares to leave. Vishweshwar Reddy's convoy passes through the village and he starts talking about the "rise" of caste politics in Telangana, hitting out at TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and TRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. While Naidu sliced backward castes into Yadavs, Gouds and Kapus, TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao went further "touching communities having 1-2 per cent population", he said. "This is destroying the fabric of Telangana and economy of the state," he says and targets KCR's scheme for shepherd community, where the TRS founder promised to give sheep at subsidised rates. Pointing to sheep and goats "procured from outside" grazing in the fields, he says: "Do you know why biryani in Telangana tastes differently under the TRS regime? Our biryani used to be very good because it used to be made from special variety of sheep". "You cannot manufacture sheep. So, he (KCR) brought them from neighbouring states and the taste is different," he says and claims that goats instead of sheep were distributed due to shortfall. Likewise KCR has running schemes for every minor community like barber and washermen under the backward community, he says and claims such schemes may not yield results in Lok Sabha poll. "Telangana was not relatively a caste based political system unlike erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. "Typically, a Reddy fights another Reddy. A Reddy never fights a Goud. I used to think the most astute caste politician India ever produced was Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief Chandrababu Naidu. Now, KCR has surpassed Naidu in doing caste politics," he alleges. Asked about the 'non-BJP, non-Congress front' proposed by the TRS, he says: "When I was in TRS, it was an embarrassing joke, now it is a funny joke. It will never be a reality", and rushed to address the next gathering waiting for him. The "fight is between the Congress and the TRS" with former having rural vote bank in four assembly segments out of seven in this constituency, says a college graduate Srinivas Reddy while discussing the poll scene in the constituency at a tea shop at Parg. Some distance away, Eshwar Reddy, a senior citizen, who is buying mangoes from a local haat, is far more vocal about his views. "The Congress has an edge here because of Vishweshwar Reddy who is a local person with a clean image and his family has strong political background," he said. Whereas TRS and BJP are depending on urban votes to win in three assembly segments. "TRS candidate Ranjith Reddy is an outsider from Karimnagar, but what goes in his favour is the advantage of being from the ruling party in the state having local MLAs and strong local cadres," he added. The BJP has fielded state general secretary and real estate businessman B Janardhan Reddy. For fruit seller Venkatesh, election is all about "money power" and it is hard to believe a wealthy candidate will not "buy votes". The Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in KV Ranga Reddy district is considered to be the second largest parliamentary constituency in the state after Malkajgiri. Out of seven assembly segments in the constituency, five are held by the TRS and two by the Congress. Elections to 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana will be held on April 11. The state will see a single phase election and the counting of ballots for the entire country will be held on May 23. PTI shalender@tribune.com Manas Dasgupta AHMEDABAD, March 30 BJP national president Amit Shah today filed his nomination papers for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency after a massive roadshow and rally addressed by leaders of various constituent units of the NDA. The idea is to demonstrate that the NDA is bound together unlike the Opposition mahagathbandhan, where the alliance partners are all the time fighting against each other, a senior BJP leader commented. Thousands of BJP workers converged on the main thoroughfares of Ahmedabad, which formed part of the Gandhinagar constituency, for the ruling partys show of strength as Shah flanked by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani reached the district collectors office to file his papers. At the time of filing his nomination papers, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and several other leaders were also present. The roadshow began after the NDA leaders, including Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, and several other leaders addressed the BJP workers. While Badal described Shah as an institution and not just an individual, Paswan said the show of unity was a sure sign that the alliance would return with even a bigger majority than it won in 2014. Thackeray, while admitting that the Shiv Sena had developed differences, said all the misgivings are over and we have developed strong bonds among ourselves. Rajnath Singh attacked the Opposition for questioning the Balakot air strike and asked if the Congress was giving all credit to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for bifurcating the then Pakistan in 1971, why should not the credit for the air strike be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, differences over the choice of candidates continued to persist in the Congress, forcing it to further postpone the announcement of the names of the remaining 13 candidates in the state. Worried at rebellion over the choice of some of the candidates, state party chief Amit Chavda and Leader of the Opposition Paresh Dhanani, who were in Delhi, rushed to Ahmedabad. Party sources said the complete list of Congress candidates for all 26 seats could be expected only by April 2 or 3 as the last date for filing nominations was April 4. The BJP too was facing some problem in finalising candidates for seven seats, but Rupani said the names were expected in a day or two. Who is oppn leader? They (Opposition) have started pulling each others legs even before polls as everyone wants to be PM who is their leader? Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena chief Why not give credit? If the Congress was giving all credit to Indira Gandhi for bifurcating the then Pakistan in 1971, why should not the credit for the Balakot air strike be given to Narendra Modi? Rajnath Singh, Union Home minister shalender@tribune.com London, March 30 Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi failed in his second attempt to get bail in his extradition case at Westminster Magistrates Court here despite his defence team trying hard to establish his close ties to the UK, including having to care for a pet dog. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot on Friday declined the bail application of the 48-year-old prime accused in the $1-2 billion PNB fraud case on the grounds that he did pose a substantial flight risk and that he lacked community ties with the UK. Clare Montgomery, Modis barrister, made a series of offers to try and convince the judge to grant bail. He did have a son at Charterhouse (school in London) who has now gone to university in the States and as a sign of ageing parents, led Modi to get a dog instead. None of these actions are emblematic of someone setting out to flee the country, Montgomery claimed. Britain has a long-held reputation as a nation of animal lovers. It is nonsense to say that he is a flight risk. He does not have a safe haven open to him and he has not travelled or applied for citizenship elsewhere he only qualifies for leave to remain in this country, she added. But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, stressed that Modi posed a significant flight risk. PTI editorial@tribune.com Kolkata: After launching visa application centres in New Delhi and Mumbai, Qatar is all set to open a new centre here. The country also plans to open such centres in Kochi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Chennai, a statement issued on behalf of Qatar embassy said. At the new visa centre here, people applying for work visa would be able to sign on work contracts digitally, enroll their biometrics and undergo mandatory medical test, all under one roof, thus saving time and making it hassle-free for them, the statement said. PTI Western Railway sells record Rs 517-cr scrap Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) has earned a whopping Rs 517.41 crore by selling scrap material collected from its yards and stores offices in 2018-19, it said in a statement here. It thus broke the previous record held by the Northern Railway, which had earned Rs 403 crore from scrap sale in 2011-12. The WR had launched a massive drive to identify and dispose of scrap lying in various railway premises under "Mission Zero Scrap", said chief PRO Ravinder Bhakar. PTI Experts extract data from junked cars San Francisco: In a shocking revelation, security researchers have extracted personal and unencrypted data videos, phonebooks, calendar items of Tesla users from crashed models sold at junkyards and auctions. According to a report, a security researcher who goes by the name GreenTheOnly extracted data from the computers in salvaged Tesla Model S, Model X and two Model 3 vehicles. IANS uttara@tribuneindia.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 31 Congress president Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad segment of Kerala besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Senior Kerala Leader AK Antony made the announcement on Sunday saying Gandhi has finally given his consent to fight from Wayanad. There was a request from three southern states that Mr Gandhi should contest the upcoming polls. These were Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He has chosen Wayanad as it is the trijunction of these three states and the centre point of sorts, said Antony ending days of back and forth on whether Gandhi will fight from two segments. Gandhi earlier in an interview to PTI said Amethi is his karma bhoomi and will always remain so. He said the southern states had requested him to fight and he would soon take a call. The decision has been taken to honour the sentiment of people of South India. This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of South India. This is a fight to give a befitting reply to those forces that attack cultures, languages, way of life and also the deep connect between north and south India between which BJP has created a division, said Antony. The BJP has been attacking Gandhi for seeking an escape route fearing defeat in Amethi where Minister Smriti Irani will again challenge the Congress President. Last election she drastically reduced Gandhis victory margin from around three lakh in 2009 to one lakh in 2014. In his first reaction, BJP president Amit Shah claimed Gandhi was fleeing Amethi for the "fear of losing". BJP's candidate for Amethi is Union Minister Smriti Irani, who lost to Gandhi in 2014. Targeting Left Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticised Congresss decision saying it defeated the partys stated position of defeating the BJP. CPI-Ms Prakash Karat said: To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against the Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi and all UDF candidates in Wayanad and Kerala. CPI-M is part of the Left-coalition that forms the Left Democratic Front, Congress-led United Democratic Fronts biggest rival in Kerala. gspannu7@gmail.com New Delhi, March 31 CRPF convoys moving to and from the Kashmir Valley will now be commandeered by a higher SP-rank officer and a single motorcade will not have more than 40 vehicles at any point of time, the paramilitary force has ordered in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 troops during a similar movement. PTI has accessed a set of new standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the force headquarters in Delhi for vehicle-mounted movement of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, and it has also been ordered that the passenger manifest discipline for each vehicle in the convoy be strictly adhered to. Amongst the first set of changed SOPs is the move to depute a second-in-command rank officer (equivalent to Superintendent of Police rank) of the force to lead the convoy instead of the current practice of a junior Assistant Commandant-rank (Assistant SP) officer heading the entourage. This is to ensure that the convoy is led by an experienced and senior officer who will have a better clairvoyance and strategy to manoeuvre the convoy to and from the Kashmir Valley which is operationally very sensitive due to terrorist acts and IED threats, official sources said. This will also upgrade the accountability hierarchy and the new convoy commander will now directly report and co-ordinate with one of the three Central Reserve Police Force Deputy Inspector General (operations) based in Kashmir. Till now, the convoy commander or the Assistant Commandant used to report through the Commandant to their higher-ups. The convoy commander usually travels in the lead in a communications gadget-fitted vehicle comprising armed troops for quick reaction. It has also been decided that the convoy strength will not go beyond 40 vehicles in any case and all possible efforts will be made to essentially keep the number of vehicles in a motorcade to the least possible of about 10-20 for effective management and control, they said. A CRPF bus in the fifth position of a 78 vehicle convoy was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber after he detonated his explosives-laden SUV near it on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama on February 14. The over 2,500 personnel strength convoy was being commanded by an AC-rank officer and all 39 personnel in the ill-fated bus and a sub-officer stationed on the ground, as part of a road sanitisation party, were killed in the deadly blast. The force undertook a huge and time-taking task of identifying the bodies of its slain personnel as the blast had blown the bus and its occupants to smithereens making it difficult to identify the mortal remains as it is understood that some men changed their vehicles when the convoy last halted. It has, sources said, hence been decided that all those who are allotted a seat in the vehicle will scrupulously stick to the seating plan and re-board the same bus or truck after the convoy resumes post a refreshment break. A sub-officer in the rank of an Inspector or a Sub-Inspector will be responsible for ensuring that the passenger manifest of each vehicle remains intact, they said. The convoys will also have a changed strategy of having bullet-proof mobile bunkers which are always deployed at frequent gaps in the motorcade for any armed offensive or defensive action in case of an attack. Also, each vehicle in the convoy will have armed security personnel as usual, but their numbers and position will be changed dynamically and as per operational requirements, they said. The CRPF, designated lead force for internal security duties and anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir, is also mulling to create a new full-fledged transit facility for its troops in Udhampur that will reduce by about 70 km, the distance between Jammu and Srinagar. The present transit camp is in Jammu and it takes about 10-12 hours for convoys to cover about 300 km between these locations. A transit facility in Udhampur will reduce the time taken and the risk involved in running convoys, which cannot be done away with completely despite the government recently allowing all personnel to take a flight to Srinagar from either Jammu or Delhi, they said. The around three lakh personnel strength force has about 65 battalions or about 70,000 personnel deployed in the Kashmir Valley and has two sectors, Kashmir and Kashmir operations, headed by two Inspector General rank officers. PTI editorial@tribune.com Gandhinagar, March 30 Facing criticism for indulging in a credit war for the air strikes in Balakot, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said if former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi can be credited for creation of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also be congratulated for the action against terrorists. Addressing a public meeting here on the occasion of filing of nomination by BJP president Amit Shah, Singh also hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for calling him a "thief" and urged the people to "punish" him democratically. "Those who are saying that Balakot air strikes are being politicised and the PM is being credited have forgotten that the Army divided Pakistan in 1971 war and created Bangladesh. Our leader Vajpayeeji had hailed Indira Gandhi in Parliament. The entire country was doing so," he said. After 40 CRPF troopers were killed in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the PM showed strong determination to take the revenge, he said. "Our Air Force did air strikes in Balakot. Then why the PM should not be given credit (PM ka jaykara kyo nahi hona chahiye)? Whenever our forces have shown their valour, strong political will was there. The Congress government didn't do anything after 26/11 Mumbai terror attack," he said. The senior BJP leader said when there is coordination between political will and Army's valour, "no world power can challenge us". Referring to Rahul's "chowkidar chor hai" jibe at the PM, Singh said: "Under Modiji's leadership, the country has become world's sixth-largest economy but irony is that the Congress president is using abusive language against our PM. I would appeal to the people that those using such abusive language against the PM should be dealt with democratically." The Home Minister said the Congress leader was calling the PM a thief but the reality was that he was "pure" and had not even a single allegation of corruption. "The 'chowkidar' is pure, he is becoming PM for sure and for every problem he has a cure," he said. Hailing the BJP chief, Singh said Shah was a charismatic organiser under whose leadership the BJP became world's largest party. He sought people's support for Shah's victory with a record margin. On the occasion, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan said Shah has strengthened the BJP by making elaborate booth-level visits across the country. He also slammed the Opposition, saying their "gathbandhan" had turned into "latthbandhan". Listing the government's achievements, he said the Modi government had been working day and night for empowerment of every section of the country. Paswan said Shah had extraordinary organisational skills and was a great leader. He said he used to hold the record for biggest victory margin in parliamentary polls but wished he breaks all records to win Gandhinagar. IANS Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho By Park Si-soo Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho lost his board seat at Korean Air after shareholders voted down the airline's motion to reappointment him as an internal director on Wednesday. According to reports, 64.1 percent of Korean Air Lines shareholders voted for Cho's reappointment. But this fell short of the threshold of two-thirds of attending shareholders to keep him as a director for another three years -- 35.9 percent of shareholders voted against his reappointment. It was the first time shareholders have voted to strip the company's chief of a board seat. Cho, 70, has governed Korean Air since 1999. A Korean Air spokesman confirmed the chairman's board seat loss but it does not mean he has lost the airline's chairmanship and managerial rights. "Cho will remain as Korean Air's chairman even though he has lost his seat as a director of the board," the spokesman told The Korea Times. "His decisions will remain effective, except for issues that require permission of board members." The appointment of board members and decisions on major investments are among issues that require board approval. His removal was widely expected because the National Pension Service (NPS), the second-biggest shareholder in Korean Air, on Tuesday said it would vote against Cho's reappointment. The NPS is the world's third-largest institutional investor and manages 644 trillion won ($576 billion) of assets. The pension service cited Cho's record of "hurting the corporate value and rights of shareholders" as the reason for its decision. The Cho family has been under scrutiny in recent years after being embroiled in multiple criminal probes over charges ranging from assault and embezzlement to smuggling luxury goods. Cho is on trial for allegedly embezzling more than 20 billion won ($18 million) and unfairly awarding contracts to companies controlled by his family members. His two daughters, who held management positions at Korean Air, became online viral sensations for temper tantrums dubbed the "nut rage" and "water rage" scandals, forcing Cho to issue a public apology and remove them from their posts. The elder, Cho Hyun-ah, made global headlines in 2014 for kicking a cabin crew chief off a Korean Air plane after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag rather than a bowl. She later served a short prison sentence. Last year, her younger sister, Cho Hyun-min, was accused of throwing a drink into an advertising agency manager's face in a fit of rage during a business meeting. She was not indicted as the victim did not want to press charges. Their mother, Lee Myung-hee, has been questioned by police several times over allegations of assault against her employees, including cursing, kicking, slapping and even throwing a pair of scissors. Cho received a suspended jail sentence for tax evasion in 2000 and is awaiting a separate trial for allegedly using 30 billion won of company funds to renovate his house. In July 2018, the NPS said it would adopt the stewardship code, a set of principles or guidelines aimed at getting institutional investors to engage in corporate governance to advance the interests of shareholders. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 30 The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) today directed the police to take appropriate action in the cases in which prominent Akali leaders and several others MLAs were booked for blocking the national highways. On December 8, 2017, protesting against an alleged attack by Congress leaders, the SAD had blocked traffic across the state. Besides various other leaders, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia were booked under Sections 431 (damage to roads and bridges), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 283 (causing danger or obstruction in public way) of the IPC and Section 8-B of the National Highways Act, 1956, at the Makhu police station in Ferozepur for blocking the Harike bridge. Similar FIRs were registered against various other prominent Akali leaders in other districts. The police was bound to arrest them as the sections under which these leaders were booked, only court was empowered to take decision on their bail application. None of them have applied for bail from the court concerned and the police also failed to arrest them. Following that a group of RTI activists had submitted a complaint to the Election Commission. Following that the Chief Electoral Officer has written a letter to ADGP RN Dhoke, who is nodal officer for elections, that appropriate action should be taken on the complaint. Earlier, SBS Nagar-based social activist Parvinder Singh Kittna had sought information under the RTI Act regarding the action taken by the district police authorities concerned. The police commonly replied that they were making efforts to arrest the accused or still the investigation was on. Reply to the query, SSP Tarn Taran, stated that the raids are on to arrest the accused. The accused in the FIR were former MLAs Virsa Singh Valthoa, Harmeet Singh Sandhu and several other Akali leaders. Similarly, the police in Pathankot, where MLA Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal and former MLA from Sri Hargobindpur Des Raj Dhugga were booked, replied, all the efforts are being made to arrest the accused, but none could be arrested. Probe false plaint against officer, DGP told editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 30 Senior BSP leader and two-time former MP Mohan Singh Phalianwala on Saturday joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Terming it as yet another sign of the party's strong position in the forthcoming elections, Capt Amarinder said the joining of the senior BSP leader would further fortify the party's position in the Malwa region, which would in turn enable the Congress to achieve its Mission 13. "We will win all 13 seats with thumping margins," Capt Amarinder asserted, while exhorting Phalianwala to mobilise his supporters towards the party's cause. Leaders from all Opposition parties were joining the Congress, which demonstrated that the nation trusted the philosophy of peace, mutual respect and secularism which the Congress embodied, the Chief Minister added. Expressing gratitude to the CM, Phalianwala said he believed in the Congress ideology of inclusiveness and would do his best to defeat the negative agenda of present day Central regime. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 30 Four persons of a family died after allegedly consuming poison at Manko village here last night. The deceased have been identified as Bakhshinder Kaur (45), her teenaged sons Jaspreet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh and teenaged daughter Balpreet Kaur. Bakshinders husband Ajit Singh is an NRI based in Dubai. He has been informed about the incident. Their neighbours claimed that Jaspreet called them at 11.30 pm yesterday, saying that his entire family was vomiting after consuming some poisonous tablets. All four were lying unconscious when their relative Saroop Singh (Ajit Singhs brother) took them to a local hospital. Jaspreet and Harmanpreet were declared brought dead, while Bakshinder and her daughter were shifted to another hospital where they too died after sometime. Paramjit Singh, SHO, Adampur police station, said, The reason behind the extreme step taken by the family is not yet known. Their post-mortem has been conducted. Ajit Singh is stuck in Dubai due to visa issues. He has informed us that he would not be able to arrive before April 7. Relating eyewitness accounts, the police said while the children were known to be friendly and good in studies, the sudden and abrupt death of the four family members had shocked the neighbourhood. Sources said till the time the neighbours opened the door, the four were unwell, but were conscious and talking to them. Their condition deteriorated on way to the hospital. With the arrival of Ajit Singh delayed considerably due to visa issues in Dubai, their relatives cremated the bodies today. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Panchkula, March 30 Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra here today announced that in-depth investigation would be conducted by the Punjab Police in the gruesome murder of FDAofficial Neha Shoree. Brahm Mohindra, who visited the bereaved family here this afternoon, said they had lost a sincere and hardworking officer who had been continuously working against the chemists who had been selling habit-forming drugs to consumers. He assured the family that justice would be provided to Neha by holding proper investigation into the case. He also directed state Drug Controller Pradeep Matoo to provide every possible help to the family. Meanwhile, Capt KK Shoree (retd), father of the victim, said the government should conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident and not make it an open and shut case. He said proper investigation into the case would help in wiping out the drug mafia, money laundering and corruption. Shoree alleged that there could have been the involvement of drug mafia. He said there must be involvement of some members of the staff who could have provided information about her daughter to the killer. He said the government should initiate steps to give justice to their daughter who had sacrificed her life fighting against drug mafia. Govt in denial mode on drugs: Sukhbir Chandigarh: SAD chief Sukhbir Badal on Saturday took on the state government for failure to protect its officers in charge of controlling drug menace in the state, leading to encouragement to those engaged in drug trafficking. Capt Amarinder Singh has no time for peoples problems and his government is in a denial mode on drug menace in Punjab as they are on most other issues like farmers suicides. The drug menace in the state today is more grave than it ever was at any stage during the SAD-BJP government, he said. TNS shalender@tribune.com Parvesh Sharma Tribune News Service Sangrur, March 30 Mistakes in revenue records allegedly introduced by officials at the time of registration, updating and transfer of properties or agricultural land are proving costly for the owners. They are being forced to shell out money in the name of fardbadars (correction of mistakes) in revenue records. At least 2,344 fardbadars were recorded in Sangrur district alone last year. Avikesh Gupta, SDM, Sangrur, has ordered an inquiry into 455 fardbadars. I will probe the reason behind the high number, he said. During 2018, in all 13 tehsil offices, a total of 2,344 fardbadars took place. Sangrur is on the top with 455 cases. Fearing harassment by officials, property owners, including many farmers, are unwilling to lodge a complaint or even talk about it. Some, on condition of anonymity, demanded an inquiry against officials who deliberately introduce errors and demand money to make corrections. Till 2008, the name of my father was spelled correctly in the records as Mahinder Singh. In 2013, during the division of property, the name was changed. I had to face a lot harassment to get the mistake rectified. There are hundreds of others facing similar problem, said a Sangrur-based farmer. Revenue Department officers are deliberately committing errors so as to mint money in the name of updating records. But property owners are not willing to come on record. We have demanded a high-level inquiry, said Jarnail Singh Jahangir, district press secretary, BKU Lakhowal. Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said he had not received any complaint in this connection. I will look into the matter and if any officer is found harassing people, strict action will be taken, he said. editorial@tribune.com Balwant Garg & Karam Prakash Tribune News Service Faridkot/Patiala, March 30 The delay in the declaration of result of their final prof has left at least 75 MBBS students in the lurch. The affected students, presently studying at government medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala, and Faridkot, are of the 2014-15 batch of Chintpurni Medical College, which was shut following irregularities. On the directions of the Supreme Court, 98 MBBS students were shifted to the three government colleges. While 41 were shifted to Faridkot, 30 Amritsar and 27 Patiala. A controversy started about two months back, when 18 students of Faridkot college, 30 Amritsar and 27 of Patiala college refused to pay Rs 3.22 lakh fee. They claimed that they would only pay fee as applicable for government students, not the government quota fee of private colleges. While publishing the result of final prof part-II on March 28, the BFUHS withheld the result of these 75 students for non-payment of tuition fee. The matter is sub judice ever since these students were shifted to the GMCs. The students and their parents have alleged that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has already directed the colleges to stick to the fee as per the government quota seat, which is Rs 28,350 until a final decision was taken. They claim that last year, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), through a letter, had directed the colleges to take annual fees as applicable for government students. On the other hand, the university authorities maintained that the letter was issued mistakenly and it was annulled by the department on March 6. Dr Raj Bahadur, vice chancellor, BFUHS, said in the notification for the shifting of 98 students in September 2017, it was clearly mentioned that as the private medical colleges had refused to admit these students at government fee, they would pay government quota seat fee of private colleges, to which they had agreed. A student of GMC, Patiala, said, Ever since we were shifted from Chintpurni to GMC, we have been facing problems. Till date, the CMCH has not given our detailed mark sheets. Now when we are about to begin internship, we have been asked to pay lakhs of rupees within two weeks. Arun Batra, father of an affected student, said, Earlier, the university had denied roll numbers to the students and now it has withheld the result. This is a case of contempt of court. Sushil Goyal, president, CMCH Parent Welfare Association, said, The vice chancellor of BFUHS and Additional Health Secretary have turned a blind eye to the issue. The CM should intervene in the matter. Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, said, If the matter is sub judice, I will not be able to comment, but the government has always helped these students. It was on Capt Amarinders directions that they were adjusted in government institutions in 2017 after the CMCH went bankrupt. Future at stake In the absence of their result, if the 75 students fail to initiate one-year internship from April 1 onwards, they would not be eligible for NEET-PG, 2020, the entrance test for admission in MD and MS courses. editorial@tribune.com Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 30 The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) passed Rs 1,205 crore budget for 2019-20 at its executive meeting held here today. The budget is nearly Rs 46 crore more than the last years. It is split into four parts SGPC, dharam parchar, educational institutions and gurdwaras. The committee has allocated Rs 238 crore for its 53 schools and 37 colleges against Rs 228 crore last year. Similarly, there is a hike in the allocation of funds for the management of historic gurdwaras. The budget amount is Rs 714 crore against Rs 688 crore previously. The dharam parchar committee saw a surge in the allocation to Rs 84 crore from Rs 56 crore. The budget allocation of the SGPC is further split into four parts Rs 72.50 crore for general board fund, Rs 50.60 crore trust fund, Rs 37.40 crore education and Rs 7.25 crore for printing press. Besides, Rs 40 lakh has been allocated for Guru Granth Sahib Mission, Shahpur. The budget was presented by SGPC general secretary Gurbachan Singh Karmuwal. Even before he completed the presentation, the budget was passed by raising religious slogans. SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said religious programmes at a large scale would be organised to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November for which Rs 12.63 crore had been allocated. He said Rs 14.50 crore had been allocated for Sikligar and Vanjara Sikhs, gurdwaras outside Punjab and needy Sikh students. In addition, Rs 60 lakh has been set aside for games, Rs 1 crore Sikh players, Rs 2 crore dharmi faujis and their families, Rs 8 core Sikh mission centres outside state, Rs 70 lakh natural calamities and equal amount for Sikh history and its publication. The committee also passed 11 resolutions, including release of Sikh political prisoners, resolution of Balwant Singh Rajoanas case, providing facilities to pilgrims for the Kartarpur corridor, inclusion of an SGPC member in the Censor Board, strict punishment to culprits in anti-Sikh riots cases, demand for widening of roads leading to the Golden Temple and promotion of Punjabi language in neighbouring states. Meanwhile, committee member Bibi Kiranjit Kaur flayed a hike in travelling expenses of the committee members to Rs 85 lakh from Rs 10 lakh last year. Major allocations Rs 238 cr Educational institutions Rs 714 cr Historic gurdwaras Rs 84 cr Dharam parchar Rs 167 cr SGPC affairs Rs 14.5 cr Sikligar, Vanjara Sikhs shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com LONDON Over 674 million Indians are likely to breathe highly polluted air in 2030, even if the country were to comply with its existing pollution control policies and regulations, according to a study. The study, released by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) in New Delhi, shows that only about 833 million citizens would be living in areas that meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in 2030. Indian citizens are likely to breathe air with high concentrations of PM2.5 in 2030, even if India were to comply with its existing pollution control policies and regulations, the report said. The study also found that the Indo-Gangetic plain, covering parts of states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, has the highest population exposure to significant PM2.5 concentrations. This is mainly due to the high density of polluting sources and reduced ventilation by the obstructing presence of the Himalayas. Citizens living in parts of Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha are also exposed to high levels of PM2.5. However, aligning sustainable development policies to the implementation of advanced emission control technologies could provide NAAQS-compliant air quality to about 85 per cent of the Indian population. In 2015, more than half the Indian populationabout 670 million citizenswere exposed to PM2.5 concentrations that did not comply with India's NAAQS for PM2.5 (40 migrogrammes per cubic metre). Further, less than one per cent enjoyed air quality that met the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark limit of 10 migrogrammes per cubic metre. "A significant share of emissions still originates from sources associated with poverty and underdevelopment such as solid fuel use in households and waste management practices," said Markus Amann, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program director at IIASA. In January 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), a five-year action plan to curb air pollution, build a pan-India air quality monitoring network, and improve citizen awareness. The programme focuses on 102 polluted Indian cities and aims to reduce PM2.5 levels by 20-30 per cent over the next five years. The analysis conducted by researchers from IIASA and CEEW however suggests that NCAP needs to be backed by a legal mandate to ensure successful ground-level implementation of emission control measures. In the long-term, NCAP also needs to be scaled-up significantly to ensure that rapid economic growth and meeting NAAQs are aligned. "While current ambient PM2.5 monitoring in India reveals high levels in urban areas, remote sensing, comprehensive air quality modeling, and emission inventories, suggest large-scale exceedances of the NAAQS, also in rural areas," said Pallav Purohit, an IIASA researcher and lead author of the study. "Pollution from rural areas is transported into the cities (and vice versa), where it constitutes a significant share of pollution making the coordination of urban-rural and inter-state responses critical," Purohit said. The study also highlighted a stark variance in factors contributing to air pollution across the states. Solid fuel, including biomass combustion for residential cooking, is the largest contributor in the major states of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. However, in Delhi and Goa, it contributes only a small amount due to enhanced access to clean fuels in these states. Instead, NOx emissions from transportation are major contributors to air pollution in these two states. Similarly, SO2 emissions from power plants are dominant contributors to air pollution in Haryana and Maharashtra. In coming years, every state government must commission detailed scientific studies to better understand the sources contributing to air pollution in their cities. Another challenge for many states is that emission sources that are outside their immediate jurisdiction contribute significantly to ambient pollution levels of PM2.5. PTI shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com WASHINGTON NASA's Mars Helicopter, designed to fly in thin atmosphere and low gravity, has successfully completed flight tests and is prepared for its journey to the Red Planet scheduled to take off in 2020, the US space agency said. Weighing in at no more than 1.8 kilograms, the helicopter is a technology demonstration project currently going through the rigorous verification process certifying it for Mars. The majority of the testing the flight model is going through had to do with demonstrating how it can operate on Mars, including how it performs at Mars-like temperatures, NASA said in a statement. The helicopter has to function in extremely cold temperatures, including nights with temperatures as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius. The helicopter is scheduled to reach the surface of the Red Planet in February 2021, when the firmly nestled under the belly of the Mars 2020 rover. A few months later, it will be deployed and test flights will beginthe first from the surface of another world, NASA said. "Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US. "But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised," said Aung. While flying helicopters is commonplace here on Earth, flying hundreds of millions of kilometers away in the thin Martian atmosphere is something else entirely. Creating the right conditions for testing here on Earth presents its own set of challenges. "The Martian atmosphere is only about one per cent the density of Earth's," said Aung. "Our test flights could have similar atmospheric density here on Earthif you put your airfield 30,480 meters up. So you can't go somewhere and find that. You have to make it," she said. The team created a vacuum that sucks out all the nitrogen, oxygen and other gases from the air inside the mammoth cylinder. In their place the team injected carbon dioxide, the chief ingredient of Mars' atmosphere. "Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter at JPL. "To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars' gravity is that much weaker," said Tzanetos. The team accomplished this with a gravity offload systema motorised lanyard attached to the top of the helicopter to provide an uninterrupted tug equivalent to two-thirds of Earth's gravity. The Mars Helicopter's first flight was followed up by a second in the vacuum chamber the following day. Logging a total of one minute of flight time at an altitude of five centimeters, more than 1,500 individual pieces of carbon fiber, flight-grade aluminum, silicon, copper, foil and foam have proven that they can work together as a cohesive unit. "The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said Aung. The Mars Helicopter will launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. PTI KV Prasad in New Delhi There is a common thread between three decisions of the government one each in February and March this year, and the one taken in 2016 the intention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying an undiluted message of being a strong and decisive leader. In the case of Uri surgical strikes and Balakot airstrikes against terrorists operating with impunity from across the border, the message was to their harbours in Pakistan. The latest space mission in which India demonstrated its capability to take down a satellite in low-earth orbit was for the world to decipher its strategic significance. Expectations of people about retaliatory strikes kept soaring. This is because while the party was in the opposition it had promised to avenge terror strikes in the country with severe retribution. The appetite was whetted by boastful statement of a senior BJP leader to severe 10 heads for the loss of one Indian solider. As the military operation inside PoK on terrorist launch by elite military troops in response to Uri began fading from public memory, a movie by the same name re-ignited the josh. And then, came the ghastly Pulwama terror attack on Feburary 14. India struck back within 12 days with the IAF jets pounding training sites of Jaish-e-Mohammed. The outfit had claimed it caused the deadly strike which had killed 40 CRPF security personnel. The option of carrying out a military strike on terror targets inside Pakistan was present even after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. However, counsel to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his security czars resulted in a doctrine of strategic restraint. Yet, it was clear even then that were another terror strike to occur, there will be pressure on the government to take recourse to stronger action. The point was underscored by former National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon in his book Choices. That military option came much later, when India chose to exercise a calibrated approach after the Dinanagar attack in 2016. However, New Delhi allowing Pakistani investigators, including those from the Inter Services Intelligence, had little effect. Retribution after Uri, and later Pulwama, bore a strong trademark response. Balakot assumed greater significance since India crossed the Line of Control without formal declaration of war by dispatching military planes deep inside Pakistan. Undoubtedly, in the home stretch to the Lok Sabha, this single non-military act changed the narrative for the ruling coalition. There are two sets of views, with the young who constitute a major chunk of the 800-odd million voters perceived to have endorsed the action interpreting it as a lesson that India taught to Pakistan not to mess around. Reports from various parts of the country do resonate with such sentiments what PM Modi did measure up to the claims of being a bold leader, who does not shy away from landing punches on an unfriendly neighbouring country. The oppositions attempt to tie down the ruling coalition government to its performance during the past five years on the issues of jobs, distress in economy, demonetisation, growing chasm in the society and latent religious disharmony appear to be getting brushed aside in the crucible of nationalism and chest-thumping pride. Political leaders on either side of the divide do sense that the surge of nationalism is overshadowing everything else. Yet, those in the opposition are of the view that as time passes, this jingoistic tendency would ebb away, and it will be back to basic issues. Voters do not necessarily share their innermost thoughts except for those who prefer to identify themselves in the tents of political parties of different hues. There is a sizeable chunk of voters occupying the middle ground, and the ones who can make or mar prospects. Modi is clearly pitching himself as a political personality under whose leadership the country can be reassured of being in safe hands. Hes coming across as the one who takes the decision required at an appropriate time with telling effect. There are counter views from a cross-section of society, including those who are or did serve the country in various fields, including the armed forces but the sentiment of nationalism tends to override. The last occasion such a sentiment came into play was after the 1999 Kargil War when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was voted back to power on it. He got the sympathy of having lost the vote on the floor of Parliament by just one vote, truncating the tenure of his coalition government after 13 months. Adding strength to Indias strategic sinews and this narrative is the Anti-Satellite Missile test of March 27. No wonder, Modi is underscored at a rally a day later that his government demonstrated it can protect the nation on land, in air and space. Ravi S Singh in New Delhi In the BJP-JD(U) versus RJD-led Mahagathbandhan narrative in Bihar, an engrossing sub-plot is being scripted by former JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in Begusarai. He is being fielded as a common candidate by the Left in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Left parties, especially the CPI, which had suffered a kind of setback after being ignored by the Mahagathbandhan (including Congress), now have chin up, thanks to the response Kanhaiya has been generating on the campaign. CPI chief Sudhakar Reddy says Kanhaiyas candidature will boost the election campaign of all Left parties in Bihar. The party sees in him the hope of gaining its lost ground in the state. Until the 1980s, when Bihar was undivided and Jharkhand had not been carved out of it, the party had a strong presence in the state with direct stakes in about eight Lok constituencies (the bulk of them are in todays Bihar). In Begusarai, however, the party has won just once, in 1967. The Left parties are expected to contest about eight of the 40 seats in the state this year. Kumar hit the headlines in February 2016 when he allegedly took part in a protest against capital punishment to the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. He was booked for sedition along with others, and sent to judicial custody for six months, but was released for a few days later. At the time, top opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, CPI (M) chief Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Yadav visited JNU to express solidarity with him. Soon Kanhaiya Kumar found himself at the centre of a new political narrative with the BJP dubbing opposition leaders as part of Azadi brigade, an innuendo for anti-nationals. He emerged as a household name with passions raging both for and against him. In effect, as an inflexion point in countrys politics, he became a celebrity. Speaking to The Tribune from a village in Begusarai, Kanhaiya exuded confidence on account of the support he is getting from the crowds. Students and youth leaders from various parts of the country, including southern states, have started converging to support him. Ever since I arrived in Begusarai to file my nomination papers, people from rural areas have been meeting me to express support, said Kanhaiya, who has been asking people to crowdfund his campaign and, according to reports, people have been contributing. Left leaders in the Capital say Kanhaiyas appeal as a youth leader symbolises freedom of expression and he continues to be a symbol of anti-establishment despite the BJP playing up the nationalism card in the recent times. With the stardom associated with Kumar, the BJP-JD(U) and the Mahagathbandhan are said to be on tenterhooks in Begusarai. Reluctance of firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh on being shifted to Begusarai from his Nawada seat has only added grist to the pro-Kanhaiya Kumar campaign. The RJD has once again nominated Tanveer Hassan, who was runners up in the last parliamentary election mustering 3,69,892 votes. BJPs Bhola Singh had won the seat, securing 3,28,227 votes. CPIs Rajinder Singh had got 1,92,639 votes. Narayana Kankanala, national CPI leader and in-charge Bihar affairs, who is camping in Begusarai and would be soon joined by other senior leaders of the party, said Kanhaiya is gaining traction among Muslims and SCs too. The student leader promises to unsettle the apple cart of his opponents and many are looking forward to that. editorial@tribune.com Kabul, March 30 Taliban fighters on Saturday attacked a convoy carrying Afghanistans Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum, in an assault that left the former warlord unscathed but killed one of his bodyguards, an official told AFP. Enayatullah Babur, Dostums former chief of staff, said the hour-long attack also left several others in the convoy wounded. The attack occurred in the northern province of Balkh, where Dostum had held a rally earlier in the day. On Twitter, a Taliban spokesman said the insurgent group had carried out the attack and claimed four of Dostums bodyguards had been killed. Dostum, a powerful ethnic Uzbek leader, is notorious in Afghanistan for extreme barbarities and for repeatedly switching loyalties over 40 years of conflict. Despite a catalogue of war crimes attached to his name and accusations of organising the rape and torture of a political rival, Dostum became Afghanistan's first Vice-President in 2014. AFP editorial@tribune.com New York, March 30 An Indian former Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing a teenaged girl in the US, according to a media report. John Praveen (38) pleaded guilty in February to sexually touching a 13-year-old girl in the Rapid City church, South Dakota, over her clothes last year, Rapid City Journal newspaper reported. Judge Steven Mandel handed down the sentence on Friday after prosecutors asked for maximum of one year in prison. Mandel said that was not adequate for Praveens crime, the report said. He sentenced Praveen to six years in prison, minus 178 days of time served, and said he would be eligible for parole after three years. The sentencing came after Praveen pleaded guilty to one count of having sexual contact with a child under the age of 16, a crime that carries a maximum 15-year punishment, the report said. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Seoul, March 31 A break-in at the North Korean embassy in Spain last month was a grave terrorist attack, a representative from North Koreas foreign ministry said on Sunday in the Norths first official comment on the incident. The foreign ministry representative also called for an investigation and said North Korea was closely watching rumours that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and an anti-North Korea group were behind the raid. An illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated over the globe, the Norths state-run KCNA news agency quoted the representative as saying. Reuters pardeepdhull@gmail.com Washington/El Paso, Texas, March 31 The US government cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States and threatened to shutter the US-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having set up migrant caravans and sent them north. Trump said there was a very good likelihood he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. Frequent crossers of the border, including workers and students, worried about the disruption to their lives the presidents threatened shutdown could cause. At a rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto ORourke denounced Trumps immigration policies as the politics of fear and division. A State Department spokesman said in a statement it was carrying out Trumps directive by ending aid programs to the three Central American nations, known as the Northern Triangle. The department said it would engage Congress in the process, an apparent acknowledgement that it will need lawmakers approval to end funding that a Congressional aide estimated would total about $700 million. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trumps order a reckless announcement and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday that the United States was paying the three countries tremendous amounts of money, but received nothing in return. Mario Garcia, a 45-year-old bricklayer in El Salvador, said he was setting off for the United States regardless of the presidents threat to close the frontier. There is no work here and we want to improve (our lives), to get ahead for our families, for our children. I dont give a damn (what Trump says), Im determined, Garcia said. Garcia was one of a group of at least 90 people who left the capital San Salvador over the weekend on buses heading north, in what locals said was the tenth so-called caravan to depart for the United States since October. The government of El Salvador has said it has tried to stem the flow of migrants. The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the US policies contradictory but stressed that its relationship with the United States was solid, close and positive. Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the frontier during his two years in office but has not followed through. This time, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other US officials say border patrol officers have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase asylum seekers, many of them children and families who arrive in groups, fleeing violence and economic hardship in the Northern Triangle. March is on track for 1,00,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Nielsen warned Congress on Thursday that the government faces a system-wide meltdown as it tries to care for more than 1,200 unaccompanied children and 6,600 migrant families in its custody. Trump has so far been unable to convince Congress to tighten asylum laws or fund his border wall. He has declared a national emergency to justify redirecting money earmarked for the military to pay for the wall. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. Its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country is a good neighbor and does not act on the basis of threats. It was not clear how shutting down ports of entry would deter asylum seekers because they are legally able to request help as soon as they set foot on US soil. But a border shutdown would disrupt tourism and US-Mexico trade that totaled $612 billion last year, according to the US Census Bureau. A shutdown could lead to factory closures on both sides of the border, industry officials say, because the automobiles and medical sectors especially have woven international supply chains into their business models. Reuters editorial@tribune.com Palm Beach, March 30 Threatening drastic action against Mexico, President Donald Trump declared he was likely to shut down Americas southern border next week unless the Mexican authorities immediately halt all illegal immigration. Such a severe move could hit the economies of both countries, but the President emphasised, I am not kidding around. It could mean all trade with Mexico, Trump said on Friday. We will close it for a long time, he added. Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though the Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. Meanwhile, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time with a new surge of migrants heading north, he gave a definite timetable. A substantial closure could have a heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts and other businesses across the US. AP Attendants serve tea as Chen Quanguo listens during a Xinjiang panel session in Beijing on March 12. Photo from South China Morning Post By William Zheng When Xinjiang officials took questions from the media recently about the crackdown in the western border region, it was the chairman, Shohrat Zakir, who did much of the talking. Although Communist Party secretary Chen Quanguo was seated to Zakir's left, he remained silent throughout the hour-long session at the National People's Congress in Beijing. But for the reporters in the room and the China watchers observing the event via television broadcasts around the world, there was no question of who was in charge. After five years in neighbouring Tibet, Chen took the reins in Xinjiang in 2016. There has been speculation that Chen who is a member of the policymaking Politburo is now in line for promotion, but sources familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post that the 63-year-old from Henan province will stay where he is for now. "The [policy] direction has been set," one of the sources said. "The overriding priority in Xinjiang now is to maintain stability a change in leadership is unlikely." Residents perform horse racing on snow in Hemu Village of Kanas, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 1, 2019. Xinhua-Yonhap Beijing has drawn international condemnation for its mass internment camps in Xinjiang, where human rights experts estimate 1 million or more Uygurs and other Muslim minorities have been held for political indoctrination. The government insists they are "vocational training centres" needed to counter "religious extremism" and ensure stability. Chen has driven the campaign, and observers said Beijing was unlikely to make leadership changes in Xinjiang while it is under pressure over the repressive policies. Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California, said Chen was not likely to be promoted to the upper echelons in Beijing in the near future because "all the other key positions that would be considered a promotion are occupied with people unlikely to retire soon". "The appointment of Wang [Junzheng] does not necessarily suggest Chen will be moved to Beijing any time soon," Pei said, referring to Wang taking over as the region's party security chief last month. "Given the mess in Xinjiang, [President Xi Jinping] probably does not want to make any moves for now." He added that Chen's next "upwards move" would probably be to the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, which was unlikely to happen before 2022. Alfred Wu, an associate professor with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, agreed that the president was unlikely to make changes to the Xinjiang leadership at the moment. He said Xi would want to keep Chen where he was since he had proven to be effective at keeping the region "under control". A national flag raising ceremony is held at the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Oct. 1, 2018, the National Day, to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua-Yonhap "Chen understands stability is what the top leadership wants and he is able to deliver results," Wu said. "Despite criticism by Western governments, Beijing sees that Chen is doing a good job in Xinjiang although the real question is about stability in the long term." Another source familiar with Xinjiang affairs said the clampdown under Chen stemmed from policies set out by Xi at a work conference in 2014. "The overall direction was set by Beijing and the leadership in Xinjiang was entrusted to turn those policy directives into operational details to be implemented," the source said. He added that it was decided at the conference that "maintaining long-term stability" was a priority. "Stability is the primary focus and developing the economy takes second place," the source said. "This will continue to be the priority until the top leadership reviews its Xinjiang policies again." That focus has seen Chen take a draconian approach to governing the region setting up grass-roots vigilante cells to stamp out any sign of dissent among Uygurs and other Muslim minorities. A "terrorist" is captured by the special force members during a joint military exercise held by Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members in Yining, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003. AP-Yonhap Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in mystery. Most scientists believe it emerged in the wild and jumped from bats to humans, either directly or through another animal. Others theorise it escaped from a Chinese lab. AS the family of popular pundit Mohindra Persad makes funeral arrangements after his sudden passing, the family says they are being caused further pain by being bombarded by comments from strangers attributing Persads death to Covid-19. The family has been devastated by the news, and while they would prefer to grieve privately, Persads wife, Anita, agreed to do a telephone interview with the Express. She told the Express yesterday she wanted to squash the rumours around her husbands death and celebrate the remarkable legacy he left on this earth. I am calling upon the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to make public the details surrounding the deaths of persons despite being fully vaccinated. Only this week two people died despite being vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19, and they were not the only two. Lovers of hot beverages are at high risk of contracting cancer of the oesophagus according to a new research by medics at Tenwek Mission Hospital, Bomet county. The study scheduled for publication in June 2019 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Journal established Kenyans in Western region prefer hot tea at 72.1C whish was higher than rest of the country. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: Kenyans rally behind Kibra MP Ken Okoth as he battles cancer Drinking hot beverages above 65C causes oesophageal cancer. Photo: Stuff. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Mawanasiasa wa Jubilee sasa ajuta kuwapigia Uhuru, Ruto kura, aomba Wakenya msamaha This study classifies Bomet county as an oesophageal cancer endemic area. Michael Mwachiro, a doctor who was part of the research team indicating thermal injury from hot beverages and meals was suspected to be among risk factors predisposing individuals to the disease. The researchers had three sets of questions based on tea temperatures preferences among the 100 adult respondents who had accompanied patients at the mission health centre. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are carbon and hydrogen carbons found in tea were also probed as risk factors to developing oesophageal cancer but concluded the components were very low in commercial Kenyan tea leaves. In 2016, International Agency for Research on Cancer found out there was correlation between cancer and hot tea above 65C It however, noted the relative contribution of drinking very hot beverages on rates of oesophageal cancer is not currently known. Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Impregnated and forced to abort by my teacher - on TUKO TV Source: Tuko Leader of the pro-junta political party Palang Pracharath, Uttama Savanayana (C) and members of an executive committee during a press conference at the Palang Pracharath Party in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 24, 2019. EPA-Yonhap Results of Thailand's first election since the 2014 coup were expected to trickle out Monday, with the junta primed to retain its grip on power after a vote that saw its main rival diminished, but vaulted a new pro-democracy force into the kingdom's politics. The Election Commission delayed without explanation a full announcement of preliminary results on Sunday night as a blizzard of complaints mounted over apparent mistakes in the count and possible irregularities at the polls. Nearly 1.9 million votes had been invalidated with 93 percent of votes tallied, the EC said late Sunday. Earlier counts showed that in a handful of provinces more than half the ballots cast were invalidated. Sunday's election seen as a referendum on the military was held under new rules written by the junta to ease its transformation into a civilian government. Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai Party's prime minister candidate, speaks during a news conference at Pheu Thai Party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 25, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap Despite that headstart, analysts had not expected the army-linked Phalang Pracharat party to win the popular vote, given anger at junta rule and the enduring popularity of Pheu Thai the party of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. But as initial figures dribbled out, Phalang Pracharat with 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha as its candidate for prime minister edged into a clear lead, racking up more than 7.6 million votes with more than 90 percent of ballots tallied. "This will give them... popular legitimacy and more credibility," Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, told AFP. Phalang Pracharat had nearly half a million more votes than Pheu Thai, despite the track record of Thaksin whose parties have won every vote since 2001, drawing on loyalty from the rural and urban poor. Supporters of Pheu Thai party cheer while watching television election results at party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Mar. 24, 2019. AP-Yonhap - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader, Julius Malema, has addressed the issue of xenophobia in South Africa at a recent campaign rally in the Eastern Cape - Malema has called for South Africans to see themselves as Africans too - The EFF leader has also recently called for persons of colour in the Western Cape to unite against the DA this coming election Leader for the EFF, Julius Malema, has condemned xenophobia at a recent rally in the Eastern Cape. With a recent spate of violent xenophobic attacks spreading across the country, local politicians are having their say on the matter. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: 16-year-old Kibera boy makes three teenage girl friends pregnant READ ALSO: Kenyans impressed as Raila Odinga's daughter steps out for the night in a red dress Malema is well-known for his controversial politics; however, the EFF commander preached a simple message of love and unity when it came to this difficult topic. The EFF politician affectionately known as Juju drove one particular point home when it came to xenophobia in SA: Africa is for all of us READ ALSO: Thieves suck out sewage waste while trying to siphon fuel from bus Malema also pointed out to the crowd that most xenophobia in SA is blatantly black on black violence, even when there are people of other races who may not be deserving of a job. According to EWN, Juju also preached a message of unity at a Western Cape rally recently, when he called on black and coloured South Africans to take back power in the province. READ ALSO: Hot tea exposing more Kenyans to throat cancer - Study By this, Malema means that the DA, who has maintained control over the Western Cape for many years, should be pushed out and the EFF come forward as the main opposition party and rulers of the province. TUKO.co.ke gathered that the red berets leader moves his campaign onto the Free State this week. Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. The Dyslexic Boy Chased From Parties For Being Too Dirty Source: Tuko Breaking News Latest Voloptuous socialite Corazon Kwamboka is still learning the cons of being a well-endowed lady after a male fan attacked her in one of the meanest ways imaginable. The socialite, who recently added the enviable title of advocate to her CV, was seriously faulted by a random fan online for her past choice in men. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Kenyans impressed as Raila Odinga's daughter steps out for the night in a red dress Curvy socialite Corazon Kwamboka threatened by fan who claimed dating white men would kill her. Photo: Corazon Kwamboka Source: Instagram READ ALSO: Vera Sidika spotted partying with vlogger Natalie Tewas ex hours after nasty break up In 2018, TUKO.co.ke reported of Corazons relationship with a Caucasian man which brought about controversy especially after raunchy photos of the two were shared by the socialite. Unfortunately - or fortunately for the Kenyan men - the relationship did not work out and the two parted ways because of irreconcilable differences. READ ALSO: Diamond Platnumz and lover Tanasha Donna unanimously laugh off cheating rumors There seems to be one fan who was totally against the curvy socialite dating white men, and he finally made his feelings known in a scathing attack on Corazon. Through an Instagram post seen by TUKO.co.ke, Corazon exposed the guy who took some time to actually warn her against dating people from another race. READ ALSO: Mwai Kibaki's grandson quits social media weeks after confessing to battling depression If the post was anything to go by, the irate man claimed dating a white man would only result in the death of the involved African lady. As primitive as the fans reasoning was, Corazon decided to show the world just what she has to deal with in her DMs on a daily basis. Imagine the courage of this man coming to my page to threaten and insult me, I could say 1000 things to him but let me just put his racist face here, she shared with her fans. Needless to say, virtually everyone who saw the post was irked by the fact that there some wild forms of racism still existed in the 21st century. As far as everyone knows, Corazon is a single lady since the break up with the mzungu man. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Follow us on Telegram: Tuko News The Dyslexic Boy Chased From Parties For Being Too Dirty : Source: Tuko South Korean President Moon Jae-in and world-famous K-pop band BTS were nominated for TIME magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, a list showed Friday. Moon and BTS were two South Korean candidates competing for the annual list, with which the TIME editors recognize the most innovative and best-performing artists, leaders, scientists, activists and entrepreneurs, according to the TIME list of candidates released earlier this week. With 4-percent support, BTS was leading a reader poll for the list which TIME is conducting. After closing the poll on April 16, TIME will make public its final decisions two days later. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are also candidates for the list. Other contenders are athletes, like Serena Williams, and politicians, like Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido. Some of the youngest influencers nominated include Greta Thunberg, the climate activist from Sweden and Taiwanese American actress Constance Wu whose 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, made a splash across the world. (Yonhap) Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch hopes that Ukrainians will take advantage of their right to shape the nations future on March 31. Ambassador Yovanovitch: Today is a momentous day for democracy as Ukrainian citizens head to the polls. I hope all eligible Ukrainians take advantage of this important opportunity to shape their nations future, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine posted on Twitter. The presidential elections take place in Ukraine on March 31. Thirty-nine candidates are on a voting ballot. ol If none of the candidates receives over 50% of the vote on March 31, a run-off vote will be held on April 21 for the two front runners in the first round. Presidential elections are under way in Ukraine on Sunday, March 31. Polling stations opened at 08:00 and will work until 20:00 inclusively. A record high number of presidential candidates, 44, were registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC). Five of them Andriy Sadovyi (candidate from the Samopomich Party); Yevhen Murayev (candidate from the Nashi (Ours) Party); Dmytro Dobrodomov (candidate from the Narodny Kontrol (People's Control) movement); Serhiy Kryvonos (candidate from the ATO Warriors Party); and Dmytro Gnap (the People's Power Party) withdrew before the deadline for leaving the presidential race. Thus, 39 candidates are on the printed ballot papers, but later Serhiy Taruta (the Osnova Party) and Oleksandr Moroz (candidate from the Socialist Party of Oleksandr Moroz) announced their withdrawal, and now Ukrainians will choose their president from among the following candidates: Ihor Shevchenko (self-nominee); Serhiy Kaplin (candidate for the Social Democratic Party); Valentyn Nalyvaichenko (candidate from the party Valentyn Nalyvaichenko's Spravedlyvist (Justice) social and political movement); Vitaliy Skotsyk (self-nominee); Anatoliy Hrytsenko (candidate from the Hromadianska Pozytsia (Civil Position) Party; Vitaliy Kupriy (self-nominee); Hennadiy Balashov (candidate from the 5.10 Party); Olha Bogomolets (self-nominee); Oleksandr Shevchenko (candidate from the UKROP Party); Roman Nasirov (self-nominee); Yuri Boyko (self-nominee); Oleh Liashko (candidate from the Radical Party); Arkadiy Kornatsky (self-nominee); Oleksandr Vilkul (candidate from the Opposition Block the Party of Peace and Development); Yulia Tymoshenko (candidate from the Batkivshchyna Party); Illia Kyva (candidate from the Socialist Party of Ukraine); Ruslan Koshulynsky (candidate from the Svoboda Party); Oleksandr Danyliuk (self-nominee); Volodymyr Zelensky (candidate from the People's Servant Party); Inna Bohoslovska (self-nominee); Ihor Smeshko (self-nominee); Mykola Haber (self-nominee); Yuriy Derevyanko (candidate from the Volia (Will) Party); Roman Bezsmertnyi (self-nominee); Viktor Bondar (candidate from the Vidrodzhennia Party); Serhiy Nosenko (self-nominee); Ruslan Ryhovanov (self-nominee); Viktor Kryvenko (candidate from the People's Rukh Party); Andriy Novak (candidate from the Patriot Party); Vasyl Zhuravlyov (candidate from the Stability Party); Yuriy Tymoshenko (self-nominee); Petro Poroshenko (self-nominee); Yuri Karmazin (self-nominee); Julia Lytvynenko (self-nominee); Oleksandr Vashchenko (self-nominee); Volodymyr Petrov (self-nominee); Oleksandr Solovyov (the Rozumna Syla (Reasonable Force) Party). Read alsoKremlin refuses to answer directly whether Moscow set to recognize outcome of Ukraine elections A total of 199 constituencies have been created in Ukraine. The approximate number of polling stations, according to the CEC website, is 29,888. Some 101 polling stations are abroad. On December 31, 2018, five polling stations in Russia were closed pursuant to a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The CEC registered 2,344 observers from foreign and international organizations in the presidential elections. More than 135,000 law enforcement officers are involved in ensuring public order in Ukraine on election day. The presidential election campaign in Ukraine officially began on December 31, 2018. According to the calendar plan for the presidential election, the CEC should establish the results of the voting by April 10. If none of the candidates receives over 50% of the vote on March 31, a run-off vote will be held on April 21 for the two front runners in the first round. In the event of the run-off, the CEC should officially announce the election results by May 1, 2019, and the inauguration of the newly elected president should take place by May 31. The new president should take office no later than 30 days after the announcement of the official election results. Tymoshenko's husband mentioned Zuzana Caputova, the first woman elected to the presidency of Slovakia. Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who is one of the three leading presidential candidates, according to recent polls, has cast her ballot paper on Ukraine's March 31 Election Day. After she and her husband Oleksandr Tymoshenko cast the ballot in the ballot box, the politician said she believes in a successful and rich Ukraine, the TV news service TSN said. "Dear friends, today I am with my family, the team came to vote for Ukraine. You know that today clocks in Ukraine sprang forward as the daylight saving time began. I believe that we are also taking a step forward towards a successful, prosperous, European Ukraine. I believe that Ukraine's new historical progress towards peace, prosperity, happiness of every person begins today," Tymoshenko said. Read alsoKyiv Mayor Klitschko goes to polling station by bike to vote at Ukraine presidential election (Photo, video) "I know that today we have a chance to change everything. For the last five years, Ukraine, unfortunately, has lived in poverty and corruption, but every Ukrainian can put an end to this today. Everything will be all right: Ukraine will be a peaceful, successful European country I believe that the spring will prevail," she added. She also wished those present a good mood. Her communication with the public lasted just over a minute. Then Tymoshenko's husband mentioned Zuzana Caputova, the first woman elected to the presidency of Slovakia. Yulia Tymoshenko smiled in response and barely touched her husband's hand. An update of the National Exit Poll will be issued at 23:00 Kyiv time on March 31. Findings of the National Exit Poll 2019 project as of 18:00 Kyiv time on March 31 show that 30.4% of Ukrainians have voted for presidential candidate, showman Volodymyr Zelensky; 17.8% supported incumbent President Petro Poroshenko; and 14.2% cast their votes for leader of the Batkivshchyna Party Yulia Tymoshenko. The poll was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), and the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Read alsoTSN exit poll: Zelensky and Poroshenko to compete in run-off According to the findings of the exit poll, 9.8% voted for co-chairman of the Opposition Platform For Life Party Yuriy Boyko, 7.1% voted for leader of the Civil Position Party Anatoliy Hrytsenko, 6.4% voted for self-nominated Ihor Smeshko, 4.8% for leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko, 4% for candidate from the Opposition Bloc the Party of Peace and Development Oleksandr Vilkul, and 1.8% for candidate from the Svoboda Party Ruslan Koshulynsky. Other candidates have less than 2% of votes, according to the exit poll. An updated exit poll report by closing of polling stations at 20:00 Kyiv time on March 31 will be released at 23:00. The National Exit Poll was sponsored by the Enhance Non-Governmental Actors and Grassroots Engagement "ENGAGE" activity, funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and implemented by Pact in Ukraine, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, the International Renaissance Foundation, the Embassy of Canada in Ukraine. The field stage of the National Exit Poll 2019 project was handled by two Ukrainian sociological companies Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) and the Razumkov Center. The general population of the exit poll are voters who voted at polling stations throughout Ukraine, except for special polling stations for the military, in prisons and hospitals, embassies and in Russia-occupied areas. The sample was developed to be representative for Ukraine in general and for its four geographical areas (the west, the center, the east, and the south). The sample is two-staged. At the first stage, the number of polling stations was chosen in each region to the percentage of voters in the given region. The polling stations were randomly selected. At the second stage, the selection of voters at the exit of polling stations was made based on a certain selection step. The findings were submitted to the central office of sociological companies several times during the day. The results of the survey are presented on a national scale and in the context of four areas: the West: Zakarpattia, Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Khmelnytsky regions; the Center: Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv regions and the city of Kyiv; the South: Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions; and the East: Kharkiv region, Donetsk and Luhansk regions (districts controlled by the Ukrainian government). The number of the polling stations covered is 400 (200 for each sociological company). The sample size is about 17,000 respondents (depending on a voter turnout). Two or three interviewers worked at each polling station; in total, there were 1,000 specially trained interviewers. The interviewers wore special National Exit Poll badges. The statistical margin of error, taking the design effect into account, does not exceed 1.3%, but there are still errors that depend on various factors. Based on the experience of previous exit polls conducted using the same methodology, the sampling error will not exceed 2.5% for front-runners and will be within 0.5-1% for other candidates. Over 26,000 Ukrainian voters were interviewed at 500 polling stations. Some 30.7% of Ukrainian voters said they had voted for presidential candidate of Ukraine, showman Volodymyr Zelensky, 18.6% had cast their votes for incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, and 13.9% of voters had supported Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko. These are findings of an exit poll conducted by Austria's SORA Institute for Social Research and Consulting in conjunction with Ukraine's Social Monitoring Center on the order of television channels 112 Ukraine and News One throughout Ukraine. Read alsoTSN exit poll: Zelensky and Poroshenko to compete in run-off According to the findings, 10.3% of voters supported co-chairman of the Opposition Platform For Life party Yuriy Boyko and 7.3% voted for leader of the Civil Position Party Anatoliy Hrytsenko. This data is based on reports as of 18:00 Kyiv time on March 31. In total, 26,548 voters were polled. The martin of error is not higher than 2.1%. As UNIAN reported earlier, findings of an exit poll conducted by TSN show that Zelensky and Poroshenko will be competing in a run-off vote. There have been no Ukrainian army casualties. Russia-led forces opened fire from large-caliber machine guns and small arms at Ukrainian positions in Donbas from 00:00 to 18.00 Kyiv time on Sunday, March 31. "During the day, the enemy opened fire from large-caliber machine guns and small arms at positions of a unit of the Joint Forces near the village of Lebedynske in the Skhid (East) sector," the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) press center said on Facebook in an evening update on March 31. Read alsoIn March, OSCE monitors record highest number of violations since Nov 2018 There have been no Ukrainian army casualties, it said. Ukrainian troops fired back. Information about enemy losses is being checked. The situation is under control, the JFO press center said. There were six attacks on Ukrainian positions on Saturday, March 30, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. Banned weapons 120mm and 82mm mortars were used in three instances on that day, the JFO press center said in a morning summary on March 31. The last in the world to vote on Ukraine's Election Day will be Ukrainians living in San Francisco, the United States. Ukrainians in the Australian capital city of Canberra were first to complete the voting at the only foreign polling station opened in that country on Ukraine's March 31 Election Day. The polling place housed by the Ukrainian Embassy in Australia opened at 23:00 Kyiv time on March 30, the voting continued until 11:00 Kyiv time on March 31, the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty reported. According to Ukraine's Central Election Commission, 101 polling places were opened in the foreign constituency. The polling places were set up at the embassies and consulates of Ukraine. Ukrainians are able to vote in 72 countries. Read alsoU.S. Ambassador Yovanovitch hopes all eligible Ukrainians take advantage of electing president The largest number of polling places was created in Germany there are five of them. Four are in the United States, Poland, Italy each; and three are in Canada, Spain and Turkey each. In Russia, all Ukrainian polling stations were disbanded. Ukrainians living in Russia were proposed to vote at Ukrainian embassies in Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Finland. The last in the world to vote on Ukraine's Election Day will be Ukrainians living in San Francisco, the United States. Casting ballots there will last until 06:00 a.m. Kyiv time on Monday, April 1. On Sunday, March 31, Ukraine is electing its president. Ukrainian polling stations opened at 08:00 Kyiv time and will work until 20:00, inclusively. More than 2,000 observers have been observing the vote process in Ukraine. Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus Ihor Kizim expects a high turnout of voters on Ukraine's March 31 Election Day. Members of the Ukrainian election commission in the capital of Belarus, Minsk, have decided not to let members of the Russian media in at the polling station set up in the Ukrainian Embassy's building. They were able to only take pictures and make videos outside of the embassy's fence, the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty reported. Representatives of such Russian news agencies as TASS and RIA-Novosti, as well as television channels Ren-TV and NTV worked outdoors and interviewed citizens of Ukraine who came to the polls. Read alsoUkrainians in Australia first to complete voting abroad on Ukraine Election Day At the same time, representatives of Belarusian, Ukrainian and international media have had free access to the polling place. Some 12,000 Ukrainian citizens eligible to vote at two polling places in that country have been registered in Belarusian territory: at the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk and at the Consulate General in Brest. "Usually, about 10% of Ukrainian citizens permanently residing in Belarus go to the polls. A high turnout of voters is expected this time," Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus Ihor Kizim told the publication. Chairperson of the election commission operating in Minsk at the Ukrainian Embassy Oksana Vrublevska said that 241 voters had turned out at the polling places in Belarus as of 12:00 local time on March 31. Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 64F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Areas of patchy fog. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. Northern Michigan University's Native American Student Association hosted the 26th annual Learning to Walk Together Pow Wow at the Marquette National Guard Armory Saturday. For Native Americans, it's a celebration of life and time to get together with friends, family and to make new friends. Visitors also had plenty of opportunity to learn about Native American culture and to see and purchase different crafts from vendors and more. Attendees were also encouraged to share the different types of music, learn about styles of dances and various outfits. Of course food was a big part of the festivities and there was plenty of fried bread tacos and fried bread pizza. Kristina Misegan is President Native American Student Association at NMU. She says events like this only happen once or twice a year and all cultures should embrace the Pow Wow. Yes, it is a celebration! We have a lot of people that don't see each other that much, friends and family and they do travel to these Pow Wows to see each other, say hello and hang out. We are on Anishinaabe territory and it's a good way to learn about the Native Americans that were here before us, Misegan declared. Afterwards there was a massive turkey feast at the Jacobetti Complex. It was open to the entire community and to everyone that attended the Pow Wow. There was also a hand drum competition with cash prizes and more. NMU Native American Student Association also hosts the First Nations Food Taster as a fundraiser for Pow Wows like this one. to learn more about NMU's Native American Studies program, upcoming events and more. Full refurbishment of Apex City of London hotels ground floor to create a destination bar and restaurant for the recently expanded property. The result is a modern palm court brasserie that opens out on to the street, with bistro, bar and restaurant areas, each flowing into the other. MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2019) As many as 14 people were injured in an explosion that occurred at a hospital in Mexico City, the local prosecutor's office said in a statement. "An investigation into the blast at a hospital, as a result of which 14 people were injured, has been launched. The hospital is located ... in the Venustiano Carranza district," the statement read. According to preliminary data, there are nine women and five men among the injured. The explosion has also damaged six cars, according to the statement. The cause of the blast has not been established yet. This spring, Las Vegas diners can enjoy A Taste of Mott 32 with a prix-fixe menu that will also support Southern Nevadas only food bank, Three Square. From April 8 21, the special menu will feature some of the signature dishes served at The Venetian Resorts newest restaurant from Hong Kong, which the editors of Vogue magazine called one of the most anticipated new U.S. restaurants to open in 2019 (Pictured: Signature Maine Lobster Fried Rice, Spring Mushrooms, Broad Beans). The special menu includes such Mott 32 favorites as hot & sour Iberico pork Shanghainese soup dumplings, 36-month acorn fed barbecue pluma Iberico pork, Maine lobster fried rice and more. This menu is available for $88 per person plus an additional $48 for a wine pairing. A portion of the proceeds from each purchase will be donated to Three Square to support their mission of pursuing a hungry-free community. According to the organization, for every dollar donated, they can provide up to three meals for food-insecure individuals in the Las Vegas community. As we continue to settle into our new home in Las Vegas, were looking for ways to get involved in the community, said Nathan Grates, general manager of Mott 32 Las Vegas. A Taste of Mott 32 will allow diners to sample our authentic Chinese cuisine while also supporting a worthy cause. Three Square continues to fight for those in our community who are struggling with food insecurity, and were proud to play a small role in their mission. The A Taste of Mott 32 menu includes: Hot & Sour Iberico Pork Shanghainese Soup Dumplings Signature 36-month Acorn Fed Barbecue Pluma Iberico Pork paired with Finca Decero, Remolinos Vineyard, Malbec, Agrelo, Mendoza, Argentina, 2016 paired with Finca Decero, Remolinos Vineyard, Malbec, Agrelo, Mendoza, Argentina, 2016 Choice of Grilled Sea Bass with Sweet Miso Sauce paired with Remoissennet Pere et Fils, Bourgogne, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France, 2015 or Stir Fried Australian M6 Wagyu Sirloin with shitake mushrooms, baby leeks and chili for an additional $15 paired with Chateau Malmaison, Moulis-en-Medoc, Bordeaux, France, 2011 paired with Remoissennet Pere et Fils, Bourgogne, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France, 2015 or with shitake mushrooms, baby leeks and chili for an additional $15 paired with Chateau Malmaison, Moulis-en-Medoc, Bordeaux, France, 2011 Signature Maine Lobster Fried Rice with king oyster mushrooms and edamame paired with Domaine Laroche, Chablis, Burgundy, France, 2014 with king oyster mushrooms and edamame paired with Domaine Laroche, Chablis, Burgundy, France, 2014 Bamboo Green Forest served with Alois Kracher, Cuvee Beerenauslese, Burgenland, Austria When it comes to the top-rated Italian steakhouse in all of Las Vegas sometimes, you just have to make a break for it. This past week, Paul Adelstein of the hit Fox television series Prison Break, did just that. Not only did he get a taste of the award-winning dining spot, Andiamo, located inside the D Casino Hotel he also brought over a dozen close friends, including fellow actor, Tim Griffin of Greys Anatomy and Prime Suspect (Pictured: Paul Adelstein and Tim Griffin Photo credit: the D Casino Hotel) Adelstein and Griffin were sure to pose in Andiamos famous entranceway an iconic photo op for many TV stars, musicians, athletes, and the like. The talented drama actors then ventured downstairs to the casino floor, where they spent some time at the Ds world-famous Longbar the longest bar in all of Nevada (hence the name). Photo credit: the D Casino Hotel Even though they missed casino owner Derek Stevens and his wife Nicole during this Vegas visit, they luckily ended up hanging out with the Ds co-owner, and Dereks brother, Greg Stevens. They even snapped some pictures together, right in front of the iconic bar. Photo credit: the D Casino Hotel Some of the lovely dancing slushy bartenders recognized the Girlfriends Guide to Divorce actor and posed for photos as well. Considering the D Casino Hotel encounters multiple celebrity appearances per week, its no surprise how a dinner at a top-rated Italian steakhouse can quickly transform into an all-night party. Vaibhav Saxena, lawyer at Vietnam International Law Firm Circular 02 regulating the implementation of wind power project development and model power purchase agreement (Model PPA) for wind power projects makes substantial revisions, including both improvements in certain aspects and stricter requirements in others. The new circular has repealed Circular No.32/2012/TT-BCT regulating the implementation of wind power project development and power purchase and sale contract form for wind power projects and Circular No.06/2013/TT-BCT on the content, order, procedures for formulation, appraising, and approving wind power development. Implementation of Circular 02 Under Circular 02, an investor is only permitted to prepare the feasibility study for a wind power project which is included in an approved power master plan (either for power generally or specifically for wind power projects). If not, the investor will need to apply for the inclusion of the project in the relevant master plan before they could prepare the feasibility study for the project. Additionally, Circular 02 has provided procedures to sign the Model PPA. The new provision is favourable for the investor as the buyer must review and sign the Model PPA within 15 days. However, it may be difficult to implement this regulation in practice. Model PPA The Model PPA shall be applied compulsorily. The parties may supplement the Model PPA to clarify the rights and obligations of the parties, but may not change the basic contents of the Model PPA. Feed-in-tariff (FiT) Under the Model PPA, the FiT is an amount in Vietnamese Dong (VND) equivalent to US cents 8.5/kWh (exclusive of VAT) for onshore wind farms and US cents 9.8/kWh (exclusive of VAT) for offshore wind farms. This FIT is only applicable to wind farm projects that achieve the Commercial Operation Date (COD) prior to November 1, 2021 and is applicable for a term of 20 years from the COD. The VND/USD exchange rate to be applied shall be US$1 = VND22,683 in accordance with the central exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on August 30, 2018. The FiT will be adjusted in accordance with the fluctuation of the VND/USD exchange rate. However, there is a lack of clarity on the determination period of such fluctuations in the FiT that flows from the fact that Vietnam is planning on issuing several policies to revamp its power sector to create a more advanced and systematic investment policy infrastructure. The denomination of FiT in USD and payment in VND may lead to a potential risk from the availability of USD in Vietnamese market for conversion by the seller (i.e. the project company or the investor). It should be noted that offshore remittance of USD is subject to strict requirements under the foreign exchange control regulations in Vietnam that could cause concerns for the lenders and may require investors support to cover such risks. Otherwise, according to amendments under Decision No.39/2018/QD-TTg, the FiT shall be calculated separately for the output of onshore and offshore turbines. However, such bifurcation of FiT shall be challenging for the investor to manage where all systems of a single project are interconnected. In practice, calculations by the authorities to examine the applicability of the FiT shall be a tough task. It may require prolonged negotiation between the investor and the authorities and may complicate the billing. In the circumstances where the wind power projects include both onshore and offshore turbines, the buyer and the seller shall agree on how to install the meter and measure the generation capacities of onshore and offshore turbines separately. However, clear and specific guidelines to distinguish between onshore and offshore metering will be required otherwise it may pose issues to the investors, where on the other hand there is no remedy if the buyer refuses to agree with the seller or tries to impose its decision on the seller. The wind power plants that have been put into operation to generate power prior to November 1, 2018 shall be entitled to re-sign the Model PPA with the new terms in accordance with the Model PPA from November 1, 2018 to the end of the remaining term of their existing signed power purchase agreement. Off-take by Vietnam Electricity (EVN) Under the Model PPA, EVN or its authorised subsidiary or a successor that takes over all rights and obligations of EVN in accordance with the laws acting as the power purchaser has the responsibility to off-take the entire electricity output generated to the grid by the relevant solar power project. Long-term PPA The Model PPA provides for a term of 20 years from the COD which can be extended or a new contract can be signed between the parties in accordance with the then-effective laws. Tariff payment The seller must provide the buyer with a notice on payment along with an application for payment prior to the fifth day of the month. Upon the receipt of these documents, the buyer shall check the application for payment within five working days and inform the seller if there is any omission or error. Accordingly, the seller shall send the buyer an invoice for electricity sold and purchased and the buyer must pay the seller within 25 working days from the receipt of such invoice. In case the buyer fails to make payment within the specified time limit, it shall bear late payment interest. Governing law The Model PPA provides for the mandatory choice of Vietnamese law as the governing law. Dispute settlement In case of a dispute, the Model PPA requires the parties to settle it by amicable negotiation first within 60 days from the date of receipt of notice from the disputing party and 15 days if the dispute relates to payment of tariff. If the negotiation fails, the parties may elect the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority (ERAV) under the MoIT for conciliation and dispute resolution or go to a dispute resolution body in accordance with the laws of Vietnam, which would effectively mean the courts of Vietnam, unless a specific arbitration clause is included. The Model PPA shall be applied compulsorily, illustration photo/ AFP File Photo Remaining issues Despite the fact that Circular 02 has several amendments and supplementations, the Model PPA of this Circular has not addressed thoroughly the remaining issues of Circular 32. To be specific: COD and deemed commissioning The Model PPA provides that the seller will be considered as having committed a breach of the PPA if the COD does not occur within three months after the scheduled date for COD, unless it is caused by a force majeure (FM) event. The Model PPA has not addressed the scenarios where the power plant is available for testing and commissioning for COD but the seller could not proceed due to a breach by the buyer or an event affecting or attributable to the buyer. Grid risk allocation Under the Model PPA, the seller is responsible for grid connection costs and risks, including investing in, operating, and maintaining interconnection equipment and facilities in order to connect the plant with the power transmission and power distribution grids. The Model PPA has not addressed the scenarios where the power plant is prevented from generating electricity due to unavailability or other risks concerning the grid. Interruption in power receipt and purchase Under the Model PPA, the purchaser is entitled to stop purchasing power in the following cases: (a) The power plant of the seller operates or is maintained not in conformity with the regulations on operation of the national grid and the power industry technical regulations and standards; (b) During times when the purchaser installs equipment or repairs, replaces, inspects or examines the grid directly related to its connection to the power plant of the seller; (c) When the transmission grid or the distribution grid connected to the grid of the purchaser breaks down, or grid equipment or facilities directly connected to the transmission grid or distribution grid of the purchaser break down; (d) When the grid of the purchaser needs support to recover after a breakdown, in accordance with the provisions on operation of the national grid and the power industry technical regulations and standards; The Model PPA has not addressed the scenarios where the incidents in (b), (c) or (d) are caused due to a breach by the purchaser or an event affecting or attributable to the purchaser. FM events FM events are defined as an event occurred objectively that cannot be foreseen and overcome despite the application of necessary measures and ability to mitigate such event. The Model PPA does not distinguish political FM events and natural FM events. The risk-bearing is vested upon the seller in this case that impact the lenders as well and the investor could support shall be crucial. Change in law The Model PPA does not specifically address changes in legal circumstances that lead to uncertainty. Breach of contract, compensation for loss and damage, termination of contractual performance Under the Model PPA, the party that breaches the contract is obligated to pay compensation for the value of actual losses, being direct losses which the party affected must bear and caused by the party in breach and the value of direct benefits which the party affected would have received except for the breach.. However, the Model PPA has not provided specifically for termination payments in the event of early termination of the Model PPA. A day after Afghanistans First Vice President, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, narrowly survived an assassination attempt, the Taliban vowed Sunday the former warlord remains one of their prime targets. Officials in Afghanistan have confirmed Dostums convoy came under a Taliban attack Saturday evening in the northern Balkh province that killed one of his security guards and wounded several others. Regional security officials and close aides of the powerful ethnic Uzbek leader said he was traveling back Saturday evening to his native neighboring province of Jawzjan when insurgents ambushed the convoy. Both sides suffered casualties in the ensuing hour-long intense gunfight but Dostum escaped unhurt, they added. The Taliban swiftly took credit for plotting the assassination attempt, saying it killed four loyalists of Dostum, including a key commander. A regional Afghan military statement claimed that five Taliban assailants were killed and many more were wounded. Long a target Dostum has long been our target and we have never given any undertaking not to attack him, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA when asked whether the raid could undermine their ongoing peace talks with the United States. Mujahid also rejected as baseless propaganda official statements claiming Saturdays ambush killed or injured any Taliban fighters. Dostum had landed in Balkh from a foreign trip and addressed a public gathering in the provincial capital of Mazar-i-Sharif hours before his convoy was attacked, party and police officials said. In his speech to the gathering, the powerful politician had asserted that if given the opportunity he would eliminate the Taliban from northern Afghanistan in just six months. Saturdays attack was the second assassination attempt on Dostum since July 2018 when he escaped a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport soon after landing in the country from more than a year in self-imposed exile in Turkey over allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival in his native Afghan province. Human rights accusations The Uzbek strongman is notorious in Afghanistan and was one of the warlords who helped the United States oust the Taliban from power in 2001. Human rights groups have long accused Dostum of committing war crimes, including the deaths of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in the custody of his militia forces. A political opponent, Ahmad Ishchi, alleged in 2016 that he had been tortured and raped by Dostum and his militiamen. Dostum was the acting president of Afghanistan at the time because President Ashraf Ghani was out of the country. Soon after the government had launched an investigation into the assault against Ishchi, the former warlord fled the country and returned 15 months later after a deal with Ghani that ended weeks of crippling protests in northern Afghan provinces by Dostums supporters. Algeria's army chief renewed a call for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be declared unfit for office and told opponents not to seek to undermine the military, after weeks of protests demanding an end to the ailing leader's 20-year rule. Bouteflika, 82, who has rarely been seen in public in recent years, has faced mass demonstrations for more than a month. His announcement that he would not seek a fifth term but that he would not quit immediately has failed to assuage protesters. To break the stalemate, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah made a proposal on Tuesday for the constitutional council to declare Bouteflika unfit for office, a move provided for under Article 102 of the charter. Salah said in a statement issued by the Defense Ministry on Saturday that most people supported the army's plan but some were resisting, without naming those opposed to the move. He said these opponents met Saturday to start a media campaign against the army, claiming people were against Salah's proposals. 'Red line' He said trying to undermine the military, a revered institution in Algeria whose support has long been seen as vital to keeping Bouteflika and the ruling elite in power, was a "red line" that should not be crossed. He did not elaborate. "All that emerges from these suspicious meetings of proposals that do not conform to constitutional legitimacy or undermine the national army, which is a red line, is totally unacceptable," he said in the statement. Bouteflika established himself in the early 2000s by ending a civil war that had claimed 200,000 lives. But he has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and now faces the biggest crisis of his two-decade rule. Under the constitution, the chairman of parliament's upper house, Abdelkader Bensalah, would serve as caretaker president for at least 45 days if Bouteflika stepped down. However, there is no obvious long-term successor to rule the nation, which secured independence from France in 1962 after years of conflict and was embroiled in a bloody Islamist insurgency during the 1990s. U.S. donors and Cuban builders have completed one of the longest-running joint projects between the two countries at a low point in bilateral relations. Officials from the Boston-based Finca Vigia Foundation and Cuba's National Cultural Heritage Council cut the ribbon Saturday evening on a state-of-the-art, $1.2 million conservation center on the grounds of Ernest Hemingway's stately home on a hill overlooking Havana. The center, which has been under construction since 2016, contains modern technology for cleaning and preserving a multitude of artifacts from the home where Hemingway lived in the 1940s and 1950s. When he died in 1961, the author left approximately 5,000 photos, 10,000 letters and perhaps thousands of margin notes in roughly 9,000 books at the property. "The laboratory we're inaugurating today is the only one in Cuba with this capacity and it will allow us to contribute to safeguarding the legacy of Ernest Hemingway in Cuba," said Grisell Fraga, director of the Ernest Hemingway Museum. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, spoke at the ceremony and called it a sign of the potential for U.S.-Cuban cooperation despite rising tensions between the Communist government and the Trump administration. McGovern, who met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other Cuban officials during his visit, said that despite tensions over Venezuela, a Cuban ally, he still believed respectful dialogue was the most productive way of dealing with Cuba's government. The Trump administration has said it is trying to get rid of socialism in Latin America. An Ebola treatment center located at the epicenter of the current outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has resumed operations after it was attacked last month, the country's health ministry said Saturday. The center run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the district of Katwa was set on fire Feb. 24 by unknown attackers, forcing staff to evacuate patients. It reopened Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. "For now it is managed by the ministry in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF," it said, referring to the U.N. children's fund. Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they seek to contain the Ebola outbreak, which has become the most severe in Congo's history. The WHO has said the distrust is fueled by false rumors about treatments and preference for traditional medicine. Another MSF center in Butembo was also attacked in late February but reopened a week later. MSF has pulled out from the area since the two attacks and has not said when it might resume medical activities. The current Ebola epidemic, first declared last August, is believed to have killed at least 561 people so far and infected over 300 more. Iran said Saturday that it faced an emergency in a southwestern province threatened by flooding and worked to evacuate dozens of villages as forecasters predicted more of the heavy rains that have killed at least 45 people this week, state media reported. Fifty-six villages near the Dez and Karkheh rivers in the oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan may have to be evacuated as officials released water from two major dams along the rivers because of forecasts for more rain, the provincial governor, Gholamreza Shariati, told state television. "Some residents are resisting [evacuation calls] because of their livestock ... and because they've experienced similar circumstances in the past," Shariati said, adding Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli had agreed to call an emergency in Khuzestan. Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, who is in charge of water resources, said authorities were working around the clock to "control floodwaters and to minimize possible damage." "It's estimated that in the next five days about 3 billion cubic meters of water will flow into dam reservoirs in Khuzestan due to rainfall ... 1.8 billion of which [is above capacity and] will have to be released," he told state television. The semiofficial news agency ISNA quoted Shariati as saying floods could also threaten the provincial capital, Ahvaz, if the rain is at the high end of forecasts. In the neighboring province of Lorestan, at least eight villages and parts of the town of Dorud were being evacuated, the semiofficial news agency Fars reported. Officials have said the government would compensate residents for flood damage. At least 45 people were killed this week in flash floods in northern and southern Iran after the heaviest rains recorded in Iran in at least a decade, the state news agency IRNA quoted Health Minister Saeid Namaki as saying. Western and southwestern parts of the country are expected to bear the brunt of the storms in the days ahead. Police renewed calls for people to avoid unnecessary journeys even though Iran is celebrating the Nowruz new year holiday, a time when many families travel. Iran has implemented measures to prevent rain and flooding affecting its main crude oil export terminal on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, the head of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co. told the semiofficial news agency Mehr on Saturday. National Iranian Gas Co. said earlier its pipeline network had not been affected by the bad weather. At no time since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when a Labour leader had to break with his party and head a national unity government, has a British prime minister been so boxed in as Theresa May, say analysts. British lawmakers, exhausted and on edge from the political turmoil of last week when the country was meant to have left the European Union, but didn't fear this coming week could be more traumatic for a constitutional order that's cracking under the stress of a Brexit impasse that's also fracturing Britain's two storied parties, the Conservatives and Labour. Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, outraged party activists by suggesting Saturday a national unity government may have to be formed to find a way out of the political dead-end. "If needs must, we have to then do what's right," he said. Former Conservative minister Nicky Morgan has also hinted that a national government might be the only option, if May declines to implement any alternative Brexit policy for lawmakers to vote on Monday in a second stage of so-called indicative voting. Last week, for the first time since 1906, lawmakers seized control of the parliamentary agenda from the government, aided by the House Speaker, to debate 16 Brexit options. They voted in the end on eight, although none secured a majority. But two came close one calling for a second referendum and another for a so-called soft Brexit that would see Britain remaining in a customs union with the bloc. A third that would see an even closer relationship with the European Union also did fairly well and behind-the-scenes is reportedly picking up more promises of support. May has reserved the right not to implement what the House of Commons decides, but could be forced by parliament to do so, a further overturning of constitutional practice. She still hopes to secure backing for her thrice-defeated and highly contentious Brexit withdrawal deal that's anathema to a large group of hardline Conservative Brexiters and a Northern Irish party she relies on in her minority government. No-deal Brexit More than half of her Conservative lawmakers signed a letter Saturday insisting May decide to go for a no-deal Brexit and leave without any agreement with Brussels, a move that could wipe out 10 percent of Britain's trade, according to economists, disrupt crucial supply chains and push Britain into a recession. It would also leave up in the air the fate of 3.5 million Europeans living in Britain and as many as 1.5 million Britons living on the continental mainland. But there is no majority in parliament for such a sharp break. With all avenues seemingly leading to dead-ends, half her Cabinet is pushing for a general election, hoping it would return a parliament not so undecided. But the other half is adamantly opposed to a snap poll, pointing out that an early election she called two years ago crippled the Conservatives, losing them their majority in the Commons. "It would be an act of extraordinary self-harm," a minister told VOA. "How can we fight a general election when we are so bitterly divided and with a leader who's promised to relinquish leadership soon. What will be the manifesto that can unite the party," he said. His fears may not be misplaced. Despite poisonous divisions in the Labour Party over Brexit, allegations of anti-semitism and over the ideology of Jeremy Corbyn, the most far-left leader the party has had since the 1940s, an opinion poll on Saturday put Labour five points ahead of the Conservatives. If repeated in an election, that would leave Labour the largest party, although shy of an overall majority. It would likely form a coalition government or agree to voting arrangements with the pro-EU Scottish nationalists, Liberal Democrats and a new breakaway centrist party made up of Labour and Conservative defectors. But it too has sharp Brexit differences, replicating the irreconcilable difficulties the Conservative government is finding impossible to overcome. Few lawmakers and commentators now think Britain will escape the mess without wide-ranging and long-term constitutional and political wreckage. That could possibly draw the queen into the crisis, and right into the center of party politics, something modern-day monarchs have avoided as they are meant to stay above the political fray. 'Nuclear option' Two constitutional lawyers have advised the government it would have the legal right to ask the queen to withhold her royal assent to any bill foisted on the government by parliament. Stephen Laws, a former parliamentary counsel, and Richard Elkins, an Oxford University law professor, argue parliament would be abusing constitutional process and "the government might plausibly decide to advise Her Majesty not to assent." Ministers have tagged that approach a "nuclear option." It would propel the monarchy onto a collision course with parliament, something not seen since the 18th century. Exasperation is rising across the country that is angrily split down the middle over staying a member of the EU or quitting. The one thing uniting the nation is frustration bordering on contempt for the country's political class. Commentator Charles Moore, a former editor of the pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph, argues parliament members are putting themselves above a public vote that decided for Brexit. But pro-EU commentators, while agreeing the constitutional order is at risk of unraveling, say voters were tricked and many who voted for Brexit had no idea that could put Britain outside the EU single market and customs union, something leading Brexit politicians promised wouldn't happen. The streets around The Stonewall Inn are quiet now. But 50 years ago in June 1969, this popular gay bar in New Yorks Greenwich Village was the site of violent confrontation when an unprovoked police raid triggered widespread outrage, resulting in several days of riots and demonstrations. Many believe the uprising was the catalyst for the modern gay rights movement. Now, a groundbreaking new exhibit titled Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement at the Newseum in Washington explores that tumultuous period in American history. Exhibit writer Christy Wallover says the numerous displays focus on the courageous efforts of everyday Americans. This big movement was spurred on by people who wanted to make a change, whether thats fighting for the right to work and serve, whether thats parading in the streets and celebrating who you are, or whether thats winning the right to marry. WATCH: New Exhibit Commemorates 50 Years of Gay Rights Movement Marriage equality Jim Obergefell was one of those people. He fought for marriage equality in the state of Ohio for him and his longtime partner, John Arthur. They had been together for 18 years when Arthur was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, and within two years was in at-home hospice care. Because we lived in Ohio, we were not able to get married, Obergefell explained. So, the two chartered a medical jet and flew to Baltimore, Maryland, where same-sex marriage had become legal Jan.1, 2013. They were married that year inside the airplane on the tarmac at Baltimore Washington International Airport by Arthurs aunt Paulette Roberts. Arthur died a few months later. But Ohio did not recognize their marriage. Upon Arthurs death, Obergefell could not be listed as Arthurs surviving spouse. Obergefell sued the state. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Obergefell won. On June 26, 2015, marriage equality became the law of the land. Symbolic artifacts Obergefell loaned some of his most prized possessions to the Newseum to illustrate his story: the couples wedding rings that he had fused together after Arthurs death; the jacket Obergefell wore when they married; and the bowtie he wore when the Supreme Court decision was announced. Fighting back tears, Obergefell explained why he did it. Because its my marriage. Its the love of my life. Its the man I was willing to do anything for and to fight all the way to the Supreme Court to defend, and to protect, and to live up to my promises to him. Other items featured in the exhibit represent trailblazers such as Frank Kameny, who many consider the father of the LGBTQ rights movement. His portable typewriter on view in a display case was used to create memos, pamphlets, and everything he used to petition and protest the government, Wallover explained. There are also items from several U.S. politicians. A red suit from Tammy Baldwin, who in 1998 became the first openly gay woman elected to Congress, and artifacts from Congressman Barney Frank, who revealed he was gay in an interview with The Boston Globe in 1987 after having served for three terms. Also prominently featured is Harvey Milk, a leading human rights activist who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, and who was assassinated in 1978 after only a year in office. Theres a letter of his that was in his jacket pocket when he was shot, according to Wallover. For many, its personal John Lake, who works for one of the sponsors of the exhibit, found it deeply personal. The 50th anniversary of Stonewall is so important to me personally, because I look back and all of the progress thats been made has really happened within the course of my lifetime, he explained. Walking through the exhibit, he says he saw things that impacted his life in a very real way. Like seeing Jim Obergefells jacket that he was married in that happened around the same time that I proposed to my husband, he said. So, to get that kind of grounding and to see those moments really coming to life for the community, it just really brings it home. While there have been great strides made in the gay rights movement over the past 50 years, many acknowledge theres still much work to be done for the 4.5 percent of Americans roughly 10 million people who identify as LGBTQ, or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning. In the exhibit, we highlight the strides and the setbacks, Wallover explained, pointing out that challenges remain for members of the LGBTQ community who are still striving for equality, such as transgender people. We talk about the transgender ban thats currently in effect that the Supreme Court just upheld, and we also talk about the violence against that group, primarily transgender women of color, she added. So, we still have work to do. The exhibit, which will travel nationally after its run at the Newseum, includes educational resources for students and teachers. Border officials are aiming to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the southern border each day, a major expansion of a top government effort to address the swelling number of Central Americans arriving in the country, a Trump administration official said Saturday. It was the latest attempt to ease an immigration system that officials say is at the breaking point. Hundreds of officers who usually screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry were reassigned to help manage migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department, sent a letter to Congress late this past week requesting resources and broader authority to deport families faster, and met with Central American and Mexican officials. The efforts are being made while President Donald Trump is doubling down on threats to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border entirely, a move that would have serious economic repercussions for both the U.S. and Mexico but wouldn't stop migrants from crossing between ports. His administration also announced it was cutting aid to the Central American countries that are home to most of the migrants. Right now, about 60 asylum seekers a day are returned to Mexico at the San Ysidro, Calexico and El Paso ports to wait out their cases, the official said. They are allowed to return to the U.S. for court dates. The plan was announced Jan. 29, partially to deter false claimants from coming across the border. With a backlog of more than 700,000 immigration cases, asylum seekers can wait years for their cases to progress, and officials say some people game the system in order to live in the U.S. 300 per day Officials hope to have as many as 300 people returned per day by the end of the week, focusing particularly on those who come in between ports of entry, said the official, who had knowledge of the plans but was unauthorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. But the process so far has gone slowly, and such a sizable increase may be difficult to achieve. The plan has already been marred by confusion, scheduling glitches and an inability by some attorneys to reach their clients. In San Ysidro alone, Mexico had been prepared to accept up to 120 asylum seekers per week, but for the first six weeks only 40 people per week were returned. Plus, U.S. officials must check to see whether asylum seekers have any felony convictions and notify Mexico at least 12 hours before they are returned. Those who cross illegally must have come as single adults, though the administration is in talks with the Mexican government to include families. Children are not returned. Homeland Security officials have been grappling with a growing number of Central American children and families coming over the border. Arrests soared in February to a 12-year-high and more than half of those stopped arrived as families, many of them asylum seekers who generally turn themselves in instead of trying to elude capture. Guatemala and Honduras have replaced Mexico as the top countries, a remarkable shift from only a few years ago. Migrants from Central America cannot be easily deported, unlike people crossing from Mexico. Mexico pledges help Mexico has been treading lightly on the subject. After Trump lashed out, saying Mexico and the Central American nations were "doing nothing" about illegal immigration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country would do everything it could to help to maintain a "very respectful relationship" with the U.S. government and Trump. Meanwhile, Nielsen sent a letter to the heads of other agencies within her 240,000-person department, asking for volunteers to help with border duties. And she wrote to Congress asking for more temporary facilities to process people, more detention space, and the ability to detain families indefinitely and to deport unaccompanied minors from Central America. While children from Mexico can be returned over the border, laws prohibit deportation to other countries. Democratic congressional leaders expressed deep concern, saying the administration wanted to revive "horrific" and "immoral" plans, noting its failed hard-line border policies have created "senseless heartbreak and horror." "Democrats reject any effort to let the administration deport little children, and we reject all anti-immigrant and anti-family attacks from this president," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Philippine police said Sunday 14 suspected communist rebels were killed after they opened fire during raids in a central province, but rights groups countered the men were farmers and the latest victims of extrajudicial killings. Dozens of police, backed by army troops, were to conduct court-authorized home searches Saturday in a city and two towns in Negros Oriental province when the 14 men violently fought back. A police officer was shot in the leg and wounded in the anti-insurgency and criminality sweep that also led to the arrests of 15 other suspects, police officials said. Regional police chief Debold Sinas said six suspected insurgents and rebel supporters escaped. Law enforcers seized three shotguns, 25 pistols, a homemade rifle, three grenades, ammunition and rebel documents in the simultaneous raids in Canlaon city, where eight suspects were gunned down, and the towns of Manjuyod and Santa Catalina, where the rest were killed in the reported gunbattles. Killings condemned Human rights and farmers groups condemned the killings of the men they said were farmers, including two village chiefs, and called for an independent investigation. The appalling conduct of these police operations obviously aims to make peasants, activists and other ordinary citizens of Negros to cower in fear, surrender their rights, and accept the wave of terror under the de facto martial law, the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates said. The group said six farmers were killed and more than 50 others arrested in similar police raids in December in Guihulngan city in Negros Oriental, which lies on a sugar-producing agricultural island long known for its gaping divide between the poor and wealthy landowning families. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the countrys south in 2017 to contain a deadly siege by Islamic State group-aligned militants and other insurgents. Although Negros Oriental lies outside the south, it is in a region about 590 kilometers (366 miles) south of Manila where military and police forces have intensified counterinsurgency raids in recent years. Searching for guerrillas Police denied the 14 men killed in Saturdays raids were victims of extrajudicial killings. Aside from unlicensed firearms, police were looking for suspected New Peoples Army guerrillas involved in a failed attack on a Canlaon city police station this month and other assaults on police officers, Sinas said. Communist guerrillas have waged a rural rebellion in the country for half a century, one of Asias longest. The violence has left about 40,000 combatants and civilians dead. It also has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the military says about 3,500 insurgents are still active. The polls have opened and voters in Ukraine are casting their ballots Sunday in the first round of the country's presidential election. The top three of the 39 candidates are: a comedian who plays the role of the president in a television comedy series, the incumbent president, and a former prime minister, who is running for president for the third time. Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seeking to prove life can indeed imitate art. He is the protagonist of a long-running popular series called the Servant of the People in which he plays a teacher who unexpectedly finds himself president after a student posts on YouTube one of his rants denouncing the elite. President Petro Poroshenko has the support of just 13.7 percent of the voters, according to a recent poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. The 53-year-old billionaire dubbed the chocolate king because of his confectionery business has been accused by opponents of running schemes to buy votes, especially in small towns where the pull of political paternalism is strong. Yulia Tymoshenko became Ukraine's prime minister after the 2004 Orange Revolution. She was arrested in 2011, charged with abusing power in a natural gas deal. She was released in 2014 and ran for president, but lost to Poroshenko. None of the candidates is expected to win a majority of the vote in the first round. The top two winners in Sundays vote will face off in a second round of voting. Pope Francis on Sunday defended his decision to refuse to accept the resignation earlier this month of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was convicted of failing to report sexual abuse allegations to police. Francis, who spoke with reporters on his return from a two-day trip to Morocco, said a final decision wouldn't be made until Barbarin's appeal process was completed. "I can't accept it (resignation) because in juridical terms, in classic world jurisprudence, there is the presumption of innocence as long as the case is open, and he has appealed," the pope said. Barbarin offered his resignation on March 18. He said at the time the pope "spoke of the presumption of innocence and did not accept" it. Francis instead asked Barbarin, the most senior French cleric involved in the Catholic Church's worldwide pedophilia scandal, to do what Barbarin believes is best for the Lyon archdiocese. The 68-year-old cardinal has decided to take a leave of absence and has asked his assistant to assume leadership of the archdiocese until the appeal process is over. Barbarin was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence earlier this month for failing to report a predator priest to authorities. The priest, Benard Preynat, allegedly sexually abused boy scouts in the 1980s and 1990s. The pope has previously defended Barbarin, saying in 2016 that his resignation before a trial would be "an error, imprudent." Rock superstar Elton John is joining actor George Clooney in calling for a worldwide boycott of hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, who plans to enforce the death penalty for homosexuality this week. Brunei-owned hotels include some of the world most luxurious inns, such as the Beverly Hills Hotel in Hollywood and the Dorchester in London. "Discrimination on the basis of sexuality is plain wrong and has no place in my society," John said in a statement. "I believe that love is love, and being able to love as we choose is a basic human right. ... My husband, David, and I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect." Brunei, a Muslim monarchy, has adopted strict Sharia law, which would allow LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people to be stoned to death. Clooney called for his hotel boycott last week, pointing out that every time someone stays at one of the nine Brunei-owned hotels, he is "putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery." The Dorchester Collection, which operates the hotels, says the chain emphasizes "equality, respect, and integrity ... we do not tolerate any form of discrimination." But others say they support Clooney's call for a boycott, including Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, former Vice President Joe Biden, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel early Sunday, the Israeli military announced, following a day of mass protests that saw Israeli troops kill four Palestinians near the territory's border. The rocket attack threatened to undermine Egyptian-mediated efforts to cement a deal that the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers hope will ease a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockage of the crowded territory. No casualties were reported and no Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rockets, though they appeared to have been fired in retaliation for the deaths of the protesters. Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to mark the anniversary of their mass protests along the Israeli border. Most demonstrators kept their distance from the border, though small crowds of activists approached the perimeter fence and threw stones and explosives toward Israeli troops on the other side. The forces responded with tear gas and opened fire, killing four Palestinians and wounding 64. Hamas had pledged to keep the crowds a safe distance from the fence to avoid inflaming the political atmosphere during negotiations on a possible easing of the blockade. Incentives Hamas officials say that Israel is offering a package of economic incentives in exchange for calm along the volatile border. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the group had received ``positive signs'' from the Egyptians. He added that the Egyptian team was to return to Israel on Sunday to continue the talks. ``We will continue our marches until all our goals are achieved,'' he said. Saturday's protest came at a sensitive time, with Israel and Hamas, bitter enemies that have fought three wars and dozens of smaller skirmishes, both having a strong interest in keeping things quiet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy. With a lack of alternatives, Netanyahu has been forced at times to rely on Hamas to maintain stability along Israel's volatile southern front. In the final stretch of the campaign, Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas. Netanyahu took heavy criticism this week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza. Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions after more than a decade of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. The two countries imposed the blockade in 2007 after Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel's destruction, seized control of Gaza from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The blockade has helped drive unemployment over 50 percent, led to chronic power outages and made it extremely difficult for Gazans to travel out of the territory. 'We want to live' Earlier this month, Hamas violently suppressed several days of public protests, staged under the slogan ``We want to live,'' over the dire conditions. Speaking on the group's Al-Aqsa TV station, Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, praised the protesters. ``With this big turnout, our people say, 'We want to live!' '' His use of the protesters' slogan appeared to be aimed at diverting the recent criticism of his group. Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for worsening the living conditions. The fence protests, which began exactly a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the blockade but haven't delivered major improvements. Saturday's demonstrations were held at five rallying points along the border with Israel. Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators, and cool, rainy weather also appeared to affect enthusiasm. But as the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Hamas' calls for a large turnout, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers. The Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire. The Israeli military estimated 40,000 Palestinians were gathered at the marches. ``The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tires on fire. In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence,'' it said in a statement. In a statement, Netanyahu praised the army's preparation and performance in maintaining ``calm.'' Three teens Gaza's Health Ministry said that a 17-year-old protester died immediately after being shot in the face in east Gaza City. In the evening, the ministry said another 17-year-old died hours after being shot in the chest in a different protest location. A third youth, also 17, succumbed to his wounds and died in the late evening. A 21-year-old Palestinian died around dawn after being injured in overnight protests before the main demonstration. While bloodshed was not avoided, it was far less than in previous high-profile protests. Over 60 people were killed during intense protests on May 14, the day the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem. As Saturday's protest was winding down, organizers vowed to continue the marches and said they would gather again as usual next Friday. According to a Gaza rights group and a count by The Associated Press, 196 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations over the past year, including 41 minors, and thousands were wounded by live fire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the context of the marches. Israel says the army has been defending the border. The army accuses Hamas of using the large crowds as cover and encouraging demonstrators to hurl explosives, incendiary balloons and grenades across the border. But Israel has come under heavy international criticism for the large number of unarmed people who have been harmed. Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening renewed escalation. Several Republican-led state legislatures are advocating for women to gain over-the-counter access to birth control in what they say is an effort to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions. State legislatures in Arkansas and Iowa, for example, are working on legislation that would allow women older than 18 the ability to receive birth control from a pharmacist rather than going first to a doctor for a prescription. The measures are seeing bipartisanship support in those states and come after similar laws have passed in nearly a dozen other states. Arkansas legislation Arkansas state Representative Aaron Pilkington, a Republican, said he started working on the bill after seeing about a 15 percent decrease of teen births after other states passed similar legislation. Arkansas consistently has one of the highest birth rates among teenagers in the country. Pilkington said support for the bill in many ways, its very generational. ... I find that a lot of younger people and women are really in favor of this, especially mothers. According to the Oral Contraceptive (OCs) Over the Counter (OTC) Working Group, a reproductive rights group, more than 100 countries, including Russia, much of South America and countries in Africa, allow access to birth control without a prescription. Women are required to get a doctors prescription to obtain and renew birth control in most of the U.S., much of Europe, Canada and Australia, according to the reproductive rights group. Pilkington, who identifies as a pro-life legislator, said he brought the bill forward partly as an effort to counter unwanted pregnancies and abortions. The bill would require a doctors visit about every two years to renew the prescription. Rural residents Arkansas has a population of about 3 million people, a third of whom live in rural areas. Pilkington said the bill would likely benefit women who reside in rural areas or those who have moved to new cities and arent under a doctors care yet. A lot of times when theyre on the pill and they run out, theyve gotta get a doctors appointment, and the doctor says, I cant see you for two months, he said. Some people have to drive an hour and a half to see their PCP (primary care physician) or OB-GYN (obstetrician-gynecologist), so this makes a lot of sense. What Pilkington is proposing is not new. In 2012, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorsed the idea of making birth control available without a prescription. Today, at least 11 other states have passed legislation allowing for patients to go directly to the pharmacist, with some caveats. In October, ahead of a tight midterm race, Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds raised a few eyebrows when she announced she would prioritize over-the-counter access to birth control in her state. Like Pilkington, she cited countering abortion as a main driver behind the proposed legislation. The bill closely models much of the language used in another Republican-sponsored bill In Utah that passed last year with unanimous support. The planned Iowa legislation comes after the Republican-led state Legislature passed a bill in 2017 that rejected $3 million in federal funds for family-planning centers like Planned Parenthood. The loss of federal funds forced Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides health care and contraception for women, to close four of its 12 clinics in the state. Since then, Jamie Burch Elliott, public affairs manager of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Iowa, said that anecdotal evidence shows that sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies have gone up. With family planning, it takes time to see the impacts, so there are long-term studies going on to really study the impact of this, said Burch Elliott. Right away, we saw STI (sexually transmitted infections) and STD (sexually transmitted diseases) rates go up, particularly chlamydia and gonorrhea. As far as unintended pregnancy rates, we are hearing that they are rising, although the data is not out yet. Pro-life pushback So far the Iowa legislation has received some pushback, mostly from a few pro-life groups. The Iowa Right to Life organization has remained neutral on the issue of birth control, but the Iowa Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the bishops of Iowa, and Iowans for LIFE, a nonprofit anti-abortion organization, have come out against the bill, citing concerns that birth control should not be administered without a visit to a physician. Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Iowans for LIFE, also pointed out that oral contraception can be an abortifacient [that] sometimes cause abortions, challenging Reynolds motivation for introducing the bill. On the other hand, Iowa family-planning organizations and Democratic legislators are mostly on board. Policywise, I think this is really good, said Heather Matson, a state representative of a district located just outside the state capital, Des Moines. She appreciated that insurance will still cover birth control, but took issue with the age restriction, saying she would like to see an option for people younger than 18. Is it exactly the bill that I would have written, if given the opportunity? Not exactly. While Matson represents one of the fastest-growing districts in the country, she pointed to the number of health care deserts in rural Iowa, where a shortage of OB-GYNs is leading to the closure of some maternity wards. Like Planned Parenthoods Burch Elliott, Matson agreed that this bill would be just one step in providing more access to birth control for women in rural parts of the state. Even before Planned Parenthood was defunded, there wasnt great access to birth control in Iowa to begin with, Burch Elliott said. Having said that, [this bill] is not a solution. Pharmacists are never going to be a replacement for Planned Parenthood, for example, where youll get STI and STD screenings, and any other cancer screenings or other preventive care that you might need. Regardless of whether the bills pass in Des Moines or Little Rock, Arkansas Representative Pilkington expects other states to follow suit. As the times have changed and you have a lot of conservative states like Tennessee, Arkansas, Utah (pass this legislation), I think it makes it way less of a partisan issue and more of a good governance issue, he said. I wouldnt be surprised if we see other states kind of pushing this as well. Especially when they see the success that other states are having with this. A small group of demonstrators protested in the Thai capital Sunday, accusing the election commission of delaying and manipulating results of last week's poll. In the country's first election since the 2014 coup, the military-backed Phalang Pracharat party won the popular vote and has declared victory. But the Pheu Thai party, linked to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has also claimed victory, forming a coalition with other opposition parties which would give them a majority of seats in the lower house. The true outcome of the election may not become clear before May 9, when the election commission has said it will release the official results. Nearly 100 opposition activists protested near the Victory Monument in Bangkok Sunday, accusing the election commission of "cheating" with chants and banners. A separate change.org petition calling for members of the commission to be fired had over 800,000 signatures as of Sunday. The Phalang Pracharat is led by army chief Prayut Chan-ocha, who has led the junta since ousting then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, while the Pheu Thai is affiliated with Yinglucks brother, Thaksin, a telecommunications billionaire who was overthrown in a coup in 2006. Parties linked to Thaksin have won every general election 2001. But Saturday, the king issued an order revoking royal decorations which had been awarded to Thaksin - a move which could damage support for the Pheu Thai party as the monarchy is respected with out question by many Thais. Last week, Thaksin wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times stating his argument for his belief that the election was rigged. Thaksin noted that preliminary results were delayed for days, and claimed that the numbers disclosed kept changing. The commission blames the confusing and contradictory results on human error. VOA Turkish service contributed to this report. ISTANBUL Polls have closed in Turkey's nationwide local elections on Sunday, a vote expected to be the toughest Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced, with the control of the capital Ankara and Istanbul at risk. With the economy in recession and soaring inflation, economic concerns were first and foremost on many voters' minds. "Our economy is getting worse and worse because of their (government) bad management," said Erdem, an engineer, speaking before voting in Istanbul. "Most of my friends are now looking for a job and some my friends lose their job because of economic crisis." Istanbul is Turkey's largest city and the country's financial capital. According to opinion polls, the election there was too close to call. Erdogan's AK Party has controlled the city for more than 15 years. "My expectation is there will be good things coming out of this election, we will win with a big difference," said Sinan, an AKP supporter speaking after voting in Istanbul. Voters in Ankara spoke about the country's economic problems. "The youth in this country are unemployed. We know the hardships of people who don't have a job. The only solution to this is creating jobs," Orhan Kurubacak told VOA. "I don't think things are going well. There is nothing more else to say. There are a lot of economical factors," Hakan Akyurek said. One AKP candidate, Cumali AttIla, told VOA's Kurdish service, "I hope these elections would end with gumption. It is our responsibility to claim democracy." Even though Erdogan was not on the ballot, he took personal control of the local election campaign. In a sign of what analysts suggest are fears of losing Istanbul, Erdogan in the last few days held more than a dozen rallies across the city in a bid to consolidate his party's support. Refocus Throughout the campaign Erdogan sought to move the agenda away from economic woes, instead focusing on security concerns, and the threat posed by Kurdish separatists, along with a religious agenda. Erdogan repeatedly played videos of a massacre of Muslims praying in New Zealand mosques at his rallies. The Turkish president likes to present himself as as a protector of Muslims around the world; a stance analysts say plays well with his religious and nationalist base. In another move aimed at his base, Erdogan, days before Sunday's poll, promised to turn Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Museum, once one of Christiandom's most important churches, into a mosque. However, analysts say Erdogan struggled to change the agenda away from the economy. With Turkey in the grip of soaring food prices, over 30%, "the key issue for the next local elections in Turkey is the economy," professor Baris Doster of Istanbul's Marmara University said. "I think that the most powerful and effective opposition parties are not the classical parties, like the Republican People's Party or the Good Party. However, the key issue for the elections is the increasing prices of vegetables. Let's say the prices of cucumbers or tomatoes. These are the most effective oppositions of Turkey," Doster added. In a bid to alleviate public anger over rising prices, state-subsidized food was sold in Ankara, Istanbul and other major cities in the run-up to the local elections. However, analysts say the images of people queuing up for food appears to have only underlined opposition claims the country is in crisis. Erdogan appears to have also been wrong-footed by the surprise move of the pro-Kurdish HD Party's decision not to contest the main cities outside of Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast region. "Our strategy is based on winning in the east and making them lose in the west," said Gul Demir, co-head of HDP in Istanbul's Kadikoy district. Demir says her party is calling on its supporters to vote for the main opposition CHP party. The HDP, Turkey's second-largest opposition party, accounts for nearly 10% of the electorate in cities like Istanbul and Ankara. While courting Turkish nationalist voters Erdogan has targeted the HDP, calling the party terrorists partly linked to Kurdish insurgents the PKK. Thousands of its officials have been jailed in a crackdown, including elected mayors and parliamentary deputies. Kurdish vote The HDP is seeking to win in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish region, in towns and cities where party mayors have been removed from office and jailed by the state, accused of supporting Kurdish insurgents. Pervin Buldan, co-chair of HDP, said votes cast Sunday for her party "will contribute to peace, freedom and equality." Buldan said, however, the obstacles their party faced, such as receiving no television coverage during the election, might not be enough to win. "Every day we tried to clear and explain the truths told our people about the lies, slanders, threats and the perception that created against us. We did our duty today. I believe that our people will do their duty at the polls, too," she said. However, analysts say HDP voters could play a decisive role in Turkey's western cities where polls indicate close contests, especially Istanbul where the HDP has a strong base. On Saturday, however, dozens of HDP local officials were detained in police raids in Istanbul. In Malatya province in Eastern Anatolia, a polling station volunteer and a party observer from the small Islamist Felicity Party (SP) were killed. Turkey's official Andolu news agency reported the incident in the otherwise largely peaceful vote. Attention is focusing on the outcome of the election in Istanbul. Erdogan's hometown remains his power base and has significant symbolic value, being the city where he launched his political career by winning the mayorship back in 1994. Control of Istanbul and other major cities is one source of power outside of Erdogan's direct control since he turned Turkey into a presidential system. The old Turkish political adage -- "who controls Istanbul, controls Turkey" -- for many still holds true. The loss of Ankara and Istanbul would also deal a mighty blow to Erdogan's reputation of electoral invincibility. Comedian and political novice Volodymyr Zelensky was the top vote getter, ahead of incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, in Ukraine's first round of presidential elections, according to exit polls Sunday, leading the two candidates into a run-off election. Zelensky, a comedian who plays the role of the president in a television comedy series, was projected to win 30.4 percent of the vote, easily beating Poroshenko, in power since 2014, who earned 17.8 percent, according to the Central Election Commission's report as of 6pm. If no candidate wins more than half of the votes, the election will proceed to a run-off to be held on April 21. "This is only the first step toward a great victory," Zelensky told reporters after the initial results were released. Zelenskiy is seeking to prove life can indeed imitate art. He in the protagonist of a long-running popular series called the "Servant of the People," in which he plays a teacher who unexpectedly finds himself president after a student posts on YouTube one of his rants denouncing the elite. President Petro Poroshenko had the support of just 13.7 percent of the voters, according to a pre-election poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. The 53-year-old billionaire dubbed the chocolate king because of his confectionery business has been accused by opponents of running schemes to buy votes, especially in small towns where the pull of political paternalism is strong. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Gulnara Karimova: From Tashkent Presidential Palace to Uzbek (...) by R.G. Gidadhubli On March 9, 2019 the Uzbek judiciary announced punishment of imprisonment to Gulnara Karimova, elder daughter of late Islam Karimov, former President of Uzbekistan, for five years since she has repeatedly violated the Uzbek laws. This hit headlines in the country. Gulnara had the privilege of staying in the presidential palace of Tashkent since Islam Karimov was in power in Uzbekistan for about 27 years since 1989 as the last President of the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan and the first President of the sovereign and independent state of Uzbekistan. Being a smart and dominant person there was speculation that she might become the President of the country. An effort has been made to enquire and analyse briefly about Gulnara Karimova and why she has landed herself in prison from the presidential palace. First, Gulnara was partly involved in political affairs and was taking advantage of the authori-tarian regime of her father, Islam Karimov. Apart from that, as per reports, the high-flying Gulnara was virtually a business executive and fashion designer. Moreover, she was also engaged in socio-cultural activities being a flashy socialite known for fashion shows and attractive pop-music videos which made her a popular figure among the younger generation in Uzbekistan and possibly Central Asia. Thus Gulnara exploited her influence as the Presidents daughter in her multiple activities. Secondly, credit needs to be given to Mike Eckel, an expert on post-Soviet and Russian affairs who, on March 8, 2019, elaborated the involvement of Gulnara Karimova in one of the largest inter-national bribery corruption scandals in recent times. As per reports, Gulnara had been involved in bribing and corruption in her dealings with foreign investors and domestic clients with regard to her business activities relating to mobile and internet services for over a decade. She succeeded in her business and minted money and became a billionaire. Mention may be made of her involvement in bribery and corruption activities in Russias largest mobile-phone provider known as MTS. She was also associated with bribery cases in VimpelCom and the Scandinavian telecom company that used to be known as TeliaSonera. The Guardian newspaper reported that the Swedish media was aware that Gulnara used her position to serve as a gatekeeper for international telecom companies looking to invest in Uzbekistan. But instead of investing in Uzbekistan, Gulnara was parking her money in European countries and nearly $ 1 billion in assets belonging to Gulnara have been frozen in Swiss and other bank accounts. Thirdly, what has totally exposed Gulnara was the admission by her former close Uzbek aide, Bekhzod Akhmedov, in her bribery-related activities in Uzbekistan with regard to mobile-phone licenses during the decade 2001-2012, the amount of bribery exceeding $ 865 million. In fact Akhmedov provided these hard facts and explicit details about Gulnaras business practices since he worked with her and lived in Tashkent, which shows the hard reality of the corruption and bribery committed by Gulnara. Subsequently, Bekhzod Akhmedov left his association with Gulnara in 2012 and is living in exile in Russia. Fourthly, equally significant is that she conspired to violate US foreign-corruption laws that have been revealed. Gulnara was reported to be dealing with the Moscow-based company MTS, whose shares were traded on US stock exchanges. It is reported on March 7 that the MTS company had reached an agreement with US prosecutors under which it would pay $ 850 million to settle bribery and corruption charges related to its business in Uzbekistan. The seriousness of this case is evident since the US Justice Department has been candid in stating that this is one of the largest bribery schemes under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is rather intriguing that even as the US Government was aware of involvement of Gulnara in violation of foreign corrupt practices, it was the first time that Gulnara Karimova was explicitly named, an indication of how deep her criminal liability had become. Fifthly, it is now known that the Uzbek authorities were aware of the fact that Gulnara was involved in several bribery and corruption cases for more than a decade between 2001-2012 in her dealings with several companies in the USA, Europe and Russia and also in Uzbekistan. The then President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, had adopted his foreign policy of swinging his political and economic interest between Moscow and Washington to promote his national interest and inviting foreign companies and capital. It appears Gulnara seems to have exploited this opportunity for wrong purposes and unfair dealings of bribery and corruption to promote her self-interest. Hence it is a matter of great significance that the Uzbek Government had taken serious steps in this regard. For instance, perhaps on the basis of information, Gulnara was arrested in 2014 by the secret authorities who confiscated all electronics and documents in the apartment and did not allow her even to contact her father, Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, when he was alive; this has been revealed by Gulnaras daughter, Iman Karimova, who is living and studying in England in her interview to The Guradian paper on March 12, 2019. Gulnara has not appeared in public since 2014. There could be speculation whether Islam Karimov was not in disagreement with the steps taken by the government possibly knowing that Gulnara was engaged in unfair and illegal activities rather than promoting national interest. Sixthly, in 2015 even during Islam Karimovs presidency, Gulnara was found guilty and punished for jail term. The Uzbek Prosecutor-Generals Office stated that Gulnara Karimova had at one point been handed a 10-year prison term but that sentence was later reclassified to house arrest and shortened to five years possibly under political pressure. Thus in 2015 Gulnara had been sentenced to five years of restricted freedom for several wrong-doings including corruption, extortion, embezzlement, tax evasion by her and her associates in Tashkent. It appears that even afterwards Gulnara had been violating laws again and again for which she has been punished by the countrys highest judiciary in March 2019 leading to her imprisonment. Unfair Treatment and Trial? In this background some have raised issues with regard to her treatment and trial. Gulnaras daughter, Iman Karimova, has, in her interview to The Guardian post, contended that her mother had not been treated fairly. Iman, while revealing several facts and information not known in the past to the public, has, as expected, requested the Uzbek authorities to pardon her and release her from imprisonment. On March 12, 2019 perhaps not in total agree-ment with the Uzbek judicial process of investi-gation and open arguments and evidences, Gulnaras Swiss lawyer, Gregoire Mangeat, stated that she was deprived of her right to defend herself and subjected to constraints, to arbitrary methods, and to massive psychological pressure. He has even accused that Gulnara was forcibly removed from the apartment where she had been held in Tashkent and taken to an unknown place. He has urged for fair and open trial for Gulnara. In support of her lawyers argument, Gulnaras daughter has stated that the trial, that resulted in a five-year sentence, lasted less than a day and took place in the kitchen of a house where Gulnara Karimova was being held. These contentions, if true, need justification for fair trial. As regards the corruption issue, it is rampant and illegal and needs to be punished. But at the same time it must be noted that Gulnaras case is not an isolated and exceptional one. It is most unfortunate that in all post-Soviet republics there are many politically connected persons and those working in government offices and enterprises who have become billionaires and millionaires engaged in corrupt practices. There are several similar money-laundering cases in the post-Soviet states and parking black money in European countries rather than investing it for much-needed develop-ment of economies and promoting national interest. It is also a fact that a few of them have landed in prisons including Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Russia. The present President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoev, the successor of Islam Karimov, is keen to take strong policy measures against corruption to make Uzbekistan business-friendly and promote the economic development of Uzbekistan. He has dismissed thousands of officials who were possibly not efficient and involved in corrupt practices of the kind that landed Gulnara Karimova in prison. Dr R.G. Gidadhubli is a Professor and former Director, Centre for Central Eurasian Studies, University of Mumbai. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and North Korean official Ri Su Yong, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme Peoples Assembly, crossed paths in Beijing this week, sparking speculation that they may be holding a back-channel discussions after the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in February. On Tuesday, Biegun met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who is the special representative on Korean peninsular affairs, after his arrival in Beijing. Ri stopped in the city Tuesday en route to Laos. It would suggest to me that the possibility of the U.S. and North Korea interactions may be back on the table at least [through] some sort of back-channel, said Ken Gause, director of the International Affairs Group at the Center for Naval Analyses. And China may be providing the venue for this back-channel discussion. However, Gary Samore, the White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, suggested Biegun and Ri were simply both there at the same time to have their own conversations [with China]. Something from China The U.S. wants China to enforce sanctions and to nudge Pyongyang into resuming talks with Washington, while North Korea wants China to relax sanctions enforcement. Relaxed enforcement would mean that North Korea could continue to obtain important commodities, according to Samore. China is North Koreas largest trading partner and has not vigorously enforced sanctions, according to a U.N. report issued early this month. The Beijing visits by Washington and Pyongyang came after each side signaled discontent with the others position. On March 22, Pyongyang withdrew its officials from the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong. That came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies that it claimed to have helped North Korea evade sanctions. According to John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy Focus, Washington and Pyongyang have resorted to sending signals as they attempt to change each others position after they failed to reach a denuclearization deal at the Hanoi summit. At the Hanoi summit, the U.S. denied North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns demand to lift sanctions in exchange for dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility. Talking hasnt really gotten very far, Feffer said. Pyongyang has stated its position about step-by-step negotiations. This hasnt gotten the U.S. to budge from its all-or-nothing position. So it has fallen back on signaling through actions. Signaling, especially hard-line signaling, Gause said, seems to resonate with the other side much better than soothing words or positive actions. Both sides here believe that they can get their point across by increasing pressure on the other side. The United States does it through sanctions. North Korea does it through threats and aggressive behaviors, he added. Following North Koreas pullout from Kaesong, President Donald Trump tried to reverse the Treasury sanctions with a March 22 tweet saying he had ordered the withdrawals of those additional sanctions which threw Washington into confusion. Shortly after, Pyongyang returned its officers to the Kaesong office. Trumps tweet was explained later by a U.S. official to mean that no additional sanctions will be imposed on North Korea while current sanctions including the latest announced sanctions will remain. But there have been press reports that indicate Trump meant to reverse the sanctions that the Treasury Department issued Thursday but was persuaded against it. The North Koreans are obviously unhappy about the results of Hanoi, Samore said. So theyre trying to send signals and messages to both Washington and Seoul they are not prepared to tolerate the current stalemate forever. That was absolutely a signal by North Korea to ramp up the pressure on the United States, Gause agreed, and that maybe what sparked the Twitter [message] from the president [trying to express], Hey, slow down here. Lets see if theres a way forward here. Dennis Wilder, the National Security Councils senior director for East Asia affairs during the George W. Bush administration, thinks China cautioned North Korea not to go back to a provocative posture. I think the Chinese are telling them to be careful with the Trump administration, that theyre telling them not to provoke, Wilder said. And I think the North has to listen to that because of the economic lever the Chinese has over the North Koreans. Samore thinks Trump, attempting to reverse sanctions, and Kim, sending back his staff, demonstrated that they each want to keep communication open. Both Kim Jong Un and Trump want to preserve the diplomatic process they have begun, Samore said. Both sides are showing signs of unhappiness and trying to create a situation to strengthen their bargaining position. But at the end of the day, neither wants this process to collapse, which would mean resumption of testing and resumption of joint U.S.-[North Korea] exercises. Wilder thinks Trumps tweet suggests his penchant for maximum pressure has lessened even though that may run counter to hardliners within the administration. I think its quite clear that the president is not as big of a fan of sanctions as his national security adviser and others within the administration right now, Wilder said. After Trumps tweet, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said, President Trump likes Chairman Kim, and he doesnt think these sanctions will be necessary. The Trump administration on Sunday demanded that Mexico and three Central American countries curb the surge of thousands of undocumented migrants heading to the United States, noting that the homeland security chief for former President Barack Obama agrees there is an immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border. "We need your help," acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in an interview on ABC News. He said Mexico needs to solidify its southern border with Guatemala to prevent the caravans from heading north through Mexico to the U.S. and that the three Central American counties need to curb migrants from leaving their countries. He left open the distinct possibility that President Donald Trump would close the U.S. border with Mexico in the coming days, even as he says he intends to cut off about $500 million in U.S. aid to the three Northern Triangle countries. "Jeh Johnson admits we were right" about a crisis on the southern U.S. border, Mulvaney said, referring to the Obama homeland security secretary. "We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so." On Saturday, Johnson told Fox News, By anyone's definition, by any measure, right now we have a crisis at our southern border." There were 4,000 apprehensions of migrants at the border one day last week and the U.S. is on pace for 100,000 for all of March. "That is by far a greater number than anything I saw on my watch in my three years as secretary of Homeland Security, Johnson said. Mulvaney said if the three Central American countries do not curb migration to the U.S., "there's little reason to continue sending them money." Current Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen last week signed a regional border security compact with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to curb the illegal migrant surge and interdict the flow of drugs into the U.S. But Mulvaney said the three countries' "actions will speak louder than words." Blaming Democrats The White House official said, "Congress can fix this" with tougher immigration controls along the U.S., but that "it's clear the Democrats are not going to help us. So we're looking to cutting off aid and closing the border." Trump said on Twitter Saturday, "It would be so easy to fix our weak and very stupid Democrat inspired immigration laws. In less than one hour, and then a vote, the problem would be solved. But the Dems dont care about the crime, they dont want any victory for Trump and the Republicans, even if good for USA!" He added, "Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!" After Congress earlier this year refused to fund Trump's request for money to build a border wall, he declared a national emergency to tap money allocated for other programs to build the wall. Both houses of Congress passed legislation to overturn Trump's national emergency declaration, but he vetoed it and the House of Representatives last week failed to override the veto. 'Reckless' policy? Congressional action would be needed to cut off aid to the three countries. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's order a "reckless announcement" and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat and chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, warned in a statement released Saturday that cutting off aid will further destabilize the Northern Triangle countries. "By cutting off desperately needed aid, the administration will deprive El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras of critical funds that help stabilize these countries by curbing migration push factors such as violence, gangs, poverty and insecurity. Ultimately, this short-sighted and flawed decision lays the groundwork for the humanitarian crisis at our border to escalate further, he said. Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at The Center for Global Development, says the administrations strategy to shape migration through aid needs to be done right. If what the United States wants to do is prevent irregular child migration in a way that works and is cost-effective, it should not do what it has traditionally done spend 10 times as much on border enforcement trying to keep child migrants out as it spends on security assistance to the region," he said. "In fact, smartly packaged security assistance" is the only thing that has been "shown to reduce violence effectively and cost effectively. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. After a week in which U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended to both the media and Congress President Donald Trump's decision to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics, the president subsequently reversed course. HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has up to seven months supply of the staple maize after drought ravaged crops and it needs to start importing grain now to avert shortages, the secretary for agriculture said on Friday. Besides the El Nino-induced drought, Zimbabwe was also hit by a cyclone, which devastated the eastern parts of the country, sweeping away what remained of the crop in the area. Ringson Chitsiko said release of an official crop assessment report for 2019 had been delayed following the cyclone but authorities were aware of the damage caused by the drought. We are not blind to what the situation is like out there. We have probably up to seven months supply of grain, including the strategic grain reserve, Chitsiko told a meeting of the grain industry in the capital Harare. He declined to say how much of the maize was damaged by the cyclone, which has killed at least 185 people and left thousands homeless near the border with Mozambique. Zimbabwes annual maize consumption is 1.2 million tonnes and the country has 500,000 tonnes in strategic reserves. The southern African nation is also struggling to import wheat due to severe shortages of U.S. dollars. The country has one months supply of locally produced wheat, an industry official said. Last year Zimbabwe harvested 160,000 tonnes of wheat compared with annual consumption of 400,000 tonnes. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Susan Fenton and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Liberals arent the only ones preemptively bummed about the Mueller report. Russia was feeling pretty cool about doing serious 80s spy stuff and making the American president a Russian operative. In this Saturday Night Live sketch, Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) has to save face with not only his cabinet, but the shadiest Kim Jong-un youve ever seen (Bowen Yang). And yes, he was actually speaking Korean in the sketch. Its not easy to master a foreign language and execute an emotive neck roll. We stan. Related Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Before terrorists, India has no friends; we are alone IMPRESSIONS Prime Minister Modi had and will continue to have, the backing of all of India in his stand against the terrorists who made a big mistake in attacking the jawans in Pulwama. The attack must have given the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its protectors in Pakistan a cheap thrill of achievement as they managed to kill 40 CRPF men in one go. But it was a big mistake because it made India unite against the assassins. Enemies have been shown that they cannot take advantage of Indias noisy democracy and create divisions in the name of religion. Nevertheless, the latest JeM strike is an opportunity for us to examine our record, our resolve and our capabilities more closely than before. The unity of purpose that binds India together in crises is different from the ability to stop terrorists in their track. The record shows that the JeMs ability to strike has in no way been curbed over the years. They attacked Indias Parliament in 2001 and the IAF base in Pathankot in early 2016. Later that year, four terrorists near Uri town were able to stage the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades. In retaliation to the Uri attack, India said it made a surgical strike. The people know precious little about it, except that it has not weakened the JeM in any way. Within a year- -and-half, they struck at Pulwama. A reality that has to be faced is that this is a war India has to fight alone because, at the international level, India really has no friends. This isolation is linked to a series of strategic blunders beginning from the time of Indepen-dence. When Pakistan rushed tribal fighters from the Northwest Frontier to capture Srinagar in 1947, Sardar Patel was quick to rush troops there and save the situation. If the soldiers were given a few more days they could have thrown the tribals out of Kashmir and brought the whole State under Indian control. But Viceroy Mountbatten played the friendship card with Jawaharlal Nehru and managed to get a ceasefire ordered, permanently dividing the State between India and Pakistan. Nehru went on to make blunders by allowing the UN a role in the dispute and by pledging to hold a plebiscite in the State. Britain, a world power in those days, was unfriendly to India and manipulated the UN in Pakistans favour. Indias next round of blunders occurred under Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. The hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight in 1999 was handled with great incompetence. The pilot had cleverly pleaded a fuel crisis and got permission from the hijackers to land in Amritsar. This was an opportunity for India to take control of the situation. But in Amritsar, as a member of Vajpayees staff put it later, airport officials ran around like so many headless chicken, totally clueless about what was to be done. A team of special commandos could not reach the airport because of traffic problems in the city. The flight finally landed in Kandahar in Afghanistan. The government, still clueless, not only agreed to all the demands of the hijackers, but Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh personally went to Kandahar in a special plane along with terrorists released from Indian prisons (and bundles of currency notes, as some reports said). The main terrorist released by India to satisfy the hijackers was Masood Azhar, who had been in Indian prisons for five years. Accorded a heros reception in Pakistan, the man went on to found the JeM and become the worlds most motivated terrorist. What India needs to realise is the futility of depending on others to come to its aid. Pleading for UN intervention is useless because China has veto power there and China is as openly hostile to India as it is friendly to Pakistan. The US will give verbal support to India but nothing more, especially now, when it is planning to withdraw from Afghanistan with Pakistans cooperation. Saudi Arabia under Mohammed bin Salman? Forget it. Look beyond and we see another approach. US special commandos found out a secret hideout in Pakistan, staged a lightning operation there and killed Osama bin Laden before anyone knew what was happening. In 1976, when an Air France flight was hijacked by a Palestinian faction demanding the release of militants imprisoned by Israel, a completely unexpected 90-minute night operation by Israel in Ugandas Entebbe airport rescued 102 of the 106 hostages there. Examples exist. So does expertise. All that is needed is a shared, non-negotiable, politically unpolluted pride in ones nation. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Prime Ministerial Candidate in a Parliamentary Democracy by Deeksha Gupta and Anubhav Bijalwan The practise of declaring the prime ministerial candidate by the political parties before the parliamentary elections is on the rise. The ruling party had declared Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in September 2013, much before the votes were polled for the 16th Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier declared senior leader L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.1 There has been a gradual moulding of a political convention to declare the prime ministerial candidate before the elections and contend the elections based on his name. Recently, the BJPs national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has dared the Opposition parties to declare their prime ministerial candidate in the following words: Its really good to see Opposition parties trying to forge an alliance to fight against us. But, first let them declare their prime ministerial candidate, and then they should dream of fighting against us and ousting us.2 These statements reflect the growing mentality of the political parties to consider the declaration of the prime ministerial candidate before the elections as a step necessary to establish their position as a strong contestant. Indian Parliamentary Democracy: Principles Violated by Prime Ministerial Candidate Declaration India is a parliamentary democracy with an indirect form of elections. In other words, the Prime Minister of India is not directly elected by the people of the nation but rather the citizens vote for Members of Parliament (MPs) from their respective constituencies and the MPs of the majority party in the Lok Sabha nominate their leader who eventually becomes the Prime Minister. Declaring a prime ministerial candidate before the elections and thereafter contesting the entire election in his name violates the settled principles of a parliamentary democracy in two ways: First, it makes the election of the Prime Minister a direct election rather than an indirect one. This was clearly manifested in the 2014 general elections which were totally Modi-centric as was exemplified by the Abki Bar Modi Sarkar slogan that gained popularity in the 2014 elections.3 His election campaign was more like a presidential election campaign as that of the United States of America where the members of the Congress tend to be elected on the basis of their individual personalities and their positions on various issues. Whereas in a parliamentary set-up the principal question facing the voter in a parliamentary election is which party will command a majority. A candidates individual merits or policies are usually only marginal issues. However, in the 2014 elections people were asked to vote for Modi as their Prime Minister rather than for a party or the MP of their respective constituency.4 The whole election was centred around the personality of Modi and his views on various issues.5 Thus, the practice of declaring a candidate for the Prime Minister before the elections has completely changed the nature of elections in India. Secondly, as per the constitutional mandate, after the general election, the MPs of the political party obtaining majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha, elect their leader who is consequently appointed as the Prime Minister of the country. The underlying rationale is that India is an indirect form of democracy where people participate in the law-making process of the country through the elected MPs and it is presumed that the elected MPs have been mandated by the people of the country to elect their leader in the form of the Prime Minister. Declaring a prime ministerial candidate before the elections is in violation of the above mentioned constitutional mandate as the person announced as the prime ministerial candidate before the election is elected by the political party and not the elected members of Parliament. Only a handful of people appoint him as a prime ministerial candidate rather than the majority of MPs elected to the Lok Sabha. For instance, before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi was announced as the prime ministerial candidate by the 12-member Parliamentary Board of the BJP. In case the same persons party wins the election, the process of election of the leader of the Lok Sabha remains a mere formality and the elected MPs do not get to have a say in the appointment of the Prime Minister. Also, it is pertinent to note that even in the case where the person declared as the prime ministerial candidate eventually becomes the Prime Minister of India, the candidate has won election only in his constituency, that is, one constituency and he has been able to become the Prime Minister since his party has attained majority seats in the general elections. It is not the case that he has been elected by a majority of the population or that he has won the election in the majority of the constituencies of the country. It is his party and not him who has won a majority seats in the general elections. Comparative Study of Parliamentary Systems of the World A study of some of the foreign parliamentary democracies drives home the point that the essence of parliamentary democracy lies in indirect election of the Prime Minister. United Kingdom: India has adopted the parliamentary form of democracy from the United Kingdom which follows the practice of indirect form of election of the Prime Minister. After the general elections, the monarch appoints the Prime Minister of the country who is generally the leader of the party acquiring a majority seats in the general elections.6 Although the general practice is that the leader of the party is appointed as the Prime Minister, there exists no convention of declaring the prime ministerial candidate. This is the sole prerogative of the monarch, even though he cannot exercise his sole discretion while appointing the Prime Minister.7 The practice in the United Kingdom is that the parties elect their leader under whose leadership they contest the whole election. This may be the case that the parties elect their leader through a well-defined process,8 but it has never been the case that a party contests an election naming a particular person as the prime ministerial candidate turning the election into a direct form of election and taking away the prerogative from the monarch. Canada: Canada also follows the Westminster parlia-mentary system with a machinery of indirect election of the Prime Minister, adopted from the United Kingdom. Like the United Kingdom, the executive branch of the government here comprises of Crown (head of the state, represented by the Governor-General), Prime Minister (head of the government) and the Cabinet.9 The Prime Minister is appointed by the Crown and is generally the leader of the party obtaining a majority seats in the House of Commons. In Canada also, the election is contested by the parties in the leadership of the party leader and no declaration regarding the prime ministerial candidate is made. In other words, the Prime Ministers are not specifically elected to the post.10 Australia: Australia is also a product of the Westminster parliamentary system with the executive branch of the country being headed by the Prime Minister who, like in other parliamentary systems, is not elected directly by the voters but rather is elected by the votes cast by the members of the government.11 The peculiarity of the post of the Prime Minister in Australia is that it is not mentioned in the Constitution of the nation but rather is a product of the countrys political conventions and tradition.12 As already mentioned, the Prime Minister is elected by the vote cast by the members of the government. Therefore, in Australia the focus in campaigns is not upon local issues and the particular viewpoints of candidates. The focus, instead, is upon which party shall run the government and which party leader will be the Prime Minister. Voters are asked to vote Labour or Liberal, not because of the particular viewpoints of individual candidates but because the candidates will exercise their one significant vote by electing the party leader as the Prime Minister. The personality and the particular views of the candidate may be important in a district where the election is closely fought, but otherwise they are of minor concern. Conclusion The practice of declaring a prime ministerial candidate before the election corresponds to the direct form of elections and should be discouraged as it is not warranted by the parliamentary democratic set-up. The Indian experience with the practice has been that the voters are wooed by the personality and views of a particular individual and not the political party. This is similar to the presidential form of elections in the USA. Footnotes 1. PTI, Narendra Modi anointed BJP PM candidate, Advani disappointed (The Times of India, September 13, 2013) accessed February 23, 2019; Frank Jack Daniel, Narendra Modi declared BJPs prime ministerial candidate (Livemint, September 14, 2013), accessed February 23, 2019. 2. PTI, BJP mocks all-party meet, asks Oppn to reveal PM candidates name (The Economic Times, December 9, 2018), accessed February 23, 2019. 3 Arka Ray Chaudhary, How Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar Slogan Helped BJP: The Impact of Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar Slogan on Voters Psyche (OnlyMyHeath, May 15, 2014), accessed February 23, 2019; Nistual Hebbar, Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar campaign: Narendra Modi had higher recall value than BJP (The Economic Times, May 15, 2014), accessed February 23, 2014. 4. Pritha Mitra Dasgupta, From Narendra Modi to brand Modi: Meet the team behind BJPs unprecedented poll campaign (The Economic Times, May 1, 2014), accessed February 23, 2019; Maulik Pathak, Elections 2014: Brand Modi reaps success of efforts (Livemint, May 16, 2014), accessed February 23, 2019. 5. Christophe Jaffrelot, The Modi-centric BJP 2014 election campaign: new techniques and old tactics [2015] 23 (2) Contemporary South Asia, accessed February 23, 2019. 6 Parliamentary Elections (Parliamentary Education Service) accessed February 24, 2019. 7. General Elections (www.parliament.uk) accessed February 24, 2019. 8. Neil Johnston, Leadership Elections: Conservative Party (House of Commons Library) accessed February 24, 2019. 9. Executive branch of Government in Canada (House of Commons Canada) accessed February 24, 2019. 10. W A Matheson, Prime Minister of Canada (The Canadian Encyclopaedia, April 9, 2009) accessed February 24, 2019. 11. Larry Rivera, The Selection Process for Australian Prime Minister (tripsavvy, December 12, 2018) accessed February 25, 2019; Prime Minister (Parliamentary Education Office) accessed February 25, 2019. 12. Larry Rivera, The Selection Process for Australian Prime Minister (tripsavvy, December 12, 2018) accessed February 25, 2019. The author are III year students of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow. Geldof to read Keats' love letters and poems on 11 April. Rock star, political activist and philanthropist Sir Bob Geldof will read the love letters and poems by John Keats - considered among the most beautiful and profound writing about love ever to appear in the English language - on 11 April at the Keats-Shelley House in Rome. In 2018 Bob Geldof contributed a preface to the book Love is my Religion: Keats on Love, selected and edited by Duncan Wu and published by the Keats-Shelley House. Following the reading at 18.00 there will be a reception during which the audience will have the chance to meet Bob Geldof and have books signed by him. Tickets cost 15 and booking is mandatory: info@ksh.roma.it or tel. 066784235. For full details see Keats-Shelley House website or Facebook page. Correction: An earlier version of this column said that reporting by Julie K. Brown revealed a secret plea deal cut by Labor Secretary Alex Acosta while he was a federal prosecutor in Miami. Her reporting did not reveal the agreement, which granted federal immunity to money manager Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking, but it detailed it. Other news organizations, including the Palm Beach Post and The Washington Post, had reported on the plea deal. This column has been updated. An arrest affidavit filed in court Friday says Britton admitted to shooting Debruhl in the back but told authorities that Debruhl had reached into his waistband as though he had a gun. The affidavit does not say whether the victim had a gun. Students are forming clubs, reviving old ones, launching bipartisan journals and organizing events. Its happening across the country at campuses large and small, public and private from Washington State University to Tufts University and getting a boost from organizations such as BridgeUSA. It started in 2016 at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Colorado at Boulder. (The University of California at Berkeley chapter began after violent protests around a planned visit by far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017.) In the past year, the group has grown to 24 campuses. Police said the first of the 21 occurred Jan. 1 in the 2400 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW. Two more followed on Wisconsin in Georgetown, on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, according to police. They said the latest was Thursday in the 1700 block of Columbia Road NW. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > What is Fundamentalism? From N.C.s Writings Fundamentalism has become a much-used term todayin politics and in the academia. And there are in vogue various types of the so-called fundamentalistspolitical, religious and cultural. But before cataloguing these various tribes of fundamentalists, it is important to clarify what precisely is meant by fundamentalism. The Oxford English Dictionary says the term, funda-mental, pertains to the basis or groundwork, going to the root of the matter. But the word fundamentalism has a particularly Christian connotation which, according to the dictionary, is: The strict maintenance of traditional orthodox religious beliefs or doctrines especially belief in the inerrancy of Scripture and literal acceptance of the creeds as fundamentals of Protestant Christianity. The BBC English Dictionary is more to the point: Fundamentalism is belief in the original form of a religion, without accepting any later ideas. The context in which the term has been coined is, therefore, specially Christian. Following this interpretation, an orthodox group in any religion is today dubbed as fundamentalistthe conservative no-changers, the orthodox as opposed to the liberal within any religionwhich amounts to promoting intolerance and bigotry. Within Christianity, however, the fundamentalists suffered the first setback when Martin Luther raised his voice of dissent in the fifteenth centuryout of which was born the Protestant sect within the Catholic Church. Since then many other dissident streams flowed within Christianity, while orthodoxy was reinforced by Jesuit militancy. Projecting the same format, the orthodox extremists in Islam are branded as funda-mentaliststhose who have asked for Salman Rushdies head and are now clamouring for Taslima Nasreens. Bigotry is their acknowledged badge, the mentality that would brook no liberal trend nor any special reforms within the Muslim society. Obviously, such Islamic fundamentalists never favoured Sufism which had blossomed in Kashmira conflict which manifests itself even today within the militants camp in Kashmir between the Pakistan-backed Hizbul fundamentalist group and the JKLF which stands for the independence of Kashmir, carrying the banner of Sufism. In the rest of Muslim India, there is some stirrings for social reformswitness the latest stand of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, acknowled-gedly an authoritative body, which in its recent meeting has called upon the Muslim community for a campaign against alcoholism, gambling and dowrythe last item, if seriously carried out, is bound to impinge on the Muslim marriage customs as they prevail at present. Modernist trends within Islam are noticed in many countries of the Muslim world stretching from Iran to Indonesia. There was at one time an intellectual trend, mainly on the Mediter-ranean coast, which sought to equate Islam with Marxism. However, a peculiar feature in the Indian subcontinent has been that the liberal elements among the Muslims have bothered little to raise the consciousness of the Muslim community as a whole. They seem to have preferred a liberal island of their own leaving the community as a whole to the dead-hand grip of the orthodox elements. Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen certainly deserve the support of all those who stand for basic human rights; at the same time it would not be incorrect to say that by their downright stand, they have emerged individually as emancipated souls, while leaving the field clear for the mullahs to malign them as anti-Islam. A reform movement has to start from the level of consciousness of the people for whom it is meant; otherwise there is the danger of isolating oneself from the target segment of the community and thereby reinforce the reactionary wing itself. It is this alienation of the forward-looking elements like Rushdie and Nasreen which strengthens bigotry instead of effectively fighting it. This has proved true in the case of the Hindu community as well. The early reform move-ments like the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj combated some of the pernicious features of the Hindu society, particularly the iniquitous caste system, the dowry and womens deprived status. However, these trends have practically expended themselves as their programmes have by and large been absorbed by the community as a whole at least at the formal level. In the present-day conditions, they look ineffective in raising another reform movement within the community. As in the Muslim community, here also the orthodox bigotry has been practically left untouched, despite the fact that many movements of social emancipation from Narayan Guru to the Dalits have appeared, claiming considerable following. It is precisely because of this fact of the conservative orthodox core having escaped the onslaught of modern liberal trend in both the Hindu and Muslim societies that it appears as the real boss of both the communities, and thereby attract the attention of the political elements who look upon them as guarantors for vote-banks at the election time. This writer recalls the life-style of Shyamaprasad Mukherji, the founder of the Jana Sangh. He was certainly a devout Hindu, but was no adherent of all the rituals that the Hindu orthodoxy have stood for. He was certainly no brown sahib but by conscious preference a desi leader who could hardly be demarcated from a Congress leader of corresponding standing. Those of us who have personally known Shyamaprasad Babu from our university days can vouch for his liberal outlook on many issues, social and cultural. He was at home with Congress leaders like B.C. Roy, Sarat Bose and Kiran Shankar Roy. As for his criticism of Gandhiji, this was mainly over the question of separate electorate for the Muslim community (which Gandhiji had also disapproved in principle but could do nothing to change it as he did in the case of the Scheduled Castes). There were critics of Gandhiji on this score within the Congress as well such as Madanmohan Malviya and Ramananda Chatto-padhyay and even Meher Chand Khanna, apart from Dr Moonje and Jagat Narain Lal. This is perhaps equally true of the present generation of BJP leaders like Advani and Vajpayeenot to speak of the late-comers and new-comers like Jaswant Singh, T.N. Chaturvedi or for that matter, General Candeth, whose father incidentally was a distinguished figure in the Brahmo Samaj. The point to note is that the political leaders of the Jana Sangh and the BJP chose to take within the camp the more aggressive militant elementsthe bigoted fringe like the VHP or the individual stars like Sadhavi Rithambara and Uma Bharatifor the purpose of mobilising votes. It is this alliance which has posed a problem for the BJP today, and the more astute leadership of the party would have to decide whether it should let the militants wreck the prospects of the party in the arena of parliamentary politics, or delink itself from them. This was the quandary of the Akali leadership ten years ago, and by evading to face it, mature leaders like Prakash Singh Badal found themselves in political wilderness. In contrast, the CPI-M leadership made short-shrift of their militant fundamentalists symbo-lised by Naxalism, and threw them out of the party and even took police action against the extremists when they first raised their head in the sixties. From all this one has to draw the conclusion that a political party, to make any headway along the road of parliamentary politics, has to abjure and combat funda-mentalism. Somehow fundamentalism is a total misfit in the parlour of parliamentary politics. There are of course other variants of funda-mentalismsome of these rather bizarre. A recent example is Namboodiripads sudden outburst against Gandhiji as having been a fundamentalist. Knowing as one does Namboo-diripads past views on Gandhijihe even wrote a mild-mannered critique of Gandhijis politics and philosophyit came as a surprise that he should brand him as a fundamentalist. This was no doubt embarrassing for the CPI-M leadership which has promptly disowned the views of this reverend elder brother. What may be said by way of explanationnot attenuationof Namboodiripads latest views on Gandhiji, is that he is mixing up fundamentalism with devout attachment to any religious belief on the individual plane. Within the Communist hierarchy, Namboodiripad, as the present writer has long known, could be regarded as a moderate in contrast to a rigid doctrinaire Marxist like B.T. Ranadive. One recalls Ranadives personal view that nobody could be eligible for membership of the Communist Party unless and until one became an atheist. Lenin, on the other hand, had said in one of his writings that even a practising priest could apply for Party member-ship if he had supported a workers strike struggle. (Mainstream, August 20, 1994) Herring had urged Northam to resign just days before his own confession that he darkened his face to imitate a rapper at a party in 1980. Democrats have not called for Herring to step down; some praised him for the way he handled his apology. Herring is also the only one of the three whose replacement would be picked by the Republican legislature if he resigned. Burke said there was no particular reason for Fairfax taking the polygraph at this point, nearly two months after the scandal broke. We just had to schedule it, and thats the date that came up, she said. She said the timing was not keyed to interviews with Fairfaxs two accusers that are expected to be aired Monday and Tuesday on CBS This Morning, which she said the office did not learn of until late last week. The windows opposed by the church, the insurance industry and the Boy Scouts of America, among others have ushered in hundreds of lawsuits and more than $1 billion in legal bills for institutions that sometimes must defend people long dead, or in circumstances where no records or witnesses exist. Large payouts from the litigation have prompted archdioceses in Delaware, California and Minnesota to file for bankruptcy. I was in my late 60s and had been a family doctor in the same town for nearly 40 years. I had taken care of several generations within the same families. For the past nine years, a partner and I had run a concierge practice, where an annual $1,600 membership fee covered all our care. Our only concern was the patients welfare, not an insurance companys; we provided same day in-office care and home visits, and there was no time pressure when seeing a patient. It was a wonderful way to practice medicine. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > The Pulwama Attack and its Fallout by Mahi Pal Singh The terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, in which forty personnel of the para-military force were killed, was a brutal, barbarous and cowardly act by an activist of Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, aided and abetted by the military and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan; it needed and was rightly condemned throughout India by one and all as well as by the international community. The outrage was vociferously expressed by individuals as well as organisations including the political parties. The TV channels went out of all limits of jingoism adding dynamite day-in and day-out to the already raging fire with a war-cry of tit- for-tat against Pakistan. The passions were heightened to the extent that the Modi Govern-ment thought it an opportune moment to take some military action against Pakistan so that it could well be used for garnering mass support a couple of months before the decisive parlia-mentary elections due in April-May 2019. And it did exactly the same by sending a few Mirage-2000 fighter planes across the borders and attacking a JeM centre at Balakot because the JeM had taken the responsibility for the Pulwama attack. Though there were doubts and questions regarding the number of people (terrorists) killed in the Balakot attack launched on February 26, no party or individual questioned the retaliatory action of the countrys armed forces. The happiness exuded on the action of a Mig-21 Bison fighter plane flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to counter an attack by an F-16 fighter jet of Pakistan, in which both the planes were destroyed, was to some extent marred by the arrest of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by the Pakistani forces. He was, however, released without any harm a few days later by Pakistan as a goodwill gesture. The whole nation had paid tributes to those killed in the Pulwama attack, praised our Air Force personnel and officers for their retaliatory action against Pakistan and welcomed the return of our brave soldier, Wing Commander Abhi-nandan Varthaman, unharmed. All the action and reaction should have left us a bit wiser and more vigilant in future so that Pulwama-like attacks do not get repeated and the country does not get pushed to the brink of another war like the earlier wars. This unfortunate array of events should have ended at that. But that was not to be, and that did not happen. The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP President, Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, in fact all the leaders of the BJP have behaved, and are continuing to behave, in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and the Balakot action that followed, it seems that they are treating the Pulwama attack as a golden opportunity to first react by some military action and then to encash on it for electoral benefit in the ensuing parliamentary elections. In every election rally very elaborate references are being made to the military action by both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The action and bravery of our soldiers are being arrogated by Mr Modi to himself, as if he himself went across the borders and attacked Balakot. He does not realise that by doing so, he is denying the credit that should rightly go exclusively to our solders. He is trying to portray himself as the strongest Prime Minister of the country by allowing the security forces to take necessary retaliatory action. He forgets that the most decisive action against Pakistan was taken in 1971 by the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, which resulted in bifurcating Pakistan into Pakistan and Bangladesh and that the action taken by him does not even deserve a mention in comparison with that action. If he is so keen to take the responsibility for the success of the attack on Balakot, he cannot escape the responsibility of the three recent major terrorist attacks from across the border including the attacks at Pathankot airfield, Uri and Pulwama. His rule as the Prime Minister of the country has been marked of continuous terrorist attacks from across the border as well as of almost everyday breach of ceasefire by the Pakistan Rangers from across the LoC in spite of the earlier surgical strike against the terrorist training camps based in Pakistan/PoK. During the last five years of his tenure as the Prime Minister of the country there have been more terrorist attacks by Pakistan-trained terrorists in Kashmir and elsewhere and the security situation in Kashmir has also worsened. His declaration of bringing to book all the Pakistan- based handlers of terrorist attacks in India, made in 2014 as a poll promise, like all his other promises, has proved a bogus slogan. Taking the cue from the top leaders of the party, Manoj Tiwari, President, Delhi State BJP, led an electoral rally in military fatigue in an attempt to exploit the prevalent nationalist sentiments of the people for political benefits. The incident was widely condemned except by the BJP. At another place a big electoral hoarding with photos of the BJPs national and other leaders also had a photo of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, another condemnable attempt to exploit for narrow electoral and political benefits the brave act of the soldier who intercepted and destroyed the Pakistani F-16 fighter plane which Pakistan had sent in retaliation for the Balakot attack. The Prime Minister himself is responsible for spreading the war-cry, politicising the Army action and using it for electoral benefits. In fact, that is another way of distracting the attention of the people from the colossal failures of his government on almost all fronts. He portrays himself as the greatest defender of the country conveniently forgetting that the people of the country have been hit in greater numbers and more grievously by his move of demonetisation and introduction of the GST resulting in massive unemployment, farmers woes including farming losses due to ungainful prices of their farm produce, very high and massive corruption and free play of black money, absence of safety of children, women and other vulnerable sections of society, destruction or subversion of all the institutions of democratic governance including the press and media, promotion of illogical and unscientific thoughts in education etc. Intellectuals and social activists are being targeted and framed in false cases as never before. Dissent is being labelled as anti-national and actual anti-national hoodlums belonging to the RSS ideology, including those terrorists who are being prosecuted for various terrorist activities, like the Samjhauta train bomb blasts, are being defended or their actions connived at. Gangs of Hindutva goons have taken law in their own hands and mob-lynchings have become the order of the day. In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, beatings of Kashmiris in various parts of the country by the Hindutva gangs wearing saffron kurtas have been added to the sufferings of ordinary peace- loving people. By alienating more and more Kashmiris, the Hindutva forces led by Mr Modi have made the solution of the Kashmir problem even more difficult. The Unnao BJP MP, Sakshi Maharaj, who is known for making controversial remarks, said during a party programme on Friday, March 15, 2019 that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be fought in the name of the country and there will be no elections after that. His statement is perfectly in consonance with the RSS ideology which does not believe in democracy, diversity and dissent and has been opposing the present Constitution and advocating a Hindu Rashtra for which the Constitution and democracy are the greatest hindrances. It is not surprising, there-fore, that no leader of the BJP including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has condemned, criticised or even expressed disagreement with that state-ment. Sakshi Maharajs statement is a pointer to the intent of the BJP/RSS to the kind of state they want to establish. Hitler is the role model of the RSS and Narendra Modi is another Hitler-in-the-making, if only he can win the forthcoming elections by hook or crook. And in the nationalistic fervour they have aroused in the wake of the Pulwama attack by taking a little military action against Pakistan, they want to drown all other issues of Kashmir, the country and the aam aadmi and win the elections once and for all, as they ostensibly plan. Democracy in this country is facing a real challenge, unforeseen before. We have to think whether we are prepared for that. It is said that the people get the government they deservemore so in a democracy where they elect their own destiny-makers. In 2014 the people of this country chose to elect the present government. Therefore, they can only blame themselves for their present woes. But the time has come to get rid of the prevailing hollow, slogan-shouting, non-per-forming, divisive and repressive dispensation led by Narendra Modi. They must not get swayed by misleading words of the top leaders of the BJP, the thoroughly biased media barring a few honourable exceptions, and the influence of ill-gotten money which will be spent in thousands of crores to hide their failures behind the glamour of money power and nationalistic slogans. It is better to be vigilant and to act wisely today than to feel sorry during the next five years, maybe more. Even Mr Modi knows that he has utterly failed to deliver and electoral defeat awaits his party and him. That is why he is desperately trying to ride the wave of fake nationalism which he himself is creating, the old trick of the communal, fascist forces. In his self-praise he has rendered even Narcissus look a pygmy in comparison with him. It is time for him to come face-to-face with the reality or for the people to show him the mirror and the door. They are capable of doing so, and they will surely do so. They are in reality We the People of India in whose name the Constitution was drafted. The author is the editor, The Radical Humanist, and a former National Secretary, Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCI). If anyone should resign, it is Mr. McCarthy, who for the past two years did nothing to encourage a responsible review of issues related to Mr. Trump. Rather than analyze these issues, Mr. McCarthy did nothing to address his responsibilities. Former committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) went out on midnight escapades to brief the White House staff on matters discussed by the committee during the day. Mr. Nunes and his committee made a mockery of their responsibilities. If famine begins to spread in what was once Latin Americas richest country a distinct possibility or millions more refugees pour into Colombia and Brazil, which is even more likely, the pressure on Trump to ease economic sanctions could mount. If it comes from the Latin American countries that until now have been U.S. allies in the anti-Maduro campaign, it will be hard to resist. Trump, after all, launched his offensive only after the Latin-led Lima Group declared Maduros presidency illegitimate. Extraterritorial jurisdiction may be appropriate, for instance, where a crime offends the vital interests of the prosecuting state. The murder of a prominent journalist writing for a U.S. newspaper is a prime example of the sort of censorship abroad that, in todays increasingly and inherently globalized discourse, undermines freedom of speech and the press here in the United States. Courts have also found extraterritorial jurisdiction for an offense that occurs in one country where the effect is felt in another (one example being shooting someone on the other side of an international border). And extraterritorial jurisdiction is considered appropriate for crimes such as piracy, terrorism and torture that are universally condemned by the international community which the Saudis offense unquestionably was. Roves instincts about the need for a new narrative were confirmed by a wave of new polls, including a March 25-27 NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll finding 54 percent of Americans saying they definitely plan to vote against Trump in 2020, while only 35 percent saying they would definitely vote for him. The survey also found that 75 percent back the core Democratic demand that the full Mueller report be made public, a warning to Barr that excessive redactions or continued slow-walking of its release could incite public discontent. Only 36 percent said the report cleared Trump of any wrongdoing. This is not a man who should still be playing to his base by stoking the Russia story. The FBI took over the investigation three days after the incident but has refused to release any information as the months have dragged on. What is known about the events of that November night results from the commendable decision by Fairfax police to release the dash-cam footage and, separately, the dogged efforts of Mr. Ghaisars anguished family. They filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, which on Friday led to the release, finally, of the names of the officers involved: Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard. Even that basic information had been withheld by authorities. Mr. Hunt claims that the parliamentary ruckus over Brexit was to be expected as a consequence of something as crucial as our countrys place in Europe. Indeed, the issue of leaving an economic pact with 27 other nations after nearly 50 years would normally have been preceded by a succession of white papers explaining the consequences, costs and choices related to the European Union divorce. That didnt happen, and his Conservative Party should explain why. Former Brexit secretary and member of Parliament David Davis last year claimed he ordered studies of the Brexit impact on Ireland but later admitted there were none. Does that sound like a nation with a concern for its subjects or its neighbors? Congress should consider both requests favorably, along with more aid to Central America to get at the root causes of this exodus. But given the contempt Mr. Trump has shown toward congressional authority, toward migrants and toward the truth, the ground for compromise is less than fertile. One natural road would be to couple the changes needed to address the true border emergency with a path to legal status for up to 2 million dreamers and immigrants with previously protected status longtime, law-abiding residents of the United States who would greatly boost the economy if allowed to live and work without fear. Sens. Lindsay O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) have reintroduced a Dream Act, showing that bipartisan cooperation is not entirely beyond reach. Their colleagues should take this path forward. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention, Biden said in a statement. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will. Banker Phares is a John and Karen Mast Professor at SFA. He is board certified in estate planning and probate law and teaches in the Department of Economics and Finance at SFA. He is a practicing attorney and founding member of the Estate Planning and Probate Law certification by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Its the bureaucracy, stupid THE UTTERLY CRASS AND VULGAR SENSE OF BUREAUCRATIC HUMOUR IN WHAT WAS ONCE BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN by Somdeb Lahiri On June 25, 2008 I boarded a flight from Delhi to attend the Second International Conference on Game Theory and Management that was held at the Graduate School of Management, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia on June 26-27, 2008. I changed flights at Helsinki and arrived at St. Petersburgs Pulkovo airport by flight number AY 0165 the same day. It is very unfortunate that I faced misconduct on the part of the immigration clerks at St. Petersburg Pulkovo airport which I want to put on record, for the sake of posterity. At the immigration counter I was kept waiting for several minutes and then the lady immigration clerk at the counter called her colleagues one by one and started a discussion none of which I could understand since it was all being carried out in Russian. From their gesticulation I gathered they were discussing my passport. In the meanwhile one lady immigration clerk asked me whether I carried a seamans book to which I replied in the negative telling them that I was a teacher by profession. Soon a gent immigration clerk had joined them in their discussion and I asked him what the problem was, since I had a valid visa to enter the Russian Federation. I was told that my passport had been tampered with and I could not be allowed to enter the Russian Federation. Apparently a piece of thread that had bound the nine-year-old passport together was sticking out and that was the reason. This clearly was not a problem for either the Russian Embassy at Mumbai or the immigration people at sundry countries (including India). I was then made to wait while these people were carrying on their discussion (sometime behind closed doors and sometimes in the open). They told the local Finnair representatives to arrange for my return to Helsinki. I told the immigration people (a) their complain of tampering was not correct since there was a stamp running across the two pages that was held fast by the binding; (b) I was here in St. Petersburg to attend a conference and I showed them the letter of invitation from the organisers of the conference. They replied by saying that all that was no longer important apparently referring to the letter of invitation. I entreated them to allow me to pass through immigration, but to no avail. They insisted that the passport had been tampered and forced me to go back to the flight that was returning to Helsinki. All the while that my passport was under condition by the immigration clerks, till the moment I passed through security (for God alone knows why, since I had gone through security at Helsinki and was not allowed to pass through the immigration counters at Pulkova airport), the staff at the immigration portal had congregated together and were laughing and joking at my expense. At Helsinki (where I arrived technically as a deportee) the border police thoroughly examined my passport and declared that there was nothing wrong with it. However they were in no position to argue with the immigration clerks at St. Petersburg and according to the border police the best thing for me to do would be to go back to Delhi. I complied with their suggestion and after returning to India the immigration authorities found no problems with anything concerning my passport. That passport with which I was travelling to St. Petersburg, expired only recently, and between then and now I have travelled numerous times with it across what has always been a part of the free world, without any problems being faced at any immigration counter. It is also true that from that fateful day (June 25, 2008) till date I have never tried to visit any country that was supposedly liberated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, and I have never tried to visit any country which is still not considered to be a part of the free world. In view of the incident at St. Petersburg airport described above, I was not able to attend the conference. I feel bad about the waste of time and health that I had to incur on this trip. I flew almost continuously for 36 hours! I regret the money spent by our university on the air-ticket that went to waste. Above all, I feel needlessly humiliated for reasons that are yet to be explained to me. What was on public display at the immigration counters of Pulkova airport on June 25, 2008 was the utterly crass and vulgar sense of bureaucratic humour, in what was once behind the iron curtain. The authoritarianism that propped up behind the erstwhile iron curtain was indeed bad and sometimes evil. But the bureaucracy that has survived its dismantling is nothing short of a nightmare being played out in reality. The author belongs to the School of Petroleum Management, PD Petroleum University, Raisan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He can be contacted at somdeb.lahiri[at]yahoo.co.in All the big companies have effectively controlled the part of the agricultural market where theres no risk, and they leave the farmers in the one part of the market where theres risk, he told reporters after speaking at the forum. What weve got to do is start updating these laws. What I will tell you is that George was very supportive of President Trump, cried on election night in his MAGA hat, blocks away from here at the Hilton in New York, wanted to take a job in the Trump administration and changed his mind, and was a guest of the president and first lady months after he withdrew himself from consideration, Conway said. He has doubled down on patriotic themes, like promotion of the Ukrainian language over Russian, support of the military and the creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. One of his early campaign slogans was Either Poroshenko or Putin a not-so-subtle hint that an election victory for anyone else would mean a victory for the Russian leader. Although talks are accelerating, with prospects for a peaceful settlement on the table for the first time in the nearly 18-year war, there has been an uptick in fighting that experts say is expected as all sides try to increase their leverage. One resident, who gave his surname as Gu, said almost every family he knew had already sent their children away to live with relatives. His children had gone, too, but he and some of the neighborhood men were going to stick around. Its the only home hes known. Erdogan, speaking to reporters on Sunday night, said his Justice and Development Party and an allied party had captured the majority of votes in the nationwide contest a continuation, he said, of his partys electoral dominance since 2002. At the same time, he appeared to acknowledge the symbolic weight of the losses in Ankara and other cities. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Interpreting FRA to Uphold Justice by Suranjita Ray On February 28, 2019, in response to a review petition filed by the governments both at the Centre and in Gujarat, the Supreme Court stayed its controversial order of February 13, 2019 to ensure eviction of nearly one million Adivasis and Other Forest Dwellers from forestlands, whose claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, have been rejected across several States.1 The Apex Court, in its stay order, has asked the State governments for a detailed report on whether due process was followed by the Gram Sabhas and the authorities under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) before rejecting the claims. The review order makes it clear that there will be no forcible evictions for now (till July 10, 2019 when the matter will be taken up in the Supreme Court). It provides a temporary relief to millions of Adivasis and Other Forest Dwellers whose illegal evictions would have deprived them of their livelihood resources, home, land and justice. However, what is of larger concern is the narrow interpretation of the Act itself and the under-standing of conservation of forests by the wild life rights-based groups/movements/organi-sations which makes eviction easier, defeating the very purpose of the Act. We find that forests have become sites of contestation and conflict between the nature conservationist/environmentalist and the Adivasis and forest dwellers, and many a time between the latter and the Forest Department/State. While the petitioners concern regarding demarcation of critical wildlife habitats is important and needs to be addressed, holding the implemen-tation of the FRA as responsible for encroach-ments, deforestation and fragmentation of forest land, needs to be contested. Interpreting the FRA Despite the fact that section 4(5) of the FRA 2006specifically prohibits eviction until the process of implementation is fully complete in an area and Rule 13 of the Act spells out a wide range of evidence to be considered by the Gram Sabha in determining forest rights which include oral statements by village elders and land improve-ment measures either taken individually or collectively by the communities such as levelling, bunds, check dams and construction of huts, the narratives by the villagers suggest that the predominant reason for the rejection of claims is the lack of sufficient evidence and rejection of oral history. In fact, the de facto veto power of the Forest Department in approving claims often acknowledges the documentary evidence of its records only as acceptable evidence. All the other evidences submitted by the claimants are rejected. Therefore rejection of claims are far more than giving the title deed as settlement of claims. Till November 30, 2018 in an approximate claim of 42.24 lakhs, both individual and community, around 18.94 lakh claims have been given title deeds, and around 19.39 lakh claims have been rejected. (Ministry of Tribal Affairs) Most of the claims are rejected either on the ground that there is no proof that three generations of Other Traditional Forest Dwellers have been staying in the forest land or due to the unavailability of satellite map showing cultivation attached to the claim and lack of any court-imposed penalty for cultivating forest land. The Forest Departments insist necessarily on the evidence of caste certificates which are not issued to most claimants. The Gujarat High Court, in its judgment of 2013 on a writ petition filed in 2011 by Action Research for Community and Health Develop-ment, stated that a demand of convincing and cogent evidence to the satisfaction of the authorities in regard to the rights of Adivasis and forest dwellers, would frustrate the very purpose of the Act for which it was enacted. It further stated that it is the primary duty of the Court to adopt a constructive approach in interpreting the Act to achieve its purpose. Any interpretation that defeats the purpose of the Act is therefore not justifiable. In 2014, the Virginius Xaxa Committee on socio-economic, health and educational status of tribal communities in India noted that the gram sabhas were rejecting claims of forest dwellers without giving reasons and were not communicating the rejections to the claimants. It also noted that the right to appeal to the highest authority was neither explained nor was its exercise facilitated.The villagers in many cases are not even aware of the existence of such a law. Hence, the provision, which gives the claimant 90 days to appeal against the wrongful rejection before SDLC (Sub-Divisional Level Committee) or DLC (District Level Committee), as the case may be, was never implemented in most cases of rejection. There was no re-examination of such cases. But, without waiting for a decision on review or appeal, and most often without allowing time for filing an appeal, the forest authorities in several States evict people whose claims under the FRA are rejected. In Gujarat and Maharashtra claims have been rejected due to the lack of satellite imagery, despite the guidelines by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (July 27, 2015) that geo-referencing for assessment of potential areas should use satellite imagery as supplementary evidence, and should examine and re-examine the additional evidences. Over half of individual rights and a third of community rights claims were denied to the Adivasi communities in Chhattisgarh, where they comprise a third of the population. In Odisha, almost 35 per cent of the FRA claims have been rejected due to lack of sufficient evidence. (April 2017) Though most of the claims under the FRA are reported from areas where civil society organisations are active and facilitate people to negotiate the legal and bureaucratic hurdles, there is no data available on the status of the appeal process or the number of appeals filed.The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Odisha states that though instructions were issued (August 2015) to review and treat the rejected claims as suo motu appeals at the next higher level and dispose of the same by giving each claimant an oppor-tunity of being heard, no such review was conducted as of September 2016. (State Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste Develop-ment, November 2016) Keeping in mind the high rate of rejection of claims, the reports of the National Committee on the FRA submitted by N.C. Saxena, the Joint Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs comprising of other stakeholders, and the guidelines of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs which is the nodal Ministry for implementation of the FRA, appealed to the States for the need to have a re-look into the cases of doubtful rejections so that any rightful claim does not get denied, due to the wrong interpretation of the FRAs provisions. (Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, September 12, 2014, and April 10, 2015) The Ministry of Tribal Affairs stated that the process followed in case of rejection of claims include the communication of reason for rejection to the claimant. (February 5, 2016) In a letter in 2018, the Ministry has also urged the State Forest Departments to abdicate their illegal requirement of evidence from claimants. While it was important for the Central Government to inform the Supreme Court about the poor implementation of the FRA as the findings of several official and independent reports in the past confirmed that huge numbers of claims have been wrongly rejected, the government chose not to argue for the fourth consecutive time in the Court. Thus it was difficult for the Apex Courtto revisit the concerns of the petitioners from an alternative perspective of the most vulnerable sections of society who have been victims of denial of justice, thereby the Supreme Court directed for eviction of some rejected claimants after they had reached absolute finality despite the fact that lack of evidence cannot be the sole cause of rejection, and rejection of claims cannot be the sole reason for eviction. The eviction order further read that ...in case the eviction is not carried out, ...the matter would be viewed seriously by this court. It had ordered the Forest Survey of India to make a satellite survey and place on record the encroachment positions, both before and after the eviction as far as possible. The studies, based on surveys such as State of Forest Report of the Forest Survey of India, document that 67,900 hectares of forest cover had been lost in 188 tribal districts primarily due to encroachments by tribals and forest dwellers between 2009-11. (Goenka, 2018: 13) However, a more fundamental question is the need to understand who is an encroacher. The mere rejection of the claim by the state does not make the claimant an encroacher. The narrow approach to understand encroachers as those forest dwellers whose claims have been rejected under the FRA reinforces the colonial policy under the principle of eminent domain and the Indian Forest Act, 1927, that legitimised the Adivasi and forest-dependent communities as illegal encroachers on the land they were tilling for generations without taking cognisance of their right to forest land. Several studies find that since the FRA is a hindrance to the corporate interests and their plunder, the State administrations has made all possible efforts to decline that the villagers, having access to forests, were forest dwellers. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, in its circular in October 2014, stated that the FRA would not be applicable to forests less than 75 years old. Without any consultation with tribal communities, a series of legislations have been pushed through by the government such as amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016, alongside a host of amendments to the FRA. These legislations undermine the rights and protections guaranteed to Adivasis and forest dwellers in the FRA. The role of gram sabhas in protection of forest resources is also ignored in the CAF Act. Contesting the Binaries Several peoples rights groups such as the All India Forum of Forest Movements, National Advocacy Council for Development of Indi-genous People, Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, Cam-paign for Survival and Dignity, and National Alliance for Peoples Movement argue that degrading and shrinking forest cover is not because of the FRA but because of the mining industries, timber industries, development of tourism industries, wildlife sanctuaries, and biodiversity parks that also disturb the wildlife. The FRA, which came into force to correct the historical injustices done to Adivasis and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations without any record their rights, does not give the forest dwellers the right to cut the trees, divide or destroy the forest. On the contrary, it is conservation of the forests that can only protect their right to livelihood. Civil society organi-sations and action groups, such as the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, Environment Action Group, and Nature Conservation Society argue that it is the local communities who protect and conserve forests, as the resources of their livelihood. Therefore conserving forests is the common objective of both wildlife rights-based groups and forest dwellers whose rights have been recognised by the FRA. It is important not to see the biodiversity conservation and community-based conservation as binaries. The Campaign for Survival and Dignity appealed that the recent evacuation order be reviewed or modified in accordance with the law.The open letter, jointly issued by several conservation NGOs, movements for democratic forest control and experts in conservation biology, argues that a significant force across the country that has stopped the resource loot is the local communities fighting to protect their natural resources and habitats, often by using the FRA.The campaigns question the Central Governments collusion with big companies and forest officials against the forest dwellers. Over the years, the consequential effect of state policies to tap forest resources for development alienated tribals from the forest land resulting in loss of livelihood resources and severe disruption of their culture, identity, dignity and freedom. Appropriation of forests for development projects such as defence projects, dams, mines, industries, power plants, and roads, deprived the tribals of their customary rights. Lack of clarity in the laws on the customary rights of the tribal people over the natural resources has also seen an increasing violation of such laws. Since forests remain an integral part of the tribal culture and economy, tribal people and forest dwellers continue to be morally responsible for preserving and sustaining the forests. As a tradition of faith, they worship the forests. Women have always played an important role to save the forests. Drawing insights from the Chipko Movement 1873, women continue to struggle for their rights to forest in several regions of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jhar-khand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Himanchal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. They lead the protests against large hectares of forestland across the country which have been diverted for non-forestry activities. (See also Ray, 2018: 11-13) The tribal women in Kalahandi district of Odisha have been active in the protests against the exploration of mineral resources and destruction of forests by the Mining Projects. Protests by the villagers, in particular the tribal and Dalit community, in the Thuamul Rampur block brought the work of the Mining Corpo-ration to a halt in 1997. The consultation committee by the local villagers protested land acquisition and forcible evictions by the mining corporations after analysing its impact on the livelihood resources such as land, forests, and water. The mining project by the Vedanta Alumi-nium Limited and Orissa Mining Corporation that threatened 1660 acres of forest land was withdrawn only after long protests by the tribals and forest dwellers to save their rights to forest. The Supreme Courts judgement in 2013 is a historic step as it affirmed the decision- making powers of the smaller units of local governance such as village councils when the Gram/Palli Sabhas in several villages of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed $ 1.7 billion mining project by the Vedanta Alumi-nium Limited (VAL) and Orissa Mining Corpo-ration in Niyamgiri Hill as it was an infringe-ment of the religious, customary, community and individual rights of tribal people and forest-dwellers. Women led the anti-POSCO movement against land acquisition by POSCO, a South Korean Steel Company, as hundreds of acres of betel vineyards were destroyed by force and the fruit-bearing trees were cut in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. The continuous struggle by villagers for 12 years compelled POSCO to officially withdraw its project in March 2017. Studies based on ethnographic field survey enable us to understand that the tribal women have a long tradition of conserving forests. Ever since the Forest Departments have diverted large acres of forest land for plantations like teak, eucalyptus, bamboo, which make forests a good source of income for the government, the traditional crops no longer grow in the forest land. Women protest compensatory afforestation through plantations of trees, particularly monocultures, which can never replace the diverse, complex flora and fauna which is destroyed in forests. Women in the Bhil community of Rajasthan actively participate in conservation and management of the forest. In Garhwal region, women in many villages have initiated innovative programmes like Mahila Samakhya, all women Van Panchayats and informal committees. (See also Ray 2018 b) Women from the traditional forest communities across States play an important role in All India Union of Forest Working People, a union of adivasis and Dalit communities, to collectively protect forests from poachers and encroachers and protect community forest governance. They have formed Women Forest Rights Action Committee to protect community rights over forest land and its produce. (Ibid.) Around 100,000 hectares of forestland are protected by 850 villages across the Nayagarh district of Odisha. Women have taken the initiative to protect their forest rights by forming a Centre for Forest Rights Information to generate awareness about the FRA and community rights over forests in Kaptapally and Ranpur villages. The tribal women of more than 30 villages in Maniguda and Bissam Cuttack blocks in Rayagada district of Odisha formed informal groups to replant the traditional crops and conserve the forests to meet their diverse food habits. They argue that dispossession of the traditional crops has resulted in increasing malnutrition and hunger of their children. They continued to protest against the plantations of eucalyptus by the Forest Department till it finally agreed to plant saplings of indigenous trees in 2015-16. The Adivasis and forest dwelling communities believe that conservation, rejuvenation and regeneration of the forests alongside protection of rights to forests, would secure the future of their children. They have the traditional knowledge to increase the forest cover as forests remain an integral part of the tribal culture and economy. Since forests are an important source of their livelihood, they never pull out the entire root of the plants/tubers. A portion of them is cut leaving the remaining root underneath the soil so that they regrow. In many villages in the forest regions, conservation rules of the forests are set by the Village Councils. Based on the needs of the villagers, the Council permits them to collect dry shrub fuelwood, fodder, food and other forest produce. Thus, the community rights and environ-mental sustainability are not to be seen in exclusive frameworks. Despite numerous policy documents alongside the FRA which provides scope and historic opportunity of integrating conservation and livelihood rights of the people, the conservation industry continues to dis-believe the coexistence of forests with the Adivasis and forest dwellers. The latter have always conserved energy and sustained the soil fertility and biodiversity for generations. Thus, there is a need to protect the rights of tribal and forest dwelling communities to conserve and regenerate the forest eco-system for a sustainable livelihood. Reinstating Justice We find that the diversion of forests for non-forest activities has reduced, and community rights of the villagers to manage, protect, conserve, and regenerate forest for sustainable use are protected in the villages where the social activists are active and gram sabhas are playing an important role in deciding the local development plans. The FRA is implemented in its true spirit in States where villagers have asserted their rights and the gram sabhas have passed resolutions against tree felling by the forest departments. (See also Ray, 2018a: 14) Since the B.K. Roy Burman Committee Report, 1982 made it important to integrate the tribal and forest economy, the National Forest Policy, 1988 prioritised the peoples needs and their involvement in protection and management of forests over the commercial gains of the state. The PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996, which prohibits the state to make any law that is not in consonance with the customary law, the social, religious and community practices and traditions, and aims at safeguarding and preserving the traditional rights over community resources (such as land, water and forest) in the Fifth Schedule areas, therefore needs to be strengthened. The customary rights to forests alongside indigenous knowledge about traditional forestry practices can only be protected when tribal communities participate in the decision-making related to forest governance and forest protection at the local level.This calls for a coherent policy which contests the old binary between conser-vation of forests and the rights of forest dwellers. The implementation of the FRA needs to be strengthened as it gives negotiating power to the Adivasis and other forest-dwelling communities to protect not just their right/entitlement to forests, as resources of their livelihood, but also to protect the symbiotic relationship between them and the foreststhe right to protect, regenerate and develop forest, and the need to be integrated in the conservation efforts. References Goenka, Debi (2018), Forest Rights and Wrongs in The Indian Express, March 28, page 13. Ray, Suranjita (2018a) Alienation of Rights to Forests in Mainstream, Vol. LVI, No. 30, pages 11-15. ................ (2018b): Women and Forest Rights in Womens Watch, National Federation of Indian Women, April-June, pages 11-13. Endnote 1. Hearing a petition by Wildlife First, a non-govern-mental organisation, and retired forest officials who blamed the FRA 2006 for deforestation and encroachment on forest lands, the Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee, in its order, directed the Chief Secretaries of several States such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telengana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to evacuate the tribals and forest dwellers whose rejections have attained finality. The evacuation was to be done before the next hearing of the Supreme Court on the case scheduled on July 27, 2019. The States were also directed to explain before court the reasons for not evicting the rejected claimants. Suranjita Ray teaches Political Science at Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. She can be contacted at suranjitaray_66[at]yahoo.co.in At the current rate, it could take a generation or more to reconstruct what the conflict has ruined. Iraqi officials say it will require $88 billion to recover, far more than the government can muster on its own, and foreign help is falling far short of plugging that hole. Nor is there any guarantee that residents would return even to those pockets that are being restored if security cant be assured and vital services provided. The presumption of innocence is a common legal principle, and the pope has emphasized it before. During the abuse summit, Francis presented bishops with reflection points ideas for contending with the crisis. One said the presumption of innocence must also be safeguarded, and therefore, it is necessary to prevent the lists of the accused being published, even by the dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and the definitive condemnation. Acting on suspicions that one of their mobile lenders was up to no good, National Australia Bank investigators hit the phones. They rang several clients of the lender asking them how they came to get their loan. The answers sounded like everyday business, some had wandered into their local branch in Rhodes in Sydney, one looked up NAB on the web, while another had been a customer for years. The only problem was that the mobile lender, Longke Tang, had already told the bank that the customers had been referred by a Sydney CBD real estate agency, AU Gold Realty, and its managing director, Meiying "Rain" Song. Five of the customers said they'd never heard of either. Those "referrals", which the bank had decided were faked, had reaped payments for AU Gold Realty of $24,000. Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey has defended how the retailer discloses the value of its multibillion-dollar property portfolio, arguing that providing investors with a breakdown of individual properties would give its rivals an advantage. ASX-listed Harvey Normans accounts detail that it has one-sixth of its $2.9 billion portfolio valued every six months by external valuers with the remainder assessed by the companys directors. Listed companies are required under accounting standards to revalue their assets regularly. Mr Harvey, the company's founder and major shareholder, told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that he led the process for the board alongside the companys 30-strong internal property team. "They are valued by me," he said. It's time for Netflix to start paying its way. That, at least, is the view of a Senate inquiry into Australian content on broadcast, radio and streaming that quietly tabled its findings on Tuesday, March 26. Among the 10 recommendations made by committee chair Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens was that streaming services such as Netflix and Stan (and Amazon and any others who might enter the space) should be forced to spend 10 per cent of income earned in this country on original Australian content. They would also be obliged to promote that content to their subscribers. In my view, that's a great first move towards ensuring our screen production sector and the stories it tells is not dealt out of the future by the tectonic shifts now under way in the industry. Ten per cent is no big deal compared to what's happening in other markets. In the EU, streamers will soon have to ensure 30 per cent of all content is locally sourced. In Canada, Netflix has committed to spending $500 million over five years on locally made programming (some of it US productions shot in Canada). A lucrative industry is springing up around "breast implant illness", with some doctors charging women thousands to remove implants with no guarantee the surgery will make them better. Social media is fuelling an explosion in the numbers of women scared their breast implants are making them sick and deciding to have them removed, with online support groups for breast implant illness (BII) numbering in the thousands and growing every day. But there is a lack of strong scientific evidence for whether breast implants are causing the clusters of unexplained and debilitating symptoms attributed to BII, two leading Australian plastic surgeons say. Breast Implant Illness (BII) is gaining notoriety as a catch-all for unexplained symptoms in women with breast implants. Rising numbers of implant patients are reporting unexplained or vague illnesses and symptoms, including auto-immune diseases, allergies, migraine, chronic fatigue, joint pain, depression, heart and kidney problems and hair loss, said Associate Professor Anand Deva, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Macquarie University. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Indian Republic @ 70: Democracy at Crossroads by Nayakara Veeresha The decline in global peace has largely been driven by changes in measures related to safety and security. (Global Peace Index, 2014) The Fragile States Index 2018 indicated that internal and external pressures affect the worlds richest and most developed nations too. Accordingly, Qatar, Spain, the United States of America and United Kingdom experienced social and political instabilities in the year 2017. The Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index (EIUDI), 2017 presents an idea of the functioning of democracy and its legitimacy in 165 countries and two territories. The index has been prepared on the basis of five indicators, namely, electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The index classifies four types of political regimes on the basis of the nature and state of democracy existing all over the globe. They are full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes. According to the report, 76 out of 167 countries are to be considered as democracies. In this only 18 nations are categorised as full democracies and 58 countries are classified under flawed democracy. The remaining 91 countries come under either hybrid (39 nations) and authoritarian (52) regimes. This means almost 55 percentage of the countries in the world are still governed by authoritarian rule. One of the worlds leading scholars in democracy, Larry Diamond, says that we are going through a democratic regression which has been reflected in the annual democratic index of 2017. The North American region is the only region that has retained its democratic score as that of 2016. The report has found that Asia and Australia are the worst-performing regions in the score of the democracy index. Norway once again tops the index followed by Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark. North Korea occupies the last place with a score of 1.08 with Syria, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo occupying positions above North Korea. Gambia recorded a good performance in the Democracy Index of 2017 improving its rank from 143 to 113 and moved from the authori-tarian to the hybrid regime stage by witnessing the first ever democratic transfer of power. Indonesia is the worst-performing country as it dropped 20 places in the ranking from 48th to the 68th position. Similarly, India has slipped to the 42nd rank from 32 (in 2016) and Guyana enhanced its rank from the 73rd to the 63rd place. The EIUDI 2017 reports that 2017 was Asias year of regression experiencing the biggest decline of its rank among all the regions of the world. The average score of the democracy index for the Asian region is 5.63 which is better than the global average of 5.48. However, it lags behind the regions of Latin America (6.26), Western Europe (8.38) and North America (8.56). The two largest democracies of the Asian region, that is, India and Indonesia, are performing badly in the latest assessment with a significant decline both in score and rankings. India stands at the sixth position in the Asian region among 28 countries. In the Democracy Index, India stood in the 42nd position with a score of 7.23 out of 10. This is its lowest score since 2006 which was 7.68. This shows the declining trend of democracy in India with the rise of majoritarian governance. In particular the report notes that The streng-thening of Right-wing Hindu forces in an other-wise secular country led to a rise of vigilantism and violence against minority communities, particularly Muslims, as well as other dissenting voices. (EIU, 2018: 27) The scores of various democratic indicators for India are strong electoral process and pluralism (9.17/10), a fair amount of civil liberties (7.35/10) and political participation (7.22/10). But it is under-performing in the overall democracy index. From the report, the decline of democracy in India can be attributed to the political culture (5.63/10) and functioning of government (6.79/10). On the basis of this score, Indian democracy is classified under the category of a flawed democracy regime. This has made India to further decline in the Media Freedom Index placing it in the 49th position out of 154 countries with a score of seven out of 10 and classified under the status of partly free. It is observed that India has also become a more dangerous place for journa-lists, especially the central State of Chhattisgarh and the northern State of Jammu and Kashmir. (Ibid. p. 55) In both these States there was a high hand of the state to curb media freedom and internet services including killings of several journalists. On this January 26th India has celebrated its 70th Republic Day. Its a historic moment and this year is critical as we as a nation are going for the peoples mandate in the general elections of May 2019. Democracies across the world are at risk with the rise of populist and authoritarian regimes; India has been no exception, especially since 2014 under the current BJP regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government has come under heavy criticism within and outside the country for its political intrusion into the autonomous functioning of institutions of governance such as Parliament, the CBI, RBI, UGC and even the Supreme Court to some extent through its patronage and identity politics. Two things happened during the BJP rule for sure; these were: (i) a frontal attack on the idea of India through its divisive policies, parti-cularly in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2016, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, and 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections by distorting the ethical, philosophical and social foundations of the constitutional governance values; (ii) democracy became the casualty in the hands of the political elites ably promoted through the extremist Hindu political ideology and fringe groups. These two have aggravated the social divisions and deepened the crisis between the dominant constructs of the majority and minority. This binary classification is seriously problematic for a heterogeneous, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-party country like India and for that matter for any democratic nation in the world. The birth of parliamentary democracy in India is intrinsically linked to state violence through the repressive apparatus of the military and police. Mass killings took place in the military operation known as Operation Polo in the Telangana region as documented in the Pandit Sundarlal Committee Report on the Massacres in Hyderabad (1948). Currently, Indian democracy is experiencing various uprisings in the regions of Central and Eastern India, Jammu and Kashmir, and North-Eastern regions. However, the nature and causative factors of these uprisings are different. The insurrection in Central India is popularly known as the largest internal security threat that the country is facing as described by the former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, in 2006. Nirmalangshu Mukherji (2013) argues that the current Maoist upheaval needs to be under-stood as a part of the general phenomenon of democratic deficit. The way the BJP has functioned since 2014 pushes any citizen of the country to say yes, including the party members of or those affiliated to the BJP. It is in this context that there is a need to understand the decline of democracy as a global phenomenon, including in the developed nations such as the USA, UK and European Union. The Democracy Index, 2018, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, corroborates this trend. The report has stated that the various global surveys that we consider in the Democracy Index, such as the World Values Survey (WVS), Eurobarometer, Latinobarometer and Afrobaro-meter, have demonstrated that the confidence in democracy is on the wane. In fact, in 2018 the score for perceptions of democracy suffered its biggest fall in the index since 2010. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), in its annual Democracy Report 2018 Democracy for All?, finds that autocratisation is now manifesting in a number of large countries, including Brazil, India, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. Aspects of democracy that make elections truly meaningful are in decline. Media autonomy, freedom of expression and alternative sources of information, and the rule of law have undergone the greatest declines among democracy metrics in recent years. (p. 6) It has been noted that identity politics has become a key feature of domestic politics, suggesting that reformist and liberal candidates could struggle in future. In India, various coercive tactics used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to consolidate power have severely affected the health of democracy. The failure of the BJP Government in delivering the 2014 election promise of development through job creation and minimum government and maximum gover-nance and the neglect of farmers issues gave a setback to the party in the recent five State Assembly elections. The report specifically mentions that so far, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalitionled by the BJPwill be contesting the 2019 elections on a weak footing at the State level. Having also lost the support of many small regional parties, the coalition could fail to gain a clear majority in Parliament. The V-Dem data for the first time find the worlds most populous democraciesthe United States and Indiaas backsliders on democracy. (V-Dem, 2018: 20) Liberal Democracy under Threat Some of the individual liberal values of democracy which faced severe assault from the BJP Government are right to freedom of expression, religion, choice of food, right to worship, right to economic freedom and the right to dissent. The states heavy-handedness on the civil society ogransations, media, human rights activists, researchers and progressive thinkers has diminished the long cherished democratic tradition and culture at the cost of peoples constitutional rights. The multiple indicators in the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index for India have shown that the pursuit of economic formalisation measures such as demonetisation and goods and services tax have come at the cost of the overall quality and content of its democracy. The 2019 elections are critical not only for the political parties in India; they are crucial for its citizens to assert their democratic rights to rekindle democracy in the country. At this historic moment, the whole world is looking at India for a peoples renaissance in the 17th general elections. The role of individuals as citizens has immense importance in electing those with a commitment to the Constitution and peoples welfare. Individual assertion is the basis of all the reforms, be those political or social in the spirit of democratic insurrection and active citizenship. Lets hope that the newly elected government takes up the challenge of restoring the lost democracy through trans-formative politics. References 1. Mukherji, N. (2013), The Maoists in India: Tribals Under Siege, New Delhi: Amaryllus. 2. The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU), (2018). Democracy Index 2017: Free speech under attack, London, New York and Hong Kong: The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU). 3. The Fund for Peace. (FFP) (2018), 2018: Fragile States Index, Washington: The Fund for Peace (FFP). 4. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). (2014), Global Peace Index 2014, Sydney: The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). 5. V-Dem Institute (2018), Democracy for All? (V-Dem) Annual Democracy Report 2018, Sweden: V-Dem Institute. The author is a Ph.D Fellow, Centre for Political Institutions, Governance and Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. He can be contacted at e-mail: veeresha[at]isec.ac.-in; nayakaraveeresha[at]gmail.com The proportion of high school students using ecstasy has more than doubled in three years, prompting a leading drug educator to warn about the normalisation of the illicit drugs use among young people. Paul Dillon, the founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, said the latest Australian Secondary School Students' Alcohol and Other Drug study revealed an alarming increase in the consumption of ecstasy by students. Ecstasy use among students aged between 12 and 17 has increased from 2 per cent in 2011 to 5 per cent in 2017, according to a study of almost 20,000 high school students. Mr Dillon said he was concerned about the blase attitude of students towards MDMA (the main ingredient in ecstasy). All drugs have risks and the minute you dont have respect for drugs, you start doing things that are much more dangerous, he said. Were going to see young people die. Police have charged a man who was found with an old gunshot wound in relation to an alleged assault and robbery with a firearm on March 28. Sometime between 2am and 2.30am the 28-year-old male victim was sitting in his vehicle on the corner of St Pierre Loop and Newbridge Street in Meadow Springs when he was approached by a group of people. Police found the man with an old gunshot wound. Police will allege one of the men from the group entered the victims vehicle and threatened the victim with a firearm and struck him with it. The victim received a fractured eye socket and an injury to his nose. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Bill Shorten stands on a metal stairway in Australias biggest brewery and tries to convince the assembled workers that the coming election will not be an empty exercise. Whatever you do, you get a politician at the end of it, he concedes, drawing a few smiles from the crowd, but his speech is heavy with warnings about the importance of every ballot paper. How you vote has a direct effect on the laws and conditions you get at work, he says. There is a connection. If you think that everythings going up in Australia but the wages, your vote can change that. If you want to see energy bills get under control, your vote can change that. Shorten worries in private about the apathy among voters who have seen six prime ministers over a dozen years. Here, in front of about 100 workers at the Lion brewery in western Sydney, he is trying to give meaning to the election to be fought on May 11 or May 18. He seems to feel his greatest challenge is to persuade Australians that it matters. Labor leader Bill Shorten has served two terms as Opposition Leader. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Shorten projects his voice over the conveyor belts and palletisers. He tells the workers he wants Australia to be a manufacturing nation. He knows their salaries and conditions are good but he says they may have family members in retail and hospitality where the penalty rates have been cut. He talks about Medicare, hospitals, schools, restoring penalty rates and lifting the minimum wage. He promises to force companies to hire more apprentices. The applause is polite but not effusive. Everyone can see the television cameras. They know this is merely a warm-up for the election campaign. A few want to take a selfie with the candidate, but there is none of the manic energy of the 2007 campaign, when Kevin Rudd shocked his own side with his popularity. The wariness in the audience is given voice when Shorten takes questions. One worker asks about negative gearing and gets an assurance that Labors tax increase will allow anyone with an existing rental property to keep claiming a concession. When the public questions are over, someone asks Shorten whether she can trust Labor to stop asylum seekers coming by boat. He assures her she can, but she is not convinced. An older man asks him to do more to help grandparents who have to take custody of their grandchildren but do not get as much support as foster parents. Shorten asks for the mans details so his office can respond in more detail. Advertisement There is no doubt Shorten is match fit for the election. Five-and-a-half years after he became Opposition Leader, he is tantalisingly close to becoming prime minister. To stumble now would be to lose the unloseable election, a spectre so grim he will not rest until polling day. Im hungry to start the work, he tells The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald. Shorten has a long list of what he wants to achieve in government to deliver real progress in peoples lives. Fifteen years of education. That means genuine, universal access to preschool, he says, reeling off the first item on the list as we travel from Sydneys west to Sydney Airport. Bill Shorten poses for a selfie during a marginal seat visit in Melbourne. Credit:AAP Weve got to tackle the challenge of dementia and aged care, weve got to help people deal with it better. In the big health fights that people have in their life, weve got to make sure they dont feel financial burden on top of the health challenge. I really want any kid from any postcode in Australia to get all the options TAFE or university, whatever dream they want to pursue. I want merit and how hard you work to be the passport, not how rich your parents are. Theres more. Advertisement Weve really got to be one of the best countries in the world at so much, he says. Why shouldnt we be the best at healthcare and education, why shouldnt we be the best at climate change? We should be an energy superpower. We should have a more independent foreign policy. We should close the gap with the first Australians. Its all about opportunity and fairness. I want every Australian to have opportunity and every Australian to receive fairness. And theyll do the rest. Loading Stone by stone, Shorten and his team have added so many promises they now have a mountain to climb if they win power. They vow to restore penalty rates, change the law to raise the minimum wage, hold a plebiscite on a republic, raise $32.1 billion over a decade from changes to negative gearing and raise $56 billion from changes to tax refunds on dividend imputation. Not least, they promise to spend billions of dollars on energy projects while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, in a Parliament that has swung wildly on climate change over two decades. Shorten will not admit he is promising too much. He plays down the risk of a traffic jam in Parliament for his crowded agenda. Well just keep advancing. You can get things done if you want to, he says. As proof, he nominates the National Disability Insurance Scheme, an idea he backed in his earliest days on the Rudd frontbench. Advertisement Rudd, of course, took power in 2007 with a wish-list so long he had to launch dozens of reviews rather than taking immediate action. Shorten insists he can avoid that. Youve got to go in with a clear agenda, Shorten says. And were outlining it. Love us or hate us or be somewhere in between, you cant say were not working out the issues now. We havent been an opposition whos coasted on the mistakes of the government. The government clings to the hope that voters do not like Shorten, given polling that shows more voters disapprove of his performance than approve of it. While voters do not crowd around him when he walks down the main street of Burwood in the electorate of Reid a short time after the brewery visit, there is no sign of hostility. Shorten approaches workers and shoppers outside the Westfield on Burwood Road, striking up conversations and introducing them to the Labor candidate, Sam Crosby. One of the pedestrians, Hana Shahim, asks for a photo with him. Ive always voted Labor, she says. Nobody offers a stronger endorsement. Bill and Chloe Shorten. Credit:Paul Jeffers The campaign will change this dynamic. The media pack will be bigger, the pressure on Shorten will be higher and the risk of encountering an unhappy voter will be greater. One other difference will be the presence of Chloe Shorten. While Chloe has many other calls on her time, not least family in Melbourne, Labor is hoping to have her on the campaign as often as possible, in the belief that Australians warm to her and Shorten himself campaigns better with her. Advertisement Shortens friends believe he is a stronger campaigner than Prime Minister Scott Morrison and will emerge triumphant in a matter of weeks. With a solid Labor campaign, they say, he might achieve a swing of more than a dozen seats. Helped by a bad Coalition campaign, the swing might reach 20. There are no such boasts from Shorten himself. He is careful not to look like he is taking the result for granted, even though he thinks the Coalition has become a tribe of warring clans that are incapable of running a government. His team assumes the government will rely more heavily on scare campaigns and negative advertising when the election is underway in earnest. Shorten knows how a scare campaign works. He wounded Malcolm Turnbull at the last election with the false claim that the government was privatising Medicare and will revive the health funding message at the election to come. He insists, however, that he wants to give Australians something to vote for, not just vote against. He takes this message to the Holmesglen campus in Melbourne, where he tells students he would put more money into TAFE and increase the cost of visas for skilled foreign workers. Bill Shorten, flanked by two Labor candidates, speaks to students and teachers at Holmesglen TAFE. Credit:Erik Anderson The message about foreign workers causes unease in the crowd, given some of the students are from overseas and pay fees for their training in the hope of becoming permanent residents one day, but Shorten makes no apology for putting a priority on locals. His pledge to increase the number of apprenticeships is central to his policy platform. As in Sydney one day earlier, Shorten uses his Melbourne visit to try to motivate his audience to vote for change. Again, apathy is the enemy. Whether he is talking about wages or healthcare, he ends his sentences with three words: Your vote matters. Advertisement A Liberal vying to become the party's candidate for Craig Laundy's old seat has delivered an astonishing condemnation of the closed-door selection process, just as Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to name his captain's pick for the hotly contested Sydney electorate. Controversial psychiatrist and writer Tanveer Ahmed - who is among a number of people under consideration for the job - slammed the process as unfair and undemocratic, arguing he had been denied the opportunity to confront his challengers. Psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed is vying to become the Liberal candidate for the Sydney seat of Reid. It is expected Mr Morrison could recommend a candidate to replace Mr Laundy in the inner west seat of Reid as soon as Sunday, to be rubber-stamped by the party's state executive on Monday. The Sun-Herald understands Dr Ahmed met with Mr Morrison's principal private secretary Yaron Finkelstein and factional powerbroker Alex Hawke, the Special Minister of State, and has been positively vetted. The Morrison government will promise $1.1 billion in road upgrades across Melbourne suburbs in Tuesday's budget to woo city voters back to the Coalition before next month's federal election. Covering 13 arterial roads, the projects are on top of a string of "congestion busting" projects rolled out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the past month as he scrambles to make up electoral ground. The budget papers roll off the printing presses in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In addition to the roads splurge, the government is poised to build on its seven-year tax-cut plan announced in last year's budget by bringing forward key components of that package, using better-than-expected revenues to pay for the hit to the budget bottom line. In the south-east, extra lanes will be added to roads in Pakenham South, Seaford and Cranbourne while safety improvements, including roundabouts, will be added in Langwarrin South. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Why Christchurch Attack is a Wake-up Call by Zulafqar Ahmed Politics around the world has been changing dramatically. The extreme Right has risen to power throughout the globe from Donald Trump of the US (2016) to Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines (2016) and from Victor Orban of Hungary (2010) to Jair Bolsanaro of Brazil (2019). The rise of the extreme Right is posing a severe threat to the democratic values like Liberty, Equality, Justice, Plurality, Inclusiveness and Tolerance, and with the emergence of the extreme Right ideologies like Chauvinism, Xenophobia, Misogynism and Islamophobia have raised their heads. The recent ghastly and disgusting Christ-church terrorist attack on two mosques in New Zealand, in which 50 Muslims were killed and several were injured, is a sheer case of Islamo-phobia. The perpetrator of the attack live-streamed his terrorist act on Facebook, playing American Civil War music in the background and justified the attack by publishing his manifesto earlier. The semi-automatic gun which the terrorist had used was inscripted with Islamobhobic and Right-wing ideology. Nothing is more shocking than the fact that even after the terrible attack leaders of the Right-wing didnt speak against the attack and the international media, which immediately swings into action, started spewing venom against the whole Muslim community; if the attacker belonged to the same community as the followers of Islam, they would have called the Christ-church terrorist a shooter. Terrorism is terro-rism, it is against humanity, no religion, race, caste and region has monopoly on it. It should be condemned in the strictest form no matter who is instigating it. The organised violence against the Muslims all over the globe is being done in the facade of Islamophobia. The propagators and preachers of the Islamophobic ideology are not much scared of the terror of any person but their actual fear is that Islam has the capability to influence the minds of the people and if it is not contained, it would spread in the Western world very swiftly. British political philosopher David Selbourne in his Losing Battle with Islam enumerated ten reasons and he argued that because of these reasons it was very tough for the Western world to win the battle with Islam. Similarly, French writer Micheal Houellebecq, in his novel Submission, asserted that in the upcoming seven years France would have an Islamist Government with the support of the Socialist Party. These books have left a strong impression on the minds of Western policy-makers and due to such fear anti-Muslim policies are being framed in the Western world. In this whole well-framed propaganda, the inter-national media plays an indispensable role in adding fuel to the fire. A hoax is being created round the globe that Muslims are the common enemy and they are the real threat to peace. But the reality is quite contrary to this. For a moment, let us ask ourselves: who are the leading manufacturers and exporters of arms and which country dropped the Mother of all Bombs on Afghanistan. None of the Muslim-dominated countries tops the list in terms of the annual defence budget expenditure? Moreover, the 2011 report of the US Governments National Counter-terrorism Centre (NCTC), said that In cases where the religious affiliation of terrorism casualties could be determined, Muslims suffered between 82 and 97 per cent of terrorism-related fatalities over the past five years. The question which needs to be pondered over is: if Muslim countries are the worst sufferers of terrorism, then why this Islamophobia? The irony is that terrorism killed less people around the world than the war on terror. We never heard of a Christian terrorist killing those praying in the Masjid and the media never called him a Christian terrorist. When Buddhist terrorists killed Rohingyas in Myanmar and the media never called them Buddhist terrorists; When Jewish terrorists killed Palesti-nians in Palestine the media never called them Jewish terrorists. Why is religion deliberatively affixed to the Muslim terrorist only? This is how the international media creates vicious designs against the Muslims and projects them as a common enemy of the world. Indiscriminately, incidents like the Christ-church terror attack must be vehemently criticised by all leaders of the world and the onus falls on the international media to call a spade a spade; it should show what the reality is without manipulation. The solidarity of New Zealands Prime Minister, public and the inter-national community is appreciable. The solidarity which Jacinda Ardern showed with the Christchurch victims is worth applauding and she gave a worthy lesson to all the leaders of the world. But it is not sufficient to criticise one particular terror attack and think that after sometime everything will become normal. It is high time to criticise all the terror attacks explicitly and simultaneously. The international media has to demystify the hoax which is being created against the Muslim community. The silence of the world leaders and media gives impunity to the terrorist to carry out such types of inhumane attacks in broad daylight. If deadliest attacks like the one at Christchurch are not condemned unequivocally across the globe on time, there will be no possibility of stopping these attacks in future. Zulafqar Ahmed is a Doctorate Fellow at the Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University. He can be contacted at e-mail: ahmedzulafqar78[at]mail.com Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2019 > Scientists Major Feat in Space Odyssey EDITORIAL Yesterdays development is a major achievement for which fulsome praise must legitimately go to our scientists, especially those in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The DRDO scientists had developed a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor, similar to the ones which intercept and destroy incoming missiles, and this was fired from the Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island launch complex, off the coast of Odisha, south of Balasore before it struck an Indian satellite in low earth orbit, about 300 km from the earths surface. This was a Microsat-R launched by ISRO on January 24, 2019; it was hurtling at a speed of more than 27,000 km per hour before it was knocked out by the BMD Interceptor, according to ISRO sources. As early as on January 5, 2010 the then DRDO chief, V.K. Saraswat, had announced that such a test (as was carried out yesterday) was on the anvil. Not only that. In a report published in The Hindu, on March 8, 2011 it was disclosed that the fresh success of the interceptor missile mission... has demonstrated the countrys capability to neutralise adversarial satellites in space. The same paper had quoted Dr Saraswat to inform that of the six interceptor missions conducted so far by the DRDO, five have been successful, something the DRDO chief had characterised as fantastic. The report further pointed out that the then Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, had unequivocally congratulated the DRDO missile technologists. The achievements of our scientists have, this time too, been unambiguously hailed by representatives of all parties across the political spectrum. But the manner in which the PM sought to make the announcement of this achievement has evoked criticism from several Opposition parties. As the CPI-M General Secretary in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner underlined, Such a mission should normally be announced to the nation by the relevant scientific authorities.... This announcement comes in the midst of the ongoing election campaign where the Prime Ministe himself is a candidate. This is clearly a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. West Bengal CM and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said the PMs announcement was limitless drama and publicity-mongering amounting to gross violation of the MCC, while Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted tongue-in-cheek: Well done DRDO, extremely proud of your work. I would also like to wish the PM a very happy World Theatre Day. At the other end, the ruling party representatives in government are defending the PM to the hilt on this issue. However, it needs to be reiterated that the test carried out yesterday does not alter Indias consistent opposition to weaponsation of space, as was underscored by the PM himself. Nonetheless, what cannot be overlooked is the fact that while the test could have been carried out much earlier as our country had the capability to do so, the government gave the green signal only now, just before the parliamentary poll. Why it chose to do so is anyones guess and raising this point is quite justified in the current scenario when the ruling party and Opposition are both engaged in a bitter electoral battle. March 28 S.C. The little girl who practised navigating a dangerous inner city crosswalk with her mother the day before she was struck and killed there was laid to rest on Saturday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The little girl who practised navigating a dangerous inner city crosswalk with her mother the day before she was struck and killed there was laid to rest on Saturday. A crowd of more than 400 people packed the funeral for four-year-old Galila Rezene Habtegergish at St. Michael Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church. The crowd of supporters overflowed from the pews and filled up the foyer, too. Galila Rezene Habtegergish was killed on March 18 while using the crosswalk with her mother at Isabel Street and Alexander Avenue. Her mother remains in hospital. (Twitter) "The Eritrean community is in grief," Alem Asghedom, the secretary of the board of directors for the church, said in an interview. "Theyre not just here for the family but to support each other." Galila and her mother were struck by a motor vehicle while trying to use the crosswalk at Isabel Street and Alexander Avenue on March 18. The mother had been instructing her daughter on use of the crosswalk the day before. The little girl died a day after being struck, and her mother is still in the hospital with serious injuries. As Asghedom pointed out, its the second Eritrean child in little more than a year to be fatally hit at a Winnipeg crosswalk. In February 2018, eight-year-old Surafiel Musse Tesfamariam was on his way to Ecole Varennes with his mother, when he was hit and killed by a vehicle at a crosswalk on St. Annes Road. A vigil was held for Galila Habtegergish three days after she was struck and killed by a vehicle at the intersection of Isabel Street and Alexander Avenue. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files) "Its like a flashback," Asghedom said of Galilas death. "It brings back the sorrow of a year ago." Smoke and fragrance of incense hung in the air Saturday at the church, the interior of which is festively decorated with bright yellow, green and orange colours, and depictions of Jesus Christ and his most famous stories. Christmas lights lined the interior walls along the ceiling. Everyone is required to remove their footwear inside the doors of the church. The women go on the right side, facing front, and the men on the left. That protocol extends to the foyer that was also crammed with people standing and listening. The Eritrean women wore shawls over their heads, usually the colour white and of a gauze-like material. Attendees stood for the first hour of the 70-minute service, often murmuring recitations. Galila was called "our little angel" on a projection on a screen at the front of the church. The cover of the funeral program showed a seated Jesus Christ in the clouds in white robes and holding a child, who stood on his knee and came up to eye level. Galilas mother, Genet, remains in the hospital uncertain whether she will be able to ever walk again; however, Asghedom said her prospects have improved after surgery this week. "Shes doing better. She had an operation on Wednesday and the doctors say it was successful," he said. The family arrived in Canada only two months ago and were not well known within the Eritrean community, but that didnt stop Eritreans from rallying to support them. Asghedom estimated Winnipegs Eritrean community at about 3,000 people. Many staff from Dufferin School where she attended nursery were at the funeral, as were some classmates of Galilas and her brothers. Liberal MP Robert Falcon-Ouellette (Winnipeg Centre) also attended, as did Dorota Blumczynska, executive director of the Immigration and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. 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. People were asked to donate to a Gofundme campaign to help the family. Galila is survived by her injured mother, father and a six-year-old brother. The fund has raised over $18,383 as of noon on Saturday. Its goal is $30,000. People can help by going to gofundme.com and typing "Galila and Genet" in the search window. There has been tremendous criticism of the crosswalk since the fatal collision. Many small children cross the busy street four times a day going to and from Dufferin School. Some commenters on Free Press pages have even suggested a pedestrian overpass be installed like the one found at the foot of the Disraeli Bridge. Another suggestion is eye-level flashing lights on the crosswalk signposts, in addition to the overhead lighting, similar to what was installed at the St. Annes Road crosswalk after the eight-year-old boy was killed last year. Father Gebrehiwot Gebremedhin and Father Gebreberhan T. Ghebremeskel officiated the service. The interment was at St. Vital Cemetery on River Road and lunch followed at St. Vital United Church on St. Marys Road. The program quoted Jesus from Matthew 19:14: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca KIEV, Ukraine - Early results in Ukraine's presidential election showed a comedian with no political experience with a sizable lead over 38 rivals but far from a first-round victory, while the incumbent president and a former prime minister were close contenders to advance to the runoff. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/3/2019 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, center left, speaks to a supporter after a public prayer ahead of Sunday's presidential election at the monument of Prince Volodymyr the Great Monument, the leader of Kievan Rus, in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, March 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) KIEV, Ukraine - Early results in Ukraine's presidential election showed a comedian with no political experience with a sizable lead over 38 rivals but far from a first-round victory, while the incumbent president and a former prime minister were close contenders to advance to the runoff. The strong showing of Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Sunday's voting appeared to reflect Ukrainians' desire for new blood in a political system awash in corruption and a new approach to trying to end the war with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east that has wracked the country for nearly five years. With 20 per cent of the polling station protocols counted, Zelenskiy had 30 per cent, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was a distant second with about 17 per cent and Yulia Tymoshenko with 13, the elections commission said early Monday. The results were closely in line with a major exit poll. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a candidate for the presidential election, center, leaves a polling station after casting during the presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Ukrainians choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) The top two candidates advance to a runoff on April 21. Final results in Sunday's first round are expected to be announced later Monday. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 2,100 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Zelenskiy stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral and his supporters hold out hope that he can fight corruption in real life. "This is only the first step to a great victory," Zelenskiy told reporters after the exit poll was announced. An Ukrainian government soldier casts his ballot in a tent using as a polling station during the president elections in Kurakhove, near a contact line not far from Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Ukrainians choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) "Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs." Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraine's endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Concern about the election's legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes. Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. An Ukrainian government soldier exits a cabin in a tent using as a polling station during the president elections in Kurakhove, near a contact line not far from Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Ukrainians choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) "A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kyiv. "A life without corruption, without bribes." His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the country's political elite. Poroshenko said "I feel no kind of euphoria" after the exit poll results were announced. "I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities," he said. Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reacts as he responds to a journalist question during a press conference, after the presidential elections in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, March. 31, 2019. Exit polls indicated Zelenskiy would get about 30 percent of the vote, far short of the absolute majority needed to win the first round. Most exit polls said incumbent Petro Poroshenko received the second-biggest support, which would put him and Zelenskiy in a runoff on April 21. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) It is not clear whether he would or could adjust his campaign enough to meet Zelenskiy's challenges over the next three weeks. Poroshenko, 53, a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church. However, he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and the European Union. Speaking at a polling station Sunday, the president echoed his campaign promises of taking Ukraine into the EU and NATO. Election officials start counting ballots at a polling station during the presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Ukrainians choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) The president's priorities persuaded schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, to vote for him "Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO," Hristenko said. Ukraine's former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions in the country. "Ukraine has sunk into poverty and corruption during the last five years, but every Ukrainian can put an end to it now," she said after voting Sunday. During the campaign, Tymoshenko denounced price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as "economic genocide" and promised to reduce prices for household gas by 50 per cent within a month of taking office. "I don't need a bright future in 50 years," said Olha Suhiy, a 58-year-old cook. "I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow." A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates as well as a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko before the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused in the scandal. Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, charges that Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied. Many political observers have described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi. 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 the president and the comedian relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the "Servant of the People" TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine's leader. "Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko," said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kyiv-based think-tank . "Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources." ___ AP journalists Mstyslav Chernov in Kyiv, and Jim Heintz and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report. ___ A previous version of this story removed Kolomoyskyi falling off Forbes' list of billionaires; the reference was to Poroshenko but an editing error applied it to Kolomoyskyi. The following companies are subsidiares of Whirlpool: 1900 Holdings Corporation, ADC, Aeradriatica S.p.A., Airdun Limited, B. Blend Maquinas e Bebidas S.A., BUD Comercio de Eletrodomesticos Ltda., BWI Products Limited, Bauknecht AG, Bauknecht Hausgerate GmbH, Bauknecht Limited, Beijing Embraco Snowflake Compressor Company Limited, Bill Page Orchestra, Bill Page Orchestra Inc., Brasmotor S.A., Brunson Place Properties, Brunson Place Properties LLC, CNB Consultoria Ltda, Cannon Industries Ltd., Centro de Desarrollo Tecnologico e Innovacion WHM S. de R.L de C.V., Comercial Acros Whirlpool, Comercial Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Consumer Appliances Service Limited, Ealing Compania de Gestiones y Participaciones S.A., Elera Delaware, Elera Delaware Inc., Elera Holdings Corporation, Embraco Europe S.r.l., Embraco Eurosales S.r.l., Embraco Industria de Compressores e Solucoes em Refrigeracao Ltda., Embraco Luxembourg S.a r.l., Embraco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco Mexico Servicios, Embraco Mexico Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco North America, Embraco North America Inc., Embraco RUS LLC, Embraco Slovakia S.r.o., Everest Campus, Everest Campus LLC., General Domestic Appliances Holdings Ltd, General Domestic Appliances International Ltd., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co. Ltd., Haceb Whirlpool Industrias S.A.S., Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric, Hefei Whirlpool Enterprise Management Service Co. Ltd., Hoover Comercial Limitada, IRE Beteiligungs GmbH, Indesit Argentina S.A., Indesit Company, Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Pazarlama A.S., Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Indesit Company Ceska S.r.o., Indesit Company Domestic Appliances Hellas Mepe, Indesit Company International Business S.A., Indesit Company Luxembourg S.A., Indesit Company Magyarorszag Kft, Indesit Company Nordics AB, Indesit Company Polska Sp. zo.o., Indesit Company Singapore Pte. Ltd., Indesit Company UK Holdings Ltd., Indesit IP S.r.l., Indesit International ZAO, Indesit Ireland Ltd., Indesit Middle East FZE, Indesit Ukraine LLC, Industrias Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Industrias Acros Whirlpool S.A. de C.V, Jackson Appliances Ltd., Joint-Stock Company Indesit International, KitchenAid, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd., KitchenAid Delaware Inc., KitchenAid Europa Inc., KitchenAid Global, KitchenAid Global Inc., KitchenAid Inc., KitchenAid Korea Limited, KitchenAid Promotions, KitchenAid Promotions LLC, KitchenAid Trading Co., KitchenAid Trading Co. Ltd., LAWSA S.A., MLOG Armazem Geral Ltda., Maytag Corporation, Maytag Limited, Maytag Properties, Maytag Properties LLC, Maytag Sales, Maytag Sales Inc., Maytag Worldwide N.V., Merloni Domestic Appliances Ltd., Nineteen Hundred Corporation, Polar S.A., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co. Ltd., South American Sales Partnership, THC Assets Corporation, Up Points Servicos Empresariais S.A., Vitromatic S.A. de C.V., WCGP Nova Scotia Co., WHirlpool EMEA Finanace S.a r.l., Whirlpool (Australia) Pty. Limited, Whirlpool (B.V.I.) Limited, Whirlpool (China) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co. Ltd, Whirlpool (Hong Kong) Limited, Whirlpool (Japan) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Thailand) Limited, Whirlpool ASEAN Co., Whirlpool America Holdings Corp., Whirlpool Argentina S.r.l., Whirlpool Asia B.V., Whirlpool Asia Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Asia Inc., Whirlpool Asia LLP, Whirlpool Belux N.V./S.A., Whirlpool Bermuda Euro Ltd., Whirlpool Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Bulgaria Ltd., Whirlpool CIS Ltd., Whirlpool CR, Whirlpool CR spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool CSA Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada Co., Whirlpool Canada Co. (post 9/1/05 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Holding Co, Whirlpool Canada Holding Co. (post 4/18/06 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada LP, Whirlpool Canada Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Chile Limitada, Whirlpool Colombia S.A.S., Whirlpool Comercial Ltda., Whirlpool Company Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Company Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool Croatia Ltd., Whirlpool EMEA S.p.A., Whirlpool Ecuador S.A., Whirlpool Eesti OU, Whirlpool El Salvador, Whirlpool El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Electrodomesticos S.A., Whirlpool Eletrodomesticos AM S.A., Whirlpool Enterprises, Whirlpool Enterprises LLC, Whirlpool Europe B.V., Whirlpool Europe Coordination Center, Whirlpool Europe Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Ev Aletleri Pazarlama Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Finance B.V., Whirlpool Finance Center Corp., Whirlpool Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Finance Overseas Ltd., Whirlpool Financial Corporation, Whirlpool Financial Corporation International, Whirlpool Floor Care Corp., Whirlpool France Holdings SAS, Whirlpool France SAS, Whirlpool Germany GmbH, Whirlpool Global B.V., Whirlpool Global Investments B.V., Whirlpool Greater China Inc., Whirlpool Guatemala, Whirlpool Guatemala S.A., Whirlpool Hellas S.A., Whirlpool Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool Home Appliances B.V., Whirlpool Home Appliances Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool Hungarian Trading Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool India Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Insurance Company, Whirlpool Insurance Company Ltd., Whirlpool Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool International GmbH, Whirlpool International Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool International Manufacturing S.a r.l., Whirlpool Ireland Appliances Limited, Whirlpool Ireland Limited, Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l., Whirlpool Italia S.r.l., Whirlpool Japan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Japan Inc., Whirlpool Kazakhstan LLP, Whirlpool Latin America Corporation, Whirlpool Latvia S.I.A., Whirlpool Lietuva UAB, Whirlpool Ltd Belgrade, Whirlpool Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Ventures S.a r.l., Whirlpool MEEA DMCC, Whirlpool Magyarorszag Kereskedelmi Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Whirlpool Management Services S.a.g.l., Whirlpool Maroc S. a r.l., Whirlpool Mauritius Limited, Whirlpool Mexico Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico Ventures LLC, Whirlpool Microwave Products Development Limited, Whirlpool NAAG Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool NAR Holdings, Whirlpool NAR Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Nederland B.V., Whirlpool Nordic, Whirlpool Nordic A/S, Whirlpool Nordic AB, Whirlpool Nordic AS, Whirlpool Nordic OY, Whirlpool Oceania Inc., Whirlpool Overseas Holdings, Whirlpool Overseas Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Overseas Hong Kong Limited, Whirlpool Overseas Manufacturing S.ar.l., Whirlpool Peru S.R.L., Whirlpool Polska Appliances Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Portugal, Whirlpool Portugal S.A., Whirlpool Product Development (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Whirlpool Properties, Whirlpool Properties Inc., Whirlpool Puntana S.A., Whirlpool R&D S.r.l., Whirlpool RUS LLC, Whirlpool Realty Corporation, Whirlpool Romania S.r.l., Whirlpool S.A., Whirlpool SSC Limited, Whirlpool Slovakia Home Appliances spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool Slovakia spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Whirlpool Southeast Asia Pte, Whirlpool Sweden Aktiebolag, Whirlpool Taiwan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Technologies LLC, Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, Whirlpool UK Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Whirlpool Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool WW Holdings B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Investements B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Ltda., Whirlpool of India Limited, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Xpelair, Xpelair Ltd., Yummly, Yummly Canada Ltd., and Yummly Inc.. Agilent Technologies, Inc. engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets; Diagnostics and Genomics; and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that enable to identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level. The Diagnostics and Genomics segment consists of activity providing active pharmaceutical ingredients for oligo-based therapeutics, as well as solutions that include reagents, instruments, software and consumables. The Agilent CrossLab segment includes startup, operational, training and compliance support, software as a service, and asset management and consultative services. The company was founded in May 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Eaton: ADF Systems SARL, Abeiron III Limited, Aeroquip (UK) Limited, Aeroquip Financial Ltd., Aeroquip Iberica S.L., Aeroquip International Inc., Aeroquip Limited, Aeroquip do Brasil Ltda., Aeroquip-Vickers, Aeroquip-Vickers Canada Inc., Aeroquip-Vickers International S.a.r.L., Aphel Technologies, Argo-Tech, Arrow Hose & Tubing, Arrow-Hart S. de R.L. de C.V., Azonix Corporation, Babco Electric Group, Beijing Internormen-Filter Ltd. Co., Beijing Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Blinda Industria e Comercio Ltda., Bussmann International Holdings LLC, Bussmann International Inc., Bussmann S. de R.L. de C.V., Bussmann do Brasil Ltda., CBE Services Inc., CEAG Notlichtsysteme GmbH, CI ESI de Colombia, CTI-VIENNA Gesellschaft zur Prufung elektrotechnischer Industrieprodukte GmbH, Cambridge International Insurance Company Ltd., Cannon Technologies Inc., Centralion Industrial Inc., Chagrin Highlands III Limited, Cobham, Componentes de Iluminacion S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper (China) Co. Ltd., Cooper (Ningbo) Electric Co. Ltd., Cooper B-Line Inc., Cooper Bermuda Investments Ltd., Cooper Bussmann (U.K.) Limited, Cooper Bussmann Hungaria Kft., Cooper Bussmann LLC, Cooper Capri S.A.S., Cooper Colombia Investments Ltd., Cooper Controls (Watford) Limited, Cooper Controls Limited, Cooper Crouse-Hinds (LLC), Cooper Crouse-Hinds (UK) Ltd., Cooper Crouse-Hinds AS, Cooper Crouse-Hinds B.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds GmbH, Cooper Crouse-Hinds LLC, Cooper Crouse-Hinds MTL Inc., Cooper Crouse-Hinds Pte. Ltd., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S.A., Cooper Csa Srl, Cooper Edison (Pingdingshan) Electronic Technologies Co. Ltd., Cooper Electric (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Cooper Electrical Australia Pty. Limited, Cooper Electrical International LLC, Cooper Electronic Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cooper Enterprises LLC, Cooper Finance (Canada) L.P., Cooper Finance Group Ltd., Cooper Finance USA Inc., Cooper Germany Holdings GmbH, Cooper India Private Limited, Cooper Industrials, Cooper Industries (Canada) Inc., Cooper Industries (Electrical) Inc., Cooper Industries Colombia S.A.S., Cooper Industries FZE, Cooper Industries Finance B.V., Cooper Industries Finanzierungs-GbR, Cooper Industries Global B.V., Cooper Industries Holdings (Canada) Inc., Cooper Industries Holdings GmbH, Cooper Industries International LLC, Cooper Industries Japan K.K., Cooper Industries LLC, Cooper Industries Malaysia SDN BHD, Cooper Industries Middle East LLC, Cooper Industries Poland LLC, Cooper Industries Romania SRL, Cooper Industries Russia LLC, Cooper Industries Trading Limited, Cooper Industries UK Subco Limited, Cooper Industries Unlimited Company, Cooper Industries Vietnam LLC, Cooper Interconnect, Cooper International Holdings S.a.r.l., Cooper Investment Group Ltd., Cooper Investment Group S a.r.l., Cooper Investments Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Cooper Korea Ltd., Cooper Lighting LLC, Cooper Lighting de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Menvier France SARL, Cooper Mexico Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Netherlands Investments Ltd., Cooper Notification Inc., Cooper Offshore Holdings S.a.r.l., Cooper Power Systems LLC, Cooper Power Systems do Brasil Ltda., Cooper Pretronica Lda., Cooper Safety B.V., Cooper Securite S.A.S., Cooper Security Limited, Cooper Shanghai Power Capacitor Co. Ltd., Cooper Switzerland Investments Ltd., Cooper Technologies Company, Cooper Univel S.A., Cooper Wheelock Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Wiring Devices de Mexico S.A de C.V., Cooper Xi'an Fusegear Co. Ltd., Cooper Yuhua (Changzhou) Electric Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Copperlogic, Cutler-Hammer Electrical Company, Cutler-Hammer Industries Ltd., Cutler-Hammer SRL, Cyme International T & D Inc., D.P. Eaton Electric, Digital Lighting (Dong Guan) Co. Ltd., Digital Lighting Co. Limited, Digital Lighting Holdings Limited, Dongguan Cooper Electronics Co. Ltd., Dongguan Fu Li An Electronics Co. Ltd., Dongguan Wiring Devices Electronics Co. Ltd., E. Begerow, E.A. Pedersen Co., EIC Holding GP I, EIC Holding GP II, EIC Holding GP III, EIC Holding GP IV, EIC Holding I LLC, EIC Holding II LLC, EIC Holding III LLC, EIC Holding IV LLC, EIC Holding V LLC, EIC Holding VI LLC, ETN Asia International Limited, ETN Holding 1 Limited, ETN Holding 2 Limited, ETN Holding 3 Limited, EX Innovations Limited, Eaton (China) Investments Co. Ltd., Eaton Aeroquip, Eaton Aerospace LLC, Eaton Ann Arbor LLC, Eaton Asia Investments Corporation, Eaton Automation G.m.b.H, Eaton Automation Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Automotive Components Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Automotive Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Automotive Systems Spolka z.o.o., Eaton B.V., Eaton C.V., Eaton CHB LLC, Eaton Capital Unlimited Co., Eaton Controls (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Controls (UK) Limited, Eaton Controls S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Corporation, Eaton ETN Offshore Company, Eaton ETN Offshore II Company, Eaton Electric, Eaton Electric & Engineering Services Limited, Eaton Electric (Japan) Ltd., Eaton Electric (South Africa) Pty Ltd., Eaton Electric (Thailand) Ltd., Eaton Electric AS, Eaton Electric ApS, Eaton Electric Company Ltd., Eaton Electric G.m.b.H., Eaton Electric Holdings LLC, Eaton Electric Limited, Eaton Electric Manufacturing Middle East LLC, Eaton Electric S.I.A., Eaton Electric S.a.r.l., Eaton Electric S.r.l., Eaton Electric SPRL, Eaton Electric Sales Ltd., Eaton Electric Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Electric d.o.o., Eaton Electric s.r.o., Eaton Electric s.r.o. (Slovak Republic), Eaton Electrical (Zhongshan) Co. Ltd., Eaton Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd., Eaton Electrical IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Electrical Ltd., Eaton Electrical Products Limited, Eaton Electrical S.A., Eaton Electrical S.A. (Venezuela), Eaton Electrical Systems Limited, Eaton Electro Productie S.r.l., Eaton Elektrik Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Eaton Elektrotechnika s.r.o., Eaton Energy Solutions Inc., Eaton Enterprises (Hungary) Kft., Eaton Enterprises Limited, Eaton Enterprises S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton FZE, Eaton Filtration, Eaton Filtration (Denmark) ApS, Eaton Filtration (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Filtration (Poland) Sp. z.o.o., Eaton Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Filtration BVBA, Eaton Finance (Ireland) Limited, Eaton Finance S.a.r.l., Eaton Fluid Power (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Fluid Power Limited, Eaton Fluid Power S.r.l., Eaton France Holding S.A.S., Eaton Germany G.m.b.H., Eaton GmbH & Co. KG, Eaton Holding (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Holding (UK) II Limited, Eaton Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding I B.V., Eaton Holding I Limited, Eaton Holding II LLC, Eaton Holding II Limited, Eaton Holding II S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding III B.V., Eaton Holding III Limited, Eaton Holding III S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding IV S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding IX S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding International LLC, Eaton Holding LLC, Eaton Holding Limited, Eaton Holding S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding SE & Co. KG, Eaton Holding SRL, Eaton Holding V B.V., Eaton Holding V S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding VI B.V., Eaton Holding VI S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding VII B.V., Eaton Holding VIII S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding X S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding XII B.V./S.a.r.l., Eaton Holec AB, Eaton Holec OY, Eaton Hydraulics (Luzhou) Co. Ltd., Eaton Hydraulics (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., Eaton Hydraulics (Proprietary) Limited, Eaton Hydraulics LLC, Eaton Hydraulics Systems (Jining) Co. Ltd., Eaton I Spolka z.o.o., Eaton II LP, Eaton III LP, Eaton IV LP, Eaton India Innovation Center LLP, Eaton Industrial Clutches and Brakes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industrial Corporation, Eaton Industrial IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Industrial Systems Private Limited, Eaton Industries (Argentina) S.A., Eaton Industries (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries (Belgium) BVBA, Eaton Industries (Canada) Company, Eaton Industries (Chile) S.p.A., Eaton Industries (Colombia) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Egypt) LLC, Eaton Industries (England) Limited, Eaton Industries (France) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Ireland) Ltimited, Eaton Industries (Israel) Ltd., Eaton Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Industries (Japan) Ltd., Eaton Industries (Jining) Co. Ltd, Eaton Industries (Korea) Limited, Eaton Industries (Luxembourg) B.V./S.a.r.l., Eaton Industries (Morocco) LLC, Eaton Industries (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Industries (Philippines) LLC, Eaton Industries (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industries (Spain) S.L., Eaton Industries (Thailand) Ltd., Eaton Industries (U.K.) Limited, Eaton Industries (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industries Company, Eaton Industries EOOD, Eaton Industries G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holdings Ltd., Eaton Industries II G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries KFT, Eaton Industries LP, Eaton Industries Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Panama S.A., Eaton Industries Pte. Ltd., Eaton Industries Pty. Ltd., Eaton Industries S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Industries SAC, Eaton Industries Sdn. Bhd., Eaton Industries s.r.o., Eaton International B.V., Eaton International Corporation, Eaton International Industries Nigeria Limited, Eaton Japan Co. Ltd., Eaton LLC, Eaton LP, Eaton Leasing Corporation, Eaton Ltda., Eaton MEDC Limited, Eaton Madeira SGPS Lda., Eaton Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing II G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing III G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing LP, Eaton Middle East LLC, Eaton Moeller B.V., Eaton Moeller S.a.r.l., Eaton Phoenixtec MMPL Co. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality AB, Eaton Power Quality Limited, Eaton Power Quality OY (Finland), Eaton Power Quality Private Limited, Eaton Power Quality S.A.S., Eaton Power Solution Ltda., Eaton Production International G.m.b.H., Eaton Protection Systems IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton S.A.S., Eaton S.r.l., Eaton SAMC (Shanghai) Aircraft Conveyance System, Eaton SE, Eaton Safety IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Safety Limited, Eaton Senstar Automotive Fluid Connector (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Services S.a.r.l., Eaton Solutions S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Switzerland Holding I GmbH, Eaton Switzerland Holding II GmbH, Eaton Technologies (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Technologies G.m.b.H., Eaton Technologies IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Technologies Private Limited, Eaton Technologies S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Technologies S.A., Eaton Trading Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components (Proprietary) Ltd., Eaton Truck Components S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Truck and Bus Components (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton US Holdings Inc., Eaton Worldwide LLC, Eaton-Powerware, Electromanufacturas S de R.L. de C.V., Electrum Group Ltd., Elpro Technologies Pty. Limited, Ephesus Lighting, Ephesus Lighting Inc., FHF Bergbautechnik GmbH & Co. KG, FHF Funke+Huster Fernsig GmbH, FHF New World GmbH, Fast Eaton (Xi'an) Drivetrain Company Ltd., Fifth Light Technology Ltd., Funke+Huster (Tianjin) Electronics Co. Ltd., Funke+Huster GmbH, GeCma Components electronic GmbH, Georgetown Financial Services Ltd., Gitiesse Asia Pte. Ltd., Gitiesse S.r.l., Green Holding Company, Green Motion, Guangzhou Nittan Valve Co. Ltd., Hein Moeller Stiftung G.m.b.H., Hernis Scan System do Brasil Comercio E Servicos LTDA, Hernis Scan Systems - Asia Pte. Ltd., Hernis Scan Systems A/S, IE Power, Illumination Management Solutions Inc., Iluminacion Cooper de las Californias S de R.L. de C.V., Innovative Switchgear Solutions Inc, Institute for International Product Safety G.m.b.H., Integrated Hydraulics, Integrated Partial Discharge Diagnostics, Intelligent Switchgear Organization LLC, Internormen Filters Private Limited, Internormen Technology, Jeil Hydraulics, Kaicheng Funke+Huster (Tangshan) Mining Electrical Co. Ltd., Lian Zheng Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., MP Group SAS, MTL Instruments (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, MTL Instruments B.V., MTL Instruments GmbH, MTL Instruments LLC, MTL Instruments Private Limited, MTL Instruments SARL, MTL Italia Srl, MTL Partners II Inc., MTL Partners Inc., Marina Power and Lighting, Martek Power F SAS, Martek Power GmbH, Martek Power Limited, Martek Power Limited (UK), Martek Power S.A. de C.V., Martek Power SA, McGraw-Edison Development Corporation, Measurement Technology Limited, Menvier Overseas Holdings Limited, Micro Innovation Holding, Moeller Electric (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Moeller Electric Ltda., Moeller Electrical Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Moeller Holding Gmbh & Co. KG, Moeller Industria de electro-electronicos do Amazonas Ltda., Morestana, Nittan BVI Co. Ltd., Nittan Euro Tech Spolka z o.o., Nittan Global Tech Co. Ltd., Nittan Valve Co. Ltd., Norex AS, Ocean Technical Systems Limited, Oxalis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Oxalis Group, Oxalis Group Limited, PKL LLC, PT. Eaton Industries, PT. Fluid Sciences Batam, PerkinElmer - aerospace division, Phoenixtec Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Phoenixtec International Corp., Phoenixtec Power, Pigozzi, Polaron Components Limited, Polimer Hortum Teknolojileri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi Ve Pazarlama, Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S., Power Distribution, Pringle Electrical Manufacturing, Productos Eaton Livia S.L., Pulizzi Engineering, RTE Far East Corporation, RTK Instruments Limited, Riseson International Limited, Rizhao Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Rolec Comercial e Industrial, SOURIAU, Santak Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Santak Electronics Company Limited, Saturn Insurance Company Ltd., Scantronic Benelux B.V., Schreder-Hazemeyer, Scoremax Limited, Sefelec GmbH, Sefelec SAS, Semelec SAS, Senyuan International Holdings Limited, Senyuan International Investments Limited, Shinhwa Precision Co. Ltd., Shinhwa Takahashi Precision Co. Ltd., Silver Light International Limited, Silver Victory Hong Kong Limited, Standard Automation & Control LP, Sure Power Inc., TGM Automotiva, TT (Ireland) Acquisition Limited, Tai Ah Electrical Ltd., Taiwan Nittan Industrial Co. Ltd., Telkom Kenya, The MTL Instruments Group Limited, The Oxalis Protection Technology India Private Limited, Tractech, Tractech (Ireland) Limited, Tractech Industries (Ireland) Limted, Tripp Lite, Turlock B.V., Tuthill Coupling Group, U.S. Engine Valve Company, UPE Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Ultronics, Ultronics Nordic Sales AB, Ulusoy, Vickers International Inc., Vickers Systems Limited, Viking Electronics Inc., WPI-Boston Division Inc., Winner Hydraulics Ltd., Wireless Power and Communications AS, Wright Line, Wright Line Holding Inc., Wright Line LLC, and Zhenjiang Daqo Eaton Electrical Systems Co. Ltd.. The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA. Capital One Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 1.60%. Capital One Financial has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of Capital One Financial is 8.96%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, Capital One Financial will have a dividend payout ratio of 12.49% next year. This indicates that Capital One Financial will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View Capital One Financial's dividend history. 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 contac[email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T Read More 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. VanEck China Bond ETF's stock was trading at $22.48 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, CBON shares have increased by 9.9% and is now trading at $24.70. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Automax Motors Ltd. does not have significant operations. Previously, it was engaged in offering domain monetization and mobile digital advertising services to advertisers, advertising agencies, app developers, and domain owners. The company was formerly known as Matomy Media Group Ltd and changed its name to Automax Motors Ltd. in April 2021. Automax Motors Ltd. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of HP: 3Com, 3PAR, ABB CADE, AOME Holdings Ltd., Alpha Holding One B.V., Alpha Holding Two B.V., Anatolus Holding B.V., Antila Holding B.V., Apogee, Apogee Corp, Apollo Computer, AppIQ, Applied Optoelectronic Tech, Aptitude Management Consulting W.L.L., Aquarius Holding S.C.A., ArcSight, Arteis, Artivision Technologies, Aruba Networks, Atos Origin, Atos Origin Middle East group, Aurasma Limited, Autonomy Corporation, Avantek, BT & D Technologies, Bitfone Corporation, Bluestone Software, Boonton Radio, Bristol Technology Inc., Bromium, CEC Europe Service Management, CGNZ, CaLan, Caleum Holding B.V., Callisto Holding B.V., Colorado Memory Systems, Colubris Networks, Colubris Networks, Columba Holding B.V., Compaq Cayman Holdings Company, Compaq Cayman Holdings General Partnership II, Compaq Cayman Islands Vision Company, Compaq Information Technologies, Compaq Information Technologies LLC, Computer Insurance Company, Computing and Printing Global Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Computing and Printing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Computing and Printing Professional Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Consera Software, ConteXtream Inc, Convex Computer, Crater Holding B.V., David Vision Systems GmbH, Dazel, Division, Dorado Holding B.V., EDS (Electronic Data Systems), EEsof, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Elara Holding B.V., ElseWare, Eon Systems, Eucalyptus Systems, Eunomia Holding B.V., ExcellerateHRO, Exstream Software, Extreme Logic, F&M Scientific Corporation, F.L. Moseley Company, Flame Holding B.V., Fortify Software, Four Pi Systems, Gram Global Operations Limited, Gram Inc., HP Austria GmbH, HP Belgium BVBA, HP Bermuda Holding One L.P., HP Bilgisayar ve Bask Teknolojileri Limited Sirketi, HP Bilgisayar ve Bask Teknolojileri Limited Sirketi Ankara Subesi, HP Brasil Industria e Comercio de Equipamentos Eletronicos Ltda, HP Brasil Industria e Comercio de Equipamentos Eletronicos Ltda.Branch 01 (Tambore), HP Brasil Industria e Comercio de Equipamentos Eletronicos Ltda.Branch 2 (Sorocaba), HP Brasil Industria e Comercio de Equipamentos Eletronicos Ltda.Branch 3 (Porto Alegre), HP Canada Co., HP China Holding B.V., HP Colombia SAS, HP Computing and Printing Middle East FZ-LLC, HP Computing and Printing Nigeria Ltd, HP Computing and Printing Systems India Private Limited, HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. (Beograd), HP Computing and Printing d.o.o. (Zagreb), HP Deutschland GmbH, HP Deutschland Holding GmbH, HP Europe B.V. Regional Dubai Branch, HP Europe BV Amsterdam Meyrin Branch, HP Finland Oy, HP France Holding SAS, HP France SAS, HP France SAS Bahrain Branch, HP Global Trading B.V., HP Global Trading B.V. Kazakhstan Branch, HP Hewlett Packard Group LLC, HP Holdgate Co., HP Inc (Thailand) Ltd., HP Inc AP Hong Kong Limited, HP Inc Argentina S.R.L., HP Inc Bulgaria EOOD, HP Inc Chile Comercial Limitada, HP Inc Costa Rica Limitada, HP Inc Czech Republic s.r.o., HP Inc Danmark ApS, HP Inc Gulf, HP Inc Hong Kong Limited, HP Inc Magyarorszag Kft., HP Inc Polska sp. z o.o., HP Inc Romania SRL, HP Inc Slovakia s.r.o., HP Inc Tunisie SARL, HP Inc UK Holding Limited, HP Inc UK Limited, HP Inc. Peru SRL, HP Information Technology R & D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HP International Sarl, HP International Sarl (Puerto Rico Branch) LLC, HP International Trading B.V., HP International Trading B.V. (Puerto Rico Branch) LLC, HP Italy Holding S.r.l., HP Italy S.r.l., HP Japan Inc., HP Korea Inc., HP Luxembourg S.C.A., HP Nederland B.V., HP New Zealand, HP Norge AS, HP PPS Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., HP PPS Australia Pty Ltd, HP PPS Costa Rica Limitada, HP PPS India Operations Private Limited, HP PPS Israel Ltd, HP PPS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., HP PPS Maroc SARL, HP PPS Multimedia Sdn. Bhd., HP PPS Philippines Inc., HP PPS Sales Sdn. Bhd., HP PPS Services India Private Limited, HP PPS Singapore (Sales) Pte. Ltd., HP PPS Sverige AB, HP Pakistan (Private) Limited, HP Panama S. de R.L., HP Printing and Computing Solutions S.L.U., HP Printing and Personal Systems Hellas EPE, HP Production Company Limited, HP Puerto Rico LLC, HP Schweiz GmbH, HP Solutions Creation and Development Services S.L.U., HP South Africa Proprietary Limited, HP Taiwan Information Technology Ltd., HP Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., HP Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. Chengdu Branch, HP Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. Guangzhou Branch, HP Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. Nanjing Branch, HP Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. Shanghai Branch, HP Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HP Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, HP Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Dalian Branch, HP Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Zhangjiang Branch, HP WebOS LLC, HP-PPS Ecuador Cia. Ltda, HPCP-Computing and Printing Portugal Unipessoal Lda., HPI Bermuda Holdings LLC, HPI Brazil Holdings LLC, HPI CCHGPII LLC, HPI CCHGPII Sub LLC, HPI Federal LLC, HPI J1 Holdings LLC, HPI J2 Holdings LLC, HPI Luxembourg LLC, HPQ Holdings LLC, Hadar Holding B.V., Handspring Corporation, Heartstream, Hewlett Packard Distribution Center Panama S. de R.L, Hewlett-Packard (Chongqing) Co. Ltd, Hewlett-Packard (Chongqing) Manufacturing Export Procurement and Settlement Co. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard (Japan NK) Holdings C.V., Hewlett-Packard Angola Ltda., Hewlett-Packard Arabia LLC, Hewlett-Packard Cambridge B.V., Hewlett-Packard Company Archives LLC, Hewlett-Packard Copenhagen B.V., Hewlett-Packard Danube B.V., Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P., Hewlett-Packard Enterprises LLC, Hewlett-Packard Europe BVAbu Dhabi Branch, Hewlett-Packard G.K., Hewlett-Packard Global Holdings B.V., Hewlett-Packard Global Investments B.V., Hewlett-Packard India Sales Private Limited, Hewlett-Packard Indigo B.V., Hewlett-Packard Indigo Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing Solutions Europe BVBA, Hewlett-Packard International Pte Ltd, Hewlett-Packard International Pte Ltd Taiwan Branch, Hewlett-Packard Ireland (Holdings) Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Ireland 1 Limited, Hewlett-Packard Ireland Limited, Hewlett-Packard KSA Ltd, Hewlett-Packard KSA Ltd. Qatar Branch, Hewlett-Packard Lisbon B.V., Hewlett-Packard MENA FZ-LLC, Hewlett-Packard MENA FZ-LLC Libya Branch, Hewlett-Packard Malaysia Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd., Hewlett-Packard Mercator B.V., Hewlett-Packard Munich B.V., Hewlett-Packard Products B.V., Hewlett-Packard Products C.V., Hewlett-Packard Products CV 1 LLC, Hewlett-Packard Products CV 2 LLC, Hewlett-Packard Services Saudi Arabia Company, Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Private) Limited, Hewlett-Packard Sunnyvale B.V., Hewlett-Packard Vietnam Ltd., Hewlett-Packard West Indies Limited, Hewlett-Packard World Trade LLC, Hiflex Software, HyperX, IBRIX, IndiGo, Indigo America Inc., Kale Holding B.V., Kale Holding B.V. (Puerto Rico Branch) LLC, Knightsbridge Solutions, Lefthand Networks, Limited Liability Company HP Inc, Logoworks, Lyra Holding B.V., MacDermid ColorSpan, ManageOne, Melodeo, Mensa Holding B.V., Mercury Interactive, Metrix Network Systems, NUR Macroprinters, Neoware, Nihon HP Nin-I Kumiai, Novadigm, NuView ManageX, Nur do Brasil Ltda, OOO "Hewlett-Packard RUS", Opelin, Opelin, Open Skies, Opsware, Opsware, Optimization Systems, Optotech, OuterBay Technologies, OuterBay Technologies, PERSIST Technologies, PFE Investments Ltd., PIXACO, PROLIN, PT Hewlett-Packard Indonesia, Palm, Palm, Palm Asia Pacific Limited Taiwan Branch, Palm Comercio de Aparelhos Eletronicos Ltda., Palm Europe Limited, Palm Global Operations Limited, Palm Inc., Palm Ireland Investment, Palm Latin America Inc., Palm South America LLC, Palm Trademark Holding Company LLC, Pearl Holding Cooperatief U.A., Peregrine Systems, Perseus Holding B.V., Phoenix Holding L.P., PipeBeach, Polaris Holding One L.P., Polaris Holding Two L.P., PolyServe, Propus Holding B.V., Qosnetics, Quartz Holding Co, RLX Technologies, Regor Holding B.V., SPI Dynamics, Samsung Printing Solutions, Scitex, Scitex Vision, Scope Communications, Scorpius Holding B.V., Security Force Software, Shoreline Investment Management Company, Shunra Software, Shunra Software, Silverwire Holding, Snapfish, StorageApps, Stratavia, Synstar, Tabblo, Talking Blocks, Tall Tree Insurance Company, Techink International Pte. Ltd., Technology Partners, Telegra, The Technology Partners, Tourmaline Holding B.V., Tower Software, Tower Software Engineering Pty Ltd, Transoft Networks, Trellis Software & Controls, Triaton, Trinagy, TruLogica, Trustgenix, Turquoise Holding L.P., VeriFone, Verifone, Versatest, Vertica Systems, Vesta Holding B.V., Vital Technology Pte Ltd, Voltage Security, VoodooPC, and ZAO Hewlett-Packard A.O.. Rayonier Advanced Materials, Inc. engages in the production and sale of cellulose products, which is a natural polymer commonly used in the production of cell phone and computer screens, filters, and pharmaceuticals. It operates through the following segments: High Purity Cellulose, Forest Products, Paperboard, Pulp and Newsprint, and Corporate. The High Purity Cellulose segment manufacture and market high purity cellulose, which is sold as either cellulose specialties or commodity products in U.S., Canda, and France. The Forest Products segment manufacture and market construction-grade lumber in North America through seven sawmills located in Canada. The Paperboard segment comprises paperboard products. The Pulp and Newsprint segment involves in the production of pulp and newsprint in Canada. The Corporate segment consists senior management, accounting, information systems, human resources, treasury, tax, and legal administrative functions that provide support services to the operating business units. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Laboratory Co. of America: 1957285 Ontario Inc. dba Quality Underwriting Services, 2089729 Ontario Inc., 2248848 Ontario Inc., 3065619 Nova Scotia Company, 3257959 Nova Scotia Company, 896988 Ontario Limited, 9279-3280 Quebec Inc., Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories Inc., Alpha Medical Laboratory LLC, Assets of Pathology Inc, Beacon LBS IPA Inc., Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions Inc., CannAmm GP Inc., CannAmm Limited Partnership, Center for Disease Detection International, Center for Disease Detection LLC, Centrex Clinical Laboratories Inc., Chiltern, Clearstone Central Laboratories (U.S.) Inc., Clearstone Holdings (International) Ltd., Clipper Holdings Inc., Colorado Coagulation Consultants Inc., Colorado Laboratory Services LLC, Correlagen Diagnostics Inc., Covance Inc., Curalab Inc., Cytometry Associates Inc., Czura Thornton (Hong Kong) Limited, DCL Acquisition Inc., DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (DE), DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (FL), DCL Sub LLC, DIANON Systems Inc., DL Holdings Limited Partnership, Decision Diagnostics L.L.C. (aka DaVinici/Medicorp LLC), Diagnostic Services Inc., DynaLifeDX, Dynacare - Gamma Laboratory Partnership, Dynacare Company, Dynacare G.P. Inc., Dynacare Holdco LLC, Dynacare Laboratories Inc., Dynacare Laboratories Limited Partnership, Dynacare Northwest Inc., Dynacare Realty Inc., DynalifeDX Infrastructure Inc., Endocrine Sciences Inc., Esoterix Genetic Counseling LLC, Esoterix Genetic Laboratories LLC, Esoterix Inc., Execmed Health Services Inc., FirstSource Laboratory Solutions Inc., GDML Medical Laboratories Inc, Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratories GP Inc., Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratory Limited Partnership, HHLA Lab-In-An-Envelope LLC, Health Trans Services Inc., Home Healthcare Laboratory of America LLC, IDX Pathology Inc., Impact Genetics Corp, Impact Genetics Inc., Kaleida LabCorp LLC, Lab Delivery Service of New York City Inc., LabCorp BVBA, LabCorp Belgium Holdings Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Canada) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (China) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Singapore) Pte., LabCorp Development Company, LabCorp Employer Services Inc., LabCorp Health System Diagnostics LLC, LabCorp Indiana Inc., LabCorp Japan G.K., LabCorp Limited, LabCorp Michigan Inc., LabCorp Nebraska Inc., LabCorp Neon Ltd., LabCorp Neon Switzerland S.a.r.l., LabCorp Specialty Testing Billing Service Inc., LabCorp Specialty Testing Group Inc., LabCorp Staffing Solutions Inc., LabCorp Tennessee LLC, LabCorp UK Holdings Ltd., LabWest Inc., Laboratoire Bio-Medic Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America, Lifecodes Corporation, LipoScience Inc., Litholink Corporation, MEDTOX Scientific Inc., MNG Laboratories, Medical Neurogenitics LLC, Medtox Diagnostics Inc., Medtox Laboratories Inc., Monogram Biosciences Inc., Monogram Biosciences UK Limited, Myriad Autoimmunes Vectra Testing Business, NWT Inc., National Genetics Institute, New Brighton Business Center LLC, New Imaging Diagnostics LLC, New Molecular Diagnostics Ventures LLC, Orchid Cellmark Ltd., Orchid Cellmark ULC, PA Labs Inc., Path Lab Incorporated, Pathology Associates Medical Lab LLC, Pee Dee Pathology Associates Inc., Persys Technology Inc., Pixel by LabCorp, Princeton Diagnostic Laboratories of America Inc., Protedyne Corporation, ReliaGene Technologies Inc., SW/DL LLC, Saint Josephs-PAML LLC, Sequenom Biosciences (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine LLC, Sequenom Inc, Sequenom Inc., Southern Idaho Regional Laboratory, Tandem Labs Inc., The LabCorp Charitable Foundation, Tri-Cities Laboratory LLC, Viro-Med Laboratories Inc., Visiun, and Yakima Medical Arts Inc.. DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) An adoption fundraiser has brought a Kokomo couple to serve a widowed woman in Delphi Saturday morning. The fundraiser was created to bridge the gap between orphans, widows and adoptive families. It's been a long journey for Mariah and Adam Ramer, a couple whos chosen to adopt after struggling with infertility issues. We've been married four years, we've been together eight, we met in undergrad, said Adam Ramer. As we kind of began this journey it was a realization to us that we were struggling with fertility problems. These problems left them with a decision to make. Faced with the dilemma and choice of whether or not to pursue fertility treatments or see this as some kind of design of some sort bigger than ourselves, we chose the latter and chose adoption," said Adam. The couple is planning to adopt a baby from South Korea with Stickler Syndrome. They say choosing to adopt was easy. Getting the money to pay for it was where the next challenge began so the couple turned to fundraising. I was looking up ways to fund our adoption because it's a really scary number, said Mariah. $45,000 to be exact. They stumbled on an organization called Both Hands. Both Hands is one hand to help a widow and one for the orphan, said Mariah. It actually comes from the bible to help the least of these. Both Hands mission is to serve orphans, widows and adoptive families and it's done is through service. Adoptive families host a service day for a widow then they send letters to friends, family and community members to monetarily sponsor their day of service. There's plenty of places that are just saying hey if you raise this money, we'll match it or a go fund me page and we just couldn't bring ourselves to just ask for something, said Mariah. We wanted to give back also." They needed to find a widow that needed some help around the home and so they chose me," said Carol Stewart. Carol of Delphi is a friend of Adam's mother. She's been a widow and a single mother of three for nearly 14 years. She lost her husband to lung cancer. "It's been 12 years ago since really anything's been done around here and when you're single and you know your kids are grown and out of the home and everything like that, it's hard to do things," said Carol. The couple, as well as a team of friends and family, have been volunteering their day working on projects in and outside the home. Carol said this is an unforgettable experience. "I'm overwhelmed. I'm just thankful. I'm happy that there are good people out there," said Carol. They have $16,500 more to raise. You can help them reach their goal here. ADL Gold Price Predictions As weve been suggesting for months, expect continued moderate price weakness in Gold and Silver through most of April 2019 and possibly into early May 2019 before a strong price rally will setup and push Gold prices well above $1500 before the end of 2019. Our Adaptive Dynamic Learning predictive price modeling system has been calling for this move for many months (see the chart below). This advanced predictive price modeling system is suggesting that in May/June of 2019, we will likely see a bigger price rally unfold in Gold and Silver which may be paired with some type of geopolitical or global economic event. See this article for more details. Gold rallies on fear (in most cases) and the only reason for Gold to really as our ADL predictive modeling system is suggesting is that some renewed level of fear could enter the global markets. This could be from any type of global crisis event or even a regional crisis event (think Brexit, EU crisis or some other foreign nation crisis). We believe skilled traders should be actively seeking to identify buying opportunities below $1295 in Gold as we only have about 20 days left before our original bottom/base date of April 21, 2019. This Gold Monthly chart, below, highlights the ADL predictive modeling systems expectations as well as the three support levels that we believe all Gold traders should be targeting. Gold is currently within the first target level and an opportunity to buy below $1295 would be an excellent starting position. Further, any additional opportunity to buy below $1250 should be an incredible opportunity if it happens. Lastly, our lowest support level is below $1165. Although unlikely, if Gold retraces to below this level, then please dont miss this opportunity to get into additional long positions. Our ADL predictive price modeling system is suggesting that May & June 2019 will start a bullish price rally in Gold and Silver that should push prices well above $1500 by October/November 2019 possibly much higher. Overall, we believe this could be the beginning of a much bigger upside leg in Precious metals and all traders need to be aware of this future price move. Weve been suggesting this could be the move of a lifetime setting up in the metals because it will likely pair or align with some type of broader global stock market move to the downside. Our opinion is that May/June are dates that all traders should consider developing very protective positions as the markets shake up and Gold begins this incredible run higher. Take a minute to visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com to learn how we help our members find and execute better trades while keeping them aware of market trends, cycles and key insights using our proprietary predictive price modeling utilities. We are certain you will find our research above and beyond anything else youve seen anywhere on the planet. Please consider joining our other hundreds of members in developing better skills and finding incredible opportunities for future success while trading with www.TheTechnicalTraders.com. Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Maintaining Chiles protracted awards honeymoon with international festivals, Jorge Riqeulmes Some Beasts, starring Alfredo Castro and Paulina Garcia, swept Toulouses 35th Films in Progress, a pix-in-post competition which also serves as a traditional launch-pad for selection at the Cannes Festival. Some Beasts won three of the four prizes on offer: Toulouse Films in Progress Prize; the Cine Plus Films in Progress Prize and the Distributors and Exhibitors Prize. Related stories San Sebastian: 'Gloria's' Paulina Garcia to Star in 'Happiness' (EXCLUSIVE) Film Review: 'The Desert Bride' Mactari awarded its Sound Prize to Ceniza negra, from Argentine-Costa Rican Sofia Quiros. Some Beasts stars maybe the two most best-known of Chilean actors: Castro, a Pablo Larrain regular (Tony Manero, Post Mortem, No) seen last year in Alfonso Ruizpalacios Berlin winner Museo; and Garcia, a Berlin best actress winner for Gloria, from Academy Award winning director Sebastian Lelio (A Fantastic Woman), which inspired his 2018 remake, Gloria Bell, with Julianne Moore. Garcia also appeared in Ira Sachs Little Men, and, like Castro, Narcos. A drama-thriller exposing the simmering tensions and secrets of a seemingly ordinary Chilean family and through this Chile at large,Some Beasts sees Alejandro (Castro) and Ana (Garcia) taking their family for a vacation to a remote island in South Chile which Alejandro has determined to buy. But Nicolas, who ferried them from the mainland, disappears, leaving the family trapped in near Antarctic cold, without water. Tempers fray, tensions rise, an old family secret exposes its darkest side, and that of humanity at large. Produced by Riquelmes Santiago de Chile-based Laberinto Film label, the films title echoes Chilean Nobel Peace Prize winner Pablo Nerudas famed poem in his Canto General, depicting a world of animals the iguana, puma, anaconda ruled by non-human instinct. Story continues The family is a reflection of society. Chile will be there from the way teens now relate on social media to its class-system and double standards, Riquelme has said. Horror and the thriller genre will mix with pure reality because the greatest perversions are in human beings, he added. Backed by some of Europes most prestigious institutions it won a Berlin World Cinema Fund award, was selected for Cannes Critics Weeks 2017 Next Step workshop Ceniza Negra turns on the attempts of a 11-year-old girl living on an island off Costa Rica to keep her family together as her aged grandfather ails. Costa Ricas Sputnik lead-produces in co-production with Argentinas Murillo Cine, Frances Promenade Films and Chiles La Post Producciones. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago is a regular occurrence but Mike Tyson? The president enjoyed yet another weekend at his property in Palm Beach, Florida. According to reports, Trump held a private fundraiser on Saturday night. As for The Champ, he was spotted earlier in the day posing poolside with a group of fans. One of the [] Mike Tyson and Donald Trump Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago is a regular occurrence but Mike Tyson? The president enjoyed yet another weekend at his property in Palm Beach, Florida. According to reports, Trump held a private fundraiser on Saturday night. As for The Champ, he was spotted earlier in the day posing poolside with a group of fans. One of the posted the photo and captioned it, Hanging out with one of the coolest guys ever!!! Instagram Photo Tyson has supported Trump for years and in a 2016 interview with The Daily Beast, Tyson said of Trump, Were the same guy thrust for power, a drive for power. Whatever field were in, we need power in that field. Thats just who we are. Going back even further, Tyson told Huff Post Live in 2015 that Trump should be president. The post Donald Trump Is at Mar-a-Lago and Apparently So Is Mike Tyson appeared first on The Blast. My new book, Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs, tells the tales behind every officially released studio recording of Bruce Springsteens career so far. In addition to my years of Springsteen reporting, including five interviews with the man himself, the book draws on over 60 hours of brand-new interviews with musicians, producers, and other collaborators from throughout his career (including Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Soozie Tyrell, Tom Morello, David Sancious and many, many more). Im proud to debut this exclusive excerpt here at Rolling Stone, where Ive been on staff since 2004. Every song gets its own entry in the book; the one youre about to read chronicles the making of the opening track of Born to Run. (Weve also posted excerpts of the Born in the U.S.A and Badlands entries.) A funny thing happened the first time Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played an embryonic version of Thunder Road, back in February of 1975: the crowd cheered the delicate opening riff as if theyd known the song for years. It was an encouraging sign, but what Springsteen performed that night was something of a mess, with a bunch of undercooked lyrics (baby, you know thats just jive), and an ill-placed, vaguely Rosalita-like, Latin-tinged, double-time sax break. The eventual chorus melody was in there, albeit played by Clarence Clemons sax; the phrase thunder road, which Springsteen would pinch from an old movie poster, was absent. In all, it was emblematic of a songwriter caught between styles and eras, trying to find the right exit on his musical turnpike. (Its widely assumed that this early version was called Wings for Wheels also the name of Thom Zimnys excellent 2005 Born to Run documentary but Max Weinberg says that was actually a working title for the entire album, and that they referred to the song as Angelina or Angelinas Dress Sways.) Story continues Related stories Exclusive: How Bruce Springsteen Created 'Badlands' Growing Up 'Game of Thrones' Springsteen had a new band, but wasnt quite sure what to do with it. In the summer of 1974, after finishing just one song, Born to Run, for Springsteens third album, David Sancious and drummer Ernest Boom Carter (who had just joined in February as Vini Lopezs replacement), bolted the E Street Band together to start a jazz-fusion act, Tone. Appel was understandably horrified, especially given Sancious considerable influence on the Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. Springsteen was stoic; hed figure it out. Enter the new guys. Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan would stick around for 40 years and counting, forming the core of what would turn out to be the defining version of the E Street Band. Like Danny Federici, Bittan grew up playing the accordion, but he was a more disciplined and intellectual musician. He absorbed the full breadth of American popular music, from Al Jolson forward, Bittan says. I was playing for 50th anniversary parties when I was 14 years old, because I had a repertoire of all those songs. Weinberg, a native of Newark, New Jersey, played professionally starting at the age of seven, when he first sat in with a wedding band. By the time he auditioned for Springsteen, he was attending Seton Hall University, with thoughts of law school. His heart was in soul music and pre-1967 rock, and he felt like an anomaly, a little out of the time. I never really thought that Id end up playing drums for my whole life, which is really odd, Weinberg says. I love playing the drums, but if I couldnt play them the way that I wanted to, I didnt want to do it. With Springsteen, he saw his chance, dropping out of college to jump on board. Another new figure in Springsteens orbit was Jon Landau, a prominent rock critic who had a past as a record producer, having hopped onto a Detroit-bound plane straight from his college graduation in 1969 to produce the MC5s second album, Back in the U.S.A. In the early spring of 1975, with sessions for his third album stalling, Springsteen invited Landau to the empty warehouse in Neptune, New Jersey where the E Street Band was rehearsing. It would be one of the most important rehearsals of Springsteens career. Jon immediately started making tremendously spot-on musical suggestions, says Weinberg, particularly rhythmically. It was amazing. Within a couple of hours, he had turned the rhythmic thrust of the band away from that kind of charming but scattershot approach that was on the first two records. Very charming, but very busy drumming, certainly not what Jon wanted to hear. Thunder Road, in particular, was fantastic, but it was a little unwieldy, a little unfocused, a little more like a jam piece, Landau told me in 2005. I remember talking with Bruce about a few ideas about how to just reshuffle the deck a little bit, and keep the song building from the very beginning right through the end. As Springsteen adopted Landaus suggested shifts and edits, the song started to take shape, and with it, a new, streamlined, harder-rocking sound for the E Street Band. From there, Jon Landau was on the production team for the third album, beginning a life-long professional relationship. Thunder Road was the worlds introduction to Bittans architectural piano style, enhanced by glockenspiel parts an octave up. Roy had the ability to take the basic parts that Bruce created when he would write the song, Landau told me, and expand on them just the right amount and give them a little more structure, and really wound up anchoring the arrangements on most of that record. Engineer Jimmy Iovine relied heavily on Bittan when he was mixing the album, I always had Roys piano in my hand, he says, And whenever I would get in trouble Id push Roy out. Its the truth he was always doing something interesting. hiatt bruce springsteen book Springsteen wrote nearly all of Born to Run on piano. Thunder Road was just so obviously an opening, due to its intro. Springsteen told me in 2005. There is something about the melody that just suggests new day, it suggests morning.. Thats why that song ended up first on the record, instead of Born to Run. Which wouldve made sense, to put Born to Run first on the album [and we] still put it on the top of the second side. That song was interesting for me, says Bittan, because I created a piano part that moves It was like staircases to me. I would move up to a section, then down. When the chords change, I would sort of step up to it musically and then I would come down from it and move around all different ways. He recalls the instrumental coda as a collaboration with Springsteen. When we got to the end, Bittan says, it seemed like it needed something. So I said, well, what if we do a little instrumental? Id play a little something, and then Bruce would play something, so it kind of came about in a very beautiful way. There were many revisions, including an amusing array of womens names (In addition to Angelina, Anne, Chrissie and Christina all got a ride before Mary won out). The harmonica part in the intro was, at one point, played on sax instead. A handwritten worksheet from the sessions shows Springsteens focus on details like the fill Weinberg plays at the songs pulling here to win climax he wanted to try something a la the Dave Clark Five. Appel, whose relationship with Springsteen began to fray during the making of Born to Run, recalls a moment when the artist and Landau wanted to build Thunder Road more gradually, and replace the electric guitars that come in close to the two-minute-mark with acoustics in Appels telling, he talked them out of it. As it was, Springsteen spent thirteen hours straight overdubbing electric guitar, Iovine recalls. And at some point in 75, Springsteen also recorded an eerie alternate version, a solo acoustic take that feels like a ghostly reflection of the released song, as if its being sung by a heartbroken narrator decades after its events. As Springsteen wrote in his book Songs, Thunder Road offered a proposition : Do you want to take a chance? On us? On life? There was, however, an undercurrent of dread, as there almost always would be going forward. Springsteen was only 24 when he recorded Thunder Road, which makes the line maybe we aint that young anymore all the more striking. The songs were written immediately after the Vietnam War, Springsteen told me in 2005. And you forget, everybody felt like that then. It didnt matter how old you were, everybody experienced a radical change in the image they had of their country and of themselves. The reason was, you were changed. You were going to be a radically different type of American than the generation that immediately preceded you, so that line was just recognizing that fact. The influences of a lot of my heroes from the Sixties and Fifties ended up on that record, but I realized that I was not them. I was someone else. So it wasnt just a mish-mash of previous styles. There was a lot of stuff we loved in it from the music we loved, but there was something else, too quite a sense of dread and uncertainty about the future and who you were, where you were going, where the whole country was going, so that found its way into the record. Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs, by Brian Hiatt, is in stores everywhere. Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Indianapolis Police Search for Missing 8-Month-Old Baby Amid Conflicting Stories From Family FBI and Indianapolis Police Search for 8-Month-Old An 8-month-old baby girl from Indianapolis has been missing for more than a week as police and the FBI widen their search for her amid conflicting stories about what happened to the infant. Amiah Robertson was reported missing on Saturday, two days after her mother told authorities she was last seen, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced on social media. IMPD Missing Person Detectives seeking public assistance locating missing infant https://t.co/3PzG8GxJ1w IMPD (@IMPDnews) March 19, 2019 At first, Amiahs mother, Amber Robertson, didnt think the baby was in danger, saying she believed her ex-boyfriend had dropped her daughter off at her babysitters house on South Holmes Road, local Fox affiliate WXIN reports. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Authorities issued a Silver Alert for the baby on Tuesday, saying they believed Amiah was in extreme danger and may have needed medical attention, but canceled it on Wednesday morning saying it yielded few tips, local station WTHR reports. Later that day, police searched the banks of the White River based on a tip authorities later learned came from the childs mother, WTHR reports. Robertson said her boyfriend was supposed to take Amiah to her babysitters house on Thursday, but never made it there, WTHR reports. Amiah Robertson, 8 months old, of Indianapolis | National Center for Missing and Endangered She said she recalled that her ex-boyfriend saying he hung out at a house near the White River and went to that house on Wednesday to see if her daughter had been there, WTHR reports. When she found some of her daughters belongings at the house near the river, she called police, she told the outlet. All I can do is sit and think of things that my daughter loves, Robertson told WTHR. Story continues The citys police and fire department dive team was dispatched to look for evidence in the river and along the shoreline. They discovered some items that could be related to the case, however, that is not conclusive at this time, IMPD Sgt. Jim Gillespie said, WTHR reports. The FBI confirmed on Wednesday that it is now assisting in the investigation, the Indianapolis Star reports. Amiahs family has told authorities conflicting stories, WTHR and WXIN report. The family initially told investigators Amiah was last seen on Thursday, March 14 and they did not think the girl was at risk. By Tuesday, police had determined that the baby could be in danger, WXIN reports. Amiah is 16 pounds, and she has dark black hair and hazel eyes. She has a birthmark on her shoulder close to her neck, WXIN reports. Anyone with information is urged to contact IMPD at 317.327.3811 (non-emergency), 911, or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.TIPS. Sandra Oh slayed as cohost of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards. Can the same be said about her Saturday Night Live hosting stint? Ohs sketch-comedy debut came a week and a day ahead of the launch of Killing Eve Season 2, a show that has already earned her a Critics Choice, a Golden Globe and a SAG award. And while there was no parody of the aforementioned BBC America drama to be found during this weekends broadcast, Oh had plenty of great showcases and proved herself a total pro. (Dont be surprised if she picks up two trophies at this years Emmys: one for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and the other for Outstanding Guest Actress in Comedy Series.) Related stories SNL: TVLine Readers Rank Every Season 44 Episode (So Far) Kit Harington, Emma Stone to Host SNL in April As good as she was, though, the sketch that will have everyone talking on Sunday morning featured Oh in a supporting role opposite repertory player Chris Redd, who once again portrayed embattled Empire star Jussie Smollett in a meeting with Fox executives. Scroll down for all the highlights BEST: FUTURE SELF Theres no denying it: Tishy definitely got that good goo goo! Oh was an absolute riot as the 47-year-old, Four Loko-fueled girlfriend of Mikey Days future self, whose appeal was definitely up for debate. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjl2pnR_WsI&w=640&h=360] BEST: THE DUEL This digital short featured Oh as the hapless victim of a Victorian-era duel gone horribly wrong. The more excessive the wounds, the funnier the sketch got, as multiple bullets ricocheted and struck the woman whose affection was up for grabs. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjtV2RLrimY&w=640&h=360] snl-jussie-smollett-sketch-sandra-oh-video HONORABLE MENTION: NETWORK MEETING Yes, SNL went there. Redds Smollett (who was first seen in the March 9 Shark Tank sketch) arrived late for a meeting with Lee Daniels in a Make America Great Again hat and alleged that hed been attacked again. The studio audience seemed unsure how to react as Smollett presented a plastic bag full of supposed evidence (including Crest White Strips, three letter Ks and a Teletubbies doll?) and referred to himself as the gay Mike Tyson. The skit was more awkward than it was funny, but it wasnt a total failure, either. (Watch it above.) Story continues HONORABLE MENTION: DISCOVER CARD This Ego Nwodim-led commercial skit which doubled as a parody of the Jordan Peele film Us was far too short to have any lasting impact. As far as SNL parodies go, last seasons A Kanye Place was significantly better. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_mDcUOnBA&w=640&h=360] WORST: KREMLIN MEETING Oh had very little to work with in the role of Kim Jong Uns translator. She appeared opposite Beck Bennetts Vladimir Putin in this dud of a sketch, during which the Russian president tried to convince those in his inner circle that he was still a powerful, scary guy, even after the Mueller report (or rather, a four-page summary of the report) concluded that Trump did not in fact collude with Russia. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhE_mGaSJ-Y&w=640&h=360] WORST: ROOTS OF ROCK Its hard to go wrong when you put Kenan Thompson at the center of a sketch and just let him sing (What Up With That, anyone?). This, however, was a total misfire. Jarvis Filmores relentless encores would have been amusing had his song about electric shoes been the least bit funny, but it wasnt. It was four minutes of Thompson rambling incoherently through a melody with very few actual lyrics. What were your favorite sketches this week? And what missed the mark? Watch all of the highlights above, then grade Ohs Saturday Night Live hosting stint in our poll. Sign up for TVLine's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All hail Queen Sandra Oh. The Killing Eve star has had a hell of a year, between headlining BBC Americas darkly comic spy hit (one of the best shows of 2018, in our estimation), earning an Emmy nomination and winning a Golden Globe, and celebrating her first year of American citizenship. And now, she gets to host Saturday Night Live, only the third Asian woman to host the show in its history. f the hour she headlined is any indicator, the SNL writers room was determined not to embarrass themselves in front of Oh a fear we should all reasonably have in her presence. They showed up big time this week, delivering a mostly-solid slate of sketches lively enough to wake you up after being lulled to slumber by the sonic wallpaper of musical guest Tame Impala. Lets go over some highlights, shall we? Mulling Over Mueller As the country reckons with the (Barr-filtered) results of the Mueller report and where to go from here, SNL did its best to express the same confusion many of us felt after hearing that, of all the crimes Trump likely committed, at least direct collusion with Russia may not be one of them? The cold open, which has long grown into a tiresome carousel of waiting for Kate McKinnons Goblin of the Week while Alec Baldwin mugs and preens as a wholly ineffective Trump, at least took a different structure a three-way interpretation of the Mueller report from the impartial Mueller (Robert De Niro, wearing those terrifying prosthetics) to William Barr (a brusque, naive Aidy Bryant) and Trump (Baldwin, all pursed lips and constipation). If you shoot at the devil, you best not miss, claims Trump; perhaps thats true. A funnier interpretation of events, however, came in a mid-show sketch featuring the Russian reaction to the Barr summary, in which Putin (Beck Bennett) starts to lose some clout because his underlings respected him for apparently having the president under his thumb. Their baffled reactions to the news are matched by the arrival of Kim Jong Un (staff writer Bowen Yang, who really deserves a look for the main cast after this), whos disappointed, to say the least, by Putins apparent lack of control. These sketches may not have been great shakes as a whole, but theyre a decent snapshot of the suffusion of confusion about the collusion illusion. (Sorry.) Story continues And of course, there was Weekend Update, which made room between groaners about dead zebras (Whats black and white and red all over?) for genuinely funny bits like Cecily Strongs always-welcome Jeanine Pirro, whose three-Chardonnays-deep volume pairs nicely with her incredulous pratfalls every time Colin Jost tells her some good news for Trump. Sandra Oh Puts It All Out There As it is with most of her work, Oh absolutely crushed her hosting duties, throwing herself into the mix with the wild energy of a regular cast member. Her opening monologue, delivered in an outstanding suit, recounted the conflicting natures of her Canadian, Asian, and American citizenship. Her attempt to infuse some newly-inducted American bravado into her speech went as well as you could expect: Hi, Im Sandra Oh, and I cry more than anyone youve ever met. Girl, same. Even in the sketches, she got plenty of changes to go crazy take Future Self, in which a dorky teen (Mikey Day) looks in his bedroom mirror to see a cool, confident version of himself (Alex Moffat) ten years from now. Things seem to be going well for him, except for the fact that his girlfriend is a wild, fast-talking 47-year-old woman named Tishi (Oh, dressed like a 90s club girl, or an extra from The Matrix). The secret to their relationship is twofold: shes got that good goo-goo, and she owns Samsung. Not only is Oh deliciously off-the-wall as Tishi, but the sketch smartly plays off the fact that nobody can tell Moffatt and Day apart. Like, ever. And, of course, there was the dated but memorable Favourite send-up The Duel, featuring Oh in classic Victorian dress, continually accidentally torn apart by stray bullets fired by her competing beaus (Pete Davidson and Bennett). Tame Impala Lives Up to Its Name *snores*.. Oh, sorry about that, I nodded off for a second. Anyways, Tame Impala played music. It was fine. Its hard to take a band all that seriously when the frontman breaks out the maracas within the first seconds of their set. To be quite honest, Id have much preferred the musical guest to have been replaced by Kenan Thompsons fictional Fats Domino-like blues musician singing his wild, encore-heavy song Electric Shoes, because that was, as the kids say, a certified bop. Other Highlights Saudi Arabia hacked the phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and appears to be the source of private information about a sexual affair that ended up in the pages of The National Enquirer, according to Gavin de Becker, the veteran security consultant who works for Bezos. In a first-person essay in The Daily Beast on Saturday, de Becker said he and other experts investigated how anyone could get access to Bezos private phone messages to his lover, Lauren Sanchez, after some messages were published in The National Enquirer and others became the subject of an extortion plot by the publication. The answer, he said, was surprising: Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos phone, and gained private information. As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details. Also Read: Meet Gavin de Becker, the Security Expert in Charge of Jeff Bezos' Investigation The reason, he said, was that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was furious at The Washington Posts intensive coverage of the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was cut into pieces at the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. Intelligence reports indicate that MbS was likely implicated in the murder. Bezos owns The Post, along with his day job as CEO of Amazon. De Becker wrote: Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when The Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggis murder. Saudi Arabia denies involvement in the Bezos affair. The National Enquirer got a massive array of texts and photos from Bezos phone revealing his private affair with Sanchez, who was then married to top Hollywood agent and WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell. De Becker notes that although the National Enquirer publisher, American Media Inc. (AMI), spread the story that Sanchezs brother was the source of the photos and texts, it never made sense, citing reporting in the Wall Street Journal: It was the Enquirer who first contacted Michael Sanchez about the affair, not the other way around. Story continues Also Read: Jeff Bezos vs The National Enquirer: A Tale of Journalism and Blackmail The steamy texts and private semi-clad photos were published by the National Enquirer. When parent company American Media Inc (AMI) threatened to publish even more salacious messages, Bezos turned the tables and wrote about the planned extortion, revealing the content of the photos and texts himself. But throughout, many have wondered how a tech mogul with a massive security coterie could have been vulnerable to such a hack. Meanwhile, the Journal has reported that AMI paid Michael Sanchez $200,000 for the private texts. De Becker wrote: We did not reach our conclusions lightly. The inquiry included a broad array of resources: investigative interviews with current and former AMI executives and sources, extensive discussions with top Middle East experts in the intelligence community, leading cyber security experts who have tracked Saudi spyware, discussions with current and former advisers to President Trump, Saudi whistleblowers, people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (also known as MBS), people who work with his close associate Saud al-Qahtani, Saudi dissidents, and other targets of Saudi action, including writer/activist Iyad el-Baghdadi. Experts with whom we consulted confirmed New York Times reports on the Saudi capability to collect vast amounts of previously inaccessible data from smartphones in the air without leaving a traceincluding phone calls, texts, emailsand confirmed that hacking was a key part of the Saudis extensive surveillance efforts that ultimately led to the killing of [Washington Post] journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Sunday, AMI Media refuted de Beckers accusation, saying in a statement obtained by CNNs Brian Stelter: Despite the false and unsubstantiated claims of Mr. de Becker, American Media has, and continues to, refute the unsubstantiated claims that the materials for our report were acquired with the help of anyone other than the single source who first brought them to us. The fact of the matter is, it was Michael Sanchez who tipped the National Enquirer off to the affair on Sept. 10, 2018, and over the course of four months provided all of the materials for our investigation. His continued efforts to discuss and falsely represent our reporting, and his role in it, has waived any course confidentiality. There was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever. Read original story Saudi Arabia Hacked Jeff Bezos Phone Not AMI, Says Bezos Security Chief At TheWrap Boyfriend of College Student Killed After Getting in Wrong Car Says He Was Tracking Her Ride Boyfriend of Murdered Student Was Tracking Her Car Ride A suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of Samantha Josephson, a South Carolina college student who authorities say mistakenly entered the suspects vehicle believing it was an Uber. Nathaniel Rowland, 24, was charged with murder and kidnapping after an officer spotted his black Chevy Impala, which matched the vehicle Josephson was seen entering on video footage, and conducted a traffic stop, Chief William Holbrook of the Columbia Police Department said at a press conference on Saturday. Josephson, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina senior from New Jersey, was last seen by friends at a bar in Columbia early Friday morning. Her roommates reported her missing around 1:30 a.m., and Holbrook said her body was found by hunters in rural Clarendon County around the same time. Nathaniel Rowland | Columbia Police Dept. A body had been found by a couple people hunting in a field that was described by the sheriffs office to us as a wooded area in a very rural part of the county, about 40 feet off a dirt road, where it would be very difficult to get to unless you knew how to get there, he said. Meanwhile, a K-9 officer on the lookout for a black Chevy Impala spotted one blocks away from where Josephson disappeared and initiated a traffic stop around 3 a.m. Saturday. News Conference On Samantha Josephson Investigation https://t.co/PvfVmd74X9 Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 When asked to step out of the car, the driver fled on foot, and was apprehended after a short chase, Holbrook said. Investigators found a large amount of dark-colored liquid later determined to be Josephsons blood in the cars trunk and passenger compartment, Holbrook said. Her cell phone was also found in the car, as was a container of liquid bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner, according to the police chief. Story continues RELATED: South Carolina College Student Found Dead After Entering Car She Apparently Thought Was an Uber Holbrook also noted that the cars child safety locks were activated, preventing any type of escape from the backseat. After being separated from her friends during a night out at the bar Bird Dog, Josephson summoned an Uber just after 2 a.m. and waited outside for the ride to arrive, Holbrook said. Contd: Heres another picture of Josephson when she was last seen on Harden Street talking on the phone. Pay close attention to what she was wearing early this a.m. Call @MidlandsCrime at 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your helpful tips regarding her whereabouts. pic.twitter.com/PZSokgwFYN Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride, Holbrook said. She opened the door and got into it and departed with the suspect driving. Holbrook said Josephsons body was found in a location well known to the suspect, and near an area where he recently lived. Contd: Special Victims Unit investigators believe that shortly after 2:00 a.m., Josephson was seen getting into this newer model Chevy Impala along Harden Street. Family & friends have been trying to locate her ever since. Again, call @MidlandsCrime 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your tips. pic.twitter.com/3211Wjx6PK Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) March 30, 2019 Rowland was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Saturday, according to online jail records. It was not immediately known if the suspect retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf. The Columbia Police Department and a spokesperson for the detention center did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment on the suspects bail amount or his next appearance in court. Josephson was a political science major from Robbinsville, New Jersey. She planned to go to the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia upon graduating in May, according to The State. Holbrook said he had spoken to her heartbroken family just before addressing the media. Our hearts are broken. Theyre broken. There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered, he said. They have a lot of support here, they have a lot of family thats come to town to support them. But it was gut-wrenching. Words really cant describe what theyre going through. Josephsons death was first confirmed Saturday in a letter by University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides, as well as by her father Seymour Josephson in an emotional Facebook post. It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! he wrote alongside a photo of him sitting on a couch with Samantha. I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this. Pastides letter, meanwhile, urged students to be active bystanders, and to travel in groups, stick together and use the RAVE Guardian safety app, which allows users to set virtual safety timers and discreetly contact authorities. Jordyn Spencer, a friend of Josephsons, told The State on Friday that her disappearance had inspired other students to take safety precautions with their respective ride shares. Were making sure everyone is checking their [ride-share service car] before they get in, she said. Ubers community guidelines urge riders to double check both the identity of the driver and the make and model and license plate of the car before getting in. A GoFundMe page set up to cover Josephsons funeral costs has so far raised more than $30,000. Meet 5 cast members as 'Aladdin' celebrates 5 magical years on Broadway originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Happy anniversary to Broadway's "Aladdin." The genie-ous Disney show is celebrating five years on stage. "We are so excited to get to celebrate our fifth year on Broadway," Michael James Scott, who plays Genie, told "GMA." "I got to be apart of the show from the very beginning. I was the original standby for the Genie, so it's kind of a full-circle moment that now I'm back on Broadway playing the role." PHOTO: Brian Gonzales, Michael James Scott, Ainsley Melham and Arielle Jacobs attend 'Aladdin' Broadway curtain call at New Amsterdam Theatre on Feb. 21, 2019 in New York (John Lamparski/Getty Images, FILE) There's a lot of commotion around this diamond in the rough of a fairy tale. Between audiences getting ready to see the live-action adaptation in theaters this May and the Broadway show celebrating a five-year run, it's been a whole new world for this Disney staple. "Five years on Broadway is a huge achievement for the show," Ainsley Melham, who just joined the New York cast as Aladdin, told "GMA." Melham spent the past two and a half years playing our favorite street rat-turned-prince in Australia. "Getting the phone call to come to New York to play Aladdin on Broadway was pretty special," Melham said. One thing's for sure, we ain't never had a show like "Aladdin." Between flying carpets, epic sword fights and a sparkly, showstopping Genie, "Aladdin" makes the theater experience nothing short of magical. "Good Morning America" caught up with cast and crew members, old and new. Whether they've been here since the beginning or recently joined the show, here's a Playbill-style look at some of the people who make wishing on a magic lamp on Broadway possible. Michael James Scott PHOTO: Michael James Scott performs during the 'Aladdin' Broadway curtain call at New Amsterdam Theatre on Feb. 21, 2019, in New York. (John Lamparski/Getty Images, FILE) Role: The Genie Years with the show: 5 Favorite memory: James Monroe Iglehart, who played the original Genie, and I would have these sort of "genie chats" about the role. When the show was in previews and we were in Toronto, I said to him, "Get ready for what is coming." And I was talking about the journey that was going to come for him because of this show. I knew it was going to be life-changing for him but also possibly for me because I got to be apart of it. Story continues Favorite show moment: When the curtain comes down and I get to stand there (as the Genie) and I'm the first person that the audience sees, and I get to welcome them to the world of our show. Of course, doing "Friend Like Me" isn't too bad either. Favorite lyric: "When the wind's from the east and the sun's from the west / And the sand in the glass is right / Come on down, stop on by / Hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian night." From the song "Arabian Nights." Ainsley Melham PHOTO: Ainsley Melham walks onstage during the 'Aladdin' Broadway curtain call at New Amsterdam Theatre on Feb. 21, 2019, in New York. (John Lamparski/Getty Images, FILE) Role: Aladdin Years with the show: 3 Favorite memory: Getting the call to come to New York to play Aladdin on Broadway was pretty special. Not only that, the original phone call in Australia when they said I got the role and I was going to be Australia's Aladdin, that was a very cool experience. Favorite show moment: My favorite moment in the show changes all the time, but right now it's the number "Somebody's Got Your Back." It's a very smooth, soft shoe number between the Genie and Aladdin, and it really highlights their bromance in the show. Favorite lyric: "Mom, I will try to / Try hard to make you proud of your boy." From "Proud of Your Boy." Cheryl Thomas PHOTO: Cheryl Thomas is the lead hair and makeup artist for Disney's 'Aladdin' on Broadway. (Cheryl Thomas) Role: Lead hair/makeup artist Years with the show: 5 Favorite memory: It was a dream for me to be at the Tony Awards and this show provided me that wish come true. That year, Hugh Jackman was the host and he pulled "Aladdin" together, and we did a little bit with him and I got to pretend like I was really touching up his makeup. But the icing on the cake was that our show did walk away with a Tony Award-winning cast member and that was James Monroe Iglehart (for playing the Genie). Favorite show moment: There's one moment during the number "High Adventure," and one of the dressers comes over to me and there's this little dance break that we do together every moment during "High Adventure." Favorite lyric: My favorite song of the show is "A Million Miles Away" and there's a lyric, "When you choose to lose yourself / Who knows what you might find." It speaks to not being afraid to jump and leap out and go after something special. Lauryn Ciardullo Role: Princess Jasmine understudy/swing Years with the show: 5 Favorite memory: The Tony Awards. As a young, theater-loving child, I always watched the Tonys, so when I finally got there, I couldn't believe it. I remember rehearsing and meeting all these stars backstage, and just trying to play it cool, but we belonged there, too. Favorite show moment: "Arabian Nights" is my favorite number to perform. It's kind of our one chance to break the fourth wall and actually look at the audience and invite them into Agrabah. In the beginning it was kind of scary because everyone was on stage all at onc,e so it's a lot to take in, but now that I'm comfortable with the show and used to doing it, now it's very fun. Favorite lyric: All of "A Whole New World." Growing up with that movie, we all know it and love it. Ariel Reid Role: Dance captain/swing Years with the show: 5 Favorite memory: The first time we put on our costumes during the show preview in Toronto. We were all just anticipating being in the theater and seeing everyone in those gorgeous Arabian nights costumes ... [that] stands out in my mind. Favorite show moment: In the beginning of "Arabian Nights," we have a choreography section with these silks and it's beautiful. I also really enjoy going on as an attendant and getting to be part of "Palace Walls" with Jasmine, and signing that song and being the fortune teller sometimes is really a lot of fun because I get to be silly and sing solo lines and just put myself out there in a different way. Favorite lyric: The very beginning of "A Whole New World" where Aladdin says, "You must feel trapped inside these walls / We'll run away just you and me / Why not escape as evening falls? / There's a whole world you've yet to see." There's something about it that's just so romantic. Disney is the parent company of ABC News and "Good Morning America." Drew Barrymore has embarked on several business ventures over the years production, wine and fashion to name a few and along the way shes learned some lessons. Perhaps the most important lesson shes learned is to keep things streamlined. If you stay in one lane and associate with one word a tentpole, a nucleus, a root you can grow in [several] categories. Just do it under the same umbrella, said Barrymore. Related stories Bain Buys Majority Stake in Beauty Incubator Maesa Olivia Jade's Beauty Line Trademark Has Been Rejected Sustainability Stars at Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna Shes applying this ethos to her latest venture, Flower Home, an affordable luxury home decor and furniture line shes partnered on with Walmart. The eclectic assortment of nearly 220 items, inspired by Barrymores travels as well as her own homes shes decorated over the years, is set to roll out today across Walmarts portfolio of sites, including walmart.com, Jet.com and Hayneedle.com. Barrymore told WWD in an interview early last year that she might like to try her hand at a home line. The decision to follow through on that and do it under the Flower umbrella goes back to that important lesson on streamlining. Preceding the Flower Home launch, Barrymore has folded her business ventures that do not share the Flower name that includes her wine brand, Barrymore Wines, and her Dear Drew fashion line done in partnership with Amazon. Going forward, shell focus on everything Flower for now, thats Flower Home, Flower Beauty and Flower Eyewear, and her production company Flower Films. If Barrymore decides to enter another category say, fashion again shell do that under the Flower brand, too. Its fun to dabble in different businesses, but eventually you have pick a lane and have real direction. You have to do what actually motivates you, said Barrymore. Ive cut all my other businesses because I felt spread too thin, as fun as they were. Flower is really my driving force and what makes sense to me. Story continues The Flower Home launch is coming at the same time as the ramping up of Flower Beautys international expansion. The brand, which debuted exclusively at Walmart in 2013, is no longer available only at the retailer, and is solidifying its masstige positioning by entering mid-to-high-end retailers in new international markets this year, including the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia and India. Previously, Flower has only been available outside the U.S. in Mexico, where it debuted in 300 Walmart stores in 2017. Late last year, the brands distribution there grew to include 80 doors of department store chain Liverpool, as well as its web site. The brand, which sells makeup, fragrance, and makeup brushes, also launched in Ulta Beauty last year it is currently in about 550 doors. Industry sources project the brand does about $50 million per year in retail sales, and including eyewear and the addition of home, could reach $75 million in retail sales in 2019. The opportunity for Flower Home is big, especially as the online home market continues to heat up. Online home retailer Wayfairs sales jumped 32 percent in 2018, to $6.2 billion. Walmart acquired Hayneedle as part of its 2016 acquisition of Jet.com, and late last year acquired Art.com, an e-commerce platform for art and wall decor. Retailers such as Urban Outfitters Inc. have cited home as a key growth category at a time when apparel sales have been shaky. For Walmart, Flower Home is part of the retailers larger plan to premium-ize its digital shopping experience in the home category across all of its platforms. In February, Walmart debuted an exclusive modern home collection on Walmart.com called MoDRN, with furniture and home decor falling into three trend-driven categories: Scandinavian Minimal, Retro Glam and Refined Industrial. Last year, the retailer unveiled on Walmart.com a new landing page for the home category, along with curated collections, new shop-by-style options, editorial-style imagery and design tips. The company is also said to be piloting a white-glove delivery service option across its online platforms. Were very bullish on the home opportunity in general, said Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president and group general manager, home division, Walmart U.S. e-commerce, who cited industry data that online sales will grow to comprise 40 percent of the total home market in the next five years. Drews brand and style reallyfits in perfectly with the new elevated customer experience against this canvas weve developed. Flower Home fills a gap in Walmarts portfolio, in terms of hitting an eclectic, bohemian and modern style of home products, according to Soohoo. Barrymores concept of affordable yet stylish and on-trend home products also aligns with Walmarts larger strategic plan for its home category. Our long-term vision is to be the most inspiring and accessible place to shop online and offline, said Soohoo. Its so difficult to furnish your home when the consumer is going through the process, its How do all the pieces fit together? How do I get the style I want? How do I afford that? The resulting collection is akin to an affordable Anthropologie. The retailer is curating the Flower Home collection, priced from $18 for a ceramic vase to $899 for a midcentury modern sofa, in different ways across its various platforms. Household items like dinnerware will be displayed more prominently on Walmart.com, smaller home decor items are meant to appeal to urban Millennials on Jet.com, and Hayneedle.com will provide inspiration for styling the collections larger furniture pieces. Barrymore was deeply involved in the process of designing the collection, which was inspired by her own interior design aesthetic. Flower Homes nearly 220 items consists of everything from framed prints to macrame baskets, velvet sofas, a wood coffee table emblazoned with a checkers board, printed dinnerware sets, quilts and bed linens. Im a total maximalist, but I want [my home] to feel very cozy, said Barrymore. I love art everywhere, art on top of books and bookshelves with picture lights, and pillows and pops of color everywhere. Just dont mistake Barrymores brand of eclectic maximalism for chaotic clutter. I didnt want you to feel like you could be in England one minute and Palm Springs the next, said Barrymore. I wanted to create rooms that were very easy to understand, and things are going to go together, but its not all one note. I hate one note. Ive always been turned off by the designer-y look. She was deeply involved in the design process, insisting on creating original patterns from scratch instead of going to a supplier. I felt it was important that you didnt see it anywhere else, said Barrymore. With her Flower Beauty brand, Barrymore is known for employing a philosophy of affordable luxury she doesnt cheap out on materials, opting for the best possible quality for the lowest possible price. Shes hyper-aware of making things look expensive, even when they arent for instance, her 16-piece floral pattern dinnerware set, priced at $60. I always say florals go so cheap and awful one minute and so luxury and cool the next, said Barrymore. Im really proud of all the florals. Barrymores love of interior design dates back to 2005, when she picked up the inaugural issue of Domino magazine. [Interior designer] Ruthie Sommers was on the cover, and I liked her vibe, said Barrymore, who had purchased a house in Los Angeles in 2002 but had neglected the decorating process during a busy work period. She hired Sommers, and she fell in love with the decorating process. We did it one room at a time and it took 10 years, then I spent time doing the childrens room wed pick furniture up on the side of the road. I made it my personal project. Now Barrymore feels most at home with a glass of wine and interior design magazines. This is my happy space picking out textiles, sitting and building out mood boards, said Barrymore. As she looks to evolve the Flower brand, Barrymore is only interested in entering categories she feels as passionate about as she does design. I think there are things that get me out bed every day girls need makeup and were all trying to live somewhere, said Barrymore. I dont think Ill become the next wellness guru anytime soon. I hope to get back into apparel one day its a wonderful category, and I think [Dear Drew] was wrong timing and not the right partners. Id love to do apparel in the Flower world one day, if its a fit. In the immediate future, shes planning on extending the Flower Home range into items for children Flower Kids sometime later this year. Outdoor home items are planned for fall. Shes also in the midst of starting her own YouTube channel. The content will center on me and all my interests, but theres a theme and its going to be fun, said Barrymore. Shes optimistic about the future of her business ventures, streamlined as one portfolio of brands under Flower. I feel like this is the best year for the whole Flower enterprise I finally got my st together and am having [everything] under one umbrella, said Barrymore. Im super behind it, invested and involved in creating and making things myself in categories that Im highly interested in. Launch Gallery: Drew Barrymore, Wal-Mart Unveil Flower Home Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Photo credit: Getty / Amazon From Delish Gail Simmons has been on your TV for well over a decade: She's been a Top Chef judge since the show's inception way back in 2006, joining spin-offs like Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Just Desserts along the way. Behind the scenes, she's been building something of a food empire-she started a production company, Bumble Pie Productions, in 2014, wrote both a memoir and a cookbook, 2017's Bringing It Home, and directs special projects for Food & Wine magazine. NBD. Delish caught up with Gail at a recent Made by We event where she spoke on a panel with other women in the food industry about being an entrepreneur, juggling projects, and the magic (and eventual end) of Top Chef. Read on for some of Gail's favorite memories of the show, plus her recommendations for what kitchen tools and ingredients to add to your kitchen ASAP. Photo credit: Courtesy of WeWork Top Chef's Staying Power A few years in, Gail recalled asking Andy Cohen, then director of programming at Bravo, how long he thought Top Chef would really last. He guessed 11 seasons; a decade later, season 16 just wrapped and the show is still going strong. Part of that lies in the simple fact that everyone has a connection to food, Gail says. Gail recalls a time back in season five when she realized just how wide-reaching the show had become-while taping a show with the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl said to her he couldn't believe he'd get to be on Top Chef. "I was like, I cant believe youre Dave Grohl for God's sake, like, are you kidding me?! It was just a really great moment to realize how similar we all are." On Her Wild Season 16 Appearance Gail missed almost all of Top Chef's season 16 to give birth to her new son, but she did make a very memorable appearance in episode two. Contestants prepared meals based on her pregnancy cravings, but since they were filming in Kentucky, judge Nilou Motamed "boxed up unfinished versions, got on a plane with the dishes on her lap, flew to New York, arrived at my apartment four hours later and we cooked them together," Gail describes. "It was exactly as it played out and it was hilarious." Story continues Wildly enough, she went into labor just 72 hours later. "Now its sort of this amazing thing that Im excited to one day show to my son because he was there." Her Favorite Kitchen Tools Good news: Gail's favorites won't break the bank. She names a $3 Y-peeler and a $14 fish spatula as two of her top recommendations. The peeler can take the place of a mandolin; use it to peel fruits and veggies or make beautiful ribbons. "Theyre literally nothing and everyone should have one in their kitchen," Gail says. The fish spatula, while great for keeping fish skin intact, is also ideal to use when making fried eggs or baking cookies. "You never want to ruin that perfect golden crust on cookies and scones." The Ingredient You Should Add To Your Shopping List Next Upgrade your grain bowls, soups, and salads with freekeh, Gail recommends. The Israeli grain is similar to bulgar or farro but with a more jagged, less uniform shape. Gail has tossed it into vegetable stews, and come spring, plans to mix it with herbs and veggies to make a big, fresh salad. Pickles, Pickles, And More Pickles Gail recently wrote an essay about pickles in the 100 Most Jewish Foods, so naturally, I had to find out more about her obsession (oh, you haven't seen Delish's pickle mania?). She stands by her sour preference-"My personal affection is for a full sour kosher dill style pickle"-but does like a good pickled fruit, too. "Pickled pineapple, pickled apples...quick-pickling of fruits is really delicious especially on the side of spicy food like pickled watermelon rind." She's also a fan of pickles in tuna and egg salad, pickle brine in martinis, and pickle grilled cheese. Our kinda woman. ('You Might Also Like',) FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Some 43 percent of Germans are against a merger between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, a survey showed on Friday, while only 17 percent are in favor. The Insa survey of 2,012 people for Bild newspaper also found that 30 percent of those polled had no opinion about a merger between Germany's two largest banks, while 10 percent did not answer the question. When only considering those with an opinion, 71 percent were against a merger, while 29 percent were in favor, Bild reported. Older respondents were more likely to disapprove. It did not detail what reasons, if any, had been given for the choices by those polled. Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the survey, while Commerzbank was not immediately available. The two banks announced last week that they were in talks to merge. Together they employ about 140,000 people, and unions have warned that a tie-up could result in as many as 30,000 job losses. Frank Strauss, a member of Deutsche Bank's management board, said he understood the concerns of employee representatives. Strauss told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Deutsche Bank had found solutions in the interests of all parties when it integrated Postbank. (Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Alexander Smith) Facing an accusation of inappropriate behavior from a ex-lawmaker, former Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement Sunday defending his actions, adding that he would listen respectfully to womens experiences. Lucy Flores, a former Nevada lawmaker, accused Biden, 76, of inappropriately touching and kissing her back in 2014 when the vice president campaigned for her during her run for lieutenant governor. Flores detailed her allegations in an essay, writing, I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. In an interview Sunday with CNNs State of the Union she told Jake Tapper, It was shocking because you dont expect that kind of intimate behavior, you dont expect that kind of intimacy from someone so powerful and someone who you just have no relationship whatsoever, to touch you and to feel you, and to be so close you in that way. So I frankly just didn't even know how to react. I was just shocked. I felt I felt powerless. Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the University of Utah in December. (Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP) Biden, who is expected to announce his presidential bid any day now, responded to the allegations with a statement. In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once never did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. He continued: But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will. I will also remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women. I will fight to build on the work Ive done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve. Story continues I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won. Flores told Tapper that Bidens Sunday statements were better than his previous comments. Im glad that hes willing to listen, she said. Im glad that he is clarifying his intentions. Frankly, my point was never about his intentions. It should be about the women on the receiving end of that behavior. If he is saying that he never believed that that was inappropriate, she continued, then, frankly, I think thats a little bit of a disconnect because there has been documentation, both in photos, videos, stories that were written. Flores said she felt so compelled to finally say something because Bidens behavior was not being considered from the perspective of the woman on the other side of that power dynamic, on the receiving end. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Fox News Sunday suggested that Biden apologize to Flores, whom she called quite bold in going against the highest levels of her political party. He calls it affection and handshakes, said Conway. His party calls it completely inappropriate. Biden, who according to recent polls is considered Democrats best chance of beating Trump in 2020, has repeatedly criticized and threatened to fight Trump physically for his behavior toward women. While campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Biden said hed like to take Trump behind the gym after the 2005 Access Hollywood tape that revealed Trump making lewd comments about women in what the president later categorized as locker room banter. Biden repeated his sentiment toward Trump at an anti-sexual assault rally last year. A guy who ended up becoming our national leader said, I can grab a woman anywhere and she likes it, he said. They asked me if Id like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, If we were in high school, Id take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him. Sexual assault is about power and the abuse of power more than it is about sex, he also said. When asked if Bidens actions should disqualify him from running for president, Flores said yes. For me, its disqualifying, she told Tapper. I think its up to everybody else to make that decision, considering again the entire scope of his background, of the positions that hes taken. Flores added: For me, this isn't the only problematic thing. I think that his response to the way in which he handled the Anita Hill hearing was completely also inappropriate and lacked empathy and, frankly, lacked accountability. Saying that he wishes that there was something more he could have done, I think, is just a complete lack of accountability. You were the chair of that hearing, and you could have done anything you wanted. Amid Floress accusation, Biden, who has been reported kissing foreheads at speaking events and overstepping physical boundaries with women, has been on an apology tour for his treatment of Anita Hill whom he questioned during a 1991 Senate hearing after she accused Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the Supreme Court, of sexually harassing her. Biden reissued apologies to Hill indirectly, saying Tuesday, When Anita Hill came to testify, she faced a committee that didnt fully understand what the hell it was all about. And to this day I regret I couldnt come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved given the courage she showed by reaching out to us. We all have an obligation to do nothing less than change the culture in this country, he added. A white mans culture, its got to change. Its got to change. Demonstrators display their signs, including a cutout of Joe Biden, during the January Women's March in Washington. (Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images) _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Jussie Smollett has neither been found innocent nor exonerated for filing an untrue police report that he was the victim of a hate crime, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx said in a commentary she wrote Saturday for the Chicago Tribune. There was considerable evidence, uncovered in large part due to the investigative work of the Chicago Police Department, suggesting that portions of Smolletts claims may have been untrue and that he had direct contact with his so-called attackers, Foxx wrote. Claims by Smollett or others that the outcome of this case has exonerated him or that he has been found innocent are simply wrong. He has not been exonerated; he has not been found innocent. Also Read: All Criminal Charges Against Jussie Smollett Dropped Smolletts representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. Foxx and the Chicago police have come under fire for dropping 16 criminal counts against Smollett, who had been accused of staging an attack against himself on a Chicago street in January and filing a false report (which is a Class 4 felony in the state of Illinois). He was ordered to perform two days of community service and forfeited his $10,000 cash bond payment to the city a normal sentence for a suspect with no prior criminal record. There were specific aspects of the evidence and testimony presented to the office that would have made securing a conviction against Smollett uncertain, Foxx wrote. Foxxs office balanced the severity of the crime against the chances of locking a conviction, she said. Also Read: Jussie Smollett's 'Volunteer Service' Played Role in State's Attorney's Office Dropping Charges Specifics of the case have not been made public, as Smolletts team has requested that the public records remain sealed. Foxx maintains that she believes her departments decision not to prosecute the case was the right one. Also Read: Chicago Prosecutors 'Stand Behind' Jussie Smollett Investigation Despite Dropped Charges: 'We Didn't Exonerate Him' Story continues Yes, falsely reporting a hate crime makes me angry, and anyone who does that deserves the communitys outrage. But, as Ive said since before I was elected, we must separate the people at whom we are angry from the people of whom we are afraid, Foxx said. I was elected on a promise to rethink the justice system, to keep people out of prison who do not pose a danger to the community. Foxx said her office chooses to dedicate more resources to combating truly violent crimes. As a public figure, Smolletts alleged unstable actions have probably caused him more harm than any court-ordered penance could, Foxx said. None of that, though, should detract from two facts that must be able to coexist: First, falsely reporting a hate crime is a dangerous and unlawful act, and Smollett was not exonerated of that in this case. Second, our criminal justice system is at its best when jails are used to protect us from the people we rightly fear, while alternative outcomes are reserved for the people who make us angry but need to learn the error of their ways without seeing their lives irrevocably destroyed. Read original story Jussie Smollett Prosecutor Kim Foxx: He Has Not Been Exonerated At TheWrap Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey's government on Friday rejected US pressure over its disputed deal to purchase Russian missiles, saying Ankara was already in talks over delivery of the S-400 defence system. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has riled Turkey's NATO allies, especially the US, by purchasing the Russian arms system and by drawing closer to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. US officials have warned Turkey could face possible sanctions and a block on its participation in the US-made F-35 fighter jet programme because of the Russian deal. "We have signed a deal with Russia, and this deal is valid. Now we are discussing the delivery process," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference with his Russian counterpart in the Turkish city of Antalya. "We have an agreement with Russia and we are bound by it," he said, adding pressure from other countries was against international law. Cavusoglu said Turkey had also met its obligations as a partner in the F-35 jet made by US company Lockheed Martin. "Turkey is also a partner in the F-35 project. Some parts are being made in here in Turkey. Turkey has fulfilled its responsibilities in this regard," the minister said. The first Russian S-400 delivery is expected in July. The dispute is one part of a growing rift between Washington and Ankara who are at odds over Syria and also a US refusal to extradite a US-based preacher Turkey blames for a 2016 failed coup. In the latest sign of US pressure, four US senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would block delivery of F-35 jets to Turkey until Ankara gives up the Russian missiles. "Turkey is an important NATO ally and willing partner in addressing a number of US national security priorities," said Republican Senator James Lankford in a statement on the bill. "It's concerning that Turkey would seek close defence cooperation with Russia, whose authoritarian ruler seeks to undermine NATO and US interests at every turn." Story continues Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35s and some Turkish pilots already started training with counterparts in the US. US officials say they are worried about technology from the S-400s allowing Moscow to collect data on NATO aircraft and about how compatible the Russia systems will be inside NATO operations. US officials have increasingly warned about fallout over the missile deal for the F-35 jet programme and have pressured Turkey to buy US-made Patriot missile defences as an alternative. Militants fired five rockets from Gaza into Israel early Sunday, the Israeli military said, following a day of Palestinian mass protests along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence. Despite the rocket fire, the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings - which have been closed since last Monday when a Gaza rocket destroyed a house in central Israel - were reopened on Sunday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The rocket attack is believed to be in response to the deaths of four Palestinians, including three teenagers, who were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Israeli tanks struck several Hamas observation posts inside Gaza, in response to the rocket fire, aimed at the Eshkol Regional Council in southern Israel. No casualties were reported from the rockets and no Palestinian group claimed responsibility. Trucks make their way to Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday (Photo: Barel Efraim) The rocket fire threatened to undermine Egyptian-mediated efforts to cement a ceasefire arrangement between the Israel and Gaza's rulers, which Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri said could be signed "within days." In addition, Israeli military have decided to allow for the expansion of the fishing zone for Palestinian fishermen in Gaza. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip to mark the anniversary of their mass protests along the Israeli border. Most demonstrators kept their distance from the border, though small crowds of activists approached the perimeter fence and threw stones and explosives toward Israeli troops on the other side. The forces fired tear gas and opened fire, killing four Palestinians and wounding 64. Hamas had pledged to keep the crowds a safe distance from the fence to avoid inflaming the political atmosphere during negotiations of a possible easing of the blockade. Saturday's Gaza border riots (Photo: Haim Horenstein) Hamas officials say that Israel is offering a package of economic incentives in exchange for calm along the volatile border. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the group had received positive signs from the Egyptians. He added that the Egyptian team was to return to Israel on Sunday to continue the talks. We will continue our marches until all our goals are achieved, he said. Saturdays protest came at a sensitive time, with Israel and Hamas, bitter enemies that have fought three wars and dozens of smaller skirmishes, both having a strong interest in keeping things quiet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his fourth consecutive term in April 9 elections, but is facing a serious challenge from a group of ex-army chiefs who have criticized what they say is his failed Gaza policy. With a lack of alternatives, Netanyahu has been forced at times to rely on Hamas to maintain stability along Israels volatile southern front. In the final stretch of the campaign, Netanyahu needs to keep the Israel-Gaza frontier quiet, without seeming to make concessions to Hamas. Netanyahu took heavy criticism this week for what was seen as a soft response to renewed rocket fire out of Gaza. Hamas, meanwhile, faces growing unrest in Gaza as a result of worsening conditions. Earlier this month, Hamas violently suppressed several days of public protests, staged under the slogan We want to live, over the dire conditions. Yehya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh attend one of the rallies in Gaza on Saturday Speaking on the groups Al-Aqsa TV station, Hamas top leader in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, praised the protesters. With this big turnout, our people say, We want to live! His use of the protesters slogan appeared to be aimed at diverting the recent criticism of his group. Hamas blames the blockade and punitive measures by its West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for worsening the living conditions. The fence protests, which began exactly a year ago, have been aimed in large part at breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza, but havent delivered major improvements. Saturdays demonstrations were held at five rallying points along the border with Israel. Dozens of volunteers in fluorescent vests were deployed to restrain demonstrators, and cool rainy weather also appeared to affect enthusiasm. But as the crowds swelled throughout the afternoon in response to Hamas calls for a large turnout, dozens of protesters approached the fence, unfurling Palestinian flags and throwing rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers. The Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire. The Israeli military estimated 40,000 Palestinians were gathered at the marches. Saturday's Gaza border riots (Photo: AFP) The rioters are hurling rocks and setting tires on fire. In addition, a number of grenades and explosive devices have been hurled at the Gaza Strip security fence, it said in a statement. In a statement, Netanyahu praised the armys preparation and performance in maintaining calm. Gazas Health Ministry said that a 17-year-old protester died immediately after being shot in the face in east Gaza City. In the evening, the ministry said another 17-year-old died hours after being shot in the chest in a different protest location. A third teenager, also aged 17, succumbed to his wounds and died in the late evening. A 21-year-old Palestinian also died around dawn after sustaining injuries in overnight protests before the main demonstration. While bloodshed was not avoided, it was far less than previous high-profile protests. Over 60 people were killed during intense protests on May 14, the day the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem. As Saturdays protest was winding down, organizers vowed to continue the marches and said they would gather again as usual next Friday. The military released video footage showing large crowds of protesters gathered near the fence and hurling objects. In one scene, a group of activists went up to the fence and hurled stones at the other side. In another scene, a youth could be seen trying to pull apart barbed wire along the fence. The army also said it caught two young Palestinian children who had tried to cross the border with a knife. The children were returned to Gaza through a border crossing. Saturday's Gaza border riots (Photo: AFP) Earlier on Saturday, Gaza health officials said Israeli troops shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man near the perimeter fence, hours before the mass rally. The army said about 200 Palestinians rioted during the night along the fence and that the army used riot dispersal means against them. The marches near were initially organized by grassroots activists who were calling for a mass return to ancestral homes in what is now Israel. Hamas quickly took the lead in the protests, using the gatherings to call for an easing of the blockade. The border marches routinely ended in confrontations, with some of the Palestinian demonstrators burning tires, hurling fire bombs or setting off explosives and Israeli troops firing live rounds and tear gas. Israel says the army has been defending the border. The army accuses Hamas of using the large crowds as cover and encouraging demonstrators to hurl explosives, incendiary balloons and grenades across the border. But Israel has come under heavy international criticism for the large number of unarmed people who have been harmed. Egypt has repeatedly tried to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, stepping up efforts in recent days after a Gaza rocket struck a house in central Israel earlier this week, injuring seven Israelis and threatening renewed escalation. Education Minister Naftali Bennett appealed Sunday to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and demanded to urgently convene the political-security cabinet in light of the security situation along the southern border. "It makes no sense that the prime minister is managing the events in Gaza by compartmentalizing his cabinet ministers," Bennett said. WASHINGTON - Millions of Syrian women who have fled the eight-year civil war at home are stuck in a "legal limbo," unable to own or reclaim land when they do return, driving some to marry off their underage daughters to acquire property, researchers say. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Large portions of Syrian towns and cities have been destroyed and with about half of the pre-war 22 million Syrians dispaced land and civil registries, are making it difficult for those who have lost, or never had, documents proving their ownership of land to get such documents. Syrian refugees in Idlib (Photo: AFP) Women are the hardest hit in Syria because often their male relatives had their names on such land documents and as experts told the World Bank conference last week many of these male relatives either died or disappeared. Syrian refugees return home from Lebanon "Women in Syria already deal with a discriminatory legal framework, with Sharia law for example only giving them half of men's share of land in case of inheritance," said Laura Cunial, a legal expert at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). "Now they are even worse off. Most land has been destroyed ... and what little is left to claim is largely out of women's reach as they cannot provide the necessary documents to get property titles." This is fuelling child marriage, as many women are "desperate to marry their daughters to landowners so they have a roof over their head", Cunial said. A Syrian girl sells second hand items in the Al-Hol camp for displaced people in northeastern Syria on March 28, 2019 Only 4 percent of female refugees surveyed by NRC in Jordan and Lebanon had property in Syria registered in their name. Even before the war, property was often owned customarily and many urban residents lived in informal settlements. With millions displaced multiple times, land disputes are common. Many Syrians fled without crucial paperwork or had it confiscated at checkpoints. About 75 percent of Syrian refugee families surveyed in Jordan by NRC said they used to have property documents, but only 20 percent still had them. Syrians at a refugee camp (Photo: AP) Only 2 percent of displaced women in southern Syria hold passports, compared with 21 percent of men, Cunial said. "Dealing with land laws and regulation used to be men's job, but now most of them have gone," Cunial said at the Washington D.C. conference. "That traps women in a legal limbo, and leaves them unable to inherit or sell property," said Cunial, who works to provide legal assistance to displaced Syrian women. According Paul Prettitore of the World Bank, one solution is to compile data on land use, including satellite imagery, social media, online forums and court records to assess forced displacement, destruction of property and fraudulent transfers. "That would tell governments and civil society where they are most needed, and help target interventions to protect land rights," said Prettitore, who works on policy and legal issues. Syrians are likely to file more than 2 million lawsuits seeking restitution for lost and damaged property, NRC says. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sunday Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro upon his arrival to Israel that the two states are "making history together." "You're arrival will elevate the relationship between our countries to a new height," Netanyahu said. Speaking about the tense situation on the Gaza border Netanyahu added: "I have ordered the IDF units deployed to the Gaza border to maintain their positions. We are ready for any development and will do everything in order to maintain our security." When the popular restaurant Bindella was closed in 2017 by its Swiss owners, fans of Yoram Nitzan -- previously the chef of the iconic seafood restaurant Mul Yam -- wondered where the legendary chef would end up next. Except Nitzan confounded everyone by simply disappearing from the countrys culinary scene. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter When he finally re-emerged this winter, it was somewhere no-one ever would have imagined: at the helm of a kosher kitchen in a leading Tel Aviv hotel. Nomi's lamb dish: Tender, juicy and distinct flavors (Photo: Afik Gabbay) Nitzans new restaurant is Nomi, which replaces the hotels former fine dining establishment, Aubergine. Situated largely in one well-appointed room on the lobby floor of the David InterContinental Hotel, Nomi looks like an intimate place for a quiet dinner, but it can get a bit noisy when the room is full of conversing parties. The menu at Nomi comprises just two sections: Starters and Mains. The former category contains, among other dishes, one soup, one salad and one vegan appetizer, while the vegan options among the main courses are two pasta dishes. There are no specialty cocktails, although the staff will order familiar ones from the hotels full bar. The carefully curated wine list is not extensive, but it boasts vintages exclusively from Israels finest wineries. Nomi steak and eggs: A perfect harmony (Photo: Afik Gabbay) As soon as we had ordered, two red spheres appeared on our table. They turned out to be rather unique amuses bouches: chocolate filled with Campari, which exploded agreeably in the mouth and really opened the palate. Next came a basket of four different kinds of bread, including spelt as a gluten-free option. The bread was accompanied by two delicious spreads: red pepper and eggplant with tehina. Since it was a cold winter evening, we began with the soup du jour, made of root vegetables, primarily Jerusalem artichoke. The velvety soup -- which was poured tableside into a bowl containing cauliflower florets, duxelles mushrooms and Jerusalem artichoke -- was exquisite, and definitely warming. Nomi's exquisite root vegetable soup (Photo: Afik Gabbay) We could not resist trying the dish that seemed more appropriate on a brunch menu than as a starter in a fine dining restaurant: steak and eggs. The intriguing mini-tower of four components consisted of a medallion of veal as the centerpiece, perched on a brioche disk resting on a bed of parsley cream, and topped with a poached egg. The tender, flavorful veal fillet melted in the mouth, while all the ingredients came together in a harmony of flavors and textures. The main courses represented a nice variety of pasta, fish, fowl, beef, veal and lamb dishes, from which we selected the veal chop and the lamb medley. The veal chop was the largest I have ever seen in Israel: 350 grams of incredibly well-marbled meat. Beautiful to behold, and positively succulent to eat. The Nomi veal chop: Beautiful and succulent (Photo: Buzzy Gordon) The lamb dish was also unusual, as it came in three forms: chops, shoulder and spareribs, accompanied by purple carrot. The pink chops, the slow-cooked shoulder and the fatty spare ribs were all tender and juicy, yet each evoked distinctive flavors. We appreciated the fact that we were offered tastes of wines before ordering a crisp rose from Covenant and a very pleasant Cabernet franc-Syrah blend by Dada. The prices were not exorbitant, but very few vintages are available by the glass. The five desserts listed on a separate menu include two chocolate options, plus seasonal fruit sorbets made on site. This was the only part of the meal that was a little disappointing -- not because the desserts were not good, but simply because the names were misleading and led to unfulfilled expectations. The chocolate mille-feuille, for example, bore no resemblance at all to the desired layered phyllo dough and creme patissiere confection; rather it was like a crunchy chocolate candy bar, topped with mango cremeux, surrounded by blueberry meringue, and garnished with sweet dried chili. Somehow, the whole added up to less than the sum of its parts. Nomi apple pie: Could not overcome the lack of dairy (Photo: Buzzy Gordon) Similarly, the apple tarte tatin recalled less the French pie made with razor-thin apple slices than a baked peeled apple on sable Breton. The fruit and shortbread crust were perfectly adequate in their own right, but unfortunately accompanied by nondescript ginger ice cream that could not overcome its pareve constraint. Regardless of the slight letdown at the finale, it is a distinct pleasure -- and great news for members of the religiously observant community -- to welcome a chef of the caliber of Yoram Nitzan to the ranks of Israeli kosher cuisine. Nomi @ The David InterContinental Hotel Kosher Kaufmann St. 12, Tel Aviv Tel. (03) 795-1111 Voters in Ukraine are casting ballots in a presidential election Sunday after a campaign that produced a comedian with no political experience as the front-runner and allegations of voter bribery. Opinion polls have shown Volodymyr Zelenskiy who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, leading a field of 39 candidates. The polls also had Zelenskiy outpacing incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the other top candidates, by a broad margin. I am sorry to say that even as the election campaign enters its home stretch, none of the candidates has the courage to speak the truth about the Gaza Strip: Hamas cannot be defeated. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter This terrorist organization is far behind us in every military aspect and there is no room for comparison. The IDF is equipped with the most modern technology: forces from the air, land and sea could precisely hit and destroy any target in the Gaza Strip from miles away. Yet Hamas is invincible, and that is the truth. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (C) at the Gaza border during the March of Return protests, March 30, 2019 The Viet Cong ambushed the Americans in the jungles of Vietnam, and for years the Pentagon sent more and more troops - hundreds of thousands - to the battlefield, but this too did not help them win. The Viet Cong was embedded into the civilian population and made good use of their expertise in fighting in the jungle, but foremost they were fighting for their country, their Ideology and way of life. The series "The Vietnam War" by renowned documentarian Ken Burns (now on Netflix) is a must-see for every politician who has a say on how Israel responds to Gaza. Invading Gaza will be like fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. The IDF's technological advantage will diminish in the maze of tunnels that Hamas has dug. The terror group may ask for a temporary cease-fire, but will never surrender, and Israel - subjected to relentless rocket fire, loss of life and damage to property - will agree to such a truce. It will be a rerun of Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and all the other military operations in Gaza that came before. And that, too, is the truth. It seems that this is the reason why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cautious when unleashing the IDF's military might on Gaza. One good thing that I can say about Netanyahu is that he is the only of the candidates who is not making unrealistic video clips emblazoned with the slogan "Let the IDF win." The rubble of a Gaza building after an IAF strike (Photo: AP) Even so, he lacks the courage of leader, like the courage late prime minister Ariel Sharon had when he came up with and gained public opinion for the disengagement from Gaza. HIs plan was premature because it had no strategic aim. We did the right thing by leaving the Gaza Strip, but the way we did it without coordinating with the Palestinian Authority was wrong. A courageous leader should say that Hamas in Gaza cannot be defeated, that those launching firebombs attached to balloons or guerrilla fighters hiding in tunnels cannot be defeated. Hamas wants to rule Gaza and that is why we need to negotiate with Hamas. Not by sending suitcases filled with cash but with the mediation of Egypt and the aid of the oil rich Gulf states. Israeli trucks carrying goods into the Gaza Strip, March 31, 2019 (Photo: Barel Efraim) We need a long-term cease fire agreement that would include building houses and infrastructure in Gaza. We will not reach a peace deal with Hamas, but we will be able to live next to them in peace. The balance of terror will be mutual like the balance of terror we have with Hezbollah in Lebanon. But it is our fate to always live by our sword. The IDF will continue to build its strength, and our iron fist will never unclench. It will forever be a fist ready to strike our enemies. We will strike, destroy and kill them but without returning to the alleyways of Gaza City. Everyone knows this but no one is willing to go out and say it in public. That is what a real leader is about, but as of now I do not see one. Hamas said Sunday that it was waiting for Egyptian mediators to pass them Israel's timetables and plans on implementing a potential long-term ceasefire arrangement between the two sides. "Israel has no choice but to commit to the understandings reached," said the terror group in a statement and threatened to escalate the weekly border marches unless Israel meets the demands of our people." Leaders meeting in Tunisia for the annual Arab League summit on Sunday were united in their condemnation of Trump administration policies seen as unfairly biased toward Israel but divided on a host of other issues, including whether to readmit founding member Syria. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter This year's summit comes against a backdrop of ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, rival authorities in Libya and a lingering boycott of Qatar by four fellow League members. Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting as they contend with mass protests against their long reigns. Representatives from the 22-member league - minus Syria - aim to jointly condemn President Donald Trump's recognition of Israeli control over the Golan Heights , which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and Trump's decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (C) chairs a session of the 30th Arab League summit in the Tuni One of the few things that have united the Arab League over the last 50 years is the rejection of Israel's presence in the Golan Heights as well as east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The international community, including the United States, largely shared that position until Trump upended decades of US policy by moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem last year and recognizing Israel's annexation of the strategic Golan plateau earlier this month. The Arab leaders meeting in Tunisia are expected to issue a statement condemning those moves but are unlikely to take any further action. That's in part because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cultivated close ties with the Trump administration, viewing it as a key ally against their main rival, Iran. Both are under pressure over their devastating three-year war with Yemen's Houthi rebels, and Riyadh is still grappling with the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last year. Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump show off the US declaration of recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights (Photo: EPA) Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said Saturday that Arab ministers had voiced support in a preparatory meeting for a declaration that Trump's Golan move violates the UN Charter, which prohibits acquiring territories by force. The Arab League is also considering readmitting Syria, a founding member that was expelled in the early days of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. But officials speaking ahead of the meeting said it was unlikely Syria would be welcomed back anytime soon. The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus last year, and other Arab states have expressed support for restoring relations. But Saudi Arabia and Qatar have actively supported the rebels trying to overthrow Assad, and many other states view his government as an Iranian proxy that should continue to be shunned. In a rare sign of easing tensions across another regional rift, Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Qatar's Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani sat at the same sprawling table when the heads of delegations met Sunday. It was the first time the two leaders have appeared in the same room since Saudi Arabia led the boycott of Qatar nearly two years ago over Doha's ties to Iran and its support for regional Islamist groups. The Chief Rabbinate notified the families of the Israelis killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash that they can Halachically sit Shiva, the seven-day mourning period in Judaism. Judaism requires a categorical identification of dead bodies before they are considered dead and the lack of bodies still poses a problem for the wives of the victims to remarry. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced that he will strip the permanent residency status of two east Jerusalem Palestinians serving time in prison for involvement in terror attacks in 2011 and 2003. Throughout Saturday, the new post of the IDF high command had the tense feeling that a time bomb was ticking somewhere nearby. All eyes were fixed on the screens and the data that the Southern Command was receiving from the field. The planes waited, fueled and armed. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The order for troops to begin moving out from staging points towards the Gaza Strip was closer than ever, and everyone in the room could feel it. Sometime during the afternoon, the ticking stopped. Just like in an action thriller, someone had cut the right wire with seconds to spare before the explosion. All of the players - Hamas, Israel and the Egyptians - breathed a sigh of relief. IDF troops along the Gaza border, March 30, 2019 (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) The Egyptians were able to find a convergence point between Israeli and Hamas interests at least for the next few days, perhaps even until after the April 9 elections. But the detonator is still attached and the charge is still hot the countdown could resume at any point. Therefore, the entire army is still on alert in the south, in the north and in the West Bank. In a moment of sanity, both sides have assumed a gradual process of normalization, which could even be extended incrementally to last for more than a year. In other words, in the final seconds before the blast, the two parties returned to the point on the board at which they stood in the immediate aftermath of Operation Protective Shield in 2014, with the same "phased plan" for calm. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (C) at the Gaza border during the March of Return protests, March 30, 2019 In the first stage, Hamas commits itself to stopping the firebombs sent by balloon, the nightly harassment and the flotillas. The demonstrations can continue, but all the organizations active in the Gaza Strip have promised the Egyptians that they will create a security cordon to prevent demonstrators from reaching the security fence - as was the case on Saturday. It turns out that of the tens of thousands who took part in the demonstrations, almost 20% were "stewards" whose job was to prevent the masses from nearing the fence. In fact, before the protests began, the Egyptians - at the request of Hamas - summoned representatives from all the organizations, including Islamic Jihad, and received a pledge that everyone - not just Hamas - would send "stewards." Palestinian protests along Gaza fence, March 30, 2019. Stewards in orange tabards kept people away from the fence (Photo: AFP) As for the "mistaken" firing of long-range rockets into Israel, Hamas has promised the Egyptians - and has already launched - a comprehensive review of the firing locations and to correct all the "mishaps" and check the "procedures." Failure to do so, the Egyptians declared, would mean settling accounts with us after the next so-called mishap, and not with the Israelis. For its part, Israel committed to immediately returning the crossings in to Gaza to normal operations and to send in fuel in order to restart the electricity turbines in the Strip. (Some of the Gaza turbines are not currently working because the substitute for Israeli fuel caused blockages and breakdowns. Israeli trucks carrying goods into the Gaza Strip, March 31, 2019 (Photo: Barel Efraim) Hamas has now received a permit to start repairing the turbines and operating them with the fuel that is now coming in from Israel. The Jewish state has also committed to increasing the supply of water into Gaza, and doubling its amount of electricity. Hamas has also been pledged $30 million per month for the next six months, which will go towards public works as part of UN projects, and Israel has promised to allow Hamas to export agricultural goods not only to the West Bank but also to Israel and Europe. The fishing zone off the Gaza coast will also be extended to 12-15 nautical miles, except in the southern and northern Strip. So far the first stage is also the test phase. If either side fails, the time bomb will begin ticking once again. To the IDF's credit, in must be said that the command that came down from the chief of staff on Saturday - to show maximum restraint - was meticulously followed. Israel knew on Friday about the agreements Hamas reached with the Egyptians. The terror group's first test were the Saturday demonstrations, with the Israeli defense establishment giving the organization an opportunity to stand by these agreements, despite the breaches. Palestinians clash with IDF troops at the Gaza border during the March of Return protests, March 30, 2019 (Photo: Haim Horenstein) The number of IDF snipers deployed along the border was three times higher than in previous weeks, but the number of shots fired was much lower than the average Friday at the Gaza fence. Israel has also known for years what the next stages will be in the understandings with Hamas, which are planned to be implemented after the elections: projects to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip, renew the infrastructure for water and electricity supplies, housing and sewage, increase employment and more. At this stage, the sides will deal with the issue of POWs and MIAs. It all depends, as it has for the past four years, on political, security and diplomatic developments. Can there be quiet? Is there even the will? Perhaps there is, and perhaps the two sides will get there without the need for yet another round of fighting. Time will tell. WARSAW, Poland -- An American visitor to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp attempted to steal a metal part of the historic rail tracks where prisoners were unloaded, officials said Sunday. The 37-year-old man has been charged with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance, according to Malgorzata Jurecka, a police spokeswoman in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim, which was under German occupation during World War II. The crime can be punished with up to 10 years in prison. Jurecka said the man admitted his guilt but has been released as he awaits further steps. Pawel Sawicki, a spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum, said the memorial museum's security team became aware that the man was trying to remove the metal element on the historic rail tracks and then alerted police. The memorial site has faced multiple attempts of theft and vandalism in recent years. The most dramatic case was the 2009 theft of the sign with the Nazi slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Will Set You Free") at the death camp's main gate. It was found cut into pieces and was eventually repaired and stored in a safe place. A replica is now in its place. Latest News Washington, DC - Americans have always believed in the power of redemption that those who have fallen can work toward brighter days ahead. Almost all of the more than two million people in Americas prisons will one day return to their communities. In each case, they will have served their sentence and earned the chance to take their places back in society. During Second Chance Month, we draw attention to the challenges that former inmates face and the steps we can take to ensure they have the opportunity to become contributing members of society. Inmates are often eager to leave behind the challenges presented by incarceration. Too often, however, they find the transition to life outside of prison to be daunting. If they are not able to find jobs and housing and rebuild relationships with family and friends, they may find it harder to escape the cycle of reoffending. Sadly, 5 out of 6 State prisoners are rearrested within 9 years of their release, and more than a third of former Federal prisoners will be rearrested within 5 years of their release. In addition to the harm caused to the victims of crime, these high recidivism rates place a significant financial burden on taxpayers, deprive our labor force of productive workers, and leave families without spouses, children, and parents. My Administration is committed to helping former prisoners reenter society as productive, lawabiding citizens. For this reason, I signed into law the bipartisan FIRST STEP Act. This new legislation makes several positive reforms to increase the likelihood of successful prisoner reentry. The legislation provides improved opportunities for inmates to engage in educational coursework and vocational training, and establishes pilot mentorship programs. It also allows prisoners who successfully complete evidencebased recidivism reduction programs to earn time credits to apply toward prerelease custody or supervised release, reducing their time in prison. Because maintaining family and community ties is key to a successful reentry into society, the bill includes provisions that allow inmates to be placed in facilities closer to their home communities, facilitating family visitation during their time of incarceration. Finally, the law makes adjustments to sentencing rules that will make our criminal justice system more fair, reducing penalties for certain drug offenders. This month, we celebrate those who have exited the prison system and successfully reentered society and renew our commitment to providing support and resources that former inmates need to meet their responsibilities, rediscover their selfworth, and benefit from the gift of a second chance. We also express our sincere gratitude to all those who play a significant role in helping reduce recidivism, including faithbased and community organizations and employers willing to hire workers notwithstanding a criminal history. By reducing recidivism and putting former inmates on the path to success, we can reduce crime and enhance the safety of our communities. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2019 as Second Chance Month. I call on all Americans to commemorate this month with events and activities that raise public awareness about preventing crime and providing those who have completed their sentences an opportunity for an honest second chance. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third. DONALD J. TRUMP Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High around 70F. Winds light and variable. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 72F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. 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. Patna: Out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case, former Bihar minister Manju Verma was seen on stage during a rally which was being addressed by Union Minister and NDA candidate Giriraj Singh. The rally was taking place in Bihar's Begusarai. Former Bihar minister Manju Verma who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case seen on stage during Union Minister and NDA candidate Giriraj Singh's rally in Begusarai yesterday. Verma had been arrested under arms act linked to the Muzaffarpur case pic.twitter.com/pYPWOBZDMv ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 Verma was spotted days after she was granted bail by Patna High Court in connection with the Arms Act case linked to Muzaffarpur shelter home case. She was lodged in jail since November 20, 2018, after she had surrendered before a Begusarai court. The former Bihar minister was evading arrest in the Arms Act case which cropped up in course of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home case. Verma was forced to resign as the minister for social welfare from the Nitish Kumar government after reports surfaced that her husband had close links with Brajesh Thakur - the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur case. Verma's husband had surrendered before a court on October 29. The former minister was suspended by the Janata Dal-United (JDU) from the primary membership of the party. Mumbai: A major crisis at the struggling carrier Jet Airways was averted on Sunday after its pilots' body, National Aviator's Guild (NAG), deferred till April 15 its call for halting operations. The decision was taken at an open house meeting of NAG members which took place in both Mumbai and Delhi on Sunday afternoon, NAG president Karan Chopra told reporters after the meeting which lasted for about four hours. The NAG, which claims to represent around 1,100 of the 1,600 Jet Airways pilots, had announced earlier that its members will not fly from April 1, unless their salary dues were cleared and clarity was provided on future payments by March 31. "The management has shown us a positive intent by transferring our(December) salary and we thought we should give them at least a couple of weeks to settle down and form the interim board and solve our issues which they have already spoken about earlier. "Therefore, the collective call taken by the pilots in both Mumbai and Delhi of no flying, which was supposed to start from April 1, has now been deferred to April 15 in a hope that something positive pans out in two weeks," Chopra said. On March 21 the NAG had requested the government to intervene for the survival of Jet Airways, after which State Bank of India (SBI) stated that the lenders will infuse interim funding of Rs 1,500 crore to sustain its operations for the next two months. Last Monday, Jet Airways' board approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. Under the plan, lenders decided to take control of the airline and make a fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore. It has been only six days since the lenders, who are now the new owners, announced additional funding to Jet Airways, and that is why they should be given more time to resolve the issues, Chopra said. He, however, urged SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar to hold a meeting with pilots' representatives for a clear assessment of the affairs at the airline. SBI had said the salaries will be paid out of the interim funding, Chopra noted, adding that last night pilots were intimated about disbursal of remaining 87.50 per cent of the December salary. Jet Airways has been defaulting on salary payments to pilots, engineers and senior management since August 2018. Its engineers have also reportedly threatened to stop work from April 1 if their dues were not cleared by March 31. The loss-making airline, now under the ownership of SBI-led consortium of lenders following a debt-recast plan, said Saturday that it could remit only the remaining amount of December salary to pilots and others, as of now. "Currently, along with engineers and senior staff we are three salaries behind. In totality, it is up to 300 per cent which is slightly more than the 287.50 per cent dues last time. "The total payout of salary for pilots, engineers and general managers and above-level executives would be in the range of Rs 320-350 crore for the period between January and March this year," Chopra said. The clearing of remaining dues will be in conjunction with interim funding, as per Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube, Chopra informed. The NAG chief added that now the pilots are hoping that interim funding comes in and remaining dues get cleared. The NAG hopes that the interim funding continues, but it is not sure about the amount that will come in and how much will be the subsequent pay-out, Chopra stated. "We urge for a meeting with SBI as early as possible. Ever since our last request, we haven't heard back from him (SBI chairman)," Chopra said. NAG General Secretary Tej Sood, in a letter to Kumar on March 25, had sought a meeting so that the pilots could get "an idea of the recovery roadmap". The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the MiG 27 aircraft crash that took place near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. However, the pilot ejected safely, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. The MiG 27 UPG jet took off from Utarlai airforce base but it experienced engine problems leading to the crash at around 11.45 am in Sirohi district about 120 km south of Jodhpur. The preliminary reports indicate no loss of life and property on the ground. The jet was on a routine mission, the officials added. The fighter aircraft crashed in Shivganj police station area near Godana dam in Sirohi district. Police and administrative officials have reached the spot to cordon off the area, Sirohi district SP, Kalyan Mal Meena, told PTI. In yet another incident stirring row, US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo failed a quality test in Rajasthan resulting in the withdrawal of some batches of the products. A test done on the company's baby shampoo by Drug Controller in Jaipur, Rajasthan revealed that it contains harmful ingredients including formaldehyde. Identified as a carcinogen, formaldehyde also affects the nervous system, respiratory system, and has been linked to allergies in children. However, the company refused to accept the tests result. In a statement, the company claimed that the test methods, details or any quantitative findings were not disclosed to them. It also stated there is no prescribed test method or requirement for testing formaldehyde in shampoo under the applicable standards. The statement confirmed that formaldehyde is not added as an ingredient in the shampoo nor does the shampoo contain any ingredient that can release formaldehyde. They also added that their products conform to all applicable standard under the D&C Act and D&C rules. It concluded that the company has contested the interim test results and the application is pending for re-testing of samples. The statement read, "Earlier this year, representatives of the Drug Controller in Jaipur, Rajasthan drew samples of Johnsons Baby Shampoo for testing and we fully co-operated during the process. We do not accept the interim results given to us which mentioned samples to contain harmful ingredients- identification positive for formaldehyde. The government did not disclose the test methods, details or any quantitative findings." "This is concerning especially when there is no prescribed test method or requirement for testing Formaldehyde in shampoo under the applicable standards. We have confirmed to the Indian authorities that we do not add Formaldehyde as an ingredient in our shampoo nor does Johnsons baby shampoo contain any ingredient that can release formaldehyde over time. Our products are safe to use and conform to all applicable standard under the D&C Act and D&C rules," added the statement. "We have contested the interim test results of the Government Analysis that were based on unknown and unspecified methods. Following due process under law, the application before the relevant authority is pending for re-testing of samples at Central Drugs Laboratory," further added the statement. Earlier too, Johnson & Johnson's baby powder had come under scan and courted controversy. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary was also in focus for supplying faulty hip implants to Indian patients. NEW DELHI: As cyber threats from nation-state bad actors grow exponentially, India urgently requires to enhance the cyber capabilities of its armed forces, including the operationalisation of a Defence Cyber Agency, a new report has emphasised. According to the comprehensive report titled "Credible Cyber Deterrence in Armed Forces of India" by the New Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), the Indian armed forces must have modern means and capabilities for cyber exploitation, technical intelligence, cyber deception and launching of probing operations. "The report identifies seven pillars for enhancing the cyber capabilities of the Indian armed forces, including operationalisation of a `Defence Cyber Agency` as a stepping stone to develop cyber power within the designated time frame," said Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF. Aware of cyber power being a critical component of India`s comprehensive deterrence capability, the foundation has set up a task force headed by Lt. Gen. Davinder Kumar (Retired) to suggest a road map for cyber deterrence in the armed forces. While the Defence Cyber Agency is a long-awaited measure, it must provide the base for an Indian Cyber Command which must be created within the next three years to effectively respond to likely and emerging threats, the task force observed. The seven pillars are: policy and strategy for development and employment of cyber power; Indian armed forces doctrine for application of cyber power and information operations; organisation for cyber deterrence synergy, staffing and adaptation of cyber force; human resource, training and certification; technology, R&D standards and integrity of data; integration and development of concepts for application of cyber power for effective cyber deterrence and international engagement and legal framework. "India needs focused R&D in the development of safe products, discovery and analysis of vulnerabilities, fixing attribution, the design of `kill switches` and security patches; creation and analysis of malware, production and delivery of cyber weapons and concentrate in capability building for electronic combat as part of Information Warfare (IW)," the report noted. In addition, depending on the knowledge of vulnerabilities, the Indian armed forces must develop cyber weapons, both for causing disruption and destruction. Sharing of intelligence between the civil and military as also the launch of cyber weapons are a must and should be ensured through a statute if necessary. "The task force is confident that implementation of these recommendations would fill a strategic gap in India`s security architecture and provide the base for the creation of a Cyber Command," noted Lt. Gen. Kumar (retired). New Delhi: Retired Army commander Lt. Gen DS Hooda has prepared a comprehensive report on India's National Security and presented it to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, news agency ANI reports. Lt Gen Hooda (Retd) was the Northern Army commander during the September 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads along LoC in PoK. Lt. General (Retd.) D S Hooda presents his comprehensive report on National Security to Congress President @RahulGandhi. pic.twitter.com/9hy2LYKbBu Congress (@INCIndia) March 31, 2019 In February, after the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, Lt Gen DS Hooda was approached by Congress to prepare a vision paper for the country. Congress President Rahul Gandhi to set up a Task Force on National Security to prepare a vision paper for the country. Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd) to lead the Task Force and prepare the paper in consultation with a select group of experts. pic.twitter.com/TnxtZSOtpw ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2019 ANI previously reported that Lt Gen DS Hooda (Retd) will prepare the vision paper in consultation with a select group of experts. Sources said that Lt Gen Hooda (Retd) will work with a team of retired police and Army officers to prepare the vision paper on national security challenges and will complete the comprehensive report in one month. Later, several media reports also suggested that Lt Gen Hooda (Retd) might be joining Congress. However, on being asked whether he had joined the main opposition party which has asked him to prepare the report on national security, he said, ''I have not joined the Congress party.'' (With ANI inputs) New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched a campaign in the national capital under which party members distributed letters from Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal to Delhi Metro commuters on the issue of full statehood. The campaign was launched at the Rajiv Chowk station of the Delhi Metro and would soon cover all other metro stations in the city, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said. AAP Women wing begins it's Metro campaign for full statehood for Delhi from Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. pic.twitter.com/x58WF12BKL AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 31, 2019 AAP volunteers will be distributing these letters outside the metro stations said commuters can read them to understand the importance of full statehood for Delhi, the senior leader said. Rai claimed that the people of Delhi pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore as Income Tax and receive only Rs 325 crore from the Centre. "Once Delhi becomes a full state, it would get Rs 60,000 crore, which can be used in so many development projects," he said. Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of the Congress Saturday lodged a complaint with the chief electoral officer against chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of misusing his office by sending letters to voters and violating the poll code. The ruling AAP in the city is fighting the Lok Sabha election on the agenda of granting full statehood to Delhi. The election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital will be held on May 12. BENGALURU: Well-known Supreme Court lawyer and anti-graft activist Prashant Bhushan on Saturday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to spend as much as Rs 90,000 crore in the upcoming Lom Sabha poll. "It is estimated that Rs 1 lakh crore would be spent on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 90 per cent of it would be spent by the BJP," Bhushan was quoted as saying by IANS. He made the claim while delivering a talk on `Reclaiming the Republic`, a manifesto released by socio-political body Swaraj Abhiyan. Bhushan expressed disappointment over the fact that democracy and elections were becoming a hostage to money and stressed that money was the only factor in election these days. "Drastic electoral reforms are urgently needed to bring in transparency in electoral funding. No country in the world has a non-transparent instrument like electoral bonds` we have in India where corporate and foreign entities can send money to any party funds secretly but legally," said Bhushan. Bhushan also said that the people must not always vote for the winning candidate because it hampers the democratic process. "We do not get good people to represent us, as people vote for a winning candidate than the best candidate in the contest," said Bhushan. The SC advocate urged the people to use their voting rights smartly in order save democracy. He added that the country was in the danger of turning into a fascist state and it can be avoided only by voting. "As India is in the danger of turning into a fascist state, citizens, civil society groups and people`s movements should come together to save its democracy and civilization," said Bhushan. The manifesto for Swaraj Abhiyan was prepared by noted citizens, including Justice A.P. Shah, Gopal Gandhi, Prabhat Patnaik, Yogendra Yadav and Harsh Mander. New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi, addressing his first election rally in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, promised to provide special category status to Andhra Pradesh if the party was voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019. Besides this, he also spoke about the proposed Nyay scheme, however, special category status was the central point of his two campaign rallies in Andhra Pradesh today. You know the mismanagement that has taken place in Andhra Pradesh. You know the state is struggling, the Congress president said, addressing his first election campaign meeting in Vijayawada this morning, reports news agency PTI. He said that special category status was important for the future of Andhra Pradesh. There should be no confusion that the moment the Congress comes to power in 2019, one of the first decisions we will take will be giving special category status to Andhra Pradesh because we are absolutely convinced that the state needs it, the Congress chief said in his speech. Rahul also assured to positively look into the demand for granting Scheduled Caste status to the Vaddera community and Scheduled Tribe status to the Valmiki community and further promised to take up categorisation of the special category status in an amicable manner. In his speech, he also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'not fulfiling' the promises and YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on alleged corruption and flayed Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over 'mismanagement' of the state. Rahul accused the TDP as well for 'failing to exert pressure' on the Centre in providing the special category status to Andhra Pradesh. TDP was in alliance with Narendra Modi, but the ties ended after Andhra Pradesh was not granted special status. Last month, the TDP chief observed a day-long fast to demand special status category for Andhra Pradesh. (With PTI inputs) Sacked BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, who will challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, on Sunday asserted that he wants to ask the PM about the promises he has fulfilled till date. Yadav, who was dismissed from service in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the substandard food served to the troops, will be contesting as an Independent candidate. Speaking to news agency ANI, Yadav also said that PM Modi had earlier promised pension and status of martyrs to soldiers of paramilitary forces and he will question the PM on that too. He added that it is an equal fight as on one side there is 'asli chowkidaar' (real watchman) and on the other, there is 'nakli chowkidaar' (fake watchman). "PM had said 'will give a status of martyrs to soldiers of paramilitary forces, will give them a pension. I will ask PM, 'you had made promises, what all did you do till date? Tell us'," added Yadav. "It is an equal fight, on the one side you have an `Asli Chowkidar` (real watchman) and on the other side, you have a `Nakli Chowkidar (fake watchman)", further added Yadav. Earlier on Friday, he had announced that he would contest the poll. "I will contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency as an independent candidate," Tej Bahadur Yadav had told reporters in Rewari, Haryana. Yadav had said he wanted to contest the polls to eliminate corruption in the forces. "I had raised the issue of corruption but I was sacked. My first objective will be to strengthen and eliminate corruption in the forces," he had said. He had uploaded a video on social media in 2017, complaining that poor quality food was being served to the troops in icy, mountainous region along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. He was later dismissed on the charge of indiscipline. Yadav had uploaded a video about the quality of food which had gone viral on social media. In the video that had sparked nationwide outrage, Yadav, a BSF soldier of the 29 battalion Seema Suraksha Bal, said that the troops were not even getting basic three square meals. Yadav, in a series of Facebook posts, had said that the government has been doing enough to provide the security forces with essential items, but it is the BSF officials who are indulged in wrongdoings. Yadav also posted other videos showing a poorly baked 'chapati' and dal which he said had "nothing except salt and turmeric". In the videos, Yadav is seen accusing the high-ranking officers of selling the items being provided by the government to fill their pockets. The BSF jawan had said, "How can a person like him stand in duty for 10-11 hours in harsh conditions after having a pathetic meal?" The video posted by him showed that for breakfast, "only 'paranthas' and a cup of tea is provided, with not a single piece of pickle or butter." "Dal, which is given during lunch, has only salt and turmeric (in the name of spices), with no jeera, onion, garlic or tomatoes." Following the incident, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had sought a report from the Home Ministry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with 'chowkidars' as part of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign from New Delhis Talkatora stadium. Several top BJP leaders were present at the event, along with other people who are supporting the campaign. Besides PM Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies in Andhra Pradesh. With the national election just a week away, the political leaders are busy holding rallies across the country. Thanks for joining us. Do come back again for the election live updates from April 1 (Monday). Here are all the updates from March 31 (Sunday). * The TMC chief said that the BJP will not get a single seat in West Bengal * Mamata Banerjee urged BJP allies to not support PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah during the national election. * "We have come here to appeal to you to vote for Chandrababu Naidu again. He has laid the foundations of a modern Andhra Pradesh. If he gets five years more, he will expedite the process," Kejriwal said. Visakhapatnam: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal attend Andhra Pradesh CM & TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu's public rally pic.twitter.com/D09KLGDybx ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * Apart from Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal attend Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu's public rally. PM Modi at 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' program in Delhi: If four generations of a family have been repeating the same promise but not doing anything towards fulfilling it, then people need to understand it. pic.twitter.com/teLCuJQgTH ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * The next term will be dedicated to fulfill the aspirations of the citizens: PM Modi * Protect yourselves from getting influenced by false promises: PM Modi * We should encourage the first time voters: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Congress ka jhoot bada seasonal hota hai, jab Dilli mein chunaav chal raha tha, tab unhone jhoot chala diya, aur jhoot kya tha, Church pe hamle ho rahe hain, intolerance...intolerance. Jaise hi chunaav samaapt hogye, intolerance bhi samaapt ho gaya pic.twitter.com/SzhoMFKIbx ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * On the success of Mission Shakti, PM Modi says, "It is a big achievement for our scientists. It is due to them that India has entered the elite club of space powers after three countries." PM Modi: Kuch log (loan defaulters and financial offenders) videsh ki adalaton mein jakar keh rahe hain ki Bharat ki jail ki sthiti aisi hai ki hum usmein reh nahi sakte. Toh ab unko mahal dain kya? Angrezon ne Gandhi ko jis jail mein rakha tha usse achhi jail thodi na dunga. pic.twitter.com/98eAbi4Gsm ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * We have been suffering from terrorism for the past 40 years. We know who is responsible for it. I thought, till when will this go on? Then, I decided that we need to take target the place from where this emanates: PM Modi * Since 2014, I have taken steps to take them jail: PM Modi * Those who have looted the country will have to pay the price: PM Modi on corruption * Pakistan is in dilemma if they say something happened in Balakot. They'll have to accept, Yes, we had terrorist camps operating here. We attacked the place they can't hide anymore. They haven't let anyone visit it in the last 1.5 months: PM Modi * On Balakot airstrike, PM Modi says, "I have complete trust on the armed forces, have trust on their ability and disciple." * Elections are not my priority, the country is: PM Modi * PM Modi lauds the youth for thinking about the future. Along with me, 130 crore Indians will take oath after election result," he says. * I am happy that spirit of chowkidar is spreading: PM Modi * As a chowkidar, I will do my job: PM Modi * I convey my greetings to all 'chowkidars' across the nation who have joined this Main Bhi Chowkidar program: PM Modi * We are all 'chowkidars', who are committed to a strong and prosperous India: PM Modi * I thank the people who criticised me during 2014 Lok Sabha election 2014. It's because of them I got so much of popularity: PM Modi ------------------------------------------------- *West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at Visakhapatnam to attend Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu's public rally in the city today. * This is western UP, earlier when people used to go somewhere with bullock cart, their cattle used to end up in illegal slaughter houses. Who doesn't know what happened in Visara? How SP govt suppressed sentiments here? When our govt came, we shut all illegal slaughter houses. Congress govt had said that Ram and Krishna don't exist. I would like to ask Congress leaders what do they want to see by going from one temple to the other? Why this hypocrisy? Priyanka Vadra's statement yesterday over Ayodhya is an insult to Hindus everywhere. She was asked why did she not to go Ram janmbhoomi when she went to Ayodhya? She said it is disputed land, so she didn't. She didn't go there as this would have upset a particular community: Yogi Adityanath * "It's up-to him where he wants to contest from, how will I know if he got scared or not?" Union Minister Maneka Gandhi told ANI on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Amethi and Wayanad. * "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation," Amit Shah at a rally in Nagina, Uttar Pradesh. * BJP releases list of 4 candidates in Gujarat for Lok Sabha poll. One candidate for by-election to Talala assembly constituency also announced. BJP releases list of 4 candidates in Gujarat for #LokSabhaElections2019 . One candidate for by-election to Talala assembly constituency also announced. pic.twitter.com/pTiPY3kvny ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * "He's fighting in one of the 20 constituencies(in Kerala)&doesn't need to be seen as any different. We'll fight him. He should've contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting, it's nothing but a fight against Left," Kerala CM P Vijayan on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad. * Visuals from the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' theme car rally in Mumbai Maharashtra: Visuals from the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' theme car rally in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/2xinN97QPR ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala: A K Antony AK Antony,Congress: Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/Rt7IDNxr0D ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on possible alliance between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi: "You will get to know about it in a matter of few hours, by this evening or by tomorrow. There will be an official announcement." * Former Bihar minister Manju Verma who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case was seen on stage during Union Minister and BJP candidate Giriraj Singh's rally in Begusarai on Saturday. Verma had been arrested under arms act linked to the Muzaffarpur case. Former Bihar minister Manju Verma who is out on bail in Muzaffarpur shelter home case seen on stage during Union Minister and NDA candidate Giriraj Singh's rally in Begusarai yesterday. Verma had been arrested under arms act linked to the Muzaffarpur case pic.twitter.com/pYPWOBZDMv ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey misbehaves with SDM KK Upadhyay in Buxar after the official had stopped his convoy for violating model code of conduct. #WATCH Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey misbehaves with SDM KK Upadhyay in Buxar after the official had stopped his convoy for violating model code of conduct. #Bihar (30.3.19) pic.twitter.com/G7Fp96zOug ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 * PM Narendra Modi to interact with people on Mar 31 over his 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign. * Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to hold rallies for BJP candidates in Noida, Ghaziabad on March 31. * BJP President Amit Shah will hold public meetings in Nagina and Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. * Rahul Gandhi to address two election rallies in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The Congress on Friday evening released a list comprising of two candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) nominated one candidate each from Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir has been fielded from Anantnag constituency and senior party leader K Muraleedharan will contest from Vadakara seat in Kerala. The parliamentary election in Jammu and Kashmir will take place in five phases and that in Kerala will be held in a single phase. The voting in Anantnag will take place on April 23, April 29 and May 6 and that in Vadakara will be held on April 23. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday took a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his decision to contest from Kerala in the Lok Sabha election, accusing that Rahul's roots have been shaken in Amethi and so he ran to the Wayanad constituency. The Congress on Sunday announced that Rahul will contest Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, his Lok Sabha constituency for three terms in a row. Addressing a press conference in Bihar's Patna, Prasad said that Rahul felt helpless and insecure in Amethi and took refuge in Wayanad. Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi, and Amethi are considered as his family's pocket borough, but he is so scared that he fled to a place far away in south India, said Prasad. He also launched a scathing attack on Rahul saying that his lies and fake narratives have been exposed. Calling Rahul the Captain, the senior BJP leader said that the Congress chief ran away after noticing the sinking ship. Reiterating that Rahul was feeling unsafe, unsure and facing defeat in Amethi, Prasad said that he chose a safe minority dominated seat in Kerala. "Rahul Gandhi's lies and fake narratives have been exposed and that has shaken his roots in Amethi. That's why he ran to Wayanad. Helpless and insecure in Amethi Rahul Gandhi ran to Wayanad for security. Captain ran away after noticing the sinking ship is what I feel about Rahul Gandhi's decision on contesting from Wayanad," tweeted Prasad. "Feeling unsafe, unsure and facing defeat in Amethi Rahul Gandhi seeks a safe minority dominated seat in #Wayanad Kerala at the request of Muslim League and CPM crying loudly. Where is Gathbandhan slipping?" added Prasad. He also tweeted, "As per 2011 census only 49% of the population of Wayanad is Hindu and Rahul Gandhi finds it a safe seat. Rahul Gandhi is only a "Chunavi Hindu"." Rahul had never cultivated his image as a Hindu but recently he is going to temples, showing off his "Janeu" (sacred thread) and flaunting his "Gotra", the minister said asserting that he suddenly decided to contest a minority dominated seat feeling insecure. When asked that Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate in 2014 elections had contested from two seats - Gandhi Nagar and Varanasi, Prasad said it was because the people of Gujarat had requested Modi, who was the chief minister of the state for more than a decade, to do it. On Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala's statement that Rahul will contest Wayanad to safeguard the cultural tradition of south India, the BJP leader said it is an 'ugly cruel joke'. Imphal: The BJP on Sunday asserted that the upcoming Lok Sabha election is just a "formality" to re-elect Narendra Modi as the prime minister. The parliamentary election, beginning April 11, will be all about Modi's performance, leadership and how he wants to take India to the next level, BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli told reporters here. "This election is a formality to re-elect Prime Minister Modi, who works and cares for the poorest of the poor in the country, especially the northeast region," he said at a function to welcome 71 Congress workers into the BJP fold. Kohli added that the Bharatiya Janata Party has "always had a special affection" for the northeast. Manipur has two Lok Sabha seats -- Outer Manipur and Inner Manipur -- and both the constituencies are held by the Congress. Kohli exuded confidence that the BJP would wrest the two seats on the back of the central government's initiatives to develop the state and the region. The Outer Manipur constituency will go to polls on April 11, while elections to the Inner Manipur seat will take place on April 18. Meanwhile, state BJP president K Bhabananda claimed that the 71 Congress workers joined the BJP, "as it is coming to power again in Delhi". Nagaland constituency is the only Lok Sabha seat in the Northeastern state. The first phase of voting in the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Nagaland ended on April 11 with at least 78.67 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise in Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency. The fate of four candidates will be decided on May 23 when counting of votes takes place and the result is declared. The Nagaland Parliamentary constituency comprises of all the 60 Assembly segments in the state. 12,09,613 voters including 5,96,134 women will exercise their franchise at 2,227 polling stations in Nagaland. In the 2014 election, Naga Peoples Front leader and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio won the seat by a massive margin of 4,00,225 votes. Neiphiu Rio had bagged 713,372 votes as against his nearest rival of Congress KV Pusa who stood at the second spot with 313,147 votes. However, by-poll in Nagaland was necessitated because of the resignation of Neiphiu Rio after he took over as the Chief Minister of the state. Naga Peoples Front could not win the bypoll as Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party's Tokheho Yepthomi bagged 594,205 to defeat the Naga Peoples Front candidate C Apok Jamir by a margin of 1,73,746 votes. Earlier in the 2009 election, Naga Peoples Front's CM Chang had won the seat by securing 8,32,224 votes, winning by a margin of 483021 votes against his nearest rival from Congress K Asungba Sangtam. LUCKNOW: Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad on Saturday revealed why his party decided to snap its ties with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, saying that BSP chef Mayawati was against the alliance. He added that Mayawati was against the rise of Nishad Party in Uttar Pradesh and she had asked the SP to not allow the Nishad Party symbol to be put on hoardings along with the symbols of SP-BSP-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), IANS reported. "Mayawati was against the alliance and she does not want our party to rise in the state," said Sanjay Nishad. He noted that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was also unclear over giving tickets to Nishad Party candidates. It is to be noted that Nishad Party and SP had addressed a joint press conference on Tuesday (March 26) to announce their alliance. Sanjay Nishad's son, Pravin grabbed headlines in 2018 after winning the by-polls from Gorakhpur. The win was very significant because Gorakhpur is the bastion of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In 2018 by-poll, the SP gave the ticket to Pravin Nishad after forging an alliance with the Nishad Party and the Peace Party. The BSP had not fielded its candidate in the by-poll. Meanwhile, the SP decided to not placate Sanjay Nishad and on Saturday named its own candidate for Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat. The party has given ticket to Ram Bhuwal Nishad Shortly after getting the SP ticket, Ram Bhuwal Nishad told PTI that Sanjay Nishad decided to end the alliance with the SP because he was paid money by the BJP. "Sanjay Nishad switched sides as he was allegedly given money by the BJP. He is a cheater and does not fight for the dignity of the community." Praveen Nishad had strongly rejected Ram Bhuwal's claim and said, "They (SP) kept me in dark... Asking me to prepare for the poll (and) at the same time backing Ram Bhuwal Nishad for the seat. As far as getting money from the BJP is concerned, the allegations levelled by Ram Bhuwal Nishad are baseless." It is to be noted that Sanjay Nishad met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday. Sources claim that the BJP is likely to give two seats to Nishad Party, including Gorakhpur. Sanjay Nishad is a protege of Kanshi Ram and he left the BSP to form the Nishad Party before 2017 Assembly elections. The party contested on 72 seats in 2017 Assembly polls and managed to secure 5.40 lakh votes. Nishad Party enjoys good support in Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. Nishad is a prominent OBC caste in Uttar Pradesh as they constitute around 14% of the states population. It is believed that the community voted for the BJP en bloc in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. By bringing Nishad Party onboard, the BJP is once again hoping to earn the trust of Nishads and repeat its performance of 2014. The livelihoods of majority of Nishads are linked to the river and many of them are boatmen with surnames like Kewat, Bind, Mallah and Manjhi. (with IANS inputs) In a major blow to the Telangana Congress, senior leader and former MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy from Telangana on Sunday who resigned from the party earlier on Sunday, expressed his interest in working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In a letter to PM Narendra Modi he wrote, "I would be grateful to work under your leadership as one of the workers of Bharatiya Janata Party." In his resignation letter sent to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Reddy, had said, "Unfortunately the traditions and values of Congress party have changed contrary to its principles. Money influence has increased during allocation of tickets in Telangana Assembly elections in 2018, MLC elections and also coming Lok Sabha elections." "It is shocking to find that crores of rupees is being sought for allocation of tickets. This kind of commercialisation of ticket allocation in Indian National Congress forced me to consider leaving the party and I am rendering my resignation," Reddy added. On Congress' reaction to the Balakot air strike, carried out by IAF in Pakistan, Reddy said he was annoyed with party's attitude. He furher wrote that the stand of the prominent leaders on the issue of terrorism and national security had been "inconsistent". Reddy added that he would meet BJP president Amit Shah in the national capital on Sunday evening and join the party. His MLC term ended on March 29. The Congress is the main opposition in Telangana, where it had won 19 seats in the December 7 assembly elections. The Congress is in a turmoil as 10 MLAs have announced their decision to quit the party since the beginning of this month and join the TRS, which now appears to have the momentum ahead of the April 11 Lok Sabha poll. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening took a coruscating verbal attack on Pakistan over its refuge to terrorism and India's recent airstrike in Balakot, Pakistan. Interacting with the mass, who have pledged their support to the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign in all parliamentary constituencies, the PM addressed the biggest town hall programme at the Talkatora Stadium in the national capital. PM Modi said India has been suffering from terrorism for the past 40 years. He added that he decided to take the war against terror into the homes of those who support it. "We know who is responsible for it (terrorism). I thought, till when will this go on? Then, I decided, yeh jahan se control hota hai khel wahin khela jaayega," asserted the PM. The PM slammed Pakistan asserting that the country is in a fix because if it acknowledges Balakot air strike, it will have to accept that there was terror camp there. He added that Pakistan has started opening airspace after the air strike believing that PM Modi is busy with the election. He added that the country is more important to him. "Pakistan is in dilemma, if they say something happened in Balakot, they'll have to accept, Yes, we had terrorist camps operating here. They kept telling the world, there's nothing, we attacked the place they can't hide anymore. They haven't let anyone visit it in the last 1.5 months. Pakistan has started opening airspace after air strikes, believing Modi is busy with elections but country more important for me," said the PM. "We've been told Balakot area is being reconstructed by Pakistan to show people that no terror camp existed," said PM Modi. He also took a dig at the Opposition saying that those who abuse PM Modi on the Balakot air strike are extending help to Pakistan with their statements. The PM clarified that the airstrike was done by the IAF and not him after he was praised for conducting the strike. He said that he has complete trust in the armed forces. "I have trust on their ability and disciple and what they can achieve," added the PM. When asked what would be his next step if he comes to power for a second tenure, PM Modi said, "In the last 5 years I put all my strength to do away with what was lacking, to fulfil the necessities from toilets, electricity, roads, trains to buses, and next 5 years will be to address the ambitions and aspirations." As many as 5,000 people attended the town hall and lakhs of people took part in it, across the country, through video conferencing. More than 500 locations across the country were set up. Taking to the Twitter, PM Modi had written, "The day we were most looking forward to is here! At 5 PM, lakhs of Chowkidars from different parts of India will interact in the historic Main Bhi Chowkidar programme. This is an interaction you must not miss." Ending all speculations, Congress on Sunday made it official that besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi will also contest from Wayanad in Lok Sabha poll. All southern states requested the Congress president to contest from their states. After enough deliberations he decided to contest from Wayanad, which shares its borders with two other states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, senior Congress leader AK Antony told reporters in New Delhi. AK Antony,Congress: Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/Rt7IDNxr0D ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 The Congress president is currently the sitting MP from Amethi and his decision to fight from north Kerala's Wayanad is significant because he is contesting from a second seat for the first time in his political career. Rahul's decision has allowed the BJP to take jibes at him with Union minister and BJP's candidate from Amethi Smriti Irani alleging that Rahul Gandhi is confident of his defeat from Amethi and this is the reason why he has decided to contest from a second seat. The Congress hit back saying the BJP comments were "immature". "Similar allegations could have been made when Narendra Modi left Gujarat. Smriti Irani lost Chandni Chowk and Amethi. Now she is prepped up for losing again in Amethi," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. Randeep Surjewala on whether Rahul Gandhi not confident in Amethi so contesting on 2 seats: Why did Modi ji leave Gujarat and contest from Varanasi? Was he not confident in Gujarat? These are immature and childish comments. She(Smriti Irani) will complete a hattrick of losses pic.twitter.com/AoDxHvC0y1 ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 Wayanad is a rural district that shares its borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The seat has been a Congress stronghold for decades and political experts maintain that Rahul would not face any trouble from winning this seat. Congress sources said that the decision that Gandhi would also enter the fray a southern seat was taken by the Congress Working Committee last week. The Congress is hopeful that Rahul's decision to contest from Wayanad would help the party perform well in southern states during Lok Sabha poll. Surjewala claimed that Congress leaders from three southern states - Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - had requested him to contest Lok Sabha poll from a second seat. Meanwhile, CPI(M) ex-General Secretary Prakash Karat has expressed disappointment over Rahul's decision, saying that it shows that the Congress' priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. "Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there," Karat told ANI. Prakash Karat, CPI(M) ex-General Secy: Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there pic.twitter.com/S3AShzSQpZ ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2019 Karat remarked that the Left will strongly oppose Rahul Gandhi and will ensure that he gets defeated in Wayanad. "To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose & in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad," noted Karat. Thiruvananthapuram: Congress President Rahul Gandhi`s decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, cannot be seen as a symbolic fight, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday. Vijayan`s remarks came shortly after the Congress announced in New Delhi that Gandhi was going to contest from both the seats. "In Kerala as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we the Left will see to defeat him," Vijayan told the media reported. Kerala is slated to go to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha candidates. In reply to a question over the outcome if the UPA wins the general elections, Vijayan said: "We have already fielded our candidate and he will be taking on Gandhi." The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and it has fielded P.P. Suneer as their candidate. Vijayan also expressed his resentment against the Congress for not clinching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party which would have worked to take on the BJP. "I am sure the BJP is not going to make any inroads in Uttar Pradesh and all along Amethi has been a bastion of the Congress party." Noida: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday hit out at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after she avoided visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine during her Ayodhya trip recently, terming it an "insult" for Hindus and asking the party to clarify its stand. Addressing an election rally here in support of BJP candidate and Union minister Mahesh Sharma, Adityanath said the country and the world see Ayodhya as Ram Janmbhoomi and there is no dispute on it after the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement on it. "When she was asked as to why she did not visit the Ram Janmnbhoomi, she said it was a disputed site hence she did not go there," he claimed. "Vadra's remark on the Ayodhya site is an insult to any Hindu living in any part of the world," the monk-turned-politician declared to the gathering. "Brothers and sisters, there can be no bigger insult for us." "Last time they (Congress) had won 44 seats, this time they will get only four seats and get finished." Priyanka Gandhi visited Ayodhya on March 29 and offered prayers at the popular Hanuman Garhi temple there but kept away from the Ram Lalla shrine. Adityanath said, "I want to ask you (Priyanka Gandhi) that you did not go to the site thinking that people from a particular community would get angry? You went to Ram bhakt Hanuman's temple. You made a controversial statement about the Ram Janmbhoomi." The chief minister also referred to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra, saying they are "out on bail". "You must clarify this. You make controversial statements when you have three people in your home who are out on bail. Why making such unnecessary controversial statements? Congress must clarify its stance," he said. He alleged that the Congress was behind the delay in the verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, saying a battery of lawyers belonging to the party argue for deferring the matter every time the Supreme Court takes it up. "The Congress, SP and the BSP, they all are the biggest hurdles in getting this matter resolved. We don't consider it a disputed site. These people deliberately play with your sentiments," he told the gathering. Adityanath also accused the Congress and its allies of coining the phrase "Hindu terrorism" in the wake of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that had killed 68, mostly Muslims, and said Hindus have been known for peace but the party had "linked them to terror". He also alleged that the previous Congress-led government at the Centre wanted the Ram Setu also destroyed. "In 2019, we have to decide the roadmap ahead. Should those encouraging and revering terror be elected or (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, who has worked for security, prosperity and happiness, be reelected?" he asked. He described the Congress as a "burden" on the country. "Sometimes I think Rahul Gandhi ji has risen to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi's dream. Gandhiji had said the Congress should be dissolved after independence, but its leaders of the day did not listen to him. Now it appears that Rahulji has come to fulfil that dream of Gandhi ji. Similar is the situation for the SP-BSP in the state, Adityanath said, adding the "alliance of corruption" has failed completely. "They are scared even to step out for campaigning. What are the issues they want to take to the people? What achievements they have to show to the people, especially in western UP?" he added. He said BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav had considered Noida and Greater Noida a "jinx" and avoided visiting there as chief ministers ignoring the development of the region. "I have broken that myth. The BJP breaks all myths," he said, citing his multiple visits to the region for several development projects. The UP chief minister also trained guns at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, claiming he was the "biggest hurdle" in development of the national capital. Referring to Uttar Pradesh bagging the project to build an international airport at Jewar here, Adityanath said Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were also interested in getting it. He credited Sharma for it. "I think it is also about how good your elected representatives are... Delhi CM himself is the biggest obstacle in Delhi's development. He has become a problem unto himself... Whenever the central government plans a development project for Delhi, he goes on a dharna," Adityanath said. Gautam Buddh Nagar goes to polls on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phased elections. New Delhi: Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor, who recently attended a fashion-based award ceremony in Mumbai, said that her son Taimur Ali Khan is the most stylish man alive and has better fashion sense than the king of quirks Ranveer Singh. Bebo, who was honored with an award at the event, said in her acceptance speech, "I am accepting this award on my son Taimurs behalf, the most stylish man alive. And he is definitely more stylish than you Ranveer. Taimur is indeed the most stylish child alive and the biggest superstar in Bollywood. Even years before his big debut, he is chased more by the paparazzi than some of the A-listers. His pictures sell like hotcakes and they go viral on social media in no time. Although Saif and Kareena have expressed their displeasure over the constant media attention that their son gets, the frenzy around him doesn't seem to die down anytime soon. Baby Tim,on the other hand, is quite fond of his photographer friends and addresses them as 'media', every time he spots them. He never fails to acknowledge them irrespective of how his parents feel about the media. Kareena, on the other hand, will share screen space opposite Ranveer in Karan Johar's mega project Takht that stars a bevy of B-town top shots including Alia Bhatt, Anil Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Vicky Kaushal. The film reportedly a historical drama, will go on floors sometime around September 2019. Meanwhile, Bebo is shooting for her upcoming film Good News which also stars Akshay Kumar in the lead role. The film will hit the screens later this year. GAZA: Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in heavy rain at the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of a new wave of protests, facing off against Israeli tanks and troops massed on the fortified frontier. The `Great March of Return` protests have been marked by sometimes deadly violence and Gaza medical officials said two Palestinians had been killed on Saturday. One man died near the border before dawn, hours before the main afternoon rally, they said, while a 17-year-old boy was killed by Israeli fire at a protest site east of Gaza City. Palestinian protesters threw rocks, grenades and burning tyres towards soldiers across the border fence, the Israeli military said. Eager to get a big turnout on the anniversary, organisers set up loudspeakers at protest camps along the border, blaring out Palestinian nationalist songs at full volume. Hamas leaders turned up at the rallies and ordered schools to shut for the day to encourage participation. The protesters are calling for the lifting of a security blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt, and for Palestinians to have the right to return to land from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel`s founding in 1948. Israel rejects any such return, saying that would eliminate its Jewish majority. The Israeli military said 40,000 people had gathered in the frontier area but that most of them were keeping away from the border. Despite the bad weather, an Israeli security official said the turnout was larger than for the usual weekly protests and that it also appeared organisers were trying to keep violence from erupting. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 17 people had been wounded by Israeli gunfire and scores more by tear gas and shrapnel. Around 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started on March 30 last year, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures, and an Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper. Confrontations have mounted ahead of the anniversary. A Gaza rocket attack wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv on Monday and, in response, Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border. After 12 months of bloodshed, Egyptian mediators are working to avoid further confrontation, and to ease tensions by persuading Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of the Gaza Strip. The blockade is cited by humanitarian agencies as a key reason for impoverishment in the narrow coastal enclave into which 2 million Palestinians are packed. Leaders of the armed Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that progress has been made in the truce talks, but Hamas said they had a list of demands from Israel that they wanted to see fulfilled. "In the coming days we hope to conclude the negotiations and achieve a real breaking of the blockade," Hamas chief in Gaza Yehya Sinwar told Reuters as he arrived at the protest. Islamist Hamas rules the territory and has fought three wars with Israel in the past decade. Security has been a prominent issue in the build-up to Israeli elections due on April 9. Facing a serious challenge from a centrist party led by a former general, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s handling of Gaza will also be under scrutiny from hawkish allies in his right-wing coalition. LETHAL FORCE March 30 also marks "Land Day", an annual commemoration of six Arab citizens of Israel who were killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations over land confiscations in 1976. "In a year I will finish school. My father is unemployed so I will be unable to go to university. Who is responsible? Israel," said 16-year-old protester Mohammed Ali. "I don`t know how many years will pass before our lives improve but we should continue (protests) as long as the occupation and the blockade exist." Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its troops in 2005. It says the security blockade is necessary to stop weapons reaching Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Israel`s use of lethal force has drawn censure from the United Nations and human rights groups. U.N. investigators last week said that Israeli forces may be guilty of war crimes for using excessive force. Israel says its troops have no choice because they are trying to stop militants breaching the fence and attacking civilian communities in the area. The border protests have turned into a standoff between Gazans hurling rocks and explosives and Israeli troops across the border. Palestinians have also launched incendiary balloons and kites into Israel and breached the Israeli frontier fence. WASHINGTON/EL PASO, Texas: The US government cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States and threatened to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Trump said there was a "very good likelihood" he would close the border this week if Mexico did not stop immigrants from reaching the United States. Frequent crossers of the border, including workers and students, worried about the disruption to their lives the president`s threatened shutdown could cause. At a rally on the border in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O`Rourke denounced Trump`s immigration policies as the politics of "fear and division." A State Department spokesman said in a statement it was carrying out Trump`s directive by ending aid programs to the three Central American nations, known as the Northern Triangle. The department said it would "engage Congress in the process," an apparent acknowledgement that it will need lawmakers` approval to end funding that a Congressional aide estimated would total about $700 million. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump`s order a "reckless announcement" and urged Democrats and Republicans alike to reject it. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday that the United States was paying the three countries "tremendous amounts of money," but received nothing in return. Mario Garcia, a 45-year-old bricklayer in El Salvador, said he was setting off for the United States regardless of the president`s threat to close the frontier. "There is no work here and we want to improve (our lives), to get ahead for our families, for our children. I don`t give a damn (what Trump says), I`m determined," Garcia said. Garcia was one of a group of at least 90 people who left the capital San Salvador over the weekend on buses heading north, in what locals said was the tenth so-called caravan to depart for the United States since October. The government of El Salvador has said it has tried to stem the flow of migrants. The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Saturday called the U.S. policies "contradictory" but stressed that its relationship with the United States was "solid, close and positive." Trump, who launched his presidential campaign in 2015 with a promise to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly threatened to close the frontier during his two years in office but has not followed through. This time, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other U.S. officials say border patrol officers have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase asylum seekers, many of them children and families who arrive in groups, fleeing violence and economic hardship in the Northern Triangle. March is on track for 100,000 border apprehensions, Homeland Security officials said, which would be the highest monthly number in more than a decade. Most of those people can remain in the United States while their asylum claims are processed, which can take years because of ballooning immigration court backlogs. Nielsen warned Congress on Thursday that the government faces a "system-wide meltdown" as it tries to care for more than 1,200 unaccompanied children and 6,600 migrant families in its custody. Trump has so far been unable to convince Congress to tighten asylum laws or fund his border wall. He has declared a national emergency to justify redirecting money earmarked for the military to pay for the wall. Mexico has played down the possibility of a border shutdown. Its foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the country is a good neighbor and does not act on the basis of threats. It was not clear how shutting down ports of entry would deter asylum seekers because they are legally able to request help as soon as they set foot on U.S. soil. But a border shutdown would disrupt tourism and U.S.-Mexico trade that totaled $612 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A shutdown could lead to factory closures on both sides of the border, industry officials say, because the automobiles and medical sectors especially have woven international supply chains into their business models. 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. By By: Dr. Francis R. Souder, 85, formerly of Telford, died Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 in the skilled nursing unit of Peter Becker Community, Franconia Township. He and his wife Marion R. (Parker) Souder celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in July. Born in Souderton, he was a son of the late Elvin B. and Mary (Rittenhouse) Souder. A 1938 graduate of Souderton High School, he received his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Souder went on to receive his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College in 1944 and completed his internship at Hahnemann Hospital from Oct. 1944 July, 1945. He served with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps for 30 months in San Diego and Long Beach, Calif. during WW II and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant prior to his discharge. He entered his second tour of duty during the Korean War where he served in Panama City, Fla. as the medical officer for the Panama City Naval Air Station and the Tyndal Air Force Base. Dr. Souder owned and operated his family practice on Main Street in Telford from 1947-1989. He served on the staff of Grand View Hospital, and as its president, and taught at the Grand View Hospital Nursing School. He was a member of the Pa. Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, Diplomat American Academy of Family Practices, and served on the board of trustees at Grand View Hospital, Sellersville. He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Telford, where he sang in the church choir. He was also a member of the MacCalla Lodge #596 in Souderton, the Raja Shrine, and Lehigh Consistory. In addition to his widow, he is survived by a son, Dr. Ronald L. Souder, and his wife Susan L. of Green Lane; a daughter, Susan J. Souder, and her husband Stephan Russo of New York, N.Y.; five grandchildren: Jennifer A. Souder of Philadelphia; Emily E. Souder of Philadelphia; Kathryn A. Souder of Washington, D.C.; Noah Russo of New York, N.Y., and Rebekah Russo of New York, N.Y., and two brothers: Attorney Elvin B. Souder of Souderton and Dr. Lawrence Souder of Souderton. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 12 p.m. in Trinity United Church of Christ, 101 S. Main St., Telford, with calling hours following the service. Interment will be private in Trinity UCC Cemetery Telford. Memorial contributions may be made to Grand View Hospital, 700 Lawn Ave., Sellersville, Pa. 18960. Arrangements are by Sadler-Suess Funeral Home, Telford. Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Gurbir Singh By Express News Service To counter the shrill and muscular nationalist campaign of the Modi camp, and to bring back the debate to domestic issues from Pakistan and terror, the Congress and Rahul Gandhi have announced an attractive minimum income guarantee scheme. Called the Nyunatam Aay Yojana the acronym NYAY or Justice it promises a guaranteed income of Rs 12,000 a month to the countrys very poor if the pary is voted to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections. NYAY seems to be designed on the hugely successful Garibi Hatao slogan that won the 1971 polls for Rahul Gandhis grandmother, Indira Gandhi. Garibi Hatao remained pretty much a slogan, and that can be the fate of NYAY too. BJPs finance minister Arun Jaitley has dubbed it a bluff announcement. So what can we expect? SOME DEEP THINKING Reading the declarations of Congress spokespersons, the income guarantee scheme is not just an election gambit, but is designed as a future policy. It is targeting high joblessness and rural distress the two big drags on the Indian economy. Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda says it is aimed at the bottom 5 crore families or 25 crore people who will receive a guaranteed earning of Rs 72,000 a year. It is estimated that these families have an average monthly income of Rs 6,000; which means the states direct benefit transfers (DBT) will average Rs 6,000 per month per family. This translates into provisioning for a humungous Rs 3.6 lakh crore per annum. Former finance minister P Chidambaram said on Twitter that the Congress has consulted economists, this is doable, and we will adhere to fiscal discipline. That the party has been consulting former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, British economist Angus Deaton and Frenchman Thomas Piketty, called by The Economist as a Modern Day Marx, shows it means business. It is hardly certain that the Congress will win to implement its NYAY scheme; or even if comes to power, whether it will have the will to garner the resources. However, as a minimum income programme, NYAY is the need of the hour. People are without work and the rural economy is crumbling. Till things are brought to an even keel, direct income support targeting the very poor is necessary. Vague subsidy schemes that are on paper and spread out too thin over the entire population do not make sense. INCOME SUPPORT NEEDED Sample the unemployment scenario: The leaked National Sample Survey Offices 2017-18 report says that the unemployment rate (6.1 per cent) has reached a 45-year high; worse, the workforce has shrunk by 47 million since 2011, showing a sharp fall in jobs. Those who have support jobs through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme have just received a laughable average hike of Rs 2.16 per cent the lowest ever in the history of the scheme. From April 1, rural labour in six states will get no wage rise, while in another 15 states, the rise varies from Rs 1-5 per day. The idea of a minimum income guarantee is not new. The Economic Survey for 2016-17, authored by the then Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, makes a case for a Universal Basic Income suggesting a starting point of Rs 1,500 per month. This was not implemented. What was announced was a niggardly dole in the latest interim budget, where farmers were to be given an assured income of Rs 6,000 per annum in three installments. Called the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojna, income support meant the princely sum of Rs 500 a month! The Congress has also been showing some alacrity in spelling out its other economic and business plans. In a recent interview with news agency PTI, party president Rahul Gandhi promised to support entrepreneurship with a regulation-free passage for new ventures for the first three years and easy access to bank credit. He also said the controversial angel tax on start-ups would be done away. Angel tax is an impost on investments in start-ups that are considered above fair market value. With this package, the Congress has stolen a march on the ruling BJP, which is yet to come out with any definitive economic programme. Its manifesto too will only be released in the beginning of April. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who flagged off his election circuit with rallies in Meerut, Rudrapur and Jammu, chose to fire a heavy barrage of the Opposition-is-aiding terrorism-and-Pakistan accusations on the Opposition. Wonder what the people will bite? By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Even as over 1,000 Jet Airways pilots, who havent been paid for the past four months, have decided not to fly from April 1, the carrier late on Saturday expressed its inability to clear the dues immediately. Jet held that it will only be able to clear the remaining 85.7 per cent of the pilots December pay. With the change in Jets ownership earlier this week, it was expected that the airline clears salary dues of pilots by March 29. A part of the expected interim funding from SBI was supposed to be actioned on March 29. Unfortunately, the fund transfer has not taken place, and there is also no update on salary payment from the management. The collective decision of pilots taken at Mumbai and Delhi open house effective 1 April prevails, Karan Chopra, president of Jet pilots association National Aviators Guild (NAG), had said in a communication to members late on Friday. The NAG has now called for an open house of its members in New Delhi and Mumbai on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube, in a communication to the pilots on Saturday, said the board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. These are complex processes and it has taken longer than we had expected and as such we are only able to remit your remaining salary for December 2018, he added. Meanwhile, a senior Jet official, on condition of anonymity, said that operations are unlikely to be impacted as they have enough manpower. At present, Jet is flying only 35 aircraft, while it has a fleet strength of over 120. The official said that Jet has around 1,700 pilots; hence, about 600-700 pilots are available to handle operations. Jet would soon receive funds and clear the dues of employees, he added. Manju Shettar By Express News Service BENGALURU: It was a tragic Saturday for eight-year-old Zainab, who had to attend the funeral of her mother and sister after they died in Fridays mishap where a helium cylinder, being used as part of a film shoot, exploded and hit the family, fatally injuring Sumera Banu and Ayera Khan. On Saturday, the family received the bodies after the completion of the postmortem formalities at Ambedkar Hospital. Zainab, who was with her father, was unable to recognise her mother and sister, due to the extent of the injuries they suffered. Speaking to TNIE, Zainabs father Tabrej Khan, a driver by profession said, Doctors who treated my daughter Zainab in a private hospital, told me that she needs a minimum of three months to recover from the trauma of the incident. She has injuries on her chest and mouth from the blast. Recalling the accident, he said that the cylinder shot up into the air like a rocket before descending at high velocity and hitting the family. I was about to reach the spot where they were standing as I had gone to park my car nearby. It all happened within a few seconds and I was shocked to see my wife and daughter lying in a pool of blood. I collapsed instantly. No one came to help them even while I was screaming continuously, Tabrej said. Talking about how the family happened to be at the spot, Tabrej said that the kids had insisted that they spend the weekend at their aunts house. Ayera and Zainab came home after school and forced my wife to take them to their aunts house in Soolibele. Their aunt Nasareen was waiting to have lunch with them. Ayera was very bright in school and Zainab is a very jovial girl. Now she is not responding to anyone and I am very worried about her, said her father. Cops book film crew Bengaluru police on Friday filed an FIR against the crew of the film Ranam under the Explosive Substances Act of 1908, following the deaths of two people during shooting. However, no arrests have been made so far as the accused are absconding. Based on a complaint by Tabrej Khan, the police have launched a man hunt. The accused have been identified as producer Srinivas R, director Samudram V, production manager Kiran, stunt director Vijayan and the members of the technical team who caused the death of Sumera Banu (29) and Ayera Khan (5), who were killed on the spot when a stunt scene was being shot on Friday evening. Neither did the team take permission for the shooting nor inform the police about the shooting schedule. C Shivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: In a bid to ease traffic congestion and evolve efficient connectivity between Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and East Coast Road (ECR), the State is considering a proposal for study on improving the road linkage between the two roads. It is learnt that the Centre For Urbanisation, Buildings and Environment has submitted a proposal to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority wherein a 59 square kilometer area will be taken up. The project area considered for the study is the strip development between OMR and ECR extending to approximately 1,000 metres on the respective side of OMR and ECR till shoreline and 1,000 metre north of Thiruvanmiyur and 1,000 metre south of Chennai Metropolitan Area boundary at Navallur. The study area is a fast-developing area in the Chennai Metropolitan Area which needs good accessibility and connectivity within and beyond. It has proximity to the developed localities along the OMR, IT hubs, bus terminals, railway stations and proposed metro stations and institutions. Sources said the proposal comes in the wake of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) showing keen interest in improving the road linkage between OMR and ECR which are two important roads catering to major employment and residential area of southern part of Chennai Metropolitan Area. Currently, limited connectivity between these two important roads results in extended detours, longer travel time and traffic congestion in the areas served by roads. The project was considered by CMDA as southern Chennai was poised to grow in the coming years and the expected corridor is poised for further growth. The area is residential, mixed use and industrial and is earmarked as IT corridor area in the Second Master Plan. Interestingly, Express, quoting sources, stated last year that the State Planning department had mooted a proposal to develop a satellite city on the southern suburbs like that in Pune and Kolkata to decongest Chennai. Sources then indicated that the State government is working on a proposal to develop a satellite city on 500 hectares to 1,000 hectares, in the south of Chennai towards Chengalpet. It is learnt that the proposed linkages between the two roads will involve a crossing over Buckingham Canal which flows longitudinally from North to South parallel to and in between OMR and ECR. Madhumitha Viswanath By Express News Service CHENNAI: The answer to Chennais repeated struggles of sourcing enough drinking water lies within restoring and protecting water bodies that are rapidly vanishing. A recent study funded by the Central governments Department of Science and Technology, has ascertained this as the most viable solution for ending the citys perpetual water shortage. Potential of water bodies The study revealed a striking finding. There are 4,100 water bodies present across Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chennai districts, and Arakkonam Taluk of Vellore which can store and supply close to 200 tmcft of water to the city every year. But this can be achieved only if these water bodies are kept safe from the reach of urbanisation and overexploitation. Former professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, S Janakarajan, who carried out the entire survey, said that if these water bodies are methodically restored, more desalination plants and extra reservoirs need not be constructed. The aim of this study was to find a permanent solution for Chennai using local water supply options and restoring water bodies is the simplest yet most effective one. Money used to build more reservoirs and desalination plants can instead be used to restore temple tanks, ponds inside city limits and protect water bodies in the neighbouring districts, he said. Also, uncertainty around the eightfold expansion of Chennai with regard to water supply, can also be cleared if these water bodies are protected. An estimated 25 Tmcft of water is required if Chennai Metropolitan Area is expanded to 8878 sq km from the existing 1,189 sq km which can be easily met with water from these tanks, added Janakarajan. When the government can use rainwater stored in quarries, why cant they prepare such tanks to store water instead? The State government took up a Rs 4,000 crore World Bank-funded project in 2007 to restore and manage water bodies. But zero progress has been made since then, he said. Urbanisation is biggest threat On comparing satellite images obtained from experts that were developed using remote sensing technology, it was found that water bodies located in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts closer to the periphery of Chennai, have been disappearing rapidly. Water bodies further away from Chennai, remained untouched to an extent and retained water. On analysing images provided by Anna Universitys Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) in the years 2008 and 2017, most water bodies in Kancheepuram were falling prey to encroachment while the ones in Tiruvallur were vanishing due to lack of restoration by the government. Across Sholavaram, Tiruvallur and Ellapuram taluks in Tiruvallur District, 80 per cent of small, medium water bodies and large lakes had dried up to half their sizes due to poor monsoon in 2017. But experts point out that if these had been desilted, fenced and protected by the state government, water retention capacity of each water body would have increased manifold. This in turn, would have recharged the aquifer and provided drinking water to surrounding settlements. If the government had restored such tanks like they promised, we could have saved 300 Tmcft of water during the 2015 floods and prevented the drought in 2016. Management and renovation of these water bodies is the only solution for Chennai to have water security in the future, added Jankarajan. The case of Kancheepuram, St Thomas Mount, parts of Tambaram and Kundrathur were studied. Here, the problem of encroachments cropping along the boundary of water bodies was more prominent. Using the 1972 toposheet of the State given by the Survey department of India as base, IRS has tracked the state of water bodies using satellite and google images since 2000. There is a significant decrease in number of water bodies and depth of these have reduced too. Many water bodies that have dried up due to failure of monsoons, havent been fenced and restored too. So these are the most vulnerable to urbanisation - which will happen with Chennais expansion, said SS Ramakrishnan, director of IRS. In Tiruvallur, size of the rivers running through the district had decreased in width due to river bed sand mining. While analysing the images, it was obvious that many dry portions of a river running through Tiruvallur were varying in depth, indicating removal of sand from its bed. The marks that were left behind after sand was taken by earthmovers, were visible through satellite images. As the boundary and bed of the river is destroyed in such a manner, for the next monsoon, the river is unable to hold any water, said a professor from IRS. Drought more severe than in 2017 When satellite images of Southern Chennai from 2017 and 2019 were compared, it was apparent that this years drought is far more severe than the previous one. Raj Bhagat Palanichamy, a remote sensing expert, analysed these satellite images and said that the only few water bodies that were blue, were filled with sewage while the rest had completely gone dry. In Northern Tamil Nadu, agriculture spread has also decreased now when compared to 2017. In Chennais suburbs areas like Manimangalam, Mudichur, Kavanur, Malayambakkam, water bodies have gone bone dry this summer. The situation was much better in 2017. The government must focus on desilting these lakes when they are dry to store water for the future, said Raj, who is working with World Resource Institute, India. Also, while analysing satellite images of prominent water bodies in the city including those in Villivakkam, Medavakkam, Ambattur, Velachery and Kolathur, many developmental projects pushed by the government were the encroachments eating up these lakes. For example, over a period of 30 years, the lake in Ambattur and Avadi has been shrunk to less than half its former size as housing board tenements were built on the dried up river bed. The Retteri in Kolathur was bifurcated as a road was laid through it. An industrial zone was set-up on Villivakkam lake, added Raj. A senior official from the Water Resource Department said that efforts like the Kudimaramathu Scheme, repair works and restoration of water bodies were taken up. We have restored more than 2,000 tanks in the recent past throughout the State. But as monsoons failed us last year, groundwater levels have plummeted. But we are taking persistent efforts to guard these water bodies, the official added. By Online Desk While the Delhi Congress' Screening Committee met at former CM and senior party leader Sheila Dikshit's house late Saturday night to shortlist candidates for seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, it is learned that party chief Rahul Gandhi has directed the party to not form any pre-poll alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Senior Congress leaders PC Chacko and KC Venugopal, who are also a part of the panel, have already conveyed the party high command's decision to Sheila Dikshit, reported NDTV. A formal announcement on this regard is likely to be made on Sunday or Monday, sources said. The committee will shortlist names from around 80 applications received from party probables last month. A senior party leader said that on an average, two to three names will be shortlisted on each seat and the new list will be sent to the party high-command for taking the final call. While the national capital votes on May 12, the results will be declared with the rest of the country on May 23. The development comes amid AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal saying that he would not need Congress' help to win seats in the national capital. However, he remarked that any alliance with the Grand Old Party would help AAP to keep the BJP out in the 10 Lok Sabha seats of Haryana and in Punjab. "Rahul Gandhi should think about an alliance in Haryana... People of the country want to defeat the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo. If in Haryana, JJP (Jannayak Janata Party), AAP and Congress fight together, then the BJP will lose in all 10 seats," Kejriwal had said. FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Dikshit, who turned 81 on Sunday, told the media persons post the late-night meet, "in some time, the things will be clear. You will get to know about it in a matter of a few hours, by this evening or by tomorrow. There will be an official announcement," she said while replying to question about the alliance. She also said that Kejriwal so far has not approached her on alliance prospects. The Delhi Congress chief, who ruled the national capital for 15 years, was dethroned by Kejriwal in 2013 assembly elections. A few weeks back, she had warned Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in a letter that an alliance with AAP would hurt the Congress in the long run. However, other party leaders also wrote to their top leadership seeking a tie-up with AAP. With Opposition stepping up their attacks against the Modi government in the last few weeks, NCP chief and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar tried to mediate between the two parties on March 19 for a pre-poll alliance. While Congress wanted three seats in the national capital, AAP offered only one. With the talks failing, Kejriwal said that he had been fed up of trying to convince the Congress when it came to alliance prospects. (With PTI Inputs) By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The rural police nabbed history-sheeter Jishnu Baiju with the help of Interpol from the UAE after he fled Venjaramoodu on attempted murder three years ago. The accused has been brought to the capital and the interrogation is in progress. According to police, the incident took place on December 27, 2016 when the accused and his gang man-handled Amal Raj, who was a wayside fruit vendor, for refusing to pay hafta. The assailants then tried to injure Amal Raj with a knife. The accused then fled to Dubai after the crime. By Online Desk With April Fool's one day away, everyone's busy trying to give their best shot at pranking. It seems even smartphone manufacturer OnePlus doesn't want to spare a single chance to fool people either. In what looks like an attempt to prank people, OnePlus tweeted a picture of something similar to a car with the caption 'coming soon.' With the post, the tech giant has left everyone wondering what it could be. Now, a lot of Twitterati are on a mission to find out the hidden message behind the bombshell. One Twitter user wrote 'so is April Fools Day' on the post and he got a quick response from OnePlus saying 'Can't hear you. Bixby Speaker too loud.' While some of the users suggested that it could be something to do with Mclaren edition, others came up with their own theories of OnePlus' Tesla. Some of the Twitterati tried their hands on photoshop to scoop out more details from the picture. Here are some of the tweets of people trying to crack the mystery: Can't hear you. Bixby Speaker too loud. OnePlus UK (@OnePlus_UK) March 29, 2019 Unless the April Fool's joke is that people think it's a joke, so we're surprised it's real? Also we don't know the scale of the picture, and it's not an "entire" picture. Could be the @oneplus 7 McLaren edition, a cool shaped charger/speaker/etc, or something else entirely. Rob Gerrets (@marvelljones) March 29, 2019 Wishful thinking Hey @oneplus can you please make a smartwatch. I'll buy it straight away! Muhammed Hamzah (@amirhamzah_1714) March 29, 2019 OnePlus 7 Tesla Roadster Edition #APRILFOOL vivek goswami (@vivekgos13) March 29, 2019 With rumours about OnePlus 7's launch doing rounds, this new post by the smartphone brand has made everyone curious. What could it be? Tell us in the comments. Bindu Gopal Rao By Located in the lush regions of Costa Rica in Central America with the Talamanca Mountains in the south, the city of Puerto Limon or Limon (meaning lemon in Spanish) is home to several species of indigenous wildlife. It shares a 125-mile shoreline with neighbouring Nicaragua and Panama; both discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502. Home to the Afro-Costa Rican community, Limon is a port city that is best explored on boat or by taking a walk through the secondary rain forests that breathes life into its atmosphere. The best place to start the tour is anywhere on the Tortuguero Canals that are reachable by boat from the embarkation points at Moin. Here one can hire a covered boat for a 45-minute ride through the mangroves-laden canals that are abuzz with birdsong and animal sounds. Being situated in the Caribbean region, this is an area with rich biodiversity and offers numerous photo-ops. Of course, hiring a guide is recommended because the wildlife is protected by heavy foliage and an expert eye is needed to identify them. The primary vegetation is tropical palms, mangroves and sturdy trees with water lilies and water hyacinth adorning the water. The tree-dwelling sloths that are known for their eponymous movements are easily spotted, though. There the great blue heron and a three-toed sloth are essentially two kinds of slothsthe two-toed and the three-toed, identifiable by the claws on their front limbs. They eat the leaves of trees and are usually found hanging upside down like bats. They stay in the same position for long and barely move since their metabolism is slow and takes a long time to digest their food which makes them sleepy most of the time. As the boat chugs along the canal, several species of birds including kingfishers and egrets come to view. The jungles are home to the great blue heron though it has a white head and its eyes have a distinctive yellow hue. The green and brown iguanas are also aplenty and almost undetectable since they blend into the tree trunks they perch on. Another species seen here is the fisher bat that helps in pollination. Once done with the boat ride, take a guided walk into the periphery of the rain forest. Among the first things to see are the varieties of heliconia flowers blooming in all shades of yellow, red, pink and orange. Costa Rica is also the second largest producer of the worlds bananas; the plantations are almost everywhere. Cacao trees are also in abundance. Break open a ripe fruit and the cacao beans inside taste nothing like chocolate. In fact, they have no taste at all. The great-tailed gackle, jacanas and many other birds can be spotted during the rain forest walk. The most rewarding bit of the amble comes perhaps at the end, where tourists are treated to tropical fruits and lemonade. Puerto Limons bounty of landscapes, nature and wildlife are its biggest tourist attractions. At the end of the trip dont forget to pick up Costa Rican cacao beans, some chocolates and RainForest Alliance Certified coffee as souvenirs. Naila Inayat By Hidden in the mortar smoke and drowned in the roar of artillery across the India-Pakistan border is a humanitarian crisis plaguing Pakistans Hindu teenage girls. Written about extensively in the international media, raised in Pakistans legislature and the courts but encouraged by hardline clerics who cite religious redefinition an Islamic right, the kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage under duress of these helpless victims has become a cause celebre in pre-election India and post-election Naya Pakistan. After the Balakot air strikes, the two mortal enemies went to war againthis time on Twitter. Last week, two Hindu sisters in Dahrki in Sindhs Ghotki district, both minors, were kidnapped, converted to Islam and forced into a shotgun wedding. A group of influential men took 13-year-old Raveena and 15-year-old Reena Meghwar from their home while they were playing Holi. Subsequently, a video surfaced showing an imam solemnising their Nikah. This was followed by another video in which the sisters declared that they became Muslims and married their abductors of their own free will. This time, the Narendra Modi government decided to act, following its muscular Pakistan policy. Indias External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked the High Commissioner in Islamabad to send a report on the incident. Pakistans Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted in response, Maam its Pakistans internal issue and (be) rest assured its not Modis India where minorities are subjugated, its Imran Khans Naya Pak where white colour of our flag is equally dearer to us. I hope youll act with same diligence when it comes to rights of Indian minorities. The attack on a Muslim family in Bhondsi, Gurgaon, early last week by goons who ordered them to go to Pakistan has given the Islamic Republic a handle to justify its view that minorities are an endangered species in India. Pakistans Prime Minister, Imran Khan, ordered a probe into the kidnapping of the Meghwar girls. And the Haryana Police lost no time in arresting the Bhondsi miscreants. In both cases, smartphones and social media saved the day: the Gurgaon horror was filmed by a young Muslim girl in spite of the danger she was in. SOCIAL MEDIA POWER Both incidents have a parallel spin: Imran is seeking democratic legitimacy in his military-controlled country with the inclusive slogan of Naya Pakistan. The BJP has put New India on its public agenda. By freeing Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman who was shot down last month by the Pakistan Air Force planes, Imran plugged his new narrative. Acting on his orders, Ghotki police arrested at least seven people, including a marriage officiator suspected of involvement in the abductions of the Meghwars and conducted raids to nab the rest. Along with the kidnapping of the Meghwar girls, another Hindu girl was reported abducted from Mirpurkhas district the same day. The power of the social media family was visible in Pakistan, too. The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act prohibits child marriage. The family of the girls registered an FIR on March 20, stating that they were minors. On March 21, the Sindh police justified the abduction by tweeting that the girls did not act under duress. Then came another viral video of their father protesting in front of the local police station You can kill me. I will never tolerate this. My daughters have been abductedI had patience, he is seen shouting. Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nand Kumar Goklani said, The fact that the two girls were underage confirmed that the abduction was a crime and they couldn't exhibit any free will after getting married or being converted to Islam. The girls were converted at the Dargah Barchundi Sharif and afterwards moved to Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab following their wedding. THE LAW AND REALITY In 2015, Goklani had moved a bill against forced conversions. It is yet to be passed. Hafiz Saeed, head of the outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) promptly warned against the bill becoming law. In 2017, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-ruled Sindh government brought a similar bill, which was passed by the provincial assembly. Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Severe protests from conservative clerics forced Sindh governor Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui to veto the bill. Sources said right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami boss Sirajul Haq phoned the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and pressured him. Says Farahnaz Ispahani, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington, DC, Government after government, military and civilians have caved in to pressure from the extremists. Ispahani specialises in Pakistans minorities. It is imperative for the government to stand by the people it represents. The bill to stop enforced conversion must be passed unaltered, she added. After Raveena and Reenas abduction, Goklani has asked the Imran government to get the bill passed without delay. The majority of Hindus in Pakistan, its largest minority community lives in Sindharound 97 percent of the total. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and member of the National Assembly has urged the government to bring a law similar to the National Action Plan to stop conversions of minor Hindu girls to Islam; the Plan bans terror organisations. There is indeed a law in place that prohibits abduction weddings. The Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act 2015 passed by the Sindh Assembly on November 24, 2018 deems forcible conversion a criminal offence attracting a minimum jail term of five years and maximum of life imprisonment. It also prohibits anyone under 18 from converting to another religion and rejects the validity of the conversion. Going by the track record of Bharchundi Shareef shrine in upper Sindh, this Act is a joke. The problem of religious conversions in Pakistan is real, according to parliamentarian Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a member of the Pakistan Hindu Council, We are not against the conversion of religion as a result of research or preaching. But why are only underage Hindu girls in Sindh changing religion? According to Pakistan media reports, most religious conversions of girls from minority communities occur in Sarhandi shrine in Umerkot and Barchundi Sharif in Mirpurkhas which claim to have converted thousands of Hindu girls and young women from Pakistans Scheduled Castes such as Bheels, Meghwars, Bhaagris and Kohlis. Pir Waliullah Sarhandi at the Sarhandi shrine told a reporter, When a young girl is brought before a qazi for conversion to Islam, the qazi must comply immediately, else he becomes kafir. A bench of Pakistans Supreme Court ruling headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani ruled on June 19, 2014 that the government is complicitous in such acts of injustice. The government ignored the ruling. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj THEY HAVE SINDH Figures of conversions are hard to come by, especially recent ones. According to Karachi-based journalist and human rights activist Veengas who has reported extensively on forced conversions in Sindh, many such cases go unreported. She said 67 Hindu girls were abducted between 2012 and 2015. A report by South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK) in collaboration with the Aurat Foundation stated in 2015 stated that at least 1,000 girls from the minority communities are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every yearof which around 25 are conducted every month in Umerkot district in Sindh province alone. A large number of Hindu families in Sindh have fled the region; according to parliamentary statement in 2014, their number was around 5,000, which would have grown exponentially by now. Muslims in Pakistan will never treat Hindus as their own, Meera Bai, a Pakistani Hindu immigrant who had fled to New Delhi, says, For them, we will always remain the other. We escaped religious and cultural persecution when we came to India. We are happy here. At least here we know that no one will steal our cattle or our daughters. Often the courts in Pakistan are hobbled because the girls are afterwards forced by their husbands family and clerics to deny they were kidnapped. Even 12-year-old girls are not spared by the clergy-criminal nexus supported tacitly by local police and judges. The courts usually ignore the plaints of parents whose daughters have been abducted. And when they do, the verdict usually favours the Muslim men. For example in 2016, the Sindh High Court deemed that the forced marriage of 16-year-old Shabana who was abducted and renamed is valid and that she converted to Islam on her own. Activists who work to expose the nexus face the brunt of their wrath, labeled as kafirs and traitors. Asks Veengas, This is the reality of a girl who just disappears from view in a burqa, even when the legal proceedings have gone all the way to the Supreme Court. Handed over to her new household, she turns intowho knows?a sex slave, a glorified domestic worker, a compliant wife cut off forever from her roots and her maternal home. The Los Angeles Times reports that the script is the same in all conversions. The victim, abducted by a young man related to or working for a feudal boss, is taken to a mosque where clerics, along with the prospective grooms family, threaten to harm her and her relatives if she resists. Almost always, the girl complies, and not long afterward, she is brought to a local court, where a judge, usually a Muslim, rubber-stamps the conversion and marriage, according to Hindu community members who have attended such hearings. Often the young Muslim man is accompanied by backers armed with rifles. Few members of the girls family are allowed to appear, and the victim, seeing no way out, signs papers affirming her conversion and marriage. THE FEUDAL TRAP The case of 17-year-old Anila Dhawan from Hyderabad, Sindh, is similar to the Meghwar girls. Her kidnapper-husband told her family that she was a runaway who became a Muslim in order to marry him. She was lucky because the court freed her. Her life was threatened, said her attorney, Ramesh Gupta, adding, She wanted to return to her parents and her statement in court swung the decision in her favour. The Meghwar girls, too, have approached the courts for protection. On June 7, 2017, another Meghwar, 16-year-old Ravita was abducted by men from the influential Syed community and forcibly converted by Pir Ayub Jan at the Sarhandi shrine in Samaro and forced to marry one of her kidnappers. Arti Kumari, a teacher, and 17-year-old Sikh girl Priya Kaur were kidnapped and married off after conversion to Islam. In January 2019, 16-year-old Anusha Kumari faced a similar fate. The Indian High Commission has taken up her case with the Imran government. India raised specific issues of intimidation of Sikhs, Hindus and the desecration of their places of worship with the Pakistan government in December 2017 and February 2019. According to Pakistan social activists, the girls are held captive for over two weeks, where they are raped and warned from contacting their families before conversion to Islam. Fearing the stigma of rape or pregnancy, they do not return home. Most of the kidnappers are rich, aged zamindaars who desire young women. The zamindaars families ostracise them and their children. Pakistans feudal social structure, especially in the interiors, gives the kidnappers a feeling of immunity. The nightmare came to farm labourer Ameri Kashi Kohlis home last summer where her 14-year-old daughter Jeevti Kohli lay asleep. She was taken away by strangers, converted to Islam and became the second wife of the landlord who said the girl was taken as compensation for a debt of $1,000. He produced an affidavit from her that stated she ran away, converted and married him of her free will. But Jeevti is not allowed to meet her family or friends. The police are indifferent. Forget your daughter, she has converted, a cop told the family. Jeevti is now Fatima. The economic status of Hindus in Sindh determines the fate of the victims. The affluent Hindus in northern and central Sindh have moved to Karachi to avoid their daughters being abducted. But the Hindus in southern Sindh where Jeevti comes from are Haris (from harijan)low castes and bonded labourers working in farms owned by Muslim zamindaars. In a famous speech on August 11, 1947, Pakistans founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah told his countrys minorities, You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. Now, in 2019, Ameri has accepted her daughters loss stoicallythere is little choice left for an impoverished agricultural worker. She said the abduction is a sign of the uncertain future that Hindus face in Pakistan. There (are) many Fatimas in this country, she says. But does this country have place for a Jeevti? with additional reporting and research The Other Notorious Case On February 24, 2012, Rinkle Kumari was abducted. Her father received a call from Mian Aslam son of Mian Abdul Haq (aka Mian Mitho), who informed him that Rinkle had embraced Islam and had been married to Naveed Shah. Hindus protested and blocked the National Highway. Police showered heavy shelling. Rinkle was produced in court and she pleaded to let her go with her mother. The court ruled that Rinkle Kumari was Muslim and had married Naveed Shah. On March 8, the Supreme Court of Pakistan re-opened the case. Rinkle asked to be sent with her mother. Despite this, the Chief Justice ordered to keep her in a shelter home. Naveed Shah and Mian Aslam allegedly met Rinkle several times. At the next hearing, as per Rinkles statement issued later by the Registrars office, she opted to go with her husband. Express News Service By Imran Khans own two-nation theory has a torque of its own. His response to Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shahs interview in which the actor said that he was afraid for his children in todays India signalled Naya Pakistans minorities policy. Imran said: What he (Shah) is saying is what Quaid-e-Azam (Pakistans founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah) had said (during Indias Partition). When he said that Muslims would not be treated as equal citizens is what is happening in India right now. He also told his ministers to make Pakistan a country where minorities got equal rights and are considered equal citizens. We have to especially show Narendra Modis India how we treat minorities and how they treat minorities. However, Islamist rhetoric is the cornerstone of his politics. Be it giving government funding to pro-Taliban madrasas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or fanning the hot winds of the blasphemy law, Imran uses religion to up his game. Though he has settled on the optics of cross-border reasonableness by giving Modi lessons in treating minorities he has to walk-the-talk at home tooan idea being seen through a sceptical lens considering his decisions in the early days in office. Starting with yielding to hardliners by withdrawing the nomination of acclaimed economist Atif Mian in the Economic Advisory Council just because he is an Ahmadiyya, followed by surrendering to radical cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi in the aftermath of Asia Bibis acquittal, Imran has proved that he is a hostage to the forces that control large swathes of the Pakistani psyche. Minority harassment is a state tool in Pakistan which Imran has to deal with in order to show he is better than Modi. His countrys Hindus, Ahmadis, Christians, Sikhs would want him to succeed. Indian sources say that his earlier capitulations were because the novice hadnt settled into his chair, but a large section of policy wonks remain unconvinced about his ability to deliver independent of the Military and the maulvis. The News Indian Express By It is not just Hindu girls who are kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam before being married off to their kidnappers. A month before the abduction of Reena and Raveena Meghwar, 13-year-old Sadaf Masih was abducted and forcefully converted to Islam. The Christian persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern reported that the abductors forged her birth certificate that showed her age as 18 and warned her family of consequences of the law if they protested. Pakistan ranks as the fifth worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List. Last year, when the father of 12-year-old Pakistani Christian girl who was abducted and converted approached the court, the police arrested him for filing false charges against her captor. Last April, Fouzia Bibi, a Christian mother of three was abducted and forced to marry her boss. Organisations such as Jamia Binoria Madrasa in Karachi openly claim to have converted 152 Christians, 147 Hindus, one atheist, two Buddhists, five Ahmediyyas, one Ismaili and one Kalash into Islam. A new TV series, Maria Bint e Abdullah, on GeoTV has created a furore with Pakistani Christians asking the government to cancel the show. The trailer shows Maria, the daughter of a Christian mother and a Muslim father bearing a rosary in her hand, kneeling in a cathedral in front of statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary accompanied by a voice over that says: To me she doesnt seem a Muslim. She doesnt even know how to say namaz. As Maria picks up her Bible another voice interrupts, Can I ask something, are you Christian? The series is emblematic of the crisis minorities face in Pakistan. Over 30,000 people have applied for asylum or refugee status in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries, say Christian community leaders. According to agency reports, around 1,000 Christian women are forcibly converted in Pakistan every year. Should a girl escape her husband, the police immediately arrests her family member. According to a report by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan, women and girls aged between 12 and 25 are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam before being married to their abductor or his associate. These girls are often sexually abused, forced into prostitution, trafficked and subjected to domestic abuse. The rebellious among them are warned that they are now Muslims and that the punishment for apostasy is death. In August last year, 18-year-old Binish Paul was thrown off the roof by Taheer Abbas who was furious at her refusal to marry him and convert to Islam. Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies side with Muslim kidnappers and instead of dealing with it as a case of kidnapping, consider such cases as conversion to Islam forcing the victims families to withdraw the case. And if the victims family is successful in taking their case to the court, courts are equally not helpful and because of pressure from the Islamic groups bring sharia law in and decide the case in the favour of the kidnapper. Poverty is a deterrent to their freedom. Like the Haris, most of Pakistani Christians are low-caste Hindus whose forefathers converted during the British Raj. There are villages in Punjab totally made up of poor Christians who are labourers and farmhands. Islamic zealotry has brought cultures in Pakistan to the edge of extinction. The Kalash people who live in a remote valley in northwest Pakistan are reducing in number. Anthropologists say they were probably the first wave of immigrants in Asia. Sharmila Chand By The resurgence of age-old grains is more than just a trend in the Indian food industry. It is a natural progression towards using healthy and sustainable local produce. The good news is that chefs across the country are increasingly incorporating them in their daily menus. Amaranth or ramdana is one such versatile grain, which is known for its immense nutritional value. Right from salads to idlis, risottos to dessertschefs are playing around with the protein-filled kernel. Chef Anas Qureshi of Molecule Air Bar, Delhi, has dreamed up a recipe called Amaranth Arancini a la Milanaise where he uses the super grain in an Italian dish. As an antipasti, it is my take on a classical Italian dish. I coat cheese-stuffed arborio rice balls with puffed amaranth to make a crust and serve it with saffron sauce and macerated orange. It combines two complementing texturessoft and crisp. An Amaranth crust is a great replacement for bread crumbs, says Qureshi. Gaurav Narayan, at Novotel, Guwahati, uses amaranth to create legacy dishes that preserve tradition and also uses the grain to cerate a new avatar. His amaranth kheer is a new take on the ubiquitous Indian dessert. It is delicious and very popular among the guests. I serve it through the year and especially during festival time such as Navratri when people who are fasting come looking for vrat ka khana, says Narayan. The grain is easy to bind with other ingredients and provides a crunchy coating. The best part is that it does not alter the taste of the dish; in fact, in many cases it enhances the flavour. Hence, we use amaranth puffs as garnish on lamb chops, says Harangad Singh, corporate chef at Prankster, Delhi. Food is being constantly reinvented at restaurants and chefs are on the lookout to present familiar flavours in innovative forms. For instance, Chef Neelabh Sahay, Novotel Kolkata, has packed idlis with healthy nutrients. I make idlis with oats and amaranth seeds. It is a healthy combination because it is also gluten-free. These idlis are calcium-rich and the best part is that they are very easy to digest, says Sahay. Unlike other grains, food impressarios are able to conjure recipes with amaranth without complications. Since it has no peculiar taste, amaranth is easy to use in the main course as well as in desserts. It is also easy to source, points out Chef Ashish Singh of Cafe Delhi Heights and Nueva. The amaranth pudding there is a sought-after plate among health-conscious diners. It is a no-guilt pudding and tastes just like regular rice pudding. But its solid nutrient content and less carbohydrates has makes it very popular, adds the chef. Chef Manish Mehrotra of Indian Accent Restaurants recalls his amaranth days in Bihar. We have mishti doi cannoli and amaranth laddoo on the menu. Both were an important part of my childhood while growing up in Bihar. I loved it when my mother served amaranth laddoos for breakfast. Scooping mishti doi (sweet yoghurt) till the last spoonful from an earthen pot is a sinful pleasure that cannot be forgotten, smiles Mehrotra. Chef Sunil Kumar Gopalan, of Ibis Kolkata is proud of his novel amaranth and apricot salad. He says, It is a simple salad fortified with super-foods, fruits, seeds and herbs. It is also delicious and a meal in itself. Roasted amaranth seeds are added to beetroots, carrots, Roman lettuce and topped with lime, honey, and freshly pounded black pepper. So, the next time you spot amaranth on a restaurant menu, go for it. Not just for its health benefits but also to support local farmers who have been growing it across the country for centuries. It is now reasonably confirmed that the spiral of events post the February 14 Pulwama attack by Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists almost brought India and Pakistan to the brink of an all-out war. It is being reported that on the night of February 27, a few missile batteries of both Indian and Pakistani armies had been deployed to battle stations. The escalatory ladder had seen the crossing of the rung involving aerial strikes; the next rung was assessed to be the firing of a couple of surface to surface missiles against military targets in their vicinity. Any casualties would have led to the next rung or a direct escalation to war. It would have depended on the choice of targets for the missile strikes. What can be safely assumed is that another major terror action, the roots of which lie in Pakistan, will witness from India a response on the escalatory ladder at a level higher than the last response. This was proved with Balakot which became the choice because surface surgical strikes of the post-Uri variety would have been predictable and deniable by Pakistan. However, there is nothing sacrosanct about the response. The choice lies within a spectrum. India is unlikely to cross the rubicon to launch all-out war unless the provocation is so intense that absorption is just not possible and the government is hugely embarrassed. I do believe that the principles of proportionality and adequacy will invariably be applied by India given its standing in the international community and its future aspirations. However, it must be stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a fairly big political risk with the air strike and the sheer size of it. The larger the IAF packet, greater was the chance of successbut equally large was the political risk if any aircraft had been shot down. The response by Pakistan and Indias actions to meet it the next day did not constitute the same of level of risk. An interesting aspect of the Indian response to Pulwama was the fact that the Indian Air Force launched its strike across the LoC and fairly deep without even a part mobilisation of the Indian Army. Interesting because the Armys assumptions usually cater for all-out war if the IAF crosses the borders to strike against Pakistan. I have no doubt there were precautionary moves carried out by the Army, but no mobilisation took place. This was in sharp contrast to Operation Parakaram in December 2001 after the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament when the Indian Army mobilised en masses at concentrated areas and remained deployed for 10 months. The Indian Armys cold start or proactive strategy was a compulsive outcome of this since mobilisation became laborious and delayed any potential launch. So with the situation in Kashmir none too stable and alienation of the populace even more intense than before, what is the possibility that there will be no more situations which will bring about a spiral in responses and counter response leading to a potential limited or even all-out war below the nuclear threshold. This year will see two elections in Kashmir which provide periods of tension, take away attention from anti-terror operations and create fair hostility in the populace. While the robust policy of taking down terrorists is working and will continue to, the more important responsibility of the Governors administration is hardly being fulfilled. As long as there is turbulence in society, alienation and lack of cooperation, there will always be potential for Pakistan to up the ante the moment it perceives a change. Radicalisation of youth also remains a reality. While all this is well-known to Indias security establishment as much as the necessity to do more to get to the people and assuage their feelings towards India, there is little knowledge on how to do this. Robust operations are mandatory and are going well but deliberate outreach to converse with the people has been missing. One of the mistaken beliefs which is causing reticence in response is the understanding that has been spread among many analysts that only five segments of Kashmir are really alienated and the rest are all with India. It is such belief which aggravates the problem and leads to flawed response. There is talk of North Kashmir having seen light of the day and normalised to a great extent. To those who believe this, I have a couple of reminders. In 2010, too many believed that South Kashmir had stabilised just like the belief that North Kashmir has stabilised today. These believers rely on the understanding that absence of violence is normality. It leads to such flawed actions as declaring Baramulla district terror-free. But, weeding out terrorists does not end terror. As long as the ground worker and finance-related networks are intact, terror can always return. It happened with South Kashmir. Lessons from that need to be learnt. The Indian security establishment just has to get its act together on conversations with the people. There are no laid down ways of doing that but election is one time when it can be done. No immediate outcomes must be expected. Those without patience will soon give up. The establishment needs to remember that while dealing with society immediate outcomes are never possible and only patience and continuity will reap dividends. That is a tall order in a tenure-based system. It is, therefore, obvious that Pakistan will find little resistance to potential acts which can cause seriously negative triggers in Indo Pak relations. In pursuing that policy it cannot always anticipate the intensity of these triggers. One of them will once again go awry and evoke a response from India which will take the situation beyond ordinary escalation. We can only hope that better sense will prevail in Pakistan. atahasnain@gmail.com By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear on March 25 a plea seeking a direction that political parties field candidates with graduation as a minimum qualification, and are below the age of 75 years. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi listed the petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for hearing before an appropriate bench. "List the matter on March 25, 2019, before an appropriate bench as per the roster," said the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna. The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by Upadhyay seeking various directions, including setting up of special courts to try criminal cases involving lawmakers. Upadhyay, in its fresh interim plea had said imposing a condition during an election to prevent parties from fielding illiterate candidates was a "reasonable restriction", keeping in mind the concessions and privileges enjoyed by MLAs, MLCs and MPs. The plea had said the functions performed by legislators are vital to democracy and there is no reason why they should be held to lower standards than municipal councillors and gram pradhans. "In many states, candidates for municipal councillor and gram pradhan certainly would not be considered at all if they are illiterate," the plea had said. If a person, who is going to make laws and amend the Constitution, is not educated enough to understand the "pros and cons of the laws", then it would be "disastrous", it said. "It is true that even if a person went through higher education, he can still be unsuitable to be a legislator but to have a legislator who didn't even go to college or university in the 21st Century is unfathomable. Do we, as a country, wish to be represented by a dumbfounded persona that can't find the exit or well-spoken and expressed figure that can handle any situation that arise at the moment?" it had said. Besides setting up of special criminal courts for lawmakers, the PIL has also sought a lifetime ban on politicians convicted in cases. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Amethi is buoyed by the decision of its sitting MP and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi deciding to contest upcoming elections from a second seat of Waynad in Kerala. Calling Amethi his family, the Congress cadre in his Parliamentary constituency, expressed confidence that Rahul Gandhi would fare equally well in down south. Gandhi has been thrice elected the member of parliament from Amethi, considered the Congress bastion in 2004, 2009 and 2014. Making it a prestige issue for them, the Congress cadre vowed to ensure a bigger victory for Rahul in traditional Gandhi bastion. "This fight of Rahul ji is between workers of Amethi and Wayanad. The contest is of the winning margin. Where does he get a bigger margin is the only question," said Congress MLC Deepak Singh while talking to media. He added: "Every worker and voter of Amethi has given a slogan 'abki baar 5 lakh paar', essentially meaning that the workers aim at making him victorious for the fourth time by over five lakh votes. In Amethi, the Congress chief is facing a challenge from BJP candidate Smriti Irani. READ: Rahul Gandhi fled to Kerala as Amethi will seek account of his work, says Shah Smriti had challenged Rahul in his bastion in 2014 as well. She had lost the election to Congress chief by over a lakh votes. But the BJP candidate managed to bring the victory margin of Congress chief down from three lakh in 2009 to just one lakh in 2014. With this decision, Rahul Gandhi becomes the third member of the Gandhi family to select a second seat from south India. FOLLOW OUR ELECTIONS COVERAGE HERE Prior to him, his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had contested from Chikmagalur in Karnataka in 1978. His mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi fought from Bellary in the same state in 1998. "He has decided to fight from Wayanad to respect the demand and emotions of the party workers. Amethi is family and a family is forever," Congress's Amethi unit president Yogendra Mishra said over the phone. However, some adverse voices also emanated from Amethi. A common voter, Pappu Pandey feels that Rahul Gandhi is not sure of his victory from Amethi so he is exploring another option. Rajan Singh, 23, a student feels that Rahul Gandhi seems to have lost faith in Amethi which has voted for him and his family for ages. By PTI NEW DELHI: Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, on Sunday said he decided to go with the Congress as it was a national party in the "true sense" and family friend Lalu Prasad also advised him to do so. He said leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, wanted him to join their respective parties, but he had made it clear that whatever be the situation, the constituency he would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib. The actor-turned-politician, who has been criticising the Modi government for long, said it was "painful" for him to leave the BJP with which he has had such a long association, but was disturbed at the treatment meted out by the party to stalwarts such as L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha. FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE The BJP has not fielded party veterans Advani and Joshi in the Lok Sabha polls. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Sinha said he had won from Patna Sahib in 2014 on his own merit, without support from the party and feels that this time he could break his "previous records" in terms of victory. He slammed the BJP's leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah saying earlier there was "lokshahi" (democracy) and now there is "tanashahi" (dictatorship) in the party. "There used to be collective decision during Atalji's (Bihari Vajpayee)time. There was democracy in the true sense. But now, there is the case of one-man show and two-man army," said the 73-year-old leader, who is in Muscat where he is being honoured as a cinematic legend. Asked why he decided to go with the Congress, Sinha said there were several reasons such as it is the grand old party which has had great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The party also has a great contribution to the country's freedom movement, the sitting MP from Patna Sahib said, adding another reason was that it is a national party in the "true sense". "Our family friend (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad also suggested 'you go there (to the Congress). We are there with you and will be together politically also'. It was done with his (Lalu Prasad's) permission and in agreement with him," said Sinha, who won the Patna Sahib seat back to back in 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls. He said an important factor is that the Patna Sahib seat has gone to the Congress quota in the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) seat sharing and he had said that whatever be the situation, the constituency for him fighting the polls would be the same. READ HERE | Sonakshi Sinha says her father Shatrughan should have quit BJP long back "Many people like (TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee, (SP president) Akhilesh Yadav, and (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal among others, wanted me to be in their party. But I had to come to this place because I had said that whatever be the situation, the location will be the same," Sinha said, adding that the Congress was a great party. On claims by BJP leaders that he got votes in Patna due to the party, the former Union minister said, "I would like to say that in the last election it was not just Modi 'leher' (wave) but Modi 'qahar' (destruction) on certain seats like we saw Shahnawaz Hussain losing from Bhagalpur. Arun Jaitley had a humiliating defeat. Sinha said he purposely did not call top BJP leaders such as "friend, philosopher, guide" Advani, Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh in the 2014 polls for campaigning. I did not even call my own daughter Sonakshi Sinha so that people don't get to say things. I won on merit, on principles, without anybody's support or help. They (the BJP) did not give me the help they were giving to other candidates, they did not give me any help," he alleged. "Despite the Modi leher or qahar in the entire country, by the grace of the people of Patna, in my victory, I had the highest vote share percentage in the country," Sinha said. Asked how he sees the impending clash with senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Patna Sahib seat, Sinha said the Union minister is like a family friend and he has respect for him. Asserting that he doesn't want to comment on personalities as he has only spoken about issues, Sinha said, "For Ravi Shankar Prasad I can only convey my best wishes. After all, the people of Patna will decide. We will accept the verdict. I have a feeling that by the grace of God and with great support from the people, I could be breaking my previous records also in terms of victory." ALSO READ | Shatrughan Sinha to join Congress in New Delhi on March 28, to contest from Patna Sahib He also hailed Rahul Gandhi's leadership qualities, saying the Congress president is a man to be watched for his vision and dynamism. "The way he has taken up issues boldly, he has proved himself and in one year as Congress president, he has won three states despite EVMs and many hurdles. He is the originator of the most popular slogan -- 'chowkidar chor hai'," Sinha said. On whether Gandhi could be the next prime minister, Sinha said it all depends on the blessings of the people the number of seats Congress gets. "Rahul Gandhi has all the capabilities," he added. Sinha alleged that the BJP had been threatening him for long that it will take action against him. "I kept on reminding them that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. They have taken so-called action (of not giving ticket), so it is high time for an appropriate reaction," Sinha said. Sinha met Rahul Gandhi here last week and is set to join the Congress on April 6. By UNI PUDUCHERRY: Makkal Neethi Mayyam (MNM) founder leader actor Kamal Hassan on Sunday night promised to secure statehood for Puducherry if the party candidate Dr M A S Subramanian was elected to the Lok Sabha from the lone Puducherry seat. Releasing the party's election manifesto at a public meeting here tonight, Kamal Hassan also promised uniform development of all the four regions fo the UT, cordial relationship with the central government, efficient financial management and inclusion of Puducherry in the central finance commission among other things. He said the people have spoiled their 30 years casting their votes to one party or the second party. This time their votes would certainly change their life, he said adding that he came in search of the people after assessing what he did for the people who supported him for sixty years. FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Mr Hassan said that the MNM is fighting the elections alone while others have joined together and the fate of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are in your hands. He made it clear that if the political parties stop stealing, they could run two Tamil Nadu flourishing. Where is the fund for people if each and every politician collect Rs 20,000 crore or Rs 30,000 crores for themselves, he wondered. After seeing all this pain and frustration, the MNM was formed, he added. He exhorted the people to show the rulers their faults through their votes on April 18. By PTI NEW DELHI: Reaching out to the grassroots level, arranging visits, campaigning for candidates and connecting with young voters are few of the responsibilities political parties have allocated to their students' union leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. While students' union elections have long been viewed as a stepping stone to mainstream electoral politics, political parties see them as an efficient way of connecting with the youth and forming a base. With the first phase of Lok Sabha elections just a week away, the students' unions at various universities have been working hard to boost the poll prospects of their parent parties. Delhi University Students' Union president Shakti Singh, a member of the BJP's Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, said, "Before the polls were announced, we held a voter awareness campaign in DU colleges and some residential areas nearby where we told people that they should support the right-wing in the interest of nationalism." FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE "Plans are still being worked out and we will do as instructed. Former DUSU president Nupur Sharma was part of the core team that had ensured the BJP's win in the 2014 elections," he added. Student leaders in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which is one of the most politically charged varsities in the country, are planning to go to different states to campaign for the candidates of their respective political parties. JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) joint secretary Amutha Jayadeep said she, along with others, will tell students at different universities that policies of both the BJP and the Congress are aimed at denying access to education and making it more exclusive. "In its manifesto, the CPI has promised allocation of six per cent of GDP to education. We will be going to various constituencies from where Left candidates are contesting and tell people about it and how education is under threat," she said. "The plans are still being finalised. But some of us will be heading to Begusarai, Bihar, to campaign for former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, and some to Kerala," she added. Students' groups at varsities like Banaras Hindu University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Jadavpur University, where the struggle is on for restoring students' union elections, are also campaigning for the political parties they are associated with and persuading people to vote for them. Some students' unions are also working to encourage voters to make informed choices. President of Rajasthan University Students' Union (RUSU), Vinod Jhakhar, said, "I am not affiliated to any party but the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are very important for the country. I, along with other students and my supporters, will be starting a door-to-door campaign from April 1, wherein we will be encouraging everybody to vote and make their choice wisely." Jhakar, a former member of the Congress's National Students' Union of India, had contested the RUSU elections, held last year, as an independent. Maskoor Ahmad Usmani, president of Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union, said the group was conducting public meetings to encourage the students and their parents to question the MPs in their respective constituencies and to evaluate their performance. "We are trying to make them understand that we do not choose the PM, we choose the MPs here, so the first step gone wrong can make the entire process futile. We do not have a representation of any political party here," he said. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, BJP's Satish Upadhyay and Vijay Goel and AAP's Alka Lamba are some of the national and state level politicians who began their careers as student leaders. The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. Voting for 543 seats will be held at nearly 10 lakh polling booths across the country. The results will be announced on May 23. During the meeting, the top legislator informed her host about the development of cooperative ties between Vietnam and Morocco, saying the bilateral political ties are developing fruitfully. She highlighted the close relations between the two countries during the past struggles for national liberation as well as their mutual support at international forums at present. She expressed her wish that Marrakech will set up friendship and twining relationship with some Vietnamese localities sharing similarities like the ancient capital city of Hue. N ational Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (right) met with Governor of Moroccos Marrakech prefecture Karim Kassi Lahlou on March 29th nigh (local time) as part of her visit to the African country.(Photo: VNA) The leader also urged the Moroccan Ambassador to Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Morocco to step up the connectivity. She lauded Marrakechs urban architecture management and congratulated the city on its hosting big international events. For his part, Karim Kassi Lahlou said Ngans visit offers a chance to enhance the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and Morocco. Through the visit, Marrakechs authorities have learned about opportunities and potential to intensify cooperation with Vietnam, he added. According to the Governor, Marrakech is taking the lead in Morocco in terms of foreign affairs. The thousands-year-old city has been seen as Moroccos capital of tourism, welcoming 2.6 million international tourist arrivals last year or one third of the total number of foreign holiday-makers to the country. Besides, Marrakech is also the city of knowledge and technology with many major universities, and an economic centre that has attracted many big investors, he said, noting his hope that Marrakech will have opportunities to cooperate with Vietnam and Vietnamese firms in the areas of its potential. Karim Kassi Lahlou said he anticipates exploring Vietnams Hue city and promoting the establishment of the twining relationship between Marrakech and the city./. By ANI NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today interact with people, who have pledged their support to the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign in all parliamentary constituencies on Sunday. The Prime Minister will address the biggest town hall programme at the Talkatora Stadium at 5 PM later today. As many as 5,000 people are expected to attend the town hall. At the same time, PM Modi will interact with lakhs of people across the country, through video conferencing set up at more than 500 locations across the country. Taking to the Twitter, Prime Minister wrote: "The day we were most looking forward to is here! At 5 PM, lakhs of Chowkidars from different parts of India will interact in the historic Main Bhi Chowkidar programme. This is an interaction you must not miss." Expressing confidence that vibrant professionals especially youngster will facilitate 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign with their presence, Prime Minister said: "These professionals energise and strengthen India. It is their hardwork that is powering the rise of a New India in the 21st century." Follow our full election coverage here 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campagin was launched on March 16 by Prime Minister Modi. A day after the launch, the Prime Minister, as well as a number of BJP leaders across the country, added the prefix 'chowkidar' to their Twitter handles as a mark of support to the poll campaign. On March 20, Prime Minister Modi had addressed over 25 lakh chowkidars from across the country via audio conference. He also launched a scathing attack on the opposition party's 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' campaign. The origin of the word 'chowkidar' dates back to the poll campaigning ahead of the 2014 general elections when Modi had promised to work as a 'chowkidar' to guard the people's money and their trust once elected to the top office. 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' has been started after extensive surveys and data analysis by BJP strategists who feel that Congress president Rahul Gandhi's 'chowkidar chor hai' jibe and campaign is not resonating among people. The surveys also suggested that it is actually angering people in the country, according to a release. A similar strategy was adopted by the BJP ahead of the 2014 general elections, wherein the party turned around senior Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar's "chaiwallah" jibe into a mass campaign. This campaign is expected to drive the narrative of the Prime Minister's strong and decisive image which multiple surveys have conveyed is the main factor in the upcoming elections, the release mentioned. Under the aegis of this campaign, the BJP has leveraged a tech innovation called conversation cards on Twitter, whereby people will get a personalized message from the Prime Minister on Twitter on participating in this campaign. By Bloomberg One month after an ageing Indian Air Force jet was shot down in a dogfight with neighboring Pakistan, New Delhi has demonstrated a new weapons capability aimed at another, more powerful geopolitical rival: China. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a national address to announce India had established itself as a space power by sending an indigenously designed ballistic-missile interceptor up 300 kilometers (190 miles) to destroy a satellite orbiting the Earth. The move -- with political overtones just weeks ahead of a national election -- sends a stark message to Indias nuclear-armed rivals, China and Pakistan, and changes Asias strategic calculus by proving India has the ability to knock out enemy satellites. The development suggests India, which has long struggled with a lethargic military-procurement process and outdated defense technology, is getting closer to sitting alongside China, Russia and the U.S. as countries with the ability to disrupt enemy communications networks. The move comes weeks after India sparred with arch-foe Pakistan in the skies over Kashmir, a disputed border region where China also has territorial claims. Essentially, India is saying that we are a strong and capable military power -- its not specific to any one country, but it is a message to all of Indias adversaries, said Ajey Lele, a retired Indian Air Force group captain whos now a senior fellow at the Ministry of Defence-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. If somebody wants to do something to our satellites, we have the capability to do this to your satellites. Exclusive Group Indias foreign ministry said in a statement that New Delhi wasnt engaging in an arms race, but asserted that with this test, India joins an exclusive group of space-faring nations consisting of USA, Russia and China. Beijings growing space capability -- conducting a similar anti-satellite test 12 years ago -- has helped drive U.S. President Donald Trumps efforts to build a space force. China is clearly part of the calculation, said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head of the nuclear and space policy initiative at New Delhis Observer Research Foundation, adding that a similar test by China in 2007 served as a big wake-up call to India. It has a deterrence effect, and that is clearly a China-driven point that India wants to convey. Indias relations with China, which have been strained by a series of long-simmering border disputes, have grown more tense as the two rising powers jockey for influence across the region. Beijing has forged ever-closer military and economic ties with Islamabad, spurring New Delhi to improve relations with Washington. China enjoys a big lead over its less-developed neighbour, becoming in January the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Its space program is run by the military and Chinese President Xi Jinping established a Strategic Support Force in 2015 to develop greater capabilities. John Blaxland, head of the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre at Australian National University, said the anti-satellite test nonetheless signalled that India was stepping up to the plate in space. Indias neighbors will have to think twice before upping the ante in any future space clash, particularly once this capability matures, Blaxland said. The launch also delivers a message closer to home, especially after Indias recent Kashmir flare-up, which included Pakistans capture and release of a Indian pilot. Militarily, the move could be seen as demonstrating Indias ability to shoot down ballistic missiles from its rivals. Politically, it showcases Indias industrial and military strength just weeks ahead a pivotal general election that could decide Modis political fate. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has leaned heavily on the prime ministers authorization of Indian air strikes against Pakistan during recent appearances on the campaign trail. It gives Modi an opportunity to boast of his countrys technological prowess just before the elections, said Sam Roggeveen, director of the International Security Program at Lowy Institute in Sydney. By PTI VISAKHAPATNAM: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Sunday alleged the Narendra Modi government was quick to take credit for action of the armed forces against terrorists but failed to gave them bulletproof vehicles which could have prevented the attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. TDP national spokesperson Dinkar Lanka told PTI that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated bulletproof buses for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in September 2017, but the paramilitary force has not received them yet. "The attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama happened due to negligence on the part of the government. Sitharaman inaugurated bulletproof buses for CRPF on September 7, 2017. There are 200 such vehicles in the inventory of the Defence Ministry, but the forces haven't got them yet. Where are those buses?" he asked. The Narendra Modi government was quick to take credit for the valour of the armed forces, but has failed to ensure their safety, he alleged. Lanka also said that his party will win more than 20 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and will play a pivotal role at the Centre. The TDP had won 15 seats in the 2014 elections in an alliance with the BJP and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party. Eying the role of a kingmaker at the Centre, TDP president Naidu has been travelling around the country, rallying opposition parties against the BJP. Asked if going solo in the elections will cost the TDP, Lanka said his party lost minority votes due to the alliance with the BJP in 2004. "Going solo will benefit us." The TDP leader said both the Congress and the BJP cheated the people of Andhra on the issue of special category status, but "Rahul Gandhi's party has passed a resolution to meet the demand if voted to power". Simultaneous polls will be held in Andhra Pradesh on April 11 for 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect the new 175-member Assembly. On Sunday evening, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally along with Naidu in Visakhapatnam. Kejriwal had also campaigned for Naidu on March 28. Earlier, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah had attended public meetings in support of Naidu in the state. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and DMK chief M K Stalin will also canvass for the TDP the next week. Harpreeet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called upon the social media volunteers of the BJP, whom she called "jawans", to gear up to face the challenges posed by rival parties through social media by effectively disseminating the achievements, programmes and policies of the government and countering false, misleading and mischievous propaganda of the opposition. Sitharaman said that after the Pulwama attack against a CRPF convoy and the Balakot air strike, the number of misleading videos had increased on social media. It was the duty of the social media cell of the BJP to effectively counter the misleading videos and posts, she said. In order to make positive use of the social media during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the IT cell of the BJP organised a training camp for about 2,000 social media volunteers in Gurugram which was addressed by Sitharaman, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and others. READ| BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao booked for faking Nirmala Sitharamans sign The Union minister gave them tips on the use of language and curbing anti-national activities while posting on various social media platforms. She called upon the social media volunteers to use technology to convey to the people the work done in the last five years by the party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The volunteers should also detail the benefits given to various sections of society through welfare schemes launched by the BJP government at the Centre, she said. Sitharaman said it was also the responsibility of the "social media jawans" to counter rumours and misconceptions being spread by the BJP's rivals on various social media platforms. She said that the opposition was spreading rumours as part of a conspiracy against the government due to the growing popularity of the BJP. It was the responsibility of the social media workers to stop these rumours and resolve any misunderstanding and promote the government's policies in the right way, Sitharaman said. She advised the social media volunteers to keep a watch on the language they used. The language used by the BJP's "social media jawans" should be civilised, whatever the provocation, she said, adding that the BJP was committed to countering its opponents in a civilised manner. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Intensifying the BJP campaign and preparing the party for the first phase of battle royale on the turf of western UP on April 11, BJP president Amit Shah sought votes for BJP candidates in Jat dominant Baghpat and Dalit dominant Nagina on Sunday. Addressing his first public rally in Baghpat, BJP national president took the Congress party on target and fired a salvo at its president Rahul Gandhi accusing him of exploring a second option in Waynad, Kerala to test poll waters as he could see his defeat coming through in his bastion Amethi. Rahul baba fears that Amethi voters will seek an account of the work done by him and his party all through these years, said Shah. The Congress chief is fleeing to Kerala as he hardly has anything to tell about his work to the people of Amethi if the voters will seek an account from him. Referring to recent verdict in Samjhauta Express blast case, Shah said: The Congress had given clean chit to Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in Samjhauta Express bomb blast case and sent Swami Aseemanand and other innocent persons to jail, he said. It was the Congress party which coined the term Hindu Atankwaad (terrorism) linking terror to religion in the country just for votes, he added. FOLLOW OUR ELECTIONS COVERAGE HERE The BJP chief charged the Congress leadership with attaching a tag of terrorism to Hindus. He claimed that Hindus, who fed even the ants with flour, couldnt be terrorist. Baghpat is a VIP constituency offering an interesting battle on the cards as it will witness a direct fight between BJPs sitting MP and Modi Minister Dr Satyapal Singh and RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhury. Both Singh and Chaudhury have their main clout among jats who have a sizeable population in Baghpat which is considered to be an RLD pocket borough. However, in 2014, BJPs Satyapal Singh had restricted RLD chief Ajit Singh to the third slot defeating SPs Ghulam Mohammad as his nearest rival by over two lakh votes. Ajit Singh has been a Bhagpat MP thrice in 1999, 2004 and 2009. READ | Rahul's fight in Wayanad not symbolic: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan This time his son Jayant is seeking election from Baghpat to salvage pride from the constituency prestigious to the family. In fact, Jayant also created a flutter on Sunday in Baghpat by claiming that the ruling party was targeting people on religious lines. Later, addressing the second Vijay Sankalp Rally at Bijnore and seeking votes for BJP candidate and sitting MP Dr Yashwant Singh from adjoining Nagina, the reserved Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP chief repeated the Hindu Atankwad narrative. Shah sought the Congress leadership to apologise to the nation for committing the sin of defaming Hindu community with a terror tag. He called it a part of oppositions politics of appeasement all this long. Shifting the narrative to Pulwama terror incident, Shah credited the Modi government for avenging sacrifice of CRPF jawans by conducting airstrikes across the border. We dont care for votes, but the nation should remain secured, he claimed. He charged the Congress with speaking the language of terrorists. He also trained guns at the SP-BSP alliance accusing it of following the politics of appeasement. He trained guns at SP-BSP alliance calling it the consequence of Modi fear. The arch rivals who could not stand each other, have come together for survival, he said. T J S George By Politicians big and small have commented variously on democracy. But the most perceptive observation came from an Anglican priest-turned-Cambridge professor named W R Inge. Democracy, he said, is only an experiment in government, and it has the obvious disadvantage of merely counting the votes instead of weighing them. What a world of difference there is between counting and weighing. Indias plight is evidence enough. As many as 1,580 people involved in criminal cases sit in our current Parliament and state legislatures because all that matters is mere counting of votes. Criminals lodged in prison have fought and won elections in UP-Bihar; a police officer who had prepared a list of cases, including murder, against a mafia leader-turned-minister was shot dead; eleven MPs were caught in 2005 taking bribe for asking questions in Parliamentall because riff-raff gets to the top when counting alone matters. Suppose someone invents a system of weighing votes instead of just counting them. Even to suppose is not easy considering the political conditions in our country today. Regionalism, casteism and cronyism, the criteria that govern our lives, wont allow the weighing of merit. This was picturesquely described by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh when he said not long ago: I will not make it in politics because I am Brahmin, I am South Indian, I am good-looking, and I am brilliant. To a limited extent the last handicap helped him get over the other handicaps. But hurdles to making it in India are numerous. Nevertheless, we can still dream. Suppose a system emerges in our dream where the count of values matters more than the count of votes, where merit decides things, where those who have brought real progress to the country through their work get precedence over those who trade in politicsthen democracy may cease to be only an experiment and become a model. The advantage of being in the dream mode is that we can dream big. Dream of a Parliament that will be filled with a class of Indians who have brought prestige to India through skill and dedicationAnand Mahindra, Deepak Parekh, Azim Premji, Sudha/Narayana Murthy, Subroto Bagchi. And also Raghuram Rajan, Gita Gopinath, Sunder Pichai, Satya Nadella, Kaushik Basu. And also Jean Dreze, Pankaj Mishra, Manu S Pillai, Patrick French, Gautam Bhatia. And also Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, K R Meera, Girish Karnad, T M Krishna. And also Indra Nooyi, Padmasree Warrior, Mira Nair, Arundhati Nag, Revathi. Just imagining them as MPs is thrilling. How blessed our country is with talent. And how bereft of talent our Parliament is! In the current list, how many MPs actually deserve to be MPs? Arun Jaitley does. Parliament would be poorer without his intellectual brilliance. It will be poorer without the intelligence of Nitin Gadkari. It will be poorer without the cerebral brightness of Shashi Tharoor. It will be poorer without Manmohan Singh, however miserly he is with words. It will be poorer without Kapil Sibal, an MA in history, an LLB and an alumnus of Harvard Law School. Alas, the number of people in Parliament who make us proud is tiny compared to the number of those who make us ashamed. Only in an India driven by the politics of communal polarisation would strange individuals like Sakshi Maharaj and Niranjan Jyoti and Giriraj Singh become members of Parliament. What does a movement like Mayawati actually signify? All we got from her reign in UP was a landscape of elephants. A person who identifies the destiny of a great country like India with her private ego now wants to be the prime minister. What does the sum of Smriti Irani add up in the totality of India? What can Kummanam Rajasekharan contribute to the substance and image of India? He is the candidate the BJP has put up to defeat Shashi Tharoor. If he wins, can he do for India what Tharoor does beyond party politics? It will be a case of BJPs win amounting to Indias loss. There are national interests that must supercede party interests. But we live in an age where national interests are discardedoften arrogantlyto promote narrow political interests. In any other age it would have been unthinkable for Air India to issue boarding passes with the Prime Ministers photo on them. Domestic airlines were instructed in February to issue leaflets to passengers describing the achievements of the BJP government. This is politics gone bizarre. This is taking the citizen for a fool. This is India hijacked. Cant we get our India back? IVNP Prasad Babu By Express News Service VISAKHAPATNAM: The Central government has recently accorded the prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Araku Valley Coffee along with four other varieties of Indian coffee. Others are Coorg Arabica Coffee, Chikmaglur Coffee and Bababudangriris Arabica Coffee of Karnataka and Waynad Robusta Coffee. The GI tag will help all the five coffee brands get maximum market and price for their premium produce across the globe. The Indian coffee is highly valued in the world market and sold as a premium product in Europe. Araku Valley Coffee, in particular, has good market in countries like France, Sweden and Switzerland. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry has recently awarded the GI tag to all the five varieties. Among the five, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee, produced through organic method, is famous for its rich blend of good taste and invigorating aroma as well as purity. The coffee from the hilly areas of Visakhapatnam district and Odisha is produced by tribals through the integrated coffee development project. The tribals use organic, green manures and adopt organic pest management practices. The GI tag is primarily the certification of products of agricultural, natural or a manufactured (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. Finally, Araku Coffee gets GI tag It explains the uniqueness of the product in terms of quality assurance and distinctiveness, which is attributable to the place of its origin like Tirupati Laddu and Yetikoppaka wooden toys. In fact, the Girijan Cooperative Corporation of the AP government, which is promoting Araku Valley Coffee, had applied for the GI tag at the Chennai-GI registry in April- 2016. At that time, the Coffee Board dismissed GCCs claim for the GI tag by arguing that it was not the right claimant for the tag. Later, the National Coffee Board also applied for the GI in March 2018 for the same product. Finally, the GI registry examined both claims thoroughly and took a decision to accord the GI tag for the product. It is a good development and the GI certification will help our Araku Valley Coffee to be specifically identified with its unique flavour and taste. It will also enhance the chances of getting maximum value/ price to our Araku Valley Coffee brand products, said T Baburao Naidu, GCC vice-chairman and managing director. By PTI VISHAKAPATNAM: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday urged BJP's sister organisations to not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party chief Amit Shah during the national polls. Addressing an election rally here organised by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, Banerjee said the BJP won't get a single seat in Bengal and the party won't cross the 125-mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "BJP has sister organisations, I would like to request them that if you love the country, please don't support Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the West Bengal chief minister said. "This is a special election. There are not many people to fight for the country, please vote for Chandrababu Naidu. Modi and Shah bully everyone," she added. Taking on the BJP, the Trinamool Congress chief said the BJP will not get a single seat in Bengal. FOLLOW OUR ELECTIONS COVERAGE HERE "In 2014, Modi got 21 out of 191 seats in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha, that was your best time," Banerjee said, adding that the BJP will not get more than 125 seats in this election. "In UP, he got 73 seats when the Samajwadi Party and the BSP fought alone. Now they have come together. In Odisha too they won't get any seats," she said. Banerjee also challenged Modi for an open debate and attacked the prime minister for not addressing any press conference during his tenure. ALSO READ | Don't forget PM Modi betrayed you on special status: Kejriwal tells people of Andhra Pradesh "Modi didn't address a presser in five years. He reads from tele-prompter and says he has a 56-inch chest," the TMC supremo quipped. She said the country needs a prime minister who doesn't differentiate between Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. "Modi said demonetisation would curb terrorism, but it is maximum under his government," she said. Supporting Arvind Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi, Banerjee said the issue needs to be resolved. Express News Service UDUPI AND MANGALURU : A couple from Karnataka, living and working in Munich, Germany, were attacked by an immigrant in the early hours of Saturday, leaving the husband dead and the wife severely injured. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted news of the attack on the couple on Saturday morning and said that she had instructed the Indian mission in Munich to take care of the children of the couple and that arrangements had been made to fly the relatives of the couple out to Germany. The couple have two children, a daughter Sakhishya (15) and a son Shloka (10). Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashants brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, Swaraj said, in her tweet. Prashant was working as a software engineer in Munich and the couple has two children. Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended on Smithas hometown, Siddapur of Kundapur taluk, as news of the incident spread. Speaking to Express, Sujay, Smithas brother, said his family, including his parents, wife and himself, were leaving for Munich immediately. Smithas father, Dr Chandramouli, is a popular ayurveda doctor in Siddapur, and the family is well known. Indian couple Prashant and Smita Basarur were stabbed by an immigrant near Munich. Unfortunately, Prashant has expired. Smita is stable. We are facilitating the travel of Prashant's brother to Germany. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. /1 Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 30, 2019 Several residents who knew the family said that the news had left Dr Chandramouli shattered. We are told that the government will help with arrangements to bring back Prashanths body at the earliest. Smitha is said to be recovering, a distraught Umesh, a relative of Dr Chandramouli, said. READ | Indian man stabbed to death by immigrant in Munich Hope Smitha returns home, say residents Smithais the second child and has two brothers. Ajay, the elder brother works in Dubai while Sujay, is a civil engineer, is working in Siddapur. The family owns a twowheeler showroom and a few commercial complexes in the city, which has a large section of residents with relatives working outside India. The couple had last visited the town around a year ago with their children. Just five months back, Smithas family had visited her in Munich during a holiday. Smitha completed her graduation at Bhandarkars Arts and Science College in Kundapur and her post graduation at Mangalore University. Prashant studied at the NMAMIT, Udupi. Smitha married Prashant nearly a decade ago. Residents of the small town said that they were praying that Smitha returns home stable and fondly spoke of her as a simple college going girl dedicated to her family. In an interview with Moroccan reporters earlier the same day, the top legislator said the Morocco visit is a success. She highlighted the fruitful political and diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Morocco. However, the leader said, the bilateral economic and trade ties have yet to match their potential and aspirations. Due to the geographical distance, two-way trade stood at only over USD200 million in 2018, she added. National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was welcomed by President of the Moroccan House of Representatives Habib El Malki at Rabat Salle International Airport in Rabat. (Photo: VNA) Therefore, during the visit, leaders of the two countries discussed measures to step up the economic and trade links, she said, noting that the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Moroccos Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a sub-committee on cooperation in trade and industry. They also wanted to promote collaboration in culture and tourism, as well as twining relationship between localities of the two sides, according to the NA Chairwoman. On this occasion, Vietnams Da Nang city and Tangier city of Morocco also inked a MoU on setting up the friendship and cooperation, she said, adding that the two sides will accelerate the establishment of the twining relationship between Vietnams Hue ancient capital city and Moroccos Marrakech city. The leader said Vietnam has rolled out a national strategy on climate change while Morocco has devised a strategy on green economic development strategy towards sustainability. Given this, the two countries can enhance partnerships in these fields, especially in renewable energy. She further said the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development signed a MoU on environment and sustainable development. She expressed her belief that the legislatures and governments of the two countries will foster collaboration in the spheres. Regarding coordination between Vietnam and Morocco at regional and international forums in the coming time, she said under an agreement signed in late 2017, the two sides consented to further their close coordination at these forums, especially within the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations to which both countries are members. As host of the General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020, Vietnam will invite President of the Moroccan House of Representatives to attend the meeting. Along with developing the bilateral parliamentary ties, the two sides will exchange information and experience in dealing specific issues, she said./. By PTI BENGALURU: With open fissures in the ruling alliance in Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked leaders and workers of his party and JD(S) to strive unitedly for the coalition victory in Lok Sabha polls, as defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi was its target. Gandhi's unity appeal comes amid worries in the Congress-JD(S) alliance that dissidence within might hamper the electoral prospects despite the arrangement between them to face the electorate together in 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. "The Congress and JDS are fighting the election together in Karnataka. At the beginning itself, I want to say that all workers and leaders of Congress should help JD(S) candidates completely and JDS workers and leaders will have to support Congress candidates," Gandhi said. FOLLOW OUR ELECTIONS COVERAGE HERE "Both parties' aim is to defeat Narendra Modi and BJP," the Congress president said at a rally on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where he launched the Congress-JD(S) campaign, with JDS patriarch H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and state senior Congress leaders, including deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah in attendance. Gandhi thanked Congress and JD(S) workers for having come together to defeat Narendra Modi and the BJP. "In Karnataka, we have formed the coalition government and in Delhi also we will defeat Narendra Modi," he said. ALSO READ | Karnataka Congress leaders continue to condemn Prajwal Revannas candidature Congress and JDS had bitterly fought the May assembly polls last year, but had cobbled up an alliance post-elections to form the coalition government following a hung verdict with BJP emerging as the single largest party, but falling short of numbers to rule the state. "I once again urge that Congress leaders and workers will help JD(S) and JDS people will make Congress candidates win," Gandhi stressed, seeking to send a message of unity. (Photo | Pushkar V | EPS) The alliance is facing trouble in several constituencies, including key ones such as Tumkur, Mandya and Hassan, with party workers unhappy over the seat-sharing arrangements. Deve Gowda is contesting from Tumkur and his grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna from Mandya and Hassan, respectively. Nikhil is the son of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. For the coalition to emerge as a formidable opposition to BJP, mutual transfer of votes is crucial, but it is posing a serious challenge with the electoral understanding yet to sink in at the grassroot level where the two parties have been arch rivals for decades, seeking share in the same electoral space. According to the seat sharing arrangement, Congress and JD(S) are contesting in 21 and 7 Lok Sabha seats respectively. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had won 17 seats, while Congress and JD(S) had won nine and two seats respectively. Gandhi also raked up the issue of the "Yeddyurappa diary" over alleged payment of Rs 1,800 crore as bribe to the BJP top brass by the former chief minister. "Rs 1800 crore. Yeddyurappa has distributed in his diary, where did it come from? Whose money is it?. From where did it come? It came from the pockets of the Karnataka people," Gandhi said. Yeddyurappa has rubbished the allegations as "atrocious and malicious", while the Income Tax department has dismissed it as a "forgery document" and a "set of loose papers". Gandhi alleged that in the last five years, Modi had done nothing for the farmers, labourers, small traders and youth. "He did everything for his 15 big industrialist friends. Chowkidar gives world's biggest defence contract to Anil Ambani. Rs 30,000 crore he put into his pocket," he said referring to the Rafale fighter jet deal. "Broke all laws, openly indulged in corruption and removed the CBI Director at 1.30 in the night," he alleged. He also claimed that in the last five years, the Modi government had waived Rs 3.5 lakh crore loan of 15-20 people. READ HERE | Women can change game this Lok Sabha election in Karnataka: Analysts "But when farmers ask for loan waiver, Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi say it's not their policy. "There is no shortage of money, but money cannot be given to the poor, it cannot be given to farmers, to labourers, to young entrepreneurs. To Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi it can be given," he said. In his speech, Gowda described the Modi government as the 'most communal' and said it was promoting the RSS agenda of 'Hindu Rashtra.' Kumaraswamy said the coalition is sending a message to the entire country from the soil of Karnataka ahead of the general elections and a situation was emerging where Congress would take the country forward with the help of regional parties. By Online Desk Putting an end to speculations, Congress on Sunday announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Kerala's Wayanad constituency. The Congress chief, who has already announced candidature from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will be contesting from Wayanad as his second seat. The announcement was made by senior party leader AK Antony at a press conference in New Delhi "Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala," Antony said. There were several requests for Rahul to contest from Wayanad, he added. FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE "Rahul's candidature will create ripples in the political waters and it is assured that the people vote in hordes will ensure Rahul's win. He will win the election with a record majority," said AK Antony. The decision was taken after discussions and though Rahul was not much keen on contesting, it was after much pressurising that he agreed to contest from Wayanad, senior Congress leaders have opined. "It will set a new dimension for Kerala, with the Indian political milieu eagerly looking forward to Wayanad which will be the cynosure of all eyes," according to Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Speculations of the Gandhi scion's candidature from the southern state were doing the rounds for more than a week with senior Congress leader pitching for the same. Former Kerala Chief Minister and party general secretary Oommen Chandy had announced the Gandhi scions candidature on March 23. Following Chandys announcement, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and state Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran endorsed the plan to request Rahul to contest from Kerala. Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Mani) and RSP, main constituents of the UDF, too welcomed the plan. Kozhikode DCC president T Siddique, who was then considered the front-runner for the Wayanad seat, said he was ready to step aside for Rahul. However, Congress Working Committee member PC Chacko threw a spanner into the dream works when he said Rahul contesting against the Left candidate in Wayanad will send a negative message at the national level and that it will create confusion in the Congress camp. After multiple reports and rumours, Congress has put an end to the speculations with the announcement of Rahul candidature which will be seen as a huge boost for the party's fortunes in the southern states. The decision had brought much cheer to the UDF and Congress leadership in the state. The UDF hopes to sweep the polls with the new move, which had obviously not gone down well with the Left leadership in the state. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier stated that Rahul's candidature will send out a wrong message. The Wayanad seat has been a Congress stronghold with late M I Shanavas representing the constituency for the past two terms. He had won the first term convincingly with a margin of over 1.5 lakhs. However, for his second term, Shanavas barely managed a win with a margin of 20,000 votes. The seat has been vacant since his death in November 2018. (With inputs from Agencies) By IANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress President Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, cannot be seen as a symbolic fight, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday. Vijayan's remarks came shortly after the Congress announced in New Delhi that Gandhi was going to contest from both the seats. "In Kerala as we all know, the fight is between the Left and the Congress, with the BJP not in the picture at all. He should have fought against the BJP. Now that he has decided to contest from Wayanad, we the Left will see to defeat him," Vijayan told the media reported. FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Kerala is slated to go to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha candidates. In reply to a question over the outcome if the UPA wins the general elections, Vijayan said: "We have already fielded our candidate and he will be taking on Gandhi." The Wayanad seat has been allocated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and it has fielded P.P. Suneer as their candidate. READ | Amethi upbeat over Rahul Gandhis Waynad candidature Vijayan also expressed his resentment against the Congress for not clinching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party which would have worked to take on the BJP. "I am sure the BJP is not going to make any inroads in Uttar Pradesh and all along Amethi has been a bastion of the Congress party." Anuja Susan Varghese By Express News Service KOCHI: Amidst speculations that the seven-year-old body in Thodupuzha who was subjected to brutal torture by his mothers partner has suffered brain death, the hospital authorities have said the boy will continue to breathe with the support of the ventilator. According to the team deputed from Kottayam on the Health Ministers directives to assess his condition whilst in critical trauma care at MOSC Hospital, Kolenchery, the child is to remain under close observation. While blood flow to his brain is assessed to have been reduced, hope still exists that permanent brain damage might have been avoided. But all depends on his rate of recovery over the next few days. The team also termed the present medical process adequate. The diagnosis is by the team from the Government Medical College, Kottayam led by neurosurgeon Dr Tinu Ravi Abraham, neurologist, Haris AA, pediatrician Dr Jiji Mary Anthony, and pediatric surgeon Dr Athiya Perveen K. Though the blood that had accumulated in his brain has been drained out, the internal bleeding and consequential cerebral oedema (fluid building up around the brain, causing an increase in pressure known as intracranial pressure), has affected the functioning of his brain, said a doctor, on condition of anonymity. The blood flow to the brain at present is very weak, and his brain is almost dysfunctional. Meanwhile, his lungs have returned to the normal position said, doctors. Though his lungs can work normally, the boy is unable to breathe on his own due to severe brain damage. Hence, he is still on ventilator support, said the doctor. SOP to declare brain dead The standard operating procedure (SOP) for brain dead cases formed by the state government states that a medical board comprising of five doctors including one from a private hospital, and government service, will be authorised to declare a patient brain dead. The SOP also states that the main condition for declaring a patient brain dead would be that he/she is 100 percent out of the reversible cause of coma. Better prevent than be sorry The Master Shafeeq Committee Report on the Atrocities Against Children, submitted by a Committee formed by the state government in 2013, had listed out measures to identify such cases and take first-line measures to curb atrocities against children. This report, however, remains in cold storage. We cannot say the law lacks teeth, but implementation is patchy Prevention is key and report details measures to be taken by teachers and society to ensure prevention. If it is not implemented in our state, then how will such efforts gain fruition? said Sandhya. By Express News Service CUTTACK: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly duping a Libya-based lady doctor of Rs 1.3 crore through unauthorised transactions. The accused has been identified as Dillip Kumar Das of Bhubaneswar. The gynaecologist, who has been staying in Libya for the last 40 years with her family, filed a complaint with the Crime Branch alleging unauthorised withdrawal of Rs 1.3 crore from her SBI and ICICI bank accounts. Following the complaint, a case was registered in Cyber Crime police station on March 12 and Inspector Anil Anand was entrusted with the investigation. The Cyber Crime Police verified financial transaction reports of SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank and credit card division of IndusInd Bank as stated by the complainant and found the involvement of Das. The accused, who had been working as a financial advisor to the complainants family since 2011, had knowledge about the doctors bank deposits. Taking undue advantage of the absence of the complainant and her family members, Das fraudulently transferred the cash to his credit card of IndusInd Bank between November 14, 2017 and January 21, 2019. He had also prepared a fake document regarding auto sweep of the money to a Mutual Fund account in the name of complainants husband, investigation revealed. Cyber Crime Police seized eight debit cards and credit cards of different banks, mobile phone, SIM cards and laptop used by the accused. The CB also seized his property including a Skoda car, document relating to purchase of a flat in a luxury apartment at Kalarahanga under Infocity police limits and other possessions acquired. Das was produced before SDJM court in Bhubaneswar which remanded him to jail custody. Express News Service By NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday attacked the BJP for not fulfilling its promise of statehood for Delhi, and said that the partys state president, Manoj Tiwari, was spreading lies by misquoting the Supreme Court decision on the same. Tiwari, on his part, maintained that AAP was misleading people by playing politics of appeasement. Earlier in the day, Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said, The BJP has been resorting to daily lies in an unsuccessful attempt to divert attention, fearing that it stands fully exposed before the people of Delhi and will not be able to face them during the Lok Sabha elections. He said Tiwari was completely lying and misleading the people of Delhi. According to media reports, responding to a question on the issue of full statehood, Tiwari on Friday said that the BJP never took a U-turn on the issue but the Supreme Court had made it clear that it could not be done. Noting that the apex court had said on February 14 that the Centre should have the final word on posting and transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital administration, but disagreement among the judges on the finer details resulted in a split verdict and the matter got referred to a larger bench, Rai challenged the Delhi BJP president to make public where, when and in which case the Supreme Court stated what he has been claiming. Is Manoj Tiwari not even aware that full statehood for Delhi will be granted by Parliament through a Constitutional amendment Bill, like the one which was presented by Mr LK Advani in Parliament in August 2003, or is he deliberately misleading the people of Delhi? Manoj Tiwari says Delhi cant be granted statehood since (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal sat on a dharna outside Rail Bhawan in January 2014, then why did his party promise statehood for Delhi in March 2014, when BJP released a Delhi-specific manifesto? the AAP convener asked. In a presser countering the AAPs attack, Tiwari asked why various promises like installation of CCTVs, made by his party, remained unfulfilled even when there was no need of statehood to implement those schemes. We want to ask Kejriwal that when there is no need of full statehood to Delhi for improving the transport system, pollution, development of roads, installation of CCTVs, deputing marshals in buses, providing security to women, implementing Ayushman Bharat and 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections, why has he not implemented these schemes, Tiwari said. He added that people have clearly rejected Kejriwal on the issue of full statehood. This is the reason he is begging for an alliance with the Congress, apprehensive of defeat in the next elections. AAPs main poll plank The Aam Aadmi Party has made full statehood for Delhi the main issue of its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. In his campaign speeches, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been saying that the people of Delhi will have to fight for statehood. On Thursday, AAP said it would back a government of the grand alliance at the Centre if it worked towards granting full statehood to Delhi. The issue of full statehood is very crucial for us. The party will support a grand alliance government at the Centre on the condition that it works towards granting full statehood to Delhi as soon as possible, said AAP leader Gopal Rai. Parvez Sultan By NEW DELHI: Heritage lovers will find the 1.5 km-long Chandni Chowk road starting from Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid greener once its redevelopment work is completed by January next year. The Public Works Department, the executing agency of the project, has proposed to plant nearly 150 trees along the stretch on both sides with grates to protect the greens from damage. At present, there are only 90 trees on the boulevard originally developed in 17th century during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. More trees in Chandni Chowk will not enhance its aesthetic appeal, but will also help to improve air quality in the area. Urban trees cool down neighbourhoods, said a senior Delhi government official associated with the project. Mainly, we have decided to plant Kaim, a native tree. Other varieties will also be introduced, informed Pradeep Sachdeva, who is the consultant architect for the redevelopment project. To retain the heritage character of the arcade designed by Shah Jahans daughter Jahanara, authorities have decided to use red sandstone extensively to redevelop its central axis and keep the design similar to architectural pattern of the Mughal period. Selection of all material is in harmony with the architecture of Chandni Chowk and Mughal pattern. The canal, which stopped functioning, is being represented through decorative patterns of Mughal origin. The design comprises pietra dura work for which I may use marble. Red stone bollards and seats are also being provided, said Sachdeva. The central verge is at a place in the middle of the road, where the canal ran through the avenue till 1910 before trams were introduced in Chandni Chowk. Under the redevelopment plan, power transformers, police booths, public conveniences and other facilities are proposed to be placed on 3.5 metre wide central vista. A CCTV control room, a municipal corporations maintenance room, and charging units for electronic vehicles are also proposed at six locations on the median. Provisions are being made for a separate lane for smooth movement of fire tenders and two sites for parking ambulance to tackle any exigency. The PWD plans to fix place dustbins at 100 points to keep the area clean. Nitin Panigrahi, Deputy General Manager (Project & Administration), Shahajahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC), said the designing and construction of the central verge would be taken up after completion of the civic work. Trenches (to shift power and other utility cables underground) are complete and water pipelines have also been laid. Next week, power transformer will arrive. As we complete the civil work, redevelopment of the median will begin, he said. But, Sanjay Bhargava, president of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, said though the project is moving per the schedule, work is being done in a haphazard manner. Pits are lying open and the area where construction is being carried out has not been barricaded properly. It poses danger to pedestrians and shoppers. The decision to install public facilities and services on the central axis has not gone down well with heritage experts and urban planners Professor AGK Menon, Smita Datta Makhija, Ashok B Lall, and Sujata Kohli. In February, they filed a petition stating reservation against the plan in the Delhi High Court. Later, the court had directed the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) to convene a meeting of all stakeholders, including consultant architects Pradeep Sachdeva Design Associates, to take a decision with regard to the project. The Delhi Urban Art Commission had raised red flag earlier. It had written to the project stakeholders, including Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC), to submit the proposal for its consideration and approval as per the laid-down procedure. The meeting as directed by the court took place on March 23 in which PSDA made a presentation on the project. As per the court order, the minutes of the meeting and DUACs observation will be submitted in the court before the next date of hearing on April 23, said a PWD official. The long-pending project to decongest the Chandni Chowk road was given final go ahead by the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) in August last year. All the infrastructure projects in the national capital needs nod from UTTIPEC. Menon asserted the placement of power transformers and public conveniences would destroy the heritage character of Shahjahanabad and hamper citys chances to be declared as a UNESCO world heritage city. Why cant they improve existing facilities in the vicinity? It is a fact that nomination for the world heritage city was withdrawn. However, if we chose to apply in future, we will never be able to get the status after the alteration-construction of new structures on median, said Menon, who is also a former convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). It was INTACH which had drafted the proposal to nominate Delhi for the UNESCO heritage tag a few years ago. By AFP BERLIN: As the United Kingdom grapples with its Brexit drama, the uncertainty around its decision to leave the EU persuaded Dale Carr to close down her Berlin shop selling British goods. The 67-year-old from Sheffield and her husband Robin in 1996 opened "Broken English", a shop selling British goods to homesick expats and Germans with a taste for UK treats in the trendy district of Kreuzberg. But things changed in June 2016 when British voters opted to pull out of the EU and the couple, unsure about the future, decided to close their business by the end of May this year. "We decided we would close, because of the uncertainty -- not knowing if we could carry on," said Carr, who also shut a second Broken English shop in west Berlin last year. Carr and her husband, who first came to Berlin in 1978, will retire, leaving her two employees out of work, unless a buyer is found. Visiting customers -- stocking up on Stilton, chocolate biscuits and chutney -- said they were dismayed by the UK's decision to leave the EU. "I think it's a joke, a bad joke," said German Manfred Denker, clutching a box of biscuits. "After Brexit, what is something like a jar of English marmalade going to cost?" - Bad reminders - In the wake of the referendum result, Carr and her husband submitted their paperwork for German citizenship -- "it was a no brainer," she said -- and the process was finalised in the middle of 2017. "I was very grateful to get German citizenship," she admitted. "That was a weight off my shoulders and I didn't realise how stressful it had been until we got our certificates." After the referendum result, the shop became an unofficial drop-in centre for other Brits working in Berlin, worried how Brexit would affect their rights, and eager to apply for German citizenship. "It (Brexit) has damaged a lot of people, it's affected all of us and it will take a long time for that to disappear," she said. "It has divided people," said Carr, who says she has lost friends who voted "Leave". Carr says business is currently booming, which she puts down to customers stockpiling goods and Easter approaching. - 'A little island' - Up in Hamburg, Robert Berridge, who owns the "British Food and Gourmet", has seen sales of foodstuffs steadily drop away since 2016. "A lot of customers have stopped buying, some are annoyed (by Brexit) and don't want to be reminded of home," said the 60-year-old from Ascot who moved to Germany in 1981 and started the business in 1985. Using previous Christmases as a yardstick, Berridge says business has steadily declined from 26,000 euros ($29,000) turnover for the last quarter of 2014 to 12,000 euros for the same period last year. "I think it's because of Brexit, I have the feeling some are boycotting British goods -- annoyed at the decision," said Berridge, who was granted German citizenship in January. He says he will probably stop importing British goods, focusing instead on selling second-hand English books, put off by the potential extra paperwork and customs taxes. Berridge feels his business is "on the marginal edges, where the pain sets in first" and unable to absorb potential extra costs. - 'Very, very, very unhappy' - There are no such survival worries for Cologne's "The English Shop", founded in 1995. However, Brexit has caused a few concerns for some of the 40 employees at the flagship store and a separate shop in Bonn. "We are very, very, very unhappy with Brexit," said Anna-Maria Boehm, in charge of the shop's marketing. "We have a lot of experience of importing goods from the UK and a hard Brexit will just mean more paperwork -- every bar of chocolate or bag of crisps will have to clear customs. "The main impact so far has been on staff - Brexit has been a huge issue with people applying for dual citizenship or getting married to make sure they can stay." However, Brits in Germany will always have somewhere to get their tea -- especially as the shop has an online store. "There will always be a little island of the UK in Cologne," added Boehm. By PTI LONDON: A British Asian gang of fraudsters may have been involved in misusing billions of pounds of British tax-payers money to fund terrorist networks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, claims a UK media investigation based on police and intelligence files. The gang, based in London, Buckinghamshire, Birmingham, north-west England and Scotland, is alleged to have sent 1 per cent of its gains from their elaborate tax fraud to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it funded madrasas, training camps and other terrorist activities, according to the leaked files seen by 'The Sunday Times'. An estimated 80 million pounds is believed to have been funnelled out by the fraudsters as part of an elaborate VAT and benefits fraud against the UK's revenue department over the past two decades, with further gains made through mortgage and credit card fraud targeting banks and individuals. "Secret intelligence held by MI5 states that some of the money reached the Pakistani compound that housed the Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden before US forces stormed it in 2011," the newspaper reports as part of a two-year investigation. The gang, made up of British men of Asian-origin who cannot be named due to court orders, reportedly infiltrated multiple UK government agencies and even corrupted local politicians. ALSO READ | Jihadists kill 33 regime forces in northwest Syria: monitor Mid-ranking gang members have been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for fraud and money laundering in a series of linked trials. Their crimes have reportedly cost the UK taxpayer an estimated 100 million pounds. Reporting restrictions imposed at the start of the first trial prevent the identification of any of the gang because several kingpins fled the UK before they could be arrested and are now thought to be based in the Middle East. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insists that details cannot be reported until the masterminds have been returned to the UK to face trial. According to evidence pieced together so far, the gang was using a network of factories and companies and exploiting their workers for identity and benefit frauds, the sale of counterfeit goods, car crash scams and mortgage and credit card frauds. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) inquiries found the gang used 'hijacked or altered National Insurance numbers to create false records' and exploited 'illegal immigrant labour' before laundering the cash 'through bogus offshore companies'. "Those involved in the investigation say the gang was extremely difficult to penetrate. Undercover agents eventually resorted to attaching a camera to a dog and encouraging it to run around inside one of the network's factories to find out how many people worked there," the newspaper reports. "A large proportion of these frauds originated from just a few families (covering several generations) perpetrating serious, organised and sustained attacks against any agency with apparently weak systems," the report said, adding that the money was sent mainly to Pakistan but also Hong Kong and Dubai and "is most likely to be linked to terrorism". The files reportedly also show that the gang enjoyed links with a top politician in Pakistan. By AFP DHAKA: Bangladesh security forces have shot dead a Rohingya woman in a border town known as a gateway for smuggling meth pills from neighbouring Myanmar, officials said Sunday. Rights activists said Rumana Akter, 20, was the first Rohingya woman to be killed in a clampdown by Bangladesh authorities against the narcotics trade. She was one of three alleged smugglers killed in two separate incidents in Teknaf, which is close to refugee camps housing about one million Muslim Rohingya who have fled from Myanmar. Teknaf is a hub for dealing in "yaba" -- a methamphetamine-based stimulant that translates in Thai as "crazy medicine" -- which has become popular in Bangladesh. More than 300 people -- including nearly 20 Rohingya -- have been killed in the clampdown launched in May last year. Impoverished Rohingya refugees are used by dealers to transport the drug from Myanmar, officials say. A military crackdown against the Rohingya in August 2017 sparked an exodus of 740,000 refugees to flee the country and join some 300,000 refugees already in camps in Bangladesh. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said the Rohingya woman was killed during a gunfight between security forces and armed smugglers on the Naf river, which acts as a border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. BGB spokesman Shariful Islam told reporters the woman's body was found after a 15-minute gunbattle "along with 10,000 pieces of yaba and three sharp knives in her bag". Akter came from a refugee camp in Teknaf. Rights activists questioned the death, saying the woman's name was not on a list of known drug traders kept by Bangladeshi law agencies. Two alleged drug traders were killed by police in a separate incident in Teknaf late Saturday. Police said 10,000 pieces of yaba, six guns and 18 rounds of ammunition were found. As part of clampdown Bangladesh authorities in October made yaba a class-A banned substance and parliament passed a law allowing the death penalty for dealing in the drug. RTHK: Israel reopens Gaza crossings Israeli authorities have reopened the two crossings with the Gaza Strip in a sign that ceasefire talks may be advancing after days of hostilities. Israeli and Hamas officials confirmed on Sunday that the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings were opened for the first time in a week. The move came just hours after Palestinian militants launched rockets into Israel overnight and the military responded with tank fire. The previous day four Palestinians, including three teens, were killed by Israeli fire as tens of thousands took part in mass protests along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence, marking one year since the start of border demonstrations. The protests are to push for the declared right of Palestinian refugees to return to ancestral homes in what is now Israel. Egyptian mediators have tried to reach a ceasefire agreement to end six days of hostilities, which began when a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck a home near Tel Aviv. (AP) This story has been published on: 2019-03-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. While receiving Canadas Ambassador for Climate Change Patricia Fuller in Hanoi on March 29th, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh thanked the Canadian Government for its cooperation and assistance to Vietnam in different fields, including adaptation to climate change and environmental protection. Vietnam considers climate change a serious challenge to its sustainable development, Binh said, adding that the country has made a lot of efforts to overcome this challenge such as creating a firm legal framework for actions to cope with climate change and improving public awareness of climate change. Vietnam is implementing a strategy on renewable energy development until 2030 with a vision through 2050, under which the government has encouraged the mobilization of all social resources for renewable energy development and increased the proportion of renewable energy in the national power system, he said. The Party official proposed Fuller has a stronger voice so that the Canadian Government would continue supporting and sharing experience with Vietnam in developing clean energy, stepping up cooperation between businesses in renewable energy development as well as providing technological consultancy and finance for the Southeast Asian country. Fuller affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of Canada in the region. Vietnam is one of the countries which are the hardest hit by climate change so it needs suitable policies to adapt to and minimize adverse impacts from climate change, she stressed. The ambassador also expressed her wish to promote cooperation with Vietnam in developing clean energy, applying high-technologies, improving coastal communities ability to adapt to climate change, assisting the sustainable development of the fishery sector and protecting the maritime environment./. By PTI LAHORE: A Pakistani man has been sentenced to three-months of jail for secretly contracting second marriage without the consent of his first wife. Lahore Cantonment Court's magistrate Kashif Abbas on Saturday awarded the sentenced to Shoaib Zahid, a businessman, and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him for contracting the second marriage without "mandatory permission of his first wife". The magistrate observed that the verbal and documentary evidence presented by the complainant established the offence committed by her husband. Complainant Rabia Younas told the court that her husband had contracted the second marriage secretly. "He (Shoaib Zahid) without obtaining my consent/permission required under section 6 of Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 for contracting second marriage, she said and pleaded before the court to punish her husband under the law for committing the crime. Under the 2014 Muslim Family law, no man during the subsistence of an existing marriage shall except contract another marriage, nor shall any such marriage contracted without such permission be registered under this law. By ANI ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Sunday named High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood as the new Foreign Secretary of the country. Making the announcement in Multan, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the decision was made after consultations with Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Dawn reported. Mahmood is set to replace incumbent Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, who is retiring on April 16 after serving the post for two years. Lauding Janjua for her work, Qureshi said: "Challenges came up in difficult foreign affairs. But she always handled things with courage, bravery, clarity, and with a smile." Notably, Janjua is the first woman to serve as Pakistan's Foreign Secretary. Terming Mahmood as a seasoned diplomat, Qureshi expressed hope that the former would carry out his responsibilities as the Foreign Secretary."I am hopeful that he will fulfil the country, as well as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's foreign affairs preferences," he was quoted by the Dawn as saying. Mahmood, who currently serves as Pakistan's Ambassador to India, also served as the country's envoys to Turkey and Thailand respectively. Mahmood has diverse experience of bilateral as well as multilateral diplomacy under his belt. He also headed the Afghanistan and West Asia Division as Additional Secretary and was the Director-General in the Foreign Secretary's office. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 51F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 31F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau (left) exchanges documents with Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism & Investment Simon Birmingham after signing the Free Trade and Investment agreements. Hong Kong and Australia today signed a Free Trade Agreement and an Investment Agreement. The pacts were signed by Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism & Investment Simon Birmingham in Sydney. The deals cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property, government procurement, competition and other related areas, providing Hong Kong traders and investors with legal certainty and more favourable access to the Australian market while creating more business opportunities and enhancing trade and investment flows between the two places. Mr Yau hailed the free trade agreement as a high-quality deal that reflects the aspiration of both economies, particularly those in the investment, trading and professional services. The document actually includes ways and means to improve the market access into our mutual markets. It provides opportunity for professional services to exchange talent and also create new opportunities for others." He added the commitment made by both places to each other far exceeds their World Trade Organization commitments. Under both agreements, Hong Kong-originating goods can enter Australia tariff-free and via simplified procedures. In some 140 services sectors, Hong Kong service providers can enjoy market access and treatment no less favourable than Australia's local service providers under like circumstances. Australia has also committed to liberalising full range of its arbitration, conciliation and mediation services and certain rail transport services. The free trade agreement with Australia is the fourth such pact the current-term Government has signed with its trading partners since taking office in July 2017. Together with the investment agreement, it will take effect after Hong Kong and Australia have completed their respective internal procedures. The Chief Executive's Council of Advisers on Innovation & Strategic Development held its fifth meeting today to discuss Hong Kongs economic outlook. The council was also briefed on a study that makes recommendations for the future development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the opportunities it offers to Hong Kong. In anticipation of slower global economic growth and external challenges in 2019, members discussed measures to stabilise the economy and how Hong Kong could better leverage the opportunities brought about by the continuous eastward shift of global economic activities. They also provided suggestions on how Hong Kong can strengthen its conventional sectors and promote new growth areas such as innovation and technology. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said while factors including US-China trade tensions, uncertainties surrounding US monetary policy and a hard Brexit may adversely affect Hong Kong's economy, emerging Asian economies will continue to be an important growth engine for the global economy. The Belt & Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development will definitely bring enormous opportunities for Hong Kong. The Government will implement precautionary measures to mitigate the risks of a potential downturn of the global economy and strengthen its role as the facilitator and the promoter to further enhance the development of the Hong Kong economy." Regarding the study Creating the Greater Bay Area of the Future - Opportunities for Hong Kong that was undertaken by the 2022 Foundation, members generally agreed with its recommendations which are in line with the directions set out in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Mrs Lam said the Government would refer to the study when formulating policies and pursuing co-operation initiatives with other cities in the bay area. The Deputy PM said the Vietnamese government provides every possible support for domestic and foreign investors, especially those with strong financial and governance capacity as well as experience in banking, to take part in restructuring weak Vietnamese banks. He told the guest that the government advocates finding partners to sell or restructure the CBBank, which will be decided by the Cabinet and the PM based on suggestion made by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). The government and investors want the most feasible and beneficial solution to parties concerned, he said. The host asked Adachi and collaborators to continue discussing their offer plan with the CBBank and the SBV to submit to the government and the PM for consideration. As a number of investors are also interested in CBBank, he urged J Trust to take relevant steps soon. Apart from CBBank, he also welcomed J Trusts involvement in restructuring other credit organisations in Vietnam. Adachi, for his part, said J Trust now offers commercial banking, retail finance and debt collection services across Asia, from Mongolia to Indonesia. It successfully revived several financial-consumption companies and restructured weak banks in the Republic of Korea and Indonesia. If permitted, J Trust not only wants to contribute capital but also technology to CBBank and will do its best in the effort, he said, expressing his hope that the Vietnamese government and the SBV will create favourable conditions for the success of its negotiations and transaction. He told the Deputy PM that with experience in working for the Japanese Finance Ministry and bringing official development assistance-funded projects to Vietnam since 1997, he wished to further contribute to bilateral ties./. Principal Fireman (Marine Unit) Kong Ming-yee says the new boats advanced display system shows ship information generated by the Automatic Identification System, radar data and charts. The speedboats automatic fire monitor can be operated by one person. Senior Station Officer (Diving Unit) Hung Shing-yau says the equipment system was previously only found on larger boats. The Surface Supplied Diving Equipment system installed on the new boats supplies oxygen to divers through tubes. The new speedboats feature jet foil propulsion systems, allowing them to turn in circles and navigate narrow surroundings. Two new speedboats commissioned by the Fire Services Department in November last year can cut travel time between the departments diving base on Stonecutters Island to Victoria Harbour. The new jet foil boats can make the trip in as quick as five minutes, while the older speedboats take at least 10 minutes. The older speedboats use propellers, while the new ones have an internal jet foil system which improves the boats mobility and ability to turn in circles and navigate narrow surroundings, Principal Fireman (Marine Unit) Kong Ming-yee said. Mr Kong added the jet foil system is safer than conventional propellers allowing the new boats to get closer to those needing assistance without having to switch off their engines. Each of the new boats features an automatic fire monitor, which can be operated by one person, and an advanced display system that shows ship information generated by the Automatic Identification System, radar data and charts at the same time. Mr Kong said: There are hundreds of boats in parking areas, many incidents happen in those areas. Callers can only describe the colour of the boats, but we can identify the ships easily with the Automatic Identification System. Superior service Many rescue missions take place in turbulent waves and high winds. To counter this, the new boat uses a system that releases an anchor electronically to maintain its position. To be ready for unpredictable situations, officers are tethered to the craft via a safety rope to prevent them from falling into the sea. The Surface Supplied Diving Equipment (SSDE) system, which supplies oxygen to divers through a tube, has also been installed. It lets divers carry out penetration diving and underwater cutting. The SSDE was previously only equipped in large boats, but now the speedboats are also installed with such a system, Senior Station Officer (Diving Unit) Hung Shing-yau said. Divers who are not using the system can submerge in the 15-metre-deep Victoria Harbour for about 45 minutes before they reach the no-decompression limit. Those using the system can dive for about 90 minutes before they reach this limit. The department hopes the new technologically advanced speedboats will enable officers to provide an even better service to the public. Government is considering amending the Constitution to remove a clause, that makes the post of Vice President(s) elective, which is set to come into effect in the next harmonised elections in 2023. The 2013 Constitution, through Section 92, has a 10-year transitional clause that provides for the joint election of the President and two running mates selected by the Presidential candidate. However, bureaucrats working on an omnibus Constitutional Amendment Bill that is expected to refine the countrys supreme law say they will open debate on the usefulness of the clause, which Constitutional experts say is an America concept that can potentially precipitate a political crisis by creating two centres of power. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce that was recently established to work on wide-ranging proposed amendments, said there was need to deeply reflect on this impending provision. We need to initiate debate on it; we need to ask ourselves whether we need such a provision, said Minister Ziyambi. We are looking at and engaging the public and debating about whether it is necessary; but in my opinion, I do not think it is necessary. You do not want to create two centres of power; that is something we need to avoid at all costs. Naturally, the head of the executive is the President; what then does it mean when we have three people who are elected by the masses into the executive, who will wield more power? It is another issue that needs debate, and I think we need to take it out, he said. The clause, outlined in Section 92 of the Constitution, stipulates that the election of a President and Vice Presidents must take place concurrently with every general election of Members of Parliament, provincial councils and local authorities. It reads: (1)The election of a President and two Vice Presidents must take place within the period specified in section 158, reads Section 92. (2) Every candidate for election as President must nominate two persons to stand for election jointly with him or her as Vice Presidents, and must designate one of those persons as his or her candidate for first Vice President and the other as his or her candidate for second Vice President. (3) The President and the Vice-President and the Vice-Presidents are directly elected jointly by registered voters throughout Zimbabwe, and the procedure for their election is as prescribed in the Electoral Law. In the event of a sitting Presidents death, resignation or removal, the first Vice President will assume office until the expiry of the former Presidents term. Constitutional law expert and University of Zimbabwe law lecturer Professor Lovemore Madhuku said the provision was not an idea that came from the people. That is an American concept which has only applied in the United States and has been followed by very few other countries, said Prof Madhuku. Otherwise the general trend is that you elect the President and the President must then have the leeway to constitute his executive through appointing his deputy and his ministers; that prerogative must be that of the President who is elected. The second thing is that that provision which is in the current Constitution never came from anyone, it was creation of Copac, it never came out of the public hearings. That is the problem with having a Constitution that is drafted by the elites, he said. Copac was a constitution parliamentary select committee that was set up to draft a new Constitution before 2013. Professor Madhuka said the clause, which he described as a terrible provision, is potentially destabilising. From my studies of constitutionalism, it is a provision that destabilises political parties and nations. However, Copac co-chair and Zanu-PF lead negotiator during the constitution-making process Paul Mangwana said the provision was meant to bring certainty to the succession issue. The logic behind that clause was to bring about certainty around the issue of succession of a head of state, he said. In the event of failure by an incumbent to finish his term, then everyone would know who was next in line to finish the term. They are elected as a team and that kills off the debate around who is next in line. The omnibus Constitutional Amendment Bill that is currently in the works is expected to deepen civil liberties, individual rights, scrap the death penalty, extend the womens quota system and entrench political and electoral reforms. It is also primed to perfect the local systems of governance. The high-level team will also fast-track legislation will enhance the ease of doing business and repeal laws that are inconsistent with the Constitution or previous court judges. Minister Ziyambi is deputised by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo. (Newser) Reporters often avoid two words, but that era may be ending. This after the Associated Press Stylebook, a style manual used by many US journalists, gave them the official go-ahead to use "racist" and "racism," Poynter reports. "Do not use racially charged or similar terms as euphemisms for racist or racism when the latter terms are truly applicable," reads the updated guide released Friday, per the Hill. "If racist is not the appropriate term, give careful thought to how best to describe the situation. Alternatives include racially divisive, racially sensitive, or in some cases, simply racial." In other words, the guide is urging reporters to think deeply about race and racism and use the right word. story continues below The NAACP called the step "a move in the right direction," telling NBC News that "in the face of a rising tide of white supremacy, embraced by some of our nation's leading political and corporate figures, it's important more than ever before to call out both racism and racists." Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, also called the change "progress" but criticized "years of soft-pedaling around the word 'racist' in news reporting." And she's not alone: At the Huffington Post, Julia Craven last year rounded up examples of alternate media terms including "disparaging," "racially charged," "derogatory," "distasteful," and even "off-the-cuff." But not all: She points to a Variety report that CNN's Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon called President Trump "racist" over his remark about "sh--hole countries." (Read more racism stories.) (Newser) Shonda Rhimes had to fight ABC over this week's Grey's Anatomyan episode inspired by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, BuzzFeed reports. Seems standards and practices was worried about the story's focus on how rape kits are used in hospitals. "They give these standard notes: 'Don't be too gory,' 'Dont be too explicit in your language,' 'No side boob.' But the ones we got on this script included, 'Please dont show any fluid on the Q-tips' and 'Please dont show any body fluids under the blue lights," showrunner Krista Vernoff tells the Hollywood Reporter. But show creator Rhimes took a stand on this one, saying, "Respectfully, I decline these notes." story continues below Rhimes argued that networks "are willing to show actual violence but that what we were doing here was the medical process that happens in the wake of violence and they were trying to tell us we couldnt show it," says Vernoff, who commended ABC for ultimately siding with Rhimes. The show includes a moving scene in which female staffers line the hospital halls for a trauma patient headed into surgery who said all men remind her of her rapist. The show's female employees, including the standards and practices executive, played the roles. The episode even comes with a trigger warning: "I had yet to watch this episode without someone sobbing and felt strongly that we should give viewers the heads up to watch with a friend," Vernoff tells E! Online. (Read more rape stories.) (Newser) Cities around the world were marking Earth Hour on Saturday by turning off lights at 8:30pm local time in a call for global action on climate change, the AP reports. Earth Hour, spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund, calls for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gases and lead to global warming. Beginning in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has spread to more than 180 countries, with tens of millions of people joining in. In Hong Kong, major buildings along Victoria Harbour turned off their non-essential lights and the city's popular tourist attraction known as the Symphony of Lights was canceled. Over 3,000 corporations in Hong Kong signed up for Earth Hour 2019, according to the WWF Hong Kong website. Among others: story continues below Iconic skyscrapers including the Bank of China Tower and the HSBC Building in Central, the city's major business district, switched off their lights in response to the global movement. The City of Lights also turned off the Eiffel Tower's nightly twinkle to mark Earth Hour. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo dimmed the lights Saturday on the city's most famous monument for an hour. In Italy, public buildings and historical monuments in 400 cities participated in Earth Hour. Lights were also switched off at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. In Taipei, Taiwan's capital, the island's tallest building, Taipei 101, joined surrounding buildings in shutting off the lights as part of the Earth Hour event. In coal-reliant Poland, top tourist sites also turned off their lights when local clocks hit 8:30pm. In the country's capital city, Warsaw, the spired landmark Palace of Culture and Science turned off its night illumination, along with some churches and Old Town walls. The Empire State Building in New York plans to participate in Earth Hour when local clocks say it's time. (Read more Earth Hour stories.) (Newser) Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Trump moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming US resources at the southern border. The State Department notified Congress that it would look to suspend 2017 and 2018 payments to the trio of nations, which have been home to some of the migrant caravans that have marched through Mexico to the US border, reports the AP. The Washington Post explains the move, which it calls "one of Trump's harshest yet" in relation to the border, would impact monies that had been earmarked for the Central American countries but not spend: millions left over from the 2017 fiscal year and almost $500 million from fiscal year 2018. story continues below NBC News quotes a State Department rep as saying "we will be engaging Congress as part of this process," which suggests Congress may need to approve any end to the funding. Trump also has returned to a previous threat he never carried outclosing the border with Mexico. He brought up that possibility on Friday and revisited it in tweets Saturday, blaming Democrats and Mexico for problems at the border and beyond. Among his tweets: "Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border!" The US and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the US Chamber of Commerce. (Read more President Trump stories.) (Newser) University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson was found dead Friday, and police say a mistake over her Uber ride may have led to her death. "We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride," said Columbia Police Chief William Holbrook. The 21-year-old was seen on surveillance footage getting into a black Chevrolet Impala. ABC News reports police on Saturday arrested Nathaniel Rowland, 24, who has been hit with murder and kidnapping charges. Holbrook says Josephson's blood was found on the passenger seat and in the trunk of Rowland's Impala, along with bleach, germicidal wipes, and window cleaner. He added that investigators think child-safety locks were engaged that would have made it impossible to open the rear doors from the inside, reports NBC News. story continues below Josephson, a senior majoring in political science, was last seen around 2am Friday in Columbia's Five Points neighborhood. The New York Times reports her roommates reported her missing Friday afternoon after being unable to reach her. About 2 hours later, turkey hunters some 65 miles away in rural Clarendon County came across her body. Police believe Rowland recently lived in the area. The State reports Josephsons father, Seymour Josephson, confirmed her death on Facebook Saturday, writing in part, "I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life. ... I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this." A GoFundMe campaign to cover her funeral costs has raised more than $25,000. (Read more murder stories.) (Newser) In what the BBC reports is North Korea's first official comment on the subject, the country said Sunday it wants an investigation into a raid on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a "grave terrorist attack" and an act of extortion that violates international law. The North's official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that an illegal intrusion into a diplomatic mission is a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, "and this kind of act should never be tolerated." He claimed an armed group tortured the staff and suggested they stole communications gear. story continues below The 10 people who allegedly raided the embassy in Madrid belong to a mysterious dissident organization named Cheollima Civil Defense that styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty, reports the AP. The leader of the alleged intruders appears to be a Yale-educated human rights activist who was once jailed in China while trying to rescue North Korean defectors living in hiding, according to activists and defectors. Details have begun trickling out about the raid after a Spanish judge lifted a secrecy order last week and said an investigation of what happened on Feb. 22 uncovered evidence that "a criminal organization" shackled and gagged embassy staff before escaping with computers, hard drives, and documents. (Read more North Korea stories.) Such goals are part of the Trade for Sustainable Development project, which promotes green production and green finance (finance that facilitates sustainable and environmentally friendly practices). The project kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City in March. The city is the second region in Vietnam to launch the project after Hanoi. The two-year project is run by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the International Trade Centre. Ho Chi Minh Citys recently launched project to promote sustainable development aims to help firms reach green standards. (Source: VNA) Bui Thi Thanh An, deputy head of the agency, said the project assisted businesses and co-operative groups in improving production value and joining international value chains through sustainable business strategies, green standards, and green finance. The project provides technologies and solutions, and helps businesses identify and access green financial sources, and penetrate international markets. Many businesses, especially small to medium sized, and agricultural co-operatives still lack the knowledge and skills for sustainable development, according to experts. The project offers training and international upskilling courses (created by renowned international universities), and helps firms improve their skills so they can operate their businesses in a sustainable manner. Green development is considered a key to sustainable development. Even though the use of green technologies has high initial costs, businesses that use such technology will attract more foreign investors and customers, according to a representative of ITCs Department of Business and Organisation. Dang Duc Tuan, a marketing analyst at ITC, said that sustainability standards helped businesses become more competitive as more customers demand products that meet such standards. However, costly investments are needed to set up new, more environmentally friendly production lines. Helping businesses gain access to green finance sources is crucial, experts said./. (Newser) Accused of inappropriate conduct at a 2014 campaign event, Joe Biden said Sunday he didn't believe that he acted inappropriately. But "if it is suggested I did so," he said in a statement, "I will listen respectfully." Lucy Flores was a Democrat running for lieutenant governor of Nevada, Fox News reports, when she attended a rally with Biden. While waiting to go onstage, she writes, she "felt two hands on my shoulders." Biden then sniffed her hair and gave her "a big slow kiss on the back of my head." She was left embarrassed, shocked, and confused, she said. Flores said she told a few members of her staff. Then, she writes, "I did what most women do, and moved on with my life and my work." story continues below Biden, who has not said he's running for president but hinted that an announcement is near, leads the pack in a new poll, per CNN. One of his Democratic rivals, Amy Klobuchar, said Sunday that she has no reason not to believe Flores' accusation, the Hill reports. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life," Biden's statement said, "I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort." Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said Sunday, per Real Clear Politics, "I think Joe Biden has a big problem here because he calls it affection and handshakes, his party calls it completely inappropriate." (Biden's comments about the treatment of Anita Hill didn't help him.) (Newser) Barbara Bush's depression ran so deep, she considered driving into a tree or an oncoming car. That's when she would pull over. "I felt terrible," she told Susan Page for The Matriarch, a new biography coming out Tuesday. "...I mean, I felt really depressed. I really wasnt brave enough to do that, but thats why I pulled over." Bush's depression is only one aspect Paige highlights in an effort to deepen our view of the former first lady, who died at 92 last spring, People reports. "Barbara Bush was the public figure Americans felt they knew most but really understood least," writes Paige. The "down-to-earth grandmother who sported a triple strand of faux pearls and joked about her wrinkles" was part of it, she adds, but "decidedly incomplete." story continues below The Matriarch also touches on Barbara's intense dislike for President Trump and allegations that her husband, President Bush, had an affair with an aide. According to a Page source, the aide "had begun what was at least a flirtatious relationship" with Bush that included "whispered conversations" and "giggly" phone chats. But Barbara's depression appears the deeper struggle. It happened in the late '70s after she and Bush returned from his China ambassadorship so he could lead the CIA. Barbara blamed the secrecy of the job, menopause, children leaving the home, as well as the women's movement, which "at that timeit isn't so true anymoresort of made women who stayed at home feel inadequate," she told NPR in 1994. Anyone considering suicide is urged to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). (Newser) Saudis who took part in Jamal Khashoggi's murder were likely trained in Americaa fact that appears to have further damaged relations between the US and Saudi Arabia, MSN reports. In the Washington Post, columnist David Ignatius reveals more about the killing itself and reports on how some Saudi Rapid Intervention Group members were trained. "The Khashoggi story is a lesson in how US-supported intelligence and special-operations capabilities can be misused by other countries," he writes. American and Saudi sources point to US training, while the CIA suggests Arkansas-based company Tier 1 Group did it under a State Department license. That training, as well as a draft project by Culpeper National Security Solutions to boost the Saudi intelligence service, is now on hold. story continues below Both companies are linked to a New York-based investment group that's connected to the Trump administration. That group, Cerberus Capital Management, wouldn't confirm Tier 1's training of the Khashoggi killers, but an insider did say "we know that this horrendous incident occurred" and "companies must emphasize rigorous ethical evaluation policies." As for the Trump link, Cerberus co-chief executive Stephen Feinberg is on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. The killing itself appears as grisly as ever: A Saudi who read a transcript of a bug in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul says Khashoggi was apparently given a sedative before a bag was put over his head, he screamed that he couldn't breathe, and a buzzing noise eruptedpossibly the electric saw used to cut him to pieces. (Read more Jamal Khashoggi stories.) (Newser) Oleg Smorodinov may not appear the elite Russian killer. But the 51-year-old with a crooked boxer's face admits to murdering a man at the behest of two mysterious Russians who paid him with a Mercedes vanand, surprisingly, he's willing to talk to the New York Times. "It was revenge," says the ethnic Russian. "Most likely revenge." Cornered by DNA evidence at the scene, he says he emptied a pistol into Ukrainian electrician Ivan Mamchur in the man's apartment building in 2016. His defense isn't too persuasive (he thought it was a "test" with blanks for bullets) and Ukrainian officials don't seem interested in digging. To them, it's another casualty in Ukraine's ongoing battle with Russia. "The main purpose ... is to destabilize the country," says Serhii Knyazev, the chief of national police. story continues below But there's more: Smorodinov gave the Times a list of six people his handlers told him to locate in Ukraine, including Smorodinov. It turns out at least three were Ukrainian soldiers involved in delivering sophisticated weapons to the Republic of Georgia for a five-day, losing battle against Russia in August 2008 (catch up at CNN). Vladimir Putin, who considers Ukrainians and Russians "one people," called it treachery and vowed revenge. Smorodinov is portrayed in the Times as the simple-minded, amoral killer who carried out that revenge against one of the targets. Now, his trial ongoing, he hopes Moscow will exchange him for a Ukrainian imprisoned in Russia. But no luck yet: "He doesn't understand that no one needs him," says Knyazev. "He's forgotten, written off, a used bullet." Click for the full story. (Read more Russia stories.) (Illustrative photo: VNA) According to Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Israel Le Thai Hoa, Vietnam earned USD54.51 million from exports to Israel in February alone, raising Vietnams export revenue to the Middle East market to USD104.38 million. Vietnams main exports to Israel include mobile phones and components, aquatic products, cashew nuts, footwear, garment-textile and coffee. Notably, Vietnamese rice has entered the market and holds great potential to meet demands of Asian workers and people living in Israel. Meanwhile, Vietnams imports from Israel hit USD13.32 million in February, bringing the figure in the first two months to USD26.91 million, with major products fertiliser, machines and farm produce. Israel is currently among Vietnams top partners in the Middle East in terms of economic and science-technology cooperation. In 2018, the two countries held various activities to commemorate the 25th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties. Two-way trade surpassed USD1.2 billion last year as many of Vietnams staples gained footholds in the Israeli market. A bilateral free trade agreement is under negotiation and is expected to be inked shortly, in hope of lifting two-way trade to USD3 billion./. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Vietnam also applauds the UN action for peacekeeping that Vietnam is a signatory, which highlights the importance of compliance with international law and peacekeeping in the world, Vinh said in his speech delivered at the 2019 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on March 29th. Vietnam recently coordinated with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to hold a workshop at the UN on efforts to overcome war consequences and to promote peace and sustainable development, he said, adding that this shows Vietnams responsibility for UNs peacekeeping mission. The Deputy Defence Minister emphasised the country strongly supports the UNs initiative on enhancing womens role in UN peacekeeping activities, adding that Vietnam will send more female officers to UN peacekeeping missions in Africa in the time to come. Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh speaks at the meeting (Source: VNA) Vietnam plans to work with UNDP to organise an international conference themed Women with UN peacekeeping operations late this year, aiming to honour the role of women in promoting peace and contributing to security of the world. Regarding the UNs policy on combating sexual abuse, Vinh said all countries need to focus on improving discipline and fighting sexual abuse. He finally reaffirmed the Vietnamese Government's determination to build sustainable peace and security around the world. Vinh called for support of countries for Vietnams candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure, adding that Vietnam hopes to further contribute to peace, security and development in the world. The 2019 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting, which gathered more than 500 delegates from 150 countries and international organisations, discussed and generated specialised capabilities necessary for contemporary peacekeeping, with a specific focus on performance, the protection of civilians and women, peace, and security. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised UN peacekeeping missions for their support for many countries around the continents, saying that the presence of ministers and deputy ministers at the conference show strong commitment of UN member states to maintaining peace in the world. During the meeting, participants voiced their support of the Secretary-Generals Action for Peacekeeping initiative and highlighted progress on relevant commitments in the Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operations. Member States also announced specific pledges of key peacekeeping capabilities requested by the UN, including specialided enabling capabilities for high-risk missions, rapidly deployable units, training and capacity-building support and related partnership initiatives./. Prof. Charles Dokubo, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme says the Amnesty Office has tr... Prof. Charles Dokubo, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme says the Amnesty Office has trained a total of 1,401 beneficiaries in various skills in the last one year. Mr Murphy Ganagana, Special Assistant to the Amnesty Coordinator on media, quoted Dokubo as saying this in a chat with newsmen on Sunday in Warri. Ganagana also said that a total of 1,165 of the trained beneficiaries had been empowered in various trade since March 2018 when he assumed office. According to him, plans have been concluded with Five Greece-owned companies to train 2,500 amnesty delegates. He added that 2,000 of amnesty delegates would be employed at the end of the training. 1, 230 beneficiaries of the programme have been offered scholarship and deployed to 11 partnering institutions in Nigeria between Jan. and March 2019. At least 54 beneficiaries will be deployed on scholarship to various offshore institutions in 2019. At the moment, 103 students are studying various courses in institutions across the globe. The 30,000 persons enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, 11,297 persons were yet to be placed in either vocational training facilities or deployed for formal education as at March 13, 2018, when we assumed office. Between March 13, 2018 and now, a total of 1,401 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme have been trained in various skills and 1,165 of the trained beneficiaries have been empowered in their various trade. The Job Placement and International Development Partners Engagement Unit (JPIDPEU) created in May 2018 has profiled 28 delegates for underwater welding jobs in oil servicing companies. Also, 100 delegates have been profiled for civil service jobs and 10 delegates for aviation crop spray pilot jobs. The Amnesty Office has also concluded profiling 25 delegates for catering services, hotel and fast food jobs and 75 for other job opportunities, he said. Ganagana said that he was motivated by support and encouragement from critical stakeholders in spite of the challenges. He attributed the success achieved to the Almighty God and President Muhammadu Buharis administration. Let me place on record that we are able to achieve all these because of the staunch and unalloyed support President Buhari gave the Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta as a whole. On his fatherly watch, we have since re-worked the programme to focus not just training but also job creation and empowerment of already trained beneficiaries, he said. The Amnesty Programme initiated by late President Musa YarAdua in 2009 was to address the age-long neglect and marginalisation of the Niger Delta region considered to be the economic nerve of the country. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says it has concluded the distribution of Post- Disaster Assistance to victims of vario... The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says it has concluded the distribution of Post- Disaster Assistance to victims of various disasters that hit some communities in Bayelsa last year. Recall that disasters that occurred in the state in 2018 included ocean surge, windstorms and flooding which destroyed property and displaced residents in some communities. The items distributed to the victims included 250 Butterfly 3-Drawer sewing machines, 200 grinding machines, 250 fishing nets and 140 hair dryer machines. Mr Victor Nwaubani, NEMAs Head of Operation in Edo, told newsmen on Sunday in Yenagoa that the distribution was carried out based on the agencys assessment of the affected communities in the eight local government areas of Bayelsa. According to Nwaubani, the distribution was completed on Saturday. Flooding is very common here and almost every community was affected last year; ocean surge affected Agge in Ekeremor and some communities in Brass local government. The windstorm occurred in Beseni in Yenagoa and Amassoma in Southern Ijaw. Also affected were Sagbama, Kolokuma/Opokuma local governments. The community leaders were part of the distributions and it was hitch free; I am very sure those items got to the rightful persons, he explained. Also speaking, Dr Zedekiah Isu, Director -General, Bayelsa Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), said that the process of distribution was transparent, and urged beneficiaries to use the items wisely. He, however, urged the federal government to build standard Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), camps, saying that some lands had been allocated but work was yet to commence. Mr Pere Kennedy, one of the beneficiaries, also commended the federal government for assisting the victims. Its awesome and I am thankful for the gesture. I got a fishing net. Thumbs up to our government, an excited Kennedy said. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has approached Interpol for the arrest of a former Director-General of the National... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has approached Interpol for the arrest of a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, and his wife, Folasade. The whereabouts of the couple remain unknown one week after they were declared wanted by the EFCC. According to the anti-corruption body, they are wanted for failing to appear in court to answer to the N13bn money laundering charges against them. The couple reportedly travelled out of the country for medical treatment in January before they were to be arraigned. Justice Chukwujeku Aneke of the Federal High Court Lagos on February 7, 2019, issued an arrest warrant against the couple following an oral application by EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo. Sequel to the court order, the commission on March 24 declared the ex-spy chief and his wife wanted in a statement by its acting EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade. Oke and his wife are wanted in connection with the $43m, 27,800 and N23.8m cash recovered by the EFCC from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, in April 2017. Orilade said the EFCC had asked Interpol to arrest the couple wherever they might be hiding. He added that the commission expected all Interpol member-countries to execute the arrest warrant issued against them. He said, We have done what we needed to do. We have notified Interpol and we expect them to issue a red notice against the couple and arrest them wherever they may be found. We dont know where they are at present. Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, also could not provide an update on the status of the EFCC request to Interpol, stating that he was out of town. A check on Interpol website, however, did not turn up any information on Oke and his wife, an indication that they had not been listed on the wanted persons section of the site. Only the profiles of a handful of Nigerians were listed out of the 6,855 wanted persons. They include Odife Ikemefuna, 55, wanted for importing banned drugs and psychotropic substances from India and Iyinoluwa Victor, 55, wanted for drug trafficking. Under Oke, the NIA allegedly collected $289,202,382 in cash for special operations from the account of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services at the Central Bank of Nigeria in February 2015. The agency had claimed that the funds were meant for covert intelligence operations, but the Federal Government insisted it was a case of looting. The FG subsequently set up a three-man panel headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. The panel indicted Oke and recommended his dismissal from service. Criminal charges were subsequently filed against him and his wife in February this year over the cash found at the Ikoyi apartment. High flying Liverpool and Tottenham will be locking horns at Anfield later today in one of the Premier League fixtures. Liverpool ar... High flying Liverpool and Tottenham will be locking horns at Anfield later today in one of the Premier League fixtures. Liverpool are second on the log while Spur are third with a 15-point gap between them. Here are the Opta facts ahead of the clash: * Liverpool have lost just one of their last 24 home Premier League games against Spurs (W15 D8 L1), a 0-2 defeat in May 2011 under Kenny Dalglish. * Spurs have won just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Liverpool (W1 D4 L7), winning 4-1 at Wembley in October 2017. * Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 36 home Premier League matches. If they avoid defeat here, it will be the joint-second longest unbeaten home run in the competitions history (Chelsea 86 2004-2008, Man City 37 2010-2012). * Spurs are winless in their last four Premier League games (D1 L3). They last went five without a win in the same campaign back in February-March 2012 under Harry Redknapp. * Tottenhams Harry Kane has been involved in four goals in four Premier League appearances against Liverpool at Anfield (3 goals, 1 assist). * Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has never won against Jurgen Klopp at Anfield in four meetings in all competitions (W0 D2 L2). His only victory away against Liverpool was as Southampton manager in September 2013 when the Reds were managed by Brendan Rodgers. * No player has scored more Premier League goals in 2019 than Liverpools Sadio Mane (9, level with Sergio Aguero), with the Senegalese stars nine goals coming in his last nine games. * After a run that saw him score 11 goals in 12 games in all competitions between December and February, Son Heung-min has failed to score in his last five appearances for Spurs. The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), has neutralised a Boko Haram commander, Malloum Moussa and 15 of his foot soldiers during a ... The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), has neutralised a Boko Haram commander, Malloum Moussa and 15 of his foot soldiers during a clearance operation on Lake Chad Island. According to a statement by Col. Timothy Antigha, the spokesman of the task force on Sunday, troops destroyed five gun trucks belonging to the terrorists in the operation. He said the troops also arrested a woman whose relationship with the terrorists is yet to be determined. Antigha said intelligence revealed that Moussa who had one eye was a high ranking Boko Haram commander who has jurisdiction in the entire Southern island, including Daban Masara, Kirta Wulgo and Koleram. In the January-March period, Vietnams exports were estimated at US$58.51 billion, up 4.7% against the same period of last year, while imports rose 8.9% to US$57,98 billion. Domestic enterprises exported goods worth US$17.05 billion, while the revenues gained by foreign-invested companies reached US$41.46 billion, making up more than two thirds of the countrys total exports. The first three months of 2019 saw nine exports with respective value exceeding US$1 billion, namely mobile phones, garments, computers and electronic devices, footwear, machinery, timber, transport vehicles, seafood and steel. The revenues of these nine exports accounted for more than 70% of Vietnams total exports during the period. Vietnams largest imports in the first quarter were computers, machinery, fabrics, mobile phones and steel. Some of the other main imports included plastics, metals, materials for the garment and footwear industries, chemicals and petroleum products. >>> Vietnamese, Moroccan agencies and localities sign cooperation documents >>> Morocco Vietnams priority partner in North Africa: top legislator >>> NA Chairwoman, Moroccan House Speaker hold talks During the meeting, the top legislator informed her host about the development of cooperative ties between Vietnam and Morocco, saying the bilateral political ties are developing fruitfully. She highlighted the close relations between the two countries during the past struggles for national liberation as well as their mutual support at international forums at present. Ngan expressed her wish that Marrakech will set up friendship and twining relationship with some Vietnamese localities sharing similarities like the ancient capital city of Hue. The leader also urged the Moroccan Ambassador to Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Morocco to step up the connectivity. She lauded Marrakechs urban architecture management and congratulated the city on its hosting big international events. For his part, Karim Kassi Lahlou said Ngans visit offers a chance to enhance the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and Morocco. Through the visit, Marrakechs authorities have learned about opportunities and potential to intensify cooperation with Vietnam, he added. According to the Governor, Marrakech is taking the lead in Morocco in terms of foreign affairs. The thousands-year-old city has been seen as Moroccos capital of tourism, welcoming 2.6 million international tourist arrivals last year or one third of the total number of foreign holiday-makers to the country. Besides, Marrakech is also the city of knowledge and technology with many major universities, and an economic centre that has attracted many big investors, he said, noting his hope that Marrakech will have opportunities to cooperate with Vietnam and Vietnamese firms in the areas of its potential. Karim Kassi Lahlou said he anticipates exploring Vietnams Hue city and promoting the establishment of the twining relationship between Marrakech and the city. >>> Da Nang responds to Earth Hour 2019 >>> Earth Hour campaign starts in Ho Chi Minh City The event, which also includes the launch of a donation drive to raise funds for victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, is held by the Youth Union of the Central Business Bloc, in coordination with Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). At the programme, nearly 500 officials, Youth Union members and youngsters under the Central Business Bloc printed their fingerprints, committing to "Joining hands for a green Vietnam", while raising funds worth VND40 million to support victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. The participants also joined local residents in collecting electronic garbage and parading the walking streets around Hoan Kiem Lake to raise public awareness on protecting the environment in response to the Earth Hour campaign. The highlight of the campaign is the light turning off event which will last for one hour on Saturday of the last week of March - from 20:30 to 21:30 tonight. For the eighth time, the event has been deployed by the Youth Union of the Central Business Bloc and EVN in response to the Earth Hour and has received a positive response from officials, Youth Union members and youngsters under multiple corporations, companies and banks under the bloc. The campaign is also a part of the activities to respond to the Youth Month 2019 and celebrate the 88th founding anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (March 26, 1931-2019). The Vietnamese city ranks number 15 on the US newspapers list, which praises it as a destination for food lovers and beachgoers. The New York Times says Da Nang is probably best known for being a gateway to the nearby UNESCO heritage town of Hoi An, but it has begun to develop its own reputation as the Miami of Vietnam in the last few years. A typical day might start with a morning swim on the sandy, crescent-shaped Non Nuoc Beach and perhaps a quick stop at the Han Market, suggests the paper. It adds, then, an afternoon visit to the Marble Mountains, where travellers can explore the temples and pagodas that look out over My Khe Beach and, later, dinner back in the city, perhaps at Nen, a new restaurant from the much-followed food blogger Summer Le. Travellers are advised to finish the day with a visit to the highly Instagrammable Dragon Bridge, which is illuminated every night. In its article, the new York Times urges tourists not to leave without sampling a bowl of mi quang, a famous local noodle soup made with a turmeric-infused broth, chicken, pork, local seafood and shredded cabbage, which is available for roughly US$1 at any number of street-food stalls. Among the best places to go in 2019, Puerto Rico, which is rebounding after a devastating hurricane, tops the New York Times list, followed by Hampi, an archaeological site in India, and Santa Barbara, a hip food and wine haven. Drew Angerer/Getty Images(RICHMOND, Va.) -- Hounded by claims that he sexually assaulted two women, embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax struck back on Sunday by saying the results of two polygraph tests he took bolster his previous statements denying the allegations. Fairfax said the lie-detector tests were administered by Jeremiah Hanafin, the former FBI agent who conducted a polygraph on Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault and testified at his Senate confirmation hearing. All serious allegations deserve to be taken seriously, but not all allegations are true. The public has a right to know if serious allegations made against the Lt. Governor are true, but the public also has a right to know if they are false, Fairfax's attorney, Barry J. Pollack, said in a statement Sunday. Fairfax has not released the full test results. Polygraph tests are generally not admissible in court. A married father of two young children, Fairfax has been accused by two women -- California political science professor Vanessa Tyson, and Meredith Watson, Fairfax's former college classmate -- of sexual assault. Fairfax released a statement about the results of his polygraph exams in an apparent attempt to pre-empt Tyson's first TV interviews, scheduled to be broadcast on Monday and Tuesday. "In my ideal world, I'd want him to resign," Tyson, 42, an associate professor of political science at Scripps College in Claremont, California, said of Fairfax in an excerpt of the interview released by CBS News. Tyson claims Fairfax assaulted her in 2004 when they were both working at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Watson has accused Fairfax of raping her in 2000 when they were both students at Duke University. Both Tyson and Watson did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News on Sunday. Tyson, according to the CBS interview, wants to testify before the Virginia Assembly about her allegations against Fairfax. "I would want Meredith, myself and Mr. Fairfax to be able to speak. To be heard," Tyson says in the interview. "And particularly for survivors, I think this is incredibly important." The allegations were first made when Fairfax, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2017, seemed destined to succeed Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. A fellow Democrat, Northam came under scrutiny in February when photos on his 1984 yearbook page from Eastern Virginia Medical School emerged showing two men, one in a full Ku Klux Klan robe and hood, and another in blackface. About 24 hours after apologizing for the photo, Northam denied he was one of the men in the picture, but said during a news conference that he had once worn blackface when he imitated Michael Jackson during a dance competition, in which he did Jackson's famous moonwalk. Northam has rejected calls for his resignation, as has Fairfax. Virginia's Attorney General Mark Herring, who is third in line for the governorship, was also forced to apologize for attending a 1980 party dressed as rapper Kurtis Blow and wearing brown makeup on his face. "Knowing that he was telling the truth, Lt. Governor Fairfax voluntarily submitted to a polygraph examination by a leading polygraph expert, Jeremiah Hanafin," read a statement released Sunday by Fairfax's office. During the exams, Fairfax was asked separately about the allegations leveled against him by Tyson and Watson, according to the statement from his office. Did you engage in any non-consensual sexual activity with Vanessa Tyson? Fairfax was asked during the first polygraph. He answered no, according to the statement from his office. In the second polygraph, he was asked, "Did you engage in any non-consensual sexual activity with Meredith Watson? Again, Fairfax answered no. Both polygraph examinations, according to the statement, showed that Fairfax was "truthful" in his answers. "Lt. Governor Fairfax hired Mr. Pollack to help ensure that the facts surrounding the allegations that have been made by Dr. Tyson and Ms. Watson are determined in a fair, impartial and unbiased manner," according to the statement from Fairfax's office. Fairfax has repeatedly said the sexual assault allegations made against him are false, and part of an attempt to smear his name. Fairfax, a descendent of a slave, has compared himself to victims of terror lynchings. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Vietnamese shares dropped in the final minutes as investors looked to gain profits from the markets recent upwards momentum. The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange inched down 0.23 per cent to close at 980.76 points. The southern market index gained as much as 0.53 per cent during the day after having risen total 1.35 per cent in the previous two trading days. The VN-Index finished this week down 0.80 per cent from the previous week. Nearly 174 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VN3.87 trillion (US$166 million). The market trading was balanced with 151 gaining stocks, 146 declining stocks and 59 unchanged. VHM MSN CTG HPG The benchmark VN-Index ended in negative territory as blue chips such as residential real estate firm Vinhomes (), consumer firm Masan (), Vietinbank () and steel producer Hoa Phat () were hit by profit-taking pressure. VHM MSN CTG HPG fell 1.7 per cent,lost 0.8 per cent,edged down 0.9 per cent, anddropped 0.8 per cent. VHM CTG MSN HPG andhad rallied total 4.6 per cent, 2.3 per cent, 3.4 per cent and 3.3 per cent in the previous three trading days, respectively. The large-cap VN30-Index edged down 0.17 per cent to 900.13 points at the end of the day with half of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the basket declining. On a sector basis, banks and brokerage firms shares narrowed their growth. The two industry indices gained only 0.5 per cent each at the end of the day. The markets performance in the last few days showed capital was flowing to some specific groups of stocks, leading the market divergence, and investors were cautious and uncertain about the markets short-term prospects, Thanh Cong Securities JSC (TCSC) said in its daily report. The market is now in the stage that investors find themselves short of supportive news and they are clearly unsure about the short-term, TCSC said, adding the market sentiment had turned negative in the last few trading days. From BIDV Securities Corps point of view, Vietnamese stocks are in the cumulative state at the threshold of 980 points. International and regional economic developments would continue weighing on domestic market sentiment, especially the US-China trade talks, the company said. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index struggled to stay positive, ending up 0.09 per cent at 107.44 points. The northern market index dropped 0.21 per cent on Thursday. It has lost total 0.60 per cent this week. More than 43 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VN635.7 billion. Parliament Speaker Says Iraq Will Need To Buy Iranian Electricity For Three Years 03/31/19 Source: RFE/RL The speaker of Iraq's parliament wants the United States to extend a waiver that allows it to buy electricity from Iran for at least three years, saying it will take that long before the oil-rich country can manage on its own. "Hopefully, this waiver will be extended until Iraq can stand on its feet economically," speaker Muhammad al-Halbusi said on March 29 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. Thanks to everyone for watching our conversation with Speaker al-Halbousi. Watch it again here: https://t.co/ouIoDcodNd #HalbousiUSIP U.S. Institute of Peace (@USIP) March 29, 2019 Halbusi, who met with Vice President Mike Pence during his U.S. visit, is a member of the Sunni minority whose political bloc has good relations with Shi'ite-led Iran. He said that Iraq imports about 30 percent of its electrical power despite its own energy reserves. "After these three years, maybe we can see Iraq as economically independent, and we won't need to import power or electricity from a foreign country. Maybe we can address this issue after three years," he said. Speaking later to reporters, Halbusi warned Washington of the negative effect of "any hasty, uncalculated step to adopt policies and procedures against countries in this region." The United States on March 19 extended a waiver to allow Iraq to continue to buy electricity from Iran, despite sanctions imposed by Washington targeting Tehran's energy sector. The State Department issued the second three-month exemption to help prevent a destabilization of Iraq, which has relied on Iranian gas and electricity supplies to help it deal with shortages that have led to antigovernment protests in some areas. Iraq, which receives financial and military support from Washington, has attempted to balance its relations with the United States and Iran, which carries significant influence with members of Iraq's Shi'ite population. "While this waiver is intended to help Iraq mitigate energy shortages, we continue to discuss our Iran-related sanctions with our partners in Iraq," a State Department official said at the time. The United States has reimposed sanctions against Iran after withdrawing from a landmark 2015 agreement under which Tehran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also provided six-month waivers to Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, India, and China as long as they keep working to reduce their imports. With reporting by AFP and CNBC Under the dial of... Cyrus Under the dial of... Cyrus "It was time for a renewal." Driven by this maxim, Walter Ribaga reveals the complex soul of this visionary brand, named after the famous... "It was time for a renewal." Driven by... Momeni Foundation is accepting applications for the year 2019 Academic Scholarships 03/31/19 Press Release by Momeni Foundation Momeni Foundation is now accepting scholarship applications for Year 2019. This year over $15,000.00 dollars will be awarded to students of Iranian descent. Momeni Foundation is dedicated to providing scholarships to graduating high school students and full time college students of Iranian descent anywhere in the world. www.momenifoundation.org "Digaraan kaashtand o maa khordeem Maa bekaareem o digaraan bokhorand" Scholastic Achievement Scholarship: At least three (3 ea.) scholarships for an amount of $1,000.00 dollars each will be awarded to students that are graduating from high school and plan to attend college in Fall of 2019. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents of United States. Financial Assistance Scholarship: At least ten (10 ea.) scholarships for an amount of $1,000.00 US dollars will be awarded. The Financial Assistance Scholarship is available to all college students of Iranian descent regardless of citizenship or country of residency. Students must attend college as a full time student in Fall of 2019. Deadline for receiving the application material is June 30th, 2019. Dedicated Financial Assistance Scholarship for Florida Students: One scholarship for an amount of $1,000.00 dollars will be awarded to a student applying from the State of Florida and preferably from Tampa Bay Area. Application deadline for this SPECIAL scholarship is May 15, 2019. The award will be presented at the Graduation Ceremony of Persian American Society of Tampa Bay. Please visit our web site at: www.momenifoundation.org for the application. Please mail your complete application package to: Momeni Foundation P.O. Box 322 Clearwater, FL 33757 Contact information: Web site: www.momenifoundation.org Email: momenifoundation@aol.com Phone: 727-433-2133 Real estate developing company, Manasseh Resources Limited has indicated it preparedness to drag the Chief of Berekuso, Odeefuor Nana Oteng Korankye II for defying court orders and granting various parcels of land at Abokobi to members of the unsuspecting public. It has also requested Odeefuor Nana Oteng Korankye II and the Daily Guide to retract a story with headline Soldiers fingered in illegal demolition and offer unqualified apology to the company or face court action for defamation. The Chief of Berekuso had earlier used the news media including Daily Guide to accuse Manasseh Resources Limited of demolishing properties and creating tension, panic and fear of public safety in Abokobi and its environs with the aid of alleged security personnel. But in an official statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, it noted that the company has not demolished any property at all, contrary to the false publication in the media. Unfortunately, the publication has been cited as the source for countless radio and television programmes which sought to create the impression that our company is engaged in forcible and illegal demolition of properties and structures in Abokobi with the help of military personnel. First and foremost, the said publication is wholly inaccurate and a subterfuge by the proponents thereof to deceive the unsuspecting public and subject our company to public scorn and hatred, it said. Below is a copy of the full statement SOLDIERS FINGERED IN ILLEGAL DEMOLITION The attention of management of Messrs Manasseh Resources Limited has been drawn to a news item with the above-mentioned caption published at the instance of Odeefoo Nana Oteng Korankye II, the Chief of Berekuso, at page 6 of Wednesday, March 27, 2019 edition of the Daily Guide Newspaper. Unfortunately, the publication has been cited as the source for countless radio and television programmes which sought to create the impression that our company is engaged in forcible and illegal demolition of properties and structures in Abokobi with the help of military personnel. First and foremost, the said publication is wholly inaccurate and a subterfuge by the proponents thereof to deceive the unsuspecting public and subject our company to public scorn and hatred. It is instructive to the note that our company acquired its Land at Abokobi from the Nuumo Nmashie Family, the Allodial title owners of the Land. Pursuant to the acquisition of the Land, our company has been issued with Land Title Certificate by the Lands Commission, the lawful authority established by law to register all interests in land in Ghana. It is further instructive to note that the Land was registered in favour of our company without any objection from any third party, including the Berekusohene, inspite of notice to the entire public. Regarding the title of Nuumo Nmashie Family to the Land, same has been affirmed by a long line of judicial decisions and statutory instruments/notices of title, including but not limited to the following: i. A judgment dated the 15th day of December, 1982 in a suit involving Berekusohene (predecessor of Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II) and Nuumo Nmashie Family(Civil Appeal No. 49/80) wherein the Court of Appeal, adjudged the NuumoNmashie Family of Teshie, as owners of Adjancote Hills and the contiguous villages including Abokobi Village/Lands; ii. A publication of the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 49/80 at the instance of the Lands Commission which appeared in the Daily Graphic News Papers on the 20th day of April 1973, the Ghanaian Times Newspaper on 11th September 1987 (page 5) and in the Weekly Spectator on the 14th day of November, 1992; iii. A judgment of the Court of Appeal dated the 12thday November, 2004, in Civil Appeal No. H1/190/2004) on appeal from the judgment of Wood J (as she then was) affirming ownership of the Land in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family; iv. A judgment given by the Supreme Court, on the 21st day of June, 2006, wherein large tracts of Abokobi land was declared in favour of the Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie; v. An order of mandamusby the High Court dated 19th July, 2001 by Justice V.D Ofoe compelling the Land Commission to plot all that large tract of land including Abokobis Land in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie and all their grantees, Lessees, Donees, and Assignors; vi. A consent judgment of the Court of Appeal dated the 29th day of November, 2004, which ordered the Lands Commission to plot Abokobi, Adjankote, Brekuso, Kponkposesemi, Danfa, Akporman, Abladjei, Kojokrom, Dedeiman and Teiman Villages in favour of the Nuumo Nmashie Family; vii. A Supreme Court Judgment dated the 21st of June, 2006 which emanated from Civil Appeal No. 49/80 the Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie were declared as owners through conquest, and Purchase and Settlement to John Nii Nmashie Adjetey on behalf of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie; viii. Pursuant to the aforementioned suits, the Lands Commission published at page 24 in the Daily Graphic Newspaper, dated Tuesday April 30th, 2002, the Judgment in favour of Nuumo Nmashie Family of Teshie. ix. By a ruling dated the 7th day of July, 2017, His Lordship, Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu granted an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Berekusohene, Nana Oteng Korankye II, his agents, privies, assigns, servants, workmen or otherwise howsoever from dealing with the Abokobi, Adjankote, Brekuso, Kponkposesemi, Danfa, Akporman, Abladjei, Kojokrom, Dedeiman and Teiman lands. It is instructive to note that these judgments and rulings are conclusive that Berekuso Stool/Family has no title to Abokobi Lands. In fact, the proponent of the publication, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, the present occupant or head of Berekuso Stool/Family has expressly been injuncted by the court from dealing with Abokobi Lands. (Please see a copy of the order annexed to this Rejoinder). Unfortunately, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, continues to defy the dignity of the court by granting various parcels of land at Abokobi to members of the unsuspecting public. A case in point is a recent grant of 3.55 Acres to one KobinaWoode. It is our firm belief that it is these illicit acts of Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, which have created the unnecessary tension, panic and fear of public safety in Abokobi, compelling our company to seek the protection of Ghana Police Service to protect the life of our workmen and property. However, our company has not demolished any property at all contrary to the false publication in the media. Having been injuncted by the High Court from dealing with Abokobi Lands, Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II is now desperately seeking refuge under a purported Supreme Court judgment to impugn the title of Nuumo Nmashie Family when he was not a party to the said Supreme Court proceedings. In fact the subject matter, issues and the reliefs sought in that Supreme Court proceedings had nothing to do with Abokobi Lands. Our understanding of the issue which went before the Supreme Court was whether the procedure adopted by Nuumo Nmashie Family was proper in law, to entitle them to recover possession of the Land known as Airport Hills from Finali Ventures in contradistinction to issue of ownership or title to the said Land. It is trite learning in law that title to land is not synonymous with right of possession of the land. It is in this perspective that the judgment by the Supreme Court ought to be looked at and not to construe same to mean defect in title of Nuumo Nmashie Family or declaration of title in favour of Berekusohene in respect of Abokobi Lands. It is regrettable to note that the publication and pursuant radio and television programmes, so far, have been entirely one sided and no attempt whatsoever was made by the media houses to get our version of the story. Responsible journalism dictates that not only an objective story be presented to the public but at the very least, both sides must be given a fair opportunity to present their story. We expect that the media will accord this publication the same prominence that was given to the publication for the discerning public to form their own independent judgment of the matter. Further, we demand Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II and the Daily Guide to retract the story under reference and issue unqualified apology to the management of our company and the general public for carrying out such untruth story failing which our lawyers are on a standby to commence an action in court for defamation. With respect to Odeefo Nana Oteng Korankye II, his henchmen and acolytes, we are assured by our grantors that their solicitors are taking the necessary steps to bring the conduct of the chief to the attention of the court for him to be punished for contempt of court. BY MANAGEMENT OF MESSRS MANASSEH RESOURCES LIMITED Contact: Eddie Quaye 0244 261208 Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Government has announced plans to extract the large iron and steel deposits and refine them in the country to provide raw materials for automobile manufacturing companies in Ghana. Ghana has signed agreements with a number of automobile companies to establish showrooms in the country including car manufacturing giants Volkswagen, Sinotruck, Nissan, Renault and Suzuki. Therefore, on Thursday, March 28, 2019, Government presented the Iron and Steel Development Authority Bill to Parliament towards the establishment of Ghana Iron and Steel Development Authority for extraction of iron and steel resources. Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said this when he briefed the media at the closing ceremony of a two-week mineral resources assessment training programme for geological surveyors from eight African countries, in Accra, on Friday. He said on the passage of the Bill into law by Parliament, the country would have the Ghana Iron and Steel Development Corporation and provide the needed impetus to attract businesses to invest in the extraction of iron and steel. The Deputy Minister said iron, steel and aluminium were the future metals of the world and therefore the nation should not just end up exporting them like other commodities but add value to them so the nation could earn the required revenue to bolster economic growth. We must be ready to provide the automobile companies raw materials to manufacture vehicles to complement each other, he added. The Deputy Minister re-affirmed Governments resolve to diversify the countrys mineral resource-base from traditional minerals like gold, bauxite, manganese and diamond and rather pay attention to largely un-exploited mineral commodities to fast-track national development. Mr Owusu-Bio said through the support of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), Ghana would soon get a bauxite refinery to refine raw bauxite ore that would enable the nation to pay off the Sinohydro Barter Arrangement with the Chinese firm. He said government would finance the operations of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) to work efficiently and that it was refurbishing the GGSAs seismological equipment to function efficiently. The Ministry had received a request from the GGSA for procurement of new equipment and had forwarded the request to the Finance Ministry for consideration. Mr said the Government was funding the GGSA to undertake a lot of seismic survey on the oil deposits at Akpafu in the Volta Region. Dr Daniel Boamah, the Acting Executive Director of the GGSA, commenting on the frequent earth tremors experienced in parts of the Greater Accra Region recently, he said the Authority would soon receive solar panel at its seismological stations to monitor seismic activities to advice government accordingly. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Most of our roads are in an abominable state. This is the result of decades of neglect by successive governments. Added to this neglect is indiscipline on the part of some drivers and the profound lack of enforcement of traffic laws by those in charge. All these factors lead to the horrific accidents and carnage we see on our roads - a sad fact that OccupyGhana, like all Ghanaians, lament. It is with this background that OccupyGhana joins the nation in commiserating with the bereaved families of the 60+ victims in the most recent crash on the Tamale - Kimtampo highway on March 22, 2019. May all the lost souls rest in peace. This is three years after 70 passengers died in a Metro Mass Transit bus crash on this same highway near Kintampo. Until date, no report has been sighted on the matter, and no action taken against the bus company for recklessness. The statistics on road fatalities in Ghana paint a rather grim picture. Over 46,000 people have been reportedly killed in road traffic accidents since 1991. According to the National Road Safety Commission, six people die daily on Ghanas roads. The WHO estimated that about 7000 people died through traffic accidents in 2016. Reportedly, Ghana loses about $230 million annually due to traffic accidents. The majority of victims are occupants of motor vehicles even though pedestrians, especially children, are not spared either. Recently, with the increasing commercialization of motorcycles as a means of transport - okadas - the number of deaths from motor-cycles are also on the increase. The first 2 months of 2019 has already seen 411 fatalities from motorcycles. Certain roads and highways seem to be especially prone to accidents - the Accra-Kumasi highway, Accra-Aflao-Togo border road, the Accra- Cape Coast -Takoradi road and the Kumasi Techiman-Kintampo-Tamale highway. In the Greater-Accra Region, the Accra-Tema motorway and the George-Bush Highway are hotspots of injuries and deaths. What makes the situation even *more dire* are the absence of an effective emergency response system to deal with these accidents, the lack of ambulances and helicopters to transport and well-equipped trauma centers to care for the injured. The approach to fixing this national ill should be multi-modal and be led by the government and its respective agencies. Thus we acknowledge the fact that the President showed leadership on this issue when he established an inter-ministerial committee last year to look into the increasing cases of road fatalities in the country. The three-man committee identified indiscipline on our roads as the major contributory factor to the increasing incidents of traffic crashes. This is evident in disrespect for speed limits, overtaking, driving under influence of alcohol and drugs, long driving periods, disregard for traffic regulations by motor riders including non-use of crash helmets among others. With all these recommendations, OccupyGhana is disappointed in the slow reaction of the Ministry of Transportation, the National Road Safety Commission and the Ghana Police Service in the implementation of laws from the Road Traffic Regulation (LI 2180). As mentioned earlier, disregard of traffic laws, especially of speed limits, is one of the major causes of deaths on our roads. We ask the respective agencies to step up their efforts to instill discipline on our roads. We also ask the government to publish the entire report of the task force. Guided by the four technical Es in road safety namely Engineering, Enforcement, Education and Emergencies, OccupyGhana wishes to make the following recommendations to improve safety and curb the increasing carnage on our roads.: 1. Enforce all the laws in the Road Traffic Regulation (LI 2180). 2. Commercial vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles must be fitted with speed limiters and tachographs with speed not exceeding 80km per hour. 3. Audits on privately owned transport businesses must be conducted to regulate their operations. 4. Commercial drivers must undergo yearly medical examinations before being permitted to drive any passenger bus. Certificates of fitness to drive a commercial vehicle must be issued by certified medical doctors from registered health facilities. 5. The Law restricting the use of motorbikes and tricycles for commercial purposes must be enforced, and tricycles should be banned from plying motorways and highways. 6. All trucks, buses and commercial vehicles must physically be tested at DVLA approved test stations. 7. The MTTD of the Ghana Police Service must arrest law enforcement personnel such us the GAF personnel, Fire, Immigration, Customs as well as other vehicles who flout the regulations by driving in the middle and the shoulders of the road without appropriate, legal sirens. 8. The revision of the laws on the use of DV and DP plates as most drivers of such unregistered vehicles are very recalcitrant traffic regulation offenders. 9. Tricycles and mopeds must not be allowed on high-speed arteries like the Accra-Tema motorway. 10. The establishment of an emergency response system and trauma centers. 11. Improvement of our roads, road lights, and signs. 12. Intensify public awareness campaigns about road safety. It has been said that the way people drive in any country correlates with the level of discipline or lack thereof in said country. The indiscipline on our roads may be a true indication of the indiscipline that plagues us. It is however not a topic for just discussion anymore. It is an issue costing lives and money and we as a nation need to stop and fix it. Yours, for God and Country OccupyGhana 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 Lottery Authority (NLA) is cautioning the public against the activities and operations of Lotto Fraudsters, Social Media Miscreants and illegal Lotto Operators and Agents. These fraudsters and social media miscreants the authority says are using radio, television, online, newspapers, social media Platforms and other communication channels such as phone calls, text messages and email to defraud unsuspecting people. A statement issued by the Public Relations Department of the NLA and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the weekend said: some of these lotto fraudsters and social media miscreants have set up Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media pages using pictures and names of the Director-General and Staff of NLA to defraud people. These fraudsters use clever tactics to convince the staking public to make Mobile Money Transfers to them in exchange for Winning Lotto Numbers. The statement said these lotto fraudsters are largely supported by some illegal lotto operators and agents and have consistently been misinforming the public of having access to NLA winning lotto numbers before draw and that patrons should not stake NLA products as they automatically know the numbers they have staked on the Machines and Point of Sale Terminals (POSTs) and the Authority will ensure that such Numbers are not drawn. It said the Authority attention is also drawn that Alpha Lotto is using POSTs to charge commission above the Commission of NLA. The Authority would like to state that, NLA has not Licensed or authorized Alpha Lotto to use its own POSTs and Platform to generate branded electronic tickets, adding, Alpha Lotto POSTs are illegal and steps are being taken by NLA to stop that with immediate effect. The statement said the NLA has not authorized nor appointed any individual or group of individuals to offer winning lotto numbers to the public, since lotto is a game of chance and impossible to foretell winning numbers. Our staff have no knowledge and control over the outcome of draws as they are conducted in a very open and transparent manner and open to the Ghanaian public for witnessing at 6:30pm daily except Sundays and public holidays. It said it was absolutely false that NLA staff and the Lotto fraudsters have access to NLA winning lotto numbers and that products of the Authority are sold by Licensed Retailers (Lotto Marketing Companies) using POSTs approved by NLA to generate branded serialized electronic tickets as a proof of transaction to be used to redeem prizes of wins after draws. According to the statement, the NLA is yet to introduce onto the market, its online lottery and that any form of online lottery currently operating is illegal and has no approval of the Authority. It said the NLA shall not be responsible for any losses incurred by unsuspecting people who are defrauded by these lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. The statement however added that the NLA in collaboration with the relevant Security Agencies are taking pragmatic steps to help curtail the activities of these lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. The NLA passionately appeal to the general public to be more vigilant and discontinue engaging the services of the lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. Below is the full statement The National Lottery Authority (NLA) wishes to caution the general public against the activities and operations of Lotto Fraudsters, Social Media Miscreants and illegal Lotto Operators and Agents. Activities and Operations of the Fraudsters and Miscreants These fraudsters and social media miscreants are using Radio, Television, Online, Newspapers, Social Media Platforms mostly Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc. and other Communication Platforms such as Phone calls, Text Messages and Email to defraud unsuspecting people. Some of these lotto fraudsters and social media miscreants have set up Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media pages using pictures and names of the Director-General and Staff of NLA to defraud people. These fraudsters use clever tactics to convince the staking public to make Mobile Money Transfers to them in exchange for Winning Lotto Numbers. The lotto fraudsters largely supported by some illegal Lotto Operators and Agents have consistently been misinforming the general public that: 1. They have access to NLA Winning Lotto Numbers before Draw. 2. Patrons should not stake NLA products because NLA will automatically know the numbers they have staked on the Machines (Point of Sale Terminals, POSTs), hence, the Authority will ensure that such Numbers are not drawn. All these information are completely false. Illegal POSTs of Alpha Lotto It has also come to the attention of the Authority that Alpha Lotto is using Machines (Point of Sales Terminals, POSTs), charging commission above the Commission of NLA. The Authority would like to state categorically that, the National Lottery Authority (NLA) has NOT Licensed and authorized Alpha Lotto to use its own Machines (Point of Sale Terminals, POSTs) and Platform to generate branded electronic tickets. Alpha Lotto Point of Sale Terminals (POSTs) are illegal and steps are being taken by NLA to cease all the Machines of Alpha Lotto with immediate effect. Caution to the Public The National Lottery Authority would like to use this opportunity to inform the general public that: 1. NLA has NOT authorized nor appointed any individual or group of individuals to offer Winning Lotto Numbers to the Public, since lotto is a game of chance and it is impossible to foretell winning numbers. 2. NLA and its Staff have no knowledge and control over the outcome of Draws. Draws are conducted in a very open and transparent manner, and open to the general public. Every Ghanaian is free and welcome to witness and partake in the Draw at 6:30pm daily except Sundays and public holidays. 3. It is absolutely false that Staff of NLA, the Lotto fraudsters and social media miscreants have access to the Winning Lotto Numbers of the Authority. 4. The social media pages created by the lotto fraudsters and social media miscreants using pictures and names of the Director-General and Staff of the Authority are completely fraudulent and intended to defraud unsuspecting and gullible Ghanaians. 5. The products of the Authority are sold by Licensed Retailers (Lotto Marketing Companies) using Point of Sale Terminals (POSTs) approved by NLA to generate branded serialized electronic tickets as a proof of transaction to be used to redeem prizes if anyone wins after the draw. 6. NLA has neither Licensed nor authorized Alpha Lotto and any Private Lotto Operator or Agent to use Machines (Point of Sale Terminals, POSTs) to generate branded electronic tickets parallel to NLA serialized electronic tickets. Steps are being taken by Management of NLA to cease all the Machines of Alpha Lotto and any other Private Lotto Operator or Agent. 7. The Authority is yet to introduce onto the market its online lottery. Hence, any form of online lottery currently operating is illegal and has no approval of the Authority. 8. There is no way Winning Lotto Numbers can be leaked before a Draw is conducted by the Authority, since no one has access, knowledge and information about the Winning Lotto Numbers before a Draw is conducted by the Authority. 9. The Authority shall not be responsible for any losses incurred by unsuspecting people who are defrauded by these lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. However, the Authority in collaboration with the relevant Security Agencies are taking pragmatic steps to help curtail the activities of the lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. Finally, the National Lottery Authority (NLA) respectfully would like to passionately appeal to the general public to be more vigilant and discontinue engaging the services of the lotto fraudsters, social media miscreants and illegal lotto operators and agents. ...Signed... *Head of Public Relations, NLA* Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Electoral Commission (EC) has disclosed that a fresh Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting will be recalled in the coming days to discuss the compilation of a new voters register. According to the electoral body, though it concedes there was "no extensive discussion" on the compilation of a new voters register, the issue was still raised at the IPAC meeting, where representatives of the various political parties were duly informed about the possibility of the EC embarking on such an enterprise ahead of the 2020 General Elections. His comment follows concerns raised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of some underhand dealings being perpetrated by the electoral body. NDC IPAC Rep Director of Elections for the largest opposition party, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, first denied publications by the EC that among issues discuss at the IPAC meeting on Wednesday, was a compilation of a new voter's register Accoding to him, though the issue of a compilation of a new voter's register was "part of the agenda", it was "never discussed at the meeting". The NDC stalwart, who was speaking in an interview with sit-in host of Okay FM's "Ade Akye Abia" programme, Akosua Agoe Aboagye, said "If the Electoral Commission behaves this way by deceiving Ghanaians, we (ndc) cannot trust them in the lead up to next year's general election. An EC that is supposed to be neutral in its activities is rather deceiving Ghanaiains....this does not bode well for the country's electoral system." Withdraw 'Deceptive' Communique Moments after his interview, the leadership of the NDC demanded the withdrawal of the "deceptive" IPAC communique as it is not in consonance with conclusions of the IPAC meeting. In a statement signed by the NDC's General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, he said the party has taken a particular notice of a portion of the EC press release which states as follows:- The Commission will compile a new voters register ahead of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections "We wish to state emphatically and without any fear of contradiction, that no decision was taken on this matter. In fact, the compilation of a new voters register was only mentioned in passing by the EC during discussion on limited registration. There certainly was no extensive deliberations on this particular matter," the statement added. Storm In a Teacup? But responding to the NDC's concerns in an interview with Peacefm News, Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Administration, Dr. Bossman Asare, explained that it was "not a deliberate ploy by the EC to spring anything on the various political parties, nonetheless, the commission will arrange a fresh IPAC meeting", so that the EC and the political parties will have an extensive discussion and deliberations on the compilations of a fresh register. "At IPAC meetings, we sometimes inform the various reps of the various political parties about some of the things without engaging in a thorough discussion with them, so this is not anything new for somebody to be worried about. However, we can arrange to have it included in our agenda at our next IPAC meeting," he added. Source: Isaac kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has indicated that reforms to Ghanas import duty regime, which will bring down the high duties prevailing in Ghanas ports, are in the offing, and will be rolled out soon. With many having petitioned the State to intervene and review the high taxes and duties on imported items, President Akufo-Addo assured that Government is already in the process of dealing with the matter. We have realised from the studies we have done that our ports are not competitive, and the import regime in our country is far too high. We are dealing with it, and, very soon, the measures that government will roll out will become known to all of you. I am not talking next year, or in 6 months time, I am talking very, very soon, he said. President Akufo-Addo made this known on Saturday, 30th March, 2019, when he addressed a townhall meeting of Ghanaians resident in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, as part of his visit to that country, President Akufo-Addo. Indeed, some trader unions, including the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA), have petitioned the state to intervene and review the high taxes and duties on imported items. Paperless reduces port charges Already, the introduction of the paperless port system has, according to the Minister for Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, reduced the cost of doing business at the ports. Appearing before parliament to answer a question posed by MP for Adaklu constituency, Hon. Kwame Agbodza, on whether or not the introduction of the paperless port has increased cost of doing business at the ports, the minister indicated that the initiative has rather decreased the cost of doing business. The results (of the Paperless Port system) showed that the cost components of doing business at the countrys ports have reduced from 7 to 3 cost components. This has, subsequently, reduced the total costs from GH1,280 to GH320, Ken Ofori-Atta said. He continued, This means that the paperless system reduced cost of doing business at the ports by GH960 representing 75 percent savings. Hence, importers are now making savings of 75 percent as a result of the implementation of the paperless system. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the 16th International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme, entered into by the erstwhile Mahama government in 2015, should be the last time Ghana resorts to such a programme for the restoration of fiscal discipline in her economy. Speaking at a town hall meeting with members of the Ghanaian community on Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Worcester, Massachusetts, President Akufo-Addo noted that the 2015 IMF programme had to be entered into because the Mahama government had lost control over the management of the economy. It was, thus, necessary to go through the programme to restore a certain amount of discipline into Ghanas public finances. Even when they left office in 2016, the issue was still at large. But, by discipline, by honest management of our publics finances, we have brought the situation back to where it should be. So, we have exited the IMF programme, the President said. He continued, What I am saying to Ghanaians, to all of us, is that, in the 62 years of our independence, this was the 16th IMF bailout programme that the nation had gone into. Let it be the last time that we would resort to an IMF programme. President Akufo-Addo assured that from now on, we are going to maintain the discipline in the management of our public finances so that we will never have to have recourse to an IMF bailout programme again. In order to ensure that his government and successive governments keep within bounds, the President told the gathering that his government has passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which, amongst others, caps the fiscal deficit at not more than 5% of the nations GDP at any given year. We have also established a Presidential Advisory Council headed by some very distinguished, eminent Ghanaian economists who will advise the President on the measures to make sure that we maintain fiscal discipline. We are going to maintain fiscal discipline because that is the basis of managing an economy intelligently and rationally, and giving confidence to investors that they can look into your economy and invest in Ghana, he added. The prevailing economic conditions in Ghana, coupled with Governments determination to maintain fiscal discipline, according to President Akufo-Addo, is the reason why major global companies have indicated their readiness to set up shop in Ghana. All of them are doing this and making plans in Ghana because, now, the fundamentals of the economy are in the right place. The Ghanaian economy is looking robust, and is being organized and managed in a disciplined manner, the President stressed. Touching on the energy sector, President Akufo-Addo noted that, except for one or two unfortunate incidents, we have been able to handle dumsor. The $2.4 billion legacy debts in the energy sector, bequeathed to his government by the Mahama administration, he explained is being cleared, adding that today, we are exporting energy to Burkina Faso, we will begin, again, to Togo. The provision of sustainable, reliable power, the President said, is key to the smooth operation of the bauxite, and iron and steel industries that are being created by his administration. On the worrying phenomenon of vigilantism, President Akufo-Addo reinforced his determination to rid the country of it, stressing that, regardless of the outcome of the meeting between the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress, legislation is on its way to ban it. We are still going ahead to pass the vigilante law. 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 Nana Akufo-Addo has said that except for one or two unfortunate incidents, "we have been able to handle dumsor", adding that the $2.4 billion legacy debts he inherited from the Mahama government is being cleared, and consequently, today, we are exporting energy to Burkina Faso, we will begin, again, to Togo. The provision of sustainable, reliable power, the President said, is key to the smooth operation of the bauxite, iron and steel industries that are being created by his administration. Speaking at a town hall meeting with members of the Ghanaian community on Saturday, 30 March 2019 in Worcester, Massachusetts, President Akufo-Addo said the 16th International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme, entered into by the Mahama government in 2015, should be the last time Ghana resorts to such a programme for the restoration of fiscal discipline in her economy. He noted that the 2015 IMF programme had to be entered into because the Mahama government had lost control over the management of the economy. It was, thus, necessary to go through the programme to restore a certain amount of discipline into Ghanas public finances. Even when they left office in 2016, the issue was still at large. But, by discipline, by honest management of our publics finances, we have brought the situation back to where it should be. So, we have exited the IMF programme, the President said. He continued, What I am saying to Ghanaians, to all of us, is that, in the 62 years of our independence, this was the 16th IMF bailout programme that the nation had gone into. Let it be the last time that we would resort to an IMF programme. President Akufo-Addo assured that: From now on, we are going to maintain the discipline in the management of our public finances, so that we will never have to have recourse to an IMF bailout programme again. In order to ensure that his government and successive governments keep within bounds, the President told the gathering that his government has passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which, amongst others, caps the fiscal deficit at not more than 5% of the nations GDP at any given year. We have also established a Presidential Advisory Council headed by some very distinguished, eminent Ghanaian economists who will advise the President on the measures to make sure that we maintain fiscal discipline. We are going to maintain fiscal discipline because that is the basis of managing an economy intelligently and rationally, and giving confidence to investors that they can look into your economy and invest in Ghana, he added. The prevailing economic conditions in Ghana, coupled with the governments determination to maintain fiscal discipline, according to President Akufo-Addo, is the reason why major global companies have indicated their readiness to set up shop in Ghana. All of them are doing this and making plans in Ghana because, now, the fundamentals of the economy are in the right place. The Ghanaian economy is looking robust, and is being organized and managed in a disciplined manner, the President stressed. On the worrying phenomenon of vigilantism, President Akufo-Addo reinforced his determination to rid the country of it, stressing that, regardless of the outcome of the meeting between the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress, legislation is on its way to ban it. We are still going ahead to pass the vigilante law. Source: presidency.gov.gh 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 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 Red Dot Design Award stands for top achievements in design all over the world. The sought-after seal of quality is awarded to companies that bring products to the market, which set global standards in terms of their attractive design, ease of use, and functionality. In 2019, the prize winners were selected by a prestigious jury with some 40 members. It is made up of independent designers, professors and professional journalists who assess the products in an evaluation process lasting for several days. More than 5,500 products from 55 different countries were entered this year. Dual Time Resonance Armin Strom For the third time after 2015 and 2017, the Armin Strom design team wins the Red Dot Design Award for excellence in product design. In 2019, the independent Swiss watch manufacturer gains this international design award in the Watches category with its Dual Time Resonance model. This award will be officially presented to the brand at a prize ceremony and gala on 8 July in Essen Opera House (Germany). Design team Armin Strom The in-house design team of Armin Strom placed the two movements apart horizontally in the Dual Time Resonance, which amplifies the form-follows-function horizontal movement architecture of the caliber ARF17. The two movements placed side by side naturally led to the oval-shaped case never has form followed function in such a compelling and mechanically beautiful way. This groundbreaking timepiece also comprises an innovative, sophisticated and patented mechanism created for the pursuit of precision, that is the resonance clutch spring. Animated and eminently visible, it connects the two oscillators, the most sensitive part of a watchs movement, in order to improving the watchs precision using the phenomenon of resonance, while synchronizing the two independent movements. In-house calibre ARF17 Armin Strom We are highly honoured by this award. We are proud to join the ranks of exceptional prize-winners, Armin Strom Co-Founder and technical director Claude Greisler, commented. The jury of internationally recognized experts rewarded the force of innovation and technical sophistication which make the Dual Time Resonance an extraordinary timepiece. As a young and independent manufacturer we were particularly happy to accept the prize for a phenomenal mechanical watch. We are grateful to the jury for this award and wish to thank all our employees for their dedication, vision and passion, Serge Michel, Founder of the manufacture, adds. Nigerian fashion entrepreneur, Tania Omotayo, welcomes baby girl with husband Sumbo. She announced the birth of her daughter, born on Saturday 30th March in Vienna, on her Instagram page while celebrating Mothers Day. Her caption reads: My first Mothers Day, and its so unreal. Yesterday (30/03/2019) we welcomed our beautiful princess into the world. ve dreamt of being a mommy and having a baby girl almost my entire life.. The fact that our baby girl came early, and just in time for me to celebrate Mothers Day is the best feeling ever. Im literally the happiest woman on earth right now. My heart is so full of joy, love and pride I dont even know where to begin to celebrate. 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 Election officials start counting ballots at a polling station during the presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, March 31, 2019. Ukrainians choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) An antibiotic is an agent that either kills or inhibits the growth of a microorganism. This useful infographic outlines some of the major c... On March 22, police were called to the Sunoco on Michigan Ave. in response to a found cell phone. An officer spoke with the clerk, who stated that, while he was working on March 21, the bottle return alarm went off. When he went to check the bin, he located a black cell phone. Security footage from the Sunoco showed a white man wearing a green hoodie in the store at about 4:16 p.m., who asked for a pen and wrote a phone number down. He then went to the back of the station near the bottle return bin and placed the phone inside. He then left the gas station. The man returned to the gas station at 6:10 p.m. looking for the phone, but since the employees were unaware of the discovery of the phone, he was told they did not have it. An officer was able to read the phone number the man had written down and called the number. The person who answered stated that the description sounded like a former employee. The officer then took the phone back to the police station and placed it in evidence. EU Comes Up With Workaround to US Sanctions The representatives of Germany, France, and the UK have registered a company to let it trade with Iran despite the US sanctions. The company still needs to be approved by 28 EU members. Earlier this year, the UK, France, and Germany registered a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The main goal of creating this legal entity is to back trading with Iran as workaround to the sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States. The company is named INSTEX SAS (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges). It was registered on Paris on January 30th. It's also interesting to note that the company's legal address match the one of the French Ministry of Trade and Finances. The supervisory board of the newly-created company includes 3 diplomats from the UK, France, and Germany. So, the transactions that will be made with the help of this company are expected to let European companies continue trading with their Iranian partners desite the mentioned sanctions. As you probably know, in 2015, the UK, France, and Germany, who represented the EU (the so-called Euro trinity), and the USA signed an agreement with Iran. This agreement capped Iran's nuclear program in exchange for canceling the Western sanctions previously imposed on it. However, in May 2018, Donald Trump decided to quit this agreement. Shortly after that, the USA re-imposed those sanctions on Iran. the EU representatives keep on participating in the agreement. The thing is that the Euro trinity, Russia and China assume that Iran hasn't violated the nuclear agreement. After creating the mentioned SPV, the initiative is still required to be approved by all 28 EU members. For now, it's unclear when it's actually going to happen. It's reported that Spain is against launching the SPV. The mechanism implies that Iran is required to mirror the system in the form of creating a similar company to retain the trade relations with the EU. In particular, the company is expected to create an environment for transactions in the national currency. Also, the system may be expanded to include non-EU states as well. Project Fails To Come Up To Expectations According to Reuters, the project named INSTEX can only start functioning within a couple of months. A lot of technical issues are yet to be discussed, agreed, and resolved. Also, the scale is not expected to be as big as expected. The project was aimed at allowing Europe to keep on buying Iranian oil. However, the real state of affairs is that Europe can actually do without Iranian oil. With tat being said, the ambitions were reduced considerably. So now it seems that the key reason for this project is to sustain the export of not sanctioned products to Iran (medicine, food,, etc.) It seems that Europe is not willing to openly confront the USA when it comes to the anti-Iranian sanctions, especially as the U.S. Department of the State warned that those EU states willing to violate those sanctions and keep trading with Iran would risk to get serious consequences, including the loss of the access to the American financial, banking, and business systems. The bottom line is that it's hard to say whether anyone is actually going to make use fo INTEX, especially as this project doesn't allow the EU to increase the trade turnover with Iran considerably. You are free to discuss this article here: forum for traders and investors 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 Egypt's defence expo EDEX 2018 has been granted the best international trade show award by the Exhibition News Awards, according to Egypts military spokesperson. The 13th annual Exhibition News Awards took place in London on 22 March. EDEX 2018, Egypt's first defence expo, ran from 3 to 5 December 2018 and drew at least 10,000 visitors to the International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo. The exhibition was organised by Egypt's Armed Forces under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and showcased the latest military and security technology, equipment and systems. The event, held in cooperation with the UK's Clarion Events, was attended by 373 international companies from 41 countries. EDEX is scheduled to be held every two years. Rantoul, IL (61866) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 50F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 30F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. About a month ago Eagle Imports announced that they would no longer be handling the importation of Grand Power firearms, a surprise since we just covered the Stribog in Issue 42. We got a chance to chat with the new importers of the entire line at the Big 3 East Media Shoot about what the future might hold for the line of Slovakian firearms. Grand Power's new importer Global Ordnance has a background in the defense sector and happily jumped at the chance to bring the interesting guns into the US. One of the main points that Global Ordnance covered was the possibility of lowering the price of spare magazines to a more palatable pricing structure. Previously spare magazines for the rotating barrel handguns ran right about $50 MSRP, well above where the average consumer is comfortable with. Currently, they are still working out the new pricing structure, but we were assured that Global was doing all they could to make the cost of extra mags less of a sticking point for potential customers. They also brought along the Stribog in a couple of configurations, the one that caught our eye this time was fitted with a Safety Harbor Firearms Tailhook Adaptor keeping the gun's pistol status. It isn't hard to see why we were enamored with the Stribog with nice features at a reasonable price. If you haven't already clicked on the link above to get an in-depth look, you really should. Global Ordnance also had the X-Calibur pistol on display which just about every attendee tried their best to wear out. We were impressed that the gun not only ran reliably, but it did so without a cleaning over the course three days of heavy shooting. The adjustable rear sight was pretty dang spot on and well designed. When combined with the red fiber front sight it was rather hard to miss with the pistol. The most striking feature of the X-Calibur is the highly skeletonized slide with the deeply fluted bull barrel peeking out from inside the slide. You recall where I said that the pistol wasn't cleaned? This is the carbon buildup after three days without a drop of additional oil. If there was any concern about the rotating barrel action being finicky, the demo pistol's performance put that to bed right away. Global also showed a line of canned ammunition called Canmunition that is nitrogen purged for long term storage. Each can of 9mm holds 90 rounds in a can the same shape as a 12-ounce beer can and the .223 can holds 40 rounds. Global Ordnance says that they can fill the cans with any ammunition, they just happen to have the sample cans filled with Fiocchi FMJ. Find more about Global Ordnance on their website. "The liberation of all Arab occupied territories is the only way to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict," Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in his speech during the opening session of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunisia on Sunday. The president said that the crises that broke out in many Arab countries eight years ago threaten the existence of nation states and the principle of Arab unity, and stressed the necessity of unifying Arab action to face these challenges. El-Sisi said that the persistence of the historical injustice against the Palestinian people will continue to be a source of disgrace for the international community as long as international legitimacy resolutions are ignored. El-Sisi reaffirmed the Palestinian people's right to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and said that the Israeli occupied Golan Heights must be returned to Syria in order to work towards a comprehensive and just peace. The Arab countries have chosen peace and presented a comprehensive peace initiative in exchange for the liberation of all Arab occupied territories and the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions in this regard, El-Sisi stated. The Egyptian president said that peaceful negotiations based on the Geneva accords are the only way out to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Egypt, along with Arab countries, has rejected President's Donald Trump's recent decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and also opposes Trump's previous decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. On terrorism, the Egyptian president called for a comprehensive strategy in the confrontation all forms of terrorism and extremist ideologies that incite the killing of innocent people in violation of all tolerant religious teachings and humanitarian norms. El-Sisi said that confronting terrorism, which threatens the existence of nation states in the Arab region, requires the quick implementation of the comprehensive approach to combating the phenomenon as stipulated by the Arab League and adopted by the recent Arab summit in Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. This confrontation will not succeed without strenuous action to reform religious discourse to reflect the true spirit of forgiveness, far away from ignorant claims or calls of violence, division or sectarianism, the Egyptian president said. "Arab blood is sometimes shed by Arab hands, and other times by foreign terrorists and militias affiliated with regional powers interfering in our nations' affairs," El-Sisi added. On Syria, the Egyptian president called for immediate action to begin negotiations to achieve a comprehensive settlement that preserves the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and eliminates terrorism in the country. On settling the Libyan crisis efforts, El-Sisi urged immediate action to implement the UN Security Council initiative adopted 18 month ago. What is needed [in Libya] is a political will that transcends all personal interests and ambitions. The international community must firmly stand against the forces -- which are known to all -- that continue to smuggle weapons and fighters into Libya without any accountability, the Egyptian president said. On Yemen, El-Sisi called for implementing the recent Stockholm agreement and the Houthi withdrawal from Al-Hudaydah port as a start of resuming negotiations in accordance with UN resolution 2216, the Yemeni national dialogue and the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative. El-Sisi arrived in Tunis on Sunday for the summit, where he was welcomed by Tunisian Minister of Defence AbdelKarim Zbidi before holding a meeting with Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi. The two-day summit, titled 'Uniting Vision and the Word,' is tackling a number of Arab issues, including the Palestinian issue and the conflicts in Syria and Libya. The summit is expected to adopt a resolution against the US recognition of Israels sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. 1 2 Search Keywords: Short link: New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- Adiponitrile or hexanedinitrile is a colorless organic liquid compound. It finds its major application as a precursor for polymer nylon 6-6 which is known for its high mechanical strength and hence finds an array of applications including conveyor belts, carpet fibers, and electro-insulating elements amongst others. Adiponitrile also finds its application, though to a much smaller extent as an intermediate for synthesis of corrosion inhibitors and rubber accelerators. The major market for adiponitrile is governed by its application in Nylon6-6 whose demand continues to sore across North America and Europe primarily due to automotive applications. Also the market for adiponitrile finds upward trend in Asia pacific countries like China, Malaysia and other south-east Asian countries chiefly due to availability of cheaper production facilities. Request For Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4242 Adiponitrile is largely prepared by most common industrial route which was revealed by Dupont involving nickel-catalyzed hydrocyanation of butadiene. This process involves series of sub-products to finally produce adiponitrile as the outcome. Adiponitrile is then hydrogenated to produce hexamethylenediamine which is a vital component of Nylon6-6. Nylon 6-6 is prime substitute for Nylon 6 which finds applications requiring fittings in automotive applications, strings for musical instruments, ropes and tire cords. However Nylon 6-6 has better properties in high temperature applications and hence makes in suitable over nylon 6 in various applications. The major applications which necessitate high temperature and strength include that of carpet manufacturing, hosiery and knitted garments (textile sector), tire ropes, gear wheels, plug parts, hydraulic brake lines and radiator housings for automotive industry. As Nylon 6-6 is light in weight and waterproof in nature it makes it appropriate for swim-wear. Adiponitrile is also used in production of adipic acid which is used in polyurethane applications like auto seating, footwear, thermal insulation amongst others. However adipic acid can be cheaply manufactured by other ways making adiponitrile a weaker option for this segment. Almost all the adiponitrile goes into production of Nylon 6-6 fiber and hence requirement of Nylon 6-6 drives the market. As Nylon 6-6 finds wide array of applications in manufacturing and automotive sector, growth of these sectors would fuel the need of adiponitrile. The requirement in this sector is largely dominated by the U.S., followed by developing countries like China and Malaysia. The requirement of Nylon 6-6 resin grows wider across Europe and the U.S. as a major engineering resin; this would enhance market for adiponitrile. The tyre-cord requirement would continue to grow as the automotive segment seems to grow at steady pace across Asia-pacific countries and developed countries. This makes the market for adiponitrile even more lucrative. Application for carpets, rugs and clothing fibers which belong to textile sector are likely to continue the growth owing to strengthening in textile industry. This will certainly act as a major driver in the requirement for adiponitrile in near future. However this market faces a stiff price competition due to cut-throat price rivalry and hence the major players in this segment are shifting their production sites to Asia-pacific countries. This has propelled to a large extent demand in China which would even advance further with tyre-cord requirement. Request For Report Table of Content (TOC)@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4242 Some of the key participants in the adiponitrile market include Dupont, Solvay, Rhodia group, Invista,BASF, Lyondellbasell Industries, LG Chem, Ineos, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Braskem, Evonik Industries, The dow chemical company, JSR Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation amongst others. Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- Auto Beauty refers to the various parts of different materials for the automotive maintenance required conditions, using beauty care products and construction technology to care and maintenance for cars. The Auto Beauty industry including waxes, polishes, compounds, paints, cleaners, buffing pads and etc. And it is not concentrated, there are more than hundreds manufacturers in the world, and high-end products mainly come from North America and Europe. In 2015, amount of Auto Beauty product consumed in 4S Stores took 42%. Auto Beauty Shops took 35% of global Auto Beauty. Personal Purchase took 11%. Global Auto Beauty is concentrated in USA, Europe, China and Japan. In 2015, USA Auto beauty consumption value took about 26%. Europe China and Japan separately took 40%, 7% and 11% of global Auto Beauty. Asia Pacific is expected to retain the higher growth rate during the next five years due to strong growth in car care industry. The most notable features of Chinese auto beauty market are the average small scale of enterprises, lack of funds and low brand awareness. Blind operations are adopted by domestic auto beauty enterprises. Chinese auto beauty market possesses uneven scales due to low barriers to operation and lack of regulations. Small-scale and low-end stores on roadsides continue to run with low standards. Request a sample of the research study here: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/956178/global-auto-beauty-depth-research-report- The global Auto Beauty market is valued at 7130 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 10700 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% during 2019-2025. This report focuses on Auto Beauty volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Auto Beauty market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan. At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report. The following manufacturers are covered: 3M Turtle Wax SONAX SOFT99 Tetrosyl Liqui Moly Simoniz Autoglym Botny BiaoBang CHIEF Rainbow Segment by Regions North America Europe China Japan Segment by Type Cleaning & Caring Polishing & Waxing Sealing Glaze & Coating Interior Maintenance Other Segment by Application 4S Stores Auto Beauty Shops Personal Use Get Full Report Now at USD 2,900 at: https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/a23c957958a388a0d5a2ad7a58465dec,0,1,Global%20Auto%20Beauty%20Depth%20Research%20Report%202019 About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2019 -- The latest report Automotive HVAC Market discusses everything a business owner needs to know about the Automotive HVAC market for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026. The document offers an insight into what the target customer's needs and wants. Industry experts have extracted data from various sources on size, share, growth rate, production volume, production capacity, import and export status, distribution channels and more and have analysed it thoroughly. By properly assessing the competitors and their offerings the study aims at empowering business owners to step ahead. Request for Sample Copy of Automotive HVAC Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/26969 Scope of the Report: The research methodologies used for evaluating the Automotive HVAC 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 Automotive HVAC market are: Gemini Data Loggers (UK), MadgeTech, Ebro Electronic, Onset, Lascar Electronics, Testo, Dickson, Elpro-Buchs, KIMO, Rotronic, Omega, SIGNATROL, Temprecord International, Tmi Orion, Digitron Italia, Nietzsche Enterprise, Delta OHM, In-Situ Most important types of Automotive HVAC products covered in this report are: - Paper-temperature data logger - Paperless-temperature data logger Most widely used downstream fields of Automotive HVAC market covered in this report are: - Medical industry - Food industry - Electronic industry - Agricultural industry - Others Buy Automotive HVAC Market Research Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/26969 Major Regions play vital role in Automotive HVAC market are: - United States - Europe - China - Japan - Southeast Asia - India The market intelligence study for the Automotive HVAC 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. Estimating the potential size of the Automotive HVAC industry: Industry experts conducting the study further estimate the potential of the Automotive HVAC industry. Such information is important for firms looking to launch an innovative service or product on the market. Industry experts have measured the total volume of the given market. Researchers have calculated the industry in terms of sales by the competitors and end-user customers. Data on the entire size of the Automotive HVAC market for a particular product or a service for the forecast period, 2018 to 2026 covered in the report makes it valuable. This information reveals the upper limit of the Automotive HVAC industry for a specific product or service. 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 Automotive HVAC market for the forecast period 2018 - 2026? What will be the market share and size of the industry during the estimated period? - What are prime factors expected to drive the Automotive HVAC 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 Automotive HVAC market? - What are the key challenges expected to restrict the progress of the industry for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? - What the opportunities product owners can bank on to generate high profits? Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/automotive-hvac-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 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- Baijiu, also known as shaojiu or archaically as sorghum wine, is a Chinese alcoholic beverage made from grain. Baijiu literally translated means white alcohol or liquor, and is a strong distilled spirit, generally between 40 and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Baijiu is a clear liquid usually distilled from fermented sorghum, although other grains may be used; southern China versions may employ glutinous rice, while northern Chinese varieties may use wheat, barley, millet, or even Job's tears instead of sorghum. The jiuqu starter culture used in the production of baijiu mash is usually made of pulverized wheat grains. Baijiu is strong distilled from grains, which is a traditional alcoholic beverage from China. The Baijiu industry in China is quite fragmented. In 2015, the top ten enterprises were estimated to account for about 10.25% production market share. The majority players in China Baijiu market are Kweichow Moutai Group, Wuliangye, YANGHE, Daohuaxiang, Luzhou Laojiao, Langjiu Group, Gujing Group, Shunxin Holdings, Xinghuacun Fen Chiew Group and Baiyunbian Group etc. Baijiu can be similar in appearance to vodka, but it has a unique flavor that is not comparable to any other type of spirit .Baijiu is often classified based on three fragrances: Sauce, thick and light etc. in addition, thick-favor type is the major product with 73.16% production market share in 2015. The typical production enterprises of thick -favor baijiu are Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao. Kweichow Moutai Group is the key manufacturers to produce sauce-favor types Baijiu. As for the region consumption, the South West and East China remained the largest market for Baijiu in the China, with 25.08% and 19.89% market share consumption in 2015. Other major consuming regions includeCentral China , North China and North West, which account for 14.51%, 10.49% and 10.75% respectively. Request a sample of the research study here: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/956233/global-baijiu-market The downstream consumption of Baijiu market is rigid. We tend to believe the consumption increasing degree will show a slowly rising curve. In the future, the market concentration is become increasingly. Besides, prices gap between different brands will go narrowing gradually. Also, there will be fluctuation in gross margin. The global Baijiu market is valued at xx million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025. This report focuses on Baijiu volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Baijiu market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan. At company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report. The following manufacturers are covered: Kweichow Moutai Group Wuliangye Yanghe Brewery Daohuaxiang Luzhou Laojiao Langjiu Group Gujing Group Shunxin Holdings Fen Chiew Group Baiyunbian Group Xifeng Liquor Segment by Regions North America Europe China Japan Segment by Type Thick-flavor Sauce-flavor Light-flavor Others Segment by Application Corporate Hospitality Government Reception Family Dinner Other Get Full Report Now at USD 2,900 at: https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/6e42c2949a5a5a4059c192b7b35bad73,0,1,Global%20Baijiu%20Market%20Outlook%20(2014-2025) About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2019 -- The latest report Battery Storage Market discusses everything a business owner needs to know about the Battery Storage market for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026. The document offers an insight into what the target customer's needs and wants. Industry experts have extracted data from various sources on size, share, growth rate, production volume, production capacity, import and export status, distribution channels and more and have analysed it thoroughly. By properly assessing the competitors and their offerings the study aims at empowering business owners to step ahead. Request for Sample Copy of Battery Storage Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/29275 Scope of the Report: The research methodologies used for evaluating the Battery Storage 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 Battery Storage market are: Dynapower, Bosh (VoltWerks), SMA, KACO, Parker, ABB, Princeton, Eaton, SUNGROW, CLOU, TRIED, Zhicheng Champion Most important types of Battery Storage products covered in this report are: - Single-Phase Electric Power - Three-Phase Electric Power Most widely used downstream fields of Battery Storage market covered in this report are: - Utility Scale - Commercial - Residential Buy Battery Storage Market Research Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/29275 The market intelligence study for the Battery Storage 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. In addition, the research lays down a robust groundwork for obtaining a vast amount of information that potential customers can use to increase their profits and reduce costs. The inclusion of data on market segmentation by type, application, and geography offers clarity presents an analytical picture of, what manufacturers are aiming for. Extensive data on market segmentation: The Battery Storage report divides the market of potential buyers into different groups, or segments/sub segments, based on various characteristics. The segments and sub segments identified contain buyer who are expected to respond or react similarly to certain products and services. The report further finds out consumers who share traits including similar expectations, interests, geography and needs. The segmentation sheds light on how some customers are likely to purchase a product or service than others to enable marketers allocate their focus as well as resource. The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated growth rate of the Battery Storage 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 Battery Storage 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 Battery Storage 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/battery-storage-market There are 14 Chapters to deeply display the global Battery Storage market. - 1 Battery Storage Market Overview - 2 Global Battery Storage Market Competition by Manufacturers - 3 Global Battery Storage Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2019) - 4 Global Battery Storage Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2019) - 5 Global Battery Storage Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type - 6 Global Battery Storage 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 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- The market intelligence study for the Electrochemical Gas Sensors 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. In addition, the research lays down a robust groundwork for obtaining a vast amount of information that potential customers can use to increase their profits and reduce costs. The inclusion of data on market segmentation by type, application, and geography offers clarity presents an analytical picture of, what manufacturers are aiming for. Request sample to get a list of companies@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/32816 Major Players in Electrochemical Gas Sensors market are: - City Technology - Alphasense - MEMBRAPOR - SGX Sensortech - Figaro - Draeger - Winsen - Dart - GE - Emerson Market by Type - Inflammable Gas Type - Toxic Gas Type - Other Gases Type Market by Application - Civil Gas Safety - Chemical & Oil - Mining - Environmental - Others Understanding the market size The size of the Electrochemical Gas Sensors 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 Electrochemical Gas Sensors report. Knowing the trends influencing the industry performance Stakeholders, marketing executives and business owners planning to refer a market research report can use this study to design their offerings and understand how competitors attract their potential customers and manage their supply and distribution channels. When tracking the trends researchers have made a conscious effort to analyze and interpret the consumer behaviour. Besides, the research helps product owners to understand the changes in culture, target market as well as brands so they can draw the attention of the potential customers more effectively. Our trend analysts look for the crucial connection between consumer trends, behaviour and values, to provide context for the sectors, demographics and global themes that matter to you. Major Regions play vital role in Electrochemical Gas Sensors market are: - North America - Europe - China - Japan - Middle East & Africa - India - South America - Others We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe, Central & South America, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Middle East & Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Rest of Middle East & Africa Purchase full Electrochemical Gas Sensors report and Pay now through this link and avail 15% free customization on the report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/32816 A thorough diligence and probe into market segmentation, customer preference, production capability and gross margin are discussed with the aim to ensure business owners are positioned to successes. The study considers, in particular, the impact of technology innovation, recent collaborations and product launches for the forecast period of 2018 - 2026. Assessment of various factors on a target's ability to meet the forecast results forms the basis of evaluation of this market intelligence report on Electrochemical Gas Sensors market. There are many questions the research attempts to answer: - Who is currently purchasing your product or service worldwide? - Who are your immediate competitors? - What will be the price of the products and services across different continents? - What are the trends affecting the performance of the Electrochemical Gas Sensors market? - What features do the customers look for when they purchase Electrochemical Gas Sensors? - What problems will vendors operating in the Electrochemical Gas Sensors market encounter? - What needs are the prominent manufacturers trying to meet by the forecast period 2026? - What opportunities can prominent leaders see on the horizon? - How will the competitive landscape look like between the forecast periods 2018 to 2026? Table of Contents Part 1 Market Overview 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Market Development 1.3 By Type 1.4 By Application 1.5 By Region Part 2 Global Market Status and Future Forecast 2.1 Global Market by Region 2.2 Global Market by Company 2.3 Global Market by Type 2.4 Global Market by Application 2.5 Global Market by Forecast Continued Browse the report description @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/electrochemical-gas-sensors-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: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- The study dives deep into the profiles of top market players and their key financials. This comprehensive report is not only for business analysts and any existing and new entrant can use it when designing their business strategies. The research is one of its kind global analyses of aspects such as import and export status, supply chain management, profit and gross margin worldwide for the forecast period 2018 - 2026. Extensive coverage of statistics associated with recent events including acquisition and mergers and strengths and weaknesses of a company forms an important part of the study on the Grain Dryer market. Scope of the Report: The study is a professional probe into the revenue generated and capacity estimates for the Grain Dryer market for the forecast period 2018 - 2026 empower the business owners to maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The research further examines and provides data on the market by type, application and geography interspersed with illustrations and other graphical representations. The market analysis not only determines the attractiveness of the industry but also the evolving challenges and opportunities and their association with the weaknesses and strengths of prominent market leaders. Other factors taken into consideration when studying the industry include profitability, manufacturing capability, distribution channels and industry cost structure and major success factors. Request sample to get a list of companies@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/17961 The major players covered in this report are Cimbria, CFCAI Group, Buhler, GSI, Brock, PETKUS Technologie, Sukup Manufacturing, Alvan Blanch, Fratelli Pedrotti, Mecmar, SKIOLD, POLnet, Stela, Shivvers, Mathews Company Market by Type - Stationary Grain Dryer - Mobile Grain Dryer Market by Application - Cereals Drying - Pulses Drying - Oil Seeds Drying Grow with the trend The Grain Dryer helps product owners learn how certain trends will shape the growth of the Grain Dryer industry over a long term. The study closely looks at the historical price pattern of various products and services and empowers entrepreneurs to form the right opinion about the future trends. Accordingly, business owners will be able to decide their course of action and make a wise decision. Knowing the trends influencing the industry performance Stakeholders, marketing executives and business owners planning to refer a market research report can use this study to design their offerings and understand how competitors attract their potential customers and manage their supply and distribution channels. When tracking the trends researchers have made a conscious effort to analyze and interpret the consumer behaviour. Besides, the research helps product owners to understand the changes in culture, target market as well as brands so they can draw the attention of the potential customers more effectively. Our trend analysts look for the crucial connection between consumer trends, behaviour and values, to provide context for the sectors, demographics and global themes that matter to you. Purchase full report through this link and get 15% free customization on the Grain Dryer report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/17961 Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers in these key regions: - North America - Europe - China - Japan - Southeast Asia - India We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe, Central & South America, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Middle East & Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Rest of Middle East & Africa Ask for discount on this report for better value @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/discount-enquiry-form/17961 The study objectives of this report are: 1. To analyze and study the global Grain Dryer capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast (2018-2026); 2. Focuses on the key Grain Dryer manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. 3. Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, analysis. 4. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. 5. To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. 6. To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. 7. To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. 8. To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market. 9. To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. 10. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. Key Points From TOC Part 1 Market Overview 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Market Development 1.3 By Type 1.4 By Application 1.5 By Region Part 2 Global Market Status and Future Forecast 2.1 Global Market by Region 2.2 Global Market by Company 2.3 Global Market by Type 2.4 Global Market by Application 2.5 Global Market by Forecast Continue Browse the report description @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/grain-dryer-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: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2019 -- This study focuses on the production side and consumption side of Marble, presents the global Marble market size by manufacturers, regions, type and application, history breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025. In terms of production side, this report researches the Marble capacity, production, value, ex-factory price, growth rate, market share for major manufacturers, regions (or countries) and product type. In terms of consumption side, this report focuses on the consumption of Marble by regions and application. The key regions like North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East and Africa etc. Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of metamorphism. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite (CaCO3) and usually contains other minerals such as: clay minerals, micas, quartz, pyrite, iron oxides and graphite. Under the conditions of metamorphism the calcite in the limestone recrystallizes to form a rock that is a mass of interlocking calcite crystals. Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of metamorphism. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite (CaCO3) and usually contains other minerals such as: clay minerals, micas, quartz, pyrite, iron oxides and graphite. The global marble market is worth over $50 Billion, according to our survey. The industry is highly fragmented in terms of products, end uses and suppliers, but its markets can broadly be categorized as construction and decoration, statuary and monuments, furniture and others. Until 2016, EU overall was the dominant producer and exporter of marble, but strong growth in emerging markets, especially in China, Pakistan and India, means that Asia is assuming dominance as a producing and exporting region. In 2016, the world production of marble reached 816 Million Sq.m. The world's top ten natural marble producers include China, India, Iran, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, Portugal and Greece.. Leading players in marble industry are Levantina, Polycor inc, Indiana Limestone Company, Vetter Stone, Topalidis S.A., Antolini, etc. Marble is a highly-fragmented industry with a variety of manufacturers ranging from large multinational corporations to small privately owned companies. The top ten producers account for just c 3.76% of the market. Marble can be classified based on the color. Yellow marble is assumed to be the most prevalent kind of marble, considering the large stock of beige marble in Europe. The production of black marble, white marble and green marble are also considerable. A key variable in the performance of marble producers is raw material costs, specifically the speed at which any increase can be passed through to customers. According to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), stone resources of the world are sufficient to cater to foreseeable needs. Nevertheless, resources can be limited on a local level or occasionally on a regional level due to the lack of a particular type of stone. Marble resources are mainly located in Italy, China, Turkey, Philippines, France, Brazil, USA, India, Morocco, Austria, Russia, Japan, Portugal and Greece. Italy has abundant resources of high quality marble, positioning the nation as a key marble producer and exporter in the world. Turkey is located at the world's richest natural stone Alps area. There are a mass of marble resources from Anatolia to the Thrace region. The materials of marble include marble blocks, to some companies, marble block can be satisfied with own production, while to others, marble blocks have to be purchased from other suppliers. The price of marble tile follow the marble block price, with a lag, and movements can inject volatility into producer margins. In general, most producers structure the majority of their contracts to include a 'pass through' clause that smooth the impact. The largest consumption area of marble is Europe, which accounted for 29.05% of world marble consumption in 2016. The consumption of marble in USA, India and China are also considerable. The global marble production value will increase to 64 Billion USD in 2023, from 52 Billion USD in 2016. It is estimated that the global marble demand will develop with an average growth rate of around 3.01% in terms of revenue from 2106 to 2023. The Marble market was valued at 52000 Million US$ in 2017 and is projected to reach 66400 Million US$ by 2025, at a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period. In this study, 2017 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Marble. Get your Sample Copy of Report @https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/720339/global-marble-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis- This report includes the following manufacturers; we can also add the other companies as you want. Levantina Polycor Indiana Limestone Company Vetter Stone Topalidis Antolini Temmer Marble Tekmar Pakistan Onyx Marble Dimpomar Mumal Marbles Can Simsekler Construction Marmoles Marin Aurangzeb Marble Industry Etgran Amso International Universal Marble & Granite Best Cheer Stone Group Fujian Fengshan Stone Group Xiamen Wanlistone Stock Kangli Stone Group Hongfa Xishi Group Jin Long Run Yu Xinpengfei Industry Jinbo Construction Group Fujian Dongsheng Stone Guanghui Market Segment by Product Type White Marble Black Marble Yellow Marble Red Marble Green Marble and others Market Segment by Application Construction and Decoration Statuary and Monuments Furniture Global Marble Market by Region North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa. Get your Detail Copy of Report @https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/720339/global-marble-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis-2018-2025 Benefits of Purchasing QY Research Report - Analyst Support: Get you query resolved from our expert analysts before and after purchasing the report - Customer's Satisfaction: Our expert team will assist with all your research needs and customize the report - Inimitable Expertise: Analysts will provide deep insights about the reports - Assured Quality: We focus on the quality and accuracy of the report Get Full Report for USD 5600 delivery time within 24 hours @https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/0b42357ef1fbcfdb30c79d44e3b375b6,0,1,Global%20Marble%20Industry%20Research%20Report,%20Growth%20Trends%20and%20Competitive%20Analysis%202018-2025 About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2019 -- The latest market evaluation report on the Medical Oxygen Systems market explores how the Medical Oxygen Systems market will continue to expand for the forecast period 2018 - 2026. The study further serves as a unique research for stakeholders, product owners, and field marketing executives looking for actionable data and unique resource on market size, share, and growth. The market intelligence report gives business evangelists an authority to review the major trends, opportunities, and challenges expected to shape the future of the industry during the estimated period. Importantly, the study not only helps spot the major vendors but also their winning strategies. The real-time data accumulated through qualitative and quantitative research technique further help business owners determine where they stand in comparison to their region, country, and product category. Request sample to get a list of companies@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/12881 Major Players in Medical Oxygen Systems market are: - Chart Industries - OXYPLUS Technologies(NOVAIR) - Oxygen Generating Systems Intl.(OGSI) - Oxymat A/S - On Site Gas Systems - Oxair - PCI Gases - Zhuhai Hokai Medical Instruments - Yantai Beacon Medical Technology 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.) Ask for discount on the report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/discount-enquiry-form/12881 Medical Oxygen Systems 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 Medical Oxygen Systems 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 Medical Oxygen Systems market Market by Type - On-site Medical Oxygen Systems - Remote Medical Oxygen Systems Market by Application - Small/Rural Hospitals - Community Hospitals - Large Hospitals - Other use Knowing the trends influencing the industry performance Stakeholders, marketing executives and business owners planning to refer a market research report can use this study to design their offerings and understand how competitors attract their potential customers and manage their supply and distribution channels. When tracking the trends researchers have made a conscious effort to analyze and interpret the consumer behaviour. Besides, the research helps product owners to understand the changes in culture, target market as well as brands so they can draw the attention of the potential customers more effectively. Our trend analysts look for the crucial connection between consumer trends, behaviour and values, to provide context for the sectors, demographics and global themes that matter to you. Purchase full Medical Oxygen Systems report through this link and get 15% free customization on the report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/12881 The study dives deep into the profiles of top market players and their key financials. This comprehensive report is not only for business analysts and any existing and new entrant can use it when designing their business strategies. The research is one of its kind global analyses of aspects such as import and export status, supply chain management, profit and gross margin worldwide for the forecast period 2018 - 2026. Extensive coverage of statistics associated with recent events including acquisition and mergers and strengths and weaknesses of a company forms an important part of the study on the Medical Oxygen Systems market. The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What will be the market size and growth rate of the Medical Oxygen Systems market for the forecast period 2018 -2026 across different regions? - What are the key driving forces expected to shape the future of the industry worldwide? - What strategies are the prominent vendors adapting to stay ahead of their competitors? - Which major trends are impacting the development of the Medical Oxygen Systems market worldwide? - Which factors can hinder, challenge or even restrict the expansion of the Medical Oxygen Systems market worldwide? - What are the opportunities or future prospect for the business owners operating in the market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026? Browse the report description @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/medical-oxygen-systems-market Key Points From TOC Part 1 Market Overview 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Market Development 1.3 By Type 1.4 By Application 1.5 By Region Part 2 Global Market Status and Future Forecast 2.1 Global Market by Region 2.2 Global Market by Company 2.3 Global Market by Type 2.4 Global Market by Application 2.5 Global Market by Forecast 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: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- HTF MI released a new market study on Global PEGylated Proteins Market with 100+ market data Tables, Pie Chat, Graphs & Figures spread through Pages and easy to understand in depth analysis. "Global PEGylated Proteins Market by Type (Colony Stimulating Factors, Interferons, Erythropoietin (EPO), Recombinant Factor Viii, Monoclonal Antibodies & Others), by End-Users/Application (Cancer Treatment, Hepatitis, Chronic Kidney Disease, Leukemia, SCID, Rheumatoid Arthritis & Crohn's Disease & Others), Industry Size, Organizations, and Region - Forecast and outlook to 2025". At present, the market is developing its presence. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, focused opinions, details, and industry certified market data. The research study provides estimates for Global PEGylated Proteins Forecast till 2025*. Some of the key players profiled are ENZON Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Pfizer, Amgen, UCB, Crealta. Get Access to sample pages @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1708115-global-pegylated-proteins-market-11 The Global PEGylated Proteins market report more focuses on top industry leaders and explores all essentials facets competitive landscape. It explains potent business strategies and approaches, consumption propensity, regulatory policies, recent moves taken by competitors, as well as potential investment opportunities and market threats also. The report emphasis crucial financial details of major manufacturers including year-wise sale, revenue growth, CAGR, production cost analysis, and value chain structure. In 2017, the Global PEGylated Proteins market size was USD XX and is forecast to reach Million YY USD in 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx%. The objectives of this study is to define, market segment having opportunity, and to project the size of the PEGylated Proteins market based on company, product type, application and key regions. Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment etc. cover different segment market size. Also cover different industries clients' information, which is very important for the Major Players. If you need more information, please contact HTF MI at sales@htfmarketreport.com. **The market is valued based on weighted average selling price (WASP) and includes any applicable taxes on manufacturers. All currency conversions used in the creation of this report have been calculated using constant annual average 2018 currency rates. Competition Analysis Global PEGylated Proteins Market - Vendor Landscape: The analysts authoring the publication explain the nature and future changes in the competitive scenario of the worldwide companies that are profiled in the publication guide, some of key players that includes in the study are ENZON Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Pfizer, Amgen, UCB, Crealta. The Study is segmented by following Product Type: Colony Stimulating Factors, Interferons, Erythropoietin (EPO), Recombinant Factor Viii, Monoclonal Antibodies & Others Major applications/end-users industry are as follows: Cancer Treatment, Hepatitis, Chronic Kidney Disease, Leukemia, SCID, Rheumatoid Arthritis & Crohn's Disease & Others Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1708115-global-pegylated-proteins-market-11 Region Segmentation: North 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) ** Customized Report with detailed 2-level country level break-up can also be provided. North America (United States, Canada) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America) Asia (China, Japan, India, Korea, RoA) Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe) Others (Middle East, Africa) In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Global PEGylated Proteins are as follows: - History Year: 2013-2017 - Base Year: 2017 - Estimated Year: 2018 - Forecast Year 2018 to 2025 Buy full research report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1708115 Key Stakeholders/Global Reports: - PEGylated Proteins Manufacturers - PEGylated Proteins Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers - PEGylated Proteins Sub-component Manufacturers - Industry Association - Downstream Vendors Following would be the Chapters to display the Global PEGylated Proteins market. Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of PEGylated Proteins, Applications of PEGylated Proteins, Market Segment by Regions; Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure; Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of PEGylated Proteins, Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis; Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment); Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe, Central & South America, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Middle East & Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey & Rest of Middle East & Africa, PEGylated Proteins Segment Market Analysis (by Type); Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the PEGylated Proteins Segment Market Analysis (by Application) Major Manufacturers Analysis of PEGylated Proteins; Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [, Colony Stimulating Factors, Interferons, Erythropoietin (EPO), Recombinant Factor Viii, Monoclonal Antibodies & Others], Market Trend by Application [Cancer Treatment, Hepatitis, Chronic Kidney Disease, Leukemia, SCID, Rheumatoid Arthritis & Crohn's Disease & Others]; Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis; Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Global PEGylated Proteins; Chapter 12,13, 14 and 15, to describe PEGylated Proteins sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source. Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1708115-global-pegylated-proteins-market-11 Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia. Also, If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- The Safety Light Curtain Market is further segmented in terms of applications, end-user, end-use, geographic presence, by-products as well as services. In addition, the subject matter experts evaluating the industry provide an all-inclusive category-specific industry outlook. A comprehensive collection of data on major companies occupying a strong foothold in the industry adds immense value to the overall research. Documentation of recent findings on the competitive landscape is conducted in a manner to offer adequate support to the acquisition decisions of the business owners, stakeholders and field marketing executives. Data accumulated by the research team is vital to final determinants of market capabilities, business practices, advancements in technologies, competitive forces and availability of alternative products or services in the Safety Light Curtain market. The prime aim of the study is to capture the results and facilitate information sharing, lowering duplication of initiatives, preserve critical records and offer a base for effective commerciality decision. To get Free Sample Report Copy click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/32812 The major manufacturers covered in this report: Carlo Gavazzi, Contrinex, Panasonic, Honeywell, ReeR, Datalogic, Pepperl+Fuchs, WENGLOR, CEDES, RIKEN, Automationdirect, SUN KWANG, FOTEK, Coron, Daidisike, OUTAID, IBEST, SUENW, LNTECH, MONCEE, KINGSENSOR, SAGATC, ESPE, Ewmip, KJT Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering - North America - Europe - China - Japan - Southeast Asia - India Importantly, the research sheds a lot of light on their winning strategies to help stakeholders, business owners, and field marketing executives stay ahead in the competition. Besides, the industry is thoroughly weighed upon on the basis of the total revenue generated as well as the output/volume produced year after year. Other aspects including but not limited to the market drivers, key opportunities and probable restraints are thoroughly assessed during the study. The assessment of the wining strategies followed by these companies can help business owners not only strategize but also execute business operations by referring the statistics about competitor analysis. Careful assessment of the industry analysis across different regions along with vital information on the market size, share and growth rate makes this report a wonderful resource for business evangelists. On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into - Reflection-type - Opposite-type 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 - Industrial Equipment - Aerospace - Others To Purchase this Report click here @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/32812 Key Stakeholders Safety Light Curtain Manufacturers Safety Light Curtain Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Safety Light Curtain Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream Vendors Available Customizations In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Safety Light Curtain are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year: 2018 to 2026 The study objectives of this report are: - To analyse and study the global Safety Light Curtain capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2026); - Focuses on the key Safety Light Curtain manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. - Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyse the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. - To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. - To analyse the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. - To analyse the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. - To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyse their growth strategies. Read more @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/safety-light-curtain-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: www.marketexpertz.com/market-news Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2019 -- Hair masks are treatments that are formulated with oils, butters and other hydrating ingredients. 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Request a sample of the research study here: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/980026/global-thermal-steam-hair-mask-regional-outlook- The following manufacturers are covered: KAO (Japan) Shiseido (Japan) Estee Lauder Companies (USA) Henkel (Germany) L'Oreal (France) Procter & Gamble (USA) Unilever (UK) Segment by Regions North America Europe China Japan Segment by Type Offline Online Segment by Application Home Use Salon Use Get Full Report Now at USD 2,900 at: https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/d067633d5a0e30bb88ae79f19226d11e,0,1,Global%20Thermal%20Steam%20Hair%20Mask%20Regional%20Outlook%202019 About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. Members of the Egyptian expat community in New York said in a statement on Sunday that they are ready to participate in a referendum on the proposed amendments to Egypt's constitution, voicing their support for the proposed changes, according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website. In a statement published on Sunday, the Egyptian expats in New York said that they will vote in favour of the amendments as soon as parliament approves them and they are put to a public referendum. The statement added that the 2014 constitution was drafted under strenuous circumstances and needs to be amended. The group also released a video calling on Egyptians to participate in any upcoming vote and support the amendments. Egyptian parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal has said that the referendum is expected to be held in late April. According to Abdel-Aal, the amendments have six objectives: to give a greater quota of parliamentary seats (25 percent) to women; to create a second house (Senate); to increase presidential terms from four to six years; to reinstate the post of vice president; to regulate the system for selecting the heads of judicial authorities; and to redefine the role of the army in defending the country. The Egyptian parliament concluded last week the fourth and final round of social dialogue involving various social and political forces to discuss the proposed amendments. According to Egypt's elections law, Egyptians abroad cast their ballots before citizens in Egypt. In the 2018 presidential elections, 157,060 Egyptians abroad participated in the presidential elections at 118 embassies around the globe. State statistics agency CAPMAS said in 2017 that 9.5 million Egyptians live outside the country. Around 6.2 million Egyptians live in Arab countries, 1.6 million in North and South America, 1.2 million in Europe, and 340,000 in Australia. Search Keywords: Short link: New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/31/2019 -- The latest market intelligence study on the Zirconia Dental Material market applies the best of both primary and secondary research techniques to bring to light the growth rate of the Zirconia Dental Material market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. The comprehensive study covers hard to find facts about the market landscape as well as its growth prospects in the years to come. Most importantly, the research report includes vital statistics about the major vendors occupying a strong foothold in this industry. Besides this, in order to calculate the market share, the study takes a closer look at the selling price of the product across different regions. Request for Sample Copy of Zirconia Dental Material Market Report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/10339 Scope of the Report: The researcher assessing the Zirconia Dental Material market dive deep to unearth intangible facts related to the key restraints, opportunities, and threats expected to shape the progress of the industry during the forecast period, 2019 - 2026. Significant evaluation of other factors such as demand and supply status, import and export, distribution channel, consumption volume, and production capability play a vital role in offering business owners, stakeholders and field marketing personnel a competitive edge over others operating in the same space. All important data are presented in self-explanatory charts, tables and graphic images that can be incorporated into any business presentation. Market Segment on the basis of manufacturers, the report covers: Dentsply Sirona, Sagemax Bioceramics, 3M ESPE, Zirkonzahn, Ivoclar Vivadent, Kuraray Noritake Dental, GC, Pritidenta, Glidewell Laboratories, Aurident, CRYSTAL Zirconia, Aidite, Upcera Dental, Huge Dental Most important types of Zirconia Dental Material products covered in this report are: - Zirconia Dental Disc - Zirconia Dental Block Most widely used downstream fields of Zirconia Dental Material market covered in this report are: - Dental Crowns - Dental Bridges - Dentures Buy Zirconia Dental Material Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/10339 The study explores in details about the recent trend fast gaining momentum in the Zirconia Dental Material industry due to factors including but not limited to growing customer preference and a sudden rise in their spending capacity. Aspects attributed to the gross margin, profit, supply chain management and product value and their considerable impact on the development of the Zirconia Dental Material market during the forecast period, 2019 - 2026 is carefully scrutinized during the research. The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated size of the Zirconia Dental Material 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 Zirconia Dental Material market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the potential opportunities for the Zirconia Dental Material market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? There are 14 Chapters to deeply display the global Zirconia Dental Material market. Chapter 1 covers the Zirconia Dental Material Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2 talks about the top manufacturers and analyses their sales, revenue and pricing decisions for the duration 2019 and 2026; Chapter 3 displays the competitive nature of the market by discussing the competition among the top manufacturers. It dissects the market using sales, revenue and market share data for 2019 and 2026; Chapter 4, shows the global market by regions and the proportionate size of each market region based on sales, revenue and market share of Zirconia Dental Material, for the period 2019- 2026; Continue Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/zirconia-dental-material-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 E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com A joint French-Egyptian naval drill titled 'Cleopatra-Gapian 2019' kicked off in France on Sunday, the Egyptian Armed Forces said in a statement. Egyptian units and vessels including Mistral-class Landing Helicopter Dock Gamal Abdel-Nasser and FREMM frigate 'Long Live Egypt' arrived at Toulon Port in France to participate in the joint exercise, which is meant to improve naval performance and increase fighting experience. The naval forces also carried out drills to counter threats against maritime security, including terrorist acts, and protecting cargo ships and searching suspicious vessels. Students from the Egyptian naval academy are participating in the drill to gain experience in naval combat. The drill will continue for several days. Search Keywords: Short link: SPCT can currently accommodate one large and one smaller ship at the same time but when the expansion is completed in 2020 we will be able to accommodate multiple Oasis class sized, plus smaller cruise ships at any one time, Sasedharan Vasudevan, CEO Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) told SCN. Penang Port and Royal Caribbean jv PPSB owns 60% of SPCT while RCL Development Holdings (Penang) Sdn Bhd, wholly owned-subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., owns the remaining 40%. The two signed a joint venture to redevelop the cruise terminal in September 2017. The existing 400mtr berth will be extended by 220mtr with an additional 118mtr-long dolphin. 'It is designed with a view for future expansion in line with anticipated demand,' Vasudevan said. The project envisages SPCT will be able to handle two mega sized cruise ships simultaneously on the outer berths along with one small and one medium sized ship on the inner berths by end of this year. Berth and dolphin construction, scheduled to begin by end of 2019, will see Penang being able to manage 12,000 passengers daily from 2020. Miami-based Bermello Ajamil & Partners are the design team for this project. Homeporting appeal Vasudevan expects a significant increase in international transit calls, along with an increase in appeal for homeporting in Penang. With the state governments full support in managing tourism activities, logistics and transport staging around the terminal, we are confident in strong future growth of the cruise industry in Penang. Vasudevan cited a concerted effort to market Penang as a cruise port and destination and PPSB is sending a delegation to Seatrade Cruise Global. At the entrance to the Strait of Malacca Malaysias historical port of Penang is a deepwater seaport located at the northern entry to the Strait of Malacca. Penang has five terminals but Swettenham is the only one that handles integrated cruise and ferry services to nearby islands such as Pulau Langkawi and Pulau Payah. In 2018, it received 176 international cruise transit calls with 33 turnarounds and around 400,000 passengers. Vasudevan pointed out that Penangs location is excellent for vessels to sail one night to reach North of Acheh, in Indoensia, Melaka in Malaysia or Singapore. Fly cruise potential He also sees fly-cruising to Penang taking off in a big way when Penang Airport (which is currently congested) has been renovated. Penang is one of Malaysias most popular tourist destinations, with a rich tapestry of cultures and considered the countrys culinary capital. Some parts of it are on UNESCO's World Heritage list. There are plans for the entire waterfront, where the cruise terminal is located, to be conserved and transformed to a swanky duty free zone. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi called on Arab leaders to unite in an attempt to work on all challenges and crises facing the Middle East and the Arab world The opening session of the 30th Arab Summit ended on Sunday in the Tunisian capital after the conclusion of speeches by Arab leaders reaffirming their support for the Palestinian cause and rejecting the US's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. The Summit is set to also discuss recent developments in the Yemeni, Syrian and Libyan crises, efforts to support peace and development in Sudan, solidarity with Lebanon, supporting the Republic of Somalia, and other issues. The summit began with a brief speech by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz followed by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. Essebsi announced that the summit is being held under the title 'Determination and Solidarity.' Essebsi also highlighted the importance of coordinating efforts that Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria have been exerting to maintain the security and stability of the neighbouring country of Libya. Saudi King Salman speaks "We reject any measures that undermine Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights," King Salman said. "The Palestinian cause will remain at the top of the Kingdom's concerns until the Palestinian people have all their legitimate rights, foremost of which is the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem (AlQuds) as its capital, based on the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative," the King said according to the Saudi Press Agency. "We reiterate our total rejection of any measures that would infringe Syrian sovereignty over the Golan. We stress the importance of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis that ensures Syria's security, unity and sovereignty, and the prevention of foreign interference, in accordance with the Geneva Declaration 1 and Security Council resolution No. 2254. "On the Yemeni affair, we reiterate our support for the efforts of the United Nations to reach a political solution in accordance with the three references. "We call on the international community to compel Iran-backed Houthi Militias to stop their aggressive practices that have caused the sufferings of the Yemeni people and threatened the security and stability of the region. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to implement its humanitarian and development aid programs to alleviate the sufferings of the Yemeni people.," the King added. King of Jordan on Palestine, regional issues Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Jordan discussed Amman's stances on Palestine, Iraq, and Syria. "The Palestinian cause must remain Arabs core and primary cause," King Abdullah said, delivering Jordans address at the opening of the 30th Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level in Tunisia," the King said according to the Jordanian news agency Petra. The King also referred to the violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, aimed at changing the citys history and identity. "As for the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, our position remains that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory, according to international law and UN resolutions," King Abdullah said. Palestinian President Abbas warns According to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, President Mahmoud Abbas stressed during his speech at the Arab Summit that "in order to safeguard the interests and dreams of the Palestinian people in freedom and independence we can no longer bear or coexist with the status quo. We will have to take decisive steps and decisions." "President Abbas said that we are embarking on very difficult days after Israel destroyed all agreements and reneged on all commitments since the Oslo agreement up until today. "He stressed that Israel's continued policies and actions to destroy the two-state solution have made us lose hope for any peace that can be achieved with it. "He said that the continuation of Israel's racist policies and acting as a state above the law would not have been possible without the support of the American administration, in particular, its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving its embassy to it, and removing the settlements and refugees files and UNRWA from the negotiating table. The president stressed that the decisions that the current US administration's have taken represent a blow to the Arab peace initiative and a radical change in the positions of the successive US administrations towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, thus ending its role in proposing a peace plan or playing a mediator in the peace process. He reaffirmed that we cannot accept a peace plan that does not respect the principles and terms of reference of the peace process and the resolutions of international legitimacy to end the Israeli occupation and achieve freedom and independence. President Abbas warned of Israel's attempts to push some countries to transfer their embassies to Jerusalem, which he stressed requires everyone to inform those countries that they are violating international law and legitimacy and will put their political and economic interests with Arab countries at risk if they did so. Summit after new storm The summit takes place a week after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation recognising Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, a decision that has been rejected by Arab countries and the European Union. Israel occupied the Syrian Golan after the 1967 Middle East War. In 1981, it unilaterally annexed the Golan in a move that was not recognised by the United Nations. Essebsi called on Arab leaders to unite in addressing all challenges and crises facing the Middle East and North Africa region. The Tunisian president stressed his country's support for the Palestinian cause. He said that the occupied Palestinian territories should form the core of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. In 2017, Trump issued a decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that was rejected by a majority of the members of the UN's General Assembly. The Syrian seat in the Arab League remained empty at today's proceedings per the suspension of Syria's membership since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of its civil war. Secretary-General Aboul Gheit sounds alarms Secretary-general of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the United States' decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights will not change reality, and that if occupation constitutes a crime, then seeking to legitimise this crime is a major wrongdoing. Aboul Gheit reiterated the Arab commitment to the Palestinian cause based on the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Aboul Gheit also stressed that political solutions are the hope for ensuring stability in Arab countries, and said that peoples are the losers in civil wars. He also said that the actions of some regional powers in Arab countries exacerbate the conflicts in the region. The secretary-general said he rejects "the interference by Iran and Turkey in the Arab world, which has complicated crises and hindered ways to resolve them." "It is unacceptable for regional powers to meddle and attempt to revive the glory of empire and create so-called safe areas," he said. Aboul Gheit stressed that political solutions are the only way to end the conflicts in the region while safeguarding the nation state under the values of citizenship. Qatar leaves summit Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani abruptly left the summit during the speech by the Arab League secretary-general. The Tunis summit was the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have attended the same gathering since 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait severed diplomatic ties with Riyadh and imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar has denied these charges. El-Sisi outlines Egypt stances Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in his speech during the opening session of the summit that "the liberation of all Arab occupied territories is the only way to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict." El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt's support of the Palestinian people's right to establish an independent state, adding that the Israeli occupied Golan Heights must be returned to Syria as a start to comprehensive and just peace. The Egyptian president said that peaceful negotiations based on the Geneva accords are the only way out of the current crisis. EU's Mogherini at summit As reported by Reuters, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on that ignoring United Nations Security Council resolutions on the Golan Heights was not a solution. " Let me be very clear, the European Union will continue to not recognize Israeli sovereignty on territories occupied in 1967," she told an Arab League summit in Tunis. Mogherini also said a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine was the only viable and realistic solution ... we have a responsibility to prevent the two-state solution from being irreversibly dismantled. Any future plan will have to recognize the internationally agreed parameters including on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, and the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of the two states.The Summit is expected to issue a resolution on the Arab stance on the US decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. UN says 'No Plan B' on Palestine UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated on Sunday at the 30th Arab Summit in Tunisia international support for an Israeli and a Palestinian state ``living side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, and with Jerusalem as capital of both states.'' ``There is no Plan B: without two states, there is no solution,'' he said. Al-Sarraj stresses 'no military solution' in Libya According to the Tunisian news agency, "Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord Fayez Sarraj said on Sunday that "it is time to find an Arab consensus on the Libyan crisis, which implies respect by all Arab countries for the decisions of the Arab League and an end to any negative interference in Libya." Al-Sarraj wished to see the stakeholders in the Libyan crisis convinced that the military solution cannot be applied in Libya. "He said that the crisis in his country had worsened because of negative foreign interference, adding that this had "encouraged some parties not to respect the democratic process and to move away from the peaceful political solution". "The Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord continues to work hard to overcome the current crisis and find a real national agreement, through the organisation of several meetings with the various Libyan parties," he noted, considering that "the solution does not lie in a distribution of power or marginalisation of any party, as some claim". According to him, "peaceful solutions will make it possible to build a civil status, far from any totalitarianism and any militarisation of the State". 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Search Keywords: Short link: Press Release March 31, 2019 ANGARA: ACTION MUST BE TAKEN TO AVERT HOUSING CRISIS Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara said the country's housing backlog could balloon up to 12 million by 2030 if left unaddressed and the homeless population could reach crisis proportions unless the government steps up efforts to provide them with permanent shelter. "Out of a population of roughly 106 to 108 million Filipinos, some 4.5 million don't have any shelter and up to two-thirds of that number-3 million-are here in Metro Manila," Angara said during an event organized by the Chamber of Real Estate & Builders' Associations Inc. (CREBA) in Makati City. Unless action is taken, Angara said citing a 2016 study by the University of Asia and the Pacific, the government housing backlog could reach 12 million in the next decade, including the backlog of over 6 million units from 2001 to 2015. Ironically, Angara said these alarming figures came out in the midst of a booming real estate industry, which from 2014 and 2018 contributed up to 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and taken up more than 18 percent of total bank loans. He noted that while the market had a surplus of up to 561,000 units in mid- and high-cost housing in 2015, the gap for socialized, economic, low and even free housing was more than 11 times than that number, which is around 6.67 million units. "In short, our real estate industry may be booming, but we're doing poorly when it comes to sheltering our people and providing them with homes," lamented the lawmaker from Aurora, who is running under the platform "Alagang Angara." Housing, he said, plays a central, crucial role in the lives of poor Filipinos, as he noted that poverty eradication was unlikely to be met without addressing basic housing needs. "Such housing crisis is just one piece of the greater puzzle that plagues our country-that of chronic poverty," Angara said. He added: "And although it is but one aspect of the problem, it is nevertheless critical. Because without a home, one cannot plant their roots. One cannot lay down the stable foundation on which everything else in their lives should be built." Thus, Angara called for a paradigm shift in housing policy and practice amid the growing urgency to provide adequate, safe and affordable housing to millions of Filipino households. The reelectionist senator also urged the government to spend more for housing to ensure that all Filipinos have access to decent homes. Data from the Asian Development Bank showed that between 2000 and 2014, the Philippines spent only 0.12 percent of GDP for housing, in stark contrast to the average 0.75 of GDP spent by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka for the sector. For his part, Angara had fought for the retention of the VAT exemption for socialized and low-cost housing while Congress was deliberating on the government's tax reform program. This means that socialized housing units that cost P450,000 and below and low-cost housing units priced at P1.7 million and P3 million remain VAT-free. Various studies showed that lifting the exemption would only drag down all efforts at solving the housing backlog. Angara was also an author and co-sponsor of the newly enacted law creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). The department focused on housing and human settlement issues was finally realized after languishing in the legislative mill for 27 years, spanning 9 Congresses. Angara said the work towards addressing the housing problem has just begun with the creation of DHSUD. "Given the gravity of the problems we face, I don't think we should wait another three decades before we enact even more major reforms to our housing policies and programs," he said. Press Release March 31, 2019 Gatchalian To MWSS: Contingency plans for Angat Dam needed Senator Win Gatchalian is asking the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and other concerned agencies to disclose to the public their contingency plans should the Angat Dam dry up and breach its critical level in April. "As early as now we should assure the public that should the water level in Angat Dam reach the critical level because of the El Nino, the government is prepared for that eventuality and we already have contingencies in place to ensure there will be adequate supply of water," Gatchalian said. "I understand that formal recommendations for cloud seeding in Angat have already been sent to PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration), but we should also be prepared should cloud seeding not be enough to stop the dam from breaching its critical level," he added. The lawmaker reminded MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco to submit the official list of waterworks projects in the pipeline between now and 2023, when the Kaliwa Dam project is expected to be completed. The government is banking primarily on the Kaliwa Dam to shore up Metro Manila's water supply. "What is the strategy of the MWSS for the next five years? We want to face our constituents at masasabi naming sa kanila na puwede silang maging kampante dahil itong mga proyekto ay papasok na," Gatchalian told Velasco during the recent Senate Committee on Public Services hearing on the Metro Manila water shortage. Based on PAGASA's computation, the water level in Angat Dam may reach its critical level by the end of April. The dam's water level is now at 195 meters, or 16.09 meters below its normal high level of 212 meters. According to PAGASA, the dam will reach critical level once it breaches the 180-meter mark. PAGASA hydrologist Danilo Flores said the Angat water level drops by an average of 41 centimeters daily. A 2011 study conducted by the University of the Philippines National Engineering Center (UP NEC) on the water demand-supply for areas served by the two concessionaires of the MWSS projected that Metro Manila will experience a water supply deficit around 2020 if no buffer capacity for demand is assumed. Press Release March 31, 2019 Nancy bats for tax relief to employers who hire ALS learners and graduates Employers who will either allow or hire employees who are graduates or participants in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) should be rewarded by giving them tax incentives. Sen. Nancy Binay said this in introducing Senate Bill No. 1046, proposing a 10 percent slash in the taxable income of employers based on the gross salaries of employees who are either ALS learners or ALS graduates. ALS learner refers to individual seeking literacy skills and functional life skills or support services for the improvement of the quality of his/her life whose participation in the ALS has been certified by the Department of Education (DepEd). ALS graduate, on the other hand, refers to any individual who has completed the program of the ALS system and obtained a diploma therefrom. "Given the laudable objectives of ALS and in order to hearten greater participation of the population in the ALS and ensure access to jobs of ALS learners, this Act extends tax incentives to employers who hire ALS learners and graduates from all over the country," the senator said. Binay's bill, also known as "Alternative Learning System Learners and Graduates Incentives Act 2015," employers - whether corporate or otherwise - who hire ALS graduates or allow their current employees to participate in the ALS, may claim a deduction equivalent to 10 percent of the ALS learners' and ALS graduates' gross salaries. However, the said tax deductions shall not exceed 10 percent of the employer's taxable income. ALS is envisioned to be a parallel learning system in the Philippines that provides a practical option to the existing formal instruction. As a flexible, free education program of government, ALS has benefitted many who cannot afford formal schooling, including those whose adult life responsibilities have given them tighter schedules and opportunities for education. The Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 also known as RA 9155, established the ALS as a means to provide out-of-school children, youth and adults alike with basic education. Statistics from the DepEd's Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS), which carries out the program, showed that most participants are fishermen, babysitters, maids, salesladies and out-of-school youths. In filing her proposed bill, Binay said it is the declared policy of the State to encourage initiatives and adopt measures to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality basic education across all ages, improve work opportunities and widen access to employment. The New Zealand dollar was back above 68 cents early Monday after Chinese March official manufacturing data was better than expected. The kiwi was trading at 68.29 at 8am versus 68.02 US cents late Friday in New York. The trade-weighted index was at 74.07 points from 73.83. Chinese March official manufacturing PMI was 50.5 in March versus an expected 49.7. "Chinese data was slightly better," said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional foreign exchange sales at ASB Bank. "There is just a bit of early Asian buying going on." Kelleher said the main focus for global markets, however, is Brexit after UK Prime Minister Theresa May's departure plan was rejected a third time. MPs last week rejected the European Union's withdrawal agreement by 58 votes.. According to ANZ FX/rates strategist Sandeep Parekh, the uncertainty created by the ongoing stalemate in the House of Commons has raised concerns that the UK is set to crash out of the EU on 12 April. "European Council President Donald Tusk called an emergency EU summit to be held on April 10 following the defeated vote, but all eyes will be on May as UK looks for a way forward." The kiwi was trading at 52.37 British Pence from 52.17 pence late Friday. It was at 95.90 Australian cents from 95.49 and Parekh said this week's Reserve Bank of Australian cash rate decision will provide "meaningful direction" for the Aussie. Today's NAB business confidence data will also be closely watched. The kiwi was at 60.78 euro cents from 60.57, at 75.79 Japanese yen from 75.31 and at 4.5837 Chinese yuan from 4.5609. "With little domestic data out this week, expect the kiwi will largely be driven by offshore moves and risk sentiment," said Parekh. (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: New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited (NZX: NZO) Mahato PSC Update 13th December 2021 Morning Report Tower Limited (NZX: TWR) Capital Return - Interim Court Orders Received 10th December 2021 Morning Report Ebos Group Limited (NZX: EBO) EBOS Announces Successful Placement Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) PEB Announces Agreement with Northern Health in Australia AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited (NZX: AFT) AFT welcomes Australian Federal Court appeal success 9th December 2021 Morning Report Ebos Group Limited (NZX: EBO) Acquisition of LifeHealthcare, Equity Raising Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend The monarchy was "intent on harming Jeff Bezos" over The Washington Post (owned by Bezos) coverage of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, wrote Gavin de Becker in a first-person account published in The Daily Beast on Saturday. Washington: A veteran security consultant who works for Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has accused Saudi Arabia of hacking into Bezos' smartphone and alleging sharing personal information about his extra-marital affair to a media outlet. "Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker said. The private phone messages of Bezos sent to his lover, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, were published in The National Enquirer in October. "As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI (the parent company of The National Enquirer) was aware of the details, added de Becker. The inquiry by de Becker included a broad array of resources including extensive discussions with top Middle East experts, Saudi whistleblowers, people who personally know the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (also known as MBS), people who work with his close associate Saud al-Qahtani, among others. Saudi journalist Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. "Some Americans will be surprised to learn that the Saudi government has been very intent on harming Jeff Bezos since last October, when the Post began its relentless coverage of Khashoggi's murder," wrote de Becker. Saudi Arabia has denied involvement in the Bezos affair. "In October, the Saudi government unleashed its cyber army on Bezos (and later me). Their multi-pronged campaign included public calls for boycotts against Amazon.com and its Saudi subsidiary, Souq.com,a claimed the Bezos security chief. In a post on blogging platform Medium in February, Bezos accused the publisher of National Enquirer of "blackmail" and "extortion". "Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten," Bezos wrote in the post while saying that the "top people" at the National Enquirer were responsible for the extortion and blackmail. Referring to AMI's Chairman and CEO, David Pecker, Bezos titled his post "No thank you, Mr. Pecker" and alleged that AMI threatened to release compromising photos of him. "I was made an offer I couldn't refuse," wrote Bezos. "Or at least that's what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I'm glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing." Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are getting divorced after 25 years of marriage. Also Read: Here's how much World's richest man could lose in divorce System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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(0x7f3fe815d348)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe82983e0)', '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(0x7f3fe815d348)') 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(0x7f3fe82983e0)') 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(0x7f3fe82daae8)') 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(0x7f3fe82983e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe82983e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe7d71460)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fcf240340)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fcf240340)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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(0x7f3fe8337830)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3feab41a38)', '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(0x7f3fe8337830)') 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(0x7f3feab41a38)') 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(0x7f3fe82b5980)') 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(0x7f3feab41a38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3feab41a38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe7d716d0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe8617668)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe8617668)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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(0x7f3fe85d6c18)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8718c10)', '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(0x7f3fe85d6c18)') 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(0x7f3fe8718c10)') 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(0x7f3fe86fc660)') 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(0x7f3fe8718c10)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8718c10)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe7d71208)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe86f6e70)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe86f6e70)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Canned air and water-spraying drones: Smog remedies Hong Kong, March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2019 As billions of people in Asia choke under polluted skies, authorities have turned to water-dispersing drones and outdoor air purifiers to improve air quality, while companies have tried to cash in by selling everything from canned air to lung-purifying teas. Around 92 percent of the population in the Asia Pacific region are exposed to levels of air pollution that pose a significant risk to their health, according to UN Environment. Here is a look at some of the ways those living under the haze try to limit its effects. - Spraying water - As public anger rises over toxic air, authorities have turned to spraying water, which is thought to stick to pollutants and carry them to the ground. But tools such as water cannons have been criticised as having little effect and being a "band-aid" solution that distracts from root causes. New Delhi -- the world's most polluted major city -- tried in 2017 to use helicopters to sprinkle water over the city, but the choppers were not able to fly due to low visibility caused by smog. In Bangkok, the government tried a raft of measures to combat a murky haze that blanketed the city for weeks in January, including spraying overpasses with water, cloud seeding and even deploying a fleet of water-dispersing drones. Cloud-seeding is used to stimulate rain by injecting chemicals into clouds using rockets, cannons or aircraft, but the technique is not always successful. An attempt by South Korea to create artificial rain to tackle air pollution in January failed, after an aircraft sent to seed clouds with silver iodide only produced several minutes of misty rain. - Outdoor air purifiers - The northern Chinese city of Xi'an is experimenting with a giant air purifier the size of an industrial smokestack which can reduce PM2.5 concentration by 15 percent within 10 square kilometres, according to researchers. Hong Kong this year opened a 3.7km tunnel equipped with an air purification system touted as the largest of its kind in the world in terms of volume of air handled - 5.4 million cubic metres of vehicle exhaust every hour. The government says it will be able to remove at least 80 percent of harmful particulates and nitrogen dioxide using large fans which suck exhaust into air purification plants in three ventilation buildings along the tunnel. New Delhi last year announced a plan to install huge air purifiers at traffic intersections and mount air filters on the roofs of buses that trap pollutants as they move, according to Hindustan Times. - 'Smog refugees' - During particularly bad spates of air pollution, which tend to come during the winter, many residents in smoggy Chinese cities escape to cleaner places, such as resorts in the south of the country, for a temporary break and return after it has cleared. Ctrip, China's largest online travel agent, estimated in 2016 that every year, over a million residents of smoggy cities such as Beijing and Shanghai leave the country to escape the smog. Popular destinations for these so-called "smog refugees" include places such as Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Some even travel to Antarctica on "lung-cleansing trips," according to Ctrip. - Commercial remedies - Although experts say residents in smoggy cities are unlikely to see health effects from breathing bottled air, that hasn't stopped entrepreneurs from selling them canisters of the stuff from New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. For about US$22, consumers can order an 8 litre can of Banff Air from the popular tourist spot in Canada, or pay US$125 for a jar of air from the British countryside. In China, "anti-smog" teas are promoted by vendors as a way to clean the lungs, while Mongolian residents drink "oxygen cocktails" - made by spraying oxygen into glasses of juice using machines or cans of air. Advertisements boast that "drinking just one oxygen cocktail is equal to a three-hour-walk in a lush forest", despite no scientific evidence they protect from pollution. NATO fetes 70 years, but Trump not partying Washington, March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2019 Seventy years after it was formed to counter the Soviet Union, Russia has returned to the top of the agenda for NATO. But the alliance faces another, more unlikely problem -- criticism from the US president. The 29-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization is celebrating its 70th anniversary with talks among foreign ministers Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, where, in a Cold War redux, the resurgent power of Russia will be the chief item. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the ministers will work "to make sure that NATO is around for the next 70 years" and take aim at Russia over its 2014 takeover of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Pompeo told a congressional hearing he was hopeful "we will be able to announce another series of actions that we will jointly take together to push back against what Russia is doing there in Crimea." But if countering Russia is a familiar role for NATO, its new internal dynamics are not, with President Donald Trump repeatedly suggesting that the allies are freeloaders. The businessman-turned-president, who berated allies at a NATO summit last year at the group's Brussels headquarters, is pressing member states to meet the alliance's goal set in 2014 of spending two percent of GDP on defense. Trump has even derisively asked whether it is worth defending small NATO states such as Montenegro. Pompeo said he will discuss spending and again pointed to Germany, which plans for defense spending well below two percent and declining by 2023. "When I talk to my counterparts, they will begin by saying, 'America needs to do X and Y because Russia poses a threat,'" Pompeo told a forum of the conservative National Review magazine. "Then you ask them 'Well, that's awesome. Tell me what you're prepared to do.' And they say, 'It's tough. Our voters just really don't like to spend money on defense," Pompeo said to laughter. - Lower-key anniversary - NATO leaders will hold an annual summit in December in London, but the 70th anniversary celebrations are notably low-key. It marks a stark contrast with the 50th anniversary in 1999, which rattled Russia and sealed off Washington streets in a way that locals still talk about. Heads of state visited Bill Clinton's White House, new members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were inducted, and leaders plotted the next moves in NATO's bombing campaign in Serbia. This year foreign ministers will be speaking at The Anthem, a hip new music venue booked for the occasion. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet Trump Tuesday and deliver an address to Congress the following day. Derek Chollet, who managed US defense policy on NATO under former president Barack Obama, said he expected NATO members to present a "good news story" on the value of the alliance without the drama of a high-stakes summit. "But the concern is Trump. There is a sort of tangerine cloud hanging over all of this," said Chollet, executive vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "They are concerned that the founding member of the alliance has become the most unpredictable, and perhaps most unreliable." - Should NATO have outlived Cold War - While the populist right has stepped up attacks on NATO, the alliance has long been a bane for the left, which plans to be out in force to protest the anniversary. Peace groups plan marches around Washington and a counter-conference on alternatives to NATO. "NATO should have been retired rather than reprogrammed for domination in the 21st century," said Joseph Gerson, disarmament coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee, the Quakers' peace advocacy organization. He said that, even if one does not empathize with President Vladimir Putin, it should have been expected that Russia would be "snapping back" in response to NATO's expansion. "Just think how concerned the US is with a couple of Russian planes going to Venezuela," he said. "We also want people to understand that NATO has become a global alliance in ways that have very little to do with the defense of Europe," he said. Indeed, Trump recently proposed bringing Brazil into the alliance as he welcomed the country's new hard-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. And NATO has been engaged in 17 years in the war in Afghanistan -- a mission unlikely to have been envisioned by NATO's first secretary general, Hastings Ismay, who famously said the alliance was designed to "keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down." Chollet said that recent years have shown that Russia remains the core threat for NATO, although he said the alliance could also increasingly discuss the challenges from a fast-growing China. "You ask yourself -- how many partners do Russia and China have that are willing to work with them and defend them in the spirit of all for one, one for all?" he said. "Despite its problems, NATO is a unique asset that has never really existed before in history and which the United States is lucky to have," he said. Taiwan blasts China for 'reckless' fighter jet incursion Taipei, March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2019 Taipei hit out at China on Sunday for what it said was a "reckless and provocative" incursion by two fighter jets across a largely respected line dividing the two sides in the Taiwan Strait. The Defence Ministry said Taiwan scrambled its own aircraft on Sunday morning and broadcast warnings after two J-11 fighter jets crossed over the "median line" within the waters that separate the island from the mainland. "At 11 am, March 31, 2 PLAAF J-11 jets violated the long-held tacit agreement by crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter. "It was an intentional, reckless and provocative action. We've informed regional partners and condemn China for such behavior," the ministry added. China has ramped up the number of fighter and warship crossings near Taiwan or through the straits in recent years, rattling nerves on the island at a time when relations are at a low point. But it is highly unusual for them to cross the so-called median line, a widely agreed upon boundary that passes through the middle of the straits. Taiwanese media said the last time Chinese jets had crossed the line was in 2011. That incident was portrayed by both sides as an inadvertent mistake by two jets responding to a nearby US spy plane. But on Sunday Taipei described the latest incursion as a deliberate act. Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang called the flights "provocative and damaging the cross-straits status quo". The flights come a week after the US sailed a destroyer and a coastguard ship through the Taiwan Strait, angering Beijing. Although the straits are an international waterway China often hits out when US or other western navy ships pass through them. 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. Washington diplomatically recognises China over Taiwan but remains the island's chief military ally and arms supplier. Earlier this month Taiwan said it had made a formal request to the US for new fighter jets. Since 2002, the US has repeatedly denied such requests, fearing a possible backlash from Beijing. But in that time China has massively increased spending on its armed forces, including highly advanced fifth-generation jet fighters. That has left Taiwan with an ageing airforce that analysts say is outgunned and in desperate need of an upgrade. 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. She will be fighting for reelection in January 2020. Last week Tsai made a brief stop in Hawaii to deliver a speech, prompting China to lodge an official protest with Washington. Shaheed Alhafed, March 29, 2019 (SPS) - The Ministry of Information on Friday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Sahrawi News Agency, Sahara Press Service (SPS), on March 29, in the presence of members of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front, government, journalists of the Ministry of Information, and relevant bodies. The event witnessed organistion of a discussion table on the performance of the Agency since its establishment in 1999. Minister of Information, Hamada Selma, stressed that the human element remains the real guarantee of any work, especially in the media field, pointing to the need to establish an information portal for the Sahrawi state. The event concluded by organizing a solidarity stand with the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, southern Morocco and the Moroccan university sites, as well as the Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons, during which they chanted slogans demanding their release and guaranteeing the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA Shaheed Alhafed (Refugee Camps), March 31, 2019 (SPS) The organisations of Sahrawi civil society has addressed a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis, calling on him to exhort the King of Morocco to abide by the international legality and law and respect the will and rights of the people of Western Sahara. Below is the full text of the letter addressed to His Holiness Pope Francis by the organisations of Sahrawi Civil society: Letter to His Holiness Pope Francisco 30 March 2019 Your Holiness The undersigning associations and civil society actors, would like to address Your Holiness, to raise the issue of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, illegally and militarily occupied by Morocco, to which you are paying a visit. Western Sahara, as Your Holiness well know, was a Spanish colony until 1975, when Spain unilaterally and irresponsibly withdrew leaving the country to the Moroccan military invasion and occupation, while it was supposed to organize a self-determinations referendum for the Saharawi people to enable them get their freedom. The UN is trying to convince Morocco to end this last case of colonialism and occupation in Western Sahara, and the two parties to the conflict, Polisario Front and Morocco, are meeting these last months in Geneva in direct talks under the supervision of the UN Secretary Generals Personal Envoy, Mr. Horst Kohler, yet there are many issues that directly affect the lives and fate of the people of the territory that needs your attention. Morocco, as the occupying force, is committing all sorts of human rights violations. A simple glance on the latest reports and press releases of all international and Saharawi human rights organisations would disclose the seriousness of these violations. The UN Mission, MINURSO, deployed in the country since 1991 is one of the few, if not the only, UN Mission without Human Rights protection mandate, and is therefore, a passive witness of gross and systematic human rights violations that go unpunished for decades, including extra judiciary execution, assassination, forced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture etc. Likewise, the Moroccan occupation, supported by some foreign States and multinationals,is illegally exploiting and plundering the natural resources of the territory. For example, the European Union has lately renewed a trade agreement with Morocco that includes trading in goods originating from occupied Western Sahara. This act was considered illegal by the European Court of Justice in two landmark rulings in 2016 and 2018. Morocco does not have sovereignty over the territory to sign agreements with third parties allowing them to plunder our resources. Breaking such deals with the occupying force only encourages Morocco to maintain this illegal occupation and worsen the political and humanitarian situation in the territory. The occupation also caused the second oldest case of refugees in the world. Since 1975-76 thousands of Saharawis fled their country to find refuge in the South-West of Algeria. 43 years later they are still relying on meager humanitarian aid, suffering the hardships of refuge in one of the most inhospitable desert in the Planet. In many occasions, their situation is used against them by some international actors, who are trying to force them submit to the will of the occupier in exchange of aid relief. Your Holiness We are addressing you this letter today to ask you to raise this question with the King of Morocco and the Moroccan authorities. Morocco must abide by the international legality and law and must respect the will and rights of the people of Western Sahara. Morocco was unable so far to end this situation because all the proposals and attempts it is trying to impose are illegal, and most importantly rejected by the people of Western Sahara, the sole holders of sovereignty over their land. Morocco will win a lot by finding a just, lasting and acceptable solution that provides for the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence. Any attempt to impose a unilateral solution will never be just or lasting and will never end this problem. Any non-democratic and illegal solution will just create more conflict and confrontation that would affect not only the people of the territory but also the whole region and Europe. Meanwhile, Morocco and other involved actors, such as the European Union, should at least stop the plunder of the Saharawi resources until the resolution of the conflict. Morocco should also respect human rights in the territory and put an end to the exactions and abuses committed by its authorities against Saharawis who reject the occupation and defend their peoples right to self-determination, independence and freedom. It is time, Your Holiness, to raise these issues and others with the Kingdom of Morocco. It is time to advise it and offer it a chance to remedy to all its past sins and crimes against the people of Western Sahara, and help build peace in the whole region. Finally, please accept Your Holiness the expression of our highest consideration. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA English31/03/2019 GOVEDARICA: WE DO NOT ACCEPT SNSD'S INVITATION EAST SARAJEVO, MARCH, 31 /SRNA/ - The main board of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) does not accept the invitation of the SNSD to participate in the formation of the authority at the level of BiH and the Council of Ministers, SDS leader Vukota Govedarica said today. "The Main Board of SDS does not accept the SNSD's offer to take part in the authority at the level of BiH, and considers that is in the best interest of the party that SDS affects as an opposition political organization to those parties that are gathered on political principles and which define from the SNSD, SDA and HDZ", Govedarica told on press conference in the break of the Main Board session, which is helding in East Sarajevo. Govedarica added that the Main Board clearly expressed the appropriation that SDS, as a state-based political organization, leads a responsible policy that will support all qualitative and prosperity solutions which are important to Republika Srpska. According to him, the Main Board of SDS will do everything to stopping the decisions that it considers harmful to the Republic of Srpska and its people./end/bo English31/03/2019 CVIJANOVIC: UNPRINCIPLED STAND OF SDS BANJALUKA, MARCH, 31 /SRNA/ - SNSD Vice President Zeljka Cvijanovic told Srna that each party has the right to define its position, like SDS not to participate in the authority at the BiH level, but the stand that they will not be in arrangement with SNSD and does not accept the principles defined by SDA and HDZ is unprincipled. "Firstly, because SDS is already in authority with SDA and HDZ, and unreasonably long after the elections have been made. Secondly, the principles defined with the SDA and HDZ are now far more flexible and more general than the matrix in which SDS made the coalition with SDA and HDZ four years ago, even signing solutions that differed from what the constitutional position of Republika Srpska requires", pointed out Cvijanovic to Srna, after was asked to comment the decision of the SDS Main Board not to accept the SNSDs invitation to participate in the formation of authority at the level of BiH. She emphasized that the third important thing is that it is known that a large number of SDS members wants that this party creates a common ground and appearance for the BiH level, knowing with what kind of challenges Republika Srpska meets precisely coming from Sarajevo. "But, of course, as I have already said, each party has the right to define its position. As the SDS decided not to be part of a joint appearance, SNSD also estimated that it is the best for Republika Srpska that its parties perform uniquely and therefore we have also offered a platform for joint appearance also to the oppositional SDS and PDP", Cvijanovic emphasized. United Srpska President Nenad Stevandic said that the decision of SDS not to accept the SNSDs invitation to participate in the establishment of the authority at the BiH level is a lack of courage and intent to tackle the difficult times. Stevandic points out that it is about bad assessment of the political situation. "They did not realize that the SDA Main Board at its session praised only /the Minister of Security in the Council of Ministers in the technical mandate / Dragan Mektic, so this decision is in line with that", Stevandic told Srna./end/bo U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that any resolution to the Syrian conflict must guarantee the territorial integrity of Syria including the occupied Golan Heights. Addressing an Arab League summit in Tunis, Guterres said two-state solution for Israel and Palestine was an "imperative". He also welcomed efforts towards a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria "that addresses the concerns of the Algerian people in a timely way". Search Keywords: Short link: Campaigners from Stratford joined more than a million others in London last week to demand a Peoples Vote on Brexit. According to local pro-Europe groups Stratford4Europe, more than 400 campaigners from across the district joined the event on 23rd March. Jonathan Baker, chair of Stratford4Europe, said: It was truly inspiring to see 400 plus of our supporters brandishing placards and flags when we gathered in Hyde Park in London before the march and then joining what was a complete cross-section of British society. It was an emotional experience even though most of us, because of the huge numbers, never made it as far as Parliament Square or heard the speeches. Impressive too was the notable absence of a police presence and no hint of trouble, just a real sense of community, friendship and a shared, common purpose. The march really did show the true British spirit at its very best. Israeli authorities have reopened the two crossings with the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip after days of hostilities in a sign that cease-fire talks may be advancing. Israeli and Hamas officials confirmed Sunday that the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings were opened for the first time since Monday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Sunday's reopening comes hours after Palestinian militants launched rockets into Israel overnight and the military responded with tank fire. Four Palestinians, including three teens, were killed by Israeli army a day earlier from Israeli fire as tens of thousands took part in mass protests for the Right of Return along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence. Egyptian mediators have tried to reach a cease-fire agreement to end six days of hostilities, which began when a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck a home near Tel Aviv Monday. Search Keywords: Short link: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated on Sunday at the 30th Arab Summit in Tunisia international support for an Israeli and a Palestinian state ``living side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, and with Jerusalem as capital of both states.'' ``There is no Plan B: without two states, there is no solution,'' he said. Search Keywords: Short link: North Korea on Sunday described the February raid on its embassy in Madrid by a dissident group as a "grave terrorist attack" and urged an investigation into the perpetrators. A group of armed men burst into Pyongyang's Spanish embassy last month and roughed up employees before fleeing with documents and computers. The incident came just days before a high-stakes nuclear summit in Hanoi between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that ultimately failed to reach an accord. In its first official comment on the raid, North Korea suggested the possible involvement of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and called on Spanish authorities to bring the "terrorists and their wire-pullers to justice". "A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain," a spokesman for the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, using the acronym for the North's official name. "We are following the rumours of all hues now in the air that FBI of the United States and the small fry of anti-DPRK 'body' were involved in the terror incident," it added. "We expect that the authorities concerned in Spain... carry out an investigation into the incident to the last in a responsible manner." An investigation into the raid is already underway in Madrid. On Wednesday, a Spanish court named Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang as leader of the group who contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault" with information related to the incident in the embassy. According to investigating judge Jose de la Mata, two of the assailants took the embassy's commercial attache to an underground room and urged him to defect, which he refused to do. Dissident group Speculation over the identity and motive of the assailants has swirled in the media since the murky raid, with some suggesting links to the US Central Intelligence Agency and FBI. Hours after the court statement, the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) -- a dissident group believed to include high-profile North Korean defectors -- claimed responsibility for the raid. It said the raid had no links to the Hanoi summit -- which ended abruptly with no agreement -- and that no other governments were involved until after the event. "The organization shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI in the United States, under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality," the CCD said in a statement posted on its website last week. Reports of the alleged ties between the intruders and the FBI appeared to have prompted Pyongyang to break its silence after more than a month, said Thae Yong Ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected in 2016. "The fact that North Korea's reaction comes 37 days after the incident shows it put a lot of consideration into the official statement," Thae wrote on his website. He added that the North was pressuring Spanish authorities to confirm the identity of the group responsible for the raid. The CCD -- which offers to assist people attempting to defect from North Korea -- emerged in 2017 when it posted an online video of the son of the North Korean leader's assassinated brother, saying it had guaranteed his safety. Last month the group declared itself a government-in-exile for the North called "Free Joseon", using an old name for Korea. The CCD has identified itself as a group of defectors around the world but it is still unclear who is behind the shadowy organisation -- although some speculate it has links to South Korea's spy agency. Search Keywords: Short link: Whether organizing marches and protests, lobbying lawmakers or leading social justice campaigns, Black transgender women are leading the fight for equality and human and civil rights for trans and gender-nonconforming people of color. Here, the first in a two-part series about Black trans women nationwide whom other trans women identify as making major moves. [TheBody editor's note: We are cross-posting this series as a single article.] ATLANTA Dee Dee Ngozi Chamblee The founder and executive director of LaGender Inc., an organization serving Atlantas transgender community, Dee Dee Ngozi Chamblee has organized grassroots initiatives and served communities of color for more than 25 years. Her tireless work and passion for raising transgender awareness, as well as her expertise in HIV/AIDS, homelessness, mental health, mass incarceration and police profiling, have helped transform life for human beings living in the ATL. Chamblees honors include receiving the Champions of Change award from President Barack Obama for her extraordinary work, and becoming the first trans woman inducted into the 2020 Leading Womens Society, an honor granted to HIV-positive women nominated by their communities. Chamblee is also co-director of the Solutions Not Punishment Coalition, a Black trans-led, broad-based coalition working for a fair and balanced criminal-justice system. DALLAS Carmarion D. Anderson An activist, minister, educator and musician, Carmarion D. Anderson is a passionate voice for transgender rights. Called to ministry at age 12, Anderson began her transition at 16, becoming legally female at age 19. Today she is a minister at Living Faith Covenant Church in Dallas and is the South regional minister of TransSaints, a network of transgender clergy preparing people to advocate for equal rights for transgender people. Anderson is also a public health consultant focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention and health disparities in marginalized communities. Noting the lack of Black role models in Dallas non-profit leadership, Anderson has become outspoken and passionate about, according to the Dallas Observer, having her voice heard to bridge advocacy of all entities and spirituality in the LGBT and trans community. She will speak at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, this month. DETROIT Br****e Anne Campbell While working with AmeriCorps in 2004, Bre Anne Campbell first encountered and later became involved in HIV advocacy work. In 2010, two months before her gender transition, she was diagnosed with HIV. Nevertheless, she persisted, gaining experience in HIV testing and counseling through the Horizons Project, a youth-focused HIV testing and care program at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Detroit Medical Center, and becoming a published researcher with the Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. A co-founder of the Trans Sistas of Color ProjectDetroit, Campbell is also a board member of the Positive Womens NetworkUSA, a 2015 Victory Institute Empowerment Fellow, a national advisory board member of Positively Trans and a member of the 2016 Brown Boi Projects Executive Director Training Program. She was featured in the Greater Than AIDS Empowered: Trans Women & HIV campaign. NEW YORK CITY Kiara St. James Executive director of the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG), a social justice non-profit led by trans woman of color, Kiara St. James heads the organizations efforts to address policies that affect trans and gender-nonconforming people. Born into an evangelical Christian home in Beaumont, Texas, that rejected her gender expression, St. James spent most of her adolescence with a foster family in Heidelberg, Germany. After living in Atlanta during the early 90s, where she first saw LGB people in positions of power, St. James moved to New York. She became an activist by accident, after a chance encounter in 1999 with Housing Works demonstrators heading to Washington, D.C., to fight for Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funding. She worked for organizations from Harlem United to FROSTED, or From Our Streets on the Caravan, before co-founding NYTAG. Among many honors, she has been interviewed by Laverne Cox for HuffPost. Miasha Forbes A human rights activist, community leader, writer and motivational speaker, Miasha Forbes is a force to be reckoned with. In addition to being the founder and executive director of the Just for Us Gender Diversity Project__a not-for-profit advocacy and aid organization for people who are transgender, intersex or gender nonconformingForbes is also a core collective member and board member at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a New York City-based legal-aid organization that supports low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex or gender nonconforming. She also generously lends her spare time to various New York City-based LGBTQ community-based organizations as a relentless advocate of HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. She has been featured in HuffPost, Out magazine and Rolling Stone for her passionate and fearless approach to sharing the concerns that affect trans women daily. NEW ORLEANS Tela La****Ray Love Born and raised in the Big Easy, Love actually credits Hurricane Katrina with propelling her into a massive life change away from addiction and sex work. After temporarily relocating to Atlanta after the storm, she encountered transgender leaders whose guidance and acceptance propelled her into her own brand of powerful advocacy. Today Love is the co-founder of New Legacy Ministries, a grassroots organization that raises the voices of marginalized communities, including transgender women of color. She has also served on the New Orleans Regional AIDS Planning Council, is active with the Positive Womens Network and is an ally of Women With a Vision; BreakOUT! a support organization for NOLAs LGBTQ community and allies; and the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal. Recently, Love participated in a Human Rights Watch data-collection effort in New Orleans, an initiative geared at stopping harassment of transgender and commercial sex-worker populations as well as supporting access to syringe exchange. OAKLAND**, CALIF.** Monica Joy Cross The Rev. Monica Cross is a Navy veteran who served the nation for more than 20 years. Though many trans people are discouraged from ministry, Cross answered her call, founding the Global Prayer Network and earning an M.Div. from the Pacific School of Religion and a masters in religious leadership for social change from the Starr King School for the Ministry. She also served as founding minister, CEO and transgender clergy consultant for A Different Imagination Institute of Richmond, Calif. Currently pastor at the First Christian Church of Oakland and associate pastor at Tapestry Ministries in Berkeley, Calif., Cross also sits on the Oakland Transitional Grant Area Collaborative Community Planning Council. An avid writer, Cross authored the books Authenticity and Imagination in the Face of Oppression and Reflections of a Prophet Without Honor and maintains a blog, the Transgender Scholar, where she writes about faith, life as a Black transgender woman and HIV awareness. PHILADELPHIA Tiommi Jenae Luckett Tiommi Jenae Lucketts experience with advocacy began when she spoke publicly in her native Arkansas about the impact the Affordable Care Act had had on her as a Black trans woman. Her name became more widely known after she spoke at a 2014 Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS meeting. She participated in AIDS Watch 2014, where she had the opportunity to directly engage members of Congress about HIV/AIDS. Luckett has since made the City of Brotherly Love her home. She currently serves as the Well Projects communications coordinator. She is also active with the Positive Womens Network and provides advisory leadership to Positively Trans, a program of the Transgender Law Center, as well as the United States People Living With HIV Caucus, the Arkansas Transgender Equality Coalition and the Arkansas Department of Health. A powerful voice in the trans and HIV communities, Luckett has been featured in A&U and Philadelphia magazines. Milan Nicole Sherry New Orleans native Milan Nicole Sherry is a founding member of BreakOUT!, where she became a youth organizer. In direct response to killings of Black transgender women, Sherry created the #BlackTransLivesMatter campaign and organized the first New Orleans Trans March, led by transgender and gender-nonconforming youths of color, and co-founded NOLAs Trans March of Resilience. Sherry has helped the Department of Justice reduce racial and gender profiling by the Crescent Citys police and a Human Rights Watch report linking discriminatory policing to HIV transmission. Shes been involved with the American Bar Associations Opening Doors Project and featured on PBS In the Life and in Philadelphia Magazine. She received the 2013 NOLA Unity Award and the 2015 Rising Star Award, presented by EQLA Quality Louisiana. Currently residing in Philadelphia, she is a national board member of Positively Trans and a co-coordinator/outreach specialist at the Trans Equity Project. WASHINGTON, D.C. Lourdes Ashley Hunter A native of Detroit, Lourdes Ashley Hunter is the co-founder and executive director of the Trans Women of Color Collective, a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots initiative that uplifts the stories and experiences of trans and gender-nonconforming people of color and holds mainstream LGBTQ organizations accountable in order to achieve healing and restorative justice. Hunter has helped government agencies such as the New York City Department of Homeless Services, the New York City Human Resources Administration and the New York City Police Department to develop culturally competent best practices. She has also led collaborative efforts with the United Nations, the White House Anti-Violence Task Force, the Office of National AIDS Policy and the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons. In 2012 Lourdes earned a bachelors degree in social theory, structure and change from SUNY Empire State College; in 2014 she earned an MPA from Rutgers Universitys School of Public Affairs and Administration. Whitney Alese is a writer and blogger whose work has been featured in BuzzFeed and other publications. [Note from TheBody: This article was originally published by Black AIDS Institute as a two-part feature. Part one was originally posted on March 6, 2019; part two was posted on March 9. We have cross-posted them with their permission.] Voters in Ukraine are casting ballots in a presidential election Sunday after a campaign that produced a comedian with no political experience as the front-runner and allegations of voter bribery. Opinion polls have shown Volodymyr Zelenskiy who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, leading a field of 39 candidates. The polls also had Zelenskiy outpacing incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the other top candidates, by a broad margin. "Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like,'' voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian, said. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for _ fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs.'' If no candidate secures an absolute majority of Sunday's vote, a runoff between the two top finishers would be held April 21. Concern about the election's legitimacy spiked in recent days after the interior minister said his department was "showered'' with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko offered money in exchange for votes. Campaign issues included endemic corruption in Ukraine, the struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country of 42 million people. Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, has made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the current generation of politicians. "There is no trust in old politicians. They were at the helm, and the situation in the country has only got worse _ corruption runs amok and the war is continuing,'' businessman Valery Ostrozhsky, 66, another Zelenskiy voter, said. Poroshenko, 53, who was a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, saw his approval with citizens sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. He campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that Ukraine and almost all of the world views as illegal. During his presidency, he also vowed to take Ukraine into the European Union and NATO and pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church. "Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO,'' schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, who voted to re-elect the president, said. The former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions of Ukrainians, denouncing price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as "economic genocide'' and promising to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office. "I don't need a bright future in 50 years,'' Olha Suhiy, a 58-year old cook. "I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow.'' A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko's associates and a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko ahead of the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused of involvement in the scheme. Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, which Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied. However, many political observers described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi, who was on Forbes Magazine's list of billionaires with a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2014 before dropping off the following year. Both the president and Kolomoyskyi relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the ``Servant of the People'' TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine's leader. "Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko,'' said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kiev-based think tank. "Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing _ the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources.'' Search Keywords: Short link: Mar 30 2019 11:11 pm To anyone who has followed the agenda of freshman Congresswoman Omar, someone calling her an anti-Semite shouldnt be news. Its just stating the obviouslike water is wet or sharks have bad breath. But in a world where Israel bashing and even overt Jew hatred has become acceptable, any perceived pejorative by a politician is grounds for vote baiting. Thus, when NYC Councilman Kalman Yeger labelled Omar what she is, an anti-Semite, he was called out by a Muslim reporter for having once Tweeted, Palestine does not exist. Yeger, who represents Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Gravesend, Kensington and Midwood, replied: Palestine does not exist. There, I said it again. Also, Congresswoman Omar is an antisemite. Said that too. Thanks for following me. That brought the storm. Conscious of a growing progressive constituency who openly dislikes the State of Israeleven if they, themselves, dontNew York elected officials from the Mayor to the Speaker of the City Council weighed in, feigning outrage or demanding an apology from Yeger. But Yeger would sooner apologize for the moon orbiting the earth. After all, he said, hed only stated an historical fact, and echoed official U.S. policy. There is no Palestine. It wasnt an attack on Palestinians, he said, or a claim that theres no issues needing solutions in the middle east. Just the facts, maam. Water is wet. Enter Linda Sarour, the rabid Israel hater, spokesmodel for anti-Semites everywhere, ornamented terrorist apologist, and sworn enemy of good grammar. Sarsour called upon every frothing social justice warrior in her cabal and social media reach to storm Midwood, surround Yegers home, and call for his head (politically speaking but you never know, given her heroes). Upon reconsideration, Sarsour changed the destination to Yegers Boro Park Office. It was all going down on Thursday night, she warned. Be there or be labelled a Zionist. Dov Hikind was on a plane, returning from Israel, as Sarsour sought assemblage of her torch-wielding mob. Upon hearing her intentions, Dov wasted no time. One can only imagine what his in-flight phone bill will look like when it arrives. Pause for a back story: Hikind and Yeger arent exactly regarded by Boro Parkers as bosom buddies. Yeger ran against Hikinds son Yoni in a somewhat contentious race for the City Council seat. Politics in Jewish circles sometimes smell worse than sharks breath. But thats politics. None of that matters when it comes to the real issues. Linda Sarsour is not bringing a lynch mob to Boro Park to attack a Jew, said Hikind as he called on his community to come out and support Yeger and denounce Sarsour. The iconic activist was still jet lagged when he arrived in Boro Park on Thursday night. Hundreds had gathered on the corner of 16th Ave and 44th Street to heed the call of their former Assemblyman, who retired from office last December. We will not allow a troupe of anti-Semites to run over our neighborhood and succeed in pronouncing their hatred unchallenged, Hikind told reporters. Then Hikind looked around. Where is Linda? he asked. Sarsour was nowhere to be found. Observing what had shown up to greet her, the ayatollah of antisemitism and superintendent of sloppy syntax had exercised the better part of valor and exited stage left. Only a handful of Muslims and a half-dozen inmates from the Neturei Karta psychiatric ward had shown up to protest Yegers tweet. One of the Neturei Karta patients had been to Iran to attend a Holocaust denial conference. For 40 years, Dov Hikind has been standing up for us, Yeger told me. This isnt news. The news is that normal is under attack by crazy. Ive had credible death threats from this incident. But G-d runs the world, and what I stated was a fact. The middle of the road is for horses, I replied to the Councilman, quoting the great Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. You stood for something, learned who you friends werent, and saw that Dov Hikind is still there when we need him. Indeed. And water is still wet. Image Credit: Pexels has recently launched an inquiry into the effect that the escalating climate change crisis is having on human health and the threats that the crisis poses for the future. In the last decade, environmental concerns have topped various lists of threats to global stability, overtaking both economic collapse and international conflict. It is easy to see why climate change has become prioritised in recent years. Extreme climate events , which include hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, have brought the threat of climate change to the forefront of everyones minds. According to, The economic losses from global disasters were estimated to be $306 billion or 233 billion in 2017. That number has doubled from 2016 when it was estimated to be $188 billion or 143 billion. Image Credit: SC National Guard on Flickr Flooding The ever-increasing threat of extreme weather is a pressing reminder that climate change is having a direct effect on our lives right now. Global natural disasters have already caused an unthinkable number of deaths. Ten years ago in 2009,reported that 300,000 people were being killed by global warming per year. According to the United Nations, it is now estimated thatpeople are displaced annually by climate or weather related disasters. Warmer climates make for optimum growing conditions for disease-causing bacteria, allowing dangerous illnesses like malaria and dengue fever to flourish. The ever-increasing warm seasons only exacerbate the problem, as the transmission periods for the diseases are being prolonged. According to the(WHO), diarrhoeal disease is the, killing around 525,000 children in that age group every year. In a, there was found to be a strikingly strong correlation between environmental temperature increases and the increased spread of diarrhoeal diseases.It is predicted that as a result of rising sea levels, flooding will increase dramatically in future years, becoming not only more frequent, but also more severe. Now, the wettest days in Britain see on averagethan in previous years and it is expected that bySo far, the(DEFRA) have announced, in the hope of protecting 300,000 homes in high-risk areas. This will be achieved through a combination of natural flood defences, including planting trees and restoring heathlands, as well as artificial measures such as dam building. Next year, DEFRA are expected to publish a long-term policy detailing plans for a 50 year flood prevention strategy. Stafford Flooding 2008/ Image Credit: William Hook on Flickr. Rise in Temperatures 2023 France would ban all coal power stations In November last year,, it will not always be possible to prevent every flood. We cannot build defences to protect every single building or re-enforce every retreating coastline. With this in mind, the government will also need to prepare for people in high flood risk areas to be evacuated where defence measures are not possible.England experienced its hottest summer on record last year and it is highly likely that temperatures will continue to rise each year thanks to global warming. According to a report by the the journal of, climate change is expected to increase the number of heat related deaths in the UK by. Higher temperatures would make working conditions unbearable, particularly those involving manual labour. Working in excess heat can increase the risks ofand will inevitably lead to a lack of productivity in industry as people are forced to take more breaks to prevent dehydration and exhaustion. According to aby the government in 2018, 'in the current climate'. With an ageing population in Britain, the threat of overheating becomes all the more pressing. Urgent action is needed to prevent overheating both in homes and workspaces. Urban planning needs to be adjusted to incorporate heat reduction methods. The government has authorised an independent evaluation of, which assesses and attempts to manage the risks of overheating. The plan will provide advice for homeowners and businesses about how to respond to hot weather. Public Health England also published awarning of the dangers of overheating, although given that this was nearly three years ago, this could do with updating. Higher temperatures, particularly in summer months, are also predicted to increase the number of outdoor activities people engage in. This in turn increases the risks of ultraviolet radiation and air pollution, both of which are getting worse as a result of environmental damage.The UK has prided itself on being one of the leaders in tackling climate change, having reduced their emissions by, however there is still a long way to go to reduce the damage that has already been done. It has been 11 years since the UK published the landmarkand after agreeing to the globalit would seem that the UK is serious about reducing the effects of climate change. In his speech last year, Michael Gove announced that the UK would be extending help internationally to assist developing countries in reducing their greenhouse emissions. However, while there is a lot of pledges to change, I haven't seen much evidence of action. In his speech, Gove referred to the UK being the third largest world aid donor, stating, . Gove went on to state thathad been earmarked from 2016 and 2020 to assist developing countries in fighting climate change and reducing the devastating effects that come with it. The UK is indeed taking steps towards international collaboration in the fight against climate change, but some are questioning whether they could be doing more. After other countries are now beginning to take more significant measures to fight climate change, it begs the question: why is the UK not doing more? Elsewhere in Europe, the French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announced that byand instead invest 4 billion in boosting energy efficiency. However, in Augugst of 2018, Hulot resigned from the position. According to, this was due to ' Image Credit: MPCA Photos on Flickr Moreover,. Similarly,and the25. 2019 has been the year when Climate change finally seems to have come to the forefront of the news, especially withand the. With increasing calls to action from a more environmentally-aware public the Government is under more and more pressure to implement change and deliver results. Hopefully, it will pay off. Lead Image: Expert travel company Busabout is searching for six travellers for The Great Travel Experiment who will travel to either Southeast Asia, Europe or the USA, all while capturing adventure-packed and envy-inducing content for the company's social media channels. Image courtesy of Busabout website The successful candidates will be paid to embark on a trip worth up to 8,000, which will vary in length from six to 11 weeks depending on the chosen destination. In addition to all paid expenses, the chosen candidates will receive a payment of 200 every week. Travellers can choose between two positions: Instagram Storyteller or Videographer. The Instagram Storyteller will be someone who is confident in front of a lens with excellent storytelling skills whereas the Videographer will be someone with experience in filming and editing video content.Both positions require someone with a creative mind and a passion for travel. All successful candidates, regardless of their position, will be required to get involved in every challenge the Instagram audience selects... and they won't be for the faint-hearted. Challenges could range from eating creepy crawlers in Asia or taking the ultimate leap of faith in a skydive. Decisions will be made using Instagram's interactive poll feature. While it is possible to apply as a team, the company is also urging solo travellers to step forward since two solo applicants can be united as a team. 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 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. Bossing Up as a woman is no new topic, especially since women have found the courage to achieve their dreams in a world that was described as a mens world. Hlobisile Vilakati, like many other woman, is embracing the corporate world and slaying at it. Hlobisile is the Communications Officer at The Ministry of Public Service. STYLE took the opportunity to have a one on one with her to give that zeal to other women to do it better! Hlobi walked us through a different type of slaying as she expressed how she believes women should try to look as natural as they can be in the work place. However, she highlighted that her belief is not the RULE OF LAW. I do not put my trust on make-up, I believe in being natural although it is not bad once in a while, exclaimed Hlobisile. With a Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and a Diploma in Law from the University of Eswatini, one can say her intellectual capacity defies the patriarchal norm where women are mostly confined to household chores. Her sense of fashion exudes elegance as she is always dressed in high heels. Whoever said the devil wears Prada was making false claims because her persona is that of an angel as her soft toned voice creates a calm atmosphere. Wearing pumps to work is a no for me because of the way I see the corporate environment, highlighted Hlobisile. Although she has an alluring taste for heels she has no love for jewellery which contradicts the common saying that goes like Diamonds are a girls best friend. I am not into jewellery and nails because I tend to connect more to my natural self, not that it is not beautiful but at times, I tend to be more comfortable with a natural look, she noted. Every morning she makes sure she goes for a jog where she covers a kilometre and after wards she hits the shower then nibbles an energy bar just to get through the morning. Asked about how she manages her day she explained that she schedules all her meetings in her diary just to keep focus and that also helps her not to miss a thing. I note down all my plans for the day in my diary as it keeps me from not having a hectic day. I believe in diarising everything and it helps me maintain order, she said. Below is how she gets through the day. Get a Head Start I start by planning ahead. I typically plan on Saturday mornings. This allows me to have the rest of the weekend to spend with my family. Most importantly, though, it allows me to have my plans ready for the start of the workweek. Write Things Down Outlining your issues, tasks, ideas, and projects on paper is going to assist you in sorting it all out. Create a list of all possible solutions to accomplish those things. Identify the steps you need to take to accomplish each task. Get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Schedule Tasks First If you take the time to accomplish your most critical tasks first, you will be able to complete those non-critical tasks with less pressure. You will then have additional time to complete those tasks that do not require top priority. Turn Off Distractions. Many times, we can become easily distracted by unimportant tasks and we lose time and focus. We must turn off distractions and start tracking our time. For example, schedule tasks with specific times such as social media for 1 hour on Mondays and Wednesday, housework on Tuesdays for 1 hour and emails for 30 minutes daily. Schedule Less We can become overwhelmed, frustrated, and discouraged if we have too many things on our schedule. You have to be realistic when it comes to your planning and what you schedule each day. You cannot have an appointment 12pm and then another at 1pm when it takes 45 minutes to get there or a phone conference at 9am and another at 10am when its going to take you some time to gather your information. Be reasonable with yourself, know your limits. Remember, it takes baby steps. Take Breaks This may be one of the most important tips. Remember that after 45 minutes, our ability to focus starts to taper off. Take at least 10 to 15 minutes to stretch, get something to drink, take a quick walk; anything that can shift your focus for just a moment. Those 10 to15 minutes can bring about new ideas and youll be better prepared to continue your tasks. MBABANE His Majestys Correctional Services Commissioner General Isaiah Mzuthini Ntshangase is linked to the company that benefitted the most during the looting of the Youth Enterprise Fund. Investigations by the Times SUNDAY have revealed that the name of Ntshangase was once registered as a shareholder of this company - Classic World Investments PTY LTD, trading as Classic World Stationery. The companys dealings with the Youth Enterprise Fund were unearthed by former Auditor General Phestecia Nxumalo during a forensic investigation carried out in 2015. The company was paid around E340 000 through what was viewed by Nxumalo as manipulation of procurement rules and thresholds. An unusually close association was found to have existed between the company and the fund. Documents seen by this publication show that Ntshangase, who is Commissioner General of His Majestys Correctional Services, was registered as a shareholder in July 2005 alongside one Lomasontfo Zwakele Mazibuko. His occupation in the document is entered as businessman while that of Mazibuko is classified as businesswoman. admitted his relationship Ntshangase admitted his relationship with this company and said he was trying to earn a living when he became shareholder of the entity. At first though, the commissioner general said: I do not have any relationship with that company, I dont even know what it is. He wondered why he was being associated with a company he did not even know of. He asked what the name of the company was and when told it was Classic World Investments, he said they probably included him as a shareholder because they love me as there is not even one company Ive ever been a shareholder in; not even a single one. However, he then changed tune when asked if he did not know a person by the name of Zwakele Lomasontfo Mazibuko with whom he appears as a shareholder of the company. I know that person. If thats the company you are talking about, I long removed myself from it; long time ago. I was trying to make ends meet when I joined that company, but that was a long, long time ago. I was co-director but the company was a non-starter and it did not get any business. I then decided to exit the company, Ntshangase said. He said he did not remember when he quit the company, but estimated the period to be between 2002 and 2004. It was then brought to his attention that the documents seen by this publication showed that he was registered as shareholder in 2005. The company was registered and incorporated in terms of the Swaziland Companies Act No.7 of 1912 as from 26 July 2005. I think it was the woman who decided to include my name in there, he said. This is despite that a signature purported to be his was appended next to his name. outstanding taxes I quit that company because I was coming across problems whenever I visited the Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA). They would tell me that I had outstanding taxes each time I went there and I would tell them that I was no longer a part of the company, he said, stating that he then quit in order to have his name in the good books of the tax authorities. He said he even wrote a resignation letter to signify that he no longer wanted to be associated with the company. This publication has not had access or seen Ntshangases resignation letter. I might not remember when I wrote the resignation letter because this happened a long time ago and it is no longer in my mind as Im not interested in it, said the commissioner. Ntshangase said the tax authorities were aware of him having resigned from the company. Even though he said he knew that the company dealt in stationery material, he was, however, blank as to what business dealings it was involved in, including that it had won many tenders with the Youth Enterprise Fund. He also said he did not invest a single cent in the company despite having been a shareholder at some stage. Should it happen that Ntshangase was still involved with the company at the time it won the tenders with the Fund or any other public institutions, then that would be a violation of the Public Procurement Act. Section 60 (2) of the Act states: Public officers and politicians shall not participate as tenderers in public procurement. The participation of public officials in public procurement is something that has become a tendency despite several warnings from government. As recent as January 16 this year, government issued Circular No 1 of 2019 through which it noted with great concern that public officers continued to participate in public entities tenders much against the provisions of the Act. A public officer is defined as any officer employed in the public service, including in procuring entities, requesting entities, the Swaziland Public Procurement Regulatory Agency and Tender Boards. Circular warning The Circular warned that the agency would closely monitor adherence to this instruction and failure to adhere to this provision of the Act could result to suspension of the tenderer. Meanwhile, the Times SUNDAY has learnt that at some other stage, Classic World Stationery company had another director by the name of Zandile Hypecia Dlamini alongside Mazibuko. However, Dlamini also resigned through a letter she wrote on November 22, 2016. This letter serves to inform you that Zandile Hypecia Dlamini have (SIC) resigned from being a director in our company. We now have Zwakele Lomasontfo Mazibuko, sole shareholder for the company, reads a letter from Mazibuko that notified the Registrar of Companies of the changes. The offices of Classic World Stationery could not be located even though they are registered in the Registrar of Companies as well as the 2019 Eswatini Telecommunications Directory as being at Sigwaca House in Mbabane. However, the company was not found at Sigwaca House despite the presence of a sign in the building. The 2018 directory listed the companys offices as being located at the Corporate Place in Mbabane but they are no longer there. In her report, Nxumalo the former auditor general - noted that the unusually close association between Classic World and the Fund had resulted in the latter suffering huge financial loss. S&P Global Ratings has affirmed its 'A-/A-2' unsolicited long and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Saudi Arabia. The outlook is stable. S&P said it expect the Saudi government's expansionary budget will help boost economic growth. It also forecasted wider fiscal deficits, but expected Saudi Arabia will retain strong government and external balance sheets. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Saudi Arabia will maintain a pace of moderate economic growth and retain strong government and external balance sheets over the next two years, despite wider fiscal deficits, said S&P in a report. We could raise the ratings if Saudi Arabia's economic growth prospects improve beyond our current expectations, for example, as a result of a more diversified economy. We could lower our ratings if we observed fiscal weakening beyond our expectations, or a sharp deterioration in the sovereign's external position. An unexpected materialization of contingent liabilities or a build-up of arrears could also place additional pressure on expenditure. Additionally, the ratings could come under pressure if we observed a significant increase in domestic or regional political instability, it added. TradeArabia News Service Bahrain Steel, a leading producer of iron ore pellets and a 100-per-cent-owned company of the Bahrain-based Foulath Holding, is planning to double its output over the next 10 years. Bahrain Steel operates two pelletising plants in the kingdom, making it a leading producer of iron ore pellets used in the production of steel. Last year (2018), the company passed the milestone of having produced 100 million tonnes of pellets since its inception in 1989. We are forecasting a major increase of production by Bahrain Steel this year, Khalid Al Bassam, chairman of Bahrain Steel and its parent company, Foulath Holding, said at a conference commemorating the companys 30 years of production. Thirty years of production is an important celebration for Bahrain Steel.This milestone represents not only what we have achieved over the past three decades, but also our standing in the regional and international iron and steel business. We are, today, the worlds largest merchant pelletiser, meaning that unlike other pellet producers, we are independent from any iron ore mine, and are free to choose the most suitable ores from around the world to produce the pellets required by our customers. The company has been slowly ramping up its capacity in the last few years. From the initial 5.5 million tonnes output, Bahrain Steel produced 8 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in 2018, gaining a 26 per cent market share in the GCC and an enviable record for quality output. In the current year, it plans to utilise its full installed capacity of 12 million tonnes. For a long time, we have not been able to ramp our capacity. We were always averaging our capacity around 5 to 5.5 million tonnes. Last year, we achieved the highest output at 8 million tonnes. Going forward, we want to achieve 100 per cent capacity, Dilip George, group chief executive of Bahrain Steel and Foulath Holding said. This follows the companys decision to sign a 20-year iron ore supply agreement with Anglo American Marketing Company (AAML), which will ensure smooth and quality supply of raw materials to Bahrain Steel, according to George. George added: Our main constraint to ramp up was the non-availability of quality iron ore which is the raw material for making pellets.The signing of this new agreement will allow us to utilise our full installed capacity of 12 million tonnes. The negotiations and the drafting of this new agreement are now in the end stages of completion, and the new agreement is expected to be finalised and signed, at a ceremony next month." AAML, George said, has already supplied 1 millio tonne in the first quarter of the current year and will supply 5 million tonnes for the full year. Of its total production, Bahrain Steel supplies 20 per cent to its sister company Sulb. The rest is supplied to steelmakers throughout the world but the key focus is the GCC market which has an estimated demand of 22 million tonnes. The company, which claims to have a 26 per cent market share of the GCC market, is looking at capturing new markets in the GCC and North Africa. The total size of the GCC market alone is 22 million tonnes. The market is huge. It is only the raw materials that is constraining us, George added. Other than the GCC, Bahrain Steel, he said, will be targeting North Africa as there are new plants coming up the region. The company is currently in negotiations with a new plant coming up in Algeria. In Egpyt, it already supplies to Ezz Dekheila Steel Company Alexandria (EZDK) and is looking at other plants as well. Meanwhile, the company is also going to expand its stockyard capacity to support its increased production. As we grow our capacity we need to expand our storage capacity, Geroge said. Towards this, the company is planning to invest about $60 million to $70 million in additional land. We are talking to the Ministry of Industry. They have promised us to allocate this land next to where we are located in Hidd Industrial Area, he added. The land will have to reclaimed from sea and will take about 1 year to be developed, George said. Based on a 1.3 million sq km site at Hidd, Bahrain Steel and other companies of Foulath represent an investment of $3.5 billion. According to George, the group contributes about 4 per cent to Bahrains GDP and 25 per cent to Bahrains non-oil exports which are about $6 billion in value annually. Bahrain Steel, he said, is one of the biggest employers in the kingdom and employs 465 members of staff, roughly 46 per cent of whom are Bahraini. - TradeArabia News Service As commercial aviation witnesses a phenomenal boom across the world, more and more women are passionately striving to become a part of the industry. Women in airspace have transitioned from being employed as flight attendants to premier cockpit controllers. Today, a fifth of students enrolling for a commercial flying licence in India, the worlds second-most populous country, are women, which is way higher than other countries. Compared with other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, the UAE has more women pilots, captains, aircraft engineers, mechanics, aircraft maintenance and air traffic controllers, among others. Emirates Airlines and Group currently employ nearly 27,000 women, making up 42 per cent of the groups workforce, including women pilots who include the youngest Emirati female pilot operating the worlds biggest aircraft, A380. Over 60 of more than 4,000 pilots employed by it are females. More than a third of the 3,770 employees at flydubai, Middle Easts fastest-growing LCC, are female with more than 1,000 female Cabin Crew members and more than 30 female Captains and First Officers. Etihad Airways currently employs over 2,850 Emirati women, including 50 female pilots and also the first Emirati woman registered as a specialist in aviation medicine. Air Arabias women employees include the first female Emirati holder of a multi-crew pilots (MPL) license. The fourth Women in Aviation (WIA) Middle East General Assembly will be held in Dubai on May 1 alongside the 19th edition of Airport Show, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group. The event will focus on the growing contribution of women in aviation globally and share best practices from around the world for over 400 attendees expected at the Dubai event. The sponsors are Air BP, Airbus, Boeing, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), Falcon Aviation Services, Honeywell, LFV Consulting, MSI Air, Safran, Saudi Air Navigation Services, Strata and Yahsat. Key sessions will focus on initiatives that can help women succeed in the aviation workplace and help organisations meet ICAOs gender parity goals, the influence of social media in the changing workplace and work-life balance issues with respect to female employment, as well as a systematic guide on how to enhance gender equality in the aviation workplace. The conference will also look at the role women are playing in the development of the regions ambitious space programmes, especially in the UAE. Mervat Sultan, one of the first Arab women to obtain a flight dispatchers license and a co-founder and president of the Middle East chapter of Women in Aviation (WIA) International, said: Just over five per cent of the commercial pilots flying worldwide are females. The Middle Easts share has not been encouraging, but things are changing. Being a woman in the aviation industry shouldnt be about gender, but only about hard work and ability. The barriers are disappearing as women have been successfully destroying the stereotypes. Today, we can see an increasing number of women in aviation and aerospace, but still they are vastly under-represented. The opportunities are greater now than in the past. Without any doubts, women in the coming time would be scripting a different success story altogether. Its somewhat a slow and steady process. Debates will help us in taking crucial decisions towards this end, said Merwat, who will also be addressing the WIA General Assembly. Prince Fahd bin Mishaal Al-Saud, vice-chairman of Saudi Aviation Club (SAC) and chairman of GCC Aviation Authority, and Sheikha Al Maskari, chief innovation officer, UAE Space Agency, will address the gathering. The other confirmed speakers include Robert J. Gerritsen, general manager, Air BP Mena; Al Jwahrah Al Theyeb, HR manager Saudi Arabia, Boeing; Barbro Bolander, HR director, LFV Consulting; Bernie Dunn, president, Boeing MENAT; and Filiz Hayirli Tepebasi, Turkey strategy manager, Boeing. Also addressing will be Haifa Hamedaldean, Transformation and Project Manager, Saudi Air Navigation Services, Lisa Holzmann, deputy general manager, MSI Air, Lisa Lyons, vice president trading, DAE, Maryam Al Balooshi, manager - Environment Studies at General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Nadine Fanous, Associate Director Industry and Government Relations, Boeing and Patrick Natali, general delegate Middle-East, Safran. The other speakers are Rana Dajani, associate professor, Hashemite University; Sonja Strand, vice president/general manager Global Airports, Honeywell; Suaad Al Shamsi, senior manager - Midfield Programme, Etihad Airways; and Zeina El Hakam, communications manager, Boeing. Women account for 12.4 per cent of Indias pilots, with 1,092 of the total 8,797 pilots in scheduled domestic airlines being women. India has among the highest ratio of female pilots working for scheduled airlines globally. Though the number might seem small, it is significantly higher than the global average of 5.4 per cent and surpasses the countries like France, Japan and the US at 7.6, 5.6 and 5.1 per cent, respectively. Estimates from the International Society of Women Airline Pilots show there are 7,409 women pilots across the world accounting for 5.2 per cent of the total pilot workforce. Women make up about five per cent of the 53,000 members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the worlds largest pilot union. It estimates that between three and six per cent of pilots at the worlds largest commercial airlines are women. Representation of women on the ICAO Council is seven out of 36 members. The organisation is committed to a 50-50 gender parity by 2030. According to data by the ICAO, only 5.18 per cent of pilots are female. - TradeArabia News Service Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme of UAE national carrier Etihad Airways, and the Saudi-headquartered Arab National Bank (ANB) have partnered to launch an ANB Etihad Guest Signature Visa Card in Saudi Arabia. Yasser Al Yousuf, vice president Commercial Partnerships, Etihad Airways said: At Etihad Guest, we make every effort to cooperate with prestigious companies to offer a pioneering travel experience.? Our clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are now able to get rewards, privileges and exclusive offers using the ANB Etihad Guest Signature card. Etihad Airways has 84 weekly flights from different airports around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Guests flying from the kingdom to the US can clear all immigration and customs inspections before they board their flight at the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility. Asad Alsada, head of Consumer Banking services at ANB, said: The new card is the result of joint efforts and close cooperation with our partners with the aim of offering an innovative credit card that has various advantages. This step reflects the bank's ongoing commitment to offer excellent services that meet client expectations.?" Ali Bayloun, Visas general manager in Saudi Arabia, said, "We are pleased with our cooperation with the Arab National Bank and the Etihad Guest programme to launch the joint Visa Signature card, which offers a broad range of benefits to travellers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The card has a design that aims to enrich the travel experiences of clients through special rewards that they can earn on travel and spending.? Card holders will have the opportunity to benefit from worldwide acceptance of Visa at more than 46 million commercial outlets around the world, and peace of mind thanks to the better levels of protection and safety? offered by Visa technology on payments and its broad global network." ANB Etihad Guest Signature Visa card holders will receive an annual fee waiver for the first year and additional benefits including a welcome bonus of 17,000 Etihad Guest Miles. Members will earn two Etihad Guest miles for every SR15 ($4) spent on domestic purchases and 4 Guest Miles for every SR20 spent on international purchases. Successful applicants will receive fast track entry to Etihad Guest Silver Membership and receive free Wi-Fi vouchers to take advantage of the Wi-Fi service available on-board Etihad Airways flights. Passengers wishing to travel between the Kingdom and the US will benefit from the US Customs and Border Protection facility located at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The pre-clearance facility allows guests to process all immigration and customs inspections in Abu Dhabi before departure. Abu Dhabi International Airport is one of only a handful of airports outside of North America that offer such a facility. On arrival in the US, travellers will be treated as domestic US passengers, meaning they will save time on arrival or with onward connections. On average, Etihad carries approximately 1.3 million passengers a year to and from Saudi Arabia. In November 2018, Jeddah became the first destination on the airlines network to be operated by Etihads Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. TradeArabia News Service Passengers flying with Aegean Airlines from Athens International Airport are being offered a faster, more efficient journey through the airport by merely scanning their face at check-in and at security points. Athens Airport has become the first airport in Europe to trial Sita Smart Path, a unique solution where passengers can use their facial biometrics to identify themselves at key steps in the journey without having to show their passport or boarding card. When arriving at Athens Airport to check-in, passengers who utilise the trial service, scan their passport and have their photo taken. Once completed, passengers can then proceed to security where they can quickly be verified as a known traveller without having to show a boarding pass. Passengers simply have their face scanned and then are offered a fast track through security. Alexandros Ziomas, acting director, IT&T Business Unit at Athens International Airport, said: Passengers really appreciate the ease of using Sitas Smart Path trial. It has reduced the time taken to check in and verify passenger identity at security to only a few seconds. It will solve a key challenge for us by ensuring a steady flow of passengers to the security area. This is a service we would like to extend to other steps in the journey over time. A key benefit of Smart Path is that its technology integrates with the airports existing common-use check-in kiosks and boarding gates, making the solution both cost-effective and available to multiple airlines. Smart Path can also be tailored to an airports or airlines specific requirements, allowing Athens Airport to offer this service to other airlines in future, including Aegeans Star Alliance partners. Sergio Colella, Sita president for Europe, said: As most airports around the world already have self-service infrastructure in place, installing Smart Path is cost-effective and easy to implement. Yet, the improvement to security and the passenger experience is tremendously positive. It explains the growing interest in this solution from both airlines and airports in Europe and around the world. Athens International Airport is the latest airport to use Sitas Smart Path solution, joining Brisbane, Doha, Muscat, Orlando, Miami and Boston airports while numerous other airports in Europe and US are expected to implement the solution in 2019. - TradeArabia News Service Sashastra Seema Bal DG visits forward areas to oversee security alertness Siliguri, Mar 30 (UNI) Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Kumar Rajesh Chandra Saturday visited forward areas connecting Nepal in north Bengal to oversee security alertness as well as told personnel to beef up vigilant in view of coming Lok Sabha elections. The major parts of north Bengal districts have a border with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. The DG visited BOP (border outposts) at Pasupati Fatak, Khaprail, Panitanki and interacted with the officers and officials posted in those BOPs and of other agencies in the area. Hackers from Russia and China are trying to meddle in Indonesian elections, according to Arief Budiman, the head of Indonesias General Elections Commission. Indonesian elections start next month and the official believes that the hackers may be attempting to discredit the democratic election process. Hacking Indonesian elections They try to hack our system Not only every day. Almost every hour What we see now is some people, some parties, trying to create distrust of the KPU [the general elections commission], because it will lead to distrust of the process and result, and eventually trigger conflicts, Budiman said in a statement (Bloomberg). The attacks were aimed at modifying and manipulating contents of the voter database as well as creating fake voter identities, also known as ghost voters. The election commission is currently in the midst of investigating incidents of voter fraud. It has been alleged that almost 17.5 million names have been fraudulently added to the voter list. An investigation conducted last year unearthed close to 700,000 potential ghost voters in the database. Budiman believes that certain powers are trying to create distrust in the election commission among the public, thereby discrediting the election system itself. This could eventually lead to widespread regional conflicts. To ensure that the elections are transparent and fair, the commission has invited several international observers to monitor the voting process. It has also met with representatives from social media websites like Google, Twitter, and Facebook and asked them to ensure that the platforms are not used to spread fake news. Australia is another country that has been facing constant cyber attacks from outside forces. Last month, hackers tried to break into the parliaments computer system that stored sensitive information like lawmakers email archives. Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused a sophisticated state actor as being responsible for the attack. Though no country was named, several people from the intelligence community suspect China to be behind the hack attempt. If it is China, then I think its important for the public to know that. Discussions about Huawei and influence will be issues during the election, and letting the public know that the Chinese Communist Party was in our system is important knowledge, Alex Joske, a researcher at the International Cyber Policy Center in Canberra, said to The New York Times. US elections at risk The 2020 U.S. Presidential election is also at risk of hacking attempts from countries like Russia and China, the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, told the Senate Intelligence Committee in January this year. We assess that foreign actors will view the 2020 U.S. elections as an opportunity to advance their interests. We expect them to refine their capabilities and add new tactics as they learn from each others experiences and efforts in previous elections Moscow may employ additional influence toolkits such as spreading disinformation, conducting hack-and-leak operations, or manipulating data in a more targeted fashion to influence U.S. policy, actions, and elections, he said in a statement (CNN). Chris Wray, FBI Director, has stated that Russia weaponized disinformation through social media during the 2018 election. U.S. intelligence agencies are reportedly working with social media companies to counter such propaganda campaigns and have already blocked a few such attempts by the Russians before they could become viral. Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our weekly email Here is how you can help tornado victims By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 30, 2019 | 04:53 PM | PADUCAH According to Paducah Police, an employee of Cigarettes for Less, 2223 Cairo Road, told officers that a man came into the store, pointed a handgun at him, and demanded money. The employee gave the robber an undetermined amount of cash, and the robber fled on foot. The robber is described as black, between 6 feet and 6 feet, 3 inches, thin build, and wearing a black hoodie with a red bandana over his face. Anyone with information about the crime or the robber's whereabouts is asked to call the Paducah Police Department at 270/444-8550. Information also may be provided anonymously through West Kentucky Crime Stoppers by texting WKY and your tip to 847411 (tip 411) or by downloading the app WKY Crime Stoppers from the Apple Store or Google Play. Tipsters also may access the online tip form through the City of Paducah website at http://paducahky.gov/west-ky-crime-stoppers. Information leading to an arrest or indictment may result in a reward of up to $1,000. A Paducah business was robbed Friday night, and the robber is still at large. By Paul Schaumburg, Graves County Schools Mar. 29, 2019 | 10:37 AM | GRAVES COUNTY When he is not managing the custodial team at Graves County Central Elementary School, Matthew Powell might be working as the safety officer for the crisis management team of the Graves County School District... or, he might even be filling in as a special events bus driver. For his undying dedication and hard work on behalf of students, colleagues, and his community, the National Education Association recently chose him as its 2019 Educational Support Professional of the Year during the awards dinner at the subgroup's conference in Las Vegas, Nev. The annual award is NEA's highest for an educational support professional. Altogether, more than 35 states nominated candidates. "I was shocked and in denial the whole time," Powell said. "I was just in shock when they called my name and for the rest of the night, knowing that there are so many people who do so much for kids across the country. I am very humbled. It was an honor to see an audience of 900 standing in support, but I know it's not just about me, it's about our students, schools, and communities here in Graves County." The conference theme was "Education Support Professionals Uniting our Members across the Nation for Strong Communities, Empowered Educators, and Successful Students." Powell said, "Our educational support professionals play a vital role in educating the whole child so our children feel safe, healthy, and at the point to where they feel engaged, supported, and challenged. Often, support personnel are mentors to our children and often the kids feel most comfortable coming to our support staff to talk about issues and to feel loved and respected." Powell believes the NEA and the National Teacher of the Year Award connect teachers and education support professionals on the same level "... because a teacher cannot do their job without the classified employees: from bus drivers to cafeteria workers and custodians. It takes a village to raise a child. We have a huge responsibility when it comes to our students. Everything we do should be student-centered. That's one of our five beliefs here in the Graves County Schools. At the national level, NEA is recognizing what all of us do." Powell's year-long process ends in Houston, Texas, at next year's assembly, when 9,000 delegates gather to make decisions for the NEA. That's when he'll give his farewell speech. "I want to use this opportunity to let others who are support staff know that the work that we do is important. Often, it's subtle, even unnoticeable... but to our students, it's the greatest thing. Looking back at my childhood experiences, classified employees reached out to make me feel respected and loved. I have the greatest respect for that and I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for those supportive relationships." Following high school graduation in 2007, Powell completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in educational studies from Western Governors' University in 2012. "Matthew thinks in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, solutions rather than problems, do's rather than don'ts," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia. "Most of all, he believes that students should be at the center of every decision we make in our schools." Eskelsen Garcia presented Powell with a commemorative trophy, bouquet of roses, and $10,000 check. Powell also received a coveted Education Support Professional of the Year Hall of Fame plaque. "I'm proud of Matt Powell's accomplishments," said Graves County Superintendent Kim Dublin. "I appreciate his willingness to work at the state and national levels for the good of public education. He is a proponent of kids and striving for programs and excellence that will prepare them for their future. We know that students now need to prepare differently than when we were growing up and he understands the significance of all staff being a part of that. I'm very proud of him. I appreciate what he does and that's a tremendous honor he's achieved." Powell is the president of the Graves County Education Support Professionals and member of the NEA board of directors. A graduate of Graves County High School, he has been employed with the school district since August 2007 and has worked at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. He is a graduate of the KEA Fellows program and NEA Leaders for Tomorrow, Class of 2016. A launching ceremony of thematic activities was held on Friday to mark the 45th anniversary of the archaeological discovery of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). The Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, located in Lintong district, Xian, Shaanxi province, also set the activities to celebrate its own 40th anniversary. The pits of Terracotta Warriors and Horses in the Qin Dynasty are part of the huge burial system of the Emperor Qinshihuang (259-210BC) Mausoleum. The No.1 pit of Terracotta Warriors and Horses was discovered in 1974 and the museum was built and opened to the outside world in 1979. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Qin Dynasty are known as "the eighth wonder of the world" and "one of the great discoveries in the archaeological history of the twentieth century. In order to share this rare cultural feast with the public, 45 enthusiastic spectators were selected by the museum at the launching ceremony to witness the archaeological processes applied to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Qin Dynasty. Yuan Zhongyi tells the audience his research findings.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Mr. Yuan Zhongyi, a famous archaeologist and honorary director of the museum, told the audience about the archaeological excavation and research involved in preserving the national heritage. Yuan Zhongyi, also an expert who enjoys special allowance from the State Council, began to explore and study the pits of Qin terracotta figures and the cemetery of Qin Shihuang in 1974. Mr. Yuan Zhongyi (first from the left) does research work on the Qin Terra-cotta Warriors. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] He led the excavation of terracotta warriors and horses pits Nos. 1, 2 and 3. In addition, he and his team also found more than 500 accompanying pits and tombs, such as bronze carriage and horse pits, stables pits and others, as well as millions of square meters of palace building sites and more than 50,000 cultural relics in Qinshihuang's cemetery. In the past 45 years, the museum has played an active role in archaeological research, cultural relics protection, public education, open exhibitions, service to society and promotion of excellent Chinese culture. It has realized the cultural status and value of the Qinshihuang Mausoleum and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses as the spiritual symbol of Chinese civilization. In 1987, UNESCO listed the Emperor Qinshihuangs Mausoleum (including the pit of terracotta warriors and horses) on the World Heritage List. Over the past 40 years, the museum has received more than 100 million Chinese and foreign visitors, including more than 200 heads of state and government. The valuable cultural relics represented by the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Qin Dynasty have been exhibited in more than 80 cities in more than 40 countries and regions as envoys of international cultural exchange. (China Daily) ATHENS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A special bookshelf dedicated exclusively to China was set up in a central Athens bookstore on Friday. A visitor of the Booktique bookshop reads a Chinese book, in Athens, Greece, on March 29, 2019. A special bookshelf dedicated exclusively to China was set up in the central Athens bookstore on Friday. From now on visitors of the bookshop can find dozens of Chinese books in the special section and get to learn more about Chinese people and Chinese culture. [Xinhua/Marios Lolos] From now on visitors of Booktique bookshop, which is located at the affluent district of Kolonaki near the Greek parliament, can find dozens of Chinese books in the special section and get to learn more about Chinese people and Chinese culture. During the opening ceremony, organizers of the initiative told Xinhua that they want to build a new bridge of understanding between Greek and Chinese people through the initiative. Starting with about 50 books in Chinese and English languages, the bookshelf aims to increase its volume to at least 500, according to Sofika Eleftheroudakis, CEO of the G. C. Eleftheroudakis S.A. International Bookstore. Booktique is the latest "child" of the fourth-generation booksellers in Eleftheroudakis family. As the cooperation with Chinese publishers deepened, Eleftheroudakis family now has brought to Greece a selection of Chinese editions mainly on Chinese language, Art, modern literature and children's books under a program run by the China Publishing & Media Co., Ltd. Sofika Eleftheroudakis (1st L), CEO of the G. C. Eleftheroudakis S.A. International Bookstore, addresses the visitors at the opening ceremony of a China bookshelf at the Booktique bookshop, in Athens, Greece, on March 29, 2019. A special bookshelf dedicated exclusively to China was set up in the central Athens bookstore on Friday. From now on visitors of the bookshop can find dozens of Chinese books in the special section and get to learn more about Chinese people and Chinese culture. [Xinhua/Marios Lolos] "This project is mainly to introduce Chinese good books to readers around the world. The Chinese Bookshelf has already landed in 16 countries on four continents. This is a good attempt," Sun Yuemu, Deputy General Manager of China Publishing & Media Co., Ltd., told Xinhua on Friday. "Greece has much in common with China, and we feel that the biggest thing in common is culture - we all have a long history and culture. The long history and culture are important symbol of the continuation of human development and the move towards a higher civilization," he said, explaining why the Chinese Bookshelf arrived also in Athens. Booktique's clients have given a warm welcome to the initiative, browsing through the editions, as the Chinese Bookshelf was filled with books earlier this week, Eleftheroudakis said. "More and more Greeks are trying to learn the Chinese language. It is taught at some schools. There is clearly interest for everything, the Chinese language, literature, children's books and you know one gets to learn a lot this way. You can learn something new about culture through literature," she noted. The Chinese Bookshelf is a step-in effort to enhance communication between the two countries and peoples, she stressed. "Our goal is to bring the two societies closer through Chinese books in Greece and Greek books in China... This is my idea: to promote, to create sooner or later a similar Greek shelf with Greek books and design objects at Chinese bookshops," she said. Sun Yuemu also expressed willingness to strengthen exchanges and ties with Greece. "The People's Literature Publishing House has published many books about ancient Greek myths and legends. It is the spiritual nutrition that our Chinese youth grew up from generation to generation," he explained. "The Commercial Press has a number of the world's academic masterpieces translated into Chinese. There are many Greek classics like the works of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, which have been popular for many years. Chinese readers enjoyed them very much," he added. "We can say that Chinese has more access to Greek books and knowledge about Greek culture than the Greeks' access to the Chinese books and culture. We want to better tell the Greek readers about China and show them China's excellent traditional culture, the modern China and its development, truly and objectively," Sun Yuemu said. (Source: Xinhua) BEIRUT, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Gao Yan, chairperson of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), announced on Saturday the opening of an office for CCPIT in Lebanon. Gao Yan (L), chairperson of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), speaks during the China Lebanon Investment Forum in Beirut, Lebanon, March 30, 2019. Gao Yan, chairwoman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), announced on Saturday the opening of an office for CCPIT in Lebanon. "CCPIT in Lebanon will cooperate with Lebanese chambers to improve commercial and trade ties between Lebanon and China," Gao said. She added that China is Lebanon's largest trade partner and her country is keen on maintaining this position in the coming years. Gao's remarks came during the China Lebanon Investment Forum which aimed at drawing a roadmap for the future of cooperation between Lebanon and China on various levels. The event, which took place at Adnan Kassar Edifice for Arab Economy in Beirut, saw the participation of Lebanese officials, the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian and representatives of the economic sectors in Lebanon and China. Gao also signed two memorandums of understanding with Lebanese officials for promotion of Chinese investment and collaboration on Lebanon's industrial zones and the creation of the China Arab Arbitration Center. [Xinhua/Bilal Jawich] "CCPIT in Lebanon will cooperate with Lebanese chambers to improve commercial and trade ties between Lebanon and China," Gao said. She added that China is Lebanon's largest trade partner and her country is keen on maintaining this position in the coming years. Gao's remarks came during the China Lebanon Investment Forum which aimed at drawing a roadmap for the future of cooperation between Lebanon and China on various levels. The event, which took place at Adnan Kassar Edifice for Arab Economy in Beirut, saw the participation of Lebanese officials, the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian and representatives of the economic sectors in Lebanon and China. Gao also signed two memorandums of understanding with Lebanese officials for promotion of Chinese investment and collaboration on Lebanon's industrial zones and the creation of the China Arab Arbitration Center. Gao Yan (R, front), chairperson of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), signs the memorandum of understanding with Lebanese officials for promotion of Chinese investment and collaboration on Lebanon's industrial zones during the China Lebanon Investment Forum in Beirut, Lebanon, March 30, 2019. [Xinhua/Bilal Jawich] Rayan Kouatly, secretary general of the Lebanese Arbitration Center, emphasized the importance of the establishment of an arbitration center to solve legal disputes to boost business cooperation. Union of Arab Chambers Honorary Chairman Adnan Kassar described the initiatives taken during the event as a new official beginning for building strong Lebanese-Chinese relations. "CCPIT chairwoman chose Lebanon as the first official visit's destination in the Arab world which is a great honor for our country ... Lebanon plays an important and strategic role in the Belt and Road Initiative," Kassar said. 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. Lebanese and Chinese officials emphasized during the event the importance of boosting ties between the two countries in various areas. "We have to be committed to increasing ties between the two countries in different areas which will have a positive impact on the peoples of China and Lebanon," Gao said. Gao emphasized the need to increase mutual investments while inviting Lebanese companies to take part in exhibitions in China. She also called upon Chinese companies to invest in Lebanon's industrial zones which will increase the country's exports while expanding Middle East markets. Meanwhile, Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Choucair, representing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, said that Lebanon hopes to create trade balance with China. Choucair added that Lebanon is preparing to launch a set of new projects within the framework of CEDRE, an international conference supporting Lebanon with 11 U.S. billion dollars in loans and donations to revamp the country's ailing infrastructure and bolster its economy. "We call upon Chinese companies to partner with Lebanese businesses to implement these projects. We, from our side, promise to offer all the needed facilities for this purpose," he said. (Source: Xinhua) People visit the Chinese booth at the 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa, Canada, March 30, 2019. Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and cultural activities like lion dancing and paper-cutting are attracting hundreds of visitors at the opening of 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show on Saturday. [Xinhua/Li Baodong] OTTAWA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and cultural activities like lion dancing and paper-cutting are attracting hundreds of visitors at the opening of 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show on Saturday. The Chinese booth is the largest exhibition area of 200 square meters at the Shaw Center in Ottawa. The beautifully-decorated booth, established by the Toronto Office of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is eye-catching at the two-day show, which has brought together nearly 300 exhibitors from more than 100 countries and regions across Asia, Africa, America and Europe. People enjoy the Chinese folk music performance at the 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa, Canada, March 30, 2019. Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and cultural activities like lion dancing and paper-cutting are attracting hundreds of visitors at the opening of 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show on Saturday. [Xinhua/Li Baodong] Director Yang Wenting of the Toronto Office of the Chinese ministry told Xinhua that it is necessary to introduce to the Canadian people China's high-quality cultural and tourism resources as tourism has become a new highlight of cooperation between China and Canada in recent years. 2018 was the year of tourism between China and Canada, with nearly 1.6 million visits between the two countries. At present, there are nearly 200 flights a week between China and Canada, flying to 15 cities in China. Yang said the China booth is designed to promote "Beautiful China Beyond Imagination" with the introduction of rich Chinese traditional culture, folk performance, folk music, Chinese food and interactive experience. Some Canadians at the show told Xinhua that travel to China was their most favorable tour experience in a lifetime because of amazing natural scenery and profound cultural resources as well as brilliant historical sites and relics. People watch the performance of Chinese lion dance at the 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa, Canada, March 30, 2019. Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and cultural activities like lion dancing and paper-cutting are attracting hundreds of visitors at the opening of 2019 Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show on Saturday. [Xinhua/Li Baodong] The annual Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show is a platform for travel agencies and industries to interact and network. Its primary objective is to bring into lime light the importance and value of different types of products and services related to travel and tourism industry in the recent times. The event is considered one of the largest travel and leisure events in the world. During the show, tour professionals, agents and operators also hold seminars to share their knowledge and experience. (Source: Xinhua) Air ambulance attends crash between car and motorbike in Coedpoeth This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 31st, 2019 Update: The road has since reopened, and the air ambulance has left the scene. Currently there is no further detail. @wrexham air ambulance taken off after incident on Talwrn Road, Coedpoeth. pic.twitter.com/D5NqXMpAD4 HUW ROBERTS (@hrob74) March 31, 2019 Update: Police have said: Talwrn Road, Coedpoeth currently closed due to a collision between a car and a motorbike. Wales Air Ambulance assisting Police. Road should be open in around 20 minutes. Original information below. The Welsh Air Ambulance has landed in a field close to Coedpoeth. The helicopter landed just after 12:20pm We are told the incident involves a motorcyclist. Police and emergency services are on Talwrn Road. More shortly. Top image: archive pic of air ambulance. (Click for large) Plea by developers to reduce affordable housing contribution to be heard for second time This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 31st, 2019 A plea by developers building more than 50 new apartments to reduce their contribution towards affordable housing will be heard for a second time tomorrow. The Mandale Group is currently working to create living space above shops on Henblas Square in Wrexham town centre. When permission was granted for the scheme to go ahead, councillors attached a condition for a sum of around 300,000 to be paid towards the provision of affordable housing elsewhere in the county borough. However, the company was accused of greed at a planning committee meeting last month after it attempted to reduce the sum to just under 29,000. Councillors asked for further information from the firm after representatives claimed that the original amount would render the development unviable. A new report is set to go before members tomorrow, which shows their anticipated profit stands at more than 250,000. In their submissions, agents acting on their behalf said the profit levels were already below what most developers consider acceptable. They said: The revised viability appraisal has shown a revised profit of just over 250,000. This is approximately half that shown on the previous appraisal and represents a reduced profit margin of eight per cent. This profit is well below that which many developers would normally accept. However, Mandale are not a typical developer, and by using a private rented sector model on this occasion their risk is reduced and they have accepted the scheme will generate a lower profit. Mandales business model for such projects relies on a quick turnaround from purchasing a site, through planning and construction, to sale. They added that the company was happy to pay a revised sum of 28,816 as they felt not to do so would be churlish. Council officers have also supported the group in its bid to lessen the money required. Lawrence Isted, head of environment and planning, said profit levels were an important consideration for the committee. He added that the scheme was an important part of the authoritys ambitions for the town centre. He said: I am satisfied that the revised appraisal shows an accurate assessment of the costs incurred to develop the site, which will result in a financial return well below what is considered to be a reasonable profit. The council is required to give significant weight to this financial constraint and factor this against the other benefits of the proposed development. As mentioned in my previous report, the proposal would result in the redevelopment of this prominent building which is important to the successful delivery of the town centre masterplan. There is clearly little financial incentive based on the current viability assessment to convert the building for residential use or any other purpose. Councillors will meet to consider the report on tomorrow . By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme). (Click for large) Wrexham AM welcomes moves to end the physical punishment of children This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 31st, 2019 New legislation aimed at ending the physical punishment of children in Wales has been welcomed by Wrexhams Assembly Member. Earlier this week Wrexham.com reported that the Welsh Government had introduced the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill to the National Assembly in a move to help strengthen and protect childrens rights. If the Bill is passed, parents and other adults in a parental capacity will no longer be able to physically punish children, granting children the same protection from physical punishment as adults. Lesley Griffiths AM said: Times and attitudes have changed. As a parent, I want to do all I can to help protect children from harm and I firmly believe there is no place for physical punishment in modern Wales. The Welsh Labour Government has proved to be one of the most progressive nations in promoting childrens rights. With similar legislation being adopted by more than 50 countries across the world, it is important Wales responds by sending a clear message that physically punishing children is not acceptable. If passed, the Bill will abolish the common law defence of reasonable punishment so that any adult acting in a parental capacity cannot use it as a defence if accused of assault or battery against a child meaning they can no longer legally physically punish a child. The Bill will now be scrutinised by AMs, with the Welsh Government hopeful legislation could be in place by spring 2020. An awareness-raising campaign and support for parents would accompany the legislation when it is passed. (Click for large) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 00:06:08|Editor: yan Video Player Close YANGON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Documentaries made by a group of college students from Myanmar and China on China's Yunnan province were screened in Myanmar's Yangon on Friday. Under the training program "Future Communicator," a group of nine Myanmar youths joined the Chinese students from the School of Journalism, China's Yunnan University in late 2018 to make the documentaries. Cultural Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar Tian Shanting expressed his belief that the friendship between China and Myanmar could be strengthened through such training program. U Thein Naing, director of Myanmar Motion Picture Development Department under the Information Ministry, said "the Information Ministry pledges to provide assistance if students from the School of Journalism, Yunnan University would come and join with Myanmar local youths for documentary portraying Myanmar's tradition and cultural heritage as well as beautiful sceneries." Entitled "Beauty of Yunnan," "Myanmar Youths in Yunnan," "Animated Plants in Yunnan," "Technology in Your Sight," "Blossoming" and "Half A Month," the six documentaries made by the students from the two countries were screened at Yangon's China Cultural Center. According to the program organizers, the Myanmar students first chose specific themes, then the students from the two countries set off to film the documentaries jointly in China's Yunnan province for a period of 14 days. The program was a nice attempt of telling Chinese stories, said the organizers, adding the successful event can offer experience on more such cooperation in other southeast Asian countries. Shan Xiaohong, vice dean of Yunnan University's School of Journalism, said that cooperation is the key in such exchange training programs and the documentaries showed the great success of the power of teamwork. Friday's event was jointly organized by the School of Journalism, China's Yunnan University, Myanmar Golden Phoenix Chinese newspaper and China Cultural Center in Yangon. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 19:29:56|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, a person living with HIV has donated a kidney to a transplant recipient also living with HIV, offering new hope for patients with the virus, doctors from Johns Hopkins Medicine said Thursday. The kidney transplant was completed by a multidisciplinary team of doctors on Monday. Both the donor and the recipient are doing well, said the doctors in a news release. "This is the first time someone living with HIV has been allowed to donate a kidney, ever, in the world, and that's huge," said Dorry Segev, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "A disease that was a death sentence in the 1980s has become one so well-controlled that those living with HIV can now save lives with kidney donation - that's incredible," Segev said. Nina Martinez, the 35-year-old kidney donor from Atlanta, was inspired by the medical drama Grey's Anatomy and a friend who donated a living kidney. "Some people believe that people living with HIV are 'sick,' or look unwell," Martinez said in the release. "As a policy advocate, I want people to change what they believe they know about HIV. "I don't want to be anyone's hero. I want to be someone's example, someone's reason to consider donating," she added. In the past, HIV was considered too much of a risk factor for kidney disease in the donor. But new anti-HIV medications have changed that. Moreover, those with well-controlled HIV have basically the same risks as those without HIV and are healthy enough to donate kidneys, according to a recent research led by Segev on over 40,000 people with HIV. "What's meaningful about the first living kidney donor - who is also living with HIV - is that this advances medicine while defeating stigma, too. It challenges providers and the public to see HIV differently," said Christine Durand, M.D., associate professor of medicine and oncology and member of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. About 113,000 people are currently on the transplant waiting list in the United States, according to the non-profit organization United Network for Organ Sharing. Many have died while waiting for transplants. "As patients waiting for a transplant see that we're working with as many donors as possible to save as many lives as possible, we're giving them hope. Every successful transplant shortens the waitlist for all patients, no matter their HIV status," Durand said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-30 21:15:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Guests press bottom during the opening and handover ceremony of the Offshore Fixed Pilot Station in Yangon, Myanmar, March 30, 2019. The Offshore Fixed Pilot Station, built by a Chinese engineering company, opened on Saturday. (Xinhua/Haymhan Aung) YANGON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The offshore fixed pilot station which was constructed by a Chinese engineering company opened in Myanmar's Yangon on Saturday. Managed by the Myanmar Port Authority under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Yangon Offshore Fixed Pilot Station project which is the second of its kind in the world, following the one built in Thailand, started in March 2017 and construction of the station by China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. completed in February this year. At the project opening and handover ceremony, Union Minister U Thant Sin M for Transport and Communications praised the successful completion of the project in line with the international quality standard, saying that the station plays an important supportive role to the country's economic development. Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang assured that the project could support the better transportation through Yangon port, the main trading hub of the country. The pilot station is located at 20 nautical miles away from the mouth of the Yangon River. It will come into operation with more safety and secure manner to carry out the pilotage services in any weather condition, said U Ni Aung, managing director of Myanmar Port Authority. Pan Qingjiang, vice-president of China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd., pledged to continue to support Myanmar government and local entrepreneurs in developing the country's infrastructure industry and Myanmar's economy as well as the interests of Myanmar people. The port of Yangon handles about 90 percent of the country's exports and imports. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 02:51:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close TIRANA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Albanian ruling and opposition parties traded acccustions following the publication of the 2018 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the U.S., which analyzed the situation in Albania as well. The Albanian opposition -- Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) and Democratic Party (DP) -- reacted by raising accusation against the ruling Socialist government. The U.S. report alleged that the Albanian government had not made significant progress in 2018 in terms of money laundering. According to the report, Albania is a vulnerable country in terms of money laundering, as a result of corruption, organized crime and weak government institutions. The cash economy is considered to be a problem for the country. According to the report, Albania's efforts to reform the judicial system are being undermined by corruption. The report also noted the Albanian government's decision to outlaw gambling is aimed at tackling money laundering. On Saturday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused the opposition for using the report for defamation and in an abusive way. "The politicians and media have misused and abused this report as everything else to drag the public in the sludge of their words," Rama said. The acting minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Gent Cakaj said the report "encourages the reforms that the government has undertaken". "The report underlines the steady cooperation between Albania and the U.S. and emphasizes the fact that Albania has achieved substantial results against the fight against organized crime and drug cultivation," Cakaj said. Cakaj noted that the report also witnessed an increase in cases of cocaine seizures passing through Albania. According to Cakaj, the U.S. report said that in Albania there is increasing cross-border security and positive drug capture performance. But the head of the Parliamentary Group of SMI, Petrit Vasili, said that both Rama and Cakaj see imaginary successes in the report. The U.S. report was clearly stating that corruption is spread everywhere, he said. The DP leader Lulzim Basha said that, according to the U.S. report, Albania is considered a transit country for drugs. "Under Rama's leadership, Albania has been turned into an operational criminal base, from a security-exporting base 10 years ago, when we joined the NATO," Basha said. Basha blamed the government for such situation, saying that the report was yet another proof that the cause of opposition's protests was right. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 03:26:51|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Artists perform live music at Viru shopping center in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 30, 2019. The ongoing Tallinn Music Week is bringing music, art and culture to some hidden corners of the Estonian capital. The 11th edition of the new music and city festival from March 25 to March 31 attracted about 170 artists from 28 countries. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju) TALLINN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing Tallinn Music Week is bringing music, art and culture to some hidden corners of the Estonian capital. On Saturday, artists from Estonia, Denmark and Russia entertained visitors at Viru shopping center in central Tallinn district with free live music performances, while others brought music to a cafe of Telliskivi Creative City, drawing a huge crowd. The free events are meant to invite people to explore a hidden Tallinn. The 11th edition of the new music and city festival attracted about 170 artists from 28 countries including Finland, Britain, Canada and Sweden, according to Helen Sildna, head of Tallinn Music Week 2019 from March 25 to March 31. The two-day sessions of the Music Week conference held on Friday and Saturday at the Estonian Academy of Arts focused on the impact of arts on economy. Held each spring in Tallinn since 2009, Tallinn Music Week is a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality. With the new music festival and Creative Impact conference at its core, the Music Week has over the years evolved into an all-encompassing city festival, with side events covering arts, design, city space and food culture, and various societal issues. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 03:36:53|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned the United States against further interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs and stirring up speculations about Russia conducting military operations in the South American country. "We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing it towards civil war, which is in open violation of international law," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. She reiterated that Russia is not intentionally building up its military presence in Venezuela, despite such accusations by the West including Washington. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela on March 23, carrying nearly 100 troops and 35 tons of materials, according to media reports. Moscow has repeatedly said that the existence of Russian troops in Venezuela is in line with the bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation. "The speculations about the conduct of certain 'military operations' by Russia in Venezuela are absolutely groundless," Zakharova said. Meanwhile, the diplomat said that U.S. attempts to scare Russia with sanctions for its legitimate cooperation with Venezuela look ridiculous. She ascribed U.S. "nervousness" about Russian presence in Venezuela to Washington's failure to impeach incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. Nevertheless, Russia will make efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, Zakharova added. "We call on all Venezuelan political forces, which place the interests of their homeland above their own ambitions, to engage in dialogue. We are ready to promote it in every possible way," she said. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since late January when the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Image provided byVenezuela's Presidency shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) taking part in a rally in support of his government, at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Venezuela's Presidency) MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned the United States against further interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs and stirring up speculations about Russia conducting military operations in the South American country. "We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing it towards civil war, which is in open violation of international law," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. She reiterated that Russia is not intentionally building up its military presence in Venezuela, despite such accusations by the West including Washington. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela on March 23, carrying nearly 100 troops and 35 tons of materials, according to media reports. Moscow has repeatedly said that the existence of Russian troops in Venezuela is in line with the bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation. "The speculations about the conduct of certain 'military operations' by Russia in Venezuela are absolutely groundless," Zakharova said. Meanwhile, the diplomat said that U.S. attempts to scare Russia with sanctions for its legitimate cooperation with Venezuela look ridiculous. She ascribed U.S. "nervousness" about Russian presence in Venezuela to Washington's failure to impeach incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. Nevertheless, Russia will make efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, Zakharova added. "We call on all Venezuelan political forces, which place the interests of their homeland above their own ambitions, to engage in dialogue. We are ready to promote it in every possible way," she said. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since late January when the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 07:42:28|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A group of Chinese Americans in San Francisco representing diversified industries Saturday expressed their willingness to work for enhanced mutual understanding between the United States and China. The Chinese Americans of the San Francisco-based non-profit organization, the Greater Shanghai Alliance of America (GSAA), gathered here for a seminar celebrating 40 years of China-U.S. relations since the two countries established official diplomatic ties in 1979. The participants who are keen on building a closer China-U.S. relationship, expressed their shared aspiration to foster win-win outcomes for both countries, despite the difficulty in their current relations. Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Wang Donghua said in a letter to the seminar that the China-U.S. relations, though experiencing ups and downs in the past 40 years, have scored historic achievements and benefited tremendously both peoples, as well as making significant contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity. The official China-U.S. diplomatic relations ushered in a new page in the history of China and U.S. development, Wang added. Roger Zhang, chief director of the GSAA, said the China-U.S. relationship is not only a government-to-government one but more of a people-to-people one. "We believe that cooperation between the U.S. and China benefits both sides while confrontation hurts them, therefore, we Chinese Americans have the responsibility to try our best to promote such a relationship and grow our friendship between Chinese and American peoples," he said. "The U.S. and China have far more common interests than their differences after 40 years of development, and a smooth U.S.-China relationship is conducive to not only both countries, but also global peace and stability," Zhang said. Tony Spitaleri, former mayor of Sunnyvale city in Santa Clara County, California, said as the world's largest and second largest economy, their relationship under the trend of multiple polarization in the world, has become one of the most promising and most influential bilateral relations in the world today. The continuing development of relationship between the United States and China will not only affect the future of the two countries but will also have a significant impact on the future of the entire world, he said. "If we are to succeed, the importance of building strong partnerships and friendships between the United States and China is obvious," Spitaleri added. Many other participants recalled their personal experience of immigration to the United States, the bumpy history of the two countries, the early connections between Chinese and American people, as well as the important contribution of Chinese Americans to the diversified culture of the U.S. society. A healthy China-U.S. relationship will in the long run offer more than business opportunities for both countries, and a stronger people-to-people bond will sustain the ties between China and the United States, said one of the participants to the seminar. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 08:22:34|Editor: ZX Video Player Close KAMPALA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of people on Saturday took part in a run in Uganda's capital Kampala aimed at popularizing China's proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China in 2013 proposed the BRI which 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. Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda flagged of the run, which has already been held in 22 countries and regions within the BRI area. By May, the run would have taken place in 44 countries and regions. "We are committed to contributing to the economic development of this country and we shall continue demonstrating this through channeling investments, supporting infrastructure and socio-economic developments," Zheng said shortly before flag off. He thanked Standard Chartered Bank, the organizers of the run, for facilitating and maintaining "a cordial and warm relationship with the Chinese community in Uganda." "You have facilitated trade between China and Uganda and supported Chinese businesses to grow and thrive in this country and for that we are grateful," Zheng said. Standard Chartered Bank selected eight staff athletes who are traversing the 44 countries, running 10km in each country they visit. The athletes were selected from Uganda, Hong Kong, China, Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and Britain. Serena Leung, the athlete from Hong Kong, said she was happy to be part of the Belt and Road relay as she was meeting new and interesting people. "I will be getting the precious time of meeting local communities for first-hand cultural exchanges," she said. Herman Kambugo from Uganda said, "Each market along the Belt and Road has its unique culture, people, terrain, weather conditions and challenges. I can't wait to experience all of them." Henry Li from China said he was excited about running in Africa. "I know Africa is an important part of the BRI, and many Chinese companies have invested in the region," he said. Some of the BRI-related projects in Uganda include the just launched Chinese constructed Isimba Hydropower Plant, ongoing construction of Karuma Hydropower Plant, Kampala-Entebbe Expressway among others. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 09:15:56|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C, front) is felicitated with a traditional cap during an election campaign public meeting in India's northeastern state of Assam on March 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Stringer) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 09:37:48|Editor: ZX Video Player Close WELLINGTON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Jacinda Ardern will arrive in Beijing on Sunday for her first China trip since becoming New Zealand's prime minister. Her visit is expected to inject new impetus into the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, and bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries. New Zealand is an important partner of China in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the two countries established diplomatic relations 47 years ago, bilateral ties have made remarkable progress, creating many "firsts," including New Zealand being the first developed country to recognize China as a market economy in 2004, and to sign, and launch negotiations to upgrade, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. Last year, two-way trade reached 16.86 billion U.S. dollars, a 14-percent increase on a year-on-year basis. As a result of such robust trade, more and more made-in-China electronics and textiles are available in New Zealand, while lamb and a wide range of dairy products like milk powder are becoming increasingly popular among Chinese consumers. For New Zealand, a closer partnership with China is beneficial. China is now New Zealand's largest trading partner, largest origin country of foreign students, and second largest one of foreign tourists. All these may harbor huge potential for New Zealand's businesses. To fully tap this potential, New Zealand's prime minister is expected to focus on upgrading the decade-old FTA and boost cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during her visit. The BRI is another area where China and New Zealand can step up their mutually beneficial cooperation. New Zealand is the first developed Western economy to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the BRI with Beijing. Also, following Ardern's visit, New Zealand Trade Minister David Parker will be leading a business delegation for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation next month in Beijing. New Zealand's serious interest in working with China on promoting BRI cooperation originates from its rich experience in trade facilitation and services. Within the BRI framework, China and New Zealand can join forces in pushing forward global trading infrastructure and regional integration to help deliver a faster flow of goods, services, personnel and capital in the region and beyond. In addition to that, China and New Zealand, two key economic players in the Asia Pacific, have a common stake in maintaining a rules-based multilateral trading system against a rising tide of protectionism and isolationism. The two sides need to enhance their coordination in this regard and jointly safeguard the existing international order. As two countries with different historical and cultural backgrounds and social systems, it is normal for them to have different opinions on certain topics. However, the past almost five decades of China-New Zealand bilateral relations have shown that as long as they can join forces for mutual benefits on the basis of mutual respect and equality, their partnership will keep on growing. It is hoped that the two sides will take Ardern's visit as an opportunity to make full use of the potential of bilateral cooperation so as to write a new chapter in the China-New Zealand partnership. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 11:13:07|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close CARACAS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Both supporters and opponents of the Venezuelan government took to the streets on Saturday amid an ongoing political and economic crisis aggravated by successive blackouts. Backers of the ruling socialist party took part in what was billed as the "People's Operation in Defense of Liberty," which saw demonstrations in the capital Caracas and other major cities protest U.S.-backed attacks against the government and existing infrastructure. This month, according to officials, sabotage at the country's central hydroelectric plant caused two crippling blackouts that brought productivity to a standstill, undermining an already fragile economy battered by U.S.-led financial sanctions. In Caracas, supporters of the government rallied at four different locations, including San Bernardino, in a show of solidarity with workers of the state-run National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec). Supporters condemned the "electricity sabotage" that led to schools and offices being closed for up to five days at a time, and to businesses and plants being idled. "Today the Venezuelan people are mobilizing nationwide ... to say 'NO' to imperialist terrorism and to defend the peace in our beloved Venezuela," President Nicolas Maduro said via Twitter. Marchers also gathered at the headquarters of the Public Ministry to demand prompt investigations into the attacks on the electricity network. Dario Vivas, vice president of events and mobilizations for Venezuela's United Socialist Party (PSUV), and other party leaders, officially submitted the petition to the ministry. Meanwhile, anti-government demonstrators gathered in Los Teques, capital of north-central Miranda state, an opposition stronghold, and in the Caracas districts of La Candelaria and Caricuao. Addressing a rally, opposition leader and self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido borrowed from the PSUV's parlance and called on Venezuelans to "organize Help and Liberty Committees in each community to create each space for protest." Also on Saturday, a top official announced the government has agreed to the International Red Cross distributing humanitarian aid in Venezuela. Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly, said during a rally in Caracas that the government agreed to work with the Red Cross "because we want peace in this country." In February, the far-right sparked a border standoff by demanding the entry of U.S. humanitarian aid that the government had blocked, arguing it was a ploy to prop up the opposition rather than an effort to help needy Venezuelans. The Red Cross and the United Nations both refused to take part in the Feb. 23 relief effort, saying it was "politicized." On Friday, the Red Cross said it will be ready to deliver aid in two weeks. The organization added it will work alone and not accept the "interference" of others. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 11:13:07|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has issued a class-A arrest warrant for two fugitives involved in financial fraud. Suspects Wang Huyun and Guo Hulin are allegedly involved in crimes of false capital contribution, withdrawing contributed capital, forging or altering financial bills and contract fraud, according to a statement posted by the MPS criminal investigation bureau on social media platform Sina Weibo. The statement contained information about the suspects, including their date and place of birth, ID numbers, photos and addresses. The MPS is encouraging the public to provide information about the two suspects. Those who offer information leading to the arrest of either of the suspects will be rewarded 200,000 yuan (29,700 U.S. dollars) by the ministry. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 11:33:09|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close KIEV, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The situation in Ukraine on the eve of the presidential election scheduled for Sunday is stable and the voting is likely to be held in two rounds, Ukrainian experts have told Xinhua. Volodymyr Fesenko, director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies, said that he expects no street protests, known locally as "Maidan," after the election like it was in 2004. "I do not think that there will be a big Maidan. Now, the absolute majority of people, especially before Easter, will not go to the streets," Fesenko said. The upcoming elections will be the seventh since Ukraine's independence in 1991. This time, a record number of 39 candidates will participate in the election. According to various opinion polls, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko and actor Volodymyr Zelensky are viewed as front-runners in the presidential race. Most experts agree that the elections will be held in two rounds as no candidate has a chance to gain more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round. "The repeat of the 1991 and the 2014 elections, when the president won in the first round, is unrealistic today. The leader would gain a maximum of 30 to 35 percent of the vote, according to polls. This is clearly not enough," said Ruslan Bortnik, an analyst at the Ukrainian Institute of Analysis and Management of Policy. Bortnik said he believes Zelensky and Poroshenko have the best chances to qualify for a run-off. "The chances of Zelensky to advance to the second round are 60 percent, those of Poroshenko are 50 percent, and those of Tymoshenko are 40 percent," Bortnik estimated. Another political expert, Olena Diachenko, said she thinks that Poroshenko has little chances to be re-elected for the second term. While the chances of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko to advance to the second round of elections are disputed, most experts have no doubt that Zelensky will be one of the participants of the run-off as he leads the majority of the opinion polls. Alexander Okhrimenko, the head of Kiev-based Ukrainian Analytical Center, said that people support Zelensky as they perceive him as an alternative candidate to the politicians of the old regime. "It is highly likely that Zelensky would advance to the second round......he is not linked to corruption, he is not linked to the previous government, but he does not have experience in the state structures. But he is popular because a large number of Ukrainian voters do not want to vote for old politicians," Okhrimenko said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 12:23:14|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close NANJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Seven people have been confirmed dead, and five others injured after an explosion occurred in a container containing scrap metal in a metal molding plant in east China's Jiangsu Province Sunday morning. The explosion happened at 7:12 a.m. in an outdoor yard of the Kunshan Waffer Technology Corp. Ltd. in Kunshan Bonded Zone. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 13:03:18|Editor: ZX Video Player Close By Xinhua Writer Luan Xiang BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Another vintage and designer boutique has opened in the posh northern part of Beijing, a city enthusiastic for luxe. From designer gowns and red carpet heels, to luxury handbags and vintage jewelry, the inventory seems no different from any other high-end shop specializing haute couture. But it is different. The entire collection, including the artisan decor in the store, comes from donations, and revenues will go to people in need. It is a stylish addition to Roundabout, China's first charity distribution store, to raise funds for vulnerable social groups -- orphans, children with critical sicknesses or physical challenges, women, elderly, earthquake victims -- and to connect those who want help those in need. Roundabout works to promote the eco-conscious lifestyle of the 3Rs -- reduce, reuse and recycle -- with its free pick-up service over the Capital City, its thrift shop, boutiques and warehouse, said Charlotte Beckett, the charity's volunteer director. "We hope to create a charming place where people feel good and have a pleasant experience when they step inside -- whether to buy a gift for a loved one or to find something they need -- so they would like to come back," she said. To recycle, reuse or repurpose the recyclable instead of letting useful materials end up in landfill is the future, and China will not fall far behind the trend, she said. A DECADE OF LOVE Beckett stumbled into Roundabout looking for a toaster. It happened in the first week after she moved to Beijing with her family seven-and-a-half years ago. For her and many other expatriates in Beijing, Roundabout is a bridge through which they stay connected to society, and a bridge between those who need help and those who are willing to provide it. According to her fellow volunteers, Beckett has brought class to the charity. Besides the Vintage and Designer Shop, she helped open Roundabout Boutique, a consignment shop for local craftspeople to sell handmade wares with 30 percent of sales going to people in need, and a community center for fundraising events and social gatherings. Ever since the first encounter, she has been a regular customer and became director about two years ago. The idea for China's first charity shop was born in 2007 when Roundabout's British founder Leslie Simpson came up with the business plan to create a central charity store that would accept donations, sort them and make them available to any charity that needed them, with surplus items being sold in a Goodwill-style outlet to cover running costs and help pay for medical procedures for children in the homes. In October 2008, Roundabout officially opened with support from both local and international communities in Beijing. Donations started flooding in within a few months and truckloads of supplies left the warehouse on a weekly basis heading as far as quake-stricken Qinghai and to impoverished mountain villages in Yunnan, said Simpson in a note commemorating the charity's 10th anniversary. Charity has no borders. For example, Roundabout's humanitarian aid was delivered to Nepal after the massive earthquake in 2015. Simpson was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013 for her services to charity and philanthropy in China. In 2011, Becky Wang, a Chinese volunteer who is fluent in Mandarin and English joined the cause and became Roundabout's Chinese voice. With Wang onboard, Roundabout has been engaging more and more Chinese individuals, enterprises and institutions, and it has become a platform where expats and locals, schools and embassies, and social groups, can get involved in raising funds, volunteering and providing assistance. At the end of 2013, Simpson and her family left China with their Chinese foster daughter Emma, and her friend and co-founder Mary Kate Brown became director alongside Wang. In late 2017, after Brown left China, Charlotte Beckett took over as director. Expats come to China and leave, but the support for Roundabout continues. New volunteers are being prepared for charity efforts to grow stronger and better. "It has been a relay of love and dedication," Beckett said. ROUNDABOUT FAMILY AND HOW IT WORKS Stepping into its 11th year, Roundabout has become a social enterprise under the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, with its operations divided in three categories: Charity distribution online and offline, aid programs for those under-served in the society and a community platform to engage a dedicated community with people from all walks of life. In the beginning, Roundabout mainly helped orphans from local orphanages and medical foster homes. As it grew, the project broadened its scope to help children from impoverished families facing large medical bills, Wang said. Currently the medical and educational aid program covers a wide variety of conditions and illnesses and sponsors school kids from disadvantaged communities in partnership with local hospitals and partner charities. In 2018 alone, Roundabout raised funds for 249 children from 23 provinces and regions in China to get medical treatment for their critical health conditions and for over 20,000 children to receive educational aid. Since 2016, Roundabout has been designating over 10 million yuan on a yearly basis to medical and educational aid programs, partnering with over 80 charities in Beijing and across the country, according to Wang. In addition to providing aid to children, Roundabout also has been donating money and supplies for an elderly community in Hebei Province since 2009. From 2015 to 2017, over 737,000 yuan (about 109,500 U.S. dollars) worth of clothes, food, coal and necessities were donated to the village. A total of 206 charity sales events, including charity concerts, book fairs, guided hikes, cultural activities and workshops were held last year. Earlier this month, a charity book fair was held between Roundabout and an international school in Beijing. School children and their families, as well as other participants donated and purchased books to raise over 40,000 yuan for Rui, a three-year-old girl with leukemia from Shaanxi Province. "We have been growing in the eyes of the local community who has placed trust in us and has been supporting our charitable efforts generously and with enthusiasm, for which we are grateful," Wang said. Among the supporters, 4,000 volunteers -- men and women, young and old, Chinese and foreign -- dedicated over 24,000 service hours to Roundabout programs from 2016 to 2018. In 2018 alone, over 2,000 volunteers contributed time and talent to the cause, aged from four to 82 years old. "It is more than a full-time job," Wang said. "Our volunteers including myself often work over 15 hours a day, seven days a week." "Being on the Roundabout Team was the best part of my stay in Beijing," wrote Tanja Scheulen, former volunteer and bookkeeper, in congratulation on Roundabout's 10th anniversary in October last year. She had spent five years in Beijing and for three of them she volunteered at Roundabout. "We were part of an international family, a family that worked together as a strong team to help children in need. No one cared about your nationality, your language or your skin color. Each person was important and could help," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 13:19:11|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close A model presents a creation on a show of Jordan Fashion Week in Amman, Jordan, on March 30, 2019. The event, which will last for two days, is the annual official fashion week of Jordan that started in 2018, supporting and promoting local designers and creators in the Jordan fashion industry. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 13:15:14|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close A BMW Vision next 100 concept vehicle is seen at the Poznan Motor Show 2019 in Poznan, Poland, on March 30, 2019. The Poznan Motor Show 2019, with the participation of 170 automobile manufacturers, is held from March 28 to March 31 in Poznan. (Xinhua/Zhou Nan) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 13:33:24|Editor: ZX Video Player Close TUNIS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited Tunisia from Wednesday to Saturday to promote the two countries' relations and enhance inter-party exchanges. At the invitation of Tunisia's Nidaa Tounes party, the delegation, headed by Sun Zhigang, a member of the CPC central committee and secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee, met with Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and leaders of Nidaa Tounes, the Ennahda Movement and Tahya Tounes party. During the visit, Sun introduced Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and held talks with the Tunisian side on further developing bilateral ties, strengthening inter-party communication and boosting cooperation at local levels. The Tunisian leaders spoke highly of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, saying that Tunisia and China share a traditional friendship. They expressed the willingness to participate in the construction of the Belt and Road and draw on China's successful experience in such fields as economic construction, anti-corruption and poverty alleviation, so as to bring the two countries' cooperation to a higher level. Leaders of the Tunisian parties said they are ready to enhance exchanges with the CPC and push forward Tunisia-China ties to develop in an all-round way through inter-party cooperation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 13:43:27|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Nepali and foreign companies signed a total of 15 investment deals and Memorandum of Understandings during the Nepal investment summit held on Friday and Saturday in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, authorities said. The Himalayan country also received 17 applications for other 10 projects showcased during the two-day event, according to Investment Board Nepal (IBN). The participating investors included China, India, the United States, South Korea, Britain, among others, as well as multilateral donor agencies such as International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group which signed separate investment and cooperation agreements during the summit. The applications received for the projects during the summit were related to transport, hydropower, hospital, airport, convention center and agriculture infrastructure, according to IBN. "Investors interested in these projects look serious as they have already paid fees to the IBN for further negotiation," IBN's Chief Executive Officer Maha Prasad Adhikari said during the concluding ceremony. Nepali officials said they were encouraged by the presence of the investors and active participation during the summit. "Prime Minister and I held more than 30 sideline bilateral meetings with the investors and delegates from different agencies. These meetings were extremely useful to carry forward our investment agenda," Nepali Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada said in his concluding remark. According to IBN, more than 1,300 participants including over 735 foreign delegates from more than 300 companies participated in the summit, which the Nepali officials described as overwhelming. During the event, Nepali officials vowed to deepen ongoing policy and legal reforms to make the country more investment-friendly. The last investment summit was held in March 2017 in Kathmandu when the Himalayan country received the pledged investment of 13.52 billion U.S. dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 14:33:35|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A new regulation will take effect on April 1, requiring school officials from kindergartens to secondary schools in China to dine with their students at school canteens. The mechanism is aimed at spotting problems and hazards regarding school food safety and address them in a timely manner, according to the regulation jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Health Commission. Schools are also required to release food sources, suppliers and other information and set up risk prevention and control systems. Food safety supervision departments are required to strengthen supervision over school food safety by conducting regular inspections on and around campuses, as well as guiding schools to implement food safety responsibilities, according to the statement. The regulation also aims to establish the work requirements for prevention, emergency response and coping with school food safety accidents. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 14:33:36|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China has kicked off a campaign to promote paying tribute to revolutionary martyrs as Tomb-sweeping Day draws near. The Ministry of Veterans Affairs has launched online and new media platforms for paying tribute, which has drawn millions of visitors. The campaign is aimed at combining educational activities with paying tribute, according to a notice jointly issued by 10 departments, including state ministries and departments under the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Central Military Commission. The campaign will last until early May for the 100th anniversary of the May 4th Movement, a patriotic campaign launched in 1919 by young Chinese to fight imperialism and feudalism. Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, falls on April 5 this year. It is a traditional Chinese holiday where people pay tribute to deceased family and friends. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 14:38:36|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A new regulation to streamline the procedures for exit-entry permit applications for Chinese citizens will take effect on April 1. According to the regulation, Chinese citizens on the mainland, regardless of where they were born or live, will be able to apply for passports and travel passes for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan at any immigration administrations across the country. Citizens are no longer required to return to their birthplace to apply for exit-entry permits, said the National Immigration Administration (NIA). The NIA will also open an online service on April 1 to facilitate application and inquiry of the aforementioned travel documents. The service will consist of the website s.nia.gov.cn, an app of NIA and mini-programs attached to WeChat and Alipay. Through this online service, people will be able to submit the application forms for travel documents and make reservations for on-site application procedures. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 14:43:37|Editor: ZX Video Player Close SHANGHAI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Over 750 exhibitors from 53 countries and regions have registered to take part in the 2019 Shanghai World Travel Fair to be held from April 18 to 21. The Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism said Morocco, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Gabon and Turkmenistan will make their debuts at the fair. Long-term partner exhibitors from Italy, Russia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Cambodia, Peru and Cuba will showcase new products and services in accordance with the new trends in China's tourism market, according to the organizer. The annual event is a platform to showcase China's natural sceneries, as local tourist authorities are vying to present their tourist resources with high tech measures at the fair. The fair will convene local tourism bureaus, agencies, online tour operators, airline companies, theme park operators, hotels and insurance companies. It is expected to attract over 15,000 professional visitors and 50,000 travel lovers this year, said the organizer. In the year of 2018, Chinese tourists made 150 million overseas trips and 5.5 billion domestic trips. Major tourist destinations in the Chinese mainland received 48 million foreign visitors last year. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 15:03:43|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A fire that broke out in a mountainous area on the northern outskirts of Beijing Saturday was put out on Sunday, according to authorities in Pinggu District of Beijing. The blaze started on a mountain in Miyun District at around 12:23 p.m. Saturday and spread to Pinggu District at about 1 p.m. Saturday due to strong winds. The fire was put out Sunday morning after it spread over an area of 42.7 hectares. No casualties have been reported. The city activated an emergency response with city officials overseeing the fire control. Nearly 3,000 firefighters joined the fire extinguishing. Six villagers in Miyun district were detained by police for burning weeds when fixing a water pipeline in woods, causing the forest fire. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 15:28:49|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's imports of solid waste continued to drop in 2018 as the country tightened its ban on solid waste imports, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). Last year, imports of solid waste saw a sharp 46.5-percent decrease year on year, and the restricted solid waste imports slumped 51.5 percent, Qiu Qiwen, an official in charge of solid wastes and chemicals with MEE said. The MEE has jointly worked with relevant government departments including the General Administration of Customs to forge action plans, adjust solid waste import management categories and step up the restrictions of imports, he said. China, by no means, will loosen its policy and restrictions on the imports of solid waste, Qiu said, adding that the country is determined to significantly reduce the amount and types of imported solid waste and basically realize the target of zero solid waste imports by 2020. According to the customs data, imports of plastic, paper and metal waste totaled 2.65 million tonnes for Jan.-Feb in 2019, down 22.9 percent from the same period last year. China began importing solid waste as a source of raw materials in the 1980s and for years has been the world's largest importer, despite its weak capacity in garbage disposal. Some companies illegally bring foreign waste into the country for profit, posing a threat to the environment and public health. Given rising public awareness of environmental protection and China's green development drive, the government decided to phase out and halt such imports by the end of 2019, except for those containing resources that are not substitutable. The government announced last year to ban 32 types of solid waste, including plastics and paper, and has imposed tough quality restrictions on other recyclable materials. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 15:53:54|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close TASHKENT, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) creates tremendous opportunities for cooperation, which should be seized in a timely and productive manner, an Uzbek expert has said. The BRI has a global scale and is of crucial importance in the further development of international relations, Alisher Matyakubov, vice rector of Uzbekistan's University of Journalism and Mass Communications, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview. "China seeks to expand the boundaries of the Belt and Road Initiative through the maximum possible number of projects implemented in partner countries, deliberately giving them the initiative of comprehending and developing investment proposals by themselves," Matyakubov said. Chinese enterprises' non-financial investments in 56 countries along the Belt and Road routes amounted to 15.64 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 8.9 percent year on year and accounting for 13 percent of the total outbound investment during the period, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. "Uzbekistan is very positive and was one of the first to support this initiative," the expert said, adding that the University of Journalism and Mass Communications is actively involved in the process. "We have established mutually beneficial cooperation with Renmin University of China and Communication University of China," he said, adding that they have created a mechanism for academic exchanges with these universities and are compiling textbooks together. Matyakubov said he supports the idea of creating a think tank, or center, within the framework of the BRI. "Currently there are various -- alarming, skeptical and optimistic -- opinions about the initiative. This center would summarize these opinions, (and) develop scientific foundations of strategic directions in the implementation of the global Belt and Road project." China will host the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation next month in Beijing, and it "will play a very important role and serve as a kind of platform for improving and developing ties between the countries," Matyakubov said. "I think that there are no serious problems or obstacles in further developing the relationship in this direction." Trade volume between China and Uzbekistan increased 53.6 percent year on year to 1.18 billion dollars in the first two months of 2019, accounting for 18.4 percent of Uzbekistan's foreign trade, official figures showed. Uzbekistan has always been and will always be a friendly and reliable partner of China -- this is for certain, Matyakubov said. "I have witnessed so many bright historical moments of the manifestation of the friendship between Uzbekistan and China," he said, adding that the most memorable one was the opening of the Confucius Institute at the Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages in 2014. "We know that the main goal of the institute is to teach Chinese language. But the institute also contributes to a better understanding of Chinese culture, customs and traditions, and to friendly relations between our states and peoples," the expert said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 16:18:57|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Naim-Ul-Karim DHAKA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of Thursday's massive high-rise fire that has left 26 people dead and scores of others injured, two of the owners of the building were arrested on Sunday, an official said. A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh police arrested SMHI Faruque, 65, the building's land owner, and Tasvir Ul Islam, 62, one of the owners of the high rise, in the capital Dhaka early Sunday, said the DB official who declined to be named. The duo were detained in connection with a case filed with over Thursday's devastating blaze at the FR Tower that killed 26 people and left some 70 injured. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police's official news portal reported that the case was filed Saturday against land owner Faruque, Liakat Ali Khan Mukul, 57, chairman of the builder company, and Tasvir and others who were part of the high-rise's management committee. Officials said the faulty 22-storey FR Tower that housed dozens of office had no permission for its top four floors. There was also reportedly shortage of fire safety equipment inside the building. The collapsible gate of the building's emergency exit was shut hindering the rescue efforts. And the staircase was also narrow, according to the investigators. It was not yet clear what caused the fire in the Dhaka's upmarket Banani. The Bangladeshi government has ordered an investigation. Authorities in Bangladesh said they would file murder charges against several people for their roles in FR Tower mismanagement leading to a massive fire. Bangladeshi Public Works and Housing Minister SM Rezaul Karim has labeled the deaths of the FR Tower fire victims as murder, saying "We'll go tough against those responsible." In Bangladesh, poorly constructed buildings have long been the source of various accidents, resulting in the death of hundreds. The high-rise tragedy was the second deadly fire striking Dhaka this year after a blaze ripped through several buildings in old Dhaka, killing at least 81 people on Feb. 21. On Saturday morning a fire gutted hundreds of shops at a kitchen market in Dhaka's Gulshan area, destroying goods and property. The fire originated at about 5:00 a.m. local time in the DNCC market, housing some 350 shops, a fire service official told Xinhua. According to the official, the blaze destroyed at least 300 shops in the market complex where groceries and other kitchen goods are sold. On Jan. 3, 2017, a devastating fire razed much of this market to rubble. In the past decade, a series of fire incidents claimed many lives in Bangladesh. A major blaze in old Dhaka scorched six buildings, killing at least 124 people in June 2010. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 16:23:59|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Many iconic structures here went dark on Saturday night for an hour in observance of the World Wildlife Fund's annual Earth Hour, which calls for energy conservation and environmental protection. Landmarks including the Santa Monica Pier ferris wheel, Los Angeles International Airport pylons, Los Angeles City Hall, Convention Center and buildings at the University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Southern California, were among the structures to switch off their lights from 8:30 p.m. (0330 GMT on Sunday) to 9:30 p.m. (0430 GMT on Sunday). "Our ever-growing demand for food, water, and energy is changing the climate faster than predicted, and it comes at a cost for wildlife, wild places, and people everywhere," the World Wildlife Fund said on its website. "This Earth Hour, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights for one hour to show their steadfast commitment to protecting nature," said the organization. More than 7,000 cities in more than 170 countries around the world were expected to participate in this year's event. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 16:24:00|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close DHAKA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun has approved a loan of 120 million U.S. dollars for a project that will upgrade and expand the power transmission system in Bangladesh's southeastern Chattogram region, home to more than 4 million people. The Bangladesh Power System Upgrade and Expansion Project is the first AIIB financing approved under the bank's Accountability Framework, the Beijing-based lender said in a statement received here Sunday. This framework, which came into effect on Jan. 1, delegates authority to the president to approve those projects that meet the predetermined criteria agreed with the board. "This vital investment marks the first project approved under AIIB's Accountability Framework, which clearly demarcate the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the president in respect of financing operations of the bank," Jin was quoted as saying in the statement. The project will construct and upgrade more than 46 km of double-circuit transmission lines and associated substations and line bays. The project will also improve voltage stability and reduce voltage fluctuations and the need to spread the demand for electrical power, allowing more residences and businesses to connect to the regional grid, said the statement. The Bangladesh Power System Upgrade and Expansion Project is one of four energy projects in Bangladesh that have received funding from AIIB. All four projects are aligned with the Bangladeshi government's target to achieve affordable electricity for all by 2021, the AIIB said, adding this approach will enhance distribution capacity, increase the number of rural and urban electricity consumers, improve efficiency in gas production, expand gas transmission pipeline capacity and increase power generation capabilities in Bangladesh. "Ensuring a more stable source of electricity in Bangladesh's second largest economic center will encourage more businesses to invest in the region, creating jobs and other economic benefits," said AIIB Vice President and Chief Investment Officer D.J. Pandian. "Addressing the power shortages will also remove the risk local businesses face when having to rely on an unstable power supply." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 16:49:03|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ANN ARBOR, the United States, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Although great changes have taken place in the China-U.S. relationship in the past 40 years since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, the fact that the common interests between the two countries far outweigh their differences has not changed, a Chinese diplomat said here Saturday. Addressing the opening ceremony of the two-day 2019 Michigan China Forum in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan, Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian said that China and the United States have different national conditions and levels of development, as well as different cultures, histories and ideologies, but "we have shared responsibility and broad common interests in maintaining regional and global peace and prosperity." "The China-U.S. relations are not a zero-sum game. We both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation." The China-U.S. relationship is between the largest developing and developed countries, Zhao said. "It not only directly affects the welfare of our two peoples but also bears on the global peace, stability and prosperity. A sound China-U.S. relationship serves the fundamental interests of our people and meets the expectations of the wider international community." "The development of China-U.S. relations has brought real benefits to the people of the two countries," Zhao stressed. "China's ever-growing development and ever-opening market will provide new cooperation opportunities for both countries." "The good will and friendship between the Chinese and American people and their aspiration for deeper mutual understanding and cooperation have not changed," Zhao said. "This is the fundamental driving force of our relations." The year 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States. Zhao said "the need for both sides to respect each other and work together to enhance mutual trust and seek common ground while defusing differences has not changed". "This is key to maintaining the sound and stable development of bilateral relations," he said. Founded in 2017, the Michigan China Forum is a non-profit organization registered with the University of Michigan with an aim to tap bilateral cooperation and mutually beneficial development opportunities. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 16:59:09|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Julia Pierrepont III IRVINE, the United States, March 30 (Xinhua) -- For avocado growers in the U.S. western state of California, China holds a lot of appeal as an export destination due to the strength of its economy and the size of its population, Tom Bellamore, president of the Industry Affairs for the California's Avocado Commission (CAGC), has told Xinhua. Foodwise, the meaty green California avocado with its signature armadillo skin, has become as iconic a symbol of the fresh quality of California's homegrown products as the state's fine wines and wrinkled raisins. About 3,000 growers, many of whom are multigenerational families who have farmed avocados for over 100 years, work the land themselves and take tremendous pride in their harvest. "Our avocado growers had the foresight to look ahead to markets beyond the U.S.," Bellamore said. The California Avocado Commission first raised the idea of introducing their premium avocados to China back in 2005 and have been steadily working toward an agreement that would allow them to obtain the required Chinese certifications. "We're still finalizing the correct protocol and these things take time. That's just part of the process," Ken Melban, CAGC vice president, said. "We see tremendous opportunity in the Chinese market," Melban said, adding that "the level of avocado imports going in from other parts of the world has increased exponentially year after year." "In anticipation of access approval, we did a market assessment in three Chinese cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou ... Our premium avocados are a very nice fit for consumers in those three cities," Melban said. Noting that the Chinese share California's fondness for high quality foods, Bellamore said "our avocados lend themselves to many cuisines, all sorts of Asian dishes, Chinese foods included. It adds such flair to almost anything." "The quality of California's crop year-to-year is consistently good. And another important quality is it ships well," said Bellamore. And that makes all the difference to Chinese consumers eyeing for California's avocados from afar. "We greatly appreciate the efforts of the Chinese officials on our market access request and are hopeful it will be completed soon so we can share our premium California avocados with Chinese consumers as soon as next year," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 17:04:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a congratulatory message to Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the rotating president of the Council of the Arab League (AL), on the 30th Arab League Summit in Tunis. In his message, Xi praised the AL's efforts to promote peace, stability and development in the Middle East. He also noted that the AL has been advocating political solutions to pressing issues and contributing to the unification and self-improvement of the Arab world. Xi emphasized that China and the Arab states share a deep-running tradition of friendship. During the eighth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held in Beijing last July, the two sides agreed to establish a future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development, which was a new starting point for Sino-Arab cooperation. China is willing to work with the AL to enhance strategic mutual trust, promote practical cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and implement the Declaration of Action on Sino-Arab Belt and Road Cooperation, said Xi. By doing so, the two sides will build a brighter future for the Sino-Arab strategic partnership and contribute more to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 17:24:15|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HARARE, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa will this week tour Cyclone Idai-ravaged areas in the country together with representatives of 17 other political parties involved in a national dialogue intended to resolve the country's political and economic problems. Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana confirmed in a tweet Sunday that Mnangagwa, who has been to Manicaland Province before, will once again visit the province and other affected areas in the three other provinces of Mashonaland East, Masvingo and the Midlands. "It is great when leadership goes among the people and assess things for themselves," he said. The national dialogue is composed of presidential candidates in the 2018 elections and some officials from their parties. Mnangagwa represents the ruling ZANU-PF party, but main opposition party the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa has snubbed the national dialogue initiative alleging that Mnangagwa is not being sincere. Chimanimani and Chipinge districts in Manicaland are the most affected areas. The government has said 179 people have so far been confirmed dead, although United Nations figures put the toll higher. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 17:29:18|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A senior leader of Somali militant group al-Shabab has surrendered to Somali government forces in Marka town in the country's southern region of Lower Shabelle, officials said on Sunday. Ahmed Abdi Ali, commander of Unit 14 October Division of Somalia National Army (SNA), told journalists that Ibrahim Mohamed Bitow has surrendered to the Somali forces following intensified military operations on the insurgents in recent days. "After 14 days long operations on al-Shabab in Marka town, Ibrahim contacted us and surrendered to the government forces," the commander said. He called on other remaining cells in al-Shabab extremists to imitate the action. The former senior al-Shabab leader who served in the group for nine years said that he joined government forces at his willing. "I was the commander of 100 fighters of al-Shabab who used to fight in Lower Shabelle region. I decided to quit al-Shabab and surrender to the government," Ibrahim said. Ibrahim who was accompanied by one of his special guards admitted they were misled into joining the terrorist group and asked Somali people to forgive them. Meanwhile, the Somali security forces carried out a security operation on Friday night targeting al-Shabab base in Barire town in southern Somalia. The Ministry of Information said the security forces overran the militants' base and seized military equipment and killed several terrorists while one was arrested. "SNA will continue to chase the runaway elements to demolish targets belonging to terrorist elements in the country," said the ministry in a brief statement issued on Saturday evening. The move comes after Mayor of Mogadishu Abdirahman Omar Osman also announced start of door-to-door security operation in the capital which are aimed at thwarting a series of al-Shabab terror attacks. Osman said there will be searches in neighborhoods and vehicles as part of efforts to enhance security in the restive city. The mayor said his administration will provide buses and ambulances to those affected by the road closures. The African Union Mission in Somalia has also intensified operations against al-Shabab militants in central and southern Somalia, conducting consecutive onslaughts to flush the militants out of these regions. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 17:34:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcome ceremony at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 31, 2019. Bolsonaro landed in Israel on Sunday for an official visit, where he was expected to announce whether he will relocate his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (Xinhua/Tomer Neuberg-JINI) JERUSALEM, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro landed in Israel on Sunday for an official visit, where he was expected to announce whether he will relocate his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Bolsonaro was welcomed at the Ben Gurion Airport with an official ceremony, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. In a statement at the airport, Netanyahu said the visit heralds a "climax" in the relations between the two countries. "We are making history, together," he said. During his four-day trip, the far-right Brazilian president will meet with Netanyahu and sign bilateral agreements. The two leaders are scheduled to deliver joint statements in the evening. The president's itinerary also includes a visit to the Western Wall, known in Islam as the Buraq Wall, a controversial holy site in East Jerusalem's Old City, accompanied by Netanyahu, as well as an array of several military forces. The visit follows Netanyahu's trip to Brazil last December, during which he attended Bolsonaro's inauguration ceremony and held a personal meeting with the Brazilian president. Bolsonaro has promised several times he will relocate the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem, a move that is expected to trigger more tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. But Israeli media said Bolsonaro may announce the opening of a foreign trade representation office in Jerusalem rather than the relocations of the embassy during the visit. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, and annexed it shortly afterwards, claiming it part of its "indivisible capital," while the Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Most of the international community also view East Jerusalem as an occupied Palestinian territory. In December 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocated his country's embassy to the city in May of 2018, a move that has sparked waves of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 18:49:29|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Leaders and representatives pose for a group photo during the Arab League summit in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2019. The 30th Arab League (AL) summit kicked off on Sunday to discuss a wide range of challenges faced by the Arab world, with the participation of both leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the first time since they cut ties in 2017. (Xinhua) TUNIS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The 30th Arab League (AL) summit kicked off on Sunday to discuss a wide range of challenges faced by the Arab world, with the participation of both leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the first time since they cut ties in 2017. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani arrived in Tunis on Sunday morning to attend the annual gathering of Arab leaders, while Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been visiting Tunisia since Thursday. The Qatari leader shunned last year's Arab summit held in Saudi Arabia, amid deepening feud with the kingdom which leads an Arab coalition, also including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a full blockade on the tiny gas-rich Gulf nation in June 2017. The coalition has accused Doha of supporting terrorism and fostering close ties with Iran, the arch rival for Riyadh. Qatar has vociferously denied the allegations. The participation of both Saudi and Qatari leaders helped strengthen the show of unity of the 22-member Arab bloc, which has long been marred by internal divisions, including the Qatar-Saudi Arabia feud, Yemeni civil war, and Syrian membership. Top on this year's summit agenda is the recent move by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Syrian territory of Golan Heights. The Arab leaders are expected to show unity by issuing a strong-worded statement to reject the U.S. move, despite their rifts over whether to restore Syria's AL membership. Other major issues that will be discussed at the summit include recent Israeli escalation of clashes with Palestinian protesters in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, crises in Syria, Libya and Yemen, alleged Iranian threat, and fight against terrorism. Conspicuously absent from this summit are Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who sent First Vice-President Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf instead, and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been under pressure to step down amid domestic protests. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 19:29:37|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BRATISLAVA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Slovak electoral commission confirmed on Sunday noon that lawyer Zuzana Caputova has been elected the fifth president and the first female president of the country. In the second round of voting held on Saturday, Caputova got 58.40 percent of votes, while her opponent Maros Sefcovic, who is also the European Commission vice president, got 41.59 percent. In the first round held on March 16, none of the 13 candidates received an absolute majority of votes with Caputova and Sefcovic respectively receiving 40.57 percent and 18.66 percent. The voter turnout in the first round reached 48.7 percent. The second round between Caputova and Sefcovic began at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Saturday and ended at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT). Caputova gave up her membership in the non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party before the run-off and vowed to fight for justice for all Slovaks. She will take office on June 15 when the tenure of incumbent President Andrej Kiska is due to expire. She will be the fifth president of Slovakia after the country emerged as an independent state in 1993 following the parliament-approved dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 19:39:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KABUL, March 31 (Xinhua) -- More than half of people in Afghanistan's about 30 million population are multidimensional poor as the poverty-stricken country struggles with militancy, high rate of unemployment and war in decades, said a statement released by the government on Sunday. "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan launched its first Afghanistan Multidimensional Poverty Index (A-MPI), shows that just over half - 51.7 percent - of people in Afghanistan are multidimensionally poor - they are deprived in health, education, living standards, employment and have faced negative shocks in production, income and security," the statement said. The level of multidimensional poverty, according to the statement, ranges from a low of 12 percent in Kabul to a high of 81 percent in Badghis province. "The Afghanistan Multidimensional Poverty Index complements the monetary poverty measure and uncovers the deprivations experienced by the Afghan people in various aspects of their life," Ahmad Jawad Rasuli, director general of National Statistic and Information Agency, told reporters. "It will also be instrumental in developing effective poverty reduction policies, informed budget allocation, policy coordination and integrated policies," the official said. According to the statement, 58 percent of all multidimensional poor people in Afghanistan are children under 18. Nearly six out of 10 children live in multidimensional poverty, and children under 10 are the worst affected by poverty, the statement noted. The statement also highlights that multidimensional poverty is three times higher in rural areas than in urban areas, and it is the highest among the kuchi (nomadic) population and households where the head has no education. One of the most crucial factors determining the level of poverty of children is the education level of their parents. The statement came after the country has seen its rapidly deteriorating economy in recent years, in addition to the worsening security situation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 19:39:41|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PARIS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Eiffel Tower celebrates its 130th anniversary during this weekend by organizing a series of events. Among the events, a photo show was dedicated to women and men working for the Eiffel Tower. An adventure game which lasts one hour and a half, allowed visitors to discover the history of the tower by trying to find indication hidden in different corners. In addition, the Eiffel Tower would offer visitors the souvenir tickets of the 130th anniversary since March 31. People can also taste special dessert for the anniversary during their visit. The celebration will last throughout the year. Built in Paris for then world's fair, The Eiffel Tower has become the pride and symbol of France. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 20:06:39|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Actors perform lion dance during the Lambing Flat Chinese Festival in Young, Australia, March 30, 2019. The Lambing Flat Chinese Festival kicked off Saturday afternoon, when multicultural events were held to celebrate the contribution of Chinese to Australia. At the festival people could also enjoy sunset lantern parade and traditional Chinese music performances, buy artwork from the craft and artisan markets and taste dishes at the Chinese food stalls. (Xinhua/Pan Xiangyue) Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 19:59:46|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CANBERRA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced a one-off Energy Assistance Payment for 3.9 million struggling Australians. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the payment of 75 Australian dollars (53.2 U.S. dollars) for singles and 125 Australian dollars (88.6 U.S. dollars) for couples to help them pay their electricity bills. "This is acknowledgment that there are cost of living pressures and this support is going to go to around four million Australians: aged pensioners and those on the disability support pension, people who are on carer payment, single parenting payments and veteran payments," Frydenberg said in a statement on Sunday. "This is money going to go into people's pockets to help meet the cost of their next power bill. "At the same time we are taking action on a number of fronts to reduce energy prices." Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison will deliver the Federal Budget for 2019-20 on Tuesday before a general election in May. They will announce Australia's first budget surplus in a decade, using it to launch an election campaign based on fiscal responsibility. Responding to the announcement, Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party, described it as an "election con," saying the 75 Australian-dollar payment is the equivalent of 1.45 Australian dollars (1.02 U.S. dollars) per week over a year. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 20:09:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KIEV, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who is viewed as a front-runner in the country's presidential election, said Sunday that he hopes for a "new life" after the election. "Today, the new life starts in our country. I think the new life is a normal life without corruption, without bribes," Zelensky told reporters at a polling station in Kiev. Voting for the presidential election in Ukraine kicked off at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Sunday with a record number of 39 candidates competing for the presidency. The polling stations will close at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT). According to various opinion polls, 41-year-old Zelensky has the best chance to gain the largest number of votes in the first round. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and the leader of the opposition Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko are the two other front-runners. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 20:09:48|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close ANN ARBOR, the United States, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China's rise does not necessarily threaten the U.S. interests but creates opportunities for more trade between the both sides, Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan (UM), said here on Saturday. The trouble here is there's still an emotional perception that if China rises, the United States will suffer, Inglehart told Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 2019 Michigan China Forum. "That should be not true." Inglehart, who is also an American Academy of Arts and Sciences member, said he remained positive about the ongoing trade negotiations between China and the United States, although he did not know what's going to happen given the complicated details. "Basically I'm optimistic because of the fact that both sides will be way better off cooperating," he told Xinhua. "A trade war is going to hurt both sides." Inglehart held that there are many areas for the two countries to cooperate. "The world has enough poverty and problems that no one country is able to solve them all," he said. He added that the United States and China could be partners in helping develop their own economies by helping evolve the world as a whole. "Both countries I think are interested in doing so and they have an interest in doing so. Countries with desperate people do dangerous things and I think a prosperous, secure world is in the interest of both." In the realm of environment, Inglehart said he is "pleased to see China is giving serious attention to solar energy and fighting pollution. The two biggest economic powers have one big interest in cooperating on this." Environmental protection is a huge challenge but is soluble, said Inglehart. He believed maintaining and developing a prosperous and secure world is a challenge big enough for both sides. "I think China and the United States have a huge common interest in it." China and the United States also have a bigger interest in cooperating to ensure the stability and peace of the world, Inglehart added. Despite the rain and all the inconveniences, the spring is coming, he said, looking outside the window at the UM campus enveloped in the rain on this late March day. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 20:14:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close AMMAN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Germany announced on Sunday a concessional loan of 100 million U.S. dollars to Jordan in recognition of the recent progress achieved by the Jordanian government on its path of economic and fiscal reforms. The unconditional loan, announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Jordan in 2018, aims to reduce the cost of Jordanian government debt and further support the reforms being implemented under the International Monetary Fund's Extended Fund Facility. The loan complements the comprehensive German-Jordanian Development Cooperation that has achieved significant results over the past 60 years, said a statement of the German Embassy in Jordan. By disbursing the loan, the German government is living up to its commitments and recognizes the macro-economic and fiscal reform efforts the Jordanian government is undertaking, it said. The loan agreement was signed in October 2018 in Germany's capital Berlin and the money was disbursed on Friday through the German Development Bank (KfW). Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 20:49:56|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close LISBON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The National Ballet of China (NBC) performed classical ballet in the Portuguese capital here on Saturday evening to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. At the Camoes Theater, named after a famous Portuguese poet, the Chinese ballet dancers performed part of the classical ballet "Giselle," the symphony ballet "The Yellow River" and the masterpiece "Carmen." The performance, which lasted for more than two hours, won thunderous applause from the audience when it ended. This is the second performance of the Chinese ballet dancers in Portugal. The first was successfully held on Wednesday in Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. During a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Portugal in December 2018, both sides agreed to hold a series of events including cultural festivals scheduled in China and Portugal this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. As part of the cultural festival, the NBC has planned to hold three performances for Portuguese audiences from March 24-31. The last performance will be held on Sunday. This is the first time that the NBC has given performances in Portugal since its establishment in December 1959. MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned the United States against further interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs and stirring up speculations about Russia conducting military operations in the South American country. "We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing it towards civil war, which is in open violation of international law," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. She reiterated that Russia is not intentionally building up its military presence in Venezuela, despite such accusations by the West including Washington. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela on March 23, carrying nearly 100 troops and 35 tons of materials, according to media reports. Moscow has repeatedly said that the existence of Russian troops in Venezuela is in line with the bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation. "The speculations about the conduct of certain 'military operations' by Russia in Venezuela are absolutely groundless," Zakharova said. Meanwhile, the diplomat said that U.S. attempts to scare Russia with sanctions for its legitimate cooperation with Venezuela look ridiculous. She ascribed U.S. "nervousness" about Russian presence in Venezuela to Washington's failure to impeach incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. Nevertheless, Russia will make efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, Zakharova added. "We call on all Venezuelan political forces, which place the interests of their homeland above their own ambitions, to engage in dialogue. We are ready to promote it in every possible way," she said. Venezuela has been plunged into a political crisis since late January when the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president and was recognized by the United States and some other countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 21:30:09|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KIEV, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing presidential elections in Ukraine are well-organized, incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday. "Today I am sure that the elections have been organized well and the will of the citizens will be preserved," Poroshenko, who is also a presidential candidate, told reporters at a polling station in Kiev. "This is an absolutely necessary condition for our movement forward -- towards the return of Ukraine to the family of European nations, to our membership in the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), to the continuation of the most important reforms," Poroshenko added. Voting for the presidential elections in Ukraine kicked off at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Sunday with a record 39 candidates competing for the presidency. The polling stations will close at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT). According to various opinion polls, Poroshenko along with actor Volodymyr Zelensky and the leader of the opposition Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko are viewed as front-runners in the race. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 21:35:10|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JERUSALEM, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Benjamin Netanyahu, dubbed by his supporters "King Bibi," is currently the second-longest-serving prime minister in Israel. He was born in Tel Aviv in 1949, a year after the statehood of Israel. If he wins the April 9 elections, he will most probably break the record of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father, to become the longest-serving leader in Israel's history. Not bad for a politician who was criticized for lack of experience, as he won his first elections by a razor-thin margin in 1996, becoming Israel's youngest prime minister. However, Netanyahu is also struggling for his political survival, entangled in a series of corruption affairs. Israel's Attorney General Avichai-Mandelblit has announced his intention to indict Netanyahu for bribery and breach of trust in three separate cases, pending a hearing. In two of the cases, Netanyahu is suspected of providing regulatory and financial benefits to business owners of large media and telecom corporations in return for favorable media coverage. In the other case, he allegedly received expensive cigars, champaign, and jewellery worth about 1 million new shekels (275,000 U.S. dollars) from Israeli tycoon and Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. Netanyahu's father, Benzion, was a Polish-born historian and a member of the nationalistic Revisionist Zionism faction, supporting a "Greater Israel" which means one Jewish state between the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the Jordan River in the east. In 1956, the Netanyahu family moved to the United States, where he spent his teenage years and attended high school. Netanyahu later returned to Israel to serve as a soldier and commander in an elite commando unit called Sayeret Matkal, before returning to the United States and obtaining academic degrees in architecture and business administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1976, his brother, Yonatan, was killed while commanding a Special Forces rescue operation to free Israeli hostages in Uganda. The death of his brother had a tremendous influence on the family, as Netanyahu established an anti-terror research institute in the memory of his brother and became involved in anti-terror research. In 1993, he won the Likud chairmanship, becoming the official leader of the party. He expressed strong opposition to the 1993 Oslo Accords, an interim framework agreement providing the Palestinian with self-government. In 1996, amid a wave of attacks by Palestinians which killed hundreds of Israelis, Netanyahu was elected as prime minister for the first time, beating Shimon Peres, former president who then headed the Labor party. Despite Netanyahu's hawkish views against the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic contacts, he negotiated with the Palestinian Authority in 1997 and signed a deal handing the control over some 80 percent of the West Bank city of Hebron to the Palestinian Authority. A year later, he signed the Wye River Memorandum, an agreement to implement a deal from 1995 that outlined further withdrawals from the West Bank. Netanyahu was defeated in 1999 by Ehud Barak, a left-wing politician and former army chief. In his second term as prime minister, between 2009 and 2013, Netanyahu mainly focused on Iran, highlighting the risk a nuclear Iran poses to Israel, and spending more than 11 billion dollars in preparation for a possible military conflict with Iran. The Iranian issue also shadowed his relations with U.S. President Barack Obama, with a head-on collision between the two amid Netanyahu's hawkish view on the Iranian nuclear program negotiations and the conflict with the Palestinians. The relations with the United States saw a revival after President Donald Trump was elected. Last May, Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu hailed the move as "a historic day" and defined Trump as "Israel's best friend." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 21:45:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISIOLO, Kenya, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police said Sunday they have rescued eight Eritreans aged between 17 and 31 years who are believed to be victims of human trafficking in Isiolo County in eastern Kenya. The detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) managed to intercept a vehicle, which they were being ferried in at Wamba Junction in Isiolo County. "Three suspects - Alhabass Ali, Abdi Hassan and Ibrahim Adan were arrested while one escaped and two vehicles were detained," DCI said. The move comes after the police arrested two suspects -Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim and Ali Ibrahim Barow on suspicion of being part of a racket that is involved in making false travel documents. After investigations, several Kenyan, Somali and Ethiopian passports were recovered at a hotel in Eastleigh residential estate in Nairobi, said police, adding that the men are part of a larger group that smuggles migrants from the region to other countries. This came two days after another suspected human trafficking ring was busted in Ruiru, Kiambu County, central Kenya. A total of 25 Burundians were rescued and three Kenyan women arrested. The victims aged between 24 to 33 years were apparently held hostage pending transit to Asian countries including Thailand. Detectives from the Transnational Organized Crime raided a private home and rescued the 25 female victims most of whom say they are escaping poor treatment in their countries and go to Asia to seek for jobs. This is the latest operation targeting foreigners who are on transit. Most of the arrested are from Ethiopia. Several Ethiopians are annually arrested in Kenya while on transit and later deported. Most of those arrested come to Kenya to seek for jobs or are on transit. The authorities have intensified the ongoing crackdown on undocumented migrant workers that have seen homes raided and hundreds of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers arrested around the country. The country's immigration department has set up a hotline number for citizens to report irregular migrants in their neighborhoods and the authorities' actions have mostly affected refugees and asylum seekers. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 21:50:16|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Naim-Ul-Karim DHAKA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese oil giant Sinopec has launched its lubricant brand in Bangladesh, making a foray into the fast-growing segment of the country's market. General Engineers Limited, the authorized distributor of Sinopec in Bangladesh, held the launching ceremony at a hotel here on Saturday night. Bangladeshi Minister of Industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun unveiled the Sinopec brand as the chief guest at the ceremony. Sinopec, or China Petrochemical Corporation, is an integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. It is a publicly listed company in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai Stock Exchanges. Sinopec Lubricant Company is a subsidiary directly affiliated to Sinopec. It is a professional company engaged in operation of all Sinopec's lubricant businesses. Chowdhury Manarat Mahfuza, chairperson of General Engineers, and Kou Jianchao, vice president of Sinopec Lubricants Company, among others were present in the ceremony. The minister joined the guests hailing the entry of famous Chinese brand into Bangladesh. "Chinese, they are one of our biggest development partners. We have warm friendship with China. And Belt and Road (Initiative) is a privilege for Bangladesh and neighboring countries." The minister expressed the hope that Sinopec Lubricant Company, which produces series of products, will have good market in Bangladesh equipped with world-class automatic blending and packaging production line. He also advised Sinopec to establish a production plant in Bangladesh as it has a good prospect in the country. The Chinese company has already earned its reputation in Bangladesh for successfully finishing the drilling of many onshore gas wells in the state-owned gas fields. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 21:50:17|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- An international forum for the world's major bay areas launched a new cooperation platform over the weekend to exchange resources and development ideas, with bay areas in China and the United States also standing to benefit. The Global Bay Areas Cooperation Council (GBACC), which was formally established at the international forum level to help bay areas address global challenges, will serve as a bridge to assemble resources of the world's top bay areas, so that they can complement each other and secure coordinated development. The GBACC made its debut at the Global Bay Areas Cooperation and Development Forum (GBAF), organized by People's Daily Online West U.S.A., which brought together prominent leaders, entrepreneurs and scholars from academic institutions, think tanks and major metropolitan and bay areas worldwide. The new mechanism will become a catalyst for fostering closer cooperation between the San Francisco Bay Area and China's recently established Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and help bring their respective advantages into full play. Gordon Feller, founder and co-president of the Board of Directors of Meeting of the Minds, a global thought leadership network and knowledge-sharing platform focused on sustainable cities, innovation and technology, told Xinhua on Saturday that the two bay areas in San Francisco and China had a lot to learn from each other. The San Francisco Bay Area is a mature region that has benefited from Silicon Valley's hi-tech, but its development including investment could be constrained by "short-sighted" politicians here, who care more about their two- or four-year election cycles, Feller said. "In the past, there's been a lot of (federal) government money moving around the (San Francisco) Bay Area," but the funds have been reduced in recent years, because the bay area and many California Democrats voted against the Republican-led federal government, he said. In contrast, China's political system is very stable, he said, adding that political stability is critical to driving the construction of the bay area, which will help encourage long-term investment. Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council (BAC), a non-profit organization that promotes economic development in the San Francisco Bay Area, said the two bay areas in San Francisco and China can complement each other through shared learning and collaboration. "I think more about collaboration. There probably is competition in some of the technology spaces and things like that, but the digital platform creates so much opportunity that there's a lot of room for success for everybody," Wunderman said. "Each region has its own strengths. Those individual strengths, if you bring them together, can be greater than some of the parts," he said. "That was the whole idea of why we started this in the first place. We want to help China to some degree, but it was really more about building together for the future of the world," Wunderman said. "That's what I think we should be doing. China and the United States are the two places that have the most to offer (by) working together," he said. "This bay area and China's bay area have tremendous assets to bring to bear." Similarly, Del Christensen, chief of Global Business Development for the San Francisco BAC, said there are a lot of ways that the two regions can collaborate. "We can also open up markets for our companies to do business together," he said. Both bay areas have very good mature companies that can do business with each other and grow in open offices, and do business in both places and create jobs, he said. "They also both have an innovation ecosystem. So, new companies are able to grow in both places and they can share and connect on technology," Christensen said. He also said both areas have very strong universities. "I think that those universities naturally want to work together. They want to do joint collaboration. They want to share students, they want to share teachers of different programs." Christensen noted that while the bay areas in China and the United States can maintain their uniqueness, they can also complement each other as "they have a lot of shared good practices" enabling them "to come together on different topics." However, Wunderman and Christensen admitted that some challenges lie ahead for the two bay areas. "Different regions, such as Chinese mainland cities, Hong Kong and Macao, have different priorities. A decision that fits Guangzhou may not be right for Hong Kong or Macao," said Wunderman. The Chinese bay area can learn from the San Francisco Bay Area by making the right decisions about infrastructure as early as it can, and invest in the right things, listen to what people want, and design a place that attracts global talent, he said. "They have to figure out how to work together, though it's not necessarily that easy," he said. Christensen noted that there will be competition between both bay areas, but competition isn't bad. "Normally competition can be very good. Everybody is in competition with each other for talent, for companies, for that sort of thing. So that could be a very good relationship," he said. Christensen said the two bay areas can cooperate with each other on a lot of issues, such as addressing challenges like rising housing costs and climate change that would lead to a rising sea level. "Prosperity also brings certain problems like transportation congestion and protecting talents," he said. The international forum for global bay areas, under the theme of "Connection, Cooperation, Development," was dedicated to exchanges and cooperation between China's Greater Bay Area and bay areas in other countries, namely the San Francisco Bay Area, New York Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area. China's Consul General in San Francisco Wang Donghua said the forum is of special significance as it provides a platform for various parties to share their experiences and expertise and to explore solutions to problems facing bay areas at a time when there is growing outcry against globalization. Steven Rockefeller, Jr., chairman of PFC & SRJ Culture LLC., cautioned that anti-globalization has become a new trend worldwide and many countries are abusing protectionism, which further dampens global economic development. It's a pressing issue for the bay areas to collaborate by using innovation, dialogue and cooperative development to advance to the next economic level, Rockefeller said. He had high expectations for China's first bay area -- the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Chinese Greater Bay Area is "a region with the largest economic aggregate in China and is in the vanguard of China's bay area economy," he said. The Chinese bay area consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and nine cities in Guangdong Province, with a combined population of about 70 million and a gross domestic product of about 10 trillion yuan (1.48 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 22:05:21|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close SHENZHEN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's leading machinery equipment maker Sany Group has partnered with telecommunications company ZTE to boost the development of intelligent manufacturing using 5G technologies. The two companies will pilot the use of 5G in Sany's industrial parks in Beijing and Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, according to an agreement signed by the two companies on Sunday. The use of 5G will later be expanded to Sany's other industrial parks. Liang Wengen, chairman of the Sany Group, said 5G technologies and ZTE's strength in software R&D would help make Sany's manufacturing system more intelligent, and the cooperation would promote the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry. ZTE chairman Li Zixue said ZTE is strong in 5G end-to-end solutions and the cooperation would facilitate the upgrading of intelligent manufacturing and speed up digitalized transformation. The companies will also team up to explore the use of other advanced technologies including edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial Internet and vehicle networking, according to the cooperation agreement. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 22:15:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- At her stall at the main market in Kitengela, a suburb on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, Agnes Mutua on Sunday hang several non-woven bags with a safety pin. The about 150 bags swayed as the wind blew strongly, reminding Mutua of their presence. She looked at them, and then arranged them well after the wind disturbance. As she went about her business, Mutua hoped that customers would snap up all the bags by the end of Sunday. But certainly this would not be possible, as for the last 10 days since the environment authority announced a ban on the non-woven polypropylene bags that takes effect Monday, demand declined drastically. "These bags would now end up as dead stock. I don't know what to do with them because starting Monday it would be illegal to trade or use the bags," she said. Her dilemma is shared by hundreds of other small and big traders and supermarkets across the East African nation. And so are consumers, some who had bought the bags in plenty and were carrying them around to avoid purchasing every time. While the traders by the close of Sunday would be left with 'dead stock', consumers are grappling with what to use from Monday. "The government should have given us more time to sell the stock that we had and allowed better transition because they allowed the bags in the first place after banning plastic ones," said Seth Odingo, a wholesale trader of the bags in Nairobi. Kenya on March 19 issued a ban on the importation, manufacture, supply and use of the non-woven polypropylene bags citing increased pollution. National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) director-general Geoffrey Wahungu while announcing the ban said manufacturers were producing 'low gauge' poor quality products which could not be used multiple times leading to pollution. "The single usage of the bags has led to environmental consequences due to poor disposal habits currently being witnessed in the country coupled with lack of infrastructure to manage the bags," said Wahungu. Wahungu has warned Kenyans of arrests starting April 1 since it would be illegal to use the non-woven bags. Anyone found with the bags which NEMA says contain plastics, commits an offence attracting a fine between two million shillings (20,000 U.S. dollars) and 40,000 dollars, or jail term of between one year and four years, or both. "Just like the plastic bag, the non-woven bag is illegal in Kenya. Kenyans should find alternative carriers for their shopping and foodstuffs," he said. Across markets in the country, the non-woven bags have been going for as little as 0.05 dollars for the smaller size and 0.20 dollars for the bigger size. The price is the same as those of the banned plastic bags. However, due to rise in demand for the bags, manufacturers have been making low quality products that allow only single use. The bags that were supposed to be reused therefore became the latest addition to the pollutants of rivers, markets, open spaces in residential areas and they were strewn at dumping sites across the East African nation. Environmentalists have lauded the latest ban noting that it would help reduce pollution by the non-woven bags which were on the rise. "The law is the law, I will have to follow it but where do we take all the non-woven bags we have accumulated. If we dump them in the normal waste, they will end up in the environment at dumping sites," said Sylvia Muturi, a social worker in Nairobi, noting she would comply with the ban. To comply with the ban, Kenyan supermarkets last week started to replace the cheaper none-woven bags with the woven ones which cost a little high, from 0.50 dollars each. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 22:15:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Washington uses nothing but ultimatums and then sanctions in dealing with foreign affairs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said in a recent interview. "In U.S. diplomacy, I now see nothing but ultimatums and then sanctions in case the ultimatums are not met," Lavrov told a TV program, the transcript of which was published by the foreign ministry on Sunday. "Other tools have somehow disappeared from the arsenal of U.S. diplomacy, and this is sad," he said, commenting on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent threat of more anti-Russian measures over Ukraine. "If you work as the head of the foreign affairs department, then you need to look for diplomatic approaches to various problems," Lavrov said. Pompeo said on Wednesday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization members will possibly announce joint actions against Moscow next week in response to Russia's steps in Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the region. Relations between Kiev and Moscow soured rapidly after Russia incorporated Crimea in 2014 following a local referendum, which Ukraine and Western countries refused to recognize and they have slapped rounds of sanctions against Russia. In November, three Ukrainian naval ships bound for the Sea of Azov were shot at and seized near the Kerch Strait by Russian forces for allegedly violating the Russian border. Moscow has called the incident a political provocation staged by Ukraine to stir up anti-Russian sentiment ahead of the March 31 presidential election, while Kiev has accused Russia of "aggressive actions." Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 22:20:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NAIROBI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan and U.S. pension fund managers are due to meet in Nairobi on Monday to evaluate the investment potential and opportunities in infrastructure in the East African nation, officials said on Sunday. The World Bank said the three-day meeting will see Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium (KEPFIC) host 30 representatives of major U.S. pension and asset management funds to discuss investment opportunities with KEPFIC and its membership of 12 Kenyan fund managers, which currently manage 200 billion shillings (2 billion U.S. dollars) in assets. "Our delegation of U.S. institutional investors comes to Kenya with a keen interest to explore investment opportunities in the region. While there is currently limited exposure in Kenya, there is great opportunity to scale up these investments," Donna Sims Wilson, president of Smith Graham and chair of Washington-based National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) said in a statement issued in Nairobi. "We are looking forward to advancing our discussions with our Kenyan counterparts at KEPFIC for mutual support and benefit," Wilson added. The U.S. delegation is led by Mobilizing Institutional Investors to Develop Africa's Infrastructure, a partnership between the NASP and the U.S. Agency for International Development to increase private sector capital into infrastructure investments in sub-Saharan Africa. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 22:50:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close U.S. marines Brigadier General Chirstopher McPhillips salutes onstage during the opening ceremony of the "Balikatan 2019" joint military exercise in Quezon City, the Philippines, April 1, 2019. The Philippines and the United States began on Monday their biggest annual joint military exercise known as Balikatan, or Shoulder-to-Shoulder. Exercise spokesman for the Philippines Lt. Cmdr. Liez Vidallon has said there are around 7,500 participating troops, consisting of some 4,000 Philippine troops and 3,500 U.S. troops, in this year's Balikatan drills. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) MANILA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and the United States will begin on Monday their biggest annual joint military exercise known as Balikatan, or Shoulder-to-Shoulder. Exercise spokesman for the Philippines Lt. Cmdr. Liez Vidallon has said there are around 7,500 participating troops, consisting of some 4,000 Philippine troops and 3,500 U.S. troops, in this year's Balikatan drills. The number of Philippine troops is 1,000 lower compared to last year's edition. On the other hand, the number of participating U.S., forces is 500 more than the previous Balikatan. Like in the past Balikatan exercise, Vidallon said the aim of this year's activities is to strengthen interoperability between the two allied forces. "This is to test our existing (capabilities) and learn from that," she said, referring to the series of activities that will be conducted for two weeks in several locations in the Philippine main Luzon Island. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 23:20:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ISTANBUL, March 31 (Xinhua) -- As the U.S. pressures Turkey to give up buying Russian-made S-400 missiles and observe sanctions on Iran while backing the Syrian Kurdish militia despite Ankara's opposition, stormy days may well be ahead in the already strained bilateral ties, analysts told Xinhua. Things should be expected to come to a head between the two NATO allies following local elections in Turkey on Sunday, said Haldun Solmazturk, a security and foreign policy analyst. "It's not possible to maintain so many conflicts of interest in so many areas," he argued. According to local media, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will travel to the United States within days after the municipal polls over the Russian S-400 deal and Washington's latest proposal to sell Patriot missiles to Ankara in return for its backdown on the Russian air defense system. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart Vadimir Putin in Moscow on April 8. "I don't see it much probable for the Turkish-U.S. ties to become smooth in the near future," said Yasar Yakis, a former Turkish foreign minister. "It should be considered a success in case relative progress could be achieved regarding some of the problems," he added. While bilateral ties have long been going through turbulent times, Washington has revved up pressure in recent weeks as Ankara holds on to the S-400 contract. The economic sanctions the United States reinstated on Iran last November has been another area of divergence with Ankara. Turkey is among those granted a six-month exemption by Washington regarding oil imports from Iran, but the United States is now saying it expects Ankara to comply with the sanctions. Solmazturk, who chairs the Incek debates at the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, feels Turkey is now on the horns of a dilemma as a result of its badly-managed foreign policy in recent years. The Pentagon threatened early this month that there would be "grave consequences" if Ankara would go ahead with its plan to buy the Russian missile system. Warning that such a move would poison bilateral military ties, Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers said Ankara would not be allowed in such a case to have the fifth generation F-35 fighter jets nor the U.S. Patriot air defense missiles. Ankara concluded the deal at the end of 2017 to get four batteries of the S-400 air defense system for 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, and the first batch is scheduled to be delivered to Ankara in July. "Turkey got itself into a tight corner by its foreign policy and it may give up on the S-400s to get out of this," argued Solmazturk. There have been press reports about Ankara probably passing the S-400 missiles on to another country. However, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu underlined on Friday that there was no going back on the missile contract, denying rumors that Ankara may resell the missiles to a third country. Some U.S. senators on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill to block the transfer of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey unless Ankara scraps the S-400 deal. The United States is also reportedly considering removing Ankara from the joint production program on F-35s. If the S-400 deal goes through, Turkey will be the first NATO country to have acquired the sophisticated system. On Tuesday, the United States introduced sanctions on a network comprising 25 individuals and firms which, it claimed, circumvented the U.S. sanctions on Iran. Several of the firms and persons are based in Turkey. A day later, Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, reportedly said Washington expected Ankara and all the other countries to strictly observe the sanctions against Iran. Ankara may face U.S. sanctions in case it fails to comply with the sanctions on Iran or goes ahead with the S-400 deal. Washington would overlook Ankara's dealings with Tehran as long as Turkey tolerates the emerging Kurdish entity in northeastern Syria, maintained Solmazturk, a former general in the Turkish military. Washington's support for the Kurdish militia in Syria is yet another thorn in ties with Ankara. Ankara is annoyed with Washington's continuing military support to the Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), as it sees the group as a terrorist organization. A convergence of positions regarding the YPG could emerge only if Ankara would tolerate Washington's support to the Kurdish fighters one way or another, said Yakis. Ankara has repeatedly said it would not tolerate the YPG presence along its border, threatening to militarily intervene to eliminate the militia. "Although an escalation of tension in ties between Ankara and Washington looks possible in the days ahead, Turkey would in the final analysis side with the U.S. due to its position on Syria," Solmazturk said, underlining that Ankara cannot strike a balance between Washington and Moscow much longer. Turkey has a military presence on a sizable swath of land in northwestern Syria, which it captured from the Islamic State and the YPG in past operations. "Turkey wants to be permanent in that area and the U.S. looks to be ready to accept that," said Solmazturk. In return, Turkey would accept a Kurdish-dominated area in northeastern Syria as long as the YPG would formally remain in the background, he argued. "If the Kurdish presence on the eastern part of the Euphrates River (in Syria) could be downsized in such a way that it is no longer perceived by Turkey as a threat, then the U.S. may close its eyes to Turkey's military presence in the western part of the Euphrates for some time," commented Yakis. Both analysts underlined, however, that such an eventuality is sure to attract Russian and Iranian opposition, as Moscow and Tehran are supporters of the Syrian government in the war. "A Kurdish entity in northeastern Syria can't be possibly sustained without Turkey's backing and Turkey can't maintain its presence in Syria without Washington's support," Solmazturk said. If such a scenario implies that Turkey may annex the Syrian territory under its control, then not only Russia and Iran, but all the world would oppose it, noted Yakis. The emergence of a Kurdish state-like entity in Syria clashes with Turkish interests, as it would be part of a greater Kurdistan project which is a threat to Turkey, Solmazturk cautioned. The Kurdistan Workers' Party has been fighting for an autonomous, if not independent, Kurdistan in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast since 1984. Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 23:50:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ATHENS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Greek authorities have arrested an individual and confiscated 369,545 Captagon amphetamine pills found in his possession at the port of Igoumenitsa in western Greece, the Coast Guard announced on Sunday. The 31-year-old foreign national was the driver of the car where the drugs were hidden, according to an e-mailed press release. Their market value has been estimated to 7.3 million euros (8.2 million U.S. dollars). In January this year Greek authorities found a massive haul of Captagon pills on a vessel in Piraeus and in 2017 have seized some 635,000 tablets of Captagon from a narcotics lab near Athens. (1 euro= 1.12 U.S. dollars) Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 01:01:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close The Tianlian II-01 satellite is launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on March 31, 2019. China sent the new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center late Sunday night. The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched at 11:51 p.m. Beijing Time by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. As the first satellite to constitute China's second-generation data relay satellite network, the Tianlian II-01 will provide data relay, measurement and control, transmission services for manned spacecraft, satellites, carrier rockets and other non-spacecraft users. (Xinhua/Guo Wenbin) BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province late Sunday night. The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched at 11:51 p.m. Beijing Time by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. As the first satellite to constitute China's second-generation data relay satellite network, the Tianlian II-01 will provide data relay, measurement and control, transmission services for manned spacecraft, satellites, carrier rockets and other non-spacecraft users. The Tianlian II network will be markedly more advanced in mission planning, system management and operations than the first-generation network composed of Tianlian I satellites. The new network, with faster data transfer and higher multi-objective service capability, will play an important role in improving the transmission promptness, in-orbit security and mission flexibility for medium- and low-Earth orbiting satellites and manned spacecraft. The satellite is developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The launch marks the 301st mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 01:11:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's national airline MIAT on Sunday launched a direct air route between its capital city Ulan Bator and Guangzhou, capital city of China's Guangdong Province, in an effort to expand its regional network, according to a statement on the website of the MIAT. "The first direct flight departed from the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator to Guangzhou at 10:40 p.m. (local time)," Davaakhuu Battur, president and CEO of MIAT, said at the launching ceremony. "I am confident that this new air route will greatly contribute to the trade, economic and tourism cooperation between Mongolia and China," he noted. The flight runs every Thursday and Sunday, according to the company. So far, MIAT has three direct-route destinations in China, still including Beijing and Hong Kong. Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 01:21:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based government on Sunday announced allocating 1.767 billion dinars (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) to stabilize the eastern city of Benghazi that is largely destroyed by years of armed conflict. "The Committee for restoring stability to the city of Benghazi, headed by (Prime Minister) Abdullah al-Thani, has increased the amount allocated for projects (in the city) to 1.767 billion dinars in this year," the government said in a statement. The Committee stressed the need for immediate launch of all service projects in the city. Benghazi, the second largest city of Libya and birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi, witnessed a fierce war between the eastern-based army led by Khalifa Haftar and extremist groups. In June 2017, Haftar announced the takeover of Benghazi and defeat of the rival armed groups in the city. Libya is politically divided between an eastern and western governments, despite signing a UN-sponsored political agreement later in 2015. Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 04:26:33|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of 2019 Hanover Fair in Hanover, Germany, on March 31, 2019. The Hanover Fair, the world's largest industrial show, opened here on Sunday evening with the highlights of 5G network and artificial intelligence (AI). (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) HANOVER, Germany, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial show, opened here on Sunday evening with the highlights of 5G network and artificial intelligence (AI). With the total of 6500 exhibitors from 75 countries and regions, the Hanover Fair will show the latest development of technologies for industrial use, including 5G network, artificial intelligence, light-weighted manufacturing, among others. "Integrated Industry -- Industrial Intelligence" is the lead theme of this year's Hanover Fair. It shows the potential of the development of digital networking between humans and machines in the age of artificial intelligence. A real 5G network will be installed in one of the exhibition halls on around 1,5000 square meters, in which concrete showcases will be presented in real operation. The interplay of human and machines, which provides the basis for the factory of the futures, will be a hot topic on the fair, with the so-called collaborative robots being presented by the world's major companies in this field. The theme of the trade fair underlines the growing importance of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the production and energy industries, including such areas as energy efficiency and use and autonomous production processes as well as challenges in terms of interfaces, protocols and security. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday evening announced the opening of the week-long trade fair, calling on Europe to respond more actively to the digital economy, and saying against protectionism, which is a pity for everyone. Sweden is the partner country of the trade fair this year. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loefven said at the opening ceremony that Sweden and Germany should cooperate more in the industry and learn from each other. Over 1,400 Chinese exhibitors attend the fair, the second most just after the host country Germany. Huawei, Haier and other Chinese manufacturers will show their most advanced networking and artificial intelligence technologies to the world. Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 05:11:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni security forces launched an anti-terror raid and arrested an explosives expert of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch in the southern province of Abyan, a security source said on Sunday. Units of the newly-recruited security force carried out a raid on Saturday night and targeted an area held by terrorist operatives in al-Wadea district in Abyan, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A key member of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen said the forces that carried out the anti-terror raid are trained and backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key member of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen said. Meanwhile, local media reports revealed the identity of the captured explosives expert, named Abdul-Qadir al-Mut, one of the most dangerous leading members of the al-Qaida. The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which mostly operates in eastern and southern provinces, has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces in the country. The provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, former main strongholds of AQAP, have also been the scene of sporadic attacks or heavy clashes between UAE-backed security forces and al-Qaida militants from time to time. The AQAP, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflicts between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in the southern and southeastern provinces. Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-01 05:36:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HELSINKI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Industrial poisons and less open dumps of garbage have been deemed the reasons behind the reduction of flocks of seagulls in Finland. Since the prohibition of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in industries in Finland in 1990, its presence in Baltic herring has declined by 80 percent, but the amounts found in seagulls only by 20 percent, said Martti Hario, a researcher with a long career at the Finnish Natural Resources Institute and its predecessors. Despite less poisons have been found in the Baltic herring, which many seagulls feed on, the presence of PCB and other poisons continue impacting, Hario told national broadcaster Yle on Sunday. The official Finnish recommendation for human consumption of the Baltic herring is that it should not be consumed more than once or twice per month, although the poison levels have decreased. The same applies to salmon and trout caught in natural waters. Teemu Lehtiniemi, the research director of Bird Life Finland, told Yle earlier that improved garbage collection has also diminished the food available to sea gulls. More efficient agriculture has further impacted. Researcher Hario said the number the seagull subgroup "small black-backs" (Larus fuscus) has declined to a half in ten years. It has been listed as very endangered. Out of the six subgroups of seagulls in Finland, three others are endangered with the amount of birds now a third less than ten years ago. Two subgroups, the common gull and the laughing gull, do better as they do not eat herring, but look for other food. Hario also said that the market places crowded with tourists and food vendors are simply a good food opportunity and seagulls fly in even from far for them. However, the threat has created little sympathy in the cities that try to find ways of keeping seagulls at a distance. Feeling respectful towards an endangered bird may be little consolation to a touristic market place visitor who loses a just purchased ice cream or sausage. At the Helsinki market place, for example, seagulls make precision sorties and snatch the food even from the hands of people, without harming them. Cities have tried to reduce the annoying presence of seagulls with protective nets and spreading their alert sounds of from loudspeakers, but with little success. Seagulls have found roof tops of high-rises as good places for nests as mammal predators cannot get there. An office building in Mikkeli, eastern Finland, has purchased a stuffed hawk, an owl and a plastic snake. Lehtiniemi from Bird Life Finland was not pleased with the preventive measures. He reminded that there have always been seagulls in market places, but the tolerance level of people has declined. "People are so concerned with food hygiene that no nature is allowed close to where food is served. To me it is a nightmare that nature would not be allowed in towns", Lehtiniemi said. A hospital had expressed concern about the health risks from seagulls nesting on the hospital roof, "but the patients entering the hospital could be a bigger risk in terms of spreading diseases", he was quoted. Seagulls are protected animals in Finland and harder measures require a permit. The outcome of the vote is not nearly as important as the quality of the electoral process elections in Ukraine Open source On Sunday, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect their next president, in the second such contest since the country reclaimed its democracy from Russian interference in 2014. This election isnt just about who will be the next president of Ukraine. The integrity of the Ukrainian state itself is at stakestrong democracy will ultimately serve as the best guarantor of the countrys sovereignty and stability. Any backsliding in the democratic process would serve Russian President Vladimir Putins purposes by sowing division, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to further manipulation and halting its path to a European future. Five years after the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of the Donbass, Ukraine remains on the front line of Russias aggression toward the West. Russia has interfered in every election since Ukraines independencesupporting pro-Kremlin candidates, propagating fake and misleading news, and more recently through cyberattacks that threaten the integrity of the election process. Unlike past elections in which the Kremlin actively sought to install a puppet through which to achieve its ends, Russias strategy this time is to sow enough doubt in the electoral process to challenge the legitimacy of the incoming president and corrode the Ukrainian publics faith in the democratic process. An electoral process that fails to meet international standards for a free and fair contest would amount to an early Christmas present for Putin. If democracy succeeds in Ukraine, the Ukrainian people will have shown the world that it can succeed anywhereeven in Putins own backyard. Thats why he cares so much. As the damage wrought by Putins kleptocracy begins to manifest increasingly in the lives of everyday Russians who must cope with the fallout of state plunder and irresponsible policies, the risk of a successful neighboring democracy could inspire ordinary Russians to question the status quo. Despite Russias efforts, there are numerous encouraging signs pointing to the health of Ukraines young democracy. For the first time in years, no openly pro-Kremlin candidate is likely to win. The fact that pro-Russian candidates are not competitive indicates that the national consensus around Ukrainian sovereignty and pursuing a European path has solidified since the 2014 revolution. The actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who plays the role of president in the television drama Servant of the People, leads in the polls. His closest contenders are currently neck and neck, as former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko seeks to outmaneuver incumbent Petro Poroshenko to secure a second-place seat in a runoff scenario against Zelensky. Recent data indicates that Ukrainians are taking an active interest in the election. With a record number of candidates, the outcome is far from certaina rarity in Eurasia that should be seen as something of a victory in itself. Moreover, the expected high turnout reflected in International Republican Institute polling is an encouraging sign of popular engagement with and faith in the democratic process. While their country continues to face persistent problems with corruption and daunting economic challenges, Ukrainians have made considerable progress in improving the quality of their democracy and defending their system against Russian interference. Transparency and accountability reforms at the local level are delivering concrete improvements from the bottom up, entrenching the practice and ethos of democracy throughout the country. Yet much remains to be done to secure a healthy democratic culture and to build a system that responds to the priorities of the Ukrainian people. Incumbent president Petro Poroshenko is perceived as falling short in the fight against corruption. The perceived failure to effectively address corruption has fueled public frustration with national elites and contributed to the rise of outsider candidates like Zelensky, who has no background in politics and whose rise to front-runner status has been fueled by widespread disillusionment with the status quo. Ultimately, the outcome of the election is not nearly as important as the quality of the electoral process itself. Without a contest that the Ukrainian people see as free and fair, the democratic gains made in the past five years will diminish, and commitment to democracy will slackenplaying into the Kremlin narrative that the Kiev government is unable to respond effectively to the needs of its people, and leaving Ukraine vulnerable to a renewed campaign of Russian interference. As a co-leader of one of the international election observation missions deployed this week to monitor the vote, I am proud to be part of the effort to support the Ukrainian people in this exercise in self-determination. Read the original text. A woman kicks a cut-out figure depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kiev, Ukraine March 28, 2019 Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters Its election season on Kremlin TV, but the presidential campaign receiving wall-to-wall coverage from Russias federal channels is taking place across the border in Ukraine. This is hardly surprising. Moscows obsession with all things Ukrainian is well-documented and reflects the centrality of information operations to Vladimir Putins five-year hybrid war against Ukraine. Whats interesting about this coverage is the absence of a preferred pro-Russian candidate. Instead, the Kremlin is focused on discrediting the electoral process itself. While the spectacle of a dictatorship accusing its neighbor of democratic shortcomings may at first glance seem absurd, this strategy makes perfect sense. With no chance of achieving a favorable result, Russia is simply getting its excuses in early. The Kremlin certainly has a lot of explaining to do. There was a time in the not so distant past when Moscow was guaranteed a leading role in any Ukrainian election. Indeed, less than a decade ago, staunch Kremlin ally Viktor Yanukovych secured 49 percent of the vote to win the Ukrainian presidency. Such figures are beyond the wildest dreams of Russias current leading candidate Yuriy Boyko, who will be happy if he secures more than 10 percent in Sundays first round of voting. Meanwhile, Russia must watch from the sidelines as Ukraines three leading presidential candidates denounce Putins war while burnishing their credentials as opponents of Kremlin aggression. Moscow still has its own preferences in Ukraines race. Putin has made it clear that Russia does not want incumbent Petro Poroshenko to secure a second term. However, this does not make the alternatives any more palatable. Wildcard candidate and TV comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is probably the preferred Kremlin choice due to his support for the Russian language and stated readiness to negotiate bilaterally with Moscow. At the same time, he has spoken of the need to wage a Russian-language information war against the Kremlin and repeatedly ruled out any compromises that would sacrifice Ukrainian sovereignty. Veteran campaigner and former two-time Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is also seen as a potential improvement due to her past readiness to cut murky gas deals with the Kremlin, but she has spent much of the campaign promising the return of occupied eastern Ukraine and Crimea, while lambasting Poroshenko over alleged defense sector corruption. Both Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko have faced campaign trail attempts to portray them as Kremlin stooges, but in reality they are a million miles away from the openly pro-Russian politicians who once dominated the Ukrainian electoral landscape. Crucially, they are also operating in a drastically changed political environment. Even if either of Poroshenkos chief rivals was personally inclined to seek a negotiated compromise with Russia, they would find their room for maneuver severely restricted by prevailing Ukrainian public opinion, which strongly opposes anything even hinting at capitulation to the Kremlin. It is not difficult to understand why Russia has become so toxic to Ukrainian voters. Since the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, Moscows ongoing hybrid war has killed over 13,000 Ukrainians and left millions of lives in tatters. The Kremlins fateful decision to attack Ukraine has proven a geopolitical blunder of historic proportions that has fractured what was previously one of the most closely entwined bilateral relationships on the planet. Moscows miscalculation has its roots in the lingering imperial hubris that prevents many in Russia from thinking of Ukraine as a separate country. The available evidence suggests that in spring 2014, the Kremlin genuinely believed local populations would welcome the Russian seizure of Ukrainian towns and cities throughout the south and east of the country. The grassroots opposition Russia encountered from Ukraines volunteer war effort came as a nasty surprise that led to the current stalemate. Moscow now finds itself trapped in its eastern Ukrainian enclaves, unwilling to advance due to the prohibitive costs this would involve, and unable to retreat for fear of sparking a nationalist backlash inside Russia itself. The Kremlin has occupied enough of Ukraine to inflict national trauma, but not enough to dictate terms to the remainder of the country. As well as turning Ukrainian public opinion decisively against Russia, Putins invasion has also effectively disenfranchised the Kremlins traditional electoral base of Ukrainian supporters. The three Ukrainian regions currently under Russian occupation (Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk) provided the lions share of votes for Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential race. Their removal from the Ukrainian democratic process dramatically reduces Russias ability to influence the outcome of future Ukrainian elections. With the loss of Crimea and part of the Donbas, 3.75 million fewer Ukrainians can vote, and in 2010, 87 percent of these voters backed pro-Russian candidate Yanukovych. This means that a quarter of Yanukovychs voters cannot vote on Sunday. Nor is there any reason to believe Moscow can eventually regain the ground it has lost since 2014. The wounds of the current war will take decades to heal. Meanwhile, Russias remaining Ukrainian voters are overwhelmingly pensioners clinging to increasingly anachronistic notions of a shared Soviet past. This dwindling electorate is being slowly but surely replaced by an emerging generation of post-independence Ukrainians with no personal memory of the Soviet era whose views on Russia will inevitably be informed by the current conflict. The removal of Russia as a leading electoral force in Ukrainian politics is arguably the most significant geopolitical outcome of Putins war. It is part of a broader process taking shape over the past five years that has seen the erosion of Russian soft power tools as Ukraine has broadened its economic horizons while cutting religious, cultural, and social ties to the countrys former imperial master. Trade with Russia has withered to a fraction of its former levels as exports to European and Asian markets have boomed. Ukrainians now enjoy visa-free travel to the European Union and have their own Orthodox Church. At street level, millions have ditched Kremlin-controlled social media platforms in favor of Facebook, while Russian serials no longer dominate Ukrainian TV schedules. None of this would have been possible without the catalyst of Russian aggression. Ukraines nation-building odyssey is still a work in progress and it may take decades before the divorce from Russia is complete. Nevertheless, Moscows bystander status in the current Ukrainian presidential race illustrates how rapidly the split has escalated since 2014. Kremlin pundits can rave about rigged votes and falsification as much as they wish, but the fact remains that Putins dreams of informal empire have suffered a decisive defeat. Three hundred years of Russian dominance over Ukraine are drawing to a close, and the Kremlin has nobody to blame but itself. Read the original text at Atlantic Council. It is noted that the mayor was one of the first to vote during the presidential elections Open source Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko was one of the first to vote in the first round of the presidential elections. He has arrived at the polling station by bicycle, Informator reports. It is noted that the mayor arrived at the polling station during his morning bike ride. Klitschko refused to tell the journalists who he voted for and said that the main thing is the European course of Ukraine, not the name of the president. As we reported, the voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections you can watch here. Earlier Klitschko took part in the Munich Conference, and also met with the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Khan, Special Representative of the US State Department for Ukraine Kurt Volker, Head of the Christian Democratic Party of Germany Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Our international partners are hoping for stability in Ukraine, for presidential elections to be held without shocks and turbulence. After all, the future development of Ukraine over the next five years will depend on their results, Klitschko said. According to my impressions, the current balance of power among candidates became unexpected for our partners. Therefore, there are a lot of questions about the chances of different candidates, their potential, Klitschko said. Drunk man took out a bottle of flammable liquid and threw it in the direction of the voting booth Open source The police told the details of the incident at one of the polling stations in Borzna, Chernihiv region. Earlier today a man threw flammable liquid in the direction of the voting booth. This is stated by the press secretary of the Chernihiv police Yulia Kovtun, as broadcasted by 112.UA. According to her, a drunk man came to the polling station, after shouting the threat "I will set you on fire," he took out a liter bottle of flammable liquid and threw it in the direction of the polling booth. "The fire was immediately extinguished. The policeman detained the arsonist and handed him over to the investigative team. The motives for committing the offense are being established, the voting process continues as usual," Kovtun said. The National Police of Ukraine received over 25 claims concerning the electoral process in Ukraine. According to the law enforcers, seven violations were connected with the unlawful agitation, two voters tried to take a photo of their ballot papers in Kirovohrad and Zaporizhia regions, one vote buying case was registered in Zakarpattia region, and the attempt of taking the ballot paper away took place in Zhytomyr region. Over 700 administrative proceedings have been launched since the beginning of the election campaign. Presidential elections in Ukraine Open source 00:44 According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout in Ukraine made 63,48% as of 8 p.m. Yet, one of the constituencies did not pass any information. The highest turnout was recorded in Lviv region 68,88%, the lowest in Zakarpattia region 46,99%. 23:10 National exit poll revealed final results according to which 30,6% of voters voted for Volodymyr Zelensky, 17,8% - for Petro Poroshenko. Besides, as of now, Central Election Commission started processing the protocols and informed that 0,1% of protocols were processed (around 3,300 voters). Therefore, Petro Poroshenko got 28,6%, Volodymyr Zelensky 24,27%, Yuliya Tymoshenko 15,12%, Anatoliy Hrytsenko 8,07%, Oleg Lyashko 6,27%, Yuriy Boyko 4,50%, Igor Smeshko 3,66%. 21:41 The Central Election Committee of Ukraine presented the preliminary data on the voters' turnout. As of 8 p.m., March 31, the total turnout of voters all over Ukraine made 63.92 percent. 20:29 'It's a first step towards the victory', the winner of the first round of election Volodymyr Zelensky said. He said he was ready for the second leg of the election. Petro Poroshenko, the runner-up of the first round thanked the voters for suporting the European path of Ukraine, including the course to NATO - 'without even waiting for the second round of the election'. 'I understand the signal that the society gives the government. It's an impetus for the work on one's mistakes. But the man who does no mistakes is the man who does nothing. I never aimed for any ratings in my work. I'm ready for the deep dialogue with those I failed to persuade before the first round - before and after the second one', he said. 20:12 Results of the first exit polls are available. 112 Ukraine TV channel: Volodymyr Zelensky gets 30.7 percent; Petro Poroshenko receives 18.6 percent. Yulia Tymoshenko comes third with 13.9 percent. 1+1 TV channel: Volodymyr Zelensky wins 30.1 percent of votes; Petro Poroshenko gets 18.5. Yuliya Tymoshenko claims 14.1. National Exit Poll: Volodymyr Zelensky gets 30.4 percent of votes; Petro Poroshenko claims 17.8. Yuliya Tymoshenko comes third with 14.2. *** 20:00 ALL POLLING STATIONS IN UKRAINE CLOSED 19:33 As of 7 p.m., the police registered 1,768 statements and messages, related to the election. 25 criminal proceedings were opened. 19:05 In Chernivtsi region, one of the voters threw his passport in the urn instead of the bulletin. He will get his document back as soon as the urn is opened for vote counting. 18:44 The voting is over at Akademik Vernadsky polar station on the South Pole. 34 members of the polar expedition voted successfully. 18:18 Several buses with National Guard fighters reached the site near the Central Election Committee. It seems to be a move to tighten the security measures, as suspiciously looking young men crowded near the building - 'to prevent any provocations', as they put it. The youngsters never spoke to the reporters openly and avoided TV cameras. *** 17:51. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko joined the electoral process. Yuriy Lutsenko, Prosecutor General of Ukraine, voting on elections in March 2019 Facebook Larysa Sargan 17:34. As of 5 p.m., the police received about 1,360 messages about violations during the elections that took place all over Ukraine on the voting day. 17 criminal proceedings were opened. 17:05. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of Ukraine reported that as of 4.30 p.m., no extremely serious violations of the electoral process have been reported. Several cases of taking photos of bulletins, a case of the drunken head of local election committee in Kyiv and multiple cases of torn ballots were reported. Besides, hundreds of ballots appeared to have been stamped with the word 'Withdrew'. This concerns Oleksandr Moroz, who stated he would withdraw from the election, but the CEC still considered him as the candidate. The ballots with such stamp are considered invalid. Moreover, the violations included selfies in the voting cabins. On the whole, the elections continue in the 'standard mode', the CEC claims. *** 16:53. In certain penitentiary facilities, voting of inmates takes place with violations. The Ukrainian ombudsman's office stated that the infringements include the late opening of stations, poor voting conditions and buildings not suited for voting. In Lukyanivsky remand centre, the local election committee members spent two hours to duly organize and finally open the polling station, so it opened at about 10 a.m. 16:28. Russian journalists were not allowed to enter a polling station in Minsk, Belarus. Correspondents of Russian news agencies, such as TASS and RIA Novosti, as well as REN-TV and NTV channels could only film the voting process from outside the station. Representatives of Belarusian and Ukrainian media freely entered the building - just like the correspondents from other countries. 16:04. Ukrainians started voting in the U.S. The polling station in Washington opened at 4 p.m. Kyiv time. Ukrainian presidential election in Washington, March 31, 2019 Ukrinform 15:50. The police of Dnipro city got eight messages about polling stations being wired with explosives. Another message claimed that the local underground station had been mined, too. No explosives were found. 15:40. In Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Israel and some other European countries, Ukrainian diplomats report smaller or bigger lines, as Ukrainians who live abroad are eager to vote in the elections. 15:25. As of 3 p.m., 44.7 percent of registered voters have observed their constitutional right, the Central Election Committee reported. As is known, the first results of the voting, the exit polls, will be available after 8 p.m., March 31. *** 14:59. Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy is also among those voted. 'Our common future truly depends on every vote, on the decision of voters on the election day. A conscious, responsible and fair choice is our contribution to reaching victory and peace for Ukraine, building its better future', he said as quoted by his press service on Twitter. 14:45. The Central Election Committee of Ukraine specified the data on the overall turnout in the elections across the country. As of 11 a.m., it made 16.67 percent, by the estimates of 198 of 199 electoral districts all over Ukraine. 14:35. The head of an electoral committee in Odesa beat up a voter who came to exercise his civilian duty. The fight occurred after a verbal conflict took place between them, the police said. A criminal case was opened. 14.25. A group of young men dressed in sportswear appeared in front of the building of the Central Election Committee in Kyiv. When asked why they came there, they simply reply they were 'taking a walk'. Young men near Central Election Committee, Kyiv, March 31, 2019 RBC-Ukraine 14:15. Fighters of Donbas, the territorial defense volunteer battalion in Donetsk region are voting as well; by 2 p.m. March 31, about 80 percent of them already made their choice. Vyacheslav Vlasenko, one of the servicemen of the battalion posted that on Facebook. 'We prepared well, and we are going to live up to our civilian duty. Ukraine will prevail!', he wrote. *** 13:55. The voting day is over in Australia; the Central Election Committee of Ukraine reported that 1,737 people were included into the lists in this particular electoral district. Only 125 Ukrainian citizens received the ballots, which made 7.2 percent from the overall number of registered voters. 13:25. This is the line of the Ukrainian voters, waiting for their turn to vote in Prague in the Czech Republic. Ukrainian voters in Prague, March 31, 2019 Social networks 13:15. The Central Election Committee of Ukraine reports that as of 11.00, 16.49 percent of voters all over Ukraine already made their choice. In terms of the turnout in various regions, the westernmost Zakarpattya region appeared to be the on the last place, as 8.3 percent of registered citizens have voted there. Poltava region, central Ukraine leads the way, with 20.61 percent. 13:00. As of noon March 31, the police have received 284 reports regarding the election process across the country. Interior Ministry speaker Artem Shevchenko, the law enforcers opened three criminal proceedings. Most of the violations were observed in Dnipropetrovsk region, Donetsk region (eastern Ukraine) and Odesa region (southern Ukraine) - 30, 28 and 25 cases, respectively. *** 12:55. A ridiculous incident occurred with President Petro Poroshenko's ballot; the head of the state gave his ballot to the grandson, who dropped it and put both of his feet on the top of it. President Poroshenko's grandson steps on his ballot during elections, March 31, 2019 Screenshot 12:45. Presidential candidates Ruslan Koshulynsky, Oleksandr Vilkul and Anatoliy Hrytsenko voted at their respective polling stations. Hrytsenko came to the station with his wife Yulia Mostova, but the woman could not vote because her name was absent in the voters' lists. Later, she managed to find her name on the list and voted successfully. 11:55. As of 11.00 a.m., 16.08 percent of all registered voters have voted in the first round of the election. It is quite notable that at about the same time of day in 2014, the voters' turnout was a bit higher, 17.62 percent. 11:45. The Committee of Voters of Ukraine reports a blatant violation at a polling station in Kyiv. Oleg Lyashko, the presidential candidate showed the voters his ballot - in presence of the observers and TV cameras. This is considered a law infringement, which entails either a fine (from 100 to 300 non-taxed minimum incomes), correction works within the period up to 2 years or even a prison term within the period up to 3 years. Oleg Lyashko shows his ballot in front of cameras, Kyiv, March 2019 Screenshot 11:15. Presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky voted, too; prior to that, he spoke to the reporters - both domestic and foreign ones; in the latter case, he showed some of his English skills. He never specified who his choice was, but pointed out it was 'quite a dignified man'. *** 10:58. About fifty reporters gathered on the polling station in the Officers House in Kyiv, RBC-Ukraine reports. This is the same station where incumbent president Petro Poroshenko is to vote. No extra security measures observed - not even a metal detector frame. Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament already voted at this station. Polling station in Officers' House, Kyiv, March 31, 2019 RBC-Ukraine 10:30. Patriarch Filaret, the head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Ukrainians voted on his polling station. Patriarch Filaret votes in first round of presidential election, March 2019 Patriarch Filaret/Facebook *** 9:45. Civil observers from Opora NGO reported first minor violations in the electoral process. Control ballots were not thrown into boxes at polling station No. 050913 in Trostyanets village, Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine. In Torchyn town, Volyn region, northwestern Ukraine, all observers except for that from Opora NGO signed the ballot papers in the wrong place. 9:25. The police of the Kharkiv region, n reported that two polling stations opened later than expected; the reasons for the incident are being specified. 8:30. Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko and presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko became the first famous Ukrainian politicians to vote in the first round. *** The first country to have voted in the presidential election in Ukraine is Australia; the elections started at the foreign polling station in Australia on March 30 at 11:00 PM Kyiv time. The Ukrainians who currently stay abroad will be able to vote until April 1 at 6:00 AM Kyiv time (in San Francisco, U.S.). *** The first round of presidential elections kicked off in Ukraine today, March 31, at 8:00 a.m. The polling stations will be closed at 8 p.m. Kyiv time, (GMT+2). The regular election is held due to the end of the term of office of the President of Ukraine. The head of the state shall be elected by direct national ballot voting. The Central Election Committee approved a final list of 39 presidential candidates in Ukraine. The voters' list contains 35.6 million Ukrainian citizens. More than 315,000 Ukrainians changed voting places shortly before the presidential election. This year ballot is the longest ballot in the history of presidential elections in Ukraine. It is 80 cm in length and printed on the paper with watermarks and special protection ink. Ukraines foreign intelligence service suggest that Russian special agencies shall interfere with the elections providing fake data of the exit polls. Moreover, the provocations can be held by far-right organizations to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and discredit the election process. Besides the Russian Federation is reported to plan to conduct unprecedented cyber-attacks on the servers of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the district election commissions around Ukraine. 6,000 law enforcers will maintain order in Ukraine. 2,344 international observers have been officially approved to come to Ukraine to follow the course of the presidential election. 112 Ukraine TV channel is broadcasting the voting process from the entire territory of Ukraine. We also have a live stream form the Central Election Committee for quick updates of committees meetings and online vote counting. The data will come faster and more accurate than that on the website of the Central Election Committee. The frontline soldiers of the Joint Forces operation were the first to vote in the Donbas conflict zone, while their comrades were guarding the front and changing in turns. The press service of the JFO (HQ) reports this on Facebook. According to the report, the voting began at 8:00 AM and will last till 8:00 PM. The servicemen are voting at the polling stations, which were created by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Totally, there are 90 special polling stations in the Joint Forces operation: 14 in Luhansk region and 65 in Donetsk region. The electoral process is organized in accordance with the valid legislature. No incidents have been spotted, the report said. Earlier, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine has created 199 district election commissions for the upcoming presidential election on March 31. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. There are 39 candidates in the ballots and over 35.6 million voters. Over 315,000 of the voters changed the place of the registration for voting. Such actions are a violation of the secrecy of the ballot and are punished under Ukraine's Criminal Code Oleg Lyashko shows his ballot in front of cameras, Kyiv, March 2019 Screenshot Ukrainian presidential candidate Oleg Lyashko showed his ballot paper to journalists and other voters. The Voters Committee reports this on Facebook. Oleg Lyashko, the presidential candidate, demonstrated his ballot paper with his voting result to TV journalists and other people during elections at one of the polling stations, - the observers stated. According to the valid law on Elections of the president of Ukraine, photo and video fixation of the results of the expression of voters will, as well as the demonstration of the results of expression of voters will at the polling station, is a violation of the secrecy of voting. The punishment for the offense under article 159 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is a fine of 100-300 times the minimum non-taxable income of citizens, correctional labor for a term up to two years, or arrest up to three years. The National Police of Ukraine received over 25 claims concerning the electoral process in Ukraine. According to the law enforcers, seven violations were connected with the unlawful agitation, two voters tried to take a photo of their ballot papers in Kirovohrad and Zaporizhia regions, one vote buying case was registered in Zakarpattia region, and the attempt of taking the ballot paper away took place in Zhytomyr region. Over 700 administrative proceedings have been launched since the beginning of the election campaign. The voting will last for 12 hours, and the polling stations will be closed at 8:00 PM Presidential Elections 2019 Open source On March 31, at 8:00 AM the voting of the presidential elections began in Ukraine. The polling stations are open in all regions, except occupied Crimea and several districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections you can watch here. The Central Election Committee approved a final list of 39 presidential candidates in Ukraine. The voters' list contains 35.6 million Ukrainian citizens. More than 315,000 Ukrainians changed voting places shortly before the presidential election. This year ballot is the longest ballot in the history of presidential elections in Ukraine. It is 80 cm in length and printed on the paper with watermarks and special protection ink. Besides the Russian Federation is reported to plan to conduct unprecedented cyber-attacks on the servers of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the district election commissions around Ukraine. The social media suggests to get the information of elections or to mark whether you have already voted presidential elections in Ukraine zn.ua Facebook reminds the Ukrainians that presidential elections have started in Ukraine on March 31. It also suggests to find out additional information on the elections and to mark whether the users have already voted or not. The social media gives a reference to the website of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine. Thus, over 3,000 users have already reported they had voted. The voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections is available here. The Central Election Committee has approved a final list of 39 presidential candidates in Ukraine. The voters' list contains 35.6 million Ukrainian citizens. More than 315,000 Ukrainians changed voting places shortly before the presidential election. This year ballot is the longest ballot in the history of presidential elections in Ukraine. It is 80 cm in length and printed on the paper with watermarks and special protection ink. Besides the Russian Federation is reported to plan to conduct unprecedented cyber-attacks on the servers of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the district election commissions around Ukraine. About 8,000 employees of the National Guard of Ukraine were involved to provide public security during the elections The Interior Ministry of Ukraine has enhanced the guard of the foreign embassies and consulates on election day in Ukraine, as the ministry reported on Facebook. The guard of the particular important state objects, embassies, and consulates of foreign states is enhanced, the message said. The ministry noticed that about 8,000 employees of the National Guard of Ukraine were involved to provide public security during the elections. The detachments of the special task forces stay in reserve and ready for actions, the ministry added. As we reported 135,400 law enforcers are working today in Ukraine. All detachment have switched to the enhanced regime of the work. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. There are 39 candidates in the ballots and over 35.6 million voters. Over 315,000 of the voters changed the place of the registration for voting. As we reported, the voting process will end at 8:00 PM. The online broadcast of all the evens concerned the elections you can watch here. The voting will end in San Francisco on April 1 at 6:00 AM Kyiv time presidential elections in Ukraine zn.ua Australia is the first country, where the voting in the Ukrainian presidential elections took place. The elections started at the foreign polling station in Australia on March 30 at 11:00 PM Kyiv time. Director General of the Consular Affairs Department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Serhiy Pohoreltsev stated this, as UNIAN reports. The presidential elections will begin at the polling station in Australia on March 30 at 11:00 PM Kyiv time. They will end on April 1 at 6:00 AM Kyiv time in San Francisco, Pohoreltsev stated. Ukrainians can vote in 72 countries at 101 polling stations around the world. In particular, 99 polling stations are created in the Ukrainian embassies and consular offices, and two more foreign polling stations are open at the military units, which are located in The Democratic Republic of Congo and Kosovo. Totally, 420,342 people will vote in the Ukrainian presidential elections abroad on March 31. The election campaign has officially started on December 31, 2018. 39 candidates take part in the race. The election will most likely come in two rounds this time. The first one is slated for this Sunday, March 31. The second round is expected to take place in late April. Volodymyr Zelensky (30,4%) and Petro Poroshenko (17,8%) pass to the second round, according to the National exit poll Ukraine's presidential candidates Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky 112 Agency Volodymyr Zelensky (30,4%) and Petro Poroshenko (17,8%) pass to the second round of Ukraines presidential elections, as National exit poll informed. According to the National exit poll Yuliya Tymoshenko got 14,2%, Yuriy Boyko - 9,8%, Anatoliy Hrytsenko - 7,1%, Igor Smeshko - 6,4%, Oleh Lyashko 4,8%, Oleksandr Vilkul 4,0%, Ruslan Koshulynsky 1,8%. The National exit poll was created by the Ukrainian center of economic and political research of Oleksandr Razumkov, Democratic initiatives fund named after Ilko Kucheriv, and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. 400 polling stations were surveyed, around 17,000 respondents asked. Besides the National exit poll, 112 Ukraine and 1+1 carried out their own ones. It should be noted that the information of the exit polls are preliminary. The national exit poll during the presidential elections in 2019 is conducted with the financial support of the international funders: Public activity promotion program Join! which is being funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is being implemented by Pact in Ukraine, the Representation of the EU in Ukraine, International fund Renaissance, Canadas Embassy to Ukraine. The statistical sampling error, with account of design effect does not exceed 1.3%, but there could be other errors depending on various factors. Based on the experience of previous exit polls conducted by the same methodology, it can be assumed that sampling error will not exceed 2.5% for leaders and will be in the range of 0.5-1% for other candidates. The Central Election Committee approved a final list of 39 presidential candidates in Ukraine. The voters list contains 35.6 million Ukrainian citizens. More than 315,000 Ukrainians changed voting places shortly before the presidential election. This year ballot is the longest ballot in the history of presidential elections in Ukraine. It is 80 cm in length and printed on the paper with watermarks and special protection ink. Ukraines foreign intelligence service suggest that Russian special agencies shall interfere with the elections providing fake data of the exit polls. Moreover, the provocations can be held against far right organizations to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and discredit the election process. Besides the Russian Federation is reported to plan to conduct unprecedented cyber-attacks on the servers of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the district election commissions around Ukraine. 6,000 law enforcers will maintain order in Ukraine. 2,344 international observers have been officially approved to come to Ukraine to follow the course of the presidential election. 112 Ukraine TV channel is broadcasting the voting process from the entire territory of Ukraine. We also have a live stream form the Central Election Committee for quick updates of committees meetings and online vote counting. The data will come faster and more accurate than that on the website of the Central Election Committee.